Roundup!

Filter coffee. Period. Maybe a dog at your feet too! Home cooked food to that. Well I managed to reach home in a AC car paying 350Rs for 10kms, did some shopping to find out Onions have touched 100Rs per kg(!!!) and to my horror wrote in Tamil after years! Anyways, this blog is not about any of those.

Old Shoes served well!

This blog is my yearly roundup – a decade’s actually! ( has come after I ditched 2 blogs on Airports and Capitalism!) Now, let’s see. There have been just so many highs and lows that you tend to agree with the zero sum game. But if you take memories, highs win hands down! I guess it’s got to do with the people in your life. Chennai, Vellore, Bangalore, Shillong, Trichy, Mumbai – I’ve been lucky (touchwood). As I enter the new decade I will have my hopes high for the rest of my life.

New Shoes for the journey ahead

Cricketing glory is not as memorable when it is listed from a historian’s perspective. The Eden test during my 10^th board exam, the India-Pak WC encounter a day before my physics class XII board, SA’s chase of 400+ that we caught panting after running all the way from Dhaba, India’s T20 glory from my small apartment in Bangalore with friends, CSK win over RCB I saw in Bangalore stadium in IPL 1, Sachin’s 200 in Shillong common room, CSK’s IPL 3 victory in Mumbai while I was a minority supporter in my own group - you see, that makes more sense to me J India is now the number 1 test team and number 2 ODI team! Awesome decade of Indian Cricket.

Of the cities – Bangalore is a close 2nd. I guess it had to do with independence, my own bike and awesome company (pun intended). But nothing beats Chennai. Just to prove a point this is the first time in Chennai I attended Kutchery and all that too proactively J Somehow am at the juncture where I’m trying to connect back to the Chennai in its essence though all these years I’ve taken it for granted.  As a traveller though I loved Chikmagalore, Gokharna, Mangalore, Bikel, Cherapunji, , Mawlyngon, Shillong and Mumbai – all made special by the people I had by my side. As Calvin says nature seems so stupid and boring without a furry friend by your side.

From a class X serious guy from a place that google earth did not show to an IIM guy from a place whose roads still don’t show on google earth the road travelled is pretty much like a road laid by the municipal department – supposedly smooth but full of holes and speed breakers. As I sit across tables with people from different periods of my life (not by any means out), I mirror the changes in/of/with time.

Paddu still speaks with sound effects, Ninja still goes all Gary, Mani still sounds all philosophical and Joe still calls me a posterior cavity. Life is good with the cards I’ve been dealt with. As I said, I’ve been lucky. Never mind the few hic-cups, wrong turns and falls that caught me unaware. Everything has played a part in making me what I am (As my friend once said “Stop blaming them”)

From a glorious time: Life is like a game of cards. You don’t always start with a royal flush. Hence it is natural that you might drop some formative sets or pass on some possible winners. But at the end if you continue on, you are definitely going to end up a winner as you are the only one playing your life.

Happy New Year to All! Entering 2011 with hopes and dreams. 

Diary entry blog

Dear Diary,

You know I’ve hated Diary entries, especially when it used to come as 10 marks question in Section B of English in class X. But somehow, I felt you must be remembered in the times of lost blogs and tweeple people.  It would also serve to write something understandable for the benefit of anonymous commenter, who asked me to do so over maggi after my last blog.

Other than the fact that I got your spelling mixed with the milk products and that I never used to get you in the same year, I’ve never thought much of you. Probably cos thanks to all the chic flicks, diary is seen girly! Yes, I have wondered why would people blabber a lot of personal things to you. I guess It is much easier to get you to listen to one’s life story than another human being (unless you are Rakhi Sawant, in which case you get high TRP). I must tell you, some of the professors, do their life story in class holding us hostage!

After computers and laptops, lot of people have stopped writing in the conventional sense.  Of course there are blogs, lengthy emails to dear ones, facebook notes and of course personal MS Word and MS Onenote. But the train of thoughts seem to go to the exhibitionist Shatabdi express (flowery words and high end) than the regular trains. Atleast for me this is true. I can’t make the good old grammatical mistakes without someone pointing it out.

Inspired by the books I read before I came to IIM, I thought I would write a book on my life at IIM that would serve as a guiding light for future people (roflmao). Well now, If I do write, it will be categorised under thriller genre (with a 18+ rating, if it can exist) with flying swear words, over the head lectures, politics, deception, scandals and not to forget mind numbing PJs! (I was just trying a movie voice over – it’s actually awesome) So much for my writing dreams!

Enough of me and writing, lets talk about you. The consultant in me (note the professional air), believes that you should reinvent yourself. The embossed leather covers are pretty much out-dated in the times of iPads and Palmtops.  I saw a pretty cool evolution of your species launched by happily unmarried (cool place.. TIC stuff). To be honest that was the reason I thought I should write a diary entry.  

I just imagined Barkha Dutt, Vir Sanghvi, Raja et all having diary entries that are exposed! I’m sure they have a lot of dear diary moments!

Anyways, I don’t think I will run out of people who I can bug. So I will just remember you this once. Welcome to the world of blogs.

Adios,

Me

You’d rather not be wearing..

Although it can be completed in a 100 ways and at least 70 of them would raise a few eyebrows, I’m happy writing about the remaining 30. Each paragraph has no direct relevance to the next.

