Cognition...

+21.097 - The second time!

2011-12-20T19:22:00.002+05:30

Well well well... Yes. Once again, I ran! Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2011!! And, it was awesome.

Each marathon makes you wiser. Wiser?? Yes!

Wiser because you while running, all you can do is think. Think about life. I came up with three. Common sense. Nothing out of the world.

Mental strength is far far stronger than physical strength - me finishing a marathon proves it!
There are times when you just can't continue. You have nothing left in you! Those are the times when you have to pick yourself up. And, keep going! Everything is temporary. And out of the pain and hardship - you come out stronger. And better.
Never be afraid of hard things. 'Coz the satisfaction you get after achieving that is immense. And, at that point, nothing else matters. No pain. No tiredness. Nothing!

Some random marathon gyan -

Never use the mobile toilets! You will puke.
Reach early. You then don't have to jump fences to reach starting point!
Control your weight. And train. You'll have a better overall experience.

If you want to check out what happens through those 21kms - check out the post i wrote last year - http://gmopines.blogspot.com/2010/11/just-finished-21.html

2011: Half yearly review - Travel, travel and some more travel

2011-07-21T17:09:00.003+05:30

Jan 1, 2011 - 00:00hrs - Happy new year to me. Happy new year to me!

And through the villages of Uttar Pradesh, crosses my train - chuk chuk, chuk chuk, chuk chuk!!

And, here started my new year, sleeping cozily on the upper birth of Rajdhani express.

2011 has been a wonderful year so far!

Six months. Six destinations. Superb fun!

The Game: Mohali - Yes you guessed it right! THE match - India Pakistan Semis! (My first ever game from the stands!) It was electrifying! (Thanks Ashu for the tickets!! Love ya man!)
Holi: Mathura - Arre! Bhang ka rang jama ho chakachak...
(do I need to say anything else! You want the real thing, come to Mathura!!)
Agra: Wah Taj! The most elegant structure built by man! Speechless!
Enthu: Manali - Hi-flyer paragliding! Skiing!! It was amazing. Once in a lifetime road trip - dhaba, chai, Anvi and Venky pee competition, and Mall affected antakshari.
(And the bull ride, boating and aloo paratha with tons of makkhan in Chandigarh!)
Chill maadi: Lansdowne - The most chilled out trip ever. Army ishtyle!
Soothing: Rishikesh - Mom's food, Ganga bath and oil massage!
(Personal achievement - Swam across the Ganga at Har-ki-Pauri, Haridwar. Though Ganga was not at its peak, it just feels good to say - "I swam across Ganga!"
Fun: Shimla - Training. Trekking. And, embarrassing! (Well, some things are best not discussed in public places!)

A special mention for my Toastmasters gang - 300th meeting, Elevates, Murthal, all-night EC meeting, stand-up comedy shows and shit loads of fun!

And its just 6 months in 2011. There's more to come in the full year review. Wait for the Thai the lands story in the year end review!

Till then, Sayonara!

Just finished 21

2010-11-22T12:10:00.005+05:30

I ran/walked/limped/whatever…, but I touched the finish line of 21.097km at the Airtel Delhi Half-Marathon on 21^st Nov '10.

Here's how it goes:

Day starts: Woke up at 5:30AM and walked to the metro station (2kms) in shorts and sports Tee. It was cold. I literally froze. It was fun.

Huge crowd. Rahul Bose is here, whateveaa! Got to pee. Big queue. There are loos on the way, I hope they aren't as crowded.

7:40AM I manage to reach the start line. First step well taken.

Still warming up stages. Go slow. Save stamina for later half. Anyways, managed to pee. I like the public conveniences that the Delhi govt. has put up at different places, really good. All thanks to CWG.

Warmed up and stretched. Time to jog.

Jogging continues. A couple of hot girls on the way. Battery charged.

In the Sunfeast World 10k Bangalore, I finished 5K mark at 30min. Now I am starting it. Anyways, save stamina is the motto now.

Loud music on iPod, sexy roads and energy drinks. All that you need to run.

