Spamming as a vocation!

Please don't get me wrong.. No, i've never tried my hand at it! However, chain-mailers have always fascinated me. I've come to believe that their's is one of the most creative jobs!! They manage to dupe fairly intelligent people to send out copies of essentially stupid mails with untrue information to everyone on their list.

Now what is the motive of these chain-mailers? Simple: They get a kick in seeing their message go around the world with minimal effort and at no cost. And at times if people are extra stupid, they manage to extract sensitive information as well. They appeal to people at two levels: rational and emotional. Most people succumb to one of these. Its interesting to see how they do it.

At a Rational level, they bring out the inherent greed in people. Sample this: "Bill Gates would pay $1000 for every mail forwarded as it helps him to test some Microsoft mail tracking software". This hoax mail went round the whole world in 1997! Even if Gates had paid a tenth of the money, Microsoft would have gone bankrupt years back!! Another irritating mail is that of Yahoo or Orkut deleting accounts of people who don't forward the mail to everyone on their list.

At an Emotional level, people are suckers to do a LOT of good without spending a penny out of their pocket! How many times have we heard of a baby with 'small cell cancer' or some other unpronouncible disease looking for help and that a poor sponsor will donate $1 for every mail sent. There are ones with emotional blackmails like "If you love your parents forward this or else, shame on you"!

There are other specimens that curse people with definitive things like a break-up or worse, 'bad sex for 5 years'!! God save the victims :)

Taking it too far.. Pizza 'dhabha' Hut

Last week when I walked into a Pizza Hut outlet in Hyderabad Central, I was handed a queer looking menu.. Upon flipping it open, I was shocked for a second as to whether I was in a road-side dhabha on the national highway! An all-pink menu decorated with hindi words and coarse-looking pictures was definitely not palatable.. To add to it, items like seekh-kabhab pizza to what not, made it even worse.. I am certainly not against dhabha kind of food, but I'm against it being served in a place like Pizza Hut..

The multinationals are taking the concept of GLocalization just too far.. Anyone would drop into a McDonalds or a Pizza Hut for the westernized brand and the authentic food (ofcourse with a little Indianization).. However, this kind of far-fetched moves would dilute the brand's perception and worse, might not bring in the additional expected customers..

Homecoming!!

Last week had been extra sweet.. I had been away from campus for about 3 months, but was already getting nostalgic.. I got a chance to visit Delhi on official duty briefly and managed to take a weekend out..

The saturday and sunday was hectic with a visit to all the usual hangouts.. satya niketan, rajinder dhaba, supreme bakery, munirka amongst others!! We managed a mini reunion of people working in and around Delhi, at Ansal's plaza :) It was nice to see all the faces and hear their version of the corporate stories..!

The search for an 'appropriate' subject..

I get a strange feeling when I sit down to write a new post. What do I write about?

Probably it must be the job and the additional baggage. When I used to write from Delhi during my MBA days, I had never minced words when it came to pulling the legs of my friends or voicing my opinion about some sensitive issues that surrounded me!! Well, its a good thing that they had taken it all in right the spirit and spared me extra 'bumps' during my bdays and other's! However, its not practical to extend it on a similar note to my co-workers! Many a time I had glanced through blogs of socially irresponsible employees who had washed dirty linen in public and had turned their blogs into rumour mills. A nasty way to vent ire indeed..

However, a little contemplation gives answers to these questions. It indeed is possible to keep moving.. just spare the pointed references and bring in some anonymity whenever things could get personal to someone or something. However, I'm not sparing my old pals yet! Sorry, you would have to bear with me for some more time!!

Blogger's Block!!

2 months and 10 days... well, thats how long the 'block' has managed to survive, thanks to the frenetic pace of change and activity that surrounds my existence presently.. This gap was something I had dreaded of, from the moment I created my webpage..

In the past, there have been many a weeks wherein I had longingly browsed through my past blog-posts, all the while consoling my 'inner writer' that, his time will come too, yet again!! Now that I'm back here, its feels like a whiff of fresh air is blowing and making me feel lighter.. It just reminds me that writing has been one of my most enjoyable hobbies and I've thoroughly enjoyed every minute I've spent blogging..

After this comeback, my 'inner writer' (and you ofcourse) can rest assured that there would be steady posts coming in here.. The revised frequency would be about once a week, unless ofcourse I manage to have an out-of-the-world-happening like our 'Agra tour' (This still is one of my most favourite posts!!) Keep watching this space..

Ciao

Vacation Diary

The past couple of weeks I have been on a whirlwind tour of Tamil Nadu, zipping across the length of the state. Perhaps, I’ve covered more constituencies than the touring political leaders! After a brief visit to Chennai to meet some old buddies, I went on a short vacation to Hogenakkal with my parents and sister’s family. The main attraction is a canyon of the river Cauvery that is around 200 ft deep. It was vacation of a different kind with bathing in the waterfalls and a fun ride in the river by means of ‘parisal’, the traditional basket boats (called ‘Coracle’ in English)! The famous ayurvedic massage (by a masseur, of course) and freshly fried fishes by the riverside were added attractions.

This is perhaps one of the very few places that still preserves and boasts of this antiquated mode of water transport which is said to be dated to the pre-Roman period. At about 70km from Dharmapuri, Hogenakkal is for sure an exciting and different weekend getaway. It is at the very end of the TN state border as one crossing the river would land up in Karnataka! Those of you who plan a trip there don’t miss out the Crocodile park which houses more than 400 of the reptiles.

After coming back to Madurai, I caught up with my rustic roots by paying a visit to the cluster of villages in the Chettinad heartland. I attended some functions, met up with relatives and went to places of worship. As CECRI alumni would know, a visit to the region is incomplete without a visit to Pillayarpatti, the favorite abode of the Elephant God and also the last resort of the Cecrians at the time of exams and placements! After doing all this traveling when the mercury was at its zenith, I must admit that the packed and overflowing buses in the summer heat would put Hitler’s gas chambers of WW II to shame! I am presently resting in Madurai, for a breather before I begin the next leg of my touring.

Rajnikantoon!!

An International Blockbuster movie starring the all-time-great-trio Rajnikant, Amitabh and Chirajeevi would be released very soon! The Superstars and Top stars of Indian Cinema would dutifully release more than a movie every year, as compared to the present one every couple of years!

Really salivating possibilities aren’t they? Easily, wouldn’t they be any advertisers wildest dream? No, this post is not a fictitious one, but one that closely borders Star Trek sci-fi! Now over to “Thalaivar’s news” news that got me excited: Adlabs films of the Ambani Group has collaborated with Chennai based Ocher Studios to co-produce an animation project featuring Superstar Rajnikanth. This project is headed by Rajni’s own daughter, Soundarya Rajnikanth.

Now, here is an Idea whose time has come! I cannot but adore the innovativeness of the concept and its almost 100% chance of success. True, being a Rajni fan(atic!) some amount of subjectivity can very well creep in. But if one logically explores the strength of the concept, it becomes obvious that it is backed by the crazy-popularity enjoyed by Rajni and how much the public yearns for more of his movies. Moreover, an animated Rajni would do all popular styles and stunts that old age (after all hez getting old too and is about 55 already) has taken away from him.

A Sample!! (source: www.rajinifans.com)

As I said earlier, this concept is much bigger than Rajni. The possibilities are just endless for International Cinema! We could see all our favourite artists of yesteryears come back to life and collaborate with today’s artists across languages to deliver limitless custom-made entertainment. Hang on, the digital era of Cinema has just begun!!

Populism to the Core!

Interesting is the plank that the parties are fighting on.. Amusing is their election manifesto.. With no ‘real’ issue to raise and fight on, the parties are madly scrambling to grab the attention of the voting public and in the process they are doling out freebies like crazy. The parties are promising the sky and earth just like an obliging (or is tactful a better word?!) parent trying to pacify a kid throwing tantrums!! Gone are the days when parties gave out money or clothes during election time to ‘buy’ voter loyalty. The politicians seem to have uncovered a more ingenious way than to burn a hole in their pocket in this big gamble. The solution: use the taxpayer’s money instead and make it contingent upon being voted to power.

Sun TV beams ads every five minutes in support of the DMK saying "Vote for the party that gives free Colour TV, Gas stove, Rice at Rs. 2/kg, 2 acres of free land" and what not. ADMK on its part, through Jaya TV is promising "free bicycles, books, free computers for all +2 students, 10kg of free rice, (which works out to Rs. 1.75/kg) and even writing off of all farmer debts amongst other freebies"!

This is as populist and inefficient as it can get. Rather than promising good governance, progressive schemes and innovative solutions to people’s problems, the parties are resorting to the easier, but costly way to power. Thereby, they are subjecting not only their government, but all future governments to an irreversible curse. Such measures are sure to plunge the State’s coffers to abysmal levels, as if they aren’t bad already. Its high time that the parties and the public wake up to the fact that such ‘generous subsidies’ are not practical today. Its time we looked at things from a long-term-sustenance and efficiency perspective rather than a short-term-gain point of view.

PS: Two more days to go for the elections!

Akshaya Tritiya - A Marketing Success!!

On the 30th of April 2006, a record 25,000 kgs of Gold was sold in Tamil Nadu alone. This is a record of sorts amidst soaring gold prices which has hit an all time high of over Rs. 900 per gm. The occasion, “Akshaya Tritiya”. This is a brilliant marketing strategy on the part of the Jewellers who in the past couple of years have sold the concept of ‘auspicious purchase of Gold’ just too well.

Even three years back when I was in Chennai, popularization of this idea was in full swing, and there were ads all around. Then, I was instructed by my parents to buy something in gold. Unaware of the rush I coolly went at 11 in the morning to GRT in T. Nagar only to find people queued up outside the shop and the line was longer than the street. It made me wonder whether someone was handing out free gold coins at that hour! I had to move with the queue and spend nearly 2 hours to buy a ring.

This year, I could see that the concept was growing bigger. The ads have brought in Platinum jewellery into the ‘auspicious fold’! With Platinum selling at over Rs.2000 per gm, at more than twice the price of Gold, this makes good business sense. This is a good case of innovative marketing, something akin to “Champagne for Special, Momentous Occasions”!

BusinessWorld 'Special Case Studies' Book - "BACK TO BASICS"

Businessworld has recently brought out its Special Case Studies Book 2006 titled "BACK TO BASICS", which is a collection of 17 selected case studies. This is a special BW collector's edition book the effort for which was spearheaded by Meera Seth of "BW Case Study" fame. The theme of the book is 'exploring the gap between Bschool teaching and Issues in the corporate world; and looking at ways to bridge it'. Each case in the book has been looked at by the tripartite team of Professors-Managers-MBA Students, in order to look at the cases from different view points. Totally about 45 people were involved in the effort which happened over email/chat/phone for about three months. The outcome of the discussions was that there indeed existed a gap between bschool and the workplace.

I had participated in the effort and had looked at two cases: one on "Boring Indian Managers and their Work life balance" and another on "Ads, Movies and the Media industry in India". We had done the discussion around October 2005, primarily over email. It was an exercise of a different kind and all of us had thoroughly enjoyed the discussion. We looked at some basic issues which are not covered in bschools and on how to prepare managers to get ready to face the challenge.

The book came out on the stands this week. I checked out the book yesterday and I must say that the book has come out very well! Participating in such a unique effort and seeing the output in the market is a great feeling. Do check out the book and post your comments.

