Six terms down, 2 more to go

ISB - A new place, a new world. 421 strangers, 356 days. This place would change my life, they had told me. And how I didn’t know then. I first drove into this campus on 13th April 2007. Didn’t know a soul. Was never a part of any Mumbai pre-ISB meets, so didn’t know my then to-be batch mates. Wasn’t fortunate enough to have anybody from my undergrad college joining me here.

One year is too short to transform someone, I thought. 8 months down and I can say I’ve been proved wrong.
What is a B-school without seniors on campus, I wondered. Now I know how this place doesn’t necessarily need that; with the alums pitching in every time you need em.
In more than 1 ways this campus has managed to challenge, if not change many of my perceptions. So while I look back now, I think about those numerous moments from the past 8 months, that have been etched clearly in my mind, those memories that I will cherish forever. The friends that I have made, the friends that I couldn’t make, the Profs that I salute to, the classes I would rather miss ;) the sleepless nights, the morning 8 am submissions, sleeping after breakfast, waking up to have dinner, the midnight snacks, the all exclusive booze parties, the poolside maggi, the spicy gossip sessions, the irony of being tagged as a Delhi-ite by Mumbai people and a Mumbai-ite by the Dilliwallas :-)

If I were to put my experience in one word, I would say constantly ‘Exploring’; it’s about exploring yourself, stretching yourself, knowing your strengths, your limitations, being able to take in stride things you never thought you could do and truly going beyond what you though (not so) do-able.
It’s been a party all the way for some, an ordeal for others, brought vacation for few, and ‘losin-it-all’ for others; But surely a challenge for all of us, that has given us the strength and confidence of being able to handle all that comes our way; And probably that’s been the most important thing. Now there is no such thing as ‘fatigue’, and no such thing as ‘being limited by time’ and when that happens, there is no looking back :-)

So Cheers! Let the party continue …

The Forthcoming

Unlocking the doors of future
He tells you what to tune
Only to sit back and wonder
‘What’s my fortune?’

Baby Tax to curb Global Warming – GSBC Revisited

And we thought we learn from our mistakes!
Or did we say history repeats itself?

Whichever way it is, while we could juggle our way in this play of words, I still find it hard to comprehend how one can slash upon a Baby Tax.
This bizarre stunt, which was earlier tried by the Chinese Government (to address different issues and via varied means), is now being contemplated by the doctors in Australia.

Writing in the Medical Journal of Australia, Associate Professor Barry Walters stated that every couple with more than 2 children should be taxed to pay for enough trees to offset the carbon emissions generated over each child's lifetime. And he believes that families should pay a $5000-plus “baby levy” at birth and an annual carbon tax of up to $800 per child.
Excuse Me!

While I am sure this is just the beginning of a debate (and I will keep away from the ethical issues here), this story in a way completed the circle by linking baby tax to carbon emissions and global warming, especially when this news was published alongside the reports of announcements of Nobel Peace Prize - Where Al Gore and Pachauri shared the honor for warning the world against the severe consequences of global warming!!

The focus of discussion in Oslo was clearly that technological progresses alone cannot stop global warming, and instead we also need to adjust our lifestyles. However seems like this suggestion was taken way too literally and way too far. While I am not sure if I would have really bothered about the Australian scientists silly propositions, I could not ignore it any more given what happened in China. Thanks to our core terms @ ISB and some shocking videos courtesy youtube, this seemingly stupid suggestion did a flashback for me – Term 4 Gov, Society & Biz Class

Coming back to current events, the Nobel Peace prize ceremony, as anticipated, did underscore the work being done on hammering out a post-Kyoto Protocol framework to address global warming. And that makes me wonder again – How fair is it to set national targets and set up an emission trading system? What’s the logical basis for deciding emission quotas? And what are the implications of such legislation measures?

Some relevant links:
News Australia
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22896334-2,00.html
Shocking China Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0u7_afmT-8&feature=related
Innovative Suggestions
http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html

Value proposition - Enhancing viewer experience to maximize clicks? Does it work for my blog?

