The Drive

It was a regular drive. We did not hope to see any wild animals; we just set out for a drive to beat the monotony of the previous few weeks.

Bandipur lies on the national highway 67 which connects Bangalore to the Nilgiris, which is a favorite destination for people going out on a holiday.

NH 67

The national park is an invariable halt for people who enjoy wildlife (it does not mean that all of them understand what wildlife is all about). Being at almost the cusp of three states – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Kerala – the highway is one of the most important trade routes used for transporting goods and services. The traffic on this route is usually on the higher side throughout the year. With this being the case, it’s an absolute wonder that animals, especially elephants, sometimes turn up so close to the highway.

People who have gone out on a safari at Bandipur have more often than not complained that they have not got to see anything. Apart from the usual spotted deer, a bison, a few langurs and peacocks, people rarely get to see the other variety. Experience would tell us that spotting a rare species requires a lot of patience ( You need to put up at the national park, a nice little drive on a sunny afternoon will not help), awareness of the habitat of the species and of course, a lot of luck. The time of the year also plays an important part. The bandipur forests are thick with a lot of growth of trees. These provide ample cover to the animals inside the forest to get away from human sight. A very high percentage of these animals are nocturnal, which makes it all the more difficult to spot it during the daytime. If the knowledge of animal behavior is very less, it is very essential to take the help of people who have spent a reasonable amount of time studying wildlife.

Spotted Deer

Coming back to our journey, the drive was largely uneventful. We discussed this and that on our way to bandipur and reached there just in time for a safari. To our dismay, and to the few readers who may read this blog, the safari rates have been increased to Rs. 300. The same has been done at many other such places I hear. Since we did not have any hopes of spotting wildlife at this time of the year and also the time of the day, we decided not to go on the safari but to drive on further till the Karnataka – Tamil Nadu border just see what would be in store.

Mysore - Ooty Road

This particular highway is a scenic beauty. The very sound of the jungle takes you on a high. If you are all ears, the sound of screeching monkeys, the calls of the wild birds and the distant wild dogs once in a while are sweeter than music. To top it all off, the cool winds that blow during the mornings and in the evenings give an unforgettable experience. We experienced just that on our drive towards the border and back.

One thing that caught our eyes in the reserve was the sign boards which said “Say No To Plastic”, but the fact remained that we saw a Cheetal (Spotted Deer) mowing down Plastic covers thrown away by some stupid travelers. This is so hard to digest, with all those information kiosks present (even in local language) what else should we do to educate these absurd folks. Possibly fencing the forest corridors would be the best option as of now.

The forest department was conducting an exercise where they were burning the dry shrubs beside the roadside to prevent forest fires during winter and the early summer (the logic behind this exercise needs to be evaluated for sure). This ensured that all the animals would stay away from the road. Even then, we spotted groups of spotted deer beside water puddles, which was a lovely sight indeed. We decided to start our drive back home as it was quite late in the evening.

The Drive back – and the Dream Catcher

Dreamcatcher Cafe

On the way to Bandipur from Mysore, we had spotted a nice looking café between Begur and Gundlupet but we moved on to be in time at Bandipur.  On our way back, we decided to stop and see what it was all about.

Dreamcatcher Café is a part of the larger “Dreamcatcher”, a travel & outdoor company, who are into outbound workshops, team bound activities and journeys besides working with school children helping them understand and relate to mother earth.

One of their key people is Brian Moses with whom we spent a few hours at the café. Brian is an extremely friendly man and the warmth with which he treated us made us feel like we knew him for a long period of time in spite of this being our first interaction. His in-depth knowledge of the wildlife and its habitat and those wonderful stories which he had to say about his experiences in the jungle had us spellbound. We learned from him that the very same water hole that we watched for some time in Bandipur had been attracting a tiger for the past one week, but we were not so lucky. Adding to that, the ambience of the Dreamcatcher café was so very soothing that we did not feel like leaving the place.

Dreamcatcher Cafe

Brian also has an amazing collection of photographs and a small collection of books to go with the lovely sandwiches, pancakes and coffee which he serves. All this, coupled with excellent music and clean country air makes for a wonderful experience.

I met Partha and Chittiappa Sir the other day at Ramdev Chai Shop on Kalidasa Road, one of our regular kattes or addas or whatever you may call it. We discussed this and that over a few rounds of “Chai and king”, which has a stimulating effect on our intellect and we tend to think more logically under its influence. We hit upon the topic of the sudden disappearance of sparrows on the city skyline. Many reasons were cited ranging from trees being cut down to stronger mobile radiation signals. A few of the katte boys joined in the discussion uninvited where they started a school of thought which suggested that there might be a unique restaurant in the city and one of its popular dishes involves sparrow meat in sumptuous quantities which might have resulted in the disappearance of the little birds. This idea was quickly rebuffed by all of us.

