Colony Life in the 70s

 I grew up in the colonies of Singareni Collieries in Andhra Pradesh, where my parents worked for 30 years. It was smeared with coal dust, and lots of great memories.

We had free coal supplied to homes, and therefore stoves that used coal supplemented gas stoves or electric ones- electricity was subsidised, as the company had its own plant to generate it!

We had clubs, where we played TT, Badminton, and swam. Tennis, usually the elders played. We also met friends, watched elders playing Bridge, and participated in the many events organised by the Club- parties, picnics etc. 

A sophisticated cosmopolitan crowd of people from all over India was around us- and some still keep in touch. Recently met Archana Singh, after several decades. Have met the Ahujas, Talpallikars, Kaushiks and Mahesh Bhogawar, Vinay and Varsha Nadkarni, over the years. 

Fun times, with vacations being a highlight. Subodh, Manoj Bhide and my brother and me played Bridge non-stop and took river walks in the blazing Sun, during vacations. Also watched films in the Club on 16 mm. projectors..

Reflections From Academia

 Just as corporates have their learnings from the company they keep (or the company that keeps them), academics have our own.

When can one call an academic successful? When he publishes a huge amount of papers? When he earns a lot? 

Practically, I would say, in order of ranks 1 to many, these could measure his success-

1. Touching lives of students in some way- inspiring them or showing them the path to self-discovery.

2. Treating the students with respect- lots of teachers fail on this count.

3. Blending practice with theory or concepts in the same course, in a trimester or a semester.

4. Doing contemporary projects with or without industry cooperation. Case writing could be one kind.

5. Bringing his/her experiences into the class. Therefore, getting those experiences too..

6. Using innovative learning methods, experimenting with many.

Marketing and Sales 101

 It's actually One on One, but also 101, as it's elementary stuff.

We have been observing it since we were kids. The sethji who sold us the annual wardrobe in raw unstitched form always smiled, and after showing us reams of the stuff, said, Aapko purani rate se deta hai (will give it to you at the old-and lesser- price). We fell for it.

The kirana was from Jeetmal Moolchand, a Marwari businessman in deep Andhra Pradesh. Again, knew his business. Went through a long list made by Mom meticulously, and kept us engaged through the long process of packing.

Single-window processing. I once bought a Subaru in the U.S., second hand from a dealer, with a loan too. Was amazed, I just sat in a chair, signing papers and he took care of everything- loan included- in around 30 minutes using a fax machine and a phone. This was pre-internet! Probably my best experience as a customer till date, except on Jet Airways a couple of times, and Air India once. And Sri Lankan Air once.

One to one is easy, actually, if you know the basics of human interaction- give importance, smile, and say sorry if something goes wrong. Scaling this up is a different thing, when you have thousands of customers- one reason Indigo goes wrong, maybe. And banks and credit card companies.

How to Build Your Presence on Social Media

 These are learnings over about 10-12 years, because I am no social media guru.

Be yourself most of the time. Intellectual, argumentative, funny, sarcastic, innocent, curious, engaging, or some combination.

Use visuals wherever the medium lets you. 

Be original, and don't rely on forwards alone. Though forwards also help you establish an identity. Caption forwards too..

Comment on your friends' posts, rather than only liking them.

Use the medium regularly, so people can track you and know you better. 

Explain more. Where you were, what you were up to, or what the occasion was.. memories are shorter than you think.

Edit photos to make them more attractive, without losing their essence.

Goa Photo Shoot- 2025 January

 Photos by Dash. Location- a beach in Goa.

A Reunion- the 40th

 We finished our MBA in 1984. So our 40th year after was 2024. We pushed it to January 2025 for the celebration in Goa. We enjoyed meeting around 40-42 colleagues and spouses who added spice to the proceedings. One spouse, Anu Venkitaraman, took up the responsibilty of taking group pics of various groups during the event. Some representative pics-

Anu and husband Ravi Venkitaraman. Above. Various groups elsewhere.

Lessons of Life

 These are triggered by a reunion of friends from approx. 40 years ago. 

