Category: MDI Gurgaon

Thank you, Suvi!

Post 10 of #sg100peopleToThank. More about this series is here.


Thank you, Suvi!
So, before the long post, here’s a short one. If I could thank just 3 people in the whole wide world, Suvi would be one. That’s the size of the impact that he’s had on me and my life. 

Lemme start with how I met him. 
Way back in 2009,  I was doing this startup thing with Kunal and that wasn’t going anywhere and we were down to the last few rupees in our accounts and we did not know what to do. I wrote an email to MDI alumni group (no I don’t have the balls to go back and read what I wrote) and sought advice. Or maybe I was seeking gainful employment. I don’t recall now. Of the few people that wrote back, Suvi was one. He said something like, “I run an events agency and the very nature of the business makes it tough to hire great people. You are from MDI, you must be great. Let’s meet and see where it goes.” Lemme reiterate. I don’t know the exact words he used or what he intended. This is what I recall. 


Note. Suvi hadn’t met me. He just assumed that I am great, just because I was from MDI. Branding. Affiliation. So, attach yourself to great brands. 
And I go to meet him. With the thought in my head, what is an event manager and who the fuck does events after passing out of MDI? And that too at Gurgaon, some 52 KMs one way from where my parents live/lived. I told myself that Suvi’s been kind enough to respond to my email. Lemme go meet him and then come back. You know, formality.

Note. Always, always, always respect what others do for you. Especially if they are strangers. 

I did not know I was gonna be so wrong. 

My first memory of him is that he’s in office, in this conference room, yelling on some client (I now know who that client was) about the client trying to negotiate a smaller fee for a project. I remember Suvi telling the client curtly, in Hindi, that he is a professional and he will charge a certain fee for a project to be worth his time. The client could choose to work with him. Or can go find alternative event managers. And then he hung up, turned to me and politely asked, “samosa khaega?” 
And he had me at Samosa.

Not a fancy salary, not a promise of a great future. But a measly Samosa. At 7 PM. In an office in one of the bylanes of Udyog Vihar in Gurgaon. 

That one Samosa led to me working for Suvi for about 4 years (till 2014 I think) and some freelance gigs post that (the last one was a year or so ago I think). In these 4 years and beyond, I have seen him at the highest highs when the event goes like clockwork and at the deepest lows when nothing seems to be working at an event! Yeah, even the masters have an off day.

And I have travelled the world (some 25 countries if not more) with him. From the sand dunes in Dubai to the top of the Whistler mountains, from posh parties at LKF to bar hopping at the walking streets all over Thailand, from the upcoming towns of India like Surat and Cochin and others to cultural capitals of the world like Paris and Budapest and others. From large hotels on the beaches of Goa to tiny rooms near the Coral Reef at Cairns. I have been so fortunate to have immersed in so many vivid experiences and learned from so many diverse cultures. And I have gained the experience that no school could ever teach me!

Note. If you are a 20-year old, go work for something that makes you travel like mad. It’s the best education ever.

And I have been at the backstage with celebrities, athletes, businessmen, motivational speakers, talent agents, artists and others. And I have seen their human side. I have seen them shake at the prospect of addressing a crowd, even though their day job is to motivate people. I have seen insecurities in their otherwise stoic countenance (who uses words like these?). I have seen the idea of my heroes getting shattered. And I have found respect for people that I would typically ignore. You know, how some people are invisible?

And most importantly, I learned EVERYTHING I know about the business of events from Suvi. And because of Suvi’s patronage, I’ve been able to create C4E and all the aspirations that I have with it (for the record, C4E will NOT end as just an event agency – we would be a full-stack entertainment company). 

So, thank you, Suvi.
For everything. 
Thank you for being that patient teacher to a kid who’s always chasing the next shiny thing. I remember the times when I’ve fought with you for tiny things like sharing a room with an unknown crew member. And I remember the times when I let go of all emotions and let you charter the course of my career with you. As I look back, I can recall the tantrums I’d thrown. I am surprised that you didn’t throw me out!

Thank you for giving me a long leash that has allowed me to wander to the end of the world and come back richer and smarter and wiser (I hope).

Thank you for taking me under your wings, even though I had no clue what the events business was and yet you allowed me to make mistakes. Mistakes like losing money for the company, getting rude with the clients and often taking risky bets. And each time, Suvi, you told me to take a lesson and move on. In fact, thanks to this learning that has been ingrained in me, I try and offer an even longer leash to people who’ve chosen to put their faith in me and chosen to work with me.

Note. In life, if you find a boat that is going fast and going for the greatest ocean, attach yourself to it. Do whatever it takes to be a part. 