 

On those lines, I shall now give you an account of my own experience where a sparrow had built its nest in my window. The year was 1999 and the incident took place while we were in CFTRI Quarters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had set the alarm clock to ring at 6.00 AM. I had an important job the next day morning. This alarm clock was a gift from a cousin which had six different types of alarm calls built in. Three of them were nursery rhymes; two of them were instrumental songs and another a standard alarm tone which you find in all alarm devices.

 

I woke up next morning to an entirely different sound and began to wonder where the noise came from and what the time was. It was the sweet sound of two little young birds which had set up their nest at my window. The time was 5.55 AM and 50 seconds to the dot. It struck me as rummy as I did not remember my alarm device having any of those tones. It was after a few minutes after the clock struck six that I became fully conscious and realized the presence of the little ones at my window.

 

Windows we had during those days had two panes. On was a mesh type which opened to the inside and the other was a glass pane which opened to the outside. The windows had double panes as well. Since it was the rainy season, I had kept both the glass and the mesh panes closed. One side of the glass panes did not have a latch securing it to the window frame and opened slightly enough for a sparrow to come and build its nest in the small corridor between the glass and the mesh panes.

 

I took a closer look trying not to disturb the little ones. They were playing around in their own way. The nest was set to perfection protecting it from the wind and the rain, it actually rained in the rainy seasons during those days, and also from all the insects and pests which are present in tree barks. As I was looking, in came a bigger sparrow and started pecking violently at the mesh. It had obviously spotted me from a distance as the pane which had a broken latch had opened fully. I presumed it to be the mother. She was annoyed at me trying to spy on her little ones and wanted me to go away. I obliged her and went away not wanting to scare her and her babies away from my window and of course I had my morning duties to finish and get ready for school. I told my mother what I saw and she too came and had a look. The mother sparrow had settled down and I thought she was feeding her little ones.

 

I always wanted to have pet right from when I was young. Being a very orthodox family that we were, I was not allowed to have one. Before we moved away to CFTRI quarters we were a joint family, what with all my aunties and uncles, grandpa and a more than a handful grandmother, with whom I would be forced to share my bedroom later after my grandpa passed away. The entire family was very orthodox and had a few beliefs which even now I cannot comprehend. One such belief was that pets tend to indicate omens, most of the times bad and as such barred from being kept. Dogs, for example, it is believed, have the ability to see ghosts and a poor dog sulking is an indication of a major catastrophe to somebody in the house. With all these omens and beliefs pets are generally barred in an orthodox Brahmin family.

 

The arrival of these little ones gave me immense joy. I literally stopped using my alarm clock as these little ones were a natural alarm. They would start making noises well before 6 AM and wake me up. This ensured that I was never late for my morning tuitions and even to school. These birds were an additional bonus on Saturdays when school used to begin early. The birds were active in the evenings as well when I came back from school at around 4.00 PM. These little ones were slowly becoming a part of my life.  I was amazed at the discipline of these birds. They had a natural sense of time which I, even with two clocks and one imported, in my room did not have. I spent time observing them on a Sunday. The mother fed them in regular equal intervals. The father brought home the food at regular timings as well. The birds were back in their nest as soon as it was dark. They were off into slumber pretty early and so did I, not to disturb them with the light in my room. I woke up with them each morning. I was early to bed and early to rise. This brought in a remarkable change in me and I became more alive and active. I could also pass a fairly tough GK test during this time and win a prize at school because I sat preparing for it early in the morning. To top it all off I got fairly less amount of scolding from my parents.

 

I also found a unique way of communicating with them. I saw that if I could imitate the noises that they make, they would respond to me back. That was immense fun. I would imitate their noises all evening and they would respond back. My mother sometimes used to feed the mother sparrow with grains and other stuff and made her feel at home. I, mom and even dad were happy with the presence of these birds.