Last 2 months, I’ve learnt a lot. The most important lesson being - how to shoot at someone who outdrew you. No learnt would be wrong cos then it would mean I would be able to do it.  Probably it’s the effect of philosophical classes or the cynicism that loads of bullshit can give you, I never felt it was worth the public medium. But then public medium – the new age weapon for love and war and everything in between.

I remember a conversation some years back on selflessness and greater good. At that point of time, I assumed the characters in mega serials my mom watches, are extremely unreal. My point then was, there was a basic goodness in people and hence selflessness is an attribute possible. Though it was disproved within the next 6 months, I refused to change my premise. I changed my premise.

To the Ravana camp, the monkeys were vandals and Ram the enemy. I try to convince myself that I like challenges and that I’m basically good. I’m convinced and so are some. But perceptions, you can’t be accountable. I, till date can’t smile at a person who I am not comfortable with! So much for two faced!

Being opinionated is like wetting your bed. You demand your ideas be debated not dismissed, howsoever irritated you are. Well, you can cry all you want, but you are still gonna have a wet bottom if someone doesn’t change.

You need to quash a bug when its still crawling around. Let it grow and you would not be able to stop it from biting your back. Endurance is not a characteristic but a lack of option.

I remember reading in class XI the lesson called “Olympic Gold” from the autobiography of Ali. (if anyone can find a e-book of it, I would be grateful). The line I recalled was ‘It felt like being at the receiving end of a 100 punches without returning a single one’. I somehow wondered how it would be. I shouldn’t have. It feels like this blog.

To complete my sentence – “You’d rather not be wearing your emotions on your sleeve”

Of Meetings And My Scripted Life

I hate long days with meetings. I always have, even as an insignificant engineer giving updates to bored managers. I wondered if my hatred had anything to do with the fact that I could have done something more productive that time. When I shared this with my colleague in office, I couldn’t get her to stop laughing! (In my defence, Calvin & Hobbes gave perspective!!) Unfortunately a management course with added responsibilities have made me grudgingly admit that meetings are a necessary evil.

Of course my opinion on meetings was not the same always. I remember vividly my first client meeting in my first job.

Engineering Internship , evening 4.30pm

R: Girish, we’ll be having a teleconf meeting with client . You will attend?

Me: YES! [wow! Meeting, I’ve always wanted to be in a meeting. I’ll kick the crap out of the teleconference] YES! [not so eager also] I mean, sure whats there.. I think I can make some time (sheepish grin)

R: (Weird look)

Meeting

Me: [Wow! I’m in a meeting.. That guy must think I’m someone important – I mean trainee, yes, but someone who is invited to the meeting.. This is so cool.. Wait till I see the expression of L when I tell.. Must make a note not to tell all the details.. Confidentiality clause and all.. He he, big words, corporate.. I am sure the guy is gonna say there’s this awesome trainee on the other end who’s real kick ass.. He he.. Maybe he would think R is ineffective and he’d ask to have all further meeting with me.. Poor R.. Has a family too..]

R: Girish, You just put whatever we discussed in a document and mail it across to me.

Me: (Shock) Pardon? The meeting is done in 15 mins? What exactly did he want?

R: (surprised) What do you mean?! You were nodding your head all through! Trainees!!

Ever since, its been a steep learning curve that I surprisingly got it right! 2 years and I’ve always managed to nod my head at the right time always. Lessons such as these (and my preconceived idea of wanting to write about it) made me wonder if life actually is a planned out script for a series.

Come to think of it, soaps are ruled out, they can’t be the script. Soaps have characters whose morals are clearly either black or white or full of sterotypes. Real life is much more interesting when it comes to the type of people you encounter. I guess sitcoms capture them the best. Be it the weird characters you encounter, admit it -they are all around us, or the moments of sweet irony that you wait for the ‘ta-da-da-da-da-da’ in the background.

It does have its advantages in making you realize some truths that you can be prepared for

a) The equation between the people is going to keep changing. The characters might be the same, but as the ‘seasons’ go by they keep trying to fall in and out of zone of comfort.

b) People who leave make guest appearances in later seasons often causing lots of confusion. (Contrast with soaps where the dead people comeback!)

c) All your characters have shades of grey including the protagonist – you. This necessarily helps the script move forward.

d) Sometimes you forget the right words but you manage. Rehearsals rarely happen and there ain’t a chance for retakes

e) The moral conflicts of the protagonist usually lead to hilarious moments. Of course not all are laughing.

It feels warm to think things in life are actually scripted towards a happy ending. As Khaled Hosseini says in Kite Runner, is there something called a happy ending in life? Every episode, every phase just moves the story forward giving you cue cards to emote. Relish, Learn and Move on.

After that thoughtful pause, I thought I’d close with a typical incident in my scripted life.

In the Flight from Kolkata to Hyderabad which had a total of 10 passengers.

Air Hostess: Sir, would you mind sitting in the seat over the wings? It is a safety precaution.

Me: huh?? safetyyyy? hmmmm sure, I guess..

AH: Sir, I need to explain to you the emergency procedure for opening the door.. .. keep looking out the window during take off and landing for fire.. 

