Just Chatting with Life

Politicos above all !

2007-08-28T14:26:00.000+05:30

Even their tremendous fame and truckloads of money could not save the Bollywood bad boys - Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan - from jail. A lot of people are claiming this as the ultimate proof that the judiciary is above everyone in India. I am not entirely convinced about this. To me, the judiciary will not be omnipotent until they are above the one class that rules them all- the political class. To this date, i cannot recall a single account of a top politician being sent to jail for a reasonable amount of time. Lalu Yadav, Shibu Soren et al have been in Jail for some amount of time but surely that timespan is not reflective of the crimes they were supposed to have committed.

politicos are above the law - and that is true not just in the lawless hinterlands of UP and Bihar - but also in cosmopolitan and urbane Mumbai. I don't need to take names for the politicos who are still at large inspite of aiding in heinous crimes. In many cases, the cases are dropped for lack of "evidence" or lack of "witnesses". Honest Police officials who are getting too close for comfort are transferred. Cases go on interminably. The reasons are aplenty.

While Judiciary is one of the few offices having some sort of honesty, i will not believe it is omnipotent until the policians are brought to justice.

Display Piece

2007-07-24T18:08:00.001+05:30

One of the things that really bugs me is the use of display pieces in cellphone showrooms. I have changed mobiles more times than i care to remember, but i can recollect only one or two occasions where the salesperson showed me an actual working piece of the handset before buying the cellphone. Why can i not see the actual piece before i pay the money.

consider this: you go to buy a TV in a showroom. Will you ever buy a TV just because a salesperson has told you that it gives you the best pictue and awesome sound. No. You would want to see and hear it in actuality. We will insist on doing so for a TV which might cost us less than 10k. Then why not so for a cellphone which may cost in excess of 10k?

I need to feel the phone, check out its user interface, see how fast it is. Every user has one or two requriements which must be present in his cellphone. If I am switching brands, i need to see if the same functionality is provided by the new brand. I dont want to buy a piece and then see that it does not provide that functionality. That is why i dont want a dummy plastic piece but an actual working phone to test it out.

I would probably have settled for a dummy piece if the salespersons were any good. But 99% of cell salesmen have very little knowledge other than stock quotes like "Nokia battery is the best", "Motorola has good sound". I have been a sony ericsson user for long and can definitly attest that its battery is much better than a nokia. Yet the salespersons persist with such idiotic cliches. In fact, i fancy that i will teach these guys a thing or two about cell phones.

I guess it is upto us, the consumers to insist that we will not buy a phone unless we are shown an actual working piece. I do that now and if the shop does not agree walk out of it, even if it offers a less price. I urge you all to do it.

The Exam

2007-04-05T02:01:00.000+05:30

Rrrrrrrrin ! Rrrrrrrring ! The harsh sound of the alarm brought Ram out of the dream where he was happily watching American Girls go by in an All American University.It had been Ram's dream since time immemorial to go for an M.S in the US of A. All through his graduation he had worked towards it. He was good with words and numbers. He had aced all the mock GREs. There was just one teeny-weeny problem. He had, inexplicably, failed to get even a decent score in GRE . His scores were so miserable that he dared not apply to any of the top 50 universities.

Today was his 3rd and last attempt at GRE. There was no way his father could afford another exam or the endless coahing classes. He had at last regained his lost confidence and was reasonably confident of making it this time. The exam was at 10:30 . He better hurry or he will be late for the exam. He got ready and drank the fresh Coffee made my his father. Ram had no mother. She had passed away when he was 9.

Ram decided that today he will take a rickshaw. After all, it was important that he reach the venue on time. For some reaosn, every auto that he stopped seemed to be averse to the idea of going in the direction of his exam centre. At long last, an auto, more out of pity than need, stopped for him and agreed to take him to the destination. It was already 10 am. However, he was sure that he will reach the venue with at least 10 minutes to spare.

As he neared the venue, he saw that the road was blocked. A commotion was taking place and as usual a crowd had gathered. He was irritated. He could not afford to get late for the exam. It was his dream. Ram waited in the Auto till 10:15. He realized that if he waited any longer, he might not make it. He started to move forward by skirting the crowd. But his curiosity got better of him and he peeped through the crowd. What he saw chilled his blood. A middle aged woman was lying in a pool of blood. She was apparently no dead, as her bosom was still heaving. She needed to be taken to hospital, but none of the onlookers was doing anything about this. PErhaps, people were afraid of the complications. Perhaps, they just did not want to help. Ram too did not want to get involved . He wanted to move. It was already 10:20 and he would get late if he delayed any longer. To his chagrin, his feet were rooted to the ground. His eyes were fixed at the horrific spectacle. But this spectacle was not taking place today. It was 14 years earlier. In place of the middle aged woman was his own mother. Ram was also covered in blood. The smashed kinetic lay to the side. The Truck which had rammed into them was nowhere to be seen. Ram saw himself plead with onlookers to take his mother to hospital. He saw his own desperate efforts to drag his Mother. He saw himself looking in disbeleif at his mothers blood soaked body which had become very still.

It was 10.23 .He will mosrt certainly miss the exam if he delayed any longer. Suddenly, Ram ran forward throught the crowd . He ran to the still alive woman . He picked her up and ran to the auto he had just abandoned. He ordered the Auto to go back to the hospital. The Auto did a quick U-turn and sped to the hospital. The doctor later informed him that 5 minutes late the woman would not have made it. She was now sleeping peacefully in her room surrounded by her children and husband. Ram had not left the hospital . GRE Exam had long since finished.

Ram started to move out . He had a smile on his lips. Today he had passed the exam. Today he had given life to a person. Today he had saved someone's mother, someone's wife. Today he had passed the sternest test of all, the test of character. Oh yes , he was smiling, GRE be damned .

The Kiss

2007-03-17T15:14:00.000+05:30

The storm was at its fiercest. Cacaphonous lighenning and misty rain were playing hide and seek. We were holding hands and walking. Two hands that were becoming one with every step. Hearts that were coming closer with every step. World that was becoming farther with every step. The wind in her hair and the tornado in my heart were coming together in a strange symphony. The hair blew onto her face, leaving only a mesmerising glimpse of her eyes. They were sparkling with the brightness of newly lit love. They were speaking in a language which only lovers understand.

The tenderness of the touch belied the raging storm within. The softness of her hand was but a decoy for the passion of her heart. The wind changed direction, her hair blew away. She looked at me, face slightly raised. A single strand of hair caressing her cheeks. The face adorned by tiny little droplets of water. A tiny droplet was making its way along her glowing cheeks. Her eyes conveyed a longing, a desire to be loved. I turned towards her, all doubts in my heart now dispelled. Putting an arm around her waist, i pulled her closer. She closed her eyes. We closed our worlds. Now it was just me and her inside the comnforting embrace of the rain. As we came closer, the sounds became farther. The silence was comforting. Our lips touched, our hearts fused, and our love came alive !

I am Back and How !

2007-01-13T18:44:00.000+05:30

Long Long Hiatus from blogging. There are several reasons for it but lets not delve into that. Here is the big News !

I AM GETTING ENGAGED TO MY SWEETHEART ON APRIL 1st !!

Inspite of the varied insinuations of the date, it is true and confirmed. Our five and half years of courtship is finally culminating in happiness. Yes I'm on seventh heaven and couldn't care less if India come last in World Cup :).

And yes......Blogging is on full steam now !

Avenues – the beginning

2006-11-04T16:10:00.000+05:30

This is a post which underlines my experiences of working for Avenues 2006. A bit senti, but what the hell......this is my blog :). Read on ....

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Hostel beds had never looked so inviting. After a month of sleepless nights, hectic schedules, impossible deadlines, and innumerable difficulties, Avenues 2006 had finally culminated successfully. But for all of us, sleep was not easy. As we looked back to the two days of Avenues, each of us, with our own memories, was contemplating how Avenues had changed us. Starting from scratch, with no previous experience of organizing such a big event, we had surpassed numerous odds to make the event a success.

When the preparation for Avenues started this year, we had little idea, how much this event would demand from us, and at the same time how much it would contribute to us. Establishing teams, conceptualizing events, running for sponsorships, publicity campaigns, logistics issues and every minute detail to make sure that everything was done in perfect co-ordination; nothing could go wrong on D-Day.

“Avenues” was not any other event, it was our endeavor to build a brand name for our school, to showcase the talents at SOM and create a perfect platform for the interaction of students from engineering colleges and B-schools and corporates as well.

They say “Work expands to fill time available for completion”. Quite ironically for us, the expansion in the work was complemented by the fast shrinking time. Everyday was the genesis of a new task. Every endeavor threw new challenges. Confirmations and cancellations; disagreements and conflicts; nothing stood still. Except; perhaps, the burning desire in our hearts to make this event a success.

It’s hard to describe those everlasting memories of Avenues!

The endless meetings which ate into our sleep and leisure time;
The euphoria when another company decided to collaborate and support Avenues;
The sense of achievement when a game was developed completely in-house;
The endless calls we made for workshops, talks, and PR;
The valuable contributions; help and support of both batches;
The night before the first day of Avenues, when we stayed awake till 5 am to ensure that everything was ready;
The joys of seeing people from B-Schools across the country come to be part of Avenues;

The satisfactions of making a dream come true!

“Avenues” was all of this, and much more. A kaleidoscope of memories which encompassed the entire gamut of human emotions: joy, sadness, happiness, anxiety, anger, ecstasy, surprise, fear, but above all satisfaction. If there is one emotion which towers above everything else, it must be satisfaction.
The satisfaction of realizing a dream!

The theme of Avenues 2006 “Winning Matters” truly justifies our ecstasy. We have won in every sense of the word. But the victory is not complete yet. Avenues 2006 is just a beginning. It lays the foundation on which a much stronger brand can one day be built. It needs to grow from strength to strength over the next few years until it is recognized as the best B-School Fest in the country. And this is what forms the motivation to better each year’s effort.

As Robert Frost said, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, there are miles to go before I sleep”. Be there at Avenues 2007 to be a part of this historic journey. You will not be disappointed.

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A big thanks to all the people who made Avenues possible . We have been part of a terrific journey , memories of which i will cherish forever.

One line reviews !!

2006-10-25T00:04:00.000+05:30

Some movies i saw recently :

Don : Watch it if you are a SRK fan. But please don't compare it with the old and the much superior Don

Jaan-e-Mann : Great movie. Novel way of story-telling, great picturization of songs, great acting, and above all, the always stunning Preity :) .

Dor : A poignant and touching tale. A simple story but told in an engaging way . Watch out for another smashing performance by Shreyas Talpade .

I have got a Job :):)

2006-10-25T00:02:00.000+05:30

Yes it is true . I have been offered a Place at Marico India limited (the same company where i did my summers ) and i have decided to accept it. I would be joining in June 2007. So that leaves approx 8 months of Freedom for me :). going through the B-School courses is just incidental :). As my posting is mostly going to be in Mumbai, here is one more addition to the ever increasing population of Mumbai :)

Blogging Break

2006-10-24T23:32:00.000+05:30

Wow , had this real huge break. I have been really busy over the past month with the B Fest that we are organizing : Avenues 2006. We are starting the Fest all over again with a new format and new look. There were loads of things to be done and I don't think i have ever worked harder for any other event. The finals of the event would be held on 28th and 29th October and I really hope that it goes off well. You can visit the website here

Musings........

2006-10-02T19:55:00.000+05:30

Is five years really a long time ? I was 19 5 years ago . Was it the right decision to take a decision which was going to change my life. At 19, I was just into college. Still finding my feet . Life was no hassles . College, fun , timepass , studies, cricket and movies were the only thing i cared about . Where was the place for a relationship . What did I know of relationships . What it takes to make a relationship happen . I did not have any idea . And yet , i committed . Committed to a life with one girl . I was as much reponsible to her as I was to me . She trusted me . She loved me . And i guess that was enough .

Today , As I stand on the threshold of starting a new life, i look back on that fateful day and try to imagine what my life would have been without that moment of madness . And frankly, it is unimaginable . It is as if the past five years have been written in indelible ink, which i cannot rub off nor can ignore for even one moment. For me , it is life till 19 and the life from 19 to 24. Till 19 , I was alone and happy . Since then, I am with her and satisfied. There is no doubt in my mind that I would do the same thing again if I had to go back 5 years . Probably, do it earlier. As i look at her smile , the love in her eyes, the only thing which comes to my mind is to thank her for making my life so wonderful . And I am sure as long as I can see that smile, that trust, my life will be wonderful .

I cannot describe how falling in love means. It is something that cannot be explained. It , well, just has to be experienced . Even today i wonder what is love. Is it the fact that her smile can make my day , or her words can cheer me, or her touch can electrify me , her tears can kill me . My sucess can be hers, her failures can be mine . Silence can speak a thousand words, eyes can convey a lot . Is it the longing i feel to meet her . Well love is all of this and none of this. Experience it and you will understand what I am talking about.

On Cloud 9 !!

2006-09-13T23:12:00.000+05:30

I am on cloud 9 today . I cant write the reason right now. But will be doing so soon. Really really happy :)) .

Lage Raho Munnabhai...simply Amazing

2006-09-04T02:16:00.000+05:30

There are movies that bring a tear..there are those that bring a smile. Never before have i seen a movie which does both.....in such a simple way. Simplicity.is what drives Munnabhai....no complicated fundas...no drama......no rich people in their pretty houses. Yet, everyone who was coming out of the Theater had a Big smile on his face.....Munna and Circuit had won again . I cannot remember a movie which got a standing ovation in the theater. Lage Raho did get.....and it fully deserved it. Watch it....if you want to smile :)

The Birthday

2006-08-26T00:42:00.000+05:30

The cars kept coming . Mercedes, Porsche, BMW you name it ! The kids alighted, all of them resplendent in gleaming Nikes, Benettons , Polos . They stepped on the carpet lest their shoes get dirty. The party was already in full swing . Raj's 10th Birthday was a matter of extreme Joy to his parents and they had spared no money to display their Joy . Cooks had specially flown in from Delhi, Decorators from Autralia had made the home into a mini Hogwarts . The cake was a stupendous 10 feet high marvel. They had hired City's topmost DJ to entertain the kids, a livery of servant were on call .

The kids blew kisses in a poor imitation of their parents. They danced, ate, shrieked, chatted on Cellphones, and made merry. But there was one kid who was not making merry. He was staring wide-eyed at the spectacle. This was the first time he had seen such a big house. Back in his village, they used to have just a single room hut . It was only yesterday that he had come to Bombay for the first time. His mother was one of the scores of servants hired especially for today's party. He stared at their clothes, their cellphones , their gifts with disbelief. He wished he could also get expensive gifts like this. He had only 2 pairs of clothes, one of which (the one which was least torn) he was wearing today. His mother had washed him and applied soap, a luxury for him . After all, it was a very special day.

He suddenly saw something shining infront of me. It was a gold chain. It must have fallen off somebody. He picked it up in order to search for its owner. Just then one of the guests saw him and started yelling "Thief ! Thief" . The boy was stunned. He just stood there, paralysed. The kids started laughing at his shabby clothes . The owner of the house stepped forward and was about to slap the boy, when his mother came forward.

"Stop Sahib !!" , Said She, "I have stolen the chain and gave to him to keep"

The owner got very angry and slapped the mother very hard several times. He then instructed the Guards to throw both of them out.

Out on the street, the mother broke down. She could not stand and collapsed. The boy, too, now in tears, embraced his mother. He tried to explain that he was not trying to steal.

"I know", Said the mother between sobs, "I know you were not stealing "
"Then why mother, why did you do it " , Wailed the child.
"Its your birthday Chhotu", She said, " I could not let anything bad happen to you on your birthday" .

It was then he remembered that it was his birthday too, why his mother had cleaned him, why she had taken him to the city for the trip. He realised that he did not want any of those expensive gifts. He had got the best gift of all, his mothers love ! He just hugged her and smiled. She too smiled back . One bond had just gotten stronger !

Chaos at the Oval

2006-08-21T00:40:00.000+05:30

A farce of amazing proportions at the ENgland Pakistan Test match at the Oval. Whatever might be the reason, the sequnce of events is plain unbeleivable . Read it here

Cola Wars....A ground reality ??

2006-08-16T21:22:00.000+05:30

In response to my previous post, i got a mail from a class 10th student, Anupama from Kerala. She has written about the plight of the Villages where Coke has setup their factory . Read on -

I am Anupama.Studying in 10th.From Kerala.I have got much work to do than write an email to someone I don’t know.But you must know trhe truth.
Today when I read your opinion about Kerala government banning cola,I was absolutely shocked.

I used to drink cola-till a few years back.
One day ,a middle aged man with a white beard came to our school.He told us about a place called Plachimada.The coca cola plant is situated in plachimada.

The company promised jobs for the villagers[mostly adivasis].But only a few got jobs.
The company dug 16[or 60] borewells.
The water table depleted.Within 1 year,the wells there dried up.Even if there was water,it was salt water.The villagers started a protest in front of the company.
The company gave the waste matter to the farmers saying that it was a good fertilizer.But the trees were destroyed and the once green village is now barren.
The women have to walk 5 kilometers every day for water.They have to buy drinking water.

Our school went there with a group of students[I included] to support their protest.
Our teacher wanted to go to toilet.The man of the house said,we don’t have enough water,since we have to buy it.So please use it carefully.
Our sir was touched and he paid the price of one bucket of water[60rs]

The next time we went ,it was an international conference.We had food from there by the organisers.But we could hardly wash our hands because there wasn’t enough water.

We stopped drinking cola
-not because CSE found pesticides in it
-not because government banned it
-not because we wanted to show-off

But because we were touched by the plight of the innocent villagers.
Later media & politicians used the chance to their advantage by banning cola.

The local newspapers carried reports of even solid waste in cola bottle[my friends have the paper cuttings]

In UP too there is a plant and the villagers are suffering.
Wherever the company has spread its tentacles,protests broke out.

PLEASE GIVE A SECOND THOUGHT BEFORE YOU OPEN THE BOTTLE.

BECAUSE,THE LIQUID INSIDE IS MADE FROM THE TEARS OF THOSE VILLAGERS…..
THE SIZZLING SOUND IS THE VOICE OF THEIR PROTEST……..

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A really passionate plea from a young girl . I myself am ambivalent about the issue. I am concerned about the exploitation and yet somehow i cant bring myself to stop drinking colas . Dont know what to do about this

Ho Hum ...and we ban colas !!

