Nothing much this year. Reminiscences from last years.

The day was 29th March 2k7.Tripped onto a local train from Mulund to Thane. Met friend at station. Had superb mixed fruit juice opposite this tuition centre building (was it Mahesh Tutorials??). Walked down to Talopaali lake chatting all the while. Wanted to go boating, but was refused. Next time, he said.

Observed that the tongas had metamorphosed to chariots - literally, with the ill-fed, bony ponies now replaced by milky white horses with feathers on head and all - was all of 4 years old- remember holding onto dear life onto the steel bar in the tilted, tiny carriage of the Thane tonga

Walked down Panch Pakhaadi, Teen Petrol Bunk; chatter-banter-chatter - he met his teacher a Tam Bram lady - how one can make them out :D. To Ghantali temple then. The temple front portion had been eaten up by the widened road. The old bungalow in front had been pulled down, given way to to spanking new flats. The temple was still the same The Pandava-Kaurava-temple flowering tree was still there - remember Mum regaling us with tales of her childhood out there - the flower with its 5 petals (the Pandavas), the many pollened stamens (Kauravas) the singular pistil with the stigma at the middle (the Temple) - sweet tale that one Powerful place that Ghantali - granted what I asked for that day, with a vengeance

Stepped into Naturals - delicious coconut ice cream- takes the shine away from that Baskin Robbins, he said pointing diagonally opposite the road. Walk, walk walk to his place. Please don’t mind the the place is quite small, he said. Have been to smaller places, said I as we vaulted up the steps. Had a cracking time talking to aunty;rocking on their cane swing and being fed puri bhaji and kheer; went through old albums, nudged and poked at them all. Let’s drop you back to station, he said. Ended up dropping me all the way back home.

Nice day, that

www.ceriality.com - a random stumble in the criss crossed roads of the Web led me to it.

Open in a few places in US of A, cute concept this one - a cereal bar/cafe outside a few schools run by pajama clad waiters to complete the breakfast-feel. The naming/descriptions brought forth a few giggles ; sample this - Slurrealities, Bran-New Day :D- do check out the virtual store for more. Pretty creative stuff on the add-ons (the firefox rub-on arrghh), flavoured milk crystals being one. What really impressed me was the eponymous Invent-a-Blend Kiosk - these guys have thought of everything!

Unlike any other small eat-out, sourcing issues are nil in this kind of a cafe - everything is packaged and available at your nearby stores. Why hoard cereal in your cupboard - just have it at our place any way you like it is what they would say. Considering the rushed-packaged lifestyle out there, this one is spot on.

This aint a new concept for us na? Thoughts wander to the Dosa bars that have sprung up in malls and road joints; the famous Kerala Thattukadas with their simple, but scrumptious fare - kappa (tapioca), meen (fish) curry ; the eateries in Chandni Chowk;puchkas @ Kolkata, Mumbai ke pav bhaji- Lemme just stop

Been meaning to press this one (actually blabbering about this one to many a friend) for quiet some time -an observation on the trend of using colour to convey the mood of a movie.In the age of black and white, they did use greys, halo effects to give the same; enhancing the softness of the skin, glow in the eyes, grim prospect of impending doom, mystery et al. Of course the “bytes and pixels” pheneomenon has relatively eased the use of this supplement to the art of movie-making!

Dil Chahta Hai (2001) was the first movie that struck me with its use of the Blue tint - the colour of water - cool, smooth, slick, sophisticated - personifying the 3 protagonists. Green in The Matrix (1999) and Don (2006) - high technology, greed, speed; Sepia in Guru (2007) - vintage, the hey days of the license Raj; Reds, Oranges, Yellows in Eklavya (2007) - simmering anger, hatred, murder. Will keep eyes open for more!

It came quickly, the end.

The photo-shoot. The solemn procession. Dr CK Prahalad’s words echoing “You would be judged by your actions, not by mere words”.The pack-up. The final glance at C-19 (wry smile). The hurried goodbyes.

Did I feel sad, ever? Not when saying goodbye to friends. Nor leaving my room. Strangely yes, a sob when I said goodbye to the canteen staff. Wonder why. Because the canteen’s been the scene of gossip, triumphs, Bday bashes, delightful promise of plain Maggi? Or the thought of the loss faced by one of the staff in distant Nepal? Ah well.

