The Ripple Effect

The mind is such a fickle thing. One moment it is full of hope and each situation looks promising. The next moment, it is in the throes of despondency about the same situation. The wise say that you need to control your thoughts and your mind. Believe in miracles and they will happen. 'Believe'. An innocuous word which means years of discipline and optimism. 

What should you do when your thoughts take that turn into the lane of gloom? It feels like a slippery slope after that. Every little slight, real or imagined, becomes too big to sweep into the mental crevices - to think about later. Life's problems become huge disappointments that just can't be ignored any more. What should you do then?

Be grateful. Be thankful. Force yourself to think about all those people and moments that made your soul smile, that made you happy to be alive in that moment. Remember the family member for whom you mean the world. Remember the sunset and the solitude where you could witness nature's simple beauty. Remember that movie's dialogue that was so surprising it made you catch your breath. Remember the riot of tastes when you tried some new dish. Remember the moment of lucidity before you got the 'joke' during a stand-up. Remember. And be grateful. 

Nothing is so big or so bad that you can't win over it. Embrace the little problems along with life - It is a package deal. Nobody gets just one aspect of it - everyone has their own mountain to climb. What matters is that you do it with a song in your heart because that's what make the load lighter. 

You know that feeling?

You know that feeling of absolute terror and sheer disbelief when you bungee-jump off a ledge? The wind rushing at you from all directions. The faint sound from a world beyond that you recognise as your own scream after 5 seconds into the fall. The hollow feeling in the pit of your stomach. The ecstasy that mushrooms in your head obliterating all other emotions. And beyond all the self-doubts, that feeling of security that you are anchored by that strong cord, and you are not completely out of your mind?

I am currently relishing that feeling... :)

Peekaboo

Naughty pitter-patter -
Sometimes near, and then away faster.
Little smirks and giggles -
Challenging, when you think it's all figured.
Just when you think it can't get better (or worse)
Life sends you a reminder terse.


So, I am back and I am in a poetic mood :) Do bear with me while I vent my creativity (sometimes abstruse) here.

Misadventures of a Dreamer

It's been a while since I had shared my first experience of the arranged marriage circuit, and I have only grown wiser since then. Mind you, not older - I have decided to remain the beautifully optimistic age of 22 until I resemble that spunky old lady in Madagascar (the movie, not the country).

I have met other EBs (Eligible Bachelors, for the uninitiated) and although the encounters have not resulted in murder, I have become acquainted with the fact that I can experience blood-boiling, face-reddening rage and still speak as calmly as if commenting on the weather. Besides the point that these encounters would not have been very encouraging to my ever-plodding heart, I have learnt many "life's lessons", which I will freely share ;) with girls who can empathise with me:
1. Do not take shit from a stranger. That is definitely not the right time to be polite or to be stunned into silence.
2. It's not in your best interests to watch a Disney movie at this phase of life. :) Those just raise your expectations before painful reality strikes.
3. It's alright to be a little demanding, but be considerate and be real.
4. It's fine to not let first impressions be the last ones - the EB is as nervous / awkward / disillusioned as you are.
5. There are times when you may realise some aspect about yourself which isn't what Mother Teresa would have approved of - but even then, it's ok. You are normal, after all.
6. This would be the most personal decision of your life, but you may still have to seek advise from family and friends, sometimes.
7. Laugh about your weird experiences with friends while keeping identities of the other (more often than not, psycho) parties confidential - it'll help keep it all real.
8. Spend some time by yourself.
9. Go out and enjoy. Continue living your life the way you want to. Nothing and nobody should change that.
10. And finally, you are not the only one who has faced this - Never succumb to the overwhelming despair of "Why me?"

Seene mein jalan, aankhon mein toofan sa kyun hai

This song came to my mind today while reading news reports of two women rescued from self-imposed solitary confinement. While that story took a sordid turn with one of them succumbing, I had to admit the irony of our modern lives. Inspite of each of us being virtually connected to a huge bunch of people, how many of them do we really 'know' as friends? In a land where just a few days ago, social media was instrumental in getting people together for a cause, some people are withering away unnoticed in a little nook. With ways and means to communicate better, are we forgetting the basics of showing that we care without using those words explicitly? The amount of "space" given to another person has to be judged constantly if you really care. I don't mean that you stalk a person, but if your acquaintance/friend hasn't been seen or been in touch, and this is unnatural behaviour, please lay your ego aside and reach out. You might just be the straw that they were grasping at.