2006-08-11T01:29:00.000+05:30

There you go, the Kerala government has decreed that as the guardians of public health, they will not allow any of the good citizens of Kerala to drink Coke and Pepsi. But wait a minute, why did they do this. Ah well, you recall CSE (The Centre for Science and Environment), the same organization that had found alarming level of pesticides in Cola in August 2003. Yeah, the same one! Well they just refuse to go away. With a nicely orchestrated media performance, they have once again brought cola majors into limelight. This time they have found an astonishing amount of pesticides which is twenty-four times the normal prescribed level.

When we talk about a level which is twenty four times the normal level, we assume that we know there is a normal level. But is this the case? Lets us examine the facts as put forth by CSE. According to CSE, the level of pesticides in Colas is 11.85 ppb (parts per billion). Now the standard to which they are comparing is not actually a standard, but a proposal for a standard, which is pending before Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). This proposal states that the level of pesticides should not be more than 0.5 ppb. But at its heart, a proposal is well…a proposal. It is not yet implemented. Hence to proclaim that the cola companies are in the wrong seems to be a bit premature.

Let us talk statistics now. Now BIS may not have standard for Colas, but it does have standards for a lot of common food items. Now these standards specify how much of pesticides you can have in the food items. And believe it or not, the level of pesticides, the prescribed one, that is, is much higher than the levels which CSE found in the colas. For example, the prescribed maximum level of pesticides in one large egg is 1931 ppb, whereas for one cup of tea it is 4668 ppb. This means that to ingest the same amount of pesticides that you would ingest by one cup of tea, you will have to drink an astonishing 394 bottles of Coke. This is a startling statistic. Suddenly, the level of pesticide in a Coke bottle seems pretty insignificant. The same story is repeated for other food products such as rice and milk. And yet, the CSE, the media, and the political parties are targeting the cola companies.

This is not intended to be a defense of the cola companies. But at the same time, we must understand that the CSE findings must be taken with more than one pinch of salt. There are several issues with the CSE report. Consider the validity of the results. There is a National Accreditation Board (NAB) which has accredited about 20 laboratories which are authorized to undertake such tests. You could be forgiven for thinking that surely CSE is accredited by NAB. But the truth is not quite flattering for CSE. They do not have accreditation from NAB. That raises questions about the validity of CSE results. CSE mentions that they have tested the colas according to the US EPA standards. But surprise, the US EPA lacks any such standard. One really wonders how the reports of CSE managed to gain such credence.

Enough of nitpicking. We need to see the larger issues involved. There are two key players in this issue, without whose support, the issue would have died its natural death: the media and the political parties. Both have gained a lot from the issue. The media got an issue which they could sensationalize mindlessly, again, and hence gain that precious viewer attention. And the political parties found a new excuse to make a ruckus and shout slogans against Videshi companies. It is difficult to point out which of the two has behaved more irresponsibly. The sad part is that over the years, we have come to expect this from the political parties. But in some tiny corner of one’s heart, one still hopes that the media is a watchdog. Sadly, the television news channels are hell bent to prove us wrong. And the newspapers don’t want to be left behind. So what we have is the mindless ban by the Kerala government which was undoubtedly prompted by the eagerness to play to the galleries. If the state government is so concerned about the health of its citizens, it would do well to invest in improving the standards of public health in state. But, as it is not half as newsworthy as banning the multinationals coke and Pepsi, the government won’t even think of doing public health. Some parties have found innovative ways to play up the issue. Novel methods such as spraying colas in fields, making animals drink Colas might seem amusing on the Television. But these images hide disturbing truth - that beyond such mindless displays of exhibitionism, the political parties are capable of little else.

So while the Colas face flak once again, while the political parties continue their tamasha, media continues it’s breaking news, CSE finds even more startling results, I will put up my feet on the table and sip my Coke. After all, if so many cups of tea have deposited so much of pesticide in me, what more can one bottle of Coke do?

The Imitators

2006-08-07T21:33:00.000+05:30

Are Indians the biggest imitators on earth . How much of our culture and heritage do we really know .More importantly , what is our identity ? Are we the Indians who speak our mother tongue at home , or are we the Imitators who talk in a Yank accent even in our houseolds ? I think the next few questions should give us an answer -

1. Do we think in our mother tongue (or even Hindi for that matter ) ?
2. What is the medium of instruction in our school , college or Institute ?
3. What language am i more comfortable reading ?
4. Do i quench my thirst with Coke, Pepsi or with Chaach , lassi , nimbupani ?
5. Are my favorite hangouts Barista , Subway and McDonald ?
6. Do i wear anything other than Nike, Adidas , or Reebok ?
7. Do I listen to English Songs more than Hindi Songs ?
8. Do i prefer Hollywood movies to Hindi Movies ?
9. Do i use expressions such as "Chill Dude" , "Lets hangout " , "rock the party, man" ?
10. Do I think that Philip Kotler is Marketing God ?
11. Are my preferences shaped by American media ?

These and many other questions might help in really thinking about your identity ! I confess that I seem to have lost mine .

The Test

2006-08-01T21:44:00.000+05:30

He was just a little boy. A sapling amongst the aged trees. As he walked into the battlefield , myriad emotions were swirling in his fertile mind. There was intense heat, not all of it from the sun. There was a knot in the stomach making him squirm as if it was a living being. His throat was dry , not all of it from thirst. The enemy stared . There were many of them . All of them jeering at the young boy who had just started to use the razor. They threw unspeakable insults on him. And yet, his gaze never faltered. The boy who would be king was getting ready for his first battle. His adversary was a seasoned campaigner , someone who had struck terror into many a brave warrior. The boy looked around the arena. He Saw the crowd baying for his blood . His partner was in his own shell. It was a solo battle .

The boy and the enemy . With their weapons in their hands, the two stared at each other. One craving for blood, other sparkling with unseen energy . The enemy was running towards the boy . He ran like wind. The crowd was mesmerized . The boy stood absolutely still . He remembered his guru teaching the nuances of the battle . Stay still, stay focussed, and be confident - This is what the Guru had told him . And the boy obeyed . The enemey hurled his weapon . With a flourish , Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar brought his bat down and the ball went past a raging Waqar Younis for Four. The battle was over ! There was nothing stopping the boy ! He won many battles and became the king of the kings ! But he never forgot the day he had his biggest test , the day he became a man ! The day Sachin Tendulkar announced his arrival to the applauding world !!

I love my Laptop

2006-07-31T01:03:00.000+05:30

7 Days without my laptop was as close to a prison sentence as i have got . I felt like doing nothing , felt dull and incomplete . All because my lappy's battery conked off . And the Stupid HP Service service centre took a whole week to replace the battery . Really I didn't expect this from HP.

Anyway, so many things to write now that i dont know where to start . But will surely start tomorrow :)

Will things ever be the same again ?

2006-07-11T22:39:00.000+05:30

The clock ticked, the connection was made, RDX was activated and the spirit of Mumbai was challenged; once again. 140 people dead, 250 injured with the numbers threatening to increase. The blasts in the Local Trains were an attack at the heart of Mumbai. For an average Mumbaikar, the local train is a lifeline, a home away from home. And that is why this attack on local trains is a blow to the very spirit of Mumbai. Mumbai has braved the fury of nature, the mindless vandalism, even the serial blasts of 1993 and riots that ensured. Each of the events held Mumbai to siege. And yet the city fought back, it regained its urgency, the never-say-die spirit. But this attack is a blow to the heart of Mumbai. This was the same route which I took many times. I too traveled in first class. And I have no shame in confessing that every time I board the local, there will be an anxiety in my heart. The innocence, the child like joy which I experienced in locals will, in all probability, never come back. Locals will never be the same again. Every bag will be suspicious, every stranger a potential terrorist. Will the local spirit, which inspires a commuter to extend a helping hand to a stranger, be the same? Can people shrug of the fear?

This is the real test of Mumbai. And I am sure, like in past, this great city will bounce back and the Mumbai spirit will live on.

The joy of wind in your hair........

2006-06-28T19:11:00.000+05:30

........is truly appreciated when you are stuck in a BEST bus for two hours because of a bad, but normal traffic Jam on the Andheri Kurla road. And when this happens three days in a row, it is but the vision of paradise.

When I fell in love........

2006-06-22T13:16:00.000+05:30

Unlike a lot of Hindi Movies, it wasnt love at first sight for me. When i saw her for the first time, I wasnt much impressed . She was a bespectacled, simple girl, though on the cuter side. Mind you, although simple , she wasn't the seedhi-saadhi types . She was sexy in her own way . After so many years , the most abiding memory of our first meeting is that of her eyes. They were alive . Even through her glasses, they conveyed so much without her saying a word. And she didnt speak much . I remember our first few meetings were dominated vocally by me with some little
garnishings provided by her. I still don't know why i thought that i should be friends with this girl .

Anyway, the story progresses. We became good freinds, although her friend was a much closer friend of mine. All this time, I had some sort of an attraction towards her. IT wasn't love for sure and definitly not infatuation. But i wanted her to talk to me. If she talked to other boys , it made me a trifle irritated. And this feeling of
irritation irritated me even more . I would call her up and talk for 20-30 minutes. I also felt frustrated that she didn't open up a lot. While i poured out my heart's contents to her, she never told me about her personal feelings. She would be very gaurded when wew talked about her or others. I was forever confused about her feelings and also my feelings. Did I love her ? Did she even look at me that way ?

Slowly but surely, we became very good freinds. She started opening up . I realized what a wonderful person she was. And so much different from me. While I was outgoing & carefree , she was a shy and introvert type of girl .I was very temperamental, inclinced to go off the boil at the slightest opportunity, she was the very picture of calmness. I was a voracious reader, she didn't like books. I loved Action and Sci-Fi movies, she loved the mushy mushy romantic movies. And yet we had something in common (other than our love for Chinese Food :) . I was never able to
put my finger on it . Maybe it was something that we both felt for each other .

Time went on, our first year at college finished, but my confusion didnt. We had a 20 days break and i went home . Was i in love ? Is this how it feels when you are in love ? should i ask her too ? I think about time i got off from the train , i was pretty sure that i loved her. But i didnt i had the courage to ask her . I didnt want to spoil the beautiful friendsship that we had . And i was mortally afraid of her refusal to my proposal . I kept wondering of i should call her up and tell her about my feelings. But i didnt . the Distance between us made me miss her even more . I realized that i was gone ; hook,line and sinker.

I didnt propose to her even after coming back . My lack of knowledge of her feelings made me hold back . However, there was a change in her attitude post holidays . She became more open . We talked a lot . And i sometimes caugh the same look in her eyes which i had in my eyes. Should i propose or not ? Then came the fateful day (August 30th ) when i caught hold of her diary . I quickly read it (Yeah, I am ashamed of it now ) and saw what she had written about a special friend - Me. That was when i realized that she also felt the same way . And the next day was the most beautiful day of my life. Because it was on August 31st , that i proposed to her . And more importantly, it was the day, when she said yes to be my partner for life :) .

RICH Demands Reservation !!

2006-06-20T11:44:00.000+05:30

RICH- Rich Influential Cosmopolitan Hindustanis- An association formed to safeguard the interests of the Rich and Very Rich of India has demanded that 5% of seats in Premiere Education Institutions like IITs and IIMs be Reserved for sons, daughters and other children of the members of RICH. Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Raj Malhotra, the Urbane hero of many Yash Chopra and Karan Johar Movies and the spokesperson for RICH pointed out the compelling reasons behind this demand.

According to Mr. Malhotra, RICH have always been an underprivileged lot; who have had horrible atrocities inflicted on them by the lower economic classes. They are forced to shop in malls and watch movies in Multiplexes because the shops and single theatres are jampacked by the lesser-moneyed-poor-Indians. The members of RICH are forced to buy expensive cars because there is no space in the public transport such as buses. They are forced to go to the Discos and Pubs because the Desi Dance Bars Daroo Addas are filled with the lesser-moneyed-poor-Indians. To add to that, they don’t serve Tequila and fail to provide other means of squandering money. Now, when a son or a daughter or the other children of RICH are forced to go to Pubs, Multiplexes, Malls etc., they ending up wasting so much time that they hardly have any time left to study. RICH claims that the drugs sold by the lesser-moneyed-poor-Indians are a part of a terrible conspiracy whose sole purpose is to make sure that the RICH kids are always in a drug-induced haze and hence are unable to study.

When asked by Reporters that the RICH can afford to send their kids abroad or in worse situations start their own institutions like IIPM or AMITY so that their kids can become Gold Medalists without much Fuss, Mr. Malhotra was immediately on defensive. He tried to evade the questions just as members of RICH evaded taxes. However, RICH has yet to gain expertise in it. Mr. Malhotra proclaimed that they do not want to waste the country’s precious resources by starting their own institutions, when those resources could be put to better use, like designing RICH houses and opening more malls and pubs. What Mr. Malhotra failed to acknowledge was the unspoken fear that if RICH sent their kids abroad, they wont be RICH as compared to the Americans or the British.

RICH plans to start an SMS campaign to support their cause. They also plan to have Hunger strikes, wherein they will make the supreme sacrifice and stay off Subway and Pizza Hut and eat only home cooked food. In the spirit of Agitation, RICH members have promised to stay off spirits for the duration of the campaign. Coca-Cola has promised to sponsor the agitation by providing free Cokes and Kinley bottles to the agitators. Air-Conditioned Tents are being setup in front of all prominent Malls and Pubs so that the RICH can visit them whenever the need arises, or whenever the Page 3 Reporters are not there. Tremendous infrastructure is being provided to the agitators so that the business deals the kitty parties are not interrupted. Several prominent Beauty Saloons will be setting up kiosks in the Tents to cater to the martyrs. As Mr. Malhotra said, RICH are here to stay!

P.S -> The post is intended to be satirical and does not reflect my views regarding RICH. I, being a regular visitor to the Malls and Multiplexes, am not in a position to criticize the RICH for doing the same :).

A Decision Making Tip for Indian Ministers

2006-06-16T12:45:00.000+05:30

You are a Minister in State Government. Naturally, such an important post poses a set of extremly dificult questions like :

What to do if you have become minister for the first time ?
What to do if you got elected because of massive booth-capturing ?
What to do if you are in the Cabinet only to appease some regional party ?
What to do if you hate the portfolio you have been allotted ?
What to do if your only purpose in becoming minister was to ensure that you fill up your coffers while emptying the state's coffers ?
What to do if you are totally clueless about your portfolio ?
What to do if you have absolutely no idea what to do to ensure the well-being of Indian Citizens ?
What to do if you want to be known as a Swadeshi while secretly sending your son to US for studies ?

Confused ? Don't be ! Because there exists a simple solution .

Just Do what Narottam Mishra of Madhya Pradesh Did and enjoy a peaceful stint until the next government takes over .

Pledge

2006-06-15T13:50:00.000+05:30

I will not watch World Cup matches till 2am in the night when i have office the next day ......
I will not watch World Cup matches till 2am in the night when i have office the next day ......
I will not watch World Cup matches till 2am in the night when i have office the next day ......
I will not watch World Cup matches till 2am in the night when i have office the next day ......
I will not watch World Cup matches till 2am in the night when i have office the next day ......
I will not watch World Cup matches till 2am in the night when i have office the next day ......

I am writing this from my office....hopefully not in Outlook . Yawn..Yaw..Ya..Y...Z..ZZ..ZZZ..ZZZZ..ZZZZZ..ZZZZZZ.....

Travelogue :)

2006-06-08T12:25:00.000+05:30

- For the first month of my summer internship I was living at Dadar. My office is Anderi(W) near Lokhandwala. From Dadar I took a local to Andheri and then a rickshaw to the office. The whole process took around 50 minutes. The locals were not crowded as I was traveling in the reverse direction. Ah! Life was too good :).

However, certain circumstances have caused me to come back to IIT hostel. Now to go from IIT hostel to my office is nothing less than an adventure. First I cycle from the hostel to the gate which takes around 10 minutes. Then walk to the bus stop. This adds another 5 minutes. Usually I don’t have to wait more than 10 mins for the bus to come. Any bus going to Andheri from IIT is absolutely packed. Thus, for at least 10 minutes I have to hang on to the bus. Then, once I reach L & T I get inside the bus. From hereon it’s a lottery. If I happen to stand besides someone who has to get off before Andheri Station, then I thank my lucky stars and sit. Else, I silently curse the fellow who is sitting and look longingly at the other seats which get empty like anything. Once I get a seat I waste no time in going off to sleep. With the horrendous traffic that he encounters enroute to the station, it’s a wonder that the driver manages to get us to our destination in 1 hour.

Once I get off from the bus, I walk to the Over bridge to cross-over to the West. This takes another 10 mins. Then catch a Rickshaw and get to office. It takes a further 15 mins. Thus in a total of 1 hour 45 mins I reach my office. This whole procedure is repeated in reverse when I am coming back. A big consolation is the fact that I can get a seat immediately from Andheri Station as the bus starts from there. When I finally reach the hostel, you can imagine my plight. So, poor me does my daily 50 push-ups, has dinner, watches a movie, and embraces the sleep goddess. 7 hours of bliss before the grind starts again. I love Bombay .

The cancer stick and poison juice

2006-06-06T18:06:00.000+05:30

I have long wondered why people smoke or drink. Having known loads of smokers and drinkers throughout my life, I have heard a plethora of reasons-

“Smoking improves digestion”, “Smoking makes me feel good”, “smoking relieves tension”, “Everyone smokes and hence I also should do it” etc etc

“Drinking in moderate amounts is not bad for health”, “Drinking reduces tension”, “Drinking makes me feel good”, “Everyone drinks and hence I should do it too”, “Drinking is a sign of adulthood”,

The reasons put forth by smokers and drinkers are quite similar. And yet none of them has as of yet convinced me. I can understand if an addict says that it makes him feel good, but what about someone who is just starting? What justification is there to “try it out”. Is it the lure of the forbidden fruit? To do it just because it is forbidden by your parents? In my view all the reasons put forth are just hogwash, a smokescreen to hide the real reason. Mind you, I am talking about the smokers and drinkers in the age group 16-25. If someone were to do a study on the drinking and smoking trends in this age group, I am willing to bet that the numbers will show an alarmingly increasing trend.

