Day 166: 11th Dec, 2009

I Ran the Half Marathon! ;-)

There comes this epic moment in the life of every IIM L dweller. And yesterday was mine. I did not run 'the distance' physically. But my feat? Yesterday, I watched 20 episodes of How-I-Met-Your-Mother nonstop! Skipping snacks and dinner :D . Now I know why they are called 'sit'coms.

Anyways, the fact that you are now hearing about what I did does indicate that the guest writers' phase is over. My blog enjoyed a good amount of attention then which makes me realise how much all of us look to break the monotony. I will try my best to come up with something interesting on my blog even further :)

Remember that towards-the-end scene from Predator? Where Arnold suddenly falls in that mud and the alien fails to spot him out. I suddenly realised how Arnold would have felt (not the falling-in-mud but the not-getting-caught part) in this one eco lecture where the prof didn't catch me out! QAM - the great leveller - papers were out. After the MANAC and DWO result, finally the toppers were back in place. And as far as the previous toppers were concerned, they were back to topping as well, in their own league :P

For dinner, went to this place called 'Brij-ki-Rasoi'. (I don't know how we haven't been there yet considering it is quite close to our college.) And the food was really good! And inexpensive! That's equivalent to the combination of chocolate cake and vanilla icecream - awesome! More visits are definitely due!

Day 165: 10th Dec, 2009

Today's post is definitely going to place my blog a few notches above on the babe quotient ;-) . Yea guys, today's post is by the evergreen etrigan topper - Meenal Anand. A very talented and popular figure on campus, with a very charming personality. Spotlight!

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It is Friday, 3:54 pm. Some 12 minutes back, Shivku reminded me to send him the blog entry. I spent 3 of the 12 minutes cursing myself for having forgotten all about it, and 9 cursing Shivku for having conned me into writing it in the first place! Ok so the ‘thing’ is, I can’t recall a word taught in the lectures today and they only just got over. And I am to recall the entire yester-night and yesterday! Talk about screwed up expectations! (Ouch! What’s with the mood?)

Ok. Thursday! Thursdays for Section F are pretty chilled out. Relatively. (Now if you notice, a section F blogger will never let go of a chance to brag about Section F. It was sometime during World War 2, while combating Fuhrer's forces that this sense of fraternity developed. As it happens, Fuhrer won, but at least we all came out alive. Sigh! Good thing that the war is over.) Ok so Thursday.. This thing about snoozing the alarm half a dozen times, and running down the corridors with a brush in one’s hand, is true for all of the 700 IIML students. All except one. But that aint me. So snooze I did, and run I did and found myself in the classroom at 9:47 am. Only a couple of minutes late for the first lecture. And.. I have been trying to recall what happened next ( Shivku, I swear on you I have been trying. So if I am lying, you will die and we’ll know ) .. “The next thing I remember.. I was running for the door, I had to find the passage back, to the place I was before..” And so at 12: 05 pm I found myself in my blanket, only to be woken up thrice by three Manfest-ors about ‘The Big Photo Shoot’ that was to ‘change our lives forever’. I dragged myself out of my blanket and got ready (read suited up!) for the event of the year. 10 of us Barney figures reached the MDP to be greeted by the only direct descendent of chimpanzees we have here in IIML. (Rule Number 1 of blogging: One has to be subtle while making fun of colleagues. Here I try. I am talking about the chimp who is often seen with a DSLR hanging around his neck, owns a pair of inline skates he never uses, blogs about girls, calls them Rare Flowers, is in love with a dimpled rare flower and is called Hansraj).

For the next two hours, the chimp arranged us in queues of three, four and five, circles, triangles, squares, semi circles and question marks. It ended with the chimp and Shantanu climbing the terrace to click an aerial view of Us-The Question Mark. For ten good minutes while clicking the aerial shot, Hansu hung over Shantanu’s arm like a pile of washing freshly plucked from a roof-top clothes line. Just like that! Reminded me of the games of cricket, when, after a simple catch, we used to just dive and topple over to make it look like a tough one. (What! You never did that?)