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(Edited once on 02-05-2006)

Election and the Dirty Media wars

With five states going for elections presently, there is frenetic activity throughout the country. Even as I was leaving Delhi, the election fever had already gripped Tamil Nadu. Even a month back when I was contemplating on how to spend my vacation before joining the company after my MBA, I was confident that there would be some entertainment in lieu of the TN elections scheduled for 8th May 2006. After reaching here, in no time my belief was justified, albeit to an even deeper level. However on a more serious and sober note, the election scenario is pathetic and even alarming for a democracy like India. What is ever more pronounced today is the siding of the fourth estate with the political parties. This has eaten into the transparency of these media and has made them blindly biased.

There is a clear division of the satellite TV channels and the newsprint media with the various parties. The stage is set out like this: The opposition front led by DMK is backed by the Sun Network of satellite channels and their print media including newspapers like Dinakaran. The ruling ADMK has its eponymous satellite channel JJ TV and some print media to its advantage. Now there is a clear pitched battle between not just the parties but also their media partners who openly distort news and report only those things that support their party. Recently, both the sides have come out with their own version of pre-election polls which show the respective parties romping home victorious! One might argue that this has been the case in the earlier Assembly election in 1996 and 2001. However this time things are blaringly biased and only too obvious.

Also another interesting mockery is happening this time. Sample this: Sun TV has stopped screening Vijayakanth movies/clips as he has recently formed his own party to contest the elections. They have also banned showing movies/clips of
a host of other actors who have expressed support to the ADMK. Rajinikanth movies are a strict no-no as he has abstained from expressing his support to any front this time. Sarathkumar has broken away from DMK to join ADMK, so it is obvious that he cannot get airtime on Sun TV. Sarathkumar’s wife Raadhika, who heads the Raadan Media Works produces most of the popular programmes in Sun TV. But as the couple have crossed over to ADMK, it is just a matter of time before the programmes too make their way to Jaya TV!! Similar is the case with the other front.

Funny isn’t it? But that’s the sad state of affairs in the media front in Tamil Nadu which has caught the election flu!

River Rafting @ Rishikesh

After repeatedly trying to group together a bare minimum of 4 people for the rafting trip, just the three of us had confirmed and were available: Charles, Premjit and me. Post-exams all birds had flown away and we had difficulty regrouping the rest. We delayed the plan by yet another day and started it all over again, afresh. This time we got support from Jai Bhagwan, of South Campus ‘Rock climbing’ fame. Then out of nowhere Kutti Chaathaan a.k.a Shashi Kumar from IIFT (actually a full-timer from FMS and part-timer from IIFT!) appeared and declared that he would be able to take 2 days off from his ‘busy work schedule’. Just when we thought that the requisite 5 members quota had been filled, three more people were enthused and jumped into the fray, nearly choking the travel group: Pondi, Poddar and Kanix.

Early morning at 4 am on the 8th of April the 8 of us from the newly formed FMS adventure club started out on yet another trip, hoping against hope that it would be scandal-free and peaceful unlike the other ‘pioneering’ ones! To make a good beginning, we started with a ‘mandir darshan’, but it was out-of-context for the ‘drunken monks’ who had revelry the earlier night as they had planned to ‘fly’ the 5 hour journey. So, they began to desecrate the purpose of the visit and we had to rush it up and leave the place soon so as to not inflame the Gods!

Pit Stop

Pit stop 1 happened at about 7am on the way when we stopped for tea. After a quick ‘chai’ we were loitering around the dhabha when Charles moved away from the gang. Just then he was attacked by a set of monkeys who sexually assaulted him! Realizing that he could be ‘mistaken’ again, he immediately rejoined the group; I mean our ‘human group’. Thanks to the pestering Qualis driver, we were loaded onto the vehicle in a jiffy. We were back on our way.

(Charles inspite of being assaulted! , Jai, Premjit, me and Kanix)

After confirming plans with the operator we freshened up and had breakfast. In hindsight it appears that we are destined for pathetic food at exorbitant prices whenever we travel. Accepting that, we ordered, paid and left hungry. Meanwhile Shashi and Charles couldn’t suppress their urge to buy ‘grass’ in Rishikesh. This was something they had been fantasizing throughout the journey. Finding a ‘yogi’ (that’s what they called ‘him’, but the guy was actually a beggar by the roadside, sitting with a bowl and smoking stuff!) they negotiated to buy the ‘leaves’. They prided themselves in striking a good bargain, 10 bucks for a pack full of ‘grass’! They didn’t have time or rather we didn’t permit them to try it out then, so it had to wait till the night. More about the ‘leaves’ later.

Waterfall Trek

The first activity of the day was ‘Waterfall Trek’. What appeared to be a simple 2 km trek to the site of some small waterfall, kept getting extended every other 5 minutes. When half of the gang had almost given up, we kept prodding them with promises of ‘Almost there’ and ‘Great Waterfall Ahead’! Finally, after what could be 5-6 km of arduous trek, we reached the place. What a pristine beauty it was.. everyone had to agree that it was really worth the effort. One of the many branches of the Ganges had traversed along the high mountain and it dropped down from a great height. The fall was broken at a couple of places along its journey. The place we reached had a small 7ft deep pond formed by the force of the water, over time. Water from the pond trickled down in its journey to finally reach the main course of the river as a small stream. At such a height, the waterfall pond was less frequented and the water was crystal clear and real tasty.

All those who had plans of just sitting by the waterfall, promptly dropped the idea and jumped into the pond. It was a good half-hour of splashing in the pond and bathing in the waterfall, to the heart’s content. Just as I was getting dressed, 5 of the members escorted by the guide left the place to start climbing down. I was left with Charles and Shashi. Charles suddenly had this sudden idea of climbing further up to reach the pinnacle and locate the origin of the waterfall. Half-heartedly both of us started on our way to what appeared a quick climb. However, we later found out that the path up was long and winding and we had to give up the idea for later. By then the guide had come back in search of us! So, we clambered down and just as we were leaving, couple of foreigners reached the place. With a heavy heart, and dragged by the guide, we had to abandon the beauty of the waterfall!

River Rafting

It was 3 pm and we had to start rafting in half an hour. But we were all over-exerted by the extended trek. As we were waiting for the Qualis to bring the raft and equipments, we feasted on a bout of Maggi at a roadside place. By this time the car had arrived and we traveled to the base camp. We were supposed to cover a 22 km stretch by rafting from a place called Marine Drive. We were told that this stretch had the most rapids, about 12 of them. We got a raft for just the 8 of us. With two guides to escort us, we strapped on the lifejacket, helmets and got ready for the adventure. The captain (as he liked to be referred to!) briefed us on the dos and don’ts. People listened with rapt attention and those who were confident that they couldn’t swim (there were many) paid double the attention! Then we got ourselves an oar each and got ready for the journey. The captain ended the intro with a ‘Welcome to White Water Rafting in the Ganges’!
(Me, Charles, Jai and Pondi in a raft, before getting the gear on)

We were introduced to the nitty-gritty’s with some practical maneuverings like forward/ reverse rowing and so on. Basically we had to get acquainted with the commands and had to learn to respond immediately. Six of us took rowing positions with three people on each side of the raft. Kanix was assigned the role of ‘High-sider’ (one who stoops forward to balance the raft and makes sure that the water hits his face before it touches the raft!) It’s another thing that I had also thought of spicing up the rafting trip sometime by getting one person into the water. If I had to ever do that, then it had to be the High-sider coz, with one gentle effortless and innocent push, he would gracefully dive into the water! Meanwhile, Poddar was left with nothing to do but play the role of ‘water boy’ for the first stretch of the journey. After learning that four of us were from Tamil Nadu, the captain surprised all of us by issuing commands in his newly-learnt broken Tamil! He had apparently learnt it from some previous participants.

After the honeymoon period, we got close to our first rapid called ‘Black Money’. In the rapids, the river water rushes forth and there are lots of swirls and twists that rock your boat and push you awkwardly. The first rapid was a good mild experience. Then after a couple of small rapids, we hit the next one which was called the ‘Three Blind Mice’ – a stretch of three continuous rapids. This one was challenging and rocked the boat like crazy. Just after hitting the rapid, I lost balance and fell into the middle of the boat while others continued rowing. With great difficulty I found balance and got back into my position, which was the second one on the left side. By now the water had drenched all of us in the raft. After a pretty violent gap, we crossed the rapid and there was loud cheer. Captain was happy with our performance and we prided ourselves on performing extremely well. We were of the impression that the worst was over. Just as if to sink in the feeling the next 4/5 rapids were very tame.

Now we did a change of roles and position. Kanix stayed as the high-sider (still my target!), Poddar started rowing and I moved to the first position on the left side and Charles moved back. My counterpart on the right was Jai. The persons in the first position on both sides were the first to be hit by the waves and they had the dreaded distinction of moving beneath the wave and observing its full height engulf the raft. If anyone from the raft had to fall into the current, they stood a very good chance. These thoughts coming to me in the middle of the rapids scared me. Just then the captain cautioned us saying that we were approaching an International rapid which was called ‘Golf Course’. He injected fear into us by asking his co-guide to check and be doubly sure whether our jackets and helmets were strapped tightly.

With brave screams we entered the rapid! It was like no other rapid we had faced. In the rapid we could see the picture of sea boiling and shooting columns of water in all directions in an earnest attempt to overturn the raft. The waves were so huge and tall that it looked out of place in a river. The raft rocked wildly and it appeared that no amount of rowing could have any little effect on the raft’s course. To add to the effect, the rapid was noisy as hell and we could barely hear the person sitting next to us. I thought I heard the captain shout ‘Hold’ and I immediately clung to the life-rope which went around the raft or whatever it was called, holding on for dear life! After a couple of seconds of holding and not rowing I wondered what to do next. I immediately glanced sideways. Kanix was in his position stooping forward with his head into the current. Next to him Jai was holding tight to the rope and was sitting inside. It was then that I thought that I had missed hearing the command ‘Hold and Sit in’. To confirm I turned back and glanced at Premjit who was very religiously in a similar pose holding on as tight as he could. Fearing disobeying of orders and also drawing solace from the comfort of the pose, I promptly moved in and sat tight. Now the raft started rocking wildly like never before. I was almost certain that we all would be toppled into the current and I was getting ready to do whatever once I get into the water. Then I heard the captain shout ‘Fast forward’ meaning to row forward. Immediately I heard all of us including me shouting the command back repeatedly, while staying in the same position! I forced myself to try and row a bit by slightly moving out. But inspite of repeated attempts I could barely put the oar in the water as half of the time I was rowing in empty air. Such was the case with almost all of us as we were all temporarily in a state of shock. Somehow the raft managed to course out of the rapid, in shape. Now the captain had had enough and he jumped up from his position and began castigating all of us severely. We were at a loss for words and just listened to the feedback. He narrated of an earlier trip of his when the whole raft was overturned in the same rapid and that he managed to finally save everyone and get them on board again. This was a great learning for the entire group and we reflected on our performance. To show that we had really learnt the ropes, we managed a much better show in the next couple of rapids which were equally violent.

