When the Oil meets the Milk

The spiritual promotional feature in today’s TOI ‘The Speaking Tree’ carried a half page advertisement with a trial pouch. The ‘tree’ spoke of coconut, call it a fruit, drupe or a nut. It offers the best of both, oil and milk, nourishment and moisturizer for the hair. And if you apply the content from the sample of Parachute Advansed Coconut Crème Oil and post your picture you may feature in their Facebook cover page. When oil meets the milk, oiling gets re-invented. This is ‘Oil Ka Naya Style’.

Trick or Treat

This evening the children in our neighbourhood kept us busy by ringing our door bell and telling us “Trick or treat”. They came in batches. Some 30 of them. I had to rush out and get some candies to ‘treat’ them, or else, one never knows what kind of ‘trick’ they had in mind for us. It seems Halloween has traveled from the West and become a pre-Diwali fun game for our children too.

Met Fuad in the market in Bengaluru

Whenever I saw a new Indian face in Khartoum I used to greet him and include him in my mailing list of ‘Indians in Sudan’. This helped me to build a good networking with the Indian community, be it in Omdurman, Khartoum, Kassala, and Port Sudan. Now that I’m back in Bengaluru, India I have noticed a few Sudanese students in my neighbourhood. Met Fuad in the morning on a Sunday at the market. We both were buying vegetables. He was surprised to hear me speak Arabic with a Sudanese dialect and know that I had spent 15 years in his motherland.

Durga Pujas in Bengaluru 2018

The last Durga Puja that I had seen in India was 15 years back. So there was a special excitement in me this year. In 2002 there were very few Durga Puja pandals in Bangalore but someone said that this year the number was 125. Durga Puja is a festival and cultural programs are part of it. This also includes traditional drumming and prayer dance at the pandal. Here is a glimpse of the idols made in Bengaluru.

Disruptive Innovation

To build my ‘ecosystem’ in Bangalore after having lived in Sudan for 15 years, I am groping with ‘start-ups’, their ‘disruptions’ with ‘algorithms’ and ‘analytics’ of ‘footfalls’. The word ‘disruptive’ is no more troublesome but ‘innovative’.

Bapu@150 in Sudan

In 1935 Mahatma Gandhi on his way to England had stopped over at Port Sudan and met the members of the Indian Community who hailed from the same region as Gandhi in India. The name of Gandhi is known to young and old in Sudan.I have met more than one Sudanese person named Gandhi.There is a street named after Gandhi.On the occasion of 150 years of celebrating the Mahatma popular Sudanese singer Reemaz Mirghani sang Bapu’s favourite song Vaishnava Jana to…

Dental Extraction and Implant on the same day but make it in the morning

Patients should get their Dental procedures done in the morning. Be it extraction, root canal or implants. In the evening the patient has already had a stressful day. The Dentist’s chair invites more stress and anxiety and the patient does not cooperate with the Dental surgeons procedures. I’m speaking from personal experience. I had fixed an appointment for extraction of my impacted molar and the next molar on Friday evening. I thought I could rest on following two days being Saturday and Sunday. I had delivered four lecture sessions on Friday and I was more stressed in the Dentist’s chair. I was very anxious and could not give my full cooperation to the extraction procedure of my molar. The confident and dexterous dental surgeon called it a day and asked me to come the next morning.

The next morning I not only got my two molars extracted smoothly but I walked back home from the clinic with two implants. It was like getting rid of the old teeth and getting new ones the same day. Thanks to Doctors at #ParthaDental.

Traditional pharmacies to go on strike with the threat of online pharmacies.

While transferring the money through the mobile app to the KBC participant tonight, I heard Amitabh Bacchhan say ‘Aaj kal Digital ka zamana hai’ – the new digital age. And tomorrow, on 29 Sept, we have an All India Strike by the Chemists & Druggists (Medicine Retailers) in protest against the newly emerged On Line Pharmacies. #Netmeds.com –India ki Pharmacy; #Medlife; #Frontline Pharmacy ; #MediBuddy; #Practo; #Medikabazar; #1mg; #PharmEasy. These are some of the on line chemists. Like how Amazon and Flipkart have come to stay, so will the e-Chemists. My friends have said that on line pharmacies will benefit patients and senior citizens who will get their medicines delivered at home on a regular basis. On line confidential consultations can also be made with anonymity. Moreover medicines will be much more affordable on line. What we need is a strong regulation and strict adherence to guidelines of Schedule H & X drugs. Even in business models with digital touch points the human factor makes a lot of difference in credibility and trust. Hope the on line e-Pharmacies will live up to these expectations.

Jugaad for Creative Destruction

The ‘Negatives’ or film rolls of the old camera have become a victim of ‘Creative Destruction’ and sadly ‘Kodak moments’ are now of bankruptcy. However our Photo Studios in the city have found a ‘Jugaad’ (innovative fix) for these rolls. They scan and digitalise these rolls and give you prints. Digital transformation of one roll or five strips with medium resolution costs Rs.300 and with high resolution Rs.500. So next time you take out your old suitcases and find negatives of your past, be positive.

Blessing us All is this Sand Art in a Mall

A Vegan Lunch –a birthday resolution?

