Paris: a surprise that shouldn't have been

I have heard so much about Paris over the years that it had built up for me - really built up. But that was a few years back.... Over the years those expectations mellowed a bit and I started thinking, "how beautiful could Paris really be?"

France (and Paris) had the added charm for me, because I've supported French football for many years.. Platini, Tigana, Fernandez, Amoros, Giresse, Papin, Cantona, ZIDANE, Deschamps, Blanc, Thuram, Petit, Djorkaeff... The list is endless... I always wanted to go back to the Stade De France in Paris.. The scene of the famous 1998 world cup win!

I spent 3 days in Paris and it blew me away - there - I've said it!

I really packed in a lot into the 3 days... The usual stuff - Eiffel Tower, Arc De Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, the Louvre, Montmahtre and Sacre Couer, Notre Dame, Trocadero and something really special - The Stade De France!

I'm almost embarrassed about how much I enjoyed the Louvre... I went for an hour and ended up spending close to 5 hours. It was truly breathtaking. My favourties were the Venus De Milo, Psyche and Cupid, Gladiator, The winged victory, The dying slave - all amazing sculptures. I spent several minutes with each one and really appreciated the art.

The paintings were great too.. The Mona Lisa of course and others like the wedding feast, the raft of the medusa, the man with the glove, the coronation of Napolean and so many others.

I enjoyed walking and sitting around so much at Notre Dame and St Michel and at the Champs Elysees. It did help much that there was gloirous sunshine 2 of the 3 days and I made the most of it. A real tourist for a weekend.

Sat by the Seine river eating a sandwich and watching the boats go by. Met a couple of local parisien students. What a way to relax and see the city go by..

The highlight of the Paris weekend - the visit to the Stade de France. I had been looking forward to that for years. Visiting the place where France won the world in 1998. Zidane's 2 headed goals in the final is one of my best football memories ever! I did the stadium tour and went on to the pitch and took in the atmosphere. Imagined the feel of the stadium when the 2 goals would have gone in... Stood at the spot where Michel Platini handed over the trophy to Didier Deschamps and he lifted it high for the first time for France. Relived a moment I would never forget.

I left Paris for Nice and Cannes to 'serve time' on the Cannes Lions Jury, but that's for another blog entry..

Anticipation, Nervousness, Hope, Tension, Stress.....

......just some of the emotions and feelings I am going through. A little more than 24 hours to go before my beloved Manchester United take to the field in Rome against Barcelona on one of the biggest stages (if not the biggest) that world football has to offer.

As I lie in bed and try and sleep, I am going over the many many times in the past that I have felt such anticipation related to football. Several times the night before a big game I was playing in myself for school or college or another team. But ever so often the night before a big game in which one of my favourite teams is playing. I can vividly remember such nights in 1986, 1993, 1995, 1998, twice in 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and now in 2009..... (Big prize for anyone who can guess the games I'm referring to in each of those years!)

I have supported United for 26 years now. Since 1983. The Eighties were very dark years for us United Supporters but we got through them. With faith in our club and belief in the style and brand of football that Manchester United has always played.

The last 16 years have been very kind to us - 11 premiership titles.... And I have gone through the feelings I am going through twice before European Champions League Finals - 1999 and 2008. We won both times.

I have great faith in my boys, the United team, massive belief that they will do what they need to do and win... But there is always the lurking fear that something could go wrong, a stroke of bad luck.. when you're up against a strong and talented team like Barcelona, that's all it takes.. One stroke of bad luck. I know we are better, I know we deserve to win.. I believe in US.

Although I have felt this anticipation twice before, the night before Champions League finals, but the last time I remember feeling EXACTLY like this was the night before the World Cup Final in 1998. France v Brazil in Paris. I support France and both teams were heavily favoured to win, if that makes sense. History was made that night.

I can only hope and pray I am as happy tomorrow night as I was that summer's night in 1998....

Tan Tana Tan on the Tons

I think its safe to say that I've been bitten by the river rafting bug! 3 trips in 10 months is a pretty strong case. There is something about the mix of the rush of the rapids and calm of the camps that is incredibly intoxicating. Many of the rivers are in remote, very difficult to reach locations and naturally the valleys and the rivers themselves are untouched and pristine in their natural beauty. 

The Tons is considered one of the leading river rafting runs in the world. The valley is one of the most beautiful I have ever been to. The best part about the river is that the rapids come thick and fast. There is very little time to rest and take it easy on the river. The river was running very low when we were there and so it wasn't big water and the rapids weren't as rough as expected. But the water level being very low made for very difficult maneuvering and the technical difficulty was heightened. This was totally different from the rafting runs I had done before on the Zanskar and the Ganga. Very very different. Terribly tiring because of the amount paddling one had to do and the dreaded "Right draw".

We took an overnight train from Nizamuddin station in Delhi to Dehradun.... We took an overnight train from Nizamuddin station in Delhi to Dehradun.... Our group was a small one - Arvind (my friend from IIMB who now lives in Hongkong, Aditya the obnoxious madman, Abhay the enthu fun-man, Rajat, Nalanda the designer who was out camping in the outdoors with her Louis Vitton Strolley, Stephen the crazy South African). And we were met in Dehradun by Vaibhav our trusted Aquaterra River specialist but more importantly our dear friend and Somna the quiet one.   

I have to say I hate the top berth in the 3-tier trains - so bloody claustrophobic.... but we got there in one piece.... and drove to the Tons through Mussoorie and Kempty Falls. Pretty uneventful, though, longish drive..

I arrived at "Camp Lunagad" pretty tired but rearing to get on the river so we did a short 1 hour run through pretty tame rapids but it was amazing to be back on the river after 6 months! As usual we formed teams on the first day - Abhay, Arvind, Somna and I were in one raft with Rana as our "River Guide". I had rafted with Rana before on the Ganga and he's a great guy to be with. Pretty strict but great fun too. 

Absolutely no mobile phone coverage, no electricity, no TV, no communication at all.... just some of the perks of being back at Camp. Incredibly relaxing and a massive release. Despite being out of touch with the rest of the world, the facilities at the camp were great. the tents and living area 

was superb, very comfortable. the food and support staff were awesome, the drink was pretty good too!

