Pranay Rao's (Im)personal Diary

A little bit of sporting magic

2010-10-16T13:40:00.001+05:30

My generation and specifically my friends have a severe lack of enthusiasm which can be really painful. Their sense of fun is drinking booze with loud music in the background and hogging on the most unhealthy food conceived by man while cribbing about all that is affecting their work and life. Adventure for them is a planned vacation to some exotic location which has good bragging potential. So when multiple groups of friends dillydallied about going to the CWG since at that point it was not braggable enough I was quite bugged but I had decided that I was going even if I had to go on my own. This is when Andy 'PJ' Venkateshan intervened with tickets for the ---------- wait for it------------------ India Pak hockey match. The funny part is we got these tickets from a guy who had come from Mumbai to see the CWG.

Courtesy a full parking lot at HUDA city centre metro station and a 10 min metro delay we entered the venue just as India had taken the lead. The seating system had gone for a toss we were seated near our original centreline seats with a great view of the stadium. What ensued was magic. India with the totally partisan crowd behind them attacked continuously. As at every venue, one of the people had taken the role of the official cheerleader with jingoism at its peak. People were running around with Indian flags making the most deafening sound with Dhols, trumpets and even the odd vuvuzella. Some magical field goals by India and the audience was on their feet. Hockey knowledge was at a premium with people jumping up when a shot from outside the dee went into the goal, but then it didn't matter.

The 2nd half started with Pakistan fighting back. However the Delhizens having re-energized themselves with the zillion litres of coke shoke and burger wurger intimidated the opposition with their vocal prowess. The amount of food consumed in 70 minutes was a good yardstick of the future obesity of this city. Anyway we were soon 6 - 2 and by then the audience was bored. The jeetega be jeetega slogan shifted to jeetgaya be jeetgaya. The odd family started to walk out to avoid the rush and then the final hooter. 7 - 4 it was and the score didnt do enough justice to India's dominance.

The closing ceremony 4K VIP seats were quite a bonus courtesy my boss and Vipul. So Andy and Mayank in tow, we reached the venue for the most awesome spectacle I have seen. The stadium looked most beautiful, with the super expensive aerostat looking nice in the sky. The ceremony started off well with even the most silent spectator taking extra pleasure in booing Kalmadi. The poor rich guy tried his best to gain brownie points by mentioning the 101 medals repeatedly as if he had run himself. The 101 medals though were quite the cherry on the cake. The fact that India was 2nd beating bigger sporting countries felt really great. Sheila Dixit was as usual the rockstar of the show with the maximum cheers whenever she came on screen. Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi were a close second. Though the most chuckles came when the Glasgow representative thanked Mees Deegshit. The Army band was predictably good and the martial artists were really good though they were not a patch on the effect of the last act when seen from a seat in the stadium. The formations were magical and the dance was beautifully synchronized with a laser man who incidentally had been part of a GSK event recently. The music was popular and contemporary and could give any Delhi disc a run for their money. The powerhouse singers captured the new Indian sound and other than Shiamak Dawar singing last generation english numbers, the performance was amazing. The Glasgow guys too put up a good show with their Sydney Opera look alike building called the armadillo. Didn't get the Loch Ness part though till I saw it in the news the next day. A large group of scotts who were sitting next to us got most excited and were waving flags and banners during this part of the show.

The CWG was quite the showcase for the new India. Aggression on the field and a showcase closing ceremony with martial arts and army bands was a show of pure power. Loved it. This is the new India, bold, loud and in your face.Indian sports take a bow.

Now lets catch the corrupt bastards and get my tax money back :)

- Pranay

Operation Delhi marathon

2010-09-26T11:55:00.000+05:30

After dodging dengue, malaria and swine flu in Delhi, my invincibility was broken by a sore throat in Mumbai. However sore throat is far better than any of the above. Also it feels great to have someone get you salt water for gargling. Also had a bullseye/half fry egg after ages. My Gurgaon house came without a gas and have managed quite easily with a microwave especially since I heard about them being a healthier form of cooking. However microwaves can't be used to make a half fry. Funny how you miss such things. Used last night to put together my papers for tax filing. Shifting companies and houses at the end of a financial year means a financial nightmare in terms of settlements.

Anyway the objective of this post was to explain operation Delhi marathon (21st Nov 2010). If you remember my things to do before I turn 30, a marathon was in the list. The bare minimum to be run in a marathon is a dream run (7 kms) which is still 4 kms more than I have ever run on a treadmill. Even when I was an active sportsperson, my strength was sprints, never exceeding 200m :). I firmly believe your running strength is based on your genetics which explains the Kenyans winning marathons and the Jamaicans the sprints. Indians were genetically designed to write software code not run and we have sports associations which ensure we will continue to do that.

Operation marathon in typical MBA style starts with a plan and a timeline. Road running is nothing like running on a field or a track. I've seen quite a few friends screw up their knees because they started a bout of jogging on the road. Roads don't cushion your steps which is why you need to have special footwear. So I decided to get myself a pair of Adidas running shoes, which if left to themselves would cross the finishing line in the first place. However there is also the small issue of them carrying me across with them. Which is why over the next few weeks I would be training with those shoes on. Running on the road means loads of sweating, which is why I've also got myself a carton of lucozade courtesy Manu.

Next week is mild jogging for 25 mins everyday ending with a sprint (wishful thinking). If that works out then I keep upping my time and speed as per the plan for the next few weeks till November 21st 2010.

Running out of excuses to get fit,

- Pranay

Fill it, Burp it, Forget it

2010-09-12T14:52:00.000+05:30

Pranay's elder sibling theory aka PEST states that 'the first child's generally an anomaly (matrix talk). The parents are surprised (read shocked) to see this weird looking thing in their hands but still they keep it(no gender bias). Also they hardly know what's to be done with the kid. So they read a few books, listen to a lot of advice and apply it to the kid. And as with all experiments, the subject ends up all weird while the scientists (parents) learn a lot. And thanx to the learnings, the second child is brought up all normal.' Please check http://www.pranayrao.com/2004/12/new-year-konnect-other-bloggers-pest.html for proof of the theory.

My younger nephew quite proves the PEST theory with his generally amused and sometimes bemused expression while observing his older brother. Case in point the 'nice' picture my mother wanted me to take of the two brats. The younger one was quite surprised at his shrieking elder brother which reminded me of how I used to observe my elder sister as a kid.

Anyway the break last weekend really helped me relax. Spent some time at home after 6 months. The 2 kids in the house really is good fun. The elder one has started talking coherently though he gets his grammar from his mother while the younger one just gurgles away in delight when someone is close enough for him to observe. He is quite uncomplicated and cries only when hungry. Reminds me of the Hero Honda ad Fill it, shut it, forget it. In this case it is Fill it, burp it, forget it :D.

I used the break to hog away all around Mumbai. Met quite a few friends in between sampling Mumbai's delicacies. Went to Juhu beach and Mount Mary church which is an annual affair for the family just around the fair. As kids we used to visit the fair with parents but nowadays it's impossible to visit it. Mumbai over the last few years seems to have grown exponentially in population and traffic. The local trains are so crowded that more and more people are moving to taking their vehicle to office which means choked highways and roads. Wonder when the metro is going to come through. The only place left to grow now is the sea.

The sea is what makes Mumbai special. It's the only place you can't see people, though nowadays at bandstand couples seem to pop out from behind rocks which are almost within the sea. I remember as a teenager visiting Juhu beach with friends watching the waves breaking on the seashore with the sea breeze snatching away the noise of the city and giving us Mumbaikars those few moments of total calm.

Anyway the break also meant a break in my gym routine and my guitar class. My most patient guitar teacher has been trying to teach me chords so that I can finally in my life claim to carry a tune. There is still quite a lot of discord in my chords and he is quite tired having to explain the reason behind a certain system of music and why a chord is so but it is fun. I may not become a santana (Don't bet against it) but it satisfies the need to learn something new. The language classes haven't happened yet and I don't even have a lack of mobility to blame, though I still am not comfortable driving. Dad and my friends tell me that practice will help perfect my driving which is what my guitar teacher tells me about my strumming. So if you see a guy practicing chords on his invisible guitar while driving a car, it could be me multi - tasking ;).

- Pranay

The adventures of Pranay and his sports car

2010-08-23T22:54:00.001+05:30

In Gurgaon, it is forbidden for people to pee on the road. Not because of civic sense which is really a concept alien to Haryana, but because it just might lead to a flood. Whoever built this city forgot one key fundamental concept - drainage. Anyway living across the office, I have this nice life where the absence of drainage doesn't affect me except on Sundays and then too the only place I go to is a few kilometres away. So for all those pictures of water in people's living rooms and people pushing cars on the road, I have the deepest sympathy but frankly it doesn't affect my life. But today was different.

Living alone and in the absence of sensible adult supervision, I sometimes come up with great ideas like taking my car out to our office in sector 31 which is situated in a low lying area. So I set out to this office with Vipul 'Main hoon na' Gupta to supervise my newly acquired driving skills in a car which really is too powerful for a learner driver. My counter point being that german children learn driving on a Mercedes, so there.

Anyway we set out to this office with the minimum of fuss and reached there mostly incident free except for one point where the car stopped and didn't start on the first turn of the key. Reached this office and parked the car outside to avoid the rains. 2 hours of rain and we looked down into a compound full of water and realized that it was time to get out before we were underwater.

So we left for office in 2 cars. One driven by Badri who was already there with able navigator Vipul who ditched me for the more experienced driver and me in the second. With such heavy rains I decided I was going to follow Badri's car, the only problem was that I had no idea what I was getting into.

Within 2 hours, the medium rainfall had resulted in knee deep water. I'm 5 feet 10 inches tall so knee deep for me means the water was at the level of my indicators. When the jolly Haryanvi driving instructor of Bharat motor driving school taught me driving he forgot to mention how fast should you drive when your headlights are close to the water line. The Palio is a really heavy car and yet I could feel the car veering off course a bit as waves from a passing car hit the body. I probably would not have had the guts to get into the water but for the knowledge that this very car had gotten dad home during the Mumbai floods. But dad's an experienced driver and this was me who just last week had mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake.

Reading is not always a good thing especially when you have read stories about cars falling into ditches which develop in the middle of the road and reader's digest versions of people getting drowned or asphyxiated in their cars during a flood. I gulped and followed Badri passing by a couple of cars which had stalled and they were being pushed and that really didn't help. Which is also the point when Vipul called me and told me that I was not to allow the engine to stall at any cost. I was so speechless that I think I nodded on the phone. We drove (actually waded) through the water to reach a junction where we had to climb onto a road half a foot above the one we were.

Imagine a car in water trying to get onto a road w/o water. Most people would move their car aside and allow you into the lane. But no, an idiot in a Matiz decided that he was in a super hurry which meant I was halfway on one road with the back in water. I swear if the engine had stopped at that moment I would have gotten down and beaten him up (which would have been a stupid idea considering this is Gurgaon and he would probably have pulled a gun on me). To make matters worse, a Maybach was right behind me. Imagine a situation where making a mistake could have you paying up for the repair work on a 50 lakh car. Finally the idiot in the Matiz moved his vehicle and I pulled my car out and followed Badri to DLF plaza.

I parked my car and engaged the gear lock (std Gudgaon accessory) and got out. You know that shaky feeling in your legs you get after getting out off a really awesome roller coaster ride. I had that same feeling. I was like this real bad Bond Martini - both shaken and stirred.Would've kissed the ground If it wasn't all muddy.

Later at night had another incident with a Honda City trying to cut across me. Braked just in time and then crossed the road with my car. Parked the car and patted the steering wheel of my sports car, which had quite literally got two Raos out of water. But for the remainder of this rainy season, this Rao is going to trust the best mode of transport which god had meant for us to use, my feet.

Still Shaken though a little less stirred,

- Pranay

Redefining independence - stop existing, start demanding

2010-08-15T03:43:00.000+05:30

It's Independence day punctuated by super saver offers from all the retail chains in India started by the grand master of Indian retail - Kishore Biyani. Have been racking my brain about any other association I can make with the Independence day and there's nothing. Independence day has become just another day when they play jingoistic movies on different channels and thats that.

This year I decided I must usher in independence day watching Peepli live after hearing so much about it. So with my new found confidence in my own driving I headed out to DT Mega mall to watch Peepli live. Peepli live is this nice movie full of dark humour. It takes the very real issue of farmers being forced out of agriculture and presents it most beautifully. The media part is funny. Reminds me of a story - The Wait -II I had written ages back.

Peepli made me remember this statistical model being created on economic spending in India which had good rains as a very important variable. Good rains means good farming which means a good economy. On one side we have the worlds heaviest rainfall (Cherapunji) and on the other side we are still dependent on the rains as a source of irrigation. One of the biggest ironies of life was my house in Mumbai facing water shortages just 10 months after Mumbai was flooded.

We have the capability to create the world's best supersonic missile - Brahmos, have a space program that many developed nations don't, have the ability to create a 35$ touch based computing device and the world's cheapest reliable motor car and yet every June/July we look to the skies. And believe me it's not just the farmers. Every bank, every mobile company, every fmcg co looks to the skies and keeps their fingers crossed praying for good rains. Good rains are like that first tile in a huge domino pattern. Unless that falls nothing else can happen. Companies in India change their strategy basis rainfall. Amazingly even after 63 years of attaining independence, we are a nation running on prayers only. And this from a race which is celebrated for being among the first users of irrigation evident at Mohenjadaro and Harappa.

Coming back to Peepli, it's strange how two movies from the same production house show an agricultural India dependent on the rainfall. The first one Lagaan was based in 1893, the latest one Peepli live based in 2010. We very happily cheered when the farmers beat the foreign invaders responsible for the sorry state of affairs in a game of cricket, wishing that we could've been part of that team and whacked the englishmen for a six. In Peepli live we sympathise with the farmers knowing fully well how bureacracy has required us to wait for a passport, a PAN card, even a gas connection. You know nothing can be done. It's India, run by Indians. Who do we whack for a six now? Who is the enemy?Where is the foreign hand we can blame??

My grandfather's generation left school/college in 1942 to join the quit India movement. Millions of Indians like him won us our Independence. For his generation, politics was everything. They voted because they knew what it had taken to get the right to vote and they wanted to choose the right people. Our parents learned from them. As of my generation, we find it a nice holiday. Granpa's generation would fight for their rights. Remember how Grandpa took a station master to task because he took a complaint about overcharging on his platform lightly. Recently when I had a problem with service on a couple of things, I did exactly what he did and it worked. Independence is not about Indian bureaucrats replacing the english ones. Independence is about knowing your rights and making sure no one violates them. We Indians fought for independence for our own rights and now when our countrymen make a mockery of it, we take the crap, crib like hell and continue existing.

Independence is not just your right to choose, it's your right to demand. I choose who runs my country. I choose what I watch on TV. I choose what to drink and what to eat. I decide what happens when people I gave the power to help make my life better screw up. Stop blaming the government for your woes and demand accountability. The Indian government doesn't decide what happens to you because it's you who decide what happens to them. Remember Aamir Khan's famous Rangeela dialogue:"Apun public hai public, jisme apna paisa vasool nahin, uska dabba gul". Independence is exactly that. It's a right to a better life because you deserve it. When you get a raw deal in India, you don't take it on the chin because that would be insulting all those people who lost their lives, their education to give you freedom. India is more than a Gujrati lawyer's dream. It was the dream of a million Indians speaking a 100 languages and dialects, worshipping a few lakh gods of a life where we Indians could lead a better life through the power of choice, the power to demand.

Honour their sacrifices. Stop existing, start demanding. India is what we make of it.

Luv,

PHR

Luv is in the air

2010-08-01T21:57:00.001+05:30

Luv is in the air, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

There is this view from my balcony, where I can see the metro between two buildings. So yesterday being Saturday, I decided that I need to get a picture of the metro. So I took out my camera and was busy adjusting the controls when I heard a rustling below my balcony and looked down to see this pair of pigeons on the AC duct of the house below me.

It is a hastily taken shot with an overcast sky which really doesn't do justice to the potential of my camera but I just had to take it before the two flew away. I had initially named it Cooo which is quite lame, but renamed it 'luv is in the air' because think about it. With two pigeons in love, love is quite literally in the air.

Luv,

Pranay (which also means luv :D)

Coooo

2010-07-26T22:13:00.001+05:30

July 072, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

If I had a penny for every time this guy ate the buds on the flowering plant I've bought, I'd probably make enough to buy a proper plant. Initially he would fly off when I tried to go to the balcony, which then progressed to flying off when I was a foot away to now posing when I get my camera out. He seemed unfazed even when I clicked him with my flash on. He just looked back at me with a semi annoyed look.

On second thoughts it could be a female pigeon. She preens in front of the camera. Acts indifferent and yet poses and flutters her wings cooing away to glory while eating away the buds on my plant while acting coy. Classical female behaviour this. Any ornithologist in my group of friends who can determine his/her gender.

No jokes on the camera angle :D

- Pranay

Those moments that make up life

2010-07-18T22:36:00.000+05:30

My poor little cycle seems to have traveled more distance in a truck than on a road.My plan of cycling to the gym every morning will never take off so every Sunday I take my cycle out for a spin. Today being a Sunday I first took the cycle to Sikanderpur market. The cycle post its journey from Bangalore to Gurgaon is a little shaken like me. The poor guy's got this complex seeing all these firefoxes zip by. To make matters worse, the gear's been getting stuck.

Anyway my return from Sikanderpur was against this strong breeze which made cycling really laborious (which is when you shift to a lower gear). I then took a long circuit around the Silver Oaks complex which had the breeze behind my back and then magically, the 4th gear which was giving me trouble meshed perfectly and we were flying - man and machine over speed bumps and potholes. On the 2nd round I even overtook a vehicle which had to slow down for the speedbreaker.

For those 15 - 20 mins I wished that I could do this forever. However common sense and stamina intervened and I returned back home breathless, sweaty and yet totally fresh.

Come evening and it suddenly started raining. I literally ran to the window which gives this awesome view of the sky and stood there for a moment just enjoying the perfectly coloured sky with the right hues of crimson and blue. Turned back to notice a neighbour standing in her balcony too. It was one of those sights which have to be experienced. It's not just the view which can be replayed with the help of a camera, it's the moment which is amazing.

There is a reason such moments are rare because if they weren't you wouldn't enjoy it. You'd start taking it for granted. Treasure these moments because these are the real milestones in life.

philosophically :)

- Pranay

The power of endorsement and its evolution

2010-07-18T01:06:00.002+05:30

"Nice". The guy/girl next to you comments about the girl/guy who just passed by. You look and evaluate. Suddenly the person starts looking better and much more attractive than if you had seen her/him without the 'endorsement'. Endorsement is just that. Someone telling you that what you are evaluating is good/bad.

One of the best examples of endorsement was this certain lady in my college. This nice looking lady had a very normal life till one day one of the more visible guys discovered that he had a thing for her and hence she was cute. Suddenly this lady became the centre of affection of many a male. Funnily the guy who started this moved on within a week but the attention continued. Conversely I know this good friend of mine who never got around to openly admitting this thing she had for a guy because her friends did not find him that cool. This was all endorsement at a very unconscious level.

Peer pressure is probably the best form of endorsement. Remember that gadget/accessory/clothes/computer game you bought just because your group of friends believe it's awesome. Peer pressure is endorsement by exclusion, a form of collective endorsement. Hush puppies (yes, read the tipping point), Ipods, Tazos, etc all became successes courtesy collective endorsement aka peer pressure.

Most people actually take endorsement to be just celeb endorsement or expert endorsement. Once upon a time when celebs did much lesser endorsement, people actually went and bought a lux believing that it was the soap of the stars. They bought the product because of the celeb endorsing it. Today most celebs work best as a clutter breaker. Yes a trustworthy celeb lends an aura to the product provided people believe that he/she uses it. Expert endorsement too has its limitations unless it's done really well.

In fact endorsement is best leveraged when done subtly. A celeb/expert pushing it down your throat might be (quite literally) tough to swallow. However that same endorsement done by a friend works. This is the most potent form of endorsement which we marketeers call word of mouth (WOM). Getting high WOM on a product is what most brand managers dream of. Imagine multiple believable endorsers. Conversely bad WOM can cause the product to tank. Many movies have been the victims of bad WOM. Some never got the chance.

Which is why the future of endorsement is in social networking, user generated content and subtle product placements. Twitter, Youtube and FB will decide the world of tomorrow. The consumer is empowered. The marketeer of today needs to have a concept which can work through these media. In the future GRPs won't be measured, communication would be measured through WOM.

So the next time you see a beautiful lady at the mall and feel like commenting to your friend or a movie on the first day which you like/dislike strongly and want to tweet about or any product experience which you put on your status message. Pause and take in the moment because that one action of yours in todays networked world could decide the future of the entity under observation. Endorsement is a power and with great power comes great responsibility.

BTW heard Udaan is a great movie :D.

Luv,

PR.

