It was great to connect with some good and loyal friends in Singapore, with whom I enjoy an excellent relationship. I met a few other friends as well, but no photos, sorry !
Old Friends in Singapore, enjoying drinks at a bar off Mohamed Sultan Road………
Pleasure to meet old contacts in the enchanting environs of Singapore……
Tech mate……..
Pleasant Memories……..
See You Again Mates……..
Cheers !
Vijay Srinivasan
14 October 2007
Mumbai
One of my close friends from Singapore, who is a New Christian, expressed interest in viewing the Church-related pics from my European Trip couple of months ago.
He and myself have had number of interesting and fruitful deliberations on impact of religions on humankind, and have even attempted a joint reading of the New Testament. I was impressed by his new-found dedication and commitment towards religiosity. Ofcourse, I drifted along with intense arguments and questioning of the relevance of any religion in today’s world. Never found convincing answers till now…….still searching for meaning…….how to make one’s life more meaningful to others around oneself.
Anyway, here are some pictures from Churches in Austria……..mostly……..forgetting quickly where I shot these though !
Best Regards
Vijay Srinivasan
22 July 2007
Mumbai
Courtesy - My IIM-B PGP 1985-87 Classmate Chaitanya Koranne
TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKING
THROUGH THE DESERT.
DURING SOME POINT OF THE
JOURNEY, THEY HAD AN
ARGUMENT; AND ONE FRIEND
SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE
IN THE FACE.
THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED
WAS HURT, BUT WITHOUT
SAYING ANYTHING,
WROTE IN THE SAND:
“TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.”
THEY KEPT ON WALKING,
UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS,
WHERE THEY DECIDED
TO TAKE A BATH .
THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN
SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE
MIRE AND STARTED DROWNING,
BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM.
AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM
THE NEAR DROWNING,
HE WROTE ON A STONE:
“TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SAVED MY LIFE.”
THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED
AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND
ASKED HIM, “AFTER I HURT YOU,
YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW,
YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY?”
THE OTHER FRIEND REPLIED
“WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US
WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN
IN SAND WHERE WINDS OF
FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY.
BUT, WHEN SOMEONE DOES
SOMETHING GOOD FOR US,
WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE
WHERE NO WIND
CAN EVER ERASE IT.”
LEARN TO WRITE
YOUR HURTS IN
THE SAND AND TO
CARVE YOUR
BENEFITS IN STONE.
THEY SAY IT TAKES A
MINUTE TO FIND A SPECIAL
PERSON, AN HOUR TO
APPRECIATE THEM, A DAY
TO LOVE THEM, BUT THEN
AN ENTIRE LIFE
TO FORGET THEM.
SEND THIS PHRASE TO
THE PEOPLE YOU’LL NEVER
FORGET.
IF YOU DON’T
SEND IT TO ANYONE,
IT MEANS YOU’RE IN A
HURRY AND THAT YOU’VE
FORGOTTEN YOUR FRIENDS.
TAKE THE TIME TO LIVE!
DO NOT VALUE THE THINGS
YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE, BUT VALUE
WHO YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE
Courtesy - My IIM-B PGP 1985-87 Classmate Chaitanya Koranne
I travelled by train from Malad Station to Churchgate, and returned to Malad from Dadar Station - amazing, and unbelievable. I never thought I would ever do this. I went with my wife, first daughter and a friend who took time off to accompany us. He encouraged us to do this, despite my reservations. But my wife and daughter were absolutely thrilled. I did enjoy the ride eventually, though I did not like the crowd pushing me off the train when we returned to Malad Station.
Trains have no doors in Mumbai. People are quite nonchalant about safety, including young children. They mostly seem to be happy about getting a chance to ride. The train ran fast, it stopped for hardly 7 seconds in each station. We reached Churchgate Terminus in less than 50 minutes, despite the train having stopped for a good 5 to 10 minutes on the way. Since we took the train at 7:40 AM on a Sunday, we did not face much crowd in the onward journey.
The train rushed past Goregaon, Andheri (West), Santacruz, Khar Road, Bandra - all stations on the Western Suburbs of Mumbai City - and then went on into South Mumbai. It was an amazing ride - trains are indeed the lifeline of Mumbaikars, as the denizens of Mumbai are called.
