Madhosh Kiye Jaa: 2024

2024 - A Recap

Starting with December 2023, on 30th I attended a wedding - and met Natasha Kothari, who runs Studio Ungap. Dhruv, her fiance, was the groom's brother. Anyway, we met again at her office, and I also wrote a case and invited her for a guest lecture on Entrepreneurship to Prestige University. Went off well, with a video recording too.

It was also a year of weddings- attending them. Sanjana's (she was a student from IIM Indore), another one in Coimbatore where I ran into students from IIM Indore among guests, and so on..

Meetups with long lost friends- Jaya Dulani, Pushpinder Singh, Venkata Rama Subramaniam, and not lost but found Nikita Ray, Ananya Nandi Dey, Shalini Sinha, Abha Anagha Kulkarni, Sheetal Garg also happened in Delhi and Mumbai, and Pune. Prachi Jain also met up before migrating from IMT G to IIT Roorkee.

Jaya Dulani, market researcher, and below, Shalini, a photographer and Abha, HR in a law firm

The Halves too.

My ex-student-friends from IMT, Ananya and Nikita.

Golfing also happened, with students, and guests, and Prestige employees.

Ayushi learns .. so does Veronica, my friend from Argentina.

Pretty golfers from Prestige.

Adithya Padala from school, and Annie Singh and Ajay from Greenwood, caught up after long, in Pune and Delh. So did Madhu and hubby, my wife's colleague from Bangalore.

Also, went to XLRI for a doctoral consortium (met Vijjy, prof. and classmate, and a couple of lovely young Ph.D. scholars), and on a holiday to Goa (and enjoyed dry days with hoarded whisky), and in MP, to Orchha and Khajuraho via Jhansi.

Research Shows- 6

My research shows that-

the level of innovation in Indian academic institutions -particularly the management institutions- is low.

We imitate, rather than innovate. We still buy Harvard cases after 60 years, and send faculty to get trained on how to teach cases!!

We are still not doing enough original work, relative to the number of faculty we have in top-ranking institutions. Related to this, doctoral programs are not supported adequately.

Leaders in some of these institutions are not even aware of the lag, or have wrong priorities.

Not all the fault lies with the leaders, as faculty have a lot of autonomy.

Research Shows- 5

My research into the academic work shows-

That teaching-learning is effective only when it has a marketing orientation- not that students are customers.

I mean methods followed need to be appropriate for the students on hand. Tough projects for school kids are essentially done by parents or others, for example.

In-class work is as important as home work.. maybe more, as it can be directly supervised.

Collaboration needs to be taught through examples, like group assignments.

Evaluation should be multi-modal, with a viva of some sort, or presentations, included.

Feedback should be honest, and if possible, constructive.

Clear goals written in a course outline help.

Many teachers fail on some of the above.

Nathuram Godse in a play

This is a play about the guy who killed Mahatma Gandhi. It tries to put forth his perspective on the act. Not too convincingly, I might add.

It's good as far as a perspective goes. But justifying murder for any reason, to my mind, except rare cases of self-defence, is a no-no.

Written and directed by Bharat Dabholkar, a celebrated Ad man. It is well-acted, and is a bit thought-provoking, showing some warts in the Mahatma's ways of dealing with the Partition of India. Anant Mahadevan acts as Mahatma Gandhi, and his son. Bharat also plays a small role himself.

It's also a bit hard to believe that he was acting all alone. Anyway, a good theatre experience. This was the Hindi version.

Research Shows- 4

My research shows that there are people who feel entitled in all walks of life.

First, are politicians at all levels. Few exceptions.

Bureaucrats, sometimes even more. Few exceptions.

Corporates high up in the hierarchy. With social media on the loose, sometimes even lower down the hierarchy. Not just in India.

Academics who think they have killed it, but haven't. Lots of them around, if you look for them.

Students from rockstar colleges - read IIMs. There is an inverse correlation with the ranking of the college, in many cases.

Employers with no empathy, for whom employees are cogs in the profit-earning wheel. Both in academia and the corporates.

Employees who think the company/organisation revolves around them. It might not, except for a day or two.

Promoters-popularly known as Lalas in India, who micromanage stuff and run all good things into the ground, sometimes over decades, sometimes a lot faster.

Research Shows- 3

Third in the series of research findings. This one's about sports. India happens to be crazy about Cricket, to the exclusion of almost every other sport.

Yes, we have had Badminton greats, from Padukone to Sindhu, and Chess grandmasters and champs like Anand and Gukesh, and Billiards champions and a couple of Athletes who were World rankers.