The primary motivation for people to drink and smoke or to “drinking and smoking” is the need to attract attention to them and to be a part of the “in crowd”. Smoking is cool. When you are seen with a cancer stick in your hand, it brings a sort of “dude” look to you. Look at the way people nowadays blow smoke. It is more of a show than anything else. A show for others like them or for those morons who think that this stuff is cool. Everyone knows that smoking is injurious to health. And yet, people choose to ruin their bodies. Is the need to be “in” so compelling that you forget your well-being. At least smokers should care about others in the vicinity. I don’t mind you ruining your body, but for god’s sake spare me from the second-hand smoke.

Drinking is seen as a more “in” thing than smoking. You have to drink at any college party, else what will the others think? Your roommate is drinking, so you are ashamed that you don’t drink. People will call you a sissy, someone still following his parents advice. Oh that is so “out”. If my girlfriend/ boyfriend drinks, it’s my duty to drink. After all, we have promised each other that we will live and die together. So, go on damage your body. Damage the trust your parents and others might have in you. You don’t want to be a goody-goody boy who doesn’t drink. You are extremely proud that you can drink 1 whole bottle without going out. Three cheers for you! That’s a terrific achievement. Also make sure that you can explain to your children why you have that liver or lung damage that is causing an early death. But alas, you have to be “in”. You have to be seen with a glass of drink in your hand. Colas and mocktails are for children. You have grown up now. So, drink merrily pal!

P.S. I have seen some of my near ones go from occasional “tryers” to addicts. Some are on their way to becoming addicts. And believe me, it is not pretty. It hurts me to no end. I have tried my level best to dissuade them. But I guess that the lure of smoke and drink is much more than mere love. There is still time….

A solution to overcrowded locals ?

2006-06-05T16:06:00.001+05:30

Anyone who has travelled in the Mumbai locals can vouch for this - Even after so many days i simply cannot believe the number of people who cram into a car in the local . It defies explanation, boggles imagination and makes you spend 10 times the amount on Autos and Taxis .

Can having Express or Super Express Locals solve this problem. This will be a step ahead from the "fast" trains . For example, an Andheri - Churchgate Express local will not halt at any station in between . A Virar - Churchgate Super Express will not halt at any of the stations in between . Similarly for Thane - CST , Dadar - Kalyan routes. Will this reduce the burden on normal "slow" and "fast" locals ? Is this feasible ? I wonder ........

Heads Held High

2006-06-05T16:06:00.000+05:30

Just notice how the Indians in the city walk. Always looking down to avoid stepping into the next god-only-knows-what-squishy-thing . Rarely do people walk with head held high . I wonder if same is the situation in the clean cities of the world :) .

Life After Death

2006-05-31T16:44:00.000+05:30

Rahul was moving amongst them so easily. Being invisible to them had its advantages. He saw the old man sitting all alone on the parapet on Marine Drive. No doubt he was thinking of the good old days when he used to come here with others his age. Now he was left alone. Rahul thought of the Old man’s loneliness. He wished that the old man would get free of all this.

Rahul plowed ahead. As he neared the Air India building, he saw a couple coming towards them. They didn’t see him of course, he was invisible to them. In fact, they walked right through him. They were holding hands and for all practical purposes they were lost to the world. Gazing dreamily into each others hands, they dreamt of the dream unfulfilled. Well, Rahul mused, they were together at last.

At the next intersection, Rahul saw the policeman. With the omnipresent danda in his hand, he was very watchful. Waiting for any untoward activity. No one paid him any respect nowadays. Previously, people used to be afraid of his sight. No pickpocket would dream of doing his work if the policeman was around. But things had changed. He was no longer the same guy.

The Chana-seller was also there in the same spot. Chanas had always been a big draw on Marine Drive. On most days he would run out of Chanas by late evening. He did a healthy business for a long time. Rahul detected a sadness on the Chana-seller’s face. Business was not like before. In fact, it had been a long time since anyone had bought Chanas from him. And yet he persisted, coming to the same spot everyday, carrying his burdens.

Rahul Sighed, life wasn’t easy even after death. People thought they will get mukti and freedom from all the worldly worries after their death. But he knew that death does not give you any freedom. He had seen numerous instances. After all he had a unique ability : the ability to see Ghosts.

Please Dont watch Fanaa

2006-05-27T18:25:00.000+05:30

Some movies are hyped so much that the expectations become just too much . While all publicity is good, the movie then has to live up to the expectations. Sadly, Fanaa doesnt even come close. While it is not a bad movie , it certainly is not a good movie . The movie just didn't work for me. I am a huge Aamir Khan Fan but Fanaa just wasn't close to his best . Some of the glaring flaws in the movie

- There is no character building at all. Rehaan comes across as very confused sort of fella. For an intelligent super-terrorist , he commits some really stupid things.

- Kajol as a blind girl just doesn't strike a chord . I agree this was her comeback and all but you only have to look at Rani in Black to see a blind girl

- The song picturisations are rubbish . Many people in the theater chose to have a pepsi or go to the loo when songs were playing.

- Does Kajol become deaf after her eye operation ? She doesnt recognise the voice of her lover even after she spends some time with him

- Rishi Kapoor's death scene is comical

- Satish Shah, the Nanaji characters seem to be there just to fill some time

- the 2nd half is interminable

- the Anti-terrorist squad is comical to say the least

- at the end you have no sympathy either for Aamir or KAjol . Because i think that both of them failed to connect

- Everything comes across as very stereotypical . Nothing different .

- The Film is not at all gripping .

loads of other things but these are just what come to my mind.

- The child artist and his "Deadman" things become highly irritating after some time

- The Shayari in the first half grates after a while

In short, if you have 150 bucks to spend i would suggest you to spend them elsewhere. Watch Gangster, compare it with Fanaa and see the difference.

Are Brahmins the new Dalits ?

2006-05-25T14:32:00.000+05:30

Someone clearly thinks so . Although my personal opinion is that the author has exaggerated some details and has generalised a lot of things . But it does strike a dent in the arguement put forth by Pro-Quotiites .

So the IITs Suck !! Bring in more Dalits !!

2006-05-24T11:22:00.000+05:30

This reservation issue has really got me going through the virtual world looking for different viewpoints. Read this criticism of IITs .

If the so-called representatives of OBC/ Dalits have such narrow-minded and foolish viewpoints then there really is no point in having a debate on reservation. After all, for them it is " Justice Delayed " .

P.S So the government comes out with the proposal and roadmap to implement the quotas . Its a black day in the history of India .

Karan-Arjun with a twist !!

2006-05-23T18:36:00.000+05:30

Have a look at this interview of our Honourable HRD Minister Arjun Singh.

Like the coward that he is, Arjun Singh chose to hide behind "Its-a-parliament-Decision-I-Cant-do-anything" and "This-is-under-consideration-and-hence-cant-reveal-this" Veil. This has to rank as one of the worst interviews given by any politician in India.

In these tumultous times, what was expected of India's HRD minister was to give a Sensible Rationale for Reservation and his actions regarding it . Instead, what we get is this load of crap from him. He comes across as a bull-headed and stubborn person who has taken the decision just for the heck of it. He didn't even know the statistics on which the decision was made. Strange, with the issue burning right across India, atleast now he could have taken the pains to find some facts . Of course, what facts and figures the parliament had in mind is only known to them . Here, Arjun Singh, conviniently chooses to ignore all facts which are inconvinient to him and his agenda.

Two members of knowledge commission have resigned. Will this have some influence on our soporific government. I doubt it ! Yet the world lives on Hope.

Some Facts ?

2006-05-22T12:47:00.000+05:30

In response to my previous post, I have recieved several mails and comments from Some "Pro- Quota " Junta . Two I have deleted because they contained highly abusive languages. I will clarify my stand, I am not against reservation per se. Indeed , Reservation to some extent is necessary for Backward People .

The trouble begins when we defino the "backward people" . I cannot digest that Caste can be the sole basis to decide the backwardness of someone. Has anyone ever bothered to find out the population of OBC's in Delhi or for that matter Mumbai . How logical it is to call an OBC in these cities earning decently as "backward " . A Middle class OBC in a City gets the same opportunity as that of a "General" Middle class student . I Have never heard of a coaching class denying someone an admission just beacuse he belongs to some caste. So , is there really a lack of opportunity ? I have no problems if a student staying in a remote area with no economic ability or the facility to have coaching scores 50 % and gets admitted in a good institute on account of quota. But for someone in a city to say that he has a lack of opportunity is pure hogwash .

Some people claim that the anti-quota stir has been violent whereas pro-quota stir has been peaceful . I would likw these gentlemen to give me one instance where the anti-quota rally was violent. In fact, the only violence i recall was inflicted by Police in Delhi and Mumbai . One guy also commented that OBC's are heavily outnumbered on the Internet . If this person can prsent some facts to substabtiate his claim then I would be happy to take my words back. Until then this is just one of the many stupid arguements put forth by Pro-Quota junta.

The worst fallout of the whole quota issue is that India is severly divided along caste lines . Suddenly Caste has become the chief identity of a person . In all the places I studied, neither me nor my friends ever discriminate on the basis of castes. Nor did we ever imagine to do so. Today every sstudent in an institute will be wondering whether the guy next to him is a category student or a genral student. And this defeats the very purpose of a democracy . IS this what Dr. Ambedkar envisaged when he authored the constitution of India ? I think not . Else it would be appropriate for Arjun Singh to bring in another amendment and remove the words "Union of India" from the constitution.

I wish all the Pro-Quota protesters would take a moment off to reflect whether they really need the quota. Or would it not be better if economic status was the sole criteria for establishing reservartion.

Is a debate on Reservation Possible ?

2006-05-19T11:10:00.000+05:30

IMHO no , at least not until the Pro-Reservationists come out of the political shadow and talk about it in a rational manner.

Yesterday i was a part of a Big Fight style debate on CNN-IBN. The channel had called people representing both the sides of the debate . Despite a late start the debate began smoothly enough other than an aberration by a senior bureacrat of the MAhrashtra Government. Instead of a sensible rationale for implementing reservations, this gentleman comes out with a scathing attack on everyone anti-reservation . He then proceeds on a barrage of jingoistic crap . Incidently for all his "achievements" in becming a powerful beaurocrat this chap seemed to have forgotten that there exists an other side.

Same thing was happening in Delhi where the debate was simultaneously filmed. The Pro-Quota guys kept on giving arguements such as " We are worse off than tribals " , "we want to rule the upper classes now " , " Population of OBC's is 90 % " , " Upper class would be better off in US " , " A law has been passed and hence the medical students shud be arrested ofr violating the constitution " . Not even one of them had the decency to listen to the other sides arguements . They naturally believed in the philosphy of " Whoever shouts the loudest, shouts the truest " .

The above mentioned bureacrat was shameless to the point that he had no qualms in sayiing that he will make use of Reservations . Inspite of earning more than 6 lacs , inspite of being in creamy layer, this man said he will use reservation. No one had any stats on how many OBC's are there in urban India who have access to the same opportunities. They keopt spouting the 1931 census data saying that such caste compositions dont change.

When it came to solutions, the solution which came up mostly on pro-quota side was " We shud have 100 % reservations because we want to rule the upper casts " , " there shud be reservations in sports, arts etc " . " Ensure that atleast 75% reservations are there for 200 years " .

I am hugely disappointed. I had gone there with the hopes of having a meaningful debate . But alas, it was not to be . Oh an i forgot ! there were some people there from political parties who kept up spouting venom at "upper castes" throughout the debate . By the end these guys were shouting slogans and creating mayhem .

How is a debate possible if such is the attitude of pro-quota people ?

Rahul Goes to School : Year 2020

2006-05-15T17:55:00.000+05:30

Year 2020 : Rahul was about to embark for his first day at school

Rahul : Boohoo ! Boohoo ! I dont wanna go !
Dad : Son you have to go to school . Everyone should learn .
Rahul : No No ! None of my friends are there .
Dad : But Son....
Rahul : Nikhil has gone to US . Sachin has gone to Germany . Sneha has a private tutor . Even Vinay is not going to School .
Rahul : I thought Vinay was going to School ?
Boy : No Dad he is going to a Reservation School to learn the nuances of using Reservation to your benefit .
Dad : Oh !
Rahul : I dont want to go Dad !
Dad : Son you have to go . You have secured the first rank in the Entrance Exam .
Rahul : But Sneha and Vinay also secured 2nd and 3rd rank .
Dad : But son there was only 1 seat out of 100 which was availble for non-OBC, non-SC/ST, non-management , non-politician , non-rich , non-freedom fighter genral category open student . And you have got that seat . So you have to go !

And so Poor Rahul heaved his 12.5 KG bag onto the back and trundled away to the School .

Tryst with the City of Dreams !!

2006-05-11T13:15:00.000+05:30

Since my summer job has started, I have experienced the real Mumbai life and I must say that it has left me with mixed feelings. I am surprised with my own feelings. Mumbai is an exasperating city. No other place has made feel hate and love so strongly. At any given moment, one part of me wants to flee and another part of me wants to see more of this city.

I think I hate the crowds in the locals and buses, but I am not so sure about this feeling. The stink of sweat, the dirt, the grime and above all the heat makes me go mad. Yet, there is a strange kind of privacy in crowd which I had never experienced before. No one will bother me. Each of us lost in the tiny space that we can call our own. There is a sense of belonging. I look at the local pass in my wallet and I know that I belong to Mumbai. I am not a stranger anymore. I am sharing what millions of people experience everyday. Words like “fast”, “slow”, “east”, “west”, “425”, “9:03” have a meaning for me. No longer am I the lost stranger asking for help at every stage. And I don’t know why but this make me feel good.

I hate the suburbs even though I live there. It represents the bad face of Mumbai. Yet it is in suburbs that the majority of Mumbaikars live. They will get packed like cattle in locals and buses to reach the workplace. Same fate waits in the evening. They will curse the endless traffic jams, the heat, the still air, the humidity, and the floods in the monsoons and yet they will live there because they have no option. They will long for the high-rises of Lokhandwala where the TV and movie stars live, they will long for the open streets and lovely buildings of South Bombay. They will long for the sea and the money of Bandra, Colaba, and Malabar Hill. And they will save every bit of money they can so they can move just a teeny-weeny bit south.

I love South Bombay. When I see south Bombay it’s as if the suburbs never existed. Everything is suddenly better- the roads, the weather, the buildings, the people, the sea, the traffic. And you wonder if it is the same city. I love the old Victorian buildings, the winding lanes, the bunglows and the high-rises, VT, BMC, Fort, Fountain, Marine drive, Nariman Point. This was the Bombay all of us grew up seeing in the Movies. No movie was based in the suburbs thought there were a few which were based in slums and Chawls. But when it came to showcasing Mumbai it was always South Mumbai which got the nod. It is my dream to own a house in Marine drive or Malabar Hill.

Mumbai is an expensive city. Although it is only in Mumbai that you can have your lunch at a price ranging from 5 rupees to 5000 rupees. It is in Mumbai that a girl can travel in short skirt in a local or a bus. It is in Mumbai that couples kiss in public on Juhu Beach, marine lines, Bandstand and no one bats an eyelid. It is in Mumbai that you can be so rich that people dream to be like you. It is in Mumbai that you can live on the street and yet not hang your head in shame. It is in Mumbai that kissing the air around another person’s face is considered happening. It is in Mumbai that you can see every caste, religion, gender, and color. It is in Mumbai where you can watch a Hollywood movie before its release. It is in Mumbai that normal crowd means you can stand in the bus. It is Mumbai that can convert a boy into a man faster than the Indian army. It is Mumbai which makes and shatters a thousand dreams a day. It is Mumbai which is still the dream of millions of people in all parts of India. It is Mumbai that I am a part of, and I am proud of it.

The Chinki

2006-04-27T13:00:00.000+05:30

He had forgotten how to smile. Staying in a hellhole in Virar for the past 6 months had made him a wreck. Everyday he would wake up at 5 am and reach the station by 6:30 . He worked near Haji Ali and it took him nearly two hours to reach there from his room . He would leave the restaurent by 9 pm and then embark on the long ride back to the Chawl. He was treated like dirt by the owner and paid a pittance which just about covered his basic needs leaving almost nothing in savings. He had few friends . No one paid any attention to him and when they did, it was to laugh at him, to make a mockery of him. After all, he was a so-called "chinki" . In reality, he was from Meghalaya but then no one paid any attention to such minor details . He was desperate to go back home. Home where people were still human. where people still cared for another person. Where they did not discriminate on the basis of his features. Where they extended a helping hand.

Today he was running a fever and got up late. Not reporting to work would have resulted in him being fired. He dragged himself out of bed and somehow made it to the station. It was already 6:35 . The 6:36 train will pull into the station at any time. He was scrambling up the overbridge when he saw the train pull up onto the platform . It will stop for exactly 22 seconds. His body felt leaden. The fever was taking its toll. As the train began to move, he reached the platform. It quickly gathered speed and began to move out of his reach. He was running flat out now. The last car was just within his reach. But it was jampacked. Who will make space for a Chinki . He was on the verge of giving up when it happened . Like a magician's trick, A hand came out of the car . Then another . And another . And another . As if they were iron rods being pulled by a giant magnet. As if the petals of a flower were being unfurled. The hands were extended for help. Not for a slap as he was used to. They urged him to go faster . He used every ounce of his energy and ran. The train had picked up speed by now. With a mighty effort, he made contact with a hand. The hand did not care if he was a chinki, a hindu, a muslim, a lower caste. It just held him and pulled him into the car. As he got into the car, He saw smiles all around. They were not the smiles of contempt or mockery. They were genuine smiles of strangers who had helped him. Strangers who 10 seconds earlier had nothing in common with him. Strangers who were packed 400 a car when its official capacity was 100. Strangers who knew that missing the train will cause him to lose his job. Strangers who were now unnamed friends of him. Strangers , who for that one magical moment were not strangers. He smiled for the first time in 6 months . Bombay is not such a bad place after all !

Back in Action

2006-04-24T17:18:00.000+05:30

I have never taken such a long break from blogging . 15 days and no posts . I had exams and was really immersed in studies :) . Kehne mein kya jaat hai :) .

Right now @ Chattisgarh where my home is . It hasnt been my home for very long. My parents moved here just about 1.5 yrs ago . Enjoying my 8 days of bliss . And that too without my cell . Of course that has a big disadvantage :( . Will be back in Mumbai on 1st may . Kal se blogging full on :)

Still Thinking straight ??

2006-04-09T23:50:00.000+05:30

Here is an article i wrote for SJMSOM Magazine L!Ve -

Still thinking straight, eh?

Let’s start with a small puzzle-
It took two hours for two men to dig a hole five feet deep. How deep would it have been if ten men had dug the hole for two hours?

