Not a bad way to end 2010

Though I have never been a morning person and never will be, I do like getting up early once in a while and venture out a while. So, this morning I was woken up with a rattle on my window pane and asked to come to dam nearby (it's small water body near my SV). It was 6:30 in the morning and there was this beautiful morning light streaming through my window. It was too tempting an offer and I decided to give it a shot. Of course I didn't regret it - took some pictures, not very happy with how all of them came out, but nevertheless, they symbolise a good end to a good year

Dincharya

So, beta how was your day like today?
Well, I scrambled out of bed at 7:45 in the morning, took a shower, rushed to class, only to discover that I am a minute late for the 8 AM class and the TA won't give me attendance, then heard the self obsessed professor ramble and on about synergies and consummation of deals, give out dollops of gyan on 'interviews' and unabashedly share with the class how he cracked McKinsey and how he never joined because he wanted to follow his dream and join some bank (yeah right!), and arbit CP - well these my mind shuts off whenever I hear some self proclaimed fin jock share his 'industry experience", well it's funny the way they start "Sir, In my experience.. blah blah..."
So, back to my day, after the class got over, I drink my customary cup of coffee and head to the second class, where the prof is doling out numbers after numbers, graphs after graphs, simulations after simulations whizzing over my head like an Alan Donald bouncer (pity! he doesn't play anymore). After this class got over, I tried to mend broken fences, but I guess damage is too great, all I get are glares " why the f*** don't you just stop existing!"
OK, so I come back and sleep, play squash (yeah a good habit I picked up this term), eat some rubbish, do some random number crunching, submit yet another assignment, prepare my resume for yet another consulting job, why do I even care ! and yeah then the day ends...
I shall not complain. I shall not complain......
P.S by the way did I mention the "reject of the day!"

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

There are some moments which make you stronger person. These impulsive crazy moments are those life changing instances where you finally stand up for what you always knew was right. You finally crush that idiotic conscious of yours which has always held you back (and is actually still trying to hold you back from posting the blog). You stop hiding behind the make believe security of your ego and face reality for what it really is.

As I said above, all this while in your life your bloated ego was your false security. With that in your stride you fooled around, you had your drunk escapades, you laughed, you cried, but always ran away from reality. The irony is you still thought people will take you seriously.

I guess as you wake in the morning it is all about taking a deep breath and be prepared to face the consequences. You will have people laugh behind you , gossip about you, worse is you will most certainly lose a great friend. Having friends help, but in the end all that they will try do is try and help you return to status quo. So, that doesn't really help, as it will be like going back to square one. These are things you have deal with on your own.

Trick is I guess not to make a big deal out of it. You can't pretend nothing has happened, it has. But, you can't let it ruin the other things in your life. In other words you have to move on, whether or not your action has the intended consequences or not.

---

What will happen next? I don't know. Things are still as blurry as they were last night. But who cares, I have done my bit and I am extremely proud of myself for finally having the courage to have done so! Yeah baby! I rock.

Time is right I guess to make a steaming hot cup of coffee and read the paper - little pleasure of life I have denied myself ever since I have come here.

Really wonder which of these is less intolerant

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/7916367/Indian-lecturer-barred-from-teaching-by-students-for-refusing-burka.html

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/europe/French-Parliament-Approves-Burqa-Ban-98329849.html

Some direction after all the madness

I guess the heading sums it quite nicely. Yes, it has been another crazy term, yes, I am not getting great grades again and yes, I am again posting a day before end terms. But, then there have been some real good takeaways from this term.
Our team got the coveted ELP - something for which some 3 other (real good I must say) had applied for. But then, I must say my team consists of some really experienced and intelligent folks (including me, of course) . The project seems pretty interesting and it sure will be a great learning experience.
Another good thing was that I got to many people for what they actually were. As the mascara faded, the true characters of a growing number of people emerged. Why on earth did I admire many of them? Why did I want to be like them? Many of them as I realise now are absolute bullshitters to the core. All this doesn't take you far, it is only a matter of time before people realise that your fart is a fart and not eu de cologne as you made them believe all this while.
Probably the best thing to happen this term was Prof. Kale. That man is a genius. His structured thought process and the ability to put things into perspective is what sets him apart. and yes, as he so rightly said time and again - ask the right questions!
I will be turning 25 in a week. A post soon on how it feels to cross the milestone!

First Term

I have my last set of exams for the first term tomorrow. So the timing of the post, and that too my first post after I came here is rather ironic. My current state is a strange assortment of confusion, sleep deprivation and a feeling of being directionless. Lack of sleep is understandable, but the other two are not. And, no exams have nothing to do with them. I guess it is more to do with an overload of information and the growing realisation that B school is not what it seems to be to an outsider.
No, I have nothing against ISB. It is a brilliant and a truely intellectually stimulating place. The professors are brilliant. The euphoria of learning during the economics lectures was something I hadn't experienced for ages. Never ever in my 4 years of engineering did I ever have the aha feeling, which I had after the session with Prof Allen.
The trouble however is the pace at which things are going. Thing is that this pace makes it nearly impossible for you to actually imbibe the learning. This however makes it a great place for the geek and the ant variety. Since I am neither, academics at this place is clearly not my cup of tea. I really need to find some other avenues. Time to put on my Innova Shoes!

