Life in a Cocoon

Living the past couple of days without my laptop has given me loads of time at my disposal. The first few hours without it were spent in frustration and anger. Then came the tortuous and agonizing wait for it to get repaired. And this led me to the question, are we dependent so much on technology that we probably can't expect to live meaningfully without it?

I take pride in calling myself one of the 'impatient generation'' or a self proclaimed 'geek god'. the first thing that I do when I get up is check my mail on my phone through our wi-fi connection, I get my news through my google reader, I almost totally shun non-interactive media like TV. I sometimes wish my mom and dad were more net savvy than they are now, so that we could just chat up anytime than calling each other up ( my dad already has a Gtalk and orkut account), I can't wait another day for 3G to be introduced in india coz my fring connection is not supported over my gprs which puts me out of touch with my chat buddies while I am commuting which is on an average 20 mins per day. I don't like standing in lines to pay my bills, so I pay my power bill online using my credit card (add-on courtesy dad), my phone bill payment is even easier, its done through my m-check, and yes my music, since I dont have the moolah to buy the latest sony wired player, I am making do with my e 63 over my bluetooth headset, and how could I forget what has led to all this, microsoft windows 7 ( which btw ankita is advising me to sue) which was responsible for crashing my computer and setting me back by quite a lot. Infact Paro is of the opinion that all this happened coz of me trying too many things and I chided her for speaking like my dad.

And now that my laptop wasn't around it just made me wonder how pathetically I have become a slave of technology and how much it has changed my life (and I am sure there are thousands like me throughout the world).

I remember how as a young kid, I happily chatted with people thrice and even four times my age whom I met on several of the train journeys. And now, I am content with my earphones in my ear, oblivious to the world outside. And I am definitely not an exception, there are hundreds like me who I see everyday in Delhi Metro...so much for being a 'connected' generation. We say technology is helping to bring down barriers, that it is making the world flat, the question that we need to ask, is it really??? Or is it raising walls taller than the physical one that once stood in the city of berlin, I feel more 'connected' with people hundreds and thousands of miles away, but wonder why the middle aged lady sitting next to me in the metro cant just mind her own business.

Where are we headed, is this world just going to become a huge elevator, where all of us despite being so close physically just ignore each other's presence and avoid eye contact. Since when did pretending that people around don't exist become good manners???

P.S. This blog entry was written on my phone with my earphones firmly in place, while on my way to collect my laptop from Nehru place, with the autowallah trying to make himself heard.

P.P.S. In all probability all these would be forgotten when I get busy with my laptop and my all too important digital life, but in case any of this strikes a chord, do share ur views.

Times have changed!!!

Well, at the risk of sounding a bit dramatic, I must say that last night was a bit of an eye opener for me. A lot of pre conceived notions got cleared up and my respect and faith in the "system" and the police force went up a notch.

Now the reason why I am writting this is just because I think its all right for us to criticize the "system" when it doesnt work properly, but I believe its also our duty to give credit where it is due.

Anyways, last night, me, Kalle and Puri were coming back from Nirula's towards home (the flat that we have shifted to in Mall Apts), we have christened it as L Niwas. Anyways when we were waiting at the traffic signal, a Maruti Esteem jumped the red light and hit a rickshaw at pretty high speed.

The impact was quite ugly, the front wheel of the rickshaw got twisted in a heap of metal, the rickshaw wala also got injured pretty bad. The guy in the Esteem didnt bother to stop, even when he was given a chase by the others he just swerved and sped away. We rushed to check on the rickshaw wala, Kalle helped him to the side of the road, while me and Puri tried moving his rick away from the middle of the road.

What was really disappointing was nobody bothering to stop to allow us to move the Rick out of harm's way. At this moment Puri said "This is Delhi for you". Somehow we got the rick safely moved to the side of the road with the help of another rickwalla. I had taken the number of the vehicle. Me and Puri looked at each other. We werent sure whether we wanted to call the police. Guess, this was because of our middle class upbringing where we are taught to stay out of trouble, to turn a blind eye to matters that doesnt affect us.

Somehow it didnt feel right, it just didnt. I called up 100, not 100 percent sure of what to expect. A gruff male voice answered, I simply told him that an accident has happened close to University Metro Station, and there is an injured guy. He said he would send someone, but somehow I wasnt really convinced. I dont know why, but I wasnt.

We waited, getting convinced by each passing second that nobody was going to come and this is how things work. I kept telling Puri that these calls get logged, he will have to send someone, but probably that was more to convince myself than him. But after about 3-4 minutes we spotted a PCR gypsy, it was a reassuring sight, that yes things arent that bad, it isnt the same country that my parents grew up in.