Me: (nodding the head all the while) Ah.. Is that what they call “flight risk”? (grin)

AH: (blank state.. walks away muttering something under her breath)

Me: [Emergency! Did she say emergency? Oh God! What if.. FIRE!?? She said fire. Wow, this is exciting and scary.. This is something I’m prepared for.. I’ve been prepared for such a situation right from UKG when the English teacher made me monitor.. I’ve just got to pull.. but what if the handle won’t drop down.. God, I should have gone to the gym more regularly.. Maybe to reduce a bit of flab too.. Hey, the plane has started taxiing.. Ok, outside the window.. hey, the metal part on the wing is moving, should I ask the air hostess to check? It seems like the wings are shaking, I bet the planes are made in China.. Just pull.. deep breath.. pull………………………………………………]

AH: Sir, Sir.. Hope you had a pleasant flight. We’ve landed in Hyderabad.

Me: I Slept!?!

Knot my cup of coffee

After the pox kind of ‘chickened’ out and the PGP decided to try their luck in killing me with the class schedule, only now could I come up with a title punny enough to make me write. Well, that and the fact that few of my friends got engaged/married/committed recently. In addition to that I want huge quantities of coffee (that would increase the PAT of Nestle’s Nescafe division) to help me survive the week ahead!

Ever since I saw Raavan, I have been toying with the idea of marriage as an extension of Stockholm Syndrome. No, I’m not exactly someone who goes around cracking marriage jokes or make fun of louuu but the idea kind of seemed to hold some appeal. When 2 of my good friends got engaged (not married), I asked what changed now? And for some reason the response was something like there’s no going back now! In the Indian value system (not picked up from TMI, will talk later) the marriage is taken seriously and for all optimism that goes with it, it is a lifelong contract. You break out of marriage and unlike the US where your status is “available-again” (Hey Angelina Jolie and Bradd Pitt might be available soon!) the Indian society tags you with a “divorcee”. Now here I need to make it clear, I’m not thinking too pessimistically :)

So, thinking a bit more objectively and trying to follow the value system, you want to be ‘sure’ that the person you want to spend the rest of your life with is someone whom you are not gonna have a problem with for not retuning a couple of calls or for forgetting to get the milk in the morning! How do you test that? Isn’t it more a, I know too geeky, but a function of time? Relationships evolve with situations, what the OB guys call critical incidents. So a guy might remember the days his wife went late to her office to accommodate his board meetings and a wife might remember the early morning bed coffees he used to so lovingly make. They also evolve with bad things, like the time the guy cracked a mother-in-law joke with his peers or the lady cribbed how the guy never bothered about if the house is clean. But come-on, even the fin guys out here couldn’t anticipate events in future and based on their best guess prepare ‘pro-forma’ sheets! So in their language, the terminal growth rate is actually the after marriage love :P

So, given the risks involved, your arranged marriage seems more of a risk than your love marriage ain’t it? Actually, I agree am no expert, but the love marriage kind of cuts down the time to ‘court’, the fun part of finding out stuff about your parent’s recommendation that is the most colourful part. Again, u like it or not, the cycle sets in of making adjustments given the terms of the contract. And hence is born a ‘love’ so different from the love before marriage.

I feel a bit old talking about marriage, but then guys my age are actually getting married! For the female friends of mine, whose families should be sent to capture Dawood, given their search expertise, wish they have the most fun in the courting part :) As for me, it depends on the time like 4 years from now and the people in my life then.

Coming to the coffee part of it. Although I can connect this to my previous topic, I won’t. After I wrote about GJC, readers of my blog (yes, u 6 :P) have kind of come to the conclusion I’m an addict. Strangely, I’m like a camel when it comes to coffee. (no, I do not store it in my hump) I can go without coffee for days together (months together when I had a bet), if I can’t get a good coffee! For all the guys and girls who are giggling at the statements, I mean the one made with caffeine.

Thanks to a schedule that runs from 9 to 8 every day followed by cases and articles to read, coffee has been a lifeline more than a fad. The only solace has been the TMI (Technology Management and Innovation) course that has almost got the entire batch scurrying to read the articles so they can participate in the class discussions (not DP). I’ve run out of superlatives to describe the course and the discussions on twitter. And its not just me.

In some ways, the sickness, recovery and more sickness kinda situations have made me kind of numb to expectations from people – both ways. But then I never gave a damn most times anyway. And so here’s wishing myself luck to the world of coffee, marriage and cynicism (hopefully in that order) :P

Chicken Soup for the Veggie Soul

I feel like James Bond. Undercover, having things shaken not stirred and women checking me out and saying “Hot”! And the rest of the story is the other dialogues that go with it like, “You need another blanket?”, “How many times have you had that syrup?” and “Shit, he needs another paracetamol!” As i manage to sit up after 2 days with my laptop open, I think a brief update is in order.

I’ve been struck by the cowardly disease that sounds like socks (thank God it doensn’t smell like) and it couldn’t have chosen a wrong timing. Fifa worldcup finals! Knowing the Fucchas! My 24th birthday! Work (ahem)! For all those of you who are doing an “awwwwww”- its ok people, shit happens. I’ll clarify at my own pace. As i always say, its a matter of perspective :)

Ever since I read the Christmas Carol in class XI (awesome English book for CBSE), I had until recently, the image of some ghost (A bearded ghost with a tuxedo) showing me clips from my past, my present and future. Until recently was cos, recently i saw the movie Ghost of Girlfriends Past and it gave new fears :P Anyways, as the doctor wrote down “to be kept in isolation” after confirming my fear , i couldn’t help recall the images painted by ghosts of Christmas future and was rethinking a few of my I-don’t-give-a-damn outbursts.

