Random Musings

Moving to Wordpress..

2008-03-14T01:25:00.000-07:00

Yo, this blog is being evicted from blogger.com for reasons that I best keep secret..Its new home will be at :

http://thetemplartalks.wordpress.com/

Cya there!

Raghav

Well anyway, why did I shift to wordpress? It offered easier widget based blogging and much better templates..but wordpress has limited customization so blogger>WP there. Also I finally managed to put in a lot of nifty feefbuner tools like RSS, Flickr etc.. Im gonna try to be more up to date with my blog now..or should I call it wordpress now :)

Same time Same Blog

2008-02-28T07:08:00.000-08:00

Time: Right after I saw something

Date: February 28, 2008

Place: On my beanbag watching Phantom on HBO

Hey hey hey..whats going on people? Yea I know long time since I updated this so called blog. I actually wrote a blog right after placements and #$^&**(&*^^%^%&*^*&*..that little gibberish was the people I openly made fun off..I guess fate says that I shouldn’t be so mean towards them. More on that later...¹

Right now some highlights of the past 2 months or so.. REWIND

Date: Jan 5^th 2008 – Placement Week (Day -2)

So lets get you good folks up to speed. Placements was good, lucky for me I got out early and into a good FMCG company. No it aint HUL, it’s the other one ;) More than enough for lil ol’me.

A lot of drama grips students, plenty of rumours abuzz (quite imaginative and caustic, generally fuelled by green eyed losers who couldn’t make the [fine smooth] cut and got nothing but smoke and burns ) . GPA’s did not matter too much, I don’t think at all, as I had a below average and nobody did not care.. Eat your heart out 4+ ers, ;) Hey..dont feel all that bummed when you want to do that MS in US…your going to be 1^st in line ;)

Date: February 1^st 2008 – Goa Trip

It is the path every man has to go through before he heads into the real world. Take a trip outside your hunting zone with 5 brave warriors and leach at ladies In clothes they forgot to wear outside their cave. In other words go to Baga beach and soak up the sun, sand and surf..can I get more cliché ;) From the beaches to the bars to the brokers (don’t as what they were selling ;) to handling the most ridiculous conflicts amongst us on where to take pictures/eat/sleep, the exodus was a true eye opener..

Date: February 5^th to 20^th 2008 – Launching Careers

As you must be aware, man needs to earn some bread to finance his little exodus’s of life..So thanks to a personal contact I enrolled to help out with conducting Group Discussions and Personal Interviews at a reputed MBA coaching center. I was considering the same to be a career choice of mine but it was fate that I did/did not get in the time frame. Anyways, I had a great time here seeing starry eyed kids who reminded me of me couple of years ago, the hopes, dreams and fears they had were akin to mine..I realized that I am not such an idiot..do have some skills and managed to helped them as much as I could… and made quite a loot along the way J

¹Presently..

Am chilling out at home...enjoying a well earned rest..and then something propelled me to write this blog..and oh did I forget that we ran into a quite a few ‘fruity’ people in goa..hmm..how can I be politically correct and explain myself..whats that word..very..’happy’ people..got that now I hope ;) You know Im not generally against them..I know a couple of them myself..some are actually helpful inspite of the animosity we share..so I’d like to make my peace with him..as for the other..what can I say..even time is against you..watch your back..I just hope you don’t get your hands broken.

The crazy world of B Shool Con-Tests!

2007-10-17T11:49:00.001-07:00

‘Your e-mail has been sent’
Nothing really significant about the message displayed above that we all see flash after we send our everyday mundane mails to every corner of the globe. But It is when it is when the mail you have just sent is to an institute that has organized a paper presentation or a case analysis contest.
It seems to be the current rage amongst the entire B-School fraternity, at least here in SCMHRD. Everyone whose anyone seems to have an acquired a PhD for Paper Dissertations or a Joseph Stiglitz for Case Studies. As usual Its up to be to see why and what motivates my fellow mates to engage in such behavior:

Hmm..as usual money motivates us mortals to a large extent. Its funny here to see the behavior exhibited in this rather competitive time period. A simple example is formation of teams. Do I take my roomie/best friend/girl friend/the intelligent guy/the hot chick… Each of them possesses their own unique set of pros/cons which are quite obvious. It again depends on your objective mentioned in the pie chart. If you want to win= intelligent guy. If you want knowledge= do it with best friend/roomie & for time pass= hot chick. The trick here is to find a hot chick who is intelligent and is fun to work with. They are a dying breed but exist.

Another thing is its better to have people from different specializations a.k.a possess complimentary skills to those that you possess(if any). Typically for a 2 member team you want a Mark+Fin and for a 3 member throw in an operations guys. And there HAS to be someone who is good in creating flashy presentations in PowerPoint as that is quite an art itself. And I have realized that its better to have 3 not so intelligent Hardworking guys rather than 1 smart guy and 2 lazy bums in a team. The former will always deliver better results. Also, a lot of luck is involved. Lets face it, its judged by blokes who were just like you and me.
Its practically raining contests here in the IIIrd semester. Every B school worth its AICTE certification(seems that organizing fests is a criterion to get a certification!). Typically these are what is offered on the platter:

1) B-Plans: Standard Boiler Plate. I avoid them as its too detailed, cant plagiarize and requires too much originality. I leave this to the Gujjus & the really smart guys who have been dreaming of business plans since they could read. Eg: IIT-B Ecell’s Eureka. My Current Score : 0/1

2) Finance Valuation Cases: Grimace and move on. This is purely number crunching and finance concepts tested to the core. My roommate who is amongst the top 1% in finance concepts would go for stuff like this and I watch from behind. If you’re a marketing guy don’t even think you can faff your way as this is just a no for that kind of thing. Pure Concepts only. Eg: The Deal by JPMC. My Current Score: N.A

3) Paper Presentations(All Specs): This is the bread & butter that even you and me can do. Topics range from outsourcing to brazil to Balancing Scorecards. Doesn’t require too much domain knowledge. Just smart googling and referring HBR’s. This has maximum attempt rates across students as its all over the net, you just have to put it down right with correct flow. My Current Score 0/2

4) Marketing Case Studies: Now this is where the action lies. Carries higher status and prize money(rightly) . Typically involves a fictional company which has to get out of a rut or wants to do make millions overnight and decided that we are the messiahs who can save them. They are quite fun & challenging and makes you apply what little you have learnt practically which is quite satisfying. Fierce competition though and you can expect the best of brains here. Helps to have a finance guy on board or atleast consult and repair the absurd financials you have projected. I will never forget the look on my fin-guru-roomie’s face when I showed him my cash flows for a case. He doubted if I could even put on my pants correctly every morning after that. My Current Score 0/3

5) Online games: Fun, for the no so serious, involves quizzes or puzzles and fast googling again within a time limit. Very slim chances as there are people who specialize in these and have like a small cabal of people who wait for the games like a rocket countdown working on 5 computers at a time. Quite a sight. My Current Score 0/3.

6) Culturals: Meant for those who are ‘alternatively talented’ or hate any form of academic activity. Involved dancing,debating,dumb charades & singing. We have a quite of few of them right here. Only downside/upside is going to the host’s campus is mandatory, a nice way to see another B School but considerable monetary expenditure involved. My Current Score : N.A
As you might have inferred from the above post, so far my brilliant insights haven’t impressed the jury. I would like to blame the govt on this but I don’t think that’s fair. My CV for this semester will continue to ride off my cough past glory cough. And its not like I’ve got a PPO from my beloved summer company that’s really helping matters.
My pal told me although I’ve struck nothing but ground zero the last million times, I shouldn’t give up trying as the next one could just be it. But it seems like all of ‘em are independent events..aren’t they?

Well..at the end of it, it’s the guys who win these who are the real dudes of the campus and have managed to really learn and apply it. Of course they are not guaranteed a CEO post and those who don’t make the cut will not end up employed serving food in the college mess..

Wonder if yellow & black looks good on me.

Financial Statement Analysis of a B-School Student..

2007-09-25T13:55:00.001-07:00

I’ve been running short of cash lately and I realize that to maintain my current lifestyle I need to make some hard cash fast. I realized from my Financial Management class there is a very simple rule:

Cash Inflow - Cash Outflows= Net Cash Position

So basically to have a big R.H.S, I need to increase my inflows or reduce my outflows. Let’s look at each of them shall we?

CASH INFLOWS

1) The SBI ATM: This is my two month summers’ salary from Amex but let’s face facts this ain’t gonna last forever. And every walk to the atm & withdrawal from it makes me feel guilty; the watchman looks at me like I am a heist man. This added to the fact that I think after my new Sony Ericsson K510i and my ahem entertainment expenses in Delhi during summers has brought this figure down by half. Don’t ask me what the original was.

2) B-School Contests: Yea..I decided to try my hand at these..From paper presentations to Case Analysis…it seems either all of ‘em know that I plagiarize or I have the mental faculty of a escaped lunatic from Alcatraz or I’m a escaped lunatic from Alcatraz who plagiarizes. Added to the fact that I am financially challenged (in both ways, I claim to be a marketing major) so my focus point is quite narrow. And the completion in this acclaimed segment is as populous as the number of CAT aspirants. Ah well, I’m sure the ‘winners’ of these papers will be no match for me when it comes to the real thing. Yes. I’m sure. (Note to Raghav-Keep telling yourself that every night.)

3) Quizzes: My so called ‘core-competency’ (hey, I do know some stuff in marketing!) has given me the bum ride this semester. My only consolation (I call it sadistic plot of God) is that I end up as the ‘team that just missed qualification/ or the guys who tied last but couldn’t get the starred question’. I just have to settle for being the smartest guy in the audience and win prizes there. Either my reading is not up to the mark or people have become more well aware of what the hell’s going on around town.

4) Contests & Scams on the Net: Once in a while I always come across a story of how you can make 1000 $ a day with no skill required just 1 hour a day. Seems tailor made for a guy like me but they never seem to work. I shamefull admit the fact I signed up for a site that makes u click like about 30 ads a day and you get like 2 rs in return. I stopped after a week. Im expecting my cheque for..a cool 7 bucks(less taxes/membership/manual costs) in about 500 million years.

5) Stock Markets: Im still trying to break even from the 10 G’s my Dad gave me in my own sharekhan.com account. It seems that I have a knack for picking those stocks that either the CEO kills himself , the promoters run off or the industry which the company operates on is no longer in existence. (For a copy of my winning portfolio, drop me a line at Raghav_r24@rediffmail.com). And even with the spare cash I have there are 10,00 brokers here who have 1291032*e^2344 HOT stock tips. I realized that there is a formulae that accurately captures winning in markets

Money in Markets= Capital over 10,000 * Reliable Sources for information* Patience to wait atleast year * Shares Allocated in good IPO’s * Having a demat account* having a demat account which you know the password for* knowledge on executing a transaction.

I HEREBY DECLARE I HAVE NONE OF THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS.

There are some sources of funds that shall remain unlisted for personal reasons lest the parties who are involved are aware of such incidents occurring. Let’s just say that It seems to be the last resort.

CASH OUTFLOWS

1) Food: The biggest expenditure for me by far. It’s just that the mess food here that is served is quite frankly, a mess. I hoped I’m not sued for libel or slandering. I guess I will use the fact that the last 21 years of having delicious home cooked food has set my standards sky high with a very low standard deviation of being a connoisseur of this God-Awful cuisine. I am the largest benefactor of Sweety Stores(the local retail food guy on campus) in terms of his ‘bun-donuts’ product line. I think the CEO of that company is cancelling his IPO because I’m giving that SOB all the capital he needs to raise from the primary markets. (For those who want to become millionaires, contact me I’ll tell u the name of the company, invest now and by the time u retire your old ass them shares will be worth 10x the current mkt price)

2) Dating: Well, I can’t write too much here, for obvious reasons If I want to continue. I’ve been lucky, as it revolves around the concept related to the Netherlands. If u did not get that (Im not surprised, it rhymes with a telecom company that is no longer what it was known as) But let me tell you one thing- Pune and its merry hang-abouts don’t come cheap.

3) Treats: This unholy event occurs with a certain sporadic ir-regularity. Its not like I have achieved feats of greatness [One I have, and a treat is due =, guys u’ll get it @ the end of this year I promise ;) ] We here just need a reason to make the other guy take us out to dinner. It can range from as important as passing in a backlog paper, attending class on time, accidently bumping into a hot chick on campus or putting on the right pair of socks to stuff like staying home for 2 months for one’s internship. This if your lucky can be postponed but birthdays and personal accidents , you’d wish you’d never had those.

4) Twilight Zone Treats: Hmm..how do I put this..lets say you had a fixed agenda of going on to dinner with some people in your mind. Now you accidently see that more people invite themselves or run into them or meet them at your destination which compounds things and upsets your pre –established frame of reference. This becomes all the more worse if the parties are cannibals and guzzlers and you are told that the order of the day is well..the doubled edged sword of the Netherlanders.

5) Laundry: Seems to be an essential function that cannot be compromised on. The irony is that I think I do a better job cleaning that the dude on campus. Am waiting for him to lose a pair of pants so I can get credit for atleast 700 bucks that takes care of this expense for the rest of the year. (Some guy in my campus pulled this stunt and the pants were worth as much as a politicians promise)

6) Contributions for Social Events: Includes contribution for Freshers, Jobbers, Losers..some goddamn event or the other where appointed agents will knock your door down till they get the cash payment. I recommend they join ICICI’s loan recovery cell. I don’t deny I too have fun but such a large capital expenditure for 1 night seems quite pointless. I DON’T want a loser DJ, I DON’T care for carbonated drinks and what I DO CARE about is atleast good dessert, not some vanilla crap with raisins in them. Hurts my taste buds and my wallet.

7) Fines, fines and fines: Ranging from 5 for an overdue library book to 500 for a missed guest lecture..I protest both the counts, the 1st I should be exempted from as honestly one of the most active proponents of reading and the 2nd as I really don’t give a damn on who comes. And if you honestly think that you’re worth 500 a student who missed a seat on your hall, you are in the wrong business. Join the pony tail management guy in his scam.

As can been seen, there seems to be more outflows than inflows by far. And my NPV of my Net cash position I negative. And I realize that my income is fixed. I will continue to siphon money from my parents and never win any contest. It seems the pain areas to work on are my outflows..Now let me see which area can I reduce on..hmm..(draws a blank..) . Say…do people really make money off their blogs..? Nah..I ain’t even that funny and I’m grammatically challenged.

