Day 378: 30th Sep, 2010

Class over the past couple of days have passed off in a breeze. That is because of the Ultimate Championship that I am playing with Vanki. Which game, did you ask? Cows and Bulls! :D

The atmosphere was slightly tainted with the tension of the Ayodhya verdict. However, one cannot emphasize the kind of secure feeling that a campus provides. Even though we weren't too far away from the epicenter. Good to hear a solution which appears to be amicable. Things are OK, inside and outside both :-) 

Day 377: 29th Sep, 2010 - Two things are in

Two things are in.

One of those is Varchasva - IIM Lucknow's Cultural & Sports Fest! Now a fest is a real gala time. Sports freaks get to play a lot. The cultural enthusiasts have many competitions where they can participate. These are the obvious advantages. However the slightly hidden benefits are privy to all the couples who are away from each other. This becomes a great time to get your other half on campus, and we are often confused who the new people on campus are :-p. Adding to this confusion will be the influx of students from other colleges, and somehow, the girls in other campuses are always more beautiful! :-p

And the other, of course, is the one that is here to last for quite some time. Yes, am talking about the "cold". Presently, it is a little more than a pleasant chill. But very soon, it's going to become all devilish and freeze the hell outta us. Aww well, but we all know no one can ever do that :-)

Day 376: 28th Sep, 2010

So now comes along the first bombshell to be dropped this term. Our CBM quiz, the first one of the season, has been announced. Need to find out what's going on.

The LTL class today was fun :D. Cold calling would definitely be one of the biggest weapons profs have, and that proved itself today. One of the groups was arbitrarily called out to present their viewpoint on a couple of aspects of the book 'Siddhartha'. Turned out the two people who had worked on their ppt were absent! The remaining guys didn't put in much fight to even read out from the slide :D

Had a warm-up meeting with INDEX facchas. Time to set the gears in motion.. \m/

Day 375: 27th Sep, 2010

I don't know what to make out of the LTL class(es)! As of now, the whole things seems to be a tad too philosophical for me! Made a short trip after that to the city to get my bag. Went alone, so was bored to stop and treat myself to some nice chocolate dish :-S

Another looooooooong INDEX meet. It would be so magical if all of us concurred on one thing :-P . On second thoughts, would it really?

Day 374: 26th Sep, 2010 - Khel khel mei

A three hour Service Marketing class on a fine Sunday morning! Would definitely have found the choicest of words to curse it, but for the fact that it turned out to be time very well spent! We had to play a simulation game designed by a Harvard professor, and I can definitely say it was a fantastic way of "learning by doing". Left me wondering why we don't have these for all subjects!

Came back to my room and started watching a documentary on Shaolin Kungfu. Painstakingly reached till the end; found it to be quite boring. Slept off, partly the documentary effect, and partly of course to compensate the early waking up.

When it rains, it pours. Now that the Brij jinx seems to be broken, we visited it yet again within a space of a week! :D . Had a big discussion on how much freedom a retailer would have in underpricing a product (even by taking loss). Need to find that out from authentic sources..

Day 373: 25th Sep, 2010

Our dear wingie Shomo's birthday last night had an extra element of discomfort - a bucket of water. Blame Pachpan for starting all these wrong trends, especially at wrong moments :-X . Three rounds of assault, followed by the cake smear (a nice heart shaped cake!), followed by a march to the mess, and of course another round from the animals there :P . Even after all this though, I still managed to wake up pretty early - 9 am for a 12.30 pm class! The tough part though is deciding what to do with the extra time (unnecessarily) created. I decided to be a little productive and actually went and had breakfast. Unfortunately for me, it was pretty sad today!

Encountered yet another super example of arbitrary pricing in a Servicing Model. Went to this bag seller to get the chain mended on my laptop bag. He randomly quoted 100/- as charges! I just told him that only a day ago I had enquired at his shop and was informed the cost would be 50/. And lo and behold, his price dropped by 50%. And am pretty sure, even on that, he must be making 80% profit (at least!).

Don't know whether the net and the LAN must be considered a boon or a bane. Boon because, thanks to them, we spend all our free time watching movies. Bane because, thanks to them, we spend all our free time watching movies! Anyways, without getting into the judgemental aspect, I would just say Chatur, me & Vanki caught up with a movie called 'Se7en'. Interesting thriller, it's based on serial killers :D . Now, who doesn't like them! Hehe :D

In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare aptly captures the protagonist's anxiety with the words - "your mind is tossing on the ocean,..". Well, let me just wish some good luck to a friend, who's probably feeling these words right now...

Day 372: 24th Sep, 2010 - Angrez and Aaloo

Really interesting incident in the mess at lunch. Whilst trying to make up my mind on what would be the most edible choice, my eyes fixated on a plate of what looked like some awesomely cooked plain aaloo. Very happy, I drifted in that direction. And just as I was to take some, that plate was harshly pulled away by a worker citing "yeh angrez log ke liye hai"!! (referring to the Students on the Exchange program). Independence, an illusion in your own country?!

It is always so fulfilling to come up with something creative. Something that you can call - your own, even if it may not be the best. So some designing work came along after a long time - Pachpan wanted me to come up with a template sorta thing. Meddled around a little here and there. Found out this powerful feature - Brushes! Really cool stuff! So much potential to do so much more. Now, if only I had a more designer-oriented head on my shoulders :-p

Well, normally I do not have too many problems with the mess food. However, just as I was going to the mess, I made a mistake of casually asking my friend, the menu. The short conversation -

Me: "Abbe mess mei kya hai?"

Friend: "Hagga"

Which, err, means, ahem, shit (literally). Which definitely is not a very enticing choice.

So off we went to Fauzi for dinner. Oh, but our first one here this term? Pretty late. Had what, you asked? Haven't you like by-hearted the Aloo-jeera, Dal & Roti combination by now? :-)