Hall and the Knights

 

Steve Jobs has said that one has to “Stay Hungry and Stay Foolish” to be successful. Our Halls (hostels) have taught us to be hungry -Literally. Those who can survive four years of Hostel Food can survive with anything edible including airline food. Remember the scene in the film ‘2 states’ where Arjun says to Alia that you will get used to both the quality and rationing of Hostel food. I still remember hurrying up to Hall-mess to find a semblance of thickness in the Daal or to find a leg piece in curry at all. Adjusting the food has taught us to be resilient and survive. We survived on various forms of eggs served at night canteens open till sunrise for night-owls in our Halls.

What makes me remember this? This Holi weekend I happened to see the 67^th National award-winning best Hindi film Chichore again.  This film based on Hall-life is directed by someone from the IIT fraternity. I can definitely associate with the concept of lifelong bonding built on those four years of Hall life as well as the Inter-Hall rivalry depicted in this well-made movie. It triggered a chain of my own memories. I relished every moment of Hall Life as those were the best days of my life as Bryan Adams would say. Forget the sarcasm of staying hungry part, I sometimes wonder if my degree has imparted me more lessons to survive later in life or was it Hall Life that has helped more.

After studying books like Hall and Knight (made famous by the E V Rieu in the same-titled hilarious poem ending with “And Knight, he winked at Hall, and they printed off the Algebra and sold it to the chaps”) which symbolize all the lessons across all the physics, chemistry, and mathematics subjects needed to crack the entrance exam we entered those Halls of Fame. And life has never been the same again.

Now comes the stay foolish part. This Learning starts in the first week of Hall-life. All the pampering done back home vanishes as you are just one of the many around you. The realization that you are ‘foolish’ than the ‘idiots’ around you starts after interacting with people with different capabilities, backgrounds, and thought processes.  The huge ego boosted by social recognition achieved just by getting admitted in the system is busted by acknowledging the individual brilliance all around. This survival among the variety of your peers then gives you the inner strength to get assimilated into any system be it Corporate, Governance, Research, Academics, and finally the Society.

Hall Life teaches you time management. You need to land up for tempo and cheering to your hall during the inter-hall competitions.  You also need to practices for events in which you are participating. Pride of Hall is of utmost importance as depicted in Chichore. Each second of sleep is very important to catch up with the accumulated sleep deficit. To reach your first lecture at 8 am you need to get up at 7 40 to gain your additional sleep. You need to manage the brushing and dressing to reach the mess, to grab something termed as breakfast, and pedal toward the lecture rooms: all within 20 minutes.  Daily ablutions are a luxury as you can use your time for that on a weekly basis. You need to chat endlessly with your Hall Mates, be entertained, and finally, you have to manage your study/assignments and academics.

Hall Life teaches you collaboration. Though I am not sure how it happens these days with everything going online. But during our pre-internet era during exams, you can pick your own subject of strength and explain it to others in a group study. With the load divided between collaborators, it was easier.

Hall life gives you priceless lifelong bonds as depicted in Chichore.   These bonds you build with your seniors, peers, and juniors are more important than professional networks (which though help significantly in professional life as well).   Our seniors were our Natural Intelligence Enabled User Manuals to guide us through their experiences across academics and beyond. We played the same role for our juniors. Thus the cycle of life continues eternally across the batches in our Halls.

Hall life also gives you the experience of dealing with unscrupulous people who are so convinced about the rat race that they don’t leave a single stone unturned to reach the top. You find such people in the latter part of our professional and personal lives. Remember Chatur in 3 Idiots.   3 Idiots was another movie like Chichore and 2 states based on Hall Life. That movie had a narrative deviating from cliché, that Nerds were heroes and not comedians. That was quite a reflection of India’s story especially in IT and now Pharma.

Finally, the most beautiful byproduct of hall Life is the lifelong quest for a reunion. The emotional aspects of reunion are depicted effectively in films like Rock On where friends separated by personal issues reunite to recreate musical magic they created during their college days.  And how can we not mention Dil Chahata Hai where the central characters vow to reunite every year. Despite Facebook and Whatsapp, we don’t connect to people with whom we spent days and nights together in those Halls.  There is one more film scene that still is etched in my mind is from the film Rang De Basanti where DJ played by Aamir says that he doesn’t want to graduate because many stalwarts in College life were lost in the oblivion of mundane life outside the campus.  Definition of success is tricky and cannot be compared on any standard scale. So when you brush aside those worldly comparisons, what transpires in any reunion is the sheer nostalgia of those magical years spent in those Halls of Fame.

Life lessons are not learned in the books like ‘Hall and Knight’ but these Halls grant you Knighthood to fight and survive any challenge in the outside life.

