a story rarely told...

               Whatever tomorrow brings, I’ll be there

               With open arms and open eyes…  Drive – Incubus - this song has been on my nerves for some time now, so it gets its due credit

                Today as I look at my friends in sickness, I can see my whole life playing in front of me. Nah we have nothing in common but yes I have seen trouble and lots of it, I moved on and made it to rgIIM to look at this day. I feel like sharing my story tonight. Here goes…

                Born to a civil servant, I’ve seen the luxuries of life that not every kid would have enjoyed otherwise. Yes I’m a spoilt kid with servants to help at every corner; I used to love the freebies in dad’s ‘laal batti’. The traffic police guy saluting the car; the industrialists visiting home with boxes of sweets on holidays; free crackers on Diwali and a world where you needn’t care for shit literally. Meanwhile, my dad always used to tell me that whatever you do, never forget who you are. I still remember Puranji – our 60 year old servant, that ride on his bicycle to school is unforgettable. Fyi, I was infamous for refusing to go to school till class 1, I used to cry; throw away my school shoes out of the school bus and it generally took 5 – 6 ppl to take me to school. However, with time, things improved (is it?)

                Most interesting factor in life was that by the time I came to class 8, I had the privilege to have lived in every district of the largest state of India. Schools used to change every year, sometimes even semi-annually and it was fun, lost and made a lot of friends in this process though. Best moment was when mom unpacked the luggage at one town and within a month dad got transferred to another district; expression on mom’s face was unforgettable – ultimate way to define helplessness and frustration.

               Then came the phase of consolidation, dad got promotions and it was not possible to move out of the state capital, got admitted in a BIGG school. Kids here knew how to abuse, woo girls and blah blah blah. It took me a while to get acclimatized to the culture of school (hopefully, I was not baptized as my reverend father sLuDGy was @ la Martiniere J). With a big school comes bigger troubles, bigger nerds, bigger bullies and prettier girls… it was fun yaar.

                Things were banal until this happened - I was hospitalized for 3 months right before the 12th board examinations. I underwent a mammoth surgery to recover; they grafted the bone taken from my left leg to the mandible. Result: no food for 3 months, I couldn’t walk, my mouth was tied, and I couldn’t talk either. 3 months of silence…for a guy, who was a total athlete, it was hell. My back used to burn as I lay in single position for months. Though, It gave me the power to listen; I can listen to any crap you wish to utter now (peacefully). It also made me respect an entity known as ‘life’ and food in particular. My mom still tells me how I once wrote on a piece of paper to her “aaj main karela bhi kha lunga” and all that she could do was brush my hair with love and console me. Side effects of the surgery still remain; the left leg which pains till date, I am forced to live with that persistent physical pain. I’m used to it now; weird ways of life…

                Among all this, I gave my board exams scoring 75%.They are my medal of honor, they mean so much to me that today when I look at CV’s with 93% and state topper; it just makes me smile. Then came college, all my friends chose engineering, me losing on illness decided for a Bachelor of Arts (I’m so glad to make this decision). Found six impeccable friends there and ‘gangsters’ was born. Its tuff to explain what we have been through; numerous trips to random destinations, bday bumps, setting final exam questions, sharing movies (:P)… life can never be the same. Gangsters are and will remain my soul. They brought the joy back to my life, thank you bhai log.

              I can write a lot more but sanity tells me to stop. I rest my case for now.

            On this note let me also tell you some hints on what kind of a person I guess I am

1)                   I believe that every person is good inside, only his shell ‘varies’

2)                  Anything for my friends and family and they can vouch for it

3)                  Can’t say no to most people, wish I could do that

4)                  Not good at talking on cellphone

5)                  Love music and life in particular

6)                  As good as my surroundings are

7)                  Eyes speak a lot about a person, I read them to take my guesses

8)                  Frank and honest, trust people easily

                      Okay that does it…  I’ve reached some 868 words now!!

 p.s. – if god asked to change one bit of my life, I wouldn’t change it for anything because whatever happened, it is my life and I’m glad to live it. J

 also, i leave you fellows to ponder upon why would i write all this stuff here but then that's me.. tc god bless

A farce life of bitches, bastards and Angels

Don't worry the title has nothing to do with the post but a lot to do with my life in particular. Anyways,

 it’s that time when I scribble my worthless pennies on the place where the legendary ‘Bird Idol’ was selected as the movie of the millennium. Those who have no clue of the above line can go and take a crapper while I fill this space with some serious thoughts.

