Arbit Scratchpad

Almost exactly an year since I came out of the formal, corporate world. This calls for a lot of patience and perseverence, test of strength to not get allured into going back again. Some things are not working out because of my way of operating, will rectify that in the new year!! It will be difficult to paint the corporate world all dark, there is money in there, although after a while the work gets routine, and there is lack of autonomy and you got to do what someone says. However the social scenario is better, you meet people on a more constant day to day basis and gather and develop stronger friendships etc! The human psyche is strange - can swing from extreme to extreme... The need is for a different type of an organization! A social organization with greater autonomy...to independently work and Dhonuk in a way is trying to build exactly that - as artists are themselves creative folks and work best and produce quality art without any pressure or forced productivity gains. H...

If only there was something called a 'thought missile' - devastating! Prof Ashok Rao (IIT/IISc) should take more classes in IIM Bangalore! What a radical professor - hats off! Whoever has not heard him, has missed out, he is capable of reconfiguring your mind ... I agree with almost 90% of his views.

It was indeed a pleasure to speak to Paranjoy Guha Thakurta - an independent journalist and an educator with over 33 years of work in different media: print, radio, television and documentary cinema; yesterday for over a hour and a half at the IIMB! He is such a down to earth man and yet such a deep thinker! Blood & Iron is an extremely courageous movie - Bravo Sir! Inspiring... The day before (Friday), the first public screening of his movie Blood & Iron at IIMB auditorium left a lasting impression on me. It is a deeply disturbing/heart-wrenching movie on the nexus between criminals, politicians, and businesses; it makes your blood boil because as if they (the mining mafia) are running a republic of their own and no one can do anything at all, the system is helpless. Our national resources are being rapaciously plundered without any second thought. The ecological devastation, economic harm, social injustice/exploitation and national fallout is of a degree just t...

‎'Living up to expectations'! Whose expectations? Different people have different expectations... Everyone's would become impossible :)

TAG: Verses, Reverses 'Shopping Mall Therapy' works! Binging on McD's - CHICKEN INSIDE,  Browsing books and mags in book BARS!  MAGAZING at Vidya Balan in some hot attire... Green shiny blouse, lov ely  white saree. Heartthrob! Gaping wide eyed at Apple showroom goodies,  SO MANY movies and movie tickets...  G uzaarish  - Aish looks cool, smoking hot! A nd then there's a LOT :D  And I remember once  We had done 'observation studies'  At a nearby mall, Part of some design project: People checking out stuff,  Shopping, Window shopping, yakking... Queues, Queue lengths, Consumer behaviour!! Glazed looks, hyper kids.  New age thrill.  Shiny lights. Couples walking around like zombies,  Airtel promoting its new logo with RED colored contests ...  Had fun, have fun! Go again. It's the sensory experience stupid!  And the glassy plastic, metallic energy!  That's why  'Shoppin...

Nothing new about Reliance - I just wonder when big money and financial gobbledygook (err policy) is involved anything is possible/things just go haywire - remember sub-prime crisis? Mr Anil looks so thoughtful in this pic! Where's the money - honey? CORPORATE INDIA under the scanner now!! Still utilizing pre-liberaliz ation core competencies and institutional voids? The Hindu : News / National : Anil Ambani group got undue benefits: CAG report www.thehindu.com The report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India on the 2G spectrum allocation indicates that it was the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) that benefited the most from the arbitrary and unfair manner in which licences were given in 2008.

Every human being is like some stage of a budding lotus! May they bloom and blossom into their full blown potential! May nothing hinder them... A series of tough hurdles, masquerading as failures and even near destructive events are thrown at you in life - you got to survive them all with equanimity! And then you are there. An unforgettable day today!!

The heart yearns to sing, the songs in our heart!   WOW! A fantastically musical Sunday it was today! When I got to do what I love to do - sing all day long. The singing session went on from 2 PM to 7 PM with a few breaks in between! Listening to other amazing singers - some quite renowned and some newly discovered talent in our fold within the bengali community. Truly love the bengali community 'get-togethers' for being so culturally rich!! Music comprised of Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti and many other bengali genres including songs of SD Burman and other styles, several hindi oldies and melodies galore... It was actually Bijoya Sammelani - a get-together that happens post Vijaya Dashami! Venue: Jayamahal Samiti building - the newly inaugurated 2nd Floor. When I reached, Rishi - the newly discovered and a very talented singer was performing, I joined him for a while and then several other artists. Later on I sang a Nazrul Geeti (Aruno Kanti Ke Go which I again sang f...

