Book Review- Police In Blunderland

 This is a brand new book from a retired cop. And he spins quite a tale- actually, there's a sting in every tale. The book comes from his varied experiences of policing, and a few home truths about life in the bylanes of India. Literally, because that's where cops spend much of their life, unless they are in an A.C. office - that's usually a luxury, at least in the first few years of service. This cop is also an MBA from IIMB, and is doing a Ph.D. in Management from IIT Delhi. So, unusual credentials and perspectives in many ways.

Obviously, I can't disclose the plots, since there is intrigue, drama, suspense, reality and lots more. You would have to devour it yourself to be able to enjoy the multidimensional look at the life of a policeman, warts, blunders and all, from the inside! Suffice it to say that it covers a wide range of subjects, from Durga Puja crowd-management in Kolkata to the Purulia Arms drop case, and lots more!

Definitely readable, even if you have read a few of the chapters in the form of blogs. It's rare that you get glimpses up and close into how tough being a tough policeman is! 

The Art of Communication

 Sometimes we communicate through words, sometimes not. When we do use them, we could write, or communicate orally. Both are good, and suit certain occasions well. I recently joined Instagram, for instance, where the emphasis is on the visual, and text is incidental, or by the way. 

Facebook, where I have been longer, has an equal emphasis on both the text and visuals. I do a lot of text, having been into writing, so I am quite comfortable with fb. 

About communication, public speaking is an art that can help in certain professions. If you are a politician, persuasive communication can win you votes. If a spiritual Guru, followers. If a teacher, maybe students who are fans.. or become fans. Of course, there's more to teaching, but communication is a very important part. 

Of course, we make statements through how we dress (up or down, as students tend to do), act, or behave in a place where others are present- at a party, or other public places such as airports or when walking in a park. 

Important to understand various facets of communication, both as a receiver and sender. 

An Evening to Remember- FPM Farewell

 A fun evening meeting friends who are about to turn into Docs - Ph.D.s in management-from IIM Indore. My being there was as a result of one of my Exec. FPM students graduating. 

Met him and a few former colleagues too. Some nice performances, including poetry and songs. Enjoyed the event, thanks to great company. Pics from the evening.

Geeti Mishra, Neeti Ingole, Prof. Rajhans Mishra, and Prachi Jain and Vanshika Chaudhary

Janardan joins in..

Solving World Problems

 Politicians, or governing bosses by whatever name, have been claiming that they will solve problems like poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, inequity across the world. Not only have these remained unsolved, there are new problems now, like schools becoming shooting ranges, ethnic conflicts, empire-mongering (for want of a better word), and in general, unethical behaviour among many sections of people- not just politicos.

So nature shows its middle finger, once in a while, with climate change, earthquakes, and tornadoes or hurricanes. Major man-made disasters like COVID- no matter WHO is to blame (pun unintended) add to the misery of the hardest hit.

Corporates were thought to be the panacea, because many of them create wealth. But no longer are we sure that this wealth is shared with society, the way it was envisaged. So we compel them to through a gamut of laws including CSR and Sustainability standards etc.

The short point of this piece, is that we have a long way to go in solving problems. And tech is not the answer, all by itself. Human evolution might be. But looking at history, your guess is as good as mine, on when that is likely to happen.

Caselets on People I Know

 Ok, this is a continuing series, and many more people I know are yet to be covered. But let me try-

NIFT Students- Thanks to Bhaskar Banerjee, a friend at NIFT in Gandhinagar, I met a few of his students. They were refreshingly different from many other groups I have met earlier, apart from being well-turned out-naturally, they are all students of fashion mgt./tech. Got to chat with a few too, over the day, and found one- Mehak, whose name resembles a student of mine from NMIMS Bangalore. Surnames too are similar. Singhi in this case, and Singhal for Bangalore. The first name means fragrance- nice and apt! Another bright student was Dhanali-I suspect she's a reader of this blog too!

Mehak's the one in a blue top, second from left, front row. Dhanali is on my left. Glad to make their acquaintance.

