Day 501:6th Feb, 2011

Today somehow seems to have become a day of self promotion. Now that I had finished 500 posts, it was time to give some publicity to the effort :P . And there went my blog URL on facebook :-) . Actually, apart from the publicity which I gladly welcome, a major intention was to give my batchmates a peek into the past. Although I write very specifically about my point of view, I am sure a large number of elements would be common to most of us.

Without putting in too much effort, I finished the application the way I had answers yesterday. Seems to be some issues with the assessment though - it never loaded for me! Got to look into that.

By now, most of us have been extremely poverty stricken. In these desperate times, visits to the mess have increased. Including for Sunday dinners! :-( . Guess it's time for one last major funding rescue call to home. And now, after one 'reflective' walk around the campus, it's time to have one look at what to do for all the pending presentations. I have given my laptop to Pachpan and asked him to take it to the library so I can come there and work. In a weird way, I suddenly feel free from all digital shackles. Guess.. on second thought, may be I'll push the project work for tomorrow :P . Will tuck myself into bed now. tada!

PS: I was also the Etrigan topper today ;-)

Day 480:16th Jan, 2011

Wowie - managed to wake up so early on a Sunday that I had breakfast! How awesome is that in term 6 :D . (Though of course, truth be told, I had to finish a psychometric assessment for an application :P)

Now that I was up early, I continued my stint of repeat-watching movies. Started off with Unbreakable today - that's my favourite Shayamalan movie, even more than the popularly accepted The Sixth Sense. Went for running today too. Found it easier to run those two rounds today. Fell down while running though :-| . Didn't get any bruises, but slightly twisted my finger while trying to balance myself. And damn! it hurts in this cold!

When I came back to my room, Pachpan informed me I had been shortlisted for a process tomorrow (GM profile). That was indeed surprising, considering my track record during Summers and the brilliant stuff I pulled out during their psychometric test. But I guess the two things aren't really that connected.

Sunday dinners are usually horrible. Combine that with a little celebratory mood for pizza and that seals the deal. That guy came very late though :-| . Thanks to that though, we got to have pizzas (+ garlic bread + choco lava cake) for 200/- bucks :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 444:5th Dec, 2010 - Lucknow Mahotsav & some Fog!

While I woke up real late yesterday, had to wake up really early today (Sunday!), thanks to the SDM quiz that we had! Indulged in the good takeaway i.e. breakfast. And then got back to my room to resume my siesta. 

Slept right through most of the early morning and noon. Woke up at around 2pm to find TG knocking for my bike's keys. Now, I had come to know that today was the last day of Lucknow Mahotsav, an annual cultural fair than happens here. Couldn't visit that last year, and it would indeed be a shame to not go there in our 2 years of stay. So somehow, alongwith Pachpan convinced him too to join us.

But first, hunger pangs had to be dealt with. So the four of us (Mr. Happiness too) first made our way to Dominos for some of that awesome double cheese burst pizza. And then we rode and rode and rode and rode. And finally reached the Mahotsav place.

But guys, for those of you reading this, you must visit this if you are going to study at IIML for 2 years. The kind of crowd there was at that place was awesome! Super traffic - couldn't find parking space - till literally God came to our rescue and people started parking their bikes inside a temple close by! :D . The fair had that proper feel that you are so often shown in Hindi movies, a kind of place where you could easily get lost (BTW, it did happen amongst us too - twice). There was a big replica of Rumi Darwaza created as an entrance. And so many of those little toys - we bought all of them - the hooter, the horns, the bow and arrow, bubbles and a parachute! :D . It was super duper fun to keep playing with the hooter and try hitting each other :D. Saw the Maut ka kuan game after many years - so risk those guys take! The ferris wheel ride (somehow keeping just the 4 of us instead of the usual 6) was awesome too, mainly because of TG getting scared :-p. Lots of food items too, a tad expensive though, compared to the other items at the fair. There even was a concert by Sonu Nigam - free! And even before he had come, the crowds had gone berserk at the performance of one local singer - and it was at that moment that we got a substantially better idea of what the local Lucknow junta exactly wants ;-) . No wonder that Planet Salsa show used to be such a hit :-P 

The return journey was no less eventful. We took the shortcut route that goes to the airport. And maybe because of all the open space around it, but I saw fog so dense I had never seen before! Or rather never imagined could be! In fact, the fog was so thick, that at so many points, our shadow due to the lights from vehicles behind us, was being formed IN AIR! It was almost as if a wall of fog was in front of us. The visibility was so poor I could hardly see 2-3 metres ahead of me, that too with great difficulty! :D . So basically, summing up, AWESOME bike ride! :D . Need to have a couple more of these! :-p

Day 437:28th Nov, 2010 - Double Mazzaa!

