A day in the life of LIFE

Even as the NSG black cat commandos smoke the rats out of the heart of India's financial capital, I pen this post with immeasurable anguish, grief and pain.

For anyone who has been following my blog for over the past 2+ years, the posts here have always been of humor and pun, trying to capture the lighter side of life. But today, at this moment, things are drastically different. This is something that is unprecedented - a situation where Life itself does not foresee its future, let alone the lighter side of it.

Today, a nation and its conscience has been attacked. It's a direct war on its sovereignty. May seem big words - more the ones politicians use - Pray, what else can they do?

Glued to the television in the hostel premises, I but ponder on the audacity of the attackers looking at the magnitude of devastation they have inflicted upon us.

India is a soft state. period. But this is not the time for that - we can do our paralysis of analysis during the post mortem once the ordeal is over.

And this time I am relieved about one thing for sure - the "no negotiations" stand that we have taken. For a person who set aside his class 12 board exams to watch the Kathmandu to Kandhahar drama, I personally feel that this is a stand that ought to have been adopted then as well.

And now - it is the city that symbolizes the classless India in its true light; the city that never sleeps; the city that I grew up as a child in - the bylanes of Andheri where I ran around with my strawberry ice creams, the Chowpaty, the Juhu park - the memories are vivid; and to see THIS city being held to ransom by a bunch of trigger happy terrorists make me feel helpless and angry.

I attend classes on economics and financial management at IIM, where we are taught about sustainability and engage in debates of growth versus development, even as Mumbai burns.

I honestly feel the shallowness creeping in, each time I take a reality check. Something can be sustained only when it exists to be improved upon. It requires a lot of resilience to keep re-building each time you are destroyed. My 90 year old grand mother, a freedom fighter herself, who's lived in Mumbai for 60 years of her life breaks down over the phone even as she speaks to me about the uncertainty my generation is facing.

As Amit Verma puts it, blogging has never felt so insignificant.

And the reality check is this - even as the country fights as Maharashtrians versus the rest of India (outsiders), we see foreigners(the true outsiders) making the most of the situation and rendering us helpless.

I only hope that this turn of events has managed to unite us to the true cause of our nationhood and pray that good sense prevails over the agenda of internal bickering.

India has survived as a civilization for centuries - even when the rest of the world was uncivilized and barbaric - and we will not allow 20 odd gun runners to dent our self esteem.

We will be back on the streets of every city in this country and borrowing from Sambit Bal, Editor of Cric Info, and I quote "I can't wait to see a stadium in Bombay reverberating to the sounds of cricket. I will be there".

We will rise from this immense loss and move ahead - this I believe is the essence of the spirit of Indianism....

P.S. - I am not posting any pictures on purpose for 2 reasons
1) I don't want to advertise the product of terror being exported to my country
2) I sincerely want this dear city to come out of the stigma at the earliest

Some links that I have been inspired reading and I recommend you read as well.

An overpowering bleakness - Sambit of Cricinfo
US Blames squabbling Indian politicians for the attack
Light a candle and take the pledge
Amit Verma's (Ex-TOI)site

Even as HIMYM enters its fourth season (HIMYM, for the uninitiated, refers to “How I Met Your Mother”), the Bakar Club at IIM S (copyright of using the name rests with SK who is also the President of the same) had its Diwali outing last evening.

The torrential rains over the past 72 hours brought with it a long drawn power cut for around 12 hours. This was the opportune moment that the Bakar Club was looking for to venture out into the unexplored alleys of Shillong.

With darkness setting in by 4:45 p.m., our stroll at 5:30 in the evening resembled that of a post dinner walk. The cabbies out here live the moment the fullest. Our man played some good old “blues” well in sync with the weather outside.

Guided by our able leader SK ( whose skills are as dependable as that of Mr. Bean), we reached the heart of the city, Police Bazar, to embark on our mission of “Humey pata nahin hain ki kahan jaana hai”. Options included CCD, Tango, or even as JJ suggested, a heavy supper (some people can only think of food and then complain that the sluggish weather got them overweight! Bah!)

While we explored the bad options that the leader presented before the club members, TP arrived out of thin air ala Superman Ishtyle. (Apparently TP had just then spent 800 bucks on a pull over made in USA – Ullasnagar Sindhi Association, though stitched onto it, was a 1”x1” leather label which said Monte Carlo)

TP had a few currency notes remaining from his shopping spree and hence wanted to spend them effectively. The vote of the day for the place of choice went to Tango owing to its well heated environs that would provide us with respite from the biting cold.

