2010 to 2011 : An Year's worth of Nostalgia

I thought of naming it " a game of numbers" but then the title would have been  quite misleading given that this entry has nothing to do with numbers or mathematics or for that matter logic! What i intend to write over here is how the last year panned out. Given the fact that so many events have taken place and it gets really hard to document each of them, i shall do it crisply in a monthly breakup.

January 2010 - The month was frought with excitement what with the ISB campus scene hotting up for the batch. Nothing else was important enough to catch attention in the entire month. The term just passed away without any major happenings.

February 2010 - Brought with it my first job post MBA. Apollo selected me and it also initiated my first vacation from ISB in the last 10 odd months that i had been in Hyderabad. My first trip home from college :). Also completed an year of FB existence

March 2010 - Was the most happening party season. Parties were happening left, right and center and i was glad to be in the midst of it all with some wonderful friends. Started blogging as well.

April 2010 - The Graduation! Finally an ISB MBA under my belt. Also, the season of partings, some tearful, some hopeful and some with a sense of relief!! Got a chance for another road trip when i drove from Hyderabad to Jaipur with am amazing co-driver/partner/friend/human being and lastly wife :)

May 2010 - The entry into the big bad corporate world. The ship had finally run aground. Joined my job and started settling down to the concept of fixed working hours. Also the month where the daring decision to live in Chennai was finally being implemented. A learning curve on getting settled in any new cities. Learnt to run around with language problems and still get work done.

June 2010 - The first official trip happened and got to visit ISB again (Related post)

July 2010 - That one small change for me, a giant leap for Radhika! She got selected in Allahabad Bank as a PO and had to join in Jaipur. Heartbreaking, yes as she would leave but was happy to see that she is moving on in life onto her chosen and cherished career path.

August 2010 - The fall over of last month led to the development of my culinary skills. Had no option but to start cooking on my own. Thanks to a well established kitchen, free culinary guidance and technology, the dishes were ready to roll out of the kitchen :D.

September 2010 - The first visit home after joining job. Learnt the fact that its difficult to manage holidays with a 6 day week but what the hell. A few changes in the office and a first hand experience of change management implementation and its importance. Also came to know that wife is already set to move into her 2nd job!! A better one at that!!

October 2010 - A season of festivities. Diwali at home, Dusshera in Chennai. Travel all around

November 2010 - Mongolia!!! (Related post) . Got a chance to visit an exotic location for a project. Wife joined State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur as a PO with better chances of a chennai transfer.

December 2010 - Completed an year on twitter. 890 tweets in an year is not bad!! Visited Sudan (Related post) and came back in one piece to regale people with exotic location and engrossing encounters. Looking forward to an even better year ahead.

Throughout the year - continued being Optimistic about things, continued being a good friend (people disagreeing with this please meet me offline :X ), Most importantly, continued being what i am.

And finally,

The number game enter the scene with 2010 giving way to 2011. An insignificant addition of 1 but an occasion that changes the outlook of quite a few people on many things. A new year not only brings the old to an end but also brings with it a hope of a different year ahead.One which is peaceful, joyous, calm from an individual's perspective and one which is productive, profitable, engrossing and enriching from a company's perspective.

To each his own but nonetheless wishing everyone in the Blogopshere and to you (who took the trouble of reading it without taking the trouble to comment ;) ) a very HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011.

Surviving Sudan 101

OK so yet again I got the opportunity to travel to another godforsaken place typically seen on discovery as exotic/adventurous or on BBC/CNN as war and epidemic stricken but contrastingly to all these perceptions, Sudan (or atleast Khartoum where I was for 4 days) is an exact opposite.

It is as troublesome or peaceful as any other city on the planet. On getting hit by this reality, I thought I might as well pen down some “salient features” or tips for Sudan. In the unlikely event of you getting to travel here you may want to read through carefully or you can always call me!