What is Your Answer? 25 Feet? 99 out of 100 people will give this as an answer. This is what we call “Straight thinking”. We never even think of approaching this problem from another perspective. What if the solution to this problem lay in looking at this problem in a totally different way? What if we use certain “lateral thinking” to solve the problem? What if, for example, the answer depended on the following conditions-

• A hole may need to be of a certain size or shape so digging might stop early at a required depth.
• It is possible that with more people working on a project, each person may become less efficient due to increased opportunity for distraction, the assumption he can slack off, more people to talk to, etc
• The two hours dug by ten men may be under different weather conditions than the two hours dug by two men.
• What if one man in each group is a manager who will not actually dig?

Many of the above answers might seem ridiculous. But hey, lateral thinking doesn’t always make sense. It is the approach and the thinking which is important. While the correct answer may lay in the conventional approach, lateral thinking allows us to examine a problem from different points of view which may bring out a previously hidden aspect of the problem.

So what exactly is this lateral thinking? Wikipedia defines lateral thinking as the reasoning that is not immediately obvious and about ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic. This term was coined by the noted psychologist Maltese psychologist Edward De Bono. De Bono is also known for his Six Thinking Hats.
It is a common misconception that lateral thinking means thinking in a crazy way. While it is true that lateral thinking involves thinking in a crazy way, but the real meaning of lateral thinking involves perspectives. Lateral thinkers are adept at exploring an issue from multiple perspectives.

One of the most famous lateral thinkers of out time is Steve Jobs. He has always challenged conventional and traditional thinking. Many years before Microsoft came out with Windows, Apple was already implementing its windowing system. People were skeptical, many did not see the need for an elaborate graphical interface when Operating Systems such as UNIX provided such a powerful text based interface. But Jobs had the courage and foresight to think different and this decision probably paved the way for PCs becoming popular. When Apple came out with the stunning iMac with its strikingly sleek white body and the bright colors, most people did not understand why a Computer needed to be beautiful. But Steve Jobs said, why not? If it has never been tried before, how do you know it won’t be successful? And this one strong belief of lateral thinkers: they are always ready to push the limits. Always ready to challenge the obvious? Another Example. Apple was a computer company. What business it had to venture into the music player business. But it did and the results there for everyone to see.

One interesting aspect to look at is the link between lateral thinking and innovation. Wikipedia defines innovation as the process of making changes to something established by introducing something new. Notice the words change and new in the definition. When you are changing something or making something new, it means that you have discovered a way in which the traditional way can be bettered. This implies that you must have looked at the existing way from a different perspective. This fits in very nicely with our definition of a lateral thinker. Thus it would be fair to assume that most of the innovations are brought about lateral thinkers. Of course, here I am excluding the accidental innovations.

For most of us, the fact that most people buy Cigarettes or Beedis in lots of one and two would be something that we neglect without even thinking. But this very behavior prompted C.K. Ranganath, Chairman and MD, Cavinkare Industries, to make a revolutionary innovation in the shampoo business. His logic was simple: people don’t want to buy large quantity in one go, so why force them. Why not give them a small quantity which will be useful as well as affordable. And this thinking is what led to the introduction of Shampoo in Sachet. With a single stroke, Cavinkare changed the face of business. And it involved lateral thinking on the part of Mr. Ranganath to bring about this innovation.

This brings us to an important question: is it possible to develop lateral thinking? And the answer is yes. While it is true that some people have a built in mechanism to think laterally, it is possible for others to develop this quality. And how should we do that? Simplest way is to be curious. Be curious about the world around you. Ask why a particular thing is like it is. Ask yourself whether you can do it differently. And remember it doesn’t always have to make sense. Some of the solutions you give might sound silly. You will fail. But don’t let that deter you. The one jackpot that you hit will be worth all the failures. Steve Jobs won’t be where he is now, if he would not have thought in a lateral way. So are you still thinking straight? Because if you are, its time to take a (lateral) relook at your thought process.

The Story of a Cricket Fan - part 1

2006-04-03T21:31:00.000+05:30

It is difficult for me to remember when i began to live cricket. I guess it must be around 1989 when i saw Sanjay Manjrekar score a wonderful century against a Pakistan team which boasted of the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Abdul Qadir . The matches were televised by our beloved DD National and I have some faint recollections of watching the match then . My interest ebbed and flowed until the Historic South African Tour of India in 1991. I watched spell-bound as Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Manjrekar scored wonderful Centuries at Nehru Stadium in Delhi only
to be defeated by a superlative effort by the young (?) South Africans . I was young then, only 9 years of age , and like every young kid , looking for heroes around me. When i first saw the boy with the curly mop score a breathtaking century against Autralia in Perth 1992 , i knew i had found my idol . Sachin Tendulkar, for me, defined cricket and everything associated with him . Matches began and ended with him. I used to sulk in a corner when he got out and no amount of coaxing from my Mom or Dad would get me talking. The World Cup of 1992 was disastourous for India, but it didnt matter me as Sachin Played some stellar innings that only provided a glimpse of what was to come. The match against Pakistan in WC92 also marked the first time i missed school to watch Cricket.

I tried to have a haircut like Sachin , but that was doomed for failure on my straight as an arrow hair. I tried to model my stance according to Tendulkar. I tried to hit the lofted shot as Sachin hit them. Of course by that time he
didn't play much of the startight drive that became his trademark later on . I even loved his voice . Believe it or not, I began to like Priya Tendulkar just because her surname conincided with the great man. I cried alone when he failed , and celebrated every shot of his. No match was over till Sachin was at the crease. I lived for his innings and the periods when India was not playing marked the dull days in my life.

I celebrated with Joy when Sachin Hit his first ODI Century against Srilanka. For bowlers around the world, that spelled doom . The great man had just found a way to become even greater . Maybe , even better than the Don Himself. By the time WC96, Tendulkar was not only India's main batsman but also the harbinger of millions of hopes. India didn't have a great record in that period, but it did not matter to me. Sachin was scoring Centuries and playing like only he can . This was the time for Sachin the Destroyer . He destroyed bowlers, demolishes teams, dismissed reputations, smiles disdainfully at Targets, created new records and took batting to new heights . The period from 1996-2001 marked his best years with the bat. He scored runs at will and played some innings which i can never forget . An unbeleivable counter-attacking century against South Africa in 1997 was to end up in a losing cause . An epic 136 against Pakistan in 1998-99 would rank as one of the alltime best Test innings. An innings which was played through tremendous physical pain . Those marauding centuries against Australia in Sharjah 1998 must rank as the
alltime great ODI innings, with the latter one played in a surreal atmosphere in Sharjah . Sachin was god in those two innings. His best innings was not the century he scored in the finals , but the innings before that which got India into the finals . His self-belief was so high that after making sure that India got into the finals , he went after a seemingly improbable target . I believe he would have taken India home, had the innigns not been cut short by a horrendous umpriring decision . The two sixes that he hit of Miachel Kasprowicz are as fresh in my mind as if the match was played yesterday . I dont think i have ever been happier after watching a cricket match as i was then. Even now i feel my hair rising when i think of those innings .

Unforunately , this period was marked by his infamous captaincy stint. I do not believe that Sachin was a bad captain. He never got the team he wanted . And yet he perfomed brilliantly even when under pressure of being Indian Captain . His passion for his country shone through . I cried alongwith him when India failed to chase down a paltry 114 at Barbados that marked the nadir of Sachin's Captaincy . He had to quit captaincy when things became too much. Even now, out of all Indian Captains, Sachin has the best batting record .

P.S. . End of part 1 . Rest will follow in part 2 :-) .

It happens only in IIT !

2006-03-29T21:47:00.000+05:30

7:50 am : Wake up somehow and look disbelievingly at the clock
7:55 am : Drag yourself out of the bed
7:56 am : Switch on the Lappy to check for new mails on GPO.
8:00 am : Brush teeth with 10 others in front of 3 washbasins . At the same time ensure that your bucket is in a strategic location in the queue for Hot water

8:15 am : Dammit ! Again i forgot to give the clothes for cleaning . Now i'll have to wear the same shirt for the 3rd successive day

8:20 am : Breakfast . Although looking at the fare on offer, you would be better off not breaking your fast

8:25 am : Wait for TumTum / Your friends bike / Get on your cycle

8:32 am : Shit Late again ! This lift takes ages to come !

8:35 am : Rats ! Prof starts off with a surprise quiz ! Did he really teach all this ?

9:00 am : You try to concentrate like anything . Hell , This is interesting !

9:15 am : How did i ever think that this was interesting ?

9:30 am : Your eyes are closing...closing......closing.......closed ! And off into dreamland

9:45 am : Wake up with a start ! I slept for 15 mins ?? look around and see half the class in varying phases of slumber . Go back to sleep !

10:30 am : Damn this prof comes so early . No time to go out

12:30 pm : Finally 2 lectures are finishes

12:45 pm : You are in MESS. Literally

1:30 pm : Check mails. Surf net .

3:00 pm : Time for lecture. Why does that goddman prof choose this time .

4:00 pm : Half the class ( including you ) is soundly asleep .

4:15 pm : You wake up as you hear the word "Quiz" . LOL , another quiz !!!

5:00 pm : Hooray ! lectures finished .

5:30 pm : Play Football / Cricket/ Hockey/ Basky / Volley/ TT / AOE/ CS/ NFS etc etc

7:30 pm : Loads of assignement . You knock on muggu's rooms to see who has done the assignement so you can copy it .

8:30 pm : Even Bigger MESS .

9:30 pm : Aha ! Movie time ! Search for an English / Korean / German / Hindi Movie in that order only .

12 Midnignht : Chalo Canteen Time . Stuff in 2 parathas and juice.

12:30 am : Now what ! you decide to study ! within 10 mins someone has buzzed you on yahoo and you are chatting away merrily .

2:00 am : Should i sleep ? You decide to have one last round of AOE/ CS/ NFS before sleeping

3:00 am : Finally with every part in your body giving up , you flop yourself on your bed and off to la-la-land

And hence another day begins in the life of an IITian

A moment of madness !!

2006-03-20T21:17:00.000+05:30

A moment of madness........thats what it took me to ask her the most important question of my life . What was i thinking ??? Did i know about her feelings ?? She was not the sort of girl to have a boyfriend . And if she did, it would be her only one. Was i ready for such a committment ? Had i thought it through ? Or had words written in a diary misled me ?

Thankfully, none of these questions came to my mind when i asked her. And, thank god , they did not figure in her mind too .

And thats why she said YES.

A Pledge for Blank Noise

2006-03-14T22:51:00.000+05:30

I dont know whether the Blank Noise Project will bring about some mounmental change or not. Frankly, i think it is diffiult . With all the efforst that we bloggers are taking, it might never reach mainstream media . But this is a BEGINNING . Today we have 500 bloggers in this . Out of this even if only a few learn to give respect to girls and change their minds about this issue, then the BNP has DONE something . Things will change . A change in mindset is always the most difficult thing to bring about . It cant be done overnight . But a start is made . It is upto all of us in BNP to not let go of this . To make sure that BNP always remains on top of our minds. To make sure that we get this to as many people as we can. To make sure that we bring more and more such atrocities against women to light . To make sure that women get their dserved place in this society . To make sure that girls can walk without fear in our country . To make sure that we have done something good in our live. Lets all make this pledge for Blank Noise Project.

The Pervert's Holi !

2006-03-14T21:55:00.000+05:30

Tomorrow is Holi - the festival of colours. It is the time everyone celebrates with a dash of colours and loads of enjoyment. Cast, creed, religion is forgotten and people celebrate in a true spirit of community . But there is a dirty underbelly of Holi . The festival of colour takes on a totally different meaning for the PERVERT . Yes the same pervert against whom the Blank Noise Project is . The same pervert who thinks nothing of groping and fingering innocent girls . Lets call him X.

For X, Holi presents a great opportunity . For starters, it gives him a chance to actually TOUCH girls in public without any qualms. Come on, X is just applying some colur to the girl's cheeks . Whats the harm . But was that touch a tad too long . Did his hands go where normally you would not apply the colour ? But she ignores it in the spirit of Holi ? Or does she ? Well i dont really know . But for X this is like manna from heaven . Now he has not one but several victims available conviniently . The Holi parties are even better . There are so many people out there that no one really bothers to know who is colouring you . Won't X love to be at such a place . Can we really know who is genuinly applying colour and who is a X in disguise ? I am sure all of us have seen these X's at work . The uninvited guest , the distant relative, someone's friend's friend - X comes in all avatars . And you really have no way of knowing . For us Holi is a day for enjoyment and fun . For X , the feast has just started .

Greatest Cricket Match Ever !!

2006-03-12T23:03:00.000+05:30

What a match ! its been more than 2 hours since the match has finished and i still can believe it. South Africa chased 434 runs and how they chased !! With a spirit and gutso hitherto unseen, Gibbs and Smith plundered their way towards an improbable target . It was a true Captain's knock from Graeme Smith . It takes a lot of courage and will to even THINK of chasing such a score but Smith's men did it. What an innings Gibbs played . It was out of this world. He was hitting as if there was no tomorrow and every shot was of the meat of the bat. Such was his brilliance that Ponting's astonishing knock was overshadowed. The match could not have been won without the contribution of the cucumber-cool Boucher and a revelation called as Van Der Wath .

Spare a thought for Aussies . After scoring 434 no one in their wildest dreams would have thought it possible that they are gone lose. Ponting played the 2nd best innings of his life ( the first one is the WC2003 finals against Indians ) . He is a treat to watch when in full flow. Its a shame that he ended up on the losing side. I feel he made a crucial tactical error when he persisted with Mick Lewis even after he had gone for 80 of 8 overs. Brett Lee still had overs left and Ponting should have given the ball to him . As fate would have it, Lewis was whacked to all corners and ended up with dubious world record of conceding the maximum runs in a ten over spell .

I watched the match in the hostel TV room and the atmosphere was electric. It was as if the finals of the world cup was going on . Half the hostel was there and they were putting their entire weight behind the gallant South Africans . When SA won, everyone celebrated as if India had won the match . Truly , it was the GREATEST one day match ever. Hats off to both SA and Australia.

P.S Wonder what India would have done when faced with a target of 435 in 50 overs !!

The Story that shook me

2006-03-08T11:25:00.000+05:30

This is one story i picked from one of the blogs in Blank Noise Project . Can this be true ?

Once upon a time, there were four girls. Close friends – two pairs of best friends. They were always together. A and B went home together. In the train. C and D went home together. In the bus. Then, B began complaining that there was a man bothering her in the train. He got on at the station A got off. He used to come everyday and sit next to her and try to feel her up. Every single day.The four of them came up with a plan. They would go all the way to B’s station but A,C and D would act like they didn’t know her and sit in some corner so that they could observe her. Then the next day, they would come with a police officer.It was a fine plan. They went all the way to B’s station, all the while, watching the ugly scene in front of them. They were helpless and scared. But they told her not to worry. Tomorrow, the police officer would deal with the awful man, they said.But the next day, she was missing. She didn’t come to college. Not B. A. A was missing. She was the leader in their group. The driving force. The mastermind of the plan. Where was she? She didn’t come the whole week. When they finally decided to go to her house, they found her mother wailing. Her daughter had committed suicide. What??? They couldn’t believe it. Why would A commit suicide? She was so happy! The scared, confused, upset girls turned to go offer their condolences to A’s father. And everything fell into place. A’s sudden silence on the train the day they went with B. The sudden shadow on her face when the other two were consoling B. Her suicide.
A’s father. The man on the train.
Fact or fiction?

This underlines the basic reason of the fear thar girls face - You never know who is the pervert ? Who said that he should be a cheap looking, paan- chewing , oily- haired, scary looking from the slums ? Why cant it be the guy with decent clothes, greying hair and having a father-figure look ? The pervert demon inside does not care for the outer look . It just wants to lech, grope, fondle, rape ......

The Blank Noise Project

2006-03-05T21:32:00.000+05:30

I am taking part in a terrific intiative Blank Noise Project . This group has taken a great intitiative to change the attitude of Indian People about "Eve-Teasing" and "Sexual Harassement" and bring such heinous crimes to light. Needless to say, it is as worthy a cause as any other (In fact more so because it is also the most neglected one ) . Gaurav here talks about the mindset of the man . Several others have also linked their experiences on Blank Noise .

Most of the people are under the impression that it is the uneducated and low-class poeple who indulge in eve-teasing. While this is true to certain extent, the great "Educated" youth of Modern India is not to be left behind. Indeed, I have seen and heard of several cases where girls have been teased, groped and fondled where the so called "Enlightened" Youth were present . ON two occasions, one of my friends was the sufferer .

Once, before joining IITB, We had come to TEchFest 2003 from Pune. ON the final day, there was an exciting RoboDogs show in the evening. The interest was tremendous and by evening there was a great rush of crowds to get into SAC at IITB . IN the melee, when everyone was trying to get in, my friend was fondled not once but thrice. She could not see the cultprit because of the crowd , but she was shaken ! I was shocked when i came to know about it. Of all the places , IITB ! OF course the IITians dont control who comes to watch these shows , but surely some better way to manage crowds and handle miscreants is required. I am 100% Sure it was some students , as no one apart from students was allowed .

The same friend told me how she and her friend had suffered the same when they went to shop in Tulsibaug ( A very famous Shopping Area in Pune ) . And mind you, they are not the ones who dress in a way you can call "skimpy " or "Revealing " . So what propmted the wild-bristling-with-mojo-sadistic-bastard guys to grope these girls ! Simple lust ! Of course they knew that the public is going to blame the girls and not the Groper himself. Disgusting !!

I have seen even worse behavior at Verve which is an inter-collegiate competition in Pune. The level of crowds at this event is so pathetic that it becomes difficult for girls to go anywhere without some guy staring lecherously . Girls have to be accompanied at all times. And all this in a so-called "Culturaly enlightened " city like Pune. In fact, our experience at Verve has been so bad that we stopped going there after our 2nd year . Where is the moral brigade now. It only shows its teeth when it comes to acts of vandalism to protest the "Western" Valentine Day or to tear the posters of some "Offending" Film .

In all these cases of eve-teasing, the role of the "Gaurdians of Indian Culture" has been as an advocate of the hapless i-cant-control-myself-when-i-see-a-female male. To blame the girl is oh-so-easy for the culture brigade . And why will it not be , when the members of culture brigade themselves are among the perpetrators ( The infamous Valentine's Day episode in Mumbai this year where the "guardians" happily tore the clothes of women and girls who were there). Anyway, the less said about the "Gaurdians" , the better.