Anyway, it was 4:30 pm now. Any guesses as to what I did next? I slept. I wouldn’t have slept all this much had I remembered it was my turn to blog for the blog I am blogging for. But I did not remember, did I? So I slept. Blissfully. For two hours. (Why I can’t I talk about Friday!!)

I got up at 6:30 pm, to go for a ..wait for it.. jog! Ahem Ahem. Yeah so Kapil, Ashish and I go for a jog. Regularly. Ok let us call it a jog-walk-mix. Ok it’s really majorly a walk. Whatever! I am sure you don’t even do that, now do you? Huh!

Fast forward to 9 pm. I pinged a few people to ask for deliverables for the next day. Only an Economics presentation! Some two hours of work. So I decided to leave it for the morning (and that saves me from talking about it in this blog! Does a little victory dance).

“..And she slept happily ever-after..”

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Thanks Meenal! Great entry to mark the end of the first Guest Writers' week on my blog :) I got some really good feedback on this idea from quite a few of you readers out there. Thanks to you guys for following my blog! It would be great if you could also post your comments on the articles. Feedback, positive AND negative, is nice!

For now, it's back to me. And when I'll have guest writers in future, I'll make sure you know.

Day 164: 9th Dec, 2009

Words of a 9-pointer! For that is what Shruti - my fellow INDEXian (a record in the history of INDEX!) and today's guest writer - happens to be... A fine example of a big surprise in a small package, lets see what the typical day of a 9-pointer is like!

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Shivku and I are fellow INDEXians who have done quite a bit of roaming together (on his ‘best-in-the-campus’ bike) in the weeks leading up to INDEX. It is in one of our night mess ‘over-the-tea’ candid talks that I mentioned my desire to start a blog. And I believe the offer to write a guest entry on Mr. famous’ blog was a consequence of that conversation, which I accepted with gratitude. So here is my very first blog…

My take on Dec 9^th 2009:

The day started with my alarm ringing at 6:15 am. I switched it off –as is my routine- and slid back into my warm razai (sent by grandma during mid-terms J). It is amazing how I manage to get back to sleep even after having 10 hrs of sleep already. I am breaking my own record every day. A big yaay for tat!!

I finally manage to slip out of my razai at 7:25 am and the first thing I do is turn on my lappy hoping, praying with crossed fingers that the CR has sent a mail saying , “Extra OM class by Prof.S 8:35-9:35 AM CANCELLED!”…….. but no, what met my eyes was the exact anti-climax. A mail reminding everyone of this horrible event meant only to make us squirm in our cold benches (in the classroom). So drudgingly I got up and did the routine of brush-bath-and-pray (yes, I pray daily) in 30 mins and scampered to the mess for breakfast. Here, I got slightly suspicious that my outlook had played some trick with me and not shown me the ‘cancellation mail’ because I could not spot a single first year in the mess. But I convinced myself to head to class and check it out.

As fate would have it, as I was entering the PGP block, so was Prof.S. Here, I want to digress to point out a few things about this legendary personality. You never want to find yourself alone with him. He will give you advice on pranayaam, yoga and ethical behavior and the importance of taking a cold water bath on a winter morning. The guy took 3 extra classes to write the heading ‘Deming’s 14 principles’ on the board and he still wants more extra classes!…..Perhaps I am not good at driving this point in. But you have to know this guy to understand entire sec-D’s loathing for him….

Anyways, finding myself in close proximity of him with no one else in sight I hastened my pace to get away. But alas, he was swifter and caught me. Asked me stuff about feeling cold and taking bath and commented on how IIML culture was spoilt since no other sec had a class at 8:30…blah blah. I managed to extricate myself soon enough, reached the classroom, dumped my bag and headed towards the door. Would you believe it? This door was locked from outside L. So again Prof.S and me. I somehow maneuvered my way out of the door I had entered from. Phew! And saw another classmate walking in. Safe at last!

The class went on as usual. I was reading last week’s economist lent by Sarma a.k.a Paa (so called for his bald look in the winters). Beside me Sidhanta was on his NFS type car game. Saurabh was trying as hard as he could to listen to the lecture but was showing signs of frustration now and then. Behind me Siva- having finished his CFA exam recently- was back to his pool game on his fancy phone. Vinay was a new entrant at the behind-the-last-row row and was trying to study QAM! Even after many derisive remarks from fellow last-benchers. His defense, he needed to pass in QAM. The argument didn’t make much steam with any of us….