Video Games=Best Friend of Childhood

2007-08-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

I first got into the fantasy land of video games when I saw my friend in the 3rd talk about the awesome fun they had playing it.…I pestered my Dad to get one and lo behold I got a Whiz Kid 8 bit game console. Here I highlight the games that made me the man I am today.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles[TMNT]

Essentially a PvP (Player Vs Player) game. Had the regular 4 turtles with Casey, the dragon guy and of course Shredder. I still remember we four guys(DInesh, Bony, Sumedh and Me) would form teams in TMNT and play for like 4 hours non stop. Poor guys did not have a chance when I took Don-a-tello..(hold down for 2 secs, Up+Turbo kick)=Fly through the air and send you to hell. You would never see a turtle move so damn fast! And with the baddie Shredder, Fwd+down+low Punch= sonic booms. I could have them every second 20 times straight. Good times. Yes Dinesh, I beat your butt every time ;)

CONTRA

Then came Contra. This was the ultimate symbol of adolescent machoness. You had two shirtless, gun toting, 6 Pac guys who had to fight through jungles, snowfall, waterfall, caves etc to save the world from alien invasion. No dumb chicks no damn lame-ass storyline. Just kick ass. The best part were the powerups. You had laser, Spread, Rapid for each occasion. And one of the best musical scores ever.

Street Fighter

One of the all time best arcade games. Over 20 players from different countries fighting. Ryu-Japan, Guile-USA, M.Bison-Russia, Dhalsim-India and 1 dude from brazil(I remember he could electrocute himself or something..nice hairdo too lol). Ever popular as it laid the path of fighting games for ages to come. Each character had his/her own set of cool moves and nuances. My pick of the lot would be : Vega-Spanish guy from style factor and Bison- For pure ass kicking and Ryu- Godly Uppercuts, Chun Li- To Gawk at.

Super Mario Bros

Yes, yes I know. It has to be there like any self respecting game Tv show would expect. I admit I had a hell of a lot of fun playing this. The best part would be the variants of the game, there was a co-operative 2 player one where me and my neighbour friend archana would play the game for like 8 hours straight (it really was that long a game!). Also the nifty tricks of discovering where the secret 1 up and warp zones made this an evergreen game.

Baseball

The only connection to me and sports would be- as you can guess by now in video games. Baseball was #16 on my 64-in-1 game cartridge and was hella addictive. I actually learned a lot about the sport and why Americans are so lame, all thanks to this game. I never could figure out thought how I hit them home runs..Every damn team looked the same to me-just differently coded (A,B,C,D..). I always had a sneaky feeling that the D team had the biggest bats and hence=more home runs.

More than the game itself it was the level of enthusiasm and excitement amongst my fellow peers that really made the memories worth it *sniff sniff*. Gimme a console now and wild horses cant drag me away..now I will get back to my sad life of MBA.

My vision is to put a Whiz Kid Video Game console on every childs home. I call it Vision 3424 Z.D.

Happy Independence Day !

2007-08-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

This is not just to all the Indians out there (specifically to our Pakistani brothers), but to anyone who really understands what it means to be free. Today, officially we have been free for 60 years. Wow. My dad would force me to get my ass out of bed and take a look at the parade in some channel called DD-1. I would think what a waste of time it was parades and all. What a humbug it was! Back in school I would feverishly look at the calendar a week back and hope that August 15 did not fall on a weekend (Invariably 70% of the times I would groan as I saw where it landed).

We seem to take a lot of things for granted in our lives. From our family, friends and loved ones and even our independence. I saw ET’s run up to ’60 years India’ editions and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I can recall when India turned 50 years free, my house, my family and the nation, everything was so great to see. I can still recall A.R. Rahman’s “Ma Tuje Salam” song and the riveting video, the shot of the 2 year old tribal girl on the sand with an Indian Flag in her palm. I cant believe it has been 10 years since that happened. I was just what..23-10= 13 years then. I can’t believe that 10 years has passed but I can still recall those good old days like it was yesterday. We have certainly come a long way after that now..

Be proud to be an Indian. We might have taken a long time to get to where we are now and still have to tread quite a distance to where we want to go. Its never a better time to live in this great country. People look up to us and wait for the next big thing to come from here. As Clinton said ‘India has changed from the worlds #1 worry to the worlds #1 marvel’. Even my roomie has got a nice pair of the Indian Tri Colour Flag on his table

I will still know more about the US economy, follow the US presidential debates on Youtuebe.com , wear US stuff my sister has sent me, read American Fiction. But it has never felt so good to be an Indian.

Oh..and I just found out that tomorrow we got to be there for the flag hoisting ceremony at 8:15 am…or get a fine slapped for 500 big ones..am I really free?!

Show me the money.

2007-07-15T02:29:00.000-07:00

Money. One can never have enough of this damn thing. It is the focal point around which most of our lives revolve. The poor crave for it, the middle layer complain about it and the top are never satisfied with it. It seems quite drole that we don’t want to openly talk about it as it considered to be as taboo a topic as sex or Net connectivity (cough cough).

An interesting article I read mentioned how in an MNC workplace where bonuses are offered, a person would rather get a 10,000 $ more than his peers (thereby accepting an overall lower compensation) rather than all of them getting an equal higher pay cheque. I would rather be in the 2nd category and quietly pocket the extra proceeds and pat myself on the back for the good job done. I guess its more of an ego issue and ‘oh look at me and my l-e-e-t bonus’ guys who would make #1. I guess as you go up the chain you will bump into #1 blokes. Welcome to 1835 some might say , but every time I read about stuff like this , it boggles the mind.

Ok, so some might say money can’t buy happiness. I’ll go along with that for now. But what’s happiness is another big issue that can be debated. For some people its love, Friendship, commitment and well LMV. For me its money. Period. McDonalds has gone so far as to employ a CHO (Chief Happiness Offer) to see that things are smooth in burger land! I would like to blame (conveniently) James Hadley Chase novels for my outlook in this regard. The only motive of the protagonist (Ex con, shady insurance salesman, scribes) would be to lay his hands on the dough and scram. [Of course along the way he did have his share of fun ;) ] I see a kid in the audience raising his hand – “What about Bill Gates (or Slim Helu conflicting reports on #1) what can he do with so much money”? Well bill ol’ boy, you can give me what you think is excess for you. Even 0.00000001% is enough to get me started to fund my doomsday nuclear device, a small pet peeve of mine for some time. Meh, or a bunch of voodoo dolls, same difference. Lot of punks on my ‘list’. You will be too if you don’t agree with me.

The concept of Anderson's long tail doesn’t work here. It says that the combination of all the niches would eventually overrun the big cahuna up on the head. Yea…No. Since the chaps at the end of the tail would never co-operate to join forces due to the inherent distrust amongst humans (Prisoner Dilemma), we will forever doomed to be fragmented. Adam Smith’s extension of the invisible hand told us that the rich needed to be protected from the poor and this law almost seems to be prophetic now. I don’t blame anyone at the end of the long tail( Im right there at the bottom) as I would be the same and never be so dumb as to give out my hard earned bread to a bunch of idiots . Might as well invest it in
US- 64. Oops wait did that..yea not a nice feeling. Damn you. And yea Oracle too.

I guess there has been enough HR bashing. With such weirdo’s running around (ok fine me too) it must be hella hard for them to understand what motivates you and me. So the next time someone says money is not important to them, you can rest assured that when he is even a buck short of it, he will go insane. We claim to be rational and assume that everything works according to the blueprint we design internally. A black swan just floated by.

PS: The title for the ignorant is a cheat code for Starcraft.

Ecoutez Vous..s'il vous plait!

2007-06-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

Just saw Shootout at Lokhandwala- great movie, but the highlight for me was the song Ganpat Rap. Here's the video :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhNGeZCUgaE

Did a wiki on this(as always on all movies for interesting trivia) and landed by with Bombay Boys ka link..and that hit a cord in my brain that I loved this song too!! Video of Bombay boys..

Both are currently hold a coveted place in my Zen Nano Player now..!

STARCRAFT II - Hell, Its about time.

2007-05-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Ok..I..cant..breathe..its true..Starcraft II is officially announced in Korea on may 19th..this one RTS game which I along with millions have been waiting all our lives..The rumours where thick and fast with damn teasers running around and finally its true..when I saw the splash screen I almost cried..its too damn good to be true..its finally here..

Am a bit let down with the same 3 races, thought there would be a XelNaga thrown in. But the graphics are just beyond God like and with the kickass story of Raynor,Kerrigan & Zeratul you know

Hell, its about time

YouTube Videos of Stacraft:

Official Trailer
Gameplay With Nukes!!

Finally my life has purpose now..

Summers @ Delhi - One Month Report!

2007-05-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

Whew..what a rush its been here..just 1 month into India’s Capital City and am loving every minute of it. Am put up at MDI gurgoan for my summers at AmEx...right now I decided to make the most of the the 2 months Im going to stay here by seeing as much as I can of the much touted Delhi. I was warned by my northie pals that the heat in Delhi is an unforgiving as wearing jeans in the scmhrd library. Being from Chennai I thought I could even walk across Sahara Naked. But It seemed that the legends were true..it was so hot that housewives need not boil the family water to kill them evil germs. They just die if you whisper to them that they are in delhi!

SATURADAY- April 28^th

Went for the Senior-Junior meet at Delhi @ Costs Coffee , was nice catching up with fellow mates and have look at out future torchbearers(that refers to the juniors ;) . Good to see a balanced sex ratio in the junior batch (10 girls and 5 guys came to the meet..lets hope the trend continues in all cities too!). Had a great time , with all the seniors giving their gyan to them..Hopefully atleast this time the chances of me going as a stag again to a party should in all probability reduce-hint hint cough freshers party cough ;)

Delhi Snr-Jnr meet outside Costa Coffee

Then Siddarth, Ramya and me decided to take our official tour of delhi. We first headed to Rashtrapahi Bhavan (impressive security I must say the dudes ported automatics- the kind of stuff you see in Unreal 2003)and The Indian Parliament. It was quite lovely sight and made me all the proud to be and Indian but wistfully ponder the fact that such edifices house the so called “Decision Makers”. Sigh. Siddarth had a spanking new Nokia E90 with a x..xx something mega pixel camera and we decided to make the most of it ;)

Us outside Rashtrapathi Bhavan..btw he is wearing my cap..

SUNDAY- April 29^th

After some initial confusion about where we should go, our deemed tourist guide, Ramya [purely in the sense that she knows Hindi best and we had no idea about Delhi. In fact I thought Gateway of India was in Delhi and India Gate was in Mumbai and.. and since we hate shouldering responsibility... ;) ]. On our way to Lotus Temple(the locals call it “Bhilai”- I was wondering if the temple was full of cats or something….then I realized it was built by a dude with that name..sheesh!)

On our way we got ourselves killer shades for an unbelievable 10 bucks.. I started to wonder what kind of business/revenue model this dude must have in place….If he can make a living selling 10 rupee glasses outside lotus temple, me doing an MBA for 5 lacs has shown me that I have wasted 2 years of my youth! The Temple bears a striking resemblance to Aussie’s Harbour and is very well maintained. Since footwear was not allowed in the temple, It also gave me sadistic pleasure to see the other two hop around like kittens on a hot tin roof whilst I was protected thanks to my Chennai pavement purchased 20 buck pair cotton socks :)

Da Killer shades..eat your heart out Ray Ban!!

Ramya and Siddarth outside Lotus Temple..Lucky shot not getting any losers in the background!!

In the gardens leading to the Temple

We then headed down to ISCKON temple which was much to our regret closed for the day but we were ‘conveniently’ uninformed by the security personnel about this..and ironically Ramya ended up buying flowers for the deity which had to be donated to the counter guy who promised her that it would be given to the right addressee. I bet he gave it to his second wife. Don’t ask how, I just know.

Iskon Temple..the slippers make it all the more beautiful..

We then took off for the ‘Times Global Village’ (idea courtesy our guide!)..this was nothing but every ‘country’ having a stall and displaying their wares & stuff for suckers with too much money & time to come and bust it here. Every stall we went into had that country’s so called ‘specialty’ stuff..and it seemed like every damn thing in the store was just meant for a girl. I mean I don’t have anything against that but please there is only so much bling(aka jewellery) and clothes that a guy can see…We were window shopping for quite a bit but then the purse strings broke loose(not me and sid- we are the guys,Ramya’s) and she had to have something from every country…this did not help our objective of wanting to get the living hell out of there a bit. And we were asked our esteemed opinion on her potential purchase[s] which we try to give an informed opinion but came out as fake as Mandira Bedi’s post match Cricket analysis. I and Sid spent more on Aquafina then anything else..& the heat was blistering..hot! (Did I mention It was hot..oh yea..just in case it slipped ur mind..) We went around the world in 3 hours ..literally(China,japan,US/UK,Asia,Middle East and I think even Mordor)!

Finally we were sick of the damn ethnic crap that they were selling (I bet there was back office hidden underground with Indians in sweat shops fervently manufacturing everything at half the cost and pushing it off as a Moroccan hat or a Chezh Crystal) and we went to the last stop- South Africa. Sid and me decided that if we were ever going to tell people that we spent 3 hours here roaming around like a bunch of zombies, let us have something to show for it at least! So we went to this African dude who was selling bracelets and we got one each. I thought it would look pretty cool to show it off in the office but I realized that it had a touch of effeminisim attached to it (aka was quite gay/worn by girls apparently) . I refuse to be cowed down or intimidated by society’s sense of fashion and norms on accessories so I port this bravely where-ever I go (in spite of the cat calls I get when I walk on these mean streets. Bad Boys.)

Egypt World- That little guy is Anubis the Jackal God..dunno who the big Idol

Aquafina..the only real thing worth buying!!

In Japan I think....had to have a pink ribbon..i guess it all started here..

...and ended here! Bracelet Buddies striking a pose!

Some Dude in Stilts selling Popcorn..how the hell is he gonna reach them customers?! I was tempeted to get one but i thought he throw it on my head..

Sid in between Petronas Towers....

A wonder in front of another ;) Ramya in front of the Taj..matching matching white lol!

Me Trying to look cool next to the Pyramids..

Le tour Effiel..Nous sommes touts francais!!

Whew..a month gone by..and I have to admit its been mind blowing..travelling from gurgaon to Delhi itself is like an adventure..1^st a rick then auto then bus then the metro..and taking a call center cab at 11:00 to get back home and trying to figure out if the driver is really a dell driver or some fake highway killer one that’s gonna take me to hell..

Whatever it is..Delhi Rocks..this has been one the best months outside home for moi..so many memories..and stuff which ive been waiting to do for a long time finally done ;)

Wait for Part II of the same (if I get to go to interesting sites like where Sonia Gandhi shops for Slippers)..Until then..Raghav out!

M.B.A, Interrupted: Curtain Call for End of 1st Year

2007-04-02T10:17:00.001-07:00

Let us observe a moment of silence..not for India’s exit from the World Cup, but since today was the last day of our 1^st Year as MBA’s at SCMHRD. Done? Ok.. On 29^th of March, we gave our Man.Accting paper, the last paper in the long list of exams(probably a backlog, the questions from the last 2 years paper’s which I had mugged and gone were no where to be seen. Lucky me.)

