... the one less travelled by.

Marathon - The Training Experience

2011-02-06T19:24:00.005+05:30

What Makes a Man Run?

People can't understand why a man runs.

They don't see any sport in it.

Some argue that it lacks the sight and thrill of body contact.

Yet, the conflict is there,

more raw and more challenging than any man versus man competition.

For in running, it is man against himself, the cruelest of opponents.

The other runners are not the real enemies.

His adversary lies within him,

in his ability, with brain and heart,

to master himself and his emotions

~Glenn Cunningham

(U.S. Olympian and mile record holder in the 1930's)

I was never an athlete. I still don’t think I am. I was never anything close to a long-distance runner; I still think I have miles to go before I can ask to be counted as one. But my chances haven’t ever been brighter.

I feel better, look leaner and I am far more energetic than ever before. I have learnt to converse with my body, a skill I believe every self-motivated sportsperson must invariable develop. I have learnt to challenge myself and during the last few kilometers of the Marathon, I have experienced the power of an unbeatable mind-body partnership. I believe that the Marathon has been more of a mental challenge than a physical challenge.

My achievements on the Marathon track are not exactly noteworthy form the point of view of records or accolades. The goal was to be able to complete the challenge. The reason why I wish to share this story is to tell you how a few small little triumphs finally added up to change so much for me… in every sphere of life. I wish to write this also because some years down the line, I might wish to come back to this phase of my life and recall how insanely motivated I was for this goal. May be take a leaf from my own book and apply it to some other place, at some other time or probably for some other one…

I had nothing to do with sports. Let alone long distance running, I had nothing to do with any games whatsoever – not even computer games. At times when I look back at the past few months that I have taken up running, I wonder as to why wasn't there a significant event or moment that pushed me to start running. But what I soon realized was that there were many a small things that put me on track – let’s call it Destiny. Anyways, I decided to run, for myself.

The Goal

After one dream run and three half marathons, the lure of something bigger was simply irresistible. There was this nagging need to do something bigger. When I decided to run the Full Marathon (42.197kms) there were too many people (including the gym trainer – who I fired that day) who thought that I was out of my mind, they said “You can’t do it. Do the Half Marathon again. Get a better time”. Some were in awe, simply because I had the ‘guts’ to even register and even dream of running a Full Marathon. But then, there were some who believed I could do it even before I started believing it myself. For those, I quote this poem by Emily Dickinson:

“We never know how tall we are

Until we are asked to rise

And then if we are to plan

Our statures touch the skies.”

I knew I had bitten off more than I could chew. A half Marathon was a nice and a relatively easier challenge. But I was happy that I decided to aim higher than most thought possible. I had basically ensured that failure was pretty much a possibility; without which a lot of complacency kicks in. I think it was a very important lesson - dare to dream! On these similar lines is Amit Seth’s book titled, “Dare to Run.”

Whats required?

Now, running a Full Marathon is not easy. I registered in July 2010 and got a confirmation of participation a month later. My only long-running effort till then were the three half Marathon (21.1kms). The best completion time I had achieved was the 177 mins in Jan 2008. Of course, simply put, I had to repeat that effort, twice on the same day and I could complete the run in the allotted 6 hours and 25 mins.

I knew it was far easier said than done. I remember how painful it was to complete the half marathons. I couldn’t ever run more than the first 13-15kms; I simply walked, dragged, and crawled to get to the finish line. Followed by a leisurely three-day no holds barred bed-rest and an absolutely anything diet!

A Full Marathon needed very serious training efforts, for there weren’t going to be any miracles on the final day, this time I had to last at least 35kms to reach the walk, drag, and crawl stage. If I had to run, I needed a strong lower body - lower back, hips, thighs, knees, calves, ankles, and all those small little bones that make up the foot plus those crucial muscles, that are damn important, if even one of those malfunctions, its game over!

Haha to Aha!

Running obviously starts with ones feet, but I couldn’t really find mine… my stomach obstructed the view. It was pretty obvious, I needed to lose weight. Starting at 88kgs, I had to lose ;).

The BMI chart suggested that my ideal weight was 76kgs. Having a doctor in the house changed a lot for me. My sister drew up an amazing lifestyle plan for me (I wouldn’t call it just a diet-plan). She has helped me more than any other person – I asked her many many questions, she remained patient and gave me the best advice. Of course my mom’s is a close second... whatever my sister planned, my mom executed it!

My younger brother was an unending source of motivation. He often drove me to running tracks outside Mumbai, picked me in dilapidated conditions from Aarey milk colony tracks, and soon, quiet unwillingly though, started letting me wear his clothes :P

My body soon became an efficient input-output machine. The metabolism was (and still is) at its most efficient. Right food, at the right time and in the right proportion is roughly what the plan culminated to. I soon started running on roads (away from treadmills) and alternated it with weight training in the gym.

Weight Tracking sheet

Haha to Aha!

The load-shedding began. From 88kgs in July to 85kgs in September and 81kgs in October to below 80kgs from November onwards. My Facebook update one November day read “It is for the first time since I was 17, that my weight is in the 70s”. I was 75kgs the week I ran the Marathon, I had beat my BMI target weight by 1kg!

The Hygiene factors

This sport doesn’t require expensive inputs. In fact, the running shoes are the only major expense one might encounter. What it requires in unending amount of dedication.

Time for exercise - I started working smarter, wasted less time, meticulously planned and adhered to important weekend long-runs. As the weather started getting cooler and cooler, it got more and more difficult to sacrifice the early morning sleep, but then, I had miles to go before I sleep.

Space for running – I traced out the best tracks (read: cement roads) for practicing. Google Maps helped me measure the distances and by November end, I ran out of running spaces! I had covered almost all run-able routes starting from Andheri East (Chakala), Mumbai.

Weight-training – I used the resources of the internet to plan out an elaborate weight training exercise routine for myself. With a combination of free weights and machines, I built a very strong lower body. I had to make sure my muscles were strong enough to carry me across the line. Somehow everything I did during the phase was directed towards this one goal of crossing that finish line.

Accessories – A cap, synthetic running vests and shorts, sweat free socks, a head band, a knee guard, a MP3 walkman, and of course the best possible running shoes. All these things together don’t really cost a bomb.

Running in Mumbai

I started running and maintaining a log – the Marathon running program for beginners offered the skeleton. The 8km, 10km, and 12kms treadmill runs soon gave way to the 14km, 16km and 18km road runs – A Chakala – IIT Powai and back-run is a 19kms.

Road-running was a completely awesome experience; I feel that it is much easier than the treadmill workouts. Apart from the fresh air, I would often see other runners on the tracks and invariable give them a thumbs-up for the effort… getting one in return sure added a spring to my steps.

A 19km run. Chakala - Marol - Arey Milk - Goregaon - Chakala (through the western express highway.

The 20 something runs proved to be the real game changer. I was feeling more and more comfortable with my running style and experimented with things like a varying all-carb diet the night before, energy drinks, various running routes and elevations, etc. The 6km Arey Milk colony track offered varied permutations during these 20s.

