Rudrapur (a small town approximately 6 hours by road from Lucknow) turned out to be nearly the opposite of what we (me and mum) had expected it to be. The developing industrial township in Uttarakhand (erstwhile Uttar Pradesh) is seing a burst of activity. Pantnagar Industrial Area is the place where large manufacturing units are set up – from Tata Motors to Bajaj, Brittania to Nestle, and HCL to TVS-Lucas – they’re all here.
What we expected to be a sleepy little town with a sub-1-lakh population is actually bustling – new shops coming up, construction work on everywhere and cyber cafes coming up at all important street crossings. In fact, one thing I noticed was that ‘enterprising’ cyber-cafe owners have turned the ‘cafe’ into a virtual railway reservation counter -
Train Ticket Booking -
- Rs. 20/- for 1 ticket
- Rs. 30/- for 2 tickets
In fact, one of the places even had different ‘reservation charges’ for Sleeper, AC 3-tier and AC 2-tier. Call it ‘RobbinHood-ism’ or ‘enterpreneurial’, ‘knowledge-arbitrage’ or plain ‘fleecing’ – depending upon whichever way you look at it.
Just a few things I have been nagging to mom about – no electricity for about 8 horus every day (and there’s no fixed time), no ‘network’ on the mobile phone – especially in the colony we’re living in (Batra Colony – an upcoming colony but probably on ‘town outskirts’), and of course – No Internet! 
– Except the cyber-cafe’s I was talking about where the ’server is down’ every once in a while!
Nonetheless, I had a chilled out time with family – both mum and extended family, my laptop and myself. I have a rather relaxing next 4 days ahead of me – From here we head to Nainital (70 Kms by road from Rudrapur) and onwards to Binsar for a couple of days. Then we hit Kausani and then come back to Rudrapur – from where I catch a train back to Lucknow (for Term 2 ) and mum heads to Delhi where she spends a day or two before heading to Kolkata and we both get back to living the life we are used to – the ‘regular’ life, I mean!
.. They were REALLY good.. Some really talented chaps!
)
- Term 1 has ended.
- Term 1 is over.
- Term 1 is finally over!
In how many more ways could I say it? .. Most of my batchmates would concur that it sounds as sweet no matter how many times you say those words. We had all heard a lot about the first term (or two) in a B-school being extremely hectic and all that jazz – but going through it still leaves u sapped in the end, regardless of how ‘prepared’ you are from all the hulabaloo.
Term 1 started and ended like a storm and all my batchmates can manage right now is bouts of waking up between non-stop sleep (it was quit the reverse, otherwise!). Among the many things that happened (to / with me) in Term 1, the most significant ones are as follows:
- Selected to judge an event at Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University (RMNLU) – My association with law schools continues! .. They were REALLY good.. Some really talented chaps!
- Made it to the Alumni Committee
- Got shortlisted for the Aditya Birla Scholarship (didnt make it in the end!)
- Appeared on the front page oh HT – an article featuring diverse profiles of students @ IIM L
- Performed on stage a couple of times (Surprisingly, our batch has amazing drummers – a rarity on B-school campuses, usually). I sing now!
- Contested student council elections and lost narrowly – lost nonetheless!
- Met some great people (& I continue doing that – we have a batch of 340!)
- Saw Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt perform LIVE – he came on campus.
- Enjoyed “lakhnawi” cuisine – Dastaar Khwan, Tunde Kebabs and Idris ki Biryani – have written about some, will write about Tunde!
THE NEXT ONE WEEK..
Mum’s down on campus. We’re heading to Rudrapur from here for a couple of days – reatives. And from there we ‘head to the hills’ – Nainital, Kasauni and Binsar! – Pics & Travel reviews shall follow!
THE NEXT 3 MONTHS..
The Grind. This time faster and more furious – The Second Term! :D
Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt at IIM Lucknow
Indian Classical music is deep, very deep. The great indian classical music maestro Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt came dowm to perform at our campus yesterday. This was done as a part of the inauguration of the SPIC-MACAY chapter at IIM Lucknow. SPIC-MACAY stands for ‘Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Among the Youth!’
For an hour, the entire audience was mesmerised, erupting only occasionally in bursts of applause. The show started with Pandit-ji telling us about how ‘rich’ indian classical music is. Particularly, he said:
Music is Spiritual and belongs to this time ans place. Whatever we are going to play today has not been planned and has not been played before. We are just playinng Raagas – but exactly what we play belongs to this time and place and will not be repeated tommorow. That is the beauty of Indian Classical Music.
The Youth tells us that Indian Classical music is slow. We will prove today that indian classical music can be 3 to 4 times faster than anything they have heard before!