On the second day we drove upriver a few kilometers and put in the rafts close to a school in the nearby village. The run on the river was slightly longer, about 2 and a half hours and was a lot tougher and taxing. By the end of it there seemed to be a storm brewing and it seemed like rain was on its way. We decided to take out close to the camp to make life easier for all of us. And then we carried the rafts on our shoulders all the way up to camp, no mean feat whle walking on the stones with that massive load on 4 pairs of shoulders. 

Later the same afternoon, we went for a short hike close to the camp to a nearby natural pool. it was beautiful, really cool. It was Arvind, Nalanda, myself and Rajat (photo below). And also Stephen. 

Unfortunately, I cut both my feet pretty badly on the stones in the pool, shouldn't have removed my sandals before jumping in! The feet bothered me for the rest of the trip but held up in the end. I ended up using bandages and ointments from almost everyone in the camp to keep my feet sorted for the next 5 days.

On the third day we went even further upriver to the farthest possible point from where it was possible to run the river. 

Effectively the beginning of the Upper Tons. The run was longer and harder on this day. We started off the day with a pretty rough rapid which none of us were really ready for. No warming up and practice on this run. Pretty hard hits and bumps almost right through. 

In the afternoon, we went for a short drive to a village called Hanol where we visited the Masudev Temple which is a very famous local temple. On the way to the temple, we stopped to have a look at the famous Khoonigad rapid from a distance... looked pretty tame from a distance. We were going to be running that rapid on the 5th day - the longest day on the river - the Middle Tons section.

The 4th day was amazing - the rest day. My feet had been hurting the day before and I really needed to put my feet up and give them a chance to heal a bit. So i did nothing which is not easy to do in the middle of a valley with ZERO communication. That's not true actually... it was very easy to do... sat out in the sun and relaxed. chatted, read some. lazed. played some cricket (feet had to be rested, remember). Very relaxing day, the perfect day before the BIG day on the Middle Tons. Promised to be quite a day!

On the 5th day we started the run from the camp itself. The objective was to run the Middle Tons over 2 days of rafting. The Tons river drops at an average rate of 32 feet per kilometer between Lunagad and Tiuni. This stretch has some of the most technically difficult rapids ranging from Class III to Class IV+/V. The first day included the Khoonigad rapid which is considered one of the most difficult anywhere. There were to be several rapids that would require scouting (getting out of the rafts before the rapid to walk and have a close look at the rapid from the bank of the river to decide the ideal line of running the rapid). There was also the possibility of certain rapids being "un-runnable" and thus requiring the rafts to be walked around the rapid on the river bank.

Overall, it ended up being a very tiring 5-hour day on the river. The highlight clearly was Khoonigad. On which we got stuck pretty badly (photo below). (I'm on the front right of the raft)

As we were paddling towards the rapid, the adrenaline was pumping and the expectation was palpable - it was exhilarating. The first move that Rana made us do worked well and we entered the rapid at the right pace and angle. But then the river took over and we hit a big rock. The raft turned 180 degrees and we were facing the wrong way.  We then started moving towards the right but downriver, went straight into a big rock at a very fast pace. the rock hit just about 2 feet behind me and dislodged my footing and I could feel myself being thrown out of the raft. This rapid was not a good one to break my record on - I would come out with some serious bruises from the rocks. (My record - yet too fall out of the raft on any of the rivers that I have been rafting). I just about held on.

We were then stuck on this rock, that we had hit, for about half an hour - seemed like that long - it was about 30 seconds really. Required some hard paddling, "right draw" paddling and some skillful maneuvering by Rana to get us through. All the while my left foot was free and I was hanging on intermittently with my right foot and the other time with my friend Abhay to my left hanging on to me. I could feel myself slipping out of the raft and it took a lot of willpower and focus to stay in. I wouldn't say Abhay saved my life but he certainly saved my record!

After a short while, we were free and the river pushed us down the rapid. We thought we were through and relaxed a bit..... Rana quickly made us focus with some shouts and we paddled through the last bit.

The scene is still vividly clear in my head and we were very lucky to get through without the raft flipping.

Khoonigad was followed by over 2 dozen challenging and exciting rapids. All required tremendous skill on Rana's part and some work on our part to stay the right side up. The rapids were some of the best I have ever been in and the amount of focus and concentration that was required was unreal.

The rapids came thick and fast and it didn't matter that we were dog tired and ready to collapse...... You had to paddle. Not just because Rana kicked our arse to do so but also because if we didn't we would end up in the drink and that was NOT a good idea. 

We stopped for lunch after about 3 and a half hours of hard paddling and managed to get some rest (not sure you can call 5 minutes of lying down on a log that, but at the time it was AMAZING).

And then we were back to the river. Its laughingly outrageous how quickly one can get back to the the river and find the energy and strength one had no idea existed. It takes a couple of minutes for the adrenaline to kick in again and you're back to the rush.

The day ended short of the Tiuni village where we camped by the river....... 

It took all my strength to get out of my wet suit and wet clothes and get changed and then lie down on a Karrimat right about anywhere. I was dog-tired.

Although we had tents pitched and ready for us, that night we slept out in the open under the stars and a bright (almost full) moon. The temperature was almost perfect, a bit hot even. I woke up in the middle of the night a couple of times and opened my eyes and the feeling and surprise is impossible to articulate. It was a beautiful night and one that I will remember for a very long time. 

The next day was a short 2 and a half hour run to Tiuni and then we reached the Take-out point. It  had been a great adventure with an incredible group of friends and Aquaterra guides.    

The Importance of Chaos, Cash and Karma

Management by definition is the science of minimising disorder and maximising predictability. Unfortunately, life, business and especially startups are anything but predictable. Chaos is not only inevitable; I'd say it’s important, desirable even, to the process of starting up an enterprise.

After completing my MBA, I had to do my fair share of unlearning to adapt to the real world. Very often my ‘instinctive response’, based on my education, to situations would be the wrong one. A response which would further complicate the situation rather than resolve matters. In the same situation an 'innovative (or I dare say, ‘Jugaad’) response' would be more appropriate.

