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.

A Festival called LIFE!!

Remember that essay that we used to write on the topic of favorite festival and the essay always started with the line “ India is a land of festivals”? Well, India indeed is a land of festivals. As a kid, festivals meant holidays, sweets and presents. Those were the days when we literally used to thank “India” for truly being a land of “festivals”. 

And, of course, like every other kid, my favorite festival was also Diwali. I can still recount the ways in which we used to prepare for this festival of “light”. The preparation used to start 15-20 days before the festival. Just like anything else, the preparation was more fun than the actual celebration on the day of Diwali. Diwali meant painting the whole house, buying new clothes, buying sweets and crackers and many other things. Diwali really was the essence of all the festivals being celebrated in our country.

But that was Diwali of childhood. We changed and so changed the meaning of each and every festival for us. At least for people like me who had to move out of their hometowns early in life. Either because of studies or because of jobs. I have lost the count of how many festivals I had to celebrate away from my family. But that is the bitter truth of life that we had to swallow.

I feel lucky if I’m at my home for any festival. Now, festivals do not automatically mean all those beautiful things they used to mean during our childhood. Whether you are going to enjoy any “festival” as really a “festival” depends either on the phase your current project is in or on the schedule decided by your college administration. How dependent our life has become on others?

But I think that’s the way life is and it is up to us to find ways how to enjoy maximum of it. The important thing today is to be with your loved ones. So now, my definition of festivals has changed big time. A festival for me now is none from the list that I used to write in one of those essays. A festival for me is anytime of the year when I get to be in my hometown with my loved ones. A get together with family and friends is the best thing that I look forward to. And that is my way to say “Cheers” to the festival called “life". I wish that every one gets to celebrate this festival and then I’m sure that no one will ever miss any of those other festivals.

Wake Up You Media

There is always one city that reminds you of many things close to your heart and those things can be your first job, great friendships, your first love and many other lovely memories. For me, that city is Pune.

Pune. The city that is popularly called as cultural capital of Maharashtra and Oxford of the East. One of the best cities of India. Of the world if you ask me. Its been exactly 38 months since I left that city but the memories of my stay there are very much the same today as they were on the day I was leaving Pune. I’ve been a frequent visitor to the city since then. But I’ve not gone to Pune from last one year because of my studies. But this month, I got a week away from my college and a golden opportunity to visit MY city. So, the reservations were done, friends were informed, even a detailed schedule (and a tight one for that matter) was made and what not. But I wish life were that simple and predictable.

The fourth estate played the spoiler. The so-called fourth pillar of Indian democracy – The Media.

Actually the main reason was my parents not allowing their son to set a foot into a city that is suffering from a pandemic called “swine flu”. Pandemic?? At least that’s what people like my parents understood from media attributing any death in Pune to swine flu. And its not parents if you can’t be afraid of the possibility of only their son catching the disease out of 3.6 million population of Pune. So I succumbed to the demands or rather fears of my parents and cancelled the whole plan and apologized to all my friends.

This whole episode once again raised the question on the accountability and credibility of all those 24X7 non-stop news channels of our country. There’s no denying the fact that swine flu was a potential threat but so is anything else like a road accident, pneumonia etc. But the magnitude by which media blew this whole swine flu paranoia out of proportion really makes one ask the exact business that media is in- News reporting or News creating?

My guess would be the second one. I asked my friends about the situation on the ground level and all replied unequivocally – its all media hype. Yes, we need to be careful when there’s a possibility of a deadly disease’s infection. But do we sit at home because there’s a possibility of a road accident? No. We choose to drive carefully. And this is what media could’ve done. Giving more information and advising the ways in which a person can avert a possible attack could’ve been more useful rather than blaming a poor swine for the death of even a diabetic!! One of my friends told me that people in Pune are going for a morning walk, with their puppies, wearing the protective masks as if they are giving a fashion statement.

But this is not the only instance when media went out of their way to make juicy headlines and increase their TRPs and finally the ad revenues. Be it 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Attacks on North-Indians in Maharashtra, Aarushi Talwar murder case- media has let millions like me down who believe that media can play a very constructive role in the country’s affairs without even compromising on their business.

