2007 - Summary of an eventful year

Jan - Mar

The year started with my journey from home to Ahmedabad. I was going to start with a new group for my third term. I had heard that there was going to be a lot of group work and I hardly knew my group mates. In due course of time, their sincerity and professionalism towards work really impressed me and by the time, I left the campus for summer internship, I had won some good friends for life.

We, the new Entre team (IIMA's Entrepreneurship club) had very successfully organized the annual Venture Capitalists' Conclave at IIM Ahmedabad. Thanks to amazing efforts by Kunal (Head, CIIE), Vikas Nair, Pranay Gupta, Vijayendra, Vartika, Kaushik, Prashant, Ajay among others.


Apr-May

These two months were spent in the cosmopolitan environment of London in an enviable investment bank. I really enjoyed the support that I received from the alumni and seniors on the desk. The hours were chill and work was interesting. I am glad that unlike many others, I was not just making ppts and pushing numbers without understanding them. I could take full ownership of my work and thoroughly enjoyed it. Except the high cost of living and the tax rate, London seemed like heaven.

Jun-Aug

The fourth term had started, the regular first year classes were gone and the workload of IIMA vanished all of a sudden. I simply did not know what to do. I took in additional subjects to kill time, but to no avail. I had taken a course by Prof. Sunil Handa, "Laboratory for Entrepreneurship" - Thanks to it, I was still interested in IIMA.

The Prayaas school (IIMA school for slum children) kids had started going regularly to Sahjananda School. We were collaborating with Riverside for improving the study environment at Prayaas. Radhika and others led a good dramatics workshop for the school kids.

Sep-Nov

Things started changing for a little.

Entre Club under the leadership of Vijayendra organized the first Social Entrepreneurship event in the history of IIMA - Pratyarpana, the brainchild of Prof. Anil Gupta. We also organized the first Idea Camp at IIM Ahmedabad, in collaboration with CIIE. Thanks to Kunal, Devanshi and Charmie.

Piyush's visa got canceled and we teamed up for our course work. I still think how come we never spent time together earlier. But, it is never too late to start and I am fortunate that I got to know him during the fifth term.

I started participating in B-school contests, thanks to Gendy for taking me in Jumping Jalebis. We started with a couple of failures but the results did not matter, the team spirit did and I was truly enjoying working with this team.

In due course of time, our patience paid and the wildest of our dreams came true -

Jumping Jalebis won the Confluence Award of Excellence

December

Yes, the last month came with lots of fun. It started with ERI course in the deserts of Zainabad. The course was a lot of fun with a sight seeing trip and few good sessions on aerobics, dance and breathing exercises. It seemed to be a 6-day picnic, away from the reach of laptops and internet, in the lap of mother nature.

To add to my pleasures, Vinit won a contest at IIM Indore and Piyush, Pranav and Ankit won the TATA Business Leadership Award during this period. Though I was not present at both the occasions, I was a part of both the teams....(I know, you are thinking how lucky this free-rider can get...)

We supplemented with a visit to South East Asia - Singapore and Kuala Lampur.

A trip with tempting destinations like Sentossa Islands, the night Safari, the Genting Highlands, the KL Minar, the Petronas and the Singapore Zoo was an ideal way to end a fun-filled year.

Jumping Jalebis - A Journey of Joy

Jumping Jalebis - The team

Gendy - The 6'2" tall sportstar bachcha, always filled with enthu and never say die attitude...
Vartika- The under 40 kg baby - a diligent worker, can be a source of inspiration to red ants for perseverance and hard work
Adrian- The "mature" sportsperson who speaks with elan and experience.
Thita - The pseud girl the swift talker, the confident practical manager
Tasha- The funny little girl, the one who keeps the energy and fun going together, under pressure.
Muli, Myself - the famous freerider :P

November 25, 2007 00:00 am Venue: D-325, WIMWI

Confluence NB gives the ratings of the team for awards of excellence, we are yet to open our account and the leading team "Absolutis" is way ahead with 64 points.

Gendy: Do not worry guys, we still have three events tomorrow and we still stand a chance.
Vartika: Ya, let us put our best effort, I am trying hard for our PPT
Muli : We got no chance, what do you think we are going to win all three events tomorrow....all in a day, you seem to be dreaming...it is even less probable than India winning this test match.
Someone: India can win this match if they restrict Pakistan early tomorrow..

