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 :)
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
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. :)
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. :)
Saturday, March 22, 2008
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!! :))
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!! :))
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:
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:
Saturday, February 23, 2008
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.
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