Visit to IIM Raipur

 I have been to IIM Raipur a couple of times earlier, for either a Ph.D. viva or a recruitment session. But this time it was to meet graduating doctoral students who might be interested in joining Prestige University. Had a nice discussion with the, explaining our vision for Prestige, and at the same time, meeting old friends and making new ones. Academia has people who are generally easygoing and easy to get along with, with very few exceptions- like Golfers.

Anyway, had a nice time chatting over cups of chai, thanks to Sanjeev Prasher. Met an old colleague, Prof. Kamal Jain also, who is a Dean there. We were at IIM Indore earlier. Some pics from the campus.

Friends, some old some new.. faculty.

Meeting with the Director..

Campus with a lake attached.

A prominent mall'

Another shot of me with faculty..

Foodies in a Lockdown

 Most of us would have learnt to cook by now, if not learnt how home-cooked food tastes. Thanks to the virus going around the world. Here are a few good eats, made right at home, not necessarily by me. Pics are always better than words, esp. when related to food. Drinks have been kept out, so imagine those..

Sabudana vada.

Rava dosa with onion, home-made.

Stuffed brinjal, with roti.

Spiced rice, or masalebhaat.

Sabudana khichadi (above), Pasta in red sauce (below)

Chat, above, and a rounded meal with baingan bhaja..

Taadgola, or Ice apple -above, and Thalipeeth, below.

Rice paper rolls with hot sauce.

Mallu favourite- veg stew, above, and Chinese stir fry, below.

Potato gravy above, a humble omelette below.

Surprises Big and Small

Life throws surprises at us fairly regularly. Here are some that I like-

Finding a good book while browsing at a book store. I still do it the old-fashioned way, and may continue till the last book store on earth operates.

Meeting someone unexpectedly. It's great fun to catch up, and as I have said before, this happens to me with students from various B schools I have taught at- some recent ones that I encountered without warning have been Vishal Tibrewal, Animesh Jain (IMT Nagpur), Jimmy Jain (IIMK), Sowmyashree Gonibeedu (PESIT), Mrunal (PESIT), Bhuvneet Raheja and Sapna Patni (IIM Indore), Viju Varghese, Shreya Sengupta (also from PESIT, different programs), ..and of course, planned ones too, like Anupriya Pandit, Sheetal Garg, Shafique and Pallavi (IMTN), Jogeswari, Savitha, Achint, Vidya and Swapna Gurijala (KIAMS), Ratnashree, Shraddha, Divya Singh, Nikita, Meghna, Manjari, Supriya, all from IMT Nagpur.

This was not a surprise, but surprising-or maybe not. I joined a music group of Hindi film aficionados thanks to a former student, and met a few for the first time, and got along very well.

Every now and then, I get a pleasant surprise in the form of a chat with a Facebook friend, and sometimes it ends up being a long one. Shreyashi (a former student now doing her FPM) is really good at these, among some others.

Comments on fb, and answers to quizzes or general questions. Sometimes unexpected, surprising, amazing etc..Oscar-style acceptance speeches too.. 😄

I listen to the radio a lot, and hearing a favourite song play is a pleasant surprise, which ahppens frequently.

Sometimes, phone calls, but since I don't pick up the cell from unknown numbers,  I effectively prevent some (nasty?) surprises.