In fact, thanks to you, Suvi (and Gravity), I have met some of the most important people in my life. I don’t know how to make a list but it would include people like, in no order, Dipanker, Renu Maam, Sanjiv, Shailendra, Pradeep, Meghna, Anna, Praveen, Komal, Sonu, Tinku, Girish, Sandeep, Rishi, Piyush, Deepali, Ashu, Solo, Nikhil and so many more. At a point, I was working with about 100 people on a regular basis and I know I have missed scores of names – these were just from the top of my head. All these people started as colleagues, suppliers, clients, vendors and others. And eventually became friends. With time, most have drifted away but thank God I remain friends with a handful! But then, I cherish the time I spent with each of them and once in a while I do reminisce about the good old days! 
Thanks to Suvi, I got access to more people that were hoping to hire event managers. Vijesh met me because he wanted an event manager for an event. Shatrujeet wanted to talk to me for an event. Harshit is friends with me because he wrote into an event manager, aka me! RaJ wanted something to do with events and met me. C4E happened because Rajesh wanted someone to do a freelance event for him. There are many more doors that have opened for me because I was with Suvi.

Thanks to Gravity, I could make friends with other professionals in the events business and pick their brains.

Thanks to time at Gravity, I could teach at EMDI. Teaching is a big big theme for me in life. And if not for Gravity I wouldn’t be able to take a step in the direction. I would have remained oblivious to my limitations as a teacher. And thus, try and become better!

Note: If you can, teach. Has to be among the most humbling and enriching experiences ever. 

Phew! I am tired of this note. The list of things that Gravity and Suvi did to me is literally endless. The impact that Suvi has had on me is immeasurable. 

I want to end this by saying Thank you. For everything. And for the good times and the bad. For the flowers and the brickbats.

Thank you, Suvi!
Love you to bits. 


That’s about it. And a lot at the same time :).

Thank you, Suvi. I shall remain indebted to you for life. 

Regards,
SG

Others posts in this series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9


PS: Wrote this the morning after an event that, let’s just say, wasn’t my best. Thing is, I am emotionally attached to my work and every project that does not do well, I get home sad, depressed, tired, even hurt. When I realised that the project wasn’t going the way it should have been, of all the people in the world, I thought of Suvi! That’s the kind of impact he’s had on my thinking, my life and how I work. And now that I have seen some other managers, I don’t think I’d ever want to be anyone else, but Suvi’s protégé. If there is a role like that 🙂 


Oh, and Suvi told this to Dipanker once, that after an event, once you sit in the car to go home, you must forget what happened at the event – if it were great, good for you; if it were fuckall, good for you. You need to get detached. You must leave the event behind at the venue. 


If not for this lesson, I would get drowned in the misery and fell down a rabbit hole of self-doubt!

PPS: Someone told that while these thank you notes are great, there has to be a tangible lesson, a takeaway for the reader. I like the idea. I have tried to insert some notes in between the text. Those are in italics and are titled “note.” Do revisit those. 


Oh, and one large thing that I want you to take away from Suvi’s impact on my life is that often, just a handful of people will play a disproportionately large role in shaping your life. This could be because they take an active interest in your life. Or it could be because they give you opportunities that you otherwise would not get. Or it could be the mere fact that you spent time with them and picked things as you went along.

You ought to find those people. And put your faith in those. Live is way too long for you to get attached to your ego. No one is self-made. No one has “done it by himself”. Anyway, we are stuck on this Pale Blue Dot for a speck of time. Let go of aham and see the magic unfold.   


And how do you find such people? You may not be able to pinpoint who these people are but try and spot patterns – who takes an active interest in your career? Who makes you feel comfortable when you talk to them? Who gives you a disproportionately large space of their mind? Who is generous without expecting anything in return? Who is always there to help you? You know what am saying? 

Thank you, Vijesh!

Post 9 of #sg100peopleToThank. More about this series is here.

Thank you, Vijesh!
Vijesh Sharma. Yet another friend, philosopher, senior from MDI that I am very grateful to have access to.

I first met Vijesh when I was working at Gravity.
He needed someone to organise his 8th birthday party. Really. 8th. I gave him some inputs and he thought they were thoughtful and interesting. From there on started this series of interactions, that has made my life tangibly better. Each interaction has been a learning experience. And every time I speak with Vijesh, I get out of the room with tons of optimism, hope, positive energy and enthusiasm. The world looks like a great place and I want to go out and win it all!

Thank you, Vijesh for being the North Star.

One thing that I will never forget from interactions with Vijesh? 
Vijesh and I were in Dubai last year – I was on a break from life and work and Vijesh was participating in some exhibition. After a long day, we were sitting in a hotel lobby and talking about things.

As it happens often when I speak to Vijesh, the conversation moved to life purpose and all that. And he asked, what do you want to do in life? And I blurted something like, “I want to work on the cutting edge. I want to create new things that make the world a better place”. I honestly don’t recall what I said but it would be in this zone.

Vijesh asked me, “Where do you think these things exist?”

I said, “Not in India for sure. Maybe Silicon Valley.”

Vijesh said, “I am going to make you an offer and I will make it one time only. And I will never revisit again. You can either take it or leave it.” He then said, “If you have the balls, leave everything and move to the US of A today. Now. I will pay for the flight. You already have the visa. Go figure. Spend 3 months, 6 months, hustle and see where you end.”

