Before joining SPJIMR, I thought MBA is all about studies, assignments, B-School competitions etc. But the first month has totally changed my views. The above things are just one side of a coin. There are lot of things that form the other side of the coin like personal growth, group behavior, social inclination etc.

               I was in a dilemma as to whether or not to leave Tata Power in the very first year or at an appropriate time when I get an MBA admission. I was in a dilemma again whether to join SPJain or not (There is a myth out there that IITians should only join "the cream" colleges). I now tell you that I have certainly not made a wrong choice. I may or may not get the equivalent package of top IIMs, but I certainly would have added a value different from other MBAs. 

               The faculty, so far, is much more interested in teaching you rather than just passing information and you understand things practically. This is quite unlike some of my previous experiences. I can not generalize, but I can talk in relative terms.

               Looking forward for further good times @SPJIMR

                    Well first of all he is a Dreamer. Not literally, but blogally (Dreamer). When you start a new chapter in life, you care for the very first friends that you made then. He is one of the guys who believed in me and always motivated me. My posts, however boring it may seem to some people, always attracted an opinion from "Dreamer". Well this post is because of you dude..... Remembering First Friends..... Read on....

                    Back in school, I only know two things, study and enjoy with friends. There are some people whom you can't forget and whom you know from your kindergarten. There are some who come in between and stay forever. Even if there is no Hello or Bye Bye everyday, when you meet them after a long time, you connect with them as good and old as ever. Well this unexpected visit home this weekend brought back some wonderful memories and show how much we all idiots have grown up. There was this big group of BSNL kids back home. We used to go together on trips and all other social events. And this Saturday, I could catch up with two of them and had a nice time. They too agree that we all have grown up. To BSNL.

                    There is this crazy guy in my school. To everyone else, I only study. This guy knows that I am much more than that. And this guy stands till date as my best friend. I don't catch up with him everyday or so. When we are at home, we surely do meet. And again this weekend gave me one such chance. To LFM School.
               
                      And busy in achieving bigger things in life (well, you know what), I am doing some retrospection of my life. The biggest chapter has been KGP. There are too many First Friends as there are too many firsts. College, Department, Hostel, Internship and the list goes on. But the very first here is making me write this post. Oh yes it is Mr. Vinay Wunnava aka Dreamer. The second one is Kart.  We always were a unique set. We should have been named 3 idiots. Damn u Amir Khan. And then comes the EE dept of KGP. Another set of 3 idiots here. Myself, Rajesh and Vasu. To KGP.

                      Now comes TATA. Wait, I am not ending the post. I am talking about the Trio in TATA. Neel, Chhatrola and Myself. Mumbai would have been so boring without you guys. We all know what we did in Mumbai. Too many to count.

                       To all those whom i missed out, don't worry, I will be blogging often from now on.

It has been a lonnnnnnnnng time since i updated my blog. Welcome again to my Zone.

I decided to post this one, when a few of my friends decided to have a get together. I was made to peek at my past and made to think how I was. I am talking about the strenuous 2 years that I have put en route to IIT. What is its significance now ??

Well... this little sneak peek helped me gather confidence and strength that i so clearly missed for the past 2 years. I was a good student, but didn't know how good i was to crack the JEE. I was never of the feeling that i can't do this. Partly it is because of the success I had in my school days, the confidence I gained with the hard work I put in, the constant motivation from my brother and above all the blessings of my parents. The most important part is the constant look at your goal and think how far you are from it, what it takes to travel the path, smooth or rough, fast or slow. Then you adapt yourself accordingly. Back then, you only had one thing in mind, to crack the JEE.

Now it is nearly 6 years after I made it to IIT and nearly 8 years after I started to set serious goals. I again face a similar task now.....yes after a long time. Why is it so different to what I have done before??

Well for one

Your project guide screws you up and makes you feel a total a** and dents your confidence. You don't know what your future is and what mistake you did to get screwed like that. Very different from being a topper in school.

Two

You work for some company that so under utilizes you, don't know where to place you, don't even know why they recruited you and finally making you feel a total a** again. Very different from the constant support, enthusiasm and awesome preparation during 11th and 12th classes.

And Three

Health, family ..bla bla bla....

What makes it more special, in spite of these additional and completely strange situations that I am in, is the goal to prove yourself again. What is the motivation now?

The very thought of making people's mouths shut.

The very need to raise my own Game.

The attitude of not giving up.

