Apna Manus movie

Apna Manus: The Marathi drama is a morality tale and to some extent, a crime thriller. It is a deeper exploration of family relationships.

1. Nana Patekar - नाना पाटेकर, a wry and cynical investigator who cannot easily be fooled, gets the movie’s best lines. The role is a cakewalk for the thespian, and he does not expend more than the minimum required effort

2. Aaba, also Nana, is resentful of the fact that Bhakti works, and that his grandson has been sent away to boarding school.

3. Bhakti detests Aaba’s old-fashioned condescension and is hurt by his frequent barbs and attacks on her independence. 4. 4. Rahul, the best-etched character in the story, brings his lawyerly self into his home and refuses to take sides or stand up for what is right.

I am a #NanaPatekar fan. Hence chose to watch.

A thought-provoking film, more so these days considering the challenges we face, thanks to #COVID19 #lockdown et al.

https://g.co/kgs/6NLfhT

The Rich, Traffic Discipline, Empathy

Chandra is on his way to the office. 

It is a holiday, and Bangalore roads are relatively empty. A rare phenomenon. On a holy day of Dasera, wonder whether people are busy offering prayers at home, or enjoying a lazy, late morning routine to take full advantage of a holiday, on Tuesday. As many salaried would view, the weekend is just 3 days away. For the entrepreneur Chandra, it is a holy day, to offer prayers at work, all alone. And catch up on some important admin work. 

As he entered the narrow lane on which his office is situated, there were two cars coming in the opposite direction, towards the main road. 

The first stopped just a few meters away, and two women took their sweet time to get into the car. Wonder if the obesity causes the 'slow motion' or the poor roads. That car took its sweet time to go away. Of course, the gentleman at the wheel does not have the courtesy to thank Chandra for making him wait. Too much to expect?

Next was a taxi, all decked up the previous day, to celebrate Ayudha puja. He comes and stops right in the middle of the road, at the Oyo rooms. A couple of passengers got out of the cab. He was in no hurry to let Chandra pass. Chandra requested the cab driver to go to the side so that he can move on. 

He does not want to waste time on the road, but rather at the office? 

The cabbie makes no move. Chandra moved ahead, stopped in front of the cab and asked him to take the car into the Oyo, which has space to drop off the guests and parking for a couple of cars. Now the cabbie goes to the side, waving to Chandra, 'now you may go'!

As Chandra quietly moved on the cabbie says, 'it was a matter of a couple of minutes only'! 
Chandra retorts, you should think of others and park the car inside Oyo. 
The cabbie is at the end of his assignment, may be relieved, if not relaxed, gives a silly smile, and shrugs off. 

Chandra is mindful of the person right behind, on the scooter. Though he does not seem to mind the delay.

As Chandra and the scooter-wala right behind moves ahead, the latter gives an understanding smile to the cabbie, almost showing support to him. 

Chandra was reminded of an article he 'accidentally' found on the internet: https://www.wired.com/story/why-are-rich-people-so-mean/
Are they mean or is it primarily stereotyping, judgemental?

- Chandra is in a premium car, though a 7-year-old, well maintained.
- 'They are enjoying the holidays, not Chandra. Would they be as unhurried on a normal working day for them'. 
- Should Chandra have just waited?

How customer centric is your bank?

I have my personal account with India's #1 private sector bank. I still have my good, old account with my previous employer (then the #1 pvt sector bank, not anymore...), more for loyalty and sentimental reasons. The new account is where I have most of my key relations, including a loan. 

I just logged in to make an urgent transfer 
- It asked me to change my password. There was no option to do it later, as I was in a hurry. 
- Twice, it would not accept my current password, even though I have logged in. Maybe I entered it wrongly. 
- The third time I was lucky, I could change my password
- Then I had to log in again and make the transaction. 

Wonder how customer-centric is our bank? 
How customer-centric is your bank? 

Win or Win generation of sports heroes

"In 17 years of competition during which time he played in over 1000 events, Abhinav Bindra, India’s most decorated shooter, has 180 medals. That’s about one win for every five losses.

The realization that you will lose more than you will win is as important as the determination needed to do well in big competitions. That’s what the Indian contingent managed to do in Indonesia."

• It is about not failures, but getting up every time

• It is also not necessary one has to fail a few times for every win - a belief.

• It is still about the process, the effort, the hard work, the support we give, the #coaching, the infrastructure, the journey.  Not really the destination. 

Hope our athletes stay with that focus and move from a win-win to win-win-win? Where all stakeholders, direct and indirect win.  