The gypsy came close, an officer got down, we gave him the details of the car, they took it down, they asked the injured Rickshaw wala whether he wanted to go to the hospital, the rickshaw wala was probably in shock and was scared too. So they decided to take him to the hospital.

They went away, and we came back home. But this wasnt this simple. It was a day which changed my perception entirely of the police and the "system". I know there are people who would have had not so pleasant experience or rather some would even accuse the police of even more cruel things but the point being, like any other organization even they arent perfect. But that doesnt mean that we totally give up on them.

I know for a fact that the next time something happens, I would not hesitate before calling up 100.

Kush Mishra (22nd June 1986- 21st May 2009)

When I said that I would be writing about my college days and friends, never for a moment did I realise that I would be writing something like this. I am sure most of you read that little piece in the papers about a month back, talking about a KSRTC bus accident. The bus was on its way from Bangalore to Pune carrying young Infy engineers. Five of the young techies were killed in the accident. One of them Kush Mishra.

I know it's kind of customary to say nice stuff about people once they aren't around anymore. But if there was one person in this world who everybody would have described in the same words, it would have to be Kush Mishra. He was my batchie in first year in VIT. Oh GOD, the amount of fun we had. Be it making life hell for the young research assistant Ms. Sona. (Kush had quite a talent for making paper planes.) Or the time when four of these guys; Luv (Kush's twin bro), Varun Jain (or Sharabi/Vodka as he came to be known after that trip, Akash (came to be known as 'Saaki' as a fallout of that trip) and Kush went for that Bangalore trip of theirs. That was a trip which I feel like I shouldn’t have missed. What did these guys not do, Sharabi drank for the first time in life and called up his dad, crying at the same time, or running across railway tracks with trains running at top speeds. Such was the kind of daring spirit you developed when you were around with Kush.

The kind of silly things that you always remember when you think about a person, it was Kush's room where I heard 'Summer of 69' the first time, the first episode that I watched of 'Friends'. The guy was a rockstar.

And when I think of Kush Mishra how can I forget the legendary "East UP-West UP" debates which were a huge hit. He was the one who started it off, initially just to make fun of Akash who hailed from Meerut, but it went on to become such an awesome Bakar topic.

Or the time when we guys went for Aero India 07. Man what fun it was. And not just looking at those awesome beauties in the air, or on the ground, but the journey back was such a thrill. That being the period when the Kaveri verdict had been announced, the bus service to Tamil Nadu from Bangalore had been halted, and somehow we managed to get ourselves seat on a AP bus to Chitoor and from there got ourselves a bus back to Vellore.

Those endless Raptor game sessions in his room , or his obsession with 'Mausiji' and her friends, nothing can be forgotten.

The guy knew how to bring life to any party. Never missed a chance to pull anyone's leg, but nobody minded it in the least bit. This was what hostel life was all about. Was simply crazy about girls from the junior batch. I can never forget how Gupta and I pulled a fast one on him by chatting with him through SMS pretending to be a girl from a new number that a friend had got himself, or the time when he and I pulled a fast one on one of the guards at VIT who thought it was their God sworn duty to prevent ragging.

And the best part about him was there was no other side to his personality, I mean whenever I (or everybody else for that matter) met him he was his usual self. Be it the day when the results were announced (and he got a couple of backs) or the day he got through Infy (everybody was pleasantly surprised, including him). Life for Kush Mishra was not to be taken too seriously and this was why everybody liked him so much.

I wouldn’t write here that he was the most understanding friend of mine, or the one I went to when I wanted a solution to my problems, absolutely not. He wouldn’t take any of that bullshit. He was the one I went to when I wanted to get away from my problems and forget about them, he was the one I went to when I wanted some fun.

Kush isn't with us today, but wherever he is, I am sure he is still making people laugh with his raunchy jokes or his antics.