But even a struggling Kohli or Sharma or a bowler, will always be in the limelight, for many years, whether we like it or not.

Occasionally, we talk about other sports. But even within Cricket, it's Men's cricket that counts, not Women's cricket.

Even for cricketers at the State level, it's an uphill battle, to get into a national squad. Maybe it was better a few decades ago, when the money (and therefore, politics) was less, and it was mostly for pride that national teams played. IPL has changed all that for the worse.

Globally, we don't pull our weight in most competitive sports. And exceptions only prove what is evident, if we open our eyes.

Research Shows- 2

My research findings from life, continued.

Teaching is an art, and not everyone is an artist.

If there is an artist-teacher, he or she can captivate a learner. I have had the fortune to get some artist teachers in school (Hindi, English), MBA (Organizational Behaviour, Marketing) and Ph.D. College, not many. I also tried to introduce artistic ways of teaching humdrum stuff like Marketing Research and not-so-humdrum stuff like Digital Marketing and Advertising.

Learners also respond to non-academic ways of connecting, if done right. Without biasing the evaluation that needs to be done professionally.

Ties can go beyond the college/school years, between students, and also between teachers and students. Some of these bonds can be as strong as those between friends of the same age. I have been very lucky in this department, with alums of various institutions who are great friends now.

Research Shows - 1

I spent much of my professional life teaching or practicing Market Research.

So this is my new series regarding real-life research into friends, colleagues, other humans, countries, or things.

Research shows that-

Politicians never change. We can stop expecting them to do so. They have an election to win, which they are not sure of winning. If they win, they need to recoup their expenses. Simple Maths.

Parents are predictable. The major drivers for a parent are seeing their kids do well, and they are not reasonable. Blinded by love for kids, they will go to any extent possible to help them succeed.

Kids are also predictable, mostly. They rebel, at some point, for a long time. That goes on until they go through the same phase that the parents have. Eventually, life teaches everyone a lesson. We think we are different, but we are not all that different.

Movies to Remember- 2

Hum Kisise Kam Nahi starring Rishi Kapoor and Kajal Kiran was a big musical hit, and its LP record was in stereo- one of the first for Hindi films, maybe.

The songs were a range, with Bachna ae haseeno and the four songs ensemble with chand Mera Dil and Aa dil kya mehfil hai tere being the pick of the lot for me.

Though the story was run of the mill- a romance with a third angle, the young actors made it work.

Saw it a couple of times again later, and though a bit long in the second half, it remained watchable. RD Burman's music played a big part. Directed by Nasir Husain.

Catchup Meetings

Met Adithya Padala, a classmate from school, who counts Sabeer Bhatia among his friends. He is a lso an active member of TiE, The Indus Entrepreneurs, and lives in the Sonoma county which produces wine. He also has a vineyard that produces Chardonnay grapes. I learnt he went to USC (South Carolina) for his MBA in 1983. I was at Clemson, SC a bit later for a Ph.D. Small world..

His wife Tulasi, who clicked the pic below.. right, above. Prarthana and Anu are on the left.

He was visiting Pune, so we caught up at Blue Diamond, the Taj hotel which was once owned by the Kirloskar group.

Great conversations, about school and family, and plans for the future. In short, everything under the Sun.. 2024 is still alive with possibilities, including Golf..

Movies To Remember - 1

At least, I remember them, for various reasons. No. 1 on the list is Padosan.

An innocuous storyline. A simpleton (aptly named Bhola) has a neighbour- a hoity toity girl who loves music- whom he wants to impress. He tries learning how to sing, fails, and at the suggestion of his music guru, fakes the singing. She's impressed, till she discovers the faking. He wins the girl anyway, thanks to more shenanigans.

On the way, there is a rival. HER music teacher, whom he outwits in a competitive singing session, across the window-thanks to his guru singing while he lip-synchs.

May not seem much, but the acting, direction (by Jyoti Swaroop) and music elevate this bare story to heights of comedy rarely achieved in Hindi films. In today's lingo, it's ROFL.. makes you roll on the floor laughing, much of its length.

Brilliantly conceived and directed. Mehmood and Kishore Kumar, the supporting actors, steal the show, while the hero and heroine are more like props. A laugh riot, with great music by RD Burman, lyrics by Rajendra Krishan. 1968.

Gifts Tangible and Intangible

I know a lot of people like tangible gifts, and that Christmas abroad is a time when kids expect these. Certainly, there are good reasons to buy a new toy, if you can, or clothes, or whatever, for Diwali or Christmas, for anyone you want.

