Journey to the center of the Earrrrrrrrrrrth - the final cut

Part II completed a greater part of our trip and now, we speak of the last and most beautiful part of our day trip.

Then came time for lunch, and Srisailam is a small place. So no chance of finding any swanky place of any sort. We managed to find a comparatively clean looking Udipi place, grabbed a quick lunch and headed out again. By now, the sun was pelting down on us, and we were thankful to the cool confines of our car as we headed out to our next destination. This one, was Shikharam. As per what we'd read up, this was a Shiv temple up on a hill top, from whence we would be able to get a panoramic view of the whole Srisailam town. This temple was a tad different, in that the Nandi bull idol was on top of the Shiv temple! So, we'd pay our respects to the Shiv temple down, then go up some more steps to the top of the temple, and as per Hindu customs, we would need to look at the oversized Shiv structure made of iron rods through the two horns of the bull. There was a fair crowd there, waiting to do this, and we scampered up the steps afraid of getting our feet barbecued again. But surprisingly, tiles seem to be the next best thing since sliced bread! We went up, looked around, took a couple of pics, typical tourist style and came down again.

The gang got tired and decided to get some shut eye time, while I caught up with my music. On the way to the next stop, Mahelle Teertham, a waterfall, we crossed the dam from the other side. And it was an awesome sight indeed. The depth, the steep fall, the dam standing up there majestically, all added up to a pretty picture.

Around 4 PM, we reached Mahelle Teertham. This stop was indeed the icing on the cake. What we had found when we read up about this place, was that this place housed a beautiful waterfall. Certainly nothing like Niagara, but beautiful, nonetheless. There was a steep climb down, I reckon close to at least 100 rough, unsophisticated steps. We started the descent in the sweltering sun, and mid way, Random remarked that the steps we were descending with such gusto would need to be climbed up again! The prospect of that was rather painful, but we went on.

We reached the bottom, and there was a dirt track that veered to the left. This track apparently would have led to the waterfall. The waterfall in question was a sheet fall, that fell beautifully down a smooth rock cut surface. But when we looked to the right, we saw a lovely glade. It was super cool down there, under a canopy of trees. The whole area had a lovely green hue. We couldn't see the ground, since the whole place was covered by a blanket of leaves. We trudged across this blanket to a brooklet. The water from the falls came gurgling by and there were some rocks, placed in an opportune manner giving us a place to sit, such that we could just about put our feet into the water. This we did, and mannnn the water was coooool. It felt so good to put our feet into the water especially after a day of trudging through heat, dust and grime. And we sat there, opened up our sandwich packs, and sat with our feet in the water, yapping, singing, and basically having an amazing time.

After spending close to an hour or perhaps more there, we had to leave, to get back to Hyderabad. We were scorched, burned, tired, exhausted, but very very happy indeed. Even now, I can see vivid images of that glade, the tall towering trees there, the thick roots that stood through the brooklet, the tiny insects that flitted over the water, the random leaf that gently fell upon the water and went gliding past our feet, and of course us, singing away to glory, as if there was no tomorrow.

Thus ended our journey to the center of the earth. Absolutely ethereal. Absolutely beautiful. But all this fun couldn't have been possible without the company of the gang. Ren, M, Random - tooooo good. Together we made a temple visit fun. Together we made a simple dam a thing of beauty. Together we made a simple day trip a time to savor and remember indeed. Thanks a lot!!!

Journey to the center of the Earrrrrrrrrrrrrrrth Part II

Long overdue. Journey to the Center of the Earrrrrrrrrrrth part II is finally here. You see packing up, bidding goodbye to your home of one year is a tall ask indeed. Less of a physical task and more of an emotional drain. The thought that all those relationships you had built painstakingly over the whole year, through numerous conversations, the occasional fights, make-up coffees, gossip sessions, hanging out, lounging over an assignment, and so on, would finally be coming to nothing. Well, not really nothing, but certainly not exactly the way it all used to be. But then again the reason why we collect all these memories is so that one fine day, when we sit back, listening to an opportune song like Yanni's Nostalgia, all those vivid images would come flashing by.

So, I'd left off last time with the bare mention that M got us into a bowl like boat at a steal. Well, later when we asked other groups of people, it turned out that we had gotten ourselves a deal at almost 25% of what the others paid. Or, let me put it this way, while other groups of 8 people went for the ride at Rs. 1000, we, a group of 4 went at barely Rs. 250. Put together! A steal? I'd rather call it a LOOT! So, fresh from a perfect deal that could scintillate any bargain-lovers instincts, we stepped into the boat and went rowing. It was around 9.30 in the morning and it was beginning to get sultry. You can just imagine how hot the day would probably get, right? So, our deal was to go in the boat till the mouth of the rapids, stop there for a few minutes for our photo op and get back. We started off, and a gentle breeze began to blow. People like me and random, who were used to the fishy smell (pun unintended) of Mumbai, thanks to the proximity to the sea, didn't really mind the weird smell that kept coming, but Ren and M got a bit peeved by the smell, and when I, typical water body ride style said that I wanted to put my hand down into the water as we rowed along, I got a resounding NO. I was told in no less words to keep my hands well on board, and judging by the tone, I reckon they might have well and truly thrown me overboard had I even so much as touched the water!

Our boatman was another sample. while we went rowing, he went on and on about how he was just an apprentice. How our negotiated deal was very less money, and how he desperately wanted some more. This, along with the lapping sounds of the choppy water, formed our continuous piped music in the background. But, we knew how to cut off background noise and enjoy what we had for what it was, and in the midst of our boatman's ramblings, we thrust our camera in his hands and made him take a picture of us, glares, caps, scarves et al. And then we also took turns taking the oar from the boatman, and posing with it. Although, we hoped to row for a while as well, that didn't quite happen. But at least we got to pose :)

Then we embarked on the next leg of our journey. We decided to head to the temple. Srisailam has one of the 12 Jyotirling temples, and is considered one of the key temples for devotees of Hinduism. Besides, this is one of the temples in south India, where people are allowed to touch the idol. Touching the idols is typically not allowed in temples in South India, and this is one exception. We reached the temple, left our footwear and headed to the temple complex. The heat was building up, and we looked up at the queue of devotees and we were stumped. Those from Mumbai would perhaps have seen the length of the lines at Siddhivinayak, one of Mumbai's most renowned temples, on a Tuesday. The queue here was almost of that length, and it went through tortuous alleys, staircases, caged enclosures and so on. Luckily, we spotted a place to pay for a temple-sponsored ticket and enter, and we were spared the pains of waiting in the long queue.