After doing this several times over in the early years, I realised that my responses based on education would probably bring better results in the long term as compared to the ‘Jugaad’ decisions. But then "in the long term we're all dead"... Often, startups are about getting through the here and now. If one was to implement the long-term-friendly-educated-response, one wouldn't survive long enough to see if it was a good call.

To a typical corporate-minded outsider this gives the appearance of chaos in a startup. Someone who is not involved in a series of ‘Jugaad’ decisions taken to manage the short-term would not see the order in the chaos. The long-term outcome is often a hugely positive and desirable result of a series of such short-term events.

The same often applies to managing cash, real cash. Cashflow management is a crucial part of management education but the way it is imbibed is to treat cash at a very theoretical or esoteric level.

Life teaches you otherwise. It’s a proven fact that the single biggest reason enterprises fail is because they run out of cash. This element is more important than marketing, operations, HR, sales, or anything else. Day-to-day management decisions in a startup enterprise are often guided by keeping your cash-head afloat rather than looking at long term profitability, organisational or financial health (Remember.... in the long term, we're all dead).

This brings me to Karma. Doing all that one can, doing one’s duty, to the best of one’s ability and aptitude without 'attachment' to the results and rewards of such actions. This nature of approach to one’s work is pretty much an anathema to classical management theory which would focus strongly on goal-orientation. But I have found this to be one of the most crucial aspects of building a business. And I don't just mean this in a spiritual sense, I believe that keeping a karmic approach to everyday work, projects and business allows one to focus better and achieve higher productivity and results.

Management education taught me a lot and brought me the distance but left me tantalisingly close... I had to learn a few crucial life-lessons to truly apply myself to the challenge of building Candid Marketing into the No.1 Brand Promotion Agency in India.

24 hours with....

Media Magazine, Singapore

IPL: Opportunity lost

I love cricket, I really do. I love Test cricket - most people in non-test-playing-countries don't even understand how a sporting contest can last 5 days, but I love test cricket. (The memory of Rahul Dravid square-cutting for a boundary to win a test match for India in Australia will live with me forever).

And yet I'm no purist, I think 20-20 cricket is very cool.. Amazing entertainment.. Will be very good for cricket as a sport in the long term.

T20 is a sport. Make no mistake. It is not entertainment or a tamasha alone. It takes tremendous athleticism, strength, strategy, power, stamina, mental strength, intelligence, perseverance and other such essentials to be successful and a winner at a sport. I love the entertainment part of T20, the music, the flashy colours, the cheerleaders, the innovative rules and innovation.

But..

The IPL has gone too far. The IPL had the opportunity to be the first major sports franchise created in the 2000s. As it is now, IPL is the first major marketing sports franchise of the 2000s.

Have a look at all the major respected and popular sports franchises around us. The football world cup, the olympics, the football leagues in Europe. Most of them have major sponsors and have tremendous money involved and yet when you watch the sport, brands are not in your face, players' clothes are not covered with them.

In football, the club strip has ONE sponsor logo on it and no more. For years, Barcelona FC didn't even have that because they didn't want to commercialise the club. Even now that they do its "Unicef" and they are not paid for it. Its that kind of approach that builds sanctity and loyalty for a club that lasts generations.

IPL teams have 4, 5 and in some cases 6 logos on their uniforms - its sickening to see. The players are walking billboards. I won't even get into the marketing effectiveness of such branding - that's a debate for another day and another blog-entry.

Marketing in the IPL is crass. It is overriding cricket and undermining it. It makes me ill.

Creating a break after every 10 overs is absurd. It breaks the momentum of the sport. What is even more absurd and hypocritical is for IPL authorities to say its not done for marketing reasons. Can one imagine a strategy break after every 15 minutes in football or hockey? I know its there in Basketball, American Football etc but that pretty much rests my case.

The approach to the IPL both for the organisers as well as the team owners seems to be to make as much money as quickly as possible. Its almost as if they don't believe that the IPL will last more than a few years and so its best to 'break-even' and make money NOW... Who knows if it will last?!

The Taj Mahal was built to last forever, the IPL is certainly not being built with any such noble intention or vision. If the IPL is successful over time and stands the test of time, it will not be because of the BCCI and Lalit Modi, it will be despite them.

Lalit Modi has famously said that IPL2 will redefine how a sports event is marketed for the whole world. At the moment its looking like by redefine he meant how NOT to market a sports event.

Kiko Macheda, take a bow

When i sat down to watch the Manchester United game this evening, I knew it was no ordinary game. United have had it tough over the past couple of weeks. Seldom do united lose 2 consecutive games and they had. A third would be unthinkable. But even i could not have imagined as extra-ordinary an evening as it turned out. 

I saw the starting line-up and it was distressing - 6-7 first team players injured or suspended. Rio Ferdinand wouldnt be starting - that was a bit unexpected. With him and Vida both out, things at the back were embarrasingly weak.

I glanced across at the substitutes list and it was worse, not even one established player. I saw several youngsters names there that I knew but saw one I had never heard of - "MacHeda" - thats how it was spelt and so I throught he was probably scottish or Irish.

The game started well with Ronaldo scoring and then it quickly went south for us and we were down 1-2. If ever we needed the famous Manchester United spirit and the noise of the Old Trafford faithful, this was the time.

I have seen United fight hard and long before and never say die, I never get up from watching a United game however bleak the chances of a turnaround because I know and I believe that the Manchester United team never gives up and so I never give up. and this time they did it again.

Love him or Hate him but you can't ignore him. Sir Alex Ferguson, and he did the unthinkable. He threw on Federico Macheda. 17 years old. never played for the United first team before. yes, he had scored a hat-trick for the reserves earlier this week but this is the premiership and we were a goal down.... Sir Alex knows when its time.

Ronaldo was sulky and petulant in parts and was probably responsible for the 2nd we conceded but he stepped and scored with his weaker foot that too.... we were level and from there, only one team wanted to to win. With ten minutes to go, the sense of expectation around Old Trafford was palpable.

With 5 minutes going up as injury time, there was hope.

Three minutes into this, history was made. Macheda was in the box, not just waiting for, but seeking the ball. Pointing to his right, away from the goal - he signalled for a through pass. Ryan Giggs played a perfectly weighted pass.

