Madhosh Kiye Jaa: September 2022

Travel to unexpected Treasures

Often, small places give you unexpected pleasure during travel. Some such places I recall-

Chikmagalur is a recent one.

Abroad, the birthplace of William Tell in Switzerland

A small town in Japan we visited on a day trip - Kitsuki?

Jaisalmer in the Rajasthan Desert.

Jog Falls

Belgaum- and the drive from Goa to Belgaum via Chorla ghat

Tinsukia and surrounding places I visited during 1983 summer- my summer internship.

Pahalgam and the river there was very picturesque. Went there in 1978, I think.

Near Leh, a couple of monasteries.

In Kotagiri, a home with a private waterfall..

Caselets on People- Part 3

Bhuvneet Raheja

She was in one of my early classes (part of a famous trio with Anwesha and Stuti) after I joined IIM Indore. But somehow, we connected when she visited the campus again. And then, Jayasimha and I met her on a visit to Delhi, where I saw the first live demo of Teams- she worked for Microsoft! We haven't met since, but she remains a cheerful example of how a person ought to be! Ever smiling, and a great talker and listener. Would definitely like to meet up with her and her new-found hubby.

Anupriya Pandit

We haven't met of late, but this IMT Nagpur girl was very social - we met in Bangalore, and then at Indore campus too. She visited us-Jayasimha and me. Marketing/branding expert. And from Meerut, where the mutiny against the British rulers started!

Vrinda Khanna

Met her family, and her sister at her place in Delhi, only once. But she was warm and hospitable, and we chatted a long time about various things. Her little sister was also cute, studying in an UG course at the time.

Surbhi Mehta Chaddha

A neighbour of Vrinda in Delhi, she runs her own business. Her hubby is a Hotel Management Grad., and got me a bottle of wine on our first meetup at C.P. Had fun, though we have not been able to meet again.

Sunil Kataria

Yes, great fun too, and we met in Kat(w)aria serai close to IIT DElhi at Essex Farms, along with Sharmishtha Singh, also from KIAMS Harihar, over lunch. Engaging conversationalist, he was pursuing a course from IIMK, in addition to running a consultancy at the time. His wife and kids, I am yet to meet.

Kanika Mhendiratta

Again, only one meeting with her in Dec. 2019, but we bonded well. She is another marketing expert, and worked in Kolkata before moving to Delhi where we met. Mamaearth is where she is now. An IMT alum.

Caselets on People - Part 2

Shraddha Nigdikar

We met after IMT Nagpur where she studied, and she also turned out to be from Bhopal, adding to the list of pals from the city. (only Lucknow comes next, I guess). And we met a few times, and she also cooked a great dinner for me and her parents who were visiting. Also on a music group on fb with me, she is multi-talented.

Abha Anagha Kulkarni

We met at her wedding in Nagpur first, and I learnt both her parents were scientists. Then, we met in Mumbai a few times, with Tosha, Sirisha, Anuj and with Sheetal Garg. Each meeting was in a unique place, and I have great memories of those, thanks to some photoshoots. One with the Taj Mahal hotel as a backdrop (at Koylaa) and another at Grandmama's cafe in Mumbai turned out great! She also has unique curls. Bangalore hudugi, though we never met there.

Pratima Gaikwad

A fun girl from Satara, who's taken to Hyderabad where she works. We took a tour of Hitech city, with some food- lots of food- thrown in for good measure, including biryanis and baklava. Chatty, and a great host. Mast combination! We first met at IIM Indore- I must have taught her something..but I forget what.

Ishita Modi

We have met off and on, and also missed a meeting due to unavoidable circumstances. She has mixed feelings about Indore, her sasuraal. :) But I have no mixed feelings about her. She's witty, resourceful, and has a cute daughter. And her husband makes poha.. what else can one want in life? I will always vote for this Modi..

Pallavi Sharma (Bajpai)

Also my twin according to facebook, she and hubby invited my wife and me home while she was in Bangalore. Great fun to be with, and a biryani lover. We actually met at Paradise in Bangalore once, and once with Shafique (who's also my twin as per fb) in a meeting of 3 twins (you figure that out!). Also from Bhopal, like many pals.

Anushka Mishra

A bookworm who worms her way into the hearts of people. We met after chatting on facebook a few times, and she was in Bangalore, so we regularly went to bookstores to buy books for each other and ourselves.. currently there's a hiatus, but I am sure she'll resume soon. I might just join once in a way from Indore! Funnily, we did not meet at all at KIAMS, since her batch was long after I had left. She's writing a book, and hopes to complete it soon.

Bharath Shenoy

My coffee partner from IFIM, we met a couple of times at Church Street (again). He has already published a book of fiction, and a second is on its way. Works in market research, so we have lots to talk about.