 

Then suddenly, after around 20 days, the weather changed. It stopped raining and we had a brief spell of warm weather. The sun was out shining. The little ones were grown up and were a lot active. One morning I went to school as usual after saying bye to the little ones but when I came back the birds were gone. So was the nest. I was shocked and dismayed. I checked all the other windows just to see whether the birds had shifted base. They were nowhere to be seen. I almost felt like being cheated and was almost crying. Dad was the first to come home and I told him what had happened. His response was that the birds were grown up and had gone away to continue living their life and that this phenomenon was natural. Mom told me the same thing and added that this was a life cycle. I calmed down somewhat, but I was surely missing the sweet noises. I woke up really late the next day. My tuition teacher scolded me for being late and I had to cut a sorry figure before the principal at school for being late to school as well. After a few days I was returned to normalcy and was back being myself. My mother called out and pointed me to a group of sparrows sitting on a wire very close to our balcony. I had absolutely no doubt that they were the same ones who had built their nest at my window. All of them were grown up now. They all flew one after another to lead their own life.

 

I remember those days every time I look up in the sky and see no sparrows, which have suddenly disappeared. Some say it is because trees have been cut down to make way for buildings and widening of roads and some say it is because of the mobile signals present in the atmosphere which are getting stronger by the day with the introduction of new technology in mobile communications. Whatever the reason maybe, I am certainly looking forward for a solution to all these when we can have our good old birds back to where they belong, in the sky above us.

Welcome back…!!!! It’s been a while since I have posted anything at all in spite of spending months together doing nothing. I have been told that some of the best words are written when a writer is at perfect solitude; in my case it is the right opposite. I tend to scribble when I am active and busy and have people buzzing around me. Not that I am incredibly busy or anything like that, but the fact that I have found a new job has made me relax and my mind is now at the perfect cusp of having something to do and not too much either. Just what the doctor ordered

 

The last time I wrote, I was a completely different individual with pretty much orthodox preferences about things in general. Now that I am no more into teaching has brought out the wild child in me again. My mind has undergone a thorough overhauling and I am now before you a completely new individual – enthusiastic, optimistic and all.

 

I now have a sudden urge to travel and I am generally spending time planning that magical trip of mine – details of which I shall reveal in future posts. I am in a profession that is satisfying and does allow me to improve myself in the days to come. Its not too taxing either and the industry is exciting.

 

There have been immense changes in the past few months with a couple of friends going away to fulfill their dreams and a couple of them coming back. Deepa is in the US pursuing her MS and Srikanth is in London on his way in becoming a highly successful individual. Vikram is back in Bangalore and has brought in new enthusiasm in me; I was starting to miss people like him lately. I can safely say that I am looking forward to some good times ahead, both on the career as well as on the personal front.

 

Shall write more in the coming posts……………

Underneath the Southern Cross I stand….!!!

For people reading the above sentence for the first time, it surely does not make any sense. For starters, it is the victory song of the Australian cricket team, which goes something like this….

Underneath the Southern Cross I Stand

A sprig of wattle in my hand,

A native of my native land,

Australia you little beauty………..

Becoming a lecturer has expanded my horizons in that I have more time for myself. That has enabled me to gather a few thoughts. I also have been able to give my meandering thoughts a proper flow. Of the many things, recent happenings at a Management Fest called Mantra had me thinking like never before.

Now as a student, I was quite an out and out individual not caring a damn, even about my career and academics. I never bothered as to what sort of an impact my behavior would make on those people watching me. Judges, Lecturers, Recruiters, so on and so forth. Now that the ends have changed, I have been compelled to make a brutal introspection about my attitude. These days I am setting an example, maybe good or bad, while I never ever bothered to follow one. There has been a paradigm shift in the way I look at things.

People somehow get philosophical when ends change. I now have the responsibility of guiding a few young fellows along the right path and show them the way, whether they would even bother to listen to me or not. While you are doing that, there are a few words you say to the students and then think: Hell yeah!! Where did those syllables come from?

Mantra 08 was a unique experience. We had taken mostly the same set of students to Naissance, a bigger event with tougher competition, and with absolutely no scope for a win. Exposure was the main aim. With Mantra, the case was different. When a team is suddenly facing a realistic possibility of an unlikely result in their favor, two possible characters are displayed. The possibility is converted to victory, or the team buckles down for a defeat. The competitors, except one, were none too great, a fact proven beyond doubt when they opened their mouths during the valedictory. This team had a chance. They buckled under pressure with victory being inches away.

The secret behind a successful campaign, be it a fest or sport, lies in the preparation leading up to the event. A team starts jelling together during the preparations and finally hit the peak at the right time. The teams also have fun along the way and enjoy what it does. This team was never together from the start with an absolute lack of discipline. Too many practice hours were spent away in needless gossip and every possible excuse given for participants being late.