November 25, 2007 01:30 am Venue: D-519, WIMWI

Adrian and Vartika have finished their parts for the R&D PPT. I had gone for the Deloitte event which we lost, my laptop started giving problems and disrupted their works.

Thita arrives with her pseud PPT for Opulence, I am just amazed by all the efforts put by her.

We criticize it, discuss and make the changes. It seemed good to me.

They asked me to find few facts and we left to catch some sleep.

November 25, 2007 09:30 am Venue: CR-7, WIMWI - Opulence

Thita gave a good confident presentation and She and Adrian tackled the questions tactfully. It seemed good and we heard all other teams as well.

Thita: what does your gut feel say/
Me: We should be in top three... (I too knew that it was not good enough to be in top three, to keep our hopes going, we must be at the top .... but the pessimist in me stopped me)

The judges commented on our slides, white font on yellow background...utterly bad choice...you simply cannot read it..our hopes start dwindling.

They ask for the second round with a change in situation, we put all our grey cells to work and came up with a flurry of initiatives...judges condemned it saying you should stick to your initial position and should try to scale it up rather than coming up with new proposals....our hopes are thrashed.

Vartika left for making modifications for the paper presentation contest. I get anxious and excused myself by saying I am going to help Vartika. Truly speaking, I was unable to stop myself there to keep waiting for the results.

November 25, 2007 12:30 pm Venue: 519, WIMWI

I come back to the room and listen to the good news -

We stood first in Opulence and have earned our first 30 points

Vartika is disappointed to know that I did not find the facts for my part last night...I ask her not to worry, I get motivated and first few searches give me the required material.

We move to D-3 for getting comments from team mates.

November 25, 2007 1:30 pm Venue: 325, WIMWI

We revamp the old PPT, full reorganization, adding the international experience from Singapore.
We make our submission and head on to the Global FootPrints game.

November 25, 2007 2:00 pm Venue: CR-2, WIMWI

We start badly in the global footprints game, after an hour and half is passed...I have lost all the hope in this game and I ask thita and gendy that I am going to Adrian's room to practise for my presentation. Basically, all hopes are down once again as we seem to be lagging behind in this simulation game.

November 25, 2007 4:30 pm Venue: D-438, WIMWI

I do a dry run of the PPT- adrian and vartika telling me to calm down and forget about the stakes. I am getting really anxious, the serenity of adrian's face and vartika's diligence inspire me to put in my best without caring about the rest.

November 25, 2007 4:45 pm Venue: CR-4, WIMWI - Transcending Barriers

We go for the presentation - Vartika begins in her soft voice, I talk about the brain drain, passionately only to find the slides have changed faster than my speech - Adrian realizes it and gives me time to talk calmly before he comes in.

He talks well like a veteran about his part, the time keeper says five minutes remaining...I think what, I again get anxious...there are 2 videos and around 8 slides yet to be shown.

I go in and again get anxious, suddenly I remember the advice of my partners to keep the cool and forget about the stakes....I get calmer and I finish my presentation.

The judge asks a question and Adrian gives an apt answer with examples from the company he has worked for - another glimpse of his maturity. I try to chip in somethign from what I knew, the judge still does not seem convinced.

The judges talk about they were looking for a focussed and actionable approach. We think we suggested quite a few options and hence did not have a great chance.

Again, this was a contest where we were not even shortlisted initially. It was where one of the teams moved out at last moment and we, being the waitlist # 1 got a chance to present.

I go to CR-2 and see that our team does not stand a chance of winning even at Global footprints. They ask me about the presentation, my pessimistic reply ...Dont know, they were looking for a more focussed approach. I come back to CR-4 for results.

The results

Vibhor Tikiya and team gets third prize - Hey, he himself has been a researcher and of late, has developed good presentation skills.

Vijayendra Haryal and team gets second prize - he is a really good speaker and I thought we might have lost.

One fachcha volunteer murmurs - I thought your team was good enough to be a second or third..but

The Jumping Jalebis win and get another valuable 30 points

Now, everyone is anxious, we are definitely getting 3 points for participation in Global footprints but can we get one more to make a joint first with absolutis - the answer is no because, the two last guys get 3 points and 8th position gets 6 points...so we need to be in top 8.