I was speechless. I tried to stutter things like rationality, parents, responsibilities and all that. I even said lemme sleep over it and take a more patient and grounded decision. Vijesh shut me up by saying that time is running out and if you can’t decide where you want to be, soon, you would have lost out. He said that by thinking too much you let your gut lose to reason. And reason never ever moved the world forward!

Any guesses what I chose? 

The greatest lesson I’ve learnt from him?

He said the way someone treats a person (could be any person) is EXACTLY the way that person will treat you. You may be the best friend, the greatest employee, a neighbour, a stranger or whatever. And rather than looking at patterns of great behaviour and all that, look for anomalies. Look for exceptions.

Lemme give an example. Let’s take this hypothetical person, Ms Ganga. You know, most days Ms Ganga is the kindest human being ever. And you know that on her bad days, Ganga tends to resort to convenient lies. And you are ok with it. There are ups and downs! And here’s the lesson. You have to know that while she could be your best friend, at some point in time she would lie to you as well! To make her life convenient and easy.

You ought to try and spot patterns. Of predictable behaviour and of exceptions. You ought to know that the way the other person operates with others, is the same way s/he will operate with you.

And the other thing, become a person with zero anomalies. Your behaviour has to be so consistent, so predictable that even a stranger can vouch for it! It has to become your brand! That!

Thing is, with each interaction that I’ve had in life, I have seen this one tip, one lesson, one prophecy from Vijesh proving to be true time and again! Long-term partners have cheated on me. Romantic interests have swayed. And of course, there are positives. Kind people have showered me with love and affection and attention.

I don’t think I can ever forget this lesson. I just hope that I become the kind of person that everyone wants to get into engagement with.

Thank you, Vijesh for this. And thank you for all the mindspace, help and inputs. And apologies for not taking up the offer of the lifetime. I hope I do reach the cutting edge, in my own way 🙂

Wish you all the best 🙂

With all respect,
Saurabh Garg

Others posts in this series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8


PS: Posting after a few days. Which is ok. As long as I reach at least 100 thank yous. 

Thank you, Ashish!

Post 7 of #sg100peopleToThank. More about this series is here.

Thank you, Ashish
Ashish Biswas is a filmmaker (some of his work is on Vimeo) and storyteller. And is also an MDI Gurgaon Alumni and that’s how I know Ashish (he was a senior at college). And this is one of those million things that I am thankful to MDI for. If you can attend a business school, please do. The people that you meet there will add so much to your life that you would come out a changed person. 

Coming to Ashish. So, he was a year senior at MDI and thus we were on a first name basis.

Lemme narrate an incident. This goes back almost 10 years, if not more. There was this time when Amit (Sharma, a classmate from MDI) and I were in Mumbai and we were really struggling to balance our ambition and reality.

Reality – he and I were in jobs that paid ok, was ok in terms of work but it was far far from the kind of stories we wanted to tell. I don’t remember where was Amit but I was either with GE or with CLA or with Gravity.

Ambition – tell stories that made ordinary people into heroes and gave the message of hope and all that.

To both of us (Amit and I), Ashish was someone who was living it up. He had quit his cushy job to “struggle” and make films. And he was the only person we knew who was doing anything that was remotely related to things we wanted to work on.

So we met him at the rooftop canteen of a post-production studio (I still remember it was at the Gold’s Gym building at Pali – that time there was no Gold’s Gym) and while I don’t remember the specifics, I remember a thing that Ashish told me. After all these years, that thing has stayed with me till date. He said, “mehnat karega to there is no way you will not reach where you want to reach.”

This is a way too polished version, to be honest. He had used some expletives that only he can muster. But you get the gist.

The funny thing is that I have heard this from parents, teachers, strangers, neighbours, their pets, random stranger on the street, books, motivational speakers and even Shahrukh Khan. But when it came from Ashish, it hit home. To a point that it has stayed with me till this date. There are times when I am sad and I don’t know what to do and I want to cry and I want to walk up a mountain to scream my lungs out in despair and all that. And that’s when I am reminded of this simple lesson. Fuck as I write this, I can recall what he was eating. A veg thali with some deep fried papad. Bisu, veg thali, papad. Funny how our brains work!

So yeah, thank you, Ashish, for the lesson that I have NOT forgotten till date.

Oh, the other thing that I took away from you that day (and continue to hold dear) is that you’ve taught me to chase my dreams by being an example that I could emulate. I have seen you through your ups and downs and highs and lows. You’ve held your head high when you were down. And you’ve kept your doors open when you are at a place of comfort. I hope when I reach where you are, I remain as humble and as helpful.

Thank you for all the mindspace, help and inputs.

Wish you all the best 🙂


With all respect,
Saurabh Garg
Class of 2006

Others posts in this series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Housekeeping.
I don’t think I can keep up with one post a day. So, I am dropping the charade of even trying. However, I do need an endpoint. So, I will endeavour to do these before I go for Vipassana (around September). I have about 170 days. Manageable? Any bets? 