I have a few tangible gifts that my own Santas have bought. They include books, a Golf Ball (Kyndryl), a Bean Bag, a mobile phone, and some other things like a bottle of wine or whisky. But many of the gifts I treasure are intangibles, like a meetup, an outing, a celebration while meeting for an occasion, a post with a tag, an acknowledgement or an emoji, and lots of such things. They bring a smile, or joy as much as the tangible gifts do.

Some friends have gone out of the way to fix big get togethers, and some have taken me home to feed me. Remember a wine and dine at Vrinda Khanna's place, for example. Surbhi Mehta Chadha and her husband met in C.P., and Jaya Dulani too, recently. (Found out she's from Rajnandgaon, Chattisgarh). Savitha in Bangalore, Jogeswari in Hyderabad and Pattaya, Shruti and Aditya in Gurgaon, Nishka and Vikram in Mumbai, Sunil Kataria and Sharmistha in Delhi, Manjari Mundanad at Ahmedabad, Ishan Joshi and Ankita also in Ahmedabad, Bhuvneet Raheja in Delhi, Anusha Soni in Pune, Harshad Lunavat and Pushpinder Singh in Pune, Saumya Sharma in Indore and Bangalore, Shweta Sinha in Bangalore (a Vietnamese restaurant), Aditi Sood, Venkata Rama Subramanian in Kolkata, Anshita in Bangalore (more than once), Gowri and Sreeram in Bangalore, Pallavi and Shafique at Church Street Social, Anushka in Bangalore, Vandana Kumar a few times at Bangalore, Radha Ramachandran and Indira Kanagasabhai in Chennai, Nishant Joshi at Gwalior, Indira Sharma also at Gwalior, Ananya Nandi De at NOIDA Mrghna Sinha in Delhi and Mumbai, Meghana Joshi in Mumbai, Kedar Muley in Mumbai, Shraddha Nigdikar in Mumbai, Kanika Mhendiratta and Divya Singh in Delhi/Sikandarpur (Divya also met up in Vashi and Pune), Nikita Kumar in Pune, Hyderabad and Delhi and Abha, Tosha, Sirisha, Khyati Jha in Mumbai and later, Abha in Delhi are some outings I fondly remember and cherish. Yeah, Sheetal Garg in Mumbai too, once at Prithvi theatre, and once in Pizza by the Bay, among others. Vidya TC and Swapna Gurijala in Singapore.

Enjoyed all these and more -online interactions, phone calls etc. from lots of friends. A treasure! More of the same, please Santa, if you are listening!

Update- met Adithya Padala and Tulasi, his wife at Pune. He is an entrepreneur in California, and was a school classmate from 1977. Missed him at earlier meets of schoolmates in Hyderabad the last couple of years.

If I Were Santa

What I may do-

Present people with lots of brooms and mops, to clean up the surroundings. We have a long way to go.

Teach world leaders to stop being in office forever.. too many seem to be unretiring, and unrepentant about it.

Ditto for cricketers who have outlived their usefulness.. Gavaskar had once said, "It's better to go when people are asking Why, instead of waiting till they say Why Not?"

Teach screenwriting and editing to as many filmy types as possible. Brevity is the soul of wit, but a lot of witless directors don't understand it.

Ask people to exchange gifts themselves, so I can retire.

Lifetime Achievement Award for a Cartoonist

Saw a unique felicitation of an artist who draws cartoons in Marathi periodicals- he is 100 years old!

These are some of his colourful, unique cartoons.

(from the display during the program)

Here he is, on the right! He spoke, and narrated a good joke too.

Some entertainment was provided by Sharvari Jamenis, a Kathak artist and her troupe.

Unique Skills

Ok, managerial skills include organising, leading, communicating, starting up and so on. Some people I know who do this well, from my experience

Anshita Abhishek Shetty, whose birthday it is today, organised two parties with good attendance, for me when I asked her to. It's not an easy task, though she made it look easy.

T.K. Chatterjee, a colleague at IMT Nagpur, led the placement team successfully when I was Director. Before him, Harsh Halve was also successful at it. Both motivated a team of people too.

Narayani Ramachandran, a colleague at NMIMS Bangalore, had a way with students, pushing them to do things beyond their usual capabilities.

Pritam Singh, my boss at IIM Lucknow long ago, had a way of recruiting faculty, convincing companies to do training programs, and so on.