Gudgaon w/o a gaddi going dig chick dig chick - the culture shock

2010-07-11T12:25:00.002+05:30

If you come to Gurgaon/Delhi now, you'll see the elevated metro lines with slick shiny looking trains moving around and they stick out of the surroundings. They look too classy and subtle for this part of town. An ideal metro for Delhi should have been painted in red and even if it were silver, it would have body stickers and tinted windows and the biggest omission fog lamps which have to be kept switched on irrespective of there being fog or not.

Calling Delhi loud is an understatement. The women in Delhi probably spend the maximum per capita on make up then anywhere else in the world. I generally land up at my local grocery shop in old Jerseys/tracks to find women dressed up wearing a thick layer of make up and red lipstick buying groceries with Chunnu Munnu who are equally dolled up. Coming from Mumbai where the grunge look can be passed off at most parties, it is quite the revelation.

My apartment block is quite the middle to upper middle class complex. If you ever stepped into our garage, you'd probably wonder why our GDP isn't any higher. The average family owns a Honda City, the richer ones fully loaded Civics and Corollas. i10s and santros are at a premium here.

Even the kids who are always dressed up have discussions around cellphones and the like. Recently while getting my ass kicked by a 4 feeter in pool at the club house, I was introduced to the kiddie life in this part of town. It starts early. These kids move around in firefoxes and wear the nicest sports watches. So much so that my nice 6 speed sturdy Hercules which in Kolkata was quite the expensive cycle, looks like a much poorer cousin.

Even more interesting is the eating out scene here. Last night I was at Swagat with friends from K, where we couldn't hear ourselves think courtesy all the shrieking kids. Swagat is a family restaurant but I've been at Extreme sports bar, Barique and Blue O all clearly targetted at adults and seen huge families with a zillion kids loudly chattering away.

It's not all bad though. My flight to Delhi when I came to join GSK had me next to an elderly Punjoo woman, who by the end of the flight had discussed my entire family tree and fed me chips and information on Gurgaon. In fact despite not having a a car in Gurgaon (which is culturally frowned upon) I've been quite mobile courtesy Easycab, Tashi, Vipul, Tina and Anubhav. I've promised all these guys that I'll make it up when I get my car.

I'm too much of a Mumbaikar to start overdressing in loud clothes and talk loudly at a sportsbar but being a human and we humans having the ability to culturally adapt I've started my transition. I've shifted from Corona/Wine to scotch on the rocks Punjoo style (though I still can't manage a Patiala). I've re-adjusted to the Paneer-being-the-only-veg-option at parties (remember I trained for a year in proper Punjab/HP) and my biggest weapon in this transition - my dad's and soon to be mine sports car.

This sleek machine (a Palio Sports) is formula red in colour with leather upholstery. It is still not big enough to be Punjabi sized, but courtesy the bright colour and the awesome fog lamps (which my father never used) and the fact that it can outrace most big gaddis, it gives me my first step into the loud world of Dilli. And if this still doesnt make me Punjoo enough, I'll fit in one of those huge music systems, where the woofer fills up the entire luggage space and Bhangra my way into Gurgaon (hope my dad doesnt read this).

So in a couple of years if you see a guy standing next to a female( who would have five layers of make up ) talking loudly on a huge cellphone with body stickers on his red car which has it's fog lamps on with the car vibrating to dig chick dig chick (that's actually how it sounds) Punjabi music, please don't laugh, stare or point rudely because it just might be me :D.

Would be a good idea not to laugh at said person at any time because I forgot to mention that the individual would also have a loaded firearm.

Dig chick, dig chick,

Pranay Rao

Soccer and home

2010-06-27T23:13:00.000+05:30

I'm watching Wake up Sid which I believe has some of the most awesome music of recent times. The best part though is how it shows life in Mumbai. There's this picture of the hero clicking pictures on the beach. I swear every morning when I meditate, I close my eyes and still hear the waves breaking on the sands. With the World Cup season in full swing, those days on the beach come to mind even more. We will definitely re-do our football thing soon. Come to think of it, will be tough to get the guys back together. Avi, is in Germany. Pari in the US, Amar, Shirude and Choti are there too. Kau is in Mumbai but currently recuperating. Sudhu in Chennai and me in Gurgaon. No idea where Choo is. But I am guessing it will be cheaper to finance a Mumbai football team then get the guys together.

Speaking of Mumbai football, I remember going for Mahindra Utd matches to the Cooperage which is this dilapitated structure in the centre of Churchgate. There's this model of the modern Cooperage stadium planned before I was born. The last time I saw it even that structure was crumbling. Still remember taking the train to Churchgate and the cab to Cooperage where we entered through this small little gate where I proudly used to take my dad's name and get free attendance.

Mumbai soccer is not a patch on soccer in Goa, Kolkata or Kerala but when we were kids, it was quite big. The big teams were the Tatas, Orkay RCF and then later Air India along with Mahindras. The Harwood is one of the world's oldest soccer tournaments along with the Durand and the IFA shield all of which have come to my house courtesy dad as a captain and coach.

I still remember the once that I mistakenly sat on the Air India side of the stands for a Mahindra Air India match. The abuses showered on my Manager/Coach dad were unnerving to say the least. Thankfully I was dressed in a red T shirt which is a common team colour. The game is not the fast paced soccer you see on EPL and the commentary leaves a lot to be desired. What you do get is real football with the smell of fresh grass and the most colorful language with loads of die hard fans. You could do one better and go for a East Bengal/Mohun Bagan Vs Mahindra match and get some colourful Bengali added to the mix.

Cooperage is also famous for it's awesome Kanda (onion) Bhajiya which is awesomely tasty. Remember one match where I was seated behind one of Mahindra's big bosses and the same bhajiyas packed in a newspaper were laid on nice China and served to him and he simply loved them :).

Well the Mahindras have finally shut shop but Cooperage is still very much as it was in the 1980s. Nothing will ever change there courtesy the wonderful administration which have all but killed Mumbai soccer. Watching soccer with friends and beer is good but still not a patch on those awesome soccer related discussions we had. In Mumbai, I was surrounded with guys who had at some level played soccer. Delhi surprisingly for its sports culture, seems to have no one. No heated discussions on who will make it to the next round.

Missing the Kanda bhajiya and the hot lemon tea :(

- PR

Don Kay - the tale of 2 brothers

2010-06-27T15:13:00.000+05:30

Ansh, the bigger of my two nephews is quire unaffected by the new little addition to his little family. The only time he gets really affected when the little character is being massaged which generally ends up with the little guy crying. So standing at a distance with the most considerate eyes he says 'don kay' (don't cry).

The little baby unlike his elder brother is generally quite peaceful and is still in that delicate state in which I refuse to hold a baby. So me and Ansh observed him at a distance. Ansh was most excited that I allowed him to use my camera. He did click some nice pictures. He's recently being trained to kick a football around by dad, who's quite excited that he's got 2 potential soccer stars.

Ansh has adjusted to my unique position in the family where I fly in for a few days and then fly out. Ask him where I am and he says quite nonchalantly 'Flight....' :). Lately inspite of my having to babysit him when he's awake, I miss him more each time I come back.

I'm waiting eagerly for the smaller one to grow older when I do believe they are going to combine and make the house one madhouse. Will be great fun then.

- Pranay

Modern duelling courtesy Playstation

2010-06-26T14:51:00.001+05:30

I woke up this morning with a smile courtesy finally getting 8 hours of shuteye and more happy cause I reached the next stage on my NFS game. Gaming really reflects what mood you are in. Last night, being right in the zone I dominated (NFS talk for breaking the track records) the entire stage in one blitz. Earning record points and unlocking loads of cars. And the funny part was I did it on my PSPs handheld mode which is tougher than when connected to my TV.

Gaming has it's origin in the cavemen battling with clubs, sometimes for food, sometimes to impress the hot chick in fig leaves. It progressed to the tourneys where men displayed their feats of strength in Ivanhoe style to the pistol wielding duels to boxing, etc. Civilized man suddenly needs an outlet for all those competitive abilities. Cometh the Playstation (or xbox or wii). This is modern man's tool to kick some butt. Remember the fun we used to have at K playing that tank game and NFS on multiplayer. You get an amazing satisfaction when you zip around at 300 kmph with the world around you just one blur. It's all about instincts. Split second reactions decide between winning and losing. It's the ultimate escape and gives the most awesome adrenaline rush.

So while my PSP is recharging, I'm busy looking for some new game to add to my collection ranging from soccer, racing, chess and MPGs to the traditional Mortal Kombat.

Gaming is the most awesome fun. It is that feeling at the end of the day when you set aside everything. Focus on the screen, sit on your game chair and rev those engines hearing every little roar amplified through 5 speakers and press that button which launches you into the most awesome heart pumping action that man could ever build.

What are you waiting for? get your console and join me today :)

Luv,

PR

Life in the middle

2010-06-05T21:12:00.000+05:30

India is like a pregnant woman. All her attention is focused on her tummy AKA the middle class. These are those hard working white collared people who strive each day for their dreams. Life starts with dreams to own a TV, a fridge, a vehicle which is then upgraded as prosperity increases. They are the drivers of consumption, the taxpayers who power the country. The guys who crib about the government but hardly vote. India would be one country where the Rich decide policies, the poor decide politicians and the middle class pays for everyones mistakes.

The middle class is growing. Their prosperity is increasing. They have two tools to moving up the social ladder, hard work and education. The IITs, IIMs of the country are full of people from the middle class. Most of them come with a dream backed by expectations from a family who see their success as a reward.

The middle class is all about control, about inhibition. It is a collective. Think about it, the lower class revels in its identity, it's loud colours, it's individualism then they move up to the middle class where they are straight jacketed by society. Sober colours, a guideline to do anything and everything. As soon as these same people move upwards, the same individualism comes back. It is celebrated. In fact the small village fairs and the high society dos are quite similar in their sheer expression of joy.

As a marketeer, I've been trying for ages to find the right way to target the middle class. Forget target them, it's equally difficult to segment India. The power of education obvious from education being such an important part of the socio economic classification on which most media decisions are taken. Obviously the system was devised by people who rose from the middle class.

Life in the middle has been quite nice. It gives you parents who strive to give you that extra edge in your life. I firmly believe my parents were more excited at my convocation than I was. Education is not always means to an end. In India, sometimes it is the end in itself. A ticket to success. In the 11 years since gaining adulthood, I've voted once and that too for Govinda which explains me not voting again :). Though adherence hasnt really been my strong point.

So wake up tomorrow and be happy to be the engines of growth for India. Smile when you get anxious about that unironed collar. If you do get honked at by a larger car, put your head out and tell the guy that the road he drives on was paid by you (unless of course you are in Gurgaon, where the guy might just pull out a gun and shoot you) and walk out confidently shoulder to shoulder with the millions of similarly dressed people who just like you are India's finest - the middle class.

Luv,

PR

Things to do before I turn 30

2010-05-23T20:36:00.000+05:30

I'm watching that part of Kill Bill where Lucy Liu and Uma Thurman are fighting. I really have no taste for gory movies. But then this is part of all those things I've planned to do in the things to do before I turn 30 list.

Learn a musical instrument - Guitar classes lined up from next weekend
Learn a martial art - My extra fit company doc has promised an intro to a Taekwondo academy which will replace gymming in June.
Watch IMDBs top 100 - thats where the video library subscription comes in and hence Kill Bill.
Lose 10 kilos in 6 months - 6 kilos to go in 4 months
Learn a foreign language - Need to decide French/Spanish/Mandarin.
Visit Ladakh/Leh and a foreign country - Ladakh needs to be done pre - winter. Thinking of visiting Jerusalem in December.
Drive a car to Dharamsala - My gas guzzler arrives next month.
Attend an international sports event - CWG arrives in the nick of time
Run a marathon - Whens the next Mumbai Marathon?
Win a national prize - Quizzing/branding/blogging/poetry/photography, anything............

10 months to go and 10 things on my list. 23rd March 2011 is the day I want to have ticked off all of these.

- Pranay Rao

P.S.: Feel free to suggest something I might have missed.

I will raise my head without fear

2010-05-07T00:29:00.000+05:30

Kasab was destined to die, the moment he decided to enter this country. Nothing could stop the inevitable and yet there is happiness, joy to see him get the death sentence. In a country where there are politicians who have caused the death of many more people still living free, we are all happy. Frankly I see no sense in him dying but then he has no right to live once he killed innocent people in an act which was not war or a fight for any cause but just cold blooded murder.

Lately I'm sick of a life where a cursory check is done each time I enter a mall/ airport or any public place. Why is it that I must feel insecure because of some bastards sitting hundreds of kilometers away who are living quite comfortably planning newer and newer ways to terrorize the country. I remember when I was in Jammu, how weird it felt to have my bags checked each time I entered the railway station. There was always this fear that something could happen. Lately it's happening everywhere. Every place has metal detectors which beep and nothing is done about it. Random checks by security guards who very seriously poke a bag with a probe which beeps loudly and they let you through.

It's not about the fear of the consequence, it never is. I probably have a greater chance of being knocked off by a car on the Gurgaon Faridabad highway or being mugged. It's about the feeling of our space being violated. It's about the piece of mind being taken away. It's what Naseerudin Shah says in his monologue in Wednesday. It's disgust anger and helplessness all rolled up into one.

A stranger killed of someone's mother,

A child watched his father die.

They never believed that this could happen,

and they never knew the reason why.

Why is it that somebody can just walk in,

with a gun, a bomb and just kill anyone.

And all I can do is watch, listen and hope,

that the person who died is an unknown someone.

I have been taught to look around while travelling,

Ensure that someone doesn't get me that day.

After all it's my duty to be scared and tense,

My fees to be part of a Delhi or a Mumbai.

I dream of a day not too far,

A day when you and I will still be here.

A day when we will look up and smile,

And raise our heads without fear.

Till then I watch the news dispassionately.

It's no longer whether. Its when,where and how many.

Somewhere someone is playing a little game with me,

And I wonder whether he must find it funny.

That safely from a million miles away,

with a few rupees of explosives and firearms,

He makes a billion people shake in fear.

Little voodoo dolls are we in the grasp of his palms.

He threatens and a million quake in fear,

Mothers worry, children are scared.

Coming home everyday is a celebration.

to celebrate what they have braved.

But one day these billion people will rise,

and realise that they have had enough.

And that day my dear friend, I assure you.

It will be we who will have the last laugh.

Sooner rather than later

- Pranay

Discovering the priorities in life

2010-04-27T00:57:00.000+05:30

Dad's 60th birthday meant this stay at an Anglo-Indian farmhouse/resort, which was quite the simple place. My 0 alcohol policy meant that we toasted dads birthday with non - alcoholic bubbly (Gift from some friend). The guys at the resort messed up our room booking which had me quite agitated as compared to dad who seemed quite unaffected. The room was clean and nice but very basic compared to what we had booked. Years back I'd not have batted an eyelid at such a room but now I believed we deserved more. At the end realized that It's good to have high standards, but it's bad to be too nit-picky. There's too many good things happening in life to be thankful about, frankly nothing to crib about. Enjoyed the stay better then.

Meanwhile have solved my car problem by doing a car swap with dad. I'm buying him a new car in exchange for his Palio, which I really love. Dad again surprised me by looking for the simpler things in life. He's happy going for a mid size car cause as he says parking in Mumbai is a problem and the car is of course for transport. A refreshing change from the discussions I've had on what to buy with my friends. A car transports people not their large egos :).

As a part of the deal, dad promised to sit beside me while I try my hand at his car in exchange for me coaching his little kids as a sub coach till the actual coach (my uncle) comes in. All of dad's side of the family have at some level played and mostly excelled at football. Remember this match where all of us uncles and cousins represented some village team. It was a 8-1 whitewash of the opposition. If anything our generation really never lived up to the family reputation. It could be just lack of ability but I suspect we were too busy trying to make money, which is the difference with our dad's generation. My father, winning coach of most of India's premier tournaments finds time in his hectic work schedule to coach little kids who probably have no idea of the pedigree of their coach. He calls it giving back to the game.

So today morning in football gear borrowed from dad, I stood and tried to recollect what years back had been taught to me by my dad and other coaches. My footballing life lately has been limited to a nice little CV point and some facebook updates on Chelsea. It took some time to remember, it took a little more time to communicate but at the end of that hour and a half on the ground it felt great to pass on something which hopefully these kids will make much better use of.

Felt a little warm inside and it was not just because of the hot sun.

- Pranay

Appreciation for Good service - Kingfisher

2010-04-13T23:38:00.001+05:30

My last post (or was it the mail I sent) resulted in some prompt action from LG and ladies and gentlemen I am getting my ac installed on saturday cos I am on tour now. I got calls from LG (the next day) and Big Bazar (today) apologizing though the LG guy tried hard to prove that there was a mysterious service person who landed up at my house and that he was not a LG guy. The gist is that blogging/mailing about service works. Anyway realizing that I probably was taking good service for granted and not mentioning anything, I decided to post about this awesome service I saw today.

The Kingfisher service has never given me anything to complain about but today on a Kingfisher Red flight from Mumbai to Hyd IT3163, the cabin crew showed awesome service in handling a passenger who was not responding to them. This guy sitting on the adjacent aisle seat was not responding when the head of the cabin crew whose name I believe was Delnez sat next to him and kept talking to him and doing everything possible to make sure he was feeling alright. She showed real concern for the guy and that was quite awesome. Have made a mental note to mail Kingfisher this weekend.

BTW in the same breath, The Go Air flight to Mumbai from Delhi day boarding at 2240 had us standing on the tarmac for a good 20 mins while they ferried the first bunch of people to the terminal and came back. My mother coming from the good old full service airline times was aghast :).

- Pranay Rao

Life is not Good - LG service sucks

2010-04-11T12:26:00.001+05:30

Gurgaon is going through a heat wave and me in all my sagacity decided I'll buy a new AC instead of hiring one looking at it as a prudent investment, not knowing what I was to get myself into. The first AC we bought in Mumbai was an LG AC. It is still working well. So have all the LG appliances my parents and sis bought and so is my LG microwave.

So I went to Big Bazar which I always believe gives value for money and bought a nice little LG window ac and then the nightmare began. Every day I have been calling the LG customer centre who promise me that the installation will happen. Two days they make me come back in the middle of my office because sorry thats the only time they can install the AC and I really don't have an option having bought the machine and certainly needing it in a place where the mercury is climbing each day. The first day no one came at 4 PM and I called the customer centre to get a new complaint number and the second day a guy dressed in dirty street clothes tells me he is the LG engineer but unfortunately he can install only split ACs so sorry. Getting through to Big Bazar has been equally difficult, not that there is something they can do for me.

Finally today I mailed their service desk asking them to please refund me for the AC. I'd rather buy it from some other company who knows something about service.

My advice to people residing in Gurgaon, never ever buy an LG AC, they probably have the worst service here. My sis says the service in Mumbai is good and even I had a good experience in Bangalore. Yet to see a modern company telling you that they can come only at a time comfortable to them.

If you do know someone who works for LG, please ask them for advice in getting my money back.

Disgusted,

Pranay

Dark Knight to LSD - the week that was

2010-03-21T00:29:00.003+05:30

I am very finicky about starting a week well. Hence I always plan a proper 8 hrs of sleep. In fact post my Engg days, I have always made it a point to try and get a proper 8 hrs sleep thanks to the mental food angle. Unfortunately this was the Sunday I decided to hog on Nirula's hot chocolate fudge (HCF) sundae, which meant a walk after dinner and sleep a little later. All this was after returning from a visit to Kolkata to check out my brand.

It was around 2330 when I got a call from Gurtashika my friend and colleague at GSK who lives in the same building as my guesthouse. Gurtashika is like this Punjabi reincarnation of fearless Nadia, so it was quite a surprise to hear her voice all scared and hassled at the other end of the call sounding all apolegetic saying that she was really sorry but she needed her help because there was a bat in her house on the 16th floor and she needed me to get the watchman up to her house.

The rushing off to the watchman and getting him to the 16th flr was quite uneventful. But then we reached the 16th floor with a very worried Tashi standing outside her house looking in through the door into a house all bright and lit up. Which is when I suddenly realized that I had no idea what we were going to do there.

See the first thing about being courageous is knowing what to do in a situation. I have seen bats in batman movies and at a distance in the dark hovering around trees, but never one on one and had no idea what to do to get it out. So there we were standing outside the door. The watchman being probably the only guy who knew what to do walked in most cautiously and we stood outside with Gurtashika standing behind me, which made me realize that I really didn't have any where to hide. Hiding behind Tashi not being an option considering my rather healthy form.

The watchman spent 5 uneventful mins inside which gave me the courage to walk in too, stepping most gingerly expecting some creepy bat to jump out from behind a sofa. A few minutes of investigation and I decided that the bat just went out the same way he came in and suddenly got my courage back. You know that nervous laughter which comes out when a potentially scary scene in a movie turns out to be something harmless came out and I even suggested to the petrified lady that she was probably halucinating which got me a stare back in return.

