My Life - an Ocean of Ignorance

2009-09-28T15:20:00.008+05:30

Happy Dussehra!

Today is VijyaDashami / Dussehra - a festive ocassion which has always intrigued me. As a kid I heard its the day when Ram killed Ravan and it symbolises the victory of good over evil. Back then I thought Ravan must've been a really evil man being the "king of asurs/demons" and he deserved what he got. But as I grew old I came to know that "Ravan" was infact a Brahmin and a very intelligent one at that with vast amount of knowledge. This revelation shook my childhood beliefs about Ravan.

Ever since then I ve tried to find the true meaning of the symbolism of Ram's victory and Ravan's defeat. Isn't it true that "Jab tak Raam hai... Ravan rahega" ? Is it possible that "good" can actually eliminate "evil" from this world ? What does this symbolism mean for me as an individual and for the society that I live in ? Is it just about victory of good over evil ? Are we missing out on the fine print attached to this event thanks to our usual tendency to take a macro view ?

Every Dussehra in particular I like to take a micro view of life. Based on my experiences and understanding of life I try to refine what is "Ram" and what is "Ravan" for me. This I believe is a very important exercise for anyone who wishes to finally sign off from this world as a good human being.

Its very easy to get caught in the web of fast paced life that we now lead and lose perspective of what is good and what is "not good" (I think "evil" is too strong a word and after all the concept of "evil" depends on how we define "good" isn't it ? ) Hence its very important to use the symbolism of such festive ocassions, to take a momentary pause from our routines and get a refined perspective about our lives.

We Indians are blessed to be born in a culture which provides a well defined mechanism for this in the form of Dussehra, Diwali, Raksha Bandhan, Guru Poornima and numerous other big and small festive ocassions... if only we all looked beyond the material things which we've conveniently associated with these festivals, we would be better human beings and consequently our society/nation would be a much better place to live in!

Anyways Wish everyone a Very Happy Dussehra!! Hope you all are able to identify the "Ram" and "Ravan" in your life, thinking, conduct etc.

Here are few lines from a song in the movie "Swades" which come quite close to capturing the essence of "Ram" and "Ravan" for me...

Raam hi toh karuna mein hai, shaanti mein raam hai...
Raam hi hai ekta mein, pragati mein raam hai...
Raam bas bhakton nahin shatru ke bhi chintan mein hai...
Dekh taj ke paap raavan, raam tere mann mein hai...
Raam tere mann mein hai, raam mere mann mein hai...
Raam to ghar ghar mein hai, raam har aangan mein hai...
Mann se raavan jo nikaale, raam uske mann mein hai...
Mann se raavan jo nikaale, raam uske mann mein hai!

2009-07-13T17:46:00.006+05:30

Death - "The Moment"

There are moments in life when we feel disappointed or dejected at having missed out on something... it could be ranging from something as trivial as watching our favorite player eclipse a major record live on TV to something which seems really important for the future course that our lives would take example a job opportunity.

The root cause of this being our belief that WE are the ones who are in charge of our lives and its WE who have the power to shape it the way we want. But then there are moments which make a complete mockery of it all.

Moments which leave us stunned

Moments which make us feel absolutely powerless

Moments which compel us to accept how foolish we have been in thinking that we are in control all the time and if we have lost control its our fault

Death is that Moment... which makes it all meaningless and at the same time gives meaning to Life. Because Life when viewed in isolation can muddle up our minds with a false sense of authority. Its Death which gives a perspective to Life, if we are ready to understand it.

The moment when you see a funeral pyre being lit being "The Moment" when Life makes the most sense. Because in the mirage created by the flames you can actually see LIFE... yes an entire Life gone by.

It is also The Moment when you realize that perhaps the only important thing in Life is to express your feelings to your near and dear ones.

Because if you don't seize The Moment when it presents itself, you might not get another opportunity ever again. And trust me this missed opportunity is perhaps the only thing worth regretting... coz you can regret it all your Life.

2009-07-01T14:36:00.006+05:30

The Awesomeness of Nothingness...

Its been months now (3 months n 9 days to be precise) since I came back from MDI. And I guess d absence of regular blog posts during this period sends across an impression that I must ve been pretty busy all this while! :)

But nothing can be farther from the reality than this impression. This period has perhaps been the most "vela" period of my life, have done practically "Nothing" all this while.

Am sure activities such as eating, sleeping, sitting all day long in front of d Idiot Box like an Idiot, spamming on various Yahoo Groups or abusing d Social Networking platforms (Yes all 3 - FB, Twitter n Orkut) finally add up to nothing else but "Nothing".

Okk, On the sidelines I have also been involved in some pretty interesting discussions with the HR Team of my would be employer. And have spent decent amount of time trying to decipher the encrypted messages embedded in their replies, which usually is a one liner "We will revert back soon/shortly".

But the fact that I've failed and that too miserably at deciphering the meaning of simple words like "soon" & "shortly" means all d time spent drafting mails, plotting phone calls, startegising 4 d next round of mails/phone calls also adds up to nothing else but "Nothing".

At times I feel, all the hours spent dreaming about the good ole days spent at MDI must surely add up to something ? Not exactly, right ?

So it all finally adds up to "Nothing"... pretty depressing... especially when you consider am a freshly minted MBA - a "Change Master" in MDI parlance... raring to go all out and change the Corporate world and lives of its denizens.

But then to console my self I look at all that has happened in the world around me in this period... just sample these...

Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the PM (1st one to do so after Jawaharlal Nehru)
Deccan Chargers won d IPL
BJP is done with 1 round of Letter Writing competition
Ronaldo & Kaka are all set to join Real Madrid
No tantrums thrown by Mamta didi yet
Pakistan won d World T20
Michael Jackson is dead
Nadan Nilekani is all set to become the CIO of India
Liberhan Comission has submitted its report on Babri Masjid demolition
The Bandra Worli Sea Link is finally functional

And what have I been upto all this while... NOTHING!! Its Awesome, isn't it? :)

2009-05-13T16:32:00.006+05:30

The First Egg-shit Poll of Elections 2009! :)

Last month or so the two IPLs (P for 'Premier' as well as 'Political') have helped me kill time and its quite a coincidence that as I write this blog post action is really hotting up in both the IPLs. Both are right now at a similar stage with likely semi finalists staking their claims. But the actual final lineup will be only clear in about a weeks time from now.

For me the IPL of the Political kind has at most times been more engrossing than the cricketing one. And today being the last day of polling, post 5PM there will be a flurry of activity on the news channels with each of them coming out with their Exit Polls (remember the EC had banned mid elections Exit polls this time around). Every news channel will have their set of psephologists/pollsters who will try to convince the viewers that there’s is the survey which is closest to the reality. Of course the real picture would only be clear as early as 10AM on 16th May.

But since all this while I too was quite hooked to the Elections I thought it was time I put all my efforts at tracking fortunes of various parties and leaders to good use. So I decided to do some number crunching and release an Exit Poll of my own. After all I have practically read every news article that's appeared in print/online media related to elections and watched all the debates, field reports on various news channels. Moreover speculation is a part of basic human nature isn't it ?

So here I am with the results of my first ever exit poll . Which I firmly believe is the first its kind as it doesn’t rely on asking few questions to a sample of 1000/10000 people regarding the choices they have made and extrapolating them for the nation. Coz with all due respect to the discipline of Statistics (which lemme confess has only grown after I underwent the Stats course at MDI :)) ) n its revered practisioners I firmly believe that such a "scientific approach" is unsuitable for Indian elections since:

Here elections are fought on issues like caste, religion, foreign origins, strengths and weaknesses of prime ministerial candidates, fatwa’s, hate speeches etc on which 70 crore voting population has at least 70 crore views if not more
Voting percentages vary from as low as 25% to high 65% in various parts of the country and results can be decided by margins as lows as 1000 votes to 2 lakh votes too

So my Exit poll is based on one plain simple concept:

Common sense, gut feel, inner voice (some may call it bias towards a particular party too... but then such allegations will be leveled by politicians too tonight if the results on a particular channel don't favor them ;) )

Of course I have also made use of statistical data like the results of the 1999 & 2004 elections i.e. seats won, percentage of votes polled etc and non statistical inputs like field reports from various states (as reported by the Indian media - print, online as well as television), reports from friends & relatives in various parts of the country and most importantly a resulting sense of the political situation prevailing in various parts of the country.

Some intangible weight age has also been assigned to the possible impact on the voters of the election campaigns of the various parties. This includes the elections speeches, press conferences, interviews of their leaders as well as all the confusing sound bytes. Of course the impact of "Jai Ho", "Bhay Ho" ad campaigns, the huge posters of Advaniji staring at us from numerous hoardings across the country, Priyanka's saarees, Rahul's dimples has also been factored in (or so I hope ;) ).

Enough light has been shed about the methodology (or rather the lack of it) so let me come down to the results now. First up, here's The Big Picture:

	Best Case	Worst Case	Most Likely
Congress	185	115	155
BJP	155	105	135
UPA	225	140	195
NDA	205	140	175

*UPA = Congress + NCP + RJD + LJP + TMC + DMK
*NDA = BJP + SS + SAD + JD(U) + TRS + AGP + INLD
*Expected margin of error : +/- 10 seats 

As for the people interested in the so called Third/Fourth fronts they are expected to stack up as follows:

	Best Case	Worst Case	Most Likely
SP	28	20	24
BSP	30	24	27
AIADMK	19	10	16
Left	46	35	39
BJD	9	7	8
TDP	21	11	16

For the detailed breakup of state-wise predictions please click here.

So here it is Ladies n Gentlemen... the First Egg-Shit err Exit Poll of Elections 2009... n that too a good 1 hour before any news channel has come out with its own version.

Of course over the next few days it would be clear as to how close or far away from the pulse of the people I was in my analysis and predictions. But what the heck! So what if I am no Dorab or Yogendra Yadav to hang around with the Prannoy Roys, Rajdeep Sardesais of the world ? As a participant in this greatest Dance of Democracy on planet earth I too am entitled to take a shot isn’t it ? :)).

Open to comments, criticism, counter analysis, jabs, swipes...

2009-05-03T12:07:00.002+05:30

That lazy feeling...

Its been over a month since I came back from MDI and its been spent pretty much doing nothing. Days have been spent reading 3 newspapers in a matter of couple of hours ( :) perhaps I am compensating for d 2 years at MDI when I hardly read a couple of pages of news ) , social networking, watching d coverage of Elections on various news channels besides the odd interesting IPL/Champions League encounter... all play and no work has made me a really dull man!! :))

As for this blog had lot of stuff on my mind... memoirs from a trip to The City of Joy, memoirs from Life at MDI, dissection of Indian politics, analysis of the strong leader weak leader argument, my views on the low voter turnout in Bombay and a lot more.

But then I was down with the good old procrastination syndrome. Will surely complete these long pending posts soon.

Until then!

2009-03-27T00:29:00.003+05:30

Its all going downhill for Bombay...

Spent the major part of today on the roads of Bombay and I am disappointed, disgusted, terrified and shocked by what I saw. Sample this...

Lokhandwala complex... d roads have been dug up
On d way to Andheri station... d roads have been dug up
On d way to Saki Naka... d roads have been dug up

... n all this with the dreaded Monsoon season just a couple of months away. The MET department has already predicted high tides in the month of July of the kind never seen in Mumbai in many years. From what I saw today it would take a miracle to save the city from mayhem this monsoon!