I hope that all the readers of this blog will join this movement. It is upto the common Junta, us, to take up this issue and change the people's attitude. We can , and we will make a difference.

How to waste your life's 2 best years

2006-02-23T17:54:00.000+05:30

One of the reasons i had to struggle very hard at the end of the term was because I was involved in numerous activites that consumed lots of time. But I do not repent it. Is life only about studying ? Or is it about enjoying it to the maximum ? Should i not make full use of all the opportunities that life gives us ? This is the question i want to ask those of my batchmates whose sole purpose is studying. These guys mug all day, dont take part in any events, dont play any sports, dont go to parties , curse us for organising Events which cause them to miss their preciuos study time . I pity them becsue they are wasting away their life. No other place will offer you more chances to enjoy extra-curriculars than IITB . But to them it does not matter .

Many people will find it hard to believe but we got a lot of flak for the Systems Continuum which we organised so successfuly. And this flak we got from our batchmates for making them attend this event when exams were just 15 days ahead. I ask them - " Are we doing this for ourselves ? " . What will we gain out of the event . Its for the betterment of our school . And if acads is the quesiton, then the worst sufferers are thr organisers who have to work day and night to make the event a success. And yet we get such a reaction from our class . It hurts ! Everywhere we see the same set of guys working - be it events , or placements, or sports. Rest are either just plain lazy of dont work because it will take them away from their studies. And mind you, this kind of attitude comes mostly from people who have some amount of work-ex with them. You would assume that they will be more mature, but then thats how it is .

Is MBA just about studies ? How will you become a better manager if you mug all day ? Ask Nandan Nilekani, Ask Gururaj Deshpande , Ask Vinod Khosla what was their biggest learning at IITB . And their unianimous reply is that the most they learnt was when they organised events such as MOOD INDIGO . It tuaght them the nitty-gritty of mangement. It taught them how to deal with difficult people. It taught them how to manage in a cash crunch . It tuaght them how to work in teams. These are the things which no one will teach at any B-School . Is there any better way to learn teamwork than by playing team sports ? Is their any better way to learn to take defeat in your stride unless you have played and lost in a game ? And yet people think that these activities are a waste of time and time is better utilized studying.

IF you ask these "study-oriented" guys then they will give you their frank opinion - " We have come here to study, not to waste our two years " . I want to ask everyone an honest question - Who is really wasting their two years ?

To Hell and Back !!

2006-02-23T17:39:00.000+05:30

I made my last post on a day when i was feeling very down and out. Surely, it could not get any worse . But i was to be proven wrong !! Feb 11 to Feb 23rd have been like a nightmare. Projects, Quizzes, Assignements, EndTerms all went by in a blur of books, xeroxes, slides, Notes . Sleep was a luxury which i could ill afford. A cumulative sleep of 50 hours in these 12 days is what i got (Of couse the problem being compunded my singular inability to sleep in the afternoon and a very bad cold which hindered my night snooze). But blurry , puffy eyes and numerous headaches later, here I am , having survived the toughest 20 days of my life.

I have never worked harder, never cursed Profs this much , never more envied those who dont care about grades, than in these 20 days . The work was back-breaking .The temptation to leave evrything to fate was very strong. But i Held on . If only I would have studied at the beginning of the term. Sadly I suffer from the natural Engineering habit of not studying since the beginning. MBA at SJMSOM is not for the weak-hearted . But out of this , comes a feeling of having done what i would have thought impossible a year ago . It is amazing how you find the internal strength to survive against all odds. My willpower remained my true friend and saw me through .
Now just wanna close my eyes and sleepppppppp.........:)

The true taste of MBA

2006-02-10T23:20:00.000+05:30

Till you dont do it, you dont feel it and you can now way predict it. Until now I had only heard about how MBA will make you work like never before, more than 5 hours of sleep will be a luxury, but had never experienced it. SJMSOM was rigorous but at no point I had felt that this was getting out of hand. But the last 10 days have given me the true taste of MBA.

We had a big event Systems Continuum 2006 on 4th and 5th of February. I was a member of the core organizing team and while the preparattion had started 1 month in advance, the last week before the event was extremly hectic. So many things to do and so little time . Only when you organize such an event that you realize that so many small things have to be done to make sure that the event goes off smoothly. We had to work day and night and at the same time ensure that we did not miss out on Classes and quizzes. To our credit, we did manage to pull off the event very successfully. And i can tell you that when the event finished, we were literally on top of the world. We had managed to pull it off.

If we thought that we could relax for one day, then we were very wrong. This term we have projects for all 5 subjects and none of them had progressed beyond the drawing board. Submission of 2 projects was today . I had to work even more than I did for Sys Conti. I havent slept more than 5 hours for the last 10 days . And in the last 2 days a cumulative sleep of 6 hours. Of course, there is no respite in the classes either. Every other day we had quizzes to give or assignements to submit . But I manage to do it . I dont think that I have ever worked harder in my life. MY mind and body wanted to give up but i soldiered on !! Somehow i was sure that if i could make it saturday then i would be fine .

And i have made it to Saturday . We now have 2 days of Holidays . Although 2 projects are to be submitted on Monday and there are 2 presentations as well, but it wont be as hectic in the weekend . Oh and i almost forgot, I also had to play Cricket Matched for the SJMSOM team in the intra-IIT tournament . So, more tiredness and less sleep. Thankfully, we have won the first match and are in the 2nd round .

Our SOM Assiciation elections were held this wednesday and i was elected as the Social Secreatry . This is a very responsible post and I hope i can do justice to it. Our exams are starting from next saturday and now have to prepare for that . I guess I can only relax on 23rd when our exams finally end. Until then -- " Lage Raho !! "

P.S. Now i realize why IITians sing - " Dinbhaar Kaam nahi Araam , Koi ye bataye kahan jaaye " .

Business World Rocks !! Hilarious Ranking

2006-02-02T21:26:00.000+05:30

Do check out this ranking of B-Schools by BusinessWorld. They must be the most hilarious rankings ever published. They have given Fore School of Management the rank of Best B-School in India !! . I cant stop laughing !! Guess now we know which is the richest B-School in India ;). Never thought BW would go to such ridiculous lengths. I am betting that the issue will feature atleast a two page ad from Fore (With a promise of ads for 1 year probably) . Wonder what else BW is being offered. Read it here .

Last year India Today had published an equally ridiculous ranking and now BW is following them . Wonder what journalism in India is coming to.

The reality of Strikes

2006-02-02T20:41:00.000+05:30

Gaurav Sabnis makes a very poignant and disturbing post . Read it here

Rang De Basanti

2006-01-28T21:42:00.000+05:30

I find it hard to like Hindi Movies that are being made for the last 10 years or so. I cant stand the kind of unrealistic chocolate coated crap that Yash Chopra and Co come up with . I like watching this movies that impact my soul . You know those which "Jo andar se choo jaati hai " . Rang de Basanti is such a movie . It shook me right to the core of my soul . Am i a patriotic person ? What is the definition of my patriotism ? Is it just about standing to attention when the national anthem is playing ? Is it just about supporting the Indian Cricket team ? I fear that for majority of people ( including me ) , that holds true .

All of us crib about the conditions we live . About this "system " . But none of us has had the courage to do something about it . I myself am an cultprit . I have never thought about changing the system .Maybe i do not have enough courage . Maybe i am content to sit back and let the world go on. But i cannnot help but find a just cause in the way Aamir and his freinds react . The justness and moral issues of the actions are not relevant. Its the message that the movie conveys is important . And I find the ending perfectly fitting. Any other ending would have made the film less effective. It is when we react with shock to their deaths that we realize how passionate was the cause which they took up.

The movie builds up an atmosphere that is electrifying. I find getting shivers when Soha ali says " Maar Daalo usko " ! All the threads in the movie combine brilliantly in the end. I thought that Cyrus Sahukar's role was irrelevant, but it turnded out ot be the crucial in the climax. The juxtapositioning of the Past and the present was awesome. The scene where the friends plot the revenge , when each character is alternated by his alter ego in past is one of the most brilliant movie scenes i have ever seen . The entire cast has performed briliiantly. I also marvel at how Rakeysh Mehra overcame the temptation of Making Aamir the centre of the movie. In Rang De Basanti, The story is the winner . After Lagaan, this is the first Hindi Movie that has impacted me so much. But more so in case of Rang De Basanti becasue i could identify with the characters. When Sukhi complains about the system, it could have been me talking .

This movie may not prompt me to Do anything drastic, but it has made me think. And that is where i think RDB is a winner. IT will make the viewers think ! Hats off to the entire cast and crew !!

Why ?

2006-01-20T21:26:00.000+05:30

The boy stood alone and cried,
a lonely figure with none by his side,
His misery too sad to see,
a bundle of sobs was he,
his world was now in shadows,
of barred glasses on cracked windows.

Some consoled and hugged him,
some others afraid to face him,
speaking kindly, all of them,
But what could he say to them,
for,how do you feel when your parents die,
the only question he asked was - "Why?"

- Rahul

Mumbai Marathon 2006 : The story in Pictures

2006-01-15T14:15:00.000+05:30

Mumbai Marathon 2006 - The Biggest Marathon ever in India . And I was a part of it. Here is the story in pictures . (The guy in white T-Shirt and specs is me) -

The Warriors proceed for the battle - At Kanjur Marg Station .

Chal Padein hain Raah par. Manzil pa ke rahenge !

We reach Azad Maidan near VT - Gathering point for the contestants.

Look who we spotted - A very dapper Harsha Bhogle and the Shining pate of Vinod Kambli

Harsha kuch kehna Chahta Hai

Say Hello to a very Motu Cyrus Broacha and his Son. Cyrus was sitting on the ground. No one noticed him until Harsha said Hi to him

Kya Costume Hai !

Just before the starting point !

The massive crowd near the starting line !

Me with VT in background .

Those who rule Maharshtra - Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chhagan Bhujbal and Suresh Kalmadi Cheering on the contestants .

Running on and on ! Somewhere near the halfway mark .

Hai Himmat to kuch kaam mushkil nahi !! This guy recieved huge cheers on his way. He completed 21 kms on crutches .

After running for 58 mins , we reach our destination - The Finishing line !

The joy of Victory and a Salute to the spirit of Mumbai.

Mission Accomplished- Showing off our numbers at VT !

And that ends an Amazing Day. The Marathon rocked and throughout the race the indomitable spirit of Mumbai was visible everywhere. People from all Cast, Creed , Colour and Religion took part in this momentous occasion. It was humbling to see people twice and thrice our age making full effort to complete the race. Thousands lined the streets to egg us on. Running was never a problem. Taking my eyes of the beauty of Mumbai was difficult. Watching it up close without any traffic and spotlesly clean was an amazing experience. We all gained something from the Marathon.A sense of satisfaction, a sense of achievement, a sense of sharing the Mumbaikar spirit, and above all a sense that we all have contributed something to the Society ( This was a charity event) . All of us have made a promise to run 21 kms in the next marathon and I have no Doubt that we will fulfil it.

Here's a Salute to all those who participated in today's marathon and to this great city itself.

Freshies and Stalies : The MBA Junta

2006-01-13T01:03:00.000+05:30

Now this subject has been done to death in many articles and blogs, so i run the risk of repeating the oft-repeated stuff. Still i'll try and give it a different perspective.

The average B-School Junta can be divided into two groups- freshies and work-exies (lets call them stalies for ease of use). Now each of the group behaves in a predictable manner (except for a few glorious exceptions). Let us consider the freshies first .

Freshies behave just like their name- very fresh. They bring fresh ideas to the discussions. Of course, being fresh does not necessarily mean useful. So, these guys are always very eager about things. They like to participate in the class as much as possible and more often than not end up asking questions which any self-respecting MBA student wont be caught dead asking. They try to hog all the limelight by sitting in the first two rows, which perfectly suits the rest of the class. They are the pets of Profs for all the donkey work that they are willing to do. They are the life of any project group. In an MBA institute "life" of the group is a wicked way of humoring the guy willing to slog for the whole group. These Freshies are also obsessed with grades and are usually the first one's to know about any grades that have arrived. They usually dont drink or smoke and consider anyone touching these things as untouchable. Their reportoir of curses is severely limited and this hampers their ability to effectivley communicate their frustration with a staly who dares to shirk his group duties.

As with any population, exceptions galore. These "exceptional" freshies do everything opposite to a normal freshy. They spend most of their time sleeping on the back-benches. They rarely do any work and dont give a damn about grades. They are looked upon by other freshies as somewhat of a disgrace.

Now, coming to the stalies. Stalies have more than a year of work-experience. And in their opinion, it gives them an undenaible right to pass opinions on everthing related to placements, jobs or companies. They usually categorise things in two categories- things that used to happen at their place of employement and things that did not used to happen at their place of employement. And god save you if some event is even remotely similar to a category 1 event. You then have to suffer through a long and boring description of the staly's exploits at his place of employement. Stalies dont believe in slogging for the group projects as they already consider themselves to be managers and are content with "managing" the project. Stalies can be observed at all times giving loads of unwarranted gyaan to a faithful freshie or reliving those gloriouos days of employement with their fellow stalies. For some strange reason, Stalies are also very obsessed with grades and manage to defeat Freshies in thier quest to be the topper. Stalies also belive that hobnobbing with the Profs will somehow increase their stature in the Institute.

Exceptional stalies are those wonderful creatures who behave just like a fresher. These guys are the most obsessed with grades. They slog the maximum and sit on the first bench. Somehow, They manage to beat freshies in asking silly questions during the class.Looking at them will give you an impression that they have not yet graduated, leave alone having a work-ex.

To those wondering to which group i belong, well , I leave you to make a few guesses !!

Best Movie Ever

2006-01-11T13:54:00.000+05:30

Filmfare awards are round the corner. As usual a host of mediocre and below average movies are lined up to recieve the awards. Not all are like that though. Black and Sarkar being the two glorious exceptions (Is it a surprise that Big B stars in both ? ). Anyway, that set me thinking about my most Favorite movie.

Hmm, thats a toughie ! Do i Choose "Angoor" with its terrific storyline and an absolutely hilarious performance by Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma. Do i choose "Jaane Bhi do Yaaron" with its amazingly poignant and humurous take on politics and corruption . Or should it be "Sholay" with a great story, great performances and dialogues to die for. What about "Lagaan" with its David-versus-Goliath story and the courage and spirit it embodied.

Hollywood also comes calling. What about "Saving private Ryan" with its wonderful depiction of an epic journey to save the last Ryan. Should it be "The Matrix" for coming up with a terrificly convoluted but brilliant story and the mind-blowing special effects. What about "Forrest Gump" for its moving portrayal of a specially challanged but kind-hearted simpleton. For that matter, "Day after tomorrow" with its depiction of Apocalypse also stakes its claim.

But the winner is the movie which managed to encompass an amazing epic into celluloid and that too without losing out on the soul of the movie. I had my reservations before watching this movie, because i was sure that like all novel adaptions this would lose out on the spirit of the novel. Another reason was the very length and epynomous proportions of the Novel. There was no way a movie could capture it. The sheer breadth of the characters should have made it impossible to capture the same in 3 movies. The rambling and the magnificent landscapes and the epic battle sequences would surely have been too much for Celluloid. And most of all, the enduring spirit throghout the novel should have been impossible to depict.

But Lo and Behold , Peter Jackson and His "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy brought alive such a spectacle that all my fears were dumbfounded. I started watching the DVD'd on my laptop and i did not stop until all 3 had finished ( all 10.5 hours of it ) . I was mind-bogglingly amazing. The movies brought alive an age, the brought alive the characters, the battles. The magnificent landscapes of New Zealand provided a breathtaking backdrop in which the greates story ever told unfolded. I sat spell-bounded as Frodo ran from the corpses that were chasing him. I watched in Fascination as Aragorn and Legoulas fought the epic battles. I watched as armies of Saaron converged on all sides of Aragorn's army as Frodo dropped the ring in the Mountain of Doom. The Tree-men walked, The ghosts swayed, the immortal elves showed their courage and love, the evil armies of Saruman prepared for the ultimate battle. Men without any super-powers fought like lions. Above all, the love and Friendship of Sam ensured that Frodo did not lose sight of his goal even when tempted by the Ring.

To call Lord of the Rings series as movies would be an insult. They were an experience, a vista to tame all vistas. Take a bow , Peter Jackson, you have achieved the impossible. J.R.R. Tolkien would be proud of you !

Finally I join Orkut

2006-01-08T20:47:00.000+05:30

Finally I joined Orkut today. Had been posponing it for a long long time. The only reason being that I knew Orkut will become an addiction for me. I guess today I have spent close to 3 hours on orkut. But this time has been well invested, for i found 3 of my friends from school with whom i had lost contact.

This is the thing about online communities, be it Pagalguy or Orkut. One is already an obsession and the other is on its way to becoming one. Amen !

When Sportsmen forget Sportsmanship

2006-01-07T23:09:00.001+05:30

Today I happened to witness a volleyball match in our hostel. The match was extremly tight with the fortunes swinging either way. In the end, there had to be a winner and there had to be a loser. There was a lot of cheering and hooting from supporters of both the sides during the match. When the match ended, the losing team began to make its way back. To their shock, the winning team began to shout abuses at them. It came out of nowhere. To their credit, the losing team refrained from replying the same manner. The shouts continued for some time. What happened here ? They had won the match, they should have celebrated and gone away. Why did they hurl abuses at the other team ? And mind you, this wasn't even an inter-hostel match. So whats the point in responding in this manner to your hostel-mates ? Is this what they have learnt at their homes and in their School ? I guess they must have thought they were able to prove the other team as inferior and then just decided to rub it in.

The emotion that i am feeling is not of anger, but of pity. I pity such people who showcase their culture over such petty things. Cheering and Friendly banter during the match is fine. But, at the same time there is no need to get personal. It really shows the person's desperation to win at any cost. Since, they find it difficult to win the game in a normal way, these people resort to such tactics. That is why i did not like the Australian Cricket team even when they played excellent cricket. They were winning matches easily, and yet they resorted to sledging. Such fellas should be pitied. Its a pity that they have such twisted mind which prompts them to behave in this way. Its a pity that they did not learn basic mannerisms and sporting spirit. Its a pity that they won. Else, they could have seen how REAL sportsmen celebrate .

Stand in Queue , please !!

