Dr. Atul R Thakare

  “Namashkar, main Amitabh Bachchan bol raha hoon…” I have been hearing these iconic lines for the past 25 years, but I never imagined I would get to hear them in person. Of course, I did try to be part of Kaun Banega Crorepati in the early 2000s. I spent countless evenings glued to a landline receiver, furiously punching numbers into the IVRS system, hoping that luck would smile on an average guy like me and count me among the fortunate few. The hot seat remained an unattainable dream. Life moved on, but earlier this season, the circle closed in a way I hadn’t anticipated: I finally got the opportunity to attend KBC as an audience member. Hearing that voice live, without the filter of speakers or broadcast compression, sent an immediate chill down my spine.  I may not be your biggest fan, but I have admired your performances across numerous films. To be frank, I was mesmerised by your anger in Deewaar , the suave menace of Don , the stern patriarch in Mohabbatein , the fragi...

Thanks for the overwhelming response to my earlier article on Responsiveness . I hope you'll enjoy this one too. An employee-friendly manager once messaged his subordinate: "It's raining heavily in Pune. Come to the office only if you need a job." This message went viral on WhatsApp last week. A friend of mine reacted strongly to it because it reminded him of an incident with his manager at year-end. "I was about to resign in December 2025 when my boss rejected my Christmas leave, saying, 'I'll be on leave that week, so you need to be here to handle office affairs.' " "Oh really?" I reacted. "Yeah, I was shocked. I was about to reply, tumhaara khoon khoon aur hamaara khoon paani, but I controlled myself." "Good that you showed composure." "But the incident burned me out. I hadn’t taken any casual leave throughout the year, thinking I would take a vacation with my family at the end of the year. B...

🎶 “Appadi podu podu podu asathi podu kannalae…” — humming the tune, Irrfan walked into my study, which had now transformed into the buzzing office of our start-up. “Looks like you’re on cloud nine today,” I remarked with a smile. “Sanju sir, not just me — everyone who believes in democracy should be celebrating! After all, Thalapathy Vijay has become the Chief Minister now,” Irrfan declared with excitement. “But this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, AIADMK and the Telugu Desam Party had already set that precedent.” Amitabh, rising from his chair, added. “And let’s not forget the Asom Gana Parishad and the Aam Aadmi Party,” I chimed in. Ronjoy, who had just parked his bike in the courtyard, joined the conversation: “Exactly. They too gave us first-time Chief Ministers.” “But that doesn’t belittle the effort Vijay and TVK put in,” Irrfan insisted, unwilling to back down. I tried to mediate: “I agree. In today’s digital era of star...