 

A Tale of Two Connecting Rivers

 

For a Nutmeg like me to inhabit in the ‘Land of Steady Habits’ that is the Constitution State of Connecticut out of all the fifty states of the US is just a divine Connection. This is a connection defined by two rivers. One of these two rivers is the good old Mula-Mutha running through Pune and the other one is River Connecticut running through this US state that is named on this river.  To define this connect in Mathematical terms,   this is a case of linear correlation:  What Pune is to India is what Connecticut is to the USA. And it was very easy for a diehard ‘Punekar’ like me to assimilate into Connecticut culture.

Let’s start with the parallels in the History.  The name Connecticut is actually a native ‘Indian’ term ‘Quinnehtukqu’ meaning a long land on the long tidal river. Connecticut River originates in Canada to reach this state from north cutting the state centrally to meet long island sound in the south. Initial Dutch Settlers from NY traveled up here to form small colonies in and around the 1610s. The Pilgrims who had landed near Boston and later Puritans who came in after the Pilgrims inhabited the state around the late 1630s during the same time when Shivaji Maharaj entered in the ravaged city of Pune along with his mother Jijabai.  Pilgrims were the colonists from England who formed New England to seek out a new life as they were not so well-off people. Puritans came in later to form new order highlighting conservative values they found wanting in England that was then. These were well-off people. Thus they tried to form order through the order of rules. The first constitution was written here and thus Connecticut is called Constitution State. People from Pune are also famous for writing their own rules in form of boards named ‘Puneri Patya’. This is called the state of steady habits with the affinity to comply with rules and being conservative. People of old Pune were also termed as conservatives but I disagree with that tag as Pune has given the country many reformers. This state is called Nutmeg state as people in this state are eloquent, ingenious, and shrewd that they were able to make and sell wooden nutmegs.   The same can be said about old residents of Pune. Even now Connecticut is called ‘Still Revolutionary State' for its role in American Independence and after. The same can be said about Pune. Connecticut's greatest contribution to the war of American Independence was the fact that it furnished many supplies to the Continental Army.  The state of Connecticut was an essential industrial center for World War II.  Connecticut produced 54% of all ammunition for the United States during the war, as well as producing brass, rubber, and many other things.  Just like Pune is playing its role now in Covid war by supplying Vaccine to the world.

The area of Connecticut is 5543 sq mt which is slightly less than Pune District. Connecticut is located between NY and Boston just as Pune is strategically located connecting regions of Deccan to the coast.  It is a part of the Tristate of NY NJ and CT as well part of New England with Mass, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont.  This state along with the entire New England area turns into heaven in the fall season with fall colors same as Pune turns into heaven in monsoons.  The woods of Connecticut are very famous. The green slopes, idyllic neat villages, rich towns, lakes, forests, rivers make this area very beautiful just like the hills around Pune. This state has a slogan that it’s a state of forests and hills. Winters are harsh and summers mildly hot and sticky but more or less weather is fine due to proximity to the coast just as old Pune weather was in the past.

Before and after World War II this was a very industrialized state making submarines, engineering goods. Many products like Frisbee, Vacuum Cleaner, sewing machine, toothpaste, dictionary, submarine, can-opener were first made in the world in Connecticut. After the 90s it lost its prominence due to taxation policies. To generate revenues this state opened up policies that allowed setting casinos and till recently boasted top two of the largest Casino in the western hemisphere (surprised that Connecticut casinos beat Vegas). Though it is still a financial hub with Hartford, the state capital is called as the Insurance capital of the world. The state which gave the world J P Morgan hosts top financial honchos in the rich NY bordering towns like Greenwich, New Canaan, and Westport. Similarly, Pune became the auto and IT hub of India. The world-famous universities like Yale, Wesleyan, Connecticut College, and UConn are located here. It has a rich sports tradition with loyalties for baseball and football divided between the bigger teams of NY and MA.  UConn basketball history is the richest in the US.  Pune also is known for universities and institutions. US Navy has few big bases in CT same as the Indian army has bases in Pune.

Pune has great Food culture as Connecticut. The world’s first lobster roll and the burger were made in Connecticut. The New Haven in CT is famous for pizza. Celebrities like John Mayer, George W Bush, Meg Ryan, Katherine Hepburn, Mel Gibson, and Meryl Streep are from this state. Many rich businessmen, CXOs, have selected the rich towns of Connecticut to Reside and retire. They say if you are retired rich you are in Connecticut. Pune also was at one time a retirement paradise.

The human mind is very adaptable as it adjusts to the place where destiny leads it. My own life journey started near Mula Mutha River and has reached the banks of this Connecticut River where I have created many memories as well. Life is like a river always flowing with events leaving back memories of civilizations along its banks. 

