Many years ago,, Honda ran an ad- You meet the nicest people on a Honda.. I think for its 2 wheelers launch in the U.S., before the 4 wheelers went there.
So where do I meet the nicest people? Workplaces, obviously. Students, staff, colleagues from all places I worked in.. MBA the research firm, New Horizons the ad agency, Lander, Clemson, in the U.S., XIM, VJIM, KIAMS, IIML, IIMK, IIM Indore, PESIT, IFIM, IMT Nagpur, IMT Ghaziabad, NMIMS Bangalore, Prestige University Indore, and JIS University Kolkata (current employer in 2025).
Besides, I met people online, or through other people, in many cases. Students I did not teach, or taught Golf to, became good friends. A bunch of Ph.D. students at IIM Indore from non-Marketing areas is a case in point. We just met, and gelled well enough to have had a couple of parties in Indore and in Delhi, Kolkata. Thanks mainly to Prachi Jain, my Golf student, and Finance prof. now. Pratishtha Batra, Neeti Ingole, Vartika Varyani, Akansh Khandelwal are some other members of this wild bunch, now spread across the world. We shared pizza with a 'secret sauce' and more!
I met Sanjana Rao first through a play that she acted in, directed by Shweta Kushal. Later, she was in my class and we formed a Mutual Admiration Society-went to her wedding too! Manjari Mundanad, whom I met in Ahmedabad, and went to her place too. She's an NRI now. Abha, who I first met at her wedding, and is a fast friend now. Divya Singh, whom I met at Vashi, Pune and then at Sikanadarpur in her office. Nikita Kumar/Ray, at Hyderabad, Pune and Delhi, multiple times. Ananya Nandi De, whose place I have visited twice. Rimjhim Verma, daughter of a friend from a music group, who now teaches dance. Gowri, whom I have met in Bangalore. Rupam, Anshita, Aashish and Anusha too. Bharath Shenoy, after IFIM days.. Ishita Modi, many times. Pratima Gaikwad, in Hyderabad at home and in Biryani joints. Nidhi Kanungo, NRI, in Lucknow, and Indore, after Harihar. Saumyaa Sharma, my former assistant, in Bangalore and Indore. Swati Jain and Nishka Rathi in Mumbai. Sheetal Garg too. Vidya and Swapna In Singapore, and Smita Mohan in Dubai. Dheeraj in Chennai.
Moral of this story? You can meet nice people almost anywhere.. and that's really nice!
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