Then it was all Kiko, with his back to goal, the ball the wrong side of the near post. For those of us who have played the game, in fact any sport, know that often what happens next is not something you plan or think, instinct takes over. Chances are Kiko didn't even think: he just did it. In one fluid motion he teed the ball up with his heel, turned, and put his weight low behind the ball, and curled a shot past the goalkeeper and inside the post. It was utterly sublime.

I could NOT restrain myself and yelled and screamed and ran around the room.... truely unbelievable. Mark of the champions.

United may not go on to win the premiership, only time will tell. No trophy was decided tonight.  

But this isnt about that at all. This is about reaching such highs and peaks. Such joyous occassions are what have made me support Manchester United for 26 years. No club can match it. I am proud to be a Manchester United Fan!

Goa

Goa is a fascinating place, more in the mind than in the physical world. There's something about Goa that will make me relax - automagically. All I have to do is land at Goa airport and I feel the stress easing out of my body and my muscles relax just that crucial bit.

I've been to Goa over 20 times in the past few years and each time has been a time to remember, including the work trips. Anyone who tells you they're going to Goa purely on work is LYING. Such a thing doesn't exist.

There was the time I went to Goa to manage an event of ours and spent the entire 2 days indoors at the hotel where we were, but even then I managed a twenty minute swim in the pool and that was enough - its all in the mind.

But the best way to enjoy Goa is when you leave home in shorts and chappals and spend the entire holiday in the same state of mind and come back in chappals too. Goa is the kind of place I don't worry what I'm looking like and often don't worry what about I'm doing (I know most of you are thinking he never worries about what he's looking like!). Goa can be such a great leveller. The best of us and the not so much will rub shoulders at the same beaches, markets and bars. Many of us wouldn't be caught doing some of the things we do in Goa, back home where we live. Goa brings out that part of me, the me that is willing let my hair down and let go.

Parts of Goa, are unfortunately over-developed and bursting at the seams. Its the price of growth and popularity and there really is no way around it. All it means is that you have to be willing to go off the beaten track and often further down the beaten track to find places that are fun and relatively untouched.

But there is an obvious good side to all the development in Goa... There's so much to do and places to go to... Some of my favourites...

- Favourite Cafe/Lunch place - Leela Cafe

- Favourite Pub - the one in Baga which shows live football matches - I forget the name

- Favourite Restaurant - Brittos

- Favourite Club - Club Cabana

- Favourite Hotel - Tah holiday village

- Favourite Beach - Morjim

- Favourite 'fancy place' Restaurant - Fiesta

- Favourite Spa - Snip (incredible indonesian massage)

- Favourite shopping place - the little store in Calangute that sells football stuff

- Favourite View - the view of the beaches, Calangute and Baga when you're para-sailing

There are very few places in world I could go to again and again and again and not feel let down....
Goaaaah. Enough said....

Top 30 random memories from "when I was younger" (in no particular order)

1. Playing football with Alok in our bedroom, most often getting my ass whipped by him.

2. Missing a goal from 1 yard out... mis-timed the shot and scooped it over the bar... worst miss EVER.

3. Trekking up to Bhrigu Lake (near Manali) when I was in Class 6, youngest person to ever reach there at the time... 6 hour trek in knee-deep snow.

4. Playing Foot-squash in college... probably the best and lasting memory of College!

5. The bus rides to and from school on MS-15... with all my friends - mala, mandira, soma, sumant, gauri, anjali, jai, joe (sometimes), rohit, jaspreet, amar, divya etc etc.

6. Watching the planes flying really really low over our football field in school.

7. Playing football instead of eating lunch during our 20 minute lunch break, it was almost like we went to school just for THAT 20 minutes.

8. The scambled eggs (bhurji, really), bread and nimbu paani in the SRCC canteen after football practise..... tasted like a gourmet meal after the hard work on the field!

9. Scoring the first penalty kick in a semi-final shootout against Govt School, Moti Bagh (the most feared team in Delhi). We went on to beat them and win the tournament..... if I close my eyes today I can still see the ball nestling in the net in the bottom left corner. Sheer joy.

10. Sitting on the wall in college and doing NOTHING all day long.... just talking about just about nothing or just about anything.

11. Camping in a 3-man-tent in Samar's back garden when we were 10 years old and waking up in the morning and cooking our breakfast on a stove (sort of).

12. Mince and bread at st stephens 'cafe'.... crap college but the one good thing in their canteen!

13. Sitting and gallivanting at various airports while traveling all over the world and watching all kinds of different people.... (even today, i feel a strange kind of comfort and ease at airports).

14. Arriving at Ambedkar Stadium to play against a random, non-descript school... finding that they were fielding 3 over-age players (looked like they were in their mid-twenties)... lodging an official protest which was summarily shot down.... had to play the game.... BEAT THEM 4-0. we played out of our skin that afternoon...

15. Chole Bhature at Chacha's in Kamla Nagar (K-Nags) before / during / after college... enough said.

16. Camp Blue Ridge, Blue Ridge Mountains, Georgia - 12 weeks of an incredible experience with American Kids and counsellors from all over the world.

17. Winning the Youth Review Football tournament playing for school in 1988... well against the odds... beating 2 of the top teams in Delhi who were massively favoured against us.

18. Scoring the winning and solitary goal in the Sarthak tournament final in Ambedkar Stadium in 1988.

19. Missing a penalty kick in the shooutout in a school tournament (Jatin Bedi memorial, i think) and pulling my own shorts down in disgust (fortunately, my t shirt was long enough!).

20. Checking my Class 12 Board results and finding my result was pathetic... my whole future life (or the lack of it) passed before my eyes).... Alok had a closer look and realised i had seen the next guy's result... my result was considerably better. Cant ever forget that sinking feeling.

21. Playing football in the rain. Simple as that.

22. Going to watch India-Australia at ferozshah kotla in Delhi during the 1987 Cricket World Cup.

23. Seeing the Niagara falls for the first time... awe-inspiring. the ride in the 'Maid of the Mist'  boat to the best of the falls was the scariest thing I ever did at the time. 