If you just went @**# on reading the subject line J Welcome to our world of jargon mania. 5 terms down the MBA-PGP@ISB, the language is sure rubbing on to all of us. Here are some of my encounters with the jargon laden conversational tit bits:

First one in Strategic IT lecture, when my cell went beep beep:
“Do you think that the ROI on predictive s/w for enhancing customer retention and provide analytical capabilities is justified?!!!”

When R managed to reply in a jargon heavy CP:
“That’s very good R, now tell us what it means”

S’s CP of the term, in a data mining lecture:
“ .. So Prof you mean, we need to massage and slice the data before ….”
Prof: “ :-D Yeah S, may be you need to visit a ayurvedic therapy parlor”

When A’s gf was visiting him on campus:
“My wify is coming this term break”
“Dude, she isn’t your wify yet”
“Yaar, it’s the Present value of future inflows”
M, who overheard the conversation almost fell off his chair!

Forever Parents

Last week I came to know, one of my friends has adopted a baby girl and I must say I am damn proud of the couple. In India its still not one of the 'in' things people would do, but I think it’s a very noble gesture.

While such acts are still limited to celebrities and media gaze and attention,
It takes quite a lot of familial and social convincing for a common man to do it. I am sure my friend was both lucky and brave to be able to proceed with the resolution.

Hats off to you my brave couple!

Shimmer, Magic, Delight ...

It’s that time again. Festivities all around. Light, Magic, Madness. I’ve loved the Diwali season since the time I remember and I still do. The cold winter setting, the celebration time, the radiance and the shine, it is just so rejuvenating.
After a sleepless week of surviving on barely 3 hours average sleep, I just indulged and pampered myself yesterday. A lazy afternoon, a cuppa chai, a Hillary Duff starrer ‘Perfect man’ (at least on screen) on HBO and my laptop – what else does one need!
For now, the movie name itself seems like such a hypothetical concept. But what the hell!
A cute movie, very girlie, and I think the inspiration behind Desi flick Mitr - my friend, in some ways. While the movie progressed and Holly became desperate to protect her mom's newfound happiness, my quadmates became more determined and pledged yet again, to get me drunk one day. Very clichéd ‘happily ever after’ end of the movie, but for the sparkling illusionary charming mood all around, I let it pass. Freezed another movie plan for Diwali night, this seems so unimaginable at ISB, indulging in movies back to back.

Looking back at Diwali celebrations that I’ve had in my life, from anar and lavangis to more progressed lakshmi bombs and rockets, from my camaraderie with anushakti friends to new found friends in Dallas, from mafco meetings to teen patti teams at ISB fiesta …
It’s brought me many new friends, loads of happiness and a sea of good memories that fetches a smile to my face. May this mood never end …
Happy Diwali people !! :-)

Show Me The Way

I pray…

for courage, for serenity,

for wisdom, for equanimity

I pray…

To acknowledge the supreme power,

To acknowledge the vagrant poor

I pray …

To feel the guiding strength of my father,

To remember the lessons of goodness taught to me by my mother

I pray…

To stir my inert soul,

To mellow my frenetic core

I pray…

I pray n I pray everyday…

different reasons, different modes,
from childhood, to worldliness, to journey abode.

Pace ISB

To All my Non-ISB friends complaining about my absence in the blog world,

Firstly sorry for the disappearing act for the whole of last month. There are simply too many things happening around. At ISB, the pace of activities never ceases disappoints you. So while the usual assignments, quizzes and exams are on (Oh! Do they even count on the schedule now ?!) we’ve had some very notable sessions. In a span of ten days we have had Air Deccan’s Captain Gopinath and Ex-Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu coming down to campus and address the students. On the other hand we had some very impressive presentations by recruit biggies like Mckinsey, Google and Microsoft. While Mck has been coming to campus quite frequently to interact with the batch, MS – marketing division came down to talk about roles in online sales and marketing and some amazing presentation on the launch of X-box.