But all this is some of the new mess that has been created... whats even scarier is the mess which existed 2 years back when I had left Bombay and has only gone from bad to worse in these 2 years... esp the two major chunks:

1. On d way to IIT... d roads are still in a mess
2. Times of India junction... d flyover is not even close to completion

In some 6-7 hours that I spent on the road today I am sure I ended up inhaling more dust, smoke and other pollutant matter than what I have in over 18 months spent on MDI campus.

My short visit to the lush green IIT campus provided some much needed respite but then the journey back home from IIT completely sapped me... it took almost the same time it used to take me about 3 years back... or perhaps it took even more time. I was so damn tired and frustrated that I had stopped keeping track by then. Dont know what the planners of the city are upto!

By the end of the day I had a running nose, burning eyes and severe headache.

Was almost teary eyed on my way home... partly due to the burning sensation caused by all the dust and smoke... but mainly because...

... I was worried for my city which now seems to be in a royal mess perhaps beyond repair &
... I was missing my lush green peaceful and pollution free campus! :|

God save Bombay!

2009-03-23T15:50:00.003+05:30

Strange feeling...

So MDI is finally over for me... had a memorable Convocation ceremony on the 18th March (You can read about it here )

After a long night of packing my stuff, I bid adieu to my gorgeous campus. Lots of friends were there to bid farewell and it was an emotionally overwhelming moment... tried to keep my emotions in check but failed miserably.

Can't explain the feeling in words but it almost felt like I was leaving home never to return back.

On my return trip to Mumbai had Ronak for company... Life had a come a full circle in more ways than one - since Ronak was also there with me 2 years back when I left Mumbai for MDI.

All along the journey numerous moments & incidents from my Life at MDI kept flashing in my head. There was also a sense of disappointment since there were so many people whom I wanted to personally thank once before leaving but couldnt for various reasons (majorly my lazy nature :| ) ...

Jhaji for his scrumptuous samosas and chaai besides all the relaxing chats I had with him

Vijay bhaiyaa for serving us the mess food for 2 yrs...many a times long after the official mess timings

Many faculty members whom I respected and loved... for what they taught both inside as well as outside the classroom, some for the way they cared for me

and Lots of friends... for making d last 2 yrs so memorable & many a times tolerating/ignoring me :)

But guesss I ve missed out on this...

Finally when the time came to alight from the train... I felt really strange... I was back @ Bombay... My city... My home... but I wasn't happy or overjoyed... at the successful culmination of what has been a long cherished journey both for me as well as my family.

I was wondering... Why is it that I don't have a return ticket to MDI with me this time around ?

I am still wondering! :|

2009-03-14T17:32:00.005+05:30

Real Loss...

Just finished "Good Will Hunting" a really moving story. Besides many other things there's one line which stuck with me well after the movie was over. The line spoken by Robin William in the movie is:

Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself

Post the movie... ended up booking my return ticket to Mumbai. 18th is the Convocation Day and 19th March would be The Day when I pack my stuff and head back home bringing the b-school life to a formal closure.

As I saw my credit card details getting accepted could sense the feeling of Real Loss creeping through my nerves. Guess 19th March is going to be the day when I come face to face with the feeling of Real Loss... its bound to be cause I've realized I love this god damn b-school life more than I love myself.

I wish time stands still... :|

2009-03-05T07:11:00.005+05:30

Dawn of reality...

Early morning went to nearby Gurgaon bus depot to see off one of my very special fellow ManDevIans whom I fondly call "Sanskriti Maatey".

And as I bid her goodbye could sense she was about to breakdown, which she eventually did as we drove next to her bus for some distance. Though daybreak was still an hour or so away that particular moment ushered the dawn for me... the dawn of reality.

Reality which I have been trying to run away from for so many days now.

Reality which I know I would not be able to handle for quite some time.

That moment hit me real bad and I couldn't stop getting overwhelmed by emotions. And it was bound to happen since Maatey is 1 person on campus with whom I had a strong emotional connect.

Even before we joined MDI, just through the mails that we exchanged I could sense that she would be a really colorful and interesting person to interact with.Gradually I found that we share the same upbringing, similar value system and zest for life. I saw a part of myself in her. But then only a part it was, because it is too difficult to be Maatey.

And this I can say with great deal of confidence because in today's world its difficult to find a person as pure as she is. Honest, pure, selfless, sensitive, loving and caring person that she is I didnt spot even a hint of selfish or mean streak in her. And that has endeared her to me the most. Perhaps thats the case with most people who have been lucky enough to have her as a part of their lives.

Besides I feel it was fitting that someone so special like Maatey has made me realise that this "one long night of revelry" (as I had mentioned in my earlier post here) is finally coming to an end now.

The dawn of a new life beckons...

Thank you maatey for all the wonderful memories that you have created for me!

PS: Dawn of reality also means that I will have to start packing my stuff soon :|

2009-02-28T02:14:00.006+05:30

Some New Experiences - Football, Twitter, Barcamp & Classical Music

Of late afternoons have been well spent playing cricket with fellow ManDevIans on the lush green fields of MDI. A luxury I would definitely miss once out of MDI. Today as we were about to end another bunch of friends had descended on the field for a round of football.

Had a strong impulse to try my hand or rather foot at football. It was my first ever attempt at Football @ MDI and I loved it. Though some tackles got scary at times and was tentative all throughout I think I will give it a try couple more times. Besides unlike Cricket it involves lot of running so would help lose a couple of kilos too which I've been trying hard ;)

Dinner was followed by a movie "Scent of a Woman". An OKish script but brilliant acting by Al Pacino. And he made some very poignant remarks about leadership in the climax which I kinda feel needs to be reiterated time and again to keep people and institutions focused.

Post that during random net surfing ended up creating a Twitter account. You can now find me on twitter here. Am a big fan of Social Networking and take pride in using Orkut and Facebook very actively. For next few days perhaps would try and get comfortable with tweeting. Also found a very interesting website to find directions to any place.

Have some fairly new things lined up for the weekend too...

Will be attending Barcamp Delhi 6th Edition which will be hosted @ MDI over the weekend. On sunday will do some Delhi darshan during the day and attend a SPICMACAY event in the evening where Pt.Ravishankar and Anoushka Shankar would be performing.

Am quite liking these new developments and the new experiences they are/would be offering.

Adios! :)

2009-02-24T18:29:00.005+05:30

The Morning After...

As I woke up and sat in my bed
Staring into the vast empty spaces of my Change Masters room
I could feel an acute pain shooting through my Head

I sat there trying to figure out this incomprehensible feeling
And it took me quite a while to realize it's the "The Morning After..."
The Morning After a Night full of revelry

A rather Long Night...which lasted some 20 odd months
Complete with several mini Mornings Days and Nights in its each passing Moment

A rather Long Night...replete with moments each full of distinctive ManDevIan flavor
All of which I merrily guzzled with much fervor

Each little sip aroused an arrangement of assorted emotions

But I still wondered...
...this Hangover Effect is a result of which Concoctions

The Concoctions which I drank so merrily
Without ever wondering what the consequences might be

As I tried to figure out the causes of this groggy stupor
I could sense the Pain had already made its way and reached My Heart

And then My Heart finally spoke
"Don't worry son" he said...to soothe my frayed nerves

And then he continued for a while...

It's the Hangover Effect of a Heady Mixture of Life
Of which you had several Shots On the Rocks
Lives of your Fellow ManDevIans served Neat with Your Own Life

But My Mind continued to wander for a while
Then it refused to admit I was up drinking all night

But My Heart was beaming with Joy
Glad that I had revelled all night

Then I slowly recognized that this Hangover Effect I really savor
And it's going to be impossible to induce it all over again

So I decided to escape This Morning After
And go back to that bloody Night

A long night replete with moments each full of distinctive ManDevIan Flavour
And indulge in that heady Concoction of Life for one last time...

Wrote this on Saturday morning i.e. "The Morning After" my last exam at MDI and dedicated with Love to All the Lives who made up this Heady Concoction!

PS: All this while I used to joke around with people who tried to change my teetotaler ways by saying "Hum to zindagi ka nasha karte hain". Its only when I sat down to write this I realized what it actually means!

2009-02-24T00:47:00.007+05:30

The beginning of the end...

Course work at MDI has come to an end. Many a times during the past two years I wondered how it would feel when I gave my last exam at MDI. That moment came and went last friday evening. And to my own surprise I had no feelings.

Perhaps it didnt sink in at that moment or perhaps I refused to let it sink in. Anyways the convocation would be held on 18th March and many of my batchmates have already packed their stuff and left while many others are planning to do so in the next few days.

Can already sense a strange sort of feeling spreading on Campus. But I have decided that I would be here till the Convo and live the last few days of my Life at MDI to the fullest. Have got no elaborate plans as such. I guess I'll go with the flow, try and enjoy each passing moment.

And the last couple of days have indeed been wonderful. Free from pressures of classes, prereads (not that I read a lot of late for the classes ;) ), assignments/projects (haven't contributed much to these too of late ;) ) etc. four of us went to see DevD followed by a trip to QutubMinar and Chandni Chowk on Sunday. And it was one of those days which would remain in my memory for a long time. Not that we did or saw something truly spectacular but just the overall feeling was great.

Hopefully the next 25 odd days would be full of many more such days. Slowly but surely with each passing day I can sense it is sinking in.

Its the beginning of the end as they say. But I am really not too sure whether I am ready for this end and more importantly the Life after MDI...

2009-02-13T02:58:00.004+05:30

End of Masti Ki Paathshaala... :(

Last few days of student life left at MDI now. Just 4 more classes over the next couple of days, 4 exams in the next week and it will be all over. Perhaps the last time I would be attending classes and giving exams in this lifetime.

Curtains would soon come down on the 2 of the most wonderful years of my life I have spent @ the Masti Ki Paathshaala called MDI. Last year around the same time when my senior batch was moving out I was wondering as to what the feeling would be like in the last few days at MDI.

I thought emotions would run high and I would feel terribly sad. But so far I have been confused thinking about this phase of my life. Theres some sort of heady feeling which I am still to come to terms with.

A part of me is refusing to wake up to the reality that this is THE final stretch of my MDI journey. The day I first stepped onto this beautiful campus is still very fresh in my mind and though 2 years have gone by it feels as if it all happened yesterday.

But then such is life... all good things indeed come to an end! So the focus now is to make this end as memorable as possible.

The mantra for the remainder of stay at MDI is...

Naa koi padhne waala, Naa koi seekhne waala...
Naa koi padhne waala, Naa koi seekhne waala...
...apni to paathshala, Masti Ki Paathshala
...apni to paathshala, Masti Ki Paathshala
Loose Control!!

PS: Written in a cacophonous environment at 3AM thanks to some of my friends who seem to ve Lost Control! But then I would miss this cacophony too :)

2009-01-23T20:18:00.006+05:30

I am sure I can fly... :)

0 chances on day 0
In casual wear by noon

1 chance on day 1
Nailed it by evening

Dream come true

Happy for a few moments
Satisfaction and Relief prevails!

My Life at MDI has come a full circle!

In the MDI interview had mentioned that I am interested in an MBA from MDI as I want to switch to Business Consulting. Faculty back then had told me that it would be difficult to get a Consulting job here. But the confident aspirant that I was I had boldly declared that two years is a long time... things would change and I would get a my desired career track from MDI.