The other Mahek from Bangalore is in the pic below, on my left. Another bright student, who I interacted with a bit more than others in my two years at NMIMS. She was an office bearer in the Acad. committee.

Tanmeet Kaur Sahiwal. A law professor, and captain of the Women's Golf team at NMIMS Bangalore. A very competent teacher, and fun to be with. I found her husband was a student of my friend at IIT Delhi some years ago too. He wants a Bajaj Matador as his vehicle of choice! Hope he gets it!

Earthquakes

 The fault lies in our stars.

What is a fault line? A place where different slices of earth can collide, resulting in a shake-up. On the surface of the earth, that's an earthquake.

But what's the fault of the people who are subjected to one? Maybe they sinned in their previous birth. Or maybe not. They just chose the wrong place to settle in. 

One of the big ones I remember was around 1969. A big shake, and we clung- I was around 9 years old- to whoever was nearby. Luckily, we survived it. Or this blog wouldn't exist.

Not my fault, you see?

Instagram

 I finally joined Instagram, at the urging of a couple of friends. I did not feel the need, so far, but a lot of friends have migrated from facebook. But FB will continue as the mainstay, because I have 3000 plus friends there, at least a third of whom are active.. we old-world buddies. And a few great communities I am a part of on fb too. The latest on fb is a page dedicated to fans of MAD magazine- the funniest satirical mag!

I am a late convert to tech platforms anyway. I find a real bookstore far more invigorating, and still buy books from the brick and mortar ones. So also most shopping, except where absolutely necessary. Convenience is good, up to a point. But we also need physical exercise, and social interaction with the sabziwala, or other humans, to keep us sane. 

The impact of social media has been tremendous. I look at it as a tool to meet people also, not just remain in conversations online. To a large extent, I have succeeded too. LinkedIn has also helped build new connections. So I am not complaining. Just pondering..

Learning From People

 I stick to my story that you can learn the most from kids. But if I had to learn from celebs (not sure why) I would try and learn how to 

1. Spread my arms wide from Shah Rukh Khan

2. How to smile from Madhubala

3. How to sing from Kishore Kumar

4. How to remain unflappable from Dev Anand

5. How to wiggle from Shammi Kapoor

6. How to be bindhaast, from Tanuja

7. How to look handsome from Rajesh Khanna

Ok, that's a handful.. now I will come back on what I intend learning from mere mortals.. soon.

Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh

 I cannot write so knowledgeably about Shah Rukh or Salaman or Aamir Khan. But I can about these two, because they were a part of my impressionable years.

Both played a role in shaping our thought processes through many roles they played in films. For example, Rajesh Khanna became a heart-throb of many in his Aradhana, whose songs are popular till date. He followed up with many memorable roles, in Amar Prem as a rich and loveless zamindar who finds [love in an unexpected place, in Safar as an artist on the death row. But the best role in my view was in Anand, with a unique view about life and death.

Amitabh was quite different. Full of angst about issues facing society, and also personal angst as in Sharaabi, he mostly got branded as an Angry Young Man (with Mithun Chakraborty being branded as the Poor Man's Amitabh by some evil journalists (Shobha De, maybe?). Deewar is one of his better roles, and Amar Akbar Anthony and Namak Halaal topped in the Entertainment Quotient. Of course, his comic talent also came to the fore in Chupke Chupke. Abhimaan was too serious for my liking. Muqaddar ka Sikandar was also a decent role. 

About SRK, I think his best role was in Kundan Shah's Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa- my favourite.

Calicut Management Association's Convention

 A pic with the awardees of various awards including Young Entrepreneur, Woman Entrepreneur, and other categories such as excellence in areas like Health and Education.

The organisers are also in the pic, and so is the Director, NITK. It was a memorable evening. I was impressed with a doctor who runs a palliative care centre, a tough thing to do, and very socially relevant in my view.

Youthful Fest

 Our sister institute, Prestige Institute of Management and Research, celebrated the inauguration of its annual fest Manthan, in style. We enjoyed the flute, and the saxophone, from two different guests and also a brief talk by a seasoned crime journalist.

