Day 494:30th Jan, 2011 - INDEX 2010: The End

Successfully made it to class for the presentation. That may partly be because of the early morning call I got from one member of my group to wake up Pachpan for some inputs for the presentation. But when we reached the class, and showed it to the prof, he said some additional things needed to be incorporated :-( . Task unfinished.

But none of that was really important. Today was to officially mark the culmination of one long journey - we had the final presentations and results of INDEX 2010 today. That made sure our afternoon was totally engaged, collating the results. It's really sad to see some deserving teams lose out very closely, but I guess that's just an unavoidable part of the game. It's harsh, but you got to do what you got to do! My heartiest congrats to the winners - Team S.I.G.Ma (Special Interest Group in Marketing) as well as to all the other teams for all the fantastic effort they put in.

After resuming my gymming, it was now time for some celebration! We went to this new place Cassia - a buffet kinda place (modeled on BBQ). The chinese was good. And desserts are always good :D . And the best part - it was converted into a treat from Haathi, Kisaan and MMR for their placements! :-)

Day 440:1st Dec, 2010

Today seems like a reallllllyyyy long day. I think it is substantially due to the fact that I woke up at 5am - yes you read that right - 5am today! After a quick bite at GnB (and of course, capturing the atrocities committed on their staff), we made our way to Lohia Park. Today being World Aids Day, INDEX was supporting the local government organisation in organizing a City Run to raise AIDS awareness. The run went off very well - had a good response from people.

Though all this meant that I had lost out on a lot of sleep over the past 3 days. Made up all of that with a nice and not-so-short siesta :D

Through evening till now that, one of my old temporary addictions is back - the hunt for good mobile apps. I must have surely mentioned this before - that the very reason I bought my present N79 is to explore for apps, as I see that all the great features of a phone are going to be delivered through independent software apps. One major problem with Symbian though is that it requires all software to be signed and have a valid certificate - which is a big big issue when it comes to some ingenious apps available at sidey-types websites :-p . Finally remembered the way by which I had resolved this issue. Had to go through the whole process though - thanks to the new IMEI number on my new handset :-p

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 432:23rd Nov, 2010

Had a small meeting today. To kinda take stock of the deviations in planning and a re-look at our budget. And since we had ample time on our hands, the meeting was enormously inundated with a lot of fun and narrations :D

PS: After ages, my whiteboard was completely erased and filled by absolutely new stuff!

Day 431:22nd Nov, 2010 - Empty!

Life suddenly feels so empty! Just a day ago, it would be criminal if you couldn't utilise each and every second for something. And now, you have hours and hours to idle away..

The last one week, not one phone call went by without having another "in waiting". And now, the only time my phone rings is because of those automatic calls from Airtel. (Though I am confess, my mind seems to hear the ringtone every now and then!)

The "tasks" column on my outlook, most of them in red (signifying - overdue :-p), is now absolutely clear. My study table was adorned by 'sticky-notes' indicating a zillion to-do things. Even my laptop screen was not spared, putting to good use the 'Post-it' software in Windows 7. Everything's been trashed now.

In order to save some minuscule seconds, I would always have open multiple explorer windows, one for each folder relevant and even one for a subfolder in that, so that I did not have to navigate each time. All those windows are closed. The perennially running resource hogger of a Photoshop has been closed. And so have the multiple browsers to check multiple gmail accounts.

But most of all, the mind is super free. No multiple thoughts fighting with each other for priority action. No thinking about what workaround to provide for the sudden last minute problems. Nothing dynamic.

Sigh. Life is suddenly so empty.

I am sure my fellow senior core are engulfed by similar feelings, especially considering the frequent trips that have arbitrarily been made to my room :D ; indulging in all sorts of conversations. The highlight of which was a band formation; and before anyone actually learnt any music, people started the photoshoot for the album cover :D

And just like that, we decided to go out for dinner. Fortunately for everyone, Pachpan and TG came to a quick truce - go to Mainland China this time and Barbecue Nation the next. Some nice food in some nice ambience, and brilliant company :-) . Even hatched a plan to watch a movie after that. Had to skip desserts for that :-( . Much debate on whether to go for HP 7 or Guzaarish. Eventually by the time we reached Wave, turned out HP 7 had already started 5 minutes back, simplifying the choice :D . Hoping and anticipating many more of such times in the next 100 odd days left!

