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I don’t understand why this emerging media consortium had to bid for Jaipur of all teams. I think they just got swayed by this one ODI where effective collection ensured that the revenues from the game are good. Jaipur isn’t that large a city, and I’m not sure how much of a cricket culture it has.

Two cities that I thought deserve IPL teams and didn’t get are Ahmedabad and Kanpur. The latter is one of the five “traditional centers” and has been hosting test cricket for almost 60 years now. UP has also been doing well in the Ranji and has quite a few people in the Indian squad – the catchment would’ve been so much better. The only problem with the Green Park is that there are no floodlights. One hopes that they are installed in due course and this city is allotted an IPL team.

The catchment areas for each team were announced recently. And it turns out that three out of four teams in the Jaipur catchment area are from Gujarat! So what prevented Emerging Media to bid for Ahmedabad then? The Motera is floodlit, and more importantly two of the four semifinalists in this year’s Ranji were from Gujarat, thus providing a real catchment (though one other state has been tagged on to each winning ground as catchment area, it isn’t too natural. Dhoni will never feel at “home” in Kolkata.). Also, from my perception, Ahmedabad has a much better cricket “culture” compared to Jaipur.

It would’ve been more understandable if the group that owns Jaipur had some kind of a connection with Rajasthan. However, there doesn’t seem to be any – the group is almsot wholly foreign – which makes matters of their choice even more perplexing. Were they put off by Ahmedabad because both Ambani brothers were bidding there? In any case, since the highest 8 bidders got teams (removing duplicate ownership), it is clear that what Emerging Media paid for Jaipur was more than what ADAG offered for Ahmedabad. Why didn’t they have enough sense to bid for Ahmedabad also?

All in all it seems to be a decision that completely misses out of the situation on the ground. I’m sure Emerging media would’ve been advised by some bankers/consultants who have absolutely no clue about the cricket situation in India, who would’ve used factors such as population, proximity to Delhi, etc. to pick Jaipur as the better winner. As mentioned earlier, I’m sure that one game where Jaipur got record revenues (due to good revenue management practices) would’ve also helped.

Two points before I close. Firstl, does anyone have data regarding the failed bids for the IPL teams? What Anilbhai etc. bid? If anyone does, please share it with me.

Second, the players’ auction is scheduled for Feb 20. Players have been split into classes (fast bowlers, spin bowlers, keepers, etc.) and their names will be drawn in random order, and the bidders should bid for the guy whose name just got picked. Wonder if it’s the most efficient process.

• When you have a company like ITC sponsoring a quiz, you can always expect lots of prizes in kind. Last year’s finalist prizes included a bag of cheap biscuits (mostly marie/krackjack types – sunfeast of course) and a packet of Aashirvad rajma. This year, they seemed to mess up on that. I think two finalist teams didn’t receive anything. There was some misunderstanding.
• A podium finish guaranteed much better though. There was this huge heavy box of stuff – mostly cream biscuits, a few packets of Kitchens of INdia ready to eat stuff, a few packets of pasta and two jars of pickles. I think the law doesn’t allow you to give out cigarettes for promotional purposes, else I guess we could’ve expected lots of that also. And yeah, we also got book coupons for fairly good amounts.
• Bingo is pretty good (no it wasn’t part of the “package”. I bought it ). Had some mad angles yesterday. Definitely significantly superior to Lay’s. The key is that bingo uses local flavours. It’s also much healthier than lay’s – rice, gram and corn flour as against potatoes.
• Ate ATS chikki yesterday after what seemed like ages. They seem to be strong believers in the “price point” funda – each packet costs a rupee and is much smaller than it used to be 10 years back. We used the used wrappers of 10 such chikki packets, and a superpacket , and a used tea cup in order to create a scupture depicting the dangers of environmental pollution.
  sw_aadisht

  took a pic of the same. I’ll link to that once he uploads it.

• Yesterday, I answered my second ever western music question in my long (it’s been 14 years since that KQA lone kid 2nd place) quizzing career. The first one was answered last week, at the Unmaad open quiz.
• Most of my western music listening is restricted to three bands. At Unmaad I answered a question about Deep Purple, opening my WM account. Yesterday, I answered one about floyd. Led Zep remains. And
  udupendra

  (my teammate yesterday along with

  sw_aadisht

  ) promises lots of those in the KQA Music Quiz he’s doing next weekend (on the 17th).

• The ITC guys had a system of point carry over from prelims. Without any scaling what-so-ever. So effectively each prelims question was worth 1/10 as much as a finals question. We didn’t complain though – having just scraped through after missing all the “peters”? and “st. peters” in the prelims
• An externality of the point carry over was that the probability of a tie became minimal. It was like the second leg of a Champions League match. Where after each goal, you are in or out. No chance of a draw.
• My answer to how Gilmour and co. overcame Waters’ pig copyright in order to use it in Division Bell concerts extended out lead on the top. Unfortunately, we were going to blow it up in the final stage 2 round. We ended a narrow second. Less than 10 points (the value of each final question) separated the top three teams

I reached Madras a full four hours before the Odyssey quiz was supposed to start two weekends back. The presence of another “good” quiz the previous day meant that not too many others were taking the early morning train for the quiz. In fact, I was the only quizzer on that train – not something you normally see on national holidays, when half the quizzers from Bangalore are making their way to Chennai for a shot at glory at one of the “big quizzes” in that city.