A pic, A thousand words, Bonds for life,

And a sucky senti title for a blog

The pic that you see on your left is legendary,( not the least because of me trying to reach Dutta's shoulder to rest my arm)…some random day, some random guy decided that all of us in T batch (well that was my first year batch in VIT, with guys from all branches except Biotech and Bioinfo , alas!! The poor gender ratio) will wear kurtas to college and pose, and the result is the photo that u see on top…

 

Now something about the guys in the pic, starting from left,

 

OMG, are we talking about one of the most popular guys in the college, Jayant Narayan, a name very quickly discarded by inmates at VIT, popularly known as Bh***a in the first year by everyone, the name bears a testament to his networking skills :P.   Seen him through various shades in VIT, just like his hairline…but what really stood the test of time was his pessimism to anything and everything in life, I don’t know why but he always thought that he had been singled out by fate for the worst of things,  and the best part was his approach to exams, used to study his back side off for exams, (Man!! Can I forget those power walks that me, daddu and charul used to go on during exams, remind me to talk more about it later) and then after every exam he used to give this gesture, and say that this was the worst exam that he had attempted in his life and he was screwed and his happyness was screwed and god knows what else was screwed, but somehow and I repeat somehow his marks never reflected the anatomical torture that he mentioned that he had undergone during the exam.  Well daddu is too interesting a character to describe completely in one post, he will be back but lets move on to the others.

 

Second from left, Vaidyanathan Subramanium, too long a name so someone decided to shorten it up and so he came to be known as 'Baldy' no prizes for guessing why…used to obsess about his hairline in the first year but then gave up the struggle against the 'Silicon Carbide' hardened water of Vellore.  Well what about Baldy, the guy claimed to know as many as 5 languages but trust me he couldn’t ask for directions to the loo without offending the other person, in anything other than english.  Had a knack of coming up with lots of catch phrases in Hindi/English, like 'Naked Dance of Inhumanity (Haiwaniyat ka Nanga Naach) and what not…an awesome sketcher…was part responsible for putting up my caricature across campus, but more about that later…

 

And now we come to Dams!! Or Damani Abhishek Shantikumar as he was called by more civilized people…At the time of clicking this photo, Damani was head over heels in love with a girl…no big deal, happens everyday in an Engg college, but as with all love stories there was a competitor, needless to say none of them ended up doing anything about it, what a bunch of loosers :P…

 

( I am sure damani is gonna let loose a flurry of counter attacks/ abuses )

 

Coming on to Dutta, or Arnab Da as we called him, a gizmo freak to the core, being with dutta guaranteed that you will have a peak at the latest cell phone in the market within a month of its release or even earlier… and how can a mention of datta be complete without mentioning all those super awesome sweets that he got for us….

 

So there it is, the four guys who were among my first friends at VIT, the guys who called themselves the 'Kanda Club' (the origin of this is pretty disputed, while Dams!! Says it is entirely a figment of my imagination, my version is that we named ourselves 'Kanda Club' with the sole objective of furthering Damani's romantic interests, against his competitor…

 

Let Truth Prevail!!

 

 

P.S. well I remember that before I stopped writing last year, I had plans of writing a Life@VIT kind of series, well this is entirely different from what I had in mind, was feeling pretty nostalgic about the college days (bole to VIT) so uploaded a few pics on orkut, and with the kinda comments that I got I realised I wasn’t alone, and from there this idea of a photo blog for vit originated,

 

@guys from VIT--keep pouring with ur expert comments and more interesting tidbits and scandals, would love to get a few scandalous pics if u wanna share

 

@others--- I realise that you wont be able to relate to it as such, but I am sure you will find a taste of your college life in here too

 

 

P.P.S. why did I write the above part, why do I even have to justify myself, guess I take this blog a bit too seriously :P

Life mein kuch missing hai!!!

hmmm....what to write and most importantly how to write...whether to use the erstwhile style of "I'm Back" as if reading my blog was the most meaningful thing in junta's life and the absence of it left a void...or to be more sensible and act my age (23 according to revolutions of Earth and I guess 37 according to FB) and say that yes, no matter whether you read it or not, i am still gonna write coz this is after all not for my ego but just to provide an outlet for my creative juices...

gosh!! enuff of rambling...

hell!! my blog is important, i have realised this once i have started my internship, there are times during the day when u crave for that 'something' to read, and i take pride in the fact tht my blog did that last summer and had its share of 'loyal' bored office going junta...

so wht is it about...to be honest, i am not sure...as much as i wud love to dispense gyaan on politics, matters related to country's security, fighter jets, or marketing and media (section dedicated to geetu di) there are numerous ppl out there doing a much better job of it (dat doesnt mean that i am going to stop doing it :P ), so i wud rather concentrate on something closer to my life...something on the lines of cat tales...tonight is the night when i will give it the final thought, and prepare something for tomorrow...for any special demands feel free to comment, and keep blasting me in the comment box (not 4 u Damani & Gupta)...

i dont think i can write anymore on 'nothing'

so see u again tomorrow

Final Countdown!!!

