Rebooting...

Sometimes I wonder. What makes me so lethargic that I am not able to write. To follow a passion I thought would be my calling one day. Am I busy ? No. Am I doing something so much more worthwhile that I cannot fathom wasting my precious time over putting my two cents into a blog ? No. It is the people around me ? Not at all (because there are hardly any !!)

It is in fact the corroding influence of some entities which were a part of my life a year back. But I shall write - slowly and surely. It shall be insignificant rambling which will metamorphose into lucid lines and paragraphs.

And I have finally started....

"Warriors Of Nine Eleven"

A tribute to the 2009-11 batch of SCMHRD...... and a snapshot of my journey for the past two years at this mind-blowing place, with some of the smartest brains from this country !! :)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The MBA dream, though hard to pursue,

Was a piece of cake for a chosen few.

They were those who made adversity their haven,

Such were the Warriors of Nine-Eleven.

The obscure Hinjewadi served as the battlefield,

But the Nine-Eleven’ers had obedience as their shield.

Inspite of trials and tribulations many,

They held on with their agreeableness so uncanny.

Fixed seating arrangement was the first shocker they faced,

With malice from the Academics it was laced;

But igniting their minds from a Teacher so dear,

Away from this, the Nine-Eleven’ers did steer.

As a thorough adventure, the OBL was spent,

New dimensions to their personalities it lent;

New friends were made; old ties broken,

Virtual friends till now; first time they had spoken.

Study group dynamics, soon started to unfold,

Some found soul mates; some, miseries untold.

Roomie-love blossomed behind quite a many doors,

While many still explored: the mess, gym and ‘Sweety’ Stores.

The gears soon shifted as Examinations pulled their trigger,

Releasing missiles called FCQs to push up the rigour.

Seniors poured in soon- A bitter sweet association,

Many talents were revealed during the ice-breaking sessions.

Committee interviews were scheduled and resumes were sent,

It was then that the Warriors realised what ‘nocturnal’ meant.

‘Milaap’ was an experience, few had expected,

But ‘Aarambh’ was when the HRD spirit was detected.

August began, and In the swine flew,

To battle Academics or H1N1, the Warriors had no clue

With masks on their faces and hearts full of dare,

They faced the Grand Daddy, and respite was declared.

The scorching heat of ‘Summers’, September did bring in,

Friendships was tested and cemented as kith and kin,

The first season exams soon ended, with much relief,

The feat of surviving it all, left many with disbelief.

Season two marked the beginning of a different harmony,

The campus seemed a better place and not as harsh or stony.

Warriors rallied in Drives and Pitches, visiting places near and far,

All corners of the campus cried: “Neev O Nine is War”

The festive clouds parted soon,

Food poisoning brought in a depressing gloom.

But Warriors emerged rolling up their sleeves,

Standing hand-in-hand, driving away the grief.

The Admissions Week was one hugely awaited,

A kind of stir this had indeed created.

Upholding the name of their B-School so high,

Some Warriors would notice a nymphet and sigh !

Summers soon arrived and mettles were tested,

Warriors outplayed many, wielding their swords encrusted.

Corporates swooned as Warriors emerged show-stoppers,

This was evident from the number of Pre-placement Offers.

As the superiors departed, the baton was passed,

To the Warriors, to uphold the B-School mast.

“Do unto them as we did to you,

Keep up the tradition of a HRDian true.”

As Season three progressed, a fact became clear,

The time was ripe for the Goal so dear.

A meaty career was what every Warrior kissed,

And P&G bagged the cream of what HUL missed !

With War Room, Envidea & Stratedge at their feet,

The Warriors know no obstacle nor afraid of a defeat.

Conclaves & Symposiums; they left nothing to neglect,

At Neev Ten, they even gave to Chaos, Effect.

As the Warriors now stand at tomorrow’s threshold,

Minds sharpened and their tales twice-told,

In their hearts and minds there is action still hidden,

Such are the Warriors of Nine-Eleven !

"Andaaz Andaaz Apna" Cake :D

Preparation time: As long as u want

Serves: depends on the pieces that you cut

Ingredients:

Maida(wheat flour will also do)............ 2 or 2.3 or 3 cups

Castor Sugar.............. 200 or 150 gms (if castor sugar finishes then use plain sugar)

Butter(Amul or any other).................. as much as there is in the refrigerator

Chocolate(or Cocoa pwd, whichever is available)........... till it is dark enough to titillate your taste buds

Crushed Walnuts(or any other nuts).............................. as much as you want

Vanilla essence(or any other flavor you want).........................as much as you want

Milk............till required consistency is achieved

Baking Powder........ as much as u feel appropriate

Method:

1. Take the butter and melt it in the microwave at whichever intensity and for as long as it takes to melt the butter. Add Cocoa powder or chocolate, whichever.