Despite having never lived in Madras,

udupendra

claims to be an authority on the city thanks to the two months he spent there during his internship. He claims to have explored more of the city than anyone who has ever lived there (and I believe him since I didn’t explore much at all during my four years there) and tries to show off his limited knowledge of the city. The point is that I consider him to know more of the city than me, and thus consulted him for options as to how I could kill these intervening four hours. And he suggested that I go DVD hunting.

I’m surprised as to how Tamil Nadu is such a big hub for manufacturing and similar businesses in India. For I find the Madrasi to be an extrmeely poor businessman. A large number of businessmen who don’t really adhere to contracts – like auto drivers asking for more than teh agreed amount after you reach the destination. A larger number of businessmen who try to cry their way through negotiations – like the CD guys here, or a few other auto drivers that I’ve met. Too many guys who try to play the “human element”. Some businessmen who even form unions (like the shopowners at Beach station, or the xerox guys at Velachery). At one point during the negotiations, the guy said “saar money is not important. friendship is important”. “if money is not important you can accept 600”, I replied. I think I was lucky not to get beaten up there.

I paid 650 for the 10 DVDs. An average of Rs. 65 per DVD. One one hand, I thought I had a good deal. On the other there was this feeling that with a little more negotiation I might have got a better deal. I continued walking.

Most of this post was composed in my head while I was going through this – two weeks back. It’s this kind of recalled post, so I’m not sure if it’s very coherent or easy to read. In hindsight, I think it’s too verbose and I’m rambling but I have no enthu to go back and edit it now.

I don’t know why but i really really like these old English romantic movies. Ok my sample size isn’t too large. First it was Casablanca and now this. But they’re awesome. Extremely well made. Amazing storyline, and an excellent way of telling it all. And unlike in the Hindi movies, in which a happy ending is usually guaranteed, there is no such guarantee here (in fact, both these have a kinda sad ending – by Bollywood standards), which makes the suspense more meaningful.

It’s also relevant (to me) that the parting scene (the effective parting scene, don’t count the press conference) happens to be in a car. When he is dropping her off. And it all ends with a long conversation in a parked car. And a hug. And then she runs away. What I write here is the true (as the orbit white ad puts it). I’m writing two conversations here (what I remember of them). The first has been translated from Kannada. The second was originally in English.

Let me write it as if I’m writing the screenplay for some movie. Rather, I don’t know how a screenplay is written. This is what I’d give my director. To direct. This is the first scene of the movie.

A small car is parked on a wide deserted road. There is the odd streetlight around. Lots of trees lining the road. And there is a nice wind blowing, like it does in Bangalore on late summer evenings. Our hero is at the wheel. Cigarette in one hand. Cellphone in the other. He dials slowly.

“Hi dad”
“Hi son. How did it go?”
“Ah, no. I don’t think it’s going to work out”
“Good. So it’s the end of the story is it?”
“Yes. It’s all over”
“Excellent stuff. Congrats. Here, your mother wants to speak to you”
“Hello mom”
“So i guess it’s not happening? Congrats. Good you finished it off without much fuss. Where are you now?”
“I’m in front of her house right now. I’ll meet you for dinner at the Adigas in 8th block. 9 o’clock. Bye”
“Bye. And congrats once again”.

He slowly moves down his phone book. Pauses at each entry for a minute. Looks wistfully at each name for ten seconds. And moves on. When the entry says “Neha”, he hits the call button. He’s trembling, but lets it ring.

“Hi Neha”.
“Hi Karthik! How did it go?”?
“Ummm no. it’s not happening. We decided to call it off”
“Oh! It’s ok. Never mind. I always had some kind of a creepy feeling about this one. It’s ok. All that happens happens for the good. I’ve to rush now. I’ll call you tomorrow. Take care. Bye”

He keeps going down the phone book. This time he pauses longer at each entry. And then there is a particular? entry he can’t take his eyes off. He looks at it for two minutes. And then hits the delete button. For courtesy sake he goes through the rest of the phone book also. And for courtesy sake pauses at each entry for a moment. And then he starts the car and slowly drives on.

Ok I don’t know how to write a screenplay but this is the general idea. This is perhaps going to be the first scene in my movie. Oh wait, that residency road thing is also there. This will be the scene before the opening credits. And that residency road scene will be the first after. Nice

As I had written earlier, my cousin is in the marriage market. She has been registered in a number of bureaus. Her father had started registering her on a few matrimonial sites, though I’m not sure that has been completed. Relatives and friends far and near have been informed that my aunt and uncle are on the lookout for a match for my cousin. And “if you know someone who you think will fit her”, they are supposed to inform my uncle.

Now, thing is that my cousin drinks (alcohol, i mean). While most of you might assume that there’s nothing abnormal in that, fact is that Kannadiga Brahmins are not supposed to drink. It is considered to be a major sin. And for Kannadiga Brahmin women to drink is even worse, in the eyes of the “people”. Even if you drink, you are not supposed to talk about it, and are supposed to take the stance that you don’t drink and drinking is evil.