Caselets- On People I Know

Following my own advice in my last post, I wrote some brief descriptions/caselets, based on my perceptions of some people I know..

Manasa Nagabhushanam

A great (now ex) colleague, and a relationship builder. She marketed the IUP program among Bangalore colleges on the strength of those relationships alone, and we had the program going- it's still going strong.

Manoharan

The man from Ooty, and a great friend and colleague. He also was my Ph.D. student, but that is incidental. We lived in the same complex at Bangalore, and he became Head of the Dept. at BMS this year too, after being there a few years. We were together at PES, and at IFIM, I was introduced to him by Bala, another good friend who is no more. Sane at all times, balanced in good times and bad.

Jogeswari aka Jogi

She's been a Hyderabadi who never lost touch, maybe because she has a magic touch. Now a part of Golftripz, she also tried an entrepreneurial venture or two, apart from being a Google Girl- one of the first employees at Google Hyderabad. She was also a topper at KIAMS, in her batch-1999-2001. I have shot my only video case study with her and Madhav.

Anusha Soni

Got to know her as an IPM student at IIM Indore, and a bit more closely after I taught her Golf. Loves Guavas and Sabudana khichadi (like us ghatis, though she's from Bhopal). We met in Pune too, where she did some good things like a re-launch, for Bajaj Auto. Hope to also share some common interests in beverages with her in future.

Dhanapal

Friend, Golfer and entrepreneur, earlier he taught OB at Harihar. Is also a Clinical Psychologist by training. He runs a school in Coimbatore, and owns a farmhouse too. He is great company on Golf tours, which we go on each year, to some exotic location like Kodai or Munnar. Has a daughter-in-law who taught me how to take pot-shots with a Rifle- a real one. So you need to be careful!

Swati Jain

This one was a surprise package. I didn't know much about her except that she had curly hair, and discovered she is a banker with some really creative ideas on digital products at BoB. Another one after Ankita Saboo/Joshi. We had a long meeting over dinner, and I have added her to my significant list of pals from Bhopal. To paraphrase a Honda ad from the U.S., you meet the nicest people in Bhopal (from Bhopal in this case). She can't resist potatoes, and therefore is not totally into Jain food!

Nikita Kumar Ray

She was a placecommie at IMT Nagpur, but we really met after that stint, in Pune, Hyderabad and then Delhi. She is a warm, fun person. I owe her a few Cadbury Silks, and the interest burden is growing- I might go the way of Sri Lanka if this goes on.. She is also a very good corporate leader, and a cook? She has promised to feed me home-made khaana sometime!

Ok, there are singers, authors, film directors, actresses and more among the plethora of friends I have, so watch this space for more...

People as Case Studies

Why should organisations have all the fun? We could, I propose, write case studies about humans who have made a difference. One might argue that there are biographies -auto or otherwise- that do this. But it's not the same as writing a dispassionate (relatively) account of someone's life, in my view. Also, like a case study, one could stop and ask a question about some dilemma or decision point in the person's life, and try and learn from it, through some debate.

Humans of.... is a series that does some basic things right. I am suggesting taking it a step further. Any takers/

Celebrating Birthdays

Logically, you are growing each day, so how many times you choose to celebrate should be left to you. But since cake can be expensive, or maybe you can't have your cake and eat it too-everyday, I mean- you tend to celebrate it yearly.

I am fine with someone taking me to the Bahamas -or even Goa- on my birthday, and I am also OK with someone not taking me anywhere, just having a chat over chai or other beverages found in nearby stores. I am quite adjustable that way.

Ok, you might have guessed that THE day is nearing, and so is my departure from Bangalore for other shores. So the partying has begun in right earnest, with a few done, and a few to go. Of course, farewell parties are another reason I change jobs- I got so many over the years. My parents probably got only one, or two.

Kidding aside, we are actually meeting up, and some surprises have already happened. I met two alums of IMT Nagpur, both in diverse fields-Finance and HR- in a week! After a decade, that too. Missed a couple too, but I am sure we'll catch up soon.

In short, every celebration makes me feel like a celebrity, and that I am important in somebody's life- and that's a great feeling, birthday or no birthday!

Pronouncing Funny

Funny stories about pronunciation abound in India. One of the funny ones concerns a foreign prof. who was being introduced to the audience in a gathering. His name was Roger something, and the guy introducing him kept pronouncing the g as a hard g instead of a soft g, causing mirth all around-not in Roger, maybe.

The B for V is common in Bengal, and Crazy pronunciation of many words is very common in Mallu-land. But iskool for school is also common in some parts of the North, and s instead of sh (try Social) also, likewise.

Telugus pronounce the d in bridge, and a lot besides. Marathi people tend to prolong the pain while saying pen.. peeen is how they will say it. Gujjus say shake when they mean shack, and snake when they mean snack.

