Day 529:6th Mar, 2011 - The mandatory trip!

And this is when the time comes when all PGP2s realise their next 2 week vacation is a long time away! At the same time, there comes this mixed feeling that you won't meet with a lot of your friends who would go on other trips. With this in mind, I didn't wake up too late. Made the most of my time by finishing up with some basic packing (including washing some clothes to accommodate the long trip). Met up with some friends, finished some formalities regarding my parents' stay etc.

And now, it's time to meet another friend or so, before I leave for a 2 week long Sikkim trip with my section B mates! Adios, will be back, one last time... :-)

Day 528:5th Mar, 2011 - Last Insti Party

In keeping with the inverted nights and days, was to wake up pretty late once again. Really useful in times when there is nothing to do. But on the other hand, had a sudden plan for a buffet lunch at Mainland China with my Bombay cartel, Mr. JD, Sardesai and Mr. Just Tea. Good food, good fun. Spent the afternoon getting stuff packed and sent. Almost all my books and quite a lot of other random stuff have been sent back home. My room looks a lot more empty and sparse now. Guess these are all those mini signs and milestones to prepare you for the one last goodbye...

After this, it was only about waiting for the last insti party that the we shall officially celebrate as a PGP batch. Due to the newly introduced 'no drinks' rule, the party (mess 1st floor) was pretty dull in the beginning. But then, MBAs are resourceful and most people made some of their own "arrangements" and then entered the party ;-) . The party took off well then. And it was yet another night of some mad men and ladies head-banging and jumping and moving around under the pretext of dancing :D . As usual, was there right till the end, belting out song after song even after the music had stopped. And even beyond that, with an endless playlist and enthusiastic band members (Nappy Singh, Budhi, Rawat, Kisaan, Pachpan, Chatur) at Just Tea.

However, the fact that it was the last party made it different for PGP2s... One could feel it in the air. Too many hugs thrown around. A few people even breaking down... But everyone with only one common wish - that of freezing the moment forever..

Day 527:4th Mar, 2011 - 'The Dhol' & INDEX Farewell!

So as so often and so easily, once again the Circadian cycle seems to have been inverted. Woke up pretty late and very hungry. However, was in no mood for lunch at the mess and all the 'other' places seemed "too usual and boring". That is when we decided to do the bike ride, all the way to the much acclaimed Break Point dhaba. And the long ride (with innumerable stops for directions) turned out to be worth it.

Got back and spent around an hour chatting with Chatur. In the evening, we had plans to go to Genesis for our INDEX farewell. But then, word got around about The Return of the Dhol! To celebrate the placement of the entire batch before the end of the placement week, the legendary dhol accompanied by some really wild dancing was organised. No way we could miss this one. One of my best times as PGP2 was that enthusiastic hour of energy in the mess, with so many of us dancing in the water thrown by the people of the mess, tearing each others' shirts off and gyrating our topless bodies :D

(Uploading the part before the shirt tearing spree started :-p)

And then - back to my INDEX farewell! Just my statement that the farewell beat even the Dhol must be enough to describe it. Since we couldn't go to Genesis, we had our own little setup in the common room of H11-H12. Some awesome home-made DJing by Kisaan, some great food from Aryans and unhindered dancing and masti by a group of very very very close individuals = AWESOMENESS! One of my best nights ever, right from the celebrations to the (extremely fantastic and well though out) gifts given by our juniors to Tila. Ending our journey at the exact same spot where we started :-)

Day 526:3rd Mar, 2011

Woke up late and lazy today. This time, it wasn't just about not having anything to do for the day, but not having anything to do regards my MBA! Had a small celebration with lunch at Aryans followed by a visit to CCD. Man, this will be missed.

Had to finish some of my 'No Dues' formalities, and spent all the afternoon covering all the different departments, going to offices in basements which I didn't know existed :-p . Sat around gossiping at Fauzi for the rest of the evening.

Since we didn't have too many days left with us (all of us PGP2 INDEXians had trip plans), we decided to give our finals treat to junior core today itself. The final treat had to be grand, and what grander than Taj! :-) . Went there for the buffet dinner; had to use a little coaxing a persuasion, but we did manage to get a nice big table for ourselves. Had an awesome awesome time, special thanks to Makwana. :D :D . "There is always a goalkeeper, but we will still score" ROFL! :D . An awesome bike ride later on the empty night streets of Lucknow, got back to the INDEX room - for M.A.F.I.A.! Was a plan long pending, and it finally happened. Super fun - even Madman didn't sleep :-P

And just like it has happened for so many other days, this day too has been made special with some a light shower from the skies above :-) Wonderful! :-)

Day 525:2nd Mar, 2011 - Pappu place ho gaya!

Had to reach early since I had one early morning quiz for a trading profile. Really nice quiz - only some quick calculations to do :-p . Not too surprising that I got shortlisted to the next round.

Had a nice breakfast after that; and it was only then that I came to know that it was Maha Shivratri today. My annual fasting event :-) . Didn't want a short-term thing like placements come in my way, and hence I decided to hold my fast anyways. 

Quite a few processes then to keep me busy for the day. For the first time, I experienced being dragged out of one process to attend further rounds of another particular process, indicating an interest in me - feels good :-p . Also had a very interesting GD round of a South based leading telecom player - we argued (sensibly!) for a good 15 minutes on a topic which NONE of us were sure what really meant :D . Truly, I think that marked the end of our MBA journey :-p

By late night, I came to know I had an offer from that fin firm for the next best position than the one in which I was more interested (in which unfortunately they had frozen recruitments). A tick against the last item pending on the MBA list :-) 

At 2am, was celebrating at Fauzi with the INDEX gang (me only with a cup of tea) when I came to know I also had received an offer for the trading role I had tried for in the morning. (The subsequent interview just had one puzzle and some basic questions - was pretty short for me). Never expected to face a problem of plenty in this context. Some thinking and greed-based analysis later, I opted for the trading one. Don't know how positive the final payoffs will be, but it's now time to take some risks ;-)

Day 524:1st Mar, 2011 - Udhaar khatam

Had quite a few shortlists today. Found the interviews to be quite entertaining ;-) Increased my knowledge base during interviews ;-) . Surprisingly, all but one of the shortlists were from fin. And in the one mark shortlist I had, a few GD crashers did the usual :-S

You get this feeling of tending to move towards being an outcast soon, when you visit the vendors on campus. Credit accounts for PGP2s have now been frozen. Was super hungry towards the end of the day, and realised I was short on cash. Luckily, had just about enough somewhere in my bag for a paratha and a pack of peanuts.

Anyways, new day tomorrow :-) . Cya on the other side.

Day 523:28th Feb, 2011

The much awaited placement week begins. There has been a lot of apprehension and speculation on how things will pan out. Have waited a long time at the edge of the cliff, contemplating whether we shall be able to fly. Time to jump.

Of course, was a pretty chill day for me. And like it was the Rocky series in my summers, this time, it was all Heroes. Some interesting stories did come out though, as well as some interesting results. Right from one guy who had the balls to reject the top 2 offers on campus to the guy whose risk worked out very well in his favour to Pachpan's awesome case-study topic :D . But one thing, really ruthless the way these companies operate.. :-\