Imagine

Imagination

The way to travel 

Lighter and Faster

Than air or Light

You leave behind the matter

Into the pattern of choice

You can't stay there

Bonds have been created

Guilt, Acceptance, Acknowledgment

Freedom is lost, But

Existence is achieved

One part rejoices,

Other Mourns

Matter and Bliss

Ignorance

Ignorance
Pretension of Knowledge
Asserting , imposing a mask
Half empty , Shallow
Confusing Deliberately
To save the charring of Ego
whose nature is to manifest

Ignorant listens
Choices are limited
He is under a spell now
His desire is to imitate
Vicious circle spirals
Ignorance Smiles
Ego is its slave
Truth its enemy

Lead MDI

There are two kinds of MDI.

When one MDI is fighting hard to study for next class, managing their projects/academics the other MDI is drinking beer on the dome.

When one MDI is stepping towards the library to learn the other MDI just scoffs and moves towards pub to get on with life.

When one MDI is spending 2 hours analyzing and reading the case the other MDI is gossiping, because it knows whatever the case they will faff their way through the case. Moreover they feel appalled and carp about the instructor if there point of view is not accepted.

When one MDI respects the instructor and wants to learn from him, the other MDI wants to brand the instructor as useless and good for nothing. They want to point his shortcomings, his problems, his incompetence more than anything.

When one MDI wants to sleep on time the other MDI is playing loud music and shouting because they know they will catch up with sleep in class.

When one MDI gives an idea or has an expertise the other MDI just wants to manipulate and use the idea and take credit for it.

When one MDI wants to give an opinion the other MDI spams as it has assumed the sole ownership to opine on any subject any topic or any happening.

When one MDI wants to speak something logical the other MDI is amused, it retaliates by erupting volumes of no brainer statements that cloud any logic left.

When one MDI wants to stand up and make a mark, the other MDI conspires to bring it down.

When one MDI learns a subject the other MDI will crowd him to teach the same.

When one MDI is working hard for the quiz/exam the other MDI is worrying about the seating arrangement and examination instructor, calling it smart work.

When one MDI gets 8 CG , its ghissu . When other MDI gets 6 CG its stud.

Only one thing, one MDI is 70% , the other MDI is just 30%.

Class Apart!

So, after a nice summer holiday, classes have started to find their way back in my life. Its good to be in air conditioning with all your friends.

A typical class of Strategic Management goes like this for me:

Characters involved
Me, Teacher, Anup(sitting besides me)

Teacher: Globalisation is dead or Globalisation is a reality - that is the deabte.
Me: Firangee ladkiyo kee quality so-so hee hai abkee baar.
Anup: Angrezo bharta chhodo! Simon go back...

Me: Achha bata Simon comission ka opposition kerte hue kaun mara gaya tha?
Anup: Koi aadmi

Teacher: International Business Strategy has to adapt to local environment... What do you guys think about it?
Some enlightened soul: Sir, companies have to customize their business model according to local environment. Otherwise it could be a failure. I call it 'glocal strategy'
Me: Yaar! kahi bahut dur bhaag jaane ka dil ker raha hai...
Anup: Haa... Attendance ke baad chalte hai.

Anup: Yaar! tu koi kahaani suna.. tune itnee books padhee hai.


Teacher: Has some one read the book " The world is flat"
Anup: tuune padhee hai.
Me: Of Course!
Anup: to haath khada kerna...
Me: Paagal hai kya?

The teacher goes on to describe how Thomas Friedman has identified the forces that have made the world a global village.

Anup: Bhai ek joke sunnata hu
Sardarji: Mai tere kaan mai daalonga!
Sardarni: Paagal ho gaye ho tussi... Mai behari ho jaaongi!
Sardarji: Kyu jab maine moo main diya tha tub goongi ho gayee thee kya... !

he he he! some giggles under the table.

Me: Yaar koi logic nahi re gaya hai... class seems boring
Anup: What is logic?
Me: ?
Anup: The way you connect things. For eg: We love a prof.. Prof loves his daughter... So we love his daughter.

Teacher: Can i have your attention please!

Me: bhai kitna time bachha hai?
Anup: Ek aur joke sunaao?
Me: Naa i would get some sleep

Teacher: Now let us look at some examples where companies have failed because they didn't adapt to local environment...

Time flies

Anup: Bhai... tera roll number aane waala hai.. Uth saale attendance miss ho jaaegi.
Teacher: Roll number 91
Me: Present Sir!

PS: This is a dramatised version. Please don't tax your brain to correlate this with the academic rigour prevelant in MDI.

The way things work

After almost one year at MDI, i can say the following things for sure
1. True friendship is hard to find in a b school. The reason for this maybe the age of the students. People have work ex, they are matureand have seen life. They have wizened enough to make the distinction between friends and contacts. Is it childish to make a friend without keeping a account of favours done and favours that can be drawn on.

2. People who opt for finance are naturally more intelligent than marketing or any other stream. Doing an IT specialization is like passing B com with a supplimentary. What are you interestd in? Is a question people seldom ask.

3. Why MBA? A question that remains unanswered for maximum.

4. Making a issue of trivialities and then mailing the whole batch is the favorite pass time of people. Moreover people who give the most vehement opinion and are efficient with juggling words and expression are respected and congratulated.

