Talk at Kalari, Alliance University, Bangalore

My students from the Department of Dance, University of Hyderabad, Kavya and Datta have both joined Alliance University, Bangalore as faculty. They are both Assistant Professors and teach Kuchipudi. 

I had taught them in 2019 so I was pleasantly surprised to get a call from Kavya asking me if I could take a session or two on Arts Management which is the course I had taught them. Since I was going to Bangalore on some work I told her I could do a session and we fixed it for today. 

Alliance University at Anekal is a 60 acre campus, lush with trees and greenery, full of students. It's very well organised, beautiful buildings etc. I loved their department, the food courts, the grounds and so on.

Since I went early I met Dr Sreedharan, Director of Indian Knowledge Systems, and was amazed at the body of work he has done in translating many rare works. 41 books he said and gifted me a copy of a book with Tulu poems (The Land that Speaks) that he translated into English with Dr Sruthy Chandrasekhar, Head of Department. 

The session was from 10 to 1 and we had about 30-35 students who participated actively as we discussed having a purpose, the approach to doing their best work, learning mindset, the 10000 hour rule to expertise, theories on how to be an expert, deliberate practice, deconstructing skill, preparation on three levels - physical, skill and mental, importance of feedback, touched a bit on marketing, finance, and made them do 20 year goals as an exercise. It was great fun and I enjoyed the interaction, the sharing.

Kavya and Datta took me out to lunch at the food court and we took a pic and parted. Thanks Kavya and Datta.

Act of Love - Peace, Style and Life on Even Terms

Something about this gentleman caught my eye - the way he was sitting, his leg hanging loose, a cigarette in his hand, smoke in the air (haven't been able to catch that smoke), a defiance or acceptance of life on its terms - not subservient, not hopeful, just on even, equal terms. A warrior. A king. On his throne. 

Or just someone who made peace with himself. With life. Who perhaps loves himself.

Loved his attitude. If I see him again another time I'll buy just to know him some more.

A Passion for Success - Kazuo Inamori

Kazua Inamori founded the Kyocera (Kyoto Ceramics) Company at 27 years of age, made it a success based on certain principles, established the Kyocera Corporation in California in 1976, founded DDI Corporation and Nippon Iridium and has donated 200 mn for the Inamori Foundation. His principles and philosophies are very simple - have no self interest, don't be a slave to money, grow other people, team before self, have big dreams and work relentlessly for them, find ways, empower people, be fair, be honest, be a learner, be humble. Harsha gave me this book to read and I found it validated many principles I believe in too.

The book has two parts - "How to Succeed in Life" and "How to Succeed in Business". 

To succeed in life he says one must be the hero (like in a movie, write your script and be its hero, not a side character), learn from all sources available (much wisdom available in elders), have a purpose and work for it, look at yourself objectively know your areas of strength and weakness, put in continuous effort towards your goal and most importantly follow his formula of
 Success = Ability X Effort X Attitude

Ability -
know where you stand objectively and try to learn and improve
overcome limitations through effort
imbibe some boldness and sensitivity which will help
control your instincts so you make better decisions (and not emotional ones)
focus your intellect
work on your character
to raise your ability you can set an impossible goal and work towards it with a time frame.

Effort 
Work is spiritual satisfaction
grow through your work by setting big goals
open new eras by being passionate about them (begin every project assuming you are starting with nothing)
things change when you learn to love your work
concentrate on one thing - by mastering one thing completely, you gain access to all things
be open to learning (misfortunes an be blessings, just be open)
be humble and satisfied, do what's right
infuse your energy into others because then you will get success even when material resources are lacking (if team members say they will do it you have a 30% chance of success, if they say they will do their best you have a 50% chance of success but if you infuse your energy and they consider the project their own, you have  a90% chance)
Make your team burn with passion. 

