Bring it on...

The ISB application had an essay- describe a challenging situation you have faced at work or outside. I know I am too late to write something there, but what I managed during the last two days, easily falls in that category.

Consider this

Scenario 1- 10 AM, Monday morning

I had to send out a deliverable on Monday, with was not even half complete

I had to send out my HEC application by midnight

I had to take CAT next day and reach some godforsaken college in some village by 8 in morning

Scenario 2 - 2 PM, Tuesday morning - everything done.

I really feel proud of myself and am now basking in my glory. I behaved like a maniac for 2 days and didn't sleep a wink. and now come to think of it, how many people actually take the CAT after a night out. not many you know :) and yeah the whole CAT experience was fun if you ask me. For the first time in 3 years I was taking it not as an exam but as an experience. I was quite impressed with the arrangements. no software glitch, or any virus or any malware or anything. everything went smoothly.

déjà vu? I would hope not

It's funny how things how life goes into a rewind mode sometimes. I got a waitlist from ISB. Well, even they seem to be non committal about me :)
Something similar happened in 2007 with XL and somehow the memories of that aren't very pleasant. I guess the bad experience there was driven more by my over optimism and yes of course the whole drama over OBC reservation . So I was devasted back then and of course there was a major personal heartbreak which added to the agony. But, the whole experience made me a lot wiser.
Anyways, things are different now and while a waitlist is definately a ray of hope, I would consider it a no till the time I get a final offer from them. Yeah, of course it's much much better than a ding.
So what next, from what I understand they would reassess my application with R2 applicants and based on that give me final yes or a no by March next year. Now that is a long way off. Looking at last year's waitlist stats from my team, well one guy got a yes and another guy got a no.
Now here is what I plan to do next
1. Get dead drunk tonight- ISB is a prestigious institute and even getting a waitlist is something to be proud of and thus a reason to celebrate
2. Have a relook at the schools I plan to apply to. That calls for major introspection and frankly something I had stopped doing ever since I got the hallowed interview call.
3. Eat my dinner, it's getting cold

Deshdrohis!!

What happened today in Maharashtra assembly was deplorable. I would rate it even more shameful than what happened in the UP assembly some 12 years back. That was all about a few goons, who got excited over some argument , displaying what they did best. But today a few self proclaimed sons of Maharashtra tried to show that they were over the constitution, violating the freedom of speech of a person. I mean how can you physically abuse someone for taking an oath in Hindi. Tomorrow, these goons will mete out similar treatment to anyone who speaks in Hindi in Maharashtra! And what's really wtf is that an MLA actually proudly said that to him Raj's sermon is greater than the Indian constitution.
For me suspending these warriors for the Marathi Manoos from the assembly will not solve anything. I am sure Raj Thackrey's Banar Sena will show all this as 'sacrifice' which these 'revolutionaries' made for the greater good.
Make them watch KRK's Deshdrohi 100 times over without break. I am sure they will all be blurting KRK's one liners for the next 10 days and probably even throw a bottle or two at Raj Thackrey.

Two down

Submitted my Johnson School (Cornell) application a few minutes back. It's quite competitive, they offered admissions to some 270 out of the 2600 odd who applied this year. The university is some 140 years old and the campus is absolutely beautiful. Will be a real treat if I am given a chance to study there. They didn't quite mention how they would conduct my interview (provided I get short-listed). Hope they don't expect me to fly down to New York, well that wouldn't be a bad option actually :))

Next in line is Kellogg - I am nearly done with essays and should be able to submit the application by Tuesday/ Wednesday.

Meanwhile my ISB result should come out in a couple of weeks. It's been a while since the interview and the waiting for the results is giving me the jitters.

I guess, patience is the key these next few months..

Somebody please tell me this is just a bad dream

"I care about playing for India, it's a passion and I have been absoloutely honoured to play for India so long" - Sachin Tendulkar post the match.

Hats off to you Sachin! Not your fault, we lost. We lost because others lacked the temperament.

Bas, ab bahut ho gaya!

Every now and then comes a 'break the mould' moment - where every molecule in your body tries to spur every other molecule to break the dormancy and change things around. It's a funny situation, where you start behaving more by instinct and gut feeling rather than by logic. You start getting excited and half of you already starts celebrating . You start hating the way things are right now and routine that you follow and start looking forward to the future. You suddenly get that energy and positive vibes that you were missing for such a long time.

I just hope this time it lasts long enough

If you can fill the unforgiving minute...

You log on to facebook and see people glorifying their absolutely mundane lives by posting it on the wall, people rearing sheep and beautifying their farm, people who you barely know writing absolutely unwanted comments on your pictures, people who you once had feelings for, proudly dispalying their now 'in a relationship' status -Popping out of the screen and yelling at you -hey you loser! I am his now and you freaking moron I am now so happy now, so hell with you and your stupid know-it-all talk. and he likes to hear the rubbish I speak, and he gets me choclates and yeah he has a big car, not a stupid bike like you... He..hahaha...
So here I am tired, dejected and rejected...