Spray pain reliever on the legs. They are red. Forget the pain and run baby run.

Running on Rajpath. Towards Rashtrapati Bhawan. I salute the Indian flag hoisted up there. Run, run for your country. Khalbali on my iPod.

On Janpath. Sexy road.

U turn. Still on Janpath. Sexy road. Again!

On Rajpath again. Running towards India Gate. Wow!

Just realized that pain is just mental. I was so lost in the scenic beauty that I completely forgot the pain. It's all just mental!

But, if pain is mental why am I limping?

Medical stop. Pain reliever spray. Okay I can't bend my knees. Loads of spray. Keep moving is the new motto. Last 1/3^rd part of the race.

After drinking so much water and energy drinks, and pouring so much water on myself, I got to pee again.

Pee station. :-) In that short time while doing it, I realized if I don't move in the next 20 seconds, I won't be able to move again. I pee superfast (groase! I know!!) and get back on the road.

Dammit! Only 17km. Pull yourself up. 2 bottles of water on my head. Keep moving.

Why is the left earphone not working? Water. Shit!

Am I still running? No. Atleast try walking fast. Jog alternately. Only 3 more to go!

10AM already! 30 minutes to cover 3km! That's easy, normally! Today, I got to speed up.

A really fat woman running just ahead of me. If she can do it, so can I! Pull yourself. Last steps. And here comes the full crowd of the Great Delhi Run. I am better than them. I ran 21!!!

Last kilometer. Yes. 10:16 already. Pull up man. This is the shot to glory. Last two bottles of water. One on my head.

Come on, last 500m. , run… run baby run…, put in all that you've got. Run!

Finish line: 21.097 What a feeling. Yes, I did it. I jump and punch the air! Yes!

Post run: Had to literally snatch the finisher's medal. And the energy drink. Ate 4 bananas, 2 apples and one energy bar. And went to the 'Iodex massage camp'. Thank you Iodex! Thank you so much.

Post run euphoria: Still on a high! Yes, I finished Half Marathon. Can you do it, bitch?

The social network, a business perspective

2010-11-13T10:02:00.000+05:30

You turn on your computer. Which is the first website you visit? Yes, it's facebook.com

Yesterday I went for the movie "The Social Network". It a movie based on Mark Zurekberg-- and the story of facebook. Nice movie.

I am not going to review it.

Instead, the movie got me thinking – business. I want to pen down these thoughts in short and crisp points.

For any business to be successful, you need to understand the psyche of the customer. And target specifically that aspect.
Your product must be addictive and really simple to use.
If your product is really sexy, viral marketing would do it. Because all you have to do is to get people use the product for the first time, and your customers become your promoters.
Feedback is really important. And you need to implement it asap.
You need to be up and running all the time. Even if you are out of the market for a minute, your credibility is lost.
And finally, you need to be really passionate about what you do, this sounds clichéd, but is the most essential part.

Two cases, two questions!

2010-10-01T21:00:00.002+05:30

Case Ayodhya:

Long long time ago, a stupid Mughal badshah did a crime. He destroyed one of the most sacred of Hindu temples -- the Ayodhya 'Ram' temple. And built a mosque - Babri Masjid.

Long time ago, some stupid politically motivated idiots went ahead and repeated the crime. They destroyed the Babri masjid and created a wave of disharmony amongst Indians. They did a bigger crime that day -- fueled the fire that the Britishers ignited -- the Hindu-Muslim divide.

A few hours ago, people of the country were all glued to the TV screen to know the verdict. They were scared. Scared that there may be more riots. But, everyone was interested to know about the verdict. A major chunk of the country's population wasn't even born that time. Yet, everyone's interested. Any reasons?

Case Commonwealth Games:

Long Long time ago, we Indians made a great presentation, impressed the Commonwealth committee and won the rights to host the CWG'10. Was that a crime? Certainly not!

Not so long ago, we Indians had no clue whether the Commonwealth preparations even started or not. Was that a crime? Who cares!