We start asking teams...how did they do, everyone is secretive and we are eagerly waiting for results.


November 25, 2007 4:45 pm Venue: CR-2, WIMWI - Global Footprints

The results are getting announced and we are not in top seven. By some logic of the game which we misunderstood, we had lost badly. It really seemed like it all stopped at the end...but no, God was with us today and we were eighth, taking our tally to 66.....all in a day.

In the meanwhile, India had also gone to a winning position in the test match.

November 25, 2007 4:45 pm Venue: RJM Auditorium, WIMWI - Award Ceremony

The team Jumping Jalebis receives a standing ovation from the audience.

Thanks to the friends of WIMWI for supporting us all along....

We dedicate this journey to the spirit of optimism and enthusiasm which fuels us.

Jumping Jalebis with their certis, at the end of the day

Jumping Jalebis on the Conflu stage in Action
(Note: Vartika is not missing, the huge Gendy has covered the miniature Vartika in the pic)

Failed yet again!!!!!!!!

I failed yet again...I am simply incorrigible.

I don't know how can I be so stupid, so absolutely crap?

Here is this driving test, cleared by thousands of common people everyday....very very easily and here comes the dumb boy with his fingers wavering like the steering has got an electric current flowing into it....

the job was to get a simple stupid driving license, done by everyone from a school going girl to a fifty year old man so easily, so painlessly....but here comes this chap thinking himself to be intelligent and all that....in truth, more frightened than anyone else around, his face has gone white, he is mumbling prayers but to no avail, he goofs up yet again......

I simply don't get it what can be done of this stupid creature.....I wish he could have been a little more relaxed, a bit more confident, a little less Phattu

Finally I request all the readers of the blog to pray to God that the guy gets some driving skills and succeed in getting a driving license some day.....

Diwali @IIMA

The Fabulous 3-D Rangoli from D-19

Amazing Lights at LKP

Diwali is one of those festivals, which is best celebrated at home. I never missed a diwali at home till second year at IIT, those were some days.

But, now given that I reside in the opposite corner of the country, I could not have gone home for the occasion. Still I could visualize the purchase of silver coins and utensils being made on Dhanteras day and all the decorations being done for the Diwali extravaganza.

After talking to my parents for hours and cribbing about missing yet another diwali at home, i decided I need to make up for it and have the best of fun at Ahmedabad as it is going to be my last "diwali" at campus.

The day started with me waking up at 12:45pm with Pinki's phone call....thanks to him, I could reach in time for the lunch at Handa Sir's house.

The lunch was simply delicious with puri, chhole, chat, dahi wada and not to forget the delicious ice cream. We returned and the "Kumbhkaran" in me returned and I decided to allow myself a short nap of a little more than 2.5 hours.....it is just 5:30 in the evening.

I met the cultcomm team at 6 who were busy preparing the LKP for diwali celebrations....I could not have let go this opportunity of participating in Diya decorations....if not home, let WIMWI be the place...

Later at 8, we the full dorm went for a dinner in tower lawns with Netaji leading the way....we followed it with a small tour of the rangolis in various dorms...

I am simply amazed how do these guys manage to do it in so little time amidst the busy life of WIMWI....D-19 3-D figure of Ganesha was awesome, even better than many rangolis I had seen at KGP...the ones made after efforts of several weeks.

Finally, I ended the night with several diwali wish phone calls to friends, family and relatives.

Overall, a nice cherishable day....I truly enjoyed it.

Teachings outside the classroom

Life is a great teacher whom we never pay heed to. Every step that you take, every word that you utter is just like another learning. And, smart are those who recognize this fact and learn from all those lessons. And, then there are those fools who never learn - the ones who just keep on repeating one mistake after another , getting one setback after another.


Life gives you signals, there is one in everything you do. But, it takes a vigilant mind to take all those cues and to incorporate them in your next action. And, for the unobservant, doom can be the only outcome.


I am one of those blockheads who have chosen to ignore these signals. I was lucky at few occasions but luck is a game of probability. And, hence you cannot rely on luck all the time. So, there are times when you are not so lucky and it is then that life teaches you those tough lessons. You do not have an alternative to escape these setbacks - they have been decided by "factors beyond control" for you. The only thing in your control is to learn from these setbacks and not to repeat the same mistakes. If you do this, you successfully tilt the luck probability factor in your favor. This learning is the sole journey of life.


