My Life | Inside the mind and heart of Venkatesh Sridhar

Why does our patriotism grows exponentially when we are out of India

15th August, 2005 – India celebrates its 58 years of Independence. So did I. But I wasnt in India. I was here in Dubai. The moment the clock struck 12 midnight signalling the start of the day I would remember for the rest of my life. Me and my villa mates went to our backyard stood in attention and sang the National Anthem. We sung it with full passion. Our hearts were filled with passion and I am sure each one of us wanted to catch the next flight and go home.

And in the true b-school spirit we went back to reading our Marketing books for the test that we had.

The clock struck 7.15 and I woke up switched the alarm off and ran to brush and have a shower. And then off I went to the college. There was the Independence Day celebrations nothing flashy, people were dressed in ethnic wear looking regal and proudly Indian. And then we sang the National Anthem, it was amazing. The feeling that engulfed me cannot be expressed in words. I dont have an outstanding writing skills.

We then rushed for our marketing exam. We finished it at 12 pm (No further details will be provided on how the exam went even on request.) Swades was being aired on Star Gold. I love this movie. Swades is one of the best movies Indian cinema has ever produced. Swades is actually better than Lagaan. I am sure that Swades would have won the Oscars if it went there.

People were more affected by the film today seeing in the chillout room at S P Jain Center of Management, Dubai than they were sitting in a multiplex back home in India. When the song ” Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera ” was running, I could see people controlling their tears including your’s truly who was moved but his eyes did not go moist nor was he controlling it.

This was what piqued my interest/curiousity as to finding out whether Indians abroad have a tendency to become more patriotic as they finally learn the significance of being an Indian. I have always been proud to be an Indian. There are a lot of people who have promised me that when they will land in India they will kiss and touch the ‘soil’ that has given them the identity.

I want to end by asking a question, whose answer I, myself am looking for. The question is what I asked already, ‘Do Indians become more patriotic when they go abroad?

Rain, Rain go away !!!

We in India are always praying to God for rains, rains and more rains but sometimes God grants us more than what we asked for! Tuesday to Thursday Mumbai was raining. On Tuesday the rain was pouring heavily and one of my friends mentioned it to me on MSN that it is raining like crazy and I replied yeah Mumbai is missing me!!! But now I realise how partially wrong I was …

There are many people who are dead and my deepest condolences are with their families.

It was so heavy that Dad got stuck in VT and somehow managed to reach home, trust my dad to be innovative in such situations. Sandy got stuck in his office from Tuesday and he returned today morning. Amresh was cheerfully taking pics of the situation which I am attaching. Aarthi’s dad was stuck in the car for close to 22 hours. He and his colleagues had to get out of the car and swim towards the hotel and they did finally managed to reach the hotel.

This is the view from Amresh’s house….. you will see how it changed soon…

This is the same view after some time … see the difference??

I tried reaching my dad and my friends and surprisingly dad’s MTNL worked whereas my other friends much touted service providers like Orange, Airtel, BPL and Reliance conked off.

I was online and Arun Anand logged in and he asked me to check out his blog to find out the latest. While going through his post on the rains, I (and even you) will find out the heart rendering effort that people from NMIMS put in to help those stranded school kids. My respect has grown for these guys they will surely become good managers because you need to be sensibly sensitive and also a good manager is one who can steer the ship when there is a storm and this was a storm like situation and these guys did a good job and the way they were organized and split into teams looking after various things shows that these guys aint less than others.These guys deserve an award for this, is the NMIMS admin reading this?

I read on The Times of India that there were people who INVITED people who were passing by, absolute strangers into their house and use their toilets,etc. There were local Gujju and Marwari community which pooled in resources and kept dishing out vada pav’s for free to passer by’s. Who says Mumbai does not have a heart we have one BIG heart.

I received a mail from Firoz Amir about the rains and he was pissed that the western media did not find the issue big enough to report. I am also pissed we should recirpocate by not showing what the f@@@ goes on back in the US and the UK. If BBC and CNN think that this aint a big issue to cover then they have their priorites wrong. But on hindsight there are few things that go unreported in the Indian newspapers about stuff that happen in many places that are covered by the local newspapers here in Dubai. So, I guess what goes round comes round. But the local newspapers did cover the thing in detail here so I guess these are the most responsible media companies.