Nothing to do with music, infact those of you who know me, would swear that there is absolutely no relation between me and music...

Well I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday, and he is appearing for CAT this year and he was asking what to do, now that there is just a month and a few days to go for the big day, and my advice to him was DO NOTHING.

Now, I know that I am no authority on handling the CAT exam, or in stress management, but since you are reading this means that you dont have any alternatives either, so why not just read what this guy has to say ;)

Anyways as I told my friend, do nothing.  Dont start off with any new concepts, dont brood over any topics that you havent covered, basically free your mind up of any unnnecessary clutter.

You have given it all the effort that you could, now is the time to just sitback and go on auto-pilot.  You have trained hard, for all eventualities just so that you dont get carried away by the magnitude of the task, you have prepared hard so that your instincts take over and just glide you through those 2.5 hours.

I mean it would make more sense to listen to Shahrukh's 70 minute speech than going through Numbers again.   

I cant resist PJs.

And its here that I would like to use the words of a friend,

Remember that not so long ago it was the boards which was like everything in the world for you for your parents, for your pados wali aunty, for your chachi, mami and God knows who!!

And then it was those Engineering Entrance Examinations (and similarl exams for others), it just felt like that was it, that was what the world stood for, and I am sure you have realised that No, there is more to life than what you do in a closed room for 120-150 mins.  There is more to life than those 5 digits which denote your percentile, there is more to life than these exams can ever test...

I know some of you would be like, its easy for me to say, but trust me you will realize the same things sooner or later.

Until then, Remember this when you step inside that examination hall for the test, this is not the end of the world, this is just an exam which would last for 150 minutes and damn it!! it happens every year, and so do all the other entrance exams, so chill and just do your best.

Good Luck!!

Here is the only poem I have written in my entire life

from the darkness of my past
i see the footprints of my future
from the travesty of years gone by
i see the promise of the future

i ask myself
"is all this worth living for"
and prompt comes the reply
"if this isn't then what is"

life was never meant to be easy
but was it meant to be so lonely
true friends were never easy to find
but was friendship so difficult to maintain


faith was all i had
to begin with
but was it enough
to last me till the end


will the nightmares of the past 
come to haunt me in the future
will the stories of my struggle
be known as fables in the future

i find myself asking again
"is all this worth living for"
and here i lie waiting 
for the reply is yet to come

for i see, the darkness of my past
looming in the future

India 2025

“I am young, and I too have a dream. I dream of an India--strong, independent, self-reliant and in the front rank of the nations of the world in the service of mankind.” - Rajiv Gandhi

 

Rajiv Gandhi dared to dream, he dreamt of a strong and prosperous India and this is what the present generation is doing; it dreams of an India which is a world leader in all spheres and strives towards achieving that goal. 

 

Here is the dream I have for my India of 2025, for our India of 2025.

 

My most compelling vision for India of 2025 is of  the country having shed the title of a developing nation and being recognized as a developed nation by everyone. 

 

My vision is of an equal opportunity India, an India where every body regardless of their  religion, caste or creed gets equal opportunities to prove themselves.  My vision is of an India where there is no divide between people,  most importantly I dream of an India where there is no urban- rural divide, where there are as much opportunities in the rural sector as there are in the urban sector.  I dream of an India where there is a balance between agriculture and industry, an India where there is a fair distribution of land between these two spheres, an India where farmers are not coerced to give away their lands against their wishes, but also an India which facilitates the setting up of industries.

 

 

My vision for India of 2025 is one in which it is capable of defending itself both against external threats as well as internal disturbances.  An India where everybody is made a partner in the growth story, an India where everybody feels proud of the heritage and the diversity.   My India of 2025 is one which stands up as a united entity, an India where there are no murmurs of secession from any part of the country.   It would be able to defend itself against any form of external threats.  While it would be the same benevolent India which has been the champion of non-violence and 'Ahimsa' , but at the same time it would not shy away from standing up for what is right and just even if it has to use force.  This can happen only when we are self-sufficient in the defense sphere;  an India where its armed forces are proud of the technology of their scientists.

 

My India of 2025, would be a world leader in all the frontiers of technology; be it in space technology, or research in the field of bio technology.  An India whose scientific institutions like DRDO, ISRO, TERI, Atomic Energy Dept would be renowned the world over for their excellence.

 

In my India of 2025, there would be no room for gender discrimination and both the genders would be made partners in the growth of the country.  Everybody would be accorded the same respect and be provided with the same opportunities for growth and well being.  An India which is as proud of its daughters as it is of its sons.  The India of my dreams would invest special effort in the education of its daughters as investing in the education of a girl child means educating a whole future family.

