Durga 2016 coming: Celebrating through sketches and colours

Today being a holiday, I had planned a painting of Durga. Not that I would be getting into that profession but but for the few hours of association that this verb would bring. The result is below to see.

Never knew the Hitler-Odisha connection...

During the Second World War, aluminum was used as a prime ingredient in fire bombs, including napalm, which killed tens of thousands of civilians in air raids over Germany and Japan. In fact, the main ores for war metals are all found in Orissa — iron, chromite and manganese for steel, bauxite, and uranium. Hitler was apparently well aware of Orissa’s iron and bauxite deposits, one reason why Japanese bombs were dropped on Orissa’s ports.

Hitler’s interest in Orissa’s bauxite/aluminium and iron ore is outlined in an article inOriya in Samaj, May 3, 2005 by Ajit Mahapatra who met one of Hitler’s key metal experts,and the widow of another.

Hitler, or one of his metallurgists is said to have remarked that “he who controls Orissa’s iron, controls the world”

Mali Aja: plants, plantations and planters

How much does one think of other, what about a person who has been thinking mostly about others. There was this person whose name is not important because he was popular as Mali Aja (normal Odia word for the maternal grandfather) to juniors and Mali Mausa (typical Odia word for uncle). This was so because of the fact that he was indeed a mali, a connuesior of flowers, flower pots, vegetables and trees. All old timers of REC campus shall vouche for the beauty that was in and around the institution and few houses which had the touch of this gem. Trees standing today bear testimony to the efforts of this person who had no idea about his real date birth and he also did not remember the classes which he had studied (he had not sat for Matriculation, for sure).

But yes, he did remember the names of the various flower plants which would seldom be covered in our school books, the exact period for which a grafting is required to be attached to the tree, which species of plants had a better chances of bearing fruits faster if raised through conditioned germination and if a barren patch of land were to be converted to a flower bed what cheap ingredients were required. He had answers to all questions of plants, trees and plantings. Numerous mango trees, rubber trees and pineapple bushes still bear his signature though he is no more.

He came from a non-descript place of Odisha but that is not at all important. Be it the dispensary where he was posted or the library to which he was attached for substantial long time, all had a unique style of brick-layout for seasonal plants and each season bore a different set of colours w.r.t to the plants that breathed life into. While he was spotted making cow-dung syrup (that is the best word that I can use) at places, at times he could be find dirtying his hands in cow-dung spreading them for the sun to kiss them and he was also seen making a bed of sand-mud-dry leaves for some non-descript life to be born. It seemed as if plants and plant-making were his life; that was his first love and the last purpose of his existence.

Lastly the point on how I was connected to this non-descript entity; well, I still conjure the best memoirs of the vegetables which were planted, watered &tended by him, I still feel nostalgic with the typical cow-dung smell in my nostrils (I used to detest the same in kidhood) and I have grown seeing sheer miracles happening with non-flowering plants bearing fruits.

It instilled in me and my father a deep sense of regards for Mother Nature. My father at a later date went on to fill every single vacant square feet our ancestral village with trees and he went to plant trees in the vacant spaces of government offices. Employment Exchange at Rourkela still bears the mark of the seed that was planted in the form of plants that were planted by Mali Aja.

He had a great popularity among the employees of REC; all the employees of any department of the institution in which he worked would throng him with requests for guiding them on grafting, lawn making and flowering. Numerous kids along with the parents have developed the taste of gardening because of this person.

The other learning from him was the financial discipline which he maintained. At this age, we are aware of systematic methods of saving and expenditure. In those times, he used to miraculously manage his small salary with a fixed debit towards his family (used to stay at his native place) and a fixed savings every month (which most often used to land in Post Office or as advised by my father).

Now he is no more but the undying spirit of passion towards plants has been ingrained in the minds of almost every individual who came in contact with him during his lifetime.

Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi

Though, I am typically not a TV buff but "Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi" has almost become a weekly affair. I do not mind becoming an addict.

Through this forum, I would like to request each one to watch this wonderful program. It shows many examples which proves that for doing good, one necessarily need not have billions in bank balances and there are millions of opportunities around us. Each of the story is so inspiring that one feels like immediately joining the bandwagon or atleast contributiong something.

