Roomies and Colleagues

 Sometime in life, you have roommates, or roomies. I had some in my school dormitory, in my engineering college hostel, both in Hyderabad. Later, had some in the U.S., until I got married. IIMB had single rooms, but great diversity in terms of classmates.

These are great learning opportunities. You live with completely different kinds of people, and learn to get along with them. My engineering roomies were Telugu speakers, and it improved my Telugu. In school we had to speak English. 

The U.S. roommates or flatmates were all from Hyderabad, so it was not a big challenge. Also, we had a French friend, an Iranian one, a Turkish one and a Nigerian one among classmates in our courses, apart from Americans. 

A Korean and a Venezuelan colleague followed at Lander, my workplace. And of course, an American, Leslie, who became good friends with my wife. 

In India, multicultural colleagues followed (I worked across the country), including Odiyas, Bongs, South Indians from all states, and Marathi and North Indians from all over. Enjoyed the diversity and good times, with festivals of all kinds being celebrated. 

Strait Talk About Hormuz

 Not many cooks knew where and what the Strait of Hormuz was, before March 2026. Now, thanks to Trump bhau, we all do.. not sure how it will impact the Assembly elections in Keralam, TN, West Bengal states in India. We shall find out on May 4th

Not sure if Putin closed any straits around the globe anytime. So Trump out-trumped him in this sphere- or crooked (not straight) line on the globe. 

How the world comes out of this imbroglio and when, we don't know yet. But if the objective was to divert attention from unpleasant domestic scandals and poor ratings, this is not to be straitjacketed as an ordinary strategy. It is a masterstroke in international diplomacy, after Venezuelan strike, forgotten in a week, because half the world does not know where Venezuela is, but more importantly, their kitchen fires were not affected. So we still don't know where it is..

Essay on Personal and Organizational Inertia

 Inertia is a concept well-known, thanks to Newton and his first Law. 

It is hard to wake up in the morning, we all know. We have to galvanise ourselves into waking up, and making that cup of tea. I have now mastered the art- of doing both. I usually wake up at 5 am, coz the Sun rises early in Kolkata, and I feel I have a duty to keep up with it.

Getting ourselves to do anything of significance- making up the bed, or writing a work email- sounds like a chore. Somewhat like washing dishes. So we generally delay, or to use a Tharoorian word, procrastinate. And this goes on, with various To Do lists in life.

We generally don't forget to marry, because of a constant push from parents, in accordance with Newton's First Law. But do you know that organizations also have inertia? Because humans make up most organizations- for now, until robots throw them out. 

They should be doing things like strategising, right-sizing, growing, implementing strategies, and many other things, to keep owners, or shareholders, happy. But they don't. They get caught up in an inertia vortex, and 'This is how we do things around here syndrome, and forget to do the few essential things for survival and growth. So some remain sleeping giants, like those mythical entities. And some slip into a coma, never to come out.

Those organizations that remain agile, beat them by a mile. Happened to K Mart in the US when Wal-Mart came along. Happened to Biyani (Future became Past?), when D Mart came along. And will happen to many others..

Cheffing It

Cheffing is fun, if it's not a chore. Also, if you have domestic help to clean up afterwards. This luxury one did not have when cheffing first happened in my US stay, so we did the dish-washing too. A US stay is good for the ego-to bring it down. The blessing in India is we still have maids around who do some valuable work-either the cooking, or at least the washing up- Maid in India, zindabad!.

Anyway, I tried my hand at some cooking (home-style chicken curry) after quite some time, and am happy that the result turned out pretty edible-yeah, I could eat it, and so did my family members. Some other regular summer treats like Ice Apple (palm fruit/Taadgola in Marathi) and mangoes from the coastal region of Maharashtra (Ratnagiri, Devgad) also add to the charm of being in Pune during the hot, hot days-this year has been just a bit hotter, with little rain. Solkadhi is now available in packaged form, and I am a big fan of the kokum+coconut drink-good for the soul!!

Also started on The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee, which describes the process of how genes were discovered and DNA was photographed and identified. 