2006-01-04T20:47:00.000+05:30

Yesterday we had a visit from Mr. Shailesh J Mehta, the patron of our School. While interacting with the students, he made a very interesting observation. According to him, power can have different menaings in different countries. In the US, having money is the sign of power, in others a gun is the ultimate sign of power. In fact, this is the truth in most of the countries. However, in India, real power is the power to NOT stand in queues. Yes, thats right.

Our whole life revolves around queues. There are queues everywhere. Queues for birth certificate, queue for school admission, queue for collecting result, queue for enrolling into coaching classes, queue for girls ;), queue for buying college admssion form, queue for college result, queue for Bus and Local, queue for driving license, queue for passport, queue for post office, queue for ATM, queue for movie ticket; there is even a queue for peeing.

In this world governed by queues, a few privileged souls manage to bypass them. These are the persons with real power, the VIPs. They have no queue for anything. They have no queue for toll booth, no queue for bank, no queue for license or passport, no queue for Movie tickets and of course no queues for Bus and Local. Thier life passes off very easily, the sun and the rain don't trouble them, others dont yell at them for taking a step out of queue. The VIPs are indeed Very Important Persons. No matter how much money you have or how many goons you can call, if you have to stand in a queue then you are nothing better than an ordinary mortal. These Fortunate individuals scoff at us poor mortals who are braving the sun and the rain for that one piece of paper.

On some occasions, even we can rise above the crowd and become a VIP. It happens if you have an Aunt or an Uncle or a Friend who is (un)fortunately employed in the concerned place. These guys become the most sought after Friends with even distant and one-time acquitances claiming to be their bossom friends. The people working in government offices are most suscepible to this. The experiences of standing in the queue are really something.

Er... gotta run ! There is already a queue to fill up the mess fees :) .

Adios , Winter Vacations

2006-01-02T20:01:00.000+05:30

Today is the last day of our holidays. From tomorrow classes are starting. This ends 40 days of absolute bliss. Although I was working on a winter project, it was not very hectic and i could manage with 3-4 hours a day. And i honestly dont know how i spent rest of the time. I played cricket, baddy , TT, squash; watched movies; roamed around Mumbai, went to Pune thrice, wrote poems, surfed net, devoured friends and last but not the least enjoyed my bliss to the hilt. Mood Indigo was rocking as usual ( that will be dealt in a separate post). There were hardly 15 people in our department. Somehow , this solitiude made all of us feel exclusive. I got to know some people better and realized how my initial impressions were wrong. Laziness is a very good feeling when you dont have to counter it ;) .

People have started arriving since 31st Dec. I guess by now, all the guys and gals in our hostel have arrived. The campus and the hostel has suddenly come to life as if some magic switch has been turned on. The daily grind begins from tomorrow. I feel a bit sad as the holidays have come to an end. I doubt that i will get such a long holiday until probably i retire.One chapter in my life has come and gone without me even realising it.

Adios, Winter Vacations. It was great meeting you.

1000 Visits & Going

2005-12-30T23:11:00.000+05:30

Today My Blog crossed 1000 views :) . Feels really good to reach this milestone. So here is my Ahem.. Acceptance speech -

Main sabhi visitors ko dhanyavad kehna chahoonga ( Mere anonymous bhaiyon aur unki behnon ko bhi ) . Aapki visit mere liye bahut keemti hai. Saath hi main aapke aur mere internet connection tatha modem ka bhi shukriya ada karta hoon. Main PG.com ka bhi aabhari rahoonga jisne mujhe is muqam tak pahuchne ka mauka diya. Main asha karta hoon ki yeh blog jaldi hi nayi uchaiyon ko chhuega .Aur , ant mein Bhartiya Prodyogiki Sansthan, Mumbai ko Mera jeevan bhar aabhar rahega.

Phew !! Tought to write in Hindi. Lekin , dhanyavad to Hindi mein hi dena tha. Aakhir, Dil hai Hindustani ;) . Kya Senti maara hai !!

Some moments to Cherish.....

2005-12-27T00:08:00.000+05:30

Many times during our lives we encounter some moments, which remain etched in our hearts. That moment need not be something that happens to me. But its impression is nevertheless lasting. Something like this happened to me today.

Getting into an IIT is dream come true for most students. But, for students from poor backgrounds or from villages , it is the pinnacle of their aspirations. Today, I saw a boy in our hostel being visited by his Grandma. She was leaving his room and there were tears in her eyes. All the way to the Autorickshaw, she kept looking at our hostel and caressing tha boys hair. I came to know of the whole story after she went. The boys parents died when he was just 10 years old. He comes from a very small village in Orissa. His Grandma raised him . He is a very brilliant boy and I am sure he must have gotten into IIT through sheer hard work and talent. His grandma must have always wished that her Grandson will do something that would have made his parents proud. And he fulfilled her dream by securing admission into India's Best Institute. Today was her first visit to our hostel. And though she did not say anything in front of us, her tears said a thousand words.

This was a moment which she will always cherish. And this was a moment which I will always cherish. I saw true happiness today. And nothing can be more touching than that . I am sure that many such untold stories are there in IIT. After all , it is a dream come true !!

Why Indiatimes.com sucks !!

2005-12-23T22:29:00.000+05:30

I have been delaying this post for too long. In vain i waited for India's best known publishing house to improve its standards. On the contrary, the quality of journalism has really gone down. I will not comment on TOI in this post ( thats another story altogether), but i have to make comments on Indiatimes.com .

For a website that calls itself India's most popular website, the standard of the contents is absymally low. They rely so much on sensationalism that they come up with headlines which have little to do with the actual Story. See these links - Tendulkar Should play for team or quit and Tendulkar or Dhoni : Take your pick . When you go throught the stories you will realize that headlines are completely misleading. In case of the first article, Ranatunga has mentioned the names of all the senior players and yet only Sachin gets the Headlines. Nowhere in the headline is it mentioned that It is a comment by Ranatunga. And again, just because Ranatunga has said it, does it in any way justify Indiatimes putting up this headline ? This is a case of bad journalism at its worst.

Same goes for the second story too. The entire story is on Dhoni and Tendulkar's name has been mentioned only once. And yet from the headline you might be forgiven for thinking that Tendulkar is suffering from a massive loss in popularity. What were these guys thinking ? The answer is that this is the only way they will make sure that the reader will visit the article. Its quite easy for Indiatimes actually. For ages now, they have been putting up misleading headlines.

They also advertise their photo gallery very prominently on the website. 9 out of 10 times, the photo is of some semi-naked girl. I guess they know the pulse of the average (male ) visitor very well. But, are such tactics justified for "India's most popular website" . Here are some more gems from today's site - Kinky Shoes , 20 wild babes you will never want tamed . Hats off to Indiatimes , Their contents have touched a new low. In contrast rediff.com and yahoo.com carry much more sensible stories .

Well, in a way i am glad that they put up the Tendulkar headlines. It allowed me to speak out much more passionatly about the issue. From now on, it is out of my Favorites list. I really do hope more people follow suit .

The year of the Indian Blog

2005-12-22T23:51:00.000+05:30

Indian Blogs Rocked this year. Check out this article on rediff.com . Blogging in India has indeed come a long way since it was a prerogative of a few geeks with money and time to spare on a dialup connection. The defining moment in the Indian Blogosphere came when Bloggers united against IIPM. The Tsunami Disaster also highlighted the power of blogs. A reputed Publishing house sued a blogger and in doing so gave even more recognition and credibility to blogs .

So if you ain't into blogging yet; what are you waiting for , Blog On !!

Some More IITB Pics

2005-12-21T13:48:00.000+05:30

SOM Foyer

SOM Building Side

Som Building Front

ERP Classroom

Classroom 1

Mallus Compulsis Accentia

2005-12-20T23:39:00.000+05:30

Mumbai , 20 December ( phookas.blospot correspondent) ,

Eminent Sociologists and Psychologists have recently announced the discovery of a new species called as Mallus Compulsis Accentia . This species is found in abundant numbers in scores of malls across the length and breadth of India. It is characterized by the large amount of shopping bags that it accumulates on weekly basis and the strange obsession with anything having the word Mall in it. This is a highly social species and tends to move in groups of varying sizes.

Experts are baffled by the seemingly endless capacity of shopping possessed by this species. Members of species don't mind paying exorbitant prices for products that would cost half the amount elsewhere. This species has a strong affinity for International Brands and would not be caught dead wearing anything other than a Levi's, Allen Solly, Red Tape, Ray-Ban and Nike. They dislike shopping anywhere else and are prepared to die defending their favorite mall. Strangely enough, the title of Favorite mall changes hands anytime a bigger and even more expensive mall opens up. Their affinity towards malls is so much that many times they come to the malls with shopping the last thing on their minds. In case of males this can be explained by the desire to goggle at the female of the species who are inexplicably clad in tightest and shortest of clothes. Psychologists have been hard pressed to find a reason for this species' desire to participate in silliest of contests and generally make a big fool of themselves in front of large crowds. This species is also characterized by the desire to eat at the food courts where the cuisine and prices range from absurd to ridiculous. Oh! And as water is never served at these food courts, they only drink mineral water.

These animals move in packs of varying sizes and composition. In case of a family, the pack is led by a male with an amazingly big paunch and a wallet to match. His wife is always dressed according to the fashion of the day and often suffers from the delusion that age is only in the mind. They are accompanied by 2 or 3 kids all of whom are dressed impeccably in international brands and speak perfectly accented English. The second type of group is a mixed group consisting of young males and young females; all of them armed with numerous credit cards. This group behaves in a most peculiar manner. They have a constant urge to use words like dude, yo baby, bucks, chill and many more absurd words which look out of place everywhere except for perhaps a meeting of American teenagers. They will always take care to flaunt their mobile phones and speak in the loudest voice possible leading to a possible hearing damage amongst innocent passersby. These youngsters are characterized by low-waist jeans which are worn as low as possible. According to experts, this is a characteristic of both males and females. The only differentiating factor is what the person is trying to show off. The male displays amazing foolishness in thinking that displaying the label of his internationally branded underwear will end up making him the coolest being on earth. The female of this species falls into the deadly trap of trying to attract boys by showing off the skin of their backs and that ultimate turn-on: Belly Button. This species shows amazing disregard for the repulsion which others feel when having to endure looking at this spectacle during their stay at the mall.

All the members of this species speak in strangely accented English that fails to hide what essentially is a pitiful attempt to sound cool. Of course, this accent is not remotely close to actual American or English accent and the speaker ends up sounding like Bill Clinton trying to speak Tamil. Their accented speech is liberally peppered with the words that have been mentioned above. Experts are at a loss to explain why they choose to speak in English when they can perfectly talk in Hindi or their own regional language. What further amazes linguists is that other members of these species can always make out what others are speaking in spite of the incomprehensible accent.

This species has recorded one of the highest rates of growth and has really proliferated in last 3 years. Experts predict that their numbers are going to increase at even greater rate and very soon they will overtake Pagus Threenis horribilum as the dominant life-form of Indian Metroes.

This study was sponsored by the Mall Owners association of India. A detailed report can be obtained free of cost at any of the big city malls provided the person demanding can successfully demonstrate the characteristics of this species.

- phookas.blogspot News Bureau

The Stranger Within Me

2005-12-18T19:30:00.000+05:30

Here's another poem -

All the world was asleep ,
The night was dark and deep,
As I lay prone on my bed,
Like the corpse of a dead.
I lay staring at the wall,
Then I heard someone call,
Suddenly I was there before me,
Or was it the stranger within me ?

“Hey! you idiot “ ,yelled he ,
his eyes too bright to see.
“what are you doing here “,
I could just sit and stare
At this ghostly scepter floating,
Swaying and yelling and waving.
I was there talking to me,
Or was it the stranger within me ?

“How are you separated from me? “
I asked, stunned, gazing at me.
Said he,” your life is now done’
‘Now we shall fly away to heaven”.
With this he lifted me and took me
Onto heaven with the stranger within me.

-Rahul

Day and Night

2005-12-18T19:22:00.000+05:30

A poem from my pen -

On the wings of clouds,
Wearing their invisible shrouds,
Two angels got into a fight,
One was day and the other night.
“I am the better one “, declared night.
Day countered,” not a hope of winning this fight”.

“I am the carrier of happiness and sunshine’
‘While you are the haven of crook and swine”
On hearing this night just shook it’s head.
“Mine is the time of rest and going to bed”
Whispered day,” also the time of living dead”
“Silence”, said night, “ for I bring respite ‘
‘ from the heat and dust and blinding light.’
‘ I shower the beauty of stars and moon’
‘ seeing which nightingales sing and lovers swoon”.
“the sunshine, happiness and nature are all mine’
‘while darkness rules in your time ‘
‘people wait impatiently for me’
‘and not another night they want to see”.
Countered night, “ I am the reliever of plight’
‘all of which comes at your sight” .

Sun heard their voices and came about
And asked what was there to fight and shout.
They poured their sentiments on sun Which just smiled and said -
“both of you are the best as one is my father and the other my son “

- Rahul

Time Just Flies by.......

2005-12-18T03:16:00.000+05:30

Time is a funny sort of fella. When you need him the most, he is never there. When he is there , you never know how he goes away. We are continuosly chasing him and yet he never comes back. He has a most mechanical routine and still we cannot adjust to his routine. He will tempt you in thinking he is there but when you turn to him, the fella is nowhere to be seen. Sometimes we think he is slower than a snail but sometimes he seems to be faster than a ferrari. He has been us since the beginning of life. The one constant thing in this changing world. Man has tried to travel with him but is nowhere in that endeavor. He brings with him great changes and yet never changes himself. If we can catch him ,we become the masters of our fate. But alas, in this never-ending race we are always number 2. Time will always fly by .......

Great Quiz by IIMI

2005-12-18T03:07:00.000+05:30

Check out this link. Great quiz compiled by IIM Indore guys. I have worked on it for 10 hours and still stuck on 25th level( 4 more to go) . It will test your grey cells like never before.
Click Here

Absolutely Shocking !!

2005-12-14T23:22:00.000+05:30

I had mentioned a few posts back about the supposedly tolerant democracy. Here is more food for thought. Some of the posts are absolutely shocking. I cannot believe that people will stoop to such levels because of their regional patriotism . Long live Indian Democracy .
Read here

Some IITB Pictures

2005-12-14T17:42:00.000+05:30

View from Sameer Hill

Our Hostel at IITB

View of the Mess from the Hostel

Hostel With Sky Bridge in View

IITB Main Building

View from The Hostel , Hiranandani Towers in Distance

Whats in a name ?

2005-12-14T10:22:00.000+05:30

Karnataka Goverment has taken the Decision of changing Bangalore's name to Bengalooru. In order to justify this decision, they have quoted the examples of Bombay ( Now Mumbai ), Madras ( Now Chennai ), Calcutta ( Now Kolkata) . Such type of changes require a long time to sink in. Especially when the old names have been around for such a long time. I know of people who still call Chennai as Madras ( Recall Srikanth in Fourth Umpire) . Bombay is still called as Bombay by a large fraction of its own residents. When VT was renamed as CST in Mumbai, there was a widespread support for the decision. But even now when i travel in the locals, I find a majority of crowd still calling it VT.

There is more to it than simple habit.These old institutions and names form a special place in everyone's hearts. They develop a certain attachment with them and that is why find it difficult to change their habits. One very good example of this is the India'a premier academic institutes. IIT Bombay is still called as IIT BOMBAY and not IIT Mumbai . And mind you that is the official name ( you'll find it at the entrance) . IIT Madras has not been renamed as IIT Chennai . Similarly, IIM Calcutta has not been renamed as IIM Kolkata. Now i wonder why the governments have not focussed their attention on changing the names of these institutions. Is it because these institutes have forged an identity of their own which is independent of the city they are in ? Going by this logic, renaming of Bangalore is not such a good idea. Bangalore has become synomonous with an Emergent India, An India that is world leader in IT & IT Services. Why, they have even formed a new word "Bangalored" . What i am trying to say is that Bangalore represents much more than just a name.

And that is why renaming Bangalore is a bad idea. I dont subscribe to the school of thought that if we continue using Anglicised names , we have a colonial Hangover. The hangover exists in the minds of The politicians who waste their time and energy in pursuing such fruitless exercises. More than 50 years have passed since INdia has become independent. You stop a person on the road and ask him if the Bangalore brings in his mind the Colonial rule and the answer in all probability will be NO. But our already bankrupt state governments waste a large amount of Taxpayers money in implementing such fruitless exercises. Would this money not be better spent if they were to invest it in some Welfare activity. But sadly, Judicious use of public money has never been a forte of Indian Politicians.

What next ? Indraprastha in place of Delhi, Patliputra in place of Patna ? After all ,whats in a name !!

A Tribute to Sachin

2005-12-14T09:55:00.000+05:30

Sachin's record-breaking century has evoked wonderful sentiments from his fans. Here is terrific ode to the Master by my friend Mayuresh Wagh . Read on -

The day of December 10 will be marked as the most golden day of Indian cricket. The day when the 'sun' of India was seen at His brightest. The day when He, as usual, proved that he was nothing less than God himself. The day, the glorious day, when the entire world, as usual, was up on its feet to pay respect to the Big Litttle Master. The historic moment, when a single man showed the world the mettle, the character, the consistency, the power, the talent, the charisma, the hypnotism and the unspoken aggression which he is made of - and is revealed and expressed best only through his statistics, again, as usual.

The man has never had to open his mouth about all the TOMFOOLERY against him and the so called aggressive SLEDGING techniques follwed by the weak who call themselves strong. Little do they know what aggression is. Little do they know the difference between aggression and arrogance, between ego and self esteem, between life and death.

As feelings overpowered life, the moment of extreme anticipation, tremendous excitement, unmatched historical importance and uncountable prayers approached, when He was on strike on the highest two digit number. And as the white leather hit the wood, exceptional emotions erupted from the nation's soul.

A roar, which the lions would have heard in awe; a smile, which the most beautiful people would have adored with envy; a tear, heavier than the Mumbai rains of 26th July; and an upsurging wave of heartfelt emotions more powerful than the Tsunami was conceived in the soul of every cricket lover.

My salute to the most successful cricketer on Earth, the most respected batsman in the cricketing fraternity, the most dangerous ghost of Shane's nightmares, the most modest human being the world has seen, the man who fought the scariest of storms in Sharjah to see India through, the most committed professional, the whitest of all angels, the MAN who had the power to attend his father's funeral and yet score a century the next day, the DAREDEVIL who took the Shoaib bull by the horns, the one-man army, the only one actually comparable to Bradman, the most popular idol amongst the young , the highest tax payer in the country, the heart, blood and veins of the Indian body. Cheers to life, to glory, to success, all epitomized by the God of religion of cricket.....Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

Thank you Sachin, thank you for everything. You have made us proud........ As usual.