Lesson 1

Ways people handle their problems – they do so by

1. Eating a lot
2. Crying all night in vain
3. Pretending to be strong without realizing how vulnerable they really are
4. Share it with your close friends
5. Closing on your own friends thinking they would feel troubled and won’t help
6. Doing nothing, waiting for them to fade away

a) 

The problem can be tackled by a single option or a combination of few or all of them, what really works out of them... I dunno...  that’s the beauty of the argument.

I can tell that if I am suffering, I choose option 4. It has worked for me and will work hopefully in the coming times.

The funniest part is we always try to become strong in a situation of crisis, partly because the Indian society has taught us to be strong. Me, on the contrary is happy to be vulnerable and opening up to friends. Life is simpler that waysJ. Obviously the problem arises only when u don’t know who is your friend..

Lesson 2

Change happens everywhere but when u r accused of changing, you

1. Do nothing
2. Deny
3. Accept
4. Talk it out to your near and dear ones
5. Think what has happened
6. Try to avoid people

a)      Again, my favorite is option 4 but the question is do you have the courage to talk?

I’ve always wondered why life has so many questions. Besht part is most or all of them are self created and each one waits that someday the answers will come… Ah!! You fool… without any effort you are not getting anywhere… so at least try but again if everything had answers, it won’t be called life…

Lesson 3

Life has no lost pages, its all in the brain

When one of my friends said this line, I never thought it would define every moment of this crazy life I’ve been living. There are schools of thought that are married to the concept of life is a novel, and we end our lives searching for that final page that helps you make sense of your life. I disagree,

Life is as it is, you will never know what awaits tomorrow and you will still plan everyday to do something and end up doing something else or nothing (curious case of Reverend Father sLuDGy).

Your actions define your fate, that’s what I believe in and if you do something wrong in your life, it will come back to haunt you always, running won’t help. Be good to others, smile, forgive, apologize and ye shall be freeee. As far as the lost pages are concerned, it is and will always be in the brain, why bother about it?

Phew!! No more of these lessons, it’s close to 4am and I’m wondering where the hell all this crap came from. Why am I so sensitive, why do I care about my friends so much?

Answer lies in the song from Pink Floyd – wish you were here

“We are just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year, running over the same old ground, what’ve we found, same old fears” – never be afraid in life.

Do what your heart tells you, maybe it’s wrong but life has less regrets that way… J

All the concerned stakeholders and people who read this, do remember who you really are

And when you get the answer to some of the weirdest questions that life has asked you, do tell me about them coz I need all of them to help the chosen set of universe I call ‘my friends’…

 Take Care.

moments of realization

In just about hours from now, I will be relieved from my internship. I sit completely idle on my desk; full of memories and moments and i don't know why but there is a pinch in my heart today. I realize that I am slowly drifting away from my best friends. It’s a sudden revelation and all I can do now is to reflect on what went wrong. I thought I’d write a thousand words here, but the feeling is so overwhelming that I can’t write anymore.


Wish they were here with me.. as of now, I think I can’t tell, heaven from hell……..

rig a ding ding.. humming for joy

Ah! The title is weird coz the tune is stuck in my head for last two days.. it comes in a whiz and goes away..  aaaaaaaaa rig a ding ding..  rig a ding ding dong.. Chuck it for now. Finally, I have changed the title of my two week old blog. It may seem to be lifted from some other ‘famous’ quote but that’s just a stochastic allegation.