And things did change drastically in these two years...Much beyond my wildest dreams! :)

Leave aside the confident bragging that I indulged in back then it was just a dream. But 20th Jan 2009 was the day when that dream of mine did get realized. Got the one and only shot at it in more ways than one and I nailed it. But it was not all smooth sailing , there were lots of anxious moments all through the day and need I say through the days and months preceding that day too!

Thankfully I kept my cool and didn't fall for temptations along the way. And in the few cases that I did they didn't work out. So in the end the script had a fairytale ending. Emotions, suspense, drama it had everything along the way and more so on the day it all culminated into a grand finale.

My belief in the ultimate scriptwriter of them all - the one who writes our destinies has grown even stronger now.

After all... Hum sab to rang manch ki kathputliyaan hain... Jiski dor Upparwaale k haathon mein hai!!

Thank You God! :)

Now just hoping that there's a happy ending planned for all of us in our MDI story!

2009-01-18T22:51:00.003+05:30

I Believe I Can Fly...

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

See I was on the verge of breaking down
Sometimes silence can seem so loud
There are miracles in life I must achieve But first I know it starts inside of me, oh

If I can see it, then I can do it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it
I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky...

With this belief I am ready for the days ahead... Bring em On!! :)

2009-01-17T15:33:00.003+05:30

Hope...

Going through perhaps one of the most toughest phases of my life. Its looking dull and gloomy and its not just today's weather that I am referring to over here, there's lot of gloom all around in general.

I can sense that some are still waiting anxiously clinging to that one ray of hope. Banking on it to cast sway the dark clouds and bring lot of sunshine in their lives.

But what is worrying me is the other section - the majority one which is now tumbling down into a black hole of hopelessness.

It is getting really scary because there is nothing more dangerous in this world than a person who has lost hope. When one is completely cornered and has nothing to lose there is just one option left and that is to fight back, to give it back, to vent it out. And somehow I can sense that the general mood around me is heading towards such a scenario.

I just hope and pray to God that he takes care of not just me and the gloomy weather but all of us especially the ones who are on the verge of losing hope and belief. After all we all have to live in hope...

PS: My 50th post couldn't have been gloomier than this for sure!

2009-01-01T05:46:00.003+05:30

Happy New Year!

Just came back from the New Years Party of MDI. As I write this I have finally come to terms with the fact that another year has come to an end. And I must admit that there is an overwhelming sense of relief at this thought. Simple reason being, 2008 has by far been the toughest year of my life. The lows have perhaps not outnumbered the highs but then I never had so many low points in a year alone. :|

So I ushered in 2009 with lots of hope rather than happiness. Hoping that this year would reverse the trend of 2008 and bring lots of cheer in my life.

On this very hopeful note wish everyone a great 2009 on all fronts!

P.S: Have made some resolutions in my head but this year I plan to give them a serious thought later today and come up with concrete ones which I'll adhere to. :)

2008-12-30T03:50:00.005+05:30

Arrey huzoor... Wah Taj boliye!

There are some childhood dreams which are wacky. I had one such dream as a kid when I used to see the ad of a brand of tea which featured a tabla playing uncle with a weird hairstyle.

We used to get the same brand of tea at home and most of the times free gifts like sketch pens, crayons, funky pencils accompanied the pack of tea. The free gifts were of much more interest to me than the tea itself as well as the uncle playing tabla or the beautiful building featured in the ad & on the tea packet.

I came up with a logical deduction that the building is the home of the uncle who likes playing tabla and just like mummy he doesn't want kid like me to drink tea. So instead of scolding me he sends sketch pens, crayons etc as gifts. No wonder I soon developed a secret desire to meet this sweet uncle and so I decided when I grow up I will visit him at his home and thank him :)

It was only later when I grew up that I realised the uncle was none other than famous tabla player Ustad Zakir Hussain and his home was one of the seven wonders of the world "The Taj Mahal". Also the free gifts had soon stopped as the brand of tea we drank at home had been changed.

Anyways my fascination for the Taj grew stronger once I read the history associated with it and it became one of the must see places in life. 28th Dec was the day when I realised this long cherished dream on a visit to Mathura and Agra with fellow ManDevIans.

After the visit I strongly feel the beauty of Taj cannot be described in words as all the adjectives put together will not be able to do justice to it. I was left speechless when I got the first glimpse of it through the magnificent arched entrance. The hour and a half which I spent there will forever remain etched in my memory.

The fact that in fading light I couldnt appreciate the grandeur of the entire Taj complex and the finer details of Taj itself has strengthened my resolve to go back again and again to this temple of love.

Perhaps on one of the visits I will also meet the tabla playing uncle with the weird hairstyle. :)

Until then enjoy the pics of the visit to Taj and Mathura with my friends at MDI.

P.S: Click here for the Facebook album link or check the slide show embedded here...

2008-12-25T02:15:00.002+05:30

Time to get my act together...

Times are tough right now for anyone on the verge of stepping out of a b-school. And its amazing how the age old Darwins principle of "survival of the fittest" fits so very aptly to the current situation.

So guess it high time to get my act together and ensure that I am fit enough to survive the upcoming placements test. :)

All this fitness related stuff also reminds me of the urgent need to hit the gym soon. And let me tell you this is not the after effect of watching Amir Khans well toned body in Ghajini (just came back from the "paid preview" of this latest Amir flick! )

It was one of my resolutions for the year 2008 and with just a week left let me try and do some justice to it before I renew it on the first day of 2009 ;)

Till next time... Merry X'mas!!

2008-12-10T05:11:00.003+05:30

...better sense prevails!!

Unforeseen events
Tough times
Uncertain outcomes

Favorable possibilities
Unfavorable possibilities
Tempting possibilities
Unforeseen possibilities

Anxiety
Fear
Stress

Confused mind
Reactive mind

Divine intervention
Words of wisdom

Deep breath
Clarity of thought
Clarity of purpose

Cool head
Clear mind

Well thought out decision
Gutsy decision
Difficult decision

Dreams
Hopes
Prayers

Belief in "Self"
Belief in "The Supreme Being"

In the end
...better sense prevails!!

PS: I sincerely hope so... time will tell! :)

2008-12-06T04:05:00.004+05:30

M back!! :)

Its been over 2 months now since my last post here. Had so much to post in this period but my writing skills were getting overused somewhere else.

Few moments back the thought flashed that I will at least start the process of reviving this blog. And I guess by now it must be pretty clear to you that I've got nothing concrete in my mind for this post.

Hence let me stop right here before this post further degrades the quality of this blog which has so far seen highly thought provoking and intellectually stimulating stuff! ;)

More coming very soon...

2008-09-25T16:06:00.004+05:30

Courses and Courses...

Into my 5th trimester at MDI and have already gone through 29 courses in the first 4 trimesters but this trimester is slightly different. There are two courses which have really captured my imagination.

One is a course called "Behavioral Finance & Business Valuation" (BFBV) taken by our very own "fundoo professor" Sanjay Bakshi.

And the other one is "Leadership & Managerial Effectiveness" (LME) taken by Prof. Asha Bhandarker who is a renowned expert in this area.

BFBV is a course in which Prof. Bakshi challenges the way we think about the world in general and field of investments/business valuation in particular. He introduces brilliant mental models which have been used by the likes of Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger to reap rich rewards. If properly internalised and then practised these models have the potential of completely redefining the way we approach life not just the field of financial management.

While BFBV focusses more towards the way we deal with the outside world LME shifts the focus to self. A course which forces you to think and think about your real self. Understanding your own self is the first step of leadership and its been a privilege to get invaluable insights on this from maestros like Dr. Pritam Singh and Asha ma'am.

Yesterday went through a unique exercise called "Directed Day Dream" about which I was initially a bit skeptical but by the end of the 3 hour session I was astounded as to how accurately that exercise had revealed my inner self some aspects of which only I am aware of. It was an absolutely brilliant experience!

MBA is making sense in an altogether different way now & needless to say "I'm Loving it!" :)

2008-09-21T04:00:00.003+05:30

Time flies....

Past one month has been a hectic period in life. As I sit back @ 4AM on a Sunday morning and reflect I realized that so much has happened since I last posted here.

Exams preponed
Long break in the offing
So many plans
Home & home food
Plans go for a toss
Surprise family gathering
Back to Campus, classes & mess food
So many activities to do so less time
Good subjects
Brilliant Profs - one "Fundoo Professor" (more about him soon)
Heavy rains
Fever & cold
Sleepless nights
One party
Friends off to far off lands
New friends from far off lands
Awesome weather
This blog post :)

Time flies!!

Time to sleep!! :)

2008-08-20T20:30:00.005+05:30

Serendipity!

In very simple terms it means a "Lucky accident".

And it was a lucky accident that I ended up watching "Serendipity" the movie yesterday evening. What a simple n beautiful movie.... one of the good ones that I have seen in a long time. Has a classical bollwood romantic movie touch to it. Had liked John Cusack in "Runaway Jury" too and after "Serendipity" I can say that I have developed a liking for his acting. BTW heres the soundtrack of the movie:

Moving on.... the movie actually got me thinking.

Many months back one Prof at MDI had narrated how serendipity had played a major role in his life in getting him where he is. And on giving it a serious thought I realized that how serendipitous even I have been so far in life (though not in my romantic life as shown in the movie ;) )

At core I too firmly believe in the concept of destiny and fate. Coz if it wasn't for fate I am sure I wouldn't have been where I am right now and perhaps the online world would have been spared of some clutter.

But then when I look at it from another perspective questions pop up in my head. If its all destiny and fate then why am I majoring in a discipline of management called "Strategy" :

And as of now I cannot say for sure that this too is a "Lucky accident". :D

2008-08-20T19:24:00.003+05:30

Today's fortune...

Of late have been kinda hooked to the "Today's fortune" thingy on Orkut. Had even posted on the same recently, in fact it was the post prior to this one.

Todays fortune is really special. It says "When winter comes heaven will rain success on you"

This winter is sure going to be one of the most important winters of my life probably a life changing one at that and will need heavens to be on my side. So the today's fortune statement is a very soothing thought. Just hope that at least this one turns out to be true. ;)

Amen!

2008-08-09T15:25:00.004+05:30

Orkut fortune..

9th August:
Orkut fortune says "You are going to have a very comfortable old age".
How comforting especially when life right now is not very comfortable!! :|

10th August:
Orkut fortune says "You are going to have some new clothes".
Seriously need some new stuff but am out of money. :( Wish some one would gift me some stuff on my soon to come birthday! :)

11th August:
Orkut fortune says "Your happiness is intertwined with your outlook on life".
Hmmm...maybe I do need to introspect about my outlook on life coz of late the happy moments in life seem to have reduced drastically or perhaps I am not able to spot them or revel in them anymore.

This blog is a reflection of my life at most times and I guess the last 8-10 posts have made it obvious that have not been exactly happy with life.

Guess its high time that I change the outlook of this blog. Perhaps that will also help change the outlook on life in general. :)

2008-07-27T10:00:00.003+05:30

Madhushaala!!

You read some classic literary work or listen to some classic songs and suddenly some lines just make so much sense to your state of mind at that point of time. Here is a piece from the classic "Madhushaala" by Lt. Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

Dard nashaa hai is Madiraa kaa
Vigat smritiyaan saaki hain!!