The original article on @EconomicTimes by @BoriaMajumbdar: The young stars of India’s Asian Games campaign represent a generation that knows the possibilities sports can offer

Dean Baquet (NYT) & Marty Baron (Washington Post) from The Axe Files with David Axelrod

Dean Baquet and Marty Baron, the Executive Editors of the New York Times and the Washington Post respectively, join David for the Axe Files on CNN to discuss the challenges of covering the Trump presidency, the unprecedented attacks on the free press, the power of journalism to change history, and the trajectory of their storied careers from reporters to editors.

- The fourth estate is one of the pillars of a vibrant democracy. It is also facing 'disruption', from both within and from outside. 

- One good development is reduced dependency on advertisers, and on subscribers. One headache less. But that shift has not happened in a market like India, worlds largest and also a vibrant democracy. 

- Free press is perhaps under threat across the globe, including in some of the best and biggest democracies?

- Fake news to deliberately telling lies are some of the recent developments, among the political leaders. The common man is definitely confused. 

Some of the political leaders we complaint about, they are merely metaphors. 

A question to ask is what is my role in this? Do I remain a mute spectator or do something about it, however small. For example, be a responsible citizen? We owe it to future generations. We got to strengthen some of our important institutions, judiciary, media, education, art, etc. 

We can't expect someone else to do our work. It is our future, the future of our country, our kids' future. 

We got to also ensure true, selfless, visionary, transformational leaders are in charge, in all areas of human endeavour. 

When will we see such conversations among our own senior media people?

Dean Baquet & Marty Baron from The Axe Files with David Axelrod in #Podcasts. https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=1043593599#episodeGuid=gid%3A%2F%2Fart19-episode-locator%2FV0%2F0_zraz7WU0f1I5IUU-bzuWGAJrdXYh28s7zgKpSbgFM

Is aluminium cookware safe? Fear for health

Husband and wife are at the Prestige showroom to avail Independence day offers...

• Replacing old cookware with new... can be a feeling of independence?!
• After Abhishek & Aishwarya Bachchan, now Vidya Balan is the model in a heavily promoted Prestige campaign.  
• The old campaign, "Jo biwi se kare pyaar....  that is for screen only" (have heard this many times). 
• Is the love for the spouse conditional or what is alluded to spiritually, 'unconditional'?! Can two adults, with all ego, even if 'saat janam ka rishta', 'karmic consequences', blah, blah... have what Carl Rogers call, 'Unconditional Positive Regard' for each other?!

Why do we prefer to stick to our own preferences, not in an acceptance or still better, in an allowance mode? 

• #DYK one of the most common subjects on forwarded jokes is, spouse! 

Coming back to the cookware replacement at Prestige showroom... the husband picked aluminum stuff, while wife felt steel was better. They asked the salesman, who brilliantly stepped in as a referee and confirmed, "the health-conscious prefer steel". But it comes with 'the extra hassle of cooking, constant monitoring'. The husband got the KBC-like "lifeline"! He felt she was not cut out for mindfulness in cooking when she looks at all chores in the kitchen as bonded labour. 

What the husband missed was the fear of illness in wife's argument. But then can you ever have meaningful conversations from a space of 'argument'? 

Is mindfulness possible in our daily chores? Is it relevant, important? Does it help? 

Quickly googled to check on aluminum cookware: 

https://www.onlymyhealth.com/health-hazards-of-aluminium-cookware-1434793901

Paypal - No Pal to digitization, customer in the name of KYC

#Chandra has been trying to get complete his KYC with Paypal, to enable him to receive funds within India. He already has an international account and has received funds. 

- When you have an account and has been received money from overseas, why does it take so many painful steps to activate Indian version? All blame it on RBI to others....

Paypal has been asking for multiple documents. 

Now they are stuck like an old music player, where the song keeps playing the same line, when the record gets stuck? 

They keep asking him to submit the bank statement, which he has done three times now (a hat trick!!), but they continue to ask for same, again and again.

He tried calling them. They have a painful IVR process too:
- Dial them on their toll-free no (there is no 'free' lunch!)
- First, it (IVR) informs the caller the call may be recorded
- Then every time it say 'high call volume...' and be prepared for 'extended waiting time' (with such customer service, you will naturally receive more calls :))
- They repeat the number you are calling from to confirm if PayPal account is linked to that no.
- Once you press 1 and confirm, it will ask for last 4 digits of the bank account/credit card no. (why again? additional security is the excuse)
- Naturally, you don't always remember last four digits of bank account or credit. They oblige to wait for one minute (only) and you can actually hear the clock tick... also reminders in between to 'tap any key to confirm the last four digits'.
- You retrieve the data and key in the number, under additional stress now?!
- The call is forwarded... and then there is a loooooooooong silence.  
End of the story

Digitization ki aisi ki thaisi... 

PS: He has been following up with the payment app with his bank, the best bank in India & one of best globally. It took five months to activate the bank's own digital platform. 

Between Paypal and our banks, India's digital money strategy is a non-starter. In the name of KYC, they move further away from the client, knowing lesser!!