- Mayuresh Wagh

My First Local Journey

2005-12-12T10:47:00.000+05:30

After my last post on Mumbai Locals, many people have asked me whether it was an account of my own journey. I was my own journey, but i had posted it from a different perspective. So here is my account of my first local journey -

I have been living in Mumbai for 6 months now and like everyone else, I have formed a love-hate relationship with the city. If someone were to ask me the one thing that I love about Mumbai, I would say the Mumbai locals. If someone were to ask me the one thing I hate about Mumbai, still my answer would be the Mumbai Locals. It is the sort of relationship that the locals form with a Mumbaikar. He may hate its crowd and its heat, but in his heart he will always love the locals.

Flash back to the time when I came to Mumbai for the first time. I was staying with my cousin at Mulund. Now, Mulund is the last suburb of Mumbai. It is a mere 50 km from Colaba which is the other end of Mumbai. As fate would have it, I had to travel to Coloba for an interview. And that too alone. My cousin gave me loads of advice on the dos and don’ts of the Locals. Don’t stand in the middle, take care of your wallet …blah…blah. Now, I considered myself a grown-up person who can very well take care of himself. I thought, what the heck, I will do this easily. Alas! The crazy confidence of youth was to fail me yet again.

First task was buying the ticket. There were two lines and I got into the shorter one. I was wondering why people were joining the longer queue when this one had hardly 5 people. I realized my folly when I reached the counter and was informed not-so-politely by the guy that this was a season ticket line. The look he gave me could have killed a thousand Ravans. So, with some apprehension, I joined the other queue. After an interminable wait, I finally reached the counter. Now the ticket was for rupees 11 and I gave the guy a 500 rupees note. He looked at me as if eyeing a repulsive member of the Reptilia. He then made a big show of counting the change before giving. People behind me were now getting restless and I was looking for a hole in the ground where I could hide. After an interminable wait I finally got the ticket and the change and scampered to the over bridge. My pride was injured by the thousand daggers I got from the people behind me in the queue.

When I came to the over bridge, I realized that I had no idea which platform to go to. So, I swallowed my remaining pride and asked a bystander about the platform. On reaching the platform, I thought that my troubles were over. I confidently strode the center of the platform and waited for the train to come. When the first local came, I thought my worst nightmare had come true. I had never seen such a crowded train in my life. People were hanging on to the compartments by their fingertips. Temporary paralysis struck me and I didn’t move for 20 seconds, which I realized was the time the local stopped at the platform. Two more trains came by before I came out of the temporary coma. The vendors and shoe-polish wallahs were eyeing me strangely now. I knew that I had to summon courage and accomplish this mission. So in true tradition of my brave forefathers, I braced myself for this do-or-die task. The local came; I gave a loud war-cry and charged to the compartment. The enemies were brushed aside, the opposing barricade was broken and I was in the compartment. Victory to the brave, I would say. Of course, my troubles were far from over.

Being Mumbai, it was very humid and I was hosting a thousand waterfalls 5 minutes into the journey. Now I am pretty tall, but if you have the disadvantage of height, then you are in for a tough time. Your nose is pushed up against somebody's sweet smelling armpit. You can’t see anything besides a thousand varieties of shirts and trousers. If you are lucky enough, you can snatch some fresh air from the window. Back to me now. There were a thousand voices babbling all around me. I wondered at people's ability to carry on conversations amidst such a crowd. But wait, there were more surprises in store........ There was a guy sleeping soundly while hanging on to the bar!! I was astounded and my astonishment increased manifolds when I noticed that he was not the only one sleeping. My eyes popped out when I saw an impeccably dressed gentleman calmly reading the newspaper!! Suddenly there was a sound and I jumped, if such a thing were possible in the local. I turned around and saw a hawker trying to peddle his wares to me. I was close to total insanity when suddenly a station came and I realized that I was in the way!! Now this station was Dadar, where half the Mumbai gets off and on the train. I didn’t stand an iota of a chance. I was carried onto the platform with the mob getting off. By the time I fought my way out of the crowd, the local was gone. There I was, halfway from my destination, clothes all ruined, confidence gone for a toss and desperate to reach VT at any cost. I debated about taking a Taxi but 11 Rs vs. 300 Rs. was just too much. So, gathering my remaining courage, I braced myself for another battle. I got onto the compartment but not before 4 locals had whizzed by. Fear was written in large CAPITALS across my face.

I completed the journey somehow and upon reaching VT raised my hands in the air. I had done it. I had climbed the Everest and survived. I thought about my parents and how proud they would be. My confidence Bruised and battered, I had completed the epic journey which was second only to Frodo’s journey to destroy the ring. Literally running, I reached my interview 10 minutes late. The company people were considerate enough to let me sit for the interview, but not considerate enough to give me a second chance when I bumbled and stumbled my way through interview. Now I had to go back. The arrogant youth in me called for another epic journey back in the local. I calmly shut him up, went outside and called a taxi to take me home. After all, there was no reason to climb the Everest twice!!

Bow to the Master !

2005-12-10T17:06:00.000+05:30

The master has silenced his detractors, made his fans delirious, created history and earned his rightful place in the record books. Sachin Tendulkar scores his world-record breaking 35th century to claim one of cricket's most coveted records. The Run-Machine is Dadar is toppled my the curly-haired boy from the Shardashram School . No one will be more happier than Sunny Gavaskar to see his beloved Sachin break the Record.

He credibilty as India's top batsman was in question, furtive voices demended him out, fans were despondent, critics felt he was past his prime. And yet the MASTER has proven everyone wrong. It is the true sign of a champion when he rises forth when hope is lost. Through the rains of Chennai and Kotla's fog, Sachin's light shines and with him shines entire India who had been waiting so long for this moment.

Stand up and clap : The master awaits !

Beep Beep ! Its Mobile spam !

2005-12-08T18:54:00.000+05:30

You wake up in the morning. Brush your teeth, have breakfast and turn on your computer. Log into your mail account and the first thing that you see is - "Enlarge your p****" , "Free mobile phones" , " Online Casino ! Play Now ! " ....... and you feel like tearing your hairs out. Spamming is one of the most irritating things ever invented by mankind. Still, stopping spam in email is somewhat easier because of the numerous anti-spam tools that are available. But, a new type of spamming has emerged ( Ah! the eternal innovative spirit of humans ! ). Its Mobile Spam !

There is hardly anyone who hasn't been a victim of this. Everyday i recieve a message from orange - " Play this game and win exciting prizes" , " Watch trailors on GPRS" , " Download exciting new ringtones " and so on.... And the funniest thing is that to avail of any of the exciting offer, you simply have to make a call which is charged at a measly 6rs/ min. Now who wouldn'nt be happy to pay 6 rs/ min to know more about this amazing offer. And they never give you full info in one msg, you have to msg 2-3 times before you get the full picture and by that time your talktime has taken a healthy beating.

The timing of these mobile spams is absolutely spot on. Just when you are in deepest of deep sleeps, or sharing a tender moment with your girlfriend, or trying to study for an important exam, your ubiquitous mobile will ring happily heralding the arrival of another "amazing offer" . There is no cell service provider who is not guilty - be it orange, airtel , BPL, Idea, Dolphin, Reliance or Tata. They will even call you up regularly to offer you the same scheme which you have rejected n number of times !
The worst thing is that there is very little that we can do to stop this. It is upto the service providers to act reponsibly and send out only important and relevant msg. The day is not far when we will recieve a msg on our mobile to "enlarge our p****" . I hope the world will move to something else by that time ( such as piegons or smoke signals ) .

Tolerant Democracy : Think again !

2005-12-06T10:37:00.000+05:30

For a long time, Indians have been living under the illusion of "anekta mein ekta" or " Unity in Diversity" . I call this an illusion because it is no longer true. But was it true when the slogan was coined to describe a New India ?

The Independence was marked by the ugly spectacle of Partition. Hindus and Muslims hated each other like never before. Millions lost their lives. Even greater numbers lost their homes. A new nation was born - Pakistan. A nation whose very existence is built up on the foundation of religion. The Indians distanced themselves from the religious extremism of Pakistan by procliaming itself as a secular democracy. The Indian Constitution is a shining testimonial to secularism. The only thing which it stopped short of doing was a Uniform Civil Code. Imagine how this nation would have changed if a UCC was implemented right at the time of Independence. But the circumstances were different then and this idea was not practical.

India moved on, albeit a bit slowly, with generous ideological and financial help from Russia. She fought 3 wars with Pakistan. Religious extremism hadn't raised its ugly head until then. The first signs came in late 70s with the rise of the Khalistan Movement. Suddenly Punjab became a state strife with terrorism. Innocent people were killed, life became extremly difficult in Punjab. Millitants took over the Golden Temple in Amritsar and Operation BlueStar Was called for. A successful operation met its tragic end when Indira Gandhi was gunned down by Militants. Thankfully, within a few years, this movement all but disappeared and Peace prevailed in Punjab .

Meanwhile , other parts of the country - Assam, Manipur, Tamilnadu were simmering . But terrorism in India reached its pinnacle with Kashmir. It was back to the old conflict again - Hindus against Muslims. A beautiful valley was now torn by terrorism, Kashmir became an army state, Hindus were slowly weeded out of Kashmir. Pakistan supported this as overtly and covertly as they can. Thousands have lost their lives, the paradise on earth now lay in tatters. An uneasy peace was brokered, but the tension and the mistrust remains.

Mistrust is the key here. There was always a certain amount of mistrust between the communities . But this mistrust was heightened by several events such as Terrorism, The Bombay Blasts, and the Rise of the Hindu extremist. The Hindu Extremist came to prominence with the Babri Masjid Demolition, it strengthened its stature after the Bombay Riots, came to the front page with the Gujrat Riots and now is fast catching up with Muslim Extemism. Muslim Extremism is feared around the world. Any kind of extremism, be it Hindu or Muslim is to be feared, because extremists have a very one-dimensional view of the world. They are the height of selfishness and fanatically devoted to a cause. Whether the cause is right or wrong is immaterial . And it is this Fanaticism that makes it dangerous.

Now there is a big mistrust in people's minds. Hindus mistrust Muslims, Muslims mistrust Hindus, North Indians mistrust South Indians, Bengalis mistrust Gujratis, Marathis mistrust Biharis, eveyone mistrust everyone other than his/her community. No one will openly admit it, but it exists . This has become so deep-rooted in peoples minds that it is very difficult to learn to trust again . To the extent, that some Hindus hailed the rise of "hindu" Chhota Rajan because he was against the "mUslim" Dawood Ibrahim.

Is this a tolerant democracy ? I don't think so. It is like a volcano that is lying dormant. It may not erupt for a long time. But when it does, all Hell Will Break Loose .

Ek IITian ki Maut !

2005-11-22T15:38:00.000+05:30

It is all out finally. Both HT and TOI have reported the suicide of Vijaya Nukala - a student of 4th year Engineering Physics at IITB. He was in our hostel and we got to know of the incident on that day only. It was shocking . I had heard about some people comitting suicide in IITs before , but for student in opur hostel to commit suicide........

The blame game has started. The students are blaming the Profs and the system and the System is blaming the attitude of students. I will not venture an opinion in this case other than saying that both seem to be right in their place. It is the fault of the system , yes, but the students themselves are a part of the system , right ?

What could have happened to that person so that he chose to end his life. It is such a big decision that it cannot be an impulsive decision. He must have thought about it for some time. The final moment when he finally decided to end his life..he must have thought of his family, his friends, and all the world that he will never see, all the sounds that he will never hear. When slipping that noose around his neck, did he feel a last stabbing thought...that maybe i should not do it . What went so wrong.....so so worng... that this bright boy had to give up his world in such a sad way . Maybe he believed in life after death....a place where he can be happy again, where he can live his life....a place where he wont have to take his life .

Fresh Musings

2005-11-17T23:15:00.000+05:30

Very long time since my last post. But past few days have been extremly hectic . Our exams have started and two papers are over. It was really hectic as we had Macroeconomics finishing at 6 pm and Operations starting at 10 am next morning. I have had to burn enough midnight oil that would have satisified Mumbai's weekly demand. As the term end approaches , the profs really start bombarding us with assignements, presentations and projects. And to add to that, inertia of the diwali holiday's wore off really slowly.

One thing which has surprised me a lot is that in most B-Schools, Work-ex junta seems to study much more than the Freshers. It really beats me how this happens ! I mean, come on , don't we give all i-am-a-fresher-so-i'll-learn-better funda in the interviews. While i am on topic of work-experience, there is another observation that i would like to make. B-Schools now a days prefer a batch biased in favour of work-ex junta. Their reasoning being that experienced people are in a better position to take advantage on B-School education. While that is a valid reason, we need to take a look another aspect. Work-ex people have a bigger stake in these 2 years than freshers. They have given up their job for this education. There is a huge opportunity cost involved. THus, they are very much concerned that they get the maximum payoff possible to offset that opportunity loss. As a result, they are too much focussed on placements. And this is not very good for any B-School. Placements are not the be-alls and end-alls of an MBA. It should do much more than just flattening your wallet. And because of their anxiety about placements, some experienced people do everything witht the final aim of placements in their mind. This is a wrong trend in my opinion. But to be fair to these guys, they really do bring in lots of diversity in class. And their experiences at different organisations can be really good learning for freshers like me . And then there are certain aspects of business education which make sense only to an experienced person. There is trade-off involved , i guess, but its really upto a person to make the most of these 2 years. Placement to ho hi jayega yaar :).

So chill junta and hopefully we frehsers can learn a lot from you.

P.S. IITB is really a zoo . In the last 15 days, a leopard, a crocodile, a python and a huge snake have been spotted . Wild Things !!

Ye Sunahare Pal

2005-11-08T22:37:00.000+05:30

Posting after a long time :). There really is no reason why i have not posted for so long. We had holidays and i didnt have much to do. Many times i opened this page and started to write something but stopped midway. Just couldn't write anything.

It is incredible how much a person is affected by his atmosphere. Most of the people in our batch had gone home and the entire hostel corridor consisted of only 5-6 guys ( Me included :( ) . And man i have never completely wasted 5 days of my life. This was the routine of almost everyone who had stayed back

1. Get up by 12 noon. ( I had breakfast only once in 7 days )
2. Have a leisurely lunch.
3. Watch a movie till 4 . Those not inclined towards movies read novels, Those not inlcined towards anything slept .
4. Go To sleep .
5. Wake up by 5:45 and have snacks.
6. Watch movie, Read Novel, Surf Net, Play Games, Do TP .
7. Have dinner.
8. Watch movie, Read Novel, Surf Net, Play Games, do TP
9. Go to sleep at 3 am .

In between pick up some book and make a futile attempt to study. Struggle a lot to read 4 pages before finally giving up . Try to something creative and end up with the earth-shattering innovation of sleeping while watching an action movie. Do research on new limits of laziness. Try to get yourself into Guiness book of world records for maximum sleep. Drag yourself out of the room for a visit to the loo ( and an occasional visit to the cricket ground ). Admonish yourself and pick up a textbook only to fall asleep in 5 mins . whew....... sounds hectic :) .

But for all the time wasting that i have done, one thing i have realised is that probably i wont get such a time again . Where i have the total freedom to do what i want, without any pressure at all. No one to watch over me, no one to give me advice, just doing what i feel like doing. And especially when you consider todays world where everything is so hectic and people dont have time for small things ( writing blogs :) , it is all the more important to have such a time. It really refrehes you and energises you. like the song goes
" Pal rahe ya na rahe kal, Yaad aayenge ye pal " . Truly these five days were " Sunahare pal ! " . And like a Pal , this time also passed away in a moment .

" In sunahare palon ki yaad sanjoye baitha hoon ,
Dil mein kuch armaan liye baitha hoon,
ki mera har pal bas mera ho,
sone se bhi sunahara ho "

BTW that was my original composition. Comments invited :).

Corporate Life !! No Shit !!

2005-11-01T10:45:00.000+05:30

Amazing stuff !!

Diwali Time !

2005-10-28T01:56:00.000+05:30

The festival of lights is upon us ! Dipawali has come like a breath of fresh air in my life. Things were getting a bit stagnant in my life. Assignements, quiz, .....movies......badminton......assignement,quiz.......movies........cricket.... went on and on. It really amazes me that with so much going on i can still get bored. Well, thats the vagaries of my mind!!

Diwali symbolises the victory of Good over Evil. Rama over Ravana, Krishna over Kansa, Arjun over duryodhan . How good it was in those old days when the line between good and evil was very clear. One side of line was good, and the other side was evil. Either here or there. Things are just not the same now. Do we really know what is good or what is evil ? How do we define good or evil ? The line is so blurred that it is almost invisible.

One sure candidates for evil are the Politicians. Of course, it is very easy to blame them for all that is wrong with the country and my house's ceiling. But are we not responsible to a great extent for the present state of affairs. People will just shrug and say that how can they make a difference. And this is the sad part of the affair ! Majority of the middle class and upper class does not vote in the elections. This allows the corrupt and selfish politicos to exploit the uneducated masses of india. This message was very effectively conveyed by the movie "Yuva" . But, as expected, the movie had very few takers.

Another candidate for evil is the Media. Yes sir! our omnipresent, "Omniscient" and omnipotent Media. Media being omniscient did require these quotes "", although the media would have us believe otherwise. There is no denying that they are omnipotent. I would even say that the media currently is the most potent force in our country. They can influence the country, they can destroy people (Ask Azhar, Shakti Kapoor ), they can make a Mr. Nobody the national icon ( Our very own Abijit Savant ji), they can create a national "breaking news" out of a non-event ( Indian Idol, Karishma Kapoor- Sunjay Kaour, Fame Gurukul ) , they can give us 24 hrs of total crap programming ( Star news, Star Plus, SAB TV ......). They have the power to do infinfite good, yet they choose to run behind obscure startlets, place hidden cameras, "break" any news and geneally fill our mind with mindless chatter. They are slowly but surely turning into the American Media and this cannot be good news. The empire of the Fourth Estate has just begun....

Other evils are the usual suspects- Terrorism, Poverty, MNCs........

But again , one man's sin is other man's good deed. Evil is good and good is evil and thats the way the world is moving. Keeping pace.......choose a side...if you can find the line, that is !!

Hard to starboard !!