But then come to think of it, this all is my undoing. I am dealing with another situation these days- it deals with someone who is reaching out, literally crying for my help everytime we talk. What do you do you when the only thing you can do is to run away from the situation- at least that way you can help yourself. The sick mentality that many Indian parents have is that they can't accept the fact their daughter is doing better than her son. So, what do you then - you pull her back and push her into the same muck she worked so hard to come out of. and then show the world that they took the step in her larger interest. Congratulations, you have ensured that she will now be stuck there all her life!
and all I can do is watch the drama unfold with these SOBs ruining her life....

These are some of times I really wished I earned more...

Rejuvenated

I had a serious work out today, after a long long time and I feel great. Relaxed and Rejuvenated. All that lethargy and laziness seems to have gone for good.

Well, a few things have happened over the last couple of weeks. My ISB interview was on 10th. It went pretty well in my opinion. The panel was very patient and was willing to hear me out. Besides the standard B school questions on work, why MBA, etc they asked about my hobbies and I was quick to rattle off my experiences in Sikkim, Goa, Mcleodganj, Bharatpur, Bihar - Pretty diverse list eh. Come to think of it I have actually travelled a lot over the past 2 years or so. Lets see , fingers crossed on this one

On a related note the Mayal Lyang website is up and runnning. http://www.mayallyang.com/. Ankit, has done a pretty decent job , with some contribution from Neeraj and I. Now comes the tougher part, promoting it. We have thought of a few options. I plan to write more about it soon.

I am going off to sleep now, Its pretty late in the night now. and the last thing I want is to reach office at 11:30 like yesterday. though, now that I that I have been to the gym I should manage to get up on time tomorrow

Awesome

I must admit that though it has been good two weeks since I came back from Sikkim, the hangover still remains. Well here is the public link of the pictures from the trip, which I posted on my FB account. Though I must admit they don't quite do justice to the place. The scenes and moment have been etched deep down and frankly no pictures can be better than that. I am not trying to defend my rather limited photography skills here.
*
The Lingza falls and the adrenaline flow with ice cold water falling on me
Sitting on the banks of the beautiful Rayangchuu
Lachen Valley, Thangu - Frankly I wonder why people go to Switzerland
The cold desert that followed Thangu with no one in site - Stairway to heaven as someone posted on my FB link
Then of course the Gurudongmar Lake - I wonder if I'll see anything more beautiful in my life.
and of course Gyatso - Buddy I can just say that I am lucky to have found a friend like you.

I have fallen in love with Sikkim all over again.

Over to Sikkim

Its been a busy few days. Managed to submit my first application just in time. It is not an easy process for sure, the essays, the recommendations, the scores submission, the whole thing sure sucks your blood. I only hope that the process is as holistic as they claim. These guys said they will announce the results by October first week, fingers crossed for that.

Another thing that has kept me busy of late is office. I have been handling almost double the amount of work that I usually handle - actually a precondition for me for the 6 day leave I applied for. But frankly I don't mind the extra work - coz I am going to Sikkim... yuhu..

I loved it when I first went there 2 years back, though that was more work related. This time it is for pure fun and a bit of adventure. We are planning to essentially cover North Sikkim and go till Gurudongmar Lake. Beyond Mangan, the area is prone to landslides, especially in this weather. Hoping that the weather holds up and there aren't any landslides etc. It is gonna be a hell of a trip if every thing goes as per plan!

My next post will definitely be about the trip. That reminds me, I must write about the Triund trek here. I have been too lazy to write that down.

Quarter-Life Crisis

Well I didn't know something like that existed till I read about it wikipedia. The article says that this is a term applied to a period of life, ranging from early twenties to early thirities. Some characteristics include-

• Feeling not good enough about your job
• Frustation with relationships
• Confusion of identity
• Insecurity regarding the near future, life goals, long term plans
• Nostalgia for university, college, high school, etc

Man! I am screwed. I am going through a crisis for sure!

Yes!

Bhagwan ne meri sun li! After gluing my ass to the chair for the last 3 months trying to solve those pathetic sentence correction and data sufficiency questions, I am pretty happy with the end result. and I don't care if the last sentence was not grammatically correct.
Yipee! my gurgaon house is going to be madhushala for the next two days!

Vodka and Orange Juice

Looking back at the episode which got me all worked up and worried this Thursday, I guess it was more a panic attack rather than anything else. Alcohol was certainly a great help (and thanks poly for the company!). 6 large pegs of Vodka with orange juice made me realise how foolishly sentimental I was being.

I have come up with a quote after this incident (Mallaya you can use this if you give me 10 Lakhs or one of your....)

"Most things in life aren't worth getting worked up upon, for everything else there is Alcohol"

Please don't call it cliched.

*

This has been a meeting up and catching up weekend. Met 5 of my beloved classmates this friday, chatted with one this morning and talked with another one some time back (after a long long time). If things go as per plan, will meet another this Saturday (after a long long time again).

*

Do spectacles make me look intellectual, well going by the what people have told me of late, they certainly do. And considering that this was what I had hoped for when I started wearing them, I should certainly be happy (read what I posted last August). Ahh how wish people call me intellectual after reading this blog, which I must admit is more full of rambling than any solid Shashi Tharoor type stuff.

*

This has been a relatively power cut free weekend (fingers crossed as I write this). How unlike the millenium city!

and I smell female perfume...