Three Weather Changes

 In a day, I mean. That's Bangalore for you.

Most of the last six months, it's been raining here, mostly in the evenings, but occasionally in the day. Also, overcast for many days in a row, even though the Southwest monsoon went away long ago. There has been a series of storms that battered Chennai and had after-effects or side-effects here.

Strange weather pattern this year, with lots of rain. The constant road-digging (building?) is not helping much, but then, that's been the lot of the Bangalorean for years.

So, all is well.

Deep Freeze

After balmy Bangalore, I returned to find Indore has turned into the Arctic or Antarctic, depending on which way you are facing. I would not be surprised to find an Eskimo peeping out from inside his igloo, or a penguin walking by flapping his flippers.

One is used to his butt freezing in Delhi or Lucknow or northern Rajasthan or Punjab (it happened to me in Amritsar once), but not in Indore. However, there is a bright side to it. You can remain immobile and hibernate unless there is something important to make you move. In my case, it is only this blog post, but that is doable from the warmth of the home.

Why it is freezing and rainy is beyond me. Might have to build a regression model and try explaining it. Maybe the Gods are angry with us. For the way we conduct ourselves. Last time I had a batch reunion, there was a tsunami (in 2004). This time, it's a deep freeze. Now I know how that packet of peas or sausage feels in the freezer.

First Rain?

It's probably the first rain of the 'official' monsoons of 2014. I was kind of surprised at the regularity of the first rain in Nagpur while I lived there. It arrived unfailingly on the 10th or 11th June. So it was in Indore yesterday. There was a strong cool breeze around 5.30 pm, an indication of things to come.  It took a while for the rain to arrive, but it did at about 7.30.

Mood changes probably closely follow the weather, so I am expecting an uplifting month. As the senior MBA (PGDM) students come back on campus, the activity level and the energy levels are up. Classes will be on in full swing. Faculty will have a somewhat tight schedule, compared to the two months gone by which were somewhat relaxed. We will need to put on our thinking caps and device new means of torture- assignments, exams, quizzes, I mean. All good-natured torture, you understand, designed to enhance learning.

We kicked off the academic year with a workshop on new teaching methods, with a few simulation-based package vendors showcasing their wares. A good, innovative start.

TV Jargon- Debatable?

TV and newspaper jargon is a constant source of mirth (Think I have been watching too many TV debates, thanks to Uttarakhand floods and some new juicy scam). I expect management jargon must be having a similar effect on the non-managers.

Any TV debate has a confused and/or aggressive anchor (think anyone of them, not just Arnab), and six participants, each with a 2-inch square window of opportunity-to-speak. The anchor lights a fire, it snowballs into flames, sometimes roaring flames.

Some guy: This is anti-national, anti- individual freedom, anti- aam admi, blah, blah...

Anchor: Absolutely (he never says relatively)

Another guy: This will negate the impact of what our govt. did in so-and-so year, blah, blah, blah..

Anchor: You have hit the nail on the head (whose head?)

Yet Another gal: You were always anti-poor, pro-America, FDI in Retail was a conspiracy, blah, blah,..

Anchor (turning to Guy 4 whom this barb is aimed at): Can you explain your stand on this important issue, vis-a-vis this charge made by YAG (see above)?

And so, at the end of a fire-and brimstone, noisy half hour, all the world's problems solved, vocal cords massaged, everyone goes home. And the viewer is none-the-wiser about whether his vegetables will cost more or less, due to the Monetary policy, Egypt uprising, or the Uttarakhand floods. And he is vaguely wondering who Snowden is, and if he saw him (snow..) on the weather channel.

All the new applicants for banks...what are they banking on?

Obama, India, Fog and Storms

Quite a diverse set of topics to deal with. If Obama makes it to the White House again, he would be the longest Black president to live in the White House. How's that for a new take on the elections? I think he is a smart guy being ed astray by the 'establishment' which is into routine things like finding the next country to bomb and so on. No novelty, or out-of-the-box thinking.

India has elections going in the state of Himachal Pradesh, and I have no clue about the issues there. FDI in retail appeared shortly in TV debates, but disappeared just as quickly. Prices of apples, maybe?

Delhi had a few fogged-out days, which was the result of some unusual weather, and it was not a reflection of our fogged-out brains. The Chennai storm Nilam had something to do with it, plus other things.

Now, if only we had something more interesting on the anvil- actually, there is. The old classic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is re-releasing. Should do a world of good in a humourless world. Go see it at a theatre near you. I somehow don't feel enthused by the new Bond.

Forecasting

The business of forecasting is an interesting one. Today the head of the Indian Met Dept. said that his dept.'s forecast of the monsoon rains might be off the mark. That is the understatement of the year. Drought seems to be staring half of India in its face.

Actually, I like the word soothsayer rather than forecaster. At least it accurately reflects what the guy can really accomplish- which is, to soothe. For people whose nerves are frayed with worldly worries, a soothing word or two would go a long way. For a childless couple, it may be nice to hear that they will have a bundle of joy in their life soon. And so on, if you get the drift. End of the world prophecies are not really needed, because it hardly matters if we know about it or not.

I had read a good joke about an astrologer who would predict whether an impending child would be a girl or boy (in olden times). He would record in a diary the opposite of what he told the would-be parents. Then, if a parent came to him with a complaint, he'd pull out his diary and show it to them. He knew that if he got it right, no one would come back! 

Welcome Clouds

What a relief to have clouds, some of them dark, stationed in the Nagpur sky! After about 2 and a half months of steady highs going up to 47 and something degrees, the pleasant sight makes one really happy. Like the old ad line...Happy Days are Here Again. Not that the summer is a total wasteland. It brings us the much needed summer vacations (those that have them), the sweetest mangoes (missed those in the US), and sundry other pleasures. This summer, it was mostly above normal here, increasing suspicions of global-local warming.

Reading a biography of Guru Dutt by Nasreen Munni Kabir. Some insights are that he was unsure of himself as an actor. He also dithered a lot over some shots, doing many retakes, or no takes. Also, he felt that songs impeded the flow of the narrative in a film. Yet, he was known for great song picturisations, even on smaller characters like Johny Walker, apart from heroines and himself. Almost every movie of his has a couple of classic songs still hummed and remembered. An interesting experiment by the music director in a movie of his was setting a ghazal to western beats...Tadbeer se bigdi hui taqdeer bana le..apne pe bharosa hai to yeh daav lagale. Pyaasa was a great success..and Kagaz ke Phool a big flop...and it literally killed him, like his character in the film. His use of lighting (that got VK Murthy the cameraman a Dadasaheb Phalke award) was legendary in the black and white era.

An amazing guy. Married the singer Geeta Roy, known as Geeta Dutt.