In our office building, in the common passageway on each floor, the significance of the number representing that floor is explained in detail. It makes for an interesting reading and is quite informative.

The book that I am currently reading is a complex book, where two stories, one relating to 13th Century and the other to 21st century are running as parallel tracks. In the 21st Century track, there’s an email exchange between the two protagonists. In her email, the female protagonist shares her feelings on having turned 40. She goes on to say, “ They say turning 40 is a defining moment, especially for women. 40 is new 30 and 60 is new 40. But for me 40 is 40 characterised by start of grey and wrinkles.” The male protagonist replies, “ 40 is the most beautiful age for both men and women. In mystic thought, 40 symbolises ascent from one level to a higher level and spiritual awakening. When we mourn, we mourn for 40 days. When a baby is born, it takes him 40 days to start life on earth. And when we are in love, we need to wait for 40 days to be sure of our feelings. The flood of Noah lasted 40 days and while the waters destroyed life, they also washed all impurity away and enabled human beings to make a fresh start. In Islamic mysticism, there are 40 degrees between man and god. Likewise, there are 4 basic stages of consciousness and 10 degrees in each, making 40 levels in total. Jesus went into wilderness for 40 days and nights. Muhammad was 40 years old when he received the call to become a prophet. Budha meditated under Linden tree for 40 days. Not to mention 40 rules of Shams.”

He adds further, “ You receive a new mission at 40, a new lease of life! You have reached a most auspicious number. Congratulations! And don’t worry about getting old. There are no wrinkles or grey hair strong enough to defy the power of 40!”

Readers must be wondering the context of all this. This is dedicated to a very special person who turns this special number that’s 40 on 7th November. She calls me Dada, though it’s she who’s worthy of all my respect and blessings!

While the readers can enjoy the blog and guess as to who this person could be, the protagonist will know that this blog is on her and for her!

In Hindi, an ode to anyone is generally called “Nama.” Also, normally an ode is paid after the person or event comes to end. Hopefully, this ode to Corona will also herald the end of the pandemic.

It was peaceful, it was quiet,

Days were bright, peaceful were nights.

Roads were busy, markets were brisk,

It was all safe and normal, there was no risk.

People would go to office and children to school,

Everyone was busy yet things were cool.

And then struck lightning, call it Corona or covid

It shocked the humanity like a monster most livid.

Schools were shut, shops were closed,

People were locked inside, life was frozen cold!

Virus killed people, up went daily toll,

Old and weak fell like nine pins, life became a loll

Jobs were lost, immigrants were stranded

People ran helter-skelter, for pandemic had landed!

Gone were happy days, freewheeling spirit of yore,

People feared Corona for it had no cure!

Cure is on its way, so is vaccine,

Lockdown is easing, hope is in the offing.

Man has learned lesson, understood that life is fragile,

Only goodness matters, rest all is futile!

I am delayed in penning my thoughts about 31st October by 2 days as today we are already on 2nd November.

I clearly recall the October of 1984. I had turned professional a few months ago and was looking forward to enjoying my first Diwali as a professional as that gave me some handle on additional money to spend. A South Indian colleague of mine had invited for Diwali brunch at his home and I had a hearty meal of South Indian delicacies – dosa, idli, vada, uttapam finally washed down by a steaming hot cup of filter coffee. Diwali was rather early in the last week of October.

And then the tragedy took place. Mrs Gandhi was shot by her trusted security guards and she was fighting a losing battle in AIIMS. Incidentally, my residence at that time was quite close to AIIMS, about 2 kilometres away. While the rumours were having a field day, it was not before evening that the news came that Mrs Gandhi was dead. And there was palpable tension everywhere. We could see discomfort all round and the first of rioting seemed rather understated and harmless with rioters asking people to stay indoors and not to come out on roads. But as the evening progressed, the news of anti Sikhs rioting started spreading all over. Ours being a sedate, cosmopolitan, government employees’ colony was calm and we all ensured that Sikh families were saved from the wrath and rage of rioters. Of course, how this spread like wild fire everywhere resulting in death of thousands of innocent and damage to the property is all encapsulated in the dark chapter of the history of our nation.

There had been riots before, but not on such a scale and of such ferocity. In fact, those who had seen the woes of partition termed these riots as the next worst thing. It’s a matter of gratitude to the almighty that the nation has since moved on from that dark phase, burying the memories of the tragedy forever by embracing the brave snd hard working Sikh community back into the national mainstream. And it’s back to same Hindu Sikh bonhomie that makes the two communities almost like one, while retaining their distinct identities.