 

My India of 2025, would be a nation of healthy people.  While a disease free country might be a utopian concept, efforts have to be made to provide medical facilities to everyone in the country.  My India of 2025 would have primary health centers, hospitals, specialty hospitals and super specialty hospitals distributed in all parts of the country so that people can find cure to their problems closer to their homes.

 

My India of 2025, while being a model of growth and progress for the rest of the world would also set an example for other countries of the world in preservation of environment. The mantra for my India of 2025 would be 'Sustainable Development'. At the same time, I dream of an India which would not leave its citizens at the mercy  of nature's elements.  It would not allow a situation where some parts of the country are facing drought while the others are inundated .  It would have linked all its rivers so as to mitigate the travesties of nature and also reduce the dependence of its farmers on monsoons.

 

 

My India of 2025 would be self-sufficient in its energy needs, be it through exploring and developing new gas fields, or through developing other sources of energy like thorium nuclear reactors, wind energy, solar energy and tidal energy among others.

 

 

My India of 2025, would be known for excellence in all spheres, and this would not be complete without it performing in the field of sports.  My vision is that in the year 2025 India would be a power to reckon in the world of sports.  We wouldn’t be a country which concentrates on just two or three sports but is a power to reckon with in most of the sports in the international sporting arena.

 

 

Being  a country of global standing isn't just about having the right numbers, the right indicators of growth. It's not just about the tangibles, its about soft power as well.  Therefore I have vision for India to become an important player in the field of culture and entertainment as well.  I visualize India as a local hub for culture and entertainment in the whole South East Asian region.

 

I have a vision for my India of 2025, but I also know that all this would come true only when young people like me come forward to share the responsibility of taking this country forward.  I being a management student realize that my responsibility is even bigger. 

 

After completing my education, I would like to work for the social benefit of the country by starting up an NGO which would work towards the education of girls.  This would happen alongside my career in the corporate world.   However 10-15 years down the line, having fulfilled my obligations towards my family, I would like to step in politics.  This is because I feel this is where I can make the maximum difference to my country.  The country needs young people from all spheres, engineers and doctors in the cause of nation building, managers to give the right direction to the growth of the country. 

 

India Today

nothing to do with the magazine which also goes by the same name...anyways just wanted to write about the state of affairs in the country, especially with all these bomb blasts in delhi and the inability of the government to deal with them...

this is more of a critique of the ruling party then about the bomb blasts... while reading through various articles criticizing the home minister mr. shivraj patil i was wondering why people are surprised!!!!

as in is this something that the congress party has done for the first time, that everybody is amazed!!!

the congress party has always been known to appoint weak personalities for important constitutional positions so that ultimately its "the family" which gets to call the shots...be it in the choice of prime minister after the lok sabha elections (with all due respect for the prime minister), or the choice of president....

now something about the person in question, mr. shivraj patil, he again is the weakest home minister this country has seen... he was made the home minister after he had lost a lok sabha election..

this i believe should be enough for people to realize that at the end of the day its just the family's interest that the congress party has in mind

An MBA student writes

Well some of you might be wondering what is making me write this blog....specially when I have not written anything for the past 2 and a half months...  well there is no ulterior motive other than blowing my own trumpet...for the sake of whatever modesty I have left with me I will not write any further on this topic and will just give you this link...

http://epaper.livemint.com/ArticleImageEx.aspx?article=09_09_2008_005_003&type=1&mode=1

and ya one more thing before i move on to other items...gone are the days of exquisite grammer...get ready for sentences seperated by three dots in all the posts to come....for those who are wondering whether this is because of the hectic schedule here in FMS...well this is definitely a part of the reason but not the complete picture...its just that we MBA types love to project ourselves as very busy creatures and thats why this lack of concern for grammer...

as to how this blog is going to turn out in future...dont ask me this question...coz i dont know...it might turn out to be a dig on MBA students and the program...or it might turn out to be a b-school insight blog...or it might continue being what it has always been...ramblings of my mind...

A Tribute to Sam Bahadur

I know some time back I said that this page is just gonna be my personal blog and other stuff (read my take on current affairs etc) would be posted on another blog, but this is personal.

As most of you must have heard by now Field Marshal Sam J. Manekshaw is no more in this world. At 94 years of age, this isnt really shocking but what does surprise me is how can someone so energetic, so enthusiastic or so full of verve ever lie still as he is today. If you have ever listened to any of his interviews or speeches you would know what I am talking about.