Looking forward to some cool sessions lined up including a talk by filmmaker Kalpana Lazmi organized by the Arts and Creativity Club and Convergence organized by CITNE.
CITNE is the Centre of IT and Networked Economy at ISB. This year’s theme for panel discussion is Convergence of ICT industries. Very enthusiastic about the event since it will have some big players from the Telecom field including Qualcomm and TRAI.

And so while we celebrated the termination of the term three torture, we realized that we’ve been bombarded with a whole set of activities to keep us on our feet all the time. – Paev project which is a B-plan execution, short assignment working with an NGO, inter - section cricket matches, rangoli contest, paper writing contest at IIMB – well half the campus was busy with this one believe me : ) and yes the trauma of going through Term 3 grades!

By the time we get ourselves together amidst the plethora of activities, we realize that it’s already midterm - Term 4, yup I have an exam tomorrow!! Have to also complete my bidding for electives for term 5. Term 5 is when the elective courses begin, so you take your pick and bid. More on all the happenings soon, for now I think I should catch some sleep.

Just got a mail from ASA – Term 4 Midterm Exam seating arrangement posted on intranet : ( - Sleeping plan cancelled.

Uncool

Things I find uncool in a speaker sessions:-

Walking out halfway during the session& that too in groups or in a file one behind the other. Gets very insulting for the speaker.

Even worse, sitting back uninterested and continously whispering and talking.

Ad naeseum Q n A way beyond the allocated session time; that forces many to actually walk out :)

The Lost Mile

The lost mile

You came back today, my friend,
And my thoughts drifted for a while,
Bringing back the memories
Of the lost mile

A distance that can never be covered
A time that we can’t make up
Been ages since we even spoke
The sadness, the grief makes me choke

The times when we were together
And shared our delights and glee
Not knowing what’s in store for us
But knowing just to be

We are now treading different paths
The mile has only got longer
What happened, I do not know
Is the bond any stronger?

May be I know the answer
And perhaps I do realize
That its time to say goodbye
But can you even hear me sigh?

Murky Me

Thats what a part of my schedule for the next 25 days looks like.
Yeah Just filled in all the assignment due dates on my planner, mind you have just accounted for 3 subjects out of 4. On top of this is gonna be, accelerated club meets, PAEV, B school competitions, speaker sessions etc etc etc.

Cant afford to fall ill @ this hour. But my Doc DJ strictly advised me to take good rest. Says it's viral, 3- 10 dayzzzz.

It's raining outside and everything seems gloomy. Seen enough politics that I can take for this term. Everyone is under pressure ... ELP teams, Paev, Club activities... the list is endless.

For some breather for myself, I have managed to capture some really cool pics......ah ! there is so much more to life !!
BTW read an interesting quote : Weather forecast for tonight: Dark”

I can be so Dogmatic at times …

It’s that time of the term again.
First week T3, action replay of first week of T1 classes.
Donno where do people get the confidence to go on ad nauseam in the classes which have a high percentage for CP. And when I say confidence I mean the conviction to go on talking without adding any value to the class.

I agree that a lot depends on the professor facilitating class participation. This is clearly instantiated by the fact that T2 had good CP happening owing to some amazing professors. These Profs precisely knew
When to throw open questions to the class?
How to contain responses which called for high air time
How to cross question to limit arbit CP and also to facilitate more thinking on students’ part
And more importantly, they had the control and gave direction to the discussions happening in the class.

But not all Profs are able to do it as efficiently. Does it not then fall upon the students to ensure that the class discussion is fruitful? Or do we start behaving like school going kids and succumb to pressures of “The CP”.
The CP, which counts for 5-20 % of different courses, The CP, which brings out how different people behave, The CP, which shows what soft skills you carry, The CP which shows how you pick up signals the world around you is giving you, The CP, which shows you different sides of your own friends which you might not see otherwise J
I understand that the pressure to perform is very high, and I also realize that
If it’s not you then someone else will capitalize on The CP opportunity. But in this race why do we forget that by throwing random points in the class no one is actually being benefited. Why do we have difficulty following the Profs instructions and basic discipline of a class?