Colleagues at NMIMS

Here is a quick run-down on some of my colleagues at NMIMS Bangalore

Ekalavya, the placement Don. Has put in place the process, and his knowledge of the corporate world has also helped get excellent campus placements for our MBA students these past few years. A good relationship manager.

Sangram Wadkar-It's rare that you recruit someone who plays Golf, anywhere in India-there are so few who do. Therefore, a great surprise that he ends up being one. Latest addition to our placement team.

Preeti Ravikiran- a friendly soul who also is keenly interested in sports- very sporting, in other words. A good teacher of some quant courses including Visual Analytics, the current buzzword.

Smruti Rammohan- The world is small. She worked with Jasmine Shah in the Delhi government, and he is the husband of my ex-student Padmapriya. And she is from Hyderabad.

Srinivasa Murthy- a librarian, and also a great singer.

Sridarshan- American-educated prof. who taught strategy. Also into spiritual pursuits.

Prerona- An inspiration to many, I am sure. A bright Ph.D. from IIT G, in Economics. Golfer too, now.

Tanmeet- A great smile complements a pleasant personality. Will captain the Women's Golf team at NM.

Archana- a very friendly and balanced person, my secretary for two years.

Rajeshwari- in addition to the telephone, she handles a camera quite well.

Deepak Sharma- a caricaturist par excellence, and HR faculty who published in newspapers regularly.

Vishnu Bhat- Bhagwan ka avatar? Troubleshooter par excellence, with prior work-ex at IBS.

Aparna- much-loved quant faculty... aisa bhi ho sakta hai..miracles will never cease!

Narayani- MBA Chair, and my successor. All-rounder like Kapil Dev. Her energy levels have to be seen to be believed.

Bakalavati- Unique name, and a unique person. A talented academic coordinator.

Segmenting Friends- A Typology

In Marketing, we do use segmentation to divide customers into groups based on various characteristics. So what would happen if you try this to segment friends into different types. Let's have some fun, and try..

Night-birds versus Early-birds.

Party animals versus Bookworms

Travel-bugs versus Home-bodies.

Shutter-bugs versus Camera-shy.

Outdoor adventurers versus Chess players.

Positive energy exuders versus Pessimists.

Storytellers versus Good listeners.

Exaggerators versus Understated types.

Wine drinkers, Whisky fans, or Rum-ta jogis..

Meetings and More

Physical meetings are the best medicine for the gadget-mania that we all seem to suffer from, in the digital age. That's how we used to spend most of our hours before the gadgets came and took over our lives.

Anyway, I try my best to have meetings with friends, new and old. This includes colleagues, classmates, Golfers, and ex-students. No guesses as to which category is the largest one- students/alumni who I have taught, or not (because I knew them as an admin.)

Savitha has been a constant for 20 years or more, and we met quite often in this stint of mine at Bangalore. Now, on my way out, we met again, and recounted the KIAMS, Harihar times, and taking stock of our life and careers. Thoroughly enjoyed meeting her, as always.

A to Z of Heroes and Heroines

Trying to coin a one-word description for some of our heroes and heroines (and some other actresses/actors)

Agile- Jeetendra

Ageless- Anil Kapoor

Dancer-Mithun Chakraborty

Macho-Dharmendra

Romantic- Dev Anand

Handsome- Rajesh Khanna

Graceful- Waheeda Rehman

Vivacious- Mumtaz

Natural- Tanuja

Fashionable- Sharmila Tagore

Dusky- Vidya Balan

X-factor- Helen

Ageless (heroine)- Hema Malini

Beautiful-- Jayaprada

Loin- Ajit

Talented-Mehmood

Distinctive-Pran

Menacing- K.N. Singh

All-in-one- Kishore Kumar

Why Advice Can Go Wrong

Not always. But many a time, advice is given without a lot of thought going into the special circumstances or background or capability of the person it is given to. I am, and have been guilty of this sometimes also.

My advice, therefore, to advisers is, before dishing it out, try and ask some questions to understand the person (let's call her/him the advisee), their motivations, circumstances and capabilities. What 's good advice for one person may not be great for another person. Of course, the flip side of it is that the advisee needs to check and see if the advice received is good for them or not.

If you are not too sure about a course of action, or don't know enough about it, say so, rather than pretending to be an expert.

OK, that was the last piece of advice...at least for now.

Meeting Meenu

I had mentioned her earlier as having a unique-sounding name- musical too. Meenu Mynam. Now we met, after connecting over social media. She is now in the Gulf, and was visiting Bangalore-an IMT Nagpur MBA. We last met at a Hyderabad alumni get-together, and had a lot to catch up on. It's great fun catching up with old students who are now more like friends. Recommended!