We had a good darshan, at the Shiv temple, the other allied shrines and it was time to leave. As it turns out, the heat was now too much. And we were literally stepping on a barbecue. The exit was on the side opposite to where we had left our shoes and we had to go round a semicircle, halfway round the temple to get to our shoes. And this is where we got our feet royally baked. I am sure that if we were indeed captured by cannibals, they would have had some really tasty heels and toes as starters! M remarked that this was perhaps a small punishment for taking a shortcut to see God. Couldn't agree more, M!With this, I'll conclude part II, leaving the best part of our trip for the last installment of Journey to the Center of the Earrrrrrth... Watch out for part III...

A poignant goodbye

A whole year has passed. This one year alone has been more eventful than all past years put together. And all this while I have felt like the guy standing on the road divider watching stumped as the vehicles zipped past. A year of learning, experiences, friendships, some relationships made, some broken, a few highs, some lows, some cheery moments, some laments, a rollercoaster to the core.

And now, the time has come for me to bid goodbye to those walls, trees, roads, rooftops, floors, classes, benches, tables, library, quad that have defined my past one year. A year ago, I walked into the rec center, with stars in my eyes, confident that I was sent on earth by God with the express mission to change the world. A peculiar smell then caught my nose which was to linger with me for the whole year, getting renewed each time I'd walk past those doors for a dunking, a drink of water in the middle of a late night walk, or just as I'd shuttle between SV2 and SV3. And today, I walked through those doors for the last time. As I took a walk today around campus, a strange familiarity grew over me, as yet another peculiar smell endemic to the flowering trees here promised to be with me forever. These trees added the dash of color to the imposing peach colored structure that has defined one year of my life, the tall structure that has promised to shape my career, my life as I go further.

I lingered around the atrium today and though it looked fairly empty, somewhere in the distance, I could hear a gurgling laughter. I saw a bunch of us tea in hand walking towards the elevator in the 5 minute break between classes. I could hear the groans that accompanied an 8 am class. I looked skywards and the gray clouds converged. I could suddenly hear the pattering of rain, though the ground under me was starkly dry. I could smell the wet mud, hear the croaking of the frogs and sense the slithering of the occasional snake and I saw myself in my quad gazing out that huge window wishing I was out in the rain and not studying for a DMOP paper. I walked those long winding corridors from Lecture Theater to Lecture Theater and saw my classmates suited up, file folder in hand, walking towards an interview room. I could hear myself wishing them luck. I turned around and there was my gang waving to me wildly, calling me to get ready for lugging a projector back to LT. I smiled and thought about which movie we could see, when in the distance I could smell the aroma of freshly brewed tea. I gazed into the distance and saw everyone I had befriended over this one year looking all cheerful and successful and suddenly we were throwing our hats up in the air and I was shaken out of my beautiful reverie.

A year later, I do harbor intentions of doing something meaningful. I came in here to change the world and I emerge a changed individual myself. I take back with me memories that weigh a ton, and friendships as strong as oak. In this one year I have learnt a lot about finance and marketing and strategy. But more importantly I have learnt a lot about myself and have learnt to look at the world from several different perspectives. Was the year worth the pleasures and pains? Well, the fact that all of us walk out of here with a billion memories, some pleasant, some sour and a smile worth a few billions screams out that this one year is a year well spent indeed.

Graduated

A tiring day, a tiring year.

Our toils and efforts have brought us here.

Exams, assignments all-nighters galore,

Learning about things we've never seen before.

A few friends I did make

I learnt a lot here

But the memories I take

With me are so dear.

Today marked the end of my academic stint at ISB. I have graduated from this awesome school and I am now one of the elite class called 'alumni'. We are now expected to uphold ISB values and make us, our school and our country proud. We have had one helluva power-packed year, learning all of 32 subjects, not to mention all their associated exams, assignments and projects. Along the way we learnt a bit, goofed around a bit and collected memories by the ton.

Our chief guest today was Kapil Sibal, fresh from having had the Right to Education bill passed. He stressed on the importance of education and how we, the supposed cream of Indian intellect should feel proud of our privilege and not squander the same. He spoke of the numerous opportunities that would present themselves here on further as education is to be made available to one and all. At the same time, he told us about the need to be responsible, ethical and work towards a better, stronger society.

Our chairman Mr. Rajat Gupta took the stage to tell us his words of wisdom and a few things he said found a place in my head. He told us to work towards becoming the best professional in any line of business we may choose. This appealed to me, since keeping goals like wanting to be rich or powerful, are nonetheless temporal. Wanting to excel in anything brings in its wake success and incidentally money as well. Case in point - Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar! Secondly, he told us to not just work towards making ourselves successful, but towards pushing others to success. This makes sense, since the minute you try to make others successful, you will in a way end up with a circle of successful people who perhaps owe their success to you and so, this circle automatically becomes a trustworthy circle of friends. Another thing he said was that the minute we found ourselves in a comfort zone, we should change our milieu to something else, since comfort zones are not conducive to learning.

But the one thing that almost everyone said today that I will hold dear forever is - never let your education turn you towards arrogance. The more you learn, the more you realize you have more to learn. In other words - stay hungry, stay humble.

With that I end this small post commemorating a momentous occasion in my life as well as in the lives of 567 of my classmates here at ISB. Yes! we have graduated....

Journey to the center of the Earrrrrrth - Chronicles of a day trip - Part 1

Friday marked the end of academic pursuits at ISB. Which meant that Saturday would mark the beginning of fun pursuits post ISB. And true to expectation, we decided to kick start our week of fun with a ... wait for it... day trip to Srisailam. So after a day filled with fun, I sit down with aching calves, legs refusing to move, my back in love with my pillow, and even my thumbs and fingers groaning, to recount our exploits. So here is the story of our JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARRRRRRRTH as Random would say. A sneak preview - it involves rock sightings, a boat ride, a drive through a forest, a temple, tap dancing in the heat, a beautiful forest, rivulets, waterfalls, pleasant chats and a broken shoe.

Now Srisailam is rather far from Hyderabad. All of 240 km, with most of the route under forest cover and over hills. Look at the pic alongside -
So, being inspired by pictures put up by some friends on Facebook (talk about web 2.0), we went. It felt good buying goodies that evening - bread, cheese, Sprite, water, chips - basic sustenance. Reminded me of our midnight shopping trip to Hanamasa prior to the Fuji expedition! So, armed with goodies, a printout of the places we wanted to see around Srisailam, and the enthusiasm of a 5 year old going on board a ferry, we set off at 5 am (yes, we decided to leave at 5 and all 4 WOMEN left at 5. Hah! to all those trip groups with men and women who plan to leave at 4 and leave at 6 instead!!!).