Soon available on: Artist's inputs for the book: http://www.dhonuk.com/page/fans-of-durga-reawakened See what the fans of 'Durga Reawakened' are saying: http://www.dhonuk.com/page/fans-of-durga-reawakened Book Details and Coverage: http://www.dhonuk.com/page/puja-special-book-durga Book Launch photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/shamit/BookLaunchDurgaReawakened#

Event Sponsored by H K Kejriwal Foundation Short Illustrated Graphic Novel -  Durga Puja Special from Dhonuk! 'Durga Reawakened'  Illustration: Mahan J Dutta, NID Ahmedabad & Concept, Adaptation: Shamit Bagchi, IIM Bangalore. Launch event on 10th October, Sunday at 5:30 PM  at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat, Kumarakrupa Road,  Bangalore  (near Golf Club/Hotel Lalit Ashok/Windsor Manor) You are invited. The chief guest will be Dr. Harkishore Kejriwal - one of India’s foremost art collectors and patron, founder HK Kejriwal foundation  and the co-founder and vice president of Chitrakala Parishat, Bangalore’s most prestigious art institute.  The guest of honour will be Dr. Balasubramaniam Shekara Professor of Quantitative Methods and Information Systems  at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. He handles an eclectic course on Creativity in Arts and Science in  addition to teaching Thinking paradigms. More Details...

I am reborn now, The dead past is gone; Left behind in slices of time, Of years bygone. A single root, No wait, a few of them actually, Remain stuck  still In the muck of the past. A bolus of soft vomit Of self pity; I play with it. Will have to now vomit it out The over bearing stench, getting unbearable! But it helps you, Helps you get shorn of all that is unnecessary, The filthy conformity, the make-believe, the ostentatious. So what if a little smelly a medicine? The creativity dies within, When depression sets in. Shun it! No way, it is nothing but that pain, A fertile soil for creativity's gain! Treasure it.

Being from Bangalore I had never experienced this sort of cold. In June it was 5-6 degree Celsius... what on earth would it be like in the winters? And the real reason was that I was totally unprepared. During the late entry of the bus (around 8 PM) along the circuitous roads with hairpin bends, firstly the mind was shocked and numbed, then a downpour started and as I got off the bus having reached Badrinath with only a jacket on - the chill hit me - hard. Initially it was manageable but later the second day the body was slowly giving way to the onslaught, unexpected, un-acclimatized and unprepared as it was. I managed to reach the GMVN Yatri Nivas asking many people on the way as it was dark all around and the drizzle intensifying and ebbing all the time.  The Yatri Nivas though spacious it had these flickering yellow lamps reminiscent of massive halls of some old and dilapidated mansion. The cold outside had me blinded and it took me some time to get adjusted, the dor...

Dedicated to all my friends – old and new - active and dormant ones too… As I was going back home that night, In the red air-conditioned bus, in mid-flight. I looked around, for there was some noise, Ringtones and mobiles had turned modern day toys. There sat on a seat - a sister and a brother. The sister was elder, the brother the joker! The girl dressed in black, the boy in brown and white, One would have been thirteen, the other ten, not quite. They made a jocular pair, the girl trying on a serious face As the boy continued clowning with his ‘Bugs Bunny’ grace. As he made faces to her, she laughed and giggled,  Enthused, the boy in his seat, further joyfully wriggled. Mumbling jokes, stories and comments he made. Mischief and energy glowed on the face of the brother The sister at times would scold and admonish,  Once resorting to complaining to their mother! I could feel the palpable warmth and the joy of the siblings. You share and care and yo...

This is a new episode #5 - Read the rest of the blog posts bottom up on the tag:  UttarakhandDiary It is getting hazy and dark, the taste of the halwa puri and another syrupy sweetmeat special to Haridwar first grabs my taste buds, sends pleasure signals shooting to my brain, envelopes my mind for a while and then as I finish it off, the taste lingers on in my tongue. Delirious, as I cross the bridge I can see the river of dark molten watery nothing-ness, caressing the banks, which slowly gets filled with thousands of gathering devotees all eager to look at a daily spectacle that will soon unfold. Ganga Aarati – river worship at the Hari ki Pauri starts around 7 PM every day. A glimpse of the holy fire is supposed to be sacred I guess, that’s why the near stampede; which I become a part of in moments. Until minutes before the fire is lit, agents of the Ganga Mandali are feverishly collecting donations from devotees, loudly calling out names of those who contributed and...