2005-10-25T21:32:00.000+05:30

It has been a real hectic week . Still 2 more days to go before the diwali holidays kick in ! A strange sort of inertia has set in . I dont feeling like studying at all. Today we had a dreaded OR quiz and man was it a drag . somehow i limped through the book and gave the test. We have a presentation on thrusday and i just dont feel like preparing for it . But kya karein , karna to padega.

I think one reason for this inertia is that i am experiencing a kind of anti-climax after the mad adrenalin rush of releasing our systems club magazine. It was the first edition, and we had to work really hard on it . i was the editor so had to work that much more harder. But are we happy with the outcome ! The mag has come out beautifully and looks absoulutely world-class. Its not self-praise guys, this has been conveyed to us by our alumni and professors. They are very very happy about the magazine and are encouraging us to distribute it to industry and other B-schools. It is really difficult to describe the satisfaction i feel when i get such praise for the magazine. We really did put in lots of effort ! Feels nice to be appreciated .

All good things do come to an end. We have a rolling system for the mag, so 2 of our classmates will be the editors. Hmmm, so is that the real reason that i am feeling a bit dull ?? who knows ??

So what next ? Well i am really looking forward to the holidays as they will be a welcome break. When we're back, its time for the exams. No room for a nice settling-in period. As the captain says "Hard to starboard !! " . I guess now its my turn to turn starboard. Take a right turn toward studying that is :) . Really arbit ending !! But doing arbit things is the inthing in IITB. So its not me guys, the atmosphere just got to me :) .

Should stop before i post more nonsense ;) .

A Day at a Time - part 2

2005-10-19T11:57:00.000+05:30

Continuing from where i left off....

As i was saying, this whole "aim" and "goal" has me a bit confused. I have acquired a fake aim,but this would be cheating myself. I am not that sort of a person who can easily lie to myself.

So i have decided to continue living as i always have !! A day at a Time !! I don't think very much about my future . Except, of course, for one thing ;). Leaving that aside, i really wonder whether there is any merit in continuously worrying yourself about your future.

When i got into this institute, i knew that it is certain that i will get good placements. While it is a truth that a few companies do use grades to shortlist candidates, this procedure is usually restricted to only select Finance companies. And Finance companies is a strict no-no for me. In the end, As long as your grades are decent enough, they wont have much effect on the placement. So, I am not worrying myself unduly about the grades. BTW, my grades are decent enough ( Currently 8 points ) . It is amazing how much value you can get out of MBA when you dont worry yourself to death over grades. You can take part in all the extra-curricular activities you want. You can enjoy sports, the fests, the events, the competitions .........

The point is that instead of worrying myself over the future, i am living each day as it comes. You will be surprised by the change this attitude brings in your life. That constant frown disappears and a happy face emerges. You look at your batchmates for the first time as "mates" . You find time to study and enjoy !! You also find that quiz is also a single day affair which has to be remebered for that day only . This DOES NOT mean that you should neglect quizzes. It is the attitude with which you take it matters. They are not the Be-Alls and End-Alls . So relax and give the quiz with a fresh and relaxed mind. And very important, Have CONFIDENCE in your abilities. Not everyone can do everything with the same competency . So identify what you do well, and try to excel in that. At the same time , try to get a smattering knowledge of things you are not good at, so that you can fit into the conventional definition of a manager :) .

Chalo , Enough Fundas for now ... Till next time .

A day at a Time ! - part 1

2005-10-16T22:02:00.000+05:30

The other day i was having a talk with my friend. She is also pursuing her MBA from a reputed institute in Mumbai . Talking with her made me realise that most of are absolutely clueless about what we want from life. Many of us are pursuing MBA with a hope of getting a great placement and earning loads of money. But is it really what we want ?? I mean this seems pretty vague. Yeah ! So everyone wants a good job and wants to earn loads of money. So whats so different about you ? That you are doing n MBA ?

I guess most of my colleagues will disagree with me. They will point out that they do have a very different aim . They want to be entrepreunres, they want to change an organization with their managerial perspective. But is there really any substance in these aims ? Almost everyone has a aim of where they want to reach in next 10 years . I Don't.

10 years a very long time. The world wars changed the world, yet they were 6 years long. What is it that will remain constant in 10 years ? your life ? the country ? the economy ? the technology ? the culture ? your family ? your friends ? All of them will CHANGE becuase change is what drives the wrold forward. Let us say you have this great innovative idea that you want to implement in say 5 years. What is the gaurantee that the idea will remain great even after 2 years ? that someone else wont think of it ?

And about the other aim, the lesser said the better . So you want to change the organization . Big deal. Every year thousands of young management graduates enter different organizations with the same dream. How many have actually succeeded in doing so ? How many have become disillusioned with the maddening rat race and competition ? lets face it, the intention is good, but is there any substance ? Isn't this aim also very vague ?

The point which i'm trying to make is that there are very very few people who really know what they want from life. And i suspect that most of them are not in MBA insitutes . It is considered a sacrilege if you say that you dont have a specific aim. Hell, everyone else in the institute has one ! and that forces me to search for an aim which is not much different from others. So do i accept this situation and remain happy in the illusion that i also have a "aim" ?

More in part -2

Aye Aye Pee Em

2005-10-16T14:00:00.000+05:30

Well well.... it was bound to happen one day !! Bloggers are uniting in their Fight against aye aye pee em ( :) :) ) . This controversy can have major implications in the future . Enough has been written about the whole matter to take up a few hours of our time. Does blogging imply that you have total freedom of speech ? What is the extent of freedom of speech in our country ?Was Rashmi Bansal right ? Was Gaurav Sabnis right ? Was Aye Aye Pee Em right ? Contentitious but very relevant .

8:54 Local !!

2005-10-12T21:45:00.001+05:30

I must admit that when i had first come to Mumbai, i was terrified of using the locals ! The maddening rush of the mornings & evenings had me sufficiently intimidated. I was always wondering why the hell is this city always in such a huge hurry. The distances were terrificly and frighteningly large. If from Mulund i had to go Colaba, it merited a whole days effort. And that too invloved numerous vehicle changes. Take an auto to the station, then get onto the local, get off the local, get a taxi/bus and reach your destination. Repeat the steps to get back.

And the locals, ah.... the locals !! What can i say !! There is no other experience like the Mumbai locals . The local is so jampacked that you cant even move inside the compartment. An god forbid if you are stuck at the wrong end of the compartment when your station has arrived. There is no human force on earth that will enable you to get off the local within time. And then again if you are at the correct end but it is not your stop, then again god help you. You will be carried onto the platform with the swarm getting off. Dont even think of getting onto the local once everyone has alighted. Of course this does not include the charming experiences one has inside the compartments.

Being Mumbai, of course it is very humid and you are hosting a thousand waterfalls 5 minutes into the journey. If you have the disadvantage of height, then your troubles pile up. Your nose is pushed up against somebody's sweet smelling armpit. You cant see anything besides a thousand varities of shirts and trousers. If you are lucky enough, you can snatch some fresh air from the window. There are a thousand voices babblig all around you. You just wonder at people's ability to carry on conversations amidst such a crowd. But wait, there are more surprises in store........ There is a guy sleeping soundly while hanging on to the bar !! You are astounded and your astonishment increases manifolds when you notice that he is not the only one sleeping. Your eyes widen further when you see an impeccably dressed gentleman calmly reading the newspaper !! Suddenly there is a sound and you jump . You turn around and see a hawker trying to peddle his wares to you. You are close to insanity when suddenly a station comes and you realize that you are in the way !!

You get off ( Somehow ...... ) and do the job you had come to do ! But you have the daunting prospect of going back again. So, with fear written in large CAPS across your face, you reach the ticket counter. Of course you dont have the exact change. So you must face the burning stare of the counter clerk and the person standing behind you. You get the ticket and then are faced with the huge task of finidng the correct platform. You shamefacedly ask a samaritan who then points to the correct platform. But again there is the added complication of a slow/ fast train. And once you get on the train, the ordeal starts again.

So does the Mumbai Local suck ?? NO WAY yaar ...... IT WORKS . Period. No other mode of transport can move you so fast in Mumbai . No other way to avoid the endless traffic- jams. No other way for more than a million commuters who use it daily. No other way for the tens of thousands of jobs it supports . No other way to feel the real ethos of Mumbai . No other way to feel the lifeline of Mumbai . No other way to experience the calmness and serenity of the maddening crowd. And that is why when the locals shut shop, Mumbai Grinds to a halt. And thats why when i think of Mumbai, I think of the local . And i think of the local with a broad smile on my face and a warmth in my Heart !!

Happy Journeys
Rahul

F.R.I.E.N.D.S last a lifetime

2005-10-12T00:03:00.000+05:30

Yesterday i watched the last episode of Friendsand it almost managed to bring tears to my eyes. Although Ross is reunited with Rachel, The end shows Chandler & Monica going away . For 10 years i have laughed and cried with friends. They have been my companions in both good and bad times.

Six best friends, for their lifetime, and yet eras come to an end. Lives change, people move on !! However much i hate it, there wont be Friends again. No Joey to behave like a complete nitwit, to say " How u doing ?? " . No Rachel to look sexy and cute at the same time, to kiss Ross once again . No Chandler to crack his silly jokes, to make his inimitable faces . No Monica to look Fat, to be fastidiously fastidious . No Ross to talk about dinosours, to give those amazingly senti expressions. No Phoebe to come with the most unbelievable stuff , to always get the wackiest guy for a date.. No Janice to laugh everyone's head off No Gunther and his silly ties. No Richard and his godly drawl . No more coffees and muffins in The Central Perk .

People often have this misconception that FRIENDS is about the jokes and laughs . Well , it certainly is , but there is lots and lots more to Friends than laughs. They are each others life, their smiles, their tears, their parents, their anger, their love, their words , their expressions, their thoughts, their pain, their balm , their entire existence . Their whole life, their words, their jokes filled my heart with a warmth that i probably would not experience again. 10 years of era comes to end !!But they live on in my heart and millions of hearts like mine !!

Amen

Rahul

Great Learning !!

2005-10-10T12:18:00.000+05:30

The Blind Men and the Elephant

by John Godfrey Saxe

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, “Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“ ‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

Moral:
So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

Source : Word Focus
& Catinator

This poem conveys a very important lesson which many of us tend to overlook . Ignorance is not Bliss !! In fact, it can lead to the downfall of greatest of men ! Napolean being a point in case ! Remove those shackles, see, hear, observe, listen, understand, assimilate, remember !! Knowledge is the Panacea !

Reflections !!

2005-10-09T17:57:00.000+05:30

I have been here for more than 3 months now . Its been a pretty exciting ride uptil now. To be frank, i had always thought that MBA would be more rigorous ( at least thats the impression i got from my IIM , IIT Friends ) . But although hectic, the workload is definitly not as much that it would kill me. I do manage to get some free time . And life at IIT really really exciting. There is just so much happening here. In fact if you are caught reading the notice board for a very long time, it is a dead giveaway that you are a newbie. These guys have become so immune to the endless notices that a bare glance at the board is enough to tell them whether anything of interest is there. But i must really compliment the B.Techs about their energy and enthusiam about all the activities .

As far as SOM is concerned, we are also very active in our own way ( Being hampered a bit by numbers ). We have loads & loads of industry interaction through Dikshas, Continuums . In fact the marketing Continuum will be taking place this Saturday and we have a group of great speakers lined up.
This week also sees the beginning of our club magazine . I am very excited about this magazine and hope that it is of good quality. At present our plan is to make it a weekly magazine. then we'll see how it goes from there.

Our grades haven't come yet !! i am keeping my fingers crossed ;) .

Its Hot !! Summers Time

2005-09-20T21:45:00.001+05:30

Its that time of the year !! our summers will be starting from 29th september . There has been a flurry of activities going on . Resumes, value added forms , PPTs , company researches .......it goes on !! Almost everyone now has summers at the top of their mind with the result that scant attention is being paid to acads.

I am aiming for IT and marketing profiles . Hopefully will be able to get it.

uh-oh ! A TT tourney is starting upstairs !! Gotta run ...... will write later !!

Examania

2005-09-19T02:14:00.000+05:30

whew !! the exams are finally over . 5 days of gruelling studies , ragda , doubts, pressures, peeking at neighbours ( just to see whether they are studying ) , giving the exams, discussing thr paper, discovering that half the answers dont match , cross-checking, playing TT ( thats right !!) , watching FRIENDS , sleeping for 3/4 hrs ......the list goes on !!

But some of the papers were surprisingly not tough !! yours truly was under tension about stats and economics but but i think i have done well enough to warrant at least a CC . In MIS i'm sure that i'll get an AA grade. OB totally depends upon the prof . And in Fin ACC , everyone gets atleast a BB so that tension is not there

While we were thinking that this would made us freee at least for some time, we were wrong !! We had out first PPT for summers on the day of the last exam . then 2 days holidays and from monday the 2nd term starts . With the 2nd terms , comes the rush of the summers. Companies will start coming from 24th sept and everyone will be busy with prep resumes and company hunting . Plenty of good companies are coming with IT profile and i hope to catch one of them . lets see...... wish i had a crytal ball !!

This was my first experience with a relative grading system and i must say it was not very pleasant . It takes some time to adjust to that and i hope that time has passed for me. I am looking forward to scoring good grades in this term ( after my avg peformance this term ) . I am writing this from PUNE where i've come to visit my brother and some college friends . This is my first visit outside the IIT campus in 20 or so days !!

well signing off for now.... will post my experiences of batch in next post !!

INVINCIBLE LOVE

2005-09-07T17:27:00.000+05:30

i was getting really bored during a stats lecture. so i decide to put my creative juices to good use and pen a poem . so here goez INVINCIBLE LOVE The touch was fleeting and light, the hold was strong was tight. Winds of love were in the air, gently ruffling the lovers' hair. The souls were together entwined, heart was superior to the calls of mind. Enemies were of their blood own, the lovers stood together and alone. No question was there of staying apart, love in their eyes and sadness in heart. The poison spread its tentacles slowly, their love was about to become holy. The hearts stopped, the bodies lay still, they had lived their live to the fill. A couple in life, but one after breath, their invincible love conquered death. its sad but all poems cant be happy........ i have completed stats and finacc project . But ob is still hanging like an albatross around our neck . on top of that exams beginning from monday 12th . So we are seriously short of time . But still the spirit is alive and mind is willing so i will soldier on...... and on.....and on.......

Rigor Academis

2005-09-02T15:00:00.000+05:30

To say that the course at SJMSOM is rigorous would be greatly understating it . The main reason for this is the short term . There is only so much that we can cover in 7 weeks. The Profs also show no mercy in taking quizzes and projects. Plus, there are two more factors which contribute a lot in making this one of the most rigorous courses. Firstly, This concept of Relative Grading where you suffer if others perform well and you dont. Secondly, the stipulation to keep a min CPI of 6 every semester. Because of this stipulation only, many of our seniors had to pack their bags. Things are tough !!

We have lots of submissions coming up. OB, Stats, and FIn Acc projects to be submitted. Today we had the stats quiz. Again my performance was very average!! So after the ups of OB and MIS quiz come the down of stats quiz. It really is a rollercoaster ( Except for a few Venkats........ i am sure you get it !! ) .

Till next time ......

IITB rocks !!

2005-08-30T21:51:00.000+05:30

life has been very hectic over the last few days. i have to do so many projects , prepare for quizzes and end-terms . The term here is very short ( 7 weeks ) so this hardly leaves us with enough breathing space. We get marks for our stats test and i again i get average score !! i decide that at least until the end-terms, no more extra-currics for me. We again have a quiz coming up this friday and i have to do well in that .

I have been at IITB for over a month now. The atmosphere here is simply unbelievable. There is so much happning here, so much energy, so much enthusiasm . My percepetion of IITB was completely opposite . I had always thought that the students here would be geeks, totally devoting time to studies and doing nothing else. But ,this belief has been completely shattered . Everyday ( i am not exaggerating ) we have something new happening , either at hostel or in one of the numerous socieities. The B.Tech guys are very very enthusiatic about all the extra-currics. We have salsa workshops, quizzes, scavenger hunt, singing shows, rock shows, debates, essay wrirting, sports, cartoon competition, ads , dumbcharades, entrepreneurship events, guest lectures, matki phod, janmashatmi, LAN games, coding games, TechFest , Mood INdigo , Eureka and much much more. It is not physically possible to attend to even half of these activites. Simply put - IIT Bombay rocks !!

one more point -- i haven't seen even half the amount of excitement and energy at an IIM Campus . Its solely due to the B.tech guys who are the whole and soul of IITB. Their enery and enthusiasm is what keeps it going. To reiterate- IITB rocks !!!!!

Was it a weekend ??

2005-08-28T21:30:00.000+05:30

I have already started skipping days. Will try not to do so from now on.

Saturday:

Well as i had mentioned before, saturday was the day of our Fin Acc presentation . Since morning whole junta was slogging to complete it in time. Our group was pretty chilled and actually didn't collect all our presentations till 2 hours before the presentation. There was some talk of pooling all our presentation. However, the idea met with mixed response.

The time has come, the Prof has arrived, the presentations now start . Our group is the last one. Most of the people read from the slides only. The audience is barely listening to what the poor guy is trying to say . Those whose turn hasn't come yet anxiously revise their presentations. While those who have spoken now put their energies to a much more productive job....... sleeping !! our turn comes and the presentation goes okayish . Some standards are still to be covered and the prof asks for volunteers. I volunteer because i want to speak . My presentation goes pretty wel and i feel satisfied.

Back at the hostel we have to practice for the basketball match with our seniors. We go to the court only to find that the key has been misplaced and we cant play. But, our brilliant minds find a solution to this crisis and we play football in front of hostel . This goes on till 11 in night. After that i am too tired to study and go to sleep ........

Sunday ::

today we have class at 8.30 . Man , how much i hate waking up early on sunday morning . Again its the fin acc lecture with the same prof. After that its time for our basketball match with the seniors. Our team consists of largely amatuers who will be putting their hands to the ball for the first time . Predictably, we lose 28-18 . However, i manage to score a basket and thus gain a small personal victory. Back at the hostel , again i go to sleep ! We also find that the laundry has shut shop and for some days now we have to manage on our own .

Evening we have the inaugral meeting for systems club. Although, the numbers are small but this club looks enthusiastic !! I am the coordinator of this club and i vow to try my level best to make this one of the most active clubs.

Its back to studies ( and of course the damn projects......) . Our term-end is pretty near and i have to work really hard . till tom then.........