Vijay Srinivasan
24 December 2006
Mumbai
It is a warm Saturday afternoon here in Mumbai, India.
I went out to get some stuff for the house and shop for a printer cable, et al……it is not a good idea to lose your printer cable and similar such things while moving houses. It took me several weeks to even think of locating a shop. There is no Funan Centre or Sim Lim Tower in Mumbai, to make things easier. In India, people believe it would be good to deliberately make your life harder (as though it were not already hard enough). So, like all things here, you go on a wild goose chase. I got some hint from my Apple technician, and went looking for the shop. Well, to cut it short, I got the cable for the equivalent of SGD 3 and returned home.
There were several things flashing in my head to blog about this weekend. One was the Pope, the other was about Indian Discipline, or the lack thereof. While I was raking my brain, I happened to remember my friend Dr Wing Lam, take a look at his profile at “Wing Lam
Director, MMIT Programme, Associate Professor”
It was a great experience working with a charming fellow like Wing. I have many fond memories.
When I left Singapore, he gave me this piece of his literary work (I always thought of him as an IT geek). Let me reproduce this piece here, though it is a bit wacky talking about me in particular. I don’t feel shy however !
QUOTE
There have been so many good things said about Vijay in the last few weeks that it is hard to say something unique that hasn’t been uttered in some shape of form already. Instead, what I have done is come up with a little poem that captures my key observations about the man. I just hope the tome of the occasion is not significantly reduced by the cheesiness that is forthcoming, and that sufficient quantities of alcohol have already been consumed that the peom will have been long forgotten about come tomorrow morning.
VJ Corny Poem
He is a man of great vigour, a man of action,
make any kind of statement, and expect an immediate reaction,
when he has a smile on his face, it means it gonna be a nice day,
a growling snarl however, means you had better keep away.
A deep-down intellectual, who ponders over the soul,
A man of all religions, who questions life’s role,
Better not get too deeply involved, with this kind of discussion,
or you’ll need a visit to the hospital, for severe head concussion.
Wearing shirt and tie, he is the thinking lady’s crumpet,
You get what you see, so ladies you can leave it or lump it,
There is no doubt however, he has left his mark on U21G,
Let us remember him, as the smooth hip-swinging VP.
UNQUOTE
That was fabulous poetry Dr Wing ! Amazing !! I am really taken in by your other talents.
I am definitely missing your esoteric company. All the very best in your MMIT recruitment efforts !!!
Have a wonderful weekend folks,
Best Regards
Vijay Srinivasan
23 Sep 2006
Mumbai
Today is the 10th day after I left Singapore on a major transition to India. So far, the going has been quite hectic, even yesterday I had been to Bandra to meet with a friend - in Mumbai, you feel rushed the moment you get into the traffic. Even on a Saturday the traffic was maddening, especially from Andheri onwards. Thick congested line of vehicles almost brushing against each other stretched as far as one could see. At Juhu, the situation was even worse. Outside of JW Marriott, there was hardly any space to stand.
In the midst of all these, pedestrians weaved around, as though the world is pretty normal. The motorbikes and scooters kept moving in between the gaps constantly. Amazing !
However, today is Sunday, and I hit on doing nothing ! There seems to be hardly anything happening - I decided to talk a long walk around the big garden shared amongst three condominiums in the morning. Must have walked around 3 Kms over 8 rounds and then the sun started shining aggressively - I started profusely sweating more from the heat rather than the exercise. I decided to call it a day for the walkabout and went back to the apartment.
When one has nothing much to do in terms of talking to others around (it was quiet all around), it was a bit depressing. How long one can spend on the internet - I did email, Skype chat, preparation of a business presentation, and some surfing. Beyond that, the mind got tired - one needs the family and friends to keep the mind going active. I have rarely been away so long at one go - when I had been, I know I will be getting back home on a specific date. Now I am not sure when I am going to head back to get the family over here - the school admissions process was quite challenging with no clear end date - still dragging on.