The Marathon Training plan

The 21.1 or the half Marathon mark proved to be a glass ceiling. During my runs in October and November I completed a 20kms, 21kms (Chakala – Vikhroli and back), 24kms (Chakala – Bandra Reclamation and back), a 26kms (4+ rounds of the Arey Milk colony), plus the weekday 10-12kms smaller runs. I allowed myself to believe that 42.2kms might not be too difficult after all…

The Plam Beach road in Navi Mumbai offered the final running tracks. There was a nip in the air around December 2010 and I made the most of it. I’d travel at my uncle’s place on a Saturday evening and get on the roads on the Sunday mornings. The Belapur – Vashi – Thane Phata route along the Palm Beach road is a 15kms stretch. I completed this 30kms run in 3 hrs and 57 mins. This became my longest run before the Marathon. It was certainly tough, but I didn’t really die during this… I was sure that mount 42.2kms was not all that insurmountable…

An incredibly unforgettable incident happened with me during this run… find it here

The Mindset

I started hating dogs, I still do, and unless they develop a keen sense of love (or preferably a total disregard) for road-runners like me, I am going to hate dogs all my life. Almost every day I was chased by a bunch of anti-Marathon canines determined to rip off some parts of my carefully developed calves.

A thing with Marathon runners is that even when they are not running, they are either talking about running or thinking about running. I spoke about running all the time. My family, my colleague, my friends, the world, the watchman, the milkman, the newspaper walla, I think everyone knew that I was running. Of course my “new look” drew a lot of questions and I was glad to inform that “I was practicing for the Full Marathon.” The emphasis was on “Full.” For the uninformed few, I would quickly translate the Full into “42.2km” and await a response once I was sure that the enormity of the task had fully registered itself.

For those who didn’t think that ‘I could do it’, I would swiftly read out the list of successful long distance runs I had accomplished and stress on the fact that they were completed with total ease and utmost comfort, comparable to a walk in a park.

The truth was that the weekend long runs were as much of a grueling experience as any I have ever faced. The pain was overwhelming – coming across as almost illogical, and insane for most. I would lose about 1-2kgs on each of those Sunday long runs and regain it over the week… only to go back again on the next Sunday, for a longer run, the next challenge. It is a sweet pain.

In early January I started tapering my schedules. I slowed down a lot and gave myself some well deserved rest. The BIG day was just two weeks away…

Look out for the next post: for the experience on the D-Day… my quest to get across the line.

The "Run up" to the Full Marathon... The "Journey" so far...

2011-01-23T17:08:00.000+05:30

The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) has been the stage, and Mumbai city has been the far from ideal practice ground.

The Dream Run

In the 4th edition (2007) of the SCMM, a bunch of friends from my MBA class decided to do the 7km dream run. It was just for fun. I think I did it in about an hour... of course it was more of a dream walk than a run. The atmosphere was electric and it didnt feel too bad either. I decided to do the half marathon next.

The 5th edition of the event saw me graduate into a 'serious' runner. I participated in the first 21.2 kms (half marathon) run and clocked a 2 hrs and 57 mins. I was glad I could finish. That story is posted here and the prize can be seen here.

Personally and professionally a lot changed between between the 5th and the 6th edition of the SCMM. I had promised myself to get a better time than the one in 2008. But I had the mother of all excuses, I was employed and had no time to train. I clocked a disappointing 3 hrs 30 mins for the half marathon. But I learnt one very important thing. I realized that I could run a half marathon without physically preparing for it (this is the worst thing to do. If you find yourself in this situation, be prepared to drop out of the race at the first signs of discomfort).

Some people started mocking me for getting slower by the year. I couldn't care less. They just talked, I participated and I completed.

The next year, a lot changed again (actually one whole year does present an opportunity for a lot of things to change). I didnt have a job. I had started a business in 2009.

So, I enrolled, as always, with an aim to do a great job. And better my previous years timing and comfortably break into the 3 hours time. Once again I didnt get time to practice, I was a master at making excuses... it didnt matter, I was just toying with myself.

It was just the experience from the previous two half marathons, that saw me drag my 89kg frame across the finish line during the 7th edition of the Mumbai Marathon. This time is clocked a 3hour 10 mins... Phew!

I felt that I could simply keep doing the 3 hour runs every year without bothering myself much. A 3 hour half marathon was almost a comfort zone. It was time to challenge myself. And in the months to come, something changed. Something radically different happened. I don't know what prompted it.

I'd had too much of the half stuff. It was time for a full effort. It didn't matter if I finished, I needed to challenge myself. To get out of the comfort zone. I needed a Full Marathon.

Ladakh 2010: The Story - IX (Leh - Pangong Lake, Days at Leisure and Return back to Mumbai))

2011-01-22T16:20:00.001+05:30

The Visit to the Pangong lake is a gruel which is totally worth the pain... you can see why.

After the visit to the Pangong lake, we were so tired that we decided to hire a bike and enjoy the local shopping and a few other fun things.

Road travel from Leh to Kargil to Srinagar is one of the most picturesque and breathtaking highways in the country. It is also the most war ridden.

Ladakh 2010: The Story - VIII (Leh - Local Sight Seeing)

2011-01-22T16:04:00.000+05:30

Thiksey monastery - Leh Ladakh

Leh is the land of the Lama. Punctuated by several monasteries, it is a haven for Buddhism and Tibetian cultures. Due to severe weather conditions (temperatures can fall to as low as -40 decC in winters) there are very few, almost nil, full time inhabitants on Leh. People stay in Leh only for the summer months of August to October-November. Post this people move to other parts of the country to at least to lower altitudes along the Himalayan ranges.

Since the popularity of the movie 3 Idiots, there has been a steady influx of tourists. Esp. the India tourists that like us who needed a movie to remind us that Leh actually was such a beautiful tourist destination. I was told that along wih the summer population of 1 lakh, there were approximately 1 lakh tourists in Leh at that time of the year. Needless to say that the town was buzzing with activity.

Fort Road - Leh Ladakh

The fort road is one of the major roads in the town and acts as a spinal cord for the rest of the places. What makes Leh different from other tourist destinations are a few things: firstly, I think its the people here. These guys are highly hospitable and friendly, they value tourists.

There are multiple sightseeing destinations in and around Leh. Most of these can be seen in the album here:

In the slideshow, you can find

Hemis Monestary
Thiksey Monastery
Sindhu Ghat
Hall of fame
Druk White Lotus
Shanti Stupa

The historical and architectural significance of all places are well documented at various travel and trekking sites for Leh Ladakh.

Eating in Leh
The summer season is the best tine of the year to visit Leh. One can find almost anything to eat when in Leh. Although Tibetan, Chinese and North Indian food find a lot of flavor here, one can also get to eat South Indian, Chat and multi-cuisines here.

There are many restaurants and eating places along the Fort road and of course your hotel will also serve you the best of culinary preparations.

There is so much to write about the place that I find myself at a loss of words. So let the pictures do the talking... as the basic rate of 1000 words (a picture is worth that much, isnt it? :P) there are about 129000 works in the slideshow above ...

Enjoy!

Ladakh 2010: The Story - VII (The Longest Day of the Trip)

2010-10-03T20:49:00.004+05:30

Route for the day:

Keylong - Jispa - Darcha - Baralacha La - Bharatpur - Sarchu - Gata Loops - Nakee La - Lachulung La - Pang - More Plains - Tanglang La - Upshi - Karu – Leh.