So 2 classes of Prof.S later, attendance is taken- the only reason why students attend his classes. I wanted to check my attendance post-midterm (having missed 3 classes+1 quiz already) so I went to have a look at the attendance sheet. Prof.S comments- “What are you looking at?” Checking attendance obviously. Then he points out my absents and asks reason for them. I innocently answer- due to INDEX sir. He goes into a whole new tangent about how these ridiculous extra-curricular activities are hindering the process of learning and should be done away with…goes into my native place and place of schooling etc….comments on my hindi……oh there is more, but for the benefit of readers, I’ll stop right here.

Moral of the story: Stay away from Prof.S.

Then we have Marketing Management- decent class. We get to see videos of nice Ads J. Only this time, it was silly Rasna ads. Certainly not the level we had seen earlier-‘Hamara Bajaj’ types.

And the last lecture-QAM by G.K.S. This guy is much like Prof.S, but one good thing is that he sticks to the dias allotted for teachers and does not venture into student territory. So you can even lie down on two benches and sleep. But I had had enough of sleep already. So I was chit-chatting with neighbours. Prof. had to make one of us shift places- how Kindergartenish…

After classes, I had nothing much to do- leaving out studying for a quiz which was out of the question anyway. After INDEX, things have been easier… So I headed back to my room and indulged in some newspaper reading, Gtalking, a little INDEX work. Took printouts of my tickets for the term holidays. Always makes you feel soooooo cheerful :)

I saw Prof.K walk towards faculty block on my way back to hostel. I have got like the lowest in the batch in Marketing for mid-terms. Badly in need of some marks, I resorted to some lame arguments to get some marks. I never do this-NEVER. But these times are exceptional….anyhow, didn’t work. I am still where I was before. But one thing that did come out of the meeting was that the Prof came to know my name and the fact that I am in INDEX core. That is a plus I hope J

The next highlight of the day was evening tea. After a long time, Akanksha and I went to the mess together for tea. She lives next door and we’re pretty good friends, but haven’t seen much of each other off late. So it was a bit of catching up. Saw Harsh there, wished him a happy birthday and demanded Cadbury from him (he’s interning there). Some nice chocs to make the day J. This reminded me that my sister’s birthday is tomorrow. I set an alarm for mid-night to remember to wish her…..This is bad, how could I not remember this before? What is happening to me??? Wasn’t family most important? How come I don’t know what my sisters have been doing the past few days? How come we haven’t spoken to each other for a month? We used to share everything… what’s happened to that?

With this contemplative mood, I came back to my room and did some reminiscing, calling dad, mom and everyone. Felt better after that…… like atoning for some sin. And finally fell asleep, dreaming about home and family and friends and better times……….

P.S.: The day was punctuated with project/presentation meetings which I have not cared to elaborate on.

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Wow... that was long! :D . Thanks Shruti! Hope this will only be the first of many more blogs to come!

Day 163: 8th Dec, 2009

Today's post would be interesting in the sense that I am getting it from one of the (very) few freshers on campus - Shantanu. I, for one, am waiting to see whether the fact that you have landed here right after college makes any difference to a 'normal' day!

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My Day.

It is for the sixth time in 20 minutes that my phone, which is usually quiet, starts blaring ‘Arriving Somewhere but Not Here’ by Porcupine Tree. I open an eye and see 9:10 a.m staring back at me. I hear Sarin, my neighbour, banging on the door. Since I have come to IIM Lucknow, I have required an increasing number of alarms in the morning to wake up. Initially, one would be enough. Then two, then three. Well now when I sleep, I have alarms set for 8:45 a.m, 8:50 a.m, 8:55 a.m .. Well, you get the point. And yeah, I have a Sarin too.