So Long Evalueserve

My 33 month tenure with Evalueserve came to an end on Monday. Here is what I wrote to my colleagues as a bye bye mail.
_________
As some of you might be aware, today is my last day at Evalueserve. Working in a company for 33 months, makes everything and everybody associated with it an integral part of you, and I must admit that it is tough for me to imagine that I won’t be coming here from tomorrow onwards

I joined Evalueserve fresh from college, unsure of my footing and apprehensive about what the corporate world had in store for me. I leave this place a lot smarter, a lot wiser and much more certain about myself professionally. For these rather significant changes, I must thank each and every one of you.

I have been lucky enough to be a part BR4 throughout my tenure at Evalueserve. There has been a lot that I have learnt working and interacting with all the wonderful and intelligent people who work here. I guess the fun factor involved with work here makes the experience here all the more special and memorable. I have also got to know some of you very well thanks to the various impromptu trips made across the country and also of course thanks to innumerable sutta and chai breaks. I guess I’ll leave the individual thank you session for the evening – writing it here will make the mail unbearably long.

As for me, I am heading to the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad for my MBA. The course starts on 10 April and I leave Delhi on the 8th.

I would love to stay in touch with all of you. My best wishes for all your future endeavors.

Cheers,
Aditya Jha.

P.S - I was lost for words during my farewell. Could hardly say anything intelligent, just muttered some thank you everybody, you were all nice, nonsense. But all in all 33 months well spent.

Carpe Diem

It is beginning to sink in now. Probably getting it after a gruelling 3.5 month long wait made the whole thing sweeter. and Yeah I plan to get drunk soon
Cheers

phir dil do...

The sight of Dhanraj Pillay with his flowing locks zooming past defenders , dexterously tackling them with his magical stick with the roaring crowd behind him was a sight beyond compare for anyone who followed Indian Hockey in the 90s. The super excited commentator provided excellent backdrop to the setting - Pargat to Dhanraj, Dhanraj takes it past the defender, gives it back to Pargat, Pargat hits it hard past the goalkeeper, Dhanraj interjects it and scoops it in the air and its a GOAL....

We had read stories about the Hockey Legend called Major Dhyanchand, we had read about how Don Bradman had once said that he scored goals like runs in Cricket, we had read about how he was instrumental in single handedly annihilating the US Hockey Team (we won 24-0, field hockey not ice hockey, but still), we were told that those were the golden days of Indian Hockey.
But for us millions of viewers who sat glued to the TV afternoon after afternoon, Dhanraj Pillay was the superstar and a victory against the German or the Dutch team (of course also the Pakis) a reason to celebrate.
Now that thanks to the World Cup, Hockey frenzy has gripped the nation again and it is indeed a reason to celebrate. Cricket is slowly becoming too commercialised for its own good, we are just playing too much of it and the corporate lunacy that is IPL is in the papers for all the reasons except cricket. Hockey still provides the old world charm and yet can set the pulse racing at a rate which Lalit Modi's pajama cricket can only dream of. How can one forget the sheer exhilaration that followed once India thrashed Pakistan 4-1 in the first game and the critical yet encouraging comments that followed India's defeat in the next game. People still care about the game and love it when their team puts up an encouraging show.

So, what about the Tournament - Today is critical, we need to beat Spain. England are the proving to the tournament's darkhorse. Match against South Africa should be a cake walk. I plan to go to the stadium for the India England match, it will surely a great one should we defeat Spain today. It will definately do the game a world of good should we reach the final four.

So as SRK said (sorry, I couldn't overcome the urge of putting it here) Chak De India.

Reaction or the lack of it

I am good at reading people's mind but I rarely react. Sometimes it's just plain nonchalance which has gotten me into and books time and again, other times it's the sheer absurdity of what I think the other person is thinking that makes me ignore the vibes. Sometimes I even play the devil's advocate to check if my hunch was right.

Today, however I did react. I was in middle of an conversation with my boss. The topic was pretty drab - how to react to mail from a client, who apparently didn't like our work, but his 'this is recession and client is god" rhetoric made the conversation funny (at least for me, though I managed to keep a straight face throughout). Being naturally gifted (I know I am humble and down-to-earth) I could sense his sense of dejection and frustration for the company behind the veil of the corporate jargon which he was so impeccably ranting off. Today, I thought was the ideal day to give some free advice to him. I interrupted him and shot back - "Don't make a deity of the client, people dominate you only if you allow them to. It's time to shrug off this brown skin mentality which has permeated deep inside us. I know you don't mean a word of what you just said". After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, during which I had already started framing my farewell mail, I heard those golden three words, "You are right!"

....which were followed by . "hey! get up man, boss has asked me tell you he has pinged you something" . I had fallen off to sleep on my desk. Gathering my thoughts I checked my inbox, yes the client's mail was still there and so was a ping from my boss "reply to the mail right now and say we sincerely apologise for the mistake". Cursing him I got up and clicked on the reply button... ahh reality!

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction by a bored mind in a very random state, so obviously none of this actually happened. Even, the part after the dream. Of course a dream isn't supposed to happen. And most times I can't even read my own mind, leave alone someone else's...