Hypotheses About Life

Our hypotheses (OK, let's call them beliefs if that makes LIFE simpler) keep changing with time. A possible set might look as follows-

At age 0-1

Mom and dad are the only two useful creatures.


At age 1-5

There are foods beyond milk, and that too comes in various containers.

Age 6-12

Everyone thinks I should study. Why is that ('question'able hypothesis)?

Age 13-19

I am a tennager! Yippee, I can throw tantrums, and people will tolerate them.

I need to be like every other cool guy I see around me.

Age 20-25

Money does not grow on trees. I may have to work at it some day.

More money equals more happiness.

Age 26-40

I need a bigger house, a bigger car (or two), a big screen TV (to do what?), a bank balance in a bank that won't go under (a near impossibility in hindsight now), children who will behave (did I is an irrelevant question)

Age 41-55

I need Mediclaim- lots of it! My kids need to change the world, though I did not while I had a chance.

Age 56-65

Now, where was I? What's a hypothesis?

Age 66 and above

All these guys (aged 65 and below) are crazy, immature.

Irma La Douce- Film Review

Happened to watch this gem of a movie on TV while idly switching channels a couple of days ago. Proves that idling has its uses, if you ever had a doubt!

This movie became famous in India in the 70s or maybe 80s, because it was remade as Manoranjan starring Sanjeev Kumar and Zeenat Aman, with Shammi Kapoor in a pivotal role, and the songs like "Goya ke chunaanche" which became a big hit. The original is Irma La Douce.

This is about an honest cop who falls in love with a prostitute, and to protect her from walking the streets, acts like a Lord from England (Jack Lemmon does a terrific job of this, with words like 'blimey' and all the rest you only read in Wodehouse books). He wears an eye-patch as part of his disguise, and plays cards with her all night to prevent her from seeing other clients. And pays her a bomb. To earn the money, however, he does double shifts.

He gets entangled in his own web, and gets a life term for murdering The Lord (himself) in a misunderstanding caused by a jealous ex-lover of the lady. Shirley MacLaine as the lady of the night is also perfect in her role.

I had also liked the Indian version, with Sanjeev Kumar impeccable in the 'double' role of a cop and a Nawaab, reciting Urdu couplets at the drop of a hat. Zeenat Aman played the female lead in a great role.

Copenhagen Business School

Copenhagen Business School has sent a few of their students in an innovative two-week program that IMT Ghaziabad has devised for them. The group are doing an entrepreneurship course and will attend classes, meet entrepreneurs, and do a bit of consulting projects in teams. They will also take a day off to sight-see, and visit Agra.

This is one of the bigger B schools of the world, and the students are from different countries in Europe, doing an international business or I.B. program at their B school.

IMT Ghaziabad has a lot of partnerships (about 75-80) that work at different levels, with exchange of students for a term being one of the regular ways of interacting. We now also have a Doctorate in Business Administration that enables corporates to make a transition into the academic world.

We all learn a lot from doing these innovative programs. Cheers to more such.

The Hussaini Alam House- Book Review

This is an unusual book. In its 212 or so pages, it contains a history of Hyderabad, of its old jagirdars, of Muslim joint families, of India's independence and Hyderabad's 'liberation', and much more.

It also is a moving tale of many individuals, many of them female (yes, it is feminist in its tone), whose lives are entwined in each others' , and who live according to the rules of the times. Not always, though. You have a  communist (woman) among them, and many agnostics. Though the family is a Muslim one, they are not overly religious, and her own Muslim identity comes on strongly for the protagonist only when she grows up, and after the strident forms of communalism take over both Hindu and Muslim thought processes many years after independence.

Above all, it is a struggle to find meaning in one's life, that all the characters portray- even the 'weak males' who actually "don't do any household work, and add to the work that the females have to do"-probably true of most Indian households!

The magical parts are the everyday joys and sorrows, of summers spent in the courtyards performing for each other, with shaayari, singing, dancing and mimicry a part of the show, where everyone participates, much before the tyranny of TV soaps took over our lives. Of raat ki raani and other fragrant flowers adorning the myriad nooks and corners of the courtyard. Of the nazaakat in everyday routines and the tehzeeb in taking care of each other and the guests.

In other words, a story of a lost world, no matter who you are. The setting (after which comes the title, the Hussaini Alam House, a sprawling house with lots of character) is as beautiful as the narration. The story involves you totally, and makes you feel for every character. Particularly their stoicism, in bearing every affront of fate with a solid fortitude. Recommended reading, even if you are not a Hyderabadi.

The Life of Pi- the Movie

It is a completely different movie from anything I have seen recently, probably barring Zorba the Greeek and Norwegian Wood. The story is unique, though it has a few similarities with the theme of castaways wandering the sea and surviving to tell the tale.

Since I have not read the book, I did not go in with any expectations. My earlier experience of Ang Lee was in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which I thought was a very well-made film. Here too, some of the shots, particularly the night sky and ocean, are fantastic.

One of the things to learn from Lee is how to blend the ordinary and the extraordinary seamlessly. The most profound truths about life come in the most ordinary situations. The lead actor plays his part well. He is supported well by the rest of the cast, particularly the tiger.

A feast for the eyes, you will enjoy the cinematography, even if you are ambivalent about the rest of the film. Well worth a watch, I think.

Mahindra War Room

This is an innovative contest designed by Mahindra group, held every year. I happened to attend as an invitee this year at a Mumbai hotel. A lot of work had gone into designing the 'set', and CNBC might be telecasting it sometime, as they were the media partners.

Mahindra group identified sectors in which it operates, like tractors, and sectors in which it wants to enter, like dairy, and gave these themes as cases for student teams to analyse and make recommendations on. As Anand Mahindra said in his opening session, he gets to pick the best brains in the country for his group- for free!

It was an entertaining and illuminating set of presentations by students from various B schools. Finally FMS Delhi won and SP Jain were the runners up, from among seven teams. But many other presentations were equally good.

A sidelight for me was that I met a former student of IIM Kozhikode who now works for the Mahindra group. I also met a friend and former colleague who now heads a new IIM, and the new director of IIM Shillong.

Yingluck Shinawatra and the Feel Good Factor

She must be one of the most good-looking Prime Ministers around. She shared the stage with Obama (on a visit to Thailand) and answered reporters' questions with aplomb in a press conference televised yesterday. I think she had a lot of sense too, in the way she answered them.

We are so used to getting advised by the West on what we should be doing. We need to kick this addiction, and start doing some thinking in this region ourselves. It might at least FEEL good.

That reminds me. I have classified a few things for their feel-good quotient or FGQ (Shinawatra's not in the list). Measured in time units- mins., hrs., etc.

Facial Cosmetics. FGQ- Until they run (down your face).

Shampoo. FGQ - 1 min.

Body Cream.  FGQ- 1 hour

New car. FGQ- 1 month

New child (your own)- 5 years or until they make unreasonable demands, whichever is earlier.

New child (others')- Until it pees on your shirt.

Golf. FGQ- 3 hours

Movie. FGQ- 3 hours, unless it's made by Ram Gopal Varma.

Favourite music. FGQ- Many hours

Cricket. FGQ = Playing time minus all the commentary and pre-game crap time.