A beautiful and misty morning brought us our first glimpses of the beauty of Himachal Pradesh. Excellent landscapes, stunning foliage, snow-clad mountains all added to this picturesque morning.

After a quick breakfast, we started what was to become the most memorable journey for more ways than one.

Unforgettable Morning - Keylong to Leh

We saw nature at work, creating some of the most stunning scenery; the likes of which most of us might never see in our lives! As I prepare to account for the beauty that unfolded, I find myself gasping for words; the right ones just seem to elude me. Perhaps, the right ones are still to enter our dictionaries.

One breathtaking scenery followed another, each view more mesmerizing than the last; we swayed from one side to the other clicking these pictures. Often debating within... “Should I be clicking this, or simply relishing the moment?” I am sure I didn’t click the best ones; I decided to treasure them instead.

Friends...

It felt like the creator had offered me unlimited access to his private album, inviting us to witness his majestic creations, a no-holds-barred entry to cherish ‘nature’. It was one of those times we wish to share with the people really special to us, really close to us.

Probably because you know you'd would want to re-live those moments again and again, for the rest of your life. Luckily I had three such friends alongside…

We quickly made way to Darcha (40kms from Keylong).

Breakfast at Baralacha La

As we gradually gained altitude, the weather started to deteriorate. A breakfast cum lunch break at a small but well stocked cafe at Baralacha La was our first tryst with the harshness the place had in store. Amidst a picturesque setting, a brisk breeze and a chilly morning, the Veg. Maggie noodles with bread and butter offered a filling treat.

The terrain took a toll on the SUVs

Landslides between Keylong and Leh

Things started getting harsh, bit by bit. Soon after we started ascending, we started experiencing breathlessness and headache. But it was our car that gave in first! We discovered a left rear tyre puncture for our Scorpio, luckily it was replaced just in time. The second malfunction proved to be far more lethal.

The fuel injection system started to act funny by first emitting a foul thick exhaust along with a steady smell of burning wire. The dashboard soon showed a stream of smoke that spread through the cabin, making it difficult to breathe. The steadily decreasing oxygen content in the air didn’t help matters a bit.

Sarchu - Himachal - Jammu and Kashmir border

Getting accommodation at Sarchu

Sarchu offers some of the most sought after tents and close to nature accommodation facilities. (We were scheduled to stay over at one of these).

One can directly book accommodation, trekking trips and more through their website. This saves a lot of money spent over intermediaries. (Comment on this blog is you need details.)

Owing to the uninhabitable conditions, these tents are available only from May to August. Temperatures fall to well below zero in the rest of the year.

You spin my head right-round right-round

Next stop was Pang. By this time the elements were at their peak. We didn’t really know how much more could we bear. Of course we didn't click pictures.

An odd light moment

We were in a particularly precarious situation. Now, in order to vent out the smoke and the smell of burning cables, we had to leave the windows open just a little bit. But this did two things, one it allowed super chilled air to seep into the cabin, which was almost freezing us to numbness and two, a quick layer of mist would form on the windscreen as the internal warmth was compromised. With another 100 odd kms to go, we decided we’d had enough and couldn’t go any further in that car.

With just one “safe” car left, the way out was quiet obvious. Although it was going to be a bit of a pile, but we had to face the last 3 hours cramped in one car. We shifted the luggage into the “smoky” car and stuffed ourselves into the other. The last few hours were the worst travel in the history of traveling. Cramping limbs, nauseating intestines, a pulsating brain pain, freezing temperatures and a cocky driver who was convinced of being India’s answer to all the F1 drivers of the world… these were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect setting for a disaster in motion.

A special mention here about AK. During these worst few hours of travel, this guy managed to get his hands into the callously dumped debris of eatables and managed to pull out a pack of khakhra. While most of us had our stomach’s content being churned, dragged, roiled and turned upside down, this guy actually had the nerve to disturb the otherwise eerie silence by a saliva laden munching at a laborious 7 seconds per bite. Smashing his head towards the window, snatching the packet and throwing it outside, kicking him in the gut were some of the ideas that crossed my harrowed mind, but I gathered myself. We were going to need this guy; esp. for the days to follow…

AK’s take on this matter: Whats the point of staying worried of the pain and churning your tummies when you can have some yummies. Bahaar mast thandi hawa chal rahi thi, koi ruk ke khane tayaar nahi tha, everyone was just holding their heads, so I helped myself to some Khakras. At that point I remembered about some cheese in my bag to top it up. But the mere thought of asking people about my bag because it had some more eatables would have got me stares or probably even some hands going up to my neck.

We finally reached Leh at a little before midnight, 6 hours off the schedule.

A word about our genial host (and our local tour guide):

Ladakhi Welcome - A White Silk scarf

Mansoor received us graciously and presented each one of us a white silk scarf – it symbolizes a traditional Ladakhi welcome. After a few words of genuine concern and guidelines, he led us to our hotel - May Flower.

Later he helped us hunt for dinner. The Leh town shuts by 10 pm. We finally managed to get our hands on 4 large pizzas and that’s what was our first dinner at Leh!

Phew! Longest day on the trip… despite the troubles, its only the scenery that seems to stay behind with me.

Lets explore Leh next…

Ladakh 2010: The Story - VI

2010-10-03T19:21:00.003+05:30

The Manali afternoon was a pleasant welcome after the topsy-turvy bus journey. Our cab drivers (for the upcoming travel to Leh) were waiting for us to arrive. The tiring bus journey had left us no choice but to rest for a bit.

Hotel Naveen - Manali

We booked a couple of rooms* at Hotel Naveen (behind the bus depot). While we ordered lunch, we had just enough time and plenty of hot water to freshen up and change.

*A 3 hours stay plus the lunch for 7 cost us cost us about 300 bucks per room and Rs 800/- respectively

We gathered the supplies for the journey and headed out.

Original Plan:

· Hire One Toyota Innova for 7 of us; Cost: Rs 14,000/-

· Leave Manali at 9 am - reach Sarchu (225 kms from Manali) by early evening

· Stay overnight in tents and proceed to Leh the next morning; and reach safely by 5 pm

Yay Yay!

What Actually Happened:

Just as we regrouped at Manali, our prospective driver was quick to point-out that he expected much lesser luggage and correspondingly much scaled down passengers. I wonder what led to make such baseless assumption about our size while booking from Mumbai! Must have been some local paid-seat B-school grad… loser!

He suggested we hire two SUVs instead of one. He reasoned that since the weather was deteriorating, chances were we that we’d encounter bad roads. He underestimated the badness though. More about that later…

Anyways, we hired both the cars. This cost us 14,000/- bucks of unexpected kharcha (cost), which is even more painful when a bunch of finance and marketing MBAs from a top B-School have spent almost two months making a line-wise cost sheet. Sadly they omitted the pivot table during cost sheet making … probably an out of syllabus question :P

Cohelo uncle did say... look for the signs! We saw, we scratched our heads, we moved on...Phew!

A Mahindra Scorpio (which we just picked up from the garage) and a Toyota Innova were our rides from Manali to Leh. An important point worth learning here: Never pick up a car right from the garage or workshop; understand that its parked there for a reason. More about that later too…

Sarchu or Keylong? Keylong or Sarchu?

Traditionally the 490 kms distance from Manali to Leh requires about 2 full days worth of car travel. One needs to night-halt either at Keylong (222 from Manali) or Sarchu (264kms).