Circumnavigating the U.S.- Part 2

This was our road trip no. 2 of its kind in the U.S. This involved touching places such as New York and Ohio (where a cousin each resided), and then Chicago, Detroit, across to South Dakota and Wyoming. Of course, Mount Rushmore was the major attraction in South Dakota. And the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The joy of actually watching The OLD FAITHFUL, a geyser that shoots water and steam at regular intervals, and soaking in the wild scenic beauty of the place, was worth the very long drive, which we did with my parents who were visiting from India.

We rounded it off with a visit to Los Angeles and Las Vegas before heading back to South Carolina where we started. Great memories, and a reason why I never really visited the US after I got back- I felt I had seen it all.

 Yellowstone Park (above) and Red Canyon, Arizona, below.

Circumnavigating the U.S.

Actually it was a road trip, that we first undertook in 1986 as students, and went across the U.S. from the East Coast to the West and back. On the way, we stayed with friends in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and San Antonio, Texas.

Some places on the way that were significant, were the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. This (Petrified Forest) has logs of wood that have turned into multicoloured stone logs due to embedded minerals. Later, I discovered similar petrified logs in India in Mandu, near Indore (in a badly maintained park). Here is a pic from Mandu.

There was also a meteorite crater in Arizona that we went to. After a visit to the Lonar crater lake in Buldana district many years later., I realised this (Lonar) was more impressive. In Los Angeles, we went to Disneyland, Universal Studios, and NBC studios where The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was shot every day of the week. Also saw Hollywood (nothing much to see), Beverly Hills where the stars live, and the Star Walk (they have their names carved in the walkway). It was a great experience, with Kiran, a friend, as our local guide.

International Friends

Being in the U.S. for a Ph.D. (1986-1989) was good from many different angles. One was that I met people from many different countries- Alberto from Portugal, Godwin Udo from Nigeria, Masoud from Iran, to name a few. Our group of Indian students also had a permanent member from France, Anne Pouliquen, who was studying in the Agriculture Dept. We actually visited each other's homes later on. Her place in Northern France was an interesting one to visit, full of history and charming rural atmosphere. Mount St. Michael was nearby, and Rennes too. She took us around to these places, and we ate some excellent seafood and cheeses at her place and her parents' farmhouse. She in turn visited us in Harihar, and we went along to Hampi and Pondicherry with her. Muthu, our friend in Bangalore, received her at the airport. She also travelled alone to various places in India.
Some pics from Hampi (above and below, first) and Pondicherry.

Masoud and his wife also visited us in Bangalore, and I met him in Malaysia while he was a visiting prof. there.

What Elections Mean- to us and the US

They give you an illusion that you (and they) are going to change the world, most of the time. If that were true, it should have changed every five years- or four. Sometimes, your world changes for the better. More often, it remains the same, because the visible portion of the government changes, and the invisible remains more or less the same. Where are the big ideas that will change lives dramatically? I fail to see what either Hillary or Trump will do in that direction. Nothing that I heard in the flashes of the debates that I saw gave me even a clue.

So it may not really change anything for most of the people in the U.S., if I can make a prediction. And to think that India needs a particular President in the U.S. to do well itself is really foolish. We have to pull up our socks and work at it, in more ways than one. One of these ways is stop expecting any miracles from our government, and work harder if we want to see results.

You could of course, dismiss these as ramblings of an apolitical citizen. And you would be right!

Three No Trumps

This is what you may bid when you are playing the card game of Bridge. I am into more mundane pursuits right now, like making Trump jokes. Because it's the done thing, and I may not get a chance to do them after November (the elections).

Trumpeting. Trump (without an elephant's trunk) talking about himself.

Ta ra rum pum pum.. reactions of people to Trump claiming to be the right man to lead a democracy of mostly sane citizens.

Trumped up charges- Founders of ISIS are Hillary and Obama.

Trump tax returns- Even Columbus would find it taxing to discover any money there!

Trump Debate- Everyone is an ***hole, but me.

Trump Home- A Wig-wam.

