Rags to riches

I have always been a pessimist - even a  non believer almost in  existence of Role Models. I expressed it ,both in thought and action , quite often,very explicitly in my career.  I never had great admiration for any of my seniors in the organisations I served ( no wonder that they were PSu s,but the only Private sector organisation I worked for, it was an anti climax worser - there were no Ratan Tatas , Narayana Murthy s , Nandan Nilekanis nor even Rakesh Jhunjhunwala s- only a typical Kachchi Bhai). I recollect the friendly sparring I had with one of our most quick witted Chairman cum MD s ,( even though I was a Scale III officer and  he was scale VIII and the Boss ,De facto and D jure -Hailed from same town as the Father of Aadhar  - Honble Nilekani). He asked after visiting a foreign country where I was previously posted "Hey ,you didn't accept Mr X as a leader, though he was projecting himself as one". I said " He didn't deserve it ". He:" Have you ...

When The  Kashmir Files was released with much visibility, I wasn't too sure if I should watch this. Apart from the wide pre release publicity it received, including tacit patronage from powers that be, there were also nudges from many friends and acquaintances to watch the movie.  As if I was thorough by heart ,on all the historical facts and events, on the exodus, I was also eager that the next generation should have atleast a prima facie glimpse of such historical past of India's controversial political turn of events. So, I asked my son to accompany. He , the one fed by a barrage if left liberal woke media,was sceptical in our physical safety in the cinema hall- we have had a Petrol bomb thrown on Maniratnam's house after release of Bombay. To be frank, I wasn't in the country in those tragic years,- I was in Middle East : and un  coincidentally my neighbour was a Kashmiri Carpet dealer. Was friendly,few words, though his wife preferred chatting to the wife of a Sud...

  " Yeh Raghavan Kohn Hai?" Barged in a guy in twenties, with a typical salesman bag on his shoulders and sporting a necktie bought in the Foot Over bridge in the Dadar Railway station. I was in a very important discussion with some business associates , sitting in the ante space of our meeting room. In a PSU,any one can walk past security so long as you do not display any hesitation. Even Kasab. I called my PA over and requested to check this jumping jack's requirement. Our Meeting continued .Once it was over, my PA came with anxiety writ large on her face, "Sir, Please see this" She handed over a A4 size sheet ,a letter head of the Vertical I was heading. It was an undertaking by our company to guarantee the loan given to one Mr..., an employee, promising to deduct EMIs from his salary and remit to the Dadar Sahakari Cooperative Bank. The most shocking bit was that that the title of the signatory was that of mine. Fortunately, name was different. Rubber s...

 Do not get either tempted - that this is a small tit bit of a soft porn story. Nor put off -that this is some disgusting piece on sub abdominal anatomical explanation. Why I should not use this expression? Was there  not a stage rage ,few yearsback, playing full houses in SOBO titled : Vagina Monologues"?. I may be excused ,therefore ,for borrowing from Freudian science. For primers, the caption is a typical term used by the father of modern psychology- Herr.Sigmund Freud ( If you do not trust me, please wikepedia same) Simply put ,Herr. Freud uses this metaphor for explaining a very mundane facet of human behaviour. Jealousy. Always tempted to compare our endowments with every one around -siblings, neigbours, colleagues, why even with your own spouse. Choice is ,of course ,wide- you admire, you accept, you resign , and more often, envy. "Green is the colour of this neural phenomenon, isn't it?"( Do you recall how ONIDA used it extensively in their heydays? Owner...

  It was around the year 2000, I believe. Possibly when Sam Pitroda and team launched the telecom revolution. A certain expression appeared from nowhere and became ubiquitous and universal. I do not know if this was just an exclusively Indian phenomenon, as I did not come across the usage of this expression elsewhere in the world during my overseas travels. The then ubiquitous expression was “ taking a call ” In any conversation or transaction, involving more than one individual or organisation , when it came about to take a decision or position, this expression kicked in. Examples abounded. You go to seek a decision on how to resolve an imminent crisis to your boss, presenting him with several alternatives- for him to “take a call” on the same. “The Govt. seized of the latest issue in the matter of “high Cut Off marks in admissions announces that the Dept.of Higher Education will “take a call” on the issue well before the academic session begins.”- says an official pre...

As some one who relocated from Mumbai couple of years back, we face a weird situation almost on a daily basis. The person who manages the affairs of our compact housing complex , has a perennial request to us. To convey her instructions to our watchman   or convey his requests to her.– both ways from Tamil to Hindhi or vice versa.She was not alone.All other residents had the same predicament. Not being able to communicate with the watchman- who resides 24 x 7 , within the complex. None of them could speak or understand the lingua franca of the Watchman- who is incidentally not fro Bihar or U.P. He is a Nepali . Added to my discovery was an open admission in our Colony Residents’ Association What’s App group by an Office bearer. He could not convey to the workers of a nearby restaurant , not to dump their waste in our road- Reason attributed, they do not speak Tamil or English! That is the hard reality – today Chennai is in “Hindhia “ not just “ India” Few days back, out...