I'm a quizzer too

'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?

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

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

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

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