Suddenly we realized, damn it! CWG are just 2 years from now. If we don't start today, we would not be able to pull it off. What did we do? We issued tenders. Was that a crime? Partly, because it was so delayed. Again, was that a crime? Yes, of course, are you blind? Can't you see the rampant corruption?

A few days ago, a bridge broke into half. A roof ruptured. A government official says that we Indians are unhygienic. Aren't these crimes? Yes. The most definitely are.

In the near future, with all the copy paste that we have done -- some sexy structures and many cool paper posters, big ones, to hide the mess; I know, we will be able to pull of the CWG in style.

What will we project to the world? We Indians are greatest in the art of Jugaad! Our mantra : All's well that ends well.. or rather apparently ends well!

In both these cases, we did forget some very fundamental issues. I would like to point out two of these.

There are criminals in both the cases? Where is the punishment for them??

Ayodhya case: You can't obviously punish a dead Mughal. But, what about the rioters? Oh! you can't obviously punish them. By the time the 'real' verdict is out, they would be dead.
CWG case: Kalmadi & Co., or actually, Corruption & Co. are a bunch of thieves. They openly stole our hard-earned money. But, our system can't obviously punish them. They made the games happen. Right?

Is anyone interested?

Ayodhya case: Yes, everyone is. It makes such a good cafe-chat.
CWG case: Oh yes, I am interested. Damn it! Its my money. I want it back! And I want those buggers behind bars. I want them chakki peesing and peesing and peesing.

Anyone listening?

The 'Tuesday Haat'!

2010-08-19T12:04:00.002+05:30

I don't know whether you know the concept of 'Tuesday Haat' or not! So, I'll introduce it first.

'Tuesday Haat' is a huge bazaar where many traders, from different trades, come together at one place and sell their products. This enclave is only formed on Tuesday evenings.Traders shout about the discounts, entice customers, and give incentives for promoting their products. And this happens in small villages!

It is well known that the digital divide in India is reducing... and reducing rapidly.

How?

There are more number of mobile users in the rural India. More number of two wheelers being sold. The 'Shopping Mall' concept entering heavily in the Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

This one way of looking into things. Urban effect trickling down to semi-urban and rural places.

There is another, and very interesting and counter-intuitive , direction that things are moving. From rural to urban.

A clear example is : 'Big Bazaar'.

Last Saturday, I had to shop for daily items. As I opened my newspaper, a pamphlet dropped down. Big Bazaar -- Big Discounts. I found my destination.

And you know, what I saw?

There was an army of people... on mission shopping. A huge queue awaited me for the trolley, for picking up items and for paying bills.

There were people shouting all over. 'Buy Tide, Get small Tide free'; 'Ek ke saath 3 Free'; '50% discount on Buckets and Towels'... a typical haat scene.

It was good to see this reverse effect.

It was good to see India becoming One.

It forced me to think of ways of bringing more rural stuff into urban sector and making money out of it.

PS: The experience was suffocating. I have never seen a more crowded place. I got a headache. Trust me, it is better to pay 10-20 bucks more and avoid the pain of shopping in a Big-Bazaar, esp. during the discount season.

PPS: @Readers: Please help me out to figure out other such businesses.

PPPS: @Mr. Kishore Biyani... Awesome job. I have never seen such a rush in any store. I love your company, the business model and would definitely invest in the business model.

License Raj!

2010-08-01T19:06:00.002+05:30

Went for the Learning License test this Friday.

One word experience -- HORRIBLE.

Q: Why?

A: The following reasons:-

You need to get things done through an agent. Yes, you need to!
This also means you have to pay him Three Hundred Bucks just to write your name on the form and paste your photo on it.
Next, you need to get a xerox copy of the traffic signs. Which by the way is in Bengali... the explanations of the symbols and not the symbols of course! And you need to get a translator to get it decoded.
The translator is the agent's assistant... who is to demand a 'baksheesh' at the end of the day!
You are told that you will not have to wait in a queue and that your application will be processed first. Well, that is NOT the case. And you have to be standing in the creepy government office for over an hour.
While you are standing, you have a great view of the 20 feet high spider webbed ceiling, the almost broken wooden dividers between two offices (sadly, that's an office!) and the walls -- which have become red instead of original yellow because of spitting of pan!!