Lastly, I would thank you all for reading this article. I would also request you to share your views in comments. I also sincerely hope that I start this "learning2

The Vagabond

It was a sunday morning
It all seemed dizzy
Last night was fabulous
Today world is nebulous

Lips are all tied up
Smiles seem dried up
The eyes are asking
where am I heading?

Have I lost the sight
Have I given up the fight
Am I still sober?
It seems to be over

Everything seems to be dead
For the breathing blockhead
So, it all went in vain
None understood my deep pain

चलता राही

चलता राही

मेरी जिन्दगी सिर्फ एक सफ़र है

और चला जा रह हूँ

पता नही किस की तलाश मॆं

कुछ खो गया था, उसे पाने की आस मॆं

बारिश का मौसम था,

बहारें खिल रही थी

मेरी जिन्दगी के पतझ्ड मॆं

कलियाँ भी मर राही थी

कुछ पाने की आस मॆं

ना बुझने वाली प्यास मॆं

और चला जा रह हूँ

पता नही किस तलाश मॆं

तुफानो से लड़ता हुआ

आँधियों से झगड्ता हुआ

और चला जा रह हूँ

ना जाने किस आस मॆं

मिलेगी कभी उम्मीद की किरण

ऐसा कहता है मेरा मन

और चला जा रह हूँ

एक मुकम्मल राह मॆं

The pink slip

It was one of those Monday mornings when the alarm clock is ringing and you just like to think that it is one of those bad dreams you get after a long night of binge drinking. But, I knew it was not a dream, it was the morning siren which was the dreaded call from my trading desk. I took the pain of lifting my eyelids to see the blue ceiling. I unwillingly drew my hand from the bare back of Suzanne, afraid of disturbing the sleeping angel at 4:30 in the morning. I dragged my feet into the bathroom and switched on the shower. Cold water falling on my eyes pierced my drowsiness and I fitted myself into my prim blue suit with golden cuff links. I left a "I love you" note for Suzanne and hurriedly ran towards the underground station, it was already 5:10 am.

I picked up my regular copy of "The Metro" and "The Financial Times" and was just in time to catch the 5:30am metro. After going through half a dozen stations while I was immersed in the financial times, the metro halted at the canary wharf and emptied herself from the load of crazy i-bankers hungry to pounce upon the Bloomberg terminal. My book had been losing money for the past two months and the future too did not seem very bright. I was cursing myself for the couple of trades I booked for the new sexy sales associate; they had been devouring money from my account like termites attacking an old log of wood. In the meantime, my legs had been put on the escalator due to which I found myself standing outside the Canary wharf station. I moved a few paces and crossed the road to present myself at the doors of XX, Bank Street. I checked my wrist-watch which said 6:13 am, two minutes left to reach the desk. I hurriedly flashed my ID to the guard and entered the main gate.

I put the electronic id for the office entrance and ........ and........it screeched with a flashing red DANGER sign prohibiting entry. I thought there was some problem with the gate and I tried another one........with the same flustering result. This was enough to draw a security guard in my direction who requested me to join the queue in front of the security office. Hundreds of people forgetting their ids in their bed flock these queues every morning and here I was, at the end of them all. I knew this was going to kill my precious time of studying and preparing myself before the markets open. I muttered some curses and politely waited for my turn. When I reached the counter, I was prepared with a long speech narrating their security flaws and how it eats my valuable time, but restrained myself with a "Could you please look into my id, it is being rejected by the system?". The tall guy, gave me a forced smile and went to his computer to match my records. He looks at the screen, then at my face, moves to his cupboard and brings a big packet and a small envelope for me. He moves near me, his face is showing sings of false sympathy enough to bewilder me. And, then he breaks the golden words which break the virginity of any employee, "Mr. XXX, I am sorry to inform you that your services have been terminated with an immediate effect, please collect your belongings and formal letter".

Visit to Calico Museum

I have been in Ahmedabad for more than a year now, but I never took the trouble to explore this city. One of the disadvantages of a very good campus life, at times, is that the person gets a lot detached from the city in which the campus is situated. So, I decided to use this break to explore things around me. I sought advice from one of my local friends who suggested me to visit Calico museum.