We left before the crack of dawn, and were aided by empty roads. Some decided to catch up on lost sleep, and some others like me, aided by a small caffeine shot in the morning, chose to keep awake and catch up on my recently added songs. Holiday mood, you see. The road was long, there were mild winds, and soon enough, the sky cracked and a smiling sun showed its mild orange face. It was gorgeous. This was when we, rather, Random decided to call our trip the JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THEEE EARRRRRRTH. I wish I had that pronunciation button that comes up on Wikipedia. Speaking of wikis, we realized where the makers of wikipedia got the idea for meta.css. Look here - Yup, you do get to see quite a few beautiful things if you wake up early in the morning. But in our case, I guess our dreams are prettier and so, we maximize our utility and sleep longer, since the marginal utility of waking up early is losing out on better looking dreams, which we'd rather not do. Yay! so done with the rambling for this post. Back to the EARRRRRTH now... So, on we went, playing music of DCH, Lakshya, and singing along nice and loud. The key word is LOUD. We thoroughly enjoyed the morning. It was a simple loooooong drive, and as we went on, the rock formations just kept getting better. At times we wondered how those boulders defied Newton and balanced themselves so perfectly up there. Pretty soon, we decided that it was time for our dose of caffeine and typical road trip style, we stopped at a nondescript tea stall. Tiny tapri that served some perfectly delicious tea in tiny cups! And the minute we took out our cameras, the people in the shop - owners or otherwise felt obliged to pose...

Soon, it started getting hot, and we approached the Rajiv Gandhi Tiger reserve area. If only there were more than 1411 tigers, we might have seen the occasional tiger as well, as we drove Safari style through the forest area. The roads were phenomenal. Trees were a sober brown, heralding the start of the hot season. But altogether, they made the picture look very beautiful. Pretty soon, we entered the ghat section, and I must say, the Eastern Ghats are a lot less punishing than their Western counterparts. They do go winding, but not many sharp hairpin bends, and a lot less painful!

And then, we reached our first spot of the day! Patala Ganga - a small river-like water body, that comes out of the dam on the Krishna river at Srisailam. The USP of this spot is, the boat ride that one can take in a round basket-like boat, from the steps to the place where the rapids begin. Clearly this place is not frequented by several people and so, there were hardly any crowds. Random had suggested that we do this first, else the sun would begin pelting down on us like no one's business and ostensibly, she was right! Thank God we did the boat ride between 9.30 and 10.30 am! We needed to bargain our way here and who better than one with the subtle seasonings of Saddi Dilli??!!?? So M got us a deal we couldn't refuse. She actually got us the ride at one fourth the usual price and the four of us set sail. I say set sail, since it sounds sweet and I know I shan't use that phrase anywhere else, EVVVVER!

The ride was beautiful, and the round boat goes bobbing up and down, directionless, and you can go swiveling on it, whenever you want! All of us, also got our photo op with the oar and we could take a number of pictures of the dam, the bridge and beyond, from this perfect vantage point. And from the water, the upturned boats on the shore looked like giant turtles, as M remarked. The only flip side was the continuous chatter of our boatman. Every 2 minutes, he'd start his plea for more money. It started with stories about how he was starting afresh, to how he was a helper in a greater game. At one point I was tempted to rattle off Shakespeare's 'All world's a stage' dialogue to him, and had to try real hard to refrain from doing so. So, a serene and not so quiet boat ride later, we got back, had our pictures taken and were ready to start leg 2 of our trip.

And this is where I'll pause part 1, for fear of making this post toooo long. Watch this space for the section on the temple, tap dancing, glades in a forest, waterfalls, rivulets and the broken shoe... Yes broken shoe...

A moment for a momentous occasion

With today, all academic pursuits at school have come to an end. Yesterday marked the end of classes and today marked the end of exams. So, it is indeed a momentous occasion. I perhaps knew back in grad school that I wanted to study further, but now, I really am not sure whether I will be enthused about the staid environs of a classroom or interested in the stoic monotones that accompany academic discussions. Today marks the end of an academic jaunt and marks the beginning of several things - a week of fun with friends, with scant regard towards anything else - no nagging assignment or exam or pre-reads to do ; just unadulterated fun, a convocation, my first, since as is the custom, we never attend engineering college convocations! And of course the beginning of a new phase of life - a new job, a new role, new friends, new everything. And given that context, the occasion deserves a mention of the year gone by. I am picking this up from my FB note, since an early morning jaunt beckons and unless I sleep in the next 1 minute, I will have to run on less than 7 hours of sleep over two days. So, here is a gist of the year gone by. Watch this space for a full blown account, as the weeks pass....

Less than a year ago, I walked into this sultry city. Stars in my eyes, a dream to follow, a year to cherish. And this year gave me all of that.

Term 1, day1 - afternoon classes - great profs - microeconomics with a twist - marketing - Mudit Kapoor, 'does it even matter' - John Zhang - CP - gyaan sessions - accounting and nightmares - G5, - assignments - night outs - LRC - table hunting - plug point fighting - shushed by the librarian - pen stuck in a socket - markstrat - Harbir Singh - Jagmohan Raju - DMOP - black day - 'but this is so much fun and the whole class laughs out' - people falling off chairs - sleeping in class - snoring in class - loud yawns in class - Global economics and the recession - wake up calls from people who sit next to you - 5 minute breakfasts - caffeine addiction - housekeeping - quad parties - rains - snakes - cobra sighting - Prabhu screaming - Atul Nerkar - entrepreneurship - 'trust me on this' - Kirsten cookie company - Parag and Littlefield - Sunil Dutta and his Jesus Christ pose - Modigliani Miller - INVA - Ramana Sonti - redefining finance - Mean Variance Efficient - Assets under management - GSB - Total fertility rate of Somalia - SAIT - cross platform network effects - MGTO - Prof Pinto and Prof Pillutla - biases - availability heuristic - ELP visits - floods - Sai and Saidulu - Arjun and his wisecracks - Birthday - arbit dunking - cake smearing - fight for grades - McK on campus - consulting dreams - consulting case preps - fin preps - fin club - CMC and PEC - conclaves - Section parties - super 6 outings - parties - newspaper theme party - aaaageeeeooooogeeeee