Today's stories which were about

a. Temsutula Imsong who initiated the Clean-Ghat drive at Varanasi, herself being from Nagaland and

b. Sunil B Satpute who started Gharkul, a home for special children

c. Subhashini Vasanth who is working for the benefit of Army widows despite herself being a Army widow

Deulti update

Updated http://chroniclingcalcutta.blogspot.in/ after a long time...

Books spree

There is a sudden shortage of time. This however is primarily because of teh sudden spurt in the books that I am reading. Yes, most of them are silly by English standards but by knowledge standards definitely no.
Besides, this is constantly giving me ideas for my writing venture.

Banking holidays on 2nd and 4th Saturdays

Some moments of absolute nothing-ness in a nearby coffee shop, a sumptous wife-made lunch, some serious blogging on atleast half a dozen ideas, start and encouraging penetration of a new book, serious moments with the lil' one, fond remembrances and recital of some old poems (not lost from memory but had become a memoir) with the better-half and a silent family dinner before EOD; believe the first ever second-Saturday holiday could not have been better.

I do not know about others but for me 12-Sep is no less than an important red-letter day of life.

Shifting Clouds by Ashoke Mitra
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was one of the shortest yet sweetest book that I have come across in recent times. It is pregnant with simplicity, human values, middle class values, small town easiness and lucidity. By God's grace if I were to write a book one day, it would be on these lines.


View all my reviews

New interest: painting

A recent penchant that has added to my myriad list is painting. While the first painting was an arbid one on trio in Hindoo-logy, the second was an idea inspired by the kid.
An octupus came out!

All in a day's transportation...Case of the blind boy in a metro

There are certain advantages of taking the public transportation. I have discussed few cases of unique observations and experiences earlier. However today was something different. For the first time, I came across a blind chap with a nice dainty lady. Both were in jeans. The chap would have been in mid twenties and so also the lady.  
She was gossiping with the chap holding his hands together while waiting like me for the metro train to arrive. Initially there was a group of young people (probably friends) who were gossiping with them and then the group left them.
There was a degree of empathy in her eyes and that reflected in her face too. There was a smile and there was few milliseconds of an angst-look on the face in between. What struck me was the distinct bonding between them. As such, when one commutes in a metro it is not surprising to find pairs holding hands but this was the first time one of the partner was blind. There were like me, many pairs of eyes directed on this pair. Probably each of the onlookers had the same set of questions in their mind like what was the relationship, what they were discussing and what does future hold for them in conjunction with the first question. 
But before I could think of something, my station came and I had to leave. I left with one thought: happy that we have blind people being cared and also to discover that we have some patient angels.

Films galore...

After Pyaasa it was Guddi; that was completed back to back. After getting into Guru Dutt, I am now traversing into the domain of Hrishida...started Buddha Mil Gaya.

Pyaasa...

Completed 3 B & W films of Guru back to back and as much as I see him, the more and reverence I generate towards that soul.
He was and I know that I am repeating way ahead of his times. The truth, the meaning in each and every frame of the movie keeps one spellbound; atleast I was.

dekhi zamane ki yari bichhade sabhi bichhade sabhi bari-bari

just completed Kagaz ke Phool; Guru Dutt was well ahead of his times

Black and White

Today I completed Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, what a piece from Guru Dutt; no regrets and no laments.

This comes back to back after another black and white movie i.e. Baharein Phir Bhi Ayeegi.

One thing is for sure that I shall continue the momentum. All these were well ahead of their times!

Using public transportation...

Its a great experience to observe people and guess their respective story when one is in a public transport. 
A housewife has small glitch with the husband's tantrums which she shares with her friend whom she just met. The bund at a place created problem for a sales person in achieving his monthly target of the previous month. A joke is cut about the person who accidentally sat on a ladies~reserved seat by a middle age person and targetted for his similarly aged friend and people hitherto unknown also pass on some much-required comments. The brash just comments on the increasing pollution. Descriptions on the just concluded Pujas and the long ques at the beauty parlour is described with a browed forehead by a heavily~ornamented middle aged lady. The no~holiday thankless job is described with a sigh by an almost senior citizen with pauses of sigh emnating immediate pity; all bystanders make silent mental notes.
Stories, touching ones & non-sensical ones, fathomable ones & curious ones but stories plenty of them around. This could make a good guessing game and an interesting time-spend.