The lessons-

1. We age. Some like Whisky or wine, some like beer.

2. Some of us are driven, and some let go.

3. Talent lives on.

4. You can't argue and win any argument about intangibles.

5. Warmth is a human trait to be cherished. Coldplay, not so.

Also, Kids don't listen, whether you are in India or abroad.

Paul John Distillery Visit

 Just went on a tour of the distillery in Cuncolim, Goa. Amazing! It's a beautiful visitor centre, and our our guides.. two young men and a young lady- were very good.

Asmita took us around the distillery, and showed us what appears to be a simple process of making great whisky. Obviously, it's not so simple! We enjoyed learning about the process, that begins with Barley being converted to beer, and then distilled to make Whisky.

Bourbon casks, for aging

Some products.. there's also an XO Brandy, and Fireball -a cinnamon whisky.

Roulette is also their brand.. 

Asmita, who did a great job explaining the process..

Copper stills, above.

The Peat coms from Scotland, Barley from the Himalayan plains, and water is local. Yeast is also a special variety of Brewer's yeast. Tasted one sip from an in-process 61% alcohol beaker too. 

3 years aging in India is equal to roughly 7 in Scotland, due to the heat. And losses due to evaporation are bigger here. Our malts may not carry an age statement for those reasons, but they are good!

Malts I have Tried

 Glen Grant, Aberfeldy, Singleton, Glenfiddich, The Glenlivet, Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Smokehead, Ardbeg, Balvenie, Caol Ila, Dalmore, Jura, Dalwhinnie, Talisker, Old Pulteney, Loch Lomond, Ledaig, Glenmorangie, Kilchoman, Bowmore, Ardmore  among the Scottish ones.

Indri, Amrut, Paul John, Kadamba, Rampur, Kadamba and a couple more of Indian ones.

Yet to taste the Japanese Malts.

Pics From MBA

 I have a few good pics from our days at IIM Bangalore. Actually, for our Yearbook, I had shot block-wise group photos of all the floors in the hostel. Most of these are available, and take us on a nostalgic journey.

From the tank. And groups..

Alibag, where we stayed at a Grindlays cottage.

My room with a view, and the Tank.

Activities

 I have attended conferences, and organised a few.

I went to a few conferences abroad with Jayasimha, my colleague at IIM Indore. These were in Japan (Beppu), Cambodia (Phnom Penh), Vietnam (Hanoi), Sri Lanka (Colombo). 

Organised a few at IIMK, from IMT Nagpur at Goa. The latter, 4 editions, with Harsh Halve as a collaborator. Tripti Shrivastav assisted in the first, as an RA.

Music group - attended two physical meets at Hyderabad and Bangalore. Smaller meets at Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore.

Parties with friends all over. Bangalore with Anshita and gang, Savitha, Vandana, Anushka, Divya Sisodiya, Bharath Shenoy, Mumbai with Meghna Sinha, Meghana Joshi, Tosha Dubey and Abha, Sirisha and Khyati, Sheetal, Swati Jain, Kedar Muley and Ravi Mittal, Pune with Meghana Khadilkar, Harshad Lunavat, Pushpinder, Anusha Soni, Delhi with Prachi Jain, Abha, Ananya Nandi Dey, Nikita Kumar/Ray, Shruti and Aditya Naag, Jaya Dulani Sardana, Padmapriya, Shweta Agarwal, Sharmishtha Singh and Sunil Kataria, Hyderabad with Jogeswari, Indore with Neeti, Pratishtha and Akansh...

Groups of classmates in Bangalore, and Hyderabad and now, Goa next week. Bangalore with Veronica, Kolkata with Dash, Shakti and Sudeshna (missed Roopsha).

Bhagyalakshmi and Shraddha Nigdikar at Mumbai, Faculty colleagues at Nagpur and Bangalore and Chennai and Coimbatore too, apart from Golf at Kodaikanal Munnar and Wellington. 

Golf at ASC with Dr. V, and with Venu at Hyderabad. Also with Muthu at KGA, and Sunil at Hubli. Belgaum wth Sadanand, Pattaya with lots of people led by Golftripz, ..