Attitude

never give up in the darkest hour
believe in the right path
think win-win
to build trustworthy relationships understand that it is about your mind's reflection, trust comes from within
try to see things as they are, unselfishly, then you can achieve anything
a person's ability is measured by decisions - to make a good decision one must see things as they are
give attention to detail
the subconscious mind makes the right decisions
your inner compass leads to the right decisions
base your judgement on fundamental truths and principles. 

To Succeed in Business he gives his formula of PASSION - Profit, Ambition, Sincerity, Strength, Innovation, Optimism and Never Give Up. Can't not succeed if you practice all these or even some of these. He looks at the enterprise as a drama on stage where everyone has a role to play and only when everyone does their role with commitment and passion do we have a successful play.

Profit - 

In his words - it is about maximising revenues and minimising costs. Do not chase profits - just do these two diligently. Kyocera shifted priority from technology to employees and rewrote their mission as 'the management rationale is to provide opportunities for the material and intellectual growth of all employees and through our joint effort, contribute to the advancement of society and mankind.' He says profit is society's reward for those who serve its interests.
Believe in basic rules and principles.
Pricing is management.
The essence of management is to maximise profit while satisfying the customer fully.
Follow the P&L daily.
Develop an internal reserve and act like it does not exist
Set ambitious goals and share goals with everyone, the master plan. Then see that every unit has their own plan.
He advises us to wrestle from the centre of the ring which means don't wait till it gets dangerous. Always place group interest above yours.

Ambition
Our desire to succeed should be so strong that it reaches and permeates our subconscious mind.
Have a clear and strong vision.
Be a self starter.
Work from the centre of your vortex- excel in your work and radiate excellence from it.
Your passion to succeed will open paths where none existed before.
If you have a virtuous motive - you do not need to worry about the results.

Sincerity

Any business victory should create harmony.
Work with the heart as base - abandon self-interest.
Being virtuous is the ability to make others spontaneously respect us.
All members should share the same values. be a humble leader.
A balanced executive has the qualities that posses dual extremes.
Practice great love where a great number of people get happiness form your work. Little love keeps everyone small.
Evaluate, assign and follow up - instruct rigorously and clearly, assign tasks, promote confidence, evaluate person's character, his or her attitude, constantly observe, follow up and coach.
Treat subordinates with love - give them guidance, discipline and training. Great virtue can be seen as being merciless but small virtue is seen as a great vice. Small love brings temporary popularity and short term results.
Show that you care in small ways - a pat, a word.
Communicate with the heart. Sincerity binds the speaker with the listener.

Strength

Strength is the courage to do the right thing.
One must sacrifice self interest, set a moral example. The team will reflect the leader.
Before you challenge and innovate prepare extensively on financial and mental side. 
Be tough, push limits and open new paths.

Innovation

Be creative and encourage others to be creative so they make some improvement everyday.
Creativity - burst with energy.
Elevate the mid and see from a higher plane.
Face difficult situations head on - and when you do that you have access to divine intervention.
Don't lose your base when you innovate - stay stable at some place so you don't lose everything.
Take calculated risks.
Reject common sense, rebel against traditional thinking.

Optimism

Have a clear vision and stay optimistic.
Get high on your dream, live it.
Remove all fear of failure.
Conceive optimistically, plan pessimistically and execute optimistically.

Never Give Up

Progress comes from taking the same daily steps, however trivial they seem to appear.
Remember you don't fail until you stop.
Your desire must turn into conviction.
Pursue all possibilities, set high expectations.
Be a stern task master. Workers reflect leaders.
The joy and appreciation of colleagues is the reward we get. pursue perfection.
To influence others, be fair.
Ask questions, create a learning culture.
To create harmony, don't be greedy.                  

...

Very nice. I liked his insights on people management, on detail, on simplicity and just the virtue of sincere, hard work. Thanks Harsha.

A Gift from Switzerland - Thanks Abhinay

Abhinay just returned after a three year study stint in Switzerland and he visited us today.