Days 429,430: 20th-21st Nov, 2010 - INDEX 2010!

IIM Lucknow's INDEX would be India's biggest Disguised Market Research Fair. INDEX 2010 saw a lot of firsts. A record 18 live market research projects from the industry including 2 on Rural Research, big names like Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, some awesome videos, even a website!

But yet.. I find myself falling short of words thinking how I could do even moderate justice in describing all that crosses my mind as I write this post :-) . And I don't think I can manage. So instead of describing INDEX, I would rather say this -

INDEX has been the most memorable journey of my 2 years at IIM L. I have learnt a lot and have had infinite level fun (very highly compressed in one statement). But most importantly, I have made some brilliant friends for life. This post is a thank you to all of them!

And also a big thank you to the 500+ students involved in INDEX, either as a part of an MR team or as a part of the organizing team. Brilliant job everyone!

Three Cheers to INDEX!! Hip hip.. hurray!!

Day 428:19th Nov, 2010 - INDEX'10 eve!

It's still raining! And we just weren't able to procure water-proofing material at such short notice. Only thing is to pray and hope it remains sunny tomorrow! Spent a good part of the afternoon at the ground supervising the various arrangements being made, especially the teams coming down to have the MR stall set up as per their design.

When I came back to campus, I was shocked (or did I somewhere expect it?) to find that the most illogical conclusion had been reached. Just can't comprehend the way some things work out here. *angry + frustrated!* 

With INDEX tomorrow, billions of tiny things to be ironed out. Late evening, realised there was some communication gap w.r.t. the stage backdrop itself! Man.. spent some anxious time correcting that. And then of course, it is of course a must for the Ops guy to be on-ground. I remember my stint last year, patching up tents till late in the night. This time things were much more on time. Of course, the afternoon rains have played havoc. The tents are moist, and are catching dew like crazy. Almost all tents have a drip issue and teams haven't been able to put up their props entirely. But the good thing is rains have stopped now, and also the skies seem clear. That should give enough time tomorrow morning for the teams to finish their setup. It's 4am now - need to catch up with some sleep before heading off to the ground early morning tomorrow!

The D-day is finally here! :-) Yayy!!

Day 427:18th Nov, 2010 - Rains!

The last thing we could ever want - rains! :-| . That is something probably INDEX just can't hold out against! The only solace to be sought is that if it rains today and maybe a little tomorrow, it will be sunny Saturday onwards...

Meanwhile, the junior creative team has come up with yet another AWESOME video! Super stuff - Check it out!

Anyways, yesterday's problem doesn't seem to be heading towards any solution. As a matter of fact, we seem to be moving away from it slightly. One person's decision is to be diffused into a committee's. And highly probably that too many cooks will be spoiling the broth. But not to give up so easily - trying to "fix" some result. Lets see how it works out.

One very positive thing that I have seen over the past few days is the super spike in the enthusiasm shown by the junior core members post their midsems. The outcome of the above incident made them feel very angry towards us as well as others involved. This is brilliant, since in my opinion, it is a very healthy sign that they have now started feeling for INDEX at a very very deep and personal level. Took me back to one year ago, and I could easily identify this transition which happens as we draw close to the fair. Very soon, I am sure, INDEX, for them too, is going to be above anything else :-)

Day 426:17th Nov, 2010 - Problems Galore!

No amount of planning in this world can prevent last minute problems from cropping up. Especially in a world were there is scant regard for ethics and morals and commercial matters and personal insecurities take over.