I have seen how my parents connect with people they come across in their lives - house-helps, the laundry guy, neighbours. Even without formal studies, most people are aware about how loneliness can affect people, how the thought that "no one would be interested" can mushroom into complicated psychological behaviour and depression, which then can have repercussions on not only the individual, but also on the society. Yet, I confess, that I barely make the effort. However, I am going to try and remedy this aspect about me. How about you? Go on and say hello to your neighbour.




Translation of the amazing song by Akhlaq Mohammed Khan 'Shahryar':

Fire in the chest, storm in the eyes; why is it like that?
In this city, every person is distressed; why is it like that?

If there's a heart, one will have to search for an excuse for it to beat
Otherwise, it is left lifeless like a stone; why is it like that?

What abode of loneliness is this, friends?
Why is there only desert as far as the eye can see?

Is there something new noticeable within me?
Why is the mirror shocked upon seeing me?

Sleepless

Yes, it's 3 am... and it feels like i have had filter coffee. I don't know why I have these bouts of insomnia but while I am at it, I decided to blog - for once. Since it is the best time for disjointed thoughts to waltz in the limelight before fading away for ever, here goes an attempt to just pen them down as they come:
1. Bollywood hasn't gotten too far from 'chutki bhar sindoor' to 'sau gram zindagi'... wonder what's the deal here...
2. Mosquitoes are never safer anywhere else than between my palms.
3. It's interesting to see "Donny Duck" and "Minna Mouse" make an entry into the life of a 2 year old. The joys of animation will never cease!
4. How do people manage to stay detached from things? I think life is just too vibrant for that kind of an emotion to linger.
5. OELD refers to pronunciation of words in a British accent as "English" and in an American accent as "American". So there!
6. What has happened to the lyrics of Bollywood songs these days? Some kind of a colloquial implosion has taken place in Bollywood?
7. Some days are made to do nothing at all.
8. Some times distances can be good. But just try telling it to people in Mumbai at your own risk.
9. 3:30 am is actually a very happening time.
10. Sometimes arranging a cupboard is just that. Stop psycho-analysing me!

What NOT to do when you meet a girl arranged-marriage ishtyle

True to their promise, my parents got me to correspond with and meet someone thought to be an eligible bachelor (EB). So, now that I am over the trauma of that experience, I can perhaps share my worldly advise (heheh) with all EBs on how to impress a girl with things they should NOT do while creating the crucial first impression.

1. Do not be clingy - texting the girl every few minutes to locate her coordinates might only scare her a bit instead of showing her how much you care (as I am sure the intentions are so). Do remember that until yesterday, you were strangers.
2. Do not assume she's going to meet a boyfriend if she's making an impulsive trip to visit friends in a nearby town / city. That really does not go down well with most girls I know.
3. When you are trying to fix a place to meet over coffee, do not be ruthless and make the girl travel half-way across the city to meet you at your convenient location, after office, on a week-day. Life would be more pleasant if you could contrive to meet on weekends if you can't compromise on the location.
4. If you both have agreed to a location and time, please try to make it to the place on-time, if not earlier. Texting the girl every once in a while that you would be there in two minutes or five, is not fair when you end up making her wait for forty minutes!
5. Even if you are getting late due to unavoidable reasons and you don't know when you'll get free to make it to the appointment, reschedule! - She would much rather prefer that to waiting in a public place indefinitely.
6. Please do not ask her to order something for you while she's waiting. THAT is the height of insolence. Really.
7. When you finally make an appearance, you could still save the situation by apologising, you know. Realising after 5 minutes that the girl is inwardly fuming which makes it an effort for her to even talk to you politely, and only then apologising doesn't cut it.
8. Since you were the one who were late, be a little considerate and allow the girl some space to vent her spleen. Enquiring if her job pays her well enough to cover her EMI of the education loan does not make for coffee-table conversation in such a situation.

There were many other instances that could make for good advice, but I'll abstain since you would have no doubt realised that I am a highly biased party and might reject my advice as commonplace rants. Anyway, the experience was something you can classify as "It will only get better from here" - leaving our whole family much wiser. "Due diligence" has reached another level in this respect. :P Now to see what the future unfolds...