On prices and inflation

Inflation is the talk of the town; every person worth his/her name is jumping into every channel to put his/her viewpoints particularly now with the FDI tirade in retail just being afresh. Yes, these were exactly on the expected lines; only that there is much talk and no suggestion of tiding over the problem. Similarly we have forex being the buzzword with the media honchos showcasing and dabbling with the figures however incorrect and far off from reality they may be. With political patronage towards these topics, dissection of metrics involved in inflation and forex outflow is being done to the nth order. I present certain layman aspects on these topics based on certain observations.


a) As a well-to-do paid employee (thank God) of a decently large organisation, I am not bothered about the rate of a kg of potatoes whether it is INR 14 or 15 or 20 for that matter. All lazy souls like me who cannot make it to the main market have to tide and be happy with whatever rate the local vegetable shopkeeper sells. The point that I am driving is not the laziness (that also is a point, which I shall cover under some other topic) but the sheer comfort of bearing with the price hike even that of essentials. The local retailers have known this trick and have been escalating prices like anything without any reason. It is a known fact that along with hundreds of people who stay in a Crore plus apartment today, also stay peoples who work for them and who are not that well-off. Encouraged by buyers who agree to paying higher prices, these sellers keep on increasing their prices. The supply-demand principles do not hold good anymore; whereas Say’s Law only predominates. These artificial (read for-no-reason) reasons are never attributed by any FM but am sure that contributes to inflation.

I am sure the government knows very well that people like me are not bothered with the prices; but yes a common man is affected. Imagine the plight of a salaried employee with a salary of INR 5000-6000 p.m. (there are atleast 4 scores whom I know in the city where I stay personally).

b) I have observed one thing about the office going habits. There are people who just come to office, keep their cars and also go home almost at the same time. They could very well initiate carpooling and do away with some petrol. I am sure that may not contribute to forex payout largely but yes, some contribution would definitely reduce Mr. FM’s forex outflow. I am aware of a public sector organisation; all whose employees come from a particular complex but they do not practice carpooling and come to office individually. Until and unless all practice it as a habit, it would be very difficult to contain the petrol / diesel related forex outflow. This is a simple thing but goes a long way in saving few liters of oil bill.

c) Another important component of forex outflow for Mr. FM is because of the gold purchase. A small question based on a small observation. How many of married souls have used more than 25% of the gold which they would have received during their marriage. Most of us would have never touched the same but definitely would be purchasing yellow metal to cater to the requirement in the marriages and other functions of their relatives and friends. The idle stock would be lying in some idle lockers of many banks.

We have had RBI Dy. Governor commenting on the import of gold and advising people not to buy gold for investments. Similar views were also opined by FM and PM during Sep 2012. I am sure if some of the people change the habit that is mentioned, not only would the import bill of the government reduce but the prices of gold in the local market would be bit reasonable. Infact such acute is the problem that govt. is mulling ideas to attract people to secondary markets and other investment avenues instead of gold. I am sure the macro problem would be huge otherwise the controlling honchos of the country wouldn’t have been envisaging such ideas and plans.

These are certain points which normally would not be catching the eyes of the FM. The readers would appreciate that the summations of the facts and repercussions is immense. On a personal note, it does not matter whether someone advices or not but as educated souls, we must strive to think about the financial status of our nation and contribute selflessly however miniscule the same may be.

Private-Public dilemma

Almost each sector in the country today has government (read public) and private participation. You talk of the major sectors i.e. banking, telecom, mining, education, heavy industry, small industries, research & development, petroleum and mining, one would observe presence of govt. owned institutions and privately held institutions. In some like heavy industries, mining and education we had private and government (directly or through majority stake) players from long times while in some we just saw participation of private players in the last few years / decades.