The watchman then checked all the rooms and proclaimed that there was no bat which seemed quite obvious when just as a check he looked into the 2nd bathroom which had the door slightly open, turned to me and said 'Saheb, yahan hain'. My life in MR has revealed to me that what people dislike most is information which makes life unpleasant for them. 2 mins back I was at my cockiest best planning to go back to my house and shut out of my life all unpleasant thoughts for a wonderful 8 hrs and here was information which had to be acted upon.

I suggested he close the door, which he did and then he suggested that he would have to kill it off, which seemed most unnecessary to both of us F types, so we registered our protest in the most feeble parliamentary (which nowadays isn't all that parliamentary) manner. The gentleman then proceeded to dispose of the animal which anyway had stopped flying.

Knowing the bat was gone, I then proceeded to quite bravely check every room knowing fully well that the probability of finding 2 bats was near impossible. God forbid, if even a lizard/cockroach had jumped on me at that time, I'd probably have died of a heart attack.

The outcome of my hand in getting the bat killed was a very bad stomach infection on Monday which probably was a result of over eating at Nirula's though the doctor attributed it to some water borne infection.. The week did go off uneventfully, other than for some bad tummy cramps.

Anyway decided this saturday was the day to recuperate with a movie + lunch plan with Tina and Tashi. Tina is an ex - colleague who is an ex-colleague of Tashi who is now my colleague and we are all friends working in Gurgaon. We watched this movie called LSD, which was short and hard hitting and which in an hour and 45 minutes said more than 5 hr movies do.

The movie was raw, very realistic, with a most interesting concept picturised through the camera lense. It is hard hitting, at some points a little gruesome but really shakes you. Each character, probably because you have never seen before seem perfectly casted. The movies is full of dark humor and is quite cynical but definitely worth a watch.

Post some shopping and gym evaluating (I plan to get back to my flat tummy days :D)Came back home and was watching this Angelina Jolie movie Changeling set in the 1930's which was really awesome. Suprisingly never heard about it before. This too was quite stark, but softer than LSD.

Eventful week this which started with a desire to get 8 hrs of sleep.

Never a dull moment,

- Pranay

Ki hollo

2010-03-13T13:57:00.000+05:30

Kolkata is the lockmakers city what with all the keys and Key hollos. Kolkata always is this place teeming with human bodies. The number of people/sq feet must be amongst the highest in the world. I have stayed in Kolkata for 2 years and yet the huge difference between Gurgaon and Kolkata really hits you. Gurgaon is this symmetric city full of glass and concrete and planned roads while Kolkata.. Kolkata is just Kolkata, unorganised, noisy, dirty and yet strangely beautiful, a city with a heart.

BTW watched KKR Vs DC last night. The last time I saw the 2 teams playing was in Kol at the Eden which was the first and the last cricket match I've watched (prefer soccer anyday) and had all the drama you can imagine. Details in my post Day and Night T20 at Eden Gardens. BTW I must be the lucky mascot. Cause they won when I am in Kol again.

Watching DCH. The movie which everyone watched and loved. All of us had a favourite character in the movie which we identified with. For me it was Aakash. Must be because I am an ENTP. Actually in the words of the counsellor I am an ENFP who has learnt T skills. For the uninitiated, it is the result of the MBTI test which is most interesting and quite accurate. Though how it helps anyone is debateable. We had a field time discussing each other's profiles and dismissing differing traits which really was not the aim of the exercise :).

BTW just watching the scene where Samir is practising to propose to Pooja. Vintage Saif this. The movie is still one of my all time favourites provided the Akshaye Khanna part is fast forwarded. Subodh (remember the timebound boyfriend) has just entered and in Saif's words 'Lagta hain iska bathroom jaane ka time huaa hain' :). Awesome movie this.. Let me watch the movie and enjoy.

Till next time.

Luv,

Pranay

The heinous crime aka The hand that rocks the ladle - II

2010-03-07T21:18:00.001+05:30

He never knew what was going to happen to him as he lay in absolute peace confident about his status as the king when out of nowhere he was tortured on a flame stripped down and massacred.

It started with the menu of the guesthouse where I am currently put up. The cook I believe must be one of Inzamamam -ul-haq's (inzie) biggest fans. Why? Because he is totally in love with Alu. The only thing on the menu is Alu. There's Alu Gobi, Alu mutter, Alu Jeera. My previous experience with Alu dishes happened in the Hastings guesthouse where Mr Kailash (Remember 'The hand that rocks the Ladle - I') used to cook Alu only to increase his ROI (Alu being a relatively - with due respect to inflation cheap vegetable). So I told the gentleman to cook Baingan ka Bharta.

Baingan Bharta for people who like brinjals is this preparation of Brinjal which is quite tasty though not the easiest thing to manufacture. Baingan Bharta in fact had this quite long stint in Hindi movies where the mother tells his son that she has made him his favourite Baingan ka Bharta which probably affected my impressionable mind. Anyway the cook with absolute (Haryanvi) confidence convinced me ki ho jaayega. The reason I say Haryanvi confidence is because of the absolute confidence which the people in Gurgaon have on getting anything and everything done.

The poor Baingan meanwhile never knew what was coming to him. The Baingan Bharta involves this very braveheart style torture of the Baingan. In fact it would be probably the cruelest veg dish made. The poor Baingan is literally burnt alive till he gives out this awesome smokey taste which is then enhanced with some seasoning and yes most importantly the pinch of salt.

Discrediting a cook's culinary skills is like saying Jack and Jill knew nothing about rolling down the hill. So with a heavy heart I must say that the guy literally raped the Brinjal. There was enough salt in the dish to give the dead sea a complex. Though however he was kind enough to give me dal with Zero salt (must be all those healthy ads on TV).

Having been taught as a child never to waste food I found an easy way to make the entire lot palatable by mixing the dal with the bharta. I did after the dinner however mention to him quite apologetically that he had messed up feeling quite guilty because after all it was my idea.

I am yet to see anyone get so worked up about constructive criticism, He felt most annoyed that the salt dish did not appeal to me and then quite sarcastically asked me how come I had had the entire bowl to which I equally sarcastically replied that I mixed the dal to match the salt levels.

Anyway post some muttering and alu muttering and gnashing of teeth, he settled down and then told me that alu was back on the menu to which I readily agreed believing the alu would at least take the edge of the excess salt and we settled down to some peace and another discussion on hockey of which he has become quite an expert courtesy yours truly.

In memory of the happless brinjal.

Luv,

Pranay

The first flight

2010-03-07T15:43:00.002+05:30

It seemed just yesterday that he had broken his shell,
And now he stood at the branch, ready to soar.
His mother steeled her heart and nudged him.
For her little hatchling, she wanted more.

He looked back and smiled impishly,
For his nervousness, she could never know.
The sun had just risen, the sky was lighting up,
To see his first flight had come the morning glow.

He held his breath and spread out his wings,
Stood up on his little feet and jumped into the blue.
His mother let out a gasp, as her son headed to the ground.
She wondered whether it really mattered if he ever flew.

Her maternal instincts battling with her maternal dreams,
She reached the edge of the branch and looked below.
She saw his little body flapping his wings with all his might,
His movements were shaky, his reactions were slow.

And just as she was about to fly down to his rescue,
His little body straightened as he began to actually fly.
He chirped in delight, A chirp of exhiliration and sheer joy.
No longer was he a little bird, but the king of the sky.

The sun smiled as he saw this unfold before his eyes,
Even though he had seen this happen a million times.
The drama of the moment still got to his old heart,
And he cheered when he saw that the little bird was fine.

He saw that the little hatchling was now a magnificient bird,
Each time he saw it, it remained the most wonderful sight.
The element of drama, he knew was Mother Nature's little touch,
To enhance the experience of the once in a life first flight.

- Pranay Rao

Life in Arcturus

2010-03-02T23:17:00.000+05:30

Arcturus is a star which receives mention in the Star Trek series as a planet which is on the borders of the Klingon, Romulan and Federation which serves as a black market for all 3. Arcturus is actually a desert with dwellings. Each dwelling is self sufficient and protected by a force field which protects the inhabitants. However leaving the forcefields is fraught with danger due to the sudden storms.

I believe it was the shock of realizing that my first vehicle would have a Haryana number which probably numbed my senses. Otherwise I wouldve realized sooner that I would be residing in earth's very own Arcturus. Just think about it. Gurgaon is this dusty place which has climate that alters between 2 and 52 deg celcius. People mostly live in complexea and each complex has it's own power back up and loads of security guards. The odd chance you walk out for a stroll you could be frozen/burnt or robbed or maybe all three :D.

Anyway Gurgaon has been kinda nice to me courtesy the time of joining which happened to be right between summer and winter. My weekend plan for Gurgaon was to head out to Shimla/Dehradun having friends in both places. So I was naturally elated to be in Mussourie for this group building exercise in GSK my new organisation. I didn't click too many pics but made some new friends and really enjoyed the natural beauty.

BTW the best reaction of my transfer came from my aunt who really couldn't understand the big deal about me going to Goregaon(which she thought was Gurgaon) :D.

Life here is going to be interesting.

Luv,

Pranay

Why my nephew would be great at farmville

2010-02-20T01:00:00.000+05:30

Being totally jobless after 4 years has its plus points and its minus points. The plus point is total peace of mind courtesy the very minimum no. of phone calls but the minus point is sheer boredom. So I decided to observe my equally jobless and obviously pregnant older sister playing farmville.

Farmville is supposed to be one of the most popular games in the cyber world which is weird because I am really not a part of it and I do consider myself quite the early trend spotter. You do not get an id like pranay@gmail if you are a laggard. In my defence I did join farmville ages back, but slow net speeds in rural Karnataka stymied my initial enthusiasm for a game which I considered to be a poor cousin of the hugely popular original Simcity which I loved as a teenager.

Anyway I decided to observe the game being played by my sister and realized why my nephew would excel at the game. For starters it has a few plots of land where you begin growing some crop with some seed which you buy with your initial seed (unintended pun) capital. The interface has big pictures of all these vegetable seeds which would really appeal to a toddler. All the farming is make believe and that is where my nephew excels. And every time I see a message on my facebook page about some friend having found a lost sheep/horse/hippo I think about the little guy who seems to find (and lose) car keys, toys, imaginary articles etc etc quite easily.

The clincher though is the part where every farmer fertilises his neighbours farm. This is where I firmly believe my nephew would be the best. His attempts at potty training not withstanding, he could (if left diaper less in a farm) fertilise and irrigate the entire place in next to no time and would also probably win a ribbon for the same.

Farmville is the digital manifestation of the mind of a 2.5 yr old toddler who is excited about all the wonderful things he believes he has done which probably is the reason why so many people love to play it. The community is like this big playschool where a lot of kids come together and live a fantasy together which is what makes it so addictive.

So go forth and fertilise,

with a fertile imagination,

PR

Find your pinch of salt

2010-01-30T22:24:00.001+05:30

Jaipur 064, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

A month back I decided to expand my culinary expertise from Eggs and instant noodles to something more. So I picked up this vegetable biryani paste which promised a perfect biryani just by adding cooked rice and vegetables and with some advice from Mummy dearest conjured up what looked and smelt perfect. Yet my first spoonful of food made me realize that everything was there but it lacked a certain harmony, the most vital ingredient - a pinch of salt.

Life is quite similar. You could have everything in place but you need to have that one little extra thing which makes it perfect, the pinch of salt.

Take this picture for instance. For the 5 seconds it took me to focus trying to block the sun on my LCD screen (No pro cam this. I don't even have a view finder), all I could see was how beautiful it would look when captured for posterity. For those 5 seconds all of life's problems ceased to exist and there was harmony. It was my pinch of salt.

So go ahead, find your pinch of salt.

Luv,

PR

Travelling again. This time in a new direction

2010-01-26T12:40:00.001+05:30

Jaipur 058, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

The picture is of a gentleman basking in the winter sun in Jaipur reading a newspaper. Jaipur had quite a few people living on the gardens near the hawa mahal and the albert hall which was most beautiful.

We (Rahul, me and Goutomda) reached Jaipur on the 15th courtesy Rahul and me winning an internal call in ITC quiz contest which was a small part of the larger TM&D quiz we call Star Wars. That is one quiz I have never been able to qualify for so being at the finals was nice. Met loads of friends there. Won the smaller quiz event and got a trophy and a princely gift voucher of 1000 bucks :). Incidentally Jaipur was where I had won my first ITC accolade so it made sense that I win my last one there. Life comes full cycle.

The next morning we (Rahul and I) did some sight seeing and some shopping. Jaipur is known for a lot of it's local techniques of weaving and artistry. I bought a bandesh sari for mom. Bandesh is a dying technique which involves tying little knots in the fabric and dipping it into coloured dye. The knots prevent the dye from seeping into the knotted area which causes a unique design. Also bought a block printed bedsheet and a small kurta for my nephew.

We then headed to Nahargarh which has become a little more commercial since RDB was shot there. It's as beautiful as last time, though some more of the walls seem to have crumbled off. We then headed back to the airport and home.

After some careful consideration, finally put in my papers on 19th. Probably one of the toughest things to do post 3 years and 8 months in ITC. I realized how long it was since I've looked at my certificates. I had quite sensibly laminated all the certificates, though the marksheets have become a little like parchment.

Also visited G K Vale. G K Vale is to Bangalore photography what JJMehta is to serious camera buyers or FlickR is to all of us amateur digital photographers. However I didnt go to get a picture framed or something. I went there for a passport photo.

Post the photo session :), I headed off to subway grabbing a salad and sub and picked up boiled grape juice at Savoury which was most tasty.

Spent some part of the morning watching the republic day parade which had me a little freaked about staying in Gurgaon. I did spend one year in temperatures hovering close to zero in HP. Dreading waking up early morning on cold days. Feedback from friends in Gurgaon is scary. It is bloody cold there.

Life has moved in a new direction and I am liking it.

Luv,

Pranay

The power of Mmmmmmmmm.....

2009-12-26T19:44:00.000+05:30

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think Mmmmmmm. The most basic response, courtesy conditioned learning and reading of english literature would be that of taste. Mmmm in books means taste. Mmm generally would bring about the vision of an amazing chocolate desert or some really tasty Pasta, maybe the Xmas stuffed chicken. This is the mouth watering Mmmm

Now let this Mmmm reasonate through your body and breathe deeply. This would be the spiritual Mmmm as in an Hindu Ommmm or a Christain Ammmmen. This mmm is omnipotent. It indicates peace, a connection to your soul. My days of practising Shilpa Yoga and my years of attempts at meditation and mass have really shown me the value of this mmmm. One of my friends vouches that sitting in a place where there are multiple people chanting Om can heal you. I really have no scientific evidence on that one, but the 50 odd people saying Amen at a church sounds really nice. There is something about it's reasonance that is wonderful.

Then there could be the more husky Mmmm which would be sensual in execution. If you haven't heard it then you are probably in some Ashram/Monastery celebrating celibacy probaly chanting Om. Mmm is a part of Amma, Ammi and Mummy, which is probably the first word a kid learns. The reasonance of Mmmm is what makes the word that much stronger. It is the mm in the middle of the word that recieves maximum emphasis.

So the next time you want to achieve complete bliss think of Mmmm. It could be spiritual bliss through Om or Amen or the more sensual Mmmm through a chocolate desert or a hot woman or maybe a hot woman having a chocolate desert. Whatever might work for you, I hope it gives you a feeling of Mmmmmmmm.

Hmmmmmmmm, Food for thought,

- Pranay

P.S,: While writing this post I googled upon an article called ' A Sound Idea: Phonetic Effects of Brand Names on Consumer Judgments by Eric Yorkston and Geeta Menon' which proves that a brand name sometimes just needs to sound nice.

Life's like that

2009-12-17T20:59:00.002+05:30

Have had quite the hectic few weeks. Went back to Kolkata for a brand workshop and stayed at the Sonar. The last time I stayed there was for my induction into ITC. Felt really nice. At that time, it was my first stay at a hotel of that stature. We dug into each buffet meal with gusto. Went gymming, swimming, etc. Went and sat at the same place where I was sitting when I was told that I would begin my training in Jammu. It was the beginning of 3.5 years of corporate life. Each year a different role, a different experience. I had never thought I'd be riding a cycle selling cigarettes in Jammu, then trying to keep myself warm in a non heated vehicle while it was snowing in Manali to watching the surf on the beaches of Vizag to viewing the beautiful lake at Hyderabad to finally working in Mangalore in a place where my father was born. It all started in Sonar. Then, it felt like the beginning of an adventure.

From there I flew to Hyderabad for a project which had me working day and night. Hyderabad always seems to keep me awake at nights. It has been witness to my post campus longest sleepless spell. That was also the night we launched UltraPro. Awesome feeling that. Anyway this time was for a project for which we actually put in a lot of effort over a couple of months. It is something we believe is going to revolutionize the way we work. Sipping a glass of wine just as the day is breaking and switching on the TV to find Suprabhatam is on is pretty cool.

Watching TV, I can safely say that food prices are coming down what with the number of people fasting nowadays for one noble cause or the other. Infact the creation of new states might soon be determined on number of people fasting for vs fasting against. Imagine a website continuosly tracking the no. of people fasting and Pronoy Roy giving you hourly updates on the latest swing. Smaller states is an inevitable thing. Dr. Ambedkar believed that they had to be done. It's just that division should be for development only.

Anyway Tiger Woods just got voted the best athlete of the decade. Which other sportsperson can claim such success in his on field and off field games. Funny thing is what does his wife do. Her heart forgives him one transgression, then another. The latest score is 14 I think. Only question is whether he will complete 18. You know like in a round of golf :D.

Chalo need to catch some shut eye so that I can attempt jogging in the morning. I actually did an entire session of Yoga yesterday courtesy the Shilpa Yoga DVD which was free with two packs of Real Activ. Yoga might be therepeautic but it is quite a disturbing sight to see a human body contort itself in a manner, it was not meant too. Reminds me of a sign in my Boss's office which says 'If God meant me to reach my toes, he'd have placed them higher' :).

Yours enthusiastically,

Luv,

P.R.

2009-11-17T21:55:00.000+05:30

Whew!!

2009-11-14T09:17:00.005+05:30

Victoria, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

As a kid this carriage would have had me tugging at my dad's hand so that he would get me in for a ride. As a teenager, I would have gone up to the owner and told him a thing or two about about animal rights. As an adult, It seemed like this nice little thing to capture before it becomes extinct.

This is the famed victoria, which used to be quite a big deal in Mumbai too, till it was banned. Kolkata, the only city with the maximum modes of transport known to man of course has the Victoria. One problem though is that the original Victoria is quite rare to find nowadays. It's been replaced by these gawdy silver carriages.

Anyway the highlight of my trip was this visit to Teej. The food was quite OK. In fact nothing like the Rajasthani fare in Jaipur. It was a highlight because Teej is just next to my head office and from the year of my induction, I've been planning with my friends/colleagues (who kept changing) to go there. In the end it was a thing that I had to do. Something lke photographing the Gateway of India at dawn.

BTW the past few weeks were super hectic. Weekends have been get together time. Caught up with some of the AUTs (Management trainees) who had joined with me, then went to Hyderabad for some project where of course I had Paradise Biryani and bought this nice Chetan Bhagat book called Two states. I always justified reading the first book '5point someone' saying that I was supportingan IIM alumnus. That book was brilliant. 'One Night..' was decent., '3 mistakes' was too full of incidents but 2 states is positively hillarious. It drags a bit at the end but it is so relateable.

My 2 sales stints have been at Jammu and Karnataka, quite the opposites in terms of culture. In Jammu, sales would go up just on the basis of an emotional pep talk. In the south, there's much more rationality involved.

Anyway came back from Hyd to Mysore where we had a branch meet. Fared well in the bowling contest, sucked in the go Karting and hit the only 6 of the match in cricket. All in all good fun. Thanks to God, Karnataka has done some terrific achievements which were all celebrated.

Kooks was here for the weekend which meant general life discussions at 3 in the night and then after a scrumptous lunch at French loaf on Sunday headed to Kolkata which is where this post began.

BTW on the last day in Kol (was there for 4 days) had some nice cheese samosas at Nahoum, which lead to saree shopping abely guided by Tina and then rounded off with a good dinner at Mocambos. Tried this cocktail called Rum Collins which is a white rum + scotch combi with lime and some sugar in it. Somwhat close to a daquiri but much smoother. Infact, the taste had everyone on the table ordering it.

Came back yesterday first flight where I also had the cmpany of Neha and a couple of other PP people who were heading out for a leadership program. Thanks to the odd time and a very cold flight with no blanket courtesy a Jet airways scam called Jet Konnect, I had this terrible headache all of yesterday. All the office lemon tea really didn't help make it better.

Today is Saturday and I am hoping for a quiter weekend, which won't happen and probably some soccer on Sunday.

Life is taking me places again. It is still exciting in a very different way.

Luv,
Pranay

P.S.: Had a couple more comments about my new found maturity. Could it be true??

Room with a view

2009-10-22T22:53:00.001+05:30

Tipu's summer palace, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

One Sunday morning Tipu Sultan was fast asleep and the royal milkman rang the bell. So Mr Tipu got up and fired his cannon and boom, the milk man never came again. That was the only explanation I had for a cannon facing the entrance of the summer palace which has this most beautiful garden.