2. If you want then sieve the maida and baking powder together otherwise mix it with your hand :)

3. Add the flour to the butter-chocolate mix

4. Mix in milk, nutsand vanilla essence till the required consistency is achieved.

5. Bake in the microwave at the intensity you want till the mixture rises...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Cake is ready !!! :)

Sink in your teeth and enjoy the Andaaz apna apna Cake....

P.S>>Those who baked this cake with me on New Years' Eve know how much fun it is to just add in ingredients by andaaz (marathi for estimation)..... and hence the name !! :D

New Year... Naah... New Decade !!

Its a New year !! The beginning of a new Decade in fact.... and the end of a very eventful one...

And I have made a few resolutions !! :) Just documenting them here for reference (mine as well as others, so that i may be reminded about them from time to time :P)

1. I will blog regularly.....well, or at least as frequently as a situation demanding so arises...

2. I will watch my weight (hopefully it goes down and not up !! :P)... What I mean here is that I will be more fitness-conscious... Hail Gym !!

3. I will consciously nurture my reading.... and make my books my best friends again

4. I will be more considerate towards PEOPLE's circumstances, not jump to impulsive conclusions and love for love's sake...

5. I will use my CANON POWERSHOT... well, use it.. thats it..

6. I will listen to classical music more seriously... and yeah, try to move from yaman to bhimpalas... ;P

7. I will multi-task less.... listen more.....and keep in touch....

8. Now comes the toughest one... I will Facebook less(?) and stop wasting my online time checking pics/status messages/comments of friends/friends of friends etc....

I guess the list would now come to a point where one would call it "idealistic" living...

Disclaimer: The list above might be subject to changes/additions/deletions...... afterall Change is the only Constant.....

B-zy Me...

One week old in a B-school and i am still clueless about what i want to get out of this MBA programme. And it is precisely this very fact that's giving me sleep-less nights. Nothing else could be more unnerving than to realise that you do not have a clear view about your future, especially when most (well, almost all) have their minds made up and hearts set upon their chosen paths.

One of our very dynamic marketing professors' kind advice to all of us was - decide which subjects are gonna be your forte for the rest of the two years here and then go for the kill. In the rest 15 or so just keep afloat (yeah.. we have 18 subjects !!!). But what if you don't know what you want ?

=====================================================================

The OBL went perfectly fine. All complete with the first rain showers of the season. Though our "OBL" started a night before we managed to catch up with the class 6 hours later. Well, as someone said 'Friends, family and health come foremost. Everything else follows'.

Made lotsa crazy crazy friends and I guess it's because of programmes like these that u start feeling belonged; the warmth; the sense of oneness. The Bonfire rocked, skit went off well but the highlight of the day would be the fire alarm that went off in the middle of the night, followed by the mad frenzy of scambling outside, leaving all your belongings behind to perish in the imaginary fire that was supposedly raging around us, and building dusty tents so that we could stay in there. Weird.... but fun.

Next morning saw me gettin up at 5 for the first trek of my life. Gettin ready to conquer the Singhgad. A few observations:

1. There is nothing more powerful than the human mind. Stress, anticipation or the idea of giving up lies in the mind. If your mind loses it your gone....
2. Take each stone as it comes without thinkin of the mountain top.
3. Learn to find your steps through the seemingly uneven stones. Its surprising how they seem to appear once you have made up your mind to see them.
4. Take small steps as per your capacity. Its absolutely worthless to think of how fast/slow others are. So it always help to compete.
5. Carry lots of water but dont think of drinking it all at once.

That was a lot of gyan and all this enlightenment was attained as i climbed to the top. Maybe heights are conducive to contemplation. Maybe that's the reason why sages preferred solitude at great heights.

=======================================================================

Life here is weird. Sometimes there is such tremendous workload , that you are struggling to stay alive. At other times there seems such a void, you wanna scream your lungs out for work.

It's like the lull before the storm, and it's precisely this that makes it more scary. Atleast when the storm's raging you know that soon this would pass. But when you are going through a relaxed spell you never know when it's gonna hit you. You wouldn't even know what hit you. And it's nerve-wracking. Especially in the face of a dismal performance at a surprise class tests in one of my weakest subjects (Not weak really.. just new and unaccustomed... that's it). This cannot and should not be repeated. I sincerely hope. But where's the stress to keep me on my toes ?

