Industries That I am Helping Sustain

 First is social media. Facebook in particular. If not for me and some of my friends, Instagram would have taken over the world, and FB would have shut down.

Scotch labels from Scotland. The malts I consume are 50-60% Scottish, helping their industry thrive. Glenlivet, Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Caol Ila, and occasionally others like Glenmorangie, Lagavulin etc. 

Indian makers of Single Malts like Amrut and Paul John. 

Pan masala makers - rather, the ones who make those that taste like real pan. Also, one masala supari from Satara called Bhave supari.

Golf ball makers, by losing balls regularly, whenever I play Golf. 

The airline industry, by taking unnecessary flights.

The tourism sector, by taking unnecessary vacations. 

The restaurants wherever I live.

Bookstores, likewise.

After Anna Hazare, I think I am the most socially useful guy alive.

Whisky, Wine and Cognac

 Drinks are much-maligned, but they have a few pluses too.

They loosen inhibitions, among those who may otherwise be tongue-tied. Up to a point, this is good.

They are a conversation opener. I have unexpectedly found Single Malt or wine enthusiasts while talking about these.

I also think appreciating a good drink or making one, like a cocktail, is an art, like any other.

My current interests are Single Malts and Cognac. Wines, beer and cocktails, occasionally.

Had a master class on Malts in person from Krishna Nukala in 2018, at Hyderabad. He's a Malt Maniac, part of a worldwide group.

Recently, started following Sonal Holland, a Wine Master. Thanks to Prabhakar, a friend, I have tasted many great wines from around the world.

Cheers, to those who drink responsibly, and enjoy their drink.

Delightful Drinks

 I have been experimenting with drinks all my life. In Calicut, my friend Ravi and I tried out innovative cocktails with local ingredients. Here's a recent pic with him in Bangalore. (Jan. 2022)

Anyway, here are a few recent trials. From red wine to Tequila, many types ... 

A favourite red, not expensive either. By Fratelli, Solapur.

Medicine for a cold day, above, and legendary stuff, below..

A special one named after a new-born nephew, Khayal, sent by his parents.

A favourite Single Malt.

Of course, Amrut -Peated is a current favourite malt made in India. I like the peated ones with the charcoal flavour, maybe coz I grew up in the Andhra Coal-mining belt. 

Highlights of 2010-2020

 Highlights of the Last 10 Years

2009-2010- Started blogging. Read the book Zorba The Greek. Revival of Osmania engineering batch meets. Joined IMT Nagpur, made new friends among faculty, staff and students. (Hundreds are still in touch, from there on till today, including those who went on strike 😊 )

2011- Met a few engineering classmates at Delhi’s Air Force Golf Club, IMT alumni meets in multiple cities, for the first time. Mr. Sunil Mittal at first convocation done independently at Nagpur (was with Ghaziabad before this). One helicopter landed at IMT grounds.

2012- Blog crossed 25,000 views, met Mr. Mukesh Ambani (IMT Nagpur convocation), Two choppers landed at IMT. Discovered an elixir-Amrut Single Malt, made in namma Bengaluru! Alumni meets, Goa Case conference continued.

2013- Formed a couple of Mutual Admiration Societies..and they kept growing, lots of them with students of mine. Crossed 50,000 views of my blog, met Mr. Azim Premji (convo again), family vacation to Thailand, including a boat ride in the Chao Phraya. Faculty outing at Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat. But the highlight was meeting my marketing prof. from IIMB, JD Singh, with friends at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Delhi.

2014- Joining IIM Indore and making new friends (actually joined in Dec. 2013), Started teaching a new course-Digital Marketing, Discovered Mandu- my favourite destination for a Day visit, blog crossed 200,000 views. Saw Daawat-e-ishq, set in Lucknow and Hyderabad, among great biryanis. 30-year alumni meet at IIMB.

2015- Trip to Jaisalmer and Chittaurgarh by road, a trip to Beppu with skinny-dipping in hot spring baths or Onsen. Started Golf on Indore IIM’s cricket ground, Kishore Kumar Nite in Mumbai with Sudesh Bhosle doing KK.