Shillong is a small and beautiful place. And i’ve been given a room in our institute guest house with a beautiful view and it seems almost like a resort. Well almost is true, cos I haven’t done much but sleep or stare out the window or raise fuss – much more like an asylum, while the Hellboy signs show up and bringing down the standard of my PJs. (for those of you who want to clear their throats at this point, a nice warm hug from me!)

I can’t believe the westerners call India, the land of superstitions, when the entire attention before every match of the FIFA WC is on an octa pedal squishy thingy that has no clue about football. Seriously if squids were to play football they’ll be yellow carded for fouls on themselves! And yet, it has been accurate so far in this WC. My heart broke to see the Germans go down to an out of form Spain. Or thats probably the reason why i couldn’t see the match! With sucky streaming and the effect of the dosage, while Spain slowly eroded Germany, I was sleeping my way to glory. Now that Germans have squashed Uruguay, I know i want Spain to win the trophy, but that match according to me befit the final.

As for my 24th birthday, ppl had trouble believing it was my 24th, it was made better thanks to the stream of calls and teaser party at 12 by the awesome 66. Of course my fairy tale memories for the day seem more like pages out of Sleeping beauty, snow white and whichever tale that involves sleeping. (My parents thought Panchatantra made more sense for me and so i had to catch the others a bit later on Zee! Does anyone remember the Zee or Jain TV’s tales from across the globe?) Small highs and state on unconsciousness made the lows seem far away. Oh a special mention of the toast i got from the chocolate boy of Awesome 66. Without the adjectives used – my blog, my pjs and the earlier said i-don’t-give-a-damn outbursts were mentioned and i was gloating :D

Since my blogs are already pretty long, here’s me cutting it short by mentioning some of the people who are integral to me striding through. Firstly my guardian angels – Sreethala and Priyanka – Thank God they got it before me. Followed by Samita, Sai Garu, Veena, Abha and Esha who think it is better to share updates, gossips and cruel judgements about people here in the ‘isolation’ place than in a party full of people :) A generic thanks to the Awesome 66 and my profs for the best wishes. As i have said before, I consider myself lucky.

Here’s me saying “te deseo lo mejor” to Spain. (courtesy: the Spanish Dictionary)

Dawned!

I had a discussion with a friend of mine about how blogs tell you much more about the writer than they ever intend to reveal. A blog is more like the wardrobe malfunction for models. So, when I decided to write this blog, when am terribly unhappy about certain happenings and feel let down, probably cos I expected where i had no right expecting, I guess, I know the consequences. Reading it as a continuation of my Lessons from my life blog is too early.

Being a manager is a hierarchical thing. Being a leader is a long process. But being a pain in the posterior is not that tough. However for the pain to be taken seriously and allowed to sustain, say like an injection for a disease, u need to have a context. Even if you are convinced it is essential, it does not cease to be a pain! I know without context this seems much like Confusious’s worldly wisdom, but i am starting to believe Confusious, Aristotle and the likes were mere mortals who saw deeply into life due to certain blessed souls :P

Power is perceived. If today Himesh Reshammiya can still churn out movie after movie of his own howling and still make statements as to how he is undefeatable, that is cos he thinks he is in a position of power thanks to the audience who look for an empty ac hall to sit to beat the heat. When someone can perceive power, so can they perceive powerlessness. People go to great lengths to make believe the other person is powerless. Silence is not always the sign of the weak.

Belief and intent have nothing to do with the outcome. Raavan is a beautiful movie (I loved it), but that does not mean it is going to be a blockbuster movie. Mani Sir, needs to be content with himself for the audience it was intended for liked it. Just because a movie critic doesn’t get it, there is no point in trying to convince him. Number of people who agree to an idea is inconsequential if the relevant few don’t! Does not again mean the idea is irrelevant.

Perception is overrated. Related to the previous point, it makes for a mask that makes Jim Carrey look professional! But do we want to know people without their masks? Can’t we let them wear it? Cos underneath most is an ugly face. No, this is not like Shilpa Shetty without makeup. Once you know the true face, it doesn’t seem worth it, to try to manage their perception about you.

For all the people, who couldn’t make head or tail of it, the gist of it – Its a bad bad world. If you are straight (in all means), life ain’t easy! :D

Mumbai – Memories

After a blog that made as much sense to people as an Organizational Behaviour session on paradigm shift, I am back to cat-rat-bat writing.

My stint at Mumbai comes to an end today and I know the entire Mumbai chapter is going to play in front of my eyes much like a sitcom end! You can see the obvious positives and negatives, what could have beens and the people. The image of Mumbai I will carry is from Maratha Mandir where we watched DDLJ in its 758th week. Not that of conniving taxi drivers or scheming businessmen, but of romantics who cheer for Raj against Kuljeet, who plead Bavji to leave Simran, who grin when Simran sings “Chodo ji chodo, ab gaooge kya gaana” in antakshri, who hum (humming kind hum) tujhe dekha to yeh everytime the background score appears. And at the end of the movie we were all grinning! You can’t take bollywood (or kollywood or any wood) out of Indians

I encountered some of the best people i could hope to meet, here in this city. These people, I hope, unlike Ogden Nash’s hoped hopen, will not be just leaf in the book but the storyline itself. As Karan says in Hum Tum – “jitney choti ya lambi kyun na ho, humari koi kahani hogi zaroor”. Thanks to IIT DC++, I watched some of my old favourite movies again.