Term 5 - we get a life - party more - electives - rural marketing - true blue insights - rural visit - the tree - options and futures - Sonti again - no options of a future - placements - CV prep - CV version 32 - CCMA - interesting times - loads of work - consumer behavior - rockstar profs - TiVo - Geeta Menon, Priya Raghubir - Brand management - cases - prereads - no prereading - off the cuff CP - Term 7 - placements - worries - cribbing - excitement - shortlists - dings - ups and downs - who got where - drown the gum in an outing - cheering up sessions - suiting up - interviews - getting a job - access to CAS portal denied - FB updates - LT - the movies - the magic - the chats - the dinners - the walks - the coffees - the LC - the love for chaai - shopping - more shopping - Golconda - movies, movies, movies - Goel food - The Raghu Dixit Project - Yapping on the roof garden - Ashish Kohli - ATAM - Asset Management - Vinay Nair - hedge funds - assignments - who cares - someone do it - How I Met Your Mother - movie sharing - Term 8 - ecstasy - all fun - classes in between - never do prereads - no CP - travel plans - the blue mug - visitors on campus - roam around - sight seeing - last mid term - last paper viewing - last class - last exam - last party - friends forever.

A lot in one year... cheers to a year well spent....

The Blue Mug

So the name was BLUE MUG. When I told my friend that I was going to see a play by this name, her immediate reaction was - 'Of course I know why you're going. You love all things MUG', referring to my bizarre hobby of collecting mugs. Frankly speaking, my curiosity in the play was piqued primarily for this reason. Plus it boasted of a rocking star cast - Konkona Sen Sharma, Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Sheeba Chadha and Munish Bhardwaj. Plus, I was going to go watch a play after sooooooooooooooo long. Plus, it was term 8, time to start living up whatever little Hyderabad has to offer - no offence, but Hyd is small compared to Maximum City.

So there we went to watch the BLUE MUG. Unfortunately, the title words make an appearance all of thrice throughout the play. And right at the start, they said that they have no props. So there went all my hopes of seeing a blue mug. Secretly I was hoping to get tiny blue mugs along with our tickets, as an ad gimmick - call it wishful thinking, but what else can you expect out of a mug collector? So, anyway, no freebie blue mug, no props, so no real life blue mug. I went running from a class, straight to the play, so no mug of coffee either. Although after reaching the venue, I was made to wait in a serpentine line to enter the air conditioned, mosquito-free part of the audi, before crowding up to enter the actual theater, which we entered after almost an hour! But since I was with my gang, it never really hurt. Plus I was too busy displaying my histrionics, for who knows where I could be 'the new find of 2010'????

Then the play started. The audi was good, albeit a tad cold. The artistes were awesome. Their lines were perfect, the lights were perfect. But in an attempt to tie the whole play to a theme around memories, according to me, something was lost. Ok, I am not a theater afficionado, but I appreciate art and entertainment. Note to self - visit Prithvi and Rangsharda more often, so I have more entities in my consideration set. (Did I just say consideration set???) Anyway. The play certainly had its moments. At some places, like in Ranvir's portrayal of a Punjabi with a 15 minute memory, the humor was strong, and at some places, rather contrived. The play, according to me could not be classified as either serious or humorous, and I prefer silos, so that I can make up my mind whether to come out smiling or reflective.

Sheeba Chadha is an amazing artiste. But her parts were motley to say the least. Glass pieces, to Saharanpur to suddenly Babri Masjid? Yeah, seemed just like the movie Page 3 that aspired to cover all aspects from drug addiction, to paedophilia, to riots to what not! Again, Koko according to me was wasted. Her talent certainly deserves more depth in terms of character. There some portions, like the five petal leaf part, which my little brain didn't quite get the relevance of. So, part serious, part humorous, somewhere frightfully deep, and somewhere ridiculously banal, this play should rather have been called motley or scrapbook or collage! It certainly had its moments and the talent was amazing, and in terms of portraying a theme around memories - their variety and the emptiness of a life without memories was well portrayed. For me, though, it was another tryst with art, theater after a long time, exercise for the right side of my brain, and yet another topic to blog about.

ISB is 12th in the World :)

Yup! ISB is ranked 12th among global B schools by Financial Times. And we celebrated! It is indeed a great feeling when you are in the school when it gets accolades. So we had a huge cake, and several pastries with the number 12 'Jell-O' ed on them. And then rather than have a candle, we had a huuuuuge ice sculpture that read the number 12 :). The aqueducts (I like calling those channels around the atrium aqueducts), were filled with water and flowers and ISB FT 12 motifs were put in as floaters. The whole school gathered in the atrium with pom-poms, noisemakers, party poppers and a whole lot of enthusiasm and literally brought the roof down with the celebrations! What a day indeed!!

ISB as a brand is built not just by our faculty or by our current students. To a very large extent, the brand is dependent on the people who get into the outside world post MBA - the alumni. So, when the school takes in a bunch of really smart people, trains them with some of the best faculty world-over and sends them out to make a difference in the world, good things do indeed happen. And what is decidedly noteworthy is the fact that the school is hardly 8 years old.

Several people expect an MBA to catapult everyone to posts of CEOs across the board. But I'd say that MBA is not like tequila (or tech school). It is more like wine. The more time you allow between making the wine and drinking it, the better it is. Likewise, the effect of the brand would begin to permeate through our lives as time progresses. A Rolex was not the premium, respected brand on the day it was launched. Over time it has garnered the respect and that automatically rubs on to the wearer today.

But for me, the fact that I have had the oppportunity to be associated with several super achievers who were once students of this school itself is a humbling feeling. It just means that we as alumnus beginning April have a bigger role to play in taking our alma mater to greater heights. No one said being Amitabh Bacchan would be easy. But ask Abhishek and he'll tell you about the pressures of being Amitabh's son. So as we move on, the bar is higher, the expectations steeper, the effort needed greater, and the results sweeter. So with that thought and a deep level of determination, I say - ISB Rocks, and it is our job now to collectively move it higher. "20 < 15 < 12 < Next is what???"

Livin it up... ISB style

Solstice is here, the annual Alumni meet here on the ISB campus. And today was yet another amazing evening. In fact we were looking forward to tonight, since we were supposed to experience a true musical extravaganza. And none of us left disappointed!