I run to the mess and run to class holding my omelette and bread in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. That run is complete in exactly two minutes, but those two minutes make my day. Basically, they get me ready for one drilling class after the other. That is the thing with an institute like ours. You not only have tight and impossible deadlines, you have OVERLAPPING deadlines. You find yourself competing with yourself to do a hundred things in, well, no time. The first class is Management Accounting which includes stuff like cost analysis, variance, absorption and what say you. Prof. V is one of the straightest and probably the best professor we have had yet. He is a taskmaster and his classes are good. The Math professor is busy cracking jokes half the time, the Operations professor walks a record 7 km in one teaching hour and the Marketing prof comes with this minion whose only job is to sit in a corner and note down the class participation. Honestly, I am yet to see a more boring job. And a bigger loser. After 4 long hours, classes are done.

This is when my day starts. I have my lunch and rush to office. A million thoughts rushing through my mind. A million things to do. Let me explain. I am a core committee member of Manfest, the Annual International Business Conclave of IIM Lucknow slated to happen in the next 40 days. As you can understand, time is tight and we have loads of work. More so because the senior Manfest team is busy with exams, and hence we are doubly loaded. I meet Karthik and Sharath in the office and we get down to business. Every minute, all we think about is Manfest 2010. Through the exhaustion and moments of give up, all that drives us is the dream of a spectacular Manfest 2010. We make mistakes and face horrible moments of self doubt, but there can be no learning experience greater than this. Being at the centre stage of a body which organizes an event budgeted at 96 laks and more is something no classroom or even prof. V can teach you.

I did forget to mention, in between all the work there was an Operations quiz at 5:30 p.m. That went OK. Or maybe I just have stopped caring. We have reached a stage where marks and grades no longer remain significant. Or more rightly framed, relevant. There are bigger things to do, bigger things to worry about. Marks will take care of themselves.

Post dinner, I work in the office for a while and at 1:00 a.m trudge to the mess. A soldier, tired and bruised. But alive. Smiling. After breakfast, this is my second favourite moment of the day. Just as the run from the mess to the PGP office takes two minutes, this peaceful march of mine takes 20. A cheese toast in hand, I make my way to room 707. I drop my bag on the bed, sit on the chair, turn up the music and check my mail. There are so many new ones. Didn’t I just check it 30 minutes back? 17 new mails at 1:30 a.m in 30 minutes? I accept that it cannot be a lie and carefully read each one. Replying where necessary. Meeting at 3:00 a.m? Why? I feel my eyelids dropping. Heavy. I feel my nose connecting with my keyboard.

‘Wake up Shantanu!’ Bang Bang! It’s Sarin.

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Hahahaha. Must confess one thing here... this blog is almost a day late :-p . And poor Shantanu has kinda combined the two days here :D Hehehe. Won't blame him! It could just be another day.

Another interesting thing happened today. Our OM prof had yesterday sent back two students as they came to class a minute late - as they went to quickly compensate the lack of breakfast with a cup of coffee. Today our prof gave them their attendance, saying (in retrospect) it wasn't really their fault (which is true considering the prof for the earlier lecture had extended the class!). Anyways, I liked that gesture.. it's in keeping with my general idea about people who are ready to take a step back and accept their mistake - not an easy thing to do na?

And yes, today our mess served GAJAR HALWA during dinner! It was just DIVINE!! :D . Way to go mess!!

Day 162: 7th Dec, 2009

The blogger himself writes! Yea, today's post is by none other than Amit Haralalka - an avid blogger himself & one of my first friends on campus. The writer in him was super enthusiastic about accepting my offer :D

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Wokkay. Thanks to ‘mumBHAI’ (as I call him), I get to recollect my day and share my thoughts on this blog. And Boy! What a day it has been!

The term ‘Monday morning’ loses its significance (notice the lack of the word ‘blues’ usually attached to it!) when you have 3 hours of classes on the preceeeding Sunday. DO NOT raise your eyebrows if you are not from Section F, neither do I need your sympathetic “tch tch”s. It is a truth that I (and my brethren from Section F) have learnt to live with.

So coming back to ‘Monday’ – the only good thing about ‘Monday’ was that classes started at 11 AM. So I got about 2 hours to do the whole act that I indulge in everyday. It is an act I call “the routine”. “The Routine” is the following act performed in sequential order:

1. Put the alarm for 8 AM

2. Get out of bed at 8 AM, and put the alarm clock on a 15 minute snooze

3. Get back to bed, comfortably inside the blanket for the next 15 minutes

4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until you have exactly 25 minutes left for class.