The Daily Grind – 2724 – 170718 – The Queen of all Trades

So as I type this, I am at Chilis – an American diner kind of place where people on my table are making merry over beer and the live cricket match between India and England. And I am stuck with my laptop on the table, trying to crank out a post. The post for the day. And why? Because come whatever may, I am going to write. Also, yesterday I said that I will probably talk about the mistakes I’ve made while investing but I will talk about it some other day. For the time being, lemme get on with it. 

Today was an interesting day. To say the least. Started early and met a senior from MDI. The discussion with him left me humbled. And humiliated. And all that. Thing is, before I met him, I thought that I knew everything about everything. But an hour with him I realised that I dont even know enough about my industry to explain those deep, pointed questions that he asked me! For example he asked me how do I decide where to spend the media money on online. And I did not have the answer. I mean I could tell him how we go about it and how those decisions are made and how we tweak things and all that but I could not convince him! PS: At the end of it, when he left, he did say that may be I am the Queen of all trades. Tad better than Jack and lot lesser than the king. 

So yeah. That.

The other thing that happened today was a pitch for a big project.

And oh my God. I know I love to blow my trumpet like a bitch but if you saw me presenting performing today, I can guaren-damn-tee that you would’ve left impressed! That’s a skill that I need to work further on. To a point that the delivery becomes impeccable. Like everytime I go up to present something, I must leave junta audience speechless!

The third thing worth talking about, I made a 3-hour trip to the airport to meet a friend for five minutes. The important bit is not 5 minutes but the fact that I could meet him after this long. Thing is, I have been in conversation with him for few months now and I could finally put a face to his name! More about him in some subsequent post when I actually get to spend time with him.

So yeah, thats about it for the day.

PS: #note2self. With each passing day, while I am able to get the writing streak going, the quality of posts (in terms of what I write about) is going down. Of course I cant control the quality of writing (thanks to my limitations as a speaker of English language) but I can for sure control what I talk about. For example, what if I ensure that each day’s post has the lesson that I learnt in the day? This ensures that I catalog the day and think about it and grow each day. And this allows the readers to take home something that is worth value. Assuming people seek value. Do they? 

Gratitude – MDI, Gurgaon

Today A few days back I met Chirag (MDI 2009). He was in office and we got talking about life and times at MDI. And I realised that everything that I have in life, good or bad, has its roots at MDI.

Wanted to make a list. Here it is.

Work. 
I run C4E. We are a full-service, bespoke, corporate events management agency. When I was at MDI, I could have never predicted that I will run an events agency someday. I wanted to change the world but events? No.

Funny thing is that my first ever tryst with events happened at MDI. Back in 2005 and 2006, I was part of Imperium – the annual cultural festival at MDI. And I arranged and organised the entire thing (along with few others).

The second time I got to work on events also happened because of MDI. In 2009, after my gig with CLA and Cyntax got over, I was looking for an opportunity to do something and I wrote to the MDI alumni group. Off the people that responded, I chose to work with Suvi (at Gravity) and Suvi chose to work with me. This was a full-time job in events and I was part of the client servicing and planning teams. Since at Gravity, everyone does everything, I got immense exposure that shaped me into who I am. Plus the stint with Gravity gave me the tools to run C4E.

Writing. 
It was at MDI that I first started taking writing seriously. I did have a blog before I went to MDI but it was at MDI that I started documenting my mundane life. And because at that age you really want to get really famous, I would share the link with friends and family. While most people ignored me, some of them did encourage me. And each piece of encouragement made me write more. And then it became a feedback loop. And it is yet to end.

Oh, it was at MDI when I first thought I could write a book. While I had wanted to be an author since I can remember, it was at MDI that Sandeep and I planned to write a novel inspired by our time at MDI. I think Chetan Bhagat had just written Five Point Someone. So nothing was impossible. We were young and had a lot of time on our hands. And writing was not too tough. You know what I mean?

P.S.: The inspiration and confidence to actually write the book came after Suds published his. And it was an alum from MDI that agreed to publish my first!

People.
Out of 5 people that matter to me (apart from my immediate family), at least 2 are from MDI – VG and VK. Both these are my closest confidantes and are key pillars in my support structure. Everytime I am down in dumps, I find solace in their company. Every key decision in life requires their approval. Conversations with them have shaped the way I think. There is no shame or guilt or any other negative emotion when I talk to them. I can bare my soul and share my deepest fears and darkest thoughts with them. And I wont be wrong in saying that I dont know what I’d do without them.

Apart from these two, some of my closest friends and well-wishers are friends that I made because of MDI. The list is way too long to actually fit into a blog. If you guys are reading this, thank you. All of you. Class of 2004-2006, seniors, juniors and others.

Purpose.
I am still figuring out what I want to do in life and identify a purpose for myself (I do have vague ideas that I want to create and in the process inspire others) and my raison d’etre. Thing is, the closest thing to a perfect human being — where the guys’ doing a great job, making impact, making money and living a life that inspires others — is Prof. Bakshi. And where did I meet him? At MDI!