Yet another destination

After two months of shuttling endlessly between three cities and two weeks of shuttling endlessly between government offices, I can now say that my relocation to Mumbai is complete. :) I never realised how much I missed staying close to my family. Now before you dismiss me as an Italian mafiaso, let me explain that I am enjoying the pampering and attention from my family after seven long years, which I spent doing all kinds of things according to my credo - "Try everything once".

The realisation of how much time I was spending with my sister's kids hit me when I was setting my cupboard while humming their nursery rhymes and, for the life of me, couldn't remember any of my favorite songs. Deep thought yielded the long-forgotten song from Saajan - "Mera dil bhi kitna paagal hai". Very apt song for the occasion, but I decided to remedy the situation with dollops of U2 once I got the room to myself.

Once that little panic attack was sorted out, I looked to go shopping. After transferring all my worldly belongings from Bangalore, I needed stuff to beautify my home (A girl can always justify her shopping sprees). It was then that I began missing my Bengaluru. Stepping out in Mumbai turns on a faucet of pure unadulterated sweat. Little kids (who usually always stare at me, I don't know why) now found another excuse to feed their saucer eyes.

Anyway, it rained in Mumbai 4 days ago and has rained thrice since then - but only in the dead of the night. It's as if the rain gods are planning something naughty and want to tiptoe their way into Mumbai. Whatever their agenda, I'm happy as long as it rains.

For now, my life figures on two searches - job search (now that I am here) and guy search (again, now that I am here). While the former is under my sub judice, the latter belongs to my parents, who seem relieved to finally have me where they wanted me. To paraphrase them - "Muahahaha".

Although I have quite some bit to write about, I am now going to take a break and browse through some templates. It's about time for a change.

Friendships

Remember the ease with which you made friends when you were in school? From sharing a crayon to eating together in the lunch break - it was relatively easier to trust people at that age. And any relationship established at that age has a higher chance of going on until ever. Those friends see you grow and change, while they change themselves. But the feeling of trust never changes.

Then you grow up and go to college where you are bombarded with peer pressure and meet various kinds of people from different backgrounds. College makes you grow up, to an extent - whether it is facing the reality that you aren't really as good as you thought at your field of excellence or grappling with crushes and heartbreaks. It is then that you start choosing people you want to get close to because, obviously, you don't want to be friends with people who would utilise the potential they have to hurt you.

Once you start working, though, it is very difficult to find people with whom you can connect at the same level. Professional relationships demand a certain distance. So, although you find lots and lots of interesting people, you don't really enjoy the same level of comfort as with your childhood friends. Sure, they keep in touch and share your special occasions, but you still call your "real" friends at 4 in the mornings when you really need help.

At such a point in life, if you get to experience campus life again, don't miss it. :) At the risk of sounding clichéd, the rigour and proximity that campus life affords you will help you make bonds that you would have thought you weren't capable of anymore. The amazing part is that you are so self-assured by now that you don't really compete with these people who are as accomplished, if not more, as you. And it's surprising how these friendships just continue growing even after you leave campus. These people and relationships are the ones you actually take away from campus.

Although I might sometimes crib a lot about my ISB experience, there is one thing I am glad I have after this year. I have a few very awesome friends.

Still Impulsive, Still Alive

I just spent a awesome vacation in Dandeli :) (If you want details, go here). This was the first time I travelled as a tourist after coming back home last year - and it was so liberating! Especially the way, it happened. So, on Thursday, I was supposed to leave from campus with my friends but since I am still in the placement process, I decided not to join them. After they piled into a cab and left, I was counseled by various people trying to help me get over the disappointment (I love you guys :) ). So, by nightfall, I was all charged up with the resolve to not leave campus without a job.

Friday arrived and it was a long dry disappointing day with respect to the placement scene. One of my college friends (not on campus) actually researched the way I could reach Dandeli if I left on Friday and sent me the details by mail with the subject line directing me to open it only after I am free on Friday. So, at 2 pm, when I got back home, I saw this mail and made a million phone calls - to confirm if the weekend was free, to ask opinions and to book tickets! I tossed stuff into my suitcase and left Hyd to reach Goa by 8 pm. I reached Dandeli after a 3 hour drive through the forests and ghat region - I even saw a wild boar right in front of our cab, who very reluctantly gave way to the strange metallic contraption on wheels.