Today I got to do “The Routine” from 8.00 AM to 10.30 AM – Aaah! .. The joy of getting back to your bed on a cold winter morning 9 times in a SINGLE DAY!

Classes were regular – nothing fab. Except that I had to indulge in some “Desperate CP” and gain some CP Marks – not something I usually do, but I wanted to do everything possible to compensate for poor mid-term performance in a particular subject.

Post-lunch (usually siesta time, but since I had done the “routine” 9 times, I started getting the feeling that I have been sleeping for the last 7 days, which obviously I hadn’t been!), I decided to complete the Marketing Management project (since this was the project that I was working on… & the other’s weren’t!! – Division of Labour!) .. Interestingly, during one of the Oral Vivas conducted by an Adjunct Faculty, the faculty (lady) politely commented on how ‘the Collaborative Culture at IIM manifests itself in all possible ways’ when she caught members of a particular group prompting the answers to their group member during the Oral Quiz. Well, there are STILL more Collaborative Ways at the IIMs are used for social good – Work on some projects, free ride on others! J

Evening was NostaLgia time. Went out with a part of the group that I used to hang out with during my first week here – Kanny J, Saali, Bansal and yours truly. We went out to Barista, followed by dinner at Royal Café, followed by a nice long drive back to campus (with all of us crooning to Sufi-Bollywood music).

Wow! – This feels better than I thought. I should get back to writing on my own blog more often. Hopefully the Gods of Hell will smile on the internet on campus in general (and the WiFi on H14, in particular) so that a blogger can get back to some blogging!

Thanks mumBhai for the opportunity. Relishing it.. :)

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Thanks man. And I am sure 'The Routine' is something most of us here follow very religiously :D

Day 161: 6th Dec, 2009

Today's post has been written by Aarthi. She happens to be one of the most timepass people on campus. She always carries a spirited smile on her chubby face but her weapon happens to be the wit in her words.

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I get the honor of writing about the most interesting day in the life of an IIM student. Heck the life of any student in the world - Sunday. What is it about this day that puts a smile on our faces? The day that is is synonymous with relaxing, dedicated to admiring the colors of the sky and the smell of flowers and the freshness in the air.

Let’s zip back to reality now, shall we?

The only time of the week you can find the IIM campus deserted is Sunday mornings. People comfortably snuggled in their beds on a cold winter morning. Not for me though. Reason: I had a guitar class at 10:30. I would have bunked it if not for the vague promise I made myself a month ago to make life more than just project submissions and movies. So I dragged myself out of bed at 10:15 in the morning and realized I was clean outta cash and I had to pay for the classes. A few frantic calls and Rs.500 later, I was running down the stairs with my toothbrush in my mouth so I could make it to class on time. I reached class to find the instructor waiting outside cause no one was there yet. So much for breaking the monotony – Most people go crawling back into its secure walls to blissful emptiness.

On the day of Sabbath, the Jews make it a point to avoid work. There’s a reason you hardly ever find Jews in IIM. Sundays are reserved for post lunch meetings in the library to “split up” project work in time for a Monday deadline. I was no exception to this rule.

I’d like to digress here to emphasize the curse of being picked as group No.1. Our group was more cursed than most that we landed slot 1 even in a not – so – lucky draw. Anyways cursing the fates that conspired to ruin our happiness, we decided the work each of us had to do. But work has this way of dragging itself hours after the deadline and it was 12:00 in the night and the end was nowhere in sight. After a frantic meeting at 00:00 hrs on D-Day we realized we did not have what we needed (the thumb rule with creating a marketing questionnaire is that when it comes to data analysis, you’ll never have the data that u originally intended to collect). After yet another split up of work, we headed to our respective pigeon holes (popularly known as rooms) to do as we were instructed.

When I mailed my portion of the project (Which would be shot down by the professor as unadulterated nonsense) in the wee hours of Monday morning, I thought of the promises I made myself a year ago – To bust the monotony, to do something I cared about. I thought if I cared about busting the monotony. I thought about caring about things. I thought about thinking. And sleep took over and I escaped where I could keep promises made long ago.