It was close to 7pm and we had rafted for about 2.5 hours. The captain finally declared that we had covered all challenging rapids and only small ones were left. We again changed positions and roles and covered the remaining stretch in under half hour. We finally ended the rafting trip by slowing down by the Neem Beach and then carried the raft ashore. It was a great memorable experience of a life time. After rafting, there was a miscommunication and the associated confusion kept us waiting by the banks of the Ganges for more than an hour in wet clothes before we could get our vehicle to travel 26 km back to the base camp where we had to camp for the night.

Camping

We finally reached base camp at 9 pm, in time for dinner. As it was already dark, we couldn’t explore the place, so we kept that for the next day morning. After a heavy dinner, we had a bonfire and sat around it and chatted into the night, sipping ‘chai’. Now, the ‘smoker-gang’ had run out of supplies and by the riverside they had no option of procuring ‘sutta’. It was then that Charles and Shashi remembered about the ‘grass’ they had bought in the morning. They prided themselves on their ingenuity of getting and storing it probably foreseeing this emergency situation… something like a visionary! So, the ‘smoker-gang’ sat around the bundle of ‘grass’ and rolled it, while we were watching them with curiosity. Even before tasting it, they were getting virtual highs. Thanking the beggar, they finally lighted it and took it in turns. There was a bewildered expression in their face. It was then that the gang revealed that they had been duped.. They had been sold ‘TEA LEAVES’ in the name of ‘GRASS’!! Indeed, they had struck a good deal by paying 10 bucks for a roll of dry gathered ‘tea leaves’!

Meanwhile we were sitting by the bonfire and chatting about the just-concluded college days. There were all kinds of grandiose plans being made about a reunion-cum-rafting trip in the Ganges some years down the line! Before I knew it I was sound asleep in the chair, very tired by the extra-exertion. I got up a little while later, dragged myself to the tent and hit the sacks immediately. It was bright in the morning when I got up and the others were out in the sand outside the tent. It was then that I saw the amazing view of the Ganges and the mountains from the camp. The weather was pleasant and it made the scenery even more appealing. The camp site was by the river bank and it was filled with an expanse of clean white sand. There were about 85 people in our site. We were told that there were a couple of similar camping sites along the course of the river. As we were there on a weekend, the camp was brimming with people and we had good company.

(Thats the river bank where we camped!!)

As we had done all the activity on day one, we were left with little to do in the camp on the second day. So, we decided to spend some time drinking in the beauty of the camp and then plan something else for the rest of the day. After a leisurely heavy good breakfast, all of us took a dip in the holy river and bathed for an hour observing the rafts passing by in the morning. We had a round of snaps and by 11.30 am we were packed and ready to leave.

(Meditating by the Ganges... Well some effect you see!)

After settling accounts with the tour operator, we were faced with the task of planning the rest of the day before we could return to Delhi. This planning turned out to be a real ordeal. We spent a couple of hours debating about the pros and cons of visiting certain places and skipping others. Unsatisfied with one round of debating, we moved to various places and continued it until we finally were left with lesser time. So, we ‘decided’ to spend some time in Dehradun and then pack up for Delhi. On the way back, we still had ample time before we could reach Delhi, at least so felt the ‘drunken monks’. So, they halted the car, much to the chagrin of the driver and had their last ‘daru party’ by the roadside on a heap of gravel and dirt. After an hour of drinking, they finally had to return to the vehicle as they were left with no money and no one wished to lend them some more in that state! During the last lap of the journey, they had a gala time and on their part, they did their best to piss of the grumbling driver! By 12.30 am we were back in the comfort of Delhi University, South Campus after winding up the last successful tour of the two years of MBA MS.

I would advise all the readers to definitely try their hand at least once at river rafting, if they haven’t done so already. It is real fun and a lifetime experience. It gives a crash course on team-work and on performing under pressure. All in all, it’s a GREAT adventure sport. With all the life saving gear, it isn’t that dangerous and no, you needn’t know swimming to do it. There are 3 or 4 places in India where you could do rafting. After you try your hand at it, do let me know :)

Missing...!!

Here’s my first post from down South! I reached my Sis’ place at Salem yesterday. Salem is famous for mangoes, its proximity to Yercaud and also for its Steel plant. The whole of yesterday was dedicated to catching up with the happenings on both sides. Its another story that my mom was relieved to see me come back alone from Delhi, without any attachments!

The sudden atmosphere of calm, inactivity and the slow pace of life is already staring in my face. This has proven conclusively that those two years were a different era in another world altogether.

I’ll always miss waking up late and missing the ‘early morning’ hostel breakfasts
I’ll always miss running late to attend classes
I’ll always miss the lectures and conference chats in between the lectures
I’ll always miss sipping ‘Rocky’ chai and lazily chatting with buddies
I’ll always miss the gissu day-schis and their ghar-ka-khana
I’ll always miss making excuses to bird-watch at Satya whether be it Venky UG or South Campus PG
I’ll always miss the mail fights and moderators on yahoogroups
I’ll always miss the HUGE bandwidth of DU net and convenience of WiFi in the hostel and campus
I’ll always miss the ‘Ares’ movies and other educational material ;)
I’ll always miss rushing to form groups and catch the right ‘bakra’ for group work!
I’ll always miss making PPTs every other day presenting viewpoints in the class
I’ll always miss working against deadlines and submitting ‘management’ quality assignments
I’ll always miss gossiping about the campus happenings
I’ll always miss the privacy of my hostel room and its balcony view
I’ll always miss cooking chai and Maggi at midnight with borrowed stuff
I’ll always miss the sudden meetings and conferences in hostel
I’ll always miss bitching about the mess food and using the excuse to eat out
I’ll always miss the issues, counter-issues and counter-counter-issues
I’ll always miss NC and being their favourite counterparts
I’ll always miss bdays, bday bumps and cakes (and the way we devour them!)
I’ll always miss finishing off snacks and drinks in daru parties!
I’ll always miss the late night chai and chinkies at Moti Bagh
I’ll always miss hunting for materials during exam and ghissing to the core
I’ll always miss frequenting the GREAT GREAT eatouts in South Delhi
I’ll always miss those rare trips to gym and baddy court
I’ll always miss hogging on food at Supremes (don’t u agree Uncle n PC)
I’ll always miss ‘Malai Mandir’ and all things Tamil at Munirka
I’ll always miss lounging about in Aravalli

Hmm.. Have I missed out anything.. If I have, please complete the list..

These two years for sure have been eventful, engaging and enlightening.. in more ways than one. Inspite of all the cribbing, it would be unfair not to give it the due credit and importance. Personally, I have learnt a lot, academically and otherwise from this place. I have changed as a person.. in several aspects, I believe for the better. One has to treasure the moments, save it for posterity and move on in life. A lot more things, places, people and challenges lay ahead for us. Here’s wishing that we all get geared up to face challenges, move ahead with confidence and achieve whatever goals we have set out for ourselves.. and more. The whole world is out there, waiting to be served…

FMS Convocation Pictures!!

Here are pictures from our MBA Convocation..
















Graduating Class Snap with Dr. Abad Ahmad and Dr. J.K. Mitra..

Time for the "Hats-Off" Ritual !!

Leaving Delhi...

Well, I did make the coveted trip to Rishikesh and it turned out to be a very memorable one. White water River Rafting, Trekking, Camping n all were enjoyable. Am coming up with a full-account update on the trip. Lot of other posts and updates are pending as well. Meanwhile, its tata bye-bye to Delhi for now. Yes, am leaving the Capital on 14th, the coming Friday.


I will be back in Tamil Nadu, in my hometown for about a month and a half. However, Delhi cannot rest in peace for long, coz I'll be back in June to join my company, Birlasoft. I would be in their Noida office for a while. So, right now I'm turning my room upside down and digging into the uninhabited parts of my room to locate things long lost!

Post-MBA Days at Delhi!!

The exodus from the hostel has started and already “Aravali” is resembling a ‘bhooth hostel’! There are the occasional sounds of laughter and rare knocks on the door. In the midst of this, I have immersed myself into practicing whatever I’ve learnt in “Knowledge Management”, by doing both ‘Externalization’ and ‘Combination’ as our KM prof would technically call it by borrowing “Nonaka’s model”! To put it in simple terms, am burning CDs of anything and everything in my laptop, apart from collecting memorabilia and other stuff from my batchmates.

Every day we, the ‘last men standing’ are off to send off people, click some parting snaps and bid adieu to friends forged during these two years. Today, out of habit I went to the faculty building and was hanging out there and sipping ‘Rocky’ chai when I chanced upon some of my batchmates (Priya, Monica, Sajla and Premjit). We cheered each other’s presence and huddled together, something which would have been unusual just last week! How fast time flies?!

To add to it, the Delhi heat is already killing. Wonder how worse it would be in June! So, we are planning a weekend getaway, probably to Rishikesh. After a couple of aborted attempts in the past days, I wouldn’t like to confirm it now and cut a sorry face later. Maybe if I don’t make a post the next two days, then you would know where I can be found!!

C.O.N.V.O.C.A.T.I.O.N

I have a strange feeling as I write this post. Our last exam was on 3rd April 2006 and it was on ‘Leadership and Change Management’, a sign of things in the days to come! On that day, the exam hall had a different aura with the entire class in our ‘Batch of 2006’ Black Tshirts. There was heavy competition in the air as to who would be the “first MBA” of the batch by completing the exam and moving out of the hall before time! After the submission of exam papers there was jubilation all round, with some juniors hanging out in the crowd and eyeing the outgoing batch with envy! In the euphoria, some apparently ‘clean n untouched’ souls too were picked up and given bumps or ‘GPL’, as we call it. Overall it was a good feeling to have completed the last exam in PG! Having been done with exams it was time for another important event.

MBA Convocation!!

This was a special occasion for each person in our batch and more so for me, coz it was my first ever degree completion ceremony. Years back, I was disappointed when I came to know that CECRI doesn’t have the practice of arranging a convocation ceremony for Engineering. They used to conveniently mail the degree certificates to the residential address! At home, I had grown up seeing my Dad's photograph in which he poses in a smart graduation wardrobe, with a scroll in hand. Not getting to pose like that after completing my Engineering was a big let down. And, this motivated me to go for an additional degree (ok, thats getting too far!) I was very thrilled and was looking forward to the occasion. At FMS, as with most other B-Schools the ceremony is held immediately after the exams where the students are awarded the provisional certificate. A second ‘official’ ceremony is held six months later, when the results come out.

On the day of the convocation ie. 4th April 2006, we reached North Campus in the evening and the podium was set up in the lawns of FMS. Quickly we got into the robe which was a black gown with golden collar and a hat. With the robes on, suddenly everyone had a scholarly look, but the make-up reminded me of a hundred Confucius’ dressed up in Chinese imperial vestment! Many parents had turned up too. It was a great feeling walking up to the stage and collecting the certificates and memorabilia in the midst of all the cheering by the crowd. People refused to part with the robes and went crazy clicking numerous snaps in all possible poses. An all time favourite snap, thanks to the movies, was the throwing off of all hats simultaneously. It was funny doing this over and over again (to many cameras), as every time we had to bend down and religiously scramble for the hats which were running in different directions! With last few snaps in front of the alma mater and the faculty, the beautiful evening came to an end.

The feeling of bschool getting over and me turning into a post-graduate (oh my, doesn’t that make me sound too old?!!) is still sinking in…

Its Farewell time@FMS

Exams done and Convocation also thro'!! I'm in the middle of the wrapping-up process.. Formal and informal functions and parties to say Goodbye..