Peeda mein anand jise ho
Aaye meri madhushaala!!

Just realised that all my posts of late have been of the grim and sad type. But then life has been grim and sad in past month or so. Hopefully its all coming to an end and would soon be blessed with cheerful times.

As another line from this same very classic says "Raah pakad tu ek chalaa chal paa jaayega Madhushaala!!" I have taken a path and now hoping to reach my "madhushaala" soon!

PS: Click here for: Complete text of "Madhushaala"

2008-07-25T22:26:00.004+05:30

People & the concept of greater good!!

Caged
Confined
Bounded
Restrained
Trapped

Punishment for crimes we did not commit
Forgiveness for sins we did not commit
All this...to satisfy some egos so fake
Coz greater good of community was at stake

Today I feel...
Dejected
Disgusted
Disappointed
...with people, life and to an extent myself

And it will be expected that come tomorrow I'll be...
Committed
Devoted
Dedicated
Coz greater good of community is at stake

Time will perhaps heal the wounds of today
But the scars would surely remain tomorrow

At this moment though I...
Say a silent prayer
For all of us
Shed a silent tear
For some of us

Going forward I...
Would always remember
Would always be proud of "some of us"

For letting go
For relinquishing
For sacrificing

And all this...
Coz greater good of community was at stake!!

------
Anyways I am and will always be proud of my Team. They will always hold a special place in my heart!

Cheers for my Team!

2008-07-23T23:51:00.003+05:30

Life, Hope, Dawn..

As I right this post few lines from the title song of one of the hit sitcoms of yesteryears "Dekh Bhai Dekh" come to my mind. It went something like this:

Is rang badalti duniya mein
Kya tera hain, Kya mera hain
Dekh Bhai Dekh…Dekh Bhai Dekh
Har shaam ke baad savera hain…

These four lines aptly capture my mood right now.

After what seemed to be a long never ending dark night finally I can see some signs of the impending dawn. Dawn of..

New beginnings
New associations
Happy times ahead
A bright future for all of us!!

Amen!

2008-07-21T00:58:00.005+05:30

Life, Times and People!

People are an integral part of any body's life. And you come across all types of them and many a times you cannot make out the difference between the type of people you should be associated with and type you should rather avoid.

But then things happen, situations arise and people's response and reactions helps you differentiate "the wheat from the chaff" as they say!

Had faced one such situation few years back which helped me understand life, people, relationships first hand. The situation in itself was grim as it unfolded in fact almost like a nightmare but then as most developments in life do, it taught me some important lessons which will hold me good for this lifetime.

Came across another such grim situation yesterday. While dealing with it verified and confirmed the lessons already learnt and in due course of time am sure will learn some new lessons too.

But the best part about it is that I could confirm my assessment of some people around me. And one person in particular whom I have known over a period of time as:

Teacher
Acquaintance
Guide
Friend
Father figure

...today rose several notches above all these.

Now on perhaps he would be just next to my God and my Parents... some one whom you can completely trust in your good times and more importantly your not so good times!

FYI.. He is Prof. Tarun Chaturvedi popularly known as "TC Sir" amongst MDI students.

Surely he is one of the best things to happen to me at MDI.

Thank you Sir for everything!

2008-07-19T19:28:00.004+05:30

Birth, Death & the Life in between!!

Birth - the beginning of your tryst with...

Family
Friends
Relationships

People
Places

Religion
Education

Love
Hate
Envy
Jealousy

Passions
Desires
Memories
Dreams

Achievements
Successes
Failures
Attempts

Happiness
Sorrow
Joy
Pain
Agony

Mail Ids
Chat Ids
Online Profiles
Blogs

Abrupt Death - End of it all!

And then what is left behind is..

Silence
Vacuum
Memories

Period.

2008-07-19T03:41:00.006+05:30

Effect of MBA on sher-o-shaayari :)

Yesterday night I had updated my Gtalk status message with the following two lines:

Zindagi mein sabhi ko mukkamal jahaan nahin milta..
Kissi ko zameen to kissi ko aasmaan nahin milta!

In the morning a friend (who perhaps went overboard with his preparation for the mid term examination of Strategy course scheduled later in the day) saw this and tweaked it to:

'Competition' mein sabhi ko mukkamal 'positioning' nahin milta..
Kissi ko 'low cost' to kissi ko 'differentiation' nahin milta!!

Perhaps the most creative way of putting across Porters thoughts on pursuit of low cost or product differentiation strategy by companies to create a unique positioning wrt competition.

Hail MBA! :)

PS: The great strategic thinker behind these creative lines is my batch mate fondly referred as "Tapy" by every1.

2008-07-18T04:38:00.005+05:30

Life.. Dreams.. Pursuit..

Life
Dreams
Pursuit
Success

Life
Dreams
Pursuit
Failure

Life
Dreams
Full stop

There are dreams which you get a chance to pursue
There are dreams which could never be pursued

It pains
It hurts
It haunts

But Life goes on

You go to sleep and dream of a way out, perhaps see a new one
The next morning the pursuit resumes, perhaps a fresh pursuit begins

Thats the beauty of dreams!

You can be stopped from pursuing some of them for a while
But no one can stop you from dreaming a new one, a fresh one for sure

... and where there is a dream there is surely got to be a way

I too will surely find my way!!

2008-07-08T16:15:00.005+05:30

The Weather!!

Its Dark
Its Gloomy
Its Cloudy
Its Raining

I'm not just talking about the weather
I'm actually feeling a little under the weather

There is something wrong with my life's script
I hope people around me are getting the drift

I hope the rain stops, clouds clear, sun shines and it turns bright and sunny again
and here I am not just talking about the weather again!

2008-06-25T02:25:00.005+05:30

People, Trust, Relationships!!

In all my relationships I start with an implicit assumption that a person is to be trusted unless he/she proves to be unworthy of it.

In certain cases I made exception and actually trusted people who I might have felt were not worthy enough. And then....

they took no steps but I still took two steps at a time to win them over.

they had bloated egos but I killed my own to win them over.

they provoked me time and again but I overlooked it all to win them over.

they had in fact made it evident right at the start that they don't trust/like me but still I tried to win them over.

..... and I did this with sound faith in the goodness of being that I will be able to win their trust over if not them entirely.

But I guess....

I was naive
I was unreal
I was overly optimistic
I was being too good than what they actually deserved

.... as I learned a harsh lesson in relationship management today. I was proved wrong and I realized that I perhaps need to apply my assumption more carefully henceforth.

I fear that I will perhaps never be the same ever again now .... and this is a cause of great concern for me for I now run the risk of not applying my assumption when it ought to be and applying when it ought not.

I pray to the lord almighty to bless me with sound wisdom and take care of these fears...
.... and I surely trust him for that and this is not an assumption that I am making!!

2008-06-23T16:31:00.004+05:30

Emptiness, Nothingness, Tiredness...

Last week was easily one of the most intense weeks of my life. I got so involved with each and every minute thing that now I am not able to come to terms with the fact that its all over. After the initial euphoria of successful completion of tasks planned for many months many hours, a strange feeling has engulfed me since morning.

I wish last week had continued forever
The clock stopped ticking and didn't move ever
I wish I could re-say every word that was said
And if I could replay every act in my head

But thats not going to be

I am dazed
I am numbed

Life has a huge void and all around I can only sense emptiness
Feels as if I am drowning in a deepening sea of nothingness
No gumption to fire myself again for any goal due to acute tiredness

Nothing to do nowhere to go, its a real odd day
Alone, Exiled, Sombre, Melancholy, its really a sad day

I just feel like throwing in the towel today
I just feel like throwing in the towel today!

Ciao!!

2008-05-29T23:39:00.003+05:30

My love affair with MDI ... renewed!! :)

On an arbit morning few days back .... the campus wore a "wet n fresh" look after a rather long spell of rains ... me and my friend Sumanth who too is damn passionate about photography .... went around the campus with our cameras. And since we had nothing else to do that day we took our time looking at the campus the way no one else had till date.

And here I am with the proofs of that gorgeous day when I pretty much renewed my love affair with MDI!! :)

Enjoy!!

2008-05-20T01:13:00.008+05:30

Rain Rain please don't go away! :)

When we were kids we used to recite a nursery rhyme:

Rain Rain Go Away
Come Again Another Day
Little Johnny Wants to Play!!

But many years down the line at this stage of life when it rained a few days back @ Gurgaon in middle of Summers I changed that nursery rhyme to suit my feelings (though the last line kind of proves that I am no good at poetry :) )

Rain Rain please don't go away
Keep falling through the day
It Makes me feel as if I am in Bombay!! :))

Actually like everyone else here, even I was expecting sweltering heat during the month of May i.e. the time when summer is usually at its peak in this part of the world. But of late surprisingly the weather has been overtly kind to us. Every other day we have a "aandhii" i.e. storm (which fills my room with loads of dust :( ) and then rain which forces the mercury down in a big way. These rains in midst of a summer which was beginning to hot up have been a real pleasant surprise.

The other day it rained just after I had finished my breakfast and since I am "working from home" I had the liberty to go out there and enjoy the rain by going on a walk around the campus getting completely drenched. This while the other summer interns staying @ Change Masters were all dressed up in formals waiting for the rain to stop so that they could go to work ;)

For the past few days we have had rains every evening and yesterday we had pretty heavy rains. Thanks to the overnight rain the weather today morning was reminiscent of Bombay during monsoon season. Overcast skies giving a gloomy feel. The wet and cold air. Wet buildings, wet roads, wet trees with leaves looking bright green after being washed by the continuous rains. Slight drizzle threatening to transform into a full fledged shower. Ahhh so so beautiful ... the kind of weather I have fallen in love with after having stayed for 20 odd years @ Bombay!

The only glitch being that here you dont get "Bhuttaa" on the road side nor can you enjoy a plate of "hot pakodas/vada paav/samosa pav" with "masala chaai", to enjoy this weather to the fullest! :(

But anyways I dont mind this break from summers at all .... may this weather continue for a couple more months.... if not for anything else at least for making me feel as if am back in Bombay! :)

2008-05-01T15:48:00.005+05:30

Social Networking site proves "Yeh Duniya Gol Hai"!! :)

Don't believe me?? The other day while random "orkutting" came across a scrap from someone in one of my friends scrapbooks who remotely resembled one of my long lost friends. So I just dropped a scrap to him and here's how the story went thereon:

------
Me:
I hope you are the same ole Mr.XYZ ...my classmate from IES !! if u r .. then lemme ask u cple of questions ... where ve u been dude ... me n parag had been wondering where u r nowadays!! the last time we met was when u came to parag place in yr sumo and dropped me at my place!! also is the kid in the album ... junior Mr.XYZ ???
----
My Friend:
Bingo !!! i am the same Mr.XYZ...I have been travelling a lot hence havent been able to catch up with you guys...currently i m in Delhi & doing very good by god's grace...the kid in the album is my nephew... :-)
-----
Me:
bhai i m in gurgaon :) ... completed first year of my MBA at MDI Gurgaon ..... right now summer internship on in Gurgaon itself!!where r u based in delhi ????
------
My Friend:
Buddy, i m in Gurgaon as well...My office is in Infinity towers opp.ship building, DLF phase II... lets catch up if possible......
------
Me:
haaahaaahaaaaaa ... guess what ...my office is opposite the ship building too .... right behind Genpact .... Building No.8 mein ... ........ yeh duniya gol hai bhaaai!!
------
My Friend:
Buddy even i am in building no.8. You have my number now, give me a call. I m in office generally by 7 PM....
------
Me:
haaaaaaahaahaaaaaa....... i hope the coincidences end here!! ...
------

And this is how thanks to Orkut I found one of my friends whom I hadn't been able to trace since a couple of years & that too with the help of few scraps in a couple of days time.