The way it has gone viral, most of you must have watched Phillip Wollen, in social media, speak of his support for Animal Rights and about being a Vegan. I was surprised to know that this Australian Philanthropist was born in Bangalore. I was reminded of him when my daughter took me to a vegan restaurant in Bangalore. I have tried to capture my first time experience through these pictures. Let me add that the Ragi Roti (Millet bread) looked like the ‘burger pack’ and the raw banana fry which was served as a starter appeared like a fish piece. Can I ever become a Vegan?

Effective Executive need not be a Charismatic Leader

I learnt a new phrase ‘all over the map’. I came across this phrase written by none other than the Father of Modern Management Peter Drucker. He wrote ‘They were all over the map in terms of personalities, attitudes, values, strengths and weaknesses. They ranged from extroverted to nearly reclusive, from easygoing to controlling, from generous to parsimonious’. He was referring to Effective Executives. But what was common in all Effective Executives was that they followed the same eight practices: They asked what needs to be done? , what is right for the enterprise? , they developed action plans, they took responsibility for decisions, they took responsibility for communicating, they focused on opportunities rather than problems, they ran productive meetings and they thought and said “we” rather than “I”. The first two practices gave them the knowledge they needed. The next four helped them convert this knowledge into effective action. The last two ensured that the whole organization felt responsible and accountable. Leadership is not about charisma or extroversion. It’s about these practices.

His Holiness Chuckles like a Child

Nobel Laureate, Tibetan Spiritual Leader the 14^th Dalai Lama spoke about his 4 commitments today in Bengaluru. His first commitment is to promote sense of oneness of all 7 billion human beings in this planet. All people are emotionally, mentally and physically the same. All religions teach love, kindness and tolerance. Thus in the name of religion killing each other is unthinkable.  His second commitment is to promote religious harmony. In this connection he said that India is the only nation where all religions are together. His third commitment is preservation of Tibetan culture, language and traditions. There are 6 million Tibetan people and Tibetan language is closest to Sanskrit. He referred to Tibet as ‘roof of the world’ and in a lighter vein said Tibet is supplier of water to India because the origin of many rivers is in Tibet. His fourth commitment was to revive ancient Indian knowledge in modern India. The 83 year old spiritual leader was speaking under the aegis of Vidyaloke an initiative of Vana Foundation. He wanted to be reminded about the topic of his talk ‘Courage and Compassion in the 21^st Century’. To this he added that being truthful and transparent always gives one courage and confidence. Being compassionate and calm is a sign of good mental health.

He ended with a lighter moment by showing the huge audience, at Concord Hotel, the biscuit that he was munching and asked the others to visualize it as in Vipassana. His Holiness chuckles like a child.

Four Wheeler,yet not a car

The meaning of cute is ‘attractive in a delicately beautiful way and clever’. Similar sounding ‘Qute’ means Bajaj’s motorised quadricycle. It is an advancement over the Bajaj Auto rickshaw. Qute looks cute and is clever because it is economical, fuel efficient, lesser polluting and has agility in crowded streets. I have seen only one in the streets of Khartoum. I am told it comes in many colours , red, blue, green, black. In my opinion, the people of Sudan prefer white cars and bigger the car greater is the status. We Indians take pride in seeing the ubiquitous Bajaj auto rickshaws in the streets but doubt whether the Qute will gain popularity. #FreeTheQute

Sudan Block in India

If you see the building from a distance it may not ring a bell, but on closer look you will read Sudan. Yes this is the iconic Sudan Block at the National Defence Academy in Khadakwasla, Pune, India. In recognition of the sacrifices of the Indian troops in liberation of Sudan in the North African campaign during World War II, Sudan Government, in 1941, donated one hundred thousand pounds. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation in 1949 and the work was completed in 1954. The then Sudanese Ambassador Syed Rahamatalla Abdulla performed the naming ceremony on May 30, 1959. Earlier in 1958, India offered a six –acre plot in the Chanakyapuri area of New Delhi for the construction of Embassy of Sudan.

Indian Ambassador presents Diplomatic Credentials to President of Sudan

The present Ambassador of India in Sudan had visited Khartoum in 2003 on special duty for the Indian President’s visit. H.E. Ravindra Prasad Jaiswal has revisited Khartoum but this time as the Ambassador. His previous posting was in Bern as Deputy Head of Mission. As a career Diplomat this posting in Sudan is significant because this is the first time he has presented Diplomatic Credentials to the Head of State of the country. Some of us gathered at India House,

his residence to celebrate the memorable occasion. Congratulations Ambassador Ravindra Prasad Jaiswal.

Indian community in Sudan celebrated Republic Day with New Ambassador

The Indian Community in Sudan celebrated their 69^th Republic Day on 26^th January with the new Ambassador H.E. Mr. Ravindra Prasad Jaiswal. Ambassador Jaiswal was Deputy Head of Mission at Berne, Switzerland before assuming charge in Sudan. He is Ambassador of India to Sudan and Eritrea. Ambassador Jaiswal has earlier served in Egypt, Ethiopia and Qatar. The Ambassador is a qualified Civil Engineer and an M.Phil. in Environmental Science.

On Republic Day, the Ambassador unfurled the national flag followed by the national anthem. He then read out the excerpts of the speech delivered by the President of India on the same occasion. “The promise of a developed India beckons us. This is the new stage of our nation-building project on which we have embarked. This is the republic that our young people need to take forward and enhance—in keeping with their vision, their ambition and their ideals,” President Ram Nath Kovind said. Republic Day was celebrated with a Cultural Program performed by children from Omdurman and Khartoum. They danced with patriotic songs of India.