Thursday, November 22, 2007

D U @ Memory corner…

Recently …one of my friends’ blog had a post dissecting the newly released movie Dil Dosti etc and its Delhi University connection. Throughout the post the emotional belongingness about a life much cherished and enjoyed was overflowing. I can connect to this because I have spent my three years struggling, rejoicing, winning, faltering and coming out clean in one of the deadliest subjects of our time BA (Hons.) in Economics in not so famous college (Read off campus…curse my pathetic scores in std 12th).In spite of doing really pathetic in my senior secondary I still had some faith on my bruised shoulders. The reason for choosing the course can also be partly assigned to my elders doing exceedingly well in the same. So, bang! I was there and after attending those form filling ceremonies in a very enthusiastic manner got through in this college in the second list. I was the fifth guy to take admission there. But I knew I won’t be fifth once the annual examination results are announced. Dekhiye kitna overconfidence tha …Rassi jal gayee lekin aithan baaki thi …hehehe .Before going any further with my story I would like to point out that unlike many newbies joining DU I landed up in a golden Lap amongst best of the best seniors /College toppers of various departments, some university toppers, some US heading people to guide me through the roller coaster of three years called Graduation, courtesy my elder brother. I was well aware of all the intricacies involved in being a DU student. Kaun se brand ki Jeans acchhi hai..shirt kaun si sahi hai…SALE kehan kehan kab lagta hai, kaun sa Bus route better hai,kaun se college ki gals blueline mein “Staff” chalati hain ,Log Pepsi /Coke chhod ke Bonta kyun pite hain ,FOSLA kya hai,Rikshaw pullers ladkiyon ko baitha kar rikshaw itni tej kyon chalate hain,Readings/Notes/Tutes kehan milte hain… etc. etc.In our days attendance rules were not that strict as long as you are performing well in once held mid term exam. I took seating (Seating in DU refers to attending classes in a different college from the one you are enrolled in) in one of the better colleges in the campus. Had a good time there, made some friends and was sailing smoothly through the year. Then in January mid terms in my home college were held and I was there to take the exams with vengeance …my classmates had not seen me earlier...so not much interaction happened during the exams. Results were announced and I was the topper…not only cumulative but in each of the four papers. So…I was started getting noticed...Meanwhile I made friends with two students belonging to my home state (they are happily settling now...Economics ke baad Fashion management karna pada unhe: D).Came the final exams and results…yeah I topped the chart in the college. But alas, only 13 of the 55 students could manage to pass(number reduced to 3 after third year).Tried for migration to better colleges in north campus and succeeded in the one I took seatings and the other one (considered best college in south campus).But to my surprise my college authorities were not willing to give me “No Objection Certificate” for migration. They said they are making some changes in the old system where every year toppers moved to better colleges and all their labour (supposedly) put in to making an otherwise dull guy glitter goes waste….and here I was…dreams shattered…future full of uncertainty. Now began the roller coasters of DU ….revaluations/university ke chakkar etc etc….Finally after much struggle managed to come out clean out of the system and hanged on to take admission in a decent sectoral B school.
The preponderance of the cobwebs in every sphere of my stint at DU has really been stern and yeah a life time experience of course!!!
PS- One post is never enough to assimilate all the fun we had during our college days ….even touching all the topics in a single post is difficult. Moreover each of them demands a full post or it would be a gross injustice. So more specific posts related to Train travels from Patna to Delhi in second class sleepers, Studying late night in DU students’ union reading room, DU elections and role of BABAs ,Attitude of Rikshaw wallahs carrying gals (read chicks),DTC /Blue line buses ,Park hunting, FOSLA, Weekend night shows etc . would follow in separate dedicated posts.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

The Spiral effect...

…Finally things are getting hazy again….it has become my destiny for the last few years to live like that…n with some unexpected (n yeah expected too..) changes in the last few months; I was thinking that the days of amorphous living is over. But again,...is there an end to it as of now? Nay…don think so!
As I always do, the whole responsibility of whatever is happening is mine n I do accept that whole heartedly. Sometimes things don’t turn up the way u want them to... but that is life …what they call it. So, its better not get bugged up with all that is happening or will happen in a negative way…I 'm all prepared !!

PS- I’m skipping many posts that required elaborate coverage (Last days in IIFM, Pachmarhi Trip, Convocation etc.) …it would have been better to share things but people have limitations and I am no exception…agree with that.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Kalpataru and beyond...