24. Lying down on a park bench next to an artificial lake close to Toronto and staring at a pristine blue sky with white fluffy clouds and wondering what it would be like to live in Canada for the rest of my life....

25. Walking the streets with my cousin Rahul in Hongkong. Massive cultural assault on a relatively young mind.

26. Lying down in a massive puddle on the road on my walk home from the bus stop after it had stopped raining and i was absolutely dry. (in response to a challenge)

27. Christmas 1987. Dancing to Strangers in the Night. Enough said.

28. Straight out of Modern School and SRCC... feeling on top of the world.. selling vanaspati and refined oil to traders who could only speak hindi. Learnt a lot about business, trading and hospitality.

29. The first five minutes of my Class 12 Maths Board exam. Was the most bizarre paper ever set and most of us in the exam room exchanged bemused and confused looks with each other. Took me a good 15 minutes to collect my thoughts and get down to it. It was an abject lesson for me - how important it is to stay calm in a pressure situation and keep coming up with solutions. 

30. Getting into IIMB on my second attempt. Arriving at the institute was an experience with a lot of importance in my life. It was something I had waited almost 3 years for. Sweet.

Top 20 NON-FOOTBALL random memories from "when I was younger" (in no particular order)

Never one to turn down a challenge... (you know who you are – the ones I’m talking to)...here's the non-football list......

1. Seeing the Niagara falls for the first time... awe-inspiring. the ride in the 'Maid of the Mist'  boat to the bottom of the falls was the scariest thing I ever did at the time. 

2. Lying down on a park bench next to an artificial lake close to Toronto and staring at a pristine blue sky with white fluffy clouds and wondering what it would be like to live in Canada for the rest of my life....

3. The bus rides to and from school on MS-15... with all my friends - mala, mandira, soma, sumant, gauri, anjali, jai, joe (sometimes), rohit, jaspreet, amar, divya etc etc.

4. Walking the streets with my cousin Rahul in Hongkong. Massive cultural assault on a relatively young mind.

5. Sitting on the wall in college and doing NOTHING all day long.... just talking about just about nothing or just about anything.

6. Lying down in a massive puddle on the road on my walk home from the bus stop after it had stopped raining and i was absolutely dry. (in response to a challenge)

7. Camping in a 3-man-tent in Samar's back garden when we were 10 years old and waking up in the morning and cooking our breakfast on a stove (sort of).

8. Mince and bread at st stephens 'cafe'.... crap college but the one good thing in their canteen!

9. Trekking up to Bhrigu Lake (near Manali) when I was in Class 6, youngest person to ever reach there at the time... 6 hour trek in knee-deep snow.

10. Christmas 1987. Dancing to Strangers in the Night. Enough said.

11. Sitting and gallivanting at various airports while traveling all over the world and watching all kinds of different people.... (even today, i feel a strange kind of comfort and ease at airports)

12. Straight out of Modern School and SRCC... feeling on top of the world.. selling vanaspati and refined oil to traders who could only speak hindi. Learnt a lot about business, trading and hospitality.

13. The first five minutes of my Class 12 Maths Board exam. Was the most bizarre paper ever set and most of us in the exam room exchanged bemused and confused looks with each other. Took me a good 15 minutes to collect my thoughts and get down to it. It was an abject lesson for me - how important it is to stay calm in a pressure situation and keep coming up with solutions. 

14. Getting into IIMB on my second attempt. Arriving at the institute was an experience with a lot of importance in my life. It was something I had waited almost 3 years for. Sweet.

15. Chole Bhature at Chacha's in Kamla Nagar (K-Nags) before / during / after college... enough said.

16. Camp Blue Ridge, Blue Ridge Mountains, Georgia - 12 weeks of an incredible experience with American Kids and counsellors from all over the world.

17. Finding the "Best of Then Jericho" in the HMV Shop in London - On Sale. One of my favourite albums ever.

18. Checking my Class 12 Board results and finding my result was pathetic... my whole future life (or the lack of it) passed before my eyes).... Alok had a closer look and realised i had seen the next guy's result... my result was considerably better. Cant ever forget that sinking feeling.

19. Overnight train journeys to Central and Eastern UP for weekly visits to my Sales Territory, meeting all kinds of people in the interiors and experiencing the 'real' India.

20. My first day of Summer training at HLL.

A Friend?

I decided long ago to measure my life in friends not years.

And after much of life has gone by and so much more of life is to come, my mind turned in the direction of what my "age-in-friends" is.

Along the way I've questioned and even proven wrong some standard myths about friends... "A man and a woman can't be friends", "Never get into business with a friend", "You can't be friends with an ex".... Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt!

What is a friend? In today's over-communicated world, the lines between acquaintances, friends, close-friends, best-friends, and in some cases family is blurred. I'm closer to and trust some of my friends more than family and there are members of my family who are more friends than family to me. So clearly the traditional definitions of a friend don't really hold for me and I suspect they don't hold for most people I know.

Facebook tells me I have more than 500 friends, I hope that's not true because THAT sounds like a huge responsibility. Friends (as defined by me, not facebook!) to me are as much an 'asset' as they are a 'responsibility'...

Is a friend someone who makes you smile, laugh, have a good time? Not to me.. That's only part of what a friend is... A friend to me is someone you can depend on, does not (should not) matter how far apart you may be physically... Someone I need not meet for days, weeks, months, years and then in an instant and a hug pick up where you left off. And pick up such that there was never a gap!

They say that "friends are the new family" and I couldn't agree more. Its probably also true because families are a lot smaller and geographically spread today. Some of my closest friends, some of my oldest friends are to me what family must have been to generations gone by. These are people I love and trust with my deepest (darkest!) secrets. People whom I KNOW to know me well, know what makes me tick, what ticks me off and most importantly accept me with (maybe even, because of) all my flaws. These are friends I can count off on the fingers of my hands.... Literally.

And then there are friends, there are friends who mean something to me but don't necessarily mean "something" to me. I could have fun with them, I could be there for them, I could even depend on them sometimes... But would I close my eyes and jump, knowing that they have me covered - I don't think so. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy such friends' company, think they're very good human beings who mean well, know me well too and are probably really good and dependable friends to other people... Just not for me. So much of being friends is about time and making choices. Its true that there is no substitute for time, if for no other reason then because of the sheer myriad of experiences you end up sharing with someone whom you've known forever (or so it seems, anyway).