It would be criminal if I diluted today's super divine incident with anything else!

A few months back, I think I somewhat got an idea of how an orgasm would be when I had my first bite of sizzling hot cheese burst pizza from Dominos. Relived that moment today - seems there is a new thing on the market - DOUBLE cheese burst pizza! It has 2 layers of molten cheese, one the usual and another with a slightly sweetish tinge to it. 

Mahhhnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn .. simple AWESOME!! Special thanks to AdiJ and his other half Hansie for insisting on the pizza part. Thanks to Ghate for initiating the outing (and the Richi Rich panipuri). And Chatur and Sud, thanks jlt? :-p

Day 423:14th Nov, 2010 - Power Play

Man o' man... Seems like a Super Sunday! Shattered all previous existing records - woke up at 1.30 in the afternoon! :-o . And that too with a week to go for INDEX :-p

Did fill in the afternoon with a lot of work though. Especially since there was a plan to finally head out for the facchas Summers party; to Barbecue Nation! But the place seriously seems to be jinxed. Just as I was returning from Body-builder's room (strategic location in my prev hostel :-|.. I missed it!), got a call from some people calling me for a "short meeting" at around 6.30pm. The last time such a thing happened, it ran from 11pm to 4pm or so. That never struck my mind at the start. But what followed turned out to be something absolutely unexpected. A discussion that with them ran for 3 hours, and then amongst us through the night. Simply incomprehensible things seem at times. Last thing one would want in the midst of all this activity. Not over yet, lets see how this goes forward tomorrow. Lots of plans and measures in the head - of all ranges and degree.

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?

Day 409: 31st Oct, 2010 - Design Time still \m/

Some more designing. Spent a little time on coming up with the sweatshirt design. Infact spent more time searching for a decent background template! Everyone was insisting on a plain and simple sweatshirt with universal appeal, and that is exactly what they got.

During our Summers process, we don't have classes, but we haven't technically got holidays. And that is ensured by asking all of us to report to the Placement Office and sign against our pics. And to ensure no frauds, we even have a dedicated person to ensure a one-sign-one-person (right person! :P) process.

We see to be going out for dinner every other day. Once again, Brij got the majority vote due to its proximity advantage. The added drive for TG was that it was a Sunday and kadhi would be available. Or so we thought. Unfortunately though, seems like even on a Sunday, you need to be lucky enough to come on time for the coveted kadhi! Interesting dinner time conversation - a new conspiracy theory called Loose Change, which claims that the entire 9/11 episode was orchestrated by the US! Scary thought.

PS: Must mention my stud quotient. At a time when everyone was clothed in multiple layers of clothes, I went on my bike in just one t-shirt. Tuning my mind.. ;-)

Day 402: 24th Oct, 2010

Now although I had had a preliminary glance through quite a bit of the PPTs that had been uploaded, I knew for sure that I wouldn't remember anything if I didn't get a chance to revise it. Also needed to read a few handouts. With this intention, I set myself the target of waking up early. I didn't miss this target by much. However, today was one of those days when I was destined to have a slight stomach upset early in the morning and consequently all my grand plans went haywire. Just saw a little bit of some new theory and ran off to the exam. Paid the price of not going through the stuff once again. Also had a mini sense of deja vu when we got a very similar question as was in the EPA exam. Had a small conversation immediately after the paper, which resulted in an ..appointment of sorts :-P .. which I did not honour, mainly 'coz I wasn't sure where it would lead :D

In the afternoon, meddled around a little bit more with my handset. Have been trying various permutations and combination to find more details, i.e. the circumstances under which it does / does not conk off. And what I have learnt till now is that the phone seems to be working fine in the Offline Mode. In fact, even after the SIM has been inserted, the phone continues to be ON only when it is being used in that mode. 