February 18th
The week long annual fest of IIFM, Bhopal called Kalpataru concluded yesterday night. Kalpataru stands for a mythological tree which is supposed to give us desired luck and fortune . Every year it is conducted in the month of February when the senior batch is about to graduate. The event is confined to the IIFM fraternity only making it a totally internal event. This week long event includes literary, cultural, sports, and adventure sports events in addition to final day skits and mandatory chief guest speech (can not help it).
In the race of medals and trophies were the teams and individuals from both junior and senior batches. But juniors as usual had the upper hand and outperformed us on various counts.
The concluding part of the week long festival is a cultural programme and high dinner. In this there is a tradition of performing skits by both the batches in addition to solo performances. This year our performance sent fumes across the higher echelons. Coming fortnight is the last one of our stay here at IIFM. A lot of planning has gone in to it to make these some of the most memorable days .End semester exams are near but hardly people care about it…come what may. Field trip to Sanchi, Thanksgiving party to faculty , farewell party by juniors and a trip to “Pachmarhi” are some of the things on card as of now. If time permits “Khajuraho” might as well be considered. Moreover, my other engagements are so important to attend that I am really not able to pay attention to these in a manner I would have otherwise done. So now the countdown begins…Fifteen….

Saturday, February 17, 2007

The team adventure!!!


Friday : 7:30 a.m.
This was the second time my alarm watch rang continuously (Rangat teri julfon ki ghataon ne udai…hehehe…the tone which is waking me up for the last three years).Still forty five minutes remained for the adventure club activity “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE” to start. For the last two days I was working hard to get ten good members for my team to compete in this event. Finally got twelve of them (with two players in contingency) the night before the event. Average weight of the members well above 75 Kgs and all rustic seniors baring a few. We were still very positive about our chances out of sheer enthusiasm and earlier adventure sports experience. Finally I woke up and made a round to the rooms of my team mates in the hostel to get them ready...and it is not difficult to guess what happened. All of them were sleeping like a father whose daughter has been married yesterday. Funny things apart, only one of my team mates from the girl’s hostel was on time waiting for us to come. The game started half an hour late due to non arrival of our team members. Number of players in each team was now reduced to eight with total number of teams being three. We had to catch a terrorist on the basis of several clues and a Google earth photograph with good resolution of our campus and the trail given in that. All the teams had different paths and clues. Since our campus is very big and full of trees, shrubs, rocky terrain making such trail was not very difficult at all. At some stage or another we had to do trekking, Rappelling, Rope walking and commando net crossing. So we can say the game was meant for the people having mind with courage. By the time we exhausted all our clues traveling through the most difficult terrain in IIFM… (Scars are still visible on our hands) apparently it was late. But we were clueless…we were traveling at a good pace and were fairly motivated to win the cash prize and watch “EKLAVYA” with it…he he. This time we were doing rope walking on the ropes tied to two trees at a height of 20 feet… Eighty per cent of us were supposed to do that…But alas…the terrorist got caught by the first team and there was this sound of enthusiasm, triumph and valour …so we lost. Our heart sank for the moment but there was nothing that could be done now. We had tried our best. All of us…Six guys and two gals…But still we were very keen on doing rappelling and other activities (At least I was coz it might as well be the last opportunity for me …once off from campus it is really tough for people like me to plan such thing).I had some earlier experience in rope walking and rappelling …so it was totally a cakewalk this time…but jumping from your institute building has its own fun.
Truly speaking the game was “Mission impossible” for us. Many thanks to club adventure and Dhananjoy for organizing such a fabulous event. Hope I get other such opportunities in future…

Monday, February 12, 2007

Placement Party @ IIFM

The Residency…as they call it…venue for our placement party was full of managers oozing oomph….excited with their future career ahead and what not...prospects of getting something to take memories back home at the end of their two years here in Bhopal was looking brighter today. Party started with usual stuffs like mimicry, shows, acting performed by juniors. It took an hour ...Side by side taste buds were also being taken care of with all sort of appetizers n snacks ;).8 p.m. and it was time to fire the dance floor…for a change nobody was coming forth this time to initiate. And know what… four of us (including me...) were first to jump in to it and do some muscle twisting high power dance. As happens with any crowd…within 5 minutes...the whole hall was on the toes dancing to the tunes of Musicians ranging from Bryan Adams ,Dr. Alban , Himesh Reshamiya, Pritam to Sukhbir, Babbu man, Amar Arshi,Veronica n many more…It continued for next four hours…sometime songs being repeated… with a short break for dinner...Food was delicious although number of dishes were limited…but who eats all of ’em anyways…Mid way came “Sutta song”…grooving all the B schools in India for the last two years as a popular chart buster n the hall was hazy smoky…for the people like us (non smokers) life became a little difficult…but even we are accustomed to it now……and at 11-55 p.m. ends our show with “Summer of 69”…..bbye guys ..see you next in the farewell party…till then rock on!
n the memories fail to fade….
Stop bugging me stop bothering me
Stop bugging me stop forcing me
Stop fighting me stop yelling me
It's my life
It's my life….