We began with the '09 band singing their trademark songs, followed by our very own Conjoint dishing out GNR, MJ and Metallica numbers. Some songs are absolute beauties, timeless wonders indeed - Beat it, Eye of the tiger, Sweet child 'o mine for instance. And then just as we began to think that the evening couldn't possibly get any better, well, it got better than the best! Raghu Dixit was in the house!! And mannnnnn Indian non-film music can be gooddddddd... They started off with Hey Bhagwaan and moved on to Mysore se aayi and a couple of Kannada folk songs. And then when they went on to 'I am in Mumbai, waiting for a miracle', almost all of us Bambaiyyas in the crowd went along holler lane! Vivid images of Maximum city played out in front of our eyes as we heard that song. And then we had the best song of the evening in 'Har saans mein, har dhadkan mein ho tum'. The crowds went completely ballistic. When the band announced the last song, the crowds yelled for more. The atmosphere was electric. There were lazer beams flashing around, true rock show style, but the psychedelic colors paled in front of the enthusiasm of the crowds. Chants of 'once more once more' went up, louder than ever. And the band complied. Not once, but time and time again. The crowds sang along, screamed along, danced, jumped, and completely LIVED IT UP! A show that was to go on from 9.30 to 12.30 went on all the way till 2 am! And the crowds never tired. The youthfulness was palpable, and almost everyone had shed off all veneers of maturity and gentility, almost going back to the carefree days of undergrad and school!

And it didn't end there. A bunch of us took off to the roof garden to take in the festivities from over a 100 meters above sea level! And I must say, the view from the top, is BEAUTIFUL. Humming and besura singing of the Raghu Dixit songs we had just heard was on with full gusto. Not only were we high up above the ground, we were also clearly high on life! And this is the way we live it up at ISB. We work hard and play harder. And we enjoy every minute of it. And these memories are what we'll take along as we move on. At the end of the day, we say to these moments - 'HAR SAANS MEIN, HAR DHADKAN MEIN HO TUM'.....

Bliss supreme - the evening after exams!!

Exams, exams, exams. I remember a time a couple of terms ago, when I sat melancholy on one of the 'kattas' of ISB and thought (as usual, a day before a deadly exam) - about the pathetic life I was leading. I left home and work and came here to study and ended up being examined every two weeks. Trust me, exams are worse than tooth exams or even the dreaded root canal! And I did some math. Given the number of subjects and given that almost every subject I took had a mid term and an end term, I would have on average given all of 64 EXAMS by the time I got out of here!!! And when I was thinking along those lines, I realized that I had only just crossed exam number 10!

And today, having finished 50% of term 6 at ISB, I do feel lighter, happier, that in the beam balance of exams, the pan of completed exams weighs more than the unfinished ones. Exams are tough. They are stressful. To the extent that many of my colleagues nowadays choose elective subjects that do not have exams at all! The email that used to come in a few terms ago stating that the Rec would be closed for exams used to send many of us into a 'dukhi tailspin'. And the thought used to be - 'Lo aa gaya aur ek torture'.

So much for the sad part of exams. There has to be a good side too, right? Well, if you expect me to speak about how exams nurture competition and help to separate the quality from the quantity and how exams are by and far the best things to happen to humanity since penicillin, WELL, YOU GOT ME WRONG! The best part about exams is the time when they end! Yes, the end of exams is the best part about exams. Just as we were walking home from exams today, a friend of mine mentioned the supreme bliss one experiences when an exam is over. I couldn't agree more with her. It almost is as though the pressure valve on a vessel were allowed to let out steam. The wind seems crisper, afternoons go from being sweltering to mellow and sunny. All of a sudden the chirping of birds is musical, even the crowing of an occasional crow! Task lists look prettier, with tasks like rent movie, order pizza, party, figuring multiple times on the list. Hours don't seem long any more, as you watch 3 movies back to back till the wee hours of the morning! And why? Well, we've worked hard - (or so we claim) and once the 2 hours of testing are done, the feeling is exhilarating.

'How the exam went' is an inconsequential question. We are only bothered about the fact that the exam is over. You may ask me about my motivation behind this post after terms and terms of painful exams. And my answer is - I really don't know. Perhaps bottled sentiments, after so long are getting an expression out here. There is another event tied to exams that demands mention. And that is the day before the last exam! I still remember my days at school where I'd plan more and study less on the day before the last exam. I'd plan where I'd go, what I'd do after getting home from the exam, what movie I'd watch, where I'd go out with a friend, etc etc, you get the picture. Poor old Geography exam - always the last, cared for the least. But one thing is for certain. I sure as hell will miss this supreme bliss and joy once I am out of academics, since the emotions before and after a last exam are practically unparalleled in every other walk of life!!!

So much for the blog, now back to some merrymaking!!

My 7 Whys

There is a consulting funda of problem solving called 5-whys. Apparently by the time you ask the fifth why you are at the root cause of a problem. But I have gone a step further in asking my 7 whys! And I know that if I get an answer to at least one why, I will be a lot less wired!!! Seems to be the case with me all the time! Like I've said before, week of exams and submissions, please expect the random rambling post and here it is. So, I wonder

1. Why I always have a dozen things to do and realize that the time I have would just accommodate two tasks?
2. Why is it that I always chance upon a real good article just when I have course work reading running into volumes?
3. Why am I always swamped with work, such that I feel that I am not doing justice to everything?
4. I am here for this one year, to learn, but why do I feel like something is missing?
5. Why do I have so many things happening at once and why do I always need to apply trade off theory?
6. Why do I feel like reading, writing, studying, walking, playing and goodness knows what else, all at once?
7. Why do I always apportion an hour to a task that ends up taking a whole day?

All this while I have been hunting for answers, but so far I've found none. So my quest continues!!!

ISB's 8 - A thought to all those fests...

Yup. 2nd December was the actual 8th birthday of my present school - ISB. And today, we celebrated her birthday. Much like how it happens in the west, where irrespective of when your birthday or anniversary falls, you celebrate/party on that subsequent weekend! And celebrate we did indeed!

So, on Wednesday, the 2nd, we hoisted the ISB flag, and cut a cake! Well, in traditional ISB fashion, we should have had a dunking as well, but then we skipped arbit dunking for want of a dunkee!!! Besides, of late, on birthdays people feign colds and coughs - since it is frightfully cold in Hyderabad these days! And today, we had a cultural fest, with professors, staff and students putting up a gala show. Noteworthy was not just the quality of the show, but actually the enthusiasm shown by everyone. Now, all of us are hard pressed for time, caught up in a jungle of assignments and coursework. But today, all of that actually took a hike, as ISBians settled down to some serious fun.