Travelling to Mysore with family was fun. I've been to Mysore umpteen times, Yet I've never visited any of the proper tourist sites. Saw Sreerangapatnam, Mysore palace and Brindavan gardens and bought some more handicrafts. Mysore is truly beautiful. Planning to spend a photography weekend there.

My parents vacation comes to an end on Sat. In fact Granny is leaving tomorrow. Dreading coming back to an empty house again :(.

- Pranay

The cartpusher and the science and hierarchy of shopping

2009-10-18T22:05:00.005+05:30

2 sleep deficient weekends really haven't helped me catch up on my sleep quotient. The first weekend was with friends who had come over to stay and then last weekend was spent at the railway station. First sat night to receive my parents, sis and nephew coming from Mumbai and then sunday morning to receive my granny.

There is something about a woman's touch which makes a house seem better. I've come home to fruit baskets and flowers. My mother has taken it upon herself to make my house habitable. So the clothes have been rearranged. My gym clothes cupboard is now filled with bedsheets and curtains. My cutlery portfolio has been extended from forks to an assortment of spoons and knives and there is home cooked food.

Anyway Maa, sis and me headed out to Metro because me in a moment of absolute idiocity described it as this awesomely wonderful place to shop. Metro tends to get a lil crowded on Sunday mornings, so I was forced to wake up at 900 and reached there by 1030.

Shopping in malls is one instance when gender equality goes out of the window. However much a woman believes in equality, she still expects a guy to push the shopping cart. The hierarchy of shopping is quite clearly defined. The woman decides, the man pushes the cart.

It is actually quite a fascinating sight to see happless men push around their carts while the women decide what is to be bought. On every second corner is a guy waiting while his wife compares the price of every possible brand of what she wants to buy. She then computes how much would she save if she bought three or four of the same thing (bulk discounts you know). Then after a series of calculations too complex for the male mind to fathom, she decides to keep the product in the cart and then walks three steps ahead and realises that she really didn't need that product so she promptly junks it.

There is also the situation when the woman at the fruits counter on one side of the hypermart, realizes she really really needs a toilet cleaner located at the other end so she looks at the man with a soulful expression and the poor guy has to push the cart all the way back. There is no way that he can refuse.

I having been a victim of such shopping, carefully chalked out a plan which meant we had to cover all aisles in a very structured manner, at least as structured as it can be. Which is when I observed the different types of shoppers.

The first type are the racers. These are generally the modern DINK couples or bachelors like me. They really are not for there for the bargains. The discounts are incidental, they just want a nice a/c atmosphere to shop in

The second are the bargain hunters. They just have to check each and every product till they find the ideal bargain. They check each and every product for discounts till they find the cheapest one.

Then come the scrutinizers. Generally this group are represented by the slightly elderly. They believe that all the stuff written on a product has to be read. They would make great proof readers and excellent brand ex :D.

Also important are the gigotos. Not to be mistaken with gigolos, gigotos are those people who firmly believe that grass is greener on the other side (G.I.G.O.T.O.S.). These people keep looking into the adjoining baskets. They are always sure that someone else has got a better product or a better bargain. You can actually trick them into buying something really expensive just by putting it into your cart/basket :).

Fifth come the hoarders. These are the gullible people that we marketeers love. They actually believe that the special offer of the day will never be repeated. So whenever they see something which looks remotely cheap, they hoard up irrespective of the fact that it may expire before they can use it.

Anyway I stood at the shopping counter poorer by a few thousand of fmcg products and richer by a microwave oven gifted by maa and sis. I looked back and saw a guy trying to smuggle a shaving cream into the cart he was pushing for his wife. The woman held his hand, looked at the price and placed it back all in one single smooth motion. He didnt even react.

Enriched with this new aspect of shopping I walked out towards the car when I saw a woman being followed by her cart pusher. It was like the scene from seabiscuit when seabiscuit the horse passes tom the trainer. Tom swears that it was the moment he saw the spirit in seabiscuit. In my case I saw this middle aged man who was probably a tyrant boss in his daily work life, trudging behind his wife. I looked into his eyes and saw absolute despondance. I flashed my most sympathetic smile.

In the hierarchy of shopping, a married man is the lowest level in the pyramid, the cart pusher. It is men like these who are responsible for many a family running smoothly. The true heroes of the shopping experience. I stood in silence for the two minutes he took to enter the mall.

Respectfully,

Luv,

PR

Clickety Clack, Clickety click

2009-09-29T01:18:00.001+05:30

Toy Train, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

The other night I was woken up by a horn and I cursed the driver when the sound was followed by the rumble of an engine and I was so elated. The fact that I could hear a train felt so cool.

There's something about a train that is really exciting. It's generally one of the first few toys that you give a kid. I remember being super excited to see this wonderful toy train at the Kochi Toy museum. It chugged and whistled and even changed tracks at the touch of a lever.

As a Mumbaikar, our lives have been governed by the train. well it's not 1/2 as romantic but there are so many wonderful stories about the train rides. A couple who are very close family friends met each other on the train. I still remember the guys trying to impress the ladies on the other side of the 1/2 gents 1/2 ladies 1st class compartment. Ok the trains were a lot less full then but just recently read the status message of a friend about a lady who he saw on the trin but couldn't find on FB or Orkut. We Mumbaikurs found our social networking tool years back. It's that train which shaped many a life, each different yet bound together.

Anyway the train in this picture is a wooden toy train, a legacy of a generation gone when kids actually played with wooden toys. The train has little windows cut into single blocks of wood with little wheels which move quite smoothly. It's got centre place on my showcase with priority over the wooden classic motorcycle.

Memories fly by like electric poles and trees,
of the wonderful moments in each train trip.
The gentle rocking, the movement from side to side.
The sound of the tracks the repetitive clickety click.

The blast of the horn at each level crossing,
asking everyone to not come in the way,
of the many dreams that are rumbling through,
of the memories created each passing day.

Every moment different in it's own special way.
Each passage like a nice little story.
Telling us, it's not the destination that matters,
In life what matters most is the journey

Luv,

P.R.

Operation 4G

2009-09-27T23:16:00.002+05:30

It's not some super duper project I'm working on and I'm really not 1 to blow my own trumpet. Well Ok maybe sometimes. Anyways I'm working on the most critical project in my personal life since I left home. Code name Operation 4G.

Let's cut to the chase. Come 10th October and my house is going to be invaded by ....wait for it... Can't help it since I'm such a HIMYM fan.. OK my house is going to be invaded by the 4 generations i.e. My granny, My mum, My sis and my nephew. 4 generations hence 4 G and each one with his/her own agenda.

My granny comes with the one point agenda to get me married to a nice mallu Syrian christian girl. Actually might not be such a bad idea. The min going rate for a syrian christian boy would be in the 5 million range. Me with my healthy disposition and an engg deg to boot (no self respecting mallu cares about an IIM) could probably pocket around 5 million. Hee Hee. Think abou the digital home theatre system I could setup with that kind of moolah.

My mother would probly agree with my granny's agenda except that she really wouldn't care for the Syrian Christian part. And she'd probably kill me if I accepted dowry being the equal rights person n all. She also wants to see what exactly am I up to. Am I eating healthy n all.

My sister is here to see the fun and add fire at the right moments and to ensure I get no chance to get away.

N my nephew is here because the little guy knows that his uncle is his only hope when it comes to toys, games, actually fun on the whole. He's also my secret weapon to keep my granny distracted.

So my solution is operation 4G.

Operation 4G works on multiple levels.

The first level is distraction. The idea is to never give any of the 4G elements a chance to really get enough time to corner me. So the first thing I did was to buy a Tata Sky Plus Digi com. the idea is to record every mallu movie within the next week so that there is enough content to keep my granny busy. For good measure I am even going to rent/buy a couple of good mallu movie discs :D.

The second level is extreme fatigue. Keep them touring Bangalore. Lined up a visit to Lal baug. Lunch at Cornocupia. Dinner at ITC Gardenia. 2 days in Mysore and maybe 2 more in Chikmaglur/mangalore.

The third level is cuteness. Buy enough toys for my nephew so that he is at his cutest best keeping everyone distracted.

Anyway my 4G plan also involves making my house a little liveable in the family way. So tomm mornin/noon courtesy PJ I am goin to visit Metro to get nice plates, glasses, sheets, food etc etc. Meanwhile my big TV plan has been altered a bit. I'm goin to buy a plasma TV simply because the colors are so much better and I'm going to get it post my very destructive nephew going back to Mumbai. I've moved all the curios in the front room furniture to higher higher shelves and the nice little bookshelf in the front room is going to be sealed with tape.

So there it is an overview of the plan I have in place to meet the 3 most wonderful women in my life and the little adorable brat.

Operation 4G is on and we take no prisoners.

Luv,

PR

If I could re - live each day

2009-09-20T23:31:00.004+05:30

I wouldn't want my life
to turn out any other way.
Not a minute would be different,
If I had a chance to re-live each day.

The successes would make me as happy,
The failiures would make me equally sad.
The sunlight would make me feel bright,
The soccer on rainy days would make me glad.

My handwritong would be as bad as now,
My shoelaces would still come undone.
My exam results would be equally erratic.
My life interspersed with work and fun.

I would still do what I love doing,
I would still hate that which makes no sense.
I would continue to dream dreams beyond my abilities,
I would meet the same people, make the same friends.

Life has been this most amazing symphony,
The tune just right, not a note out of key.
I have learned from each experience thrown at me.
To treasure what my life has turned out to be.

My best picture

2009-09-12T22:14:00.001+05:30

Slate painting at Chinar Cafe, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

I do believe this is the best picture I've clicked. This little girl was painting on a piece of slate. There are a lot of different colors though the overwhelming hue is blue. The girl is most oblivious of the picture taken without a flash.

The rice cooker

2009-09-06T22:04:00.002+05:30

Did I tell you about the wonderful pancakes that I made for breakfast. They were not exactly round, but they were immensely tasty with the right amount of maple syrup. In fact they were so good that I now have a problem of waking up early enough to make them. I know I won't do that everyday.

Today was quite a hectic day. Thanks to my touring life I've really not got around to getting a hired help. So this Sunday was clean up day. I swept and mopped the floor then washed up the vessels before I conjured up that wonderful breakfast. Actually this seems to be the only exercise I am getting lately which reminds me cycling for sure tomorrow morning.

Anyway I topped it with lunch at Oye Amritsar with the very Amritsari Vikram Chandan. The Rotis were a lot like authentic Punjabi cuisine, the Pindi Channa was OK but the Lassi was nothing Punjabi. It's got a nice interesting ambience and definitely visitable. We actually reached there at 3, so it took some convincing to get our lunch. Vikram wearing an I amritsar T - shirt helped :D.

We then headed out to Croma to get my rice cooker but instead walked into Amoeba for bowling which we could not do courtesy a huge crowd and were instead intercepted by some researchers for a mobile phone research. They gave us a deodorant as the gift. Was conducted quite professionally I must say.

Anyway a visit to any electronic store for me is a very expensive affair. So I ended up buying a UMD of Mortal Kombat, a Silicon case and TV adapter cables for my PSP and checked out the LCD/Plasma TV section with a heavy heart. All this before I even saw the rice cooker.

The background to this cooker ting is that it was exactly in May 2001, when my grandpa (mom's dad) died that my dad and I had bought a rice cooker in Mumbai. Mom and sis being in Kerala and me having my engg exams meant the two of us were left to fend for ourselves, which we did admirably. Saw the exact model in the rack at Croma. It suddenly brought some memories back. I bought a better one this time, one with a steamer and all. I'm after all a SINK (Single income no kids) family :).

Came home and called Mumbai when dad picked up the phone. I had asked mum for advice on the rice cooker and she'd apparently told dad because he asked me whether I remembered the time we both had gone to buy the rice cooker and how we cooked (and sometimes ordered) dinner each night. I said yes and there was a silence before we resumed the conversation with our favourite topic Ansh my nephew.

It's funny how sometimes something so insignificant can bring back some very powerful memories. Memories are linked by so many such insignificant objects which played a part in some very signiicant parts of our life.

Here's to cooked rice and steamed veggies.

Luv,

Pranay

I'm a quizzer too

2009-08-31T23:59:00.003+05:30

'He's Pranay, Kolkata BEQ'. This was me being introduced by one quizzer to another just before Tata crucible. Tata crucible is supposed to be one of the toughest business quizzes in India and now I know why. That's the first time some1 introduced me like that and it felt nice. Some quizzing pedigree you see.

My quizzing partner Tanmay (a previous Crucible national finalist) and I breezed through the prelims but could not really max the finals. Part luck of the draw, part good quizzers on the dais meant we finished 3rd and won a DVD player and a pair of sun glasses.

On the way back I discussed quizzing with a couple of quizzing souls who seemed most impressed with my credentials. I've taken part in 2 proper corporate quizzes - One the BEQ where I reached the national finals (and got creamed there) and the Crucible in Bangalore (where 3rd is supposed to be decent out of 300 teams).

Quizzing in school I did with limited success. College quizzing in Mumbai is really not considered a big thing (not that I would've done anything big if I took part). It is only in IIMK where I understood that quizzing is something big. People spoke about quizzing as if they were speaking about a hot chocolate fudge sundae. I never quizzed in K because there were too many quizzers around. These guys took their quizzing abilities seriously.

Then suddenly last year, courtesy my super boss, I took part in the Kol round table and even made it to the final. Suddenly quizzing was interesting. I still remember being quite tense in the Kol BEQ. There was an interview on Times Now for the finals for which I fumbled and they had to do a retake.

This time I was super comfortable on the dais, maybe because I knew very little. But I actually smiled on the retakes for CNBC and even made a wise crack answer. I still have to develop the hunger for knowledge and skill over the buzzer round. But a few corporate quizzes and a couple of successes later, I can proudly claim today that I am a quizzer too.

Quizzically,

Pranay

P.S.: Please don't expect me to know who is the CEO of some XYZ co. or who is some business man's great grandfather. If you know it - good for you :)

Understanding India and Independence - Are we there yet?

2009-08-15T15:30:00.001+05:30

Picture 019, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

It's 14:00 on a Saturday afternoon. I'm relaxing on my featherlite ergo chair, while blogging on my sleek little dell latitude with my blackberry on silent alternating between Rang De Basanti and Swades. I'd rather be playing medal of honor on my PSP but it ran out of battery. BTW today is Independence day.

62 years back when the country awoke while the world was sleeping,(not entirely true since most of America was awake) our forefathers had great dreams of us regaining our lost glory of the land of plenty, the bird of gold, etc.

There is this movie where a kid sitting behind his father keeps asking 'Are we there yet?' till they reach the destination. It's humorous and irritating. It's also the power of follow up. As a manager, I follow up on my team on a daily basis trying to figure out whether they are doing what I've asked them to, whether we are on track, whether we will meet our targets. There are systems to measure performance, to track progress.

Let's come back to India. Every 2nd day I hear about some poverty program through huge ads in newspapers. But yet I can see no definite tracking system. Yes India's progressing. Progressing in patches. But this progress is not because of some well organized, well executed plan. It is largely due to the initiative of great business leaders like the Tatas or the Narayan Murthys. It is because of individuals who saw potential and tapped it. Who saw India's largely untapped intellectual capital and leveraged it. India is definitely shining. It's just that it shines in patches like the lights on a ganesh chaturti mandal. Blinking on and off.

Every third day I travel through patches of rural India. The rural India that I see is not the Caste - ridden desert of a Swades. The villages have their facilities. There's the SBI ATM, there is the occassional samsung dealership. But for every Santro that I see in rural India, I also see countless homes where they have no water, no electricity. Every fourth shop I visit have these huge inverter batteries and/or there is the stench and sound of diesel powered gensets. For all the subsidised diesel that is used and the electricity that is being stored, good planning could have ensured continous supply. In fact the power situation is not just a problem in the villages. It's a problem in Bangalore too.

In ITC, we managers are eligible for a geyser, a water purifier and an inverter. We are quite the Indian company, in fact there would be few managers who would be so much in tune with the real India. The Inverter is in use even in a city like Bangalore. 62 years after independence and the tap opens to muddy water, quite unfit to bathe in, let alone drink. The water purifier is a must, a bare necessity. We may be the country of the future, yet we cannot guarantee power and potable water. BTW the color of the water is something I can't come to terms with. I exist on mineral water.

Food, water, clothing and electricity are the bare requirements of today's India. If one were to judge the effectiveness of 62 years of this country, we should just calculate how much percentage of the country has any of these forget all of these. I can safely say we are nowhere as prosperous as we claim to be. There's miles to go, the problem is we have no idea whether we are heading in the right direction. We are yet to understand India, we know not where we need to go.

RDB is on the final scene, the scene where the army people attack the radio station. There's loads of melodrama. These are the jeans clad youth of today trying to make a statement. I love the movie because it at least attempts to bring some accountabilty to the system. The ends don't justify the means but the movie did help bring about some kind of revolution in India. It brought to task the accused in the Jessica lal case.

Hey it's not all bad, especially for urban India. I studied in a school where the government paid for my schooling. They picked up most of my tab for my engineering and MBA. I got to study in a world class institution of Indian pedigree. I have seen India in it's towns and villages, in it's temples and churches.

A few years back,, I had this talk with a friend from a retail giant. He was convinced that the big bad retail giants would overrun the landscape. He had a study from some big consultancy to prove it. Years later even the big retailers with all their money are re-thinking plans. He with his army of MBAs and super duper margins, logistics just can't compete with the mom and pop stores. You see the average Indian may not be the world's best planner, but he has one big heart.

You know the best example of India is this large retailer in rural India who never stocked our products and who became one of our biggest supporters just because a manager gave his kid a chocolate. What margins and schemes couldn't do, a bit of heart did.

India in my limited understanding has a lot to achieve and all this can happen only if we realise the power of the individual Indian. Plans for development and progress must be bottom up and not top down. We need to empower every Indian. We need something on the lines of the Grameen bank in every little village. Every Indian in every village has to be empowered. Every village has to be empowered.

You know if I were to choose between RDB and Swades as a movie I would choose RDB because I am an Indian and I think with my heart. It deals with the big issue, the more visible one.. The one which means instant justice but what we actually need is the swades philosophy. Every village learning to be self sufficient in terms of water, food, clothing and electricity. It's only then that we reduce their dependence on the mainstream. Villages serve as the foundation of the country. We must strengthen it.

As a nation we have to take a stand to not be slaves to visibilty. Let's stop doing the big things and hope the small things come right. It's time for micro management. Instead of having to spend millions in improving the cities and towns, let's spend it on the villages, tackling one village at a time. It may not give the same impact of a Bandra Sea Link project or some amazing new airport complex. If anything the government should handle all urban development to private companies. They will do better than the government companies there. The government should for the next 10 years work only on the villages. Make them into self sufficient units.

BTW It's that scene in Swades where SRK, who takes this one whole lot of effort to light a bulb. It's really not exciting to watch. But by lighting that bulb he has brought self sufficiency to the village in terms of electricity. Self sufficiency - Isn't that Independence. It's time we realize that Independence isn't about raising flags in the cities, it's about making each individual unit independent.

We as a country today are independent, but there are miles to go before each one of us attains independence. Independence in terms of our basic requirements. Independence of speech, of religion, of thoughts. That will be the day when we truly celebrate our independence day.

BTW the picture above is one of a tractor which is used to turn a dynamo which provides the electicity for an entire wedding function. Truly Indi(a)genius. True Indian Indpendence is a long way off. It's now our job to play the role of the annoying kid and keep asking the people who lead the question 'Are we there yet?'

Jai Hind

- Pranay

Juno

2009-08-13T21:26:00.003+05:30

Just watched Juno. I luv watching the movie for it's wonderful soundtrack. The lyrics stand out. Here's a sample:

If I was a flower growing wild and free
All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and green
All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves

If I was a flower growing wild and free
All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and green
All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a river in the mountains tall,
The rumble of your water would be my call.
If you were the winter, I know I'd be the snow
Just as long as you were with me, when the cold winds blow.

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a wink, I'd be a nod
If you were a seed, well I'd be a pod.
If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug
And if you were a kiss, I know I'd be a hug

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were the wood, I'd be the fire.
If you were the love, I'd be the desire.
If you were a castle, I'd be your moat,
And if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float.

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

Catch the remaining at http://www.stlyrics.com/j/juno.htm

Luv,

Pranay

Life with a dash of pepper and salt

2009-08-09T19:14:00.001+05:30

Picture 072, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

That's the picture of my first cooked meal at my new house in Bangalore. All the touring really hasn't given me time to set up home. So it's coming together piece by piece. Ages since I cooked anything, which explains the non uniform shape of the eggs, but it was exactly as planned, one yolk broken one yolk to create the bulls-eye look. Freshly ground pepper and salt with a dash of Maggi hot and seet sauce and four slices of bread.