I'll come up with a post on everything very soon..

:)

Primer on “Brand Management”

One of my batchmates at FMS, Vipul Oberoi has written a ‘book’, which is actually a basic refresher on branding. Spanning 35 pages, it gives you a basic understanding of the branding and related concepts. So, for all MBAs and other people who might be interested in it, here is the downloadable e-version: http://www.savefile.com/files/8132579.

Ilayaraja’s How to Name It

I'm right now listening to Maestro Ilayaraja's "How to Name It", an instrumental fusion album. Though I've listened to it a couple of times some years back, all the tracks are immensely soothing and are a real treat to listen to. My personal favourite is the track 'Do Anything' which was also used as a background score in the movie 'Veedu'.

This reminds me of another album that I need to catch up with. Sometime back, Ilayaraja had released his "Thiruvasagam in Symphony" album, a musical rendering of the epic Tamil verses. I hear that it has won numerous rave reviews. After “How to Name It”, I just cannot wait to lay my hands on this album. No, I'm not planning to download it. I'd rather buy a copy of the CD. Such classic works are hard to come by, so let’s do our little bit by making sure that all concerned get their due credit.

Bschool Blitz Boomerangs

Finally, the issue which was waiting in the wings has boomeranged, with the top salary grossers of the placement season from IIMB, Gaurav Agarwal and Venkatesh Shankararaman registering their displeasure with the institute director regarding the disclosure of their compensation package details. They have expressed anguish saying that above-normal salary package details catch the attention of unscrupulous elements and this might put their kith and kin in danger.

Just as with all other high-profile issues in India, even details of this confidential mail have been leaked to the media! So much for confidential information and secrecy! This leakage apart, the concerns raised are very valid and the duo deserve praise for taking up this issue with the top level of the institute. Throughout this drama of anything-and-everything about bschool placements going live in the Indian media, I have always considered it to be a short-sighted exercise that just goes beyond limits and in addition puts all concerned in a spot. This is because:

* Companies expect the compensation details to be treated sacrosanct. It is for the simple reason that they offer differential compensation to candidates even in a single campus based on their background, relevant work-ex, job profile and so on. Thus, differences are bound to exist across campuses and, at a bigger level across countries. Disclosing these details in the media puts them in a soup.

* From the student’s point of view, in spite of the few minutes or days of fame they enjoy, they are treated very much like uniquely engineered laboratory specimen. Additionally, disclosing their net-worth-to-be obviously puts them in danger. It is said that the details of the first Crorepati from KBC serial was kept under wraps to protect his identity till the issue was telecasted. So, much for a one-time crorepati!!

* BSchool campuses gather advertising mileage out of the process, no doubts about that. But it remains that they can drive home their point regarding the attractive returns-from-MBA by just providing general statistics like Top 10% pay, Average batch pay and a whole lot of other illustrative and insightful statistics.

It has to be seen how this issue would be handled next year. Will campuses adopt a mature approach and factor in the valid concerns raised. One must wait and watch.

Air Safety - Interesting Statistic

There is a general misconception on the safety of Air Travel. Any air-crash is a breaking news and the media promptly splashes it on the front page with vivid pictures. This has probably added to the public's concerns. I recently came across this interesting statistic on air-travel safety.

The Wright Brothers flew their first airplane in the early 1900s, and the civil aviation industry took roots after 1915. During the 1920s, the first laws were passed in the USA to regulate civil aviation. Between 1926 and 1929 there were a slew of air disasters with an undue proportion of human casualties. The year 1929 remains the worst year ever on record at an accident rate of about 1 for every 1,000,000 (1 per million) miles flown.

To get the gravity of this statistic, based on the current numbers flying, this would equate to an unimaginable 7,000 fatal incidents per year!! The media space would then be insufficient to cover all of them. Fortunately, the fatal incident rate has declined steadily ever since, and presently the number of fatal air accidents has been no more than 1 for every 2,000,000,000 (1 per 2 billion) miles flown, making it one of the safest modes of transport.

Last lecture @ FMS

On Friday, the 17th of March 2006 we had our last lecture of our two years MBA journey at FMS in the South Campus. These two years in MBA MS have for sure been eventful, exciting and enriching. Here, we have experienced all possible ranges and shades of emotion from bitterly dejected to utterly triumphant! I must say, ‘everything’ that we’ve grasped here has been a learning for life, that all of us will put to use and cherish in the years to come.

We had begun our course on 16th July 2004 and our first academic lecture was by Prof. Ragav Gaiha on ‘International Economics’. The lectures culminated in our final sem with a session on ‘Business Ethics and CSR’ by Dr. Mala Sinha. Incidentally, the final class presentation was on ‘An Ethical policy for FMS’. A much needed one in today’s world!

After the session, nostalgia was in the air with people scrambling for snaps in all possible poses. A couple of controversial and scandalous ones were also packed in!! I’ll soon post some memorable ones here.

Cognizant hits $1b and doles out iPods!!

My ex-employer, Cognizant Technology Solutions has reported an annualized revenue run rate of $1 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2005. It is the fifth Indian IT company to achieve this landmark. It has celebrated the occasion in style, like it usually does, by doling out a fifth generation 30 GB Apple iPod to each of its over 25000 employees! Reading this news reminds of my Cognizant days when people looked forward to the company’s Annual Gift announcement! It usually came up with a list of good gifts to choose from. I guess Cognizant still continues this tradition of handing out a yearly gift even today.

Infosys was the first company to achieve this $1 b landmark more than a year back, and to commemorate that, it had gifted about $1000 to each of its employees. Additionally, it rewarded shareholders with a 3:1 bonus issue. Obviously there is excitement in the air. And these achievements signal the maturing of the Indian IT players and their getting into the big league. Bright and exciting days ahead for the sector!!

A Crazy Rollercoaster Ride!!

In the past week, I watched the first two parts of the movie Final Destination (I and II) back to back. For sure, both the parts of the movie were equally scary and gory. To add to the impact, we created a theatre effect in the room with blaster speakers. We pulled on the curtains, hugged each other and managed the ordeal! I’m sure Mr. Satan would like to hear more from the director about the art of torturing people in the most innovative manner to the bloodiest possible death. There were a whole lot of ‘spiteful slaughters’ what with people being impaled to death or being blown to bits and in the process, the body parts being chopped and thrown away in the air, making it difficult for even the scavengers to clear up the bloody mess. Remove that ‘Yuck’ expression from your face and read on, coz I’m not going to ‘describe’ the death blueprint of any of the victims.

Briefly about the movie, a person saves a handful of people from a bloody mass massacre (A Flight disaster in Part 1, and a Highway Pile up in Part 2). In the process they foil the ‘design of death’ and upset Satan. Satan then goes about hunting down each one of the person in the goriest possible manner, in a specific order of the victims. The plot is more about the details of each death rather than the overall connecting thread. The protagonist goes about foreseeing things and keeps making attempts to yet again foil the ‘death design’. In a line, the story can be summed as: “If you save a person by foiling the plans of death, it will not give up, but will come back and take whatever it is due, and that too in a more cruel way, coz u screwed its plan in the first place!!”

After the movie I was lying down helplessly in my bed, frantically trying to get into sleeping mode! The various murder scenes kept auto-playing in a repeat-loop mode in my mind. Probably it was the first time I repented at having agreed to take up an individual room in the hostel! How much ever hard I might try not to think about the movie, the ‘web of death’ just refused to log off! Just then, a light breeze through my half-open window ruffled the daily-sheet calendar hanging over my desk and it sent a chill down my spine!! I frantically began doing a Google search in my mind to identify instances from my life where I might have been saved!! I wanted to prepare for ANY eventuality. Then, out of nowhere, my mind zoomed back to an incident of the mid 90s.

It must have been 1994/5 when I must have been in my Tenth standard at School. The annual ‘Exhibition’ or ‘Fair’ was on, at Madurai in the Tamukkam grounds. People who have spent their childhood in similar kind of cities or towns in those times would recall that this was one annual ritual which was religiously attended by the otherwise entertainment-starved people. This was just another year when our family (My parents, sis’ and me) checked out the fair towards its closing days. After checking out the shops and eating all kinds of snacks that were being sold, we moved towards the last leg of the fair, which was the entertainment rides section. The highlight of the year was a no-frills version of the Rollercoaster which was launched for the first time! It was a no-frills one in all respects – smaller layout, shorter ride and lesser cars. However they had brought in more convenience as they had done away with the conventional seatbelt and a host of other safety precautions as well!!

My sister and I were adamant to get in, for a ride. So, we finally bought tickets and got into a two-seater car. There was a lone operator of the machine who went about checking whether all cars were filled and whether people had downed the single flimsy iron rod onto the seat which was the sole case for self-protection during the ride!! In the car before us, a man and his small kid (must have been 6 yrs old) were settling in. After all cars were filled, the operator gave the signal and ran back to the cabin to switch the thing on. People shrieked with joy as they were about to experience a rollercoaster ride for the first time in their life, though an Indianized one!! The cars started rolling and I could feel pressure building up in my tummy. The cars went round and round and then climbed a small steep slope. I firmly held on to the iron rod and turned to smile at my sister, who was fidgeting nervously in her seat! Down came the cars and I had this rushing feeling climbing up from my stomach, up my ribs and face till the top of my head!! Now we were crossing the entry point, onto our second round. I could faintly see my parents cheering us up, when all of us were shouting at the top of our voice.

Then IT happened.. The cars took a sharp winding turn in a bid to produce the series of ‘twists’, when I heard a sharp snapping sound. In the excitement I couldn’t help but ignore it, but then the middle-aged man in the seat before us started shaking his head wildly. We were still not convinced, but then he convinced us by totally letting his body move freely in the direction of his cars!! My sister and I immediately realized that the guy had been hit in the head by one of the supporting iron pillars of the roller-coaster structure, just as we were taking the earlier sharp right-ward turn. The guy had been knocked unconscious!! Meanwhile, the rollercoaster was going steadily with its ‘twists’ and the kid sitting next to the man was crying hysterically. It might have been because of the ride, but then he was not in a position to handle this sudden development too.

We were just in the second ‘lap’, and one more was left. Just as the cars were taking the second sharp left-ward turn, the guy’s torso started swaying wildly towards the left. Chances were very high that he could be thrown out of the car, or worse he might be hit very hard by another structure during the journey. Instinctively, I lunged forward and grabbed one of his hands, as he was seated just before me, in the other car (So close were the cars!!). Now, I was convinced that the remaining portion of the journey was going to be ‘one hell of a rollercoaster ride’!!

I held fast onto him throughout the turns, but then the nasty part of the journey was left, that is the downward climb! Now, I loosely held the guy and held fast onto my seat bar, lest I be thrown into the air! Now the second ‘lap’ was coming to a close and we were moving towards the gallery! We thought that this was the time to appeal for aid and we frantically waved to the crowd for help. Everyone in the crowd waved back happily!! We realized that we had to put up with this for one more last lap! Now, I was losing grip of the guy and my car, so I briefly pulled back and adjusted myself. This was it, and the guy started being pushed around awkwardly! Just then, my sister realized that I was not in a position to hold him anymore immediately, so she moved close to her seat bar and grabbed the guy who was in a diagonally opposite position from her. This continued and she held him till we climbed the slope and came down.