Follow Request to your Gen-Next

 

For someone who is a diehard fan of magical teamwork of Gulzar’s Poetry, RD’s Music and Kishore’s voice, it is a challenge to familiarize and further appreciate the individual brilliance of Taylor Swift on all three departments. For someone caught in a time warp at the stroke of midnight when we changed calendars into this new millennium, my sudden quest to familiarize with Taylor Swift Music has a story of its own.

The story starts from the date when we decided to spend some time in the US. From a timid pre-teen in Pune to a college-going young adult attending online classes at one of the world’s top colleges in this continent, my daughter’s transformation has been quite remarkable. But hang on this is not a typical ‘Desi’ parent boasting about exploits of his ward, though I could not avoid acting like one by telling you this needlessly.  After all, I am a Desi parent. A major part of my daughter’s transformation happened during those four years of much glamourized high school years in the US.  Though I have seen enough US films and TV myself during my own formative years and adulthood, I never had the slightest inkling of what it would be like being a teenager’s parent in the US.

But the parental issues are universal. In India my daughter was in her pre-teens, parenting was a challenge with a lot of questions. Should I be a pushing parent or a lenient one? Should I restrict her screen time? Should I get her a smartphone with social media access, should I filter contents, and so on? But having observed those years back then and now having Closely observed high school years in the US of my daughter, I have learned a lot of things to write a parenting manual for today’s Generation. The first thing to do is to a send follow request to your next-gen in order to befriend him/her.  It’s not a cliché friendship but something I mean as ‘Bruh’ one. And to become a ‘real buddy’ or’ Bruh’ you need to do certain changes in your digital and physical footprints.

·         Get on to ‘Insta’ and Snapchat: Forget your Whatsapp and Fb accts. FB and Whatsapp are the places to hangout for Uncles and Aunties. If you want to be in tune with the Next-gen, you need to be on Insta or Snapchat. You should learn how to create reels and boomerangs. You should go live once a week with irrelevant things to say. You should be snapping with you ward quite often.

·         Use Google suite:  Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides instead of Word, Excel or Powerpoint as its ‘cool’ to collaborate especially for homework/assignments and so on. Everything that happens online should remain online. Hard drives are boring. Office is for the offices even in these 365 days of mobility.

·         Load yourself with caffeine. You need to survive in this cruel, cutthroat and complete your assignments. You need that extra alertness, smartness, and that kick. Ensure that your supply chain is stacked with coffee powder or the Energy Drinks like Monster. You appear trendy with your ‘Cupp-o-joe’ in your hand.

·         Forget AM on the clock unless it crosses midnight. Start your days as late as possible to coincide with NextGen Timings the way you ensure collaboration in your onsite-offshore team. Early mornings are only allowed after a night out.

·         Load your playlists with Lofi music if you need to study anything or concentrate.  Lofi (Low Fidelity) music is compulsory for studying. You won’t get the concept unless you have that kind of music in your background. If possible have that virtual ‘Studygirl ‘as your study buddy. If your ward listens you playing Lofi with Studygirl you will be very popular.

·         Acclimatize with K POP (BTS). If you discuss the Korean Pop music brand Bangton Boys you will climb up the popularity charts.

·         Another trick to be popular with your ward is to help him/her with the hardest of study assignments. News will spread fast in the friend’s circle about your achievements in calculus or mechanics that you will be popular in the entire school/college. We Indian parents can definitely manage this. This in turn will make your ward popular and you will be definitely in the good books of your own ward.

·         Don’t be a soccer parent in front of their friends.  The last thing you need is to boss or scold or push your ward in the presence of their friends. You will lose some many points in the TRP charts that it will be difficult to regain the lost popularity unless you do any TRP scam.

·         Know as many as Popular slangs: BT Dubz is By the way (Dubz means letter W),   hmu (hit me up meaning reach me out on social media), Bruh (best buddy), Duh (wasn’t it so obvious), and so on. The list is long. There are many web resources to help you with that.

·         Familiarize yourself with Khan Academy. This is the place your kids hangout more for studying than any other place in the world. And more than lectures, YouTube videos teach you topics you have opted to learn. If you partner with your kids with a deep know-how of these two resources you will be a Rockstar.

My daughter is an ardent Swiftie. So I want to be one as well as mentioned at the start of this story.  Please note these are tips that I myself have figured out. Soon I plan to start classes on this parenting topic in the local circuit. Once I test that, this is going to be my next startup idea.  

But I appreciate the clarity of thoughts and sorted out priorities for this Gen. Our Gen had no option but to succumb to the rat race and society pressure. This gen has got no baggage and they will stop nothing less than a victory even when they can get away with a draw. Fear of failure is a history.