Car Colour and Personality

I am on the cusp of a breakthrough theory- that car colour is related to the personality of the guy/gal who chose that colour. Check this out-

Dark colours - these guys have dark secrets to them. Tough to unravel.

White- Apparently the most popular colour for a car in India- naive, transparent, find it difficult to hide their feelings, and can get into trouble in a world that prizes diplomacy.

Golden- Have a heart of gold, more valuable than the metal.

Silver- not quite there (Golden), but getting there. Some more effort needed.

Red- impatient, inclined to speeding, paying higher insurance premium (according to American insurance company data).

Blue- They are the people who will take on your blues, or give you the blues. Depends on the season.

Yellow- don't tell me there are guys with yellow cars! Eeeeks..

The Helmetian Dilemma

Hamlet was not the only guy with a dilemma. The helmet is also in a similar crisis of identity- the question in this case being, "Am I a legally required accoutrement (hope the word is right) or not?"

Man has debated several philosophical problems in his lifetime of a billion years, give or take a few, but he is yet to find the solution to the problem of whether a helmet is required to be worn by law in his neighbourhood/city/country.

This dilemma is sometimes comic and sometimes tragic. For every case of a two-wheeler rider perishing due to the lack of one, you hear of another where the person perished in spite of wearing one.

Many a time, it is tough to make out what a helmet is made of, and one wishes it was 'sterner stuff'. Like the joke about the airlines. A wise guy said, "If the black box is indestructible, why don't they build the whole airplane with that stuff?"

The weather in our country (India) being tropical has its own contribution to make. In summers, it is suffocatingly hot, making it dangerous to wear some of the badly designed helmets. In the rains, it actually is nice to have the head protected. So should it be seasonal, then?

Twinning Programs

There was some talk about turning Varanasi into Kyoto. Before that, a few years ago, there had been some talk about turning Mumbai into Shanghai. So I propose that there be a twinning program just as we have in education. Twin cities need not be just Secunderabad and Hyderabad. They can span the globe, based on the number of twins- sorry, the similarities between them-according to the beholder.

Here's my list of twins-almost identical-

Nashik and Burgundy. Both produce wine.

Detroit and Chennai. Car producing towns with water bodies nearby. One of them is bankrupt.

Tokyo and Gurgaon. Both produce Japanese cars.

Nagpur and Miami. Orange country.

Mumbai and New York. Both produce enough garbage to light up the city if recycled.

Omaha and Rajnandgaon. Both in the middle of nowhere. The latter is famous on Vividh Bharati for song requests.

Hyderabad and New Jersey- approx. the same number of software engineers, from Andhra.

London and Delhi. Both have a defunct Queen.

Oxford, which will soon vie for the tag of Pune of the East, and Pune.

Edinburgh and Hubli, known for no.1 Scotch and no.2 IMFL, respectively.

Odd, Rare, Fun Songs

Many are not heard because the movies they were in did not make it, or they are too old. But some of these songs are very pretty and fun to listen to. For example,

Pretty pretty Priya - Tanuja learns dancing, from Jalal Agha and friends.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4esdBNs_Ows

O meri pran sajani Champavati aja- Anil Dhawan and Jaya Bhaduri watch this and get inspired.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYIMYYSBY2M

Pyar ka rahi ruk nahin sakta, dil ki umang yeh kehti hai. Kishore, Asha, in a Shankar-Jaikishen tune.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4s6-aC-y6g

Woh pari kahan se laoon, teri dulhan jise banaoon...bachelor Gangaram ( Manoj Kumar) gets a bevy of beauties to choose from...Sharda's voice, with Mukesh..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2Yc3sr0R8M

Another fascinating song in a different genre I found while trawling the web. Must be one of the prettiest piano gals in Hindi films. The song is from Shagoon, and it's Khayyam's music with Sahir's lyrics. Tum apna ranjo-gham-apni pareshaani mujhe de do. Wah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Yr1OOeOT8

Ads We Made in 1984

I joined an ad agency, New Horizons, in Delhi after my MBA from IIMB in 1984. The same year, a group of entrepreneurs decided to start an amusement park at Pragati Maidin  in Delhi. We got the contract to make print ads for this Indian Disneyland (albeit a small one) called Appu Ghar, Appu being the mascot for the Asian Games 1982. I found a couple of those ads and am putting them out for your exclusive 'amusement'-
I think entry was Rs.2, and then separate fees for rides.

What the Prime Minister Cannot Do For You

Thought I would make it clear for those who think God and after him/her, the PM ought to do things for them. These are the things, folks, he cannot do for you.

1. Change your kid's diaper
2. Clean up your house and the adjacent plot where you dump your waste
3. Teach your kids (good) manners
4. Stop you from discriminating against your girl child
5. Stop you from taking/giving dowry
6. Help you be a nice human
7. Develop your potential and help you search for a suitable career
8. Entertain you by giving you one-liners like a stand-up comedian (or Lalu Yadav)
9. Fix your broken marriage
10. Grow things in your garden

A related joke that I am reminded of- A man complained to God that he wasn't looking after him. He was so unlucky compared to his fellow earthlings. Why, for instance, did he not win a lottery?
God replied that HE had made all arrangements for the man to win a lottery, but he had to buy a ticket first!

Nagpur Revisited

I am a big fan of Nagpur for various reasons-professional and personal. I spent three good years there at what I consider one of the best business schools in India-IMT Nagpur among great students, staff and faculty. Its campus has a soothing effect on anyone who spends significant time there. We used to hear this from students, but also from visitors who came in for a few hours. The city also has a great charm. It is not overcrowded like most other cities.

So it was a great pleasure to visit again, and though I was not able to play Golf-one thing I try to do when there- I did many things joyful. Meeting friends of course being the prime one. Here is the pic to prove it. Colleagues Gadgil, Vijayakumar, Anantram and TK Chatterjee at hotel Tuli enjoying a lunch. It was also Vijayakumar's 61st birthday.

Also went to Bangalore to IFIM B School in e-city for my PhD student's final viva after that. She is my second student at VTU to have completed the doctorate. Nice feeling.