The guys in the hostel were all going home before summers and busy with throwing out with relish the books they thought they would never use. I could see the raw satisfaction in the eyes of my crazed mates as they vehemently threw the numerous Xerox’s (ok photocopies for the politically correct) of the Econometrics/Accountancy notes. Some even went to the extent of labeling them as “Burn in Hell you #$%^&*” ( Only for mature audiences) . I understand your pain boys.

Incidentally I still have my Fin Man,Man Acct papers, better safe then sorry. The Indian Cricket team has a better chance of winning the world cup in Synchronized Swimming in the Sahara Desert Sands then I do of clearing my Accounting papers. People scoff at me now for keeping all this ‘trash’, but I will have the last laugh. I predict now its value is nothing but in a years time when we have to give the re-exams with the juniors, its worth will sky rocket like an InfoSys ADR and a chance to score with the junior chicks who need our ‘experience’ ;)

Me and my roomie(raja) stripped our room naked (and ourselves to bare minimum with war paint donned on to get into the groove of destroying/tearing stuff with occasional animal like war cries) of all our belongings and hastily dumped them in anything that would hold stuff. ( I managed to put in a unused RIN bar in between my Business Statistics Book, which incidentally I spent Rs 350 for , never used it and got 1 more free from college and am still trying to get out a piece of rubber lodged in my right eardrum..so much capacity utilization!).

I found other interesting stuff while clearing out my closet : My 1 black sandal (the other one is still missing), my broken pink umbrella (I want to lose this I never can…dammit!), my moth infested T-shirt, a new pack of Gillette Mach III blades (yea the cool ones as in the ad with the hot babe running her hand over the guy’s ‘mached’ cheek..I thought I had no blades, so threw off the razor..Smart move huh? )… and some stuff that is quite illegal in these parts of the country but legal in No 15, Afghanistan Farm Road, Afghanistan. (For those who stopped and re-read this line, yea, it is a rip-off of Chandlers line @ Friends). So Sue me.

We have left the most important books in our rooms itself (Vedanta, Indian Economy-6^th edition, Six Sigma Manual) so that the lucky junior who gets our room will get a head start ahead of his peers. Purely done out of space constraints. Cellophane tape is the most sought after commodity whilst packing and we lost about 25% of the tape trying to get it evenly out as most of the times it would split into two halves as one takes it from the roll! Even if you do manage to get the tape across the carton, the scissors would not be within proximity for cutting the tape. (Animal War Cry here).

We took a couple of pics of our room 839 just for old time’s sake and made our mark present to show the world (3 juniors in this case) that this was the crib where the rockstars Raghav and Raja were chillin! Goodbyes for guys are a very difficult thing..I mean however close you are its difficult..so we were actin like them niggas..you know clenched hands punching, chest slamming and a firm handshake( like when bond Vs the bad guy saying this ain't over yet).

1)Outside our legendary room..to be turned into a museum shortly.

2) Smart Camera work..guess where the camera is :P ? Btw, u can see three brushes in the pic, 1 for each of us and 1 and till date we don’t know who/how the third brush came along..we auctioned it for a half used tube of shaving cream.

The train journey back home (Chennai not California this time) was a blast as we encountered colorful personalities ( Transvestites/ ‘Ombodhus’-9 in Tamil) as we passed AP. Raja had a bad experience with them earlier so as soon as he spotted a trio he ran and locked himself in the toilet for 5 mins. They came and asked me for cash told them in my most polished English to GTFO off my face and they cursed me with 7 years of bad luck. (Ironically today was the last day of the 3 year curse I had from a midget in the Jumbo Circus who I did not wave to after he was shot out off a cannon. Damn 1 curse lifted and lo comes another…!) We (I and Prashanth G) in fact let Raja wait in the bathroom for an extra 2 minutes ;p He thought he had the last laugh when they returned and he had to pay up five big ones to satisfy their collections..lol it was a sight I’d never forget in a hurry..As usual Murphys law would apply to us and our train was delayed in a No-Mans-Land station for over 2 hours (The most technologically advanced thing in that station was a modified analog watch whose hour hand outpaced the second hand). Finally we reached at 8:00 am and left for home..

The second semester for me personally has been the best 5 odd months of my life. Summer Placements for juniors , Admissions Drive(went home), placements for seniors where me with the help of hospitality girls earned back 10% of the investment here and last but definitely not the least in any sense, our cultural fest Neev, (the foundation..in more than 1 way for me ;p ) .

D-Hostel had a lot of special memories for me…my 1^st home away from home, great neighbors in all the directions (Roy’s /Aravind’s/Prashanth’s), the midnight birthday bashes(random beating, roomie beating and bakra beating), the TT & TV room, the Nepalese-Guys run Canteen (who scoffed at me saying he has SAARC & u, India can't even qualify for the super 8, wondered if I should be stunned at his GK levels or die in ignominy of shame of India’s Cricketing skills ) who made the best pyass paratas (Im assuming these were good I don’t have a benchmark I’ve never eaten it before) , the walks to the same canteen on nights where you don’t need even feel hungry but just want to hang with friends in the cool zephyr at 3 am, the basket ball & Volley ball court, the laundry room where I 1^st heard my favorite song ‘kya muje pyar hain’ the mess which served the worst food but by the most friendly mess guys. U rock dudes.

The rooms of D-hostel might be barren, but the corridors of the same will be always filled with the wonderful memories that the we had the last 10 months..

Dedicated to: All the guys @ D-hostel, and special callout to Khaitan G (scroll down to see a clown decked up in orange!). Thanks Man, great knowing you..U made IInd sem what It is for me...…I owe you big time for you know what..;p

PS: We will get that Venezuela report published at McCkinsey ;)

Of Birthdays,Money, & Transformations..

2007-03-01T23:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delayed update..ever since I turned 22 last this February 24th, I guess a couple of million brain cells died out..about half of them attributed to loss of the memory and the rest have killed out any creativity that I had(You can just Alt+F4 right away and save yourself the trouble). After the customary butt bashing/body in air/juice on jeans/water on shirt/cake on face, I finally had hit the big 22!

Before 00:00 hours, before the madness began, got my wishes from my well wisher(s)..so that steeled me for the road ahead. I was advised by my knowledgeable friend Prashanth G to ‘dress’ up for the occasion, so wore my trusty jeans that according to the tag on it:

Had survived 1000 tons of high speed sand blasting.
Shrugged of extreme heat/cold @ the sahara & Tundra respectively.
Been rolled over a million times by a Mahindra and Mahindra "MONSTER DX" Road Roller

But I guess there is one test they had not conducted, that’s a Mob that hates your guts. Added to that a Sales and Distribution Exam the next day was all they needed..they all got a big kick out of it.. and my poor butt had to bear the brunt.. At 00:00 hours, I could see myself being slowly led into the corridor like a man headed to the gallows..

I’ll let the pictures to the talking now..

1)A Pack of Dabur Real Juice dumped on me..It was all over me, I tried to have a few gulps of the same along the way , did not taste all that good, I found out later it was a month old..

2)Vanilla Cake+Juice = Not the best dessert combination

3)The Mob displaying their proud work of Art..

4)My Bday cake, courtesy Prashanth G ( ‘REC/Nancy Boy ’ is how he is referred to here)

After the frenzy, had to get cleaned up so stepped into the bathroom when Sachin(Our official Birthday photographer) decided that the world needed to see a bit more of me..

Stage Fear..at first..

To..Ok..maybe just one for the shutterbugs….

…To finally, shedding more than just camera shyness ;) Yea, maybe my underwear hanging in the background isn’t the best value addition.. But my awesome physique should make sure your eyes don’t wander anywhere else..

OK..temporary stop to the picture madness..

At 8:00 am left for SIBM for our Perfetti Market Research finals and ended up 3rd finally..and we did not even get a participant cert L Added to the fact that we were just given about 7 minutes for our presentation while the rest got the standard 20 minutes made the grapes even sourer! Ah well I guess we had to drown our sorrows in some very delectable sambhar-vada and eye the nattily dressed babes there ;p

Back to the college campus for the ‘official’ cake cutting and got my 2nd set of Birthday bumps in front of the cafeteria and two more lovely buckets of ice cold water thrown on me at 11:30 at night! Spent about an hour on campus, which turned out to be the best part of my entire day ;) and made sure that it was probably the most memorable birthday I’ve had.. The next day me and my quizzer buddy managed to win 4k in cash and a reliance internet data card (another 4k) in an in house held SCMHRD Entrepreneurship quiz Man..did I need that money bad or what!

I now am more motivated to participate in B school events, what ever it is from watching paint dry to if the food made by the dudes in the mess are really employed by Tammanna or if they are really former chefs at Tihar Jail… It used to be just for me, the cash, the certificates, the name..but it seems that they have become secondary now..I have become secondary to myself…#1 is occupied, not by me though.…

Ok couldn’t help myself....

6 months ago…

And Now..

Atkins/VLCC etc, I’m feeling benevolent so here I reveal to you the secrets of my transformation*..

Bad Food
Really bad food
No time to eat the bad food
No time to buy good food
No money to buy good food
No time to eat what good food I could buy
Girl(s)

*Not in any particular order….Interestingly have you read C.K.Prahalad’s bestselling book, fortune at the bottom of the pyramid?

PS: My apologies to anyone offended my pictures..My target audience are undertakers, girls over the age 18 and straight males.

2007-02-13T11:28:00.000-08:00

WHY?

Why is that the very 1^st time I saw you I knew something was going to happen?
Why is that I am tongue tied when I try to talk to you?
Why is that my senses are blacked out when I see you?
Why is that I listen to the same song for over an hour at 1 am in the night?
Why does it seem that the lyrics were meant for me?
Why do I sleep with the cell phone clutched in my hands?
Why is it like the pure rays of the moon on me when it rings?
Why is that to stop thinking of you I have to find a mundane task?
Why have I have failed miserably at the above?
Why is that I’d walk a mile just at the thought of seeing you?
Why is that I enjoy the walk from D hostel to Campus?
Why is that every thing we share is worth more than an ounce of gold?
Why is that you are my theme for dream?
Why is the fact that this will not happen be my nightmare?
Why do I overanalyze everything?
Why am I trying to cut the guardian knot?
Why is that I have to force myself to adapt to your nature?
Why does my heart stop when I hear something out of the ordinary from you?
Why is the log containing over 15447 words?
Why is that you are all what I can talk about to anybody?
Why do I thank the Director for the Venezuela Project?
Why have I spent more time on this than on a WAC case?
Why is there such a sea change in my behavior?
Why did I not get into the Burman Company?
Why do I smile I listen to Cliff Richards?
Why does it pain me when I listen to Madonna?
Why is that you decide what I listen too?
Why is that the sound of your voice gives me goose pimples?
Why can I manage with just 4 hours of sleep a day?
Why is that I can recall every single detail of any of our rendezvous?
Why is that so many words now start to mean so much more now?
Why is that Casino Royale is now my most memorable movie?
Why is that I have blogged more in these 2 months than my whole life?
Why is that every post has something to do with you?
Why did I lose the 1^st six months?
Why are Bus Rides back so memorable yet painful?
Why do I keep looking at the artifacts of our voyages?
Why do I wonder what’s the reason you did not reply?
Why am I writing this at 2:40 am ?
Why can’t I dance for God’s sake?
Why were you part of my quiz?
Why do I sleep with a smile on my face after I talk you?
Why do I suffer from amnesia the very next morning?
Why am I reading books on topics which I’d never read on?
Why did I get up early last Sunday?
Why is that your one smile makes my day?
Why is that your very frown wrecks the same?
Why is that not seeing you everyday makes me feel incomplete?
Why is that you can take me to the sky?
Why is that you can crash me into the ground?
Why is that we have to keep waiting?
Why did we miss out on homecoming?
Why did V day almost become D day?
Why is that you are the last thing that’s on my mind before I sleep?
Why is that you are the first thing that’s on my mind after I wake up?
Why is that I am staring into your eyes right now?
Why does everything around me remind me of you?
Why have you done this to me?

2007-02-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

Semesters nearly through

Walks across the street

Movies so far

Bonds of Spies

Packs of Kernels

Times tilt of head on pillar

Coffees on a street-side

Missed chances when biding goodbye

a.m. the best time of the night

Hours, the current record

Little time to see each other

Days of gross misunderstandings

Many to fight off

Insecure and Irrational

Who supported

Who upset the balance

Who have got the ‘like’ status

Who made it this far

Risky to go ahead but;

Painful to let go

Days

Weeks

Months

Years

gather

Us.

(For those who did not get it, the catch is to prefix "2" or "To" before each line, the fonts will guide you on which one goes before which line..did not want to say this as it kills the mood..but God have been getting feedback that my poetic blogs are like the RC section in CAT 2005! )

MURPHY’S Laws at SCMHRD

2007-01-26T00:53:00.000-08:00

Pareto’s FCQ Law: 80% of the time you study for the wrong FCQ and as a result end up with 20% of the marks

Cell’s Law: The time you go to the bathroom is exactly when your cellphone will ring the only time the entire day

Assignment's Law: When you spend 2 hours working on an assignment all by yourself by taking the initiative, you realize that it was totally unrelated to the actual project

Time’s Law: The class where the professor expects you to be on time exactly will always be the first class of the day

Orkut’s Law: When using a special proxy server to access orkut, the tasteful flash ads will appear as your director passes by.

Pre Quiz's Law: The 1st time you win the quiz on stage will be at a no name college and the prize will consist of a trophy (nameless and to be given to the college) and 2 certificates. You will not even be on quiz to collect the same.

Quiz’s Law: When on quiz for a quiz in front of the home crowd for a quiz, you will be in the worst of forms.

Extension of Quiz’s Law: When the home crowd leaves after seeing you have no chance is when you make the comeback of the decade.

Hyper Extension of Quiz’s Law: The prize you win after your remarkable comeback will include tea bags, masala packs, salt and pepper shakers, two useless books. Anyone who participated in the prelims would also get the same certificate as you got. And your name would be spelt wrong.

Knowledge's Law: You will be a stud in the subject which you have never studied your whole life which you will never use. But your specialization+ background+summers subject you will need assistance from someone who has heard of it the 1st time in his life. And he will end up getting more marks than you.

SMS's Law: When you are expecting a message at 1 am in the morning from someone special it will be from the Airtel operator telling you that the if you don’t recharge you will die in 3 days.