Donald's score - a Duck!

Anniversaries and More

We all have anniversaries. I recently had one- of my wedding, many years ago. OK, 28 years to be precise. I was in the U.S. at the time we married (in Pune), two-thirds of my way through a Ph.D. and living with 3 flatmates in Clemson, a university town in South Carolina, on a student budget.

After the Ph.D., we moved to another town, Greenwood, with exactly 15,000 as its population. Two Indian friends, Samren (and wife Annie, below)

and Dr. Soni (and wife Shakun in this pic)

kept us great company, and some American friends  too (like Leslie, and Ron Green, who are in touch). Alok, my senior at Clemson (and Pam, his wife), and the former flatmates (Satish, Anil and Suresh) and their partners Marla, Vinita also occasionally met with us. Some of them are in this pic taken outside our Greenwood apt.

My wife Anuradha (Iyer/Nargundkar) was able to manage the chaos of all these new friends effectively, and we also agreed on coming back to India, proving that it's possible to have unanimity after marriage :).  Of course, we visited Vegas before we came back, and Europe too.

Our stay in India so far has included Bhubaneswar (XIMB), Hyderabad (Vignana Jyoti Inst. of Mgt), Harihar (Kirloskar Inst.), Lucknow (IIM), Kozhikode (IIM), Bangalore (PESIT and IFIM Business School), together. After this, for the sake of our daughters' education, she set up base in Pune and I moved on to IMT Nagpur, Ghaziabad, and on to IIM Indore. It has been an eventful journey of 28 years, and we made new friends in each place- and more importantly, retained them even after we moved from a place. Having a large contingent of relatives also helped us in many ways, including in the US where my cousins Jayashree and Sheelu (and friend Kiran Kenjale) have lived for years. With the support of friends, relatives, well-wishers including former students (between the two of us, we have about a million), it's been a great ride- and continues to be. This pic is of Prarthana, Pooja and their mom in Jaisalmer on a trip last year.

Yes, My Accent is Real- Book Review

You know Raj Koothrappalli. You don't? Of course you do, the Indian astrophysicist from Big Bang Theory, theTV show. Well, this is a book written by him. His real name is Kunal Nayyar, and he is from Delhi.

This book is worth a read, for many reasons.

1. He tells you how to woo girls, and sometimes succeed. 
2. He also tells you how to take rejection in auditions-not always sportingly!
3. He gives you many life lessons- such as, If it happens, good. If it doesn't, VERY GOOD.
4. He is funny.
5. He reiterates the value of chasing a dream, AND hard work to achieve it.
6. He recognises dignity of labour. He collected garbage, and washed toilets for a living. Of course, somewhat clean toilets, in the U.S.
7. He loves his parents, and even listens to their advice at times.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Disclaimer: I don't know him, and this is an independent review. I like reading memoirs these days. One of the boring ones was by Roger Moore, the Bond guy. This one's far more interesting.

My Vote Goes To...

It's voting time...in the U.S. Since we are more concerned with McD rather than Kamat's it is quite natural that I should be concerned about their next President rather than our next PM. I have put out strong arguments for and against some of their major candidates. I don't know if betting on an election in the U.S. is legal, but you would do well to pay heed, if it is.

Hillary- In case you did not know, she is the (aggrieved) wife of former Prez Bill Clinton, of Monica fame. Going by our standards, she deserves a sympathy vote. But since you can't trust a woman with a hand on the nuclear button (American view, not mine), she is ruled out.

Bernie Sanders- He is old, and talks sense on important issues like education (instead of war)- can you imagine this in gun-lobby-controlled America? What does he think of himself? A humanist? He is fighting (pun unintended) a lost cause. Therefore, I cannot vote for him.

Donald Trump- now that is what I call a candidate. (No, he is NOT the CEO of McDonald's). A big mouth, a funny wig, and foot permanently located in a part of the body that is guaranteed to produce laughter- the mouth! Even if we tried competing against this stalwart, we'd lose. And I hate losing. Therefore, my vote goes to Donald. After Mickey, he is my favourite cartooon character too.

