Journey

P.S Bought Canon 40 D..More on that when I get more time and do some test shots!! First impressions - Heavy - much heavier than Pany FZ50 and my ol Canon EOS 66. I need to build some muscles when it is with the 100-400 zoom ! (Total of around 2.5 kg!)
P.P.S Going to Pench Tiger reserve today for a 3 day camp..Around 50 nature conservationists and non-pro wild life photographers would be there - hopefully a great learning / networking opportunity !:)

Why MBA !

I had once written an article on MBA and other related stuff during my first year at IIM A. Looking back I don't even remember most of the "hard" stuff I learnt while on campus. I do remember the proffs, friends, garbas, night canteen, Kutch & living in tents discussing philosophy as part of the course Explorations in Roles and Identities, dance / presentations under Managing Across cultures, all the novels read & movies watched under Leadership, Vision, Meaning and Reality.
Yesterday while debating average as a performance metric for sets with a PE friend of mine, my mind was taken back to one of my favorite professors from IIM A, Ravi C.
(For those who know him I needn't explain, for those who don't I can't explain!!).

There was an event something to the following (I can't remember word by word)

Student : Sir, on average the queue is 2.25 people long
Proff: 2.25 people? Do you think average is a good measure to put forth in this case ?
Student : Welll....
Proff: That’s like the censor board saying that average family size in our country is 3.2 . Means a woman in the family is almost perpetually pregnant. Right ?

The topic of Ravi C brings back many many valuable memories. He is definitely one of the top 3 things you can take away from IIM A.

You can go here (Orkut Fan Cub) or here (Ranga's blog) for his more famous one liners. (Highly Highly recommended)

Some of my own favorites are

1."Cycle time does not mean that you take three women and expect to have a child in three months, it will still take nine months"

2.On scheduling conflicts:
Student: “It arises because of shared resources.”
RC: “You mean like Princess Diana or Draupadi..?”

3. On core value proposition :
If IIMA, on the strength of its brand, tries to run a circus, it won't work. Even if it tries to convey the fact that the PGP (the "MBA" equivalent) and the circus are one and the same!"
4.I once had a TA who had three daughters, over a period of time of course! He named them Lira, etc, etc based on some foreign currencies because he liked foreign currencies. Now what kind of a man would want to think of his daughters and think about money at the same time!
If you have to name them arbitrarily, you might as well call them 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and so on (after a loong pause) Not 2.1, because then you would have some explaining to do. [A guy in the well is lost at this comment, to him: You dont get it do u ? (Turnign to the class) He did not get what the difference is between 1.2 and 2.1, i can explain to him the difference but not the process, let him figure that out for himself!
5.RaviC asks a guy to explain the first case of the course...
He starts: If we do SWOT analysis....
RaviC: (who has a clear aversion to all such legendary frameworks being adopted without a clear understanding) What is SWOT?
Student: ?
RaviC: I'll tell you. Strength is your wife, Weakness is your neighbor's wife, opportunity is when your neighbor is away, threat is when you are away!

Personally I still remember me giving him the good news of my getting through to Mc Kinsey. Different people complimented me in different ways. Ravi C was typically Ravi C. All he said was "I'm glad but not surprised". I regard that as one of the best compliments I've ever received in life :)

Art, Design, Philosophy

Interview with Freeman Patterson. Brilliant. Get it here. Read it. Print it. Save it. (It is bit dated in production, but guess never dated in content)

Kerala Calling

Had taken the weekend off to Kerala since it coincided with the start of Onam festival. Had a meeting to attend for a couple of hours in Bangalore and hence took the opportunity to visit Kerala. Sadly nothing seems to ever change in the beautiful state - roads are screwed up, traffic is screwed up,there still exists strikes / tools down and bandhs frequently and often without any warning. Even though government is led by a well meaning and popular chief minister, his commie friends from rebel camp doesn't see eye to eye with him. The day I landed there were protests against Reliance Fresh opening stores - it was not muted, the wordings roughly translated were, "This is just a signal; if you don't learn through signals, we will have to act".
Kochi real estate pries are skyrocketing. I saw flats worth 85+ lakhs and even touching 1.5 crore where there were huts of fisherfolks 3 years back - areas we used to never go without a very valid reason. For covering 5 Kms one takes 1 hour in peak time. The inconvenience costs are fast offsetting real estate price hikes and localites are feeling the pinch of cost of lost time in traffic and rising "localized" inflation. People who used to wake up at 6, go to office at 9.30 to reach office by 10 has to start at 7 to have a realistic chance of getting into their seats by 10. Breakfasts from roadside places have jumped 100%.
In between meeting relatives and friends, did some shooting too. Especially used the lax time to experiments with motion blur for close up subjects. Find them here