It was Prof. Bakshi that introduced me to the ideas of Warren Buffet and the advantages of multidisciplinary thinking. It was at his BFBV classes that I realised that I dont know so many things and there are so many things that I dont know that I dont know.

Its a different story that I got a D in his course – blame it on all the financial number crunching that he expected us to do. Here’s the secret. Numbers is NOT my thing.

Any how. In the end… 
So, yeah. MDI has had super influence. Of course, serendipity and random luck has had a large role to play in putting me where I am. I would’ve loved to control it. But because I can’t, I dont want to bother about it.

P.S.: What about that thing where you say you are more than what you do? 

PG04,

With age, I am turning into a sentimental fool! How do I know? I sent the following email to my batchmates from MDI. Read.

Dear PG04, 

Wait! 

When was the last time someone called us PG04? When we all got placed? Or the last time the faculty addressed us? Or was it when we had our convocation? Or was it in one of those emails that one of us sends to each other once in a while? 

This PG04 to me (atleast) had a really strong connotation. This to me was the call to our wolfpack (see Hangover if you haven’t), call to our brethren, call to the family (Godfather) that separated us from them. Us was PG04. Them was everyone else including PG03, PG05, Faculty, Hostel cooks, the security guards, the professors and the companies coming on campus to hire us. And others were people not on campus like the world beyond the college walls, the families back home and so on and so forth. At MDI, we were all we had. Ok, exaggerating. I made it sound like we were in a concentration camp. May be we were. It was a wild world out there and we had to emerge from MDI as Change Masters. To give credit to the salutation of our hostel, some of us have did become Change Masters! 

But over years the wolfpacks have dismantled, families have gone to the mattresses, other pressing matters such as buying houses, acquiring corner offices, raising kids et at have taken precedence. We’ve gone busy with our respective lives. So much so that we cant meet even if we live 3 KMs away from each other (pointing accusatory glances at Ridhima and Ketan – I live 3 KMs away and we’ve been making plans for three months). What has remained is faint memories of times spent at MDI. And there were tons of incidents that I probably will never forget. 

The beauty is, each of us would have had our own sets of memories to look back at. And the sad bit is, none of us would ever discover all the stories that went around back then! May be someone has to catalog all these into one journal? May be I will at some point. 

I can share my story to start with. When I walked into MDI, I had no clue what was in store for me. I came from a small college in a remote corner of Delhi and everything about MDI was intimidating to me – the ones I was talking to on a yahoo group (before college started) went to fancy colleges, were sons of army colonels and so on and so forth. My roommate, Pochu, was topper from BITS Pilani. The dudes next to me in class – Satya and Gupta – were so brainy that I had no idea where to look at where stuff was happening in the class. Right in front of me was Piyush who was so tall that I had to stand on my chair to make sense of stuff happening on the blackboard. The first friend I made at MDI was Ashish who literally lived in the library the whole of first semester. Despite being the odd one out (I still am come to think of it), with time I found my place. I became a part of “us.” I discovered things that made me happy – reading, counter-strike, music, spreading myself too thin, staying up at night, travel and of course, writing. I learnt that I was not the king of the universe. And I made friends that probably will last for a lifetime! 

Thing is, if I did not go to MDI, I probably wouldn’t have discovered any of these and I would have been a far different person from what I am today. 

Wait a minute. So, why this email? 

Because (Vivek) Gawri told me that it’s been exactly 10 years since we passed out! Ten fucking years (and almost 12 since we started). I can’t say it feels like yesterday but time does fly away. While at campus those two years seemed like eternity and now 10 years are insignificant. 

Back then, when I was joining MDI, like someone starting a new phase in life (see Shawshank), I was super excited – after all I was going to MDI! And I was afraid of the unknown. I was clueless about what was expected from me – MDI to me was (and is) the most decorated tag that I’ve earned. I was dreamy eyed – I remember I wanted to be like Bill Gates and make money (of course I am nowhere close). And I was apprehensive. I had no glass globes to gaze into and predict what would become of me in 10 years. 

In fact, I remember getting asked a million times, “Where do you see yourself in 10 years.”
I dont recall what I’d said but there’s a high probability that I would have said, “I’d be the CEO of a large organization.” Talk of wishful thinking! 

BTW, what did you say? And are you any close to what you thought you were gonna be doing in ten years? 

And may be, just may be, today is the time to plan for the next 10 years. What would you be doing on Mar 16, 2026? 

Me? Well, I would be living on a sparsely populated location (if there is one left till then) and I would be a teacher. And a writer. Please be my guest if you visit the city I am in. And do buy my books ;P 

So, here the deal. Lets come together? Meet each other? If not meet everyone else, may be come back to meet your friends that you spend so many countless nights with, on the dome, on the steps of the hostel, the acad block, library, computer centre and of course behind the closed doors of rooms 😉 

So what if we are older now? I am sure there is some fire left in the belly. And that little fire finally succumbs to a slow, painful, nondescript death brought about by years of monotony, how about a meet up? I am sure there will be reasons, excuses, spouses, deadlines, missed connections, red-eyes and all that troubling your brains but it would be fun! 

