Yearn for the churn

Pre-Scipt: Dear readers, I won't mind if you don't read this post!!! 

Restlessness, queasiness... all these I guess are common. But all these at exam times can be really disconcerting. And where does this bring me... to metalbook. I have these swings that play with my moods and makes me do wierd things. Like listen to Floyd, post something new on my blog or just talk to people.

Talking about exams, well I'm in all probability give my last exams of a full time student life. And there can't be an exam day that i let go by, without thinking, of one blunder i committed during my third semester. Fortunately for me it was mid-sem exams. This picture is in memory of the same.

Looking at this my mind has suddenly started travelling back to days when this tool was put to its real use. All those days, when moments were  created by a simple Reply-All, or a bloody forward that blocked someone's whole mailbox. I yearn to get back to those days again.

While my heart can continue rumbling away, my mind says "shut up, I'm not going to let you *&^% up my blog with these lame rantings." Don't know what it is? It must be the damned subject, or wait, it might be the mail again. Whatever it is, I can now move on.. for the horrible feeling which i had, when I began seems to have gone.

P.S: If you have still stuck on reading to this after my initial intimation, Thanks you are a good listener and your time has helped me !!!

Life at IBS-B

Like I mentioned in my last post a lot of my upcoming posts will be about IBSB. This one was an essay I wrote for my college magazine last year. 

Six months since the beginning of my MBA in IBS Bangalore, one thing I’ve understood is that MBA life is a plethora of competitions and events galore. IBSB is surely the place where all the action lies.

May was when, it all started with the adventure trip outing to Somanahalli near Kanakapura, Bangalore. The essence of the outing was not the adventure quotient alone, but the fact that strangers from different parts of the country after having come under a single roof brought out the best synergy possible by displaying a beautiful sense of amalgamation. The so-often preached topics of teamwork and synergies were very practically brought about this single occasion.

Being part of the volunteer group in the placement cell also meant a wonderful opportunity to be a part of an audience that witnessed the interactive session on the topic “India-Net Gainer in the present global upheavals”.

End of June and it was time to officially inaugurate the class of 2010. The stage was all set for the performers from each class to enthrall the audience with their superlative cultural talent. So much so, that made people like me who consider self to be the ‘PAPPU’s-who-can’t-dance’ types to come out and shed their inhibitions to perform on the big stage. Every person would in some or the other ways contribute to showcase the talents of their respective classes at their best.

July brought along Manthan’08 the annual intra-collegiate business fest which tests the acumen of the class of 2010. As the best manager, I had the honor of leading a team of 12 dynamic members to adeptly handle the verticals of Finance, Marketing, HR, Operations, IT and business quiz. The way the event was handled by seniors was nothing less than commendable. The two day event succeeded in simulating the stress involved in running a business and the repercussions of the decisions we made. I still remember the overnight assignment when I as best manager became totally blank and couldn’t do any justice to the assignment assigned. One valuable lesson I learnt the hard way with this event is to never give up.

Phase-1 of Coliseum’08 aimed to bring out the sporting prowess amongst the students saw a never before participation. Cricket, TT, Carrom, Chess, Badminton were some of the games in which there was more than a healthy competition among the participants. The event was vastly successful in showcasing the culture in IBSB which has no discrimination between seniors and juniors.

Fresher’s party in August is one event about which I hold back fond memories. The event which was an all students affair was a light but an entertaining one. Just like a psychedelic FLOYD song, the pace picked up from light to frantic, with a beautiful ambience the resort boasted off. The month of our independence also brought our own indigenous event ‘PEACE WALK’ to light. The whole process from initially conceptualizing to finally executing the plan was simply flabbergasting. I guess it’s a fair deal when you learn management on the job when you’ve had to miss classes preaching management mantras owing to other priorities.

IBSB also makes it a point that students get 360 degree learning by sending its students to various competitions held by other B Schools. One such event I got to be a part of, was the ‘AIMA national level paper presentation’ competition which not only gave me the honest feedback of where I was headed but also a perspective towards the larger things we tend to miss so often while paying attention to the specifics.

As a tradition, all such events are organized by seniors who take the lead role to transition juniors smoothly to similar roles for them to run the show the coming year.

All these are just some of the events that I’ve had a chance or wanted to get myself directly involved with. Many more events like Kurukshetra’08, SAP seminar, festivals like ‘Onam’ and ‘Ganesha’ also happened in IBSB during this period. But I wouldn’t be making any justice to the magnitude of events if I write about them here, since the events in IBSB are just unimaginable. 

I would like to sign-off by reminding one and all about IBSB’s very own annual inter collegiate fest Tarkash’08 that is on the cards in the coming months, and me having lots to write about.

Wishing loads of luck!

~Sanjay

What was the hurry for 2010 ???

I wish all my readers a wonderful and a rewarding 2010 !!!

Can't help but think that this is now the time when my blog will invariably contain a lot of content about testimonials and memories. How I wish this was a disclaimer, that i could pretend having read and not bother about it from the next second. There are atleast a dozen things that keep reminding me of the reality every single day. If you are not one of the library type person, then MBA time means a lot of time online. 

I was amazed how effective a tool an internal messenger(IM) can prove to be, more so when I could not use it. And nowadays for me online invariably means GTALK if not YM, and this also means status messages that keep changing like hand-towels on a hot summer day in Mumbai.

• Countdowns on status lines like "30 days remaining.... ", "Recreate that magic" and some like "..........................." sure do keep reminding me of the time that's slipping away.

Signals are ubiquitous, sometimes glaring.

• The anticipation that every mail brings from a certain department in college.
• Memories evoked by that small meeting with an old colleague.
• A friend who has moved on to bigger and better things, and is waiting for you there.
• Individual photographs that once looked beautiful as is, now seem incomplete. Make a collage and see the difference it brings to the outlook.
• The awe that every corrected answer paper or assignments bring, or sometimes the pun that is intended with it.
• That new friend you wished to have known a little earlier.

Are we to do something about them? Can we? I say, Move on, but don't lose your chance to reflect.

Stay cheerful.

~Sanjay