1.     1.  Try to get your visit sponsored by a local person with contacts. Why I am saying this is because, you need to preprocess the visa from Khartoum and carry a print of the same. The trouble starts once you land and need to get an actual visa stuck to the passport. A local person with contact comes handy in this situation. Also, they charge $105 as of today as visa sticking fees…and we always thought that its only India where there is redtapism and bureaucracy

2.      2. The arrivals area outside the airport is without street lighting so be careful while carrying your luggage. Also I could not see any trolleys so better to travel light

3.       3. The taxis look as if they have been recently bombarded and then hurriedly painted in garish yellow to hide the blemishes. They are all very old Toyota models (oh yes…BBC showed this correctly). I am told they would be phased out next year but then forewarned is forearmed

4.       4.There is a visible lack of decent star rated or business hotels in the capital. Probably media driven but they are expected to be here in 4-5 years. Till then try your luck with the internet to find a place (a local contact is very helpful here). The existing hotels are also very expensive compared to the facilities they offer. I stayed at the Khartoum plaza hotel (sounds fancy eh ??) the basic single room was $105 per night and a luxury suite with 2 bedrooms was $205 per night. As we were 2 people on the trip, the suit worked out cheaper than individual rooms!!

 

5.       5.The Sudanese are very friendly and quiet people as in they do not trouble foreigners. There are a few beggars on the streets but they don’t cling on to you for dear life or till kingdom come and move away quickly. I had to move around a lot on foot and amidst local population but never was I made a subject for curious eyes and furtive laughter.

6.       6.At night, although it is not advisable to travel unaccompanied in any city, Khartoum is comparable to our Indian cities. I saw ladies driving all alone at around 10 in the night and also groups of men and women were visible at restaurants.

7.      7.  There is officially no alcohol available. Unofficially I could not get any information as my hosts were a gujju pure veg family.

8.    8. There are plenty of Bajaj autos on the roads driving at breakneck speeds just like Chennai. One difference in the structure is that the driver’s seat is fixed with a headrest and the wheels have sharp spokes jutting out a-la death race style so be careful!!

9.      9. Maalesh – sorry. Tamaam – in the sense of very good or are we good?. Shukraan – thank you. I did not need to use any other words as my local hosts spoke fluent Arabic. But still if you know Arabic, it’s a big help in the region.

10 10. The currency is Sudanese pounds mysteriously abbreviated as SDG. 1SP~ 2.5 USD as of today but they used to have old Sudanese pounds and sometimes refer to prices in old pounds. 1 new pound = 1000 old pounds so go figure out the price for yourself.

11 11. These people love to drink kava (coffee) or sha (tea) and they have it without milk. Many varieties of tea are available and I liked the Hibiscus tea the most!! The different food that I was able to taste included “eggplant chutney” and an “eggplant stew”. Like I said before, the schedule and the hosts were not conducive to palate experiments of the nutcase kinds (I can see Radhika heaving a sigh of relief at that!!).

12 12. All foreign visitors need to be registered at the foreign office for about $70 each without which you cannot leave the country so carry a spare photograph and allot one day for the process (if you are daring enough to attempt the feat yourself) or get it done through the hotel at about $80-$100 per person or best way is to ask your local sponsor to get it done for you :P.

13 13. The landscape is identical to many of our tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India but its fast changing and lot of construction is taking place.

14 14. Yeah, it’s the place where the Blue Nile and the White Nile meet to form the single Nile river heading out to Egypt. That’s a nice place to visit.

15 15. I read that photography is not allowed unless you take a permit or you would be flogged publically so no pictures taken. Actually there was no time due to my schedule also.

16 16. And the worst piece of news is that north and south Sudan may separate ala India-Pakistan so January onwards may be a critical situation for some time, although as of now there was no indication of any tension in the air. Hope all happens peacefully.

Ok, the flight has been announced so leaving for it…but I hope I have not missed out on any other info of this type. I also hope more people get to visit Sudan and alleviate the misconceptions surrounding its conditions. It’s a nice place to be! Ciao!

Mongolia Revisited...albeit in a hurry :D

“It’s not the destination that matters, it is the journey”, but in my case it turned out that it is both the journey and the destination which mattered.

I wanted to blog about each stage and on the go but then 90% laziness and 10% lack of time took over me during the journey phase as it was a welcome break from the regular office routine and there went the idea of “live-blogging” in the dustbin.

The journey in itself was pretty amusing. There is no direct connection to reach Mongolia from India. As  it’s a land locked country, so the only options remaining are: -

1) For Conventional Travelers: Fly into the only international airport at Ulaanbaatar or UB (as its fondly called by locals) city from limited places on earth such as Seoul, Beijing, Osaka, Tokyo and surprisingly Munich and Moscow!