As we approached the entrance, the cars screeched to a halt, to our great relief!! All the people were so excited that even now, no one noticed that something was seriously amiss. The operator went about helping people unclasp the bar of iron from the seat. As he moved towards us, I shouted at him and pointed towards the guy at the front. Just then, fortunately, the guy slowly started coming back to his senses. The operator helped him out of the car. He put his hand to the side of his head where he had been hit and had a small wound. Not realizing the seriousness of whatever had happened, he slowly staggered away and his son followed him. The kid was still crying. Before we could get out of our cars, he slowly vanished into the crowd. We went straight to the manager, protested and called for some policemen. Then we explained the situation to them. All the people waiting to get in for a ride kept watching the dialogue. We were surprised when the manager didn’t believe us and just brushed it away. However we stressed it to the police constables who had come to the scene. They had a discussion with the manager and finally, probably to convince us and the crowd, they briefly halted the next ride. Two or three policemen got into the cars and they did a ‘trial run’ to check whether any iron structure was ‘acting as an obstruction’ to the cars!! After a single round, they were convinced that it was ‘totally safe’ for the public and let the manager go scot-free!! To our surprise, the incident and the company was forgiven and forgotten and the rides continued!!

After running the whole episode in my mind, I started evaluating it vis-à-vis the movie. Thankfully, it was the other way round and it was an instance where I had saved someone! I was too tired to think of the possible fall-outs and very soon fell asleep blissfully!

"Civilizing the Net"

Of late the media is abuzz with stories of “Net2.0”, which is a new-found term for the Second Internet revolution, post the dot-com crash. The internet companies are again beginning to hit dizzying valuations and are attracting VCs by the hordes. Certainly the focus is on the ‘true survivors’ of Net1.0 which was swept away back in 2001. These survivors are the hot favorites, for obvious reasons. What’s surprising is that, in addition to these ‘oldies’, the new entrants post the dot-com crash are also being viewed in favorable light with people running over each other to fund them.

I’m not going to talk about that here, as, if you pick up any magazine you’ll get an overdose of it. Instead I’ll focus on a trend that I’ve been observing - a slow, steady and radical change happening over the net and which, in my opinion bodes well for its future. This trend becomes apparent if we closely follow the development of the internet over the decades and particularly, in the last decade. When we do this back-tracing, an interesting parallel emerges, here I’m not referring to the clichéd comparison with the Industrial revolution of the 1800s, but to an interesting parallel with the dawn of Human Civilization on Earth!!

After the internet was taken from the grips of the US Defense Department and the Universities and it was opened to everyone, there was curiosity all around as to what it can do for the people. However, the internet then had islands of users and information, just like the islands of human civilizations spread out around the world, thousands of years ago, and which were basically cut off from each other.

Realizing the opportunity in connecting these ‘islands’ over the internet, net indices and listings like Gopher and FTP archive moved into action in a bid to help users locate these ‘primitive lost civilizations’ over the internet. This was just similar to the travelers of the yesteryears (like our famous Columbus, Vasco da gama et al) who laboriously went around the world, extensively mapping the planet and compiling information from their various journeys. This served as the sole link ‘connecting’ the varied civilizations.

What then followed in the WWW was Net1.0. Businesses moved online and internet commerce happened. The net was populated by email service providers, news sites, portals, B2B, B2C and a whole lot of porn sites. But the distinguishing characteristic of Net1.0 was that, internet was just used as a medium of communication, between people or between businesses. The people logged on and after their job was done, logged off. That was about it. This is similar to the earlier communication and world trade that happened between the countries, which was focused and restricted to moving goods from one part of the world to the other.

Now, since 2003, after Net2.0 was ushered in, this limiting characteristic has been breached. The internet has received greater credibility and people have started ‘civilizing’ the net and have begun literally ‘living’ in it. What this means is that, from the usage of internet to just communicate or transact business, people are forming ‘communities’ on the web, creating their personal space in the form of websites, blog-spaces and so on. The internet is truly beginning to be accepted (around the world, not just the US) and is becoming an integral part of our lives. Finally, if we were to identify the parallel to this from history, it would be the ‘true movement’ of people around the world, cross-migration, civilization of the world and the formation of ‘one globalized world’.

Thus, there is a marked migration of people onto the web, and its use is not restricted to the peripheral applications as it used to be earlier. One might argue that some of these advanced uses were in vogue even during the earlier wave, but then it was an exception rather than a rule. So, today people are civilizing the internet and making it a better, livable place. The good thing is that, this is an irreversible trend and the world wide web can only get more connected and personalized in the years to come. This also bodes well for business, as their campaigns online will begin to deliver better results than their expectations, and, going by this trend, it can only get better.

A visit to the Marxist Bastion

About a week back I paid a visit to my college senior and close friend, VR Srinivasan who is presently in JNU, which is widely regarded as a Marxist stronghold and breeding ground for future communist leaders in Indian politics. Before I get into the specifics of my visit, a word about my friend who has had a very interesting career path till date!!

VR Srinivasan or VRS, as he was popularly called in our Engineering College CECRI (Central Electrochemical Research Institute, Karaikudi), found out that after all Chemical Engineering wasn't his first love in life, so he let his GRE score of 2290 go in vain. Instead, he took up a plush job in software with Infosys, like a 'true' Engineer. Within a year he was sent onsite to Japan where he had a 'comfortable existence' for two years. Then, all of a sudden, in 2004, he put in his papers, left it all, responded to some 'inner calling' and joined MA Political Science in JNU. Now he is an executive member of the CPI(M) affiliated SFI (Student's Federation of India) and actively participates in politics on and off the campus.

After more than a year in Delhi, I touched base with him and was surprised to know the developments. My first reaction was "Why politics?" and "Of all parties and ideologies, why Communism?" Obviously, like most others I had a kind of biased opinion against Communists. I have never interacted with anyone professing a communist ideology, so, mine were third-person views. From the coverage and reports in the media I was of the impression that the Communists were hell bent in cutting off India from the global community, take it back to the impoverished days of pre-liberalization, bring back public-monopoly and the resultant corruption, inefficiencies and demand-supply mismatch.

When the last parliamentary election results came and the communists had come back strongly, I was then working in Cognizant. We were having a discussion and some of my friends strongly opined "Whats wrong with the Indian voting populace? How can 'anyone' vote for the communists in today's globalized world? There was also an opinion that Communism is an outdated concept which doesn't have much relevance today!"

Nevertheless, VRS getting into this apparent 'pit' prompted me to rethink and I was grappling with a bevy of questions in my mind. So, when he actually extended me an invitation to go over and visit him in his 'den', it got me excited. Immediately I accepted it and planned for a detailed tete-a-tete. Finally around mid-Feb, one of our presentations scheduled for late evening at FMS got cancelled and I pounced at the chance to materialize the meeting. I called him up and confirmed. However, for some reason I wasn't very comfortable with the visit, probably because of my strong biases. After a 20 minutes drive I reached JNU late in the evening with a plan to spend time till late-night.

Well, it was not my first visit to JNU. Of these two years in FMS, we have been struggling hard to spend quality night-time in a city starved of night-life. There are just a couple of places in South Delhi that are open at night and JNU is one of them. So, we used to drop into JNU's Ganga Dhaba now and then, for tea and snacks, usually around 1-2 am in the night. During our visits we used to observe the people and get amazed by the posters that were put up all over the place. Checking the communist posters and pamphlets used to be a routine practice during our visits. Our feeling about the posters can be summed up in just three words: Strong, radical and hard-hitting!!

Now I was venturing to explore the source of these very posters and pamphlets, for, I heard that VRS had taken up responsibilities of preparing these for the SFI. Every time I used to read in the news about the Left front stalling liberalization measures like raising FDI limits, entertaining foreign players, my heart sank. Now, I was expecting a healthy dialogue on the various pro and counter viewpoints with him and wished to fathom what the communists were 'actually' upto! Finally I met him in his hostel room. After six years he still looked pretty much the same as in college, atleast by appearance! Then we caught up on the happenings over the past years and did a status-update. Now it was time for dinner and we decided to thrash out issues over South Indian food at Udupi's in Munirka!

After placing orders, I started with questions as elementary as "Are CPI(M) and CPM one and the same?"!! From a person who considers all left parties equally 'evil' you cannot expect better awareness! Okay, before I move on, for people with similar doubts, yes both are the same! Also I was 'educated' that CPI (Marxist) was an offshoot of the CPI and that they have 'some' differences in their ideologies. I was also told that the 'Left front' is a boquet of many parties (which, I broadly knew) including CPM, CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP amongst others. We debated on three major issues:

1. I first broached discussion on the issue which was fresh in mind and that was rankling me "Why does the Left oppose FDI in sectors like, say retail and also the entry of players like Wal Mart?" This has been a hotly debated topic at FMS in our Retail Management course, but our views were the pros and cons from the management standpoint. To this question, he asked me the need for it. I had ready reasons like a) Stimulation of the sector by foreign investment, b) Competition and efficiency, c) Availability of better and advanced goods. He countered this by saying that the Left front doesn’t totally oppose FDI, and in the process he shocked me! He qualified it by saying that they are open to FDI with certain restrictions like transfer of technology, local employment and procurement among other conditions. He reasoned saying that unbridled opening up would lead to greater disparity of wealth and exacerbate things like the Andhra farmer suicides. I was open to the issue of controlled-FDI, but was not comfortable with some of the overriding conditions, which I felt would make India unattractive as a destination and would dissuade foreign participation. However, one argument against Wal Mart appeared valid. It wasn’t about job losses, but about Wal Mart’s probable sourcing of goods from foreign destinations like China even after its entry into India and hence it ultimately leading to a major structural problem for the country.

2. I raised the common criticism that people have against the left when it comes to National politics. "The Left parties have one stance when it comes to the centre and another when it comes to their own state, like West Bengal". I expected an obvious denial of a double-stance. But I was surprised when he admitted to it and defended it with "When it comes to state policies, it is partly dictated by Centre and ultimately it has to compete with other states for development. But it is a different issue when it comes to centre's policies, as they have to look at structural issues keeping in mind the objective of national self-sufficiency". It kind of answered my question but I wasn't totally convinced with this as I felt that even at the national level, the centre has the responsibility of competing with other countries to make India the preferred destination for global capital.

3. VRS spoke about the Iran gas pipeline issue. I didn't have a personal view on this issue earlier, so am presenting his views. "After India's peace process with Pakistan since 2004, the four countries Iran-Pakistan-India-China have chalked out an ambitious pipeline project to transport natural gas from Iran to India through Pakistan. This would ensure energy security for India and breed cooperation amongst the major countries in the subcontinent. Now in the midst of all this, the US has stepped in and offered to give India Civilian-Nuclear energy know-how through a Indo-US Nuclear cooperation agreement." He claimed that this was a move by the US to preclude the possibility of a consolidation of power in the subcontinent. He also reasoned saying that the Left doesn't have any vested interests with Iran on this issue. This argument appeared very convincing. Later on, after getting back to campus I've tried to dig more information on this issue and came to know about the various arguments and the real power dynamics behind it. For people who want to know more about the project, here is a link I had googled:

http://www.bhpbilliton.com/bbContentRepository/Presentations/IndiaOilGasConfence.pdf

By now we were done with our dinner, so off we went back to JNU to continue our discussion! It was now that he decided to introduce me to his 'leftist' friends! I had the chance to meet two very learned people: Caesar Basu, 2nd yr MA Pol Science AND Maidul Islam, 1st yr MPhil. Probably they were surprised to meet a management student professing ‘capitalism’! Again we had a discussion on issues some of which I had discussed with VRS, nevertheless, it was an enjoyable argument!! Maidul spoke at length about econometric theories and macroeconomics, some of which I could related to from the economics paper I had done at FMS. All the while, Caesar silently listened to my justification of the need for FDI in retail! But, I must admit he had a very charismatic presence.