Excel's Law: When you think you finally master a function after 20 minutes of hair tearing and cursing , you discover that it was probably voted “Most Useless Function of the year 2006” by Exceltip.com –

Example - NEGBINOMDIST: (Returns the negative binomial distribution. NEGBINOMDIST returns the probability that there will be number-f failures before the number-s’th success, when the constant probability of a success is probability-s.)

Anonymous' Law: When you want to remain hidden when you are with someone else is when the biggest loudmouth will see you and make sure that everyone knows what is going on between the both of you.

Power's Law: The one day when you bring your laptop to college for official work, you get this plan to goof off by writing blogs such as this is when you realize that it is only 30% charged and you have a good 6 hours of class left.

Extension of Power's Law: You would have forgotten to get the LAN cable and the charger does not work and as you try to update your 2 year old antivirus using a fake serial key, you get a message that the key was already used by some wise guy in North Slovenia.

Study's Law: Your friend who you decided to team up with to study accounts a week before the big exam will have the busiest week of his life and will turn up at 12:00 at night your door with a sheepish smile when you are just ready to hit the sack or have another agenda lined up.

Hindi Song's Law: The one hindi song which you listen to everywhere- the laundry room, at a hotel, on the radio which really rocks and you want to get it desperately. Then you realize that when you ask your friend to give you the song, one of this will happen- You forget, you can’t sing or he himself has not heard of it. ( I did manage to finally get it(thanks Matsye!, its ‘Kya mujhe Pyar hain-remix’ from Woh Lamhe, which ironically does not feature a song called Woh Lambhe, another movie..yea I don’t get it too!.)

Free Class's Law: Out of the III divisions A/B/C/ , your division will be the lot who get a 2 hour class free in between two classes. So unlike the other divisions, one set can get up late the other will leave early whilst you are battling what to do in the 2 hour gap. 2 hours are the worst time period, you don’t know if it’s long enough to go back to the hostel or small enough a period to sleep in an empty library cubicle.

Fine List's Law: The one time you feel reckless and bunk a guest lecture/batch meet you see that your name heads the fine list (rs 500, up from 200).

Door’s Law: Just when you snuggle into your blankets with the lights off ready to sleep , you will hear a knock on your door, its your neighbor who wants to chit chat. (Worse case scenarios include the paper guy, Sharath and Somnath(the cleaner guys)

Extension of Door’s Law: Your bed will lie the closest to the door and when there is someone at the door, it will be you who always has to do get it. Your roommate will pretend to snore at a volume at that time.

Keys' Law: The one time you return earlier to the hostel than your roommate is the time you forgot your keys.

Water's Law: You will feel thirsty only when your water bottle is empty but when it is full you won’t take a drop of the same.

Mess' Law: The one day when dinner is good at the college mess is when you will be out in the city

Extension of the Mess' Law: You will never miss the other 6 days’ dinner.

Life’s Law: The girl you are after will be the one every second guy is after.

Blog’s Law: The blog which you think was the best would be completely ignored but the worst blog would be the cynosure of all eyes.

Break The Shackles

2007-01-23T00:36:00.000-08:00

Everything in life is a trade off. To get something we have to give up something. The only you have to be careful about is trying to strike a balance between so that it does not affect the nature of things. It seems that I paid a bit too much for a particular transaction which I seem to feeling the pinch for now. Although I am writing a blog about this, It gives me a sense of perverse satisfaction that I, yes, I, who actually challenged mother nature and have ruffled some feathers. Ever since the fact I could think (long time for that to kick start into action) , I’d never have thought that so much could happen cause of me.

Funnily though, I really don’t give a damn anymore. Let me clarify that whatever I did is completely unintentional. Originally I’d feel insecure and see what could/should be the future course of action. But it seems that the time is finally come to play the game according the rules I set. If they feel they were served a bad hand, well read ‘em and weep cause that’s how the dice rolls. I've seen it all, the apex and the nadir and staying in any of them gives more insights and learning about people than just being a middleman

Let nature find its own way to restore parity in the system. We as humans are built on chaos, it resides in us. But we are forced to be subdued by society to adapt to the so called ‘norms’ that it creates and makes us like meek 'yes men'. Chaos is a fundamental attribute in us and denying that would be denying the very thing that makes us human.

Starcraft II- Ficitionally Factual?!

2007-01-17T00:15:00.000-08:00

Ok, I never do impromptu posts, I plan and write but this I gotta share with the world..I was at sclegacy.com -

'As of today IGN has officially listed StarCraft 2 as "Rumored" on their site and is now selectable to be put on your Club IGN Wishlist. And they have also reported on the statement by Itzik Ben Bassat(Vice President Business Development and International for Blizzard Entertainment), publicly uttered the following sentence on at HMV Oxford Street, London last night at the London WOW:BC launch:

I'm a StarCraft player myself and I hope it's not a decade, and we launched StarCraft in 1998, before I'm standing here again, celebrating the next game in the series," stated Bassat while on stage'

And again, to drive me more crazy..

"As of today IGN has officially listed StarCraft 2 as "Rumored" on their site and is now selectable to be put on your Club IGN Wishlist"

Please God, let this be true, I've been waiting for this game's sequel more than anything my whole life!! I leave you with a previous blog link of mine on Starcraft and an awesome pic..

Terran infantry ambush a Protoss patrol

I just hope its not too good to be true :(

The Message

2007-01-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

I can feel it …slipping through my very fingers
Like the grains of sand on a pristine beach
I was riding on the crest of the biggest wave
Overpowering and Overtaking every obstacle in my path
But it seems that the distance is too great to the shore
The momentum once there is slowly waning
The energy to continue has been diffused
It seems like the return of the ancient mariner
Who was down but not out
Knows the secret on taming the seas.

Alas, I am just a novice;
Trying to stay afloat;
Trying to get my share of the air.
As I float across the gentle tides,
I see something glittering, it reflects;
The golden rays of the sun. What is it?
It is an ornate bottle, it bears within it;
An ancient parchment;
It is a legendary myth.
Which unfolds to read:

‘….Many have gone far out to sea,
Armed with the courage and hope
That the prized fish they spotted
In the clear blue waters
Would be taken back as their trophy.
But the seas were too rough that
Cursed beautiful full moon night
And they drowned in their quest
Alas, the hunter became the hunted…’

I stare at the parchment, then tear it up
And scatter the pieces into the sea.
The bottle will no longer carry the fateful message.
For my heart tells me that I am the chosen one;
Who will rewrite the last verses…

A Night at the Royale Casino

2007-01-04T10:55:00.000-08:00

There was confusion on when the game
Was to begin.
Agents worked against me
I almost abdicated the royale scepter
But I decided that if I wanted to play
I could not play as a jack;
As a jack alone couldn't beat the Queen ;
I needed an Ace up my sleeve;
To Bridge the gap
But it all had to be done with a Poker face.
Lest my Bluff was called.

The game began; 'twas the first hand
Cards were dealt,
At a double edged show.
Darkness descended but it was like a comforting blanket
Sweets by the Sweet neutralized the bitterness in me;
Salvages of the same saved for time immemorial.
Kernels popping into their destination;
Unaided by me but so desired by me.
Hoping that the pack was bottomless
Alas it was, but;
The half centenary paid was now worth a million.

The second hand was at cross roads
Nostalgic memories around
Strengthening a common bond
Going to the Faraway Tree would hopefully;
Lead to the Seven Ancient wonders.

The final hand right on the street
Time certainly did not wait, it flew
Cold Coffee would go down warm
Thanks to reciprocating attire choices
Moreover the tilt of the head on the pillar
Nearly burned the tongue
But ‘tis a scar one can bear with no burden.

I had the best hand in the table that night;
The stakes are high;
The players are professionals;
And the prize money is immeasurable.

Did the cards read in my favour…?
It did that night.

Mission: Admission

2006-12-31T03:02:00.000-08:00

This post will not see me playing Tom Cruise saving the world along with the cute girl from the evil terrorists..But I think it will be as dramatic and involves the above two people terrorizing the denizens of the fair city of Chennai!

Flashback

SCMHRD needed to select candidates for promoting awarness of our B School across the country to the potentially smart candidates. The sign up sheet for the city of our choice was put up and was filled up There was a big buzz going around the hostels as this was a perfect opportunity to head home. I really needed to hit the jackpot here as my faithful readers know, I did not head home for Diwali itself. During the Interview with the Prof, I told just 3 reasons why I should be selected among the rest of the jokers applying to Chennai: 1) Im an alumna of Loyola College(prime hunting ground). 2) I go by the alais of vahgar in pagalguy.com(over 1200+ posts with 2 years of understating the entire student mindset across India..yea even I don’t believe that). 3) I *cough* have made it through *every* Group Discussion/Interview I’ve sat for in summers which speaks for my *ahem* uber cool communication skills *cough*

Finally after the interview which I thought had gone well, I got news a week later that I infact did not figure in the Chennai list and was in fact in the Bangalore list! Through a little family/friend sentiment I managed to swap[Thanks Aravind!] with 1 of the Chennai bound guys(he too was a Loyolite,- Clinton – owe you big man!. ) and finally managed to officially be on the Chennai drive with my partner Madumita. We from now onwards will refer to Madumita & Your’s Truly(yea that’s me who else did u think, Santa Claus?!)

We then entered the vaunted admissions room everyday to fix up appointments with colleges and MBA prep inst’s in Chennai. The biggest kick we got out of this was the fact that we could bunk classes which normally resemble some ancient forms of Chinese Torture (for instance its’ like listening to a leaky tap in a silent room when you are trying to sleep). There was a lot of learning that took place (seriously) and understood the difficulty of the organizing the entire admission drive. It was like watching a one armed fat guy do 100 push ups . We booked our flight tickets too early and eventully had to cancel them cause we were not making any progress with conforming our targets! Then finally though a bit of smooth talking and 3rd degree harassament we managed to get ‘em all fixed. So after 5 classes & 3 GL’s whose pleasure I missed, the magical dates of December 10th to December 15th. We were going HOME!!

The Exodus

December 10th

I went to book tickets for the Pune Mumbai at 4 ish that afternoon when I got the shock of my life that all tickets were sold out and the only one left was at 12:45 that afternoon and my watched showed 11:00. Booked, Called,Packed,Departed in the blink of an eye with hasty good byes. We reached the chowk where we had to take the Bus from Pune to Mumbai that afternoon and then we realized we were famished and settled to have *any* food *any* where. We ate pakoras in a small vada pav place which both of us certified that for 16 Rs, this guys’ shop if it goes public would be the next google. The food was simply scrumptious and we ravaged on it like a pair of malnourished sudan refugees. Finally we boarded the bus, which ran like a well oiled Benz, smooth as silk. To kill the 3 hours, we got out our laptops(this is something you will see a lot about..) and started playing monopoly. After 20 minutes I realized that I was on the verge of bankruptcy and she was rolling in the green. As I was planning my master stroke that would turn the tables *Luckily* for her I told her my laptop was out of power..*cough*. She asked me to save the game just in case….and woops alt+f4ed it a bit to early. Reached Santa Cruz ,Mumbai at 4:00 for our flight at 9:30 that night! The sweet talking doll at the Jet counter convinced us to take the 5:30 flight to Chennai…for a small transfer charge of 650/-. She was the 1st to cave and then I did too next.

The flight was quite an experience with Jet really trying to justify the rip off you have been a victim of. The 1st of the ‘refreshments’ was a glass of Lime/Orange juice which as my hand tentatively tried to reach for, when the flashback of flying Deccan Air where a glass of water would set you back 20 big ones when Madhumita almost as if reading my mind nodded that it was all built into the tab! Dinner was then served, was quite pleasing to the eye but was warned that looks are always deceptive & that like 6 sigma thing when it comes to airplane food. But this time the error was on our side, the panner/samosa/cold potato chat was quite delectable. I kept looking at the guy’s dinner plate next to me, he never even touched the panner cubes. Normally I would do something crazy but due to certain constraints (something about socially unacceptable behaviour..-.-) and thus, was forced to ignore it. The tea and coffee was the icing on the cake, the powder/milk mixed in perfect proportion thanks to the fair lady ;) Can we ask for seconds? Maybe Ill have the courage to find out next time. Filled and handed out the in flight quiz contest to the airhostess (she was expecting the feedback form, sorry babes). Landed at Chennai, we saw our luggage at the conveyer belt about to go for the next round when we like hero/ines jumped JIT to save them! Walked out and saw Amma and Appa(so damn happy after 6 months in this prison to be free!) and braced myself for the shocked look in their eyes. They looked like they had been hit with a lead pipe and I convinced them that its really their 21 year old 92 to 68 kg in 3 months boy :p. Folks and me went to have dinner at Palimer, ate the biggest paper roast that could fit the damn table with vada sambhar and finished it off with a chocolate dessert. Yummy!

Ad-Mission

Day I

Our 1st target was WCC had to be formal with tie etc and she came in the official college Saree. As we walked into the college, with our laptops we made quite an impression I must say..What made the impression I leave your fertile imaginations ;) I felt kinda odd waiting in the auditorium to give the presentation with an all girl audience and things got worse when I accidentally spilled water on my pants -.- and had to desperately use the tie to cover up the faux pas. Luckily we started off the presentation at that time and hope fully the audience was paying attention to what we were saying. Went of very well and then our next stop was IMS that evening. We were in our NEEV T shirts to make the session more informal. The session was good, fielded lot of bouncers and what we couldn’t the buck was passed to the email as shown in the last slide ;)

Day II

Red letter day for me, going to my alma matter Loyola College. A lot of infrastructural changes, was heartening to see. Went met the librarian guy who for my entire IIIrd year saw me spend endless hours over the CAT material they had. He was quite glad to see that I finally got into a B school! Nice to meet the profs that really helped me shape up and they were glad someone from my worthless batch had made it this far in life! We did a double session there and then headed to CL. We gave an exclusive presentation to the head honcho there who was patient enough to listen to our drivel. So a good day overall, 3 centers done!

Met my friends Sriram[TIME Gd’s] ,Hemant[My cat pardner for 2 years at fellow loyolite], Ashwin and Priyankar, two very close friends from school Im meeting after 7 years..caught up on lot of gossip J

Day III

The big day for us, Career Forum was hosting an open for all session across Chennai so we ‘dressed’ for the occasion ;p. I shouldn’t say this (lowers the trumpet) but we really rose to the occasion, speaking required jazz on every alternate slide..it was poetry in motion for 2 hours! We got great feedback from the students and even the councilor there told us no institute was this good when they gave their canned junk.

