Bhagwan Dada- A Most Unlikely Hero

 Not sure I know his full name. He was simply known as Bhagwan Dada. The only film of his that I remember is Albela. More so, the music in this film, by C. Ramchandra. There is a string of great songs, with Shola jo bhadke, dil mera dhadke being an example.

But this is more about him. In an era where heroes were fair, tall, and well built, he was none of these. Portly would describe him as well as a few other adjectives. But he carried himself with such confidence, that you forgot about your expectations of what a 'her' ought to look like. His dance steps were iconic, and copied later by big actors. His chemistry with Geeta Bali, his heroine in Albela, added another dimension to the enjoyment. 

Smiles- A Collection of- Part 2

 Some more smiles from my collection-

Smileys- A Collection of Smiles Part 1

 I am turning into a collector- of Smiles. Not sure if anyone has attempted this before, but I am going to.. 

Vanshika, Shweta, at home.

Anusha Soni, Pune

Ishita, Gowri, Rupam, Anshita and Anusha at Bangalore

Ananya Ghosh, XLRI

Ananya Nandi De, C.P. Delhi

Nikita Ray, C.P. Delhi

Ananya, Abha, C.P. Delhi

Japan

Prachi, Akansh, Pratishtha and Neeti Ingole, Indore

Pratima, Prestige University

Rimjhim, Bangalore Mall

Veronica, bangalore mall

Sunil Gupta, doctor, IIT Delhi

Prachi, Sohni Roy, IIM Indore after a Play

Tanmeet, Alisha at Koramangala, bangalore

Grandmom

Savitha, bangalore

Arushi, Shweta, Sanket and others, IIM Indore

Jayanta, Ilika, Nandini and Roshni, Prestige University Indore

Abha, Tosha, Anuj, and Siri.. Grandmama's cafe

                                                   Deepthi and Deepa, VJIM days, Hyderabad

Books on a Bucket List

 Not mine, but should be on others' lists, because I have read these books/authors already. That was a Googly.

Zorba the Greek

Maverick by Ricardo Semler

Bertrand Russell

J. Krishnamurty

Alice in Wonderland

Wodehouse- almost any book

Pu La Deshpande - if you read Marathi

Bill Bryson -his travelogues

Woody Allen- he writes well too

Comics- Asterix, Tintin, Mandrake, Phantom

Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner, Rex Stout and Arthur Conan Doyle among the stalwarts of whodunits

My Favourite Cocktails

 There aren't many, because I only have cocktails among friends at a party, now. But we experimented at one time, and had a few home made cocktails in Calicut.

Polly's Folly, with Vodka, lime, soda and salt was a favourite. A sliced and de-seeded green chilli is added and left for a couple of minutes, to add some zing. 

Among standard ones, Tequila Sunrise is one I liked. Among the exotic ones, Bahama Mama and Bahama Papa. Remember having the Mama with Kanika Mhendiratta in Delhi recently.

Bloody Mary too, among standard ones. Sometimes, a Gin and Tonic.

Gin and Cointreau also tastes pretty good.

Perks of Life in Academia

 Somebody's post on a Social medium triggered this. What is a job? Salary plus perks. The salary is in cash, and tangible. The rest is in the form of mostly intangible benefits, or perks, if you will. I am talking of higher education, and institutions which are reasonably well known as good employers, private or government. 

The first perk in a good institution is good students. If they interact in a class, do their assignments reasonably well, and so on, it is quite a satisfying outing for the faculty. Doctoral students can perhaps stretch this feeling further, in discussions outside class too.

Autonomy to drive your own interests is another great perk. You can produce some output in terms of case writing, publications, text books or conference papers, depending on your interests and motivation. Institutional support helps, naturally. 

Organising events for the institution or its stakeholders, can be a useful activity with a lot of learning. Alumni meets or short term programs for executives, or for faculty, are some examples. Industry seminars are another avenue to bring about greater interaction and understanding. Tracking internships or getting cases written by students are possibilities.

All in all, a fulfilling career can be built in a good academic institution. The bonus sometimes is a lot of alumni who are still in touch after they have moved out. Some become friends for life!

Book Review- The Last Courtesan

 Inspiring book- the one on the right! Got it at the Kolkata Litfest recently. Heard him-the author too.

The book deals with an unusual subject. Memoirs of a Courtesan, as narrated to her son. Very inspiring, and I won't give away the story and be a spoiler.