Anyway spent the week traversing Karnataka. Travelled the length and breadth of Karnataka then spent friday catching up with IIMK friends. Saturday was work day.

Sunday started positively with a football match which we lost largely because of lack of stamina. Got an invite from the organisers to practice along with the ITC factory team on Sundays. Should take it up. Brunch was the above meal with some fruits and a glass of Chocolate Soya milk.

The Karnataka road trip was most interesting. Karnataka really has some awesome scenery and apparently some great tourist spots, which I plan to visit in the future. Did visit Belur temple which is among the few ASI temples where worship continues on a daily basis. Clicked some pictures which are visible on Flickr.

Anyway it's already sunday evening, which I am spending in front of the TV watching KKHH while sipping a Cold Coffee and a Diet Pepsi with my legs resting on the centre table recuperating from the morning soccer match. Though it does seem there are more ads than movies on the hindi movie channels.

Tomorrow's office. Planning to do a bit of cycling in the morning. Bangalore apparently has a very strong cycling culture and a quizzing culture. Just that I am too lazy to get in.

Like food, Life's best served hot with a dash of pepper and salt.

Luv,

P.R.

Urban rain

2009-08-02T18:48:00.004+05:30

Life halted and everything came to a pause,
As I stepped out for a moment from this rat race.
I looked up at the sky, moonlight shining through dark clouds,
and felt the cold raindrops as they hit my face.

People stopped in their tracks, the landscape froze,
The traffic stopped as all life came to a halt.
I could sense every sight, every sound amplified.
The smell of the wet earth, the sound of raindrops on asphalt.

The concrete jungle revealed a heart of nature,
The birds twittered, asking each other the way to shelter.
The rain had come and wet their homes.
Now in terror they squaked as they flew helter skelter.

The pitter patter changed to a little roar,
and the raindrops changed to a sheet of rain.
The rain cleansed the city of all it's impurity,
Washing away miseries, washing away pain.

Mother nature smiled at the city in all her glory,
The city smiled back for it's heart was alive.
In the body of cement was a soul of opportunity,
where millions struggle, where millions thrive.

Every person in the city came with a different dream,
Each life in this city may have a different destiny,
but connected they are by the first raindrops,
that to their heart brings a childlike glee.

The rain stopped and all life was in motion again,
the sound of the city drowning out what nature had to say.
I slung my bag across my shoulder, wiped off my specs,
strangely, the rain drops were a spot of sunshine in an otherwise rainy day :).

Luv,

Pranay

Being edwin aldrin

2009-07-21T23:44:00.002+05:30

Life is full of firsts. You know your first steps, your first crush, your first fight,... And we live in a world which is all about being first. The first guy to fly the plane, the first guy to ride a car, etc. No one seems to remember the guy who was second. Who cares about him yaar? he's the perpetual bride's maid, the guy who never made it and then there's edwin aldrin.

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin is the guy who was the second man on the moon. Imagine sitting in that small little Lunar module with the computing power of today's casio calc, not knowing whether you are going to ever go back to earth and watching while you see Neil Armstrong land his foot on the moon. That must've hurt. Well the inside story is that they flipped a coin to see who'd set foot first but the coin never landed so Mr. Armstrong pulled rank and walked on the moon or was it a grand set in Texas.

The world is full of Edwin Aldrins. The guys who just missed being CEOs. The guy who just lost the race. the guy who just lost wimbledon and unlike Mr. Aldrin they are forgotten much faster. We are a world who works like a Pyramid. There has to be an apex. A leader, a king. The greeks began democracy as a rule by many, but today we still need a figurehead, a president/Prime minister to lead the country. It's not that he alone can do anything, but we as a race need someone to idolise, someone to berate.

It's really not bad to be an Aldrin. Not everyone can be an Armstrong (be it Neil or Lance). If you've been to Mumbai during Gokulashtmi, you've probably seen the human pyramid of people. I've been part of that. The tallest and strongest generally form the base. It's generally the scrawniest who climbs up and braks the handi. Every Pyramid needs that strong base and yet it's always the hindi film hero who breaks the handi whereas logically he'd be much more useful downstairs.

The egyptians knew what they were doing when they made the pyramids. It's the ultimate structure of power. They like all of us know that it's the top that counts. The world is choc - a -bloc full of people in the pyramid. It's the top who every1 knows.

So think about it, it's really not being an Aldrin. Actually it would be great to be him. You really need the peole who support the top. Who help the guy on top being who he is. So go ahead and don't feel bad about being that number 1. It's OK. There's always place for an Aldrin. Though if it's all the same I'd rather be Armstrong :)

- Pranay

P.S. any1 remember the 3rd guy who was orbiting the moon. Scott something I believe.

Poetry in motion

2009-07-15T21:38:00.001+05:30

IMG_0903, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

One of the most technically brilliant scenes that I remember is from this movie called blade - trinity, where count dracula walks in slow motion while the crowd around him seems to be moving at full speed. The scenes been replayed in a zillion movies yet it sticks in my head because of the sheer poetry in motion. there's something about the timing. It's that moment in life when you stand still and the world whizzes by. It's retrospection time.

I'm right now in Bangalore down with a tummy infection again. I think it's time I visit a proper gastroentologist. I've been keeping busy. Looking at sales, trying to read some books which I picked up at the strand book fair.

This Sunday was most different, beginning with meditation, moving on to a nice french lunch at Bat & Ball which reminded me of Satsanga in Pondicherry and then scategories with friends read Manish, Andy, Tanmay and Angad and dinner at Manish's. Bangalore is turning into more of a things to do place. At least I am surrounded with people who are enthusiastic to do something.

Anyway all the beautiful markets which are part of my market have yet to be visited by me. I really have to get my act together and start travelling more. Anyway travelling will have to wait a couple of days. till I recover at least.

My good friend during all this travelling has been the Kamath's restaurant. Unfortunately experimented at Kollegal, which caused my tummy problem. The Kamath's restaurants are these complete vegetarian places where you are served excellent veg food. The food reminds me of the fare my granny (Amma) conjured up for Gokulashtmi. You have a choice of Puris and/or Jowar Rotis with an assortment of curries, each uniquely tasty. The curries are really not designed to go well with the rotis. The flavour comes out excellently with rice, which is quite the staple here.

I have hardly had an opportunity to use my camera during my tours yet, mainly because they have been hectic one day affairs. Once fitter I plan to do a good long tour of the entire branch territory, trying to understand each part. There's only so much you can understand through hearasay. Part of learning is experiencing.

BTW blade - trinity is quite the OK movie, so don't go and watch it because of this post. But there are contless such movies which have a special part which people will always remember. Take Chamma Chamma from China Gate. The movie sank like a stone but the song lives forever through Moulin Rouge. And even the greatest movies have their sore points. I hope you have seen Seher, this wonderful movie about the UP underworld with Arshad Warsi and Pankaj Kapoor. There is this irritating little trick in this very real movie. Every time Mahima Chowdhury (looking nice for a change) comes onto the scene, there's a fan blowing on her face, which I tell you is quite out of place.

Anyway life has moved onto a completely different job in a completely different city with very different things to manage. For a moment I too need to pause and watch as the city passes by, just like in the picture I clicked in Ernakulam.

Till next time,

Luv,

Pranay

Finding my roots and holding on to it.

2009-06-12T15:04:00.001+05:30

IMG_0893, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

As a kid I always remembered the last day of my vacations in Kerala when my grandfather after delaying/re-scheduling our tickets back home would finally condescend to allow us to go back home. Then he would stand at the platform with tears in his eyes watching us go away. It broke my heart each time.

In the 8 years post his death I've just gone to our house in Pathnapuram once. I also had to pay my last respects to my uncle, whose funeral I did not attend last year. Something I will regret forever. Anyway the house looks the same, though the surroundings have changed. The paddy fields across the road have vanished. They have been filled in so that they can be sold as non agricultural land, much more valuable but not half as beautiful. Consequently the stream near the paddy fields has been walled in. The stream for most part of the year used to be the paddy farmers best friend and occassionally a bad spell of monsoon would cause floods which would destroy the same paddy fields which it had watered all year round.

A recent article quoted to me said that Indian and Chinese people are resillient thanks to the paddy they grow. Standing in knee deep water, ensuring that the paddy stays seperated is tough work. The modern labourer of Kerala doesn't like to do this work any longer.

Every Kerala house generally has a small little outhouse. In the days of old, rubber sheets used to be created here. Behind it was this wild piece of land where my grandfather would grow everything from jackfruit, tapiocca, bananas to cashewnut and grapefruit. My granny has cleared up this space and now rubber saplings have been planted interspersed with teak and mahogany trees. The saplings will take another 4 years to mature says granny before she can begin tapping them for rubber milk.

The driveway is still strewn with pebbles taken from a river bed nearby. They now lead to an empty garage. The beautiful mark 2 ambassador sold off years back. The cost of maintaining it and the difficulty in finding a driver means my granny is dependent on local cabs who she calls up. She anyway keeps moving between Ppuram and her flat in Kochi and our home in Mumbai. Kochi provides security (the flat is in my uncle's hospital) and convenience but she can hardly stay away from her estate. Each brick in the wall, she says was selected by her personally. Leaving her home is not an option.

The grand old house is no longer the biggest in Pathnapuram. The position has been long taken away by huge palatial bungalow's made with 'gulf' money. Some look beautiful, resplendent in Kerala architecture. Some are gaudy eyesores. Guess the gulf money can't bridge the gulf in class :).

This small little vacation with maa, dad, nephew, sis and bro - in - law has been most wonderful. Has seriously made me consider a move to Mumbai. Chintu and Kau have been driving the same point into my head from some time. Driving down from flags to home after a plate of Alfredo corn Nachos listening to songs at full blast felt great. It was more than a drive post dinner. It was a drive down memory lane.

A lot of emotions, a lot of experiences in this trip. Just a day to go and I have the same feeling in my tummy which I felt while watching my grandpa at the platform.

Happiness with a tinge of sadness,

Pranay Rao

See bra see bra

2009-06-04T23:56:00.002+05:30

I am finally on a vacation (14 months since the last 1) in conservative Kerala, so it was quite a shock to hear a couple of children point out and shout 'See bra, See bra'. It was only when I (purely to satisfy my inquisitiveness) looked in the direction they were pointing to see a homely striped creature called Zebra standing in his enclosure at Trivandrum Zoo.

Kerala has just got a whole new facelift with modern malls and shopping centres dotting the landscape. The men still wear the Mundu/lungi and the women typical sarees but the Kitex lungi is now available at a neat modern trade outlet.

In fact the lungi is not half as obscene as it is made to seem. Of course there is the ocassional draft of wind which could give it a grotesque marilyn monroe effect but mostly it can be worn most classily or so I think because I won't be caught dead in one. I am just standing up for my mallu brethren.

Key facts that I have discovered during this trip:

I am bloody eligible not withstanding recent comments from narrow minded colleagues, etc. The fact that I am an engineer (nobody bats an eyelid at the IIM part) and a computer engineer at that makes me hot property.
I am the only person that my nephew listens to which has given me special status in our travelling group of my mom, dad, sister and bro in law. The little kid positively adores me and vice versa.
Rice can be eaten (in various forms) 3 times a day.
My Syrian christian relatives never heard about vegetarians. The closest thing to a vegetarian they have heard of is the family elephants they used to have. Considering my size I am worried they might just serve me rice balls and bananas.
Waking up at 7 am is a piece of cake especially when you know that it leads to a healthy breakfast and not a sweaty gym.
Being surrounded by keralites (SEC A for sure) is amazing for my ego. Most of them make me feel like (a slightly healthier) Salman Khan.
Skin colour is not skin deep. Fairness here is almost a virtue. Must be one freaking huge market for fair and lovely.
I really truly needed this break from work. It's liberating. This is what the African women felt when they burnt the (see)bra. Hee Hee. Couldn't help that one.

My trip till now has been pretty amazing with visits to Kochi and Trivandrum and playing with my nephew. It hasn't rained a drop since we've been here, which is kinda odd for Kerala. The weather is warm. Warm enough for my nephew to want to spend his day in the stream outside the house and yet not hot enough to need an a/c.

Till the next time I get a steady net connection.

Curled up with 'The god of small things'.

Luv,

Pranay

Medicines in India

2009-05-19T12:49:00.003+05:30

A bad tummy has kept me home for 2 days and living on electral and tablets. I live at Hastings which is considered an upmarket area in Kolkata so I headed out to the local doctor. The local doctor has this small dispensary next to a medical store here. I was waiting in line with about 10 - 12 women and a couple of army guys. The dispensary was dark and small with a doctor who seemed to know what he was talking about.

This is the situation in Kolkata, one of the metros of India so you can imagine the situation in smaller towns. The last time I had fallen ill in Kalka, on the way to Shimla I was attended to by a doctor who was not an MBBS. Even then I felt that the medical care facilities in India really need to improve. I don't think it's a lack of Doctors. It's just that they are not available at the right place.

One more problem I noticed was the chemists not selling tablets as per requirements especially for the expensive tablets and tablets I must tell you are very expensive. My tablets cost me all of 250 bucks for 3 days. that would be a large chunk of salary for a lot of people.

As a kid I had a dream of an India complete in every aspect. Haven't done much to change it yet. But if me living in a city doesn't have access to medical facilities, a lot of India would be at the mercy of quacks who are taking advantage of poor hapless people.

One thing we guys can do is probably contribute unused unexpired medicines to medicine banks available at many chemists. I know local chemists in Mumbai had it. What would anyway have been thrown out can help somebody.

Let's do our bit. Remember every drop can catalyse a wave.

The last few pages

2009-05-16T19:45:00.002+05:30

P160509_17.52[01], originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

Another chapter ends in my life. This one's on branding and what better way to end it than winning the Brand equity Quiz at Kolkata traditionally one of the best quizzing cities. Unfortunately couldn't make much of an impression at the finals.

I'm now moving on to Bangalore which means I'm getting closer home to Mumbai. I'm moing to Sales - Grocery 1, Karnataka. Which means handling sales of the food brands.

Definitely interesting stuff this.

Clicked this picture at Princep Ghat today. The kid was busy washing his face in the water oblivious of me clicking him with my phone camera - the LG Viewty.

BTW got loads of gifts at Kolkata - 1 Lakh worth gifts + another 20K worth at the finals including a handsfree, a coffe machine, loads of gift vouchers and a 5 star cruise.

Now to find some1 to join me there :).

Luv,

P.R.

'Give us today our daily bread' or what happened at brand equity 09 and my visit to Mother house

2009-05-03T13:51:00.006+05:30

That's a line from the Lord's prayer and also what resulted in one of the most amazing stories of my life. But let's start at the beginning.

Wednesday morning. Two teams from ITC were to go for the brand equity. The two teams wereto be created from a pool of 4 people GK Suresh (my super boss), Satish, Sreerang and me. Sreerang and me have participated in 2 quizes earlier and missed qualification by a point both times. Satish and me had qualified for a super tough quiz where we messed up. Anubhav (who had to go to Mumbai for some work) and Satish had earlier come fourth in one of the Kolkata circuit quizzes.

Anyway Satish and I decided on 2 teams (rotation for luck) - Satish and Sreerang and GK Sir and me. Come 5:30 Sreerang lands up at our office where Satish and I were furiously wrapping up our work. Sreerang and I decided to go ahead and fill the qualification forms as GK Sir and Satish were busy. So we left at 5:45 for a quiz thatwas to start at 6. Kolkata quizzes are famous for starting super late so we strolled into kala mandir at 6:00 to be told by the sponsors that the quiz is starting.

Sreerang and I were then suddenly the only team from ITC. We ran in and sat for the prelims of 30 questions out of which we got around 19 which seemed to be decent. However Godbole and I have this knack of missing finals by a point, so we waited with bated breath for Derek O Brien. The Derek O Brien we had seen on numerous BQCs, Brand Equities announced the bottom 12. Then the top 3 before announcing that the fourth team was a small and upcoming Kolkata company (which had us shaking our head) before announcing ITC. He also commented that we had qualified many times but ITC had never won (at least at Kolkata).

Then started a wonderful quiz (in hindsight). We were the underdogs as the Kol quizzing circuit is full of stalwart teams. On the Dias were StanC, IBM, TCS(who were the defending national champions 2008), Cognizant and M junction.

We started off well (to every1s surprise). Leading the first and 2nd rounds before TCS caught up at the third round and passed us by the fifth round. TCS and us were on the top 2 for the last round where teams are given 8 questions. The rule is that teams can be in the buzzer round (10 for right, - 10 for wrong) as long as they have a chance to catch up with the top 2 teams. The first question saw m junction exit. TCS were at 60 and we were at 55. Cognizant, StanC and IBM were tied 3rd on 40. TCS beat us to the buzzer for the next question which was Agra's favourite sweet. Ans: Petha after which IBM gave a wrong answer which was a -10 and they exited. Then came 2 questions which no one answered (we obviously wanted to stay in the top 2) and Cognizant and StanC exited which left TCS and us at the top 2 with 3 questions to go.
Question 6: Which is the first word of SWOT if arranged alphabetically. TCS hit the buzzer before us and were ready to kill ourselves when they said Strength and we couldn't believe our ears.
Score TCS 60 ITC 55.
Next question: Which product is named in the Lord's prayer. The answer 'Bread' in the line 'Give us today our daily bread'. We hit the buzzer and suddenly the quiz changed.
Score ITC 65 TCS 60
The last question. Who is known as the originator of management? TCS hit the buzzer and answered 'Booze A Hamilton'. We believed the answer was McKinsey.
Then Derek called the chief guest onto stage and there was the whole 10 minutes of drama when he asked us our answers and revealed the right answer:

Mckinsey.

Score: ITC 65 TCS 50.

Suddenly we had won the Brand equity Kolkata round and all thanks to the Lord's prayer.

Thank you god.

BTW this would be my last few weeks in Kolkata so I finally decided to visit Mother Teresa's grave. I asked someone at my church where was Mother Teresa's grave and he personally took me outside and pointed in the direction of AJC bose road. I asked him for a landmark and he smiled and said 'Everyone knows mother house'.

I took his advice and flagged down a cab and told him mother house and the cabbie knew. He parked the car besides this little lane. I got down and one slightly disformed young lady just pointed towards an alley where a man in a lungi and banian pointed to a small gate. The time was 11:50 and the visiting hours were till 12. I was directed towards Mother's small little room, sparse and simple. There is something about the place that feels different. You have to go there to experience it. I then walked to this little museum which speaks about this great ladies life which is amazing. Read Navin Chawla's biography of her. We (a couple of foreign tourists) and I went to her grave where all the sisters came in to pray. Trully a wondeful feeling. Do go there if you are in Kolkata. It's humbling.

Luv,

Pranay

The Egg Bhurji

2009-04-18T19:44:00.002+05:30

The Egg Bhurji (scrambled eggs for the angrez) is the most unerrated meal in the world. It's like Boman Irani in a good movie. Everyone likes him but no one credits him with the success of the film. The egg Bhurji is simplicity personified. It's two eggs mangled out of shape with some chopped onions, tomatoes and chillies for flavour. Sometimes there's a little milk added for flavour and volume and there's always a pinch of salt. In fact it's the sheer simplicity of making it that actually goes against it in the hierarchy of food.

The Bhurji and I have spent many wonderful moments together. Early childhood when my mother falling sick meant my dad cooked (actually undercooked) this wonderful dish which always had my mother getting well just so that her children would be spared from the torture or later when I learnt the intricacies of cooking a good egg dish and a wonderful bowl of maggi noodles just so that I could be spared from my sister's (attempts at) cooking. It's been a year since I cooked a Bhurji or anything for that matter butI eat it once a fortnight at least.

One of my most memorable Bhurji eating incidents is the biking trip to Wayanad on a rainy dark night which culminated in this wonderful meal and of course my stay in HP where most -2 deg Cel mornings were made better by this humble little meal.

I will always treasure the experience of this humble dish eaten with a few slices of bread or a Maska Pav (remember Cafe Mondegar when we were kids) on a nice wintry morning just before a football match with a nice cutting Chai.

Sometimes the best things in life are simple, simply wonderful.

Luv,
Pranay

P.S.: Bet this post got your mouth watering :).

The hand that rocks the ladle

2009-03-22T19:10:00.004+05:30

I live in an ITC chummery. Getting here and staying here has been a battle in itself. The chummery comes with it's own help who go by the name Kailash and his side kick Bharat. The only problem is Kailash thinks he owns the house and we are his hired help :). The little man has rules about meals in that we must order it hours in advance. Woe betide the man who lands up for a meal unprepared cause the little man shakes his head in grief and expresses his inability to cook any food.

Anyway Mr. Kailash is one smart business manager cause we pay him a fixed sum per meal so if we do forget to tell him what to cook (he is a great cook), we are suprised by certain leafy vegetables and wierd looking forms of gourd which only he seems to know about. I infact have this sneaky suspicion that he makes them out of the plants around our building compound. We just shake our head when any of these things arrive and generally get him to make an egg Bhurji, which of course is an extra charge.