Train To Pune

Well, all good things have to come to an end and finally we boarded the train back to SCMHRD at 7:00 am. Carried a hell of a lot of stuff from home (food to appease the ravage savages dwelling in the hostel rooms). We got two upper berths, put all the junk in one of them berths and used the other berth for gossiping and general social loafing :P
Take a tip from me, shoes are not a good idead on a 24 hr train journey and even if you are wearing shoes, have a pair of trusty bata hawai slippers which slipped my mind. The reason I make this pertinent observation is that in such cold weather and with intake of so much H20, your kidney will keep troubling you. And barefoot is a complete no-no in such a hygienically maintained train. And you don’t have the patience or time to put on your shoes when the kidney is working overtime. So you need some sort of protection for your feet. I managed to solve the problem but raised a few eyebrows and weird stares from my fellow co passengers and even the TT(wondered if my kind should be eligible for a ticket in the 1st place). What I did I leave it to your imagination or you can always check out the photographic evidence in Madtumita’s mobile…I wish to comment no more on such a sensitive issue.

There was a 10 year old Australian kid who kept being a kabab mein hadd(hope I used it right)i climbing the berths and playing the monkey,telling me the computer games he plays. Huh..its ironic how kids sense that Im a gaming freak too?! Man what is with kids and trains/movie theaters/weddings? They cant shut the hell up and are too dumb to take a hint! Then tried to get 40 winks after a hearty lunch of Amma’s curd & lemon rice. But then I realized that that kid got a tennis ball kept bouncing it up and down the floor ( he found an equally annoying kid of 8 to team up and teak me ou] counting from 1 to 160 and prayed he forgot his numerical after that[he made it to 256 and then the motor stopped]. Tried to sleep then realized that that kid is a professional and way outta my league, so got up once and for all. As murphys law would have it, he decided to start playing cards with his folks in a quiet corner in a demure gentlemanly Casino Royale way maintaining a poker face and shutting up for once -.-

We continued where we left off and time just passed and before we knew it we at our destination. We had to kill time so waited in the..well waiting room. It consisted of 20 sleeping/dead bodies, dreamy tired overnight travelers snoozing away in the chairs , and the rest of the common folk waiting to catch the next train or getting ready for a job interview making ample use of the Carlton Ritz Bathroom facilities. Not the best of places to hang out as men express themselves in their most primal form which can intimidate even a seasoned traveler such as I and naturally it positively revolted her ;p Finally we flagged a taxi and reached our final respective destinations…

We have an official tag line for SCMHRD: ‘The journey is the reward…’. I can vouch for that now.

[(Y{OU)R}]

2006-12-21T21:45:00.000-08:00

You smile the entire day, You walk with Your head in the clouds, Your mess food served actually has an aroma , Your every breath of the morning air is crisper, You write nothing related to econometrics in your Econometrics Register, Your class lectures fly by, You become more reckless, You smile at the guy You could never even stand , You dig out and listen to select sappy songs that You considered reserved only for retards, You even get the lyrics for the same, Your friends think You’ve gone bonkers, and the others look at You in a different way, You try study harder for tests , You suddenly become an expert in picasa, You shrug off any wisecracks which You used to take note off, You lose sleep; yet , You are up on Your feet and are raring to go , You listen to stories of the veterans successful or wounded, You start speculating, Your baggage when with her is cotton, without her is a dumbbell, You are insecure, You wait for it to beep, You forget what you were supposed to do next, You consider everything else is secondary, You think hard to become more ‘creative’, You know this will not probably work out but; You still chase this chimerical utopia, You start reading the horoscopes when you have time, You become possessive, You wonder what the other is upto at this very moment, You try hard to keep this yourself, You no longer wince internally when the words ‘cute’ and ‘sweet’ are uttered, You stay up late to finish your diary ,You are more brazen, You know you cant ever get mad at, You end up feeling guilty for a mistake that was not entirely yours, You wonder when you will be promoted, You just want to salvage and smoothen over any potholes, You are lost in random thoughts, You are in a twilight zone, You don’t want this to end.

A Portrait across the table..

2006-12-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

A casual turn of the head;
Crowned by a blazing mane of black;
Cut to a tee, flowing like the Nile;
Perfectly complementing the white pearls;
That speaks volumes and holds untold promise;

One waits in bated breath for it to bechance;
It does;
The prized visage breaks;
Reveals a dazzling radiance;
That would make the moon pull a Houdini;
‘It should be frozen in the sands of time;
Indelible and Inexplicable;
And has the beauty to make the blind look up;
And the pedestrian man blind.

The mellifluous dulcet;
And lo!, The piper would be absolved of his encumbrance;
But would saddle the rest with it trapped in the head of those;
Fortunate enough to be within auditory proximity.
The creator is one of the many caught in the web;
Spun without intention but with facile
Tis’ a sticky situation;
But does the victim want to liberated?
I think not.

No Regret

2006-11-26T23:08:00.000-08:00

Ok, I am in a state of ecstasy and unbound joy. Why you ask? I just managed to play the 10 year old computer game Crusaders : No Regret in my laptop! Now this is no ordinary feat. This baby runs only on the original Dos that comes with Win 95 and 98. With the invasion of XP only machines, I had to bid a teary farewell to Dos. I tried so much to get the game to play on Win XP but my efforts were always futile. Finally using a program called DosBox, it works J Why this game is so close to my heart…?

A brief history of time….

Crusaders No Regret is just not a game. It is something that just blew my mind when I first saw the game in my friend’s house. It is about a rebel warrior and his allies who have to fight the Govt controlled evil energy empire that is bent on ruling the world in the year 2099. The graphics for a game that’s over 10 years old is simply ahead of its time. The story line is the ultimate with characters like the Silencer(a.k.a the ‘Tin Man’ who you control, Denning(my fav guy, hard ass), Col. Shepard and finally Draygen the baddie). Can you believe this game has 15 weapons, ranging from projectile to energy, Over 10 inventory items like spider mines/bombs/disrupter/shields and the host of awesome enemies like enforcers/elite enforcers/stormtroopers and a gamut of servomechs! This may sound like a Greek and Latin to you but its music to my ears. In fact one of the highlights of the game is the whoop ass action music that sets the pace and should be a part of your playlist. The entire game takes an iso metric view and virtually anything can be destroyed in game. The ingame video transmissions are so well done and add so much depth to the storyline. The missions are so varied and well designed that unlocks more of the storyline and new weapons/units/ as time flows. Another reason I love this game so much is that It gave me a very close friend and we share such fond memories of the same.

-> Level 1 on the vigilance platform

-> Silencer recharging in an energy station

No Regret was the sequel to No remorse, a blockbuster when it came out. Crusaders: No Regret incidentally won the game of the year 1998 with an impressive 8.9 from gamespot.com at that. This game really did not make headlines though(one of the greatest mysteries like how Bush was relected) but rightly got a well deserved place in underdogs.com as ‘one the best’ action games of all time. There were plans for sequels like No Mercy but it was shelved L I sincerely thank echo station and wikipedia for giving me the joy of playing No regret on my XP Pc.

-> The main screen which has the best musical score

For those who have read my post on Starcraft, yes I still don’t know myself on which is the best game , Crusaders: No Regret or Starcraft. Both are not just great games with such emotional pull with reference to their storyline and music but the friendship I developed with so many people whilst discussing the game so thoroughly that I should be a part of the credits under ‘testing’. To make a choice on which is the best, let me ask you a question. If you can give me a clear mandate on that, I will chose my best game. Deal?

Ok, here it is: would you rather be blind in the left or right eye?

One More Year Later..

2006-11-22T02:11:00.000-08:00

Well, it’s been a year. One year since I had my tryst with destiny, CAT 2005.

Pre Mock Prep

I can recall every moment of that day and the months leading towards it. I consciously decided that I will not repeat any blunders on the preparation front which I had made for my CAT 2004 preps. I even bought the ‘Trisha’s Quant Book by TIME and worked out the entire book 3 times in hopes that my QA will improve. Did it? I still don’t know. I decided using the school type approach to solve them like I did last time would never help. I realized to do the ‘cool’ method, you have to know the basics 1st which I never could grasp. I worked out the entire TIME material from my friend and saw that my English improved significantly, especially the RC section. I never bothered with the Verbal Part because I knew I was a P.I.M.P there. DI was something I can’t understand whatever I did I never seem to show any improvement.

The Mockery

I will never forget the golden weeks leading up to CAT 2005, the TIME mockcat phase. Log on to pg.com Saturday night, look at the preopened TIME AIMCAT 60X threads and see the ‘best of luck’ posts and the angry moderator who would clean it up! I used to wait for my friend just outside Vivek’s & Co at 9:30, we would go on the bike to Loyola College to give the mock. We would endlessly discuss the strategy we would adopt if it was a 3 or 4 section paper, which section 1st etc. Once I got the paper, any strategy that I had adopted would be futile. I would invariably start with VA àRCàDIàQA. Once the paper was over, sit under the main tree at the center of campus and discuss the attempts, difficulty level etc. After 1 hour we would head back home, work out the remaining paper under test conditions. As always, the easy questions are disguised. Log on pg.com see the mind numbing scores of people: Eg in the DI section of a typical stud A/R/W/N : 30/24/6/22 .. Score checking is a nerve racking process, I would start with English 1st, be glad I made 40 attempts and got about 20+. Id never put up my DI/QA score as it would be default be less than 5. I would analyze the mock cat to the fullest on Monday. I made an excel sheet(cr. Chandoo of pg.com) with my entire strategy of that paper, mistakes made and new stuff learnt and what I should do/do not do in the next mock. This happened for every mock. I loved Thursdays when the results would come out. My avg percentile hovered around 80-85 at best. I would wait for the toppers to display their mind blowing scores: Anubhav Kaul, ConvSig, ExpHor, etc.. The Godly scores ranging in 60-80! Id recall the 2004 mock cat heroes like vikuboss2001, SuzyQ, Thussu etc..man, I loved to see such scores and dreamt when I would get the same. That I guess was a pipe dream. The only memorable mocks were when VA was a separate section, Id transform into a hyena and rip through that section. AIMCAT 614, I score 30 on 35 with 99.99 overall rank 4 and Chennai Rank 1. That’s the best I could get. QA and DI never seemed to progress.

C-Day

One look at the 90 question format told me that this is a hell of tough paper and I had already hung up my boots before the round began. I spent 50 minutes in Eng, and the balance in Qa and Di. DI went so above my head it reached the Stratosphere. Qa was a repetition of my Mocks aka disaster. All done, go to pg.com see a new post every 3 seconds. I knew I was out of the race even before I went on to the track looking at the scores posted.

Edit: Now that CAT 2006 has passed by, looking at the tough English, easy Qa and Di I realize the gravity of my error not to have given CAT this time. It seemed tailor made for
a guy like me. Ah well, atleast I will have a blast solving the paper and reading the GD/PI experiences of the studs on Pg.com @ the IIM’s. I thought this obsession of mine will wane in time, at least after making it into a BSchool. But I guess the scars of my saga with CAT run too deep and when they will heal is a question that can be answered only as time passes..

R.E.V.O.L.V.E

2006-11-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

The 1st day was unforgettable

Something about ____ made an impression
There was no contest. Hands down winner at least in ___ respective field
I then reliazed that I was no contest. At least not at that time
Apparantly everyone share my views.
But as time grew, things changed.
My 2nd pareto was lost but speed was gained.
Did this change things? It sure as hell did, atleast for me.
A lot of events occurred that left me stumped and confused.
My tongue, the tool which I could weave against anyone;
Had lost its once infamous edge. The very same that could;
Spin tales and dazzle the plebian had now recoiled;
Freud’s 1st level was dented;
Was it time to give up and move on?
Looking at the crowd, I recall the apt quote:
‘A winner is one , who quits when he is ahead’
But my mind does not accept it, it snidely suggests:
‘Small drops make a mighty ocean’

I then realized the folly;
I had not made one.

E.V.O.L.V.E

2006-11-14T02:52:00.000-08:00

It all started out as an accident. Nobody wanted it to happen. ..right? Weren't amends made to their fullest ? Or was this an excuse to keep it going? From then on there was no stopping it. Did I encourage it? Were the embers stoked or put out when they should have been? Did I unconsciously allow the former to slip by? Was it because it was something new and exiting and I never had the chance to experience the same? There was an appropriate time and place to settle any differences. But what existed was not a normal relationship. It took on an avatar of its own and turned its creators. It could not be defined to ourselves much less explain it to those interested. What is this now and what happens next?. Compounding to this are the events that have occurred in the past week or so which are the culmination of another set of complex misunderstandings and 3 way connections. I am afraid that the time has come now to make clear what is the current status of the situation and make amends to see that everyone walks off without any ill will towards the other. Is it possible to get back to status quo?

Can this be attributed to the fact that I have a self destruction attitude towards such things and if so why? Or is this due to the 3rd element that has been there for some time but has decided to surface now? Or was it always present and this is now being used conveniently? Was it fate?

There are so many questions to be answered so many desires left unfulfilled.

The MotorCycle Diaries: Diwali Style

2006-11-10T11:22:00.000-08:00

Let me start off by saying I was one of the few idiots who decided to stay back on campus ostensibly to study for the end sem exams. I realized that there were quite a few of them(12 to be precise). Since we knew we were gonna be stuffed with the stories of how great it was to be back home with family especially on diwali, we decided we needed something to save face(what was left of it). And so it began…

On Diwali day, we had plans to got to the hill top temple to offer our prayers and a chance to wear our veshties( I came in smart pants as well..ahem I did not have one, ordered one asap). We were supposed to depart at 7:00 but something called NFS:Most Wanted was did in fact live up to its name and eventually one had to be beaten and dragged away from the machine and so finally we made it to the temple at 10:00. Offered our prayers and an excuse to take photos of our mugs did not go in vain as you can see :-

We then decided that this was just the dress rehearsal, we needed something grander to make our story(plus this blog) telling/posting respectively worthwhile. The guys hit upon a plan to visit an ancient fort called Singhad which seemed perfect(Well going to IIM-A would be better but you get the idea) . The mode of transport was bikes voted on unanimously (out of no other option). Some Number Crunching : The fort was 40 kms one way, 80 overall. There were 5 bikes , 9 guys, so 2 per bike+1 solo rider. 2 bottles of chilled water (not so much when we got there), 7 coolers, 7 caps and we set off at 3:00 pm.

So it was Muthu[d]+Me, Aravind[d]+Sid, Anurag[d]+Aditya, Sivad[d]+Vijay[d] and Raman the brave solo rider, d for driver

The drive was great with near empty highways and on the road photographs taken by our resident and over enthusiast ‘HI’(do a small circular wave as he does here people) aka Sivaram. The wind in your hair is great at 80 kms and make sure you have your cap on the right way as the foto guy’s was tossed back ½ a km back [we had to stop to retrieve it]. As we got closer to the fort, which was located on top of a valley, it seemed like the ooty/kodai trip I had taken with my family, the circular loops on and on. We had a great view beckoning us and that’s all the excuse we needed to take more snaps.