Read it if you can. Manish Gaekwad is a journalist/writer. It's his mother's story. And she was a courtesan here in Kolkata, after being a poor shepherdess in Pune who lived in a hut with many siblings and a drunkard father. And raised her son who could write such a book. He got his education in a boarding school in North Bengal. Very tough for many of us to even imagine her travails.

Simple, straightforward, touching.. with some Hindi words, mostly translated.

The other book I got autographed by the author. Still reading it.

From Calicut to Calcutta

 I know it's Kolkata now, but the title needs to match.

I was in Calicut in 2003-2005. We had just moved into the new campus. My interview was held in the old one at NIT Calicut. 

I wrote a book, Services Marketing, and taught that course as well as Marketing Research. We also did a couple of FDPs, on Case Writing and Research Methods. Also organised a conference with Tapan Panda, where we got NASMEI as a partner. Remember publishing a book of conference papers. Met Anita Basalingappa of MICA for the first time. Still in touch with profs. SSS Kumar and Keyoor Purani.

The campus was lovely, but there was no housing, so stayed in Malaparamba. Gave us access to the town, which was a couple of kilometres away. My brother and his son visited from the U.S., as did Jogeswari from Hyderabad, ex-student of KIAMS. Krishna Kumar from IIML took over from Kalro as the director during that time. We did an MDP at Kodaikanal too, for BHEL, I think.

Kolkata happened in 2025. Joined JIS University as one of two Pro Vice Chancellors. A relatively unknown brand, outside West Bengal/Kolkata. I have tried to encourage branding efforts, and now that we are a part of CUET as well, awareness for the brand will grow. A small management department in New Town, but larger depts. like Pharma, Computer Science, Education etc. in Agarpara on the outskirts, and Agriculture even farther at Kalyani.. they need a larger space.

Some great food, and some new friends too... including Ananya Ghosh, a Ph.D. scholar at Xavier University here. And Suhasini Barman, who is known to Manglik, a classmate of mine.. 

Weird Translations of Hindi Film Songs

 These are Hindi film songs, translated into English. We played this game when young and stupid.. ha ha.

1. Ok, I am going. See you again tomorrow.

2. Stop stop stop, stop my dear..

3. Smoke your joint, sorrows get wiped out..

4. Where will you get such a chance again?

5. Today tomorrow our love story is on every tongue..

6. Your dreams and mine are one colour now

7. Two words only, story of the heart..

8. In the window opposite mine, lives a piece of the Moon.

9. A clever woman, after decking up..

10. A wet, wet girl, sleeps at night as if awake..

Wearing Many Hats

 I think it was Edward De Bono who came up with the idea of  wearing 'different hats' to think differently. But I am talking of literal hats- some of the hats I have tried are Vietnamese (my favourite), Baseball cap, Mexican Sombrero, Moroccan Red, and some pagdis (headgear) like in Udaipur, Jodhpur (Rajasthani) and a Mysore Peta and Marathi Pheta. Of course, many Golf caps too.

Many of these are immortalised in pics- hopefully I will find them.

Age and Friends of All Ages

 I am quite amazed that I have friends of all ages. I am 65 as of now (early 2026).

I am able to connect with toddlers I have met without them throwing a fit, mostly. The slightly older kids I can have some conversation with, if they want to have one- I did with a kid about books, recently. Amazing, ain't it?

Of course, twenty-somethings and thirty somethings are usually my students from a faraway time zone, but to their credit, they do talk to me still- both online and offline. Not sure why, but they do. Of course, I try to engage online through DP awards, commenting on their posts, or forwarding memories from the time when everyone was on Facebook. Now, they are divided between FB, Insta and Linkedin, as I am not on X.

Some share success stories of their lives/careers, some just comment regularly with some witty answers to silly questions I pose, etc. And best of all, some make an effort to meet up with me when I suggest it, on a visit to their city. For example, Pratima Gaikwad and I have met several times in Hyderabad now. And Abha in Mumbai and Delhi. And Sheetal too, in Pune and Mumbai.. Shafique in Indore, and Bangalore. You get the drift.

Will also meet two young people, and their spouses in Bangalore soon. 

And that is what makes life beautiful.. in 2026 too, it should.

Long Winter and Flowers

Did not imagine Kolkata would have such a long winter, but it does. Temperatures at night are down to 12-13 for a month now. Anyway, some outings and innings (used for a look in-house) showed  some good sights, and pleasant temperatures in the daytime helped.