 I was pretty excited to see that he had brought me a gift which was in tune with my new passion - toy cars.

A lovely Volkswagon can. With doors that open. 

Love it. Thanks a ton Abhinay. I'm going to have fun with this. My collection of cars is growing. 

Going to the Movies - Syd Field

Somewhere in the book Syd talks about someone who says that we only have one or two stories and we keep telling them in different forms. Syd himself has been writing about 'Screenplay' and different ways to approach it. This one is about his journey through four decades of films as a child of Hollywood, a documentary film maker, a film critic, head of story department, a screenwriter, a teacher of screenplay writing and an author of screenplay writing.

One of the first things I did was to write down all the wonderful movies he refers to in the book and hope to see some of them. There are many nuggets that he mentions here and there that I wrote down. His journey in brief as I remember it - grew up in Hollywood, a family where there were people working in Hollywood, still not too inclined and wanted a college education, registered for a course in dentistry, somehow got drawn to plays and acted, got drawn to films and got into film school. His first job was in Wolper Productions thanks to his Uncle Sol who was a well established cameraman, and he worked and learned many aspects of film making. Then to screenwriting. Back to working with Cinemobile where he researched hundreds of scripts to pick the right ones, went into writing himself. Then taught a course on screenplay writing at Sherwood Oaks and fully got into the teacher (student) mode and then wrote the books on Screenplay writing which are his biggest claim to fame. He is undoubtedly the first name anyone recommends to read when learning about screenplay.

There's a quote by Renoir (the film guy) who tells him that 'a part is like going to a store and buying something that fits. But then you have to alter it a bit here, a bit there until it fits right'. - It could very well be for a book, a movie, anything creative.
Writing a screenplay is always work in progress. It never ends.
Avoid the cliche.
Bring yourself to the character.
Art should offer the viewer the chance of merging with the creator.
Art is in the doing of it (as opposed to talking about doing it).
Movies are stories told in pictures. Think in pictures, not dialogue.
Character is set up visually.
We write only one or two stories in our life.
The main genres - action, adventure, thriller, war, western, noir, love stories
A strong opening is necessary. Strong opening scene, Grab attention in the first few minutes.
Great art comes from distillation of personal experience - Renoir

There's this bit he discusses with a poet friend of his - Graves - about inspiration. Graves says he knew of a writer who would keep a rotten apple near him when he wrote for inspiration.Graves himself would fall madly in love and break up and in the aftermath would write.

From Joseph Campbell's A Hero with a Thousand Faces Syd finds the format - hero is placed in a situation, faces a series of obstacles, he fights them to get what he wants and achieves a higher state of consciousness, he changes on the inside and the outside, a symbolic transformation of death. His journey is one of acceptance of his fate, be it life or death.

From his discussions with Sam Pekinpah -

The character is obsessively driven to achieve his goal. He follows his dharma - the path of righteous action.

One thing Syd points out when observing the work of a director - that he uses the contradiction of visual image, showing what's not expected

Hang the story around a centrepiece event. Build action up to that and everything else is a result of that.
A tense moment can be followed by a humorous episode in order to break the tension. 

Create an emotional weakness and then create a physical ailment that reflects that emotional weakness.

Infuse the characters with different shades of conflict. Conflict can be external or internal.
Without conflict there is no action, without action there is no character change,without character there is no story.

A film is like getting on a roller coaster, its always moving.

From Cinemobile days - 

Act I sets up the story and introduces the characters.
Film is behavior.

You have 30 seconds to tell the story - Pitchman's pitch

A good idea needs good execution.

Script ratings- whammos, every ten pages.

Taking full ownership for his submissions. Did I like it? If so, why? If I didn't, why not? A good screenplay normally has a good visual style, an interesting premise, and 3 dimensional characters. One needs to know whats the story about? Who is it about? What's going on?