Finally we got to the fort and it seemed like a nice tourist spot. I thought I was missing something, there was not single tall structure or Age of Empire’s style Castle. Then realization dawned upon me that this was what was left of it. Rubble. Ah big deal, we found another small minaret-cobblestone style setting and took a couple of more snaps!
We left at 7:05:43 pm and drove cautiously as night fell. We patted each others back for making it unscathed past the tricky areas when we realized that the normal roads was where the fireworks began, literally. We had to keep an eye out for lit fuses, wayward rockets and Molotov cocktail throwers in practice(throwing crackers not the cocktails). The ride back was the highlight; the chill biting air at 80 kms is something that needs to be experienced to be believed. We made it just in time @ campus for the few paltry sparklers that no one wanted to light so we did it, the 1st cracker of the day, diwali wouldn’t have been complete without it!

Overall, this is the 1st time in 21 years Im not with my family for Diwali, I was down in the dumps. But this trip did light up my day.

Dedicated to the bimbo biker boys

Top 10 List Learnings @ SCMHRD

2006-09-18T00:51:00.000-07:00

Before you join, take up MS Excel as a hobby. Why? Two letters-DA
Once the alarm goes off for Non Acads and you feel you have got up 5 minutes before its due, don’t ever go back to sleep. It doesn’t work, trust me. Your bed never looked so tempting.
Whenever you get free time (which is a foreign word here) spend it wisely – Sleep. Anywhere, Anytime and Anyhow.
Sleeping in class is something that needs to be done creatively. Back Benching, Eyes screwed up in deep thought and nodding or the most difficult and but effective sleeping with your eyes open
FCQ’s- Frequently Confusing Quizzes- the three word acronym
The No.6 in the top ten list is always the crappiest.
Caught Sleeping in Guest Lecture Fine- Rs 200. Not attending the Guest Lecture Fine – Rs 200. So if you are a compulsive sleeper then…
People invariably spend more on library dues than you spend on laundry. If you are one of those, please don’t come near me.
When your study group is called for a presentation one of the below is bound to happen:

The guy who has the ppt would not have turned up
The projector will not work/go off in the middle of the presentation.
The only slide you prepared on would have been spoken on already by your best friend
The smart alecks of your class will ask you the most complex question for which you don’t have any clue about. Yes, you specifically.
And, if you are really, I mean really lucky the Prof will sleep through your presentation. Haha, gotcha!

10. We have informal orders from the top here not to tarnish the institutes name in any way-Blogging,pagalguy.com etc. Showed them who’s the boss didn’t I?

(Phone ring…answers..stunned). I’m headed to meet the Director.

Picture Time!

2006-08-09T23:49:00.000-07:00

Finally you get to see what life at Scmhrd is all about..some select pics for the ones who accidently stumbled here thinking they won a 1000000000$ jackpot!

1) Here we are before the 1st cultural fest - Aarambh

2) Look at me giving a presentation for OB..I have no clue what Im talking about though, just like that dude on the screen!

4) All of us at Tammanna(a local Restaurant) for Siva's Bday

5) Me and my Roomies for Raja's Bday

6) This is what happens when Im the ony guy in my work group that actully works!

Chase's Timeless Moments!

2006-06-27T05:01:00.000-07:00

Ahh..finally an update !

If you dont know James Hadley Chase, please pay the toll and get the hell outta my blog. The proliofic writer who could effortlessly combine action,thriller,sarcastic wit & unbelieveble plots into 192 pages of pure fun.. I decided to pen down some of the most memorable punchlines from his novels here for the benefit of mankind.

Note: Some u may not get as they have to be read in context. So sue me.

1) -'He loved nothing better than making a Bently, Cadllic and Proche swerve out of his way'(Lepski while blastting down the freeway in his cop car)

2) 'He was as useful as a hole in the head/fractured arm' (Any wimp/useless person)

3) 'He looked like he was following his Mothers' Herese' -(Sam taking his broken nosed boxer home)

4) 'Funny..it seems I have learnt to write Chinese..(looking at a note) You have it[a book] upside down you dope- 'Funny I thought the whisky was giving me some culture'

5) What a girl..no qualms, no inhibitions..she told me her name was Alice...but Im sure its something awful like Delilah/Belusha - (Safer Dead)

6) 'I could hear his brain creak as he was trying to think'

7)...you mean steal from the rich and give to the poor?..No.. I take from the rich and put the dough in my own pockets - (Have a Nice Night)

8) 'Put on your skates on and roll baby' - Mark Girland

9) 'Next time we meet..the drink is on me' - Malik to Girland - This one is on me

10) ' The deep throated roar remineded me when I threw Reisner into the lion pit..Atleast he did not know what was coming for him..I did' - Johnny Farrar- The Sucker Punch, after throwing away a million $ to the crowd below

If you haven't read a Chase book, please do pick up any of them and tell me how much you loved/ha____ it. Will try to be more regular with my blog updates!

B School Life..

2006-06-05T04:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry dear Readers..Now that I'm in Im really outta time let alone access to a laptop and Wi Fi
:(. Time is short so gonna keep this short too. Once I get Wi fi I will update regularly.

So when A lot has been going on here most of it a lot of fun. Hostel life, loafing around, changing into clothes asking ur roomies to get the hell outta the room when that happens. Apparently a lot of guys here don't mind -.- Hostel is about 1 km from my campus plus yoga, aerobics and gym in my mode now. So I got a fitness regime thing going on around here! Atleast something to look forward too from my 2 yrs here! Classes have begun the profs are very cool esp the Stats one. The mode of learning is B schooly type with Overhead Projectors and nice ppts by the profs. Already got assignments but thankfully a week to submit them so gotta get to work. I would really love to go into detail but I don't have the time nor the guts. Keep checking!

Wedding Woes

2006-05-29T06:47:00.000-07:00

I recently went to a wedding of a family friend. Now I go only to weddings which have either A/c halls, Parking, and a North Indian Buffet. Cause if you don't have them attributes, your not worth my time. After all my time is more precious than yours. I always want to know something. Does one take the wedding invitation to the wedding? I mean AFAIK, my family has never taken one to any wedding they have been too. I first thought that this was another small quirk running in the Ravichandar's.

So I decided to see if this was reality. I waited outside the hall entrance the my keen eye I observed the family from the car that pulled up behind us. If anyone will have the invite it wont be the Man of the family. Cause he has to pretend to look important and VIP like. Not the woman as she has to see that the damn kids she gave birth too are behaving themselves(and curiously only 10 yr olds are seen in weddings I never know why, that too the crying and bawling ones like you see in the movies). And there is the odd oldie who has to get out once in a while, they are the best bet, make some use of 'em..Nada!

So..No one who comes to the wedding brings the Wedding invitations. I don't get it. Do you have any idea how much it takes to print those? Like 30-50 bucks a card with all that gold decoration and a double fold that opens out like a majestic swan in spring. I always have the feeling as I enter the hall that there's gonna be sudden check buy a polite yet sharp guy asking me for my invite. Nothing. But Im not so lucky when it comes to Tailor guys, Photo Dev guys and of course the worst Ticket Checkin on trains -.- who all insist No ticket, No Service. In the last case it gets a lot worse.

essentially, the only place you can just walk in without any such ID is a wedding hall. I still feel like Im gatecrashing the place. Then as I walk into the entrance of the hall, I get sprayed with some scented liquid and sugar by three giggly females, probably friends of the bride/groom. I dunno what custom that Is, but I took a bath so don't insult me. So can the spray sista.

Now since I don't know the bride or groom, the highlight of the evening for me would be the dinner. When/Where/What. Before that happens you have to sit somewhere and not look like you just came here to stuff your fat self. All eyes on the stage as we see the parents and friends of the couple running around across to each others room conveying updates. Could be- 'who came?', 'Is he/she done with saree/suit' etc. Ahhh..So sad. The pressure on them would be huge seeing so many people turn up. And for the 1st time being the spotlight with 500 ppl facing only on you. Thought you dodged the ppt presentations @ college in front of a huge audience? lol your dead now.

As they make their appearance on stage, you can hear the screech of chairs and the shuffle of feet and the jostling of people trying to make it on stage being the 1st to give the happy couple their wedding gift, aka, compensation for stuffing themselves silly. Then I see the couple standing up, the girl in her 39483290432 rs saree(40% of the wedding budget) and the guy in his 3 kg Tux suit which is made of some wierd polyester that makes you sweat like crazy. As all the losers go and give the gift to the guy/girl, it is then handed over a small guy behind him the (probably the evil scheming cousin/loser who wanted to have some responsibility/someone good at counting in binary) . Reminds me of politicians go give flowers to the CM, then CM gives the garland to another guy. Both losers.

Anyway, the couple have to be on their feet for atleast 1 hr, pretend to know everyone who comes on stage with a smart nod and chit chat for the VIPs. What a pity. Add to that the intense 1000 watt light beaming straight at you from 3 strategically places cameras. The girl has to hope that her make up job don't melt in the heat. If the guy sees here as she really is he'd beat it in a heartbeat.

Now that the formality is over, all of them head out to the dining room. As expected the food was delicious. And people are eating like the plane was going down. Your not gonna believe this, but there was a separate chat section, serving bhel and pani puri! Is it ok to have second helping at weddings? If its a buffet style I mean, can u go back in line and ask for seconds? I mean the French fries were really good!

So I ditch this paper plate, get a new one and I stealthily cut in line and tried look like a first timer. The server gives me a "Havent-I-seen-you-before-here-you-fatso' look as I come to him. What the hell dude?!The server guy thinks its his family jewels on line?! I get my seconds! Diminishing returns tho :( not as good as batch #1. I see the sweets area as a 90 yr old dude is like loading 7 rasagullas into a steel container 5x7 made specially for this hit and run. Guess he wants to eat them in private and his nagging wide don't want him to die of diabetes type II.

Finally as the crowd exits completing its rampage, they are all given a 'thambulam' or a bag having 2 coconuts, another custom. Hmm..if I were the guy footing this marriage, I wouldn't be handing them the bags, probably use it as a club and clonk the heads of every blood suckin tick that walked through my door.

I've Got Mail!

2006-05-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

What the hell..where did my 'I've Got Mail!' post go?!

If anyone hasa copy of it please gimme!!

Hero

2006-05-22T06:28:00.001-07:00

'A hero commonly possesses superhuman capabilities or idealized character traits which enable him or her to perform extraordinary, beneficial deeds (i.e., a "heroic deed") for which he or she is famous '

- Wiki on Hero

That's not really a Hero which we want to admire. A better Version would be that of a Reluctant Hero

The Reluctant Hero is typically portrayed either as an ordinary person thrust into extraordinary circumstances which require him to rise to heroism.The Reluctant Hero is portrayed as having a period of doubt after his initial foray into heroism. This may be brought about by the negative consequences of his own heroic actions, or by the achievement of some position of personal safety - leaving the audience to wonder whether he will return to heroism at the moment when he is needed the most.

^^ This is more like it.

Who is a Reluctant Hero ? I would like to take explaing the concept of A Reluctant Hero using the example of a protagonist in three examples

The Harry Potter Series

I'm not going to go into how well JKR writes, or how marvellous the magical world she created is. Her book sales will talk for that.

I want to focus on the protagonist. Harry Potter. He was not born with any magical gifts or powers. He did not want the [in]famous scar on his forehead. He did not want the double edged fame he was thrust into. He did not want to be a 13 yr old having to fear for his life everyday having death eaters or Voldermort after him.He did not want to fight them. But he did it anyway.

2. Temple By Matthew Reilly

A lot of you may not have read this book or even heard of this writer. But I urge you to read it as it has a lot to do with reluctant heroism[just like the examples above and below] and a jaw dropping ending . A small gist from amazon.com to get you to speed.

'William Race, a mild-mannered professor, is impressed into the U.S. army on a bizarre mission: to retrieve a centuries-old Incan idol revered by a Peruvian Indian tribe. The idol, carved out of a meteorite, is the missing ingredient in a so-called "planet-killer," a weapon long sought not only by the U.S. government, but also by a neo-Nazi group whose scientists, linguists, and anthropologists seem to be one step ahead of the Americans. Only Race can translate the legendary manuscript that holds the key to the idol's location high in the Andes in a temple guarded by huge, man-eating panthers, on a moat seething with equally carnivorous crocodiles'

If you read the book, you can Race's character see as hinted above. He did not want to be in the amazons filled with hungry gators and Killer Legendary Black Panthers. He did not want to stop 20 highly trained elite commando terrorists from stealing the century old idol.
But he did it anyway.

3. The Matrix Trilogy (My Personal Fav)

Obviously no introductions needed here. Neo did not want to be the One. He did not believe it himself nor could other convince him. He did not want to fight the machines or take on the agents.
But he did it anyway.

What is common to Harry, Race and Neo?

They were all the Chosen Ones

Their coming was predicted in the Prophecy

They were all reluctant in the Heroic/Epic Task that lay ahead of them and had the potential to change the world

All of them were just three normal guys. But they did have some special qualities like Courage, Friendship, Self Sacrifice. These are the qualities that you and I want in us and in the people around us. Not the ability to fly or the strength to move a 1000 mountains. Our mind will reject that how ever fanciful it sounds. Because that is not real.

Ever wondered why all the three are so popular and deified all over the world? There is a hero in all of us. But we lack the courage and the self belief that we too can be as God like as they are. But our physche/id needs an outlet for our hero worship. That's how they emerge.

Thats why we all love a reluctant hero.

Because he is just like us - insecure,afraid and emotional.

In other words human.

Humans
Emerging at the
Right
Occasions

ZOMG!!11 RANKING 4TW!*

2006-05-19T04:20:00.000-07:00

*Transalation= ZOMG!!11 Ranking for the Win!

I just registered @ Indian Bloggers, a site where..well a lot of Indians post their blog. Its a nice place to check what the other good reads are. It has about a dozen categories like Entertainment, Sports, Culture, Personal(which I choose) .. and guess what?

My blog ranks 55 out of 640 blogs in just a week! Woot! :)

A big thanks to you guys, gals,4 Nasa Trained Internet Savvy Monkeys,3 aliens, sit at home stalkers etc who made it happen!

--> Clicky on this icon and scroll down to blog No.59 aka Random Musings :)

And dont forget to keep visiting we can make this #1 people!

->Whats in it for you?

Uh..umm well..you see...err there are a few tangible benefits for you ..like err...

...LOOK OMG A GIANT SPIDER ON YOUR NECK!! RUN TIS A BLACK WINDOW!!!

*Now that all have gone ....me does The Robot*

To get a better visual impression, This is what it would look like...that kid ripped me off!

Edit: Now at 54 !! No damn went to 55..guess somebady stopped visiting :P

Best Of Dilbert!