To add to all this misery, I failed the learning license test in the first attempt. Wow! A 'Distinction' holder from BITS Pilani cannot memorize 20 odd symbols to pass the world's most stupidest test. Wow! Shame on me!!

Had to go back again for the test. Passed the next time. Thank God!

The only good thing... I now have a Learning License. So, I can ride a bike in Gurgaon. How about an Apache or a Pulsar? Your suggestions are most welcome.

And to all of you... HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY! :-)

To Kill a Mocking Rat

2010-07-21T00:44:00.010+05:30

Disclaimer: After reading this story, please do not form some 'weird' opinion about me. Thank You for your attention. Have a nice time at 'Cognition…'!

Its morning 4:30AM and I get dressed. The same ones that I was wearing yesterday! And obviously I didn't have a bath. Do you even expect me to???

So, I wear the Black t-shirt… the one which Adobe gave us on campus. It looks good! And a black jeans. And black floaters. Ah, I am a Black-man!!!

At the same time a Black-rat… a very small one… really tiny… was infatuated.

The Black-man has no idea as to how their fates were connected and how this would turn out to be one Black morning.

Coming back to the story… I was all set to go. I brushed my teeth. Yes, I do that everyday! Took some snacks for the train journey. And rushed, because a tram was waiting for me outside my house. It took me half-way to the station. I jumped onto a bus then. Reached Howrah at 5AM. Bought a ticket to Purulia – Rs.87.( I want to use the symbol for Rupee. Microsoft please integrate the symbol in MS-Word.) So, after buying the ticket, I jumped onto the train. Pretty routine stuff. Ain't it?

But, all this time I had a weird feeling in my legs. Something was about to happen. I knew that. I have a pretty good Sixth sense!

Just then, a beautiful girl… in orange salwar suit comes and puts her cute back on the seat right in front of me. (The last sentence indicates that I had already checked her out and something something…. ). I was happy. Again a weird feeling under my pants. I like it.

The more I checked her out, the more of the same weird feeling. Was something good about to happen? Like the girl kneeling down and proposing or 'something' over and something. As I was imagining all sorts of stuff, the train started moving. I fell asleep in some sixty seconds. Basically, there is this problem with me – I can't keep myself awake in all moving vehicle – train, car, bus, plane, etc… Anyways, I prefer dreaming about stuff rather than stupid staring.

I had a wonderful sleep. Loads of imagination and stuff. And, I got up with the same weird feeling. I thought for sometime regarding this. And, I realized that this might be because I am wearing the same jeans for the sixth day in a row. That's the advantage of wearing black jeans. It never gets dirty and you can wear them till you have that weird feeling. Right guys? [All the female readers please don't discard me as prospective. I am just a normal honest guy.]

I bought the πrated 'To Kill a Mocking Bird'. Started reading it. First two pages – weirdness in the pants again. The Phoebe in me said – "Okay you Jeans! Today I will get you swashed. Don't be such a Monica. Mom will as it is scold me. Go to hell now!"

A hot aunty – weird feeling. An ugly looking girl – in green dress – weird feeling again! I have a thing for green dresses… but this girl… shit! This is too bad… even for engineering standards.

I slapped my leg… where the weird feeling was.

Fuck! There is something. Inside me! THERE IS SOMETHING!!!

I holded onto it. Holded – not held – I lost my brains. I freaked out. My face went pale. I girl looked at me as if something happened to me. I held onto the thing. Tightly. Actually squeezed it. Barefoot, I ran to the toilet. Damn! Why is the jeans so tight? Somehow, opened my pants with one hand.

There is a claw. B***c**d! B***c******************d!!!

I threw it out. And there it falls out… IT'S A DEAD RAT! A RAT!!! B***c**d! I KILLED THE RAT!!!

I swear… I never even fantasized about animals. Never! Even in my wildest of dreams.

It was a lizard some one year ago. It's a rat now. Bullshit. I have no clue why animals have such a fantasy for me.

