For The Departed Friend

Like the wave of cold breeze

Touching the face of a weary Bedouin

You touched my arid life, like

A fountain of elixir, to give it life.

I thanked God for sending me

His choicest angel to lift my spirits.

To pull me up from deep fathom

Of dread, despondency and despair.

You became the music

That rang through the opera called my life.

You filled it with joy

And then you taught me how to smile.

Now when I have learnt to smile

And enjoy life, the way you always showed me.

You go away, far away,

Beyond the reaches of my sight.

God, it is unfair what you did

You had the trump cards, yet you cheated.

You missed your friend-the angel

So you snatched the light away from me.

Even Gods are jealous

For they crave for a friend like you.

This very divine selfishness

That has left me deserted in bereavement.

But fear not, my friend

The light that you left behind in me will never suffer

With teary eyes, I do swear

No darkness can enter my heart, where you shall live forever...

-Shyam

(7 Mar 2011)

Dhiru and sons- a chapter in modern mythology

Dhiru Mahadev started his career as an employee in one of the many British companies located in the coast of Aden. Although a humble beginning, Dhiru was always poised for bigger challenges in life. A few years into his career he met the two people who would become his working partners in future.

The first person was Brahm Dev, a man of impeccable knowledge and research experience. His intelligence was supreme and people felt he thought with not one brain, but four! The other was Vishnu Baba, an operations expert who knew to keep any plant running irrespective of any form of trouble, be it from employees or management.

So when they formed their venture ‘Hind Reliance’, Brahm took charge of R&D and was responsible for creativity and innovation, while Vishnu took charge of operations and plant management. Mr.Mahadev, being the biggest contributor in the venture, was responsible for final goods delivery and overall decision making. So he was nicked ‘Param’- meaning supreme.

Param meanwhile got married to Parvatiben, a good looking woman with a strong Gujrati background. The couple were blessed with two sons. The elder one was Ganesh Mahadev and the younger was Karthik Mahadev.

Ganesh was born with a speech disability. He was smart but would not talk. This made him very shy and tied down to his own world of books and stories. Very soon his friends started calling him Mook-esh (‘mook’ meaning dumb in Hindi). Karthik on the other hand was a very handsome extrovert. He was inclined to movies and show biz right from a young age. At one point he felt that his name Karthik was so not reflective of his ‘modern’ nature that he re-christened himself ‘Anil’ after his favourite star in Bollywood Anil Kapoor.

As years went by, Dhiru Mahadev’s company became big and it looked like its employees could form a nation of their own. Dhiru would often quip to his wife, “Sitting in the twenty fifth floor of my office in Nariman Point, I feel like I am on top of some Kailash mountain and can see the entire world from a bird’s eye view.”

Mookesh and Anil went to the best school in the country and after completing their schooling in India, they were sent away for graduating in business studies from the US. When it was time for his sons to return after completing their graduate studies, Param found that he was a deeply worried and concerned man. He feared that bookish education in the US would be a handicap for his sons to run Hind Reliance. He feared that their decision making abilities will be affected by their Americanised perspectives in business, especially in a completely Indian company like theirs.

So he decided to test them.

One day after they were back in India, Param called his wife Parvatiben and their sons Mookesh and Anil to his study. There he was sitting with his close friend Mr.Narad Muni. Narad was a shrewd businessman who spent most of his life travelling across seas and shores for running his business. When they were ready, Param spoke.

“Sons, you are both very adorable, and we love you both. You have completed your education and have made yourselves eligible for bigger roles now. However, I would like to test you to know who among you is better suited at following me.”

“I have transferred Rs.1,00,00,000 to both your accounts. Now I will give you a maximum of one month to complete this assignment. Go and experience life to the fullest! Narad uncle will help you get your air tickets and all ready.”

True to their respective selves Mookesh remained sombre and unperturbed while there was a distinctive glint in Anil’s eyes. Within two days, Anil was cruising through the waters of Nile, while his elder brother Mookesh was slump on the couch watching Mind Your Language series on television.