Calico museum is one of the finest textile museums in the world. It houses handicrafts and textiles not only from various parts of India but also from far-flung places liek Egypt and Phillipines. These hundreds of years old fabric are strong evidences of textile trade between these countries.

There are more than 60 rooms containing various varieties of cloth, right from Kashmiri Pashmina wool to Patola and Pichwai. The place boasts of excellent management and a really knowledgeable guide conversant in Gujarati, Hindi and English. The jute work from Bengal on Purdahs, The pichwai depicting various Krishna-lilas and the chitrakathas on the clothes telling various stories were simply captivating. The guide made us tour in a way that we could understand the fine cultural link between the cloth, the era, the people and their culture. How clothes could say about a person's profession, social stature and even religion.

There are a few things that I think should be changed with this museum. First, there is need for extensive publicity of the museum to spread awareness about it. Even the local auto guys do not know where it is. Next, there is need for commercialization of the museum. The free entry can be made into a charged entry and they can entertain people in more shifts. Right now, there is only one shift. Overall, a nice learning experience and some things to know about the great Indian culture and to feel proud about the glorious past. The guide also told us about how various artisans are starving today due to lack of support of the old art and hence, these glorious traditions are dying down an unnatural death. I believe, there is an urgent need to support these craftsmen and an entrepreneur can carve out a profitable export venture with sufficient investments in marketing and branding of these handicrafts.

विचलित मन के उदगार

एहसास

ये क्या हो गया,

मैं हवा हो गया ।

समंदर की लहरों से पूछो,

मैं कहॉ खो गया ।

आयी एक आंधी ,

संसार सुनसान हो गया।

मची भयंकर तबाही ,

अपने घर मैं मेहमान हो गया ।

कभी एक तमन्ना थी ,

कभी था एक सपना ।

कभी थी कोई जो ,

कहती थी मुझे अपना ।

ईन आंखों से भी आँसू ढलते थे ,

ईन लबों पर भी मुस्कान होती थी ।

इन्सान के जिस्म मॆं ,

मैं बुत हो गया ।

नज़रों से परे ,

आंखों के पार ।

महसूस करो मुझे ,

मैं एक एहसास हो गया ।

I can't

I can't

I want to forget you,

I want to forgive you,

I can't.

For all the moments we spent,

For all the secrets we shared,

I can't.

You might be selfish bitch,

Your memories never gonna ditch,

How much I cry,

However hard I try,

I can't.

Farther and farther you may go,

My pains you may not know,

You can forget me,

You can omit me,

I can't.

मेरी पहली हिंदी रचना

आज पहली बार मैं हिंदी मैं अपने blog पर कुछ लिख रहा हूँ और वो भी London से ।

भूल जाओ

आंखें भर आयी हैं उनका इंतज़ार करते करते
थक सा गया हूँ, प्यार करते करते।

मना किया था लोगों ने , ना लगाओ दिल जालिम से

मगर ये दिल ना माना , मोहब्बत हुई कातिल से।

गुजरता हुआ हर पल, मुझसे कह रहा है

वो ना आएगी, भूल जा उसे
याद उसकी ना भुलाई जाती है,
लाख चाहा , फिर भी वो याद आती है।

वो चंदन सा तन, वो सुन्दर नयन

वो बारिश की रात, वो मधुर मुस्कराहट ।

नही भुला सकता मैं, लाख मैं चाहूँ

ना आये वो, मैं क्यों उसे भुलाऊँ।

Treatment of symptoms, not the disease

Yesterday, the Indian judiciary achieved a big milestone with the epic judgement which awarded the long deserved death sentence to 8 accused in Manjunath Murder Case in a short (by Indian standards) period of around 500 days.

Manjunath, an IIML graduate joined Indian Oil as sales manger and lost his life for being honest and not succumbing to the presssures of bribery and corruption, which has been so deep ingrained in our system that some people have started taking it as a part of the tradition.

This judgement may go a long way in deterring small crminals and petty petrol pump owners like Monu Mittal. But, this is only an application of ointment to the sore which manifested itself in the form of Manjunath Murder. The underlying disease is all pervasive corruption, which needs to be treated in a much more comprehensive manner.

I believe corrupton can be addressed in a top-down manner because if a senior is honest, there is an automatic pressure on his juniors to get rid of corruption. So, the treatment of the cancer of corruption needs to begin right from the top with the decriminalization of indian polity and immediate action against the greedy bureaucrats. I believe, to take the country on the path of progress, we need to immediately address this issue because rent-seeking behavior is deterimental to our economic progress.