What more we realized that he and I goto work in the same building each day. Its a small world which we live in after all. :)

Orkut Roxx!! :)

2008-04-30T18:23:00.007+05:30

Things I did in April'08 and Things I plan to do in May'08

Had made big plans for the summers on the night of 31st March so I thought today would be the right time to take a stock of what have I done during one month of my summer break :)

- have hit the gym (finally the new year resolution being put into practice :) really happy about this)

- traveled to Jaipur for couple of weekends, visited loads of temples thanking god the for the wonderful one year and praying for an even better second year

- started playing PacMan ... and playing it pretty well now, can hit 50K scores on regular basis :)

- some college work as a part of my Council Job, also got the Council Room cleaned finally

- attended a CII Annual Conference (where I saw the two power centers of the country - PM & Soniaji in person in a matter of couple of hours besides all the gyaan I got from Sunil Bharti Mittal, K V Kamath, Kamal Nath, Dr.Trehan and co. :) )

- watched few good movies ... The Kite Runner, Runaway Jury, Sleepless in Seattle etc

- started watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S

- lots of orkutting

- shared loads of gyaan with the MDI aspirants on PaagalGuy

- shared loads of gyaan with my own batchmates on MDI mail :)

- tracked down a long lost friend

What else ?? hmmm...nothing much besides this. So what else have I not done yet ?? here's the list:

- made library visits a part of my daily routine :(

- contacted good ole friends

- read 1 good book a week (have read just 1.5 books if I aggregate all the reading that I have done and that too includes books on Supply Chain Management :( )

- watch couple of really good classic movies a week

- watch couple of series like the HIMYM, LOST, Heroes, Prison Break which are such a rage with my batch mates

So 1 more month to go to put these things into action too. Lets see if am able to do it.

I guess I did not factor in the Summers into my calculations earlier ... but now with the temperatures soaring each passing day guess the cool confines of Library would become automatically tempting. :) So there's hope at least for one thing which I haven't done so far ;)

PS: did I forget something called as "Summer Internship" here ?? Naaah.... am on a Summer Vacation :)

2008-04-01T01:15:00.003+05:30

One Battle over but another resumes!!

30th March was the last day of first year of my course at MDI. The response to this milestone in our lives at MDI was a subdued one. Immediately post examination people got busy with packing their bags to set off for their homes/respective locations for summer internship. Many seemed rather too eager to get out of the campus and within a couple of hours their was flurry of activity outside the Change Masters and by evening the hostel wore a ransacked look with rooms vacated, essentials dumped into common cloak rooms and the unwanted stuff lying around all over.

The Change Masters normally buzzing with life all times bore a post war look and I suffered philosophical pangs of the kind the great emperor Ashoka endured after the war of Kalinga. :)

But soon had to get out of this mood as I realised that even though I was going to spend my summers@Change Master, I still had to pack my stuff and shift to a new room. Post the shifting which took few hours, a sense of emptiness set in as had nothing to do, nobody I could go and purposely disturb and the reverse.

It was then that I realised that this "dream b-school life" of no worldly worries that I was leading for 10 odd months was about to be broken albeit temporarily. Yes i had to step back into the big bad corporate battlefield in a days time. Was really looking forward to this like some of my friends who haven't tasted it yet were/are?

Don't have a definite answer. A part of me has "the been there done that" attitude and wants me to just run away from here and so that I can avoid stepping into the "real" world.

But at the same time another part of me wants to go out there again and see for myself whether this past 10 odd months of effort is going to put me in a different position in the Corporate world from where I left it.

So its with these mixed emotions that I goto bed tonight. Tomorrow morning 10AM I report to work. Hopefully the next two months will be challenging, rewarding ones and will help clear a few doubts that I have in my mind.

Good luck to all "Change Masters" ready to rock the Corporate World this summer. :)

2008-03-22T02:08:00.010+05:30

Aaaj Biraj mein Holi re Rasiyaa....

For once I am posting something very apt for the ocassion. Yes today is Holi the Festival of Colours and this post is about my tryst with Holi of a different kind in the land of Radhey-Krishna, the holy Brijbhoomi situated around Mathura-Vrindavan!!

Last weekend I along with couple of friends set out for the Brijbhoomi. We took the Gurgaon-Faridabad-Mathura route and reached Goverdhan and settled down in one of the modern and plush dharmashaalas. After a good homely meal I decided to join one of my friends for the "parikrama" of Goverdhan hill which is a 21Km long journey to be covered barefoot. The task seemed daunting but I decided to go ahead and so there we were at 11 in the night, two of the future "Change masters and Thought leaders of the Corporate World" walking barefoot with thousands of worshippers of Lord Krishna chanting "Raadhey Raadhey Shyaam se milaa de", "Hare Krishna Hare Rama" !! :)

All along the route came face to face with an India so different from what we usually get to see in Gurgaon surrounded by all the glitzy malls and glass adorned towers!! Faith driving people to extremes where they cover the entire journey of 21 Kms rolling on the ground, people finding business opportunities which exploit this very faith all along the route, the crass exploitation of places of mythological importance which has completely destroyed them. But these very sights kept me engaged and to my utter surprise I didn't feel any hint of tiredness. We completed the parikrama in 4 hours flat which according to my friend was a pretty good effort.

Next day morning we moved to "Nand Gaaon" the place where Lord Krishna spent his childhood. This turned out to be the most memorable part of the trip. We reached there in a jeep which had believe it or not 40 odd people, with people inside, on the roof and on the bonnet as well. The driver drove the vehicle for the most part sitting outside the vehicle :)) On reaching there we had a heavenly experience. The villagers of Nand gaaon were celebrating Holi in Nand baabas palace, colors were being splashed on all and sundry, people were dancing with gay abandon.

The thought that we were playing Holi in the same land where Lord Krishna must have played many many ages back was an exhilarating experience. Though thankfully we escaped with just minor splashes of colors thanks to all the attention the "fairer sex" was getting from the revelers. After the "darshan" of the Lord we roamed around the village market having fun all along the way. But soon there was nothing much left to do so we decided to give the famous "latthh maar" holi a miss since it was still couple of hours away and chose to move on to Vrindavan instead. The ride to Vrindavan was even more exciting, with we sitting at the back of a rickshaw packed with 20 odd people driving on a non existent road. No wonder it took us an hour and half to cover distance of only 10 Kms. But then it just cost us Rs.7 each so the fun we had meant it was great value for money!! :)

Vrindavan showed a different face of India, India where faith has been commercialized to the hilt. There were concrete buildings and crappy hoardings on either side of the roads choked with vehicles where once upon a time Lord Krishna played "raas leela"! But we had darshan of "Baanke Bihariji" from close quarters which was a good experience. The "aaloo tikki chholey" & "Lassi" that we had outside the temple were just out of this world :)

We finally closed our trip with an hour in the ISKON Temple chanting "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" along with hundreds of "bhakts" which included many firangs too as is usual in ISKON temples all over.

This journey turned out to be our short & sweet tryst with "instant spirituality" and "the real India" if I may call it so. By 2 in the night we had returned back to our very own "Change Masters" where we are supposed to indulge in nothing less than "CEO level thinking" according to one of our profs. :))

Happy Holi .. have fun!! :))

2008-03-22T01:37:00.005+05:30

Class of 2008 is gone ...

This post has been long overdue but got so busy with other stuff that couldn't post it on time. Nevertheless as is the trend with my most posts "better late than never!!" :)

The Convocation of Class of 2008 was an affair to remember. The happy faces of proud parents and our seniors thrilled at receiving their degrees and some over the moon on getting gold medals were a joy to watch. Mr. Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and MD of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. was the chief guest and he delivered a short but stirring speech for the graduating batch!

But very soon this joy and excitement had to subside and mood was sombre. With mementos and year books distributed seniors started to leave the campus. It started to finally sink in that they will no longer be there with us. I could rewind some of the best moments that I have had at MDI courtesy the seniors and I am sure they must be having countless memories associated with their own batchmates some couldn't bear the pain of separation and broke down while others tried to act brave and control their emotions but I could sense it each time I saw packed bags waiting outside Change Masters and seniors spending their final moments with their friends.

From now on they would be entering the crazy n frenzied lives of managers of top notch corporates and they will never be able to spend all those "chill moments" they had on campus with their friends free from all worries for almost two years!!

Moments like these put things in perspective that even I have got just one more year left here now so why not make full use of each n every moment and yes I am already dreading the thought of having to go through this moment one year down the line!!

Somehow this has reassured me that these are really the best days of my life!! :)

Here are some pics from the Convocation day:

2008-02-23T23:32:00.003+05:30

Kyaa mausam aayaa hai ... :)

Today was a perfect day. Just through with exams so nothing much to do on the academic front. The cold has vanished and the weather is just perfect right now. Wish this kind of weather stayed for most of the time. Life would be so beautiful then :)

Felt great to stroll around the campus after lunch having an ice cream. Late afternoon decided to check out the flowers on full bloom all across the campus. Tried to take some good snaps by being patient and focusing on creating depth of field effect in some pics and succeeded at that, felt really happy about it. But really wished if I had a SLR Cam I could do much more. Anyways heres a collection of snaps I clicked today :

It was really relaxing to just stroll around the campus and watch nature in its full glory. At the same time it also made me reflect that in our daily lives we tend to ignore our surroundings to such a huge extent. We rarely notice the chirping of birds, clear blue skies, gentle breeze, natures splendor.

Even I paid such attention to my campus in particular and nature in general after a long time and honestly the sight of flowers in various stages of their growth, bees carrying out the pollination process right in front of your eyes was well worth the effort.

Well moving on ... in the evening played badminton for a couple of hours by the end of which surprisingly felt really high on energy instead of feeling exhausted. Was really hungry and so post dinner went out with friends and rounded of the day with an ice cream scoop once more :)

All in all really great day.....just about perfect!! :) May God have mercy on us and let this weather continue for a longggg time to come.

2008-02-21T18:30:00.004+05:30

Proud moment for MDI!!

Just felt like sharing a really proud moment for MDI and we all ManDevIans ...

Two teams from MDI have done us all proud and "tasted the success" at the PepsiCo "Taste the Success" Contest open for just select few top b-schools of the country (check out PepsiCo Taste the Success Contest)

The super Trio of Anand Mohan Sharma, Supreet Kaur and Anand Trivedi from PG07 i.e my batch have won the first prize in the contest. Guess whats their prize ..... they will soon be flying to New York to present their analysis to none other than the PepsiCo Chairperson, Indra Nooyi regarding the way ahead for PepsiCo. :) :)

Trio of Bikram Deep Singh Pannu, Ankita Chopra and Arindam Pal from PG06 i.e. senior batch bagged the second runners up spot in the same contest.

All 6 of them have also secured PPIs from PepsiCo. :)

Here are some pics of the Super 6:

Proud to be a ManDevIan!! :))

2008-02-21T16:57:00.004+05:30

Entrepreneurship gets a push at MDI!!