Guys, time does flies (Tomorrow never dies) and it goes away fast. Next time I send something like this out, we probably would be 20 years out of MDI and as Sharma told Gawri, “it would be a miracle if we are alive by then.” Lets do this. For you. And for I. And for us. 

Thats’ it guys. 

Oh, one more thing! Thank you for such an amazing time at MDI. Whatever little I know, whatever little I do, all of it has happened because I was lucky enough to be at MDI and more lucky to have you for company. 

Love, Regards and Headshots
Saurabh “MML | h!+m4n” Garg 

P.S.: Thanks to Gawri for reminding me that we’re ten years out of college and Ketan for confirming. And guess I’ve seen too many movies. 

I have set this form on Google where I am asking you for your location and contact details. Please do fill in if you are keen. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hDAfjywcF0r6UPgxToB-R58lxSpScNPFPkpx9YxYmr4/viewform

Departmet of Silent Audence (DOSA)

Goodreads. As on 06 Dec 2014.

When I was at MDI, there was this bunch of guys – all of them were really intelligent and good to talk to and everything – who never spoke in the classroom sessions. Even though MDI placed a lot of rigor on class participation and speaking up in lectures, these guys will never ever speak up. Even when the professors pointed at them and asked them questions, they’d stay shut at the cost of getting ridiculed and docking grades. Of course they knew the answers and they could speak eloquently outside the class. But in the room, they’d not utter a word – no one knows why. And they called themselves DOSA – Department of Silent Audience. They were there to seep in everything and not speak up. Like sponges. They were there to stay shut. They were like silent lambs. Actually I could’ve titled this post the Silence of the Lambs.

Anyhow, it’s funny that I am reminded of it them almost 10 years after I first encountered them. Why? Because in the last few days, the feedback, the reviews, opinions and other things on The Nidhi Kapoor Story have started to dry down. I dont know how the sales figures are moving for the book. But I do know that a lot of friends and family have bought the book. And I know for sure that I have not heard from most of them. Not strangers, not the common man. But family and friends.

The first few days were fun. I am not exaggerating but I would get some input, some feedback, some other comment almost every hour. It was probably my 15 seconds of fame. Only if each second, I wish, could last a lifetime!

Once the first set of people were done with their response, the frequency dropped drastically, the way a ball plunges down a tall tower perched on a high hill.

Next lot of people to write in were strangers, casual readers who had picked the book after they were exposed to all the noise that I made on the Internet. Remained absent was feedback from friends and family.

Now, almost 15 days after the book became available to the world, the feedback I get is now few and far between. And all of it is from people that I did not know of before I wrote the book. Thankfully a disproportionately large proportion talks about the book in good light. There are a few things that I’ve been told to work on. And I am working on those as I work on my next book. More on it later.

So, if you are reading this, I urge you, implore you, beg you, on my feet and with folded hands to please share your feedback with me. Postive, negative, ugly, good, excellent, pathetic. You may choose any word to express your opinion on the book. I promise I will neither fly away to the cloud 9 (or cloud 7 or whatever) nor hurl myself into the abyss of depression. Your feedback would only help me get better.

Please. If you have read The Nidhi Kapoor Story, please do share what you think of it. Like these 20 people who have taken the pains of letting the world know what they think of #tnks. Apart from these 20, there have been people who think that that book is a piece of shit and they’ve stopped talking to me! That’s ok. I loved the fact that it could provoke such strong reactions.

As long as there is a reaction, all’s well. But a reaction guys. Please. Life doesn’t work like that. We are after all social animals and we ought to communicate. We response to stimuli. Remember Biology 101? Hope this is a sharp enough bite in the arm to wake up from your slumber and make you share your feedback with me.

Oh, and the guys at DOSA, I am not sure what happened to them, its after all been ten odd years since I’ve seen them. Get the point?

No? Damn!

The Lost Story

Suds, my classmate from MDI, has done it again. He did something that I have always wanted to do. Write AND publish a book.

He wrote a book and its gonna be out in a few weeks! Called The Lost Story, he has co-authored it with yet another MDI dude, Amit Goyal. I dont really know Amit that well but if Suds has put his name on the book, it has to be awesome. 

I have read a couple of chapters and its gripping to say the least. I have done everything in my powers to get Suds to send me the rest of the chapters but so far he hasn’t shown any inclination. Its like grass. You have some and then you are going to keep having it over and over and over again. You wont stop. You wouldn’t want it to end!

It is different. Not just for the sake of saying it, it actually is. To start with, its not a love story. And its not a boy chasing kites. And its not about those mushy love letters that a lot of people (including me) write. And its not about two college kids with dreams and ideas about changing the world! For the want of better language skills, this is what the back cover says…

Sandy, an aspiring young writer gets an incredible opportunity to work
with his idol – the celebrated and reclusive author Saleem Afzal – who
hasn’t written a new book in 23 years.