To continue with my perils at Mumbai, this was my last weekend and I did what exactly I’d do, travel. It began with a movie. The famous DDLJ show at Maratha mandir was beyond words. I could feel the pleasure of watching a masterpiece for the xx time; it’s out of counts now, still a refreshing experience to watch a gem on 70mm screen. The whistles, the claps of a full house crowd, me breaking the cold drink bottle, it was all so amazing. J

Then came the moment of destiny, I wanted to go to AKSA beach, my ‘friends’ didn’t. They refused to go, I still went with a handful to the illustrious place. The last time I went to that place, it was secluded, this Sunday thanks to the high tide; it was nothing less to a mini juhu beach scenario. But then we finally found out a less crowded corner and there..!!  ya that’s the moment..  it happened…..

The waves hitting me, the might of the sea, the sun sliding in clouds, the breeze hitting my face, I forgot every suffering I went through in my whole internship period. For a change I could smile freely, I could thank my ‘friends ‘for not being there to spoil the moment, it was rebirth as the waves hit me again and again with that consistent frail but not giving up.  Every gentle stroke of waves energized me to get up and smile, a thought struck me; maybe friends matter in life, maybe love matters but what matters the most is your happiness, I mean aren’t these friends or girlfriends meant to bring joy to your life. If you find a source of happiness within yourself, why not cherish it…?

And so I’m humming a tune, I’m smiling, I’m bunking office to sleep...coz it makes me happy..

All other things can just wait FOREVER...  J

A rig a ding ding.. 

a rig a ding ding dong du dum ..

btw a funny thing happened, one of my friend wanted to race with me on the beach, in shallow water, swarno began the race, 3.. 2.. 1 and chapak.. my friend was down.. all wet in a gush of wave..lol the race got over even before it started!!  it was fun..

An IDEA that changes my life.... and possibly a few more

The official response system in India is praised all over the world for its “efficiency” (lol) and “effectiveness” (plz stop..!! :P), the difference between the two terms shall be explained to you by Jeeva  who is known in IIMS for his elucidate reply on this one.

So, we have a ‘system’ in place and there is a ‘channel’ for everything, you have to communicate everything through the proper channel to get heard (fair enuf makes sense –SAIGARU). The only problem with this mode of working is that in an era of emails and info on the go, the channel simply acts as a bottleneck in relaying information from one end to the other ultimately defeating the purpose of its creation.

While some may argue that it is necessary to have the system in order to filter out relevant information from the irrelevant one, my argument is simple – if you are to decide what is relevant and irrelevant, where is my thought process?(main buddhu nahi hu). Also, It makes no sense for me to support such channels that ultimately create individuals who are stressed out with no time left for their life and a significant amount of people cribbing against them.

What can be the solution to such a situation? In my point of view, (and I repeat it’s MY point of view) why can’t we have an open system in place. Imagine a place where the admin is directly responsible to the stakeholders (trueee... isn’t it?), there is a simple forum like PG or an online community (official) where all issues can be directly dealt by the stakeholders. It would make the organization more leaner, keep power hungry people off bay who try all means to gain power and lesser interpersonal conflicts (you can’t blame the internet!)

This way, the system will not breed autocracy (hopefully) and eases the life for the poor few who suffer for no individual fault of their own. Imagine this happening on a national level (Nandan Nilekani’s   UID system rocks btw) and you are looking at a country which is more responsive and open to public. I know most of this doesn’t make sense to the majority but still I would ask this question to the few who get the feel… isn’t this a great idea?   

Note – Idea based on real life experiences.   :)

Story teller..

Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl. They were very good friends, they used to share their good and the bad moments and trusted each other a lot. Don’t get confused here, these are not love birds. The girl loved someone else, a prince actually and the boy (hero of this story) was happy for the girl.

Now, the problem with this friendship was that the boy had a constant fear; the fear of falling in love with the girl. The logic for this fear was that the boy had seen a lot of Hollywood movies and he was not sure of his chances to maintain the friendship and in case he fell in love, it would have wrecked havoc in girl’s life. So, the boy decides to tell the girl a fake sad story about himself, the girl believes the boy and sympathizes for the boy.