While the setting was perfect for TP and MKJ to get into their groove, others such as me enjoyed some good music that was on offer. Before I forget, I did witness one of the most interesting standoffs between two members of the Bakar club – It was an irresistible force versus an immovable object. With threats and counter threats being exchanged, it formed and interesting watch over onion fries and Dragon vegetable.

Rejuvenated from the environs of Tango, our next stop was a place where we could grab some good dinner – Center Point, our best bet. The low lights and soft music (courtesy: the N73 of yours truly) brought back memories of the Savera Rooftop in Chennai.
MKJ was in full flow by now and there were some pearls of wisdom that he showered the rest of us with. Some filtered excerpts…

Let me let the readers know that you may not be able to find the writing humorous, but then you had to be there to witness the conversation.

Scene 1:

Restaurant Manager (RM :thinking we were tourists) : So Sir, where are you from?
MKJ: from Kolkata
RM: Me too, I was born there but have been 24 years outside of Kolkata.
MKJ( somehow also hears “half my life” as an additional remark. Putting 2 and 2 together he retorts to RM): So you are 48 years old?
RM( Speechless, trying to save his face): That’s kind of you sir, thanks for the compliment but I am just 40 years young.
(MKJ trying to counter question RM is silenced by the President of the Bakar club, SK. MKJ justifies that his prowess at cracking logical reasoning in the CAT exam was still at its highest)

Scene 2:

MKJ: Excuse me, can you please get me a jug of plain water
RM: Sir, JJ has ordered for mineral water
(JJ meanwhile tries helping MKJ with the Bisleri)
MKJ ( breaking into a British Accent which is 180 degrees different from his desi Bengali): No, No, that is exclusively for you, JJ, I wish to have some plain water, “P.L.A.I.N”…
JJ: Speechless
MKJ: Speechless too
RM(trying to flatter the customers) Sir, you have a great sense of humor – are you from Marketing? I ask you this since I have been into marketing for the past 12 years.
MKJ (almost as if "you asked for it now!"): No I am from finance and let me tell you that plain water has dependence on the market meltdown!
RM: He did not visit our table again….(no not even for the bill)

Well, I must say one thing:
The snacks and mocktails at Tango: 1200 rupees
The food at Center Point rooftop: 2200 rupees
Seeing MKJ in full flow: PRICELESS!

P.S.: This blog post is dedicated to the Bakar Club at IIM Shillong. Cheers!

Pic: Hotel Center Point by Night.

It’s 2 in the morning. There is a cacophony of voices around me. While Enrique croons “Bailamos” for the 21st time in the last 20 minutes, footfalls as graceful as those of Shiamak Dawar’s dance troupe (ok I agree I was paid to include this analogy in the post) are observed on the 8x8 dance floor hosting the 4 couples practicing for tomorrow evening’s performance.

Boasting of one of the best male:female ratios among all IIMs, it was pretty easy to find the perfect 8 who would be performing on stage. Btw, SK had a sprain in the back owing to the IPL Kricket Kopda Kup last week and had to opt out of the race. And SK’s loss was NB’s gain.

Ok, I am no pundit to comment on the nuances of various dance forms, but, having watched enough of Bollywood Jalwa, my ability to critique performances is as good as that of Navjot Singh Sidhu’s knowledge of fielding.

A look at my Orkut profile will let you know of my dancing prowess. I’ve trained under Prabhu Deva’s Dhobi and burnt the dance floor thrice so far, but all three have been as adhoc as U235 atoms released during a nuclear fission reaction – the performances were mostly in corporate parties where most people were too high to notice how well I was dancing.

Sorry for the digression – Back in the practice arena, the stage is flavored with the forms of salsa, meringue, jive and the traditional Bollywood hip hop. I am forced to wonder if the medley could be interchanged to include Bailamos with the steps of the Tamil song “Appadi Podu Podu” – a perfect combination indeed.

And what’s my role in this whole thing? I am serving the dual role of a radio jockey (Ok, I kind of over glorified the role of pressing the play and stop buttons on the laptop :() and that of a camera man whose videos are serving the noble cause of providing valuable feedback to the performers.

With the practice all set to continue through the night, I don’t think my role as a local PCO operator is going to end soon.

As a reward for this unenviable role of mine, SG decided to perform a few salsa steps with a lot of reluctance though. My deepest gratitude to the first girl who provided me with the opportunity to dance with her, after 25 years of my existence on this planet.

As Milton put it, “They also serve who only stand and wait”….