Visit to Dr H K Kejriwal's residence – a fabulous art experience! The research on cultural entrepreneurship we are conducting at IIM Bangalore is indeed fortuitous and enlightening for me as we understand the art world dynamics; and add to it the fact that we are getting to meet, interact with and interview some of the best folks in the field and the business of art.  We had been to Dr H K Kejriwal’s residence today– founder of Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat, me and my research associate colleague. What a treasure trove of art it is – just fantastic. From works of Amrita Sher Gill, Abanindranath Tagore, Jogen Choudhury, to intricately done Buddhist thankas, murals from 3 BC, sculptures and Chola bronze works, Dancing Ganesha to I don’t know what else; cannot recollect all of them now. Stacks and bookshelves full of books on Art all along the walls. Porcelain cutlery, antique wine glasses, heads of temple figures, Buddha, abstract sculptures - many, many more artistic jewels. Lo...

Continued from  here ... [ Yet another train to Haridwar ] Or read blog posts bottom up on the tag  UttarakhandDiary As he started off from Hotel Arati sitting in a cycle rickshaw towards Hari ki Pauri – the banks where thousands bathe every day, Mr S felt the drizzle on him – he had expected searing heat – this was so cool – literally! The rickshaw puller experienced considerable agony in pulling Mr S’s bulk through particularly one part of the market where the rickshaw-wallahs can no longer cycle but have to pull the rickshaw and the customer sitting on it as they walk along! Now we can see Mr S walking across the bridge across the Ganga (Ganges) walking down in the drizzle and then there he is standing on the red paved platform on one side. That’s the Hari ki Pauri. We can see him now as a tiny dot among thousands of worshippers. He seems to be saying “Wow, I love this place, it is drizzling and that makes it even more breathtaking”. Camera in hand he gapes at the thou...

Continued from here ... [ Train to Haridwar ] Before I enter Hotel Arati let me abruptly pause for a while here and hop onto another train. This time it is a train of thoughts that travels far and wide to everywhere! Why am I here in Haridwar? What brings me here? To start with was it a conscious decision – of course triggered or by an impulse - that started it all? Or was it pre planned, beyond my volition? The latter is too farfetched to be imagined being true! At least I refuse to believe it although some part of my brain is instructing exactly the opposite – saying this is a part of my destiny – it had to happen… Going by the easiest explanation first - it was an escape hatch from the banal life of the city that is Bangalore – academics and work combined had merely intellectual stimulation to offer. Get away, anywhere, now! It was a short break of four weeks (the longest we get between years) between the second year of my post graduation and the next quarter when I had exactl...

Continued from here ... [ New Delhi Railway Station ] Loads of foreigners in the compartment and also noisy kids; one set spiritually inclined the other decibel-ly! With all this however the train is quite comfortable – AC chair car – with breakfast served. After a few minutes of departure a person comes and sits beside me on the vacant seat and gives me a big smile. In another few minutes we start conversing. I tell him about my limited ticket up to Meerut. “So when did you buy the ticket, did someone tell you to buy it?” he asked, a twinkle in his eye. This man of a smallish build was well dressed and his black leather shoes were shining; he sat in style beside me. “Yes, the person at the ticket counter where I was all night,” I replied back, to which he started nodding his head in a gesture of knowingness. “Good,” he continued, “that was clever of you – unfortunately I came at the last moment and had to speak to the TC to enter without a ticket. So where are you from?” “I ...

The flight landed at the New Delhi airport at 1 AM and I had no further bookings - was still debating: Uttarakhand or Ladakh! The outside of the Airport is not exactly warm nor exactly chilly, June has just arrived - I grab a Red Bull from a sleepy looking guy at one among the several food counters; ‘cause I know I have to sustain a long sleepless night. I browse on my new touch screen phone - the LG GT505 and make some inquiries about the multiple Delhi railway stations (everything in Delhi is in multiples). I start chatting to an auto rickshaw driver who compelling spins a yarn – but he’s a sweet middle-aged person – speaks with me for a while - tells me why I must go to the farther off railway station and checks and confirms over his mobile that I will get the Dehradun Shatabdi at around 7 AM. As I am speaking a red AC bus arrives, the conductor calling out – I confirm with the auto driver, apologize to him that I cannot take the auto and jump into the bus - the charges are on...

It all started with the trigger, an unbearable pull, also known as 'WANDERLUST'. There is some allure of the hills, The raw challenge, the chills And thrills. To respond to it and conquer them is a must And only just, For then shall I satiate my wanderlust! Compelling it is to travel, Ignore if you will, redoubled it’d strike, And burst forth, the unbearable pull, The maddening ache of wandering, Of getting lost, and discovering. The pleasures of going the distance!   Map for my trip to Uttaranchal - Go check map actuals on Google  Maps -   http://yfrog.com/j59vpcj View Larger Map