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

The withdrawal syndrome…


Today, Time – 9:42 am: A scene in the chamber of one of our senior professors…
Two guys after attending the first class enter in to the cabin and ask the professor whether he is done with the work asked for, yesterday evening. He tells that two minor modifications to the mail being sent is required and further asks for some more details. First guy (in the picture…above) looks for the pen (hiding for ages in the pocket due to non usage) in the upper pocket of shirt…n hey…here comes a white tiny thin stuff….cigarette…oh my god! And the professor is struck bound! What the hell is that…are these guys using this for writing these days…? The guy too is remembering when did a pen find a place in his pocket last time? Second guy (me) now helps him with a pen (Padhoo ya na padhoo…pen jaroor rakhta hoon dude..).And thus ends the story.
This type of situation is not very uncommon in our campus these days…lots of similar things are taking place…rather unnoticed coz most of us are in the same boat. Is it after effect of placements or two years of rigour (really…!) which is finally taking tolls? Views differ...but general feedback is that both the factors are contributing to the situation. We are completing the whole circle in a month but with different outlook to life…we came empty handed…and preparing to fly off with loads of memories…Long live IIFM!!!

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

No more guest lectures of this kind please!

..Yeah and here comes the much talked and even more hated news from IIFM Campus…He called it “The Law of Reciprocation”. Consider two very important aspects in our practical life (1) What I am required to deliever and (2) What I deserve to get. There is always some deviation in the end result on both the counts…its inherent… its obvious.
It’s a scene from one of our guest lectures…hehe...no offence intended…n guys with shabby eyes deprived of full night sleep for countless days are looking with shabby, baggy eyes at the orator…sometimes wondering whether their watches have stopped working in this vacuumized Over Head Transmission (OHT…I owe this term to my best friend ).Ninety minutes have gone and still he continues (was scheduled for only forty minutes)…we have even increased the frequency and magnitude of our suggesting claps …so that he gets some hint…but no way…he is too preoccupied to see or listen all these. Now is the time people start fainting and napping and for people like me (I do not have this royal habit…although have tried it many times…but in vain).And the whole conference room is filled with the anesthesia… but stars don’t care.Tic..tic..tic…tic..;-(
Finally he calls it a quit and our endless wait is over …we try gather all our energy (Is there anything remaining? ) to run to the hostel ASAP…but caught in the crowd having same intentions...hehehe…somehow we get out of the back door and resurface in the heaven ‘THE HOSTEL”. Thus ends the ordeal of a typical guest lecture…but again…do we have any choice but to attend these. Hope we will have plenty of it after second march .So ending with what we say here at IIFM even in worst of the situations…Enjoy!!!

Monday, February 05, 2007

For someone important...

...watching your silence…parlance
Reminds me at times
My bewildering insignificance
sustained signs
questions unanswered ,eternal
idle as unattended tuckahoes
………….little do I know
to uncheck happenings,
probably unsullied ow
lingering long, slow
Still like a fresh bow
But I confess..........
to the light of hope, joy
Of my mergence...
To your chimes,
ringing and flavours original
engraved, I wait for you
My tomorrow!!

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Light in the tunnel…

Yesterday was a very important day for me….why? Yeah some sign of light coming through the tunnel…although things might take time to materialize, but I‘ve been looking forward to this for months and this came as a welcome respite. With all honesty and integrity I am poised to join the most famous bandwagon (don't mistake it for some company) in the world…things might seem to be secretive at this point of time but again…secrecy is the diplomat’s weapon they say…

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Tradeoffs are inevitable...but again!

As Production Possibility Curve (PPC) in economics talks about choices over tradeoff in a resource constrained economy...many a times we are left to face the similar situations in this unending cobweb of time space called life.
You settle and unsettle so many times with reference to your baseline that after a certain extent it becomes really hazy to find your space anywhere..nothing remains your own. You become a wanderer searching for time dependent dynamic goals.Temporary respite in the form of patches of happiness are not impossible...but again patches don't canvas the horizon.
One possible way of averting the situation can be to include a flexible componet (coefficient will vary among individuals) in the process and goal oriented behaviour to reach the goal.
Situation prevails over many but moderating its effect is more often than not is in our hands......