Beggining with this, for the next hour or so, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on the Mohan Veena (which by the way is an instrument created by the maestro himself!) and Pandit Ram Kumar Mishra embarked on an hour of music that is among the most memorable music pieces that I have heard.
There were 3-4 bursts of applause form the audience at specific ‘moments of brilliance’ and pin-drop silence at other times. However, what I found most interesting was this – the maximum applause came at a point when the maestros took us to a crescendo. The audience continued to clap for around 2 minutes and Pandit-ji was enjoying the admiration. When the audience stopped clapping, Pandit-ji announced that that was it, thank you very much! … I realized that the audience and the performers were really in union. It was almost like the audience ‘knew’ that this was the end – and mind you, majority of the audience at IIM Lucknow would not be connoissuers of Indian Classical Music and regular listeners. This clearly shows that music transcends language, familiarity and boundaries!
Pandit-Ji playing the Mohan Veena
Both pictures courtsey: Hansraj Mishra
I should have probably written “Lucknow” as “Lukh-naoo”. For one, I am ‘taken’ by the hospitality of the people here – everyone is extremely polite and not for nothing is the “khatirdaari” (hospitality) synonoymous with Lucknow.
What I am going to talk about today, however is, another thing that Lucknow is famous for – food!
(Insert: I have also realized that the last post that I had written about a couple of months back was also about food. This may indicate either that:
1. Food is my only source of recreation.. or
2. I have nothing else to write about
– both of which are not true! … Its just that I have been trying hard to juggle activities and academics at business school.)
Coming back to Dastaar Khwaan, it is located beyond Hazratganj, in a small congested lane with a gutter flowing right through it – not quite of ambience you’d associate with good food but trust me the food proves is quite otherwise. We ordered the following:
- Galaawati Kebab – which is basically ‘Tunde’ Kebab.. Just that the latter is proprietary and has come to be associated with all forms of Tunde Kebabs in general – much like ‘Xerox’ for photocopies. Galaawati kebab is soft, rich and melts in your mouth.
- Mutton Biryani – Tasted divine. Although I think, Kolkata Biryani tastes equally good (the likes of Shiraaz, Zeeshan, etc.).
- Chicken Masala – this is what took the cake. The picture shown below is of the cook (what they call “Mistry” or “Kalakaar” here) making Chicken Masala!
DISCLAIMER: Vegeterians – stay away! … Our gang had 2 vegeterians and they ha NOTHING to eat!
BIRYANI: Now that I have had Biryani at the each of the ‘triads’ of good “Biryani” in India – Hyderabad, Kolkata and Lucknow, I must admit that the Biryani that I had at ’Paradise’, Hyderabad, is by far the most memorable! – Although I am told that “Idris ki Biryani” beats literally everyone hands down.
Next destination: Idris ki Biryani!
I have been born ad brought up in Kolkata. Despite being a Marwari, I have had the good fortune of having a lot of friends who happen to belong to the city. For one thing, Calcuttans (pardon me – I prefer ‘Calcutta’ to ‘Kolkata’), LOVE food. I have been privy to some amazing food at Bengali Weddings. (Read: )
I am back home for a week now – before I head for my MBA at IIM Lucknow and had the pleasure of trying out Bengali Cuisine at the 2 places that first strike one’s mind when looking for Bengali food at Kolkata:
- Oh! Calcutta – Managed and run by Specialty Restaurants – the same group that owns Mainland China, Sigree and Machaan
- Kewpies – Owned by Rakhi Purnima Dasgupta
—
AMBIENCE
Kewpies was good – In the sense that it was very “traditional.” The decor (look and feel!) of the place is almost like a Bengli house-hold and it reminded me of 6 Ballygunge Place – another popular place for Bengali cuisine – which by the way, has recently opened a branch at Bangalore! Lathe wooden doors, large windows, a high ceiling with old fans which move slow – perhaps it is intentional. Low-seating tables and cutlery made of earthen mud, with a Banana Leaf on top. Oh! Calcutta - on the contrary – has amazing decor, is pleasantly lighted, has great service staff and has some wonderful traditional bengali folklore (soft) playing inthe background.
To the contrary, the ambience at Kewpies was below average – the air-conditioning was not affective, the toilets were a tad unkempt (which, again, could be intentional to give the place a “homely” feel) – but I’d rather not comment.
–
FOOD-WISE:
Kewpies was very average. I was very disappointed with the food. Especially, the “Aam Pora Shorbot” (popularly known as “Aam Panna” in North India) – which we started our meal with – was not well-made, one-sip full in quantity and unfortuantely, set the tone for the near-torture that was about to follow. The “Luchis” (bengali word for “Puri”) were small and wafer-thin as compard to the ones at Oh! Calcutta. The spread on the whole was very average at Kewpies. Not something we had expected from it after the reviews in The Telegraph and elsewhere. I am disappointed – I could have better utilized my time, money and a special afternoon with mom!