2016 -Bid farewell to Saumyaa, my Acad. Assistant, one of the best (we are in touch still), played Golf at Wellington and Ooty (getting my second Hole-in-one too), Went to Angkor Wat and Phnom Penh finally!

2017- Hridaynath Mangeshkar live in concert at Pune.

2018- Visited Kishore Kumar’s Khandwa Memorial, with ex-roomie Anil Lahoti. Also Kancheepuram and its amazing temples with Vijayakumar and my brother who was visiting. Wedding in the Nargundkar family at Hyderabad-bringing many of the rare species together. Met Krishna Nukala, a Malt Maniac from India (the only one from India) thanks to Hari, and tasted 15 different Single Malt whiskeys in a day! Red-letter day!! Went to Hanoi, Vietnam – Ha Long Bay cruise and Temple of Literature dedicated to Confucius in Hanoi were highlights. Discovered there was a street named Hang Bong in Hanoi!

2019-early 2020 before COVID struck: Alumni meetings at Bangalore (Anshita and gang, Savitha, Anushka), Delhi (Sunil and Sharmistha), Ahmedabad (Ishan, Keyur, Manjari, Punyashlok), Mumbai (THE gang- Abha, Tosha, Siri, Anuj and another bigger IMTN party (with Abhinav Kamal, Garima, Dwipa, Divya Pragati the camera-girl) and then Sheetal and Abha again at the Koyla overlooking the Taj), Delhi (Bhuvneet Raheja, Surbhi Mehta Chadha, Kanika Mhendiratta, Pranksters Shruti/Aditya/ Nikita), Pune (Divya Singh, Neha Adiga), Wedding at Prabhakar’s house (his daughter’s). Met a childhood friend Kiran Kenjale who visited from L.A. Some alums visited Indore, like Anam, Harshad Sachani, Arshia, Ritu, Sapna Patni and Ruminder. Visited Pulicat Lake near Chennai with Vijayakumar-boat ride to the sea!

The blog views stand at 700, 000 plus now.

If Today Was My Last Day

If today was my last day as a human avatar, I would (depending on when in the day I knew)-

Drink at least three cups of tea and a glass of Single Malt - tough to choose from, but my current stock would help me narrow it down.

Call and say goodbye to about a dozen people.

Watch a favourite film scene from a film or two- Anand and Padosan, or Chupke Chupke probably.

Read my favourite jokes over again.

Look at the photo albums of the years on the planet.

Write a will (unless the World was also ending-then there would be no need).

Play a round of Golf-I should have settled near a Golf Course by then :)😇

Listen to as many favourite songs as I could in the rest of the time..maybe sing a couple.

Snobbery

Snobbery was a preserve of the elite (read English Lords/Ladies, Royalty, Page 3 crowd) once. Not so today. Anyone can be a snob, due to the democratised universe that we inhabit today.

I tried my hand at it the other day. Someone offered me a drink. I took one look at it, turned my nose up and said, "This is not a single malt." As if I had been born with a silver tap pouring single malts in my mouth.

It had no impact on the guy who had offered me a drink. "Take it or leave it" he said. So I swallowed my pride, and then some.

Then I tried it in a conversation about sports the other day. Cricket, as usual, threatened to dominate the conversation, so I saw an opportunity arising for some snobbery.

I said, "Cricket used to be a gentleman's game, but what with the big money and 'quick-fixes', it is one for the rogues. Golf, on the other hand, remains pristine, a true gentleman's game."

"Oh yes, only, there are a few ladies involved off-course with the gentlemen sometimes," an unpleasant guy in the group retorted. Since the evidence had been all over the newspaper tabloids over a prolonged period, I couldn't stick to my stand and revel in my sports snobbery.

Then I tried the ultimate trump card- country snobbery. I was in a crowd of mixed nationalities, and I tried the age-old trick of talking about age-old achievements of our country in various fields of human knowledge and endeavour.

"We had some great mathematicians, you know, like Aryabhatta, and many down the ages."

The response was swift and unexpected. "Why do you need a great mathematician to compute the single digit growth rate of your GDP today? You are Ok with learning some basic arithmetic, right?"
I was nonplussed, and vowed to come back with some excellent rejoinder to restore the snob's pride of place. I am still thinking...