Syd developed his paradigm of three Acts - Acts 1 (Beginning, set up, plot point 1 at 2-30 pages),Act 2 (The Middle, Confrontation, mid point at page 60, plot point at 80-90 pages), Act II (End, resolution)

The most exciting part of the creative process is the moment that lies between confusion and clarity.

What is the character but the determination of the incident, what is the incident but the illumination fo character.

Writing - address the inner critic - So what? Feel free to write without worrying about perfection. 

It does not matter how you write. Just that you write. Just tell the story.

Identify the idea, find the pictures that illustrate the ideas, build a story around them.

...

The films he mentions that I hope to see -

Ordinary people
The Big Easy
Witness
Dances with Wolves
Terminator II
Bridges of Madison County
Courage Under Fire
Groundhog Day
Usual Suspects
Sliding Doors
Magnolia
Wonder Boys
Traffic
The Perfect Storm
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Out of Sight
Boogie Bights
Hard Eight
Hustler
Body heat
An Unmarried Woman
Absence of Malice
An affair to remember
Serpico
Manhattan
Annie Hall
Body and Soul
All the King's Men
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Three Days to Condor
American Graffiti
Jeremiah Johnson
Mean Streets
Alice Don't Live Here Anymore
The Killing
Paths of Glory
His Girl Friday
The Philadelphia Story
Sullivan's Travels
Red River
The Wild Bunch
Woman of the Year
Goddess
Singin in the rain
An American in Paris
Duel in the Sun
From here to Eternity
Notorious
The Postman always rings twice
Lady from Shanghai
Star Wars
Rules of the game

...

Nice read as always. I started reading this book almost three months ago when I went to Goa and put it aside, even though it was a very interesting read. It's part of A's collection - I have no idea where she got these books from. 

Now to get to the movies.

        

        

Acts of Love - Grandmother and Grandson

I was walking Akela this morning when I saw this grandmother walking with a very young grandson, maybe five or six years old. She was walking slowly and I could see that the grandson was company for her.

Then she stopped walking because she was perhaps tired. The grandson looked puzzled. He didn't know what to do. 

She crossed over and sat by the side of the road. The grandson stood by her wondering what to do. A tender moment. A shared moment. A moment of love. 

An act of love. 

I sent some energy her way and hoped they both went wherever they had to go and had a good time while at that.

Hyderabad by Walk - Aghapura, Gyan Bagh Palace

Deccan Archives announced the Aghapura walk promising hidden palaces and such. It sounded exciting and though I had a meeting at 11 at Gachibowli, I thought I'd chance it. So I showed up at 830 at Dargah Shah Khamosh, near Nampally, which is as beautiful a dargah as you can hope to see. A decent crowd had gathered and I parked, reparked, reparked according to the wishes of various dargah people who kept showing up until Safwan found me a good place, a little distance away from the hassles of the dargah keepers.

Gyan Bagh Palace

Another view

Finally, we were off after a quick intro by Sibgat to Shah Khamosh Dargah and the Sufi traditions of Hyderabad. We moved to the graves of two Hyderabadi poets Makhdoom Moinuddin (Phir Chhidi Raat...) and Amjad Hyderabadi both lying within 100 metres of the dargah. Makhdoom was the founder of the Progressive Writers Union of Hyderabad, an active member of the Communist Party in Hyderabad and active in the rebellion against the Nizam's regime while Amjad Hyderabadi had lost his family in the 1908 floods and survived by climbing the banyan tree in Osmania General Hospital and hanging on for life along with a 100 or more people. Sibgat used (normally uses) the most appropriate words while speaking about the two poets and their divergent philosophies that I wonder why he doesn't write more.

Hazrat Shah Khamosh Dargah - the green enclosure to the left is late poet Amjad Hyderabadi's

Late Poet Makhdoom Mohiuddin's Grave (near the dargah)

Naubat Khana where they beat kettle drums

We passed the gate where they beat the nagara or naubat or kettle drums to announce the time of the day and other important occasions and spilled on to the main road and walked towards Darusalam and much to my delight, onward to Gyan Bagh, a 170 plus year old palace owned by the Dhanraj Girs, once known as the Rockefellers of India, the second richest family in the South (as per some basic research I did). 