I know that it’s just the beginning of the term and after the 4 day vacation people are rejuvenated and high on energy. Truly hope that this CP mania cools down soon.
Don’t want to end up being more and more cynical about the whole thing or rather succumb to the same after seeing my own T2 CP score: P
Whichever way it is, I honestly do not want to vent out my frustration against such paltry matters in any further posts …

However I also strongly advocate that CP MUST be a part of grading. Besides the fact that students sometimes do have excellent ideas/experiences/information to be shared,
I believe The CP also makes up for the absence of any psychology/ human behavior class in the MBA course.
After all how else would you practically get to study human responses and behavior in a classroom environment!!

Socha Na Tha ...

What a week it has been !!

Flew to Bombay twice in 4 days

Wrote 4 exams between the 2 flying visits

Participated in B school case competition @ SPJain – lost in the finals L

Met one of my darling pals :D from engineering college, currently @ SP

Pleasantly bumped into couple of colleagues from TCS Nortel – again @ SP

Encountered compounded levels of shocks to see the differences in SP and ISB

Worked on 2 major assignments

Ate, Slept, Ate, Slept, Slept, Slept, Ate, Slept ….after the exams

Shopped all day and hardly bought anything for myself !!!!!!!!!! ( yeah even I am surprised)

Will be meeting my best friend from college tomorrow J

Now just need a good book and a masala entertainer to call it a week.

P.S – Socha na tha is just the song playing in the background ;)

Statistics Of Life !!

You never know when and where you will life teach you the its lessons in the most subtle ways. One of the lessons I learnt in the initial days was in basic Stats class @ ISB was - Consistency is not Always a virtue !! How true. Though weve been trained to be consistent and always strive for the best it might not be required all the time and more importantly not possible all the time. Though the stats lesson talked about variance and deviation, it has had implications in the way I see things in life. And so the basics dawned on me again ....Relax when you can and stretch when required. Common sense isnt it ?



Term 1 and came Watermans classes..... one of the best profs. SO while he was teaching multiple regression which I think cudnt have been taught any better, he said .... Never ignore an outlier, otherwise you will never learn beyond what you already know. Such a powerful statement.
To learn new things in life we have to be able to look beyond what seems acceptable.
But do we do that?? Most of the time we excuse ourselves by saying "there are always a few exceptions" The actual wisdom though, lies not in ignoring or accounting for an exception all the time, but indeed in being able to rationalize whether the exception needs our attention or not.



Another one on the same lines... Courtesy Prof Ziv Katalan. ..Class 1 Decision Models and Optimization, Monte Carlo Simulation.
He says -
We know that we dont know, but we ignore the ignorance !!!!
Can it get better than this :)
And we learn to Acknowledge Uncertainity :)

Untitled

Why do you miss people... when do you miss them ... do you cherish them more than those whom you dont miss....Or do you just miss them cause they are not there with you.
Why is it that you dont value what you have?
Why do you want to have what you cannot?
Why do you miss them even when they are consciously not there with you ... when you know they dont want to be or when you know they cant be.

Why does one glance remind you of someone? a song, a movie, a patented dialogue, a smile, a wink, a laugh or even a gesture. How badly can you miss someone... And what do you do when you miss someone...

All the highs and lows that you went through together, all the obstacles that you crossed together, standing by each other in difficult times, reaching out with a helping hand ....
And then you take them for granted...expectations creep in and u get busy ...Busy , busy ...busy gauging how well they meet your expectations. You lay down rules, what you want to do ,,, what you dont want, what the other one should do ...what they shouldnt ...ignoring what they actually are doing for you.
And finally when you clear your mind of all these calculations, rating, gauging, questioning, the goods and the bads ... and you turn around..
they are no more there with you ... And they never come back .....
Void ...
M I talking about my breakup here ....Hell ..No !

Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness, has never danced in rain

I loved the rain as a child. I loved the sound that went pitter patter . My earliest memories of rainy season are of when I was about 4 and used to rhyme ..."Rain rain Go away " . Wonder if I then knew what I was reciting.

Imagine the feeling of going to school on a rainy day only to realise that its been declared holiday.Its almost like waking up early and realizing that you have so much more time to sleep.

I vividly remember my first gardening lessons... trying to plant a mango tree, digging the soil, and planting the seed. But I clearly remember the rains that were pouring then. Yes ! the hope that the rains would magically transform the mango seed into a big blooming tree.

Getting drenched in the rain, feeling the rain on the face ..... the rejuvinating aroma of the wet earth, the hiss of the air and the deapth of the dark skies....the genesis of new life, purging away the worries...Giving way to a new world - Pure, sharp, sparkling and ebulliant.
And so when it rained the day I landed in Hyderabad...it was such a treat. Another celebration happened after the midterms...it poured and it poured like crazy...ISB campus was transformed into a resort....
Missing Anushakti days,the campus,the rainy seaon, the long walk with friends, getting each other drenched, the BARC project, the serenity of the hillside, the stormy sea, the mighty winds, the Bombay monsoon, the Marine drive, the bhutta-wala, the cutting chai....
Needless to say ...the song playin right now ... Sawan barse tarse dil .....

2 Week Snapshot

Its been 2.5 weeks since out core term began..... has been a fun ride so far. If I were to jot down the highlights of the core terms....

( Oh ! BTW .... we started ISB with 1 week of Preterms which are optional courses ...u take those if u feel the need ...Now we are into core terms which are the common subjects for everybody ....and eventually we will branch out with our electives)

Ya so here it is :-

Discovery of Pre reads - Even before we had our first class.... we had stuff to read :( Yeah ..... about 100 pages per subject... I mean I have never got myself to read a 100 pages after a class and here we r to do that before!! .....talk of 1 yr MBA ... or err number crunching ;)

Day 1 session 1; Monday Marketing, mundane CP - Practically saw what arbit CP is :D ...CP is class participation and we have 20% grade coming from our CP ... so ppl go crazy ... I mean I had no clue what junta could come up with ...to sore scores in CP. And so arbit CP is when people just start talking things for the airtime of it ...with no content .... (20% is no less an incentive). SO while the class was busy defining market-'ting' or consumer needs/wants and demands ( cold drink, pepsi/coke, diet pepsi ...... Huh ! wasnt thath wat someone said !! Whatever !!)...we actually had a TA grading the class on their CP or the arbitness of it ...and me ...well I had a great time just observing people ...
Twas so interesting !! u actually had 3 categories of people ...one who had actually done their prereads - Kotler ( read marketing Bible) and were vomitting the whole thing out, the other who had no clue what was supposed to be covered in the pre- reads and were already asking doubts about how marketing is defined !! ( well ya :D) and then a 3rd category ....who just sat there ...like me .. the 'watever category'.
And no prizes for guessing ...the watever category had mainly Engineers and CAs ..... yeah !!!! for once Engineers and CA ... enjoy the mutual empathy.
BTW second marketing class I realized that I had to open my mouth.... but I swore on no arbit CP ( DO u actually believe me !!?? ) Week 1: CP Score 5 (above average …not bad)

Perfect Profs ( err …cudnt find a better adjective with P …but u hafta believe …the most AMAzing profs they are ) – Now we know why ISB is ISB …one reason …simply splendid professors ! Its an absolute privilege to attend their lectures. Particularly liked Stats class by Bob Stine …He is so witty … u cannot afford to miss a word of what he says …One of the most articulate profs Ive ever seen…and speaks with utmost clarity. Eco and Fin have been great too. M sure I can dedicate individual posts to each one of them.

