Day 500:5th Feb, 2011 - Five Centuries :)

Woke up comparatively early (8.30 is early dude), partly because I still had to finish the LD report by noon, and partly because I had to be (nominally?) present in class for our QAF presentation. Worked around these two conflicting interests by taking my laptop to the QAF session :P

Much of the day was spent filling the application for this multinational FMCG; more specifically in coming up with answers for three HR questions. Each time this happens is like suddenly hitting the 'Pause' button in life and trying to think of what you did. Has the potential side-effect of making you think you live a rather shallow and empty life, hardly doing anything beyond the mundane. But given the fact that we are MBA students, that cannot be true ;-) and thus you keep thinking and re-thinking and writing and re-writing, usually till the deadline appears. I had to attend a game+learning combo session by the same organisation in the evening, and by then I came up with what I thought were pretty decent answers.

Got back to my room and suddenly entered into a Reformist Mode. Day before yesterday, a particular incident happened regarding the way a certain amendment was done. I personally thought the process was unfair, and have been trying to mobilize opinion. All I want to do is have the batch re-think over it :-)

Just got back to my room after a night mess session. Pachpan just got a huge download of politics, scams and other GK stuff from his KGP batchmates and we sat around discussing that for some time. And yes, the deadline for the application has been extended; yes, as usual, the answers were kinda trashed by Pachpan; yes, will give it a re-visit tomorrow.

And yeah, 500 days in helL, every single day on this blog :-) ! Three cheers! :-)

Day 470:6th Jan, 2011

CV time again. Somehow, in spite of working on it for HEPP, and a little after that for finals, it is amazing how there still was something to do just before submission deadline. Did that have something to do with the fact that I still hunted around for projects to put on my CV? ;-) . And making multiple versions of it out of thin air? :-p

Started watching Shutter Island, recommended by Kisaan since a long time. However, got interrupted in between by a dinner plan for pizza. Somehow (not exactly somehow), it became a treat by Chajju for Pachpan, Chatur, Kisaan and myself. Followed that by a movie Mirch, based on adultery by women. The movie has 4 short stories and each story has some amazing though by the female protagonist on getting away! Scary for menfolk! ;-)

Thought of resuming Shutter Island, but then swapped that for Big Bang instead. A little light humour before sleep :D

Day 466:2nd Jan, 2011

I have this weird sort of work experience duration which makes me just eligible for the laterals process as such, however still keeping me NOT eligible for most companies! The good thing about that was that I started working on my CV a little earlier and since this does not matter too much to me, the 'final version' of CV for this one would be a pretty good 'rough draft' for the actual finals process. The flip side of course is that it is boring to be the 12th man; kinda like you are a part of the team but you aren't playing. (I think sitting in the audience is a better deal.) Anyways, now and then a company comes along willing to take a look at those few people (who for some reason are considered 'immature' because of a 6-month lag, but some systems are difficult to explain). And there I was, back to filling those long HR forms. The good part of such an exercise is that it makes you pause and ponder what you have been doing with your life. The bad part is the honest answer that pops up in your head.

But still there I was, putting some ink on the paper. Worked on it in the morning a little and then again a little post lunch. Couldn't really figure out some things, tried to take some feedback from Chatur, resulting in two confused souls instead of one :D. Well I just put if off for later.

A company ppt was a bit of a speed breaker there. Luckily for me, a new phenomenon just seems to have hit town. It's called the 'Last mover advantage' ;-) . Thankfully, that allowed me to spare enough time for a kebab paratha dinner at Richi Rich. Long time after which I had something other than mess food. Good Sunday.

Back to my room and to the form. Was a couple of minutes late for submission :-( . Hope the fine is spared!

Day 443:4th Dec, 2010

Woke up pretty late today. The good thing about that is it leaves you with that much less time to think and wonder how you will spend it. Not only for the time you were asleep, but for the next couple of hours spent away eating, bathing and generally in a state of laziness, drowsiness and inertia.