Argument has always been that competition would always benefit the masses but overtime we have seen the following

a) Confusion has started creeping in after so many years of de-regulation. We have got plethora of examples. Private organisations in the name of competition have started violating the basic rules of the games across all industries in which they were earlier not present and were allowed recently. Be it mining, banking, insurance et al.. I need not give specific examples across any of these sectors. There was no necessity for positions like Ombudsmen in the bygone eras.

b) Salaries in the private sector are high but the attachment to one’s organisation is higher in the public sector organisations. No doubt there is a factor of safety and continuance in public sector organisation but higher salary in the private peers is increasingly touching enviable levels. There is rampant attrition amongst private institutions because of the mentality of employees for higher pay and better job environment. There is a also a flow of professionals from public sector institutions to private sector institutions in the same sector. Thus one sees there is sheer turbidity and dynamism because of these differentiations. The question arises is the customer really benefitted in this flux and changes.

c) We started with the notion that all that is private is competitive and better. A petty large and important industry today i.e. banking has seen a sleuth of good public sector banks having better balance sheets than private peers. There are certain public sector organisations like ISRO, DRDO and BARC which still attract better talent and also harness their talent. Engineers of these institutions are considered to be the very best; be it in any discipline of engineering.

d) Private players have a much shorter vision. We have examples of surprising measures being taken in the name of cost cutting by various private institutions, usage of physical network of BSNL by private telecos, advertisements of hospitals and education which were unknown hitherto, insurance is no more solicited (only) but sold and window dressings of many private banks being dissected by analysts.

e) With so many players in some sectors, excessive competition is distinctly visible in some sectors. Finance Ministry had to intervene to stop public sector banks from vying against each other in offering better FD rates to cash rich PSUs.

On a suggestive note, certain degree of maturity is required from each of the players in each of the sectors. Instead of targeting higher share of the pie, cant all players think of ways and means of increasing the size of the pie. Whats more worrisome is that with the existence of certain degree of dynamism in the system, the onslaught of reforms as slated and proposed by the government will further complicate the things. I am not a pessimist but as I mentioned, maturity is a rare commodity amongst thinkers and with a long term vision things can settle down for sure.

Every kid is a banker

Dipen is in Class V now; just migrated this July. He belongs to the single-kid category like many of his generation. While he has the advantage of being the singly pampered kid of his doting housewife mother and a slightly well-off banker father, he has the distinct pressure of being on top of each activity he indulges in. Besides, he is also expected to be smart and street smart depending on the scenario in which he is or his parents are with him. He has to be something extra for being a point of discussion in every discussion which his parents have amongst their acquaintances.

Though still young and having touched double digits in age, Dipen has been delivering to his best (we can compare him with our employees). He delves in guitar, swimming and tennis besides pursuing his academics at schools and perusing tuition classes at home. (Can we not compare this to our cross-sell activities and core area(s) of working).

The entire schedule of activities changes when he has to take 15 days leave from to attend his thread ceremony (something close to facing an unwarranted problem or a technical glitch in our work lives). While he had just joined the new class, nothing much had started (striking close to the April phenomenon of reduced work and lower achievements); but while he went on leave, many-a-lessons were covered and huge assignments handed over (Murphy’s law acting overtime as is the case with most of us). The resultant of the same is that he is not able to cope up with all the homework and has reduced playtime. He has already spoken a couple of lies to his mother with regards to the progress (something similar to excuses made by us for bad performances).

However there is a silver lining to the entire episode. While Dipen being a genuinely hard-working and not a dishonest kid genuinely feels that he was wrong in lying to his mother, he has started confessing many things to his father. His father, who was not the best guide or talking partner till now, has suddenly turned his best pal (similar to our organisation where seniors guide and counsel the performing employees who due to some reason miss out on performance temporarily).

How close modern day kids are to a banker…



Abridged from a true story; name has been changed from the actual one.

Brand Building

Brand buiding has been treated as a very sophisticated exercise (read campaign / activity lest I derogate many a brand mangers). As they say, the same has to be nurtured as on nurtures one’s own baby, it has got a lifetime, an identity of its own (which has to be created), its siblings come with time, nannies may change but it goes on to be treated as a human being. Its possible to see certain brands take birth and then die in one life time. There remains however certain iconic brands which have seen the tests of the time; surviving tall and strong even after decades and some for centuries. The best names in the later categories are global ones viz, Tatas in India and Citi abroad.