I need to make a mention of my luck with bosses. I’ve had people who have been extremely objective and a lot patient. Including my colleague, when people tell me, I’m a manager’s nightmare, I can’t help but gloat. My exit interview was probably the best learning about myself where the feedbacks were bang-on and constructive. Hope my luck continues (atleast at the corporate level!) As Woody Allen says in Match point “The man who said ‘I’d rather be lucky than good’ saw deeply into life”

The last one week in Mumbai, found me and my friend roaming the roads of Mumbai (not the tourist way). Mumbai heat is quite unforgiving! So when our prime food became ganne ka juice and vada/samosa pav, I was taking a thrill in such a living. There was a vibe that was just there, not the connectable one, but it is more like the feeling of a surgeon doing an open heart surgery, holding the beating heart in his hand. Ok, that was too much. I was just waiting for an AC room to get into where I can dry off, complaining – but in retrospect seemed more revealing! As Woody Allen says “Life is understood only backwards. It is only the movement that is forward”

These two months for me are not way different from my days at Bangalore, Shillong or Chennai. Seen the best and worst of emotions, hung around ice cream shops way after midnight, lived on 7Rs samosas and 8Rs Paratas, haunted the IIT campus in groups talking nonstop nonsense, caught the IPL finals and enjoyed the uncertainty of reaching back, gave gyan to people with brilliant potential, listened to gyan from people who thought I had brilliant potential, captured every tourist’s imagination, formed gangs out of thin air, toiled hard, grinned while toiling, opened up a bit, bit my tongue a lot, owned coffee house(s), found new places to love, new people to love, committed mistakes, realized mistakes, pointed out mistakes... (Tried out the voiceover of some ad that I can’t place – Mastercard?) OSO style - "Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!"

As I was telling my friend yesterday, everything kind of comes down to “at-the-end-of-the day”. My Mumbai has too many memories – nostalgic and otherwise too. As i bid adieu to this place (for now atleast) I loved my time here, although it was not the city that I connected with. People make the city and I’m glad I had the people I had. I wouldn’t change anything about the last two months, not one frame!

I can be your Hero!

Okay, the imagery that it brings to me is a Saturday morning at IIM Shillong with me trying to block out this song rendered with all passion by my friend, with a misnomer of a name, from the bathroom, unaware of the efforts of mine to sleep longer! Fan of your singing, buddy! :)

Imagery apart, the spark for this piece came from the by now famous cancer patient about whom Sachin tweeted! Sachin, the little master, “God”, the Great – words that we use without a second thought. Such love, such passion and such emotions - that surge up much like a shaken up can of coke from most Indians at his sight! To me, a fan of his cricket, he is on his way to becoming a hero. Because in this country a hero is above mortals, a person infallible and for whom vices donot exist and the believers are going to give their blind devotion and love so unselfish.

I remember a couple of years ago, me and my roomie in Bangalore had a discussion about religions and stories. What stopped a king, who was a obedient son, to have his wife kidnapped and then fight a battle to get her back? (Am super excited by Raavan btw) And add to that he was a mortal who asked to prove her "purity" before taking her back? What stopped a shepherd who sees the people fighting to say its cool not to fight and live in harmony? I’m not talking against beliefs, but I’m talking about our love for heroes.

What’s the fun in telling a kid there is no Santa Clause? Or as Chandler does, telling a kid he is adopted? :P I can point out 100 politicians! But somehow there is this void wherein we are not ready to accept the people for what they are. If we love them for their actions, we tend to try to love them overlooking the shortcomings, thus raising them above the lot! I’m talking only about heroes here. But somehow that trend, though is inconsequential, is not fair I guess. Cos in some cases, the other ppl wake up to the reality and either go thru the phases of denial, anger etc or hate. All this no fault of the guy/girl we chose to judge. Take Dhoni’s case for instance!

Speaking of heroes, superheroes are getting more and more real! Ironman with his narcissist wit (awesome), Batman who is battling his own demons(amazing), Spiderman who is in his own web (yuck), superheroes are becoming more relatable atleast with their problems.I remember the scene from Pyar ke side effects where Ranvir shorey and co discuss why superheroes can’t be married! Rofl scene.

It is fine for people who have borne the burden of being an hero (to the masses) to bare their life and lead a life of irrational expectations. What makes it worth it is after your time, your faults would be totally forgotten and only the fame remains. Who knows, you can end up being a God! Two relevant quotes from Batman – “It is not who you are but what you do that defines you” and “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain”.

Oh on a corollary,if you hate a person, whatever they do, even if they are reaching out to help, people tend to take offense. (You there, you know who and what I’m talking about :P) – Sorry this was like a msg in the bottle (I want to do a public infomercial). I guess it is upto us to respect the actions and ideas separately from the person. So if Sachin is tweeting about a cancer patient, so are 1000s of people everyday! Lets be a bit more open minded and reduce the burden on our heroes. Tough to believe - but they are in fact human :)

Mumbai Musings

Ok, Enough is enough. Without a net connection at hostel, I’ve put off writing the craziness of this city as seen thru my crazy perspective. Ladies and Gentlemen, Mumbai is every romantic’s love sonnet and every paranoid’s adrenaline rush. To a management student like me it is, simply put, theory of constrains :P

First thing that catches your attention here is the people bulging out of every space that is ever available. This is far far bigger than Bangalore but every inch of the space is competed for! More like a fat lady in a corset (God! What’s with me and similes today?!) And the pulse of the city, though every 2nd rate author to 1st rate bloggers have already referred to it. I know 1.30 in the night, I will reach my destination in a crowded bus with company. A city, I might not prefer for the long haul of my life, but am super excited about the short term here!