Removal of corruption and adequate compensation (yes salaries will need to be increased once bribes are removed from the system) along with victory of justice in cases like Manjunath Murder, may influence the brightest minds of the nation to leave their plum dollar-salary jobs and join PSUs to make a greater change.

The best 5 hours of WIMWI life

WIMWI, Well known Institute of Management in Western India aka IIM Ahmedabad is known for its rigorous academics, hard core fighters but what people do not know is the life that resides in every heart that lives on campus. But what it needs to free that untapped talent, that unharnessed energy is a right moment, and what can be a better time than the start of the last academic week. (Yes, I know that it is only the end of my first year but no one studies in second year right?)

So, the mighty BOOZTERS (name of the 2006-08 Sec-B batch) took a well deserved break from all the pains of SFI, Fin, EEP and god knows what not...(Interesting fact: the height of first year course material at IIM Ahmedabad is more than that of a normal human being)

So, they gathered to break away all the shackles and send a message to maggu junta "Dude, go get a life".

The section which boasts of famoous sportsmen like Adrian (at an age of 30+, the guy is our sports secretary), Taid (the IITD footer captain), Piyush Zeka Surana (the ever-enthu guy) and Satack (or should I say Said up, pronounced as Satap) could not have started in a better way than a frisbee match.

Then, we proceeded on to the famous Poll of the Year (POTY) awards. All the people who had put in persistent efforts throughout the year were to be duly rewarded. I am going to list some of my favorites:

• Silence is Golden Award: Who says IIMA people are die-hard competitive, in a place where class participation fetches you a good portion of the pie, there are cool people who have never been heard to utter a word. And, keeping the tradition, our winner went away in style without a word.


• Rip Van Winkle Award: And who says IIMA gives you night-outs, early morning classes and a tough life, here come our winners. And one of them in his style, did not even bother to disturb his sleep to receive the award.

And, then comes the delicious food, followed by the yummy cake. I cannot share the cake, but would allow you the pleasure of watching it...tempting na...

And, then they sang. With due respect to elders, we began with Group-4 which boasts of senior citizens like Adrian, Mudit and Muthuselvan.

And, you know once these old men get enthused, nothing can stop them...so what next? CHANCE PE DANCE...our very own version of Amitabh Bachchan (Mudit Khandelwal) performing Beedi Jalaile..

In essence, one of the best times I ever had...I never thought I would be able to live such moments after leaving KGP but WIMWI, Sec-B and all these friends have proved me wrong...you can live to the fullest wherever you go, because life is not outside, it is inside.

PS: Thanks to Goga, Ranjit P. Ajaykumar for the pics

IS THIS ENOUGH?

The odds are deterring
The sky is warning
I am crazy enough
Not to be listening

The past is crying
The future is boding
I am insane enough
Not to be heeding

The scars are reminding
The sores are chafing
I am strong enough
Not to be bleeding

I have loved morning enough
Not to be afraid of the night
I have loved light enough
Not to be afraid of the dark.

I have loved HER enough
Not to be afraid of the world.

Prayaas Sports Day

We believe in "All work and no Play makes Jack a dull boy" and so do our friends from the Prayaas School who celebrated their sports day with us. The young warriors fought hard and gave a loud warning to the Marathon runners.

The ladies even tried the famous sack race, if you think it is easy, just try your hands once. This is from self-experience, I have been a consistent loser in this race since childhood.

And, then they graciously accepted their laurels won after battling it out among themselves.

And finally the teammates who made it possible.

For the non-IIMA friends, Prayaas is a school run by IIMA students to provide education to slum children. So, if you wish to help us in any way, feel free to contact us.

Holi Hai...the first at IIM Ahmedabad

The bare body CEOs in the making

Hey, this place never fails to amaze me....always strikes me with a surprise even after having been here for almost a year. I never thought that psued MBAs would throw away their corporate facade and be their ownself to enjoy the festival of colors.

Like the traditional style, we went for Holika dahan, the last night and today the show was all on. With the arrangement of environment friendly organic colors and 1500 L water tank, all enthu junta assembled right in the morning, 9 AM...after all these very people have been attending all the soporific lectures, by 08:59:59.