This 31st October added another bad news into its repertoire as the first and original silver screen James Bond, Sean Connery, died at the ripe old age of 90. His persona, demeanour and portrayal of Ian Fleming’s flamboyant spy remained unmatched with repeated surveys voting him to be the best Bond ahead of Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. His delivery of the catch line – “ My name is Bond – James Bond” remains immortal.

RIP Sean Connery.

An important event in the Indian banking industry missed the fanfare and coverage that it merited. Aditya Puri, MD & CEO of HDFC Bank, one of the world’s most valuable companies, retired after an uninterrupted run of 26 years, a record of sorts.

He was heading Citibank Malaysia, when he was chosen to head this new generation private sector bank promoted primarily by HDFC. Though not on records, foresight and judgment of the doyen of the financial sector Deepak Parekh cannot be underplayed, who betted on this young foreign banker. And Aditya let down no one – HDFC, it’s other promoters, investors, including foreign institutional investors, customers, regulators, share market and above all Deepak Parekh himself, who must have been as satisfied a person as Aditya Puri himself would be.

Being in a peer new generation private sector, who also started his journey in this space around same time, I had the privilege of seeing HDFC Bank’s great strides under Aditya Puri from a close quarter. The Bank was all along growing well organically while keeping its eyes open for acquisition opportunities and in fact, acquired two peers – Times Bank first and then Centurion Bank of Punjab that itself had earlier merged Bank of Punjab into itself. This helped the Bank leave behind its other peers, becoming the second largest bank in the country behind the behemoth , SBI.

And the story is not all about growth and valuation. Acquiring numero uno position in almost all product segments, particularly by dislodging foreign banks in credit cards space, adds much sheen to the story. And behind all this was a rock solid Aditya Puri, in complete command and control.

His dislike for mobile and computer, need to ensure work life balance, cutting wasteful expenditure notwithstanding comfortable operating margins are the stuff folklores are made of and these things will be the topic for brainstorming in financial circles for long long time.

I had the opportunity of having his audience for a few moments aboard an international flight. While I was returning along with other colleagues from an official event held in Europe, Mr Puri was with his family returning after watching World Cup soccer final. The unassuming man was happy to see a large team from a peer organisation and wished all of us well. He came forth as an unassuming, simple and accessible person, who had taken all the success and fame in his stride.

While his successor will be stepping into his very large shoes, Mr Puri has set a benchmark for all future CEOs for such a heady mix of a strategist, administrator, leader, visionary and above all a fine human being all rolled into one is rare and extraordinary.

Have a great next innings sir! You deserve all that wealth, recognition, respect – such edifices of excellence right from a scratch don’t get built every day.

Archie is amongst my favourite cartoon characters and the daily strip in Bombay Times is my staple. The beauty of this comic strip is that it has updated itself with time and therefore, continues to hold interest of readers.

We are all aware of communication revolution that started with mobile phones ( remember Nokia and Motorola?). While the new avatar of mobile phone, smart phone, is altogether in different league, the basic objective of the mobile phone of being contactable while being mobile is now an integral part of our lives.

Those who love and savour Archie comics know Veronica’s father’s dislike for Archie whom he treats as good for nothing fellow wasting his daughter’s time. In today’s strip, he’s seen lamenting to his butler about his disgust with mobile phones. He sees his daughter Veronica talking to Archie on phone and then his sight catches Archie standing outside their house about to enter. So he laments , “ You know I prefer old phones to these cells. It used to be when she was taking to Archie there was at least a reasonable chance that he was at his house! “

And we have all experienced in real life situation people lying about them being out of city or out of country or alternatively children lying to their parents being only 5 minutes from hone, when in reality they could be in altogether different location!

Of course, we now have apps that help one locate the actual coordinates of other person and catch his bluff.

But as is my experience, sometimes this light hearted banter in comics contains very deep rooted and pertinent message and the message from this take on mobile phone and new technology is to use the technology to build better character and become a better human being and not misuse it for nefarious objectives. If we use technology for betterment and upliftment, there will be no spams, vishing attacks, cyber crimes and tendency to avoid and lie.

‘‘यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत।
अभ्यूत्थानंमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्।।
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय संभवामि युगे युगे।।’’

Now that this Covid pandemic has unleashed all its power on the mankind, it’s time for its end. All these Corona warriors – doctors, nurses, health workers, sanitary workers, police personnel etc are members of vanar sena and one who invents Covid vaccine or its cure will be a Vishnu avatar like Lord Rama, who will slay this modern day Ravana, Covid. That day we shall celebrate Dussehra again.

जो महा शक्तिशाली और महा बलवान था

लंका का राजा रावण जिसका नाम था

ख़ात्मा किया उसका भगवान श्रीराम ने

वही इतिहास दोहराया जाएगा कोविड के इंतक़ाल में!!!