Last week, Kailash gave me a super duper smile and even good food unannounced, which was truly suspicious and then came the reason. Some bright person introduced the concept of a guestbook at the chummery with (hold your breath), a feedback column. If this were scrubs/Ally McBeal I would've probably rocked my head back and broken into maniacal laughter. However this is the man who cooks my food and you never know what could slip into your meal. Thumb rule: Never mess with the hand that rocks the ladle :).

Having gained my leverage, I have delayed my feedback giving for all of 3 weeks enjoying superior service and plan to push this advantage for as long as possible :D.

To better food
Hee Hee Haa Haa Haaa

- Pranay

Branding in the country of The holy Cow

2009-03-21T20:22:00.002+05:30

The holy Cow, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

Branding, the word has it's origination in the branding of cattle by American cowboys. They used to use hot iron to brand their cattle and obviously there was differentiation amongst ranch cattle which was where the first brand choice was made, The branding concept was taken forward to beef which was branded and then ofcourse to denim.

Branding in India is probably the biggest challenge faced by any marketeer anywhere. You have regions which behave as independent countries. You have guys like Nirma which suddenly gives the Unilevers of the world a run for their money.

I work for ITC, probably the only tobacco company in the free world who has taken on Marlboro successfully through branding. A company which launches a brand a month,through their Food and Personal Care businesses and yet it's tough as hell to crack the Indian consumer.

All the SWOT charts, Ansoff matrices and Maslow's hierarchy charts can't help make sense of the Indian consumer. Trust me, I've spent a year in consumer insight, the Indian consumer is one tough guy to understand. I've managed what is the world's largest consumer survey and at the end of it still not totally sure.

The genesis of this post was a combination of working day and night on cracking a plan and watching outsourced. I've been working day and night on this damn thing and still don't think I've got it right. I also recently travelled to Vizag and was surprised (read shocked) to see a night life which could rival Kol and definitely way better music than Kol. And let me tell you midtown India is definitely freer than the metros and yes brand conscious. Rural India which was where I've done my sales stint has shown me stores stocking premium products which hardly sell in a Mumbai. India can take your beliefs and turn them topsy turvy. Nothing is understood here.

BTW I just realised this morning that I've been in ITC for 2 years and 9 months. I've done 11 months of sales, 13 months of research and 9 months of branding. That's as much varied exposure as you can get in marketing and there's still so much to learn.

Still making sense of Marketing in India

Luv,

Pranay

The Battle amidst the winds

2009-02-22T20:36:00.005+05:30

He pulls hard with the wind at his back,
It's a war he can't afford to lose.
His skillful hands manipulate the string,
the destiny of the battle he will choose.

He wipes the sweat off his brow,
and licks the bruise on his index finger.
The bruise burns as the fresh cut heals,
The taste of blood on his tongue lingers.

It's a taste not alien to him,
It's the taste of victory against the odds,
He squints as the sun enters his line of sight,
as he looks towards the abode of the gods.

The wind god he knows has been kind to him,
For the breeze lifts just as he has got the upper hand.
He pulls hard, concentration writ large on his face,
He tugs hard and his kite dives down towards the land.

The moment pauses as the final move has been made,
His little frame tenses up as the target enters his sight.
The string slices through in an arc towards the ground,
The enemy is pulled back and then goes limp in mid-flight.

He breaks out in a smile of little pearls,
as the little child in him comes to the fore.
His fist punches the air as he looks to the sky,
Another victory to add to his invincible lore.

- Pranay Rao

O Re Maajhi

2009-02-16T23:17:00.002+05:30

IMG_0265, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

Finally dragged myself out of bed and reached Princep Ghat camera in hand in an attempt to capture a picture with my new camera. We (Anubhav and I) kind off missed the sunset so I resorted to trickery with longer exposures (whichexplains some of the haziness) to get some pictures.

Really not half as beautiful as the place really looks at sunset but still beautiful enough by my yardsticks. Kol has it's bright spots, it's just that we are blinded by our own benchmarks.

The both of us then headed to New market which is very similar to the Muimbai fort side and walked through streams of shoppers before buying some stuff. Capped the day with a brilliant salad and a sub.

Doing my bit to get the fun back.

Luv,

Pranay

The light at the end of the tunnel

2009-02-15T14:04:00.001+05:30

DSC02404, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

Ever had that feeling that your life has suddenly lost it's excitement and you seem to be just going through the motions. It's fun but predictable. I've had this feeling recently where my mind has been feeling numb with boredom, with the lack of something interesting, something intellectual to do.

This doesn't happen in Pranay Rao's life or so I thought but it has though I'm having this premonition that there is going to be a light at the end of this tunnel and it's going to be great. I don't know what and I can't imagine what but I know.

BTW that's a picture captured in Himachal while travelling by the toy train from Solan to Kalka. It's a picture in motion, unedited, unaltered. The light is always more beautiful when it appears at the end of the tunnel. Trust me :).

Like Rakhee keeps saying in Karan Arjun 'Mera light Aayega' :),

Luv,

P.R.

Happy Republic day

2009-01-26T10:57:00.001+05:30

Jan2612009 031, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

I'm in Mumbai post 26/11. A city which has been punished for being the jewel in India's crown. Today as for every republic day, the people of my building stood to attention as the flag was hoisted.

The audience is as close to an actual representation of India as possible. There are the young, the old. The punjabis, mallus, maharashtrians, gujratis, etc.The middle class original residents and the nouvae rich new entrants. The kids whose voice is loud and clear while the national anthem is played, the youngsters who silently mouth the lyrics and the older set who really really have a sense of pride in them.

Goosebump territory this.

- Pranay

Horses captured by me :))

2009-01-26T00:14:00.001+05:30

Jan2009 045, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

This picture was captured using my new camera, a Canon Powershot SX110 SI. It's a picture of a painting which adorns the walls of my home since childhood. I'm really artistically challenged and would not be able to decipher what the painting tries to symbolise. However let me give it a try :).

The three horses are all running into the unknown. The brown horse has pulled back because he is vary of the path. The dark brown one leads because it is within it's nature to lead while the white horse is a youngster trying hard to catch up. Any guesses on who ends up ahead?

Anyway while you think let me tell you about the amazing fun I had today with my friends Kau n Chints. We reminisced about college days and the things we did. Chints had a theory about certain things happening in our lives lately. It's called 'what goes around comes around' which had us solemnly promising never to brainwash any1 ever again :D.

Chints n Kau are doing very well in their fields today though there is the pressure of the recession around the corner. I feel that most of my tech friends lack a reality dimension courtesy a disconnect from the pressures of life. The recent recession has probably brought that facet to their lives.

Chints and me have been away from Mumbai from some time and we really really want to get back but professionally it doesn't make sense. The time away from the city has helped us in more ways than we can count. We are a little more mature now. Me for sure :).

Coming back to the painting. It has an error which was why it did not sell at Jehangir which is why we could afford to have it on our wall :). You see there is a space on the left which means the balance of the canvas is off. There is too much happening on one side which makes it unbalanced says Kulkarni Sir, the painter. The reason I call him sir is because he taught me Marathi in my eightth standard which explains my command over the language :). Ok that's all my fault but he definitely tried.

Well which one of the horses comes up first. Guess fast? Tell you what as per me it really doesn't matter which horse comes first. People spend too much time looking over their shoulder trying to ensure that they have performed better than the next guy. Enjoy the race and don't look around to see where the others are. Remember these rules which will help make your life better
1. Do not make excuses for your failiures
2. Do not make excuses for other's successes.
3. Surround youself with friends who will stick with you through both successes and failiures.

Luv,

Pranay

A loooooong weekend

2009-01-24T00:47:00.001+05:30

DSC07146, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

It's actually not that long. Just 4 days, which is too less to catch up with loads of friends, but jus enough to relax. Relaxation is the theme of this weekend. What with the relaxing few days promised at Raichak (see pic) turning into a day and night work period and a few other plans falling through.

Today I totally relaxed except for the odd call from the agency, boss and a colleague. I actually beat my nephew hands down in sleep time. The little brat saw me after 3 months and yet the bonding was instant. Icing on the cake was him preferring to be carried around by me than his mother.

Lately my charm seems to be working only on babies and dogs. Well as a group they do have the most honest reactions to people. My nephew spent most of his day impressing me with all the antics he's learnt.

Planning to visit my dentist tomorrow and then do some catching up with friends. The dentist visit is an absolute necessity. Been ages since I had a proper check up and the friends will abslutely kill me if I don't meet them.

I really can't believe that it's been 3 months since I've been home. Time has been really flying by recently. Most days pass by in a blur. Really really need to pause and reflect. I need to evaluate where I stand right now and what is it that I plan to do, what is it that I really need to do.

One good thing about Mumbai is meeting friends who have nothing to do with my work, which is so so good because conversations in Kol generally enter work territory.

I had planned to do a trek in Mumbai, but am really too lazy right now to execute it. Also the trek was supposed to be a pic clicking trip and that's going to be dicey since my camera has started misbehaving. The new batteries simply dont seem to be working and I can't figure out whether it's the cam or the batteries at fault. Maybe it's time to buy the DSC - H2/H5 I've been eyeing. Problem is the emotionl attachement I have to this camera. It's helped me capture some of the most memorable moments of my life and I really can't let it down cause it's never let me down until this battery problem.

Life is sometimes like that. What seems the rational thing to do is an emotional no no. But then sometimes when there is a conflict between the heart and the head, you really have to choose to do the right thing. Will kep you posted on that one.

Blissfully,

Luv,

P.R.

New Year 09

2009-01-04T13:40:00.001+05:30

DSC07124, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

Had fun with friends ushering in the New Year 09 in Kolkata once again.

Life's good and the next year promises to be exciting.

Luv,
PR

My wonderful Christmas

2008-12-30T23:38:00.001+05:30

P251208_22.46, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

Kolkata is probably one of the better places in India to celebrate christmas. In fact I've been recently told that Kol is one of the best 3 places for Christmas. The other two being the North East and Goa.

Anyway ushered in Christmas with Parul, Parnil, Neha, Sandy, Jeevesh and Raja and loads of Christmas cake and pudding courtesy yours truly and some wine courtesy Raja.

Christmas also brought in a christmas miracle in the form of some work which I managed to pull off courtesy some special people. Thank god for friends.

Ended christmas night with dinner at Taza's before singing christmas carols (felt most amazing) and heading to church which I visited twice in the day.

Christmas was lovely. Now hoping for a lovelier New year.

Luv,

PR

Tunnel vision

2008-12-22T22:08:00.002+05:30

A freak cricket accident lead to me getting tunnel vision in my right eye, which is basically not being able to see anything in my periphary, more specifically my right side.
But truly speaking tunnel vision has happened to me quite recently. I've been so focussed on me and my life that I've quite forgotten everyone around me. I've lately been forgetting to call my parents. My friends are tracking my life through my blog and my nephew by now must've forgotten me.
My new year resolution is to get back in touch with all my friends. There is too much happiness in life to limit myself to my own life, my own problems and my own selfishness. Just read an IIMK junior's blog on praying for others. Don't seem to be doing that lately.
There's not much I can do about my physical tunnel vision but the mental tunnel vision stops right now.

Metaphorically and categorically,

Luv,
Pranay

'The longest week' or 'What's happening around me'

2008-12-21T14:32:00.006+05:30

Tuesday night was impromptu Chaat night at Neha - Sandy's which extended late into the night, which was not a good idea considering an early morning flight. Have lately not been able to sleep so atayed awake till morning, thinking I'll catch up the next day which thanks to some work to do ended at 3 am.

24 Hours 0 hours sleep

Last trip to Hyderabad led to me doing something I never thought I'd ever do and definitely not at 27. This trip led to another (hopefully) once in a life experience.
Our meeting ended in time for us (me and 3 bosses) heading back to Kolkata.

The first funny part happened when some placement consultant decided to give me a call right in the middle of the trip back to the airport. It's actually quite hillarious but not describeable in public. Which also proves my point that you get the maximum job calls when you are least thinking of leaving and vice versa.

Anyway we reached the airport, gorged down a biryani and bought the tipping point. See most of the day had been punctuated with simple things being messed up, though the final presentation went off perfect.

48 hours 3 hours sleep

So I thought the worst was over and went off to sleep when the pilot announced something about the descent to Kol and then 5 mins later anounces that visibility is low so we're heading back to....

Now think of all possible locations a flight from Hyd to Kol can head to due to bad visibility

...Shamshabad airport (Hyderabad). I realized that this was just my bad day and I promptly went back to sleep and got up at Hyd.

We were supposed to rush back to a meeting in Kol the next morning so tried charming/persuading/bluffing our way into some early morning flight before we realized the futility and headed to the hotel which Kingfisher (must commend them for their amazing handling of the situation) put us up at. We reached around 2:00. Dropped to sleep at 2:30 and suddenly were woken up at 3:40 by a lady telling us to get ready by 4:00 because the flight was to leave at 5:00.

66 Hours 4 hour sleep

We reached the airport(40 kms from the hotel) by 5 and grabbed breakfast at the lounge before we headed out back to Kolkata where we headed back to office which I thought I'd leave early but that never happened so that I went to sleep finally at night which meant I had 4 hours of proper sleep in 66 hours

I did make up for it by sleeping through Saturday morning before heading to office. From where Lal and I decided to head to Big Ben where believe it or not the kitchen caught fire. Being nice people that we are we headed back into the smoke filled room to pay for drinks and the game of pool in which I won :) before heading to Tina/Parul's where we ushered in Lal's birthday with two chocolate pastries. I thought that I messed up by not getting a cake in time, but frankly found the cake cutting with two pastries much more personal.

BTW also managed to buy myself a PSP 3004 in between, which must've been the most expensive impulsive purchase I've made. Actually that would be the home theatre in Mumbai. The PSP is most wonderful and had me awake late in the night, which meant I missed church in the morning.

Anyway evening is planned out with as a treat by Sam Lal which begins with Madagascar and ends with dinner. With my life lately, god knows what exciting thing is going to happen.

Never a dull moment,

Luv,
P.R.

Life in an ideal world

2008-12-10T20:39:00.002+05:30

I'd wake up in the morning and the sun would rise. I'd slip into my slippers placed right where I keep my feet down. I'd then pick up my phone and wish a good morning to that special some one before heading to the gym where I would work out just the muscles that I enjoy with zero lower body exercises required. I'd then step into this just right temperature shower and head out to my office where my boss would appreciate me for the wonderful work I've done.
I'd breeze through the day with a lunch break where I would be served warm croissants with amazing pasta. I'd work till 6 o clock and then head out to my french/music/kickboxing class. On the odd chance that someone would want me to work late, I'd turn to them and say 'Itna paisa mein itnaich milenga :)'.
After my class I'd head home and eat my dinner before spending some quality phone time with near and dear ones before tucking myself into my room with this lovely autobiography of some revolutionary leader before turning off my bed side lamp and slipping into deep sleep.

Yours Ideally,
Pranay Rao

I am what I dream

2008-12-09T21:51:00.002+05:30

I want to live a thousand dreams,
I want to set the sun on fire.
I want to reach out to the sky,
reach the point where I can't go no higher.

I know my life is mine to live,
I can become what I aspire.
I have my faith my trust in god,
which helps me attain what I desire.

Life has been a wonderful roller coaster ride,
With more highs than lows.
What will come tomorrow,
Is something I will never know.

My dreams are my oxygen,
the only thing that keeps me alive.
They help me face the really bad days,
In adversity they help me thrive.

I know my dream shall help me prosper,
I know my dreams shall set me apart.
You can never put me down,
As long as I have a dream in my heart.

- Pranay Rao

Living an evolved dream

2008-12-03T23:16:00.003+05:30

Just think about it. What as a child did you dream to always become? For me it was a soldier. A footballer in school a computer engineer by the end of school. A photographer, a poet, even a theatre actor (any1 remember our college street play :)), a writer etc etc. But never in my wildest imagination did I ever consider marketing. Cmon driving a train would seem so much more exciting to a kid and yet in many more ways than I could count, I am in a career I quite like.
Marketing as an option actually occured to me, believe it or not, when I read parts of my sister's Kotler and no I was never a nerd. She showed me some interesting snippet and it was love at first sight. At that point it was not a textbook for me, just something interesting.
Marketing in a fmcg company is basically 3 functions - Sales, Brands and research. Brands helps create a package with the help of research which is then sold by the sales team. My sales stint was by far the most interesting thanks to being in charge of Himachal Pradesh. Research involved working in the biggest research set up in Asia and brands involves new product launches in the personal care business which competes with MNC giants.
Till recently I believed that if you want something really badly, all of the universe conspires to get it for you and frankly it's happened a lot for me. What I have been forgetting is that in many ways I have been living my dream.

Luv,

P.R.

My City is burning again

2008-11-29T08:48:00.003+05:30

Not another minute of silence,
Not another occassion to wear black arm bands.
Now the silence is getting deafening,
The stupid symbolism be damned.

I've got sick of the news reports,
The constant saluting the spirit of Mumbai.
I've got tired of the resilience.
The getting back to normal life, the next day.

I've got tired of the jingoism,
Surviving attacks is not our forte.
Let me lead my life in peace,
Just let me live, the normal way.

But what can I do, a non resident mumbaikar,
There's just anger and frustuation to vent.
I really don't expect any action,
After all it's not an attack on the bloody parliament.

Life will go on, never stopping,
Cause the city never sleeps.
Millions get back to work,
While the affected thousand weep.

Mumbai, I can't see you hurting,
I can't see you blotched by tear and blood streams
Mumbai, you deserve much more,
For a city which has fulfilled a million dreams.

- Pranay Rao

Clarity

2008-11-23T13:58:00.001+05:30

P151108_15.26, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

Real clarity is this signboard at an eatery on the way to Haridwar which clearly communicates what it wants with an element of humour and the minimum of drama.

Most communication today lacks that same clarity. Be it the ads which say so much that you miss the plot or the news channels which beat around the bush rather than coming to the point.

Clarity of communication is best expressed by two men talking about a woman. The subject is clear and the communication precise. Lack of clarity is the signals/words from any woman/girl you would be friends with. Most times you wish they came with their own codebook.

Clarity is something each one of us would love to have at every point in our life. Sometimes sooner than later. It helps simplify life and isn't that the reason for most things in life.

I really don't need to expound the importance of clarity in life, but if you do need some clarity about clarity then please do contact me for any clarifications.

Luv,

P,R,

Sleeping between the spotlights

2008-11-14T11:05:00.007+05:30

"हरीश ka matlab kya हैं"
i.e. "What does harish mean?" Quite a normal question considering that Harish (dad's name) features on a lot of documents. The funny part was that the question was asked by the security guy (you know the guy who frisks you) at the airport. Most surprised and perpetually late I mumbled that I had no idea. To which he replied "Don't know the meaning of your own name?" I very well do cause Pranay is my name but somewhere in my 27 years of existence I remember asking Mom and Dad the meaning of their names, but can't recollect. Mental note 'Check with elder sister'. Girls are way better that way.

Travelled to Delhi in the middle seat thanks to not having done a Tele check in. Couldn't even charm the counter lady to an upgrade this time. It doesn't work when you land up at the boarding time. On both sides were two middle aged gentlemen who were avid readers which meant that the lights on both sides were on, which is generally painful but yesterday didn't affect me one bit. Sleeping between the spotlights is getting to be a habit now.

My flight led to a train trip which had me in a side upper berth which is really too small for a 5 ft 10 inches person. I had my Rs. 10 dinner of Roti and Subji, before retiring to sleep, surrounded by a group of over friendly people, each of whom promised to wake the other, with the end effect of only me being awake when Haridwar came. It took the attendant running through the compartment to get the people to not travel onwards to Dehradun. Wouldn't have been that much of a loss though.

Thanks to Raja's advice, I carried a pullover, which was really useful in Haridwar in the chilly morning. Reached the guesthouse and am now heading to work with a slight fever which has been nagging me from tuesday.

Every day's an adventure. You just need to know where to find it.

Luv,
P.R.

The week that was

2008-11-09T11:54:00.002+05:30

Last Sunday was probably one of the worst days in my life. You know one of those situation you believe you never will ever be in and it happens to you. It happened and I was so disgusted with myself. More so cause I believed, I didn't deserve it.
Anyway life's a healer and gym's a bigger one. Gymmed 4 mornings this week and felt much better. Gym in the morning means waking up by 645 and carrying breakfast. The good thing is that it becomes a chummery routine now.
Played another tournament for ITC, though haven't yet scored, which is wierd. I've had the darndest luck with hitting the post and all. Maybe I'll peak for the semis and finals for which BTW we've qualified. Soccer under the floodlights is awesome fun.
Life meanwhile is going on. Work's hectic as usual. Missed another wedding. This time it was Damru's wedding in Nashik. Can't seem to manage my schedules properly. At this rate no friend will ever want to come for any event I invite them to.
Saw Sound of music with friends yesterday night and remembered every scene of the movie which I had last seen when I was 13/14. Somehow it's lost its charm in today's world. Though the music is still good to hear.
As a result of last night's movie, I woke up late and missed church in the morning and soccer too. I have become super lazy on Sundays nowadays. In fact planning to take a nap right about now.