Startups- Shatakshi Tripathi started Confused Genius- a digital marketing company, and sold it too, successfully navigating the COVID years through remote working employees. Natasha Kothari, a friend I met recently, does this at Studio Ungap, which she started roughly 5 years ago, as a Digital Marketing outfit in Mumbai. Divya Singh also did this with a firm called Cyclitics, still running successfully at Gurgaon. And a couple of them, like Swati Sinha and Aditi Atre, sell stuff like handloom sarees, art etc. Aditi Gupta does the same abroad, through Abhivyakti.

Names I Have Encountered

Of course, there is a big range, so let me take a look, alphabetically.

A - Ananya, Aditi, Anchal, Arpit, Arpita, Ankit, Ankita, Abha, Anne, Annie, Aashish, Alisha

B- Bindu, Bhuvneet, Bhavana, Bhagya, Bibhuti

C- Chitra, Chitrangi,

D- Dilip, Devapriya

E- Elango, Eeshita

F- Frane, Fanni (Chinese)

G- Garima, Girish

H- Hamir, Himanshu

I- Ishita, Indira, Ishan,

J- Jayashree, Juhee, Jaya, Jogeswari

K- Kiran, Kanika, Karnika, Kulbir

L- Lubna, Lakshmi, Laura, Lionel, Leslie (USA)

M- Mohan, Mohini, Meghana, Manasa, Marla, Melinda (USA), Masoud (Irani)

N- Neeti, Narayan, Nishka, Nidhi, Natasha

O- Omana, Om, Oormila

P- Pratima, Padmapriya, Prachi, Pooja,

Q- Quentin, the film director

R- Rimjhim, Rajan, Rajni, Ramakrishna, Rajhans, Ruminder, Ron

S- Sita, Samudrika, Smita, Shraddha, Sohni, Shruti, Shankar, Sujit

T- Tosha, Tanmeet, Tarika, Tanaya, Tanya,

U-Uday, Urmi, Upasana, Usha

V- Vandana, Vishwanath, Viral, Venkat, Vaishali

X- Xavier

Y- Yapin (Chinese), Yagnesh, Yogesh, Yugmala

Z- Zenitha, Zahabiah

Grey versus Black

In my Black hair days,...

I played cricket. Now, I play Golf.

I went jogging. Now, I walk.

I ate Biryani and had Irani chai. Ditto now.

I had immature friends, like me. Now, I have smart ones, like me.

I was listening to music, and I still do. Karaoke-sing too.

I drove a lot, especially abroad in the U.S. Now, I don't.

Used public transport. Still do.

Wrote letters by hand. Now I message on Fb and Whatsapp.

Sat in a lot of classes. Then, the tables turned, and I taught a lot of classes.

Was a son. Now, I have two daughters.

Had a sense of humour. Hope I still do.

Gourmet Meals versus Biryani

Gourmet Meals are

Expensive

Hard to find

Not Filling- small portions

You may or may not like it- many variables

Looks good

Biryani

May not be as expensive

Is filling

Easier to find

I like it, mostly

Looks are not everything

My Likes and Dislikes

I never tried making a list, but let me try.

Likes

Food, friends (students included), Thumsup (sorry, not the last.. just came from their ad)

Travel (now, flights are not exactly a favourite.. they take too much time pre- and post)

Moderate temperatures, except the chai- I like that hot!

Puns

Single Malts, especially peaty, smoky ones

Music- Kishore Kumar, in particular. Radio, as a medium to listen to them..without ads, preferably.

Facebook

Dislikes

Politics..most kinds

Noise.. high decibel, even more.

Winter.. unless I can hibernate under a heavy quilt.

Government offices, Visa processes etc..

Phoney research

Instagram

Sahir Ludhianvi- His Life and Times

He was known for some wonderful lyrics in Hindi films ranging from Abhi na jao chhod kar in Hum Dono to Kabhi Kabhie mere dil mein, and many more in between. His was a long struggle, supported by his mother and few others. How he tried hard to break in after participating in the freedom struggle pre 1947, and being labelled a commie and being persecuted, is a long and interesting story.

Brought to life by Danish Husain and his team at WOPA, who staged a musical play called 'Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon', after one of his songs. With a unique style of presentation, alternating between his songs being sung on stage, and he himself narrating pieces of autobiographical tidbits, it was a delight for the senses.

The team, wih Vrinda, Sreejoni etc. singing and also narrating in third person, in a conversational style, the effect was magical. How he fought for the rights of lyricists to be acknowledged in credits on radio and paid well in films, is a part of the story.

