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.

Tourism and Goa

 Goa occupies a unique spot in our psyche out here in India. Its tropical beaches stretch for miles, and give you an opportunity to swim or bathe in the sea almost any time of the year, except when it is raining heavily. Very few beaches in the world can compare. 

But more than this, it's an idea. Just the mention of Goa brings a smile to anyone's face. Stories of plans made to go there tumble out, many of which went unfinished. Some who actually made it want to do more of it. I have rarely met a person who does not wish to holiday in Goa, in all these years. It's almost a magical land.

Maybe, at a psychological level, it's a place where you can BE. Try and discover yourself, your limits. Not just the drinking limits, but in forgetting your routines, and immersing yourself-figuratively, in the sea. Enjoying the present, without a care of the past or the future.

Having been there about 8-10 times now, probably more, I can vouch for that feeling. You feel bad when you leave. Viva la Goa!

Madhya Pradesh as a Tourist Destination

 Tigers? We got a few National Parks where they roam.

Religious/spiritual? We have Ujjain, Omkareshwar, Maheshwar.

Waterfall? There's Paataal-pani. 

History? Mandu ticks the boxes.

Fort? There's Gwalior.

Geological history? A less-known aspect, that Dhar district was home to dinosaurs, and has a number of petrified (fossilised, colourful) logs similar to those in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park, USA.

Khajuraho has amazing erotic sculptures, like Konark. And Raneh Falls, a hidden gem nearby. See pic below- 

The river Narmada has many scenic points along its way through M.P. One of these is the Marble Rocks, near Jabalpur in Bhedaghat.

For one state, that's a lot! I once wrote a Case on M.P. Tourism, but that focused on leadership..of the State Tourism Board.

Mandu Once More

 I never get tired of this place- once again, we went there last week. The excuse was that Prarthana was visiting. But it's a place that has great monuments and views. One of the buildings there- Hindola Mahal- inspired the architecture of IIM Indore recently. Proof of how photogenic the area is-

Tourism Taglines

 Befiqar in the Bahamas

Camaraderie in Cambodia

Ecstatic in Ecuador

Moody in Murudeshwar

Renew in New York

Experience Thand in Iceland

Take a turn to Turin

Rome- Thoda sa romani ho jaayen

"Pari"s in Paris

Monday in Monte Carlo

Jiyo, in Rio!

World Class Destinations in India

 I have a long list, but this is a start..

Mandu, M.P.

Konarak, Orissa

Hampi, Karnataka

Belur- Halebid, Karnataka

Ajanta-Ellora, Maharashtra

Ladakh, Ladakh.

Srinagar, Kashmir

Coonoor, Tamilnadu

Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu

Any of the Kerala Backwaters

Tourism Conference at Shillong

 This was supposed to have been last year, but happened online this year. GHTC conference, organised by NEHU, a university in Shillong. Missed out on visiting Shillong, but an interesting mix of papers I heard as a Session Chair. Some glimpses.

A presenter from Amrita University Coimbatore (above)

The two moderators from NEHU, below.

A presenter from Bhutan (above), and another from Tirupati below, top left. There were a couple of international participants too- you can see one below.

Teaching Ph.D. Students

 One of my favourite things in teaching has been the Ph.D. courses. For one, the class is small, usually not more than 3-4 in an elective offered to the area students- marketing, in my case. Second, you are constantly learning from the discussions, re-looking at the best work published around the world- I mostly did Seminar courses on Digital Marketing, Tourism Marketing or Retailing.

Research ideas come out of such interactions, not just for fulfilling course objectives but beyond them. Conference papers, journal papers can follow, sometimes with the students as co-authors. It lays the foundation for their Ph.D. topics, sometimes. Here are a few students of Ph.D. from IIM Indore these last few years..

Wahid, Alisha in 2020.

Aarushi, Shweta, Sanket, Ankita, and Sumit two years ago.

Priyavrat, Shweta, Sanket and Ankita earlier. This was Tourism Marketing.

Corona Virus

Suddenly, it seems as though the end of the world is near. There is a virus named Covid-19 that resembles a cold or flu virus, and is doing the rounds and spreading fast. Did Nostradamus predict this? not sure, but some novel seems to have talked about it, with the precise location-Wuhan-pinpointed.

Tourism and airlines will of course take a big hit, just when we were hoping that 2020 vision will the world soaring to new heights. What can we do? Wring our hands? No, wash our hands -apparently, the best protection from catching the virus..apart from building general immunity.

Remember, there was the AIDS, Hepatitis A or B, Swine Flu, Mad Cow Disease, SARS and a few other modern-day viruses that were thought to have the capability to wipe us out, but unlike dinosaurs, we have survived. Till now. Here's hoping we continue to..take care, and wash hands often.

Urban Versus Rural

I have grown up in rural or semi-urban areas in my early life, but having come in to the city of Hyderabad, rarely went back to rural areas except on holidays or when driving through.

Rural life looks idyllic from an urban lens, but there are hardships that may not be apparent. Availability of water, electricity and so on is the first major difference, and is one reason why we (India) are still considered underdeveloped.

Given equal opportunity, rural kids can do as well as any other, but availability of schools and training in spoken English is not easy to find in many parts. That creates a lifelong handicap and gives an edge to the Urban kids. Not easy to correct in later years of a person's life.