Even while I was fiddling around with my handset, an urgent plan to watch Jhootha Hi Sahi at 5pm at Wave was hatched at 4.10pm. A really bad and unfortunate moment.. the movie must be amongst the worst I have seen! Pachpan's almost in a mood where he wants to start a blog, exclusively to categorically give the choicest abuses to this movie!

Back to the campus; had dinner in the mess. 2nd consecutive Sunday dinner in the mess! Must be a record of sorts in the 2nd year :-p . Back to my room, I was still trying to explore some new tests for my handset when randomly Vanki and Kisaan made me go all the way to 3.4, just for their "celebration"! It has started to turn really chilly outside, need to keep my pair of gloves ready at all times.

A proper "genuine" post this one ;-) . After quite some time I believe! Somehow managed to finish this post..  in between juggling with shayari-jugalbandi with Kisaan :-p . Going to get some early sleep. At 01:00 hours, bon nuit!

Day 395: 17th Oct, 2010 - Last mid-sems! :D

Woke up pretty late today. Late considering the fact that I did sleep comparatively early yesterday :-p , and early considering it's a SUNDAY! Breakfast of course was a distant dream. Settled for an early lunch at Fauzi. 

The afternoon was any other lazy one :D . Was listening to songs. Made a playlist after a long time.

Well, finally, something tangible indicating that we are inching towards the end of our course... From tomorrow, our mid-sems start. And this will be the last mid-sem here. Writing this sentence suddenly put me in a little bit of a flashback, my feelings about my first mid-sem here. Not that I was a super stud or anything, but for sure I definitely wasn't tensed even then (not even for the dreaded MANAC!). But I do remember putting in (a lot?) more effort :D . Including night-outs in the library! And not just me; the whole gang comprising also of Dhamdhere (teaching LAM to Mommy :-| ..), Vats et all. Memorable days for sure! And compare that to today, when we (Pachpan, Chatur & me) wrapped up studying for CBM in all of 2-3 hours :D . Smart work! :-p

By the time we finished, it became pretty late and nothing was available in the mess. So Pachpan and me went to Richi Rich. It was super crowded. So we had a pani puri while we waited outside :D . But still no vacancy. So we went to Zaffran. Sat there for 5 minutes, and then the waited told us they would take at least 15-20 minutes to serve any order! :-S . Back to Richi Rich! Luckily, we got a seat without any more to-and-fro trips. In retrospect, all I am wondering is - with infinite time ahead of us, why really were we being impatient? :-|

We had called for a small session with the Ops team. Although it was to be driven by the juniors in my team, I just went to see how it goes. Mostly just a nominal presence to boost their confidence :-) . All I did was narrate a couple of incidents from last year and ensure the team realises it's a happening place to be :D. Similar to what my senior did last year :-p

Day 388: 10th Oct, 2010

As core members of INDEX - the market research committee on campus, our endeavour is to constantly improve the quality and relevance of research and final deliverables that the student teams come up with. To this end, we arranged an interactive session on Market Research by Mr. Rajesh Nair (ex-Director at A C Nielsen and soon to move to BCG as an Expert Consultant). He has previously associated with INDEX as the judge. He gave extremely insightful comments on how to adopt an approach which would be relevant in the industry and would best serve to deliver actionables to address the business objectives of the client.

Post the meeting, we headed off to Chanakya for lunch. It turns out to be my first go at a "formal dinner". Must say, I need to improve on the "small-talk" front :D

Came back and absolutely crashed into my bed. Perhaps it was because of waking up so early, perhaps it was because of the better quality food, I don't know; but, I slept like a dead man for the next 3 hours. Nothing much after that. Just heard a few songs, surfed the net. Such a boring day in fact, that I even had dinner in the mess - Been ages since that happened on a Sunday!