Magic Mantra ; MR = MC
My tryst with Eco…. The magic mantra that everyone on campus has been chanting! (Cant possibly do justice to this in one post)

Poolside Parties – 2 weeks into the term and the party impetus did not slow down …parties without fail…Tango –Thursday’s…Oh ya didn’t mention …we have 4 day class week..so the party begins on Thursday night itself. Interestingly the weekend is otherwise spent with all the quizzes/assignments – individual/group…and yeah not to mention the pre reads ( for those who are still keeping up the pace)

Dunking Doses – 70 people in a section ….. But somehow Sec B doesn’t seam to be a good sample of the population …cause Section B isn’t really matching 1 bday every 5 days (for 70 ppl) ……. We’ve been Dunking much more often than that…. With 3 bdays in a week …and 2 back to back (that’s like a very bad sample) ( OK don beat me up now.. …hav been tryin to catch up some stats for Mid terms ;) )
2 things about Sec B dunking – More than half of the class is dunked no matter whose bday it is (people actually voluntarily jump into the pool)
- Amit gets dunked ….which Amit …well lets leave that for later …( we have 3 in our class)

Mid term mania - LRC rocks !! ( Library, well it does rock for most people here). 2 days to go before the mid term exam for Stats and Eco …….. people have been sitting up late in the LRC ( open till 2 am) … and yeah m here posting a blog !! …. First people thought m very studious kinds ,,,, nd within 2 weeks people came up to me and said ‘ wish we could b as chilled out as u about the midterms ‘ !)
Ive never seen how LRC looks post midnight ( but Hey ! u wanna talk about how atrium is :D )
While all those who have had a long day with Stats and Eco …. Herez a link I completely njoyed ( courtesy Nishti – my sweet old friend)
http://makkadman.com/

Njoiiiiiiiii

Of parties and more parties !! : -)

Its day 2 and we’ve had 2 parties already
After the time consuming registrations, queing up at various counters, approval of loans, verification of certies, formatting the laptop, submission of forms, opening bank account …a long day finally came to an end….nd yes it was time to party !!

Even before a welcome party was organized by the alums, our sooooooooooper enthu batch decided to get together at an SV…nd thus began the party saga for ISB CO2008

What followed the next day was an even bigger and better party thrown by the alums.
The party was arranged at the step garden at SV1 …gud music and drinks kept the crowd upbeat and the climate jst cud not get better with the thundering, lightening and slight drizzle ….the party continued till wee hours of morning….

With this we learnt our lesson 1 : This campus doesn’t sleep …. nd so wouldn’t we for the next one year :)

P.S: The 2 posts were scribbled in the first days of ISB when I did not have net access ..

First Impressions

I was asked of my First impressions of the place …nd I didn’t know where to start
I was absolutely delighted when I first visited the campus….lush green in the piercing heat of the Hyderabad summer
The place looked quite Pseud….the amazing campus, the student villages, Recreation centre, exec housing, the awesome and oh so inviting atrium (Tats a huge courtyard …bigger than what u can imagine !!! ) with the cool breeze blowing…the campus simply won me over beyond what I had heard/read about the place.


Looking forward to a new experience ……

Proprietary post ....

Tomorrow is my last day at work and boy I am still submitting code, running checklist and debugging problems. Seeing all this, my cube mate Niti reveals her sheer surprise at this...saying 'Why am I doing all this in my last week? I shud be relaxing and enjoying ..'
Relaxed I am ...very much ...but sum how I dunno from where hav i got this sudden urge to get back to work, to check code submissions, to share tips to use tools and debug stuff...Even I am amazed…I wasn’t like this ;) usually at wrk :)

It’s a weird feeling actually…..its like I’ve been studying for the last 2.5 years and now it’s the end of term….and I am vomiting out all that I learnt….cauz after the exam all that I mugged wont be of any use….tats how proprietary stuff is....like the Mumbai University syllabus …. :) ….of no use once one is out of that system…and not commercially viable outside.