The very fact that I am not a loser to sit idle.

and finally, I know that I can do it.

What is the fun without a little challenge ....... !

I know i have bored you, but thanks for your time. This is the first step in taking my preparation further. Improving my writing skills. A dry and personal topic to start with, but as they say, a start is a start. Now there is no turning back.

I sincerely thank the IC batch, for making me realize what I can do.

What a wonderful day it was! Quite unexpectedly got tickets for the IPL match just 15 minutes before the scheduled departure to Kolkata. So, we started off in a hurry and a huge group of 25 people supporting the Deccan Chargers and anticipating a DC victory. And it was a very bad start. Perhaps it was Ganguly's day and some unknown force tried to stop us in every possible way. First with a bad engine of the wonderful scorpio that took some time to cool down in the blazing heat. At one point we even thought to turn back to KGP and watch the match on Television as we thought we would not make it in time. But, with some hope we carried on and then came the second blow. A huge accident on the highway halted the traffic and creating a train of vehicles for kilometers. With a bit of luck and the timed decision made by the driver to cut the road and go inside a village and take a detour that just put us past the accident zone. Had we been a bit late, we would have been stuck in the traffic and unable to move. Finally its Eden Gardens!

Eden Gardens, the cricketing Mecca of India. I was in an Awe as I stepped into the stadium. Its beautiful and it was definitely not as i thought it would be. I had a feeling before going there that we probably can't see the players well. But hell NO......It was just the perfect place. We had options..to sit near the boundary or to sit in a place that has a clear view of the match..but we chose the boundary sides....for obvious reasons in IPL ofcourse...we were just behind the DC cheerleaders :D ....

And finally It was KKR's batting.we never thought we would be entertained by KKR..but thanks to Dada..it was an awesome experience to see dada hitting his famous trade mark sixes...it was much better feeling in the stadium with all the Bengali fans...we also cheered along with them....but next it was DC's batting...we 25 people were surrounded by thousands of Dada fans...we kept cheering for every boundary hit by DC and perhaps we were the only people in Eden gardens to do so....and it was not a good experience for sure...everyone around us had probably made a plan to have their hands on us after the match..one hefty guy even took off to have a go..but luckily the police saw that soon and stopped him .... then DC started to wear off and we were saved, as we were forced to change our support to KKR.... Finally, it was good on SRK's part to take a victory lap and thanking the crowd....An awesome match..will never forget dada hitting those sixes.....

Then, it was all about finding where our vehicles were...Laziness all around....the taxi drivers, friends and the police ....it took an hour to finally start off to KGP. Every one was hungry as hell, nobody ate anything after 12 in the noon ... and finally after 13 hours of all the drama and excitement ...we stopped at Sher-e-Punjab.....The awesome-est restaurant ....and the awesome food..we had to wait fon an hour again ....increasing the hunger..but in the end the food was awesome... the best North Indian food you could ever probably get....It was a fitting end to the eventful day.... Everytime we go to Kolkata there would be something to write about..either in disgust or in Awe. It would always be a mixed feeling and it would be there everytime... and for everyone....but it would not last long as i had started to count the number of days left for me to finally leave this place......I can only go to a new place and see if I miss KGP and Kolkata....

Time: 2.30AM

Date: 23 Jan, 2009

Place:C-306, RK Hall, IIT Kharagpur

Ha! One more sleepless night for me. I am trying to get some sleep and simply not able to do so. Today I listened to absolutely slow songs, played games on i touch, played cricket 2009 on desktop, face-booking, orkut-ing, DC++, Formula one videos etc etc etc. None of them worked.

There may be various reasons for a sleepless night. Your body is begging you to give it some rest, but your mind wishes otherwise. I wonder how some people just fall asleep in just 5 min. Unless I am absolutely tired or have a heavy dinner do I fall into that category. There are various reasons for my sleepless night today (or tonight, Its 2AM damn it !). There was this disastrous show by Khailash Kher in the Spring Fest of IIT KGP. Everyone tried to dance to keep up the tempo of Mr. Kher. He tried his best, but the songs were full of punjabi rap, and the not so famous songs(never even heard them before). He too delayed his famous "Alla be Bande" song so as to keep people waiting for it. OMG i could not stand it, and this is so far the worst performance. I don't know how the "JAL" band will perform. This could as well be the worst SF, with, not many people from outside colleges, and a ridiculous "arena".