The bright starlit skies, word game, the roar of river water as it navigated through rocks, nice balmy evenings, natural jacuzzi and slacks/shorts mishaps ;) , games of Uno, sleeper class travel in good old Indian trains, kayaking, fishing - memories are made of such good stuff. Besides, I feel rejuvenated and alive after this trip. It was totally worth it. Now, to tackle the last term on campus...

PS: Stole this gem from the status message of a friend -
Oh, innocent victims of Cupid,
Remember this little verse;
To let a fool kiss you is stupid,
To let a kiss fool you is worse.

So what do you do...

... when you seem to be enjoying everything life is giving you, but that one thing you want so desperately is no where in sight?
... when people close to you are happy and you are happy for them, but you just want to shut yourself up in a room and never come out?
... when your innate sense to protect yourself makes you laugh on the outside, when you would rather just cry?
... when the fine line between solitude and loneliness fades ever so often?
... when a nice honest-to-God tantrum can probably set things right?
... when little failures seem huge and thoughts spin out of control?
... when you know that your troubles are not troubles at all, but the tears won't stop?
... when you sleep half the day away, and the only regret you have when you wake up is that you had to wake up?
... when you can't find words to express yourself and any attempt to do so only makes a mockery of you?
... when you know you are being petty and pathetic, but you can't find a way out of that vicious circle of thoughts?
... when you realise that no one can probably feel what you're feeling and you know that you are now old enough to figure it out by yourself... but can't?

Poetic thoughts during class hours

Going about her day,
Her life on track - a myriad of all shapes,
She thinks about the only missing piece
And a little sigh escapes.

Somewhere in the world, momentarily confused,
He pauses in his life.

And I screamed!

The people who know me, know me as a particularly non-squeamish person. I don't get scared (enough) watching a horror movie. I don't cry during movies (except for Taare Zameen Par or other similar stories with kids in it). However, it might come as a surprise to you all that after landing at ISB, I have throatily vented my emotions atleast thrice already - each time incited by a different kind of wildlife.
The first occasion was when I paid my respects to a lowly fat rat. Both rat and the security personnel walking behind me got the scare of their lives as they scampered to their own safe places, leaving me deserted and looking very foolish.
Then, it was when Chandni killed a common cockroach and was threatening to place the lifeless form on me. In fact, it was amusing to see how roles reversed in those few minutes. While the cockroach was alive, it and I were calm and composed, respecting each other's private space. Then, Chandni saw it and all hell broke loose. Chronologically, the cockroach then paid the ultimate sacrifice followed by Chandni's threats and my helpless screams.
The most recent time was this afternoon when I saw an ant-eater. We were returning from a conference and I was sitting in the front passenger's seat of the cab when I saw this huge iguana-like creature majestically strolling across the road. I mutely pointed at it and the driver, in a state of panic or sadism, turned the wheel towards it. When I realised the fate rushing towards the ant-eater, I screamed. Yet again. This time, I alarmed the driver and the other two passengers sitting behind. Anyway, long story shot - ant-eater ambled slowly to safety while the driver kept assuring me that the car wouldn't have harmed it anyway because it is a tough animal... This would probably be another take-away for me - the ability to express myself when faced with my fears ;)

One of the most interesting outcomes of working or living in a high-pressure situation is getting to observe people and behaviour at uncomfortably close quarters. There are some who get bogged down by the facade and withdraw into themselves, while some get more aggressive and offensive. And then there are those, who try hard at being what they are and barely managing to stay within the limits of sanity. Particularly amusing are the knee-jerk reactions to spam mails during exam times. Somehow, people manage to ignore the multitudes of mails hitting them throughout the term. And then, it is suddenly end of term and a hapless individual decides to send an otherwise-politically-incorrect joke to the whole student community and pays for it dearly, when a whole thread of mails is spawned with some people on either sides of the line. I am guessing that this focus of attention was rivalled only by the last term's debate of dunking vs swimming pool hygiene. (No - Don't ask!)
The author herself is not free of faults. :P My constant rants are now finding another creative outlet. A friend and I have launched a comic strip on campus which scores high on context and sarcasm. More on that, later. For now, I must begin to pretend to study. I have my end-terms on Monday. Au revoir!

Pause

Our life's too busy
With lots happening.
The pace promises
to never keep slackening.