Then, back in his room, VRS shared the posters and pamphlets he had prepared. His latest posters were on the protest against the arrival of the French decommissioned aircraft carrier Clemenceau in India. He also told me about his just-concluded Guwahati conference on Open Source Software and his forthcoming conference at Pakistan!! He was then making a poster on Abhu Gharib prison torture and the human rights issues. I couldn’t help but be surprised with his total involvement into Marxist politics. He also proudly tells me that he has participated in some strikes and has faced the water cannon!! Really something unimaginable of the VRS I knew of in CECRI. While I was about to leave I met the SFI secretary Subhanil, 3rd yr PhD in Economics AND Moggallan, another active member and interesting person!!

As I bade good bye and left JNU at 2 am, I had come to grips with a new awareness on Communism. I had also found out that the Left doesn’t hold an ‘Extreme or Utopian’ position when it came to majority of the policies. Some of their stance was reasonable, particularly those professing all-round development of the country and reduction of the income disparity of the various classes of population. However, some was still unfathomable to me, yet.

VRS maintains a blog called 'New Praxis in a Changed World' where his inner voice finds a space on the net. Here is the link: http://srinivasanvr.blogspot.com/ The same link is also permanently available under the 'Blogs I Track' header.

Yet another Night-Out!!

Yesterday night, after we came back from the second show of ‘Rang de Basanti’, it was about 2 am when I had updated my latest post (read: http://kesari.blogspot.com/2006/02/my-take-on-rang-de-basanti.html). Just then my eyes were getting tired and waiting to catch some sleep, when the icon of the game ‘Railroad Tycoon’ on my desktop started teasing and inviting me like a bar-girl in one of Mumbai’s now-closed dance bars! Weak at heart I immediately gave up and entered this enchanting world. In no time, I formed a Rail company and was thick in the race competing with three other computer players building railroads all over 19th century America and linking up its far-flung cities! Additionally I also bought over several industries and made a killing by transporting freight from those plants to the major town centers processing these materials. (For people serious about Strategy gaming, this is definitely a game to try your hand at. A new 3D version of the game Railroad Tycoon III was released some months back. Check: www.railroadtycoon3.com/)

I had a Campaign-Target of hitting a net worth of $5 million by 1905 and by 1893 I had already surpassed $3.2 million. I was busy planning my next foray when I heard a sound at the doorstep. “Who at this time of the night?” I thought out loud and turned towards the door when I saw the day’s ET being slipped under the door! My heart skipped a beat..! “What the Heck, when did ET start printing a night-edition! By any standards, this is just too early for the paper to land up”. To reassure myself I pulled the window-curtains when the bright-morning-rays crashed into the room and hit on my face awkwardly! With a heightened sense of guilt, I reluctantly turned towards the alarm-clock.. 7:55 am! My megalomania and hours of empire building had cost me a full-day’s sleep.

“What next?” I thought.. I could brush and land up in the mess at 8 am sharp.. But I decided against it as I thought that I should know better than to give the mess-manager a heart-attack! Its been months since I had my breakfast in the morning, and today if I had turned up, and that at 8, I was sure it would be too much for the poor soul and so decided to spare him. So, I tip-toed to the water cooler, ‘drank’ my diet-breakfast and rushed back to the room, lest someone see me and poke fun at my mania, again! But coming to think about it, I had done the same thing innumerable number of times at FMS and during Engineering.

When I woke up again, I again had a reluctant look at the alarm-clock not sure what day it was and what time of the day it was! The clock showed 6:00.. No clue whether it was early-morning or late-evening! I had an uneasy feeling.. “Did I sleep the whole of Monday for a good 22 hours??” For assistance I pulled my curtain and peered through the window.. The outside was dimly lit – easily could have been break of dawn OR dawn of dusk! Delhi's bizarre climate and seesawing winter didn't help things.. I pulled out the paste-brush, hid it safely in my pocket, gathered courage and stuttered out of the room! There were people sipping their tea and munching biscuits.. Logically reasoning, it must be the evening snacks I thought.. atleast the mess doesn’t open up so early! Big Relief, Monday was still there for me.

Just as I passed them, one of them asked “Just got up, huh?” I replied “Yes, a good afternoon’s sleep!!” and made sure the paste-brush didn’t peep out of my pocket!

My Latest Affair!!

Throughout my life, I've been besotted with a streak of affairs. If you ask me when it all actually started, I don't remember clearly. But if I were to make a guess, it was sometime as early as when I was about 12 years old. Let me describe this first crush. I was visiting my relatives in Madurai with my parents, which was supposed to be a routine courtesy call and a get-together. It was then, that I was introduced to her. She was sitting alone in their air-conditioned drawing room which was also dimly lit. That was our first tete-a-tete and I still fondly remember that. We met and interacted for close to an hour after which we had to leave, and sadly she had to be shut down ;) !

Yes, that day I was introduced to the world of Computer gaming! The first game I played was 'Parachuter' one of the 80s classics. Then, I didn't realize that computer games would become my addiction for life. My gaming mania has continued all through my school, engineering, my workex in Cognizant Technology Solutions (briefly, though) and now in FMS! Though my area of gaming has drifted from 'arena' to 'adventure' and to finally 'Strategy Games' (RTS - Real Time Strategy) where it has stayed for quite sometime now.

I have been totally obsessed with two games: Age of Empires (all releases upto the latest 3rd one) and Rise of Nations, both from Microsoft. More about these games some other time, coz they need 'sufficient dedicated space'!

Now let me come to my latest affair in this series.. About three weeks back,  in-between lectures we were chatting up as usual to discuss doubts that we had during the lecture ;),  when suddenly I saw this ‘Games’ link in yahoo messenger and decided to explore it. The drop-down threw up a host of games from 'Pool' to ‘Spades’ to what not.. That got me excited and considering my love for words, I decided to try a game called 'Word Racer'.. Man, was it enjoyable? It was amazingly entertaining.

Briefly about the game, you'll have to form words out of a maze of letters by linking the letters sequentially in any possible direction. Longer the words, more points you get. It gets better when you play against human opponents in a timed mode. Since that day I've been getting deeper into the game by playing with all my friends on Yahoo Messenger. Now I've graduated and I regularly play online in the Yahoo games site against upto 7 players over the internet.

Another person who has helped me with this addiction deserves mention here! Its Akriti Gupta, my junior at FMS who has challenged me to this game quite a number of times and won a couple of times, and lost the rest! At last count, we had a 'Best of Three' championship in 'neutral' ground (the computer centre). It was a fiercely fought war which couldn't be continued after the first two battles as it had already produced a result in my favor: 2-0. Better luck to her next time!

For starters, heres the link: http://games.yahoo.com/games/agl?gn=gn_word (Choose Word Racer)

Try playing the game and believe me, its addictive. In case you happen to play the game online anytime, watch out for the Y! id b_ganesh_2000, coz chances are that I might be online too :)

My Take on Rang de Basanti..

The movie 'Rang de..' has won rave reviews and huge public support. Since Jan end I'd been planning to watch it because of the 'Aamir Khan' factor. After media reviews and friend's comments, I got lot more reasons to check it out.

Finally I did watch it, about a week back. Here, I'll share my take on the movie. I'm no seasoned movie critic, so let me keep it simple by talking about five things I liked best about the movie.

1. The first thing that struck me was the sheer brilliance of the parallel: British Imperial oppression & Indian freedom movement -AND- Bureacratic oppression, corruption & Middle class struggle. This brilliant concept has been handled exceptionally well by the director with scenes from both the eras switching on and off throughout the movie. This effect has been accentuated by astute deployment of Black & White colours for history and also the use of same actors in both eras. The director touches upon the striking similarities in both the stories. Another highlight is the scene of recreation of Jalianwala Bagh - where the Defence Minister takes the place of General Dyers and orders the shooting of Madhavan!

2. Another thing you notice about the movie is its refreshingly different and offbeat storyline. The first half is light, full of life and introduces the characters and their attitude to life. The characters slowly gel together and make an attempt to fit into their assigned roles in the documentary being shot by the firang. The partying reaches a dizzying height around the time of entry of Madhavan. With his departure, reality kicks in. Now the movie beautifully portrays the struggle of the characters to face reality and their difficulty to accept status quo. This is also a point where both the parallel stories converge and the real struggle to 'make a difference' in the society begins. How they butt in and contribute to the society is the rest of the story.

The movie raises a very valid point - the middle class cannot afford to comment on the status quo from a distance. If one really wants a change to come about, HE/SHE has to do it.. HE/SHE has to dirty his/her hands and set in motion a new beginning. The director has made sure that the message doesn't get lost or get diluted. In the last scene, when all the five lead characters look deep into your eyes, you are left with no option but to promise yourself that YOU WILL DO SOMETHING about it. So, strong is the message and emotion.

3. Music by AR Rahman. The background score for the movie is just mind-blowing. I'll have to admit that the first time I heard the songs, I found it kind of strange and not convincing. But then AR Rahman's music grows on you and after watching the movie, I just cannot stop listening to the tracks again! Picturisation of the popular number 'Rang de Basanti' is enchanting as you see all the colours unfolding in front of your eyes in a brilliant array. For the record, my favourite tracks are: Luka Chuppi and Khoon Chala.

4. To say that all the characters have acted well would be an understatement.. They have lived the roles and not for a minute do you think that they are 'performing' for you. Aamir Khan's outburst is ONE of the high points of acting in the movie.

5. DELHI Student Life!! Yes, the entire movie is based out of Delhi, which has been my home for the past two years. One gets to relish varied shots of Delhi, what with the camera covering all angles of Habitat Centre and a lot of other places. It gives a glimpse of the vibrancy of Delhi's student life. Aamir Khan's punjabi accent and tongue-in-cheek humour is another thing that captivates you. Towards the end of the movie you start missing him.

Overall, 'Rang De Basanti' has been a treat to relish.. I already have plans to watch it again sometime soon. Will add to this post, if I 'discover' something new!!

********************

[Post Edited - 20 Feb, 2006 3:00 AM]

Well, checked out ‘Rang de Basanti’ again at Chanakya Cinemas today and I’m just back from the show!! Know what, just as the movie got over, I was already longing to do a ‘Once More’!! This is turning into yet another compulsive addiction for me :) I cannot think of any other movie that has gone down so well with me in the past..

If you ask me what captivated my attention the second time, then undoubtedly it would be these three things: Sidharth, AR Rahman and Madhavan. Well, it’s nothing more than a coincidence that this also happens to be the Tamil connection with the movie ;)

Incredible Agra: The Dream Tour turned Sour!!