In a novel idea, each
writer writes one half of the story, leaving it for the other to finish.
Together, they imagine an epic battle between balance and chaos, a tale
of a haunted house, a simple journey home that turns into a man’s
greatest nightmare, and even the end of the world.

As the
stories take shape, Sandy gets curious about Saleem’s past and the
several unanswered questions that he encounters… Why did Saleem stop
writing? Why can he no longer finish stories? What is behind the locked
door in his house? And… what is The Lost Story?

Written like the
premise, the stories in this book have each been done in two halves.
One part by one author, and the second by the other, never discussing
the story in between.

Of course, you have to read it. Here are the links for easy access. Pre oder on Flipkart and the Facebook fan page.

Please show some love by preodering it on Flipkart. And no I am not being paid for this. I may get an autographed copy for posting this but knowing how popular Mr. Gupta is, I am not sure if I can get dates from him!

Wait, here is a deal. If you actually read this and preorder it, I can ask Suds and Amit to give you guys a signed copy and a poster of the book cover. Just let me know. Not kidding. Suds can you please endorse this claim?

Delhi Trip – June 2009

Came back from Delhi last night, took a Go Air flight. Thank fully they have changed their dress code. They no longer wear those black denims and black tees. The ride was bumpy. For some time I thought I was in a train. But anyways, any trip to Delhi is fun and hectic. I stay in one of the remote corners of the city and it takes me forever to reach any other place. Would have easily spent 6 hours everyday on commuting. Not that roads are choked and all, just that distances are bit too much. No wonder I want to stay in a smallish city/town.

Today is PD‘s birthday (similarity with her blog URLs is purely coincidental). Happy Birthday PD. You have been an awesome friend. Wish I could spend more time with you.

So many things happened over the past week. Michael Jackson passed away. Nandan Nilekani left Infosys to take care of the ambitious NID project. And there are some not-so-consequential things that I would want to keep a note of.

  • Attended Sandy’s wedding. Took elaborate notes. Might upload them on the blog sometime.
  • My twitter account (@Saurabh) and sgElectra’s twitter account (@sgElectra) got suspended. I have no clue why would they do it.
  • Met Kunal. Scrapped some ideas for Cyntax. Thought of few new ones. We are back to square one now.
  • Met Vanita and Girish. I know them from MDI JFK. Had interesting discussions. More than discussions, I was confessing and they were being guiding light. Both had differenet opinions to the same problem and both of them merit a thought.
  • Sonali sent this couplet “Anjam-e gulistan kya hoga … Har shaakh pey ullu baithe hain“. I think its very pertinent and apt. Especially in the times we live in. Ayone knows the origin?
  • Neo thinks that hes now a vegetable.
  • I missed the Mensa AGM and an oppurtunity to meet up with other members. I am being lazy in sending my documents and all.

What else?

Update – 6th June, Goa, Futility

Been some time since I uploaded this blog. Few things worth mentioning have happened.

6th June happened to me. Do did 9th. And now waiting for the 4th. Its happening too fast and too slow. Its a blur and a dream. Its all there and it isnt.

Then I missed the deadline for TED India Fellows application. No it was not too complex. I was too lazy and I dint have a lot of substance to talk about.

Visited Goa. Went to a casino. Played Mini Flush for four hours. Won few rupees. Beginners luck probably. Saw mental models in action. Going to read more about Casinos, gambling etc. They says its one of those seven deadly vices. What are other six (hint hint)?

Spoke to Neo and Gandhi about life and all. Gandhi as always had no opinions. Neo had some. I could not comprehend most of them.

Thought about Cyntax. Wrote about it. Planning to get a designer to help me with it. Any volunteers?

Felt sorry for being rude and demanding. Said sorry. She was surprised. She said she was used to my tantrums and randomness. I had never said sorry since I have known her (since 2004). Five years is a lot of time.

Sandy getting married. And the future of PseudoSocial is now in a quandary. As if it wasn’t in a jeopardy already. We have run it as an adopted child at best. And then the ever shrinking bachelor club, shrinks even further. More exclusions from the club are being planned as I write this (or you read this). I hope is not Neo or Gandhi.

Miss MDI more than ever. Reminds me of Rabbi Shergill’s Gill Te Guitar.

Want to debate with someone on futility of our actions. And our thoughts. And our emotions. Dont have anyone to debate with. I even have doubts on the futility of these debates.

FB came up with vanity URLs. And the website is that important that I actually planned to check it when they were released. And I was disappointed that I could not get Saurabh. And now am blogging about it. Wonder how these “tools” take so much importance in our lives.