19th Feb 08 will perhaps be a landmark day in the history of MDI, with the foundation stone laid for “The S.P. Kapur Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship”.

Mr. Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro India was the Chief Guest for this ceremony. Director of MDI, Dr. Sujith Basu and Mr. Surinder Kapur were also present. For the uninitiated, Late Shri S P Kapur is the father of Mr. Surinder Kapur who is the Chairman of SONA Group.

This Centre is poised for huge success with lots of students on campus showing keen interest in taking the entrepreneurial route. We already have a senior from Class of 2007 who had opted out of placements and he is operating his venture from campus which is in the take off stage.

The Centre will provide a more formal way to support entrepreneurs like him. Some fellow ManDevIans are all ready to start their venture on campus soon which will be supported by this Centre once its up and running.

The vision laid out for the Centre is a very unique one and I am sure you will hear a lot about this Centre in the years to come.

Here are some pics of that day:

You can find related news articles on MoneyControl , MBAUniverse - one, two and three.

Adios!

PS: Sanjay Kapur, the man whom Karishma Kapoor married is the son of Mr. Surinder Kapur too and ya she was there on campus too adding to the beauty of the campus

2008-02-16T22:16:00.004+05:30

Its that time of the Term again :)

3rd trimester halfway through and its Mid-term exams time.

Yes the time when the "Change Masters" for once goes silent, no "bhasssad" going on in the mess too, no hanging around doing nothing around campus. People have a no nonsense approach at the dinner table courtesy which the dinner which usually takes good 30-40 minutes is polished off in matter of few minutes.

Its that time when the resource and time manager inside every ManDevIan who are otherwise dumped deep within come to the fore. All the pre reads that should have ideally been done during the term are now being looked into at frenetic pace.

Theres a mad rush for notes made by one of the mose sincere souls on campus who is fondly called "dadduu".... who I believe can make a business out of this and earn big bucks... which the other day in an entrepreneurship event some guys actually tried out and made a cool profit on their investment by selling his notes on a premium :))

"Gyan Griha" our library which otherwise is given step motherly treatment on campus by PGP students now gets all the attention in the world ala a girlfriend on valentines day ;)

Many "cool" people who otherwise would consider it "utterly uncoool" to be seen with a book in their hands .... now vainfuly try to explain that they were just chatting in the library and they didn't study a word ... as if studying was a crime ;)

If I were to summarise the mood through some bollywood stufff ... then on normal days the background score would be :

and now the score would be :

:)))))

... n there are some souls who though not dyslexic but still very much like the adorable Ishaan in the second part of the above song ... enjoying the ohhh so rare solitude n silence in the hostel by doing what they newayz do most of the time i.e. sleeping in peace, watching movies/cricket/football, reading novels ... blissfully unaware of all the "ghissu giri" going on in the library!!

Coz they believe in the eternal truth of a b-school, the guiding mantraa of every b-schooler... "Relative Grading Roxxx!!" :))

P.S: and then there are others like me too who are even more vela and so end up busy updating their blogs with some stupid posts like this one ;) ..... chalo let me also read something about Layout Design, Fiscal Policy, Core Competencies, Mechanistic Organizations, Qualitative Research, IS planning and Capital Budgeting :)

2008-02-10T15:29:00.000+05:30

Phool khile hain gulshan gulshan!!

Walks on campus is a pleasure on most days, in spite of the cold weather. More so nowadays with flowers of various hues and colors blooming in possibly every nook and corner of the campus. Theres no sight as beautiful as that of blooming flowers with dew drops on their petals and the campus right now thanks to all the hardwork of numerous faceless "maaalis" on campus offers plenty of such beautiful sights.

One of my classmates who owns a pretty sleek Digital SLR clicked a few snaps of these sights some days back which I am sharing here

..... these pictures cannot describe the real beauty of the sights on display .... for that you will have to pay a visit to my campus. :)

P.S: "Phool khile hain gulshan gulshan" was also the name of a very popular T.V serial aired on DoorDarshan hosted by Tabassum from 1972-93. It was the first ever and the most popular movies based talk show of its time. She had even floated an entertainment company few years back which had failed to take off. Read about the company here.

2008-02-04T01:46:00.000+05:30

"Lutyens Delhi" rockss!!

I had mentioned this in one of my earlier posts as well that weekends can get really boring at times on campus ... with all the NCR junta heading for home ... hostel wears a deserted look and there is sudden silence after all the cacophony throughout the week.

But last weekend was a different one for me. A Mumbaikar friend and I headed for Delhi with one of our Delhiite friends. We had pursuaded him to arrange tickets for the Republic Day which he eventually did on the very last day. 25th Night we headed for Delhi ...and suprise surprise .... we were expecting a longish journey due to barricading for security reasons, it being the R-day eve. But to our relief initially and shock later (we thought that Delhi Police had forgotten that next day was R-day :) ) there was not a single place where our vehicle was stopped ..... and we reached the heart of Delhi in flat 25 minutes ... a journey which otherwise takes 2 hours and now with the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway problems even 3-4 hours at times.

Got up early morning and we headed for Raj Path ......on the way we realised that the entire area was like a fortress ..... there was security all along the way in every nook and corner .... I have no qualms at saying that I hadn't felt as safe in public as I felt that day ;)

Newyz ... the Parade was an awesome experience despite of the chilly weather .... watching the Jawans parade in total sync and all the weaponry and floats etc was a great experience.... sort of one of something I had dreamt during childhood .. when I used to get up in the morning even though it was a "No School" day to watch the parade and get overawed by the grandeur of it all.

But the best experience came in the later part of the day that is evening when we strolled around on RajPath for couple of hours waiting for the sun to set. One the sun set ... the sights that unfolded cannot be described in words ... the lit up India Gate, North Block, South Block, Parliament and the biggest of em all the Rashtrapati Bhavan ......... loooked simply stunning ... all lit up. We went right till the gates of the Rashtrapati Bhavan and just sat there for an hour soaking in the grandeur of the various buildings on easily the most important road in India "The RajPath". Lutyens and Herbert Baker the architects have sure done a stunning job.

.... we also visited the Lodhi Gardens that day ... and the next day went to Connaught Place the most happening of places in Delhi ...... it was early on Sunday so the Central Park was quite empty ..... I also had my first taste of the much acclaimed Delhi Metro from beneath the Central Park to get back to MDI!!

Heres a compilation of pics :

by the end of the weekend ..... the grandeur of the structures ... the history associated ...... the sense of space which is terribly lacking in most parts of Bombay .... the mix of 16th Century Bada Gumbad of Lodhi Gardens and the 21st Century Delhi Metro .... bowled me over.

"Lutyens Delhi" rocks for sure!! :)

2008-01-22T21:16:00.000+05:30

Kyaa mausam aaayaa hai .... :((

The weather here is quite extreme ..... 6 months back when I landed here in the month of July, this place was as hot as a furnace (though the locals said that the summers were over ;) ) ... Bombay can get hot too but then its nothing compared to this place!!

And since the mid of November this place has turned mind numbingly cold (though the locals say that this year the cold is milder than previous years ;) ) .... as per some websites the mercury dips to almost 3 degrees in the night time in Gurgaon ....n the campus being an open one with lots of greenery its easily a couple of degrees lower out here.... So you can imagine!! Its too damn cold out here. I have worn enough woolens and real heavy ones at that in a months time here than what I did back home in Bombay in all of 20+ years :)

In such cold weather we have classes at 8:30 AM in the morning when the mercury is hovering in single digits and the sun refuses to make its presence felt ..... and worse some professors are scheduling extra classes at 8:30 AM :((

Plus it tends to get verry foggy in the mornings (which too the locals claim is not bad this year as it can actually be) .... just the other day i.e. saturday got a taste of how bad things can get...

On normal days the view from my room is pretty decent one:

but on Saturday the scene at 7:30 AM was something like this

If you are wondering that why was I up at such a time when it was so cold .... fyi .. we had an extra class on Strategy at 8:30 AM and I had "coolly" slept through the night without reading up for the class :) ..... Making it to the 8:30 class in time is a big ask for most people nowadays....

What this kind of weather induces bigtime is SLEEEP ...... one can actually sleep through the day in the warm confines of the quilt ..... without even bothering to get out of bed for breakfast, lunch or dinner!! :)

Newyz this is all I could write on "Dillii ki Sarrdeee" or perhaps it should be "MDI ki Sarrdeee". Few months down the line .... it will be Summer time ... and I am already dreading the prospect of spending my summers@Gurgaon!! God Save Me!!

P.S: Written during the brief time I was out of my bed after sleeping through most of the day ... and most likely will again go to sleep after posting this. Pre-reads for tomorrows class ... some other time!! :)

2008-01-21T22:25:00.000+05:30

My Campus - MDI, Gurgaon!!

Was planning to write a detailed post on this topic ... but came across this post written by a senior ManDevIan, couple of years back .... so being an IT engineer who believes in extensibility, reusability blah blah .... I can close this post by just giving a reference to the super duper seniors post!! :))

Newyz .. will post some new pics in the near future .... once the mind numbing cold subsides!!

Meanwhile you can check out my campus here too:

MDI Pics

Most if not all of the pics in this album were clicked on my first morning on this beautiful campus which is now, my home for 2 years!! :)

Besides this heres another great collection of MDI Pics and real classy ones at that clicked by one of ma friend who also happens to be ma senior here .... some of the pics even adorn the Alumni Calendar released the other day.

2008-01-21T17:19:00.001+05:30

Alma Matters!!

For any b-school worth its salt .... besides the obvious things like faculty, quality of students, infrastructure etc ... its the alumni network which helps build its brand in the corporate world. Here is where the IIM A,B,Cs, the XLRIs n JBIMSes of the world have an edge over MDI right now ..... since these institutes have been in existence for over decades now ... their alumni is obviously in all the right places and places that matter a lot in the corporate world. MDI according to me is on par with the schools I just mentioned above or even better perhaps on some parameters. (More on this in a separate post soon ... as I don't want to digress from the main topic of this post i.e. Alumni)

As far as alumni goes, the flagship PGPM course is just 14 years old. So the Alumni network is just about on the verge of reaching maturity. The fact that in this short span of time MDI has made its place in the top 10 b-schools of the country is a testimony of the overall quality and performanceof its programmes.

Anyways coming back to the Alumni, on the 19th we had the National Alumni Meet on our campus. This years event was special as it marked the registration of the Alumni Society ...... which is rather late for a top grade b-school like MDI ...... but perhaps "better late than never" suits perfectly in this case.

There was a cricket match organised between the Alumni team and our batch i.e PG07 team. It was a keenly fought match with our team hitting the winning runs on the penultimate delivery of the match.

In the evening the Alumni Website was launched with much fanfare ... its a pretty good website ... n a much needed one to keep in touch with the alumni .... since until now the feeling was "Humare aadmee chaaron taraf phhailey hue hain!!" ;) Besides the website an Alumni Calendar was launched containing pics of MDI clicked by some ManDevIans which includes yours truly too. Also the quarterly Alumni magazine "Footprints" was released. The cover story this time is on Couples@MDI ...how their love blossoms and grows on campus :D ... A slightly modified version of one of my earlier posts on "Summer Placements" also found a place in the magazine which made me feel really proud!! :)

All in all it was a great day .... a landmark one for MDI according to me. I am pretty sure that this small step by MDI will help ManDevIans take giant strides in the years to come!! :)

The mood for the day was well captured by the punchline of the Alumni website i.e. "ALMA MATTERS".... Sure it does!! :)

2008-01-12T16:20:00.000+05:30

....... TZP the movie I was really looking forward to ....

