Cover of book on Mr. Ratan Tata  The chairman of Tata Trusts and former chairman of Tata Sons, Mr. Ratan Tata, passed away on the 10th of October. The last two days have been filled with coverage of Mr. Tata's contributions to the country, the economy, and the global business world. Numerous articles and reports highlight his contribution primarily as a great philanthropist who worked for the cause of ethical business, which the Tata Group has been known for over the last 100+ years. While narrating how Mr. Tata's contribution was acknowledged in her school, even my daughter told me that they were told Mr. Tata was a great philanthropist.  I have been a little taken aback because most media and people have focused on his philanthropy and not his business achievements or entrepreneurship-related activities. This got me thinking about how I view the transformation that Mr. Tata brought about during his tenure as chairman of Tata Sons, where his contribution was far more pronounc...

2013 has possibly been the busiest year of my life till date; it was busy as hell and the hangover still persists. The year started with a Baby Shower in mid January, after which Divya went to her parent's place - beginning a persistent nomadic life for me for more than 6 months. I would dash through the week, managing groceries, maids and bills and run off to either Indore or Pune over weekends to spend alternate weekends with Divya or my parents. If there were weekends when I would be in Mumbai, there would be enough office work piled over to catch up. I spent several train and bus journeys working on my laptop sitting in awkward positions, and being the source of the dim (and for my co-passengers - irritating -) light emanating from my laptop screen. I have been on con-calls at all kinds of odd places - the hospital, highway Dhabas, on way to Mumbai-Pune expressway and Food Plaza on the expressway near Lonavla. Also spent several Monday's coming back from work and goi...

Continued from here . Though Bhopal's claim to fame in bollywood remains the character of Soorma Bhopali potrayed by Jagdeep in Sholay, recently Bhopal has been the shoot location for a few bollywood movies . Prakash Jha who is shooting Rajneeti in Bhopal , said : "... he had come to Bhopal for the first time in 1997 for the promotion of his film Mrityudand which featured Madhuri Dixit, Om Puri and Ayub Khan [and] was impressed by the beauty of the city even then and decided to return to the city to shoot his next film.  Jha said Bhopal now has big hotels and good approach roads and that in the coming days, he may shoot at other locations in Madhya Pradesh." The point here was not to highlight the bollywood connection (of which there are many ... ), but to highlight that praise for Bhopal's infrastructure is not limited to commited Bhopalites like me :-). A quick peek at Bhopal's Wikipedia page would tell you that Bhopal is a promising city - for example the I...

Living in Mumbai, its not difficult to find people who have no idea even about neighbouring cities like Nasik, leave alone cities like Bhopal. It pains even more when people are all praises for cities like Chandigarh (which is a good city, but to be frank a little hyped) and treat Bhopal akin to a village.  Being born and brought up in Bhopal, one knows that this is a city with many positives; to enumerate a few: A beautiful landscape dotted with parks, ponds and lakes. The hilly terrain on which the city is built gives it a unique ambience - roads rising up and down the slopes, formations of row houses on ascending tracts, long winding roads along the lakes and parks ...  Superb infrastructure compared to the size of population it supports. Unlike most old cities in India, Bhopal has very good amenities - whether it is underground drainage or roads and traffic signals. Smooth roads in most arterial tracks Cleanliness in most of the new Bhopal areas is a lot better than other citi...

I am not a fan of the surreality( sic ) shows that dot the Indian TV programme guide. So when my friend Arijit offered that he had passes to the Voice of India - Grand Finale - I wasn't much enthused. But when he told me that Madhuri Dixit and Lata Mangeshkar will also grace the occasion - well .. that was interesting. And it was an experience - not only to see the Empresses of Bollywood and Music, but also to witness how a Television Show is produced. The camera's hovering over my head and the bright lights that made it impossible to gaze skywards. Andheri Sports complex looked magnificent on the live feed installed near the stage, it wasn't bad in reality also, but much quieter on the ground. For us, there was a man two rows before us who had a reflex to stand up at every cue - he was a real pain. As a compensation, some TV stars were sitting in the row before us - and some of them were quite pretty ;-) The show had most of the quirks and histrionics of surreality - Ma...