Anil booked a Europe tour package that took him to the most exotic of places in the Europe. He cruised on the seas, went bungee jumping, yachting, rowing, and ice skiing and trekking through the Alps. He drank the most expensive liquors and slept with the most exquisite women from across the globe. He drove in the most luxurious of vehicles and interacted with many celebrities worldwide.

Meanwhile, his brother Mookesh preferred to stay indoors than outdoors. Much to the surprise of everyone around him, he went and joined Hind Reliance to help his father in business. In a matter of one week, he learnt the business in and out. By three weeks, he made Hind Reliance a profit of Rs. 50,00,000. Impressed by his effort at running the company, Param declared Mookesh as his successor.

When Anil came back from his tour, he was aghast to see that Mookesh had already been proclaimed winner in a contest that he considered uncompleted. Red faced, with a heavy heart he spoke to his father.

“Dad, you asked us to ‘GO’ and enjoy life. So I went out and experienced the best of everything in the world and came back. I learnt the best practices from everywhere and hoped to implement them in our company. But here I see that in spite of having not stepped outside the city, you have proclaimed Mookesh to be the winner. How unfair is that father?”

Param replied, “Yes, I asked you to experience ‘life’. By joining me at the company, Mookesh proved that ‘Hind Reliance’ was his life. What could have been a better reason to announce him as my successor?”

Not convinced at his father’s judgement Karthik ‘Anil’ Mahadev cried foul, vowed to never join his father’s company and walked out of the Mahadev family house.

Dhiru ‘Param’ Mahadev smiled. His wife Parvatiben cried. Their son Ganesh ‘Mookesh’ Mahadev looked expressionless, but his dreams sore high like a 60 floors tower worth US$2Bn in the heart of Mumbai city!

-Shyam

Confessions of a Depressed Mind

None of you can understand my feelings;

Coz it’s proven that empathy eludes happy minds.

My world is entirely different from yours;

Here hope is feared and inebriation cures.

-------------------------------------------------------

I do not see any light at the end of the tunnel;

Coz mine seems to be nothing but an endless ordeal.

There are many turns and bends in my tunnel;

But no big leap can inch me closer to that medal.

---------------------------------------------------------

An expression I no longer use is the smile;

Every second I’m busy travelling hundreds of mind-miles.

My mental blocks can never fall in place;

Coz there are too many blocks and many more slots.

----------------------------------------------------------

I never managed to become a celebrity;

But every eye stares at me; every spoken word is about me.

I too was a true believer in God like you boys

Until I found that cruelty of life was immune to my choice.

------------------------------------------------------------

My story is most often found in poetry;

Coz prose can’t hold the burden of sorrow that I carry.

I know that I am wrong in whatever I state,

For I have not been right about anything off late.

---------------------------------------------------------------

But at the end of all this, a profound truth I realise;

That there is no ship that death cannot capsize.

If death is the result of every game, played however well;

Then why continue to rent my head for this devil to dwell?

----------------------------------------------------------------

-Shyam

(8.2.2011)

My Meeting with Mr.T

Mr. T is not a most wanted gangster or a high profile businessman as some of you would have thought. Far from it, he is a school going kid. A true millenium kid, to me Mr.T represents the generation of children who are fed on cell phones, computer games and countless other gadgets since birth. And probably because of such an upbringing, I do not see much difference in the levels of our awareness. Hence I prefer to consider him as equal and that is why the 'Mr.' part that I added to the kid's name is important.

This is how the conversation went. The way it went, I had an irresistable temptation to blog about it and by the end of the post I am sure you will know why.

Mr. T : Hey! I am ______

Me : [A little startled by the kid's boldness to initiate the conversation in no time] Hi dude...

Mr. T : Are you on facebook?

Me : [Now definitely shocked] Umm... Yeah! (followed by a 'So?' expression)

Mr. T : Will you add me on facebook?