Hello all,
Well, its been more than 7 months since my last and first post!! Know what, the writer in me is VERY ANGRY!! His first outburst came in the form of an account of my recent disastrous Agra tour.. During the trip, things went so grossly wrong that 'disaster' would be an understatement.. Well, enough of preface, on to the account rightaway!!

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INCREDIBLE AGRA: THE DREAM TOUR TURNED SOUR!!

Date: 21st Jan 2006
Time: 9:50 pm
Venue: Moti Bagh Chai bhandar, Delhi

Take 1, Action!! “Bhaiyya, five tea” roared Arun Kumar a.k.a (also known as) Charles.C.Raj (the initial is anyone’s guess!!) alias Charlie, in his much improved Hindi dialect! Wow, how much Hindi he’s picked up in two years since coming to FMS?!! The order was for Premjit alias baba, Jai alias Jai Bhagwan, Poddar alias Michael Poddar, Charles and Ganes Kesari, oops that’s me.!! We had come on our usual nocturnal jaunt to our own Tea stall to wash down the as-always-yummy-and-delectable mess dinner! The ERP class that evening had also been very heavy as usual, with lots of case analysis, live discussions, impromptu presentations and what not…

With Final Placements round the corner, the discussion obviously was centered on General Knowledge wherein the group shared its ‘knowledge’ on the ‘general’ happenings with 'students' in the Satya Niketan area and about ‘technological advances’ like the fast adoption of Bluetooth in ‘business areas’ around the Delhi malls and places like Priya complex, for whatever reason ;) !! Then, we had a quick update on the Current Affairs front, what with a couple of couples from the Pioneers ‘breaking all norms’ of late, true to the spirit of MBA MS!!

Ping-ping…. Tring-tring… all mobiles went off like the Russian synchronized swimming team!! There was a familiar glance in the faces of the gang.. Premjit went off ‘Oh, saala it has to be Dujari again.. who else in this world can do such a feat, consistently?’ For the uninitiated, it was Anand Dujari, the sole connecting link amongst the MS batch, who religiously does a thankless job of forwarding sms to the whole batch, unmindful of whatever time of the day it is.. Jai, the head boy of ‘Exilir’ read out the message “Dear second years, the FDA and Insurance class scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled.. Thanks for your attention.. - Anand Dujari”. “Yipeeee!!” shrieked the gang, finally a free Sunday.. All the brains started working at a fast pace to fill in the schedule..

“Kahin chalte yaar” started Premjit, yet again.. I added “I’m game, anywhere. Why don’t we go to Jaipur. That’s been on the cards for quite some time”. Poddar added, “Sure, why not? Suckers lets freeze it this time”. Jai summed it up “Bhai log chalo, we’ll leave today by car and we can come back in a day.. pakka”. With a plan made, the gang heaved a sigh of relief.. Great, so we were going places.. literally!! We ordered another round of chai to have one last glance at the last lot of 'locals' who were closing business for the night!!

10:30 pm - Back to the hostel
We went shouting up the stairs.. “Jaipur, anyone… Jaipur, anyone… Trip tonight…” There was a reply from the second floor.. “Agra, Agra.. Trip tonight, anybody coming” that was our Baabe alias Maneesh Pherwani selling out tickets for an Agra trip.. “Now, where the hell did this plan come from” we wondered.. To thrash out the issue, we arranged a GD in our second floor common ‘meeting room’, which also happens to be the room used for staying by Saroop alias Swaroop!! Pherwani put forward the structure of the discussion and Tiwari moderated it, noise was provided by all assembled.. Final outcome: Agra plan finalized for the day, or rather night.. Nine warriors volunteered to enlist for the critical mission!! Our initial gang of five were part of the volunteers.. The MAMA gang minus Aditya came forward.. It was said that Adi had some ‘pressing’ issue to attend to J.. So, the warriors conveyed their best wishes for his mission and moved on ;) Prem K Nath alias Kamnath made the final cut. The team reassembled in the ‘meeting room’ for the mission debriefing by the acting local guide for the day, Saroop (a keen investor in stock markets, and a chemical engineer from Agra University!). The plan was clearly chalked out and the roles assigned – 2 cars, 4 drivers and 5 entertainers (whose job was to basically entertain the driver and tickle him if he falls asleep in the highway!)..

12:20 am - Preps on in the Hostel
With all planned out, the preparations were underway.. Jai burnt a CD from his exhaustive movie-cum-audio library, which is probably bigger than all entertainment studios put together (thanks to the hostel wifi and thanks to Uncle!).. I ran to my room and picked up a ‘Shahrukh Hits’ CD and also tucked in a Tamil masti songs CD!! People started packing their rucksacks with eatables, camera, clothes etc.. All the while Udit alias Uncle was roaming around peeping into all rooms and getting excited about the trip.. You’re right, ofcourse he hadn’t volunteered.. However, the warriors were rightly proud of this ‘ideal married man’.. Here was a man who wouldn’t let small worldly pleasures or any other thing come in between him and his first, second and third love - ‘Futures & Options, Commodity trading and Oil Industry’, in the same order.. (sorry, Divya)!!

2:50 am – The journey begins..
Having bathed (jus’ joking!) and freshened up, the warriors were ready to get into battle-mode.. The tanks, a Swift and Lancer commandeered from Premjit and Tiwari were ready to roll.. “Jai Bajrang Bali… Jai Mata Di…” and the battle begins… I logged into Premjit’s Swift and acted as the entertainer for the first part of the journey.. Premjit turned on his high-end Sony stereo and mischievously smiled.. The stereo bellowed ‘G*** mein Dhanda dei…’ which was the latest popular number.. and it marked the beginning of the journey much to the joy of the passengers.. Alas, none of the warriors knew that it was symbolic of their fate in the much touted trip!!

The party made a lot of halts in Dhabhas all along the way.. To get the Retail Marketing experience, we decided to check into the Reliance Petro outlet and A1 café.. Tiwari, a photography enthusiast (“Oh, thank God, purpose served” heaved everyone!) went on a rampage with his own version of Kournikova’s latest Cannon camera, clicking snaps left and right and backside, capturing ‘all’ activities of the people in the process (for whatever reason, now that’s besides the point)!!

7:50 am - Agra
Battle-ground reached.. The warriors set their foot in Agra and the first halt was at Sikandra, the tomb of Mughal Emperor Akbar in all its majestic glory.. A quick tour and couple of snaps later we decided to move on to ‘more exciting’ destinations, unaware of what kind of exciting things were in store for us!!

9:40 am - Fatehpur Sikri
The next halt was at Fatehpur Sikri, once the capital of Akbar and the place where he had built palaces for his three queens, Hindu, Muslim and Christian, a symbol of religious harmony.. It also had the famed Buland Darwaza.. Once out of the cars, we were swarmed by kids who were much younger than 14 years.. They were doling out undeniably attractive propositions.. “Bade Bhai, (yes, they addressed Pheru!) aapki gaadi ko Rani Mukherji banaa doonga, only fifty rupees” or “Bade Bhai, whole place explain, only twenty rupees, believe me very cheap”.. They were offering a ‘bouquet of services’ from washing cars, to acting as guides, to selling memorabilia.. More than the deals, we were over-awed by the English accent used by the kids and the level of confidence and fluency with which they were using the language.. This reinforced the fact that experience is the best teacher, and they probably knew nuances that even a Marketing MBA cannot teach.. This made me wonder how many future Entrepreneurs were in making in that particular place..

11:55 am – Lunch time
On our way back to Agra, we decided to have our lunch at a wayside Dhaba which turned out to be the first of a string of faulty ‘managerial’ decisions that day.. We breached the first Don’t of eating in a Dhaba, by ordering without checking the prices.. To add to that, people went about ordering all kinds of fancy sabjis .. Poddar couldn’t do without a ‘Gobi Manchurian’, which the Dhaba cooks would have only overheard being discussed by tourists passing by!! We were offered strange looking stuff and had difficulty matching the names to the dishes, and we finally gave up.. The server identified Manchurian as a dish that had strange looking lumps soaked in thick muddy water, which strongly resembled something else!! Nevertheless we were famished, so people finished all the stuff double fast.. But, the real problem was with digesting the things eaten after we came to know about the bill.. To sum it up, WE WERE LOOTED.!!

You don’t get much out of arguing with a Dhabawala in some Godforsaken place, after eating his food, except for some unexpected gift which Pheru was entitled to.. Our stars were all stacked up against us so much that one-odd-tribal-charming-one-odd-tamed-monkey-tied-by-one-odd-rope managed to nearly bite Baabe alias Pheru!! We decided enough was enough and planned to carry on to savour the Taj.. Afterall wasn’t that one of the major attractions of our trip?

01:50 pm – Entry into the Taj
Off we drove towards Taj Mahal, where the climax of the day was carefully planned for us!! We parked the cars outside the park and walked through the park enjoying the Minar’s beauty, as we were approaching the greatest symbol of man’s love on Earth. Due to heightened security, we were forced to part with our mobiles at the locker.. We dutifully handed the 7 mobiles (ok, 2 were left in the car.. in hindsight it would have been safer to leave all 9 in the car!!) to the guard. Even though I was checking out Shah Jahan’s monument for the third time in two years, the magnificence of Taj overwhelmed me.. We clicked as many snaps as we could in front of the masterpiece..

Inside the Taj, we moved on to the basement where people generally leave their shoes.. We were relaxing there and taking snaps.. Kamnath grew tired and made himself a seat on the railing, just like some other people.. Now knowing about our unfavourable Stars position, a shoe-stand-wala rushed in from nowhere and started barking at Kamnath asking him to get up at once or else… Our Andhra Bull was infuriated at the treatment meted out to him in the lap of the Taj, so in Chiranjeevi style he retorted and it grew into a heated argument!! Now, the other guy started pushing Kamnath around.. Man, this was it.. The eight of us jumped into the fray.. “How the hell can you touch our guy?” we bellowed.. Pheru dropped a couple of interesting logics.. “Tu government hai to mai fauji hoon!!” Others pitched in with a couple of conveniently modified sayings.. The commotion was great and we attracted everyone’s attention.. Now, the public was getting some unpaid fun to savour.. and they lapped it up.. However, the couple Shahjahan and Mumtaz must have turned in their grave!! Finally, a policeman jumped into the scene and settled the dispute and the crowd departed with disappointment!! Proud at having set right a wrong attitude, we moved on!!

03:30 pm – Exit from the Taj
We were forced to come out of the Taj in less than a couple of hours as we were left with less time and no one wanted to miss the Agra Fort lest the tour be incomplete.. But apparently the tour was destined to ‘be finished off’ in better ways!! By now, the Taj was flooded with people and a looong queue had formed at the locker counter.. Saroop got onto the line and the rest of us sat on the railings to ‘critically observe’ the foreigners in a bid to appreciate other realistic forms of beauty!!

We were lost in our duties when suddenly Premjit rushed to us breathlessly “Someone has taken my mobile and has ran away from the counter.. We must catch him”.. It was a sudden jolt from the blue.. His latest Sony mobile was a star attraction in the campus and was worth more than 15k.. “Shit, it would be too much too lose it” we thought and immediately the Hero in us popped out instantly.. Charles who had till now largely been a silent ‘observer’ sprung to action fastest and immediately scampered towards the guy.. Poddar, unmindful of his already injured leg (oh, he tragically injured it by pouring hot water.. yes unintentionally!) started second on his way.. When something of this sort has happened, how can I be far behind? I started running after Charles.. Premjit by now recollected his senses and started running as fast as he could after us, shouting “Chor, chor, pakdo, pakdo!!”.. By now everyone, absolutely everyone around Taj started looking at us.. My pride suddenly grew King size and I felt like I was running the last lap of the Olympic Marathon!! I fastened my pace and ran as fast as I could behind Arun “Oye bastard.. Here I come, in search of glory”!!