Traffic at Rohtang Pass

Our line-wise itinerary read Sarchu. Hell it didn’t make a difference what the itinerary read. Reaching any of these places required us to cross the 13,050 ft Rohtang pass (meaning: heap of dead bodies!).

As we started the ascent form Manali at about 2:30pm, heavy rains and deadly driving conditions greeted us. Our plan to reach Sarchu was soon way out of reach as we battled the wily Pass, about an hour away from Manali. It slowly started getting colder, the speedometer seldom crossed 25kmps and the churning stomach started reminding us of the dal makhni lunch.

Petrol pump at Tandi - Image courtesy www.bcmtouring.com

Some interesting tit-bits about the travel:

Complete Route: Manali - Rohtang Jot - Kokhsar - Tandi - Keylong - Jispa - Darcha - Baralacha La - Bharatpur - Sarchu - Gata Loops - Nakee La - Lachulung La - Pang - More Plains - Tanglang La - Upshi - Karu – Leh

Distance: 490 kms

Route opens: Mid May to Mid October (depending on the amount of snow and weather)

About Tandi:

It is the last place your mobile phone will work (some work till Keylong), till you reach Leh. So bbye outside world!
It is the last place you will find a petrol pump, the next one is 380kms away… tank full karna boss…
It is the last place to find a mechanic… make sure all izz well.

For more information on Road travelling from Manali to Leh, you can visit this link. Unfortunately, we reached Tandi at 11:45pm and Keylong at 12am. (ufcourse we came back in the morning to get the fuel)

At Keylong, we moved into the Gyespa Hotel, again near the bus depot. We managed a quick dal roti and fried rice dinner, emptied our supplies (I mean the wafers etc :P) and headed to sleep. Our first peaceful sleep since leaving Mumbai! A much-needed one too… as the day 4 coming up was not for the faint hearted!

Ladakh 2010: The Story - V

2010-08-31T15:43:00.003+05:30

Yea this was a pretty long day, followed by an almost never ending night… read on.

After getting off at Ramakrishna Ashram station, things started going off track. The Volvo 2x2 AC semi-sleeper (which cost us 970/- bucks per head) was behind schedule. 3 hours behind schedule!

MP3 players, the Sunday Times of India, Yellow banana wafers and stupid PJs kept us going. One of the girls from my group obliged the travel agency guy into buying ice-cream for all of us, she reasoned that that was the least they could do for us. Seemed like her way of getting even… anyways love ice-cream, but little did he realize that all the 40 odd passengers liked ice-cream.

Fine, we got free ice-cream, but the journey was still to begin.

The bus finally arrived and started towards Manali at 8pm. The first halt was for dinner at a road-side Dhaba at 10:30 pm. The situation there was very bad. We still had our first dose of roti and dal. The setting served the absolute recipe for a disaster.

Here, is the feedback I wrote to RedBus.in after we got back:

----------

This is a feedback about the JBG Tours And Travels bus from Delhi to Manali on the 25th of July 2010.

We were a group of 7 from Mumbai and were to board the bus at 5 pm form Pallika palace. It was a Volvo A/C Seater (2+2)that charged us Rs 950 per head.

First of all the bus was not in time. The operators had no clue about the delay. They started by saying that the bus was 20 mins late. Then gradually the 20 minutes became 40 and then an hour. Then 2 hours and finally the bus arrived at 8pm, exactly 3 hours late.

We waited on the main road for those 3 grueling hours, without any reliable information or any alternate arrangements. It was simply pathetic.

But our woes were not over there.

The bus was just not up to the mark. Broken seats, errant bus drivers and conductors and torn linen. There were mosquitoes and flies in the bus. We had to ask the attendant to get HIT spray for the same.

It is important to mention that the conductor misbehaved with an elderly gentleman from France who refused to sit on the broken seat. We had to intervene and ask the conductor to back off.

The movies were hopeless, the dinner stops were at extremely unhygienic places. The vendors were even allowed to get inside the bus and sell things! This was so very pathetic.

The entire journey was so very painful. We finally reached Manali, at 12pm instead of the scheduled 7am. In effect, we had to reschedule our entire plan from there onwards to Leh. We were forced to rent accommodation at Manali, forced to stay over at Keylong instead of Sarchu and so on...the domino effect! This just threw our entire literary off track. Costing us cancellation and peak season re-booking charged at these hotels.

Needless to say that we will have to think twice before booking a bus ticket in the future.

Even while there were cheaper options for the same route, we decided to take this option from RedBus as we expected much much more.

Hope this feedback is taken in the right sense and worked upon. It might be easy for someone to dismiss this as a one off aberration, but if it can happen once, it can happen once again.

-------

(the RedBus guys have been pretty prompt with following up for this complaint)

The roads from Delhi to Manali were alright, but the weather made the zigzag ghats seem worse, causing several passengers to feel nauseous. I was no different. Although I managed to not throw-up, I sure would want to share these tips I learnt from my friends.

Tips to Avoid Puking during Bus travel.

Never listen to your friends
Biting on a piece of lemon doesn’t make you feel better nor is ruminating on Nestle’s Polo the key to surviving that vomiting sensation. I gulped down an endless no of lemons. I must have chewed upon at least a hundred Polos, I’d say, put together, all of us almost provide a boost to the mint industry in that area… nothing worked!
Do not let that neatly tucked sickness bag into the back of the front seat distract you, they didn’t expect you to puke, they probably just wanted you to bury your face into it while your neighbor threw-up.
Your friends might also try to draw your attention towards a stupid valley view of a tipsy little waterfall or something other wow item! You might be lured to believe that he or she is helping you take your mind off the puke. But, what they are actually doing is to divert your attention while they gain some extra elbow space. MBA Friends!

I learnt that eating lighter helps.

Anyways, that’s how our gang of 7 reached Manali…

Keep reading, the suffer is still to begin J

Ladakh 2010: The Story - IV

2010-08-30T20:00:00.002+05:30

It was Hot. We reached Hazrat Nizamuddin station at 12pm. The train was exactly 2 hours late, due to no apparent reason. Perhaps it was a valiant effort to keep up with the national average. In a way this was a blessing in disguise but it seemed like a boon in camouflage!

Actually we were to board a bus to Manali at 5pm and we didn’t really have a plan for the rest of the day. So with 5 hours to time to kill, we needed a plan!

Sure, one should try and avoid ambiguity while on a holiday. But its almost lethal to have an ambiguity while travelling with 6 other MBA graduates (from one of the top-tier B-Schools) and working for the top MNC companies. An ambiguity warrants decision making, phew! We hung around the station for 45 minutes, discussing various scenarios and what-if situations. Someone even went on to suggest that we were fundamentally flawed for not having chalked out SMART goals! CRAP!! Must have been some HR… (lets not take names here).

Finally, it was decided. All of us had unanimously settled for a “no-plan”. Yay! We just hired two taxis. This way we could conveniently blame them for everything that went wrong from there onwards. See, MBAs I told u!

After some frantic calls to friends in Delhi, we declared Palika Palace (the boarding point for the bus). We also expected to dump the luggage and have lunch, but there was no such arrangement at the bus booking agents office. Bloody taxi wallas!