Driveway to Gyan Bagh Palace

Extended parts of the palace

In its time Gyan Bagh was one of the most expensive mansions around. Originally from Kandar in Afghanistan, the family appears to have moved to Ujjain, then Pune and during the Peshwa rule, to the Deccan under the last Qutb Shah ruler. The family has opulent palaces in Bombay, Pune and Hyderabad, owned mills and properties, hospitals and ginning factories in Sholapur and Bombay. I remember the Dhanraj Girs as models, actors, great looking people, Tarun Dhanraj Gir I remember who played Darcy's role in the Indian tele series version of 'Pride and Prejudice' - Trishna - and was the heartthrob of many young girls. He acted in other series such as 'Aarohan' and then produced and directed films like 'Bolo Hau' which is as Hyderabadi as it gets. 

Another view

The main entrance

Royal insignia

I asked Wahaj what Gyan Bagh palace was about and he told me it belonged to Rani Indira Devi Dhanraj Gir. In my cursory research I came across a couple of blogs and some info online about the palace - built over 30000 sft, with limestone and marble, 19 suites, built in three phases. It appears to be named after the first Raja Gyan Gir Bahadur, then passed on to Raja Narsingh Girji Bahadur and then to Raja Dhanraj Gir Bahadur (1893-1988). Indira Devi (1930-2026), first of four siblings, was born to Raja Dhanraj Gir and Rani Premila Devi. Interestingly for me, Raja Dharaj Gir apparently introduced many western ideas and hold your breath, also introduced the game of cricket to Hyderabad. He was in the court of the seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali.

Entrance to an ancient tomb

Akhirat Manzil - Final Destination

Rani Indira Devi was a poet, painter, socialite and philanthropist and here's one piece of information that knocked me down - she was nominated for the 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature for her poetry. She married Srikishan Seth, nephew of Kishen Pershad, erstwhile noble and twice Prime  Minister under the Nizams (after whom there was once a A division cricket tournament played in Hyderabad). She left him very early on in the marriage and later divorced him in 1970. Wikipedia says she married again in 1971 - poet Seshendra Sharma. Rani Indira also entertained local poets such as Aziz Qaisi, Makdoom Mohiuddin, Jwalamukhi and so on and Gyan Bagh appears to have been a place of much literary and cultural activity in those days.

   

Another gateway

The address of the palace is Joshiwada Colony, Goshamahal. The gate looks quite ordinary and we walked into the drive way. There is a lot of growth on either side, and a rather amicable security guard busy chopping onions accosted us. Newly constructed walls indicated that some parts have been sectioned off. To the left one could see a bunch of old unused vehicles in a garage. We were joined by Smt Anuradha Reddy who spoke about the family and their history in her inimitable manner while the security guard called someone who came and finally allowed us in. As we walked closer to the palace we could see that it was being renovated and painted etc. The facade looked imposing and I could see there was more to the palace at the back. Apparently the Telugu film 'Muthyala Muggu' was shot here.

Another one

Exiting Shah Khamosh Dargah

I took a couple of pictures of the palace and headed out as I had a meeting. But it was very interesting to see this palace, this piece of history right in the middle of Hyderabad, in parts I never set foot on in the last fifty years. Glad I could, thanks to Deccan Archives. which is contributing considerably to expand my knowledge and history of my dear city.     

On my way back I took pictures of the many interesting gateways to Sufi tombs and dargahs, of Makdoom Mohiuddin's tomb and Amjad Hyderabadi's tomb and headed off. One called 'Akhirat Manzil' which Wahaj said literally means 'The Final Destination'. Nothing subtle about that.  

It's amazing so much history lies here in this narrow, neglected part of the city. Hopefully will explore these streets some more soon.