Then half wrote this rant. Even though India is a huge country, there are some things that are so Indian that you will find them in every nook and corner of the country. Buffalos for example. Stray dogs. Then electric wires hanging loosely on the poles. Chai shop. Cigarette shop. Then there are home grown brands like Agarwal Sweets, CCD etc in almost every locality worth living., Amongst them is this Maruti Suzuki service centre called Sai Service. Yes, that place with a blue and red flower logo. Every state that I have traveled to India has a Sai Service. And I am told one Mr. Suresh Kalmadi owns the chain. Now I need to know if he is the same Mr. Kalmadi who is more famous (actually rather infamous) for his role in the Indian Olympic Association. Any answers?

And then there is some more. I cant think of it now. May be later? Another uninteresting, boring, mundane week comes to an end. How many more?

The Weekend – 11, 12 April 09

I was in Delhi this weekend. A quick summary would be

Train – Mathura – Agra – Fatehpur Sikri – Traffic Jam – Delhi – Home – CP – Home – Cyntax – Amar Motors – GK II – Select City Walk – MDI – Maggi@GE – Go Air – Meru – Godrej Hillside Colony – Creativeland

And like always, there are details to follow. Lemme see when I get time to talk about em.

  • Train – It was sheer luck that allowed me to board the train. I was to board from Borivali station and my rick driver took me to Dahisar. With 6 mins to ETD. And we had a RAC ticket. That meant my friend and I were forced to share one berth for the night.
  • Mathura – Got down at Mathura. After spending the night sitting, walking in the bogey, remmebering the time table and amount of time it stops at each station, shifting weight, getting down at all the stations, eating whatever came my way, reading The Case of Exploding Mangoes.
  • Agra – Yes, the Taj Mahal city. I went there and did not see the Taj. If there was no Taj, Agra would have been one of those million little cities in India that no one would have ever heard of and no one would ever go there. Everything from people to government to administration to weather was very average.
  • Fatehpur Sikri – I dint know that Fatehpur was a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If its one, its been left to rot by the administration. Anyways, the place is very serene. You could be in the middle of a maddening crowd and yet be with yourself. I was hoping for a miracle (I think I am looking for some kind of support to lap onto) but it never happened. May be next time?
  • Traffic Jam – En route from Agra to Delhi, around the Haryana border, farmers were protesting for something. Collosal waste of time, money, resources and everything else. I have always hated those “strikes”. Anyways, I could see all the Munger’s mental models in action. From group think to social proof to biases and authority misinfluence to reciprocation.
  • Delhi – Home!
  • Home – Maa kay haath ka khana 😀
  • CP – BTW the official name is Rajiv Chowk, its still called by one and all as CP. I too prefer CP. Its the best place to hang around in Delhi IMHO. I make at leat two trips to the place for sure everytime I go there.
  • Cyntax – Kunal and me spoke about Cyntax. He looks committed to it and hopefully I can make up my mind soon.
  • Amar Motors – One of the reason I went to Delhi was to buy the bike. Went to this dealer called Amar Motors. For a company like Royal Enfield and a product like Bullet, the dealership was a mess for sure. The brand, product, company attracts certain kind of people and there was no one there to take care of those kinds of people. Guess you can do very well with branding and marketing efforts but when it comes to real life interactions, you have to find a way to manage them!
  • GK II – No notes. Boring visit to that market. Obviously there were tons of pretty faces. Wish Mumbai ones were like that.
  • Select City Walk – Met Shubhi and she insisted that we goto Select City Walk. I want to know who are the people who goto that mall and actually buy things from there. Every thing was way out of my reach!
  • MDI – Went to MDI. I went to my room (#309), SharmaJi’s, Change Masters (its now called IFCI Swarna Jayanti Hostel), Dome Terrace, the loos, the library, Jhajis, Acad Block, CC etc. It was so full of emotions that I could have cried. Somehow prevented it. Anyways, a visit to MDI also reaffirmed my belief that I am most comfortable when I am in a campus like setting. I wrote this text while I was roaming around the CC
  • Maggi @ GE – When we were at MDI, Maggi at a road side dhaba outside GE’s office in Gurgaon was our staple food. For the old times sake we went to this dhaba and got the maggi. I ate it when I was in the meru on way back to home and it was bliss. People miss food from homes, I missed food from this dhaba.
  • Go Air – Flew with Go Air. Ok experience. Flight was delayed by 40 mins. Once I was inside the aircraft, things were on time.
  • Meru – This is where the power of branding was evident. We were going to take a cab home. There were at least three paid AC taxi services available at the airport. We dint even look at them. Without even talking to them, we went to Meru, got in the cab and left. I think this is where Meru does well compared to other businesses. Marketing is ok but the experience that I get as a customer when I travel with them is exceptional. From comfortable rides to courteous drivers to punctuality to electronic billing. Guess
  • Godrej Hillside Colony – Surfed the web. Slept fitfully for three hours.
  • Creativeland – Back at work!

I think I like this new way of logging travel. Of course it cant replace the good old travelogue, may be I will write that too but this is convenient for logging in the highlights.

And no, I wasn’t carrying any camera and there are no pictures. Vivek took this pic way back in 2005 at Fatehpur. May be an apt place for a ref?