Of Jaisalmer and Rajasthan

We drove, a group of six, to Jaisalmer to visit the sand dunes. So now, we can claim to have "dune" it! Or, the dudes who dune it, in Americanese.

We stuck to the highways, except where it was inevitable. Advice from  faculty colleague from Rajasthan helped us select the best routes (via close to Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, and back via Jodhpur, Udaipur) and some of the highways were fantastic. Reminded me of the long circular drives where we went to around 20 US states each time (we did that twice)-Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon and South Dakota's Mount Rushmore remain etched in memory. Roads have a spinoff effect, and can take the country ahead. So does the metro railway, and Mumbai has developed due to its famed local trains more than anything else. Commuters like a predictable journey time.

Anyway, back to Jaisalmer. Dunes are fun, and every park should have a sand dune in my view. Camel rides are fun too, though some camels look starved. They should be fed well. We also did the dune thing, that is, stayed in a tent for the night, and listened to Rajasthani folk sing their thing and dance their tunes out in the dunes. Ok, I am almost dun with the dunes. For now. More later, with pics.

Stock Market Crash

It appears there is a stock market crash in most major world markets today. It includes India, the U.S. and others such as Hong Kong and of course, the root cause of all these-China.

I do understand that stock markets are meant to go up and down-if not, they would not be markets. But China has managed to spook the world markets almost as much as Greece did a few weeks/months ago, almost single-handedly. I now feel that the house of cards that is the exchange market is also going to collapse one day, given that no one seems to understand the true worth of a national currency any more. If the currency is low, it is with an agenda in mind-usually the agenda is cheaper exports. But if everyone devalues their currency, who are they going to export to? It should even out in the end, assuming all are playing that game.

The answer may be the U.S., which usually does not end up devaluing the dollar so much, as all the devaluers expect the dollar to remain strong (if they are to remain weak) and the U.S. to increase imports of their goods (or services). Like all games we play, this has to show its true colours and reach an end game too. So let's wait and watch what happens. Another effect of this is that the Economic News channels are suddenly beating the TRP of Friends re-runs and Big Bang Theory.

Cartoon- Greek Debt

This I think is a brilliant take on sovereign debt in the context of the Greek tragedy. Boston Herald is the paper which printed it, but was forwarded by a friend. Hats off to the cartoonist.

The New Life Skills

We all know the old life skills we were expected to learn in India; pass exams, study, pass more exams, study, get a US visa, and then a green card (which I am told is not coloured green- a mirage/chimera), and then become a US citizen, so that you can have a legit bank account in a foreign bank without the Indian govt. accusing you of stashing black money (which could actually be green, blue, etc.) and so on. You know the story.

These days, life skills have undergone a sea change. First, you need to know your ipad from your Android smartphone, need to know your Ferrari (not literally yours) from your Harley Davidson (likewise), know how to take a selfie and post it in a flash using your teeth which are blue (which is actually a technology and has nothing to do with what your jaws contain), and you need to have a playlist of songs in digital form (one could be more advanced and have a playlist of people who you have relationships with as well), and appear cool all the time, even in a Nagpur summer reaching 48 degrees Celsius.  It helps immensely if you own a selfie-stick, and have a rich dad who can sponsor your annual foreign trips, among other things-then you can actually be cool in the summers.

Oh yes, and you have to come up with constant witticisms and ‘deep’ statements on Facebook, while watching Bollywood potboilers (they really need to rename these as wok-friers to keep up with changing times). You could even be a stand-up comedian, if you are really good at the one-liners. And forget that the US even exists. That reminds me of a joke I heard on TV from a stand-up. He said, “Bangaloreans really appreciate humour. So much so, we elected Siddaramaiah as CM”. No offence to the gentleman, as I hardly know him.

Planning Commission Decommissioned

I am just trying to imagine what the Planning Commission must have done in their sixty years of existence.

Year 1-20

Have annual meetings to understand how to plan. Make a quarterly trip to Russia to educate themselves.