It’s not that media has not done anything good at all. We also have the examples like Jessica Lal murder case and Teach India campaign where media has done an exceptional job. But it mostly indulges in activities or news that do more harm than good. Media made a lost, forgotten, rejected hooligan into a hero of the cause of sons-of-the-soil!! I wish and hope that our fourth estate will deliver what was expected from it by the founding fathers of our constitution.

And hey, no one can stop me from visiting Pune coming April.

Happy Birthday To You India

During school days, first two weeks of August were my favorites. One reason for this was that my birthday used to bring me many gifts and that was my day to be the cynosure of all the people around me. It was my day to feel the boss of the world. The other reason was the Independence Day. And honestly, it had nothing to do with the patriotism.

As was the tradition in the schools all over the country, everyone at my school used to switch to the ‘preparation’ mode. Everyone was preparing for something from Principal to teachers to students. Be it the welcome speech for the chief guest, extra curricular like dance, drama, group songs etc. And these preparations were a welcome break for people like me who detest studying (even today). But there was a catch. The ‘break’ was meant only for people who were ‘ performing’. So it eventually led to my participation in almost every other performance. This also justifies my liking for all these extra curricular till date.

You can be sure of reading many articles about the state of the country today, few black n white clipping of Britishers beating Indian freedom fighters, those old patriotic songs and movies, a detailed analysis of what we have achieved in last 62 years, prominent figures distributing alms to the poor, PM giving speech from the Red fort and many other things which I cant write here because of the paucity of space.

The point is, do we want to ‘celebrate’ our Independence Day by seeing/reading all the above things that are repeated every year? Do we want to again listen to someone on the television about his take on patriotism? Or do we really want to do something different this year? But before anything else, do we want to be patriotic citizen or a responsible citizen? Are the terms ‘patriotic citizen’ and ‘responsible citizen’ different?

To me, they are same. Patriotism includes, of course, fighting at the border, doing charity for the society, helping poor, and maybe joining politics or any government agency where we can take decisions to take our great country forward. But these are not the only ways to be patriotic. These are the popular or mostly known ways to be patriotic.

But the one way which is comes closest to my definition of patriotism is being a responsible citizen. Now being responsible is very subjective and can vary from person to person. But there are certain qualities that apply to every Indian. Being responsible is to throw your garbage in the dustbin and not on the street. Being responsible is to switch off the bulbs and fans before locking the door. Being responsible is to close the water tap tightly (come on, it takes half turn more to the right in less than a second). Being responsible is pushing your chair under the table after you’ve finished your meal in the mess. Being responsible is stopping at the red signal behind the zebra crossing. And there are many other ways to be responsible.

These things are those that I see daily in my college. And these are not the ones that are visible in my college only. Its everywhere you go. I’ve worked in one of the best software companies of India. The condition was same there as well. And literally, my heart bleeds to see so-called “literate” and “highly-qualified” people failing to follow the basic etiquette of being responsible. I refuse to accept that these people don’t know or understand their responsibilities. The same people who use to throw their coffee cups in the street will become well civilized when they will go to a foreign country. You can’t dare to spit on the road in US because that would cost you $100. So you follow ‘rules’ there. If you can do that in a foreign country then why this ill treatment towards your own country? 

Yeah I know I got a bit carried away. Everyone today glees over the fact that they can do what they wish. But I think we are not able to understand the cost that our forefathers had to bear to attain what we fall “freedom”. With freedom comes great responsibility. And let us not forget that. I’ve made a simple resolution this year again – to be more responsible. And that is best gift I can give to my country. My love.

 

Dedicated to Friendship!!