Since January this year life has been pretty routine - office, home, sleep, work, ... office. Some weddings happened - in fact they happened at such constant intervals that they added to the routine effect ;-) The past week(s) however has/have been a kind of break. Sabyasachi is in Mumbai for two weeks doing some professional course in IITB - staying with me for the period. Since he is in, I too along with him am getting a chance to meet up with a few old pals and dinner time gatherings are fun. To top it, last weekend me and Panda (aka Arijit) went to Nasik-and-Shirdi. Started Saturday afternoon, reached Nasik in the evening, attended another batchmate's marriage reception and left for Shirdi. Reached Shirdi at 1.30 AM, slept at a motel for the night, did darshan in the morning and returned to Mumbai the same day. On return from Shirdi on Sunday, we went out for dinner to this new eatery ' Curry Twist ' - nice food but pathetic service levels; good place to visit if you ...

Sedentary work and a lazy lifestyle - something almost every young professional faces in the first few years of one's job. I was a typical example - gaining kilos an kilos of weight. Not that I liked it ... but there didn't seem a way out. Some solutions people gave me were - go to a gym, do yoga-pranayam - my response to all of them was - I don't have the time. And it isn't that I am downright lazy! I really did not get a continuous 1/2 hour in the day for any of this (my long hours of net surfing to be blamed probably). In fact, I used to take cabs even for short distances, not to avoid walking but to save time - and it was taking its toll on me! I was at 74 KGs (almost 10 KGs overweight as per my height) when I left for UK in July last year. And then almost a miracle occurred! Simply speaking, I was forced to walk - from home to the tube station, from tube station to the office .... and so on. Without realizing, I started liking the walks - they were not just exercis...

As I sit here in London in my ‘fully-furnished’ (temporary) apartment listening to the album Aadat by Jal – I cannot help but recollect the past one year (rather more) that I spent in Mumbai. My first year of living – ‘on my own’ – not supported by a Hostel or home. Also my first year of living with friends – ‘on my own’ – on my own salary, in facilities organised and supported by myself. The beginning of the period in my life of what people term as ‘bachelor’s life’ – which continues still of course! The song ‘Aadat’ has a link to my ‘bachelor’s life’ – it is the song which both me and Somnath enjoy singing along as loudly as we could (probably to the horror and discomfort of our neighbours) and Sharad was most irritated to hear. The past one year was quite colourful, and apart from the three of us (Me, Somnath and Sharad) there were others who shared the apartment on-n-off. Pavan was with us from the day we dropped our luggage there – he was in for 4 months of his project stint. I...

It's been another year of life - I turned 25 yesterday. It feels great to acknowledge to yourself on such days that you have a place on earth and in hearts of few people as well. I personally am slightly careless and forgetful person when it comes to my own self ;-) and there have been more than one occasion when I forgot my own birthday. But yesterday was not so, thanks to my parents, relatives and friends who kept reminding me of the occasion since past 2 weeks. And the number of phone calls I received from midnight till midnight made my day. Payal called up from the US, and what was meant to be a 2 minute call to wish me turned out to be a 45 minute chat from Professional Life to Indian Politics. Same was the case when Hemant called up from Geneva - we discussed projects, dreams and more - I felt that I have rolled a few balls in the past 25 years. 'Twas a great feeling to get all expected calls from relatives, friends and acquaintances. To add were the many mails that kept ...

Following is a list of things, I never thought would happen to me; but are happening to me. To clarify, not that I am all excited about these things, but nevertheless I had never thought that they would happen to me Getting bored of traveling ... and living in an AC room Meeting an old college friend at the airport and getting introduced to her husband there Getting fed-up of evening and late evening calls with my US counterparts Spending close to Rs 1500 a day on travel alone Spending less time on the Bed than travel during a 3 day period Longing to get back to my un-furnished apartment from a plush hotel Getting bored of outside food - reject offer for food in an aircraft Becoming a fan of a Hollywood actor (Tom Hanks) Interacting with my friends in Hyderabad and Geneva more frequently than with my room-mates Scheduling meetings with friends on the airport due to lack of time Telling acquaintances that I am hardly present in Mumbai to visit them there Getting a whole month's bil...