Commitments to keep,
Loads to read.
And then aim to emulate
examples who lead.

Pop-quizzes and exams
with alarming regularity.
Meetings and sessions you attend
Hoping for some clarity.

Career, job options, dream jobs.
And then a nagging worry of the loan.
Jamming sessions, high on 'spirits'.
Followed by bright sunny mornings when you moan.

Words of wisdom passed along.
"Introspect", "Identify", "Do what you like".
A mad rush to do everything you can.
Anything - to get that "spike".

Forgotten the real reasons,
That essay written with conviction; that clause.
Struggling to keep up like Superman.
Ultimately losing out on the cause.

Pause.

Lots to write in...

I have my mid-terms right around the corner. So, it should come as no surprise at all that I am blogging now, of all times. ;)

Term 1 is half-way through and yesterday, we thanked and bade goodbye to two of our Professors - Prof Piyush Kumar (Marketing Management) and Prof Mudit Kapoor (Managerial Economics). Each of them had their respective fan following in class. While in marketing class, I benefited from the vast industrial knowledge of all participants, the way Micro-economics was dealt with was just awesome - with all jigsaw pieces falling into place by the time the lectures were done. There's just so much I am learning each day that if I were a cartoon, my head would have blown a bit out of proportion each day. This is true of all people around me, as well. Of course, on the downside, I not only get to hear all geeky jokes (centering around the new learning from Statistics, etc), but now I understand them as well! Oh, the pain! ;)

We had a Kodak case (mktg) to be discussed over the last weekend. Enough has been said about that "experience", already (if you are reading the other blogs from my class). I know of study groups spending a good part of the weekend tearing their hair out trying to figure out if the stated strategy was really worth a shot or not. I had stepped out on Sunday evening for a short walk and right outside my block, a disembodied voice floated down to me from one of the studio apartments - "So are you saying that the Kodak customers will not move away to competition???!!!" I hurried away to save myself (from unintentionally overhearing the line of argument of another group... what were YOU thinking?)

As for my group, welllll... :D We met twice, for a maximum of 2 hours each. The first time, we decided on a line of thought. The second time, we decided on another and stuck with it - just as well, that we didn't meet again! Submitting the case write-up was a close call. We submitted at 11:56 am for a 12 noon deadline! I know that I am an incorrigible procrastinator and had hoped to find encouraging study group mates to change this one thing about me, but going by the record, I am now beginning to worry. ;)

Last week, most of us had the CAS (Career Advancement Services) photo-shoot. Apart from requiring each of us to "suit up", it also showed how well a job people do cleaning up. Guys got their overdue hair-cuts and groomed themselves well - some were even unrecognizable after all the effort. Girls - they always look good. :D Most of our social networking sites have proud pictures of us strutting our stuff. :P Jokes apart, we all look very impressive.

Section G is waking up to the fact that none of us wants to run for GSB (Graduate Student Board) President, while some sections have 4-5 aspirants each. This, oddly, makes me quite fond of my section. :) Since the very beginning, we have had a bindaas (chilled-out) attitude about competition. I don't mean to say that we are not competitive (quite the opposite, in fact), but we would rather have fun without the tension to "perform" to create an impression. Of course, the attitude also means that it was not until recently that there were some murmurs about the section code of conduct. Things haven't been finalized on that front and hence, I won't be writing about it yet.

J (my Swiss friend mentioned in previous posts) came to visit me this week with a friend of his. He was going back to Geneva in a few days and since he was flying from Hyderabad, he came over to ISB to meet me. It was really nice speaking to him after so long. We spent most of the time reminiscing and then a lot of time talking about school. He tested my French and was pretty impressed that I remember most of it. I really hope I don't lose touch with that language by the time this year ends.

I will now get back to Micro-economics. I should finish a substantial part of the "portions" before I sleep - and I am yet to begin this subject.