Happy Dussehra!

If Bollywood and movies made in India are our strength, our neighbour is quite strong in plays, dramas and stage acts. In fact, Bakra Kishton Pe made Pakistani comedian Umar Sharif a household name on both sides of the border. Since then, Pakistani theatre scene has remained replete with many success stories, churning out several stars. Zee TV had started Zindagi channel that gained quick popularity as it was mainly airing Urdu plays and serials mainly shot in Middle East but having content from Pakistan. However. the channel had to go off air following deterioration of bilateral ties between two neighbours.

However, thanks to lockdown and an opportunity to surf through contents of Netflix, Prime video and YouTube that accidentally led me to watching a few episodes of political satire cum comic show Hasb e Haal aired on Duniya TV, hosted by Junaid Salim. Like our Kapil Sharma show, while the host lends grace and identity to the show, life of the show is very popular stage actor and comedian, the redoubtable Sohail Ahmed, who dons a different avatar in each episode. And this virtuoso talent copies almost everyone – mostly Pakistani politicians but also their other dignitaries and people of importance from across the world. A few episodes that I have watched , I have seen him playing personalities as varied as Donald Trump, Queen Elizabeth, Navjot Singh Siddhu, Actress Mira and host of politicians such as Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Sheikh Rashid, Shah Mehmood Qureshi etc.

While copying their mannerism and speech is Sohel’s talent and coming out with sharp and witty comments evidence of his tremendous timing and sense of humour, what is most remarkable thing about the show is openness of Pakistani society and patience and big hearts of the politicians, who are sometimes made a mince meat of by Ahmed through his barbs, satirical remarks and provocative humour! On the contrary, in our country, the world’s largest democracy and one of the most peace loving societies, there’s absolutely no tolerance! Politicians, actors, dignitaries – leave apart presenting them in lighter vein or making a spoof on them on TV or in movies, in fact, we have become so sensitive and touchy, that any slightly uncomfortable comment leads to polarisation, trolling and in some cases physical assault! Where’s our sense of humour, tolerance, patience and openness gone? I am told that Mrs Gandhi used to respect cartoonist R K Laxman, though some of his cartoons and caricatures of hers were quite vitriolic and critical! And here look at the reaction when a segment in Kapil Sharma show based on a popular and very aggressive news anchor got severely trolled on social media!

To carry on Pakistani humour further, Sohel’s special targets are loud mouthed Pakistani Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid ( yes the same guy who said that Pakistan has made a bomb that will not kill Muslims in India) and the current man in news Maulana Fazlur Rahman, who is leading opposition unity against Imran Khan government. He’s arranging a big congregation this month, a show of strength for his movement. When asked by the host that how many people were expected to attend this congregation, Maulana replied , “ 2 Arab” ( which is 200 crore). On being asked whether he was expecting people from India and China too as the population of Pakistan was only 22 crore, Maulana replied, “ my two friends from Saudi have promised me to attend by protest and that’s a confirmed number.” I thought that was quite a sharp humour – comical, satirical and hard hitting at the same time. And it’s accepted by Pakistani public and tolerated by their politicians. We need to be more open and tolerant , because this trolling, polarisation, anger, lack of humour are not what we inherently are as a nation and society.

Come autumn or Sharad Ritu in Hindi and its time for Sharad Navratri. It heralds the beginning of festival season marked by 9 days of offering worship to nine forms of Goddess Durga viz. Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skanda Mata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhidatri.

Sharad Navratri brings whole lot of nostalgia of my childhood days to the fore for it was time for the first school break called autumn break or Dussehra holidays. The nights in Delhi were crisply cool and it was Ramlila time, nine days of celebrating Lord Rama’s life culminating into assassination of the demon king Ravana and burning of the effigies of Ravana, his brother Meghanad and son Kumbhakarna on Dussehra day.

Ramlila staged by amateur actors happened in almost all the localities. Of course, there were more professional ones at Ramlila ground and DCM, where well known actors played the characters from Ramayana and there was good grandeur and use of gadgets for special effects. Going with friends after dinner to watch this show that lasted well up to midnight over groundnuts is an unforgettable experience. And watching burning of the effigies of the aforesaid three evils on the last day was accompanied by the mandatory treat of kadai hot jalebis though by the end of the day, spirit used to start sagging as it was school time again the next day!

In Kolkata it used to be total shutdown from the sixth day onwards during the day, with the city coming alive at night with hordes of families doing pandal hopping and eating savouries.

In Mumbai, it was all about 9 days of dandiya that presented colourful pageantry.

