Back in Bangalore: 30 Years Later!

Since this is the Summer of ’24:

Summer of ’42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age film. The film was a commercial (box-office revenues over $32 million on a budget of $1 million) and critical success and was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning for Best Original Score.

After an enjoyable week in New Delhi – back at Taj Man Singh, with delicious breakfasts, browsing in Khan Market, stopping in to Bahri&Sons, strolling in Lodi Gardens (alongside monkeys ) – that was more-or-less entirely predictable, a pleasant surprise was to discover a new Wine Bar at the Taj, but what was additionally a totally unexpected treat – serendipity! – was to meet up with  Chander Velu and Sriya Iyer – both professors at Cambridge – who were passing through New Delhi (overlapping only for one day and staying at the Taj ☺️) and discuss over cocktails and dinner:

Economics of Religion.

Now for the main topic of this post.

The last time I was in Bangalore – renamed Bengaluru in 2006, see Not-the-City-of-Boiled-Beans for various historical possibilities of why it is so named – was in the Summer of ’94:

Promoted to Associate Professor (without Tenure), 3 years ahead of schedule☺️

Won the Undergraduate Teaching Award

Did a “around-the-world” trip: Pittsburgh to Dallas to Tokyo (to Fukuoka, recall The Importance of being Unselected, and back to Tokyo) to Hong Kong to Singapore to New Delhi (to Bangalore and back to New Delhi) to London to Pittsburgh

Kicked off a project on Scheduling of Private Jets, my first direct introduction to a New Business Model (and so Entrepreneurship), recall Six Invited Pieces

My first trip to Italy (so loved the Amalfi Coast): Naples, Sorrento, Capri, Ercolano, Pompei, Positano, Florence, Rome

Let me acknowledge the remarkably streamlined (and Green) exit – from the plane through the terminal to the outside to the car parking and driving out to the highway – at Kempegowda International Airport!

That is where the streamlined-ness and such stops!

I had not much paid attention to the various people and news about congestion and traffic nightmares: It was amusing on Day 1, but pretty annoying, even borderline unacceptable, as a way of going through life, by Day 2!

On the positive side, when I had found out that the only Four Seasons Hotel (recall The Four Seasons) in India is in Bangalore, I had to stay there! Since it is now called the City of Gardens (also see Lal Bagh, literally Red Garden, Botanical Gardens), I booked a Corner Garden Suite. (And, yes, the Welcome Package was wonderful!)

More positive news: It was wonderful today to catch up with Byas Nambisan (Tepper MBA 1994) over coffee and snacks!

And another fun activity during this trip was to visit Quanfluence:

Here is a working device, accessible on-line,  in the journey – recall  Roll Over Turing, and November 24: 1664 and 2021 – towards Pocket Quantum Computers:

The most memorable narrative from the Olympics this Summer of ’24 appears to be:

John Wick is an American neo-noir action film series and media franchise created by Derek Kolstad. It centers on the titular character portrayed by actor Keanu Reeves. Wick is a legendary hitman who is reluctantly drawn back into the criminal underworld after retiring. The films have earned a collective gross of more than $1 billion worldwide

Hit Man is a 2023 American romantic comedy film produced and directed by Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the screenplay with Glen Powell.

And, of course (recall that my first post was Quentin Tarantino) the movie event of 1994 was:

Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary. Pulp Fiction won the Palme d’Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and was a major critical and commercial success (box office revenues of over $213 million on a budget of under $9 million). It was nominated for seven awards at the 67th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won Best Original Screenplay.