Someone suggested that Connaught Place (CP) would be an ideal area to hang around and have lunch. Now the taxi guys were not too pleased coz we wanted them to drive us to CP for free. Bloody taxi wallas! Here, one smarter MBA from the lot introduced the taxi walla to a concept called *Conditions Apply. It seems he had agreed to drop us to a “good restaurant” and the power to decide what qualified as a “good restaurant” lied solely with my good friend. See, MBAs I told u! (I still wonder how my friends pulled that one out!)

So, after we looted the two taxis, we moved to MacD at “CP”. When a group seven filthy looking (and smelling) individuals enters a MacDonalds outlet on a Sunday afternoon, and carries with themselves, 18 pieces of heavy luggage, it can get a bit annoying for most others. Yeah we did just that! It was awesome!

Burgers & Ice tea for seven, and we were set to board the Delhi Metro. The Rajiv Chowk Metro Station at CP is just one stop (8/- bucks) away from the Ramakrishna Ashram station on the “blue line” of the Delhi metro. Its better I let alone the matter of what we thought about the platform attendant. These people assure that the commuters wait and enter the train in a decent "civilized" manner. Just imagine how the poor attendant would get clobbered if they implemented this at Dadar station in Mumbai!

Ladakh 2010: The Story - III

2010-08-30T12:59:00.001+05:30

On the 24^th of July it rained. It not just rained; it was pouring, cats and dogs. It was relentless. It was a deluge. It was raining like there was no tomorrow. It was raining like the downpour would go on forever. No, it was not “THE 26^th July of 2005”, its just how it rains in Mumbai!

Life is thrown out of gear, people start leaving their offices early and marshal their vehicles through an endless mosaic of puddles and potholes.

Anyways, we navigated through the usual. Finally the journey commenced from Borivali railway station as we boarded the bogie G-11 of the 2909 Harrat Nizammuddin Garibrath. The travel from Mumbai to Delhi was the basic plain vanilla 3^rd AC train travel.

The arrangements were alright. We managed the routine “do you mind exchanging the seat…” part with some fellow “lonely passenger”. Now if 3 out of 7 members of your gang are Gujaratis, expect an endless supply of Thepla (and chundo of course), Khakhra (and lasan ni chatni), Handvo etc. Besides the usual wafer, biscuits and beverages are always at arms length.

One of the memorable parts here was the old-crappy-obese-diabetic-iPod listening-snoring-shabby guy who had refused to exchange his seat and had also left a lot of filth after having his dinner. Now this guy had opted for the lower berth, same as Bhau (his 6ft plus frame offered a complex geometrical problem at any other seat). Now of course I call the snoring uncle that for no menial reason.

During the night, it seems Bhau had actually whacked this guy a quarter dozen times and scolded, “Bhai sahib, dusre bhi soo rahe hai” (Ass****, others are sleeping too) haha! The next morning he narrated the incident with such glee! It was as if he had woken up a giant thepla eating grizzly bear and threatened him with his wildlife hunting stories.

Anyways, all was well in the morning, the sweet chubby uncle detrained at Ratlam station, whenever that was. The railway caterers served us whatever that was, and tried to pass it off as “breakfast”. The train was few hours late.

Ladakh 2010: The Story - II

2010-08-30T12:34:00.002+05:30

Taking time off for leisure might seem like a simple task for an entrepreneur. Most people would simply say, “Tereko kya farak padta hai!” (What difference does it make to you?). Well, you’ll have to be a business owner to know what it really entails (anyways that is not the object of this post).

My company had just completed its first year, and I’d say this holiday was nothing but a well deserved break, and probably a pat on the back too.

All my efforts to systematically reduce the work load and come to a smooth and comfortable halt a few days before leaving were met with utmost resistance from some crucial projects. Shopping for a trip to one of the most physically demanding places in the world shouldn’t ideally be left to the last few hours. But that’s exactly what I ended up doing!

Armed with a long to-do list, I set out to shop at 11am on the 24^th of July. My mom and sister eventually packed my luggage, a few minutes before I was to leave. Now thats another thing you shouldn’t leave for someone else to do, esp. when you are not going to have a chance to unpack for the next three days.

Ladakh 2010: The Story - I

2010-08-29T17:55:00.018+05:30

Kicking off a series of blogs about the Leh trip. I've tried and included as many details as I had written down during the trip, or I could remember once I started writing. Enjoy!

As seen on TV – 3 Idiots!

It was sometime earlier this year that we zeroed down to "Leh Ladakh" as the destination for our annual trip.

While NK and I were returning from a trip to Khardi (AK’s bunglow), we almost simultaneously had this thought. Both of us wanted to enjoy a trip to the Pangong Lake, as seen on TV!

Yea, the climax scenes of the Bollywood movie 3 Idiots, revolve around this place. It had an instant “I wanna be there” effect. Didn’t it happen to you too?

Soon after, we advertised this on the common email thread, we had a gang of 10-12 probables pretty swiftly. We started working on the details of the trip, and of course applying for leave (which finally proved the nemesis that got the 12 down to 7… phew! Jobs! :P )

The usual How, When, Who, Budget, Package vs. Self-planned, Travel combinations, etc were the questions on the cards. Several emails and conf-calls later, we had kinda hammered down the details of our, trip to Leh: From the 24th July to 3rd Aug 2010.

Read on to find how it all panned out!

Ladakh 2010 (Pics & Videos)

2010-08-15T21:00:00.009+05:30

Hi,

Thousands of pictures and tens of videos... are all finally compiled, sorted and captioned.

Of course a picture is worth a thousand words, but being in the profession I am, I couldn't undermine the need for comments and snippets here and there. I have hence segregated the pictures as per day and itinerary and added a suitable caption and introductory comments wherever applicable, hopefully these should be helpful to decipher the scene.

Here are the links to the 732 pictures and 22 videos, spread over 11 days from the 24th of July 2010 to the 3rd of Aug 2010!

Enjoy and do leave your comments!

Ladakh 2010 - Day 1 and 2 - Mumbai to Delhi - Garib Rath Jul 24, 2010 photos: 11

Ladakh 2010 - Day 3 Manali to Keylong Jul 26, 2010 photos: 38

Ladakh - 2010 - Day 4 Keylong to Leh Jul 27, 2010 photos: 122

Ladakh 2010 - Day 5 Leh Local Sight Seeing Jul 28, 2010 photos: 129

Ladakh 2010 - Day 6 Pangong Lake Jul 29, 2010 photos: 64

Ladakh 2010 - Day 7 and 8 Leisure Group 1 Jul 30, 2010 photos: 38

Ladakh 2010 - Day 7 and 8 Nubra valley Group 2 Jul 29, 2010 photos: 86

Ladakh 2010 - Day 9 Leh to Kargil Aug 1, 2010 photos: 154

Ladakh 2010 - Day 10 Kargil to Srinagar Aug 2, 2010 photos: 80

Ladakh 2010 - Day 11 Srinagar to Mumbai Aug 3, 2010 photos: 10

Videos:

Day 3 Manali to Keylong - En-route Keylong

Day 3 Manali to Keylong - En-route Keylong 2

Day 3 Manali to Keylong at Manali auto garage

Day 4 Keylong to Leh.avi

Day 4 Keylong to Leh - Clearing a Landslide

Day 4 Keylong to Leh -One at a time

Day 5 Leh Local Sight Seeing - Mani Wheel: Thiksey Monastery

Day 5 Leh Local Sight Seeing - Mani Wheel Thiksey Monastery 2

Day 6 Pangong Lake - En-Route

Day 6 Pangong Lake 360

Day 6 Pangong Lake 360 part2

Day 6 Pangong Lake Itna Kharab Raasta

Day 6 Pangong Lake Intro

Day 6 Pangong Lake Yak Yak

Day 9 Leh to Kargil Follow me

Day 9 Leh to Kargil Magnetic Hill

Day 9 Leh to Kargil Rocky Terrain

Day 10 Kargil to Srinagar - Crazy River

Day 10 Kargil to Srinagar - En-route Sonmarg - Drive THIS

Day 10 Kargil to Srinagar - Mother India Houseboat - Inside Out

Day 10 Kargil to Srinagar Beautiful Sonmarg

Day 11 Srinagar to Mumbai - Srinagar Airport

Brand Extension from 3 Idiots!