Relationships are all about making choices, friendships are certainly much the same. In the life of a friendship, you are inevitably faced with situations which test your bond with a friend, your loyalty even. And if you're really unlucky, this could be a choice of loyalties between 2 friends, almost an impossible choice, you can't win that one. You make a choice and then watch the consequences unfold right in front of your eyes... it is NOT pretty but c'est la vie. Is the reverse true? If a friend stands by you in an hour of need, at a time you need to have shoulders next to yours, would that friend automatically be a 'true' friend... You know something - I've seen this in 1 or 2 people and found that, damn right - its true! An old friend comes to mind, she inevitably surprises me with her intense loyalty when things come down to the crunch and its left me speechless - more than once.

An old and very close friend once asked me, "atul, what's more important, a friend or the truth?". I'd like to say I instinctively knew the answer to that, but I must admit - I was foxed. And after much deliberation, convinced myself that the truth was more important to me than a friend (idealistic idiot!). Life has taught me otherwise.......

"Be the change you want to see"

A certain upright, principled, righteous, honest man said this many years ago. He had a dream for India and in many ways that dream lies in tatters. If only we had just 1 such leader amongst us today, just 1, the rest of the blueprint would fall into place almost magically.... but that's a debate for another day.

Be the change you want to see - i had often wondered what that means, what does it really, truly mean. What can I do that will make any difference at all? how does it matter what I individually do ?

I need to be a more law-abiding citizen and not cut corners wherever I can to get a leg up and get ahead of others. Each and every one of us needs to be less of a liability for the law-enforcers in our cities and our countries so that they can focus on doing what they are meant to protect us from lawbreakers. The police should not be policing us from ourselves and each other.

Each of us has inched our cars / vehicles those 2 extra feet onto the zebra crossing which requires policing... jumped the red lights late in the night etc etc.paid that little bribe to save ourselves trouble, save ourselves time...

The more of us that are law-abiding, the less of us need to be policed and the less of us need to be policed, the more time the police, the authorities have to protect US.

I'm not saying this will change the country or save us terrorism, but it will make a difference in attitude and that always goes a long way.

(the quote is by Mahatma Gandhi - for those may not know)

A Crying Shame

It was an unending, mind-numbing, relentless 60 hours in the end. Almost every minute of it was unbelievable, I kept thinking it’s got to end now but it didn’t. it went on and on. I found out about the carnage within 45 minutes of it starting. The first reaction was déjà vu, “oh no, not a series of bomb blasts again”. Obviously had no idea that it was going to be worse, much much worse.

I could relive the entire horror and recount the series of events, and my reactions but I suspect they will be imprinted in my mind for the rest of my life. Seeing grenades go off in the lobby of the Trident-Oberoi, where I had spent a few hours just the day before, was a horror, it was shock to the power of 100. Watching the terrorists running around downtown Bombay like it was their playground was annoying, was shocking, was “…..” – the English language does not have the right word for the emotion. Gunfire from within buildings that I frequented and loved was a new feeling, a new emotion. I felt pain when the twin towers in New York went down because I visited there just 2 months before 9/11, it felt close because of that. But these were places I went to every other week. These places meant something to me, had become part of my life in the last 7 years that I have lived in Bombay and have come to love it like my HOME.

I must admit I had tears in my eyes at several times while watching the horror unfold in those 3 days, this can’t be happening. This is inhuman, how can we allow this to happen to people, regular people, people like you and me. When did civil society come to this?

The post-mortem and mudslinging has begun and while a lot of it is being done by the politicians, regular people and “imminent” personalities are not averse to it either. Emotions are running high and people are saying and doing things they will regret later. (Some politicians already are regretting it!)

And while it is completely natural for emotions to be uncontrollable and screeching voices are inevitable, it is also not smart to lose sight of the bigger picture. War on Pakistan cannot be the answer. The US waged war on Afghanistan and ostensibly Iraq to fight terrorism and we all know where that has ended up. Do we really want to trade innocent deaths for soldier deaths. And let’s not forget Pakistan, unlike Afghanistan and Iraq, is a nuclear state. The problem of Terrorism is not something that came up in days, weeks or months. IT has been festering for years and unfortunately cannot be wished away or gotten rid of with quick-fixes. It will take years to rid ourselves of this scourge and the reality is that it is in many ways a war of attrition.

The other terrible trap that we must be wary of is peaking with our outrage and anger in the immediate aftermath of the attack which is bound to flame out. It is absolutely essential that the outrage be sustained and lasting. The pattern of the past has been that we have all reacted but not responded.

What matters is not that we have a solution, what matters is that we must make progress. What irks the typical Indian on the street and I count myself amongst those Indians is that we are not making progress against terrorism in India. What irks us is that we are getting worse in terms of safety and security against indiscriminate killing. Real concrete steps are required and while many (most?) have lost faith in the government, I for one have not. I believe change has to be driven through the establishment and not around it. Baying for politicians blood is simply futile and akin to axing your own feet. Hot pursuit of terrorists in camps in POK may be part of this plan but cannot and should not be the backbone of it. Action just for the sake of action is not the answer. Who will come up with this plan, certainly not me, certainly not the common Indian – we are neither adept not trained to do so.

It is our responsibility to hold our elected representatives responsible for their actions and most importantly for the RESULTS of such actions. Putting together action groups that can work towards doing this is constructive. Signing on-line petitions, lighting candles, changing facebook status to reflect our outrage, forwarding emails expressing shock, vowing not to vote will all help each of us to assuage our own anger but will it do anything else – I doubt it.

The need of the hour is to RESPOND not REACT.

 

Ladakh / Zanskar August 2008

More Photos in slide-show, In the left margin

I'd never done something like this before and I must admit I was more than a little skeptical about doing it! Upping and going for a holiday by myself with a group of people of whom i knew none............................. but its the best thing i ever did and ended up on the holiday of my life!