Some pics from the event, with the two musically inclined guests- Mr. Baljinder Singh and Ms. Manisha Yadav. He played the eternal Nagin tune, and a couple of fast-paced songs on Flute, while she played the Sax solo, to the tune of Badan pe sitaare lapete hue, and Laila main laila, a lovely performance!

Ms. Yadav who entertained on the Saxophone, and Mr. Singh on the Flute (below)

With our Registrar Dr. Subramanian, Ms. Yadav, Director of the host institute, Debashis Mallick, and Director of the Gwalior campus, Nishant Joshi.

Below, one of the displays at the Fest.

Taglines

 The Economist- Clears the mist (Read while eating mishty doi for best results)

Indian Express- Breaking news before it breaks. Express delivery.

Journal of Human Behaviour- On its best behaviour.

Punch (the magazine)- No rum in it.

Golf- Assured misery on a long walk with relief on the 19th Hole.

Cricket- The channels are laughing with you. (all the way to the bank)

Job- Pleasing your boss is Job 1.

Home- Place where you can design the plug for your gadgets

Hotel- Where you struggle to do s0-plug in your gadgets.

BBC- Not Biwi ka Bakwas, Chicha, ye original hai..

Calicut Biryani and More

 You wouldn't associate Calicut with biryanis. But thanks to my friend Ravi, who was my culinary guide, we tasted the Kuttichira biryani, a speciality of a locality near the beach there, and lots more. This is what friends are for, right? Pics from a couple of eateries that we visited. And more.. 

A dhow.. these are made at Beypore near Calicut, and were used for trade with the Gulf countries.

At IIMK.

Views from my hotel 7th floor.

IIMK, above and below

Second Visit to IIMK

 This time, I am speaking as a Chief Guest/Keynote Speaker to the audience at Calcut Management Association's convention. In December, it was as a delegate that I attended another Management Convention. The opportunity to visit the campus where I worked is welcome. It is one of the prettiest campuses I have seen anywhere.

Goodbyes

 I mean the permanent ones, of people known to us. I lost my Mom around end-2020, and it was a numbing experience, though not entirely unexpected due to her age.

More recently, two such happenings. One, my BIL, a cousin's husband, passed away suddenly. Jayant Dharmadhikari was a part of the socialist movement of George Fernandes and Madhu Limaye, in the days before I knew him. But I knew him as a friend and drinking partner- he enjoyed his whisky. And a very loving and welcoming guy to all of us cousins who visited him or occasionally stayed with him. He also wrote screenplays or scripts for films like Benaam, Mera Gaon Mera Desh and others. He also produced a marvelous film called Ankahee starring Amol Palekar, whom he resembled a bit too. I also attended his daughter's wedding in Sri Lanka-my first visit to the beautiful country.

Suguna Kannan, a friend from an online music group, also passed away a few days ago. We never met, and I did not know she had been ailing for a while until this happened. She participated in the music group with the enthusiasm of a child, and was very kind and knowledgeable. Felt bad to see her go, though it's inevitable we all have to, one day.

One hopes they are in a happy place.

Jayant is on the extreme left, with two cousins, and my brother and Mom at Shrivardhan, our annual pilgrimage in which he was the enthusiastic host.

Womens' Day

 Continuing on the theme, I continue to meet a lot of women who are women of substance, to borrow a well-known phrase, from diverse fields, at work or on visits to various places- these include visiting faculty or guests who visit our institutions. I recently met a lady who lives in Lagos, and had attended a Harvard course -she's a consultant. By the way, she also met a classmate of mine there-Narayan Das.

A few women, like the founder of Bandhej, and the Dean of NIFT Delhi, I happened to meet at the NIFT event in Gandhinagar recently, where I shared the stage with them briefly. I similarly happened to meet Rama Bijapurkar who is from the Marketing Research industry, a few years ago when we shared the stage at an event in Jaipuria Institute at NOIDA, I believe.