But, Holi is not a festival where people go in a civilized manner and shake hands saying Happy Holi....so what, these future CEOs do know how to dirty their hands. We had a wonderful mudpit which had an awesome power to attract people and once they have been immersed in mud, the person himself offers to get dunked in the tub and becomes an active participant in the show.

To add to show, the fun was multiplied after having Thandai and Bhole naath ka prasad...so, all in all, the best holi of my life. So, for your fun, I am adding a few pics.

They all had fun....

A morning walk

More often than not, we forget to appreciate the beauty spread around us. How often have you thanked God for the warm sunshine, for the relieving rain and for the singing birds which wake you up from the sweet dreams....almost never.

So, it happened with me. Despite living in the hallowed brick walls of IIMA, I never appreciated its world-class architecture, I never thanked Louis Kahn for endowing us with a gift which will be instrumental in scripting the stories of our dreams..and as a PGP-1, you do not even notice its beauty because the system keeps you engrossed in bloody WAC runs and short MANAC quizzes(for non-IIMA junta, these are the most terrifying courses in first year).

But not everyone is oblivious to the surroundings and it took an exchange student from US (one of my good friends, Kriti Bhandari) to prepare me for my first photo shoot of the campus on an idyllic sunday morning.

So, we roamed around the campus and took pics of the beautiful Louis Kahn Plaza and the famous Harvard Steps.

And here, in this pic is our dormatory structure, just the right balance of light and shadow. I simply am in love with IIMA.

Thanks Kriti for taking me with you on the photo session.

Prayaas Treat : A rendezvous with True India

Today we discussed the widening gap between the Indian rich and the poor in our soporific EEP class. Since I was betting on myself for CPs (class participation game), I was not sleeping. So, I learnt something about India: We have worse situation in educational inequality than the Sub-Saharan African nations like Ghana.

For us, India is on the path of historic growth. We are dreaming of double digit growth and fat pay packages, increasing perks and what not. So, I forgot it, reached my room, performed the usual chore of checking Dbab (this is more important than food and water at WIMWI) and reached NEWS NB to see this http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/feb/26inflation.htm

Now however insensitive I might be, I could not stop myself cursing the system for doing nothing to ensure that the fruits of success trickle down to the lower strat of the society. But that is what we do, curse others and do nothing. Can we do anything? Can we add few moments of happiness in lives of some people who have not been as fortunate as we are?
(For economics-inclined junta, they call it "Endowment failure")

And then, I saw the post about the treat for Prayaas kids. These kids had given an awesome dance performance during Chaos, the cultural festival of IIMA. The Prayaas team had called them to show them the video of their performance. After showing them the video, we had an awesome pizza treat. The kids had a chance to bite the italian food with the American coke. I will believe globalisation to have succeeded in India only when all Indians will have enough purchasing power to live the life of global standards.

After the treat, the kids performed their chaos dances once again and gave a performance of their folk song. Their faces were gleaming with joy when we bid them good bye along with a handful of candies.

Overall, I had a wonderful time and am feeling great.

Just Another Drink!!

Just Another Drink and we landed into Tuchchadom(second year at IIMA, for the uninitiated) ...yes, the long year of wait and frustrating fachcha life (PGP-1) seems to be over now.

Yesterday night was the Corpo-D (Corporate dinner) of Dorm-V and believe me, D-V rocks..The small bus laden with 20 inmates of the brick jail proceeded on its way to give them an evening of freedom when there were no rules, when you knew no bounds.
All 20 inmates of the Penthouse (as Dorm-Vians lovingly call their abode of WIMWI life) were immersed into the pool of unbounded merriment. The dry throats got a golden chance to gulp the divine drinks and quinch their thirst.

The swimming pool saw the historic water rugby battle between adventurous tuchchas and skilful fachchas...people have doubts about who won, who cheated, when it was a foul and so on....but let these cribbers cry, none will deny they were all filled with joy.

Then came one of the most enjoyable dinners of my life and it was not because of food but the chatter and the company.

It reminded me of the times when I was a second year at IITKGP and we were giving farewell to the final years of the wing...but there were no secrets shared this time, no heartfelt feelings for the place you never wanted to live...may be these WIMWI MBAs are too pseud for that....or two years are too little to bind you to the brick walls. I do not know but without the sentiments, it becomes just another drink.