Day 422:13th Nov, 2010

Was super chilly inside the classroom too for some reason. Not to mention my own internal running nose problem. And already I have an issue in not being capable of sleeping in a uncomfortable sitting posture. All these powers combined to ensure I couldn't even catch up on a wink of sleep during the lecture.

Anyways, broke all time records today. We launched our last MR project of the season. The final tally now stands at 18! That makes it more than any other INDEX by atleast 25%! \m/

Had an insti party. Got loads of work, but insti parties are not to be avoided. So I thought I'll just go there for 15min or so, hear some loud music and make my way out. The plan went off beautifully except for part 3. And instead of making my way out, I stayed on right till the very end, the part when we have randomly begun sitting in the lights AFTER the music is off, and singing a random bunch of songs :D. Pretty masaledaar party though :-p . Lots of happening stuff on the dance floor :-p . No limit to the things people do (and entertainment they provide to us) when they are a couple (ok, a little more than that) of drinks down ;-) . Finally back in my room. 4.45am. Work postponed to tomorrow :-p

Day 421:12th Nov, 2010

It is generally important to be in touch with all your stakeholders, even if it demands feeding them some not-so-important updates at certain time intervals. Yesterday, I got a call from one of them and the poor fellow was totally confused about what is happening. So today's agenda began by paying him a visit and appeasing him by "offering" him a few intangibles which would eventually be beneficial to us too ;-) Synergy! 

Another thing which is generally important and very very important when you are doing something on the scale of INDEX is efficiency. So whenever I need to make a visit to the city, I try and ensure that it is planned out and I can meet maximum people. Consequently, after making my first pit-stop at the proposed venue, I went and met some other potential sponsors - the usual ups and downs journey. Eg. We were "99%" sure this one guy would be in; but the 1% turned out to be more powerful, as his parent company decided a new strategy for their latest brand launch. Another likely guy who we approached (quite late in his defence :-p) couldn't go ahead due to time constraints, but he said was very nice and said sorry and all to me 3-4 times :-p . Really big deal in this context! Met a few new people too. It's challenging and fun though. And definitely a learning experience - since you directly interact with people who have been there, done that and are absolutely aware of all ground realities and ask surprisingly specific questions to understand what is in it for them. 

For example, today I went to this computer dealer to ask him to put up a stall in our fair. But he nicely pointed out that his shop is already in a prime location in an area famous for these goods. When he already has the "PULL" factor working for him in his existing place, why would he want to move out elsewhere? Good point! And many such small snippets have come across while working for INDEX. Thing I may probably have never learnt otherwise. The whole thing would probably be a separate post though.

And then one meeting at night. Guess this is going to be a lot more common for the next few days.

Day 420:11th Nov, 2010

I am somehow a fan of versioning. Through my stint of producing creatives for an event, I always store all my intermediate steps as something_v1 and so on and so forth. After a few draft versions, and taking feedbacks in parallel for those versions, I eventually reach a stage which I call something_final. But never ever has that been the final copy. And so once again, I found myself working on the finally_final copy of the hoarding. Luckily this time, since we didn't have any time and of course, the work would expand only as much as the available time - the hoarding finally was freezed!

Post dinner, Vanki, Pachpan, Kisaan and myself had an impromptu meet / discussion to assess our budget under more "practical terms". Seems like we are in a position to explore some new avenues :)

And suddenly, the worst possible thing has happened - I have caught cold! Nothing irritates me more in life than a running nose! Have taken a tablet and am going to sleep. Lets hope this goes off soon!

Day 419: 10th Nov, 2010

So in the midst of all this, we even had a CBM quiz today. The system to be followed was best 2 of 4. As I had done OK in the first two (+ had absolutely no time to even find out the syllabus of this one), I decided to skip it. And as luck would have it, the quiz apparently turned out to be a cakewalk! :-|

Now, my closing remark yesterday was that I wasn't sure how the new hoarding design would be received by my team people. Turns out - not so well :-p. And so immediately after my morning classes, I had to spend a few more hours modifying it. A few more calls and a few more mails took up the remaining afternoon-evening time.