========================================================================

Switched to aerobics since the past coupla days. Its rejuvenating, stimulating and ofcourse tiring. But it feels awesome when you are planning to bunk the class the next morning. Well, planning as yet..... let's see what my conscience has to say about it tomorrow.....

=========================================================================

Cmon gal... buck up.....

==========================================================================

Sometimes i wonder....... Why do we have to sleep at night ????

Day 1...

The mad-mad world of a B-school. Had heard about it but now i am experiencing it first hand. I reached my institute on the 1st of june but the so-called events have begun from today. Met my new room-mates(from now on "roomies") on the 1st. One gal from Delhi and another from Amravati(an interior from Maharashtra). Nice gals. Here one's almost "married" to the roomies. You stay with them, sleep with them, eat with them, study with them, attend classes together, sit in classes together.... its endless. So the point is that you gotta really establish that connection with them which will help you achieve that perfect balance in your life.



The day started with what would probably be my first "shocker" in the two years here. First surprise test and as my luck would have it, it was my most "favourite" - Financial Accounting.

Fumbled through the entire 30 odd questions and couldn't remember a thing about what i ahd read during those bliss-ful days back in Mumbai.



And still that was the BEST part of the day. coz after that began the onslaught of hair-raising blood curdling presentations each of which systematically described the way we were going to be toughtened for the big bad world. It was like Organised Crime. It started with the harmless syllabus, then the attendance norms (for both acads and non-acads... the most alarming part) and finally the cherry on the miserable cake- the GPA system. For people like me, who had only read about this in Five-Point Someone, anticipating this nightmare personally was...well..cant really find the right word... maybe "stressful" ? yeah it was.... the throbbing headache reinforced that fact.....
Lunch was a saviour. Fried rice, Paneer makhani, soya bhaji, chapatti.... yummm....
After lunch we immediately rushed to the Audi for a briefing on the health care facilities being undertaken for us- the budding managers. The chief speaker, a doctor, clairified that acording to a study young management students like us were found to suffer from a number of lifestyle diseases like hypertension, kidney stones etc which even they themselves were not aware of. But this did not come as a surprise to me. If the course was designed in such a way that there would be a constant level of stress hovering on our juvenile minds all the time we were bound to land up on the docs table soon.....So here everything is taken care of.. The Cause and the Effect... the Virus and the Antibiotic.... the Disease and the Cure... lol....

Finally we had a "surprise" (i guess i should really stop using that word... it might just turn out to be the next most over-used word in my active vocab ) lecture by our Director, which simply underlined the simple message which was being drilled into us for the whole day... GET READY FOR TOUGH BUSINESS... hahah.. interesting... so here we will test our limits and maybe even stretch beyond them, we'll realise what we are truly made up of...

Finally we were handed a HUGE pile of books (which apparently forms only a tiny fraction of what we actually have to read and study) before we headed for our rooms....

tomorrow we head for our very first OBL (out bound learning) where we'll BREAK the ice and BUILD the team (i like the way this line is framed...)... and before i can say "oh i slept for only 3 hours yest"..... i'll head to my bed and be off to sleep... till then... Adios...

Lessons Learnt....

My much planned Goa trip came to a wholesome end yesterday. A perfect trip accompanied by some profound lessons. For instance i didn't fail to notice that Goan roads can be dangerously curvaceous and this can prove to be badly nauseatic for a person like me, i didn't fail to notice either that my meals dont seem to be complete without a bowlful of pure white curd (made out of skimmed milk of course !!!) or the fact that a Muslim taxi-driver knew the location of all our temples far better than we did !!! 

This particular guy has been accompanying my family on all our annual (or maybe once-in-two-years) temple visits which are carried out in order to appease all our dieties. The fact that my grand-mother insisted on his accompanying mum and me on this trip came as a surprise (to me) for i know my granny's unflinching hatred for anything non-Hindu. but then there were many factors which worked in his favour- gran's cousin knows him personallyso its safe with him around (whewww !!), his charges are reasonable (surprise.... there's global recession staring us in the face dude !!), he is the only guy who knows the perfect way to the Vijayadurga temple at Keri (are you kidding me ?? and we ain't talking of a masjid here !!). The last one struck me like a bolt of lightening. So where are the talks of hindu-muslim divide ?