And expectedly, not too sleepy now! Have just been randomly browsing the net. I read that the Nobel Prize had been awarded to the guy who developed the IVF treatment. Tragically, I also came to know the guy who performed the first IVF in India (2nd in the world), committed suicide 3 years after the operation because of the opposition he suffered due to the then social mindset... Really sad. Read a few more random articles about any damn thing under the sun. Even relived a little bit of the random MSN chats that I used to have in engineering. And now it's 4.30 am :-) . I guess now I somehow must tuck myself into my bed, to ensure I wake up for the 8.45 am lecture tomorrow! Bon nuit!

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 367: 19th Sep, 2010

And of course, today was a Sunday, which meant even more free time. I even woke up a little too soon (10.30 am! :-P). It is getting even more difficult to while time away. I saw Toy Story 2 & 3 . Very nice series :D . Went swimming in the evening later on. Good fun, more importantly, good tp :D

Another thing - It's suddenly raining marriages! Even as we came back to campus after this term, I got the news about a few more marriages-to-be. And then, just yesterday a school friend called to tell me he is getting hitched (officially :-p). One of the protagonists of this entire episode is our dashing hero Shomu Da. With him, we made a deal, which incorporates a certain budget for party, and instead of blowing it all up in one shot, we'll go out on multiple weekends :D . Today was the 1st of those, and we went to Pizza Port. Had pizzas after a long time! :D . Followed that up with a Sizzling Brownie and Chocolate Fantasy at CCD :-) 

It was raining when we came out of CCD. So we took refuge under a roadside roof. That is when India's great dichotomy greeted us. Two small kids (12 years & 8 years respectively) selling Balloons. They made around 100-120 rupees amongst them combined. Dad worked as a cycle rickshaw driver and mom as a domestic help. Man, life is so tough for some people...

But somehow, such feelings are always sublime. We were totally drenched on our return journey and these troublesome thoughts had left my mind even before I had changed my clothes...

A small unplugged singing session at Kisaan's room. Came back and started watching episode 2 of the Harvard Justice series. But pretty tired and sleepy now. Will finish the rest tomorrow. Good night :)

PS: Blog now available at http://iimhell-2009-2011.blogspot.com/

Day 353: 29th Aug, 2010

Absolutely lost track of Sundays! Just by coincidence, I didn't have any exam today (again! :P). Luckily the day felt a lot more free :D. Made good use of it by finishing of season5 of HIMYM. And no - we still don't know who the mother is :-S

Can't remember the last time we had dinner in the mess on a Sunday. As I have ranted before, it's mainly because of the mess conspiracy to encourage people to dine outside sometimes (that we do it often is a different thing :P). But this Sunday was different. Almost all of us are bankrupt. Kisaan decided to stretch his credit and we (+ Chatur) had dinner at Fauzi - the usual tried, tested and safe fare :D

Day 339: 15th Aug, 2010

First things first,

Wish you all a very Happy Independence Day! :)

Managed to wake up well in time today to attend the flag hoisting ceremony. In fact, even managed to squeeze in my breakfast before the 9am event! :D . Pretty ironical, considering I miss my breakfast on most weekdays even though I have morning classes; but managed to have it on a Sunday.

The event was immediately followed by another irony, as 60 students (including yours truly) lost their freedom to a project submission. One of our group members took ill, so we had to patch up his part too. The even more difficult part was in finding somebody who had an active print account (most 2nd year students had exhausted their balance!). Then, as expected, caught a facchi who was kind enough to consent to an expense of 23 Rs. (yes, this is exactly why 2nd years don't have any balance - they get looted off by "smarter" classmates and "lesson-learnt" seniors).

As soon as I came back to my room, I somehow slipped into a nice loooong siesta. Remained dazed even as I went to have my dinner and stuff. That's the side-effect of a long sleep - keeps you in a stupor.

The only time I managed to come out of it was when we suddenly put some thought on getting our conB work done. Went to the night mess, from there to the CC. One useful tip: it pays to have a multi billionaire in your group ;-) . Thanks to the great Vanki, we took 160 printouts - 40 copies of a questionnaire, 4 pages each. Half the job done. The other half - getting them filled! ;-)

Anyways, that's for tomorrow. Getting back to my tryst with the Sleep Goddess for now. Can't even afford to miss Retail lecs anymore!