Song of the day: Silent Lucidity by Queensryche

Time to reflect

First week of term 1 is almost over. And there are some words and phrases that I have encountered so many times already, I could scream if I heard them again. In decreasing order of irritants along with the common usage or comments, we have the following non-exhaustive list:
1. traction - "There was not enough traction between the 2 communities"
2. logistics - "We will have to work out the logistics", or "I propose we get into the logistics of it later"
3. it depends - This is the safest and most acceptable answer in a B-school. You can use it whenever you don't know the exact answer to the question being posed to you, or if you want to buy time to arrange a seemingly intelligent answer if you are caught the instant your mind had started wandering in class.
4. networking - A much abused innocent word. It also carries the onus of being THE reason for many people to be in a B-school. What many don't realise is that to network you don't really have to work too hard; you don't have to make fake conversation; you don't have to appear to be someone you are not; you don't have to create a record of sorts by remembering as many names as you can in as less a time as possible - you only have to be genuine. Your smile should say that you are indeed glad to see someone. You are a part of their joys / birthday dunkings / sufferings (hopefully not much of these) because you really want to share a part of their lives. Being polite, kind and nice to people around you will win you the much coveted "network" by itself.

Since the last time I wrote, the swimming pool and its various nocturnal inhabitants have witnessed many more dunkings - birthdays, CPs and the works. Let me explain CP for my readers who are from the normal world outside - it means Class Participation. Certain courses, in order to encourage CP, provide incentives like grades associated to it. Unfortunately, this translates to a lot of Arbit CP, Desperate CP and you get the picture. In the true spirit of fairness, we dunk the people charged with A-CP.

Just one more thought with respect to CP - One is not always right or wrong. Sometimes, people have a different perspective. It is just the way they are. Instead of listening to them patiently and opening our own minds to various possibilities, we tend to smirk or even ridicule them. To clarify my stand, I am not speaking in favour of A-CP (those guys deserve to be dunked) - I am just hoping that we, as a community, learn to appreciate a different perspective without appearing condescending or as insufferable know-it-alls. We have, after all, come here to "learn".

Moving on, with respect to birthday dunkings, I was wondering why normal friends and acquaintances (who are not study-group members or quaddies) do not include themselves in the ritual. It is not owned exclusively by a section, is it? Last night, I knew all the 3 guys being dunked by various sections on their birthdays. Rightfully, in an ideal world, I should have had my share of all 3 cakes! ;)

According to a behavioral survey conducted in a class last week, I am a strong "reflector". This information was thrown your way to justify the tangents I tend to go off into.

And before I leave to prepare for my Stats quiz tomorrow, I really have to record for posterity something that happened in class today. 5 minutes into the start of the session for Micro-Economics, while the professor was introducing a very important and significant model, our class was startled by a loud crash. Turned out that one of us had actually toppled over backwards from his chair! He claimed he was leaning too far back - exactly how comfortable was he trying to get? :P

Change is the law of life

That is my fortune of the day on Orkut. It never sounded more relevant. After having indulged myself by sleeping the whole weekend away, tomorrow is the change I have been looking forward to since quite some time.

After days of relocation and the perpetual feeling of "floating" around quite aimlessly; after investing time and effort in knowing people around me and observing social behaviour (my favourite occupation off-late); after desperately trying to get to terms with the changes in my life - tomorrow, term 1 begins.

The year planner is finally up. I got my backpack armed with the necessary odds and ends to survive this week (You can't plan for a time-line greater than that, here). I've set the alarm clock to wake me up early enough to go gymming in the morning. And now to settle down and read up some concepts of marketing...

Strawberry Fields Forever!

Last evening, a bunch of us from section G decided that we had had enough of staying within campus and explorers that we were, we had to go out to wine-n-dine. It was a jolly good enough thing to do, considering the options that most of us had. As if to set the tone for the evening, one of our "intro" conversations went like this:
One guy: My name is pretty unusual....
3-4 of us: No, it's not!

While we waited for the shuttle at SV4, there were some of us who decided to forego the enticing company for prior commitments to club meetings. When the bus finally arrived and we all filed in, there wasn't much place left for anyone else. The regular passengers had to share seats or stand until they reached their destinations, which they did with amused expressions, since our babble and enthusiasm was pretty infectious, if I say so myself.

Once at the place (Coco's in Jubilee Hills - the guy who plays music there is awesomely talented! The Beatles' song was the one that caught my attention at the very beginning), we all settled down to "network" wholeheartedly. The flowing drinks made a lot of it easier. You'll find snippets of conversations here - just enough to give you a good picture without people baying for my blood at the next dunking...

