It's in the air now!!

The reasons given to everyone were- “will help me to grow in longer run”, “will help me to get identified”, “will help me to understand business side of the corporate” and blah..blah..blah. The above are the reasons why many of us joined MBA. But every damn person knows that the main reason is- “Will help me to get a FAT cheque salary”.

The mauj-masti, gaaje-baaje,  dhol-dhamake, night outs, bonfires, and yeah some times studies kept us busy for almost 17 months. Now the time is for the real thing. Placements. Our very reason for investing so much of money. The only criteria on the basis of which every single b-school is rated by the aspirants (though many would say infra, quality of faculty, location etc. but all that is a lie and that too a big one). Why cant people state that simple thing – “I came here to get a good salaried job dumbo”.

 If you get a chance to live in different parts of the country, you live with different kind of people in different surroundings, then you become a good observer. Yeah you really become one. Don’t believe? Meet me sometime.

So nowadays, I’m using my “observing” skills around the campus. People are behaving in really different manners. People are discussing the possible questions they are going to face in the interviews. And believe me, after so much of brainstorming, those questions are still unanswered. The other thing all of us are doing is trying to figure out why we wrote those subjects as “areas of interest” in our CV’s and now trying to really make them interesting. I’ll give you some other examples.

Many of my friends are telling all of us -“I’m expecting PPO anyday” from the day they have finished their summer training. But that day has not arrived yet, unfortunately and those poor guys have also picked up a book from their “areas of interest”. Hope that their ordeal ends sooner and they get the “PPO”.

Some are trying to figure out why they left their company early and joined MBA because they feel this is the first question the visiting company is going to ask. Some people have really started “preparation”. You can find them completely immersed in their book and laptops in the library.

There are many other kind of ways in which people are behaving but the most dangerous ones are those who don’t want to talk about placements. The moment you utter the dreaded “P” word, they will say “Placements ki baat mat kar yaar” in a very low-heavy voice, with a lot of facial-muscle movements, which actually sounds funny but they feel if they use the correct modulation, they will enforce a greater impact. To hell with that. In the placements season if one is not going to talk about placements then are we going to discuss “Rakhi Sawant” or the winter of Delhi?

Now what am I doing? I’m continuing my daily routine of harassing my friends. Wishing that the company does not keep an upper cut-off for work experience. And trying to study daily, but not been able to read a single page.

Anyway, jokes apart, I sincerely wish everyone gets the job they hoped for before joining the institute. As the economy is recovering, it seems possible more than anytime in last one year. Amen!!

A Salute to the Master

A very common saying is that we should not expect anything from anyone. It’s said to be one of the ways of not getting hurt or disappointed. But is it possible for anyone of us, and also for the one who said the above saying, to not to expect anything from anyone? We all in life want to fulfill the expectations of many people we know and, in the same manner we expect many things from other people. The main question is how many people’s expectations ride on our shoulders? 10? 20? And honestly, we have buckled many times because of the pressure of these expectations. Ever thought of the pressure on the person who has carried the burden of one billion expectations on his shoulders and met those expectations with dignity for 20 years?

In next few days you will read and listen a lot of things about this person: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. When I started writing this blog, I thought what is there that I can write that has not already been written about this maestro? But I think my blog will miss out something if I miss this golden opportunity to write about Him.  You’ll find Bachchans, Khans, Gavaskars of the world praising this man. So may be, I can write about him from a common man’s perspective.

I belong to that generation of viewers whose interest grew in cricket as Sachin’s stature in the world cricket grew. I can say that I started watching cricket because of Sachin only.  And that is still my reason to watch cricket. I, as a kid, loved to watch a short-tiny guy sending the fiercest of the bowlers out of the grounds. I’ve grown watching this short-tiny 16-year old newcomer to a 36-year old mentor of the budding cricketers. Everything has changed in cricket but Sachin. Whether it was his demolition of NZ in world cup ’92 or his heroics on Nov 2009 against Australia.

My favorite scores in One-dayers is Ind: Anything for no loss and in test cricket it is Ind: Anything for 2 wickets. Because these scores are assurances that yes, he’s still there. There are many cricketers who will equal his records (as ponting is approaching in Tests) but one thing about him that is unmatchable is the dignity with which he has carried himself.

When our new generation cricketers go over the top after hitting one century, imagine how much effort this guy needs who has 87 centuries to his name. But he denies that he needs some extra effort. It’s his upbringing that helps him to remain humble. And that is what he has been a symbol of. He is an icon not because of his runs and centuries. He is an icon for hard work he has shown. He is an icon for the humbleness he has shown. He is a symbol of honesty. He is a symbol of middle-class aspiration. He has given courage to all the people who want to do something in life.

I remember when I used to stick to the TV even if India is 9 down but Sachin is there. And turn off the TV when Sachin’s out. No one can command this power over the audience. I wish that he gets the only feather that is missing from his crown- World Cup Victory. I know he’ll retire from cricket someday. But he will always be remembered for more than his runs and centuries. How I wish that he can continue playing cricket forever. I thank God that I have seen God of cricket playing. I salute the God. Of Cricket.