–
THE VERDICT / RECCOMENDATION:
Oh! Calcutta – If you want a nice, memorable introduction to Bengali Cuisine amidst a great ambience and savour a truly professional experience!
Kewpies / 6 Ballygunge Place - If you want absolutely “authentic” Bengali food – the sort that you are likely to get if you gate-crash into a regular “Bangali” household on a normal day – no special cooking. In fact, I remember having tastier food at the homes of some of my Bengali friends!
Bhojohori Manna – For Bengali fast-food – if you want “Bong” food on-the-go and do not have too much time to spare. Bhojohori Manna is almost like a CCD for bengali cuisine!
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For those who are wondering if this is intended to be a GUIDE to eateries / restaurants in Kolkata, is is not. This is merely meant to be an attempt at expressing my dissatisfaction over Kewpies and delight over Oh! Calcutta!
Burrrrrrp! 
Building 43 – I wonder what this is!
Everyone from Robert Scoble to Seth Godin seems to have mentioned it somewhere, somehow! .. The caption says – “a place for people fanatical about the internet.”
Anyway, I seem to be having a lot of Web 2.0 up my sleeves these days – I even went to Crossword and bought a book about Internet and New Media. It’s called “What Would Google Do?” .. abbreviated “WWGD” – by Jeff Jarvis, a journalist and blogger at BuzzMachine.
Will post a review soon!
We are all in search of Success – Success in our lives, Success at the workplace as well as success in our personal lives. We know that success is acheived through a combination of factors and relentless effort. However, whenever we speak about or look at the lives of succesful people, we tend to atribute their success to one (or sometimes 2 factors). For instance:
- Sachin Tendulkar is what he is because of his determination and exceptional talent!
- Aamir Khan is a brilliant actor!
- Dhirubhai Ambami had the vision and guts to execute his ideas at any cost
We sometimes tend to forget that these “success stories” are about ordinary people with sometimes extra-ordinary perseverence who were fortunate to be gifted opportunities and had the insight to make most of these. OUTLIERS: The Story of Success is a book that talks about how extra-ordinarily high acheivers are bred out of not a single reason, factor or circumstance – but often a combination of a huge number of these.
Malcom Gladwell, a British-born Canadian journalist and author - (though I did not enjoy his earlier books “Blink” and “The Tipping Point” too much) – has come up with a landmark book. Outliers is about how success can be acheived in everyday life provided we are working hard and can spot the opportunities life presents us. Outliers is about creating more such opportunities – so that there are even more extra-ordinary people – and society, at large, can benefit.
Any well-written book gives you certain “take-aways”. My “take-aways” from Outliers are these 2 ideas that have stuck on to my mind and will probably remain there for quite a while:
1. The 10,000 Hour Rule:
According to this rule, if you want to “master” anything.. (like Mozart-level master), you have to give it 10,000 hours. Gladwell thinks 10,000 is the magic number for success at anything. He also refers to a research study which proves the hypothesis. And he goes on to state that the sooner you complete your 10,000 hours, the sooner you become a “master” at that particular activity. With examples ranging from Bill Clinton and The Beatles to references from lesser-known American folklore, Gladwell brings this point alive in ways that you cannot even imagine!
2. The Ethnic theory of Plane Crashes:
This chapter in the book talks about the other “flip” side. If success is a combination of many factors, well so is failure. Gladwell refers to an in-depth analysis of airline crashes and brings up stories from global aviation history. He brings forth the point that plane crashes are not because of the ONE BIG technical snag, or JUST that there was no fuel or a SINGULAR reason. Planes crash, Gladwell says, because of a series of failures which could be as unrelated as:
- A pilot who has had a more-than-long stint at the cockpit
- Tired air-hostesses who spilt water on the floor, was busy cleaning it and did not adhere to the captain’s instructions
- A passanger who did not follow safety regulations and had inadvertently switched on his cell phone
- A co-pilot who, due to a “communication gap” with his superior could not apprise the captain of the situation and raise an alarm in time
When 4 such factors strike at the same time, we have a disaster waiting to happen. Interestingly, the rules of success are the same as the rules of failure.
–
At times, it is hard to make out exactly what Gladwell is trying to say. Nonetheless, the book is very anecdotal, every statement is backed by data and an attempt is made to ensure that every insight shared has reason, rather than rhetoric. Throughout the time that I was reading this book, I kept wondering – “What exactly is he trying to say?” – That success is bred within the person? .. Or is it the function of the oppurtunities (including luck!) that are external to oneself? … It is only towards the end that I started getting the idea behind the book and that idea is not better summarized than this excerpt:
“It is not the brightest who succeed. Nor is success simply the sum of decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. it is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities – and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.”