While I was writing this down I came across this blog by Khyati Danani about how Mumbai does not limp back to normalcy but it simply jumps back to life

Here I would like to add that again the BMC proved that it cannot be trusted in times of emergency. Where is the goddamm Disaster Management Cell that was supposed to have been formed when the Latur earthquake stuck in 1993. Another reason why the politicans asses should be kicked. Take their beloved chair and shove it up their a$$.

Mumbai as usual was like a city that had to sustain on it’s own. The apathy of the Central Govt. towards Mumbai was clearly visible as they have not yet come up with any specific plans on how to do the reconstruction and rehabilitation work. I think it’s high time that Mumbai gets its dues. I mean Mumbai alone, singularly gives 65% of India’s total taxes ( Personal + Corporate + Indirect ) and we have not been given a status that befits Mumbai as the financial capital of India. So much for Chidambaram talking about how he wants to make Mumbai, one of the major financial centers of the world. May I ask you Mr. Finance Minister how do you intend to do that, when the infrastructure is so bad? Do not make promises and claims you can NEVER keep.

I would love to see the people’s reaction to the Airtel and Hutch/Orange ads touting about their networks. Hutch/Orange had a cute dog and a cute boy both inseparable where the dog was supposed to be the network. I guess the dog drowned in the water. Airtel touts saying that their network is the best. So much for their superiority. Good old MTNL Cell network was the only one which was functioning. Their landlines were screwed but atleast the cells worked. Those people who bashed MTNL saying that my Orange/BPL/Airtel/Reliance is better have to eat their words.

I may be physically in Dubai but my mind and heart is in Mumbai. I wish I was there would have gone out to help those who are affected. I think it was not my destiny to be there. God’s will is the ultimate will, no one or nothing can be done. God Bless Mumbai and India and the World ( together at the same time and not in that order )

A day in the life of a b-school student – Part 1

Trrrrriiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg!!! A hand comes out of the blanket and tries to see what time it is, the clock shows it as 6 am. The hand punches it down and the hand pulls the blanket, the body turns over and goes back to sleep.

Is this is a scene from a bollywood movie? What do you think …..

Actually not … The hand and the alarm that I was talking abt .. both were mine …

This is the normal start of the day at Villa No 53, Room E, Bed No – 2.

Then your’s truly gets up at 6.30 am rushes to brush and then yells at anyone who is in the shower to get his a$$ outta there. “Abbe bahar nikal saale, jaldi kar.”

Then finally I jump into shower and have a very quick shower and rush out, then wear my jeans n tees in a tearing hurry…. and run to the kitchen take out the strawberry flavored milk from the fridge gulp down very fast.

Then we have the morning lecture at 8 am in which depending on what lecture we have, heads start drooping. Then at 9.30 am the lecture gets over and everyone goes in 1 big gang to the closest pastry shop, ‘Hot Breads’. Toss 2 dirhams and ask for a veg pan pizza, non-veggies relish the chicken versions of everything. We poor veggies have limited choices to make.

We trudge back and start reading up on what the prof. plans to teach us. We have to give an online quiz at the start of the lecture.( I prefer to spend the 1 hour break that we get to read about so that I am ready to go for the quiz)

After another lecture sometimes interesting sometimes boring not because of the faculty who are excellent but because of the subject matter.

Then it is lunch time and I am personally amazed at the speed with which I eat. I am one of the slowest eaters when I am in Mumbai but it seems the first thing you learn in a b-school is to have your lunch fast.

I think this is an oppurtune time to cut down the blog and post the other part later…

P1, P2 and P3 !!

“Abbe P2 uth be, saale 6.45 baj raha hai”

That was Kuldeep my roomie waking me up. Now you might be wondering why was he referring to me as ‘P2′. You may wonder has Venky gone to Dubai and rechristened himself…. The answer is ‘Obviously not’.

This is my new nick name, specific to Villa No. 53 and Room E. For others I am still good ol’ Venky.