Weddings- Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Mumbai were the latest in a long list. Aditi Prabhakar in Bangalore where I took some good pics. At homes of friends, in Delhi IIT, Chennai, Bangalore, and other places. 

The Role of Jargon

 Jargon makes the world go around, Your Honour. Or so it would seem. Lawyer/court jargon, management/corporate jargon, Medical jargon, and so on.

A friend at IIM had constructed a matrix for generating management jargon. He created three columns, with complex words in each stack. Random mixing of any three- one from each column- generated a new term. Instant Jargon Generator was the name he gave it. It was great fun!

Maybe jargon is a shortcut for communicating with people in the same field, but it also leaves others mystified, most of the time. 

I learnt some law jargon by reading Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason series. Habeas Corpus, for example.. Mandamus or something similar too.. anyway, I rest my case. You go figure if it helps, or hinders ..

Sangeet Manapmaan - Film Review

 A classic being remade into a film. A new trend in Marathi films. Commendable attempt, good to view on the big screen. Though it reminded me of Bahubali, with a fighter leading lady - without over-the-top special effects. 

Subodh Bhave does a good job as the outsider who wins the heart of the Army commander and later, his daughter. Vaidehi Parshurami, as the daughter Bhamini, is equally good. (Balgandharva played her, in the original play, 100 years ago). Sumeet Raghavan as the kaba mein haddi, is competent. Others too.

Music is very good, and a strong point- though it stretches the length of the film. Worth watching is my view.

I am a Fan of...

 Mostly, non-celebrities, with a few exceptions.

People who have no airs.

Those that have interests in interesting stuff- books, films, plays, music, painting, writing..

Those who express themselves freely on any subject.

Those who like to travel, and are willing to discuss or share the experience.

Those who don't care about the age (mine) or number of years between meetings.

Have been meeting such people now for a few years, and have a Mutual Admiration Society going with most..

Jilabi- Marathi film review

Swapnil Joshi and the rest of the cast - Prasad Oak, Parna Pethe .. nails it, in this suspense film, with a super cop and a villain who is tough to figure out. Enjoyed every moment. Has a taut screenplay, with action as its watchword. 

A cop is tasked with solving a murder in a business family, and what he unravels is much more than he bargained for.

Rarely do Indian films do well in this genre. Also, no frills such as songs, so the story is king. A good decision, like in Ittefaq, many years ago.

The twists in the story keep you hooked. A good thing in themes of this type, with intrigue. Jilabi (jalebi) is an apt name too.

Nothing Like Lear- Review of the Play

 Rajat Kapoor has directed Vinay Pathak in this solo act, which was staged at Pune recently. I caught it, and was pleasantly surprised to see the Director greeting us at the exit. Shook hands, and told him it was very good. You may recognise the names as actors from Bheja Fry, a few years ago.

This was delightful, and covered a lot of ground. Interactive, with a few jokes directed at the interactive audience as well. Pathos, comedy, tragedy, and great solo acting, in a clown's costume. Reminded me of Mera Naam Joker. 

Holding people for more than 90 minutes itself is huge, in my view. I have seen Naseeruddin Shah and Arundhati Nag do it, so it's not impossible, but it's tough.

The accent he used is typical Bambaiya, with a touch of the Bandra crowd, which the Mumbai crowd will identify with. But a must-watch for theatre lovers.

Meeting an Ex Student

 Usually, I am not very talkative. But in the right company, I can hold a long conversation. Happened again in the company of my friend Swati Jain, ex-IMT Nagpur. Met and discussed all topics under the Sun that one can, our lives, and work included. Sherlock Holmes and Korean serials were some that I remember. Her batchmates including her roomie Aditi Atre too, and others like Ishita Modi, Pushpinder, Jaya Dulani Sardana and others. And Dance classes, Palmistry, Astrology, Goa trips, Bhopal (she's from there), Alumni meets, Professors of Finance, Jain food etc.. This was only our second meeting, but did not feel that way..

Sankranti Outing

 With Prestige University colleagues at Shreemaya. Celebrated with great food and conversation-