And then this little fun that we are going to have today in kolkata, is another reason. The plan is to go to aquatica and go to city centre, pizzahut, apple store to buy accessories for my i-touch etc etc. I dont know why I am excited, but the feeling that there are the last few months of college and fun with the friends, with whom you have spent your college life . Anyway, I am really deprived of sleep. I don't know how active I will be tomorrow. The last time I went to kolkata, it was a near disaster. Well, the people who went along with me for "(F)art of Living" know it better. Thanks to Arun for his wonderful treat, whom I met him quite unexpectedly.

It reminds me of only two previous occasions when I was craving for sleep. One was before JEE exam and the other before the release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". That time those were the only reasons. Off late it has never been the case. May be its not just the aquatica thing today. Many things going around in my mind. Can't say everything. But God! it hurts. It hurts badly when your mind does a "Google Search" for all the things that happened and are going to happen. Who ever reads this post is sure to fall asleep, but the one who is writing is sleepless. Well thats it on a sleepless night. Still 4 Hrs for our scheduled departure and its time to go to....

Wankhade Stadium, Mumbai

India vs Pakistan T20 Cricket match

Place: Cricket 2009, My computer

I guess everyone in Andhra Pradesh (dunno for how many days the name exists) and telugu speaking people all over the world, have tuned their TVs to news channels. Two different groups are expressing their own grievances in their own way.

India has been divided into different states based on the language they speak mostly. Now certain people, don't know for what reasons, wanted a carve out a new state in Andhra Pradesh, stating the lack of progress in Telangana. But is Telangana the only backward region in Andhra or in fact are all the regions in Telangana really under developed? What about Hyderabad? It has IIT, IIIT, Osmania Univ and other world class universities. It is also the software hub and a place for many other things. Its true that there are problems that are neglected. But aren't there problems in any other part of Andhra Pradesh? Take the case of Anantapur (my own home town). Once it was the 2nd driest place in India. Even today farmers suffer a lot due to lack of rainfall. So there are problems every where in AP, infact everywhere in India.

India's strength lies in "Unity in Diversity". But what if the telugu speaking people fight internally themselves. There are already conflicts with karnataka and tamilnadu over water. Now there will be internal conflict, if Telangana is created as a separate state. Is creation of a separate state the only solution? Definitely NO.

Why don't people do satyagrahas and the so called deekshas to solve the problems they face instead of creating a new state? Certainly, all these seem to benefit certain people to gain power and money. The students are being used for their personal needs. If students and people of telangana want their jobs in their places, then everyone has to work in their home town. The Maharashtra for Maharashtrians also fall under this category. The People, including those who are working towards creating a new state, see this as ridiculous. Why don't they see it in their own state. As long as India is divided based on caste, religion, language etc., its hard for India to progress, with so many internal conflicts. It is the time for all the politicians to put aside the differences, unite and work towards a solution. In such a situation, the only sensible person seemed to be Jayaprakash Narayanan, who met the Prime Minister immediately and explained the situation. It is because he is an educated man. This situation once again highlights the need for educated and true "for the people" leaders.

It is really funny how the people (if they are supporting telangana) in Telangana listen to their crappy leaders. When there are plenty of railway stations already available and are being modernized, and new world class airport being built instead of two old ones, their leaders complain of no new stations being built. Probably, every house in Telangana should have a railway stoppage and in every town, an airport has to be built. The people are just being used and their minds have been spoiled by certain selfish leaders. Its time people realize what is right and what is needed.

Hashim Amla:
"Nothing bad can happen to us if we're on a plane in India with Sachin
Tendulkar on it."
Hashim Amla, the South African batsman, reassures himself as he boards a
flight

Yaseer Hameed:
"Sometimes you get so engrossed in watching batsmen like Rahul Dravid and
Sachin Tendulkar that you lose focus on your job."

"To Sachin, the man we all want to be"
- What Andrew Symonds wrote on an aussie t-shirt he autographed specially
for Sachin

BBC on Sachin:
Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there
is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something
that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even
those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When
he goes out to bat, people switch on their TV sets and switch off their
lives "

"But the finest compliment must be that bookmakers would not fix the odds -
or a game - until Tendulkar was out."

"Tuzhe pata hai tune kiska catch chhoda hai?" Wasim Akram to Abdul Razzaq
when the latter dropped Sachin's catch.

Brian Charles Lara:
"Sachin is a genius. I'm a mere mortal."