2010-03-19T12:14:00.021+05:30

Back in the B-School marketing classes we learnt that among others, people were also brands; and we were introduced to the concepts of "Brand Extension". Typical case studies and examples would include FMCG stellar brands like Fair & Lovely, Lifebouy etc.

The text book definition of Brand extension reads “Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm markets a product with a well-developed image and uses the same in a different product category”.

Now here is an interesting combination of the two. A few real-life cases of personalities (brands) being extended. It is w.r.t to the cast of the Bollywood movie 3 Idiots. Obviously the characters here do not have names, for these are only TVCs, but the brands sure are being leveraged!

Lets us see how:

1. Sharman Joshi:

He continues as college student in a similar kind of atmosphere, around similar people, maintaining his mannerisms and style of talking, even carries forward his dressing sense with new Airtel campaign... "Baat karne se hi baat banti Thai”. There are multiple advertisements here. I am sure you would have caught one.

2. Rahul Kumar...... (Millimetre):

Most of us loved millimeter for his resourcefulness and his bindaas attitude. He continues as a street smart newspaper boy, coaching a trick or two to Shahrukh Khan’s KKR.

Of course we have seem many such examples in the past, the sardarji kid from Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and the very famous Kalia from Sholay were successfully repeated many a times to sell many a stuff. They were even cast in subsequent movies and serials as similar characters!

3. Omi Vaidya...... (Chatur Ramalingam/ Silencer):

IndusInd Bank is trying to leverage Chatur’s character by portraying him as an irritating husband that keeps asking too many silly questions, continuing as the nerdy, fussy kind of character we know him to be.

Sure the TVC guys have made a valiant effort to maintain a humorous tone. I believe this campaign perfectly suits Chatur’s character, someone else (without the Chatur brand) would have made for a pretty boring watch.

Who is next?

We might see more in the future. Guess Rajeev Ravindranathan the “Ragging Senior”, who also happens to be the creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi (Bangalore) would make a really funny watch for a product like Fire proof electrical accessories etc. Of course he'd know better.

Even “Farhan Qureshi” the wildlife photographer can find many a brand extensions applications. An all-terrain SUV perhaps!

The issue with these typical brand extensions is that the actor gets typecast very soon. This then narrows down the scope for other roles. Unless you can leverage it smartly, like Karan Johar, who has successfully used the same Kuch Kuch Hota Hai sad tune for all sentimental moments in all his films!

Besides, changing a brand perception is a totally different ball game, it is a time consuming and expensive exercise, which rarely succeeds.
Anyways, as long as we viewers can associate the characters, we don't mind! Do we?

Unrhyme

2010-02-06T13:26:00.004+05:30

This poem was written onboard the Tata Jagriti Yatra 2009 during a creative writing workshop conducted by our fellow Yatris and guests form the South Bank Center (UK).

After I shared my interest for poetry, someone challenged me to write a poem that didn’t rhyme.

Trying my hand at penning a rhyme,

but a rhyme without a rhyme seems a crime.

So here is a dilemma for a formed mind.

Script one here of the unrhymed kind…

How does one write without a scheme,

still being able to follow a theme.

Its not so easy to break this mould,

A poem must rhyme, I was told.

Although it is not unusual for a poem to not have a meter (rhyme scheme) I was just not convinced as to why should a poem not rhyme.

Tiger Tiger... what can I do?

2010-02-02T16:24:00.012+05:30

With all the uproar about the dwindling population, I wonder what is the reaction expected out of the audience?

Now we learnt in the marketing classes back in school: "A piece of communication should have measurable outcomes in order to gauge its effectiveness."
One needs to quantify the "success" of the campaign.

Most successful campaigns lead their audience towards an expected course of action. A tangible reaction that can be observed or measured:

A cola company wants you to buy the cola
The bike or car company expects you to visit their showroom for a test ride or drive
The online marketing company wants you to click somewhere
A social message campaign expects you to donate something or to not indulge into some kind of activity etc

How does one measure if the save tiger campaign is actually working and doing more than just creating awareness? Because, in this particular case, awareness doesn't suffice. After all the aim is to have a higher tiger population.

Moreover, unlike an elephant or a deer, which one can refrain from hurting by not buying (and creating awareness about) ivory articles or exquisite horns etc; what does one, on an individual level, do to save the tiger and boost its census?

How does one Save The Tiger?

Does one promote tiger reserve tours so that lots of money is collected, which can be used to breed tigers?

Or should one use the number portability option and cross over to this sim-card company promoting the tiger's cause and incidently has a logo design that matches the tigers scales? Sell me a t-shirt also, and a coffee mug or tieup with some greeting card company. But then the save paper brigade will get a topic to mull over, which some other cell phone company will have an idea about ...

What meaningful action does the common take???

A suggestion from the "Save Our Tigers" campaign is to create awareness by these modes of raising our voice. Frankly, I am not really convinced about how would being aware, chatting, tweeting, smsing or blogging about this issue related to saving our tiger.

What is the idea behind talking and discussing a topic where everyone agrees? What are to reaching at? I believe there is no role for a common man to play here. Even if each one of us promises to NEVER KILL A TIGER (I wonder how many of us really have it on our to-do lists)... How does it help?

I say lets stop talking and wasting money and bandwidth behind these marketing and CSR stunts. Lets breed tiger cubs. Lets increase patrolling in our forests and reserves. Creating a social media revolution is hardly the solution...

Inside and Out

2009-12-29T21:00:00.003+05:30

This is the first one in a series of posts about the Jagriti Yatra 2009.

As the train pulls out from these tunnels to light,

I look upon my comrades beside.

Who are you, I do not know,

Yet we flow this common flow.

Forming, storming and norming along,

I feel the ‘spark’ resident among.

New ideas leave me with wonder agape,

Change is more than the serene landscape.

Let us go together and traverse the core,

Innovation, collaboration and ideas galore...

The Yatra is a 18 day journey across the heartland of India. A train journey carrying 350 youth in the age group of 20-25, with an aim to awaken the entrepreneurship spirit in these participants. (visit www.jagritiyatra.com for more).
You can also find this poem and many more interesting stories on the Official Yatra blog.

Someone Else.

2009-11-24T19:12:00.003+05:30

(Image Copyright owned by O.D Pomery.)