Yeah you guessed right. The villa where I stay is Villa No. 53 and the alphabhet that specifies my room is E. On unofficial terms since the place where we stay is away from the city and is a very quiet and slow moving place all of us very fondly (sic!) call it The Central Prison of Meadows.

” Which villa do you stay in?”

“Villa No. 53.”

“What’s your khaidi (prisoner) number?”

“E-2″

Lol… NO! this is not a conversation between two jail inmates. This is a convo between two S P Jain students. As I said, we have developed this new lingo of asking for the room nos in an unique manner.

Now you may say, “All this fine. But what’s with P2?”

Well You see my room is E and the bed no is 2. There are three of us in my room. In order of bed nos it is – Kuldeep Dudeja, Your’s Truly, Parth Kikani.

So this makes Kuldeep – P1, Me – P2 and Parth – P3.

Now you may wonder what is this obsession with the letter ‘P’. P is actually a(n) (extremely) condensed abbreviation for ‘Partner’. Parth arrived later than me and Kuldeep. So previously it was just P1 and me. So we used to call each other ‘Partner’. Now, Parth arrived so when either me or Kuldeep said, “Partner” . The other two would turn and see. So then we devised this scheme of calling each other by our respective bed nos.

Now that I have given a background of what we call each other and a little bit of a background as to what happens in Villa no 53 and Room E, I will tell you about the ‘real’ hostel life and a typical day in the life of a b- school student. So till the next time it’s Venky signing off… Take Care. God Bless.

Becoming a NRI part 2

Continuing from my prev post …

The pilot announced ” I feel glad to announce that we have arrived 1 minute early and since there is no parking bay that is free at the moment. The airport authority says it will take approximately 7 mins after which we will be allotted a parking bay.Thank you for flying Air India.”

I said to myself, “Thank you for flying me safely.” I had mentioned in my prev post itself that I was kind of jittery with the engine shaking.

The Dubai airport is a humungous airport. The airport at Mumbai would be one terminal here, it is that huge. We had to walk with all our heavy luggage for atleast 3-3.5 kms till we reached the immigration counter.

The immigration officer looked at me (stared would be an apt word) and then thankfully stamped on the visa. My heart had almost stopped beating. Then we went and exchanged the currency at the airport itself….

NOTE: A tip for those travelling abroad NEVER and I mean NEVER EVER exchange your currencies at the airport you dont get good rates.

I was looking for a phone booth to call back home. But, here there is no concept of STD/ISD booths like in India. For some things India is still the best. I had to buy a calling card it costed me 30 Dhms ( 360 Rs. ) Another NOTE: If you are coming to Dubai DONT buy these telephone cards from a big store you will get them at 30 dhms in small shops u would get them at 27.50 or 28 dhms.

Then we waited for our bus to arrive and then we got onto the bus and WOW!!!! what a view it was … All big buildings being built, the Dubai airport expansion site., the Mall of Emirates – the world’s biggest mall all of these are being built at a breathtaking speed.

We sighted the Burj Al Arab hotel – the same hotel on whose helipad Agassi and Federer played that most famous tennis match. The entry fee is 250dhms approx 3000 Rs.

Then we reached our villas. It was good and posh. I hope I can own a home of this kind in India. Will post some pics of my villa and room.

My next post would be on the life of a b-school student. Till then you take care and have fun

Becoming a NRI

The day was 9th june 2005. The time was 10.40 AM .. Met up with Sandy and Amresh before I went. Couldnt meet Giri he had gone to some place. Took some photos. Got my luggage down and climbed the sumo, asked mom to get a x-ray done as she had a fall the day before.

You may be wondering where was I leaving to…Dubai – The city of Gold to do my Masters in Business Administration at S P Jain Center of Management, Dubai

I was taking an Air India 717 Flight to Dubai. The scheduled departure from Mumbai Airport was 14.45 PM IST. I got myself a window seat, there was a problem with luggage where I had about 35 kgs over the limit and haggled with the AI guy and paid for only 10 kg at a rate of Rs. 215. My dad was pissed dat I paid when the other guys walked without paying an extra buck – he felt I wasn’t street smart enough, but I had no other way out but to pay .