My novice knowledge on marketing, the science (or the art) may be excused but I have a somewhat simple version of the entire game (game plan). I treat it as an enviable identity built over time (often years) by sheer hard work of few people who take their responsibility as their only reason of existence on earth; money may be the motivation at the beginning but surely not over time. The creation of brands was earlier aided by publicity of non-business indulgence, books and university lectures and now it is primarily rounded up by media, academic cases and social-networking (not marketing). I showcase simple cases of brand building this simple way.

St. Pauls School, Rourkela: Started in 1964, it has carved out a niche for its own across decades. All who have passed on or prior to 2000, their respective guardians and the teachers who have been through the corridors today will all agree that the institution too much to a person called Joseph Mannamparambil popular as Fr. Joe to one and all; students, ex-students, govt. officials, guardians, teachers, fellow principals and priests of his order. Discipline and dedication can be expected from people who come in contact with you only when the self practices that also. This was probably the only mantra because of which the school has borne a name for itself not only in the tiny industrial town or the state but on a national level too. Imagine being associated with one and only one institution for 36 years; laying the bricks, arranging them to perfection, binding them with the education & infusion of values and creating a rock solid wall for all others to see with envy.

Lingaraj Lassi, Bhubaneswar: This shop has been selling just one eatable item i.e. lassi for the past 16 years. It started up like many roadside stall sans one thing i.e. the owner of the shop toyed with everything in the beginning to try out a taste which generated the maximum good-response. The formula arrived, he set on maintaining that exact formulae for the next decade. Now the shop continues to be a road-side shop but it has grown dramatically in size. Telecom companies pay and vie for the best possible front vision of the shop. The same formulae continues and the crowd it pulls can make any sophisticated retailer manager of any of the many branded retail management companies turn shy in shame. Its sheer hard work day in and out which has put sheen to the initial idea. The result is the creation of an enviable brand not only in the city of Bhubaneswar; it is famous atleast in the state of Odisha also.

Plugging fiscal loopholes

We have all been hearing of the glaring fiscal deficit in many business channels / newspapers since some time. Think tanks and economists are indulging themselves into the crisis trying to weave a way out. I am no economist or planner but with the limited knowledge of mundane affairs and courtesy the substantial media coverage, I can presume that increase in govt. revenues / receivables can lead to improvement of this national parameter. I put forth few layman suggestions. I do not know whether the planners will view the suggestive notes but if they do, they would accept that deficit can surely be plugged to some extent.

Change in archaic laws: We are still hearing of fines and penalties in hundreds and thousands. I am referring to the judicial fines. We now have all biggies in the law-net; some or the other scam is emanating each passing day. All the people involved in the same are sufficiently monied. If the law makers could pull up the fines in crores particularly in financial scams, the coffers of the state would simply be full at the earliest. May I suggest an extreme step of doing one-time settlements with each of the financial defaulters and settle their pending unlawfulness.

Assignment of reasonable targets to all: We have many corporations, undertakings and departments of Govt. of India. Most of them have sales approach. You take the example of BSNL; if all the seniors (grade wise) take a personal target of reasonable number of postpaid connections using their contacts and clout. The same thing can be done for senior officials of Income Tax (new accesses can be brought into the tax bracket) department. For all those entities where sales is not possible can be given targets of cost-cutting in their respective area of operations.

Open Voluntary Disclosure Scheme: The last two VDIS options brought more than INR 7800 Cr. into the system through 350000 disclosures. Yes, it had its own setoff criticism but a diligent follow up of the cases who disclose will not only enhance the coffers immediately but also be a steady contributor to the kitty in future years to come. This suggestion becomes more relevant particularly now when there is major hue and cry regarding bringing black money into the white channel.

Land money: There cannot be more concerning an area in revenue loss than stamp / registration duty of land deals. The price is undervalued and thus the duty is also reduced and the actual bulk of the transaction happens in cash; the transaction parties gain only at the loss of the revenue department. Government (read respective state governments) can fix a minimum price to each patch of land (atleast area can be defined) and thus ensure huge leakage of rightful revenue of government.