Attaching a few samples :

Coexistence

Whattay Race !!!

One of those races where you come out knowing that you probably witnessed one of the most event filled races in history. Also that the best driver did not come close to podium. But for all of us who were watching the race together - not just McLaren fans & more importantly the Ferrari fans included - Hamilton was the hero. There was only one idea floating around - when shall Hamilton shift to Ferrari and rewrite F1 history. Atleast we (Ferrari fans) hope it is not long before he shifts !! ;)...

Congrats Alonso - great stuff ; but Hamilton remains the champion.

Added later (Not connected to the first half of the post!!)

For those interested in debates of what is art, what is photography and ethics of digital manipulations have a look here..I personally have no major issues with his pics..it is indeed good art. Some people have issues since the photographer Rarindra purportedly wrote that he seldom alters the lighting and bokeh in Photoshop or similar softwares. It def has an oil painting look and the kind of surrealism that he has "created" is probably not close to physical truth at the time and space that the shot was clicked. Truth defined in the world of photography and Feynmans laws of lights. It definitely is good work of art - even in PS I would not be able to create 1/100th of what the guy has done:). What is, by the way, truth in art ?

Arbit

Celebrating one year of moving to my one room studio in Mumbai !!! Done on one rainy night with nothing better to shoot than the lock on my door,snail in my bathroom and water droplets from a faucet ! (Arbit modifications on PS as is so painfully obvious)

Went to Karnala for the weekend. Nice place if you are looking to see clouds descent over the peak. Nothing much in terms of trekking per se or even photog during monsoon (Atleast nothing befitting it's name of being a bird sanctuary - check here what I got!!). Caveat : I was there neither for the morning / evening so obviously sightings were very few. And season is anyways around Oct to Feb !!
Still being very close to Panvel it is nice drive for Mumbaikars to go and enjoy clouds / rains.

Kerala Monsoons

It was an ossum welcome break ! Spent 4 days in monsoony kerala with cousins and friends. Attended a couple of family functions....

Was nice re-living the nostalgia - of paper boats in water, flooded roads, chinese nest against the cloudy skies, fisherwomen with skirts lifted up exposing fleshy thighs, diamond droplets over long grass reflecting early morning sunshine, coloured flowers, massive rainbows, variety of birds wet and drying themselves whenever sun comes out (Woodpeckers, robins, drongos, sunbirds, sparrows and even owls), playing cards in cozy sofas as the rain beats heavy against the window panes, just looking at the water flow down the tiled roofs of traditional kerala houses, walk through the pools of water splashing it around like a school kid, playing cricket with the wet ball that skids along as if on a matting wicket, watching mallu comedy movies, going to temple for the smell of burning camphor & agarbathi & oil & flowers, squirrells and mongooses all over the place shaking their fur ejecting water droplets against weak rays of sun coming down through thick cloud covers, driving the car fast in the rain through highways with water filled paddy fields on either sides, drinking filter coffee at the front verandah watching the coconut trees swinging like mad, eating mangoes and then eating them some more, put alarm for 6 o clock so that you can wake up and KNOW that you have taken leave & hence go right back into the confines of the covers as the rains sing the morning ragas - Life !!
As always when ever I am in Kerala loads of youngsters come for advice on which branch to take for engineering, which college to go for in MBA, what is the scope for CA etc...And I thought - How does it matter ?... When will we all stop planning for life and start living the life ?...Noone in their final days would miss all the extra hours not spent in office, the MBA degrees not taken from top schools,the bank balances that never bulged enough,.............But ofcourse I did not say any of these - would def be construed as the "show off" by someone on the other side of the green grass syndrome !!! :)....