Sometimes I wish I was someone else.

Enter your life as someone new,

Brighten your days with sun kissed dew.

Sometimes I wish I was someone else.

Someone you didn’t know,

Would have got then, new seeds to sow

Sometimes I wish I was someone else.

You'd see me with a different eye,

I'd rewind, retake, remake, retry.

Sometimes I wish I was someone else.

Memories of pain would then alter,

Could be human again, probably falter.

Even when I wish I was someone else.

I’ll love you still, till end of time,

Miss you I will, in every rhyme.

For just this once I wish I could be someone else.

This poem was published in a magazine called 'Gold Dust' (vol 16) in the U.K. You can download the same here. Find this poem on page 45, and also a mention about me on page 55.

A special thanks to all the readers and the silent admirers alike! For connecting with my thoughts and for the kind encouragement and feedback.

Its that time of the year again...calling all SCM Marathon Runners!

2009-11-07T12:50:00.014+05:30

Its that time of the year again when you see runners practicing for the yearly sporting event, the marathon. Seen dotting the city roads, toiling away in the wee hours are the runners trying to get in shape for the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. Scheduled for the 17th of Jan 2010, the Mumbai marathon has long made it to the list of the top sporting events in the country.

Very crudely put, one can manage to go-the-distance without any practice whatsoever. Imagine being marooned at some godforsaken place, without a mode of transport, wouldn't you even cover 50 kms in a day if your life depended on it? But I believe all of us are participating since we enjoy running and because its a great chance to get in shape for the new years eve. So its not about just covering the 21kms, its more about doing it right, enjoying it and staying injury free.

Many of us would have already started putting in several hours of rigorous practice and strength building training. Even I have started cardio and strength training exercises a couple of weeks back.

From my experience of the last two half marathons, I find the muscle strength as a key area that needs to be worked upon. Trouble creeps up around 2/3rd the distance and the going gets real tough. I guess it was only the enthusiastic crowd that saw me clear the finish line last year. I am sure there are such individual challenges, both from the track and the treadmill that need to be discussed and overcome.

Broadly speaking we would all like to know about the each others Training schedules, Milestones, Tips to avoid injury, Diet and nutrition, Stretching and Strength training, Cross training exercises, Running gear and accessories etc.

To get going:

1. A schedule to plan for your half marathon practice starting next week, right up to the big day. Its an adaptation from the event website.

2. A nice one-pager about marathon running from last saturdays TOI - Crest.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/TCRM/2009/10/31/TCRM_2009_10_31_8.pdf

There are several running groups that operate if many parts of the city, lets try and join some of these if possible.

Needless to say that you can pass on this blog link to your friends and fellow runners who you know are participating in the more serious categories.

If you are interested in joining the thread, please drop a line at: khamir@lexiconn.in.

Happy running!

Seasons Greetings

2009-10-17T12:16:00.002+05:30

Let this Diwali bring to you,

Cheer and glee of the "Daffodils",

peace and serenity from the valleys and hills.

Dare to tread the "Road not Taken",

triumph will follow, success unshaken.

Hear the music, learn the chime,

Life is poetry, if you know the rhyme.

Seasons greetings from Khamir Purohit & familly!

Winning Entry....

2009-10-09T00:46:00.005+05:30

I had written this review about a hotel a few days back...Nimantran.

You might have probably seen as a previous post...

I had posted the same in Burrp.com as well and this is what they had to say about it:

---------

Hi Khamir,

Congratulations! Your fantastic review of Nimantran just won you spotlight on the burrp! home page and free movie tickets worth Rs. 500 to any movie of your choice anywhere in the country.

Please email us to claim your bookmyshow WINPIN code (Rs. 500/- gift voucher from bookmyshow).

Best regards,

- team burrp

---------------

Pretty neat isn't it?

The image attached above if of course a snapshot of the Burrp Home Page for that week...it also featured my pic.

Once in a while!

2009-09-08T10:34:00.003+05:30

Most people don’t track if their day actually panned out how their morning horoscope from the newspaper predicted it would. While we read it, we make some mental notes, trying to associate the predictions to the various things lined out for the day.

Then we just think to ourselves...

“Hmm yea…”, “Perhaps…”, “Ok...Hope so...”, “May be…”, “Nahh that’s not for me…”, “whatever…!”

Its only the next day when you read the horoscope for that day, do you find yourself musing, ‘did anything yesterday happen as predicted?’ If not, you don’t really go out and sue the astrologer, nor do you make it a point to stop following the column. It is pretty insignificant to cause a flutter, esp. early in the morning. You forget this and move along.

Something similar happened to me this morning…I realized that yesterday actually unfolded like the fat astro-guy said it would. I couldn’t help looking up yesterdays newspaper and comparing my day to the lines of the horoscope. And indeed, a perfect match! Here is how it read:

My yesterdays (7^th of September 2009) horoscope–

It is likely to be a smooth sailing day as colleagues

and loved ones are in a helpful mood.

Business meetings regarding potential

new ventures will be fruitful.

Creative pursuits will bring satisfaction.

This has not made me a horoscope fan…neither a devout follower to the fat astro-guy…but yea its nice to know the future, but just once in a while.

An expensive post...

2009-09-06T21:13:00.002+05:30

you might have heard of people earning from blogging..

well here is a case for the reverse.

The ghosts of my earlier (now dead) posts seem to have just murdered my chances of earning some money...whats worse, I am going to pay up for this...

If you dont understand what is happening, dont worry, I dont either...its a long story!

The bottom line is that that this blog has cookies or whatever of my past posts which I cannot see but some machines can...watta stupid blog!

just forget and forgive my dear blog! You costing me monies....

Review: A Gujarati Thali Resturant

2009-09-03T16:34:00.008+05:30

It was about a month back that we, a family of five gujaratis, decided to have a Sunday lunch at Nimantran - a Gujarati Thali Restaurant (Vile Parle East). Interestingly this is located in the heart of a predominantly Gujarati community.

There is ample parking space at this restaurant that operated from the ground floor of Parle International Hotel. This place offers a fixed gujarati thali and is open till 3pm for lunch and around 10pm for dinner (a guess).

As we found our way to the entrance, I saw the first signs of unprofessionalism. There were two waiters laughing, giggling and pushing each other around, they stopped, tucked in their shirts and went silently towards the kitchen when they saw us approaching.

The ambiance of this place is decent, nothing spectacular. The only signs of this being a theme restaurant were some paintings of gujarati folk in their traditional dresses (kediu) and women with the endless array of bangles.

A Love Aaj Kal music CD was tuned up was being played a bit too loudly. This could (should) have so easily been some gujarati instrumental music.

There is a sitting capacity of about 40 in this air-conditioned place, which I eventually realized, would never be a constrain.

A piece of information that I find worth mentioning here is that there is a big transparent glass wall through which you can see the cooks preparing chapattis. I wonder why? Its not as if a chapatti making process attract as much TRP as a rumali roti or even a tandoori roti.

Anyways, we were led to a table for six. Now, the first signs of mis-management. The placement of the table and the flower vase stand (which I guess also doubled up as a crockery cabinet) was such that I couldn’t even get to the seat without shifting the entire table to make way. Annoying.