Though tats got nuthin to do with me wrkin till the last day…but ya wrkin just makes me feel connected…nywayzzz…so …How am I feeling ….ya well…ummmm ….mab later ……

5 Pointer or 9 ?

Every day when I pass the Gandhinagar to Hiranandani stretch along IIT-B....I curse. I simply curse, the traffic which only seems to increase every day, the authorities for the mismanagement and lack of planning, illegal shops that keep expanding their footprint, the Mood-I crowd that adds to congestion and all the junta who decides to take out their vehicle during peak hours. At times I have taken 40 minutes to cover a stretch that should ordinarily take only 5 minutes.

However today, I decided to go in the afternoon shift. On a warm winter afternoon as I passed that stretch, in the midst of moderate traffic, what caught my attention was the huge IIT campus.
Nestled in the lap of Powai hills and flanked by the scenic lake this campus is the cradle of the Indian brain...a place where the best brains in India are nourished, a campus where even an ordinary looking shabbily dressed guy is a stud in his own ways :)

On this winter afternoon the sun rays were being filtered through the trees, as I looked nonchalantly at the campus..... The sight was usual, pink buildings, the main gate ...the security guards, the SBI branch , and then the breathtaking view of the lake, the strikingly chic looking hostel courtesy Hafeez Contracter and the Renaissance in the back drop

Amidst all this what did strike me was the news that hit headlines last month. Yet again, another IITian ended his life. Reason stated: Stress. Low GPA. Inability to get a campus job.
This aint sumthing new, we have grown up reading such pieces of news. Such incidents happen, hit the headlines and fade away from peoples memory.

What I cannot apprehend is the mindset of such students. What happens? How can they feel so low that they decide to take such drastic steps? What is it that is lacking? Why are such brainy brains unable to rationalize the situation to identify their strengths and see the light at the end of the tunnel however dark things might seem? How do they succumb to pressures such as GPA or job? Are we manufacturing graduates who can analyze Quantum mechanics and its fundas but not the jeene ka funda?
I am sure nobody needs to tell them that even if they are the worst performers on campus, they are still better than the average students outside. If a mediocre guy from an arbit collg can make it big in the world, what stops a JEE stud from giving his best shot and come out strong?? Are the pressures on campus so strong...I fail to understand.

OR is it the other way round??? They know that they r the best...and with the best ...but still they don’t find any motivation to move ahead in life...don’t find any heroes whom they can look up to, don’t know why they are distressed.
And they realize that if this is how the best is then they don’t really want to see anymore? I am not really sure if this is the case....but just a remotely possible explanation that I am trying to use to justify to myself what these guys might be thinking.

Perhaps I don’t have a solid insight into what really happens on campus and mab my friends can help me understand better….Ending this post on an inconclusive note .....

Another RDB

" A MiG-21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force broke up in midair on Thursday near Kurseong in West Bengal's Darjeeling district and the pilot is feared to have been killed. Air Commodore Chandramouli in Bagdogra airbase told PTI on phone that the aircraft took off for a practice flight from the airbase at around 1.00 pm with Squadron Leader S Pandey piloting it. The pilot is feared to have been killed after it broke into pieces inflight between Norbong tea estate and Shibkhola in Kurseong sub-division minutes after the take-off, he said. The aircraft's wreckage was spread over the slopes of hills in the area, he said.

An IAF team has rushed to the spot but was yet to locate the body of Pandey, Chandramouli said.This was the first MiG-21 lost by the IAF in nearly a year.The last accident involving one of the ageing Russian jets had occurred on March 21 last year. "

In this year when the Indian Air force is celebrating its Platinum Jubliee, is another RDB staring us in face? Is this just a spurious incident or a start of something more?
When I read the above news article last week, i thought ...there we go again. However I didnt see any news updates after this. Is the pilot alive? What went wrong? Are we attributing it to human error yet another time? But I found no follow ups. The article just came and went away. And as civilians we never bothered to find out.