Could not photograph a lot since FZ 50 is not good at creating sharp images in low light conditions. (Or I am not good enough to use it properly !! hehe). Maybe I shall have to buy a tripod soon enough.
Few samples here

Lovely weekend !!!!

Almost a perfect weekend !!!

10 hours of reading Wilbur Smith (Time to Die - the veritable African Adventure. Though game hunting is not something I support, licenses for hunting old adult male species is one of the few successfull way of raking money for protection / prevent poaching in the huge wildernesses - Esp Mozambique / Zambia region - where Safaris are not as popular / accessible as Kenya / Tanzania and SA)
2 hours of watching Afro wildlife DVDs - In my next life I want to be Chief Conservator of Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania - Period !!!! :D:D
5 hours of partying at Velvet Lounge - Nice and cheap place, though a bit difficult to access without own transportation. Crowd probably not as hep as Insomnia nor probably as raunchy as Shack ;). Still fun filled evening!!
75 minutes of Metro First Half (Music is amongst the best one have heard in India in a loong time!! Brilliant first half, stellar performances from most of a stellar cast - I don't understand how in a country of Kay Kay,Irrfan and Konkona, Salmans/Shahrukhs and Kareena Kapoors are stars !!)
One and half hours of Vagina Monologues !!! (As brilliant as any - amazing Indianisation, excellent cast / script - Atul Kulkarni's vagina worship and the Parsi Aunties flooded cum - & the moanings - OM fing G hilariously funny !!!)

First Shots

Update from Outdoors : Went butterfly shooting in Bangalore over the weekend..there is an interesting butterfly theme park there where density of these lovely creatures are high and the whole area is quite and peaceful...It is close to Bannerghatta and people in Bangalore / travelling to bangalore might want to check it out.







Few trial shots with the F Z 50. At higher ISOs quality is as good as my Nokia 2 MP cell phone in bright sunlight!! :D.(Excessive NR leading to one wondering if the image is a photograph or a painting)
FZ50 has an ossum SLR like feel. As a matter of fact it is more SLRish in look and feel than even probably my lensless Canon EOS.:)..Haven't yet tried out the camera for anything serious outdoors...Need to do it probably over the weekend if I get some time.

Po

I bought Po's much acclaimed What Should I do with my life - the one on finding a purpose for life and being fulfilled, which I picked from the Bangalore airport waiting for a rare delayed Jet to Kochi for the Vishu weekend (Belated Vishu to all by the by)
It is a good read - no one can debate that. I love my work today. I love the people part of it. I am working with an amazing set of individuals - people of high integrity, values and a need to do something useful to society too. But still the book evoked / stirred deep emotions in me. Set me thinking about finding meaning in my work. Me and a few of my colleagues have had this discussion before too.
For some the best way to deal with meaning in life through work is to look at work as a "funding agency" which funds your family time together. Weekend funs. Movies. Brands. Cars. Housing mortgage payments. Some just don't search for a meaning saying its an abstract thing which is for concern only for people who have jumped out of the top of Maslow's pyramid.
Buy the book. Read it. Think about it. Chew it. 350 rupess well spent. A VERY STRONG BUY :)

Sawatikaaaaaaa !!

Had a nice weekend at Phuket. Sun, sand, drinks and ubiquitous Tuk Tuk - both varieties !! I was at the Hilton Arcadia close to Kata-Karon Beachstrip and it was the most sprawling hotel property I've been in. Close to 30+ acres. Barring their Dal Makhani and Punabi numbers in the Deep Sea Disc, the place is absolutely fantastic !!
The one thing that struck me was how they have rebuilt Phuket after the Tsunami. Places like Kamala and Patong beach which were washed away by the waves are back in full regalia. Its just amazing the kind of work that the government and people have put in the country to rebuild it. And if the Suvarnabhumi airport at Bangkok is anything to go by Thailand is in for bigger things.
That also instills in us fear and hope - fear regarding how many more years of 7+ GDP growth we would need, to come anywhere close to some of our Asian friends. Hope that probably the only way forward for India is Up.