Even though every news channel would be alive with these reports today but let me tell you some instances which define Sam Maneckshaw for me.

I can never forget a speech he delivered at the passing out parade of the IMA a few years back. He was in his late eighties back then, and the way he delivered his address, it was simply out of this world. He told those officers Don’t ever loose a war because when you come back home after loosing a war even your wife wouldn’t respect you.

He had a lot of respect and admiration for the bravery of Gorkha soldiers as immortalised in this quote of his

"If a man ever tells you that he is not afraid of dying, then either he is lying or he is a Gurkha."

Another incident which Sam Bahadur loved to recall was how Yahya Khan the dictator of Pakistan had cheated him. It so happened that Yahya Khan bought Sam's motorcycle two days before independence for Rs. 1000 and promised to send the money from Pakistan later, which he never did. Sam Bahadur loved to joke that he took Bangladesh away from Pakistan in return of that money.

He was conferred the title of Field Marshal in return for his services to the army and the nation. Today India has lost a jewel in its crown, one of its bravest sons.

Rest in Peace, Sam Bahadur.

Maintenance Blog

Hello everyone,

Sorry to have kept you guys waiting for Life @ VIT posts (is anyone??)

Anyways I am terribly sorry but due to some pressing commitments I am unable to write much at this moment (because of the Pre Session Assignment from FMS).

But this is just a postponement not a cancellation.

I will try to come up with the posts as soon as I can.


Meanwhile just 12 days for the session to start at FMS, so I will try to write about Life @ FMS if possible.

Allah Haafiz.

A New Hope-6 (Why FMS??)

Well this question was put to me a lot of times after all written results were out. Between XLRI, FMS and MDI what was my preference.

And without any hesitation my answer was always the same

XLRI

FMS

MDI

But it all changed the day I went to FMS for my interview. To be honest I don’t know what changed it. It definitely wasn’t the infrastructure, I mean FMS hasn’t got the most attractive of buildings not even close to it.

Probably that was it. That old red building with this quaint feel to it. The whole North Campus area, with KMC directly opposite to FMS. Flanked by Delhi School of Economics on one side and Hansraj on the other. With Hindu and Stephens in the neighbourhood.

I don’t know what exactly happened but sitting on that cane chair outside the interview room I knew this is the place I want to be for the next two years of my life (quite filmy, na!!)

I still went through the routine of asking more learned and experienced people about their advice but I was just looking for reasons to support my choice than anything else.

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Today as I finish this saga of CAT Tales, Life after CAT and A New Hope, I would like to take this opportunity to thank myself on your behalf for the wonderful work that I have done in coming out with this blog. I know you don’t have words to express your gratitude towards me, but its Ok, I understand.

Jokes apart, writing this blog has been a wonderful experience (I am sure reading it wasn’t so wonderful). When I first started writing it I never knew so many people would be reading it (had I known I would have added Adsense).

So this is it. We finally come to the end of my journey to a B-school. For those of you who have been jobless enough to read this ;) , there is more exciting stuff to come. As you must have read in the Teaser there is another series in the pipeline about Life @ VIT.

For those of you who were not there with me read it for an account of fun filled four years (my perspective entirely) and for those who were there read it to find out what kind of light you are being portrayed in .

Adios, Amigos!!!!

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Keep visiting this space to read about Life @ VIT

LIFE @ VIT - Teaser

Why am I writing about life @ VIT??

Is it because I am trying to give some competition to Chetan Bhagat? (highly unlikely!!)

Or is it just that I am cashing in on the recent India Today rankings (VIT was ranked 10th all over India)?

Well to be really honest I don’t know why I am writing this. Probably because I spent four very important years of my life there. Probably because I really enjoyed my time there. Probably I am feeling nostalgic having left the hostel after four years. Or probably I am sitting idle at home and have nothing else to do.

Whatever the reason, here is another series of blog posts : this one dedicated to four of the best years of my life, the amazing people who made it all the more wonderful and my alma mater, VIT.

(subuk subuk , wah kya emotional angle dala hai )

In order to insure myself against the ire of friends and others who will figure in these posts here are a few disclaimers/disclosures/declarations/confessions.

Most of the incidents/conversations/events mentioned in these posts are true up to the best of my knowledge, belief and memory (which to be honest is not great), however my perspective might cloud some of these. In that case there is nothing you can do [:P] except call me names in the comment box (which I am sure many of you would resort to).

This is not going to be a generalized account of how life is like in VIT. Rather it is a very personalized account of my (and my friends') life in VIT. Opinions may vary from person to person.