Now a couple of guys in their 20s, in a bid to help us get the culprit closed in on Arun and caught him, mistaking him to be the thief!! Arun continued in his Hindi “No Bhaiyya, the thief is running ahead in a Brown jacket”.. Enlightened by his ‘fluent’ Hindi, the guys gave up chasing the culprit, leaving all the glory to just the few of us!! By now the ‘culprit’ was within visible distance.. to everyone’s surprise he got into a minibus which was about to start.. Off went Arun, Jai and Poddar into the rear exit of the bus after him.. Now, I thought fast “What if the guy got out off the front exit.. These guys would all lose time catching him.. Wow!! Great idea.. So I decided to surprise the culprit by directly rushing to the front exit.. Obviously flattered by my brilliant plan I rushed to the front… surprise surprise, I couldn’t find one!! Alas, it being a minibus, it had only one rear exit!! “SHUCKS” Disappointment writ large on my face at having my plan go down the drain, I rushed back to the only exit in the bus and jumped in! By now Premjit was at the guy’s collar and using unparliamentary words that involved motherly and sisterly relations!! From the rear end I had a glimpse of the guy’s face.. oh boy, was I shocked??!! The guy was bleeding from his nose to teeth.. There was blood smeared all over his face.. And there was Arun, still punching him from side to side and tirelessly beating him blue.. Bravely, he grabbed his head and banged it on the window, which reminded me of Rajinikant in one of his action movies!! An old man sitting at the rear end of the bus told me “This guy has already been beaten enough, please don’t join them in whacking him”.. Being a person who respects public sentiment, I decided not to intervene!!

By now, the guy was being pulled out of the bus and all our brave warriors were queued up outside the bus beside him.. Being a part of the chase, I proudly took a place beside the culprit.. The trophy was mine too!! A HUGE crowd had gathered all over the place, around us and it felt like we had won India a Gold medal in the Olympics and were about to be raised on to the podium!! The police promptly joined the party and I had a feeling that they had come to felicitate us with the ‘Red & White Bravery Award’ for 2006 for displaying bravery in public life!! We stood fast with the culprit. By now, some members of the crowd started moving towards the culprit to exhibit some of their macho on the caged tiger.. Immediately the policemen realized the seriousness of the situation and started frisking the guy to the nearby police booth.. behind him, we went.. and ofcourse the crowd followed..

Now, suddenly the guy started waving the mobile and claimed that it had pictures of him taken in the Agra Fort. He kept claiming that it was his own. Now, for a moment, I got suspicious. “How the hell is this guy so confident?” I thought to myself “Hell, whatever, we shouldn’t check the mobile before reaching the police booth.. verifying it here might land us in trouble”. Just then one brave soul in our group volunteered, “Ok, show us the picture. Lets see”! There I was waiting with bated breath looking at the mobile, as if waiting for the third umpire’s decision!! “Will he or Won’t he?”

The Hunters get hunted!!
He finally opened the mobile and showed it to the crowd – yes, it indeed had his picture!! “Shucks, We’re screwed” I told myself. Now Premjit whispered to us “I think there has been a small mistake”.. We shuddered and thought “A mistake? A small one? Oh, now the crowd will show us how small it was!” It was then that I noticed that I was wearing the FMS sweat shirt that day!! “Oh my God, of all days why today??!!” In our group, five of us were with a similar sweatshirt. Now, Premjit tried maintaining his aggressive posture by shouting to the guy “Then, why did you run when we chased you?” But clearly his voice was getting drowned and it was obvious that we won’t be able to hold the fort any longer.. Our fort walls had been breached and we were just waiting for the enemy troops to rush in for the kill! Slowly the ‘warriors’ tried slipping away from the scene one by one!!

But sadly enough, we had attracted too much of unnecessary attention, much to our detriment.. Now, we were firmly into this quicksand and it was slowly eating us away!! By now, Saroop was back from the locker and he started distributing the mobiles unaware of the quagmire we were into.. I was told that he had Premjit’s mobile too!! This confirmed things and made me understand what had happened then.. Fortunately, we all maintained that the mobile was still lost..

Just then, some guy cried out of public interest “Inko pakdo, aur inko maro”.. ZAP.. out of nowhere a whole army of people charged upon us!! Now, more people started taking initiative and they started identifying the ‘warriors’ involved.. One guy from behind me shouted “yeh bhi tha, isko bhi maro” and pushed me in.. Quickly enough, Saroop who was neither a part of the chase nor the mugging drama was identified and pushed in too, thanks to his sweatshirt! I consciously steered away from the crowd and moved onto the pavement.. Fortunately I wasn’t pushed in again.. By now, people were focusing on Maneesh, Saroop, Poddar, Jai and Arun. Of these people, Arun who was the prime target safely stood behind the policeman and seeked protection. Maneesh was frantically wrestling with a couple of guys in the crowd.. Then, I turned to look at Jai.. One very heavy blow landed on him from behind.. Someone who had obviously gotten enough from his wife was showing all his ‘bravery’ on our ‘Exilir’ head.. Jai, for a moment thought that one of his ears had ceased functioning!! Out of great concern he did “Ear testing 1,2,3 on the spot!!” Just then, another brave hen-pecked soul gave him another extra-strong blow.. In the impact, he lost balance inspite of all his rock-climbing-and-balancing-experience (This made it amply clear that he had spent more time ogling at foreigners in the mountaineering institute ;) !!) and his new glasses slipped... he just managed to grab it..

Now, it was Poddar’s turn.. One guy was charging at him from behind and there were about ten to twenty kids (yes, just like the same creative, fluent, young salesmen discussed earlier!).. Everyone has a first time, and these kids identified this was the right time to start kicking a person in their life, so they promptly joined in! They wasted no time in mercilessly kicking his posterior.. With great difficulty, they were just tall enough to reach his butts, so they landed a couple of shots there.. Poor Poddar turned back and got the shock of his life seeing him getting kicked by kids! Spontaneously, sexually offensive unparliamentary words found their way out!! But did it matter??! Now, he was getting too worried about how he would go down in history books for getting kicked by kids.. Just as if to pacify him, a policeman walked in and whacked him hard on the head with a lathi!! His moment of glory had arrived and now his soul would rest in peace!!

By now, the policemen had realized that it was for them to intervene and save the ‘brave warriors’ who were at the public’s mercy!! So, they started waving their lathis around, freely hitting anything it came in contact with.. Unfortunately, Saroop was being pushed around and he got hit by the lathi near his eye, which got swollen instantaneously.. He got the shock of his life by getting beaten for no fault of his! This made him crazy and he started bombarding the policemen and all those around him in hi-class Oxford-bred English, in his own flamboyant roundabout style!! We really couldn’t make out what he was upto!! The policemen tried controlling the mob and immediately decided to get us out of the place.. For once, I realized how important the Police force was in a democracy!!

They summoned a van and got the ‘supposed culprit’ and the ‘real culprits’ in!! With 5 of our guys in the police van, it was jam packed and it started moving out of the scene.. Hell, there I was still standing besides the mob on the platform and I got scared to death! I was all alone there, still in my sweatshirt.. (I decided it would be a bad idea to remove it in front of everyone lest they see and beat me for trying to hide!).. I tried to move towards the van but without success.. With a heavy heart I saw the van going away from the scene!! For the first time in my life I wished that the police pick me up too and take me to the police station!! But it was too late.. There I was, a sheep abandoned in front of a pack of hungry wolves.. For the first time in my life, I felt unsafe in an open public space!!

Quickly I decided to get the hell out of the place as fast as I could.. I didn’t know where the police station was and did not have the heart to ask anyone around.. So, I started walking in the direction in which the van had gone.. I had gone a few feet when I heard some commotion, and fear engulfed me!! “Oh shit, there they are coming after me!!” I turned back but didn’t see anyone!! So I continued on my way.. This kept happening again and again and after some time I realized I was getting too paranoid and consciously decided not to turn back lest I give some bugger in the public a signal!! After I had gone a few yards, there was noise again.. now it was approaching in my direction!! I had studied Doppler’s effect and no, this was not a hallucination!! I resigned to my fate and lay there waiting for them to come and take me!! Then reluctantly I turned back.. There, I saw Premjit being paraded by a gang of teenaged guys and about 50 kids!! Yes, there were about 50 kids swarming all over him..!! This immediately brought to my mind a scene from the movie ‘Black Hawk Down’ wherein an American pilot of one of the downed Choppers is paraded in the streets of Somalia with a horde of Somali locals and children swarming all over him!! Premjit’s face was white as snow, except for some light smears of the ‘culprit’s’ blood, which he had picked up while trying to hack the guy to death for committing the heinous crime of ‘buying a similar high-end mobile’!!

Now, Premjit also had his Sony Handycam around his neck.. I realized that the crowd was leading him in my direction.. Then, I made a quick decision to go and join him, come what may.. coz he was all alone and I had a feeling he could be threatened and robbed.. I felt that walking away from the scene would be a cowardly decision,.. So, I walked up towards him and much to the surprise of the crowd I joined him.. Then I learnt that the people were actually helping him go to the police station ‘safely’.. I heaved a sigh of relief.. The crowd following us slowly subsided as we reached the police station..

In front of the police station it was a happy reunion for the ‘warriors’.. Now I saw the ‘culprit’ again.. he had his face wiped clean and apparently he just had a broken nose.. To avenge his anger he punched Arun once in the police station and things were even now.. (ok, atleast theoretically!!) The policemen told us that it was an unfortunate coincidence and a clear misunderstanding, however they emphasized that we should have refrained from hitting the ‘supposed culprit’!!

4:50 pm – The drama ends
But now we were reluctant to walk back to the cars, lest we be lynched by the mob!! With great difficulty we pleaded the Police Constable to escort us back to the car.. He agreed and there we were, the six of us being shielded by a lathi-wielding constable till we reached our cars!! Tiwari and Premnath were the only two people in our gang who had moved out of this confusion early on.. they joined us at the car park and we left the place as soon as we could.. Me moved to another part of Agra, changed or atleast covered our sweat shirts and went in search of first aid for Saroop.. After getting him treated, the tempers cooled a bit and we checked into a bakery and ate to our hearts content.. We had too much coming at us in too short a time!! To commemorate our memorable journey, some guys bought the Agra-famous Pethas to carry back! By now, we started missing the safe environs of the South Campus.. So, we packed our bags and started on our journey back.. Fortunately, I don’t have anything to say about the return journey!! With Tiwari and Pheru firmly behind the wheel, we kept going.. When I was woken up, there we were in front of our own ‘China Bowl’! It was a very nice feeling!! We grabbed a quick dinner and rushed back to the hostel to catchup with some much needed sleep...

Inspite of all the goof ups and the mob-effect, I am sure this tour would find a place right up there in our memory!! Long live the Taj!! And long live our 'pleasant' memories!!