I had seen some photos of he rafting trip (not too many, wanted to keep it a mystery for myself) and some of Pangong Tso... and Zanskar and Ladakh beckoned..

the start of the trip wasn't the best, our flight took off from Delhi, hovered over Leh but we DIDN'T land... poor visibility and the pilot couldn't sight the airstrip and so couldn't come in to land.... so we went back home with bags packed!!

Back to the airport the next day and the flight was delayed a couple of hours, finally took off and were over Leh again.... this time we DID land and what a landing it was... a complete U turn before the plane came in to land and loud applause from all us.... WE were in Ladakh!!
The first day in Leh was total rest - acclimatisation to high altitude - Leh is at 11500 feet. I'm glad I did feel breathless even simply walking around and while sleeping at night, almost felt I was choking a few times. We had to repack our stuff to minimise bags an load... took out 'unnecessary' stuff... if the aquaterra guys had their way i would travel with clothes on my back and a toothbrush.

The next morning we started the long 12 hour drive on the Leh-Srinagar highway to Kargil. Kargil is just about 4 kms from the Line of Control with Pakistan. It was quite an arduous journey and we couldn't wait for it to end... the scenery all along the way was largely brown, moonscape... very beautiful but a bit monotonous and dreary. We stayed in a hotel that night.. it was the last night in a bed for some time!

The next day's journey was to Rangdum which was an incredible camp-site, in a huge valley with a humongous mountains all around and snow peaks almost in touching distance. This was the coldest night of the trip added to by incessant rain... not the perfect start to sleeping in tents!

The next morning we drove to the next campsite we drove from Rangdum to Remala which was a campsite right by the River Stod - starting point of the rafting ! finally ! This drive took us through Pensi La (La is ladakhi for Pass) which is at a height of 14500 feet and past the Drung Durung Glacier which feeds the Stod and the Zanskar river.

The next morning - 14th August - we started our over-150 KM rafting expedition down the Zanskar.... it was a heady feeling, we had all travelled for 5 days to get to this spot to start this! There were 6 other people on my raft, Left to Right below.... Rama (she was so scared of the18-down rapid that she didn't know when we were through it), Vaibhav (O Captain, my captain - the boss of the boat), Me, Sanjay (1-2, 1-2, 1-2), Gayatri (who insisted on calling all the sights "gorgeous" in an oh-so-girly manner), Sejal (the airline pilot who wanted to be pilot of this boat too) and Richard (the maddest person on the trip... kept us laughing right through).

Before I go into telling you about the rafting and how amazing it was and what it FELT like.... a bit about the other people on the trip..... apart from my raft above..... Below, Ajay and KK - enjoying a game of domino's like their life depends on it!

Antje, the super-fit-woman from Germany and the 'snobs' - well not really - Priya (the editor) and Antara ! The super-efficient German sisters - Antje and Claudia....
Sachin (the problem solver, couldn't take care of the boxers though), Sanjay, Rama, Me and Richard....
THE BOYS - Sanjay, Richard, Ajay and Me
Now.. to the rafting.... The first day's rafting was quite mild (don't tell KK i said that, he fell out in the first 10 minutes - apparently "cooling up").... getting used to our teams and the river. Th water was freezing cold and best avoided. to add to it, it was an overcast day so even colder!

It was a relief to be on the river after days of travelling, just an amazing feeling... paddling on the Zanskar in the middle of nowhere.... The campsite at Karsha was a small one but right by the river. I was a bit ill at this campsite... fever and the shivers, so pretty much rested all evening to try and bounce back for the following few days of rafting.


The next we headed out from Karsha down the river to Honyo which was by far the best campsite of the trip - picturesque and truely breathtaking.

It was a relatively short run to Honyo which gave us a fair bit of time at Honyo to enjoy the surrounding area the campsite itself. The night at Honyo was a particularly enjoyable experience, an almost clear night with a full moon and the temperature was just right to enjoy the evening. and enjoy the evening we did !

The next morning we left Honyo for a very exciting day of rafting, a fair bit of Class III rapids through beautiful gorges and canyons.


At the end of a toughish day of rafting we reached Nyerak which was going to be our "home" for 2 nights, we were going to have a rest day there. Nyerak was a good campsite though a very very dusty and steep site. The campsite was good for the rest day as it had loads of trees to sleep under and a fresh water (though very cold) stream flowing by.... the first chance to wash up and shampoo our hair for days !

It was a very relaxing day with no distractions close to nothing to do all day long. Truely vegetative....


We began the 5th day of rafting from Nyerak down to Lamaguru with a bang, serious Class IV rapids just around the corner. IT was a really good day of rafting about 35 kms. The highlight of the day was the lunch site - next to a waterfall gushing out of a rockface. A walk under the fall was a really chilling experience, it felt like ice cubes falling on your head - pounding and cold at the same time.
The last day of rafting was a really good 40 km run from Lamaguru to Nimu. The campsite at Lamagur had a been a tough one to camp at...very rocky and shoaly. The tent had been a pain to set up. The morning started with a longish photo session, this being the last day of rafting.


The take-out of the rafting expedition was at Nimu, just past the confluence of the Indus and the Zanskar, a spot we had passed on the first day on our drive.

The trip had been very tiring but exhilerating... finally got a chance to have a shower and shave, valued the basics again!

Ladakh extended

Following the rafting expedition down the Zanskar, I decided to stay on a few days in Ladakh to see a few sights.... I am so happy I did because I was able to see one of the most beautiful place in the world - Pangong Tso. The salt water lake with the clearest and bluest water I have ever seen in my life......


and the sand dunes in the Nubra Valley... a surreal sight in the mountains at that altitude...

First Ever All-English Champions League Final - 21st May 2008

Manchester United had played 2 European Cup finals and won both... a good omen, for sure.
The night before the final.... I couldnt sleep because of sheer nerves (as if I was going to be playing). Its just that I follow Manchester United all year long, year after year, looking forward to the possibility of such a final. When it comes around, I want to hold on to the moment.

So I couldnt sleep and kept thinking... what if we won, what if.... how would it feel, what would it be like... how would I celebrate. So I decided that if we do win, I would have a party at home to celebrate with all my friends (a bit over the top, i admit, but what the hell!)... photos of the party in slideshow in left margin

I found it almost impossible to work all day because of the nerves, settled down to watch the game and realised for the first time (!) that it would be excruciating to lose to Chelsea in such a final. I hate the Chelsea blues.