Good night,

Luv,
PR

Destiny

2008-11-07T00:26:00.002+05:30

It seemed like a dream,
And yet it was reality.
It was more than a coincidence,
It seemed like it was destiny.

It made me lose my ego,
and I even swallowed my pride.
What mattered most to me,
Was she by my side.

It seems like I knew her for eternity,
and yet there was so much more to know.
What was it that made her heart beat,
What was it that made her skin glow.

Maybe what she thought was a diamond,
Was but a mound of stone.
Maybe mine was not the heart,
She had wanted to make her own.

Thus ends what was a childish dream,
to think that this was destiny.
What was just a high note,
In life's sweet symphony.

the road of life is still long,
many a straight road, many a bend.
But in my heart of hearts I hoped,
That this high note would never end.

- PR

The meeting of the seas

2008-10-28T13:02:00.001+05:30

DSC07065, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

Anubhav being stuck in Mumbai, thanks to no flights wanted me to show him Mumbai. Madh island/Marve, a quiter and more private beach was my first choice. However giving him directions to there would have been really difficult.

So alternately, I showed him Juhu beach. The last time I was at Juhu was final year engg, when we used to frequent this paratha place - Balaji on the beach. For just 60 bucks, the guy would give us unlimited parathas, sabjis, an ice cream and a chotta Thums up. Considering our appetites, it's a wonder how he made any money.

This time though we had a Pav Bhaji and some Chaat. We so wanted to eat something more but faced a minor obstacle - money. 2 IIM grad ITC managers had a sum total of 100 Rs. in cash between us :).

Juhu beach in many ways is the best snapshot of Mumbai, one can provide. There's these millions of people on the beach. Each having his own bit of fun in his own way. There are small outlets serving everything from Chaat, Pav Bhaji to ice creams and Paan which are just a stone's throw from hotels like the Marriot.

Anubhav mentioned something which seemed quite pertinent. In Mumbai, the sea is the only direction where you would see no human beings.

- Pranay

The fortnight that was

2008-10-26T11:00:00.004+05:30

My last week began in Mumbai, where I had some work in my ad agency which exposed me to how tough travelling in Mumbai could be. I was stuck for hours in traffic, which basically meant reaching home at a time too late to even interact with my parents or meet my nephew.

I finally headed out to Kolkata on the mid morning flight thanks to lack of flights. It was also the day my uncle (my mother's brother) expired. Holiday period meant that we barely got two tickets for my Sis, Mom and nephew to head out to Trivandrum. I then reached office to work on a pile of work which extended to night when my boss told me that I had to head out to Bangalore the next morning.

I'm really not the world's best traveller and I reached Bangalore on a hopping flight which had me reach in time for a meeting which kept me late. Bangalore has loads of friends so I met Pari and Chintu. Pari is incidentally getting married today. Something Chintu and I had planned to attend but could not thanks to our work schedules. It's times like this which make me really guilty.

Anyway I went back to my hotel early and tried to catch up on sleep. Reached Kol again and worked late into the night when I was told that I had to be in Hyderabad the next morning.
Hyderabad, the land of the Nizams was the location for an activity with Trisha, the south Indian superstar.

In my simple mind, courtesy all the Hindi movies I've watched, a superstar was one who throws a lot of tantrums, makes you wait for ages and in general would be a little dificult to handle. So I was pleasantly shocked to meet this very down to earth, super punctual lady who was most easy to work with.

I've heard about the crazy fans down south and got a chance to see it first hand. All the security we provided, seemed too less when faced with the quantum of die-hard fans. Lesser mortals would've been hassled but Trisha most gracefully handled all of this (guess she has loads of practice). It was with a very tired body and a happy mind that I hit my bed at the Kakatiya. Tired was an understatement. I delayed my flight to the night which meant I was accomodation less from afternoon for a night flight.

It was my driver's suggestion which had me at the Salar Jung museum, which I must say is a must visit place. Ok, the organisation is more topical than chronological which is what would appeal to me. But then there are some interesting sights like the two faced sculpture and this clock which is the most popular tourist attraction.

The one artefact which captured my imagination though was the veiled Rebecca. A sculpture by the Italian artist Benzoni depicts the biblical character Rebecca drawing a veil across her face. What meets your eye is a sculpture with a cloth veil on the entire body or so I thought. Closer observation shows you why this is one of the most beautiful sculptures ever made. The veil as the rest of the sculpture is made of stone. Each fold of the veil, each ripple of fabric is created out of marble and it immitates cloth. No picture can actually do justice to the beauty of the sculpture.

I then headed to the Charminar, which was close by. The Charminar is quite beautiful and a sight to behold. Climbing up and down these spiral stair cases I had a peek at life in old Hyderabad which seems a lot like Old Delhi, chaotic yet beautiful. Then I bought a Pearl set for mom and headed to the airport with 2 hours more to kill.

Hyderabad airport would be classified a tourist destination itself. It is the ideal place to kill time. But I really was not interested in walking any more. My KF flight had me watching the same movie 'Race' for the third day in a row. KF really could do better for frequent fliers. Their in - flight seems to have lost the edge.

Anyway a week in office ended with a friday meeting in Mumbai which had me home for the weekend. A Saturday night party would've been a topping on a hectic week when my body just gave way. Feeling distinctly sick, I decided to stay home and spent some quality time with dad watching Big Boss. Yes my parents watch it. Mom and sis are in Kerala with my nephew, so dad and I had a dinner of Smoking Joe's finest. The opportunity to intrude into the lives of the rich, famous and jobless was not appreciated but enjoyed none the less. Do these guys even know they are on national TV?

I woke up this morning. Posted what I had wanted to be a poem like no other and which ended up being another almost there piece of work. Now I am busy watching reruns of Seinfeld and generally recuperating. Monday will bring another morning flight, another day of work which will lead to a holiday tuesday. One I intend to spend asleep on a bed and not in a flight seat or a car seat.

Life's hectic, yet fun and I'm savouring each moment.

- Pranay

The day I set out to compose a rhyme

2008-10-26T10:57:00.000+05:30

I thought it was time,

To compose a little rhyme.

Maybe a rhyme full of love. Maybe a rhyme full of hate.

Maybe a rhyme that would make me famous, one that would alter my fate.

A rhyme more rich than all of the world's folklore.

A rhyme which would rival a Tarentino in poetic gore.

So I sat down with single minded determination,

To weave a rhyme that would trigger fascination.

I plugged in my laptop because sheer genius must not be limited by battery.

The poem was to appeal to all; it was to be an ode, not just some form of cheap flattery.

And I began in earnest, with the only subject which came to my head.

Love it had to be, because that's what earns poets their butter and bread.

Love, beautiful , uncomplicated like that which a mother feels for her child.

Or love that makes strong men feel weak and makes nice girls go wild.

Love it could be for music, it could be love for food or wine.

It had to be a love I could describe, a love that could be mine.

It was then that I paused, for poetry requires that moment of inspiration.

The moment that would define the ultimate fate of my creation.

The pause was pregnant with uncertainties untold.

I observed as I felt in my mind the poem unfold.

My subject couldn’t be clearer, the lines stood out in bold.

A rhyme of such beauty, from this world I could not withhold.

My fingers reached the keyboard, but falter they did each time.

For what the heart wanted to say, the mind could not set to a rhyme.

The abilities of a poet, amateur as me could not define.

That which is so pure, so beautiful, so divine.

A poem I could write; a rhyme I could compose.

About the mighty sun or the beautiful rose.

But the very words rebel as I try to describe love in a rhyme.

They mock me and smile, telling me that it isn't yet time.

They tell me that wait and you shall see the day,

When even we shall respond to you; like to a potter, his clay.

And the time will come when your words will take flight like a dove.

And describe to the world, the beauty of love.

For now I rest, the promise of tomorrow easing the disappointment of now.

Fondly I shall remember for years to come, the day that I set out to write a poem on love.

- Pranay

There's no place like Mumbai

2008-10-12T12:04:00.006+05:30

Kol Life is good fun thanks to our little office group of friends. In fact I've got so used to a Kolkata life of minimum transit and general laid back life that I've forgotten how much fun Mumbai is. For starters I headed out to Gallops, a restaurant inside the Mahalaxmi race course ground where I hogged on good Conti food. Saturday morning had me getting a lot of my banking work done and then heading out to the local shopping mall.

In Kol, the best of the malls has one store probably dedicated to a few gaming consoles whereas one of the smaller malls in Borivali had almost every 3rd shop selling PSPs, PS2, PS3s and the like. My engineering days had us saving money and purchasing amazing hardware to make our PCs into gaming machines. In addition to the standard hardware I even had a joystick for flight games. Today in Kol, I have just a gamepad for my laptop and even that is not of any use since my office IT policy doesnt allow me to install anything. Seriously considering taking back my thinkpad with me to Kol. But even that's past it's prime. Too be fair to Kol, Borivali is the hub of diamond traders and the like and hence the slightly extravagant life style. But even a more middle class Dadar seems far more modern when compared to the best of Kol.

Anyway went to Chroma to help buy a laptop for my sis where I met an engineering coll friend Vinod Nambiar aka Dada, who was buying, guess what, an adapter for his PSP 2004. I immediately had a download on the features and even got a demo from him and tell you what I am hooked. we then met Kau and had dinner at Pizza Hut.

I've more or less decided to buy the PSP 3000 which will launch soon. Asked my classmates in the US to find out prices. The only hindrance is that Indian UMDs don't play on the US PSP. Rassmi, who's goin to move to the US post marriage suggests a system where she can courier the US UMDs to me which will be quite cost effective. Sounds quite interesting. Have to work on modalities. I suggested that she could just gift it to me. She didnt sound entirely convinced :).

Meanwhile another technological marvel, the social networking site facebook suddenly stimulated my digital life. I (being my usual methodical self :)) usually fill up all the details about my life on all the sites. Being at home with a fast data card and super fast broadband I was generally enjoying making changes, feeding Che (my pet on Pokey who loads only in Mumbai), when suddenly I had these comments on my profile. Apparently by not listing my relationship status on facebook I had trigerred some automatic post on my profile which said'Pranay Rao is no longer listed as Single'. what it didn't say that the status was blank :). Friends as usual had a field time pulling my leg. Also realized how powerful digital networking was. At one point I was denying (albeit with a heavy heart) any change in my relationship status to one office friend on facebook chat, another mba friend on google talk and the third engg friend on phone :). In Kol my Tata Indicom data card crawls to log me into a gtalk. Here it flies through.

Of course Kol has its own advantages in terms of travel - 5 mins flat to office. A very economical lifestyle and access to the very best of discs, restaurants n all . Kozhikode was fun, HP/Jammu was breath takingly beautiful and Kolkata is interesting.

In Mumbai, I relax in my sofa while writing my blog on this super fast net while watching a movie on Tata sky with sound being broadcast through a home theatre when a reminder pops up for maa's serial. I can pick up the phone and have everything from DVDs, food and wine to ice cream delivered home. All these are features which has seamlessly became part of our life here. None of them would'v been seen as luxuries to me earlier. But today after spending my life in different parts of the country has suddenly made me realize the value of my life here. Life in Mumbai is an integration of technology and convenience to help savour every moment of your life. Maybe they have become necessities thanks to the huge transit times which means every minute at home is priceless. But whatever the reason, this combination of a fast convenient life and Maa's good cooking just reinforces the fact that there is no place like Mumbai, my home.

Luv,

P.R.

The money challenge

2008-10-09T19:12:00.002+05:30

My belief in the stock market fuelled by my limited knowledge of finance and by market performances is that the stock market is a gamble and that there is no logic in selection of stocks. You could randomly select 10 scrips and do as good or as bad as any expert.

So to test this theory I have created an id on moneycontrol where I would randomly choose 10 scrips and invest 100000 in the most random manner possible which would be tested against a well chosen ideal portfolio of an expert.

My expert in this case is Neeta Saraogi, a classmate from IIMK and quite the fin expert. More importantly she is a long term investor which means the theory can be tested both over the short term and the long term. Neeta will put up her carefully selected and I will put up my randomly selected portfolio up on 19th October which gives her a combination of time for selection and birthday luck :).

The final outcome would be visible 3 years hence on 19th October 2011 when the market realization of our portfolios will decide whether logic works or just dumb luck. However we will provide monthly updates on both our blogs.

The time chosen for this activity is perfect because a little expertise is what matters in such a market. simply because anybody can choose a winner in a booming market. we both have freedom to change our portfolios. Neeta will use logic, I will eliminate bad performers and replace them with randomly chosen alternatives.

Fresh funds cannot be infused into our portfolios throughout this period and our portfolios though dummy portfolios on moneycontrol will not increase beyond our 100000 +/- gains/losses.

The exercise is meant to be an academic evaluation of all that we know about the stock market and may be restricted by the sheer no. of participants - 2 but I bet it will be a whole lot of fun.

Luv,

P.R.

The Great Indian flying joint Gujju family

2008-10-07T23:52:00.005+05:30

It was a bright sunny (discounting one burst of heavy rain) day. Jignes, Sailes, Rames along with their better (and seemingly stronger) halves and their kids decided to travel from Kolkata to Kochi. And being the well to do types decided to travel Jet airways.

Unfortunately on this given day some bright lady at the check in counter inadvertently decided to spread them out over a few rows one of them being the emergency exit. By a strange coincidence, it was this same day that a hard working gentleman who had worked 2 weeks continuously decided to take an emergency exit window seat on the Kol - Mumbai flight. He considered himself to be the types who wanted to see the cloudy sky and all. His name was Pranay Harish Rao, a humble Asst. Brand manager.

Anyway Jignes et all landed up in the same flight with Pranay and sat just next to him. What ensued was most interesting. First Rames, Jignes's younger brother decided that his slender frame required more space than Pranay's much healthier one. Pranay, generally the peace loving types (unless he's playing football) gave him the entire armrest which encouraged Rames to push into Pranay's ribs. Upon receiving this jab, Pranay looked at Rames and telepathically communicated the consequences of trying to push into his body which had Rames politely conceding space.

Suddenly Sailes realizing the lack of an in flight entertainment system decided to wear his new Bose headphones which were connected to his brick sized Nokia Nsomething. Unfortunately due to some failure in the system (the exact reason still unknown) the music blared loudly from his phone speakers. This was when the airhostesses ran to him and convinced him that his device, flight mode or not should be switched off. This was also the first instance when Pranay having been woken up from his sleep rather rudely considered reducing their further flight expenses by the price of one ticket.

Then Sailes having failed in his first attempt at general entertainment decided to get his young nephew into action. If it were not enough that his nephew was generally a little loud, Sailes and Rames decided to add their own voices to what was the Kathiawari version of Metallica. It was at this moment that Pranay having been tutored by the nice airhostess lady on how to open the emergency exit window considered opening the exit and feeding Kailes and Rames to the engines. Fortunately the kid scared by the strange sounds ran back to his parents.

Pranay had just heaved a sigh of relief when the kid's mother decided that since the air hostesses had cleared the snacks (pronounced snakes), they should have some gupshup in the middle of the plane. Since this was the only opportunity the poor people had had in all their years together to open their hearts out to each other, their loud conversation and slightly louder laughter was absolutely necessary. Pranay by then was wide awake. Sleep was a small sacrifice when compared to hearing about little Bhaves and his trials at potty training.

Unfortunately Bhaves had not practiced enough of what he had just learnt and his poor mother had to take him and get him cleaned. Pranay felt a great sense of pity for the lady who would have to soon clean potty especially since she was dressed in her Sunday best probably a designer copy of one of the female protagonists in her favourite Saans Bahu serial.

The lack of entertainment had lulled Pranay into a false sense of security and a sleep with dreams of this most wonderful woman when thud! and he was woken up by this strange piece of turbulence. Thud! it happened again. strangely the turbulence had missed both his neighbours. Thud!. It was then that Pranay realized that Akhiles, probably a not so distant cousin of Bhavis suddenly realized that he had contributed almost nothing to the events till then. So he most delightfully decided to kick the seat right in front of him to give Pranay that extra bit of entertainment.

Pranay decided to try and reason with the little angel and looked back only to look into the eyes of his mother. Wildlife enthusiasts simply over react when they speak about the fierce maternal instincts of elephants, etc. The look in Akhiles's mother's eyes would make mothers of any other species of animal seem like wimps. She had had to pay an extravagantly high amount of money for a kid who could hardly fill out half his seat. If he wanted to kick the seat in front of him to keep himself happy, he bloody well could.

Thus, seeing his courage ebb to a dangerously low level, Pranay decided to sleep in between his neighbours conversations across rows and the periodical and methodical assault on his back.

Suddenly the plane on it's descent to Mumbai entered one rough air pocket which ensured that the plane shook like a phone on vibrator. Sailes, Jignes and family were shaken. Pranay experienced flyer that he was nonchalantly stretched his arms and took off his blankets while the plane shook till there was a moment when only white clouds could be seen outside the window and the plane seemed to be immobile. Loads of thoughts ran through Pranay's mind, not least of all undiluted pleasure and absolute bliss. He saw Jignes n family turning as white as the cloud outside while he leafed through the newspaper.

The plane landed lightly and Pranay smiled. He had taken on the great Indian flying joint Gujju family and (courtesy an act of god) had emerged victorious. Nothing else in life could ever faze him when Thud! Akhiles realized that his legs were idle too long. Pranay, jumped out of his seat and ran out with his strolley and his packet of sweets. He had learnt his lesson.

Never mess with the Joint family.

Luv,

P.R.

Good Morning Kolkata

2008-10-02T21:18:00.001+05:30

P260908_08.05, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

Woke up in the morning around 0630 and then cycled around 3.5 kilometres to the eastern railway ground. Today being Id there was this flood of devotees dressed smartly in their best whites going for their prayers. Wanted to click them but considering the security around, desisted.

Then played some good football, which was most fun and then headed back home before heading out to office. Yes, worked on Gandhi Jayanti. Frankly I've never understood the funda of a holiday on Gandhi Jayanti. Always appreciated it, but never understood it.

Well this Gandhi Jayanti just had India and US finally signing the nuclear deal, which would ensure cheaper (but not cleaner) electricity. Countries like Bahrain are spending huge amounts of money on cleaner technology and thats the way to go. Nuclear energy should serve just as a stop gap arrangement.

Anyway my morning trips are giving me a lot of semi dark pictures. Some of which are coming out decent. The picture in this post is of the Princep Ghat.

Life sometimes seems like riding a geared bike. sometimes it seems like I'm pedaling hard and furiously and I'm in 2nd gear and sometimes the pace is just fine at 3rd gear while sometimes I can hardly keep up at the 4th gear. BTW I have a 6 gear cycle :) and it's good fun to speed past other cyclists with just a twist of a gear.

Life is as good as you want it to be.

Luv,

P.R.

Waiting for the night

2008-09-12T22:37:00.000+05:30

Waiting for the night

When I wake up with you by my side.

Waiting for the night,

When you walk out of my dreams.

Waiting for the night,

When you are more than imagination,

Waiting for the night,

When love is all we need.

Waiting for the night,

When all that we need is each other.

When our senses speak,

What the heart has to say.

Waiting for the night,

The night like no other,

Waiting for the night,

When you and I shall meet.

Waiting for the night,

That will answer what we shall desire,

Waiting for the night,

That this love song shall complete.

To be completed...

- Pranay Rao

The net - chrome plated

2008-09-05T23:54:00.003+05:30

I'm using the chrome - a new browser from google. It took me exactly five hours after hearing about it to download it. Google generally means something interesting and exciting, minimilastic yet feature filled and generally free.

Initial reaction is good. Gives much more space to play around with because the tabs have been moved up to the status bar. It's very dynamic and fluid though not really as fast as expected. Has loads of features, many of which I am still figuring out.

Worth a download for sure.

A quite meal

2008-08-26T22:15:00.001+05:30

Mcleodganj 031, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

That's me having my lunch on a market visit. Chanced upon it in a facebook tool. The temperature was close to 5 - 6 deg cel. My companions were a book, my rucksack, shades and my phone during those days. Loved every moment of it :)

Luv,

P.R.

Moment of truth

2008-08-26T21:17:00.002+05:30

It's this amazing show on Star World where a person is asked questions about his life with his family watching and the questions are very very personal. The answer can only be true/false. The trick is that the questions are from a list asked before hand while the participant is attached to a lie detector.

The participant can move up the money pyramid only if the answers are right. He can back out when he wants to before a question, but once it's asked you just don't lose money, you lose face on TV. And here's where psychology comes into place. If you back out at any time, everyone knows that you have something to hide, but if you stay on and can't answer questions which become even more personal and pointed, then everyone knows the truth, irrespective of what you answer.

It takes man's most basic vice greed with another vice of lying and slowly but surely strips him, till he's left with nothing but cash.

It's a deep dark intriguing show. A must see.