And yes... Jai Hind! :)

Day 312: 18th Jul, 2010

I think I am getting incredibly large number of holidays :D . What else can explain this blissful existence of sleeping till 10am, having a leisurely bath and lunch, making plans for TWO other movies in the afternoon which eventually get cancelled because you dozed off for an afternoon siesta? Exams seriously are the most chill times on campus!

Didn't want to have dinner in the mess, especially as the menu for Sunday dinner is usually quite boring. Suddenly  remembered to go to this place called PizzaPort. Decent choice - nice pizza, VFM. The garlic bread was no match to Domino's though.

Must make a note of the weather too. Been raining all day today. It's even kinda cold! Great atmosphere!

Day 305: 11th Jul, 2010

Almost as if God reads my blogs :) . I slept off ranting about the heat. And what do I know - it rained heavily at dawn, and I woke up to a really cool and pleasant morning :D

Nice lazy Sunday otherwise. Had a late breakfast, late bath, late lunch :D . Pretty interesting lunch convo with Vanki and Pachpan - a complete discussion on Vanki's "choice" of "Indian" movies, with one final conclusion - Vanki cannot understand the Indian Consumer's Behaviour :D . The guy didn't like Koi Mil Gaya. We were going to put him through the acid test - Jab We Met .. :D . But unfortunately, he hadn't seen that movie!

Started watching LOTR - part 1. Got interrupted midway over the Retail marketing project. Spent a good 3 hours over it. Interrupted by yet another plan to go to Brij ki Rasoi. The jinx continued - this time, the plan was shelved even before it took off :-p . After another little struggle for the project, I came back and finished the movie. And I was disappointed!! The movie, even with a running time of 3 and a half hours, did NOT finish! :-O There is a clear continuation and dependence on Part 2 to take the next logical step forward. Pretty silly, ain't it?

Now am back to my room after watching the Footie final at Samanjasya. Pretty tough match!! Though I personally would prefer one with a lot more goals :P . Anyways, congrats to Spain and well-played to the Dutch. Though they won't be remembered much. Aakhir, jo jeeta ..wohi sikandar!

Day 291: 27th Jun, 2010

Had a massive 3 hour guest session on a Sunday. The GM of Fortis (also happens to be an alum) had come down to give a talk on Strategy. I liked the part on how he switched roles between playing the corporate professional, the concerned alum and the faculty who wants his students to engage.

The overtures were delayed by around 90 minutes. Lots of electricity fluctuation issues today and the AC in Samanjasya wasn't working. Was nice to see the team in the INDEX Core t-shirts :) . Shankar and Shruti gave the overtures.

Postponed our Barbeque plans as Barood (CEO, Quetzal - the startup where I interned) was on campus. He has come down to take a guest session on New Venture Planning. We (Shetty, Cheeta and myself) + Harlee had dinner with him. Barood as usual had his another set of interesting experiences to narrate to us.

Came back and had an absolutely random discussion with Pachpan and Kisaan. It seriously started from somewhere and went off absolutely somewhere else :D . And that too for a good 1.5 to 2 hours! 

Day 277: 13th Jun, 2010

One of my aims on campus was that in these 2 years, I wanted to train myself for a marathon. Right now, only my nose seems to have taken it seriously :-p .. Really irritated by this running nose! It is also delaying my Umang (gym+swimming) plans! (NOT an excuse)

Apart from that, it was a pretty chill Sunday. In fact didn't really feel very Sunday-ish as the other days have also been really light :-p

Had a HUGE sandstorm late night-ish. Room's full sand covered now :-| . Super winds blowing. Doors banging wildly all over - of course then people had the good sense to latch it. In fact, the winds were such that I had to apply some might and push to get the door open! ..Weather's pleasant though! :)

Day 260: 21st Mar, 2010

A Sunday - and one with 2 classes of ADA! :( . Though I shouldn't really be complaining because I (and most of us) never attended the morning ADA lecture, thanks to the great gamble yesterday.

Lunch in the mess were interspersed with discussions about the hot topic - who got which course? It's funny how we keep discussing things that we know cannot be changed.

Resumed the 11.00pm meets. Kisaan brought up "one little thing" to discuss in between and we ended up spending more than two hours arguing about it!