3 weeks here already and so much we have done! When I say we, i include the gang from IIM Shillong (PGP09 Mumbai Chapter), my team from internship and my split personality (the one who works). Not a weekends has gone where we have not taken in the Mumbai heat in our efforts to discover this city. Thanks to a guy who hasn’t been to a beach ever before we’ve hit almost all the major beaches in Mumbai, including the Priyanka Chopra (my pulse picked up a notch) starrer Aksa Beach! I must say its by far the cleanest beach here in Mumbai and thankfully a lot less crowded. Ferry ride, elephant caves, the gateway, malls, chat shops, HN – check!

Food in this city, as my friend says, u can find costly or cheap but never bad. However coffee has been a bit of let down here. Until recently when i discovered, thanks to my boss, Gloria Jean’s Coffee! Staying close to Hirnanandani at IIT Powai, I’ve discovered a few pleasures that are going to pinch my purse i guess. After a few coaxing sessions to get people there, I kind of realize not everybody is crazy about a good coffee as me. So today morning I hit a new high :D On a Sunday morning, I woke up at 7, took a book to GJC and settled down with a hot steaming Cappuchino! The view from this place is awesome and I’ve been grinning ever since that!

Oh and ya, now finally for the kicker. Watched the IPL Finals live in DY Patil Stadium!! :D :D and making it hyper-awesome is the fact that CSK ARE THE CHAMPIONS! Live performances and the arrangement was gala to say the least! Although we were the minority by a great margin, somehow we managed to have our voices heard. I wanted Sachin to play and so awesomely he did. So a totally awesome result :) Though travel did bite us pretty much and I felt discriminated against for the first time by the locals, I will let it pass. Anyways this i think will be the end of the IPL as we know it. With more games being played off the field, I fear IPL will become more of a monstrosity that is loathed with a few corporate houses going broke. Only time will tell.

I have just completed 3 weeks here. 6 more to go and in a way i think i will be counting the time left. Not that I don’t like the place, but somehow I don’t feel the connect. I felt it in Bangalore. I feel it in Shillong. Here, this city, it scares me a bit. I love it much like a crush on a teacher for a 10 year old – It’s nice and exciting but you know it would not work out. Some brilliant people I have met and am learning at every turn – by mistakes or otherwise. McD.

Managerial lessons from life

Home is a good place to be. Hot, humid and stuffy, but this is the place i love the most! As i sit this sunny afternoon with filter coffee in hand and Binny curled up beside me I can’t help but reflect what my one year in IIM has taught me. Let me assure you, more than the books and the coursework, if I were to run my firm tomorrow i’d need to learn a lot more from everyday life.

Informal Groups Implode:
This is something i’ve come to realise over time after being part of several groups. Whenever there is no structure or defined roles, the interests of individuals serve towards the least number. So you notice one by one people keep getting cut out (sometimes the others don’t even notice), till there are core 2-3 ppl who have issues with each other. It becomes putting up and looking for a new group. Its not a cynical view. Its just nature. That’s why probably boyfriends and girl friends break up while married couple try to at least resolve conflicts before the D word.

If someone thinks their group is rock solid, think how many were initially part of the group, how many issues you find with other members and you will realise its a matter of time. You need a structure to hold things in place. That way despite the turbulence, the group finds footing.

This is essential for a manager to know. Cos all this bunch of friends just starting a firm without defined roles and designation is not gonna do a world of good. Lok Paritran is a perfect example.

Stepping on Egos is worse than dog tail:
Somehow, when you work at the lower end of the hierarchy, there is a sense of fraternity feeling. Fellow sufferers type. However when you are a manager or for that matter in position of power, you got to deal with fragile egos and flailing power centres, one of which is probably yours. Now when you have to step on egos, you better be wearing a ballet shoe so that you at least land gracefully.

When someone tells you, you can be frank with me, the fact is you can’t be! When there is power involved people behave like 3 year olds who want a toy. They see no rhyme nor reason and to them its all about ingratiating their egos. Unfortunately, I learnt it the hard way. With an equally reactive ego, I decided its better to let the actions speak than direct confrontations.

Best friends make business decisions tough:
I read this Direct from Dell, where he invariable calls his customers, clients and colleagues by name. He never calls them his friends. This is not something that we would be willing to listen to, but think about it. How often can we out rightly say a no?

We had the head of Wacker Chemicals (a German) talking to us. He said “Indians – they just want to please the other person. So they say a yes, cos they think it is impolite to say a no.” A lot of the batch got pissed when he said that, but ultimately its the truth. With friends you can argue, but whenever it comes to a face off, you put the friendship on line. We cannot be professional to friends, without stepping on egos!

Tomorrow if i have to start a business I would want likeminded people but not my best friends. Now let me tell you, that in itself, will be a point of contention if I had not known my friends.