Guru Dutt's film Pyaasa brought him his first recognition in films, and he went on to do some awesome song writing. My only regret is that the show left out two of my favourite films.. Humraaz and Gumraah, where I thought he wrote some brilliant songs. Chalo ek baar phir se is a favourite from Gumraah.

A bonus? Co-writer of the play, Mir Ali Husain, was a junior of mine at Osmania and IIMB.

Turkish Serial

I happened to watch completely a serial with 164 episodes! Originally Turkish, with subtitles, though a few words seemed familiar as we have derivatives in Urdu/Hindi.

The actors were very good, so was the characterisation. That helped me when I thought of giving up. The plot was OK, but got a bit repetitive. The major themes were love and betrayal, with an Al Capone type villain who controls almost everything, killing people at will and corrupting everyone who is willing.

Love triumphs, of course, like in Indian movies, but after several tribulations, and ups and downs-even though the hero is a police officer in Istanbul.

Some good acting, and scenic views of the Bosphorus- the heroine is rich- also helped. Black Money Love is the serial, on Netflix, if you are wondering..

Winters and I

I hate winters, in general. The worst ones I remember were at Delhi and Lucknow, during my stay there. I barely survived.

But good things can happen in winter too. You can snuggle under your quilt, endlessly drink cups of spiced tea, or brandy to keep the cold away, have New Year/Christmas parties, or sit and brood- not necessarily a good thing, depends on what you brood about.

You can always go to places that have no winters- like Chennai, Mumbai, or any coastal places.

Snow is good from a distance, if you are warm and cozy.

Meeting Old Friends

This time, it was a colleague of my wife's, and her husband. They had taught in a school in Bangalore, many years ago. He worked at Bosch, and is retired. We went to their place for a delhicious lunch! It was actually in Gurgaon, but that's almost Delhi. We escaped from Delhi before the pollution levels hit the record levels that it is famous for.

Mr. Ramesh and Mrs. Madhu Mathur, who hosted us at home for lunch.

Meeting Annie and AJ

There were a few good friends we had at Greenwood, South Carolina, USA. Annie and Samrendra Singh were a couple we grew fond of in the two years we spent there. Samren was a colleague at Lander College where I taught, though in a different department. We hung around with them and sons Eric and AJ quite a bit, enjoying a few drinks and the company.

We left in 1991, to return to India. Since then, Samren passed away a year ago or so, and the kids were grown up. It was thus great to see both Annie Singh and AJ at Delhi last week. Just like we had met yesterday! Here are some pics!

The last one is of our Greenwood days, with AJ being on the couch with his dad!

Peanuts

A few years ago, I had an attack of Gout- used to be known as a Rich Man's disease at one time. Rich food with no exercise caused it, I assume. Anyway, I looked it up, and treated it for temporary relief. It lasts 3-4 days an is painful in the toes and makes it tough to walk.

The few things to do, included eating more nuts. I tried this, and worked well.. the humble peanut is good, so is akhrod. So I set about consciously eating peanuts. Easy to do if you also have a drink ..

And also, drink a lot of water and eat citrus fruits. And avoid seafood, in my case.

I found a brand of salted peanuts at Indore, and became a loyal consumer. It was a local brand, just like another local brand I found in Bangalore's J.P. Nagar earlier. Found these better than Haldiram's, and fresher too.

The point is, I am nuts about some nuts..get it?

Being a Thought Leader - A Guide

How do you become a thought leader? It's easy. Follow these 5 important steps.

1. Have thoughts

2. Make sure no one else has the same thoughts.. mind control.

3. If you are a leader already, you have nothing to worry about.

4. If you are not a leader, find followers.

5. Call yourself a thought leader, in all your intros. Express yourself widely, on social media, particularly the 'professional' social media.

You are done.

A Trip Through the Clouds

You don't have to be in a plane to be among the clouds. These pics from a train journey between Indore and Pune (On October 22nd, 2024, early morning) via Khandala prove this-

Time to Say Goodbye

As usual, the feelings are mixed. This time, it's not a new job I am leaving for, but a transition of a kind. But stepping down from a full-time role for now. Heading Prestige University as a founding VC has been an adventure, with multiple challenges. The location, Indore, is not top-of-the-mind for outsiders looking for a good education.

Faculty are always a challenge, whether you are at an IIM or any other B school (we started with a management dept.), and the fight for good faculty will continue. Infrastructure, luckily, wasn't a big challenge, as we have an award-winning building (for its architecture, by Sanjay Puri and co.) which is almost done. Only the student and faculty housing remain.