Me : Umm.. Yeah sure .. Why not!

Mr. T : Whats your name on facebook?

[I tried to ignore that one, to go easy on 'facebook'. I prefer to keep my facebook activities very much restricted to close friends. But... ]

Mr. T : Whats your name on facebook?

Me : Uh? [followed by a 'talking to me?' expression] H-N-S-H-Y-A-M hnshyam

[Following this, I went into my 'I am thinking' facial expression. I do this whenever I want to avoid some conversation. But this time it was more to relieving me from the shock of this conversation I was having with a ten year old kid]

Mr. T : What's the full form of HN?

Me : (This is one question I have learnt to conveniently evade in the last twenty two years, simply because it calls for further explanations. So...) Umm.. Nothing dude.. Its a single thing.

Mr. T : Really? You are joking.... Right?

Me : [smile] (and thankfully, the topic was changed)

Mr. T : You have a computer?

Me : Yeah, of course!

Mr. T : Can I use it?

Me : Sure. Come with me, let's go to my room.

In my room,

Mr. T : Oh, so you have this small laptop?

Me : Yeah, its called a netbook.

Mr. T : Let me add you on facebook. Whats your name you said?

Since my profile was already logged in, I did the honours myself. And he promptly logged into his id and accepted my friend request.

Mr. T : You know my bro has got a new tattoo on his hand! You want to see?

Me : [Startled again] Umm.. Yeah.. Sure.

Mr. T : (While loading his brother's facebook profile) You know, all his friends wanted to get his profile pic clicked with his new girlfriend. But he smartly avoided it.

Me : (Girlfriend!! WTF? Oh Btw his bro has just joined undergraduation) Umm.. Yeah? That was smart of him...

Mr. T : All his friends have girlfriends. You don't have a girlfriend?

Me : (Now this is terribly embarrasing, everytime!) No dude... I don't.

Mr. T : Oh... I see.

Me : [Relieved for not being asked 'Why?', and amazed by Mr.T 's maturity or thoughtfulness you may say!]

Mr. T : BTW you know I joined facebook only last week and I have 114 friends. How many 'likes' do you have?

Me : How many 'what' ?

Mr. T : (pardoning my ignorance) You know, my brother does dissection in his college. The other day they dissected a frog, and all the intestine were out but the heart was still beating!

Me : [Surprised to see this amount of science knowledge in a ten year old] Yeah? I dropped biology way back in class 11 dude. So I never had a chance to do any such thing.

Mr. T : (Hardly interested in my reply. Now showing me some of his brother's pics) You see this boy in this pic?

Me : Yeah.

Mr. T : His mother died. She was only 56, you know?

Me : Oh is it, thats sad... (Not expecting knowledge of any further detail from the kid, and also not feeling it right to quiz him on such a topic. But...)

Mr. T : Apparently she was sleeping in the back seat when the accident occured and the balloon (air bag) came only in the front seats. So when they finally tried to wake his mom up, she did not get up! She had died by that time.

Me : (Now, literally lost for words) Hmmm.... I see.

We moved to the living room, where his mom was talking to my parents.

Mr. T : [Looking at my phone] So you have a blackberry eh?

Me : Yeah.

Mr. T : [Turning to his mom ] Hey mom, the model of your phone is popular. See even he has a similar blackberry.

Me : [Shocked again. The first time I learnt about Blackberry phones was barely a few years ago. Here is a ten year kid discussing Blackberry phones with his mom! ]

Mr. T : You don't have games on you comp? What do you do with it?

Me : [Smiling in an effort to hide my mixed emotions at this strange question] I work Mr.T. So I have something or the other official to do all the time.

Mr. T : [Giving me a 'what a loser' look. Now looking at the golf club in my house] So who goes for golf coaching here?

Me : Golf 'what'?Err... No, no one does. I play around inside the house, sometimes. Haven't gone for any training and all.

