BOBKANNAN BLOGS

What is the menu for dinner? If this question is asked in a group the menu can never be finalized as there would be as many suggestions as there are taste buds. Same thing happens with much more confusion if opinion is sought in a group for taking a decision on contentious issues. It is easy to talk democracy which can be best used to select who has to lead, but how to lead is not to be decided democratically. A leader by virtue of his very designation and assignment has discretion and accountability vested with him. People who expect democratic functioning want to snatch the discretion and leave the accountability. The demands of leadership are such that decisions are often sought with low inputs. Quick analysis and judgment (like a batsman in cricket facing a fast bowler) are the need of the hour and there would be hardly any sense in democratic decisions here.  No doubt on matters concerning the majority where visionary goals have to be set and reached thro...

  Chennai means Marina, museum, Mylapore temple, the zoo though it is in faraway Vandalur, war memorials and many more. But it is the Marina that is special though there are other beaches in the city at Besant Nagar and almost every suburb. Not only it is the longest in the country but also the cheapest to visit and enjoy.  Periodically students, NGOs, activists and even visitors go on a cleaning spree of the beach wearing gloves. No doubt they do it with a deep sense of passion, commitment and sincerity but the purpose is defeated in the very next holiday when huge crowd come and throw all sorts of garbage and we are back to square one.  Not only Marina it is everywhere the emphasis has to shift from "clean it" to "don't dirty". Kitchen waste, garbage, old building material, spit and other human easing wastes though inevitable need to go the place it deserves than other places especially places that are meant to be kept beautiful. Since in...

It was a business review meeting. During the routine business that went on up to lunch time, Pammu who was an invitee was sitting tensed. Just before lunch the Regional Head (RM) called Pammu to the stage and said, "On behalf of all of you I thank him for accepting the role of Manager for Kukarmunda branch. He was not happy with the decision yet I appealed to accept this for around 18 month. Here I announce officially that his tenure would come to an end by that time instead of normal three years". Pammu smiled for the first time and the entire team clapped and congratulated him. Kukarmunda was a very small and very remote village in Surat District. It is almost 175 KMs from Surat city and was virtually godforsaken place and was seen as a condemned posting. Normally people relieved from there would receive congratulation but this time it was the one who got posted. Normally an officer who is problematic to the boss, least popular and unwanted by most would be ...

Baroda is the city I owe my life to as the Bank founded in that princely place feeds me even after my retirement more than a decade ago. My passion for cricket added verve to my love of Hyderabad. Nawab of Pataudi played cricket for Hyderabad as also the enigmatic Jaisimha and the last icon being the invincible VVS Laxman. Rajmahal road was the overlooking view from my hotel balcony when I first landed in Baroda giving me a feeling in that misty February early morning way back in 1979 that I have landed in a pleasant looking city.   Sayajiganj the first locality as one comes out of the station with a traffic circle of a stallion statue added charm as did Alkapuri on the other side of the station as a posh locale with Yellora Park as an icing to the area.  I wondered as to what made me reflect on these two cities with nostalgia. When memories are pleasant, in the long run they transform into nostalgia more so when one does not visit it or go out of touch with it...