2006-05-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

Some of my all time favourite Dilbert Strips!

1)I thought the PHB's joke was good...

2) Me too.

3) Why does this seem oddly familiar?

4)Asok Rocks!! Am looking for another IIT based strip where Asok blows up the head of a Texan Mentally, if you can get a hold of that, plz do tell me. Thanks!

LAWL!!

I know this is not a 'real' post which Im sure my 943278423 visitors a day expect. Hope this link will satisfy your visit to my blog :)

THE ENTIRE DILBERT ARCHIVE!

http://pag.csail.mit.edu/~adonovan/dilbert/

Enjoy!

A Trip To Ranganathan Street - II

2006-05-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

If you have not Read Part I of my post, scroll down!

For the rest of you...

Where was I? Oh yea, on my way to complete Mission II. Getting the Mgmt Book. And there is only 1 place where I would go. BELLCO. (Rhyming bonus +5)

BELLCO is a great shop which has every book for School/ College Students. If you want a book, Bellco won’t let you down. So I go there ask for 'Essentials of Management by ...Stopped myself here. No need to waste time by telling them such trivial things like who the author his, Edition no etc. They are tuned to get it with as min info as possible. Cool right? Then the lady instinctively goes to the 2nd last book shelf and emerges.... empty handed. I was mildly perturbed by the scene unraveling in front of me. She is so deeply ashamed and does not even have the courage to tell it verbally. She makes a sad -no no nod of her head. aka, the book is not available. The 1st time I know that had happened. I had purchased over 7 books here for my three years @ Loyola. ZOMG!!!11

Now I noticed that exactly opposite to BELLCO was an another book store. When I say opposite, it’s about 5 feet away. It looked pretty well stocked too. I was tempted to go buy there but I felt the eyes of Bellco on me.-Betrayer. So, once u don’t get what u want, you turncoat?

Anyways, Now, I’m no John Kenneth Galbraith, but does it make economic sense to setup a book store right next to another one? I mean you lose practically half your customers right? I proceed to ask the new book guy for the book. It was there! He triumphantly got the book in his right hand and gave a smug grin to Bellco's Boys. The price of the book was 210. I forgot to tell you that ALL book stores in this area carry a 10% discount no matter what. I pay the guy 200 and he gives me back 10 rs.

Now wait a minute. I aint no Ramanjan either but, 10% of 210 was 21, the discount amount. So, 210-21= 189. I had paid 200 and got 10 rs back. So I paid 190. A small but vital discrepancy. Now I know most of you would let it go, but this is a matter of principle. And as you know I value them greatly. I told him the equation written above as lucidly as I could as I could see he was not the kinda guy who would clear a Math Olympiad in a hurry. He understood that he technically owed me a buck and grudgingly gave it to me. A moral victory for all principle holders. Caveat Emptor shop dudes!

Mission 2 accomplished

Finally, the last and final phase of the trip. What was it? C’mon think! Scrolled down? If u did, u need to pay more attention. If u did not, good keep it up. The Belt Repair.

Now, this is not an everyday thing. Very specialized skill is needed to fix stuff like broken buttons, unbudging Zips on a bag etc. I ask around and all point to 1 shop. Nargis Bag Works. Located on the 1st floor of the 100's of shops at R-St, I see I came to the right place. Hundreds of old zips, a huge box of tools, thread, screws, tailoring machines, scissors et al. There is 20 year old guy who takes a look at my belt. Diagnosed it in a jiffy and gets to work on it without uttering a word. I wanted to make so small talk to clear the silence..what to talk about ?His store, of course - Nargis..I knew she was an old hindhi actress dunno why she was in the news recently..maybe she died? Maybe this guys Grandmother named Nargis ?And she still alive and me telling nargis is dead when infact both of them Nargises could be alive and kicking. Zippped my trap shut.

Now, as a seasoned traveler, take a tip. In such shops, where the product is purely skill base like repair, you cannot ask him what the charges will be. Like A doctor. What ever he says at the end of it, you have to pay. You don’t have choice. Cause usually the charges would be really low and sometimes they might even do it for free. When the latter scenario arises, and you stupidly ask him the charges before hand, he will take it as a personal insult. That you dared offer him monetary compensation for a service he can render just by using his toes and blindfolded too.

But that feeling will always be there. Once he is done, you will have to; under any circumstance pay him what he deems worthy. Cause after the damage is done and you make a noise about the charges, he will say "Saar, moonadiya neega evalova ithu aahune ketirkalam" - 'Saar, before itself you could have asked the price'. I was under the vision that this is what was gonna happen given my earlier run in at the bus stop. But things worked out ok and he charged me 5 bucks which was fair.

2 out of 3 my way, not bad.
66.67% - Reminds me of my avg cat percentiles in my TIME Mocks.

But at the end of the day all I can say is..

Mission Accomplished.

A Trip To Ranganathan Street

2006-05-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are not from Chennai, Ranganathan street is THE shopping place in T nagar. The shops here sell anything from remote control covers to 99.99% Gold(.01% real) . Frequented by the lower -middle class as the the prices here are very competitive and even a steal compared to the upmarket shops in other places of Chennai. Its just a common observation don't go politically correct on me.

I went there today cause I had to get 3 things:

A rain coat as it rains cats(i hate this animal) and dogs in Pune.
Get my Mgmt Book as I felt guilt not reading and this has solid 200 pgs of theory which makes me feel like Im really doing something to justify the E-course from SCMHRD.
Get my belt repaired

As Im a smart shopper, I called up Witco and conformed that a Rain Coat was there in Stock. [This is very imp as I landed up in a shop last time where I saw the last piece being taken away by some guy and I had to return home empty handed .] .

I had to take the bus for just a stop. Now I needed to know if a Bus would go to the T nagar Terminus as that was my stop which had to go through Panagal Park. But I was not sure of which Bus No would get directly to the terminus . So, the unavoidable public confrontation began. I looked for a seasoned bus traveller(guys only if i ask any ladies/girls there they will think Im trying to hit on them -.- ) . How do you find such a person? Chief Characteristics Include:

Will not look in the dir of the bus coming, lazily sitting and scoping out the scene.
Will stand about 3 meters away from the stop as he knows exactly that that's where the bus will stop.

But I could find only one guy with attribute no 1, so I had no choice but to ask him. There was a bus approching me, 27A Reg no and I had a faint idea if this was it. But I was not sure and needed conformation. I remembered my Mothers words "Open you mouth and ask to get ahead in life" I went to him and in the local tamil I could muster up-

Me -"Saar, inntha bus Terminal ke pohumma" ? (Will this bus go to the terminal?)
Looks at me as If idisturbed his dream of winning the TN elections - " Eh ?Illa pove pohadu!', '(Eh, No..no way!)'

Now I knew there was something phony about the way he said it. As the bus pulled over, I was tempted to ask the bus conducter for conformation. Now this is extremely embarrasing. You have to ask him a so called 'silly' question in less than the 10 seconds the bus stops at the stop and everyone stares at your from the bus . Another added problem is if that guy I asked 1st heard me asking the conducter he would get wild and say "Enna pa, naa sonna nambammatiya" (enna pa, If I say, wont you beleive me?). The latter was the worst case scenario, so i trusted him and boarded the bus, hoping it would atleast go to PPark which is via the Terminus(u with me so far?)

As I board the bus, I need to pay 2 Rs to get a ticket. Picture this. The ride will be just for about a minute. The Conducter is all bizze with his collection he refuses to take the 2 rs from me. Its like he does not want to give me a ticket! I have heard horror stories where Ticket Chking officers are in mufti waiting there to catch fellows who literally, take a ride. I see the destination coming and I start to imagine how they are gonna bust me and arrest me for ticketless travelling. Finally as the bus screeches to a halt at the destination, he gives me a ticket. I wanted to kill that guy. And then to add insult to injury, I watch the very same bus to to the Terminus, my ultimate destinartion. So that guy did sucker punch me. I see that this is the 1298938213th time that this has happened to me.

As I walk along Ranganathan street, I see a flood of people around me. So many that you have to walk in a single file. As I was trying to breathe and reach Witco, this ten year old kid with a JUMBO pack of moth balls (About 100 of them) asks me to buy it. Now I take personal offence to this. Do I look like I have come from a house where I wine and dine with cockoraches and other 8 legged insects? He did not offer it to the guy ahead of me, only me. I guess he must have got an SMS from the Bus guy telling him "Orru vella dhadian onneoda route le varuvan, nee ethuvenam avanikku vikkalan, erruiju poona illiange moodi kooda" - ['A fat white sucka will be headed you way, he is so dumb you can sell him burnt animal hair and he will still buy it'].

Fianlly , I make it to Witco which has A/conditiong thank God, and is clean. I buy my Rain Coat and as I leave I check out the 'wind cheaters' there. Can one cheat wind? Only break it right? Anyway I see that they looks awesome with soft cotton padding inside and a fake Nike Logo. Wicked. The price? 700 rs. And to think I spent 800 on a goddamn Oswald-Wool Mark sweater which looks so uncool. I curse myself for the 100 rs loss and the uncoolness factor loss. Double Damage.

Mission 1 complete.

As I trudge back to get to mission 2, I see a famous saree shop -Pothys. I sneakily stand in front of the shop prentending to be stuck there but I savour the cool a/c blast from inside. I see the sad plight of 10 or so married men who have to wait outside in the swealtering heat while the Mrs is busy squandaring his months salary on the latest sarees . I grin at his foolishness and continue my odyssy...

Part II follows..

A Tribute to the Greatest Game Ever - Starcraft

2006-05-09T11:21:00.003-07:00

Gamespot, [Click on the title of post to go the link in Gamespot] arguably the best source for gaming on any platform (pc/ps2/xbox) has come out with its Greatest Games of all time- Which includes not surprisingly, my fav game of all time,Starcraft.

I was playing Age Of Empires, which I thought was God's gift to me when my pal in school (10th std) told me that he just got a copy of this really new aweomse si-fi RTS game, Starcraft. He described it to me so well about how there are three completetly different Races- The nomadic Terran, The Voracious Zerg and the Mysterious Protoss- ..I was enthralled by it. He gave me the CD the next day and once I started playing the game,and was in front of my computer for 14 hours that day. I even skipped school the next two days feigning a fever.

Everything about the game was so perfect. The realistic sounds made by the alien zerg, the shouts of "my life for Aiur" by a Protoss Zealot, the Tactical Nuclear blast by a Terran Ghost taking out an entire Zerg colony! The graphics although 2d were animated for every single unit. You haven't seen anything until you see a Hydralisk Salaivating.

The story of the campaign was so moving I really felt I was one of them. The Cut scenes 1st time ever for an RTS were so well taken and added so much to the lovely story. The Characters are what made Starcraft- Raynor's wry and rebellistic way against the Confederate, Arcturus who deserted Kerrigan to the Zergs ,Then Kerrigan became an infested Zerg due to Arcturus' betrayal ,Tassadar blind faith and wisdom in the Dark Templars , The Terran and Protoss teaming up as unlikely allies to take on the overmind and finally Tassadar sacrifising himself so that Aiur(the Protoss Homeland) could be saved..I really was in tears when that happened. I never wanted the campaign to end. Ever. I played it about 12 times fully so far.

When Starcraft: Brood War the expansion pack came out, I was almost fainted with joy. It was the happiest momment in my life and will be more than my admit to any damn B school. New units- medics for terran, Lurkers for Zerg and Dark Archons for Protoss. And the kick ass story line with Kerrigan playing the pivotal role and the return of my hero, Jim Raynor. The campaign was so well done, and impossibly betters the original. The line where Raynor tells Kerrigan " It may not be today or tommorow..but rest assured darling..I'm the man thats going to kill you" was my all time best Starcraft moment. It gives me hope that SC-2 will come out in the near future. No other game can ever be as great as Starcraft. Ever. If there is, then let me not hear you as I would have to kill you.

A recent screen shot of a game me vs my pal- Terran Vs Protoss..I better stop now or I will never stop writing about Starcraft..

Random IITian Facts!

2006-05-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

IITians are awesome. CAT is a walk in the park for them. A BLACKI is an an everyday event for them. They land up campus jobs after a UG which is what I hope I will get when I complete my PG . In my 2 years of being caught up with this MBA maze I have been stunned by these guys. They can do ANYTHING! To honour them , I have penned down some of the amazing feats of past/present IITians, and thanks to a lil inspiration from chuck norris :)

So without much further ado..

IITians can build rome in a day.
IITians can simply walk into MORDOR.
IITians can prove 0!=1. It is not an axiom for them.
IITians can take a horse to the pond and make it drink.
IITians can divide by zero.
IITians play Minesweeper with real mines.
IITians know the colour of water.
IITians in USA are not assigned a Social Secuirty number, only an Atomic Number.
IITians have counted to infinity. Twice.
IITians know the last digit of Pi. I was told it is 7.

IITians have the 104th element in the periodic table named after them- IITianium.

Awkard Moments..

2006-04-29T22:28:00.001-07:00

We all go through awkward moments in our lives. Maybe not everyday but in regular intervals of time. But when it does happen, we simply hope the moment goes away and we forget about it. We do we hide from them? Why dont we just try to come to terms with it? I have tried to chronicle some of them that has happened to me.

You meet your friend (level of friendship- acquaintance) on the street, (both of you come from opposite direction). Both of you stop and make some chit chat. You talk all you can , exhaust every subject until there is nothing else left to talk about. Finally, you both mutually and tacitly agree that its time to hit the road.

But then to yours and his/her (yea applies even to girls too, more awkward) shock, both of you are now heading in the same direction . Whats the reason? Maybe one you realised you forgot something from home or something. Now this is really wierd, you have to walk along him the whole way again until one of you hopefully branches off to the left/right. You are again obliged to make some forced conversation with him. But remember you talked about everything under the sun even that time when you cut your toe nail 2 inches too deep. So damn awkward now.

One solution to this is you either walk slower or faster than the other guy and hopefully fading away into the crowd.

2. You or/and your friend are at a restaurant. You head out to a table that has just been used and park yourself there. You see the table still has the half filled tumblers of water of the previous guy who ate. You kinda signal to the cleaner guy to clean the table, you dont want to do it as you feel guilty that this guy who is probably 10 years old has to clean tables for a living, while your bill for the meal is what he earns in a month.
(Awk moment-1)

After that unpleasent scene, are all set to order. But now the next challenge lies ahead. Getting the Waiters attention. I have been told that you can't do any of the following to address the waiter as it is considered rude. -

Raising one's hand

Shouting 'Waiter!' in the most dignified manner loud enough for him to hear you but low enough so that people dont stare and see what a ****** you are,

'Clicking' your fingers(the action where the thumb and the middle finger join to make a 'clicking' noise, hence called so).