- Pranay

Osama bin Laden Vs. Obama Biden

2008-08-26T20:40:00.002+05:30

20 - 30 years later, kids in history class will learn about the big confrontation between terror led by Osama against the free world led by Obama n to make matters more confusing we're now gonna have Osama Bin Laden battling Obama - Biden.

Just imagine how confusing would that be. Not for Indian students though. We'll still be learning pre-independence history cause that's all the history we need.

Luv,

P.R.

Are you living your life as yourself?

2008-08-20T11:37:00.008+05:30

In Mona Lisa smile, there is this scene where Van Gogh's art is shown by this feminist teacher Julia Roberts to her students as an example of doing what you feel and then she speaks about how Van Gogh post his death is being immitated. Art is after all what you feel is beautiful.

Too many people spend too much time trying to fit themselves to typecasts just because they are worried about what the world will say. Peer pressure causes enough damage to enough people, parental/superior pressure screws most of the rest.

They say that each fingerprint is distinguished from another than how can each person be the same. God created each one of us as a piece of art distinct and beautiful. Every piece of art is beautiful, what makes it a masterpiece is how distinct it is.

So you make your choice. You could in this lfe time be a acceptable piece of art or you could for eternity be a masterpiece.

He wiped his brush on the grass,
Then dipped it in the Ocean blue.
He took the utmost care in detail,
in creating a piece of art called you.

Then one day you looked up,
and saw another of his creations.
You thought to yourself,
Why can't I be more like that.

First you changed your body,
N then it was your soul.
Till one day you looked at the mirror,
N all you saw was this big black hole.

Your individualism is your soul,
your distinctiveness is your heart.
It is you being yourself,
that really sets you apart.

Go ahead be different,
Think and do as you please.
Your not just another piece of art
You are God's own masterpiece

- Pranay

Bandhits

2008-08-20T10:51:00.003+05:30

The one thing that happens efficiently in Kol is Bandhs. But still sincere soldiers that we are. We wake up in the morning and hope that some crazy cabby will take us to office where we would remain till after the bandh is off.

Today even the cabbies decided they wouldn't come near my house so here I am wide awake, watching the Mona Lisa smile on Star Movies. Switched to the News channel which tells me about the zillion flights/trains which have got cancelled courtesy a bandh to oppose the effect of inflation on the common man.

So some common man, could have just retired, who probably booked his tickets months in advance so that he and his wife could travel in style in a Spicejet or Deccan flight will be stranded at some airport or be bumped off a flight. Not fair naa.

Anyway I in my nice little duplex chummery in one of Kolkata's most affluent neighbourhoods really have no say on inflation. Frankly it's been ages since I bought a vegetable or fruit, forget buying foodgrains and bare essentials. However I somehow think that disrupting daily life affects the lower stratas more than actual decision makers. Probably a silent protest would have been better.

- P.R.

A nation's dream comes true - Abhinav Bindra

2008-08-12T00:13:00.004+05:30

If you chanced to look through the window at the ITC Chummery at Hastings, Kolkata 5 mins back, you'd see 2 middle aged slightly overweight guys standing to attention to the Indian national anthem. Both these guys are not known to keep quite ever and yet for once they were speechless.

By now you must've guessed that I was one of them. The other one is Shanky. The event that left us speechless was Abhinav Bindra winning the gold medal for the 10 m rifle event at the Olympic games. He shot a 10.8 in the last shot which from the 20 mins we saw the event is pretty high and definitely the highest at the finals. Then this unassuming bespectacled guy stood on the podium and received his Gold medal while the Indian flag was hoisted high with the anthem playing in the background.

Last post I spoke about the dream of hearing the national anthem play while I stood in a stadium. A dream which seems most impossible and then for those few seconds I vicariously lived the dream thanks to a person who's just answered a hundred prayers.

My first reaction when I had heard about our first individual gold medal at the Olympics was ' This country sucks' and I never say that. Probably because I've seen a zillion talented people, played with some getting lost in the quagmire of Indian sports. There are a million more Bindras, Rathores and Paes' waiting for their opportunity. I sure hope this serves as a beginning.

Heck, Chuck the melodrama. Let's celebrate.

After a few hundred years, India is back with a bang.

- P.R.

Another dream comes true

2008-08-09T13:34:00.003+05:30

As a kid I assumed I was to become a football star like my dad. I remember listening eagerly about tales about dad''s exploits from everyone except him. Of course life took a turn which was different but equally interesting which left three unfulfilled dreams. One to hear the national anthem playing while I stood in a stadium, second to play a soccer match under floodlights, third to play soccer in Kolkata.

Dream 2 happened when I played for ITC in the CCFC cup and dream 3 came true when we played CCFC B team under floodlights in Kolkata.

It's been an eternity since I played a competitive 11 a side match. In the games that we played at school level, we never really were tense because we as a team had lost just 3 competitive games in the entire span we played together. It was generally about how many goals we would win by.

Years later, I looked around at my team mates, most of them people who must've been good players at their times. I wore my shin guards, laced up my super expensive adidas boots (something I never could afford in school) and walked out to the ground, a silent prayer in my heart substituting the prayer we said before each school game and then it was magic.

I played in the position I had started playing soccer, the right back. The game started with a run along my side which badly exposed me. I recovered only to see the player scoring because of bad judgement by our stand in goalkeeper. 0-1 and we were just 5 minutes into the game.

The opposition had reason to thrash us because we were a group of individuals who had hardly played together and were all out of practice. The game begun with us suddenly trying to come to terms with the situation. I was one of the 2 people who did not understand bong on the field but still understood what I had to do instinctively.

That's the magic of football. a person from Ghana passes to another from Ukraine and they both know what the other person wants. We slowly began climbing back into the match and before the clock struck half time we were 1-1.

The 2nd half saw us reinforcing our defence with 2 new people, only two of us remained and soon we were dominating the match. Suddenly it was school again. After making hasty clearances all 1st half, I regained the confidence to make passes within our D, even dribbled past a player and made a run forward. The clock seemed to have turned back and I was totally enjoying myself, as cocky as ever.

The final whistle blew at 70 mins and we won 2 - 1. Another dream comes true.

- Pranay Rao

Digal Digal

2008-07-28T20:00:00.003+05:30

Monday, generally the beginning of a long week, had me rained in in my house in Mumbai with a very bratty nephew who had me kissing his stuffed toys. His vocabulary consists principally of two words 'Digal Digal' which through various connotations means various things. Digal digal means please, sorry, give me the remote now, etc. etc.

N god forbid, you do not understand the variation of digal digal, then he gnashes his four little teeth. If you do understand the pearls form a smile embellished with a dimple on each cheek.

BTW the only word he just about manages to say is my nickname :D.

Digal Digal,

Pranay

Weekends

2008-07-27T10:55:00.002+05:30

P200708_01.01, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

Last weekend included a house warming party with close friends leading to Roxie, this semi - pub semi - disc place with a nice ambience and a decent crowd at the Park where we were tormented by techno music by this band called jalebi something.

We then headed to Some place else, a place at the Park where live bands perform some good numbers. However the acoustics really suck. A must visit for music aficionados. The best part about Kol night life is that it's got decent music and is quite cheap (compared to Mumbai).

We initially planned to end up with snacks at the street (see picture), which is a neat walk through to Roxie where you get street food at un-street rates but ended up at Jai Hind Dhaba where we ate a pile full of unhealthy (and tasty) Punjabi food. That's what happens when your group is predominantly Dilliwaale :).

BTW also saw the dark night last week, which was pretty amazing. Heath Ledger gives one amazing performance as the Joker in a movie which is a thrill a minute drama. This expands the canvas of the typical batman movie from alleys to the larger scale of disaster movies with road chases and amazing (sometimes unbelievable) stunts. A definite must - see.

P260708_17.59, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

This weekend had me spending the Friday listening to cover versions of Simon and Garfunkel at the CCFC topped with some good food at this small little eatery near Rabindra Sadan Metro station which makes some of the best rolls that I have ever eaten.

While my friends headed out to a beach on Saturday, I caught up with some work (official and personal) and then headed out to Mumbai. Captured the above picture in transit. It shows an aircraft readying for take-off against the twilight. Visiting Mumbai after 2 months means that I would have to work on being friends with my nephew or so I thought because no sooner did he see me, he walked all the way and held onto my legs and then very happily allowed me to carry him which is a rare privilege.

Slept very peacefully with some nice dreams and woke up to a breakfast of pancakes and am now planning to play with the little brat who will soon come here.

Two contrasting weekends. Poles apart but equally fun.

Luv,

P.R.

I've got it again

2008-07-17T11:35:00.004+05:30

I'm currently at home courtesy a tummy bug which means some medicines and a little rest. I really should've taken rest yesterday but ended up going to office and aggravating my tummy problem. It's actually not all that bad and by god's grace I should be better tomorrow.

The problem with such things are that suddenly you have a lot of pain, bouts of fever and/or pain/discomfort about which you can do nothing. Kol (like Mumbai) has it's fair share of water borne infections during monsoon and me being the virus magnet would somehow have got it.

The strange part is that we drink only Kinley mineral water at home, the water in office comes from a water purifier and I try and stay away from roadside food (must be the muri for office snacks). I must live a more hygienic life than 99% of this country's population. My Doc in Mumbai says that as kids we should've had more roadside food and water from outside just to build up our resistance. Too late now I guess.

I am quite the master of tummy infections. Apart from the regular ones, I even managed to be infected by a virus which took a zillion tests and 15 painful injections to master which was supposedly present only in the central region of Mumbai (how they localize it, god knows).

The std. procedure during a tummy bug is this:

Restrict your diet to curd and rice.
Go to a doctor (Just diet can't help)
Take a complete day's rest at least.
Complete your antibiotic course (incomplete courses will just cause it to come back stronger)
Be positive and drink loads of water.
Read a nice positive book (I'm reading Banker to the poor).
Don't be a baby. Be strong and you will feel strong.
Thank god your alive (kids in many parts of the world would die because of lack of medicines)

Regular exercise helps a lot (not in the duration of the bug). My regular gymming recently means that I am not in as bad a state as I was when I was off gym.

Do feel free to contact me, the expert on bugs anytime

Luv,
P.R.

I got me my own domain :)

2008-07-12T11:24:00.002+05:30

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Pranay Harish Rao aka me has finally decided to fall acquire a digital ego-booster. My very own domain. It costs as much as two movies at an inox and really serves no purpose in the near future other than linking to my blog but then ...

So feel free to visit http://www.pranayrao.com/ which will be redirected to back here because life always come full circle :D.

Luv,

P.R.

Perspective

2008-07-03T23:39:00.001+05:30

P290608_13.30, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

Beautiful Naa. Clicked on this small bridge which connects Hastings to Kidderpore market. I had gone to the market to get myself a nice folding umbrella which I did for just Rs. 100.

The market was most beautiful in a very unorganised way. Reminded me about my native place. Every Wed/Thurs there used to be this Chanda which is basically a travelling market. My Granny/Granpa and I would travel in Granpa's old black ambassador to this market where we would sell of excess produce from our land and buy what we required. The experience was most magical.

Anyway walked back from the market along this water body. The water body is flanked on both sides by these slums which lead up to my guesthouse. The whole walk is a contrast. You can see these small hutments flanked by well to do buildings.

Now look closely at the picture again. On the left corner you'll see some plastic bags and waste and the water is really murky and unclean. But seen from a distance at a certain angle it looks beautiful. There's always some beauty in everything, it just depends on your perspective.

Luv,

Pranay

What's up with my life

2008-06-22T12:48:00.001+05:30

P090608_21.06, originally uploaded by Pranay Rao.

Long time since I updated you people about my life. For starters moved to my new place which is quite nice and joined my new division which also has a lot of nice people.

Also played a little bit of soccer and scored a goal with my first touch ad got a bad injury in the next. Funny part is I've played a zillion hours of street soccer, practice etc. etc. without any form of protective gear. Then my dad advices me in the morning to wear a shin guard and I in all my cockiness don't and bang, a very robust looking gentleman plants his studs into my ankle and my ankle swelled up like a balloon which meant a painful few days and losing the ability to kick hard with my right foot.

We unfortunately didn't qualify for the next round partly because Andy and I did not play the last match simply because we had just joined our new department. Second time ever in my life that I could not play soccer because of some other commitment. Both times were matches for ITC which we lost. Felt realllllly bad.

Also celebrated my nephew's first birthday. The little guy was a little sick and so stuck to my dad like a leech. He did love my gifts. One was a monster truck with a construction kit and the other was a mini basketball set. Kids of the Rao family learn to play football before they start walking. This guy has already started kicking a little football, made his first hoop or slam dunk (don't really understand bball) and had a cake shaped like a cricket field.

BTW felt homesick a few days back for the first time in ages. Can't really figure out why.

Luv,

P.R.

Life means more than this

2008-06-22T01:22:00.004+05:30

I stepped out of the Subway at Elgin Road to receive a call and then made a few. There is this table just outside where a family was sitting. The kid was about a year and a half and his father was playing with him when a kid around 12 years old, peddling some Chewing gum walked up to them.

From my position I could see the contrast between the kid dressed in dirty clothes who asked us to buy chewing gum to feed his little brother (or so he said) and on the other side was this kid who was well dressed and taken care of by his parents.

It was at that moment when I felt a strange kind of guilt. God was kind enough to give me a childhood which gave me everything I needed to live in comfort and opportunity to do whatever I want in my life.

Years back I promised myself that I would help those who were less fortunate than me. Years later I haven't really done much.

BTW I did buy the gum. I spent Rs. 10 to appease my guilt. After which I bought a Rs. 200 ticket and snacks and laughed my head off to a nice movie.

- Pranay

The meaning of my life

2008-06-08T02:04:00.000+05:30

Life waited as I gathered my thoughts,
Static I was as the moments passed by.
Thunder greeted me as I looked heavenwards,
My senses tingled as I felt the raindrop from the sky.

My heartbeat slowed down, the mist enveloped me,
The moment was mine to live, mine to share.
Nothing mattered, not the rain, nor the sunset glow,
Life was mine to live, without a worry, without a care.

The world seemed different, distant yet very close.
As I had transcended to a state of absolute peace.
Each raindrop shattered the silence around me.
I clasped my hands and fell to my knees.

Guidance I wanted, guidance to walk the path.
Guidance to help me read, to understand the signs.
Guidance to tell me what was my existence all about,
Guidance to tell me what was I for and what was mine.

Then the truth dawned upon me, in a trickle of raindrops.
It was my existence in a world full of love and endless strife,
Which would temper me, teach me, prepare me;
For the moment when I would know the meaning of my life.

- Pranay

Time to move on

2008-05-25T12:24:00.004+05:30

I moved into my house in Kolkata with a couple of bags, OK a couple of suitcases and a couple of bags. Now it's time to move out of my current house into another house and suddenly I seem to have a tad more luggage than before.

For starters there's the Italian wardrobe in my room, which served me quite well but is now quite the white elephant. Then there's my cycle, a 5 speed Hercules city bike which helped me exercise on the odd days I didn't feel like gymming, the Creative speakers, the zillion formal clothes I had to buy which are at the end of their lifecycle courtesy my maid Durga. There's also the electric kettle and vessels which I really don't know what I should do with.

But the most important thing I would carry with me is memories. Memories of a wonderful year, where I made some amazing friends, learnt a lot about life. The first time ever that I lived in a rented acco was really not that bad. We chose this house because of it's proximity to the metro but post a few months we seem to travel only by cab. We arranged for a tiffin service for home cooked food and mostly ate out.

One thing that always irritated me about MBA and the year in sales was a lack of a routine. This year gave me a routine. There were regular visits to the gym. The sundays actually had me waking up in time for church. Sunday brunch at Flurry's (One Bagel and a hot chocolate) has slowly transformed to Sunday Lunch at Homely Raj. But there is a routine for sure.

My room's still as messy as the first day. The Tibetan flag maybe a little dustier. The pile of books a little higher, the desk a bit more cluttered and life a wee bit richer for the experience of the last year.

Luv,

P.R.

The yellow coloured racers

2008-05-07T23:06:00.006+05:30

He slowly moved in behind the vehicle right in front of him and then before the other driver could react, he dove into the left barely missing the railings and moved into the lead.

All this while his passenger (poor me), almost had a small heart attack. The driver was one of the thousands of people who drive mostly dilapidated, sometimes decrepit yellow cabs around Kolkata. Each cab hogs up half the road and on an average contains one passenger. The cab might take a minute to move from 0 to 20 Kph and a little more than that to get back to zero. Some cabs have doors without handles and some even have windows which can actually be rolled up and down.

There is of course the odd re - furbished cab and there was this one really amazing Ambassador Nova that I commandeered. Incidentally the Ambi was the first vehicle I drove. I was about 7 and it was my grandfather's black '77 Mark 3 Ambi. However even he never allowed us to use it when we went to a busy city. He said that it's not made for busy traffic.

In fact he would have fainted if had ever seen me traveling in the peak of Kolkata traffic in a yellow cab which tries to pass an equally crazy bus driver on the left then on the right and just when you think he is gonna fly over him a-la his more illustrious bong brother Mithun - Da. He suddenly does a Houdini and somehow comes out in front. It's at times like this that you think that bungee jumpin, para - gliding etc. are really over rated. You can get the same excitement, the near death experience at an nth of the cost in our very own Kolkata Cab.

Then just when you think that you are home safe. He stops right in the middle of a junction just as the lights turn red and reverses back. He can't break rules you see. There really is no rule about jostling for space, pushing other vehicles off the kerb, making accusations about another driver's parentage or about any incestuous relationships he might be in and of course one ways are just a formality. One cab going the wrong way is really not going to change much.

Still every morning (sometimes twice if I'm playing soccer), I walk out of my gate, and slide into one of these monstrosities and tell the driver the location of the place (mostly office) I would love to reach with the minimum of fuss in the least possible time and every morning the gentleman in grey takes it upon himself to teach me the value of each minute of my 27 years of existence with moments of sheer exhilaration during which most major incidents of my life flash past my eyes and my driver nonchalantly turns around to ensure that I haven't jumped off, blabbers something in Bengali to which I politely shake my head; My terror - stricken eyes masked behind my Polaroids, after which he deposits me, generally in a tyre shrieking moment at my destination wherein I get out wishing that I could lose my inhibitions for a moment and kiss the ground beneath my feet while the cabby violently pulls out oblivious of my emotions, looking out for the next guy he can refuse to take in unless he's heading right in the direction he feels like going.

But frankly Kol wouldn't be Kol if not for these yellow transporters and life would not be half as exciting.

Living (it up) on the edge,

Luv,

Pranay

Please feed Che

2008-05-03T12:43:00.005+05:30

As a kid, the one thing I wanted was a Puppy. Dad and my sis as a kid having asthma meant that a dog in the house was out of question. Even then my dad gave in and allowed me to ask a neighbour whose Pom had given birth to four pups for one of them. Unfortunately he had already promised the same to someone else and considering that keeping a pup in a 3rd floor apartment doesn't make sense, I made do with an aquarium, one of the cleanest ones ever. I personally put together a cleaning system which was quite amazing.

Finally I got the chance to adopt a male yellow lab puppy who I call Che. He's absolutely cute, but there's a small problem, Che's a virtual pup on Facebook and my Facebook as most other things on the Tata Indicom data card works really slowly. So most days I can't even access Che's page or get the flash application started. Which means that Che is really not taken care of well. So if you are one of my Facebook pals and have a 1/2 decent net connection, please feed/play with Che till I find alternate means to do so.

Luv,

P.R.

A new chapter beckons

2008-05-02T22:15:00.003+05:30

Just received my transfer list today and I've been posted as Asst. Brand Manager, Personal Care products which means I stay in Kolkata. Definitely a new chapter in my life.

- Pranay

Village of stars

2008-04-28T23:12:00.003+05:30

'We are on the slow runway'

'Hmmm'

'Why are we going on to the grass'

'See lights'

Let's start at the beginning. Got auto checked into a window seat and didn't change it. Reached the airport way too early so spent an hour reading Malcom X. Truth is stranger than fiction which explains all the biographies/autobiographies that I keep picking up. Anyway the lounge had this young mother with a very sweet baby girl and a slightly older boy.

Babies I can get along with, especially girls. My nephew is probably the only male baby with whom I've had such a blast. Anyway I smiled away at the kids from a safe distance from the lounge to the bus ride till I suddenly realized that the boy was right behind me.

What ensued was the kid kicking the hell out of my chair. His parents really tried their best to keep him still and quiet with little success. So I did what I could do best. I plugged in my earphones and tried reading my book.

Anyway I soon got tired of the best of blues (courtesy Andy) and then began listening to the kid and his absolute amazement at most things outside the window.

Flying, most days is almost a reflex action. and here was this kid bringing the magic back. I looked out of the window as we were landing at Kolkata. It was like a village of stars. Each star probably a house. Maybe watching an IPl match/ Saans Bahu serial oblivious of the effect they had on a little kid eagerly absorbing everything and his imaginative narration making it beautiful for the 27 year old Manager who has probably become that wee bit cocky and a tad cynical.

Thanks dude,

Treasuring the village of stars

- Pranay