2) For the Adventurous Fellows: try taking the trans Siberian railway from Moscow and spend a week in the train or take the train from Beijing to UB.

3) For the Nutjobs: Walk across the mountains either through russia or china (likely to be shot dead at the border for being a nutjob running away), amidst barren landscape wrapped in n-layers of polar climate woolen clothing

I would have tried the last option but for being on a business trip, we were made to take option 1 above.

This option was also a very circuitous one owing to something called a Revenue Management System (which all B-schools teach the students but very few students claim to have mastered the art). We were routed through Chennai – dubai – Beijing – UB and the same way return. It was almost 30K cheaper than flying from Mumbai to seoul and onwards to UB and returning the same way. Another plus was to be able to stretch my legs in the spacious economy class of the A380 between Dubai and Beijing both ways ;).

Travel is mostly the same across the world, except if it is options 2 and 3 above so cutting the chase and coming to the more interesting part about Mongolia hereonwards.

Mongolia is most famous for Chinggis Khan. We are all taught about the barbaric nature and his immense empire. The present day Mongols are not even a shadow of the same. They are all extremely friendly and simple people who prefer minding their own business. Crime rate is very low, a major factor being that it is world’s 3^rd least populated country. The entire population is only about 3 million of which 1.5 million are in UB. The moment you move out of the city, homosapiens are the rarest commodity available.

The country has a very different landscape. When I was there recently, it was the onset of winter which led to snowfall and temperatures in the range of 1 to -23C. For the locals, it was not yet cold but I had to keep buying more layers of clothing just to survive. The country had a very barren countryside and there are hardly any trees to be seen. 

The situation may be different in summers but who knows. The point is that this type of natural beauty is rarely come across anywhere else. I am not aware if the nation promotes its tourism but if it does, I see an immense potential there.

The currency is called Tugruk and as of today 1$ = approx 1280 MNT so when we converted 300$, we were loaded with cash :D. ofcourse, it went away equally fast, but the feeling of carrying lakhs/crores in your wallet is awesome !!

 

The food has beef as a major component. Ok, almost everything is non-veg, owing to the climate and the protein needs for the winter and yes on the same lines, alcohol is quite cheap with Chinggis Vodka and Chinggis Beer ruling the streets as the most (ab)used poison of choice.

Another interesting fact was that there are no taxis on the road. The tourist guides list out some call taxi numbers but they were also far and few. The fact is , just stick your hand out at a passing vehicle and if you are lucky they would stop and offer you a ride. Negotiate the price and you are on your way.simple!

While we were there, we also met an Indian chef running an Indian restaurant for the last 8 years. Indian food is quite popular and reasonable priced. Some of the major restaurants are Delhi Darbar, Taj Mahal and Hazara. The chef told us that including us, the number of Indians in the country was 73. Also, we were not able to locate a sardar/gujju bhai (though most certainly at least one of each should be there).

Even though I was told that there is an active nightlife in UB city, our nightlife was confined to the office and coming back to the hotel for all the week that we were there. Got a chance to go out to Terelj National Park on the northern outskirts of the city, and it was a magnificent sight. This is not a national park for the animals but for the vegetation primarily. At this time of the year, everything was covered in snow so it was a different kind of beauty but would love to visit the place in summertime and maybe have an overnight stay at the numerous tourist camps offering “authentic nomadic experience”.

In short, (and yes, I’d like to finish) it’s a beautiful, bustling modern city having pristine countryside natural beauty. Try to visit.

For more Pics: please refer my FB profile

And yes…do not forget to drink Ayrag – its fermented mare’s milk. Truly Awesome!!

The Meaning of Freedom

As another day dawns, the birds chirp, the people awake… and a nation lazily awakens to an anniversary. And a very important one at that. Today is afterall the Independence Day. A day when we got freedom from the ‘tyrannical’ British rule of over 200 years. A day which symbolized the formation of a new nation. A day which brought hope in the eyes of so many people about a new life, a better life.


It was a day that was supposed to change the destiny of the nation forever. Each year on 15th August , people have celebrated it…initially as a remembrance of the end of a long struggle and as a tribute to the countless selfless martyrs…and later increasingly as an occasion to explicitly display one’s patriotic quotient.