I got onto the flight and despite asking for a window and making it clear that I did not wanna b near the wing. I was seated at a place from where I could see the engine. It was an Airbus A 300. It is a twin engine plane. I could see Dharavi, Asia’s Largest Slum to my left. The plane taxied to the runway and to my shock found a dog running on the runway. After the dog got off the runway, the plane started its run and I could feel the plane shaking as the concrete on the runway was bad. The takeoff was tremendous, too sexy.

Food was ok. I met a female from my college who was an air hostess on board. It was amazing to meet someone when you least expect it. The landing was too good. As we approached the coast of UAE, the pilot reduced the altitude and I could see the sea, then sand and then mountain ranges which were full of sand!!

What was even more amazing and surprising was that I could see patches of greenery!!!! YES GREENERY in the midst of the DESERT!!! Dubai Airport is such a beautiful airport … very amazing, will write about in my next part.

P.S: My posts will now be in Dubai time i.e. GMT +4 hours i.e. 1 hr 30 mins behind IST.

More of Chelladhurai

I had given a small incident involving my driver Chelladhurai … there is more of him …

I pestered Chelladhurai to teach me driving. He finally agreed. He was telling me about all the things I should be careful about. Like keep both of my eyes on the road. Yet one eye should see who is coming from behind (never understood how is that humnaly possible till today.)

So I turned the key to ignition and put the first gear. As with all first timers, I had problems releasing the clutch at the right time and the car stopped. I had covered a mammoth 50 metres in 30 minutes (I guess Narayan Karthikeyan would be proud of me :p seeing his current F1 form) I am an impatient guy so I said to Chelladhurai that I had enough for the day. Chelladhurai insisted and lo, this time it went smoothly I went to 2nd gear too. The car was smoothly flowing. This was on the bylane. Neither of us wanted to go to the main road as the traffic policeman would have caught us. He asked me to slow down and change the gear to first. He turned to me and asked ” U turn edupela?” (“Would you do a U-turn?”) I was like no-no, you do that. So I got out of the drivers seat and allowed him to take control of the car.

It is very important here that I mention that I was on the left side of the road and that at the end of both the roads was a dry gutter. I had parked the car on the left side in an angular manner like this… \ … Now I think you might have a fair idea of the car’s position.

So he started and he turns, looks at me and says “Ippo paarunga U-turn ippidi edukannum” (“Now you see how to take a U-turn.”) I nodded like an obedient student. He turned the key to ignition and changed the gear and pressed the accelerator and he started turning towards the right at first. All of a sudden, the rear end of the car went down. I thought we hit some pothole (a common feature of Indian roads). I think Chelladhurai too thought of the same and he turned to me and said “Ippo namma oru kuyila maatitom. Kuyilendhu vallile varanum na modhala reverse gear potu, peenadi poyi aaproma 1st gear potu vandiya eddukannum.” (” Now we are stuck in a pothole. To get out put the reverse gear, move the car back and then put 1st gear and move.”) I nodded obediently. Chelladhurai then said “Ippo paarunga. Ippidi endukarenu.” (“Now see how I do this.”)I saw him put the reverse gear and go back, the car jerked. He and me turned round in sync and to our surpise found the rear end of the car missing. I was shocked, I put my head out and saw that my genius of a driver – Chelladhurai had managed to get the left rear wheel of the car not into a pothole but into the gutter. I turned to him and he also saw what happened and he turns sheepishly and says ” U-turn edukumbodhu jaakardaya paakanum. Indha maadhi U-turn edukakudhadhu.” (“While taking a U-turn you should look carefully. You should not take U-turn like this.”)

——————————
My friends and I still talk about the incident and have a good laugh over this. I leave it upto you to guess how we managed to get the car out of the gutter.

Funny stuff

Making people laugh is a serious business.

Yet I will try and see if I can make you people laugh or atleast smile. These are all true incidents that have been either narrated to me or witnessed by me or where I have been involved.