Readers must be wondering the use of past tense in this blog. Because while Delhi , which I left in 1986 and Kolkata, where I last stayed in 1999 are all in my memory, Mumbai, where I have stayed for last 2 decades is sensibly staying away from all this celebrations to defeat Corona virus. Like Lord Rama killed the demon king to liberate his beloved wife and goddess Durga killed Mahishasura, we the ordinary folks will have to emulate our revered gods to kill this demon coronavirus by wearing mask, washing hands, maintaining social distancing and staying safe so as to celebrate Ramlila, Durga Puja and Dandiya next year and convert the past tense into present once again.

Happy Navratri!

Do you ever imagine the kind of feeling that could be experienced by a space traveller, who spent months in space conducting certain chores and experiments ? Or for that matter someone on an expedition to Antarctica or posted in a place like Siachen glacier that would keep him or her away months together from the normal world? Though not the right example and definitely not in the same vein as above quoted instances that are reflective of heroism and bravery but evoking may be similar feeling would be that of a prisoner undergoing term punishment?

Before my readers start feeling zapped with the riddle, let me clarify what it is all about? It’s a unique, hitherto not experienced and a very strange feeling that has engulfed not only me but all of us for the last 7 months! What has led to this feeling:

(1) I have not boarded Mumbai local for 7 months, which I used to board daily while returning from office. Ditto Mumbai metro.

(2) I haven’t seen my driver who has been with me for last 20 years and who has been ringing my doorbell each day sharp at 7.30 am, since the lockdown started.

(3) I have not visited Siddhivinayak temple since my last visit on March 7th and Four Bungalows Gurudwara opposite my residence, a source of daily inspiration, has been out of bounds since the start of lockdown.

(4) I haven’t been to my favourite restaurant for last so many months, which has been my weekend haunt for the past so many years and when I visited multiplex for a movie last beats my memory.

(5) I have been working for close to 4 decades and the only time when I missed office for more than 15 days at a stretch was during my marriage when I took leave for 4 weeks. Since 1st of April this year, I have been to office only on 4 occasions, working from home all this while.

(6) Haven’t met my old mother staying in Delhi for more than 1 year and my daughter and her children living in Johannesburg for almost an year.

(7) I eagerly awaited the morning copy of daily newspaper first thing after getting up; haven’t touched hard copy of newspaper for last so many months!

(8) And this list can go on and on – haven’t visited friends place, have not been to Mall, haven’t boarded an aircraft, haven’t shaken hands or hugged and above all, haven’t eaten a paan !

Could we have ever imagined the impasse that our lives would come to ? Isn’t it a feeling that’s like no other feeling that ordinary folks like us have experienced in our lifetimes and so far would have been unique to astronauts, explorers, soldiers and as an outlier to prisoners!

Go Covid go!

Now that the process of unlockdown has started, things are slowly trying to come back to normal. However, the point to be noted is that unlockdown is not an outcome of waning Covid. Rather Covid seems to be growing stronger, infecting people and killing many. The latest victim of Covid is US President Trump, who seems to have come out of it as dramatically as he fell victim.

But people are treating this opening up as old normal. They are crowding markets, bidding adieu to masks, becoming casual about need for social distancing and doing almost everything that they were doing in the pre Covid period. So far Mumbai local and metro have not commenced services but I am sure once these services restart, the scene will not be very different.

Actually, the main reason behind this casualness is the feeling that I am immune to Covid! Everyone thinks so unless he or she is actually infected! But here people should understand that if the President of the most advanced nation on the earth is vulnerable, than we ordinary mortals are certainly very much on Covid’s hit list!

The reality is that by not observing the Covid rules, we are not only risking our lives, but we are in fact becoming Corona carriers, as against Corona warriors who are national heroes. When we don’t wear mask, don’t practice social distancing, don’t go out unless extremely urgent and adapt “ care a hoot” attitude, we are making ourselves corona carriers. We may have natural immunity or antibodies as a result of herd immunity, but we can transmit the virus to others, which could be fatal for those who may not be as strong as we are! I go a step further and assert that by applying the analogy of Corona warriors being national heroes, Corona carriers become national villains. When it comes to the matter of community, the onus is on each member to ensure the safety and well being of the community. One rotten fish can spoil the entire pond.

Lockdown is opening

And things are becoming normal

But not wearing mask and being careless

Are both impudent and immoral!

Warriors have fought the virus for months

They are exhausted, tired and groggy

If we can’t augment their efforts

Let’s not be carriers either, making nation’s fight soggy!

Let’s defeat Corona and eradicate it because it’s so contagious that even if one strain remains amongst us, communities will continue to face suffering. Let’s resolve that enough is enough and Corona must exit now!