How to Make Friends

Look around you. Virtually everybody is a potential friend (or stranger-depends on how you look at them). So how do we make friends?

I can explain how I seem to make them. I already have many-cousins, playmates from childhood, hobby-mates, classmates from school, college, MBA class, Ph.D., and so on. So one way is to get an education-plenty of it. The upside is you will make lots of friends.

But you also have that funda about two or three degrees of separation. You know person A, he or she introduces you to B and C. You then have potential friends. Most ex-colleagues are also friends-Shahida, Bhagyalakshmi, Manasa, Murli, SP Kumar, Manoharan, TK Chatterjee, Anant Ram, Halve, Saleena, Jayanti, Lubna,  are some of them. So are ex-assistants or staff colleagues, like Saumya Sharma, Vinod Jadhav and Madhuri Helchel.

Former students who I meet are also among friends. With some, I am more like family, having visited them at home- Swapna (in Singapore), Vrinda and Pallavi in Delhi and Bangalore respectively, come to mind. Sirisha, Shraddha in Mumbai, and Padmapriya in Delhi also. Anupriya and Nidhi Kanungo have visited me at my place in Indore. I keep running into students everywhere on a regular basis, and each meeting is a potential friendship opportunity- particularly after they have forgotten their grades! Some, like Jogeswari and Abhinav, have helped me write cases about their companies, that I use regularly! Planned meetings, I have had with Shafique, Zargar, Divya Singh, Supriya Jain, Pragya Singh, Tosha Dubey, Abha Kulkarni, Khyati Jha, Meghna Sinha,... 

My wife has ex-students, many of whom are my friends now (Vaseem, Vittal). So is the case with my daughters' friends-some of them, at least- I am connected to them on fb.

My book has helped me make friends-I run into people who have read it, and strike up a conversation. Starting with Marketing Research, and moving on to less boring things (!).

My Hindi music group has resulted in my making lots of like-minded friends. It's a long list- Poonam, Subbu, Shiva (and his Mom), Usha, OP, Geeta, Indira, ..

Running a contest for DP Awards on fb has made me a lot of friends (and enemies who spit fire when they don't win!).

And I haven't even talked about Golf!

Airport Blogging

Blogging from the airport maybe for the second time. It is a nice experience if you have a comfortable seat and a table- obviously, not in the waiting area. But a lounge, yes. Lounging around with a laptop and time on your hands? Ideal.

No bandhs, no rain, and nothing to delay the arrival into the airport. Mumbai has never been pleasanter. Sunday evening too, so the lounge is also pleasantly uncrowded. Rare are such happenings, like a Blood Moon or a sighting of Halley's Comet (next expected in 2061, so I shall have a view from the other side).

Digital Marketing-the course- is on at Mumbai, and (hopefully) a training program on it will run in September at IIM Indore. Blogging is part of the curriculum in the course, so at least here, I practice what I preach-every available chance.

My stint in MBA

This was a marketing research firm founded by three IIM Ahmedabad alumni. The MBA stood for Marketing and Business Associates. I joined them in Bangalore, and we had an office in Benson Town, which I usually reached by crossing the railway tracks from Coles Park.

It was a very comfortable workplace. Being mostly MBA-populated, it was easy to understand the jargon. It was also a very open workplace, with ideas exchanged freely, and the language used was informal-everyone was on first name basis. My three bosses were Matthew Paul, CK (Sharma), and Shyam (Sundar) later in Mumbai. I also met Karopadi (Karo) who was an alum of IIM Calcutta, and Muthu, who was from XLRI.

Our work comprised executing marketing research projects. One of the first assignments had me going to Coonoor to survey tea estates and Potato farmers for a client who manufactured plant nutrient sprays. I had to estimate demand for it. An excellent chance to see some of the finest parts of the Nilagiri mountains. I took buses, mostly (I was on a budget), so I could experience life like a local, and also took a train ride for fun. The tea estate guys were mostly welcoming, and had a chat regarding what I wanted without much fuss.

Another assignment for a client sent me off on a meeting with Power plant managers, and those from fertilizer and chemical industries. I went as far as Tuticorin (SPIC had a factory there), and tried to assess interest in some pollution control equipment. The old IPCL plant in Baroda was also one that I visited.

