Innovations in Flying and Elsewhere

This was a Business Class like no other I have been in. Individual seats that can go horizontal. Was on this flight where I got upgraded, and looks like it was the right one to get upgraded on! Comfortable, so that even the half-hour delay circling over Mumbai did not seem like much (on a one and half- hour flight). Why don't they make all seats in an aircraft like these? Isn't that what innovation is supposed to do?

Anyway, let's leave that to high-flying innovators and concentrate on our job. What have we innovated lately?

Learnings from Current Turmoil

I was struck by what one of the participants of a recent conference said. A music CD was sold at 12 to 14 dollars at one time, with a huge margin. Now, they are forced to make 4 cents per streaming of the latest music coming out. High volume and low margins.

Another participant said that they now assess businesses based on intangibles and give them loans (start-ups is what he was talking about), insead of asking for land and machinery as collateral. Just goes to show how things change within our lifespans.

I grew up on analog photography, and it's digital now. I grew up on the vaccuum tube/diode, and it's all chips today. I grew up on letters, and it's not even email today-mostly, people use messaging services.

Not to mention GST, Aadhar, ...and all that the businesses have to go through in terms of unexpected things that happen.

Movies, that used to run for 25 weeks for a silver jubilee, now are considered a hit if they run into week 2. Records, cassettes, CDs, DVDs and now just a digital transfer is how music went. Youtube has given us access to a lot of video and film content for free.

Life never stands still. Amazing, if you come to think of it.

IFIM B School- Conference

This was a place I had earlier worked in. I visited for a conference recently, and enjoyed the feeling of deja vu. Some of the old colleagues and staff were around, and a couple of surprises too. I was moderator of a panel on Management 2022 among other things.

The institute is a neighbour of Infosys, in electronic city. The company which has seen a lot of turmoil in recent times, after being the bellwether of Indian corporates for many years. In my brief stint there, I enjoyed the corporate ambience, and also did an MDP for the Oterra Hotel at Yercaud. The hotel has changed hands since then.

Also visited an old haunt, The Bierre Club, and met a couple of old students from IMT Nagpur and KIAMS. Just after a training program at HPCL's Pune facility (pics below-with Ranjeet and Ghosh, colleagues from IIM Indore, at Pune)

Simran- Film Review

Simran is a name that became immortal in Hindi cinema after DDLJ. This film is Kangana's show all the way, and she does not disappoint. Though not as good as Queen in terms of viewing pleasure, it's a decent watch. It subtly makes a point. The hero is trying to be independent, while the heroine already is!

Parents don't like independent children, so the final scene of the father trying to strangle his daughter is quite apt. Most parents here think that way (unfortunately), and that leads to many unpleasant consequences for the daughters (sometimes the men in love with them too).

I think with tighter editing, the film could have been better, but I am not complaining, if we get to see more films about free-spirited women who can go to Las Vegas and gamble away their life savings, and punch a big guy and force him to call the Security- Go for it!

Pune Lit Fest 2017

Attended a session at the Pune International Literary Fest that had a lot of fireworks. Gems like "Authors don't have a clue about what they are doing" and "Why aren't people walking out? Most readers are kind and forgiving" were flying around through the session, thanks to Shatrujeet Nath. I forgot the books that he has written - I think some fantasy about Vikramaditya Gathas is one of them. But the session was great fun, with the authors ranging from serious to the comic. (note I said authors, not their books. I have read only one of the four, Harimohan Paruvu -spelt wrongly in the leaflet!)  Anyway, this was my debut as an attendee at any lit fest, and I must say you can learn something from attending one. For one, it's free, and you get to see a variety of people, from the celebrities to the intellectuals to the pretenders (and some real authors too). The hall was packed, and some might say it was due it being air-conditioned, but they could be wrong.Hari spoke about the craft of writing and how it gets better with more writing. Ankita shared her emotions at being cut to size (her novel, rather) by her editor, and so did Shatrujeet. He had written two books instead of one, he sportingly admitted. There were comments baout rejections (around twenty is par for the course?) and about research involved in writing even fiction, to make the background authentic, and it was a lively discussion, well-moderated by Vasudev Murthy.

Another highlight of the event after this one, was a panel with film women, of which Pooja Bhatt and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari were the highlights. Ashwiny recently directed two good films, and was of the view that directors are back in business rather than stars. I certainly hope so, and look forward to more films like Bareilly ki Barfi and Nil Battey Sannata, the two good films that she did.

I liked a quip from Pooja Bhatt about growing up with Mukesh Bhatt who is a baniya and is not interested in changing the world, and Mahesh Bhatt, the maverick. She also spoke about how women in Bollywood are asked to keep their opinions to themselves or be like Tanuja who was sidelined (they boasted). Pooja's response was that she admired Tanuja, and did not mind being like her at all.

Surprises Big and Small

Life throws surprises at us fairly regularly. Here are some that I like-

Finding a good book while browsing at a book store. I still do it the old-fashioned way, and may continue till the last book store on earth operates.

Meeting someone unexpectedly. It's great fun to catch up, and as I have said before, this happens to me with students from various B schools I have taught at- some recent ones that I encountered without warning have been Vishal Tibrewal, Animesh Jain (IMT Nagpur), Jimmy Jain (IIMK), Sowmyashree Gonibeedu (PESIT), Mrunal (PESIT), Bhuvneet Raheja and Sapna Patni (IIM Indore), Viju Varghese, Shreya Sengupta (also from PESIT, different programs), ..and of course, planned ones too, like Anupriya Pandit, Sheetal Garg, Shafique and Pallavi (IMTN), Jogeswari, Savitha, Achint, Vidya and Swapna Gurijala (KIAMS), Ratnashree, Shraddha, Divya Singh, Nikita, Meghna, Manjari, Supriya, all from IMT Nagpur.

This was not a surprise, but surprising-or maybe not. I joined a music group of Hindi film aficionados thanks to a former student, and met a few for the first time, and got along very well.

Every now and then, I get a pleasant surprise in the form of a chat with a Facebook friend, and sometimes it ends up being a long one. Shreyashi (a former student now doing her FPM) is really good at these, among some others.

Comments on fb, and answers to quizzes or general questions. Sometimes unexpected, surprising, amazing etc..Oscar-style acceptance speeches too.. 😄

I listen to the radio a lot, and hearing a favourite song play is a pleasant surprise, which ahppens frequently.

Sometimes, phone calls, but since I don't pick up the cell from unknown numbers,  I effectively prevent some (nasty?) surprises.

Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan- Film Review

Good film, and enjoyable for most part.

It stars the wonderful pair of the expressive Ayushmaan Khurana and the lovely Bhumi Pednekar (from Dum Laga Ke Haisha), and takes you through an Online Arranged-cum-Love match, and both are excellent. In my own view, Bhumi is a shade better in this one.

Everything is hunky-dory with the match until he discovers he has a "Gents Problem," in his own words. The world calls it erectile dysfunction, mostly. The angst that both feel, and how the rest of the universe conspires to either help them along or force them to break up forms the rest of the story. It has many ups and downs, and keeps the audience sympathetic most of the time. The rant at the end by Ayushmaan was probably unnecessary, but the rest of it is a cute film touching on a somewhat touchy (or rather, unpsoken) topic. The support cast is decent too, and keep the movie light through their comic dialogue. The 'Alibaba reaching the gufa' dialogue is the funniest in a long time on the subject.

Produced by Anand Rai, who has also produced or directed some of my favourite films in recent times -Happy Bhag Jayegi, Tanu Weds Manu 1 and 2.