Since this is no ala carte, we could just wait and stare at the kitchen for those waiters to show up and start serving. Considering that there were only two other customers there, it was sloppy that there were no waiters in sight. Probably those waiters were continuing whatever game they were playing when we entered the place. This was the first of almost a dozen times that we felt like leaving the place. Somehow we didn’t! This was still strike one! Someone had mentioned that although the service is not great, the food is very good. All that was soon put to test.

I saw two waiters emerge from the kitchen and walk laboriously towards our table. They were carrying big round steel plates with 6 small bowls each. They didn’t really seem too keen to serve. But suddenly a smiling face jumped up from somewhere and offered to serve water. Wow so much for a start! He filled up five glasses but we realized it was cold and requested for plain water. Oops! his smile vanished. We realised his affection for us was only as real as Rakhis swayamvar. Strike two!

Eventually, after what seemed like aeons, they started serving the starters. Khaman dhokla and vegetable pattis. It seems like no-one noticed that there was very little green phudina chutney (probably left over from the earlier patrons) in a small bowl at the center of the table, only enough for one. No one bothered a re-fill. Anyways who wanted chutney when we had soft khaman dhokla and although not gujarati, vegetable pattis. I started munching on them and realized: Cold and oily. Double fried, an hour ago. Yuck! Strike three!

Now our gujarati taste-buds are, almost always, jumping to munch on some mouth-watering kathiyavadi delicacies, some surti-undhuya some turiya patra, or some brinjal bharta. But I wonder who serves sweet-chole, sweet-potato sukha bhaji and sweet-peas bhaji and tried to pass them off as gujarati food? Strike four, five and six!!! Sweet-kadhi and rasagulla (again that’s not gujarati man!) together with cold thepla and a ready-made (bottled) pickle servings offered strike seven! By now the Love Aaj Kal songs had started repeating, providing the brief moments of complete agony in the otherwise hopeless situation.

Now gujaratis eat khichidi. And when they do this, they need an endless serving of pure ghee. They need to be served steaming khichidi, in which they make a depression and fill it up with ghee (ghee no kuvo (a well of ghee) we call it). And all is well when this well is allowed to overflow. Alas, these guys didn’t serve ghee at all. Strike eight, nine & ten! All over man!

NOTE: If you don’t have the nerve to serve pure ghee, think twice before starting a Gujarati Restaurant!

We had to part with Rs. 150/- per head for this ordeal. FIne! I guess money is never an issue if for quality stuff, but this was inhuman!.

This was in stark difference to my experience of gujarati thalis I have eaten at Pakvaan (Ahmedabad). The service, quality and ambiance there is top class but only at 2/3^rd the price. Try it if you can, for a real Burp Experience!!!

I am published writer!

2009-09-01T20:43:00.007+05:30

This might be second only to being published in ink..but even this means a lot!

I am a published writer.

The last post (Relationship Managers...) has been published online at:

http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles_various/relationship-managers.asp

Although the one posted below is a refined version...and this might not really be my best yet, I am still a published author!

These days, I publish most of my writings on my website www.lexiconn.in, and yea, I sell off others..hahaha

Will shortly post a post about the various posts! Now that's what you call being posted or what...

Bank Relationship Managers: A case for Positioning

2009-08-28T14:44:00.005+05:30

"A relationship manager, is a one-point-contact for all banking needs and is the face of the bank. He builds a relationship with the customer and ensures highest banking standards and services" explains a bank branch manager from a leading private bank. There are several customer segments that a bank caters to; the premium customers are generally offered the services of dedicated relationship manager (RM). Most foreign banks and some national banks, provide this facility.

Relationship Managers are generally MBAs or equivalent. They acquire advisory licenses from various industry bodies such as IRDA (Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority) & AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India). They also undergo regular internal trainings and accreditations.

A commercial bank offers services like teller services, account operations, other services like lockers, demat operations and wealth management. Banks encourage customers to use the phone and internet banking facilities for service requirements. Along with providing a 24X7 service to their customers, this also helps reduce the overall footfall and hence reduces maintenance and personnel costs at the branches. This automation eventually leads to an increasing disconnect between the bankers and their customers. Traditionally, as long as money is concerned, customers trust man over machine. Banks have begun to realize this disconnect and the need to maintain a fine balance between automation and human touch. But also more importantly, automation hampers cross-sales of other products and services which require a customer to walk-in.

Hence, customers walk-in to meet their relationship managers, for service and banking queries. This places RMs in a fix. They are neither trained, empowered or inclined to servicing customers. "We sometimes have to avoid those clients which do not have the potential or the willingness to invest", says a RM who operates on sub-premium segment of an MNC bank. He points out that, "Although I could entertain the clients´ service issues, but I am just not equipped or appraised to do so. My bank pushes me for higher cross-sales and my boss keeps a track of the no productive of sales-meetings I do per day.
I ask, then why don´t we re-direct the customers service issues?"

A service request received by a relationship manager ends up increasing the time and dependency as he or she forwards that request to the concerned department and then follows-up. "I understand that relationships are based on trust and although we strive to provide both banking and investment services, we really prefer the latter as we belong to the sales team and achieving targets is our key result area" reveals another relationship manager.

A popular management saying says ´service leads to sales´. "But it could sometimes back-fire. One might end up losing an investment deal if the customer is unhappy with the banking services. They feel that since I am a RM, I should be able to fix everything" says a relationship manager with an MNC bank that prides itself for its service quality. This often leads to a conflict of interest for the relationship managers as he has to keep servicing the customer while looking for an opportunity to sneak-in a sale.

Compare this with an NBFC (Non banking Financial Corporation), operating in the same business with similar or competitive products. They employ the direct sales model by having a dedicated sales force. They are designated as Sales associates, Sales agents, Area sales officers or Sales managers. They believe in calling a spade a spade.

Here the customer knows what to expect from the sales agent, this in turn helps build trust and confidence, unlike the bank RM who has to live up the service expectations first and then arrive at a probable sale. The NBFC sales agent is viewed as a specialist and hence his advice and recommendations carry prominence for the client.

NBFCs believe in catching the bull by the horn. They employ resources like call-centers, direct-marketing initiatives etc for leads generation. "When I receive a lead, I know that the client is willing to meet me to discuss an investment product. I only need to focus on my product features and better my competitors´ offerings. This way I can have a higher no of successful conversions", explains a sales associate with a leading NBFC. "This also aids to gaining references of family and friends who then become easy to approach", he adds.

Another avenue where a bank RM loses out is the increased documentation requirements. "The IRDA guidelines regulate all companies equally, the extra paper-work that a bank requires causes inconvenience to a customer" points out a RM referring to an insurance policy sale.

Customers are generally mindful that banks and financial institutions try and cross sell investment and insurance products. In the rapidly changing regulatory environment banks have to work differently to add any significant value to their clients. Issues like the scrapping of entry loads for mutual funds means an end of any free lunches in the name of management and distribution fees for banks. Going forward, only professional investment advice that leads to greener client portfolios will allow banks to charge fees for wealth management. In order to bring about this change, banks have to re-position its relationship managers.

Banks should clearly communicate that RMs are salesmen, polished, better equipped and more qualified. They are an expensive resource and presenting them as investment experts or investment consultants would get them closer to their actual identity and help the banks serve their customers better and longer and at a profit. A clear positioning will indeed be appreciated by all parties concerned.