Some weeks back I had posted about TZP i.e. "Taare Zameen Par" ... a movie I had then said that I was really looking forward to. We had a "Christmas Vacation" and I had gone to mumbai for 10 odd days. just abt managed to catch up with this movie .... and have to say its easily one of the "real good" movies that I have watched .... n one of the best in recent times.

Nothing really flashy about the movie ... its a simple story which U can identify with coz if not yourself, you must have at least seen someone around you go through what the little Ishaan goes through in the first half of the movie ..... atleast I could. It brought back memories of my school days .. when my younger bro had to go through something similar especially the scene where Ishaan gets compared with his elder bro ... me obviously being the more studious and disciplines elder bro :P Also the scene where Ishaan is checking out the stuff being sold outside his school brought back memories of school days ... as bor/karwanda, buddhee k baal, kachhee badishep (thats wot we used to call it as kids ;)), gola etc were a part of daily lives of most school going kids of Bombay n I hope they still are.

Its a movie with its heart in the right place ... needless to say something I was expecting since it was a movie with Aamir Khan both behind as well as in front of the camera. But still I think Aamir did a brilliant job by not getting trapped in the standard bollywood format i.e. silly heroines, item songs etc :) .... n he didn't get too obsessed with self too ... allowing Darsheel whoz done a great job as the vulnerable Ishaan ....to take the centrestage for the most part of the movie. I seriously feel Darsheel deserves to win a few awards this year .... good lesson or two in this movie for the Tushar Kapoors, Arjun Rampals of the world on how important emoting on screen is.

Coming to the music ... all the songs are equally good and relevant in the movies flow ..... I believe its one of the most complete album to come out of bollywood in a long time. Its class apart in terms of everything be it meaningful lyrics, perfect music or soulful singing ...the album which comes close to it is I guess RDB. Prasoon Joshi is the common link and for a change Shankar Ehsaan Loy has done a real wonderful job with the music ..... moving beyond the pretty woman, its the time to disco, wheres the party tonite type stereotypical music.

All I can say is this movie is worth watching on a big screen .... especially this song which is a real classic ....

.. a song close to my heart coz .... though I am much older than Ishaan ... "B school" is a kind of "Boarding school" too .... and the lyrics truly capture my feelings many a times in this place.... being so far away from home n family.

newyz belated Happy New Year Wishes and many thanks for taking the pains to read my blog. :)

2007-11-30T22:18:00.000+05:30

Another "plain weekend" beckons ....

Its that time of the week again ... rather I should say "the dreaded time of the week again" .. yep a "plain weekend" beckons ..... plain coz theres nothing "special" about this weekend ... there's no Delphique/Illumina/Imperium or even an open house by student council/placecom or some extra classes.

After 5 days of hectic activity filled with classes, presentations, assignments, quizzes n other day to day non-academic stuff, the weekend should ideally be a welcome break. N that it is for many people on campus especially all the delhi waalahs or rather NCR waalahs who pack their bags (for many their unwashed clothes too ;) ) and head off to their mom, dad, bro, sis, friends (4 some this means girl/boyfriend) etc.

But for me with all such relationships left back in Mumbai theres no getaway from this place. For outsiders Gurgaon might be one of the most happening parts of "this side of India" but for me thats definitely not the case. As in my opinion having 10 malls on one stretch of the road doesnt make any place happening .... plus if you dont have any mode of transport of your own getting to those places means using the pathetic public transport ..... which is a good enough put off for some1 like me whoz spent all his life in Mumbai where never mind the traffic the public transport is as good as it can be!! (as I write this I realise that a comparative study of public transport can be the subject of one full post )

So such "plain weekends" for me are mostly spent on campus ..... mostly sleeping (which means missing the breakfast and at times the lunch too :) ) ... ocassionally cleaning d room... for some brief moments yearning for the week to start ..... at times pondering & most times wondering what all I can do during these 1 n half yrs I have for myself in general n the weekend in particular (like preparing for the next quiz, completing some presentatn or project work :) which doesnt materialise into action ;) )........... add a visit to the Sector-14 market n the most happening place over there for many if not most MDI waalahs "OM Sweets" .... and some more sleeping, surfing, orkutting, chatting, couple of walks around the campus .... and its sunday evening .....n I realise another weekends gone ....... n the next weeks grind is about to begin ....

... lets c if this weekend proves to be any different :) ....maybe I'll post on sunday night to confirm/contradict this post :)

2007-11-22T21:55:00.000+05:30

Zindagi ki yahi reet hai .. haaar k baad hi jeet hai ...

yesterday was a real mixed day for me ..... was waiting for some result the entire day n was quite hopeful that it would come out in my favor ....

..at night we had an open house related to our b-scool fest "IMPERIUM" which starts from tomorrow .... n after the open house a treasure hunt was lined up to kick start the "Informals" of Imperium 07.

Now treasure hunts can be real fun if you have enthusiastic team members who are willing to run like crazy, crack clues, dont get tired or give up midway ... basically who want to win the treasure ....... or they can be real disappointing if you get stuck in a team which is just not ready to try that bit harder or gives up easily.

Was lucky enough to be a part of team falling in the former category .... n we used a strategy which was different than the others ... ran like crazy for the initial part ... commited a couple of blunders mid way through and nullified our early lead ...but didn't give up ....n again ran like crazy towards the end ...... n to our delight we completed it before any one else could.

N guess wot as prizes we got "SENNHESISER" headphones worth Rs.10000/- each :) :)
...felt amazing ... coz I haven't really won ne competitive event in a longgg longg time :) ...n it was even more fun ... coz at the start we were having fun with people ... telling them they hardly stood a chance n for all their efforts all they would manage is the second spot coz first will be ours!! :D

heres our team with the spoils .... me, sumanth (super enthu :) ) n kshitij (perhaps the most he has ran all his life.. we made him do so ;) :P )

... good quality headphones were something which has been on ma wish list since the day I had bought my Ipod nano! :) .. n this got fulfilled yesterday n the sound quality is just amazing!!

But then after the contest was over .... just happened to check the result of d thing I had been waiting all day .... n to my disappointment it didn't work out in my favour ... :(

So on the one hand I was real happy that I had won something wortwhile in a longg longg time .... but there was tinge of sadnesss coz i had lost on some other front ...

Never mind ... thats life ...

P.S: listening to the hindi song "zindagi ki yahi reet hai .. haar k baad hi jeet hai ... thode gam hain .. thodee khushi hai ... aaaj gam hai to kal hai khushii .." on ma brand new headphones ;)

2007-11-17T17:37:00.000+05:30

Something I am looking forward to ...

Its been that kind of a week which has dented the self-belief n confidence of lot many people on campus ... leading to a very grim kind of outlook for the future!

Thankfully my self-belief n confidence are both intact .... and I still have a very positive outlook for the future :) .... perhaps the one major benefit of being an experienced guy vis-a-vis a fresher in a b-school .....is that this kind of crisis or rather I should just say "situation" is nothing major ... have faced many more diffcult n challenging times in both personal n professional life to get overly perturbed by the recent turn of events (will write my thots on this in a separate post :) )

Anyways .... theres one thing which I am surely looking forward to ...n thats the latest Aamir Khan movie ..... "Taare Zameen Par" .... the promos n music have got me intrigued .... n as is generally the norm with any thing associated to Mr.Perfectionist of Bollywood .. this venture too seems to be a high quality n sensible one .... esp with the fact that this time hez the person in the front as well as behind the camera ..... found an interesting video on YouTube related to TZP ... which I thot I'll share it here ....

Chalo thats it for the time being!!

PS: For Aamir Khan fans ... came across his blog at: http://www.aamirkhan.com/blog.htm

2007-11-17T03:33:00.000+05:30

Zindagi ne Zindagi bhar gam diye .... :( :(

The so called “Oscars” of “Summers of 2007” are over and again there was a range of emotions on display .... and though the “most visible” emotions during the awards ceremony were – happiness, relief n euphoria ......... post it have noticed something else 2.... d atmosphere is not really 100% normal ne more ... agreed there are still around 100 odd people to be placed but still ....

So with no offence to the feelings/sentiments of ne1, I would like to take the liberty to summarise the mood of some “dukhi aatmaas” on campus right now!! :)
... here it goes ....

Logon ko dukh hai .....

K unko ek “FokatKa-Chhola” company chhodnee padee “Treat-aania” k liye (seriously no offence intended here)

K unki ek company main waitlist clear nahin hui (confirmed offer bas nahin hai kyaa ;) )

K unko “Fin” ki jagah “Marketing” profile mil gayee (and vice versa too :) )

K unko “Treasury profile” ki jagah “Analytics profile” mil gayee (in this case I guess no1 vice versa ;) )

K unko kaaash “Fin” company main “Treasury profile” mil jaatee (Laalach booree balaa hai!! :) )

K unko kaaash “FundooBank” ki “JhatakMatak-pore” waali profile mil jaatee (Duniyaas envy “Baba”s Pride ;) )

N in sab k beech kuchh log aise bhi hain jinko dukh hai ...

K kaash woh ek GD to clear kar lete

K kaash woh ek interview to crack maar lete

K kaash woh summers k liye thoda prepare kar lete

K kaash woh thode decent acads le aate

K kaash woh 2-3 saal pehle hi CAT crack maar lete

K kaash woh bhi auron ki tarah har jagah apply kar dete to shaayad unka bhi kahin tukkaa lag jaata

And lastly there definitely are some people (who probably are the only people jinka dukh justified hai accrdng to me)
.. and woh hain jinko dukh hai ...

K unko ek company shortlist karne laayak to samajh leti!!! :( :( (yesss even such people do exist on this very campus)

Newyz ... yeh saalaa summers ne yaato kaafi logon ko badal diyaa hai .... yaa shaayad haalaat badal gaye hain log to vahi hain!! (super-philosophical line ;) )

I hope and pray k all the “dukhi aatmaas” on campus will reflect on not just “their” dukh but also on “their batchmates” dukhs and ..... jaldi hi sab log saare dukhon ko bhoool k phhir se normalise ho jaayenge n we will have the same campus atmosphere which prevailed pre “Summers n Oscars of 2007”!!! :) :)

Big Cheers to all the “sukhi aatmaas”!! :)

newyz .. moi as of now Interning at: Vela-bhai & Vela-das Brothers & Sons & Co.
Punch Line: As Vela as ever .... even though “You’re NOT worth it” :P

n my take on life is summarised as ....

Forrest Gumps Momma: “Life’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.”
Moi: Chocolates - you eat em ... else flush whatever u get down the toilet

2007-11-14T23:23:00.000+05:30

My take on "Summers of 2007"!!

Since the past 3 days our mess has a transformed look ..... instead of the usually chilled out people strolling in and out for breakfast/lunch/dinner ... now I see people with varied emotions - ecstasy, agony, despair, excitement, dejection, anticipation, disappointment, frustration ..... one can sense the mess is no longer a “chilled out place” :( ... lot of people on the edge ... some feeling the heat ... some pretending that they r unaffected by the surroundings (while very few actually seem to be unaffected :)) .. doesn’t matter whether they are dressed up in a suit or in their usual shorts ;) ) .... many stuck between or waiting for their “processes”!! :)

Some confused ... some trying to demystify the selection criteria of the companies ... various rational and irrational models being proposed on the basis of one shortlist ... which is totally failed by some other shortlist ;) ...