While all this was fun, on my walk back home, I was reminded of my time in school and undergrad. Our annual days and college fests respectively were gala events for which people prepared for weeks. The enthusiasm would be huge! We used to bunk class under the pretext of practice. Well, of course we'd practise, but for 40% of the bunked time! In school it used to be all the more fun. All of us were kids and I vividly remember one girl in my class had the best dancing skills in the world! She single-handed choreographed all dance performances for our batch almost every year! And then in undergrad, during our inter-college fest, we used to have colleges visiting to participate. The mood would be nothing short of a Whyteleafe in a home lacrosse match mood. (Enid Blyton's Naughtiest Girl - for the uninitiated). The show stealer used to be the fashion show - where the best looking people of the college would take center stage. The clothes would be designed by us, the walk, the show would be choreographed by us, the props, lights and everything needed to pull off a visual extravaganza would be arranged! The fashion show would not just be a ramp walk, but a themed show. I remember the first one was themed 'attitude' and actually had our show stopper bite an apple and throw it into the crowds as a sign of 'attitude'! Coming of age? Well yeah I guess! And then of course - the college chant and the benign sledging when competition would come on stage - 'Ek Do Ek Do XYZ ko phenk do!' Man, the sound still reverberates in my head!

Good old days of college and school, and with today, I have yet another bookmark of a college event that I will cherish for life.

When belief becomes an obsession

Today in a consumer behavior class, we studied the case of TiVo, the first entrant in smart television. The first player who brought in the concept of rewind, pause, record, fast forward live TV. The first player who wished to put control of what the consumer saw on TV into the customer's hands. The TATA SKYs of the west if you will? The first player who actually failed to capitalize on the first mover advantage, due to some strategic errors. The first player who failed to capture significant market share despite a brilliant idea.

One of the beauties of a class like consumer behavior is the fact that it ties in the psychology of a consumer into the science of marketing. Something as intangible as a consumer's thought process is deciphered and converted into something that can be used by firms to tactically reach the consumer. So we studied why TiVo went wrong. And the result lay in the fact that despite having a sterling idea, they looked at the idea as techies. They understood the idea and they expected the world to get it too! "D-uh!!", they said. They were overpriced, as was seen with newer players soon came out with products at half their rates, with a few lesser feature. But TiVo never took an effort to find out whether the features they were providing warranted such a premium over competition - or whether the consumer really cared for those features. It's more like giving me a pen that can sing and charging a bomb for it, without finding out whether I as a consumer want a singing pen! I perhaps just want a pen to write and care two hoots about the singing thing!

Again, why did they do that? Well, their belief that they had a phenomenal product turned into an obsession. They felt it was the best thing to happen to mankind after sliced bread, and so, were unwilling to look at a customer's viewpoint, and engage in activities that would draw the consumer. They simply made the consumer laugh - using humor in their ads and then very condescendingly said - go find out the rest on our website. All this for a product that cost a lot - a TV enhancer costing almost as much as a TV. All this when the customer has not yet understood the concept.

So, apart from a marketing lesson, I liked this story because it gave me another perspective. Belief and self-belief are good. They are brilliant when it comes to boosting one's confidence. But one should never let one's beliefs cloud good sense and judgement. I can't help but allude to Satyajit Ray's Jalsaghar, where the protagonist - a once-upon-a-time-rich man spends his every last penny to put on a show of pomp and prosperity, till he finally collapses literally and metaphorically to his inability to sustain that image. So, every once in a while, one must really step back from the cheers and adulation, and see whether the praises and positive comments coming in are true and meaningful. Every once in a while, one must look at one's set of beliefs and cull out the ones based on senseless reasons. Change is what is permanent, and the more nimble we are, the more longer can we sustain.

Life is in the details

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things...

This is one of my favorite songs, not just for the movie, or the music, but for the lyrics themselves. Put alone, one really wouldn't pay too much attention to raindrops on roses - you'd probably want to run home and escape the rain. Or for that matter brown paper packages - you'd rather rip the package open to see what's inside. But the things mentioned in the song, are small, everyday things that are... for the lack of a better word... sweet!

So some say that the devil is in the detail, I say that life is in the details. Managers tell us to focus on the big picture all the time. So in life, we look for the big house, the big car, the big career, everything! But somewhere down the road, when you have a minute of reflection time, you don't think of that BMW in your garage or your palatial villa in the French Riviera. You think of that rainy day when you sat drenched with a few friends in an Irani restaurant with a cutting chaai. You think of the classes in school where you convinced the prof to give time off so you can play dumb charades. You think of that one night where you sat with friends playing truth and dare all the way to the morning! Yes, life resides in the details.

The number of places where tea has lodged itself into my slot of unique memories is huge! The 12.30 random tea with a friend after a gruelling assignment. A 2.30 tapri chaai after a crappy movie. The piping hot cuppa after stepping into the house from sub zero temperatures. The insane desire to drink tea in the backyard after a first sighting of snow! The 4 am tea with a friend complaining about a painful project client. The memories are plenty. But the core anchor is not just the tea, but the company.

So, life is in the smaller things in life. It is not always a big picture story. A walk in a nippy weather, with a random conversation sitting atop a rock, talking about books, life, friends, people, is a memory that will be cherished forever. A movie with a bunch of friends within the confines of a campus, on a surprisingly, relatively free evening is divine. At the end of the day, its these things that I would want to look back on and smile at, and think back about a life well lived.

Will I ever see a snake?

Well, today is Wednesday and so the post must ideally be 'what I saw on Wednesday'. But today's post is going to be on what I did not see on Wednesday or for that matter haven't seen at all. And that what I haven't seen on campus is a snake. Yes, I am fretting for I haven't yet seen a snake on campus. Almost all my batchmates have seen multiple snakes, even some of the exotic kind! But I have seen not even an earthworm! Exchange students who came here a month ago have seen snakes, while I, who have been walking with my eye glued to the ground, hunting, watching, waiting for the slithery creature haven't seen anything longer than a centipede!

Do I feel deprived? Like hell yes! I don't have a snake memory to take back. I run out each time it rains hoping to catch a glimpse at least of the tail of a snake as it slithers into the bushes. But for some reason, the snakes are playing hide and seek with me. Only that they prefer playing hide and don't seek instead!

The other day I heard a song on FM that went like 'Will I ever fall in love and blah blah blah' I don't remember the rest since I was too busy humming along with the tune singing ' Will I ever see a snake, and if I do will it not be a centipede' and by the time I got out of my reverie, the singer on air was singing 'Na na na aye o'. I guess I got my answer... Sigh!!!

A fun way to learn stuff

I had the chance to play for my class today. Simple stuff. No rocket science. And just as how any tiny event gets me thinking, well... you guessed it, I got thinking! There are so many aspects associated with sport, especially team sports, that the learning one can get out of it is really immense. Here are my a-ha points on sport.