The New Driver

I will start by telling you guys about a driver of mine who had recently joined. His name was Chelladhurai and he was also Tamil. He was a thin, wiry man. It was his 2nd day. My grandpa wanted to go some place and he asked Chelladhurai to get the car. Chelladhurai obediently ran and got the car to the gate. Grandpa got in.

Chelladhurai started the car and off he went. He was driving quite steadily. Then he had to stop at the traffic light. He was on a slight slope and he had put the car in gear so it will stay. My grandpa asked him to switch off the engine as it was an eight way junction and they would get the green signal only then. He obediently put the gear into neutral and switched off the engine and he forgot to keep his foot on the break and the car started going down the slope. Alarmed my grandpa yelled at Chelladhurai to hit the brakes. Chelladhurai had realised his folly and hit the brakes. My grandpa asked him in Tamil “Ye Hand Brake podalay?” (“Why didnt you use the hand brake?”). Chelladhurai looked around and calmly turns around and tells my grandpa “Aiyya, aadhu madhiri inga onume iliyeya.” (Sir, I do not find anything like that here.”)

Used a helmet for the first time….

Hey guys,
Tried out a helmet yesterday. Borrowed it from my friend and whoa what a difficult thing it was. I mean the helmet was heavy, I personally felt that my neck would have snapped if I had been in an accident. I wonder why they think that a person has more survival chances if he wears an helmet when the helmet is so bulky and the neck can be snapped.

It wasnt the funny part. I was on the flyover and the strap that holds the helmet broke free and since I was driving quite fast the helmet was blown off by the wind and it landed on a girl’s lap inside the auto rickshaw right next to me. The gal shrieked and threw the helmet out. Though I would have appreciated if she would have given it to me direct or atleast thrown in my direction…..

Was a very eventful ride .. my first one using a helmet ever since the Mumbai police made it mandatory for people to wear helmets though I rarely found people wearing one. There are lot of practical difficulties. The lack of availability of helmets, cashing in on the moment by the helmet dealers. The rates rise by the hour virtually. The HC did not think about all these difficulties when it passed the order and wanted an immediate implementation of the order. Though the Govt. did not try and convince the HC to give it some more time so that the Helmet manufacturers could increase the production to meet the demands. Plus, the Govt. if it had any brains should have made it mandatory for bike manufacturers to sell Helmets alongwith the bike, that would certainly help bring the situation under control.

We The Indians – A NGO

I saw Swades yesterday – an amazing movie not because of the story’s strength but because of story’s simplicity and realism. The movie is very realistic and there is no usual bonhomie that is shown in almost every bollywood film.According to me this is Ashutosh Gowariker’s best movie – better than that of Lagaan. This is more realistic and likeable.

My favorite scene is when SRK says (translated into English)
” I dont believe our nation is great(mahan), but yes I believe that we have the capacity and talent to be great.”

The villagers are horrified and they say that we have culture and tradition and because of that we are great. SRK replies

“Pardon me but since you have raised the topic I am saying this , whenever we start to lag behind in competition we take umbrage in our so called great culture and tradition. America is a nation that has developed on their skills and talents and they have evolved their own culture and to say that our culture is better than theirs is not right. And what culture are you talking about? A culture which discriminates its own people based on the work that they do? A culture which does not allow a handloom maker to become a farmer? A culture where people are treated unjustly? What culture are you talking about? All of us say that this nation is going nowhere and this is true for all of us – you,me and everybody else. But, what do we do about it? – nothing. We blame the govt for every problem when we ourselves dont contribute towards improving the system. We dont want to help ourselves that is the biggest problem.”

I was taken aback. I was like hey I do that. I am here cribbing on the net doing nothing and then I realised that this is it – it’s time I did something and hence I am going to work a lot for ‘We The Indians‘.

We The Indians is a proposed NGO. The idea is of my friend Monica Datta and I liked the idea and I agreed to help her out.

But seeing Swades has changed my outlook. Using We The Indians as a tool I am going to try and educate people to leave aside their differences for the common good. Once all of us Indians learn to do that we would definitely be the great nation that we all dream of.

Inside the mind and heart of Venkatesh Sridhar

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