Lost in Translation

Lyrics of Hindi songs can be really funny when translated straight. Examples-

How will Radha not burn?

My heart burns in wet wet nights.

On the lips, only your name's there.

Crazy guy has got a heartfelt song.

Want to tell you, want to tell you, today for the first time..

..and we are just getting started.

How to Become Hitech

Aside from living in Hyderabad's Hitech city, if you want to be considered hi tech, just add the suffix tech to whatever you do..

examples-

Martech for marketing

Fintech for finance

Bureautech for bureaucrats

Politech for politics with a tech back-end (not backside-that is different)

Commentech for commentators

Celebritech for celebrities- if you happen to be one..highly unlikely, if you are reading this.

Sportstech for sportspeople.

Immigrantech for immigrants

Warriortech for warmongers

Mental wreck after reading this? Get some tech in your brain, and you'll be Ok..

Bombay Greens

Not blues, therefore greens..it was green and wet, both. One day full of rainy weather, in spite of which I managed to catch up with an IMT alum I had met only on fb. Swati Jain is from Bhopal, and knows Shraddha Nigdikar from school days. She hated Marketing (not marketing profs.), and specialised in Finance. But we had many things to talk about, besides Finance and Marketing. So we did..

Birthday Thoughts a bit Early

It's not my birthday, but will be soon- 62nd, in about a month. So what do I have at 62 that I did not at say, 16?

I have a lot of gratitude, rather than the entitlement, possibly.

I suspect I have some humility-no traces of it when you are young, usually. I was no exception, I guess. Maybe not enough, but still..

I have legions of friends-partly because I had wheels on my feet, and changed places and jobs frequently. As we speak, I will be changing places again, for a new job-hopefully, my last as a full-timer.

Most of all, a life lived fruitfully, according to what I thought was the way to live it, and no regrets. No, this is not a farewell, I am not going anywhere. I will continue to haunt you through my blog and posts and meetings when they do happen. So don't worry, and be happy- in spite of my birthday rants/ramblings.

Some Moms

Not Mother's Day yet, I know, but just to celebrate the young mothers I know among my students, mainly.

Shruti Sharma comes to mind first, with her guitar. She sings well, and so the kid must be having a great childhood. Her sister is also a good singer.

Sandhya Sajeev recently had posted a pic with her daughter, who is probably as talented as her mom.

Nandini Saxena, I was slated to meet in Delhi, but she was advised rest as she was to deliver soon at the time. Has a lovely kid now.

Tejal Rane, I have seen a few pics of as a Mom, with the child. She is from Karwar, I think, so lots of pics from there too. One of the best seafood lunches I ever had was in Karwar..crab was delicious!

Meghana Khadilkar, the Mumbai-Pune mom, has excellent pics of both her kids, on fb quite regularly, winning awards at times for these.

Brunel and Dundee University Students

We held a unique program conducted by Common Purpose, with students from Dundee (Scotland), Brunel (London) and our own students recently (September 6-9, 2022). These students were given a challenge to improve inclusion in education in Bangalore. They had 3 days to interact with NGOs, visit and talk to them, and make a brief presentation on how they would do it better or differently. Lots of enthusiasm, and new ideas came up. I was at the presentation, and also at the photo sessions, obviously. Here are a few pics. Good to see our students also do well..

Onam at Bangalore NMIMS

Onam brings out the artists in Rangoli and flower arrangements that are typical of this festival. Also the off-white sarees and ensemble that look beautiful. So it was not surprising that we had lots of those among faculty, staff and students, and pics of these. Here are some- visiting students from two universities in U.K. also had a taste of the festivities.

Some of the faculty and staff

Many more

Above and below- most of the artists involved.

Overcommunicating May be Good

Not when politicians do it, perhaps, when you are at the receiving end, but in most other situations, I would say. Good because people don't necessarily know as much about your situation as you think. To me, I am the greatest thing that happened to the planet (!), but to others, I may be just a speck of dust. I am exaggerating, to make a point.

On social media, where scrolling is the norm, and attention spans are even less than in a classroom (contradictory as it may sound), explaining a post/picture is probably better than a cryptic caption that does not say much, and assumes that people know the context of what you are talking about- could be a new job, a change of place you live in, a new relationship, or multiple other things.

So here is some (unsolicited) advice- communicate, communicate, communicate. You may find the results are pleasant when you do.

Creating Memories

Living in the present is fine, but I think life is about creating memories-preferably good ones. So it's not surprising whether imprinted on a photograph or just on the mind, I am full of memories- mostly good ones. It's a different matter that I forget my passwords, but important people and time spent with them, I do remember.

That process has started- compiling some memories of my two years at NMIMS Bangalore, with a lot of wonderful people.