In other sectors, we did projects for ready-made chapatis, and fabric softeners, and for soaps with additives like Tulsi and coconut oil (for WIPRO). HDFC was also a client for one of their husing finance schemes (this was later, when I moved to Bombay with their Worli office, behind Glaxo). We also did a project for Trikaya, where my client's name was Armaity Cabinetmaker-no less than Almighty for us!

Very interesting work, and great learning, till the call for a Ph.D. came and put a stop to it- I still use the war stories!!

Wooden Actors

A Wooden Spoon is what a guy who comes last in a race gets.. some actors in my view who need to get this for their acting chops-

Kishan Kumar- this was a relative (son?) of the famous Gulshan Kumar and exclusively appeared in movies produced by him.

Kumar Gaurav- he had only one expression for all situations, and hence went out as fast as he came into films.

Ok, (deep breath)- Manoj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar (mere naam par batta), and,...the guy who was with Simi Garewal in the marvelous song Chalte Chalte mere yeh geet yaad rakhna in the film Chalte Chalte..don't even know his name.

Karisma Kapoor and Harish Kumar, in her debut film Prem Qaidi, seemed to compete for the Wooden Spoon. She improved, and (thankfully) we did not hear of him again.

And in contrast, we have great ones like Pankaj Kapur, Om Puri, Irrfan Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, ...

The Making of Hyderabadi Biryani

This is not dumb, but Dum Biryani.  This is how it's made in Hyderabad. A friend made it in Indore this time though, and these are pics describing the process briefly.

 The finished product is above. But let's begin at the beginning. First, make flavourful rice with spices added to water, which is boiled, and rice and salt added, and cooked about 80%  in the open vessel so that the rice is non-sticky -drain extra water (left, below). Fry onions till brown, and keep aside (right).

 Cook chicken (again, slightly less than fully cooked) after marinating it in dahi (curd) and spices. It should have some gravy, similar to a chicken curry. Have some ghee handy.

 After these are all ready, comes the interesting part. Put a layer of rice, followed by chicken and fried onion, and some ghee, chicken again, and all the rest, until you come to the top of the vessel. Sprinkle some garam masala and some saffron mixed with milk, and seal the vessel-use a clean wet cloth, or some wet flour as the seal. Let it simmer after putting it on a hot tava, for about 30 minutes. Enjoy with raita and mirchi ka saalan, a spicy green chilli curry.

One of the secret ingredients is Shahjira!

Advice, 2018 Edition

I am back, with advice. No, you don't have to follow it..just read and forget. Because this is not mine, or original. Just a random collection..from sources that are too widespread to remember..

Live your life..(eh? What's THAT?)

Follow your passion- Sanju did, and see what happened?

Get in line for ration, or reservation- that seems workable!

Travel..Ok, you don't need this.

Marry at the right age  (I mean late-the later you marry, the less time you have to regret it)

Watch Rajnikant and Prabhas films..those  Superheroes are nothing compared to these guys..Kabali, da..

Read books..well, not all of them. Avoid best-sellers sold at airports, for example.

Ok, last one. Read my blog. The End.

My Name is Anthony Gonsalves

No, of course, it isn't. I am simple trying to recall some songs which made an impact when I first saw them on screen. Some like this one, were fun, with Amitabh emerging out of an Egg..egdum jhakaas. Some others-

O manchali, kahaan chali..the music, and the masti in the picturisation caught my attention.

Aaj kal tere mere pyar ke charche har zabaan par and from another movie, Badan pe sitare lapete hue..Shammi Kappor's unique dance style.

Hum kaale hain to kya hua dilwale hain..unique lyrics, and Mehmood. Aa ri aaja, nindiya tu lekar kahin udankhatole mein..is a moving lullaby also sung on screen by Mehmood.

Ek chatur naar karke singaar,..by Mehmood and Sunil Dutt on screen.

Zindagi ittefaq hai, kal bhi ittefaq thi, aaj bhi ittefaq hai..Mumtaz does a great job of bringing Asha Bhosle's singing to life on screen.

Mehbooba, mehbooba,..Helen sets the screen on fire. This was popular even before the film released.

Chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi ban jaayein hum dono- the power of lyrics (by Sahir Ludhianvi) to mesmerise..Mahendra Kapoor's silken voice..