Milestone 600000

That's 600,000 views for my blog, that started around 2009, and has spent a decade in the virtual world. 1968 posts in all so far. Thank you, readers.

From the July 27 Google Stats-

Pageviews yesterday

99

Pageviews last month

3,549

Pageviews all time history

600,594

Pageviews today

148

The Western Ghats- Pictorial Journey

The Western Ghats are a treasure, with amazing scenic routes all over. One such that we traversed recently was between Goa and Belgaum via Chorla. The pics speak for themselves-

Picnicking Around Indore

Picnic spots abound around Indore- not too far from here are many day-trips, which can be educational, fun or relaxing, or all three. One such spot and some pics. The waterfall is around 25 kms. from Indore via Mhow. A cute metre gauge railway line is an added attraction. The bhutta (corn, rosted) sellers can take care of small hunger pangs. The scenery is best viewed at this time (monsoons- July till September).

Baad Muddat...Ghazal

Baad muddat unhe dekh kar yun laga..jaise betaab dil ko qaraar aa gaya.
(Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA0ett8WVBc)

This lovely ghazal sung by Jagjit and Chitra Singh is very special, because two of my classmates at Bangalore sang it in an All India Radio program that our team presented. They sang it flawlessly (Gopal Bhat and Deepika Nath), and I remember that ghazal mainly because of them.

I compered the show, my first (and last) attempt at doing a show on air! I was interviewed once by a Nagpur channel about Management Education much later, but that was nothing compared to that earlier experience.

Super 30 - Film Review

Disclaimer: As a general principle, I am against coaching classes of all kinds. But these are a way of life (like the internet based media) that you cannot wish away..

There are a few good things about this film. And a couple of questions that I had. First, the good things.

The acting is good. Hrithik Roshan, the kids, Pankaj Tripathi and whoever played the Excellent Coaching boss. The guy who played Hrithik's dad was very good too. Even the female love interest of Hrithik's, though she had little to do after the first twenty minutes.

The film makes a very good point for social justice in education, and the fact that the right kind of education can transform a family's future...logically, though, every university should strive to provide this transformational education, and not just a handful of IITs. Something to think about? Of course, State governments are responsible for the state universities. And promoters, for the private ones, which are yet to match the Central government institutions in quality (in India).

The villainy is over-dramatised, I thought, and the positives take a back-seat during those scenes.

Academicians and academics do get their due through the central character- education is the winner.

A question that I had- why was Hrithik looking unwashed in the second half of the film?

Worth seeing the film. Certainly beats the current alternatives by a few marks. :)

Story of My Books

I have written a few books- pic below. So how did that come about?

Well, the first urge to write happened around 2000, when I was in Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies, Harihar. I taught Marketing Research there, and felt unhappy with the choice of books then. My librarian Manjunath (who went to TAPMI later) put me in touch with Tapas Maji at Tata McGraw-Hill, and I gave them a proposal. It went through after some changes suggested by them, and the book was completed with help from some staff and students who contributed cases to it out of their course projects. By the time it was published in 2002, I was at IIM Lucknow.  It is now in its 4th edition (just released in 2019), having become popular over the years. The latest edition has a lot of cases contributed by IIM Indore students. The Indian cases are a big draw (thanks to student contributors), along with the down-to-earth explanation of statistical techniques, according to feedback I have received from readers-many in person.

I have also written Services Marketing (3 editions), International Marketing, and a book on Brand Management (limited edition, with Bhagyalakshmi Venkatesh). Then, the bug to write an autobiography came over me, and I penned My Experiments With Half-truths, which I self-published with pothi, which had just started the trend of Print-on-demand (POD) in India-coincidentally, Jaya Jha, its founder, was an alum of IIM Lucknow. (Jaya appears with Sharu Rangnekar in the pic at Crossword below- the first pic is a launch of Digital Marketing Cases from India at IIM Indore with Subin Sudhir, Rishikesha Krishnan and my co-editor Romi)

Last year, along with Romi Sainy, I co-edited a book on Digital Marketing Cases with contributions from former students of IMT Nagpur, Jaipuria and IIM Indore, among others. Ambition? Maybe to compile one on Tourism or Services Marketing Cases. Any takers who wish to contribute?

Remembering Sanjeev Kumar

This hero was unlike any other. He acted much beyond his age, and also played heroes who were older, like in Aandhi (with Suchitra Sen, with some great songs penned by Gulzar and tuned by R.D. Burman), and in younger roles, romanced Hema Malini (Seeta aur Geeta) and Leena Chandavarkar (Manchali was a delight).

Comedy? Angoor was a classic, with two Sanjeevs and two Deven Vermas. Tragedy? Khilona, where he played a tragically ill man. Nine roles? No problem- Naya Din Nayi Raat was the film.

Father of the hero? Trishul... of the Heroine? Parichay. College kid? Devata (this film had the song Chal baithen church ke peechey). Dashing inspector and then the village thakur who is the centrepiece of the blockbuster Sholay.

Manoranjan was another delightful film where he played a cop who tries to rescue a prostitute because he is in love with her- a remake of Irma La Douce.

Another memorable film of his was Koshish, where he and Jaya Bhaduri played a deaf and dumb couple.