As time passes by, the boy thinks its time to ‘pull the plug’; he tells the girl that he lied to her. The girl who used to blindly trust the boy feels cheated and goes away from the boy.  

The boy did it, he sacrificed his friendship to make sure the girl is happy in the long run (economist’s logic). Now, I have a question for all of you :

• 1.       Is the boy correct in doing this to the girl?
• 2.       Is the girl correct in leaving the boy?
• 3.       What is the real meaning of love? For e.g. In this case - sacrifice or being the friend forever...?

Hope I’ve given enough food for thought. The intent of this story and questions is to look at what defines 'friendship' and 'love' for you. I don't have the answers to anything, just have situations to imagine.. :)

Rebirth

The sensible me wants to write, say nice things to all. So, I finally muster up the courage to begin my blog. The possible reasons could be

a)                 a)   I’m too bored at my internship

b)                b)   Everyone is into blogging in my batch

c)                 c)  Or maybe I just want the world to listen to me

Well to be diplomatic, I would say all of these are partly responsible for it.

And I begin with my learnings from a year at IIMS. Never realized the time would run so fast.

1)      Grades don’t matter

Mind you I’m in a batch of 66 academic gems<lol> with 40 gold medalists and I still have the 'balls’ to say it. In the three terms that went by, I’ve seen anybody and I mean anybody score a 10 in QT I, the same fellow scored a 7 next term in QT II (that’s me btw :P ). For some people, it was tough to accept ( I remember an angry jeeva who said ‘ why am I studying so much if people are not serious’) but then everyone gets into the mode of last moment submission^TM 

2)      You are doing a fake MBA if you get 7 consecutive days of peace

 This is something which all of you know but won’t agree in public, just when you enter an IIM, some issue or the other will come up to disturb the peace of mind. A mail would shoot from certain people stating ‘this happened and that happened and we need to blah blah..’ and suddenly you find everyone coming up with brilliant<rofl> ideas to solve it ending nowhere. The point is in an IIM, there is so much to do that you just can’t imagine a peaceful period and that’s where you get all the learning(my opinion).

3)       Wear formals while going to the bathroom

 For all of us who used to live in separate boys hostels where a girl was the last thing to be seen, the IIMS experience was quite thrilling. Whenever you are going to the bathroom, you will find girls wandering in the wing as if they are looking for you only. One of my friend baba ‘actually’ made this comment that we should consider visiting bathrooms in formals to impress them..hmm  not bad and I second him ( rana and golden boy are nodding in the background..btw they were caught changing clothes.. :P)

4)      If your friend has a girlfriend and you don’t, better find one quick

 Now it’s a B school, we are all ‘mature’ fellows and its obvious to look out for ‘just friends’, not an issue really. But, the issue arises when your friend gets it and you have to adjust.  I am not saying more on this thing coz there is a year left at IIMS. And, I’m happy for my friend.

5)     Nothing beats good friends and peer learning is the best way to learn

I have never learned so much in such a little time. The credit goes to my peers, who strive to learn regardless of the hectic schedule, the qualified faculty<lmao> also promotes peer to peer learning. The best thing to happen in IIM is to find good friends, the pressure, the night outs all become so much fun with them. Thank you all for being my friends. I, learned for example these amazing vocab enhancers seriously, jabar, pelis, haww, lapada khaoge, Bring it on,SIMB etc..  

6)      Develop a hobby/ B plan/club or committee

 For all the hectic  schedule, it is highly recommended that you are doing something other than extra curricular. Few glittering example include – writing anonymous mails, spamming, making tea, Abra B-plans etc.  the trick is to do something so that you sleep late in order to miss early morning lectures.

Well, there are many things worth mentioning, but I’m running short on time. Leave you to revel on the memories that strike with each incident. Do drop in your comments, I may reply if the comments are not bullish. Till then, take care JAI MATA DI lets rock !!!  :)