Of course, there are a lot of non-celebrity colleagues who I enjoy meeting every now and then, and many students too. I met Ananya Nandi De from IMT recently, after 2010 maybe. She works in sourcing (for an MNC), which not many do, at least among women. Here she is, with Raka, her hubby.

In Bangalore, I met Pooja Varun after many years, and found she runs a Food Park. Also has started a new business. Chatted with Swati Sinha, who runs Neerya, an online seller of sarees and other garments. She was in a class of mine. Aditi Atre, who runs Rajasthani Rangrez, I haven't been able to meet in person. Remember awarding her a prize at IMT Nagpur though.

Divya Sharma, Divya Singh, are in radio anchoring and digital marketing, respectively. Shatakshi is into her own digital agency too. Shraddha Nigdikar, who I haven't met in a while, for a good reason. She was doing a Master's in Psychology. After her MBA, that is. 

There are also authors, like Khyati Jha, and budding authors, like Anushka Mishra. And poets, like Anuja Anand. And musicians like Shruti Sharma and Shweta Sinha. And people with great taste in dinners- like Tosha Dubey, Meghana Joshi, Abha Kulkarni. And those who are like pure sunshine- like Sheetal Garg and Shweta Kushal. And some who are just special for a variety of reasons- Prachi Jain, Anusha Soni for example. Some bankers like Ankita Joshi and Swati Jain-coincidentally, both from BoB.

And next gen. friends like Rimjhim Verma, who don't mind being friends with oldies. 

Coming Up - Holi and Women's Day

 Two unconnected events falling on the same day. Holi, there's enough said and done each year, so I'll concentrate on the other.

I already did a facebook album with women golfers' pics from my archives. Why I like this subject is because even among Men, Golf is a game only a few people play! These are markers of where women can go. Already, women pilots in commercial airline companies are many in number. Proving yet again, if proof was ever needed, that they can do as well or better than men.

Rakshita, a student at NMIMS Bangalore, tries out Golf.. above.

Continuing on the Golf theme, I found most women-students, faculty or staff colleagues- open to learning Golf, when assured that they didn't need to buy any equipment! I used an old kit that I still use, to train whoever wished to get trained in the basics. And I am happy that all students-male and female- of at least one batch of MBA at NMIMS, and at least two at IMT Nagpur- were given an orientation to the game, and a lot of them enjoyed it and were good at it!

A tiny friend we made at Kodaikanal Golf course was the youngest kid I saw on a Golf course. She was with her Mom, and was sporting enough to try adult-sized clubs to play a few shots! Three cheers to Women in Golf! I also went to my first amateur golf tournament in Thailand thanks to Jogeswari, a former student who was a part of Golftripz, an Indian startup. So there!

Meeting of Vice Chancellors

 I was invited to a novel (for me) meet, organised by India Didactics Association, a policy think tank on education at all levels. This meet was focused on Higher Ed policy. Met and heard from a lot of interesting people from across India. The recommendations from this meet will go to the government functionaries. Some pics from the meet.

Leading up to the formal meeting.

Aditya, the host, and a couple of participants, at an informal session.

We discussed 4 themes related to Higher Ed. in India and came up with recommendations.

Meeting Old Friends

 I mean young friends, actually. I met Abha first at her wedding, in Nagpur. We formed a Mutual Admiration Society pretty quickly, and have been meeting regularly, through changes of job and cities of residence. So it was no surprise that we met again, last day of Feb. 2023. The first meeting, Tosha Dubey was with her, and the next, a large group that also included Sirisha Adi and Anuj Mathew- then, two meetings with Sheetal Garg in the threesome, at Koylaa near Taj and at Prithvi theatre, Juhu.

The latest one in Nehru Place. We found a lot to talk about, as usual. Pics- 

The Brazilian lemonade had a charred Rosemary sprig added. Basil was added to the other drink.

The lanterns were quite nice!

The place and food too- mostly Italian.

P.S. She's a student I never taught, from IMT Nagpur.. could be one reason she likes me. :)