"Talent nite was awesome fun. I am zero at talent, I'm telling you."
"As far as animation movies go, "Incredibles" was incredible!"
"So who's single and ready to mingle?"
"Huh? What's the context??"
"Food in Mumbai is so awesome."
"I was chased by a wild elephant in an african national park."
"I have come here (ISB, that is... not to the restaurant) to impress my future mom-in-law."
"You order for me."
The "You" - a bit nervously: "I better get it right for him or he'll eat me."
"I can make Mojito!"
"So can I!"
"Let's have a Mojito party at our rooms some day!"
"You would give Ghajini a run for his money!" (This was in reference to short term memory, and not the terrific body. I know, this is not an ideal world yet).

It was one instance of losing track of time with good company. However, we had to make way for another group of equally vella people from our school who came in later. Besides, we also had a couple of birthday dunkings planned at midnight. As they say, we had to prioritise! Towards the end, while we were waiting in a (what-else-could-it-be) queue to pay our individual bills, one of us (a bit tipsy and arguing in favour of a particular taxi service due to their nominal costs): ---- taxis will go at 10 km per hour.....
Rest of us within earshot: Huh??

Having done the maths, we divided into groups, got into cabs like good children and came back without any further "mishaps".

As an aside, dunkings were good successes last night. After the birthday boy and girl, their quaddies and study-group mates were dunked, the remaining 6-7 of us dunked ourselves in good spirit. With that, I opened my dunking account in ISB...

A home away from home

It has been barely more than a week since I reached ISB, and I honestly have to think hard to remember all that happened here - only because a lot has been happening!

To begin at the beginning, registration on April 11th sapped me out of all my energy. Every counter (loan, medical insurance, etc etc) was characterised by a long serpentine queue of hapless and lost souls. For a batch of 570-odd people, we learnt quite early that queues would be an inevitable part of our experience. Add to that my extreme discomfort in Hyderabad summer. (I must be 4 shades darker already and 2 inches lesser due to dehydration). Luckily for me, I had already got my education loan sanctioned earlier by arriving in Hyderabad in advance just for that purpose. After my parents left for Bangalore that evening, I relaxed a bit in my room. I have 3 house-mates in a 4-bedroom "quad". We, then, made our way to be addressed by our Dean. Dinner, of course, followed. The grind began the day after.

Our Orientation week or O-week was jam-packed to facilitate a lot of interaction within people of our batch and the alums. We started off with a treasure hunt to enable us to know every nook and corner of the campus. We were teamed with our study-group mates and the corresponding group of another section. I had to "retire hurt" midway through this because of my bad leg. :( I, then, got bored out of mind while the rest of the group was running about figuring out the clues, until I got a major brainwave and landed myself in front of a internet-enabled computer in the lab! :D The treasure hunt ended with a customary dunk in the pool - which I missed, of course.

I'm a bit fuzzy on the actual order of events, but I do remember a lot of formal presentations by the professional and social clubs followed by informal sessions. More than anything else, these sessions instilled the discipline in me to be able to sit in one place for a considerably long time. Having spent a long time away from academics, this was one skill I had to re-learn. We also had a team-building event spanning a whole day. It was professionally organised and every "game" was designed in a way to provide entertainment and a deeper lesson towards working as a team. It was a novel way of introducing team-work in a new set of people who hardly know each other.

Somewhere along the way, we were divided into sections, as well. I am in the brand new G section. We had a Talent Nite towards the end of O-week which was, basically, an inter-section competition. I am being very modest, but section G did put up a really original and awesome show. We even had an original song (created and composed by some of the more talented amongst us). During this night, we also realised how our alums took our trip - first with an SV change request form and then with a supposed psychometric test. The video recordings were hilarious! Hats off to them!

Did I forget to mention the parties? We have had 3 official parties until now, already - with so many other random parties (SV party, poker party, etc). I must say that we do know how to bring about balance in our lives. As our alums advised us - Work hard, Play harder - seems to be the motto.

ISB - The place to be!

Yes, it has officially and formally begun. I'm not lying - we had a terrific party last night to prove it :D

I am a bit e-challenged right now coz my Macbook is being configured by the IT department of my school. But, worry not - you shall be loaded with the relevant details soon. Until then, I'll leave you with the trivia that I am in SV3 (Student Village 3) - the coolest one. I assert this statement so blatantly because no one I know has refuted it vociferously till now. It seems like they all already had that opinion. :P