I’m not trying to say that no Kannadiga Brahmins (apart from my cousin) drink. I’m sure the proportion of people here who drink is fairly large, maybe just a little less than other communities which don’t socially ban drinking. There are enough people here who drink. Just that they try not to tell their families about it. Parents usually find out, but don’t tell other relatives about it. “Out of shame”. There are numerous instances of cousins who go out drinking, and then trade promises to not tell any elders about it.

Coming back to my cousin, her issue is that since she drinks, she wants a husband who also drinks, and who will let her to continue drinking. As I’d mentioned earlier, there is no question that the market is quite big. There are enough and more people (in our community) who drink and who will want their wives to drink. Communicating this, however, is an issue.

It needs to be put across to the counterparty clandestinely. You can’t write “want a partner who drinks” in your profile at marriage bureaus. The bureaus might put moral issues and strike your name off their records (a large number of these bureaus are run by mutts). The bigger problem in advertising that you drink is that relatives will come to know, and the social status of you and your family will go down. So you can’t even put “drinking: yes” in shaadi.com.

However, when it comes to sealing a deal, you are supposed to make sure that you and your possible counterparty agree on this matter. How do you bring it up? Especially if the counterparty looks like the “sadhu” types? How do you communicate it only to the “right people” that you drink? It seems more complicated than I initially thought.

Recently my cousin gave a negative recommendation for a guy because he “didn’t like to eat out”. People deemed this to be a frivolous excuse. Especially for “such a nice and disciplined boy”. I think the real reason was that he doesn’t drink. And this was the best “proxy” that my cousin could use.

Right now this is all a lot of fun for a third party observer like me, but it doesn’t feel so good when I realize that I’ll also be out in the market in a couple of years…

Check out the Australia line-ups in this game (october 87) and this one (december 91). Just one change.

Incidentally the latter was the first ever game that I watched end-to-end. And I still remember half the scorecard (used to remember more of it but have since forgotten… )

Extreme NED has been happening at work nowadays. I’ve reached, and perhaps surpassed, the level of NED that had made me quit A T Kearney back in July 2006. Being jobless wasn’t a very pleasant experience (put too much pressure on me to find a job quickly, and also reduced my bargaining power) and I don’t want to go through that kind of stuff again.

To be honest, I’ve been hunting for a job for the last eight months. Took four months to figure out what I wanted, and then the financial downturn happened, and the market isn’t really looking up nowadays.

Now, the basic point is that there is no point in random cribbing. Cribbing should be targeted, and hte person being cribbed to should be in a position to help out. Once in a while it helps, but “it’s ok dude, i’m sure you’ll find something that fits you” kind of stuff doesn’t really make sense. And most of the time you can’t even blame the guy who told you this because in most cases he can’t say anything else. The crib should be packaged in such a way that the person being cribbed to should be able to help you. Rather, the crib should ideally be followed up with specific questions.

So something like “Dude i’m getting pained in my job. This is bad that is bad everything is bad. I’m not finding anything. I’m feeling desperate. Blah Blah” is inferior to “Dude i’m getting pained in my job. This is bad that is bad everything is bad. I’m not finding anything. I’m feeling desperate. Blah Blah. Do you have openings in your firm?” or “Dude i’m getting pained in my job. This is bad that is bad everything is bad. I’m not finding anything. I’m feeling desperate. Blah Blah. Do you know headhunters who recruit for banking?“.

The issue I have now is that whenever I think of it, I hit NED and am not able to structure my thoughts properly. I should be able to take my thoughts, separate them out into logical threads, divide the whole process into steps, and then ask the right questions to the right people – people who can give out answers to the questions that I’ve asked them.

I need to streamline my thoughts. I need to put a structure on them. Organize them. And then channel them. Seems like I need to get back to my old consulting avatar and work on this. However, my NED when I think of this kind of stuff doesn’t allow me to think objectively. Maybe i need a consultant after all. At least a sounding board, who mostly knows what I’m talking about,and doesn’t just nod.

Nowadays a large number of my batchmates from IIT/IIM are getting married. A disproportionately large number of them. And a number of them are sending me personal invites for the wedding (an email which is addressed only to me, starting with “Dear Karthik”, with the invitation attached).

Now, the thing is that most of these weddings are not in Bangalore, and I’d have to travel to attend them. And I don’t know what to do with them. Most of these are from people whom I knew, but didn’t know too well – I’d go if the wedding was in Bangalore, but I’m not sure if I’d want to travel for their weddings.

So I don’t really know what to do. Should I reply to their invites, and congratulate them and apologize that I won’t be able to make it? Or just put a “well left”? Or don’t reply to the invite now but just call up and congratulate the person after the wedding?

So far I haven’t figured out how to take care of this so I’m just putting a “well left”. I don’t know if this action, rather inaction, is right. But in a couple of cases it’s already way past the wedding to congratulate them now.

Considering that the flood has just started, I think I can expect a lot more such invites in the near future. And I need a concrete plan on how to approach them.