Time and again a question has been raised about the relevance the day holds in the eyes of the modern generation. My grandparents were actually a part of the period and could relate to the events, the horror stories of the era, the change brought in the society post independence.

My parents were part of the immediate post-independence era. In that era, the wounds of the raj were still fresh and the national identity was worn and displayed with pride. They had parents, uncles, aunts and other acquaintances with whom they had a first person account to understand the independence struggle and its importance.

For my generation, the independence struggle was partly a lesson in the history textbook and partly a real life experience with the struggling nation of the pre-liberalization 80’s which suddenly transformed into an all encompassing modern India in 90’s. The definition of freedom and as we understand it today has very little to do with the actual history and is more about the capacity to do whatever one wants, freedom of movement and freedom of speech. The rights have taken the limelight but how we reached a stage where the rights were awarded to the citizens is conveniently pushed to a back burner.

And for the present generation, I think beyond the fact that it was a historical event that they are supposed to know through textbooks, it is a holiday in the country and patriotic songs and movies abound the media. Also it’s a dry day so the fun is confined to hanging out with friends.

I wonder where has the meaning of the original struggle been lost in these 64 years. What has independence come to become today? A means to segregate states based on language? A means for corrupt politicians and caste based politics to become a norm in society? Probably just a means to move around freely cursing and cussing on the streets and let the media do its job…of pseudo patriotism.

Why only on one day, why can’t we be patriotic everyday…and improve our interaction with all those around us. Try to enrich their lives. Stand up, speak up and try to bring a change. Independence has to be in a continuum. If you do not evolve and be proactive, you are liable to be chained in your views and thoughts…Go on think, act…and be independent. Happy Independence Day!

The Homecoming...

Work has started and 1.5 months have passed since i joined. With a 6-day week hardly giving any breathing space, life had earnestly begun in the mean corporate sector. Each passing day added new survival and behavioral techniques to my repertoire. Suddenly out of whack, my placid lifestyle was shaken and I was asked to come along for a meeting to Hyderabad.

Now Hyderabad is one city that both Radhika and I have fallen madly in love with. The winding roads, the food options, the bustle of the city, the frequency of "awesome mausam" updates on FB etc and of course, ISB were some of the reasons for that. I needed no second thought to be convinced. However, the catch was that it was a touch and go trip and I was supposed to travel back to Chennai the same evening. Still, there was a silver lining to this entire thing. Radhika was supposed to go to Jaipur and coincidentally I was booked on the same flight! I got to give her a sendoff to Jaipur by accompanying her to Hyderabad, how many husbands get a chance to do this!!!

Nostalgia hit harder than the landing of the plane at Hyderabad airport and memories of driving up and down to the airport came rushing by accompanied in full Technicolor by all the sights, sounds, smells and background music that accompanied all the driving sprees on the bypass road from ISB to the airport. That is when things started to change...for good!

It was felt during the meeting that I needed to stay for one more day. In spite of not having any change of clothes, I jumped at the opportunity and immediately booked a room at ISB Exec Housing through Sushant who was on campus for a project. I just couldn’t believe my luck and was waiting eagerly like a little boy about to open the birthday presents, for the day to end and get a chance to slip in to a shade of my previous life.

It was just some days ago that Radhika and I had been thinking of ISB, the campus, the places, the parties, the friends and the countless memories and daydreaming about Solstice when we could actually be there and relive the whole thing and this happened. Even though the fun was halved with Radhika missing out on this but still, I think she was able to visit the campus through our conversations, as she sounded really happy when we talked!

I never thought that I would get so deeply attached to the campus in such a short span of time but the reality speaks so differently. To some extent I felt like an anxious parent, whose child has just left the nest and who wants to visit just to see that the child is taking care of himself and all is well. All such anxieties were laid to rest the moment I entered the campus for the first time as alum. The same warmth and familiarity enveloped me. The difference was that now I had access to the executive housing and it's famous bar ;)
You have to see it to believe it, the prices are rock bottom!!! Sushant and i watched the world cup match on big screen while generally chatting and then left for ‘Goel’.