Resisting change has causality count:
When change was first discussed in class, I realized I have always viewed change as a forced response to the environment. One of my blogs a year back carried a comment that said “show me one change hater who has survived”. I understood organizations were proactively introducing change and I think this we do in our life as well.
I noticed that whenever I feel cramped up, I do something to my appearance. So when I shaved off my French beard (that caused a batch mate of mine to choke on her food), I was just trying to incorporate a change I’m responsible for. Without sifting through jargons, I’d say change is better if you are the one who is bringing it.

Timing is everything:
Though its easier said than done and befit my PJs, I think this is something that is crucial that life teaches you. Starting from your first love to the your driver’s licence everything is in a hurry! People are not able to appreciate the event in their hurry to move on. This is not about the patience, but knowing the right time.
Having said that, I’d also want to be foolish – to not stick to timelines, have secret crushes, flirt a bit, but know when to stop. I’m not that mature yet.

The most trivial thing i had in mind is the freshers in management. Most of my best friends are freshers, but I feel, its not the knowledge you gain with work ex, but the experience of being managed in an organization that gives you a perspective of what goes through your employee’s mind. No doubt these guys would be good managers, but the empathy component might be a bit less. Having said that, it would work out pretty well if you are to be a results oriented manager.

Good is not good for everybody:
Thanks to Abra, the awesome 66 know the above statement as a joke. But just because your intentions are noble, your acts can’t be. People give a lot of crap about ethics and morals and values, but if you have to be taught that in class, I think there’s something not so right with the business world or with your value system. Its not always like a Madhur Bhandarkar movie. The tip for the manager is that at the end of the day do no job that can take away your sleep ( i mean the conscience part)

Pensiveness is not a new friend to me. With Binny trying to draw attention towards him by nudging my laptop, I think I’ve written things that not a lot of people would agree with. But I guess, these are my actual learning and i will hold onto them until proved otherwise. I know I can never be a manager who can sign the epitaph of anybody with a deal. And I don’t want to learn to be either.

I don’t dream to be a great manager or the powerful CEO, but to make my small world of loved ones happy and in the process do my bit for the people around me. Hope the tide of time or the 2nd year of PGP doesn’t change me (or i decide to be proactive).

Oh btw, Thank you Rana, for the HTML template tip on blogger :D

Catching up

The problem with not updating blogs regularly is that you lose out on the fizz of giving unwanted details to uninterested people! Well, to be frank I wanted to update the blog like 4-5 times since my last blog, all enthusiastically jumping, causing minor landslides. But now here I go on to the précis writing part much like John Abrahams emotional scenes.

Last Sunday, I went for the football match between Lajong FC and East Bengal iLeague match. What an atmosphere! Add to the fact that Lajong is the home team and IIM Shillong is providing management consultancy to the team. IIM Shillong rocks!! (that’s me smoothly doing PR) Coming back to the match, though our group of 17 were subdued on the cheering level, busy scouting for food - given we missed lunch and posing for photos, the atmosphere around us rocked! We had kids not taller than 3 feet swearing at the referee who didn’t give a free kick! To top it, the home team won 1-0 and we came back gloating, attributing their victory to our presence there.

The most colourful day of year, I ended up looking unrecognizable and unimaginably dirty! I come from that part of the country, where on holi, you mom scolds you for even thinking of going out to play. But let me tell you this is a slightly more decent than in my last year of VIT where people tore clothes and ran across the campus! The insti sportingly allowed us to play holi and thanks to our student bodies, we ended up making people who have never played before regret not playing for so long! Now, I can put this on paper(webpage) that in probably no other insti do you chase a prof to put colour nor does a faculty member drench your group in a bucket of water! What do i say, we rock! (yet another subtle move) Oh and awesome food! I love this festival.



Oh incidentally, since i wrote the 2nd paragraph, i’ve been to yet another Lajong match, this time wearing jerseys and posing for photographs sponsored by institute!! Plan to go again this week now that i’ve completed one year in PGPM! Yayyy. Go Lajong Go!! Of course my work is not done yet and so am in Shillong more busy than I ever was in Office! (ok, i know my office colleagues laugh when i say i was busy – just efficient ok??)

A note that we have to vacate the room, managed to stun me. Not the leaving the room bit, but the fact that I have clean the stuff out of this room. I’ve managed to maintain a 4 degree separation between everything i need on my table that makes it easier for me to find stuff (ahem). In office I had my friend who in all her excitement, used to talk to herself and clean up my table to make place to sit :P Too bad not many selfish people are around here (not exactly)

You know how they say pressure makes you see what people really are made of? In times of secret identities, edgy bosses, crying maidens and winning KKR (buhahaha), I believe I’m happy with the way most things have worked out. Although there have been times where I was willing to believe a proctologist doesn’t have to encounter so many s per day as I have to, a mild pat on our backs for riding through. And here I bear witness to the first rains of Shillong which incidentally is hail. Tiny pearls of ice glistening on the wet mud with the intoxicating smell - life is hectic but good.

Looking forward to getting my job done, going home and my Internship with people I’m looking forward to meet (in that order)!

You've been Tweeped!

I know being in a B School and following the social trends, twitter is considered the next big thing in new age marketing and communication. If i’m giving case recommendations i’ll surely write a line about new age social media marketing etc.