Late evening, when some senses were about to hit me and prompt me into some action, a movie plan came up. And off went Pachpan, Shomu, Chatur and myself to wave to watch Phas Gaya Re Obama. Now suddenly these kind of movies are being made these days which concentrate on one simple plot and weave a humourous story around them. And just like the rest, even this one turns out to be a pretty decent plot. Has a pretty ingenious climax too :D

We thought of watching one more movie straight. But didn't have enough time. So we just had dinner outside at the eatery in the lane behind Wave. For those who don't know, it is a pretty nice place. Very cheap, and good stuff. I had pav bhaji - they make it well here, but couldn't help remembering that I'll be having the authentic version in 10 days! :-)

Somehow, when Pachpan came to my room at night, the conversation restarted from where we left it yesterday. Discussions ranging from foreign profiles to money to entrepreneurship to career options to career goals to feasibilities and such arbit stuff happened in quick succession. Unintentionally took up quite some time.

Anyways, remember my CV work? A couple of people told me my 2 page CV is twice as weak :-P . So right now, I am remaking and remodeling it to fit it in one page. Using the great MMR's CV template - so well structured that I am finding it difficult to modify it :D. Finally getting to understand that thing though - more than anything, I keep learning a little more about MS Office through these little experiences. Anyways, have done some bit on the CV to get it down to one page. 4.30am now. Will get some sleep. Have a quiz at 8.15am! :-S . Hope I wake up.

Day 442:3rd Dec, 2010

Woke up suddenly to realise the SDM presentation was still pending. Sat on it and finished it off at one go. And consequently very efficiently played the role of 'slide-changer' during my group's presentation :D

These days, I am spending most afternoons in front of my laptop watching my new addiction - the stock markets. Dirty mind! :P

Once again, went to Brij for dinner. My bike just wouldn't start because of the cold - and therefore I found myself riding a junior's 200cc Bajaj avenger - man, 200cc is some power! Some extra riding happened, thanks to Shomu da exhausting his bike's fuel midway. Standard order - I don't think the waiter will even ask us the next time we go :D. And somehow, especially these cold winter days, Brij seems to double our appetites! We ate voraciously. Even the simple rice and dal here is SO awesome! Wish the mess picks up a cue!

At night, went to ask Pachpan a few things about a fin career. Ended up talking a little about that and a lot about a lot more. Jointly came up with a plan to salvage some lost time. Lets see how that works out!

Day 441:2nd Dec, 2010

Spent all the afternoon getting super bored doing routine stuff. That is why I decided to watch a movie in the evening. Saw 'The Illusionist'. Another movie which has magic as its backdrop (after 'The Prestige') and comes up with a brilliant climax.Time well spent.

And exactly at the same time as I was watching this movie full screen on my laptop, with earphones plugged in, it so happened my SDM group had a meeting. They tried to reach me through incessant pings and calls, none of which I realised :-p . But I am not to blame - they sent out the email at 6.20 asking everyone to assemble in the library at 6.30! By then, the show was already ON.

Had the CV verification activity late night. It is an essential activity, chiefly because of the tendency of a big big bunch of MBA students to inflate their "achievements" to unimaginable proportions. In fact, with the kind of figures people state on their CVs, one would imagine half of India's GDP is contributed by IIM L students. However, there are things about the verification process which need to be ironed out. "How?" would be the million dollar question though. It is ailing mainly from the same disease India's legal system and everything else is - the "influential" and "big" people know to bend the rules to win the game, while the system eventually often troubles the poor, simple lot.

Anyways, the process was running late - thanks to some in the latter category. I waited in the CC for my turn. Discovered something new ;-) 

My own verification happened quickly, as I had a simple honest CV with all the proofs in order. Now working on the SDM presentation for tomorrow. Halfway through it, but super sleepy. Will finish it tomorrow. So long!

Day 438:29th Nov, 2010 - HEPPy

The temperature's dipped tremendously all of a sudden!

But the sudden chill may also be because of the dementor called 'CV Submission'! After a long long time, PGP2s (atleast a majority of them) are actually busy with something. And since we are allowed to have a 2-page CV for our laterals, I have been trying to expand my points and simultaneously retain it's strength and non-globe quotient. That's a really tough job, since we are so used to doing it's exact opposite :D

Just past 6am. And I have optimally used all the time available to keep modifying my CV. Time to sleep. Gn!

Day 436:27th Nov, 2010 - The Ghost Resurfaces

It's CV time!

The demon has come back to jolt us out of our post-INDEX luxurious break. Try as I did, I hadn't been able to gather any tempo to work on this. Attended a Disha session though - and am glad I did. Mainly because somehow it made me a little more serious about the whole thing.