Forgot to add : Bought a new Panasonic Lumix FZ50 to go with my Canon EOS film SLR. Thought its a good prosumer camera..As close to DSLR as it could get but without having to change lenses for shots. Would primarily use this for long zoom shots since I don't have telephoto lens for my Canon. Let me see how it performs. :)

Weekend well spent !!

Finally broke the jinx of not seeing Sachin bat. Whenever I have seen India play, Sachin was either injured/resting or not part of playing 11. Finally got to see him bat when I went for the final of Ranji trophy between WB and Mumbai. Sachin scored a 40+ and gave money's worth for around an hour. The laziness of Sunday was well spent doing something which I absolutely love. Early morning beer and loads of decent quality cricket ! By the by, if you can get hold of some CCI (Cricket Club of India) member do go to Polly Umrigar bar there. You an have fish & chips or plain old potato chips/french fries with beer and watch live action from Brabourne. Food is also decent and pretty cheap for as elitist a place as CCI. You will mostly be dining with who is who of erstwhile cricketing fraternity of India/Mumbai. There is a rare Bradman pic signed by Bradman himself !! Every nook and corner is embellished by artefacts of historical meat.

Evening though was wasted watching Mahesh Manjrekar and Sandya Mridul in Double Deal at Tata Theatre, NCPA. One of the few bad plays hosted there in a long time. Went to Moshe's for the Hummus and Pita starters and Salads.Even that did not remove the pain of wasted time !! Star value do not imply real value ! Speaking of which, I finally downloaded Avial's Nadanadanada from you tube which was introduced to me by IIM A juniors when I was there for our campus fest Chaos. It is by far one of the bestest mallu non film music Ive heard in 25+ years. Also one of the best in it's genre from India - a mix of really energetic hard rock with a bit of thrash thrown in between. So what if it sounds and feels like Linking Park, it is a great debut by these bunch of youngsters (who were even doing rounds in MTV). Way to go. (Check it)

Nostalgia

If you love swahili love songs,
Well No,
If you love swahili songs,
Well No,
If you love songs,
Well No,
If you love,
Well No,
If you.....Then listen to this piece of beauty in case you haven't - Malaika Nakupenda Malaika (Angel, I love you Angel). Lyrics clearly demarcating the perenniel conflict in African existence - Love and life ; in turn for the african a conflict between love and money.
Most of our nightly "Taarab" trips in coastal East Africa would have as a constant companion this song. Also Jambo Jambo Bwana (Hello, Hello Mister). All these and more here..
Oh How I miss the strolls along the deserted beaches under starlit sky and full moon,with the smell of Africa in nostrils, her drumbeats in the ears and feeling her breasts in everything around. It is 2 years to this date since I returned.

I long for you still my .....Angel !! And I know you know it !

Branding for PSUs

Couple fo days back on a misty morning at 6, was waiting at the Kolkatta airport waiting for an Alliance Air ATR to take me to Guwahati for a key meeting . The flight was delayed for around an hour. Since I hadn't slept the previous night it would have been too risky to try and sleep at the lounge. There was a clear chance that I would not wake up to my cell alarm. Hence I decided to take a walk around the airport having one coffee per 15 minutes. That is when I saw this rather interesting ad of Indian.
"We do things that other airlines don't - for our nation - like flying to earthquake affected areas, flood hit far flung airports. We evacuate stranded passengers from strife torn foreign lands. Because we work for the nation"

Today I saw an ad for SBI in TOI/Eco Times whose brief was something as follows :

"We would rather open branches in remote areas in our country to serve you than build plush offices for ourselves. Hence we have reach at every corner of our nation"

Interesting takes on existence of PSUs. I am suitably impressed on the messages. I think there is an element of truth in these messages. But would the customers be impressed ?

I had stayed at ITC's Shonar Bangla property while at Cal. They mailed me couple of days later asking me to fill their feedback form on service/food/bar etc. They said they would donate a sum to an orphanage if I would send back the feedback. Most of the other hotel chains would ask for a feedback and say you could be a lucky winner. I never used to reply to the feedback mails but this time I did. Partly ofcourse because I thought Shonar Bangla Sheraton was one of the best hotels I've ever checked in (both in India and abroad). But more importantly I really liked the way they inspired me to fill the form. Excellent service followed by a social "utility" message - icing on cake.
Icing has to be on cake.