• Any sport - especially when you're playing for a team, or a region or a country, loads one with a high degree of responsibility. Imagine how so many people collectively are looking to you to deliver and provide them with their moment of glory. I can't begin to imagine the pressure Tendulkar feels when he on the pitch. 900 million Indians wanting him to convert a delivery into a six. 900 million Indians wanting a few runs more from him to win a match. Even better, think Michael Schumacher - he crosses nationalities, as scores of F1 enthusiasts want the Westmeister to tame the rain and win a race.
• While playing in a team, the individual really slinks away into the background. Ask Schumi and he says that winning the constructor's championship means more than winning an individual title. Why? Because the team achievement is a collective effort and winning a title for the team is an actual reward for this team effort. Team effort is not just individual sparks of genius, but it is rather the perfect harmonization of each one's talent coupled with strong synergies.
• There is a story that when Michelle Obama took Barack home to meet her family, her brother took Barack to play a game of basketball. His logic was - observing Barack's manner of dealing with the ball, in terms of the quantum of time he held on to the ball versus the amount of time he spent passing it along fluidly through the game, would display his degree of selfishness!
• In any team sport, one needs to strategize on the field. The coach can discuss a thousand different formations, strategies, expected behavior and so on. But when the ball is passed to you on the field, it is up to you to decide whether to kick it all the way to the goal post or whether to pass it to your colleague standing 10 yards away. And this decision is to be taken in light of the fact that your opponent is sprinting towards you really fast with that goal post in view. And you must also bear in mind the fact that if you pass the ball to your colleague, an unexpected opponent could materialize out of nowhere rendering your strategy worthless. At that time, you need to switch effortlessly to plan B within seconds and keep moving on.
• Putting up with destructive criticism. In cricket, it's called 'sledging', where an opponent plays mind games on a player, by trying to unnerve her. Either through insults or snide comments, or any other way of irritating the player, the opponent attempts to disrupt her cool and thus tilt the psychological balance against the player. How does one then deal with such destructive criticism? Certainly not in the way Zinedine Zidane dealt with it in 2006!

Each of these qualities - responsibility, selflessness, thinking on your feet, team work and dealing with criticism are key elements to be mastered in the world of business. What would you rather do? Learn these skills in a class or while fighting fire in a boardroom? Or would you rather learn it over an invigorating game of soccer or basketball?

Quirky human nature

Almost every self help book tells you to live in the present moment. The Art of Living teaches us that, Vedanta teaches us that, good sense teaches us that. But yet, there is a deep tendency for the human psyche to hing on to the past. We call this nostalgia and many a time, we revel in it!

It's time for the Marketing Conclave here at ISB and as a promotion strategy for the event, the club guys are playing age old ads to show how brands have evolved. So some names are - Gold Spot - the ad with the typical 70s look people on roller blades, motor bikes and singing - Gooold Spot, the zing thing... Gold Spot! And then we have the Lehar Pepsi ad - with Remo Fernandes (who was a huge rage back then), singing - 'Are you ready for the magic?' Then we have the Nirma Ad - which hasn't changed its tune in all these years - the Hema, Rekha, Jaya aur Sushma continue, their faces have changed, but they still remain. All these triggered a wave of thought in my head. I went back down memory lane to the ads of those days. Think - Lalitaji. Then there was the 'O ho Deepikaji' for the 'Nirma Super Neeli Detergent Tikiya!' And then we had the quintessential Cadbury ads, with 'Kya Swaad hai Zindagi mein'. Oh and how can I forget 'Vicco Turmeric, nahin Cosmetic' or 'Vajradanti, Vajradanti Vicco Vajradanti'. We had ads that were downright tacky to absolutely fantastic!

But do we look down upon the ads of those days? The answer is a resounding NO! They remind me of the innocence of the time back then, where a brand was never really endorsed by celebrity powerhouses! Cadbury's had everyday people dancing on cricket fields celebrating a century. Raymond's and Digjam had nattily dressed men - well, not being 'complete men' or playing soccer with kids and then heading off to board meetings, but rather just being nattily dressed men. A Pepsi ad just had a catchy jingle, no allusion to the uber cool urban man fighting another for 'MyCan'. At least for me, they are my link to the past, my link to the guileless days. They take me back to innocent childhood. They remind me of the days spent playing in the space around our apartment blocks (back then, we used to call them just building) and then coming home to see some random thing on TV, while concentrating on these advertisement interludes. They remind me of Ad competitions in school, where we'd enact these ads on stage in a highly looked-forward-to session on Friday evenings called SCA (Social and Cultural Activities).

As archaic as they may seem, these simple, quasi rustic ads actually bring a smile on to our faces. We have evolved as a civilization, we have travelled, seen the world outside. We have liberalized, internalized the ways of the western world. But at the core, our desigiri still stands out and at some point of time, we really feel happy thinking back about our comfort zone. So, some may say that living in the past is wrong, dwelling in the past is insane. But for me, the hues of memory lane are inviting and soothing and are my refuge from the throes of the madding world.

Times of Tumultuous Turbulent Turmoil

It's been a while since I wrote on 'My time at ISB'. Oh! The title is not descriptive of all the time I spend here, but yes there are times I wish I could run far away into the Himalayas - far from the madding crowd. Why hills of the Himalayas? Because Placebo is actually singing 'Running up that hill' as I write this. I wouldn't even mind throwing myself into an ocean as long as I can escape the times of tumultuous turbulent turmoil that raise their heads every once in a while here at ISB!

One such time, that warrants a mention is the time of elective bidding. When a friend of mine at IIM had a gtalk tagline saying 'elective bidding $%&*$% up!' I thought, bidding for courses cannot be that bad. SRK has said in Om Shanti Om - 'Agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaaho toh poori kaayanaat tumhein usse milaane mein lag jaati hai'. Optimistic, idealistic fool that I am, I believed that dictum and believed in a cosmic force that almost always brings demand to supply! And with a spring in my step and a cheer on my countenance, I bid for my electives. And all hell broke loose.I came in with an idea of bidding for subjects I really wanted. What I didn't realize was that elective bidding was by and far the first place where we would perhaps apply all the concepts that we learn here at B school.

It begins with game theory. We thought that people would not bid for an 8 am class, since majority of the members of the class of 'homo sapiens' typically do not prefer waking up too early in the morning. At least that was what many of us gauged during the 4 core terms, listening to groans and cribs about morning classes. What we didn't realize was that almost all of us were thinking the same thing! If prediction markets were at play, many of us would have been able to pocket a small fortune in this guessing game - perhaps pay down our tuition!!