Remember that painting of a deer standing near a waterfall in a jungle with a beautiful home and two kids playing with their puppy in the background? I had one such lovable painting hanging in our drawing room. It was the essence of our drawing room. I was in love with that painting so much that I tried my hands at painting for the first time in my life. Of course I tried to paint a replica of that painting but whatever was the outcome, my love for my hand-drawn painting overwhelmed my love for that scenic beauty hanging on the wall. At that time I didn’t realize why I was enthralled more with my creation but after a few years, I got my answer. Because it was MY creation. I worked on it from scratch. And I remember protecting my painting till the time I got involved in more worldly things.
But there was a lesson from that entire episode. It’s in human nature to be partial towards their own creation. And that’s true for the relationships as well.
We have got two kinds of relationships. One is by the virtue of the fact that we are the children of our parents. And second is the one which we created on our own. And that’s called Friendship.
Enough has already been written about friendship but that enough never sounds good enough. Adjectives fail and nouns and verbs go into sabbatical when we try to describe that relationship called Friendship.
Friendship is just like that seed which we have sown, nurtured with care, protected from every evil and then seen it grow into a shadowy tree providing fruits of comfort, warmth, care and love for our whole life. Maybe, I used some adjectives from my limited vocabulary and my pathetic narration should be pardoned. But the whole point is that friendship is that one (and the only one) relationship which is not gifted to us because of our bloodline. We make it happen. We make it work. And we make it worthy enough to live our whole life for.
It was friendship when you shared your school lunch boxes. It was friendship when you wanted to be on the same team with few special people. It was friendship when you wanted to do what some other special people were planning to do for graduation. It was friendship you looked up to for money when wanted to buy an expensive gift for your first crush. And it was again friendship when you needed a shoulder for comfort after breaking up with some one you thought was love of your life. And it has been and it will again be friendship when you’ll need to make an emergency call at 2 in the morning.

The only relationship which comes closer to friendship is Love. But I don’t think Love can stand on its own. I would say its just an extension of friendship. And yeah..friendship is always older than love. There’s no love possible if you don’t have a friendship.

I’m lucky enough to have celebrated every friendship day with, touchwood, an ever growing list. And I hope that this will continue my whole life. Friends are like jewels in your crown and you are the luckiest person on the planet if you have even one jewel. So, how many jewels you’ve got?

Happy Friendship Day

Living life...Musically!!

God has created this Universe. Humans included. And since the time of Adam and Eve, humans have also created many things. I’ve studied and heard umpteen numbers of times that the greatest invention by human is the “wheel”. Sorry. I disagree. Ok..Ok..There are many uses and inventions that followed the invention of wheel. But neither as a kid nor as an adult the wheel has amazed me ever.  I feel world would have been a better place to live without it. If you doubt my argument, ask the environmentalist. I’m writing this blog to share my amazement over that one invention (or discovery?) by (of?) human. Music.

Music is the essence of life of most of the people in this world. I can say for sure that no one can survive without actually loving music in some or the other form. Nothing else has the power to arouse the kind of emotion that music can. And the impact becomes more tangible and visible when lyrics are intertwined with music.

I remember, as a kid my favorite songs were those that can make me dance. We used to go to the birthday parties of our friends for cake and sweets but no birthday party can finish without having dance performances from all the kids. And who can forget all the marriages in the family? Can anyone imagine any marriage without music? Music played at high volume use to put some extra energy in our veins!!

Then we became teenager and we started understanding the type of music and started categorizing music on the basis genres. Those were the days of puppy love and crushes. We started making more sense out of the songs we listened. We started making collection of songs and greater the collection, greater your esteem among your friends.

Adolescence is the time when we actually live the music. It flows in our blood. There are songs that remind us of that someone special. If you are still with that someone then you are listening to love songs and ghazals with deep meaning lyrics. And if you’ve broken up with that someone then sad songs come to your rescue. But whatever state you are in, music is there in your life as your companion.

And this goes on and on for your whole your life. Don’t you listen your parents often suddenly singing a song when that song comes on TV or radio? When it comes to music, age is no bar. It represents the celebration of life. Celebration of life becomes sweeter when it is done musically. I can’t even imagine life without it. Music can make you experience all the emotions. Love, happiness, sadness and many more. Hang on…one of my favorite songs is coming on radio. By the way, your favorite song is?