One way to develop rural areas may be through Tourism. With greater interest today in sustainable tourism and its many variants, it is possible to come up with a plan for the variety of lifestyles and learning opportunities that tourists have, potentially. 

Amazing Kancheepuram 2

Some more pics-

Teaching New Courses

Teaching new courses for the first time is an experience. You don't want to do it too often, but you want to try it once in a while.

I mostly taught Marketing Research since I started teaching in Indian Business Schools-and still do. But at times I have taught Business Communication (YES!), Advertising, B to B Marketing, and a Seminar on Thought Leadership. At Indore, I started teaching two or three new courses- Digital Marketing (for several different programs), and for the Ph. D. program, Retailing and Tourism Marketing.

I learnt a lot from these, and that learning continues each time I teach the course. I like to experiment with assignments rather than just use cases- so I have tried Blogging, a Bidding game, and writing of emails as some exercises, besides a website design exercise in my digital marketing course. Live exercises and projects are good for learning, in my experience. Particularly when accompanied by presentations with Q and A. I can literally "see" the learning in many cases.

Nearing 5 Years at Indore

I have been notorious for changing workplaces faster than Hindi film heroines changed their costumes in song situations. But looks like I am trying to change. Must be the poha-jalebis, and the nice people of Indore. I am about to reach my fifth anniversary at Indore, in early December. So what are my thoughts?

The beauty of the campus is incomparable- inspired by buildings at Mandu.

The Sun rises over IIM Indore (above), and below,  Singing in progress- Sadhana Lakshmi tries out her skills- karaoke party with my Google Online Challenge champs-Kalaivani and team

 Above-Nidhi Kanungo with her dad, visits. She was my student in 2000 at Kirloskar Institute. Below, our first Digital Marketing executive program in 2017, at Indore-dinner at Mashaal.

 Gulmohar gar tumhara naam hota..

 Above-Indrajit at the Mumbai campus, and below, the PGPMX 16-18 batch at Mumbai, during the Convocation visit to Indore.

I am thrilled with the peace and quiet, for one thing, on the campus. The variety provided by the PGP/MBA, short term MDPs, and the Executive programs at Indore and Mumbai is a great plus point. We did a couple of interesting programs for Trent, Whirlpool, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation.

A chance to experiment with new courses, particularly in the Doctoral program, is for me a definite attraction. Even in the MBA, I started teaching Digital Marketing for the first time in my career, and have learnt a lot from it. I had only one stint with the IPM in a seminar course, apart from some good CIS projects they did with me. But I did interact with a few good actors and actresses during the plays they acted in.

Bright students are like Oxygen, and there have been quite a few, from the first batch whom I taught Advertising to, to the batches thereon, whom I taught Marketing Research and Digital Marketing-you know who you are 😃 Some champions have also won numerous awards and recognition- not necessarily due to me, I might add! I also have been on Doctoral committees of various students in the full-time and part-time programs.

Faculty colleagues are also great fun to be with, and I have had a chance to meet most at breakfast, lunch or dinner, informally, if not at recruitment seminars. Many past students and colleagues visited me at Indore, and I met a few elsewhere during these years. Some also contributed to books that I managed to edit, publish, and I look forward to meeting many more.

Had two admin. stints as MDP chair and Dean-Faculty, that were also enriching. I ended up visiting (for conferences) a lot of nice destinations, from Beppu in Japan to Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Since I also teach Tourism Marketing, it was all useful in my teaching too.

Enjoyed visits to places nearby such as Maheshwar, Pataalpani, Omkareshwar, and Mandu (several times-my favourite). 

A Visit to Pataal

Actually, Pataalpani's the place we went to. A waterfall near Indore, it's in its element when it rains a lot. So this is how it looked in 2018 August-

A train also happened to pass by running on the metre-gauge line that is the Indore-Khandwa section, now under conversion to broad gauge in parts.

 Preventing each other from jumping off :)

Running Away

This is supposed to be me running- irony? Maybe. I haven't run since I discovered walking. Running away from anything except running is not my style. Maybe pointing out things, or pointing towards them-that is more like it. I am pointing at a walkway in a Pondicherry garden..only, the walkway is on a wall.

Being touristy, as opposed to being too wristy, as in VVS Laxman, one of the most wristy. Posing at a Sri Lankan dhaba a year ago..on way to Sigiriya, THE ROCK.

Jobs and Tourism

Pic from Jaipur

Tourism is a job creator many times over. Every tourist needs a place to stay in, food to eat, and transport to move around. Some of these (the first two) may require some capital investment, but the transport could come in various forms, including private taxis or aggregators, or other local options (two-wheelers, cycle rickshaws, etc.).

Guides speaking multiple languages are an asset, and so are other information creators and providers. Local travel agents can also play a big role. Entertainment providers can also think creatively and develop options for travellers on a tight schedule, or those with more time.

I have recently started looking into tourism for research, and I find it's an area rich in potential for research too. If the right policies are followed, India can probably outdo itself with its rich variety of travel motivators, from history and architecture, to spiritual or medical reasons.

Good marketing of course, can lead to a big impact on tourism, both international and domestic.