Mr. T : Oh... [Browsing through the television channels] Did you watch any tamil movie off late?

Me : Yeah, I watched Enthiran.

Mr. T : Oh.. I watched Manmathan Anbu! Enthiran was long back, right?

Me : Yeah... I guess.

By this time, Mr. T's mother had decided that it was time for them to leave. And in matter of no time, Mr.T got himself ready to leave and he was ready at the door.

Mr. T : Ok dude... Tata! Take Care.

Me : [Now quite use to think of Mr.T as any other friend from college or work] Yep mate! You too...

Mr. T : Hey, is there any sports shop around here?

Me : Yeah, there is one right down this road.

Mr. T : Oh.. k!


I saw Mr.T off from my balcony, as he got into his Manza car with his mother and they drove down the road.

As their car disappeared from my sight, I thought for a second about myself as a ten year old. I still remember the excitement of my visit to a McD (near Andheri station) to have a burger and softy, and getting my first email id '@usa.net' (I don't know how many of you remember it, but it was a craze in those days to have a usa.net email address). Those were probably the biggest things in my life until then, besides a few flight trips and eating American Choupsuey in a chinese restaurant! That was the extent of my exposure.

I looked at the calendar hanging on the wall. It said 'January 2011', and don't know why everything seemed to feel perfectly in place then.

I heard someone tell me, "Its just normal man; 21st century kid afterall! "

I smiled to myself affirmatively and walked into my room.

Dhobi Ghat

Dhobi Ghat is not the typical commercial Bollywood movie, and as a debutant director Kiran Rao deserves special appreciation for boldly taking the risk. And predictably, it is not a movie for all audience. Having said that, I must mention here that the difference has been two things primarily. Expressions and acting on the whole have received centre stage focus in the movie, and the pace of the story is set to make the audience live the characters than just be unperturbed spectators of their lives.

It tells the story of several people, though most of the reviewers would restrict themselves to the four main characters. Dhobi Ghat takes us through the lives of the average housewife who races against time to get her husband and children ready for the day, the maid servant who takes pride in sending her daughter to an English medium school and the daughter who in spite of her discomfort in using the foreign language recites Lord Tennyson's lines for the camera, the local train traveller who is suspicious and scared of a stranger shooting videos of the interiors (I was appalled by the fear born out of insecurity among Mumbaikars after the terrorist attacks), the street-child who is thrilled to be captured in someone's camera, the actually insecure North Indian immigrant recalling the specialities of his native town etc. each finding their own unique life in this city where new dreams are dreamt, some are turned into reality while most break into shatters like a pane of glass. The fundamental theme underlying every character in the movie is that there is a story behind every Mumbaikar, from why they are in Mumbai to what their journey has been. This city of hope that brings people from all over the country has more than just hope for all of them. It leads them into a life intertwined with the pace and culture that is unique to the city.

Another beautiful concept in Dhobi Ghat is how conveniently our mind drifts to lead someone else's life. A desire for something or a ray of hope in a dark life can drag us into leading someone else's life even before we realise it. In the story, the central character is a newly wed housewife from Uttar Pradesh who in the process of undergoing the transformation from a bubbly adolescent to a a devout wife trickles through the emotions of excitement, happiness, peace, pain, despair and helplessness. An artist who seeks inspiration in the story of this woman, and starts defining his existence through the emotions of her life. Her hopes become his inspiration, and her helplessness turn into his! An investment banker on vacation to India from New York who meets this artist, and spends the rest of her days trying to know and understand him. And last but not the least, the local washerman Dhobi who falls for the America returned banker and sees the gateway to his future through the lens of her camera.

By pacing the story such that even every facial expression is registered in the minds of the viewer, director Kiran Rao has brought back the beauty in acting that was prevalent during early years of cinemas and plays. Minimal dialogues and maximum communication has been the speciality of the movie, and the spectacular acting displayed by the central characters make the experience even more touching.