The coordinator of this team was Shafiulla K M, a second year student with a bit of talent than others and a genuine drive to try and do something new. His mate Dilip, a multi talented chap coupled with a thinking brain, was an asset to this team. These guys made a great combo and decided to tackle the marketing event to which they were best equipped. They complemented each other well in presentations and thus had a very good chance. The opportunity was squandered through sheer overconfidence in answering a question that had negative markings. If the question had been left unanswered, they would have been through, but nevertheless they got it wrong and were knocked out of the event in the first round.

The HR event was an event which beckoned us to win. Mohammed Sameer Ahmed, a second semester lad was a straightforward, hassles free person, key traits to tackle HR issues. Darshan, his mate, was a chap with similar traits, but with complicated thinking, which would result in their downfall. They sailed through their first three rounds which required them to take part in a GD, Interview, do a collage on women empowerment with the aid of magazine cutouts. In the final round, they were required to make a presentation with the help of the collage they had prepared. The crowd was encouraged to post queries on the presenter. Seeing these two fellows come over to make their presentation, even the small crowd present sensed a kill. Their body language displayed a negativity like the one displayed by a weakened deer amongst a herd about to be caught by a menacing tiger. A start with a defining punch line was followed up with utter silence and disbelief. Probing questions were responded with stunned silence. Such was the state that the judge himself had to answer a couple of queries from the audience.

There was no clue about the Operations round to both the participants, Lokesh Kiran and Vishu Kumar. The homework was simply not being done. When there are no clues regarding an event, an extensive search over the internet is done followed by consulting people who have either conducted or participated in such events. Under preparation meant that this event was approached with hopes of a miracle or a stroke of luck to get them through. Needless to say that they were eliminated after the first round

Same can be said of Finance as well, Bharath Simha and Divyashree confessed to being under prepared and did not understand some of the questions on advanced finance. That they are still in first year and yet to see specialized Finance cannot be taken as an excuse.

The Business Plan was an event of mixed emotions for me, frustration due to a lack of communication between Rashmi and Mohammed Suheel Zameer. The most important part of a Business Plan, i.e., the executive summary being completely forgotten despite a printed document given containing guidelines on Business Plan writing added to the frustration. Rashmi had her own disappointment as I did not consider a Business Plan formulated through her efforts spreading over a sleepless night. I could not consider her plan as it was not communicated to me at the right time and was told only after the original plan had been submitted. This was followed by a glimmer of hope as, against all odds; the faulty plan had been accepted for the final round. A desperate attempt was made to convert this hope into a victory, but at the end of the day we were fighting a losing battle.

Business quiz was also a first round exit with Bhagath and Shafiulla going in under prepared as well.

If at all a performance captured my imagination, it was from Suma, our Best Manager participants. She showed sheer grittiness and stubbornness through ten rounds of physical stress, case studies and role plays. She displayed an attitude befitting a manager. But even she fell at the final hurdle. She needs to hone her skills on performing at crunch situations though.

We slogged three days of practice in getting an Ice Breaker to perfection. The performance at the Ice Breaker was extremely good and exceeded our expectations. It was inconsequential in the end as the prize to that event was dubiously scrapped raising suspicions of dirty work behind. Nevertheless, the performance showed what could be achieved through rigorous practice and dedication.

The detailed account given above might make you wonder if I am firing all guns at my students, I admit that even my attitude as a faculty was more student like during the fest. Even though I was there at the venue, my presence was pretty useless in that I had nothing much to offer them apart from encouragement.

Much criticism has followed since the day the fest ended with the participants returning with sad faces to the class today. The once cheerful and all-smiles faces have been replaced with gloominess and melancholy. Probably the criticism by us was just too much to cop.

But they are my students and I care for them a lot. I want them to undergo a kind of learning that is unique and help them in their overall development. I want to be there for them whenever they feel like they want me, if at all they want me.

I congratulate them for putting up a brave fight despite the odds. As the someone said: I like the winning, I don’t mind losing, but most of all I like to play!! I see an enthusiasm as they get ready for Verve 2008.

I yearn for the day when they would work as a team, disciplined and dedicated, filled with joy and fun and I can sing along with them these incredible lines, as the Australian cricket team does after each victory with winning being a common practice……..

Underneath the Southern Cross I Stand

A sprig of wattle in my hand,

A native of my native land,

Mahajanas, the class of 2009 you little beauty…..!!!!!

