December 2016-2020 Memories

 Some pictorial memories from December 2016 till Dec 2020.

Gadgil, Saleena and Madhu. Nagpur, lunch

Krishna Nukala's Masterclass on Malts. 

Viren and Laxmi get married, 2018.

Ooty Gymkhana, with Ravi and Subbu

Prachi Jain gifted me this unicorn.. with Pooja in the pic

Pulicat Lake with Vijayakumar, and meeting Kanika Mhendiratta at India Habitat Centre

Rajiv Roy Chowdhary and Sangeeta drop in at NMIMS Bangalore

Pragya Singh and I run into Arvind Joshi at Pagdandi Pune

Mandu, with Anil Lahoti, Satish, Shweta and her nephew

Kancheepuram, with Jayasimha, Vijayakumar and Satish

A Virtual Convocation at NMIMS

 Technically, it's Graduation Day 2020. My first experience of a virtual one, like many firsts in the past year. We should have had the event in April 2020, but that was not possible. Circumstances have forced us to do it virtually. It will be held 23rd January 2021.

This year, it will be a relatively low key affair, but we have a very good Chief Guest whose address the students should look forward to. Mr. Ganesh Shenoy (pic below), has a lot of experience of FMCG or packaged goods industry in companies like Unilever and MTR Foods, where he is currently CFO. The Vice Chancellor Dr. Ramesh Bhat and Registrar will join from Mumbai.

                                           at a meeting with the Chief Guest to invite him (above)

Year 2020- A Wrap

 It started off innocuously enough. In fact I travelled in each of the three month before the thunderbolt hit us. Met a few alumni of IMT Nagpur, in Delhi and Mumbai, and went to a get-together of a music group in March first week, and got to Pune for a weekend, just after finishing my Marketing Research class. Did not realise that I would be stuck there for almost six months.. the lockdown began on 24th March.

There were good and bad things about the year. I met my Mom several times after the lockdown ended, at her place. Other relatives who live close to her too. Celebrated her 91st birthday on August 10, with a Zoom call, where she heard her favourite songs from old films too. But later in November, we lost her to complications from old age. We were happy that she was happy almost till the end, and that many of us were around. 

One of her pics from 2020. Pune.

Taught some Ph.D. courses on Zoom. Got back to IIM Indore campus, and started packing for my new destination- NMIMS (Narsee Monjee) at Bangalore. But also got a chance to train some enthusiastic students (Prachi, Akansh, Anusha and Shantanu) in playing Golf, and made friends with them as a result. So I now have a pal each from Bho-pal, Delhi, Ghaziabad, at least. I also got some lovely parting gifts from them.

Got to Bangalore without a mishap, and Agarwal Packers did their part of the job. Joining an institution where students are not on campus is a new experience, but I have met most faculty and staff in person, and that's a start. 

A couple of nieces, and a couple of ex-students became mothers for the first time, and that was a big plus. Some got married, and others got new jobs and moved.

It was not as horrible as it seemed, at the end. But still, hoping for a better and brighter 2021 for all, like many of you. Some goals for the coming year are to get re-acquainted with Bengaluru hudugas and hudugis (boys and girls), and new (to me) students/alumni of NMIMS. We might do a virtual Convocation/Graduation soon-that'll be a first too.

And yes, I made my first video- on Personal Branding-thanks to a former student, Shailaja Gupta Kapoor, who also kindly lauded me for my courage!

Anopheles and Covid Vaccines

 Anopheles was back once again after a while, and I gave her a quick update on the COVID situation in India and the world. I said, "This has proved more dangerous than anything that mosquitoes have done to us." She couldn't resist a smile. She said, "Aren't you supposed to have a vaccine?"

I told her the truth. basically, that we don't know if and when we would have one. I said, "Oxford has a vaccine coming up that may be the one.." . She said, "What about Cambridge?"

I said I didn't know, though I was wondering how she knew that Oxford and Cambridge were usually spoken about in the same breath.

I told her Sputnik was the first one off the mark, but it went UP in smoke, and has not been heard of since. Also, that China does not need one, since there is no outbreak there any more. She raised her eyebrows (OK, its equivalent..mosquitoes don't have eyebrows, I know). 

"Are you going to take a shot if they want to give you one?" she asked, putting me in a spot.

"I really don't know," I said. "I don't know if enough of them will be available anytime soon. Plus, the data on its efficacy is a bit sketchy." 

Sunrise at IIMI- A Photo Essay

 Here it is..a glorious sunrise, from October 3rd week, 2020. Shot from my terrace in the campus of IIM Indore. Reverse order, look at them from the last to the first.

Adding Colour to My 60 Years

 It has been an eventful journey as I am on the verge of turning 60 on Oct. 7. Just mentioning that I am grateful to friends, family, colleagues of all hues who have added colour to my 60 years on this planet. 

Two pillars of support above, and better half, below.

Kalaivani and her world-beating team..at my place in Indore, and IIMB classmates, below last year.

Below- Fab 5 at IMT faculty reunion party in Nagpur.

Me, in a Vietnamese hat, and below, a Konkan holiday with cousins

The clan at Mom's 88th above, and my in-laws and parents, below.

Last class on Digital Marketing (PhD) at Indore.

Below, a view from Greece (1991).

As a toddler, with my Dad and brother, and two of mine, below.

Some special friends from a music group I joined 5 years ago. This was a Bangalore meetup in early 2020.

My Acquisitions for 2020

People shop for mundane things like shoes, clothes, perfumes, diamonds..I don't. My sights are set high, and you can see why, in the pics below of my latest acquisitions to ring in the year 2020. Particularly, the plane, the decorative pieces, and of course, the staircase. Just like old Hindi films, where the heroine's dad would descend to give her a lecture.

 My secretary's at work at the desk..

 A lake is thrown in free..with the house. Ignore the crocodile.

Overlooking my garden.

 Life's a beach! or a Beech!