All in all, Dhobi ghat is a welcome change amid Bollywood movies that indulge in cut throat competition with each other for commercial success. It conveys the spirit of Mumbai through the lives of four central characters, each in the pursuit of a different thing. A must watch for everyone who loves the art of acting and movie making, and definitely not one for the lover of mirch-masala in Bollywood movies.

Cheers!

Orphaned Heroes

I remember the day very clearly. It was late evening on a summer day in Mumbai, and all the people in my house (and a few from the neighbourhood) were glued in front of the television. No, it was not the latest Bollywood flick or an Amitabh starrer from the olden days that was being played on TV. Instead it was an episode of HardTalk India and Karan Thapar was griling the guest, as he always does. But in the course of talks, the guest could not control their tears and starts crying like a baby on the national channel in front of millions of viewers! This very shot that was used to publicise the particular episode of Hardtalk India, had paid off and countless number of people had huddled in front of television sets across the nation from homes to showrooms to watch this interview! And the guest was not a weak hearted survivor narrating their war ordeals or a tortured wife counting her days of agony; instead it was one of India's greatest heroes who had brought uncomparable glory to the nation in an international stage. Yes, it was Kapil Dev- the only Indian cricket captain to have won us a World Cup!

Kapil Dev was bitterly wounded by the match fixing allegations raised against him that questioned his integrity, and was on national television sobbing uncontrollably. He said, " I will commit suicide rather than take a bribe.... I feel ashamed that I played cricket. "

Ten years later, another national cricket hero, the person credited to rebuilding the Indian cricket team from being just another scam-stricken, low-morale team drowned in controversies into a team of highly talented youngsters with the killing spirit to take on even the world's best team- Australia at the highest point of their success (16 consecutive test victories) and leading India to the finals of Worldcup (the only one after Kapil Dev's 1983 team) - lay at the mercy of some money driven filmstars and businessmen to play in a tournament organised in India!

And what happens? He is not picked by any of the ten different team owners, and pushed to the shame of being overlooked in favour of more than hundred other players! And to top it with a layer of sadism, the co-owner of his home team KKR Shahrukh Khan quips "No team is possible in Kolkata without Ganguly... I would love to have him as an integral part of the team".

Under such circumstances we are forced to question whether we actually know how to show true respect to our heroes? Be it war heroes, sportspersons, filmstars or for that matter anyone who strives to gain our country global recognition and honour.

Will we do the same to someone like Sachin Tendulkar who has spent even the best part of his teenage for Indian cricket, ten years from now? 'Adarsh Society' scam is a recent example of how we do not respect the sacrifices by our war heroes in the Kargil war, instead try to hijack the bare little assistance that their family members receive from the government! Many of the best faces on and off screen who have been responsible for growing Bollywood to the cash-cow that it is today, die under conditions of extreme poverty, loneliness and enormous debt. One of Bollywood's all time favourite heroine and the first Indian actress to feature on the cover of Time magazine, Parvin Babi lay dead in her house for three days and later in the mortuary awaiting claimants for the dead body! These are the plights of people revered to be heroes and celebrities at some point of time in their life.

While we know to easily churn out heroes amidst us from the autorickshaw wallahs on the street to the fellow passenger in local train to the participant in a television reality show; we barely know to respect and reciprocate the efforts of the real heroes who work hard forsaking everything dear to them, for bringing pride and prestige to fellow countrymen by achieving the impossible on a global stage and making India rise above the rest of the world.

Kapil Dev and Ganguly are not individual cases of 'orphaned heroes'. In fact they are probably the more visible ones. Several ex-servicemen and families of war martyrs, former sportspersons, entrepreneurs, scientists and artists and many more will be out there to tell us how this country and the selfish countrymen turned their backs at them when they most needed their support, and in some cases humiliated them in public for unproven offences.

The respect that they bring to the nation must be reciprocated to them, and this must be done at any cost. It is because of the contribution of these achievers- the real heroes- that today India can claim to be a growing superpower and a major challenge to the biggest of world nations!