Thanks “Shindex”.

P.S. I was not forced into writing this article

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Nice one :) Thanks Aarthi !

From my side, the Guest Writers' Week is being pretty well received! :D My blog got a huge number of hits today :D

Day 160: 5th Dec, 2009

Guest writer for today is Sudeshna. Interesting titbit, she happened to have been in the same Lucknow panel as I was during GDs. Gifted writer, am sure she will put together a nice read. I only pray I don't have to sit with a dictionary to comprehend it :)

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I will be called Simply Sud (no relation to the radio icon(?))....

A big thanks to aapro COM.P for the “exceptional personality” tag (assuming that was meant for yours truly, banishing the nagging thought that the chances of it being meant for someone else are very, very high). And of course, a big round of applause and immense gratitude to my friend appan (a shortened form of Verappan, not to be confused with Appam of fake IPL players), christened so because his moustache is related by hair and follicles to the late brigand’s moustache :D (Applause for this brilliant blog and gratitude for the guest entry, in case you were confused)

Ok. So without further ado, since I was allotted Dec 5^th, Dec 5^th is what I shall describe. It started as any other day of mine does- in sheer disbelief that the night’s sleep was so fleeting, sigh. And since the night before (3^rd Dec, that is) was spent working on a ridiculously time-consuming DWO presentation till the wee hours of the morning (mainly because parts of our DWO group were afflicted by either CFA, COM.Pitis Minora- one contracts COM.Pitis Majora in the second year of one’s membership in the cabal, social loafing and amnesia- we forgot this one chap was in our group :O)- I was understandably tired and therefore treated myself to a good night’s sleep. Yay!

So, where was I? Oh right, Dec 5^th- I woke up reasonably fresh as a day old daisy and trudged to DWO, which as usual was as interesting as watching paint dry. But I didn’t have the gumption to sit in the first row (which is where I normally sit) for a 1.5 hour long Eco marathon and so scampered to one of the empty seats in the back rows. Have been called an ‘illegal immigrant’ for all my efforts to thus evade harmful subjects and er, smells- oh well. Tried to read ADJ’s Economist, but it was futile to lower my head without being discovered. Even cut a deal with him about splitting the subscription, which I was afraid to take because I knew the mags would meet the same fate as TOI and ET, which line the shelves of my closet. So, I resorted to some half-hearted C.P. and Pills, who was sitting next to me, mouthed “I hate you”, while all I did was get really lucky at guessing the answers (alternately mumbling “increase” and “decrease” as regards interest rates, income, output and such horrors). The highlight of the class was Shivku being singled out again for another Eco inquisition (poor chap, it’s becoming routine now) and Rajat’s message about my illegal immigration. Yes, we lead scintillating lives.

Watched two movies in the afternoon- Wicker Park and (500) Days of Summer. Loved both. Read a few pages of Of Human bondage. Later in the evening, Kanny J and I went to watch a Hindi play, “Ponga Pandit” by Habib Tanvir, staged as part of a theatre festival called Repertwahr (Repertoire, ruined...sigh). The play was a disappointment of gargantuan proportions primarily because they chose to stage it in some UP dialect Hindi, which I totally didn’t comprehend. But it had some amazing moments of humour and the acting was par excellence. The show-stealers? The paneer and salsa wrap and fries we picked up from McD’s before the show and snuck in somehow. Am watching Hamlet on Monday, it’s by Rajat Kapoor, and I’m a biggg fan! Miss my NCPA and Prithvi days. Sigh, miss Mumbai.

We decided to grab some grub at Royal Cafe and were stopped by a traffic cop on the way because KJ entered a one-way in the wrong direction. Pretended to be new to Lucknow and generally ‘damsel-in-distressy’ to avoid a hefty fine or worse. And due kudos to KJ for some seriously gifted acting and thinking on his feet. The food was divine- made KJ , the incorrigible carnivore, eat veggie food (Muhahahahahaha!)- Paneer tikka, onion kulchhas and dal makahni. Had some double flavoured ice-cream. Oh and met the QCOM in RC celebrating another one of Sumo’s quizzing victories. Vipin of 3.4 and QCOM fame, ate the end of my ice-cream cone while wagging his admonishing finger, “singers don’t eat ice-cream”. Got some mutton Biriyani packed for Harlie, who kept calling to ensure we didn’t forget his precious.