Year 21-30

Implement that learning. Keep everything (including bread, rice, sugar) in short supply, just like the Russians did. Make a government office unreachable, according to 'plan'. Fortunately, outings in Siberia for dissenters were not implemented. Must have been an oversight. Well, nobody is perfect.

Year 31-40

Change gears. Go on quarterly trips to the USA to learn how they could beat the s**t out of Russia economically, and make so many models of cars.

Year 41-60

Start making cars with power windows in India. Send IT guys to sabotage the US systems so they would be brought down to our Hindu growth rates. Lehmann Bros beat them to this in 2008, with innovative thinking.

And now there's no Planning Commission. Job well done!

American Desi Names

Most people in the US can't (or think they can't) pronounce Indian names. Anyway, whether that's true or not, names of Indians in the US get modified (no, this is not a political statement, even if it contains the word 'Modi' hidden somewhere).

So the names of people change, usually to a short and easier-on-the-tongue version. I used to teach at the Clemson University as a grad student, and my name Rajendra was shortened to Raj, which was similar to Rog (for Roger) and therefore easy to say. A friend in California, Kiran, shortened his to Ken, which proved useful to him in business- he was into real estate broking. He also converted his last name from Kenjale to Jolly, which I think is a stroke of genius.

In academics, we now have several Indians at US universities, who have adopted a different strategy. They use a name twice, one in a shortened form and another in the original. So you have a Nat Natarajan, or a Das Narayan Das (who is a friend, incidentally, a prof at Harvard), or Rajan Varadarajan (not sure if his is of this form, because Rajan could be a name too). I think this is an interesting way to do it, from a marketing point of view. Remember, there is an adage in advertising that the more you repeat your (product) name, the better it is for people to remember. So it is with people's names.

So I henceforth will rename myself as Kar Nargundkar. By the way, that does not rhyme with Car.

Formula - the ones and twos

What is a Formula? It is a set way to do something, or to solve something. Like a linear regression model, or the famous Einstein equation which I have not understood what to do with.

Why are formulas important? For some of the same reasons that jargon is. It is familiar territory, and we feel comfortable with it. If you did not have a formula for something, you would need lots of experimentation to come up with some desirable or sensible result.

To descend into more understandable territory, there are formulas for a film, a book, or for a specific goal I found the wooing ritual a nice thing to observe, while in the U.S. and here. Since I am safely away from the age in which this usually happens, maybe I can be 'objective' about this.

In the days gone by, you wrote a letter to your beloved in English or whatever language. It was epitomised by Bollywood songs such as "Yeh mera prem patra padh kar..(When you read my love letter...)". With changing times, maybe the art of writing love letters gave way to direct questions like "Aati kya khandala (will you come to Khandala?) ". There were also some attempts to win over your lady with knight-in-shining- armour acts for a lady in distress, depending on the possibilities. Typically, group outings were common in the beginning, followed by furtive meetings alone in the days gone by.

A U.S. date typically would happen in going to a movie alone with your girlfriend, (as shown in many movies), or taking her out to a dinner and dance, or meeting her in a bar (for older guys over drinking age). The 'singles bar' is named as such, and is commonly used as a 'pick up' place with some known or improvised 'pick up lines' to help you with the process. Of course, the U.S. being a far more 'liberal' and 'individualistic' country, there were lots more of possibilities or variations of the themes.

But it was still the guy doing the hard work, most of the time. Part of the formula? Has it changed much? Don't know enough.

Not So Secret Service

A joke that I had not heard about 9-11 times.

The Prime Minister of China called President Bush to console him after the attack on the Pentagon: "I'm sorry to hear about the attack. It is a very big tragedy. But in case you are missing any documents from the Pentagon, we have copies of everything."

I also had a chance to taste the single malt whiskey that India is famous for-yes, it's called Amrut, and it's made in Bangalore. But it is hard to find, apparently. So I am glad I got that item on the bucket list out of the way. It tastes pretty good, incidentally. I would put it in the top ten, after Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin- the Islay malts with a peaty, smoky flavour.