The first cause happened early morning. Seems like some infrastructure issues "flooded" our venue suddenly :-S . A coincidence much too weird and uncanny. And definitely somewhat unpleasant deja-vu feeling. But where there is a problem, there is a solution. On-the-spot came up with alternative execution plans alongwith Pachpan, in the process also figuring out the logic behind our (now erstwhile) 27ft * 27ft dimensions :D

From there, went off on a stall filling journey. Kisaan dropped by and picked up Pachpan to cover a new area. Spent a few hours talking to random people. Yet another learning experience at the super-ground level. Learnt a new term - bazaari - basically individuals who every day of the week go to the area where the weekly market is on and (Problem #1) set up their stall there. Problem #2 - turns out a new month long fair is going to start on Sunday and everyone wants to rush there from day zero to get a good location. Anyways, still got quite a few contacts from a variety of vendors. But at such places, zero guarantee that even a single one will eventually turn up :D

While I was ending my stint with a sweets-eating session at Ritz, Pachpan and Kisaan joined me again. While Kisaan left to try and get some deal, myself and Pachpan stumbled upon this guy who happened to have a whole list of contacts for tiny things. Lots of mini-things would get crossed off my white board. 

In fact, in general, the "business sense" of these one-man-stalls was really applaudable. Case in point, when we went to them and spoke to them about so-and-so event and asked for their contact, each one of them had a proper business card to give to us. Just shows they are always ready to grab a bigger opportunity that comes along!

Came back to campus to realise that we have an absolutely new problem that has cropped up! Yaar just can't understand weird logic people keep throwing at us. Not focussing much on that right now. Finishing a lot of other sidey work.

Day 425:16th Nov, 2010

Sleeping late and waking up late seems to have become the norm now. Finished off with a whole bunch of creatives though. Now time for some extras ;-)

Now, a website does not have too much utility for INDEX. But seems like you don't exist these days if you don't have a virtual address. Hence we are trying a bit to come up with a website (a plan that for spent a long time on the drawing board :-p) this year. We have our infrastructure and content ready since a few days. Got a contact of a guy who could incorporate some aesthetic appeal, which we design-impoverished people just couldn't :D. Lets see how that progresses.

The white board in my room is now almost black :-) . So much of ink on it indicating so much load and infinite mini tasks to be completed - all on priority! :D

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 413: 4th Nov, 2010 - What we have all been waiting for!

Slept relatively early, but still managed to wake up only at around 10:10. Luckily we didn't have the early morning proj fin class. Read my way through the BE class, to follow it up with an INDEX meet at 12:00 noon! I think that's a first, never had a meeting in day time :D

I got too much exhortations from Kisaan on the necessity to go out and enjoy on Diwali eve rather than attend a class. (Did I really need it?). And anyways, my "shopping" was pending. Consequently, I bunked EPA and we instead went to the newly opened Phoenix Mall. It's definitely a disappointment especially in comparison to the publicity it did - much smaller than Sahara and Fun mall. Even the stores didn't have much variety. Ate a little in the food-court (paneer takatak - first time heard that name, so ordered, OK-OK stuff) and then left for FUN mall. But Kisaan brilliantly managed to be sure of the route and within 15 minutes lose his way. And so we somehow ended up going to Sahara mall - that place is definitely so much better. All the stores had a far better variety of stuff. Eventually however, I ended up buying one shirt, while Kisaan impulsively ended up shopping for a sweatjacket, a pair of shoes and a jeans :D . Ended the stint with a super Baskin Robbins ice-cream :D

Came back to my room and saw that our subcomm creative stud had finished the teaser video for INDEX 2010. And tell you what - it's just AWESOME!! :D

Also at,
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=454108805964

Just some time back, I suddenly saw the "Crazy Taxi" facebook application. And for some strange reason, threw myself a challenge that I would beat everyone else on my friend list :-| . After 40min, I now emerge victorious and as the highest scorer amongst my friends! \m/ Will sleep peacefully now!