Second, risk taking. Managers are supposed to take risks - entering new markets like say Burkina Faso, the Gabon or maybe even Guatemala or Burundi. One may not know where to locate these exotic places on a map, but might need to formulate entry strategies for their respective firms, not to mention market growth strategies with targets like a year on year growth of 17.2%. So, risk taking should be second nature. And again, while bidding for electives - I know that taking a combination of 2 specific subjects, would perhaps fry my brain with numbers. But I still bid for them, since I rather strongly feel that I may not get one of them, or even if I do, I could maybe drop them. Going forward, I try to game the system. I try to get rid of all my subjects, in the hope of bagging that elusive forbidden fruit of a subject, hoping that even if I don't get it, the system will force me to take up some other subjects, and that time, I can pick up where I left off. Well, what if I end up getting those hot oil, number-heavy, brain-frying subjects? Risk, my dear Watson, is what rings in my head!!!

And finally, the biggest application, that I perhaps learnt too late was the funda of first mover advantage. People in strategy may say that first mover advantages are not applicable to every industry. Some places need you to bide your time, wait and watch from the shadows and pounce when the time is right. THE ANSWER HERE IS NO! If I were a first mover, I could have been sleeping today, whiling away my time, rather than fretting over subjects and points and trying to enter the minds of all my classmates, in an attempt to figure out what they're thinking!!!

What has B school taught me - Part 1

It has been almost a week since I wrote here and each day has passed with my walking back from class with an all new thought in my head, and an ever-strong determination to voice my thoughts. And then all hell breaks loose, when I look at my to-do list and realize that I need a minimum of 30 hours in the day to be able to strike off 10% of my list! But tonight, I decided that Thought Center has been off-center for too long now, and so, at 3 am, while munching on a piece of chocolate, I collated my thoughts and, well, sat down to write!

What has B school meant to me so far? Well, one of our alums had said somewhere that for her, B school was all about a journey towards self-discovery. I couldn't agree with her more. I, for one, have been able to look at life from a different perspective, after coming here. Attribute it to the fact that I am out of home for the first time, fending for myself, and having to take full care of all my requirements, from submitting assignments on time to procuring toothpaste before it runs out! So it has to some extent made me appreciate the life that was - not just the domestic aspect, but even the life at work. Once we graduate, God willing, we would need to enter the workplace - transformed. From being someone who meekly followed, we might be expected to lead. The stars would be expected from us, since after all, we have been through the lathe machine called B school!

And nothing can get us prepared for the people skills test that we would be put through. Unless we make a conscious attempt to appreciate the people around us. School gives us an immense opportunity to interact with people from backgrounds starkly different from ours. I used to feel extremely happy about my origins in Mumbai, and did to a very great extent believe that my city was responsible for making me who I am. Till I met someone here at school, someone, who has grown up in a remote village in AP, and has literally slogged hard to get here. From life in a municipal school (since that was the only school in the village), this person has studied hard, and managed to push himself up. Finding the municipal school inadequate to satisfy his aspirations, he managed to be the first in his family to venture out to a 'private school' in another village to study. With agriculture-oriented parents who have not even managed to see a school leaving certificate through their education lives, this person worked his way into one of India's premier engineering institutes thereafter, through his sheer drive, motivation and passion to excel. He managed to leave his peers behind, while forging his way into the future.

Yet, what he thinks back about fondly are the long bicycle rides to and from school with friends, the stealing of mangoes from the zamindar's orchards, the evenings spent talking about movies and girls! All these reminisces, without even an ounce or a tinge of arrogance, not even once portraying an air of 'look at where I came from, and look at where I have reached'. And while his academic achievements are nothing short of stellar, he still feels that we city bred individuals are miles ahead in terms of achievements, since we can speak fluent English, and carry ourselves more gracefully in public, something he feels he cannot still do. And when he makes this statement, I am even more awestruck at his stark simplicity, in spite of his achievements.

And that is when I realize that life is a great leveller. One can bask in the sunshine of success one moment and be thrashed against the rocks of failure the next. And at the end of the day, one realizes that almost everyone, irrespective of where they started from, end up at almost the same level.

Sunday Stuff : Leisure, story books and all things beautiful

A mellow wind outside. Cloudy skies. Piping hot tea in hand (might have been happier with coffee though). Un-understandable lyrics of Deep Forest singing 'Will you be ready' somewhere in the corner. Images of meadows, a lovely sunset, tall grass billowing in the wind. The scent of fresh, wet mud. A brilliant book in hand - Picture perfect...

At long last, we got a real good free weekend, and needless to say all of us utilized it to the max. I had my fun, but the one part I loved the most was reminiscing about all my favorite books with a fellow bibliophile! Ah well, bibliophiles are few and very rare to come by. And the variety that matches your tastes are even fewer. More often than not, one can find the kind of people who love the self-improvement category of books. They read books that give them gyaan on cultures, languages, time management, economics, behavioral finance and all such good stuff. But just like warming up to Coldplay takes a certain level of maturity (measured in years), warming up to only non fiction books is a taste that can come only with age. At such a time, one yearns for the true fiction lover.

Back in Mumbai, I had a friend who shared my reading tastes. I remember a long talk one night with her, where we spoke about a certain Mary Higgins Clark book, and I followed it up with my dissertation of the Bourne Identity (I had just then completed my third revision of the book). We then went on to talk about our common favorite book - Kane and Abel and went on analyzing each character, picking up nuances and interpretations, which I am sure even Archer might not have thought about! I had an almost similar experience today, discussing all and sundry from the unabridged version of the Count of Monte Cristo, where the Count sails off into the sunset with Heidi (not walks away with Mercedes, as happens in the movie), to O Henry, and of course Jason Bourne. And the experience left me wanting to sing with joy in the middle of the grassy meadows, with the billowing wind, much like the woman in the Deep Forest song!

People to whom I have described this fundoo feeling I get while discussing books, wonder what the fuss is all about. But all I can say is, reading is one level of joy. Discussing the book, the characters, the story with others, takes you deeper into that world, a world that does not have to be left off on the last page. A world where the Gemeinschaft bank exists on Bahnhofstrasse. Where Treadstone 71 is a real building. A world where characters can actually be morbidly malevolent like the wife in Roald Dahl's William and Mary. A world where two seemingly simple people, born on the same day, reach the pinnacles of success, while always being at each others' throats. A world where a person's spirit is brought into a book without even a mention of anything remotely related to an apparition - just the methods of Mrs. Danvers makes you keep looking over your shoulder to see if Rebecca is watching from somewhere. A world of the bibliophiles - One of the best places to be in.....