Got back at 11:30 and wrapped up the day with South Park, with scant regard for the DWO quiz on Sunday, the 6^th .Forgot to attend the QCOM meet which I really wanted to attend. C’est la vie!

Till we meet again, dear readers. Cheerio!

P.S: Oh and before I forget, some people DID NOT have a problem with some other people. I can say such with certainty because I know Some People intimately. Some other people just need excuses to live by some obscure code of conduct of the cabal they belong to. Amen.

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Thank God, got through without a dictionary :D. Thanks Sud!

Just a small addition to the highlight of the Eco lecture. This nametag thing is becoming a nuisance. Today I even interchanged places with Shreyas to try my luck on the inside seat. But no use! :-x

I also saw PAA today. Liked the movie, but didn't find it awesome :-p

Day 159: 4th Dec, 2009

Random boredom inspired creativity prompted this new idea. Starting today, I will be having a 'Guest Writers' Week'. Basically, a few of my friends will be writing the entries for the blog, describing their day - as just another student at IIM L :)

The inaugural entry is by Shreyas. He sits right next to me. We share a kindred spirit, especially in our nonchalance to academics. Here is what he wrote, reproduced as it is.

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Let me start by thanking, the electricstorm for giving me the first opportunity for a guest column in his famous blog. Yeah believe me its famous, he has references! Plus you will get to know its popularity when you will read guest columns from exceptional campus personalities in the days to follow.

To keep with the tone of this blog, I will stick to the daily happenings, sharing what transpired and add my take on what all of it meant. So the day was Friday the 4th and it started off in the worst possible way, with Sehwag missing his thrid tripple. Just so you know the tambrahm was hardly bothered. But the day rode on to better things. In the first lecture itself, SS gave me the offer to write this column. Now, these are the kind of things that we do during classes. That is only when the moustache monger doesnt doze. That day was inclined towards brainstorming on the ideal genetic qualities that the tamil manus' better half should have. Now i think its a bit personal to him for me to share what he thought were the desired attributes, although i know all the galz out there must be dying to know. But broadly they included a complementary set to his attributes, so basically fairness and intelligence are a given :P.

As the day wore on, 99 and me parted ways after lunch to get to our own things. Now that Index is over he is by and large free (please don't judge me for making a politically incorrect statement here :P). I on the other hand did my regular stuff, which is not relevant here. 101 had a b-plan competition for which he had to leave mid way through a class after completing that presentation. This guy is really cut out to be self made, and even though he might have been second in the competition, he is going to be first one day and make it count. There is ofcourse an ongoing competition between Soumen Abhiyaan Das and Shindex on who is more free each day. I think it will go on for a while :P

So cut to the evening, as the fellowship of the ring went to watch the movie, but we did not bring SK and Sud along, because some people have some problems with some people. We went to Mint, had good chicken and then watched the movie of our times - Paa. Now needless to say that AB is the master and all these tatpunjia's such as Shahrukh khan and aamir khan are not even as good as his crap. But the movie takes you with it, you feel like you are practically in the actual setting. The dialogues are crisp, the script is discrete and the fun is amazing. And its not just an AB devotee like me who is saying this, even Americanised dehateez like Maanas loved the movie. That says quite a bit.

So that was 4th Dec for you, another day in the life of I-am-still considering-Fin Kumar. Its actually wonderful that he has maintained this blog on the money. Since I sit right next to him, I practically share half the day with him. So even if I have to look back at these memories in the years to come, I can count on this account. I hope Shivku takes it to the end and hopefully he will invite me again to write for his blog.

Adios everyone,

and thanks Shiv(a)kumar

Shreyas

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Thanks Shreyas :) Good one! Just an additional note to remember the small bit where Besgi and Souvick were competing :D. And Souvick won hands down ;-)