Outcome being - it's now 7am, even the lazy winter sun has risen by now. And I finally finished revamping my INDEX POR part. Looks nice to me! :-p

Day 336: 12th Aug, 2010

Mannnnn.. Team Building is SUCH an awesome course! :D . To any faccha who's reading this, please bid for this course next year, it's worth it! Today we were shown a movie (Chak de India!) for 3 hours, and asked to write an assignment then and there, on the various challenges faced by the team and the roles/qualities of a leader. Awesome!

Had a not-so-short (high euphemism) afternoon siesta today. The peculiarity of today's sleep was that my dream/semi-reality state seemed to have suddenly been influenced by the infinite book - Atlas Shrugged. The book espouses on Ayn Rand's philosophy of Individualism. And that the society exploits the brilliant mind on their very virtues. So every time I felt like waking up, I remember telling myself that I am going to get exploited by the world, and so I would go back to sleep! Weird, and convenient ;-)

Alas, these siestas get negated by the fact that I am sleeping pretty late these days. It's 5 am already. Once again, my room was subject to a raid by the INDEX facchas - a little bit for work and a little bit for CV verification. They are doing a decent job of both.

Day 129: 4th Nov, 2009

Finally finished off with Rocky series! And what a place to finish it off.. the Reliance VideoConf webworld @ the city! The main advantage was that I got a chance to finally have a coffee from CCD @ Lucknow.

Normalcy is settling in. People have started wondering about the state and fate of quizzes, assignments and all. Regular classes from tomorrow! Boo hoo! :(

Slept off early. Apparently the batch meet had a billion forced claps churned out. Clap for this and clap for that. Pretty random.

Woke up at around 3 am. Wasn't sleepy. Went for a cup of coffee. Was real nice of this pretty dame to give me company. Makes me laugh when I think about my initial attempts about building up the 'other CV' :D

ps: pitstops for the day - insurance, heathcare IT conultancy

Day 120: 26th Oct, 2009

Had these two HR forms to fill today. And guess what - they were totally different from any of the HR forms I had filled in earlier!! Quite a few people didn't apply for one of them on 'moral grounds'. I am not complaining :D

Am making frequent trips to the library now. Not that I have started studying early, just that we still don't have the net! And it's quite a pain walking through the chilly cold at night.

Speaking of which, the winter fashion has struck. The haute couture consists of sweatshirts, sweaters, hooded jackets, etc etc. Much to the awe of some people, I am still roaming around in the usual t-shirt and denims combi. Partly because I am psychologically preparing myself for more chilly days ahead, partly because I don't have winter clothes and mainly because I have so far been able to bear it :-p.

Day 119: 25th Oct, 2009

It was not just another Sunday. Today we hosted Samvit'09 where we had corporate stalwarts discussing on the issue 'Emerging pillar of the new Indian economy'. The distinguished speakers were:

- Kalpana Morparia - CEO J P Morgan

- Pramod Bhasin - CEO Genpact and Chairman NASSCOM

- Ajit Balakrishnan - Founder and CEO rediff.com

- Sandeep Pandey - Ramon Magsaysay award winner, 2002

- Meera Sanyal - CEO ABN Amro

- Biswadip Mitra - President and MD, Texas Instruments India

Was nice hearing from such achievers from such close quarters. One of those things that could happen only and only because of brand IIM !

Went to the city for local sponsorship. Boy, it is so tough to make people part with money!

Came back and immediately into filling one more form! :-S .. The questions are similar, but still not the same! And always they take so much time! I filled the last part of the form almost with my eyes closed. Infact, for one of the questions, I wrote 2 completely contrasting answers and just chose the one which was longer :D

Also had the insti party tonight. Very bad timing for the insti party... hardly any PGP1s attended it thanks to the otherwise infinite items pending on each one's list.

Day 85: 13th Sep, 2009

CV verification today. During CV reviews, was asked by a lot of people to put numbers and quantify statements. Now ironically those same numbers may have to be deleted :-| ..

Anyways, end terms starting from tomorrow. Starting off with MANAC ! Started studying pretty late in the evening... wasn't able to do much myself. Then later on, Mr. pachpan took a few 10 min sessions that were more productive than the many hours I spent staring at the laptop. Anyways, back at my room now. We got exams in the morning so need to get some rest. It is only 4.30am today. I think I will finally beat the sunrise :-p !

Day 84: 12th Sep, 2009

FOURTH consecutive day (err.. night?) when I am sleeping AFTER sunrise! Today I tied a handkerchief around my eyes so that I feel it is still dark :D **lol** :D . The devil this time was the CV.