Ronaldo scored and my reaction was a mix of elation and caution - hold boys, dont concede immediately. keep calm. United kept attacking as only United do... 3, 4, 5 guilt-edged chances... we were playing them off the park and should have put the game away!!

Unfortunately they did equalise just before half time and the game turned a bit... United hung on and it went through to Extra Time into the dreaded penalty shoot-out... Now it was a lottery, a lottery we HAD TO WIN.

Tevez, Ballack, Carrick, Belletti all score
The last person you expected to miss was Cristiano Ronaldo, but he did.
Lampard scores to put Chelsea ahead....... Hargreaves, Cole and Nani score too.......
Up steps John Terry.... I'm sure its all over, cant bear to watch, in fact I DONT watch the penalty..... I only hear that he's missed..... YES!
SUDDEN DEATH NOW......
Anderson and Kalou take care of the first two
Up stepped, Ryan Giggs.. record 759th appearance for the club.. the most decorated footballer in the history of the sport. Coolly scores in the bottom right corner.

And then the magic moment... Anelka vs Van Der Sar.... VAN DER SAVES IT.....

European Champions again!!!!

Man Utd play a Champions League Final - 26th May 1999

(This was written in July 1999)

It had always been my dream to watch United play a European Cup final, from the heartbreaks against Monaco and Dortmund, we had finally beaten Inter and Juventus (What a game, that was!) to reach the holy grail. I had waited for this day for 14 years – ever since I saw Norman Whiteside score the only goal in the 1985 FA cup final for 10-man United to beat Everton.

I had looked forward to the match for over a month and couldn’t think of anything else for three days before. Finally the time came, the match was on ESPN (God bless them) at 12.30 in the morning here in India. My whole family had stayed out of my way cause I was on tenterhooks – WE HAD TO WIN TODAY!!!!

The match started at the fabulous and grand Camp Nou in Barcelona, I had settled into my ‘lucky seat’, in my United shirt and shorts to start the most important 90 minutes of my life. The game began pretty unimpressively – Giggs on the right and Beckham in the middle – I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t agree with Alex Ferguson (the cheek of me). Then Basler scored, the remote dropped from my hands, my wife looked at me – too scared to even say one word. I told her “We will equalise” – I was trying to convince myself too.

I watched most of the rest of the match either praying or abusing german players or cheering the united players. At half time, I just paced up and down waiting for the second half, looking to the ceiling and saying PLEASE GOD – JUST ONE GOAL, JUST ONE GOAL. My wife decided to go and try to sleep.

The second half began with no changes to the United line-up – I couldn’t believe it. Surely we needed to shake it up a little. Nothing changed , United kept trying and United couldn’t make it happen. Mehmet Scholl hit the post and Schmeichel saved a couple of shots, Jancker hit the bar! Was God saving United for something?

I had tears in my eyes and beads of sweat rolled down my forehead – the dream was coming to an end, we would have to wait for another year before we even got a chance to reach here and god knows how tough it is to reach here.

PLEASE GOD – JUST ONE GOAL!

The clock turned to 90.00, United have a corner, surely they could scramble a goal. PLEASE GOD – JUST ONE GOAL! I don’t think I remember how the goal was scored (though I have seen it 2,977 times since then) BUT we had scored. I let out a short but loud yelp, UNITED!!!! My wife woke up, but she didn’t come to the TV room. Then IT happened, Solshaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!! This time my scream was trapped in my throat. I was on my knees bending in reverence to the greatest sporting comeback EVER!

Alok called at this moment and I could barely speak into the phone...... I was sobbing and hysterical. “I have just never seen anything like it” . “I have just never seen anything like it”!!!

I saw the celebrations through tears and sobs OF JOY.

MANCHESTER UNITED – CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE AGAIN. Oh yes – We’d done the treble too.

Tuff Enuff United

Here's another one about sports - cricket this time.. This may be getting boring and somewhat repetitive for you as a reader (making a very big assumption here - that you have read more than one posting in my blog). But the reality for me is that I have learnt so many of my "life's lessons" from sport.

I had the most exciting summer of my life in 1987 or was it 88, the year is not that important.

I had my cousin, Rajan staying over for that summer and between alok, him, venkat (alok's friend), anurag (another cousin) and myself - we just had the greatest time. We played every sport possible - indoors and outdoors and did much else that need not be mentioned here. Tennis ball cricket, stick hockey on the chhat (terrace), cricket in the backyard, tennis ball football in the bedroom, 5-man tennis-ball football in the passage (its impossible to explain how this worked in words), regular football / cricket in the park, Street cricket, frisbee football, rugby with a football..... We tried and enjoyed everything !

The concept of tennis ball cricket was very new at the time..... So we got together and organised a tournament and invited teams from other areas too. I think we got about 4 or 5 teams. We called our team "Tuff Enuff United".

All the matches are a blur and have now merged into each other in my head and I have the brightest memories from this little one-week tournament - our own World Cup.

All 4 of the other members on my team were better than me (only because they were older!) And I was the passenger.... So the few times that I did something spectacular sticks in my head well. I remember playing one game just after it had rained, with puddles and slush all over the ground... Taking a catch with a full-length dive to my left is a vivid memory. I landed splattered in a huge puddle (almost a little lake I thought at the time)... Drenched head to toe in muddy water yet felt like a million bucks!

Another time in the semi-final, we were chasing a really low score and all 4 of the 'senior' members of the team were out and we needed 7 runs to win... I was alone in there - stressed and trying hard to concentrate. Seems really funny now, but I was convinced it was life-defining at the time. I was repeatedly singing the Duran Duran song 'Meet El Presidente' to myself to stay focussed. It was tremendous - calming my nerves. Bowler bowled a no ball and I hit a 6 over covers to win the game - on top of the world. Couldnt sleep for days because of the excitement.... Such are the simples joys of a simpler time. Made me understand the importance of mental discipline and concentration, being single-minded and focussed is so crucial to getting things done.

We went on to win the tournament.. World Champions - errrr, sort of.