Today we (senior core) decided to go out and enjoy. Work hard, party harder types. TG and MMR happened to have a very long, frustrating and not-so-positive day "in office" and therefore decided to take rest and not join us. We left with the intention of going to BBQ (after long! nice!) but mid-way, plan changed and we went off to Genesis yet again! :-S . It happens to be a nice place though, had a nice time, and got some nice pics clicked with Kisaan's digicam, instead of just my cell, the result being I am in a lot more pics than usual :D

Day 418: 9th Nov, 2010

Such a blissful feelings to wake up the morning, find out your class has been cancelled and go back to sleep again! :D . Did break my record of sleeping past noon though. Woke up at a much early 11am.

Had enough attendance (full :-p) in the subsequent lectures of the day. Bunked those to go to the city with Pachpan and get some INDEX work done. Roamed all the way from Gomti Nagar to Hazratganj. Discovered a whole new eating place near WAVE - those small roadside joints that serve good food! At Hazratganj, met up with Kisaan who had his own set of follow-ups to do. Indulged in some pillion-swapping :-p and Pachpan went off with him to meet a few other people; while I thought I'll go check out the status of my cellphone.

Yes, btw, my great cellphone was STILL NOT OK! :-( . Been more than 3 months since I had it in proper working condition! As you would recall (:-p), the last time I gave my phone for repairs, I got a new piece after the 15 day wait. Call it my luck - Turned out even that piece wasn't working! So today, when I went in after another 15 days, I got yet another new piece. This one wasn't a stunner in looks though :-( . Somehow, the silver grey front panel wasn't impressive. When I asked about that, I was told "The company uses any readily available piece". Which is downright silly, because I paid specifically for a good-looking phone! When I asked if it could get replaced, the response - "It will have to be sent back to the company again!". And that I just can't wait. But silly people - why can't they just keep an extra set of panels with the Care Centers :-S

When I came back to my room, I got to know some urgent modifications required in the hoarding creative. Sat on it. Almost 4am now. Not even sure how it is going to be received by others in my team. Just a sign of times to come, over the next one week :-)

Day 417: 8th Nov, 2010

Had come to know yesterday late night that we didn't have the early morning CBM class today. What else do you want to know beyond the fact that you can sleep uninterrupted. And that is how I clocked in yet another successive day of waking up post noon :D

But this was followed by a marathon spree of classes. Serv mark followed by LTL followed by another extra class of LTL followed by an extra session on Proj Fin! 2.30 - 9.30 pm straight! :-|

And after that, a marathon designing session for INDEX! Our poor facchas are caught up in their mid-sems and so time for us seniors to pump in a little extra effort! With less than a couple of weeks to go, too much work on the publicity front needed to speeden up. Had to come up with a basic draft to get some approvals and progress; and it's almost 5.20 now doing all that. Tomorrow's first session is CBM. Am not sure if that one also has been rescheduled! Lets hope so! *fingers crossed*

Day 416: 7th Nov, 2010

The hemisphere confusion phase continues.

Once again, woke up past 12. And it was an absolutely max-level vella Sunday. Spent a good 2 hours coming up to date with the latest in HIMYM. The series does not have its initial charm though. Escalation of commitment compels me to watch it till I know who goes on to be Ted's wife (and I am tending to get the feeling that would be a real dampener!). Even Barney seems to be losing some of his sheen! :-(

Now something that probably has never come up on this blog before (not sure about that) is that I adore boxing! I don't know why, but something in that sport has always attracted me. And not as a follower or critic; more so in a manner that I should be an active participant. Probably that's why, the few boxing movies that I have seen have also been interesting. So when I came across the fact that the "Cinderella Man" is one of the all-time top boxing movies, I just had to see it. And that is what I did; and wasn't disappointed :D . The movies is based on the real life fairy-tale rise of a boxer (James Braddock) who had almost been written off. Engaging movie; the fights were very well-shot.

And obviously, it being a Sunday, no scope of eating the mess food. And where else to go, but the mess away from mess - Brij ki Rasoi. Even had a new visitor amongst us, Karraju. Though considering that the placement process is now totally over, guess we can look forward to more of his presence henceforth.

Have been reading up a little more on random stuff, mainly boxing. Even saw a few more videos of Mohammed Ali, Mike Tyson. What players! Mohammed Ali's swiftness and Tyson's aggression would have been such a deadly combination! Shudder to think of the player who would come up against that combination :-P

Anyways, 2.45 now. Early by standards of the last 2-3 days. So hopefully will wake up a little sooner too. The only pain point - the early morning CBM class is cancelled. So how to motivate myself to get up?