The Weekend

There were many contentious issues this weekend. The BBMP elections, the dryness of the weekend, IPL vs Earth hour, and throw in all the issues on E! news. Kim Kardashian is single again – watch out football players – and Miley Cyrus wants to exit the music industry – thank god for small mercies… Jokes apart, I voted for a deserving candidate from a private party yesterday and I’m proud of my participation. Now I have to wait for my nail to grow out for this ink spot to disappear.

BBMP – I didn’t know that the first B stood for Bruhat. But anyway, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike had its 5 yearly elections yesterday. Out of Bangalore’s 6 million popuation I’m hoping at least half a million of us voted. That accounts for about 6000 odd constituencies, so that many bottles of ink used.

Now the other pressing issue this weekend was that it was a dry one. Starting Friday. I realized many of my friends (not me) found it very hard to stay sober and get through the weekend. Of course they made alternate arrangements to bring liquor into the city from Hassan (good job guys!). But I made an interesting observation that the IPL tamasha was low-key cause of lost companionship of Kingfisher.

The IPL viewership took another hit cause of the occurrence of Earth hour. Many people were making en effort to switch off their lights/tv for the earth hour between 8.30 and 9:30 pm, but the Kings XI Punjab & Kolkata Knight Riders continued to entertain – what a dilemma?

Then I remembered reading this article that stated that the IPL was going green. Something about a partnership with UNEP? Then why the fireworks? And why not play without flood lights? It’ll be like the new Vodaphone ad that reminds the white bubble people to pay their electricity bill.

And then I watched the final episode of FRIENDS on Zee Café. Such a charmer it was. It makes me laugh and cry every time I see it, no matter how many times around. That’s one good series I tell ya!

Ah well… the weekend is over. Nothing much accomplished but nothing to complain about either. Have a good week ahead everyone!

The IPL Frenzy

The Indian Premier League is all about the glitz and glamour. It’s not cut out for the die-hard cricket fan that appreciates test cricket… or is it? Personally, I think its for the in between folks who are looking for the entertainment parallel of an NFL or NBA game.

(I was talking about this to my boss and he had a Kannada dialog to add, “Oottake uppinakayi idhange!” Translating: Cricket is to IPL what pickle is to full meals… hmmm…

As you can see, I find Kannada one-liners very amusing, and I’m not being sarcastic!)

I have nothing against all this glitz and glamour; it achieves its objective (which I’m assuming is to attract a wider audience and make the sport more entertaining even for the cricket novice) and has created a different environment in cricket stadiums. And without the allure of it all, you have to wonder if so many viewers would show up for these matches again and again.

The organizers want to create the illusion that they have given you your money’s worth so you’re lured back for the next game and season. They empty your pockets – so they’re happy. You have a good time – so you’re happy! What’s the problem, no problem, just confusion…

So what’s it gonna be -

Serious cricket fans or for those with a handbook on cricket?

Cheerleaders or sixers?

Fireworks or wickets?

Just say, “all of the above” and don’t debate about it. If you can’t stand the extra fittings, and only want the sport, watch it at home.

One last thing, go RCB!

Picture Comments:

Pic ondu (1) Random picture of the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, the best I could do with my poor iPhone camera

Pic eradu (2) The wannabe cricket fans with ‘The Handbook on Cricket’ (detailed with illustrations and pictures) in one hand and ‘Cricket Field Layout’ in the other

Working in NON-CORPORATE India

I mean to say non-cooperate India. In this part of the world, anything goes; deadlines don’t mean anything; and yes could mean yes, or maybe or even no (but everyone will nod as if in agreement).

Not like I’m used to a very sophisticated level of corporate communication or workflow, but boy-oh-boy, some of the private companies in India belong to a different genre. If I had to compare it to something I’ve experienced before, it’s like dealing with a stubborn child in a candy store - who won’t shut-up until you buy him/her the biggest candy available.

The problem is that the CEO and MD want to develop a corporate environment, but my dear colleagues resist change. Who gets hired to do the job – yours truly!

So there are a couple of senior (aka 40 plus gray boring lazy aunties and uncles) employees working here. They cringe that a 20-something with a fancy MBA is trying guide them – and trust me, I’m not an unreasonable person. In fact, my boss thinks I’m way too easy on my team; and that I’m confusing authority with respect and not delegating enough work! Their complacency is something to admire… I admit that I have my days when I procrastinate and accomplish 20% of my target. But I have this one uncle who goes weeks without generating a report. No guilt whatsoever! When I ask him for something, he replies, “koddona koddona” (meaning, I’ll do it sometime in the indefinite future, just chill you crazy boss lady!)

Meetings? What and why? It’s the opposite of the corporate world where all we did was meet. I’m used to attending meetings where we discussed the agenda of the next meeting! Here, people are so averse to sitting in a closed room with you – they associate it to something awful – like getting fired or something. So many times, I’ll just be bored of making sense of numbers, so I’ll call people to the conference room for random chit-chat. But they get so jittery about the whole thing that it is no fun for me.

And they giggle at me when I say “thank you”, “sorry”, and “pardon me” so much. Its not that they think it’s not needed, they are just not used to hearing it as much. So now I’m torn between being a localite and losing my charming polite side!

The cribbing and challenges aside, I don’t mean to make a big deal of all of this. After all most some people are genuine, hard-working and sincere. I’m learning the tricks of the trade. I also nod in acceptance though I know I won’t approve the same later. The up side to this is that I get to delegate all the work and call the shots. It’s a good lesson learnt in the long run… I guess!