All the best to JC,NB,SK,SG,SR,SS,TP and MP for their performance tomorrow.
Till next time, bring on “Dil Haara Re”

P.S. - I was threatened not to publish any snaps of the practice for reasons best known to the performers. ;)

The upbeat mood brought a cheer to his face
He thought these were signs of a healthy grace,
Teams functioned, but groups emoted,
Thus he felt his presence was appreciated.

A champion he was, in whatever he did,
After long, one group, he got himself affiliated with,
But here too, Scorned at and Sidelined was he, in conversations aplenty,
His mind was filled with questions very many.

Were people whom he liked, felt forced by his presence?
Was the lull in the room a signal of abstinence?
Did the rest indeed scorn at his persistence?
Were the very answers he sought, a burden to his existence?

This and more he thought for long,
He confronted his chums with due aplomb,
An intelligent man needs no signals, they said,
And halted his journey in his stead….

Momentary was the guilt of rejection,
Which quite sometime ago was a sign of appreciation,
The time had come for him to know
That everything in this world had to be learnt to let go.

A heavy heart always writes better emotions,
The journey ought to continue in the chosen direction,
A lone warrior he had always been,
And future battles were not yet foreseen.

Life’s shocks are worth the price tag they come with,
Every penny of learning made him stronger bit by bit,
But human emotions will eventually have their say,
For, how long can he tread the solitary way?.....

Who ever said that necessity was the mother of invention, forgot to mention that Hostel Life was a step ahead in being the daddy. A testimony to the above statement is the kind of innovative innovations that corridors of any hostel can breed. IIM is no exception, especially with rich experience flowing from engineering hostels, ideas can only get better with improvisation – Ideas that will make Edison proud of us…(ok, may the last statement is too much of an expectation).

Listed below are three innovations of the week that deserve an entry into the blogosphere.

Innovation 1: White Board @ Rs 90/-

While most will agree that gone are the days of the black board and the dusty chalk, few will subscribe to the view of buying a white board (the ones where markers have ink as smelly as Formalin of the zoology lab) that costs a 1000 Rs at the lower end.
AB and NR came up with this brilliant idea of economizing the cost of the board. All that a white board contains is a sun mica sheet reinforced by a steel frame for support. They just bought a sheet that costs 300 bucks and guess what – it comfortably provides writing space large enough to be cut into 4 pieces.
The rest of the cost goes for the masking tape, and presto! You have a neat and cheap white board on your wall. I don’t need to write what folks generally do with the 910 bucks that formed the reserve….*hic*




P.S. – AG (alias Dexter) had already purchased the 1000 rupee white board and was unavailable for comment at the time of this blog going for publishing. People say he is so frustrated that he wants to get rid of the board that keeps reminding him of his intelligent purchase.

Innovation 2: Surviving the Chill @ Rs 12/-

It’s quite chilly in the winter especially in the hills here and beating the cold seems to be on everyone’s agenda. Incidentally, AG who became wiser after the innovation of his peers came up with this truly bright idea. The incandescent bulb, when used in the hostel room provides both heat and light –almost like “ek teer aur do nishaane” – pardon my examples – most are fed up of them already. AG who swears by the character of Patel ji in the comedy series “Office Office” always believes in the theory of dualism and self assures himself that he is always right. His theory says that “The wattage of the bulb is directly proportional to the warmth generated by it”. Energy conservationists would scorn at this idea, but hey, we are saving on the power hungry room heater – QED [hence proved].




Innovation 3: Entertainment in the corridors- Priceless

This is not actually an innovation. It is a time tested idea that has been improvised. Over loaded with academics, a few of us on the third floor of the hostel building ( including yours truly) converted the previous sitting area into a gully cricket pitch at 1 a.m. yesterday morning. A smiley ball, A sturdy folder and a study chair were all that it took to produce 2 hours of absorbing cricket.
SSB was the top scorer with 60 runs in 4 overs. (Our team lost that game unfortunately). Folks are actually warming up for the IIM Shillong IPL Intra hostel cricket tourney –“Kopdaa Kup" (refer to the post below on the name being chosen) that begins tomorrow. A detailed blog on the same will soon follow.



Innovation 4?

Well after the mind blowing innovations outlined above, thought of sharing an innovative product that was discussed in a seminar on “Sustainable Business Management” two days ago. Fellow batch mates who attended the seminar, already know the answer. Other readers can guess what this product is and send me an email.
Hope you find these innovations useful and keep watching this space for more on the “Kopdaa Kup”.

Signing off at 2 a.m. – Have my match beginning in 7 hours time at 9 in the morning. Off to get some match practice….Cheers!