This is going to be a free flowing series. Chronology will not be a binding factor while recounting events. You might get to read something that happened in the fourth year first and after that something that happened in the first year.

Enough of being diplomatic, want to see some dirty laundry, then this is the place.

Keep logging in !!

A New Hope-5 (XLRI result)

Well after a few days of lazing around at home it was time to go back to the hostel. I had a morning flight from Delhi to Chennai on 26th. So I went to Delhi on 25 and stayed at my uncle's place. As all of us were just sitting and chatting I got a message from Daddu (Jayant), it read

"Bhai XL ka kya hua? Result out!!"

Those with good retaining power will realise that he was the one who told me about the XL written result as well. Infact I noticed this after writing this post.

Well I didn’t feel much anxiety. I just logged on to the internet and opened the XLRI website. As I finally reached the result page, I entered my roll no in a hurry. And then there was this message on the screen.

"Sorry the candidate with this roll number hasn’t qualified".

Before I could feel or react my cousin who was sitting beside me said

"Oh ho bevkoof!!! Itni zaldi kis baat ki hai, ye keyboard kharab hai. Try the num pad."

Then I looked at the screen and realized that a few of the keystrokes had failed to register.

Anyways I entered my roll number again, this time more slowly, carefully and using the Num Pad.

And the screen now read

"Congratulations!! You have secured admission into the BM program 2008-2010 of XLRI"

And that was it. I didn’t feel very different after it. There wasn’t much jubilation or anything. I just called up Daddu (Jayant) to tell him about the result and that was it.

More to come in the next post…..Keep reading…. Fight illiteracy ;)

A New Hope -4 (FMS Result)

Finally the day arrived; 20thMarch 2008. FMS has a history of releasing results the same evening that they have their last interviews. But nobody knew exactly at what time was it going to happen.

By the way I was home at that time. I had decided to spend some time there after the interviews.

I was logged on to Pagalguy where other restless souls like me were trying to get an idea about the results. Anyways rumors kept floating around.

When the result is ready, the list is first put up at FMS noticeboard and then it is put up on the net. After an agonizingly long wait, somebody posted that the result has been put up on the FMS notice board. That was the time when I felt the most helpless in my life. I knew the results had been announced but there was no way I could know my result at least for the next ten minutes.

And then somebody posted on Pagalguy that she had got a mail from FMS regarding her selection. At that time I felt it was all over, I had not got a mail so that was it. And then my internet connection got disconnected ( I am not making it up, it really happened). The next 30-45 seconds before I reconnected cant be described in words.

And when I finally did get reconnected, as I was trying to navigate to the latest post on PG, I noticed that I had a new mail in my mailbox. There it was!!! A mail from the FMS Admissions announcing that

"You have been provisionally empanelled for MBA (Full Time) program".

I didn’t knew what it meant but you certainly don’t reject someone with these many words.

And my joy knew no bounds.

I don’t know whether I had felt this happy ever in my life before.

Anyways the next few days went answering congratulatory calls and then I started giving serious thought which college I would ultimately join if I were to get an admit from XLRI.

Of course there was still the chance that XLRI people could spare me all this brainstorming by rejecting me!!!

Read Why FMS in the upcoming posts.

A New Hope -3 (FMS Interview)

I reached FMS pretty early, infact the people there were also running a bit late. Anyways met a guy from Time Chennai GD preparation classes. Finally after a wait of about one and a half hour we were called for our GD.

When we entered the Interview/Discussion room there were three professors in the panel. One was the Dean himself Prof. J.K. Mitra. After we took our places he congratulated us for having cleared the written part of the exam. Then he gave a brief overview of the GD and the Interview process. He also told us about the much dreaded Extempore. After that he asked for a volunteer to pick up a chit for the GD topic. A girl went forward and the topic on the chit was

"Nobody studies for an MBA, everybody studies for a job".

Somebody has a sense of humor!!!!

Something really weird happened in this GD. I didn’t speak for the first 3-4 minutes. I don’t know why, probably because I just wanted to see how the group would act, or I wasn’t sure what I wanted to talk about. Anyways when I did speak I tried to present a new angle to the topic (doesn’t everybody).

Here I must add that the discussion was quite civilized, probably the topic had a lot to do with it. Everybody allowed everybody else to speak and present their points in a peaceful manner. Infact there was this 3-4 seconds pause during the discussion (trust me, 4 seconds in the middle of a discussion is very long time)

Anyways after some time a female prof announced that we had one more minute left to discuss.