Aahhh...Goel, the devil himself. A place everyone loves to hate...there were a few changes in the style and organization but the food was still the same! They have separated half of the dining hall exclusively for mini-meals...do I hear the end of the buffet? Probably...

The post dinner stroll around atrium revealed a site which was funny for me and totally scary for the current batch...it was the two DMOP submission boxes. The campus had no activity from the students side...guess they have all been caught up in DMOP, Markstrat, Compstrat and GLEC too deeply for their own good...hope they learn soon.

Even though I didn’t want to sleep and savor each moment, fatigue got better of me and eventually I crashed

Day 2:

Day 2 came bright and sunny. I could almost hear house"picking" come and knock on my door when reality swept in and I got up. The highlight of the day was the breakfast!!! After 2.5 months I got a chance to eat like a glutton again to the extent that it’s almost 5 in the evening now and there is no space to eat anything!

I walked around the campus on the ring road after walking down the steps towards SV3. Walking past the operations building, I saw that the ISB bull now actually stands guard to them. The boy with the stick appears to be a watchful enforcer, lest they run away before time. Moving around SV2, I recalled with Sushant, the names associated with the rooms from our section and batch. I saw F2 as well, as peaceful and welcoming as before and that is where I was convinced that the child is in safe hands.

Amidst all this, soon it was time to bid adieu, to the campus and the place.

As I sit at the airport waiting for my flight back to Chennai, trying to appear all grown up and sober, the child within me is craving for more. Yet, I feel contended and happy and I find myself looking forward to the next visit to the place where it all began...once more.

Chapter Chennai

It has been almost 2 months now since i left the safe cocoon called ISB. Luckily i had some gap before jumping into the rut of the big bad corporate world and hence i was able to spend time in another cocoon - home :).

The drive back home from hyderbad was pretty nice and relaxing. We never realised that we were doing almost 600 Kms in a day. All thanks to the superb highway all the way. It took us 4 days to reach Jaipur but the remaining 20 days that i spent there were in total relaxation.

I have never been so lazy in my life ever!!! I just refused to move out of the house and do anything. I had to be literally pushed to do even the most trivial of chores. No wonder i earned the name "Ajgar" !!!

Amidst the tension of an impending househunting spree and a passport renewal, the 20 days passed by in a jiffy and lo and behold i found myself in Chennai.


Chennai, the name itself conjures up an image of traditional bharatnatyam dancers lined up on both sides of the road for me. But this city seems to have stopped in an era that was 20-30 years ago and has stopped changing. It seems people are satisfied with the status quo and do not want anything new to come up lest it disturbs the existing facade and policies.

There was an apprehension for an unfamiliar language, unfamiliar culture - all coming and staring at you in the face and demanding that you change yourself or perish.At least that is the impression that is created when you stay in N. India.

But after a period of 3 weeks since joining work, things are appearing more in place. The language is a barrier only if you want it to be. People understand english and are generally helpful. The streets have started appearing familiar. The excessive traffic feels normal. The heat and humidity, which used to trouble so much, seems to be a part of the daily life too.

Having a car is the biggest plus. It totally removes the daily battle with the autowallas - now no more beginning of the day with a fight! Small factors, but they go a long way in helping you acclimitize and get used to the new phase. Most importantly, it helps a lot to have Radhika around to take care of me and our daily encounters and experiences!!

As for now, mission relocation is nearing closure...It's now mission life that beckons :)

This is it...

And so it ends... The day that everyone (or atleast I) had thought about to end in a particular fashion is finally upon me. But what was to be expected out of it,really...why did it have to something different? Afterall, it is just the end of an academic cycle. An innocuous cycle that promises to enrich lives and change perspectives.

It feels like any other day, the shrill bell of the alarm in the morning, half open eyes and sleepily nodding heads in the class, the bustle of the college; its all the usual. Probably the unusual will start tomorrow when there are no more classes to go to, no more assignments to finish, no more parties to attend, but yes...an office to go to, unfamiliar faces to see, new acquaintances to make.

I'd rather enjoy the day than think of the morrow, i too feel like a clinger. Even though i do not want to be one...but for once, the humane side is kicking in strongly.

This is it...for now yes! but...this is surely not the end...for it is just the end of a chapter, not the book. Turn the Page...