5. Summers are when true character is revealed. People do whatever to cut each other's way to a company.

6. Summer training is useless. Too much character is lost to get a summer which makes litlle or no difference.

7. CV is the king. Do whatever it takes to get another line in your CV. It can be club membership or prize in XYZ college.

8. Reading cases is good but then you have to read the case. But still this doesnt stop people from giving the most profound insights.

9. Some people just dont get it....

10 Some people just stay the same...

Illumina- a post written a long time back

"Aap ko pata hai..mera naam Mangal Pandey kyu hai?"

"Nahi pata" Mai batata hu...

"Mere Pitaji ko koi santaan nahi thee... Phir unhone Mangal Deep Dhoop jala ker Shivji kee pooja karee...Uske khushboo se Shivji prasanna hue aur unhe mujh jaise veer santaan ke prapti hui." "

"Iseliye unhone mera naam Mangal rakha."

For those of you who are wondering what it is... These were my lines as Mangal Pandey in a play. I was enjoying my life watching Prison Break and Heroes but suddenly i got this chance to play Mangal Pandey in one of the Disguised Market Research for ITC - Mangal Deep Dhoop organised by our club Illumina.

The idea is to get a pre launch feedback on a product from cutomers without making them fill forms and getting responsed by involving them in a play kind of situation.

Our was a play based on Ramayana and Mangal Pandey story and since the target base was rural, the event was held in a narby village Pataudi where a huge Raamlila takes place every year. It was a different experience to say the least.

We reached the Mela ground first thing in the morning only to realise that the Mela starts from 2 in the afternoon. Not wasting any time we decided to get out act together.

Yes, we did what we have become so profficient at- We slept under the scanty shade of a tree with newspaper on our faces to prevent the sun from disturbing. Thats what MBA teaches you- to sleep in the most unimaginable circumstances.

After getting some sleep we decided to explore some surroundings and found some thing to fool around.

An amazing experience began as the crowd began to settle in the ground. Hundreds of people flocked to our stall. We were over whelmed by the response.

Children went crazy , people were intrigued to find a bunch of college dudes in their terrain. We were house full. An incident which i will never forget is when an elderly person tried to touch my feet and said " Apki vajah se hee hume azaadi mili hai".

Mangal Pandey was certainly a legend.

I returned home exhausted, exhilirated and emotional.

PS If you managed to click the link, i tell you a miraculous coincidence. Mangal Pandey has the same birth date as me, 19 July!

What is in the air?

A few days back there was a intranet mail going on where people just had to pick up random or not so random guys and girls, connect them and write a matrimonial or something... Also there was a "Love is in the air" mail which tried to officially coordinate the interaction between interested parties(ohh... the MBA jargon)

All this made me remember the good old college days when I used to plan up ways to propose a girl but hold myself back when some friends of mine(blessed with better personalities) used to come back defeated.

"Who do you think you are ?"

"Are you out of your mind ?"

"We can be just friends, nothing more."

All these were the normal responses they used to get and many would lose nights of sleep to get over the worst failure of their lives.

So i never gathered enough courage to propose any girl... I had made a last desperate but subtle attempt some time back when i published my matrimonial in my blog... I cant resist to share some parts of that post.

Excerpts:

I will write my MatrimoniaL Ad and since i can't afford a 2 inch space in "Punjaab Kesari"(i have a soft corner for Punjabi Kudees you know) i will post it here only.Girls please read it carefully though i would appreciate if someone could save herself the trouble of reading the enire stuff and contact me right away.

~ ~ My Matrimonial ~ ~
WANTED: Tall/Short, Fair(Gori)/Dark(Kaali), Sweet/Sour, Homely/Officly infact any type of girl whose fetaures are better than Kishan Kumar(of 'Papa the Great' Fame) will be accepted as suitable alliance. Age/Caste/Weight/Height/Proffesion/Salary are no bar at all. The girl should be either Maangalik or Non-Maangalik. Widows have added advantage. Girls who smoke and drink have already cleared the first round. Girls who can use pure marwari gaalis have a wild-card-entry and need to contact asap (Bio-Data not required).Also the girl should be tolerant to some of my peculiar habits like once-a-week bath and once-a-month shave. I also can't control the urge to scratch sweaty and itchy body parts and belch after every meal.

I am not looking for any girl-friendship and this notion got reinforced by a party i attended last night...With 8 glasses of beer down and 2 hours of watching couples dance, I began thinking...

"Is this what fun is all about?" Now i agree i do get a bit philosophical when i am drunk but it was not the case this time...People losing themselves and enjoying the feeling that they can touch any girl which might not have been possible unless she was not in her senses...

I started feeling a strong feeling of estrangment and i took a small walk out of the disco. I was beginning to feel uneasy because of the way the air smelt in there. Is this the reason guys and girls become friends? I dont think so... I thought about what response i would get if i told everyone what i felt.

Who are you to give a lecture on moral decadence? Its by choice and not force... Why should you be bothered about it? You are just lamenting because you didn't have a chance to be with a girl?

Yes, why should i be bothered...I thought.

"One more beer please"... I said to the bar tender.