Marketing, someone has said, has to be the mainstay of any business. So we tried participating in student admission fairs at various locations, doing a lot of digital marketing and branding through participating in invited events, and sometimes as guest faculty at other institutes too. All this, along with student activities through Clubs and committees, will pay off. A great placement team also helped.

Our industry connect through guest and visiting faculty has been exemplary, thanks to many of our contacts giving us generously of their time. Past students, classmates and others have helped us tremendously.

Here's hoping for a great future for the students, faculty and staff of Prestige University.

Tata to Ratan Tata

Goodbye to an industrialist who changed India's image globally. We were known within India for various achievements in different sectors, but abroad, only for I.T. Services. Even there Tata group had TCS for many years. But it was really with the Tetley, Corus and Land Rover-Jaguar acquisitions during Ratan Tata's time that we arrived on the global stage.

He also consolidated the group by reducing the power of Russi Mody and a couple of other strong and independent-minded heads of various Tata companies. Also, appointed Chandrasekaran of TCS as a chairman following a spat with Cyrus Mistry who was earlier chosen Chairman.

He was also known for philanthropy, and some good human qualities. I never got to see him in person, unlike Mr. Premji, Mr. Ambani or Mr. Sunil Mittal (they came for our convocations at IMT Nagpur), but know enough to think he was good for our country, though he came up the hard way from being in charge of a dead company, NELCO, which made radios.

Gifts I Liked

The best gifts are visits in person, of course. That I got from old friend Shweta Kushal, on my birthday eve! We had a blast, and visited Dopamine for some yummy food too.

The other great gifts, apart from wishes in hundreds, were pics of me with the wisher.. Sheetal Garg had one of ours at Prithvi Theatre, from a couple of years ago, and Meghana Khadilkar, likewise. Ananya Nandi De posted one of ours from a Delhi meeting too.

A surprise was a wish from Manuja Seth of NMIMS Bangalore. She had emceed our online convocation.

Enjoyed hearing from friends in Harihar too, on the occasion. And of course, my bookworm and ghost writer friends were at the forefront.

Two more visitors who made it special, were Ishita Modi, ex-IMT and Harish Chaudhry of IIT Delhi, a former classmate from MBA days. Ishita gifted me a Golf ball inscribed with her company name!

We also had a cake cutting at Prestige University, thanks to Divya and faculty colleagues.

Lots of relatives on Whatsapp too. Had a video call with my daughters too, which was nice.

64th Birthday Wishlist

Actually, there's no wishlist - just a few thoughts. More of a throwback.

I was born in 1960, which was a very different time. Rationing was in force, for sugar, cooking oil (Dalda) and a few other things- sometimes Rice and stuff. Radio ruled (still does in my life), TV did not exist in India.

Cricket was a gentleman's game, still played in Whites with a Red ball. We went to school, of which I remember only some kind nuns in the first few years, and a couple of classmates. Boarding school was different, and I remember the tough schedule, starting with P.T. at 6 am every day.

College is a blur, except the Hindi and Telugu films we saw in Hyderabad, and a mess-Ramaiah- we ate at on Sunday evenings coz our hostel mess took a break. Food at our mess was bad. But we survived. Chai and bun omelette at Hilton (Irani, not that one) was a luxury we enjoyed sometimes.

CAT happened, and then IIM Bangalore. That gave some direction to work life, as there was campus placement. An ad agency and a marketing research agency later, I headed for a Ph.D. to Clemson University, South Carolina.

It has been an adventure (starting with an Ad Venture where I worked) in teaching since 1989, full time. And then, admin. here and there, including PES, IMT, IFIM, and NMIMS and Prestige University now. As I prepare to say goodbye to this role soon, it's been a satisfactory run, as Nero Wolfe would say.

Don't have a specific wishlist. I have grown up, maybe?

My Fling With Netflix

I used to watch a French channel on TV during COVID. TV 5 Monde, which had a few good murder mysteries of films each evening. That was when except for news about COVID restrictions, TV shows were unappealing.

Later, I turned to Netflix for the same reason. Better choice of content compared to TV. I have now watched a few films, and series from around the world. Monk is my favourite, about a detective from San Francisco. A few good series from Mexico, and South America, and one or two from Spain.

I don't venture into recommending any, because tastes differ, and you may want to watch things very different from what I like.

But there is a lot of content available, so check it out. Not familiar with other OTT platforms yet.