Today I decided to dig a lille and I was surprised to find the numerous MiG crashes that made way to headlines in all these years and then just vanished.
In the process I also found out a some not so known facts about MiG. The first Mig used by IAF was way back in 1963. MiGs comprise of about 60% of the IAF fleet and that is also a reason why it contributes to 70% of all crashes. IAF's annual loss due to MiG's has seen a steady decline over the last few decades from 40 to 30 and now down to 20. Fair enough. I also happened to come across an interesting read by Retd Air Cheif Marshall AY Tipnis who in his 'An ode to MiG21' sums up as:

"My parting lines on the demonising of the MiG-21 are thus: Heed not the barbed taunt of "widow-maker" my lovely filly, for you are in fact a man-maker of boys. Were I to go down with you, my soul would have been tortured to have anyone call you my "flying-coffin"; but my soul would have been mercifully becalmed would that our joint epitaph proudly proclaimed: "In life you offered this pilot a seat more coveted than that of a king’s; in death you took an air-warrior to his glorious Valhalla." But I live, so I hope that I am there 10 years from now, along with your many disciples and admirers and our progeny and theirs too, to sing your praises for your half-a-century of relentless, superlative service to the nation and the Indian Air Force. Others may continue to call you vulgar names when there is a choice of prettier ones, as some that I have used, but there be many more, more appropriate, but inadequately so. One day surely you must rest your hard driven limbs, but to each one of us whom you took to your bosom, whether in service or in retirement, you will ever remain "My Fair Lady"! "

Agreed, MiGs have contributed more than they have taken away. But even after being aware of various possible pitfalls with MiGs, errors occur and occur again. Question still remainsCan we afford MiGs at the cost of our pilots?

The platform kid

6:03 pm. Borivalli station. I m waiting for my 6:07 churchgate fast, whiling away time by looking at the ocean of people around me. Peak hour, working day. The adjoining platform is crowded with people waiting for the train to Virar. Every time I am here, I thank my stars that I am traveling against the rush and don’t have to be a part of the madness called Virar fast.

So while I am still waiting for my train .....the loud speaker announces the arrival of the large hearted Virar Giant. I call it the Giant for its energy, aggressiveness and enormity. Though it’s the same train that calmly clambers its way back to Churchgate, it looks boisterous and roaring when heading to Virar. And large hearted because when it arrives it is Oh so crowded! ...with an equally sizable junta waiting to get in....But it takes them in all.

I see a young lady carrying a small baby and a big bag get into the ladies compartment....she can barely manage to stand and is half hanging, a usual sight for Mumbai train travelers. The compartment is so crowded that some girls who had been waiting for the train decided to let go of it....And then a see a small street kid trying to get into that ladies compartment...or here should I be saying platform kid...for it was evident that he was one of those hundreds of underprivileged children who find shelter under the roof of these railway stations and practically grow up here. Nevertheless, he is taking this train to ...God knows where. He caught my attention because he was getting into an already overcrowded ladies compartment ...

But then that’s normal as you do find small kids tagging along all the time....Such kids usually sweep the compartment floor to earn some money, or use their marketing skills to sell safety pins; sing songs that bring us some customized and classified entertainment and earns them some pennies; or sometimes they just wail and cry to earn our sympathy and supplicate.

By then the loudspeaker speaks again, announcing the arrival of Churchgate fast...and I comfortably board the train. However by now there is a lot of chaos on the adjacent platform...the Virar Giant has left but the lady with the baby is standing at the platform, the platform boy is there as well. Apparently the boy has tried to pick pocket the lady’s purse....as alleged by the lady’s husband who was trying to get into the adjacent compartment. The boy has been caught red handed with his loot still intact. He is being beaten and abused. He is pleading not guilty and asking for mercy. "WHy did you open her bag?" is the man’s question. The boy has no answer. He cannot help but cry and plead. They call for the railway police....as my train pulls away from the station.

I wonder about the fate of such children and feel sorry thinking about what would be in store for this boy now....To divert my mind I decide to listen to some music and open my bag in search of my mp3 player. And boy what do I (not) find in there..... My missing wallet.