So what else is there? By experience I have decided that the only way left is Catching the eye of the waiter. You have to raise your head high and look at any waiter who is not busy and stare until you see the whites of his eyes. Then a small inperceptible nod will clinch it and if he feels you are really worth a tip, he comes over. Another complication is this guy will thrust the menu on you and ask you for your order now. You need time , to make an informed decision after examining the menu in detail. You hope in vain he goes away giving you and your friend[s] time, but he obstinately stares at you and does not budge. You have to order now or you dont get food. Again this arises out of guilt that someone has to stand and wait on you and serve you as, probably the rich punk you are you make 10 times his wages.

Finally after you rush off your order, you stealthly glance at the guy near you(not your friend, he is as bad as you, but other tables) and you see he has ordered something scrumptious which is what you would have ordered if it wasn't for the waiters mind games and your inaptitudeness to make a decision. You can choose the right option in a DERRIDA Reading Comprehension where all of them are practically the same thing; but lo behold you cant choose what you want to eat. Fast Forward to the end of the meal and again the complex riddle of tipping comes into play. I'm not even going to go there.

If you think you have undertipped him, you leave the tip, steal 5 toothpicks+handful of that green minty stuff and run away before he can come and see the pittance you have left behind- the thanks that you have given him for his 30 mins of serving you like a slave! How does sucha waiter look- this guy here looks really pissed off ^^ , seems a close match.

3.This happened about a month back. I was on Yahoo! Msg and this dude just popped in says 'Hey, Im your batchmate from scmhrd, saw you on PG'(thats pagalguy.com not Parental guidance I aint in no movie..yet!). The thing is this dude had a real wierd name which I dont want to obv reveal here. Lets say his nick was - dude. This is how the conversation went after some general chit chat.

Me : So..You play comp.games?
Dude: Not really

Me: (Oh dang), Read Fiction Books?
Dude: Just the papers and some magazines

Me: (Aw man, gimme somthing here!) Did u see the cricket match ? We owned Pakistan!
Dude: I stopped watching cricket, its quite boring now.

Me: (Final straw, I decided to bring in the heavy artillery, girls which every guy has some interest in ;p) So..I heard pune full of cute girls huh? (I was desperate!!)

Dude: *Stunned Silence* I came to Scmhrd to do my MBA and I suggest you do the same.

*exit stage left*

Turns out the dude was in fact a dudette.

OWNED.

So I took a "How Evil are you" Test..

2006-04-28T04:13:00.001-07:00

....and look at the startling results! NO WAI!!11

You Are 28% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well.
In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?

Click on the link below the pic to find out how screwed up you are! If you are less evil than me, please Im a nice guy and more evil than me..stay away from me you SATAN!!

Why I dont go to the movie theatres anymore..

2006-04-27T05:40:00.000-07:00

..cause of some colourful Personalities I encounter..

Teenage Punk Kids

Virtually 80% of the unwanted noise when the movie begins comes from these punks. They are the ones that sit behind you and try to make saracastic quips to either a) friends b) Girl Friends c) Strangers d) Themselves. You try to be polite and turn back and give him the subtle glance - you know you imply 'dude, please stfu trying to watch a movie'. But he knows you cant do anything cause well, your a wimp.

The punk will keep talking about either :

a) How he has seen this movie 100x times. (wtf are u still doing here ?!)
b) How this was the lamest movie ever--- ditto as above
c) Tell/Guess the ending -- Capital Punishement needed here.

Cell Phone guys

One of the classic cases. Rich guy with the latest cell phone. Like this guy here.

The damn thing will ring with not just a small beep, no but the latest and most cacophonic ring tone given by a) Pepsi b) the latest hindhi movie c) Loser Hindhi Remix of english rip offs. He will take like 100 hours to locate the phone, now that they have become the size of a grain. He picks it up, he will pretend to be embarrrased by this ,the cell is gleaming like a lost philosophers stone which emits more gamma rays than the screen itself. Quickly cups his mouth with his hands and ducks down low to 'become invisible' to others. NEWSFLASH NOOB We can still hear you although you have shrunk 50%. He will still be in the hall for the enitre 5 mins

Complex cases include handing over phone to friend to absolve of guilt or turn left and right trying to look innocent prenteding that the noise aint coming from him. Nice try dumbass.

Losers at the end of the row

One of the worst. Typical profile includes Loner, fat middle aged guy or a thief. Will come after the flick began 5 mins ago, and will make you lift your legs, water bottle etc so that he can slowly waft into his seat. He came late forgot to get the pop corn and pepsi so will again slowly move like a sloth thorught 100 seats block your view and get out to buy the stuff. Finally the intermission comes along you cast a glance at him. No he is seated happily does not budge.

IInd part of the movie. Guy drank too much, needs to take a leak , so again does the amoeba through you. U want to stab him as he passes you no doubt. My empathies.

Complex cases include people who get lost in which their row is and try the row infront of you, and then your row, effectively dissing you two times.

WORST CASE SCENARIO: OLD+SLOW+LOSER PUNK+2 OR MORE PEOPLE+CORNER SEAT+WITH BLADDER ISSUES+CELL PHONE RINGING+LONG SICK RING TONE WHICH WILL PLAY IN YOUR MIND THROUGHT THE WHOLE MOVIE

If I go to a movie theatre again, I will probably kill myself or the people mentioned above.

yes, I did that artwork myself..

M[AD], B[AD], S[AD]

2006-04-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

I hate a lot of things in this world. You must know that by now. You can add one more to that list. Wondering what it is? Look the not so subtle clues in the Title and above now!

Still haven't got it?

ADVERTISEMENTS-A public promotion of some product or service

But as you know me, I always have a strong case for everything I do. Where exactly does it really piss me off?

Television- Cricket

When I want to watch a cricket match, I err.. WANT TO SEE THE GODDAMN MATCH!

You know the Indo-Pak match is going to start at 10:00 am IST/EST/PT/GMT?! Depending on which time zone you are in. Fine, you park your ass on the couch at 10:00 sharp with the TV remote and all hyped to see the match. But does that happen? No. It’s a lie. There is some damn pre match analysis going on. Fine, it’s to do with cricket and helps build up the mood. But you see even the pre match show is sponsored by "fair and lovely" which is repeated like 6 billion times (and is like a 10000 x 1000 sq mt billboard behind the charu sharma)

OK WE GET THE MESSAGE! They promise that the game will begin in 10 mins. No 15 mins. No just 5 more. You half outta your mind now. (And did I mention about 10 comm breaks so far, even before it began). While you surf other channels during is ill fated time, you see a bulletin in NDTV saying "India won the toss- choose to field".

You are like "ZOMG!!11 wtf haxxors!?!" and you just realize you have been had. How did you miss the toss but had to endure the idiotic analysis of some dumb female doll on the pre analysis how? Thanks to our good friend addy. The ad was there when the toss took place live. Then you fume at the host abusing him. He then grins and says "Lets take you to what happened at the toss". You now hate his guts.

Finally the match begins. After two overs or so you notice like half the screen is gone. It’s cluttered with ads. From Godrej mats to ford fiestas half the screen is gone. The more irritating version would be the one that jumps and does the salsa on screen in bright orange font.

And you realize after the end of every over, the same ad still is shown? If I see another ford fiesta with abishek bachan on it, I will gag him in the trunk of the car and run it down a cliff. Two birds in one push. Whets worse than that? Ads which repeat continuously. I will never buy your product Vicks Vaporab.

Then comes the lunch session where one team is done batting/fielding. Then the analysis with more emphasis on ads then the game. For every highlight of the game we get a 'highlights package'

Aviva Insurance- Safe hands
Hero Honda- Star of the session
MRF- Master Blaster
Hitachi A/cs- Cool moments

Really..Is there no damn limit...every small little thing has to be filled with ads?

Finally during the fag end of games play with like 60 runs from 10 overs with 4 wickets or something exciting like that. You notice that actually have not seen the 1st and the last ball for the past hour or so. Thanks to the idiot operator's poor timing in balancing the max no of ads and cricket coverage. So basically, you miss anything exciting happening in the 1st and last ball of an over. Thanks to addy.

I have really lost interest in watching cricket matches because of this. It finally comes down to the money. BCCI India is the richest cricket board in the world with a whopping net worth of 220 crs!

More addys--> More Moneys---> All happys. But not me.

I had a dream..

2006-04-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

Last Night. I can remember it very vaguely so here it is:

1) I have a huge heavy bag with me and I set out to go to IIM-A
2) Both my parents say no don't go, but I left at 4:30 pm
3) As I walk along the road I get tired so take an auto. We chat about how he has seen Kashmir and I say "great".
4) Auto guy stops at a temple and says this is as far as I can go. Now you have to walk the rest of the distance.
5) I see many people on the left hand side of the street but the right is empty. They shout out to me to come and see some function going on. I run away from them.
6) I finally reach IIM-A but then I see a huge book from space..Its brown pages have something written on them like how I have to complete '10 steps' only then I can enter.

And then I wake up..I have had this dream before..I want to dream about something else(don't ask what :p) but this seems to keep coming back to haunt me..Its not something I dont want to have but I want to know what it fully means. Is the fact that I want to get into IIM but a divine hand tells me I have not done justice to the preperation and not put in enough? Next time this happens, I am suing my therapist. And cancelling my subscription from www.whatyourdreammeans.com , what a ripoff.

Orkut--The New Net

2006-04-25T06:07:00.000-07:00

We all know that the internet is the uber-est thing since ATM's. I just came across this new concept called 'orkut'. I was like 'meh' big deal I've got yahoo msg and groups nothing can beat that. I did hear of Myspace but it did not have a great reputation. Apparently you get the coolest people there..stalkers+killers+pedos etc. And you know me, always on top of things esp when it comes to the internet. Got an invite from my cousin and bam! This place was really good. Pictures+Profile and the best part was the scrapping facility which is damn easy to use and kinda fun when it is public. It cannot be classified as a pure net forum(no quoting of posts) or stuff like that. I like it!

I met a lot of old school mates from sboa+nps and of course the reason I came here , my scmhrd gang. Nice to see their pics and know more about them. Orkut also has a nice system of cool/trust/sexy karma points which u get based on others anonymous voting for you..So far yours truly has got the cool+trust.Waiting for the last one :p
Another cool feature is the friends list and the communities which u want to be a part of..U can tell a lot from a person from then community he/she joins.

It has been addicting I will admit but as economists say, the law of diminishing returns has caught up with me. Or maybe I just have nothing better to do?

Mocha: Coffee+conversations and Crud..Lots of it.

2006-04-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

We decided to have a meet (all scmhrdian's from chennai) to kind break the ice and stuff, and the place for that was "Mochas"..Now this is the kind place where people with more money than sense go to..which is unfortunately why we all went! (Just for the record altogether I have lived in chennai for >16 years never been here or even the lower toned "Coffee Day" All mothers would love to have me as a son, I know.

Originally only 1 senior was supposed to come to meet the 5 juniors(us) but he got along his pals 5 more! I thought it would be kind wierd and stuff but they were really cool. What gets me is this place. U see boys/girls/a third sex here who come dressed to kill+loaded with the bling $$ + Smoke like chimneys. Now this is kinda a culture shock for me..Cause the hippest(is that a word?) place I've been to is Spencers..That too landmark at that! The ambiance is what the suckers come here for cause u got the works..kinda rustic+oritenal touch+Chinese lamps+stream on pebbles -.-

I paid 85 for a goddamn coffee late or whatever the hell it is called in Italian..Daylight or should I say twilight robbery! We had a nice time getting to know each other kinda well before the seniors made their arrival at the show. Some chicken sandwiches for one of my batchmates+ 2 awful coffee's+some other crap was ordered. The best drink of the day was a glass of water..aah tasted great after the coffee crud.

An actual 'hookah' was got in some strawberry flavor and was puffed at like an asthma patient with bronchitis..I and another guy declined politely was amazed at how liberal others were towards it.

One funny/scary/highlight of the evening was when someone broke the bottom part of the hooka machine thing and we had to cough up 3000 for it! Finally after some smart talking by the seniors and 1/2 June (not me, maybe in 2 years..) it was brought down to 1500.

Wierd.Ice melted like wax and soon we were kinda cool but I never really "fit in" with the place..Seems like a matrix with everything so artificial.

Ok, maybe Im making an issue outta this(like I do for everything) and I can hear you say 'why do u wanna come here and then b*tch about the place'? Fair enough. But I see how materialistic and image conscious the youth are today. Gotta been see in the right places with the right people wearing the right stuff. Geez..Is the opinion of another person so important you have to change for someone else? I think I am still I the past... Venues like the beach are frowned upon cause they don't have the 'X' factor. I wonder..Is it because Im an introvert I feel like this? Or is this a normal current-genx trend? I really gotta admire 1 guy here who was more bold and easy going than the seniors themselves..That's what I wish I had. I wonder if this is the same culture shock/future shock Im gonnna face at Pune..I have an eerie feeling it is gonna be like that.. But as long as I don't go to mochas or any thing like that ..im a happy camper.

Ps: We did take a couple of Pics (thanks to the Seniors who came with a neat camera) will try to get pics and upload them!

PPs: here is 1 of them..the hawt dude in the red shirt is me ;p

A year later..

2006-04-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

Its been one whole year since I actually started a blog lamenting how I bombed CAT 2004 and I created a blog to cry my heart out. Now one year later, nothing has changed, I bombed cat 2005 too and but managed to get through a decent B school if not the IIMs, a place called Scmhrd.

It pains me when I see people efforlessly cruising through the CAT. Sour grapes? I give a damn. What I can't stand is when they discover that they are uber cool when they took a "diag test" cause their friends 'pushed' them into taking it and score like 99%ile. Then they go like..'eugh..this is CAT?' ok fine your cool, smart. But keep your _____ intact.
Then in every mock cat they get 99+ and cry if they go to 98..sheesh. End up with 5 calls, get into one of them. End of Story. Then they say how life was a big struggle and how they will never forget how much they suffered..

/call teh care police.

dialing 1800-care-police-Stfu.

don't get me wrong. I really admire and even deify people who get I'M calls let alone convert them..In fact I am probably your biggest fan. But I cant stand the hypocrisy. Please. Don't insult the game. Lotta people playing here. Not cool to diss it.

Bill gates once said life was not fair. I thought since he is a rich stuffed up punk he will make up such idealistic crap. But now I realize he was right. It isn't. Some people are born with genius embedded in them like a microchip, others like me guess..Well will have to settle for second best.

PS: I' ve been getting some flak about this so Ill make it clear:

I dont like the peeps who make out a fact that they have struggled for a year to make it to the IIMs when from the very 1st mock they took they got 99+ Thats not really a struggle is it? I have nothing against anyone else! In fact I <3 IIM peeps!