The Season of GoodByes

"Baby won't you tell me why, there is sadness in your eyes...I don' want to say Goodbye to you..." - MLTR

What is it about goodbyes that makes us feel so melancholic. Why is it that we do not want to part ways - with people, with objects, with places, with memories too? I once heard somewhere that in order to appreciate the joy of meeting, you need to endure the pain of separation. How true it is still why is it that we are all down and blue at the prospect of separation...

I came here an year ago with a barren landscape greeting me out of the beautiful french windows of the bedroom. The Dry and Spindly branches, brown with age and parched in the heat; dry twigs, brown leaves, dusty earth and a surreal stillness all around. Time passed and with the rains, the barren landscape was brought to life - New Life, Green Life, Vinrant and Fresh Life, a Promising life; The greenery gave way to bright flowers and shade, the comfort it brought made me feel good about life and now again the cycle is almost completing itself, the life has faded away and the barren landscape is reforming in my backyard. The sunlight seems to be draining away the energy as if the vegetation is being forcibly pulled away from something it loves dearly. A solemn indication that it is time to leave the place that has served as home for the last year - the year of weeks. A full circle has been completed.

In this day and age, how difficult is it to stay in touch? I feel, it's all in the mind, you just need the will to connect and your friends and family are near you. Objects/Possessions et al are all perishable (pretty philosophical) and can be upgraded/lugged along; It is, however, the people around us that we miss the most. I am a firm believer that it just takes one phone call and an updated phone directory to get in touch and relive all the moments all over again.

Goodbyes should not be undertaken with a heavy heart, they are an opportunity to explore newer vistas, newer people, newer places and newer things. It is only when the human spirit is not bound by any shackles (physical or emotional) that we can appreciate the change. B-schools worldwide, typically have a change management course. I have not studied the same so i am not an authority to comment on the content but i feel it should teach more of personal change enduring capabilities and the capacity to adapt to change in life per se. You should become strong enough to face any problem in life with a smile and an optimistic attitude.

All I see these days are countdowns for days to leave, farewell parties and future plans...topped off with a generous dose of rememberance and a lost gaze as people drown themselves in the uncharted sea of their own thoughts. Emotions - beautiful , good, bad and ugly are all in a whirlpool distracting you from all that is far more important and needs immediate attention. It's the safety of the past that everyone is seeking as the future is unsure. Why do we keep forgetting at all times that the future is in fact secure due to the wonderful set of people around us that makes our present. We all have a cushion and no one is alone. Even if we do not realize, there are people around you to take care of your persona, your emotions, memories and whims. Just call out loud!!!

Life is not a full stop at any junction, its an opportunity to slow down, reflect, learn and carry on. Its only due to these pauses that we become wiser by the day.

So, please do not let the dry branches, tree stumps and harsh sun dry your spirits in your quest to move on. Everyone is there just for you.

"In my search for freedom and peace of mind, I've left the memories behind...Wanna start a new life, but it seems to be rather absurd, when i know the truth...is that I always think of You...Someday...Somewhere, together we'll be baby...." - MLTR once again to the rescue :)

An Year in Weeks

Much has been said about how time flows especially when you are in the midst of doing something exciting,creative or relaxing but this was one exception where time flew in a setting where we were actually slogging!
The year at ISB that just started on 11th April 2009 is almost on the verge of culminating in a mixed emotional potpourri. What seemed like a long time to pass, has already passed and here i am ready to take on the world! (or so it seems).
Life here has been compartmentalised into a weekly orientation. It started off with the O-week, then it was the Pre-term Week and finally the weeks that composed the terms. All Assignments, classes, activities, outings, parties etc. were oriented around the weekly schedule. The terms also had the midterm week and the endterm week but their seriousness diluted as the weeks progressed.
Never in my life has an year passed so fast. Was it the effect of the week or was it a dirty sleight of my mind?
And here we are at the juncture where after the 'placement week', many of us are looking for a working week and many more are looking for placement week(ends).
Ah! the importance of a week.
Till now it was deadline oriented and now it will be weekend oriented once i move out of here. But the quintesstial week will continue to mould the lifestyle of a new, fresh and nuevo-enthu breed of aspiring managers.
Looking forward to this week and the next and the weeks beyond!