I am not able to believe that days are rolling on so fast, except ofcourse, for today. Action, action, action……..I should say it was a good first week on the job and in Mumbai/Delhi. However, one has to have a full complement of all aspects of life, otherwise one loses his/her balance.
I am sure I will be all right once I cross today - tomorrow being the start of a new week, and the really first week when I am going to be in the office almost full time, and meeting with a whole host of people. That’s the good news !
I looked around, and decided I have to juice up the evening - it is almost evening now, I am still typing this blog post, but I was energised by the fact that there is World Football Cup matches going on ! OK, let me rush to the TV now, India is lucky to be able to see most of the action from early evening onwards.
It’s a state of mind at the end of the day - I will get over it. I am sure all of us would have a wonderful week ahead.
Best Regards
Vijay Srinivasan
11 June 2006
Mumbai
My new coordinates in India will be as follows (I am already in Mumbai today !) :
Office Direct Line : +91-22-4003-9707
Skype ID remains the same, it is “vjvasan”
Have a great weekend Folks,
Vijay Srinivasan
2 June 2006
Mumbai
I had previously posted about the G-12 Family Friends Group in Singapore. The Vice-Chairman of G-12, SR, decided to arrange a farewell for me on the 27th May Saturday evening at Mantra, a new contemporary Indian restaurant at Cecil Court in Singapore. Incidentally, I discovered that Mantra is a 2-week old restaurant started by one of my old colleagues, RK, from my WIPRO days (it is going to be almost two decades…..can’t believe it !).
The G-12 Family Group was almost in full attendance at the farewell event. This is a pretty stable group of Indian executives and it is the 11th year since I have been a member of this group. We have had excellent friendships and contacts all around via this group. The Chairman, the Big “B” and the Secretary, the “CS”, were present, and it was great to connect with all and have a nice get-together.
The food was good. I chatted up with the owner of the restaurant, RK, and we reminisced about good old technology days. He had recently left a tech company to start this restaurant. I told him that the location is very good for the lunch time crowd of CBD, especially the financial district.
The G-12 members surrounded me and tried to find out the rationale for my impending departure - some of them already knew, but several were quite surprised by my decision to leave what is the most popular “Indian City” outside of India - who would like to leave Singapore which combines the best of the West with the Eastern traditions ? Look at the orderliness and economic prosperity all around. What could have driven me to make such a decision as this, to move out of Singapore, not to go to a more advanced country, say the U.S., but back to India ?
Well, we spent considerable time discussing the reasons - after all, I am not the first guy to leave G-12 and Singapore back to India. There was, ofcourse, lots of talk about India, and its “living” challenges. Mumbai was a favourite city of G-12, as many members hail from that city, and are fond of Mumbai even today. I don’t know whether they would like to go back and live in Mumbai, but they found a soul who is prepared to do so, though the soul did not hail from Mumbai, neither has it ever lived in Mumbai. And, should I say, they were enthralled by its prospects ! And the soul is still thinking of the multifarious challenges that could face it in the very near future all the time !!
I have not learnt Hindi all this while, as there was no real need for the same, what with Hindi movie DVDs coming with excellent English subtitles - my only regret being that while my eyes were quick enough to read the subtitles, they were not robust enough to follow the actual scene being enacted as well - you get to see only partially and keep thinking about what you have missed ! I explained to the group that I engaged a Bhawan’s Global Indian International School’s Hindi Teacher for a rapid Hindi Learning Program for 12 hours, and just completed the same. They challenged me to speak a few words or sentences, but I demurred. It may not be a good idea after all.
Post dinner, there were a series of farewell speeches, spearheaded by the Vice-Chairman, SR, and eminently followed by others. There were some very touching speeches such as the one by RS, who expressed enormous confidence in my capabilities to weather new challenges. All the speeches and the gestures of goodwill touched my soul. Here’s a group of people who really do care about their team members’ welfare and growth.
I gave a fairly long speech of 20 minutes ; though I had prepared bullet points, I abandoned the same, as it was very clear that my extempore speeches are always better than my prepared ones. I made some good points in the speech such as deferring to one’s better half when it comes to making strategic decisions, as one’s head is always clouded with so many things and so is not clear always. When my wife found that I was dithering and beating the bush, she gave me a kick and then I realised I had better finish soon. It still took me another 5 minutes to wind up thanking one and all.