March 22 2008. An IIM Kozhikode Alumnus.

Had the most magical moments of my life 2 hrs before 13th March 2008 rang in…

Picture this -

Fireworks welcoming your arrival, crescent moon reflecting on rippling waves,  candlelight in glass-jars, the company of your cherished friends, wonderful spread (Pancakes and honey..love them!!)

Thats what you get when a batch trip to Goa luckily coincides with Birthday :)  Lucky me

The past year has been very tumultuous - Room number C-19, IIM Kozhikode has seen a lot of emotions

From fleeting moments of ecstasy to extended periods of pure misery

Flights of Inspiration to sheer Stagnation

Many lessons learnt - or have I not? Time will tell

Happy Birthday to me!

Just watched Requiem for a Dream yesterday…

Desperation.. one feeling that runs through the movie..weaved into it, by Clint Massell’s composition.. the strings pull at your heart.. searching for hope, for retribution..seeking, seeking…and in that search losing, losing oneself completely…

How terrible to wantonly subject oneself to delusion..

Was just chatting up about the Yearbook-testimonial fever that had captured Kampus with a friend.. Being an Alumnus, he’d requested a copy of the same.. I’d said we would be having a collated “hard copy” pdf.. which we could send him later on..

PDF? Hard copy?

Just realised how different that definition would soon be in an increasingly Web 2.0 age. Anything that had to be attached to your mail would soon be termed a “Hard copy”. Anything not on the Web space would be termed a “Hard copy”.

Cool eh?

Yearbook filling, senti-songs like “Ye dosti hum nahi chodenge” being spammed on the internal messenger.. you realise you have only a month of college life left..

You realise it when you see the sun setting, each evening different from the other.. You realise it when you take in a deep breathe  once class is done.. Feeling the wind blow gently, caressing you, whispering gently… All is quiet and you feel your heart beating lightly..

IIM K PGP10, will miss you so … your quirkiness, each one of you so special, so different.. the diversity in talent is amazing and humbling.. the lessons learnt from you, immeasurable..

” Kuch aisa karke dikha, khudh khush ho jaaye Khuda…Aashaen khile dil ki, ummeeden hasen dil ki, abh mushkil nahi kuch bhi, nahi kuch bhi…”

1 lakh. The five figure “one”der. Can come up with any number of metaphors, phrases to describe this creature from Tata Motor’s stable!

The whole car is about a single word - innovation, right from using aerospace adhesives instead of welding to its distribution strategy. A little about the distribution strategy from Mr Ratan Tata:

“So we looked at a new kind of distributed manufacturing, creating a low-cost, low break-even point manufacturing unit that we design and give to entrepreneurs who might like to establish a manufacturing facility. We looked at different ways of servicing the product, at the customer’s location, and through a concept adopted from the insurance industry, wherein self-employed people are trained and certified by us.”

Sounds like franchising in part to me - the “entrepreneur” bit hints at that don’t you think? It is one of the fastest way to scale up, which makes sense for a product riding on thin margins.

The competitor-responses to the Nano have been pretty “Me-too” with GM, Toyota talking about bringing out their own versions of the same. Guess they didn’t expect the Tata’s to deliver on their promise eh? Of late, the car industry has seen quite a bit of crossing-over from other automobile category-users. What with the Mahindra’s Scorpio positioning itself as a car (SUV–>Car), the Nano positioning itself as a safer alternative to a bike(Car<–Bikes).

Besides the “common Indian”, the Nano could appeal to a very different set of consumers. Considering it is the 1st and currently the only one of its kind, why can’t it evolve into a fashion symbol of its own? True, the elite would rather have something exclusive, but wouldn’t the Nano qualify as a collector’s piece? Who thinks about usage - its all about attitude! The Nano symbolizes the uber cool-Chak De! attitude. Think politicians. Sounds totally er.. wacko, but well, couldn’t this be a new symbol of a young politician who wants to straddle all classes of Indian society? Move over Laalten (hurricane lamp) come Nano. Ridiculous, but well aren’t political gimmicks just that?

Let’s wait and watch

What’s with the buzz around “One” ? The One (Neo, Matrix Trilogy), One Laptop per Child, One ring to command them all (LOTR), One lakh car. Sure there would be more. Wonder what the next One would be about.