And technically, it's 4 am, and Diwali now ;-) Happy Diwali! :)

Day 405: 27th Oct, 2010

Sometimes you need an external trigger for some things to happen. Not that you don't want to do it, but just that you may be a little apprehensive to actually commit to it. So when Chatur showed me the SMS sent by Spicmacay informing us that the artist had to be confirmed immediately, I actually was kinda happy :D . And that is how INDEX'10 gets it's first major performance :-)

Buoyed by this, I immediately jumped on to my Discover and went with Vanki to the city (badly dug up everywhere! I think I must have inhaled 2-3 kgs dust today.) to hunt for some local sponsorship. Mostly people weren't even in office. Did get to meet a few people though, and gather some mild to some slightly-enthusiastic responses. Sometimes, it is just good to take that leap of faith and see how things work out! And how did that work out. When I came back to campus, understood that Kisaan also had some nice news at his end. Great job! We are now one-up as compared to last year ;-)

Day 398: 20th Oct, 2010

Yesterday, in some super jubiliant mood, I declared a National Holiday for myself. Chilled out all the time, not for a moment considering that I had two papers today. The morning one was Service Marketing. Consequently, the only effort I took for that was a) taking the printouts and b) waking up on time :-| . (Remember yesterday's BASH?)

Of course, the more interesting paper was the late afternoon one - EPA. Three questions - requiring 3 essay type answers. The prof's only request to all the students during the exam was to not exceed the 3-page-per-question limit. I honored it, comfortably.

I have often been impressed by the ability of a lot of people here to push themselves and work hard. Today, I got in touch with a person regarding publicity for INDEX. When I mentioned I had exams till 7.30, the guy had zero hesitation in saying that he'll come and meet me at the college after that. Unfortunately, due to some misunderstanding, the person ended up going to some other college! At around 8, he realised his mistake. But instead of postponing the meeting, he assured me that he will turn up in another 15-20 minutes! Really nice work ethos. Just today morning, I wrote my Services Marketing exam, but the lesson I learnt here on the practical aspect of going to great lengths to ensure customer delight, will stick with me much more easily, and forever.

Day 392: 14th Oct, 2010

Had a quiz at 7.45am! Trust me, it is mentally more intimidating than 8am :-p . Yesterday, as I said, had such an awesome dinner that I immediately slept off after coming back. I thought I'll probably spend a few minutes reading up early morning, but managed to wake up just in time to give the quiz. How it went is beyond the scope of this post :-) . The good thing is that it is a best two out of four system for this subject; so there is still a next time :D

One of the problems of being in a system/environment with many like-minded people is that it distorts or at least narrows your perception of reality. Generally having been in the company of nice people, I often expect people to be honest, open and frank. That is why I just cannot understand at times the kind of life some other people lead. Today we had to meet a guy for some INDEX fair work. So, Vanki, Ashat, TG and myself went all the way to a place near the airport. And the man we met really seemed to be one who promises to build castles on a foundation of air. And when the foundation seems to be a little shaky, the castle becomes a slum :-p . Seems like I wrote something pretty difficult to decipher, but I'll know what I meant. 

Took 3 whole hours. And we seem to have wasted that time! :-S . Nothing productive seems to have come out. Except for one idea. If that works out, I'll forgive him :-p

Came back only at 3am. Was pretty sleepy in the car, but not sleepy now. Have just been randomly browsing stuff. Watching videos of Milgram experiment (Very interesting! Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment) on YouTube. It's just beyond 5 am now. I guess I'll go get some sleep, lest I sleep through the afternoon class tomorrow.

Day 384: 6th Oct, 2010 - Ground work done, literally :-p

Had to go to the city with Vanki today afternoon. Turned out to be a very tiring journey - lots of roads dug up here and there for God knows what. That is just what the doctor ordered for this ultra-high-traffic-obedient city! :-S .. The weather chose to remain harsh too. The good thing was we were able to meet the intended people today. Officially finalized the ground for INDEX 2010 :-)

Tried my best to hear through the EPA lecture today. Lasted for 5 minutes.

Have an EPA quiz tomorrow :-| . Haven't read a word yet. Time for me to get some sleep so that I at least make it to the quiz on time (8 am!).