It was a great touching evening, and it was a fantastic feeling that one is liked and admired by a group of significant individuals who themselves are to be admired for their individual and collective strengths and character.
Thanks G-12 Friends and Families !
Some of the pics from the get-together as below for your enjoyment - please send me more for publishing.
Best Regards
Vijay Srinivasan
27 May 2006
Singapore
ET sent me an SMS that my alter ego and idol from U21G Office would like to host a lunch for me on Friday (26 May). I was intrigued - my idol ? I knew everyone at the office and was pretty much sure that there was no one like that. I asked ET to clarify, and she quickly did - who else but the indomitable and charismatic Dr WL ? Well, yes, he is one guy who attracts attention by his sophisticated demeanour and dressing. He also speaks English with a British accent, highlighted by the slowly receding clipped sound edges, with which an Indian can quickly identify. He is Chinese ofcourse, but no local Singapore Chinese person can come to a rapid grip with WL’s English, especially in the first 3 minutes or so.
I enjoyed a good rapport with WL from the time we made a joint business trip in early 2005. He understood that I was a rather simple guy who likes to have a good conversation over a drink, though the topics of discussion could vary wildly from one evening to another, or even within the same evening. We always enjoyed talking about his new baby, the Information Systems curriculum. He was excited about the prospects for his program in India especially. I persuaded him after a long time, to finally make the trip to India. Though he had some minor troubles, my guess is that he liked India and its colours, as well as the discussions he had with some of the potential corporate clients.
Well, I was only happy to get the lunch invite, though I was hardpressed for time while in the process of moving home. We decided to meet at Great World City’s Indonesian restaurant ; however, I offered to pick up the small team of WL, LK, JT and ET in my car, with the pre-meditated intent to demonstrate my Formula 1 skills to them. We drove to the restaurant, and I could see signs of fear at the backseat with the belts getting tightened, and faces grimacing as the car rushed past the peak hour lunch traffic in the middle of the city/CBD. We made it safely for lunch though. I was pleased to find out Singapore ladies don’t close the car doors firmly enough like in some other countries - the doors were open when I returned to the car park ! Softly, softly…….looks like the way to get out of a car race !!
The ease of mixing with this group of people was evident right through the lunch. We enjoyed the small talk along with the great food and dessert. It was great to reminisce about the good old times, though not too long ago.
WL had written about me in a poetry form (!!!) and he sent the same to me via email after the lunch session - here he goes in true academic form :
VJ Corny Poem
He is a man of great vigour, a man of action,
make any kind of statement, and expect an immediate reaction,
when he has a smile on his face, it means its gonna be a nice day,
a growling snarl however, means you had better keep away.
A deep-down intellectual, who ponders over the soul,
A man of all religions, who questions life’s role,
Better not get too deeply involved, with this kind of discussion,
or you’ll need a visit to the hospital, for severe head concussion.
Wearing shirt and tie, he is the thinking lady’s crumpet,
You get what you see, so ladies you can leave it or lump it,
There is no doubt however, he has left his mark on U21G
Let us remember him, as the smooth hip-swinging VP.
=================================================
I enjoyed the mischievous overtones of this academic output and the sentimental kindness and emotions expressed.
Some of the photos from the lunch session as below -
Best Regards
Vijay Srinivasan
26 May 2006
Singapore
Courtesy : Srinagesh Talatam, my Batchmate from IIM-B 1985 - 87 Batch
Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job with a timber merchant, and he got it. His salary was really good and so were the working conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.
His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to fell the trees. The first day, the woodcutter brought down 15 trees.
“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Carry on with your work!”
Highly motivated by the words of his boss, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could bring 10 trees down. The third day he tried even harder, but he was only able to bring down 7 trees.
Day after day he was bringing lesser number of trees down.
“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.
“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.
“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”
That’s right. Most of us NEVER update our skills. We think that whatever we have learned is very much enough. But good is not good when better is expected. Sharpening our skills from time to time is the key to success.
Courtesy : Srinagesh Talatam, my Batchmate from IIM-B 1985 - 87 Batch
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