BTW, I fell victim to the risk assessment theory I put forth just yesterday. Had the ITC presentation at 10.00 and realised my mobile was ringing at 10.05 . Rushed off for the presentation. Not much of an issue though since the time was given by us anyways for the preponement. Full timepass in the presentation as well. Some imaginary question not present in the case should have been solved it seems :-p . And of course, the tossing between solver and data table.. hehehe..!

Had the money kannon presentation today... which looks for all those bullets. That took up afternoon. Then the CV struggle started. The bloody dispatch office was closed, adding to the complexity (and wasting Blue Dart money). But anyways, I think finally, I have more or less decent stuff here and there in the CV. Finally uploaded the CV at 05:58:00 for the 05:59:59 deadline. Afghanim ji .. iss CV ko freeze kiya jaaye..! .. But is this the sahi javaab?' .. Will know in course of time!

Day 67: 26th Aug, 2009

Today's 8am ITC session was cancelled. So got that little extra blissful minutes of sleep. Got yesterday's test results. Got 7.5/10 .. I think that would be the class average or a little less. But I lost one mark for the silliest reason - not showing calculations! :-S .. The last time that happened was in school!

Worked for more time on my CV. This thing really takes time! Need to get some more reviews on it from seniors and all..

Myself and Tarun had fetched a nice cool cake :-p . And that too, brought it on Praveen's bike. It is a superb vehicle. So what if the bike has no mirrors, a gear box which supposedly is not in sync with the clutch, an accelerator which should NOT be used while turning, a silencer that may blast anytime, wheels that are not aligned properly and a speedometer which does not work. Rest everything is great.

Had our first Index meet today. Venue was the Index room! The place has such a nice casual feel to it. We need more chairs though :-p . Meeting was basically about the agenda ahead. Some brief points. Celebrated Ashish's bday then! Then celebrated 2 other birthdays in the mess. So basically lots of kicks flying around.

Day 66: 25th Aug, 2009

We were to have an OM quiz today morning. I tried to study for it yesterday in the lib. But I was SO sleepy that although I was looking at some scribble and alphabets on the textbook, they just wouldn't form sensible words or sentences in my head. As usual, slept off without putting in much of a fight. Woke up today morning and studied an hour for the test. A couple of good classmates had solved some sample problems neatly, taken photographs, uploaded it on the comp and emailed it to the class :D.

Test itself was OK. Seemed like everyone was having the same paper. One person on my bench copied an answer from his neighbour because he saw that it was different and he had more confidence in anyone else than himself :p. But after the test, the prof told us that around 6-7 different sets of Q papers had been circulated. Major remorse for that guy :D

Pcom work is showing its effect. Dhamdhere was dozing off all through the lecs. Au contraire, and very surprisingly, Kaushik and KR seemed to be wide awake today! :O

Am still majorly stuck up on the CV thing. Worked on it a little more. Thought it got better, but a review said it still has a lot of redundant stuff :-S

The struggle with misspelt name continues!! Pcom numbers list is out and my name is misspelt there as well. I so hope I could find out who the person was who made the initial master list, without even asking for a verification! I could just murder that person!! Bloody the mistake just cascades everywhere!

Meshed came up. He wanted some help with photoshop. Something I didn't know how to do, so struggled on that for quite a lot of time. Came up with multiple colors etc. I think eventually came up with something respectable. But apparently it didn't prove useful :-(

Day 65: 24th Aug, 2009

Lecture @ 8am. Wake up time: 7.55am!! Never before in my life have I acted with such speed. I usually take around 5 minutes just to move out and brush my teeth, but today, in 5 minutes, I had brushed my teeth, changed, packed my bag (books + laptop!) and run all the way to the PGP block (carrying the heavy heavy bag) with a few seconds to spare! :D

Post classes, spent time on building my CV. That is a huge area of concern. Have been hearing about the importance of building a good CV again and again, but problem is 'good' here is extremely subjective. Anyways, tried to modify and rephrase some sentences. Tried to revamp my work-ex section. Added INDEX Core Committee :)

Btw, we have an informal student DB intranet site called etrigan (don't ask me why!). It has this feature by which the top 5 searched profiles are shown. Ever since committee results are out, all Pcommers are topping the charts! :p Bahut demand hai junta mei :D

Also had Sikander football finals today. My hostel lost to H14 ..! :-( .. sheah! but never mind, time for the other sporting Gods from the hostels to show up! :D