Another Saturday that was; hectic yet fun. Started the day by rushing my bike to the service station in Mulund - rushed ahead to KPMG Office in Lower Parel to attend a training. While the training entered its last leg, I ran away back to Mulund to collect my bike and then braving through the traffic jam, reached home - exhausted! Had a late dinner @ 10:50 PM and then decided to go for a short stroll. So me and Somnath set out on foot to stroll in Hiranandani . It was looking very beautiful - empty but lighted streets with the marvelous structures. Both of us simultaneously had thoughts of taking snaps and incidentally Somnath's camera had just a few strips remaining. So we went back, grabbed the camera and set out roaming on the bike at 1:30 AM to take snaps. We took snaps in Galleria, Olympia, and old-Hiranandani areas; but with a few shots still left, we were both overcome by a wish to visit NITIE and take a few snaps there. So here we were, two souls in Shorts and T-shirts, ente...

This old post by Shubham (and the comment made by Sabya on it) made me realize how much has changed between my entering NITIE and today - within me as well as without. Shubham himself echoed the same thoughts in his mail of which I am posting an excerpt: "This post refers to a lot of things we discussed during our days in NITIE (gee ... doesn't that make u feel it has been ages since we left NITIE). Some of the thoughts expressed there have become even more relevant now, now that we have been earning for some time. When I read some of my primordial posts, I almost feel that they were written by a different person. And that I do not identity with what I wrote there any more .... have u ever felt similar too??" Just the other day me and Somnath (aka Tiger) went to Pizza Hut because ghar par khaana acchha nahi bana tha. When the waiters there recognized us instantly, I was trying to figure out how many times I had visited this place and I couldn't count. Pizza hut is n...

This Bhopali blogger met with an accident and this post of hers made me remember my own tryst with life (or should I call it death?) about 8 years ago. I was in class XI, probably the best of my school years; life had been benevolent and I was riding on waves of success in school's responsibility chart . That eventful day [September 30th, 1997] I was waiting after school hours to meet the principal concerning the upcoming teacher's day. By the time this meeting ended, the whole school was empty and I was the last one to leave. I started my Kinetic Honda, moved out and just 100 meters outside the campus as I turned left onto the main road .......... I myself don't remember anything after I took that turn - nature has programmed this feature of memory loss into us to protect us from the psychological trauma of remembering such morose points in life. Anyway continuing the tale (now based on my friends' narration to me). Another kid of class 6th from my school was bikin...

I don't usually visit my own blog unless I want to review my own posts. But a regular place I visit is Statcounter.com, from where I keep getting updates about the hit rate of my blog. It was a pleasant surprise today morning to find the hit counter clocking 6009 hits. Though I had an inkling that my blog had lately started clocking more hits per day, but little had I imagined that I would reach the 6K mark so soon (it reached 5K less than 2 months ago). It is also heartening to find that there are many people who regularly visit this place and it isn't just random traffic which has accelerated the hit rate. I initially started blogging just as an extension of my hobby of Writing . I found it a good way of sharing my hobby with the world - but it soon became a pastime, habit and passion! Hobby as it might be, but it feels great everytime I get a message from a regular reader, or find the hit counter running at high-speeds. I have made many new friends because of this blog, an...

In my childhood, most of my friends had nicknames at home (like Chintu, Bablu, Banti etc) while I was always called Nikhil by my Parents. Many times when we 8-10 year olds would discuss about each other’s nicknames I usually felt lost. I had little inkling then that I would end up with as many as 3-4 nicknames. The first nickname was given to me by my Grandfather – I am the third in the trio of elder cousins in our (extended) family. Among the three of us we have a difference of one year between each one of us and the next cousin after me is a little more than two years younger to me. Hence, during those childhood days, I was called ‘Chhotu’ by my Grandfather. But he soon discontinued this name when younger cousins and my real Brother Abhishek were born. That explains why I had no nickname during my childhood days. My brother used to call me Dada (Marathi for elder brother); so during my teens younger children of our street also called me by the same name. When some of my friends fou...

Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, quoted in a public gathering: Reading makes you wise, Speaking makes you witty, But, Writing makes you exact. Unless you write, you never know how much you really know and what you really don't know. My own experience of writing has been long ... I have been writing since 12 years of age... and since last year this Blog has provided a new dimension to my thoughts; writing has again become quite regular. I try to write my own posts after considerable research (wherever required) and also try to link up as much links as I can so that readers can travel to other related pages. This way I myself also get to learn or rather complete my understanding of the subject in question. That apart this Blog has also helped me to network far and wide - making friends with so many people across the globe and also revive some lost links with old friends. Some other of my posts on Blog(s) http://the-complete-man.blogspot.com/2005/07/indian-bloggers-are-sure-rocking-net_21.ht...

So many of Indian bloggers that I know are cosmopolitans; they have lived in different cities at different points in their life. Their cities include – the home-city where they are born, the place where they are educated (often graduation/post graduation), the city(ies) where they (have) work(ed). Hence when I thought about writing a post on the cities in my life, I though why not spread the germ? (!) So I have decided to make this a ‘tag’. I would prefer people to describe ‘their’ cities in detail including the emotional bonds they share with them. Janmabhoomi: Bhopal Bhopal is one of the most beautiful cities that I have lived in. Rightly known as the city of lakes, Bhopal is situated in the hills with many ponds, lakes and parks dotting the city. Being the capital, the city affords wide and well maintained roads and greenery all around. But unlike public perception Bhopal, is no way a small city. With a population of 14.5 lakhs and an area of 286 square kms (eqvt. to 65% of Mumbai’...

Mark Twain once said - "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure." This statement was very true when we launched MastishK ’04 last year. There was nothing to loose .... and I have always felt that last year's success was limited and not complete. We could never manage to get a single penny of sponsorship - though we got a lot of popularity during and after the event (Some coverage in newspapers and Arbit ). But this year as MastishK '05 unfolded slowly ... there was a big pressure on our team to retain the interest in B-school junta and retain our reputation to be revolutionizers in the B-school event arena. Last year, the very concept of launching a completely online event and that of having multiple simulation games on one platform was a novel concept - and so whatever we gave our audience, it was new. But this year the challenge was much bigger, ironically to beat our own performance; to come up with games much more novel in des...

Though we were all stranded - not by our choice - still our IRM team made it a day worth remembering... We had Dinner .. followed by ice-cream ... and then a Movie (all courtesy HR). But the arty dudes of Information Risk Management (IRM) set out with the guitar, singing all night ... There were Hindi numbers to start with - Neele Neele Ambar par, Chhookar mere man ko, Dum maro Dum, Gum hai kisi ke pyaar mein, Pyar hamien kis mod pe, Bekarar Karke hamein yu na jaiye, O sanam (Lucky Ali), .... and many more Anish De and Rahul Pinto Soon we had some great english numbers playing like - Country Roads, Piano man, You look wonderful tonight, Hotel California, Unchained Melody, Sweet Child o' mine ... and many more Lionel, Anish, Subodh Mutha, Sachin Patankar .. and me sitting And here's the scene of the movie screening which IRM was out of ... Guess I can coin a new term .. IRM - I nteresting R adiant M aelstorms .... we rocked the night for sure ...

WhatADay!!!!! It was dry enough for me to ride my bike (without a raincoat) at 8.30AM in the morning to KanjurMarg Station; it is still dry when I reach office at 9:00 AM .... the rains start at around 11:00 AM and they worsen .... by 2 PM this ↓↓ is what all roads from VT to Ambernath look like . . . . And at around 3 PM came an official mail ...... "In view of heavy rains & subsequent disruption, staff wanting to leave early may do so today. You may charge this time to ‘special leave’." People living very far and very near filtered out; but those who lived 'in the middle' suburbs could not - locals had stopped plying, roads were blocked either by water or by traffic. So here am I, at 7.36 PM with little work but still in Office. Chances are that I may not be able to get out of this place till 9 PM or even more. This reminds me of school days when we used to get a 'Rainy Day' leave. Mostly, the school bus did not come indicating a 'Rainy Day' lea...