That was when everybody started to speak at once. It would have been better to stay out of that conundrum, but then some point came to my mind and I interrupted another participant (with proper courtesy) and made my point.

And then we were told to wait outside while we were called for the interviews one by one. This time I was the third last person to be called for the interview.

Meanwhile, sitting outside the interview hall (it can in no way be called a room) we got to hear how did the people who went in early fared.

A girl who had mentioned about organizing fashion shows in her college in her resume was asked to name two fashion magazines and now for the most shocking part, she couldn’t. While we were joking around I told her even I could name 2 fashion magazines :- Vogue and Maxim. When I mentioned Maxim the girl sitting next to me rolled her eyes and said "Maxim is not a fashion magazine". Time for a sheepish smile.

Another interviewee was asked to speak on "White Buffalo" for a minute for her extempore.

Finally the seventh guy went in for his interview (I was eighth) and that’s when I started feeling tensed. To be honest I had not felt tense in any of my interviews before. Infact I was surprised during my XL interview that I was so cool. Again MDI was a stress interview but I didn’t feel it. But here in FMS I was feeling tense even before the interview had started (it cant be good!!!)

Now the guy before me came out and as I was standing there and waiting for the bell to ring (so that I could go in) I thought this was the worst kind of torture anybody could be subjected to!!

The bell rang and I entered the interview hall. The interview hall had this long table behind which sat the Dean and this female professor. I will refer to the dean as P1 and the female professor as P2.

Once I had taken my seat, the interview started.

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P1 : so were u here last year??

M : no sir I am a fresher

P1 :I see , you are a fresher

P1 : so u r from VIT, anybody else from VIT here??

M : I am not sure Sir, but somebody told me there was a guy from our college here some time back, but he must have graduated by now.

P1 : ok, ur extempore topic is "sole of shoe"

M: (gulp) aye aye sir, blabbered something .....when I saw P2 resetting the stop clock I stopped

P1 goes through my profile and says Oh u have won prizes in extempore, we should have given u a more difficult topic

I just smiled. (kahe mazaak uda rahe ho sir, waise hi kuch khas nahi bola)

anyways at this point a third prof(P3) enters and takes his place

p1: so dont u have a hobby or something??(what made him say that)

m: I do sir, defence aviation, quizzing and …….

P3 : ok amit, so what is Comanche?

M : (aila plane, yehi to apun ko aata hai).....told him its an attack chopper and on and on and on.

P3 : what is special about comanche

M : launched into my answer...after some seconds thought I should stop....took a pause since nobody

interrupted listed some more.....told him about inverted flying…

P3 : ok what about a plane which flies very fast and very high and stealthy too?

M : (i am loving it, bata dia...thodi extra info bhi daal di …) told him that probably he was talking about SR-71.

P1 : what about f-16?

M : (bahut bhadiya hai sir....aur thoda bola....) explained basic characteristics

P1 : what about its stealth characterisitcs?

M : (nah sir, woh thoda alag hai) Told him it wasn’t designed with stealth in mind.

P1 : ok, which sector would u like to go to after mba?

M : defence aviation, sir

P1 : Which company in particular??

M : lockheed martin, sir(jo muh me aaya bol diya, whats wrong with me!!)

P1 : ok, does it come to the campus , I dont think so!!

M : (abhi nahi aati to kya hua, mai hoonga to aa jayegi , gave gyaan about opening up of defence scene in india)

P2 :- ok, do u track financial markets??

M : (thoda bahut)little bit

P2 : where did the sensex close yesterday?

M : around 15400, (pause for a moment) 15357 to be precise (this again was in feb, tab se dekho kaha pahuch gaya hai sensex, India Shining!!!)

p2: nice but it was 15387

time for a sheepish smile

p1:thank u, u can go now

m: jaisi aapki aagya

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Ok, now my take on the interview. Obviously my first reaction after the interview was that I had done ok. Not very good, but not bad either. There were questions on fighter aircrafts which I could answer confidently and accurately and could also show off my immense gyaan in the field ;-)

But I wasn’t very happy with my performance in the Extempore. I had not stopped midway or something but I could have put better content (20/20 hindsight).

Anyways that was it, all my three interviews were now done and all I could do now was just wait for the results (besides visiting temples and praying).

Read about the results in the next few posts (you actually know about them, but jab itna jhela to do aur padhne me kya chala jayega!!!)

I have been asked this question zillion times before. And every time someone did I had an answer which I just rewound and played.

Read it as I repeat it for the last time, Why FMS over XLRI?? In the following posts….