The Departed !!

In between Kalimpong, Noni, the retired judge, Sai and Mutt and the beauty of Himalayas well imbued in the beautiful Desai scripted Man Booker Winner I & a friend of mine decided to see The Departed. I was planning to write about Inheritance of Loss and recommend it without any doubt. But be warned that I'm biased in favor of Indian authors and Man Booker prize winners. So it would eb doubly biased in favor of the very Arundhati Royish Desai novel too.
But The Departed is being recommended in a very unbiased manner. THE Best movie of the year. And up there in my all time Top 15. Not yet a Pulp Fiction, but almost there.Though the story (taken from an HK production) is not top class by itself, the direction, acting and above all the dialogues make it up there among the greatest. Each and every character has done a great job. An ABSOLUTE MUST WATCH.

"No human had ever seen an adult giant squid alive, though they had eyes as big as apples to scope the dark of the ocean, their was a solitude so profound they might never encounter another of their tribe. The melancholy of this situation washed over Sai" From The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai

What should you do with your life ?

We have all met them. We are them. Them who says," My dream to spend a perfect day would be to sit overlooking a valley in Kenyan forests, high up in a rooftop hut sipping Malibu or kahlua, looking at the Gazelles underneath and listening to the roars of lions & flowing water at a distance.” Funny thing is we never do most of these things even though we can do them!
I had always wanted to be a forest ranger! I wanted to take CAT so that I would study at IIFM Bhopal (Indian Institute of Forest Management) but then made that “Let me make money first and then pursue the dreams” jig. So I went to IIM A and uploaded all wild life movies and safari videos into my comp and enjoyed life. Way things are today, I can afford going to Africa and doing what I wanted at least once a year. But the whole point is that I am not a forest ranger!!! I’m OK overall – cause I’ve a dream job which is fulfilling, intellectually stimulating with a bunch of folks who are fun to work with. But I know of people who are such good photographers or excellent artists who end up writing software codes all their life. People who are as much in love with forests and wildlife treks as I am, ending up selling construction materials in Dubai.
Like an ode to the zillions of us read this article. Nicely written. Must read !

Croc Hunter is No More !!!

Steve is no more - killed at Barrier reef by a sting ray.
That dents the fun on the occassion when Kerala is celebrating Onam. Personally for me as well as all the wildlife enthusiasts the world over.
Wishing you all a happy and prosperous Onam and may Steve rest in peace. We love you Steve and you gave us all many many awesome memories through Discovery as well as other docs.
Today is also Teacher's Day and the Ganpathi eve...So many things happening. Me just going to a place in Fort to have Kerala food. Yummy !!

Japan to raise rates !!

In first time in close to 20 years Japan is looking forward to a rate hike....That essentially a big step from the CB at Tokyo. Ofcourse the key issues for Japanese remains how to make their ageing generation whose main productive years were spent in the gloom of recession to get back to their "youthful" spending ways !! It definitely is not going to be on condoms !! With rate hikes looming on a large number of economies all that talk of Jap hedge funds taking a huge liking for emerging markets seems to be a trifle hyped up. Let us see how things go there. Cheers for the Japs !!

On Cloud 9 !!

Back to Mumbai. Same lively feel. Excitement unabated even in the crazy rains and marauding high tides. My office being in 22nd floor, I can see clouds flying out across my huge window panes. The sea, which is clearly visible beneath is invisible today - just a misty landscape. Surreal. On the other side of the office the Island City too is coccooned in mist and cloud. From this height the building around and far away are just some huge structures as if in an LOTR movies. Time to time a sea gull and other sundry large birds fly around increasing the beauty of the picture.
Started of the weekend with shopping followed by Cafe Mondegar on Saturday night.Same old everything. Very nostalgic. Sunday was at Leopold. Less nostalgic there. Things seems to have gone from good to bad at Leo. Average service and selections.
Anyways it has been a great home coming !! But for the fact that Brazil and Argentina went out of world cup things have been amazingly exciting and great.