.. some tired due to all the shortlists they feature in ... and the subsequent running around between acad block-lakshya-nalanda (these r the various buildings on campus).... and many tired of waiting in hope that probably the next shortlist will feature them!!!

...some thinking ... k “$#%!$!$% engineering main thodaa padhh liyaa hotaa, achhaa CG laaya hotaa to aaj ye haal naa hotaa” .... some even going to the extent of questioning whether engineering was the right thing to do n should they have opted for English/Eco honors instead!! ;) :P .... some tryng to understand k “saalaa MBA k pehle 3 saal kaaam karke kyaa paaap kar diyaa!!” ;) :P

Newayz .... this is 1 of the biggest event of our b-school lives .... the “Summers of 2007”!! :)) ....n for someone like me who tries to looks at the moments and the people’s reactions ... it is a godsend opportunity :)

.... in any case I feel summers in “FundooBank@JhatakMatak-pore” or “AaandooPaandooGroup@Fateechar Nagar” would be a minor blip on the radars of lives of most of us ... ;) :P

... eventually in 2009 we will all move out with dream jobs and fat pay checks .....and then 10-15 yrs down the line ... we won’t remember what we felt like when we checked each shortlist .. or where half of our batchmates were placed (except for some1 like Samyak Baba ;) ) ... but we would surely remember that there was one day when more than half the college was scurrying around between “PROCESSES” all dressed up ..... while you had a sound sleep for most part of that very day or you casually strolled around sipping coffee!! ;)

So shortlist or no shortlist, process or no process ..... my two cents worth of advice is .... dil pe mat lo yaaar ..... look at the lighter side of the entire “process”.... theres a lot to look forward to in life!!

Chalo ... lemme go and check the latest shortlist ... and devise some new theory ... or a rational mathematical model which explains why I wasn’t shortlisted .... never mind the fact that I haven’t even applied for it!! ;) :P :D

Stautory Warning to all those who are taking it all very seriously:
..... after all the emotional drama .... many of us may eventually end up with the below depicted emotions in our respective “Summers” ;) :P

2007-11-06T18:31:00.000+05:30

What m I doing with this blog???

I have been proscritanting for long about becoming a regular blogger .... but somehow the inertia has proved too strong to be countered by my weak spirit!!

for the past very many days haven't been feeling good mentally n physically ...... physically is mostly due to cold n fever .... the infamous "delhi ki sardee" has started approachng!! First round I ve been knocked down fair n square ... but m lookin fwd to the next few mnths even more eagerly now!! :) Is this false bravado ... time will tell!! :)

n mentally ... dunno the exact reasons ... due to the surroundings .... mess food .... this place ... or just that I have been away from home for too long!!! Home reminds me that ... day after I have to travel .... n m feeling better alrdy at the thot of it.

Lots of things have happened .... some exciting some not so exciting .... good n bad ... happy n sad ..... m planning to start a flashback series ..... n recapture the past 4 mnths of my bschool life ... so lets c ... hopeflly I'll be mre active here from now on ...

Amen!!

PS: Done with mid sem exams of term 2 today! sleepwalked thru most of it due to bad health. :)

2007-09-09T21:08:00.000+05:30

Academic Rigour in a b-school!! :)

Over 2 months in a b-school and I was still wondering wat is the so called "academic rigour in a b-school" ?

But then I thought that maybe I have faced the music in the real world i.e. The Great Indian IT Industry for almost 4 years ... so rigour is an inconsequential word for me now .... It must be a relevant word for the "freshers"!! :)

So I observed the freshers for some time to find it !! ..... still couldnt coz I could attribute all the sypmtoms of the so called "academic rigour" like: sleepless nights, overworked look on the faces, people scurrying around for academic matters of importance (read: prereads, assignments, presentations, group meetings etc) etc ... to some or the other trivialities of life.

People going for walks on the campus with some pleasant company (read: opposite sex) at odd hours in the night would obviously lead to sleepless nights. ;)) :P

The remainder of the nights being spent in discussing extremely important but non-academics matters like "b-school X is not as good as/is better than ours", "there is no value add in MBA" etc ..or playing TT at 3 AM (which was oficially stopped in our college for some days to artificially induce "academic rigour" ;) :P ) or spent on watching movies which you have seen zillion times already ...

so finally at say 5 in the morning when you manage to pick up a book in your hand its bound to result in this: :))

.. then you somehow manage to get up 5 minutes before the class time and still make it to class ..... with your overworked and underslept look intact when you enter the class ;) .... you sit like a zombie in the class initially trying to make some sense out of your surroundings .... but soon realise that its a futile exercise ... then you peacefully sleep thru the remainder of the class :D ....... which means you also miss out on "matters of academic importance" ..... ..... so no wonder you will end up scurrying around trying to figure out what assignment to complete, what presentation to make etc etc .....

so I finally concluded that the so called "academic rigour in a b-school" is an overstated phenomenon which an average b-schoolers uses to brag in front of lesser mortals who are not blessed enough to be in a b-school :))

but then when I see a mail listing the following "academic" activities to be done in the week ahead over and above the mundane and routine i.e. daily classes, walks on campus, movies/TT at night, discussions on worldly matters etc etc :))

1. Accounts
- Report in hard copy to be submitted tomorrow in Prof. XYZs pigeon hole in the scholars block
- Presentations to begin from Thursdays class

2. Marketing
- Final report containing all 3 sections + executive summary + corrections of first three reviews to be submitted in hard copy to Prof. ABC tomorrow day end/Tuesdays class
- Presentations on the reports to start from Tuesdays lecture
- Group assignment related to analysis of positioning of 3 products of one product type to be submitted on or before next Monday i.e. 17th Sept

3. LAB
- Quiz on companies act tomorrow
- The Lab group assignment has to be submitted by next Mondays class. Please confirm the same with Prof. PQR tomorrow.

4. MicroEco
- Groups 3,4 and 5 to be ready with their presentation on UnderCover Economist for tomorrows extra class from 10:15 AM
- The MicroEco group project has to be submitted right after the end term exams. Kindly reconfirm this in the class tomorrow

5. Stats
- Quiz expected tomorrow

6. HBO
- The HBO project report to be submitted next week I suppose. We will reconfirm this in Tuesdays class
- Harvard case study had been kept in the pigeon holes. Group Presentations on the same from Thursday.

.... I feel maybe this is what they call "Academic Rigour of a b-school" !!! :) :)

PS: by writing such a long post given the above schedule I am also inviting "academic rigour" so I better close it here .... :)) ;)

2007-07-29T21:30:00.000+05:30

Early days in a b-school !!!

Its been quite a long time since I updated my blog .... have been tryng to update it regularly but the so called "academic rigour" of a b-school (most of which is self-inflicted ;) ) and most times the general sense of indiscpline that has crept into my life has prevented me from adding nethng even thgh there r thousand things floatng in my head!!

So have completed over a month in a b-school now .... and if anyone asks me a AajTak reporter types ques "Aapko kaisa lag raha hai ????" .....i wont be able to give any definite answer !!

Why ???

coz in general I m too confsed abt my feelings n emotions rght now .... they have ranged from extreme happiness at the time of induction for just being there .... to the general enthu about gettng heavy duty readng material in hand .... to the pain of reading them befre each class and attending classes of 90 mintes ..... to the high of fighting an election of ne sort for the first time and winning it .... to the lows of missing yr family n friends ... to the insecurities about the next lectre that you havent preread for ... or next quiz i havent prepared for ..... etc.

Now all these fall in the personal domain that is they are emotions where I am both the source and the target .... theres anther set of emotions ... of which the sources are the people and the environment around you ...... and the target is poor "YOU"!!

its quite an experience stayng so far away from your family .... with so many people whom you knw nothing abt ... who come from diverese places, cultures, backgrounds ....... and you coexost with them in an environment ... where theres no family/parental figure around you, no real frens u ve made over the years ..... you are pretty much on your own ...

each person reacts to the people n environment arnd him ....in his/her own unique way ...... .... some are using this independence well .... some are outrageously abusing it ...... some are not too happy with it ..... some want even more of it ..... and in this you are trying to still figure out your take on the independence that the b-school life offers !!

As for the people around u .... u can see some are "MY TYPE" people ... some are outrightly "NOT MY TYPE" people .... and then there are people about whom you are as confused as you are confused abt yourself and perhaps they are cnfsed abt themselves ..... and then you goto an OB class and learn concepts of "Stereotyping", "Anchoring Bias", "Halo Error", "Self Serving Bias", "Bounded Rationality", "Personality Types" etc etc ..... which further add to the confusion prevailing in your life !!! :)

and then there are b-school parties to alleviate this whole confusion for some and to further complicate the matters for some like me ... but mre abt them later as I feel they deserve their own space on this blog!!

PS: written by an utterly confused mind trying to figure out whether to read Business Laws or Microeconomics or Statistics!! :)

2007-06-25T01:53:00.000+05:30

First good loook at MDI Campus !!!

Today morning had a first good loook at the MDI campus ..... where i will be spending a better part of my next two years .........

woke up early ....as cldnt sleep ..... my room was as hot as an oven .... and to compound matters the new mattress and pillow .... just wouldnt allow me to sleep no matter how hard i tried ....

luckly found company to go for a stroll around the campus after breakfast ..... and clicked some snaps ....... needless to say the campus is damn impressve ...... very well laid out ........... great architecture ........lots lof green cover ..... and well maintained ......

Pics of MDI Campus ... also includes a couple of pics of Delhi!!!

the ambience and the infrastructure for learning is there .... now its a case of how well i can use it in the next two years ..... and reduce my level of ignorance abt many things related to business and management .... :)

also later in the day learnt some very important lessons of life ... courtesy seniors ... more on that in another post !!! :))

2007-06-24T01:12:00.000+05:30

The Start !!!!!!

Welcome to my blog !!!! :))

... whether its just another addition to the tonnes of blogs and crap floatng on the net ... or somethng better is upto u ........ but 4 me ... this blog in going to be a medium to provide an alterntve to express my feelings, emtns, happy n nt so happy times, successes n failures, my perceptions of nethng n evrythng under the sun, frustratns, insecurties, queries .. etc etc

.......pple who knw me might feel that ....ohh hez into a bschool now ....so he is following a bschool thing and writing a blog ..... to be very honest partly its true ;)) ...but its not entirely true .... the fact also is that i have been thinking of startng this blog for quite a while now ..... infact the userid was created almost a year back on blogger site .. its just that today ....... i have actllly put that thougt into action .... :))

.. besides that You might have a doubt regarding the name of the blog ......"My Life - an Ocean of Ignorance" ........ but if you think for a moment ... i guess even you would agree that at the end of the day we are all just struggling to stay afloat in this world ..... of whch we know so little ....... we all are on an never ending quest to reduce our levels of ignorance

......hopefully through this blog will also be able to share some informtion periodically which will reduce our level of ignorance about something under the sun ... :)) ..... atleast it wil reduce your ignorance about certain developments in my life for sure !!!! :))