Personally though Twitter for me hasn’t been a pleasant ground. First up, the philosophy is not so sound. I know it gives you a sense of self importance to announce to all the people ‘following’ you what u are doing. Assuming they take it without questioning your statements. But seriously why was a Mr.Jack Bruntz following me till i blocked him? What prolific bit of information would i share that would mean salvation to his dark soul. Someone sharing my sentiments :D

RT @anupamachopra : Is Twitter, to quote VF mag,"extreme narcissism or nifty real-time reporting"

Barring philosophical constraints, it is kinda cruel to newbies I feel. I learnt it the hard way. I mean, if I were to compile all my tweets and responses here, it would make for the next book of Sidin! Who btw has marketed his book Dork all the way on twitter :D (ordered it on flipkart and got an autographed one)

Back to point, no one gives out the rules and terms anywhere on the site. So when I wished Priyanka Chopra to have a safe journey on her trip to Mauritius, was kind of clueless that every one (in Pareto style, the 20% who make fun of you 80% of the time) would be made aware of it! So after the initial excitement of msging a celebrity, heart throb at that, ended up feeling that the average intelligence of my room increases when i’m not there(including desks, chairs and the dumped clothes on the chair!).

Now when, Mr.Shashi Tharoor and co haven’t learnt much except that of the taste of feet from twitter, I wonder what is in it for you if you are to be extremely guarded in expressing yourself? I know no one cares, what i’m tweeting, but when u are expected to say something gr8, something witty etc, its simple PR activity. Things you learn from twitter, especially from the IPeople (Apple ishtyle), are kind of worth as interesting as Rakhi’s swayamvar part 2! (By God, Rakhi!!)
I know i’m going to shamelessly tweet this new blog and set it as a SM. At the end of the day, its all about a sense of perceived self importance that decides to ignore one’s call for attention. I’m sure Rakhi agrees with me. Its people like her and SJ Surya who give the rest of us normal people some amount of optimism in life – if these people can be celebrities, nothing is impossible! :P So much for political correctness!

With work load trying to deep six us all early and power cuts at night to make things interesting, blogging is one way to use up your battery backup. Tweeting is another!

PS: Happy Birthday to Ms.Pandit! The warm person to the feverish (God bless) and the cool person to the tweet world :)

Differentiating Discontinuity

The one advantage of a long break from blogging is that you can get away with a title that is irrelevant to the content of the blog :D

A lot happened since my last blog. Chronologically skipping the painful parts is a good enough structure to ramble with some amount of coherence.

When, a day before the last exam, you come to know that there is going to be a state level strike the day u are supposed to leave for home after 6 months what do you do? Well rationally most ppl start discussing arrangements, but as a batch we decided we should party one day earlier! Invigilator walked into the exam hall to find “Give me some sunshine” being played on the system and ppl singing and dancing along – all this before the exam! :D (Now take that CBSE, who cancelled class X exams due to pressure on students!)Of all ironies the bandh got cancelled and we left on the day initially planned cos the vehicles we arranged for the previous day got cancelled too! :O

After a nightout followed by an eventful journey – home! By God, it felt like i was never away at all. You know how you promise to all the ppl that you will meet when you come home? Of the 16 out of 20 days i spent in Chennai, I kept around 30% of the promises (10% of them official)! In contrast my Bangalore trip was unbelievably productive! Much like Blitzkreig, I planned to meet 18 ppl in 2 days and met 26 ppl and came back. Ops ppl might say it was scheduled below capacity, but i say to them – as Elsevier says the hallmark of quality is to exceed high expectations! :P (showing off I’m majoring in operations by googling the quote) Mom’s cooking, pampering and pampered by my dog, catching up movies and series my bro had downloaded and bugging dad with some stray eco concept – life seemed so awesome!

One high point of my mostly placid holidays was my visit to my old office. You know how you expect things to have changed totally and u find, much like the mega serials, nothing much actually has happened over the 6 months. Reactions varying from “Don’t tell me you’re back!!” to “Good to have you back”, oblivious to the fact that I had a visitor tag were ignorable given the high point was my old team’s warm welcome. One Kodak moment – spoiled only by Joe hitting me on the head for calling her old :P But in this changing world, it was a pleasant thought to know some ppl do not change (although it is just 6 months- touchwood).

Back to college, reality’s beckoning, its the same drill. 1/3rd manager, you get used to the pressure and staring at stuff you have no clue what it is all about and then finally coming up with a few generic statements as solutions. Levels of reasoning are becoming more and more inventive.( Why take this cost? Cos nothing in this world is free!!)

Oh ya, went on the David Scott trail! 30 people on 16kms of trek through scenic locales, mountains, streams and PGP09 rocked as usual. All trekking enthusiasts should try this once. Not for the difficulty (Gokharna was by far more tough), but you get all kind of trails. The ‘pristine village’ on the top of the hills floored us when we realised these ppl communicate in flawless English! Someone from the batch asked whats so great about walking in the sun, panting like a dog, when u know you could as well have taken a car or for that matter slept late. I guess we do it for the sense of achievement, the 5 seconds you get when u see the speeding ambassador with the drive spitting out of the window after 3.5 hours of trek!

Oh and out of sync i forgot to do my new year ritual of doing a performance appraisal of the last year. 2009 wasn’t so bad given the influx of new people, new place and a visit home. I guess I have to do it in detail with the designated person :) Hopefully 2010 is a good year for all.

Now that I have filled in about my period of absence, I can move on knowing the past is safely chronicled. Someone told me in a not so polite manner sometime back why I can’t stop making statements with multiple meanings. Since it was followed by certain anatomical references, I chose to ignore. Maybe they had a point :D