PS: Lyrics of the song has been edited to suit the flow of thought

At first glance, you would wonder, why the dickens would anyone include the tag “others” when he is yet to introduce himself. I have always believed that in order to understand a person, you need to know something about the people around him.

I have, as any individual would, come across hundreds of people in a span of say 20 years. While nobody would dig deeper into the kind of people they have come across, it is needless to say that a journey in those roads would be an interesting study. People around me have, in certain cases; given me jitters and goose bumps, made me laugh, think, talk and behave in various manners. I would discuss a few people who have influenced me in a big way, and, quite obviously are still in touch.

My understanding of this world began around 22 years back, when I was a 3 year old. Though not that mischievous, I was quite a handful to my mother, through my acts and physical structure as well, and mom decided that it was time I had some schooling.

Circa 1986, I stepped into CFTRI School, Mysore. On the third day, while I was hovering around the corridor, I heard the unmistakable voices of a frecklish kid, not wanting to come to school but his mother was forcing him to. He was being quite a handful to his mom. I had acted in the same way, with less intensity, a couple of days back on my first day in school. But by the third day I had got used to it.

I was then introduced to him by our class teacher, Aunty (Yes, you heard it right, Aunty!!) Gloria. Now why aunty and why not Miss? You need to be a CFTRIan to understand that. His name was U P Vikram, a close bud even to this day.

Roll the time machine 22 Years; he is probably one of the most emotional people I have ever met. He thinks everything from his heart. Ask for help and he is the first person to raise his hand up and be counted. Once he sets his focus on something, needless to say he has it. He is his mom’s only kid, just like me. But it’s the sheer number of sisters [J] he has had in his life that make him stand out from the rest. Right from our class girls and senior girls at school, through PU & Graduation, I can count up to a hundred!!! That includes a sister whom he never perceived as one & saw her in a different angle [;-)]!!! Brother of all sisters could be an apt title.

The Year was 1995, when we had just started high school, when a new kid joined. Sanjay B was his name. His face being so incredibly funny we actually wanted to see it again and again. 3 years went like a breeze, what with his share of sisters and crushes as well. He has an incredible ability to come out of infatuations and even relationships so well that you would wonder whether anything happened or not. If I have seen it once, I have seen it happen a hundred times!!! We graduated from high school in 1998 and somehow lost touch for a good 5 years. I value him for the sheer grittiness that he possesses. In those five years he has risen against the storm with absolutely no support whatsoever. He had tough days during PU & Graduation, both academically and financially. He has stuck through it all with sheer grit and I am very happy for the way he is today. He still carries with him the same smile that he had the first day I saw him.

The Year was 2001, got into BBM at TTL First grade college, Mysore. I met a certain Mr. Ranjit Chandran. A layman noticing him from a distance would pass him off as one of those serious chappies and would hardly enter into a conversation and if he does, would not last for more than five minutes. But boy!!! If he weren’t there though my three years of Grad and two years of Post Grad, I would have been bored enough to chuck it all and have a dive at the nearest lake. I should have killed him a long time ago for the sheer amount of times he has pulled my leg irrespective of the audience around, but he is the one who has been right there for me through my tough times at college. I owe my maths and accounts papers to him, and hey, not to forget economics and business environment, and also Finance (The most vital of ‘em all, no MBA if he wouldn’t have helped me out). The most trustworthy guy who brought out the best in me and helped me perform

In the year 2004, after literally scraping through graduation, I landed at Pooja Bhagvat Memorial Mahajana PG Center. Here I met two unique people, quite the first of their kind. Raghav Prasad and Shruthi. While one was thoughtful, the other one tried to be creative. While one’s mood swung more heavily than Wasim Akram’s reverse swing, the other one was had a temper shorter than Dennis Lillie’s bouncers. Quite an amazing combination, both of them. Our meetings, starting with loads of laughter, invariably had a fight midway, and ended in laughter again. While one would choose his food completely on mood and place, the other one wanted everything in the streets. But together we went through some of the best phases of our lives and saw the transition happening, a tough one at that, from being students to becoming professionals.

In the same year I met another bud of mine, Ruben Duke. I have been with him on tours, bike rides, walks and we have been high on the highway as well. He has been a splendid companion. We spent some of our best moments last May – June. Those days, if put on paper, would make for another interesting reading with an apt title – Rajajinagar Nights J. All these days he has been a great mate, and he himself has seen numerous ups and downs in his career, and laughed his way through it.

I shall give a detailed account of some of the interesting incidents with the people discussed and you understand as to why exactly are these people so interesting…….till then….take a break