Mark Taylor:
"We did not lose to a team called India...we lost to a man called Sachin" -
Mark Taylor, during the test match in Chennai (1997)

M. L. Jaisimha:
"The more I see of him the more confused I'm getting to which is his best
knock."

Glenn McGrath:
"The joy he brings to the millions of his countrymen, the grace with which
he handles all the adulation and the expectations and his innate humility -
all make for a one-in-a-billion individual,"

Anjali
"I can be hundred per cent sure that Sachin will not play for a minute
longer when he is not enjoying himself. He is still so eager to go out
there and play. He will play as long as he feels he can play,"

Matt HAYDEN:
"I HAVE SEEN GOD, HE BATS AT NO.4 FOR INDIA"

"Even my father's name is Sachin Tendulkar."
-- Tendulkar's daughter, Sara, tells her class her father's name after the
teacher informs them of a restaurant of the same name in Mumbai

KUMBLE:
"I am fortunate that I've to bowl at him only in the nets!"

Shahrukh (quoting Shahrukh from an interview)
"Que: Who do you think as most important celebrity ?
Shahrukh: There was a big party where stars from bollywood and cricket were
invited. Suddenly, there was a big noise, all wanted to see approaching Amitabh Bachhan.
Then Sachin entered the hall and Amitabh was leading the queue to get a grab of the GENIUS!!"

Navjot Singh Sidhu:
"India me aap PrimeMinister ko ek Baar Katghare me khada kar sakte hain..Par
Sachin Tendulkar par Ungli nahi utha Sakte.."

Waqar Younis
"He can play that leg glance with a walking stick also."

A banner once said-' I WILL SEE GOD WHEN I DIE BUT TILL THEN I WILL SEE
SACHIN ' that quiet defines Sachin-The greatest.

Allan Donald:
"Sachin Tendulkar has often reminded me of a veteran army colonel who has
many medals on his chest to show how he has conquered bowlers all over the
world"

And i remember reading in one of Allan Donald's interview.
This interview was in Cricket Talk 7-8 yrs ago.

"I was bowling to Sachin and he hit me for two fours in a row. One from
point and the other in between point and gully. That was the last two balls of the over and the
over after that we (SA) took a wicket and during the group meeting i told Jonty (Rhodes) to
be alert and i know a way to pin Sachin. And i delivered the first ball of my next over
and it was a fuller length delevery outside offstump. And i shouted catch. To my
astonishment the ball was hit to the cover boundary. Such was the brilliance of Sachin.
His reflex time is the best I have ever seen. Its like 1/20th of a sec.
To get his wicket better not prepare. Atleast u wont regret if he hits you for boundaries."

Peter Rebouck, Aussie journalist
"On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations.
The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing century, batting on 98. The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century.
This Genius can stop time in India!!"

NKP Salve, former Union Minister (This was when he was accused of ball tempering)
"Sachin cannot cheat. He is to cricket what (Mahatma) Gandhiji was to
politics. It's clear discrimination. "

Andy Flower:
"There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the
others."

source: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=165586495879&ref=nf

I feel rather annoyed when someone comes to me and says..dude Sachin screwed up again, Sachin played for his century, he is too old to play cricket,etc etc...People want only Sachin smashing others as if there are not enough people in the team for that...yesterday was a quite clearer picture of that, when Dhoni,Gambhi,Yuvi all started to hit and no one supports the other one.Sachin had the burden of indian fans till the 2000s..then it was saurav and he simply supported him and people even say Saurav surpassed Sachin..but it is the other way around...the same is the case now with Sehwag.....If everyone starts smashing the ball, outcomes like yesterday's match are numerous...

What people dont realize is that Sachin is mortal and he cant do wonders on all days....Only when people stop expecting a century everyday and six every ball, does this debate come to an end. very true that Sachin might have taken a few balls for the century...after all he is a human being..and doesnt he deserve a Century...three 99s in 2008 and all the people wanted him to make a century...20 years he held peoples' burden...can he not take a few balls for his hundred..today people say that ohh "Its the Indian player that has the most number of runs and hundreds"....

I know what joy brings to all the Indian Cricket lovers' whenever he scores a hundred...people cry if he fails ....people will stop watching the match if he gets out...such is the aura he has created among all the Indians....

Finally if somebody makes the same statement again, one can only say that he doesn't know the game at all....if he still doesn't get what i am talking about..better don't call yourself a cricket lover and you don't have a right to talk about it...