Ambani & Sons by Hamish McDonald

There is an old saying that goes, 'You cannot be fooled unless you allow yourself to be'. The wisdom in this saying is a corollary to Darwin's famous postulate of 'Survival of the fittest'. However, it is also precisely the same wisdom that justifies every action of Dhirubhai Ambani. For anyone who has read Hamish McDonald's Polyester Prince, this book has limited surprises.

The book can be divided into four distinct parts.

The first part deals with the journey of an ambitious young man determined to make it big on a large stage. It talks loud about the young Dhirubhai who impressed everyone around him with his brilliance, and that helped him seek better life opportunities in the port of Aden off Yemen coast in A. Besse & Co. company. As someone who had realised early in life that one should never depend on someone for very long, Dhirubhai was always on the lookout for new opportunities.

The finest example of his genius in discovering untapped opportunities is the fact that as a junior clerk in Aden he found that the silver content in the Rial (Yemen's currency) coin is more than its exchange value in pounds. However the main reasons for his successful entrepreneurial ventures throughout his life lies in his persistence and ability to execute these ideas converting them into money. Dhirubhai made a few lakhs of rupees by collecting these Rials, melting them and selling the silver ingots at their market price, something that not all junior clerks would dare to do!

The second part of the book deals with Dhirubhai's resolve to set up his company, and his maverick ideas in running the business. A friend notes that Dhirubhai does not go against the law. He makes sure that the law is modified to permit something so that his activity does not classify to be going against the law! Also, a friend recalls hs is words 'Everything that I have done is kept under the ground and a first class fountain has been built over it. No one will find out what I have done'. This is truly aligned to Dhirubhai's ideal that ends justify the means. His active involvement of shareholders in the process of building his vast business empire and unique ability to have right friends in the right places especially in the changing governments deserve special mention in this part of the book, and truly serve as a compulsory lesson for aspirant entrepreneurs and managers.

The third part of this book, although very much mixed with the second part, is my favourite. It is the one that deals with the past of many of the people who are today holders of iconic positions in our country. This is the part that tells us how Reliance and its growth under Dhirubhai is an inseparable element in understanding the present India and its growth in the last three decades. It brings out the past of several of today's national leaders like Dr. Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Murli Deora, Arun Jaitley, Sharad Pawar, Arun Shourie, Ram Jethmalani and some yester-year leaders like Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, V.P.Singh, Narasimha Rao and Pramod Mahajan, and their active involvement in the successes and failure of Dhirubhai's business empire. Also important is the role of media baron Ramnath Goenka, his investigative journalist Gurumurthy, Nusli Wadia, Amitabh Bachchan and recently scamster Harshad Mehta. The most notable thing here is the matrix that relates these 'leaders' to the corporate house of Reliance and the mastermind named Dhirubhai Ambani.

The last part of the book, which has potential drama to be dubbed into a Bollywood flick is the one that deals with the last days of Dhirubhai and the feud between his sons Mukesh and Anil after his death. The book clearly indicates Mukesh to be the true Dhirubhai successor, while branding Anil as someone who used emotions to gain his base and has a lot to learn about conducting business successfuly beyond ambitious hopes and false promises.

All in all, the book 'Ambani & Sons' by Hamish McDonald is a definite must-read for anyone who aspires to conduct business in India as it tells the tale of how a young man with no business background managed to build one of the world's biggest corporate houses in a land stricken with neo-socialist policies that undervalues the role of equity and is easily maneuverable by money and power. It also follows the growth of Indian economy amidst license raj, import-export controls and regulations leading to liberalisation in early 1990s. It also talks about the origin and growth of the equity cult and popularity of public stock offerings that is directly attributed to Dhirubhai Ambani. Also it tells us the story of India as a developing nation through the 1980s and 1990s- the dark and bright patches in it, and most importantly about two of the world's richest people today!

Cheers!
Shyam



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