In Search of Paradise

 A view of the Kishore Kumar Memorial, from a distance, and a close-up. Really happy we made the trip that we have been meaning to for a long time..his voice often seems divine.

 In case you were planning to visit it, we have our Paradise right here on earth.. proof above. And close to it, not geographically though, is Indore's own version, where Mamaji serves you chai and poha.

 And to top it, is the place which has architecturally been an inspiration to some of IIM Indore's structures- Hindola Mahal at Mandu (below).

Pondering in Pondicherry

 Me and the tree-in the Botanical gardens, Pondicherry.

 ..and going nuts with a Coconut in hand...worth many on the tree.

 He looks forward to the destination. You'll know why.

 Selfie attempted, and taken.

 A tree house and a car parked in front...wooden, of course.

This is why. We went to Paradise and lived to tell the tale.

Balle Balle in Bali

Templing at Bali. Their temples have gates that are open at the top- so that God has greater access to you and vice-versa.
The word vice has a very odd way of turning up everywhere, from vice-president to Vice Commission, by the way. Vice-chancellor too. Reminds me of an old joke. What is the vice of the vice admiral? The rear of the rear admiral.
Anyway, Bali is a paradise on earth, and I recommend putting it on your bucket list, pronto. Notice the thatched roofs in the second pic. That gives the temples a great unique look. The third is the temple called Tanah Lot.

Hyderabad Blues

Actually, there aren't any blues, just that the title sounds catchy, coming as it does from a popular debut movie made by Nagesh Kukunoor, a Hyderabadi with a stint in the U.S.

We were celebrating our annual IMT alumni meet as we do every year, and this was at The Green park hotel. A good number of our alums work here, in companies such as Ramco, Deloitte, ICICI Bank, Asian paints, Dr. Reddy's Labs and so on. Some are venturing out on their own too. It was a pleasure talking to some of the young minds and trying to understand their views about life and career. And get some feedback on how to do things better back home.

About five of us faculty from IMT Nagpur came here for the meet, and made the necessary pilgrimage to Paradise restaurant for the mandatory Biryani and kababs. They tasted wonderful as ever. As if to welcome us, the skies opened up in the evening too, bringing us some coolness- not that we lacked in it ourselves (ha, ha).

The next two weekends will see us in Delhi and Mumbai meeting even larger numbers of alumni, rounding off the five chapter meets. IIMB seems to be doing what we are too, and they call it Anusmaran. Cheers to more meetings of the minds. This is even better than the IPL.

With Love to Russia

There was a James Bond movie titled From Russia with Love. I took the title and twisted it a little, but primarily, this is to express my surprise (pleasant one, of course) at the readership from Russia (for this blog) crossing the readership in India and that from the U.S. for the current week.

Not very clear about why this happened, but I am quite happy about the fact that it has happened in unexpected quarters. I only knew Raj Kapoor's films were popular in Russia some time ago.

Visiting Hyderabad on some work, met two alumni of early batches of KIAMS for a long chat. One of them had helped write a case about her company called Golftripz, which pioneered Golf tours for Indians wanting to play abroad. Hoping to eat some authentic Hyderabadi biryani as I am in close proximity to one of its major purveyors, Paradise restaurant.