I don't need animals. I prefer women much more. Anyone listening??

Long time... no see!!! Wassup???

2010-05-10T11:28:00.001+05:30

Life has been on a roller coaster ride since I came to Bangalore.

Bangalore is the place to be :-)

See... its a Monday morning... and I am writing this post.

This can mean two things:

a. I am jobless.

b. I was desperate to write something here.

Both of them are kinda true. Though I have lots of work, I am somehow avoiding it. I need to get back to that. But, its been long since I have updated my blog. Though I have been into writing, blogging is something which is close to my heart.

So, for now, let me stick to quick updates only. It's a Monday morning after all... and I have lots of WORK!!!

Updates :

1. Running the Sunfeast world 10k run on 23rd May. No training done. 2 weeks is all I have. And I will make it. People who want to come along please let me know. We can have fun after the run.

2. Joined the BITSAA Communications team. A new feature called "BITSian of the Month" coming up on www.bitsaa.org portal very soon.

The last line is the first teaser preview of the feature. Do check it out. Words of wisdom by ........ (Its just a teaser preview :P )

3. Joined the Toastmasters club. I am getting better in speaking and I can feel the change. In fact, I am going on a fast track mode. Gave 2 speeches. (Second one at two different places.) Speech #3, Master of Ceremonies and Speech #4 lined up this month. Hectic month. Damn! I am loving it!!!

Will update this place with the speeches, videos and evaluations very soon.

4. IIMA dreams got shattered. F U 'psychometric equivalence'... Bitch!

Just had a consolation prize in form of IIMS. Will update this place with interview details soon.

5. Have been travelling a lot. I mean a lot.

Kerala : Munnar, Alleppey, Periyar, Kochi and Tirpur. Pics here.

Waynad and Ooty.

Tirupati.

Apart from travelling there is a program called One-movie-per-week. You can contact me if you wish to join in too. The more the merrier.

6. After IIMs have ditched me, I am on a job-hunt spree. Haven't done anything yet. And now I realize.. shit! I am almost out of time. If I don't get something fast... I am in trouble.

I am looking for (in order of priority) :

a. Startup job. (pref. non-techie and where I have the role of doing anything under the sun)

b. Job or internship at some ministry or some government commission.

c. Something in consulting, analytics or micro-finance sector.

d. Full time volunteer in an NGO... education sector...

e. Satisfying and challenging technical or marketing job.

f. If not any of the above, then anything that will make my pocket hot.

People, if you do have anything in mind, please let me know about it at goonjanmall@gmail.com . Thanks for your help/advice/anything in advance!

Enough for a comeback innings at the blog.

Two things to look out for : new updates here and my progress towards new year resolution. :-)

Cya all. Bye...

PS: Gosh! feels nice to be back to blogging. :-)

Adventure Maadi...

2010-02-08T04:57:00.002+05:30

What is your idea of a brilliant weekend?? Adventure trip!!!

What is your idea of an adventure trip?? Hmm... conquering a cave in the middle of nowhere, with a very difficult terrain like the mountains of Morea, 20people and 2 torch lights, and the road goes on and on and on!!!

This is exactly what we did this past weekend.

We went on a trip to Savandurga... with the Bangalore Mountaineering Club!!!

First a 40ft. hill climb. Then rappling down 20ft. Ok experience.

Next Flying Fox. The one you would see army men doing while training... going from place to other just by a rope. I did that -- twice. It was good.. infact very good!!

Now it was time to build your own raft. Yes. Three tires. Four Bamboos. Some ropes. And some hard work. Yes, your raft is raft is ready. Now it was time to test it. We made it through the lake... i should just made it through the lake... in 8min15 sec (there was some under table planning involved with the time keeper.. but that's a different issue :-) ). Was a brilliant experience. Brilliant.

The time is already 6:30. Sun has already gone down. And we are heading to the caves. Caves in the middle of a forest.

Dark and Rocky. Difficult and Dangerous. And any thing you could feel like. It required tremendous teamwork and superb leadership by Krishna and Nandi.. our adventure guides. It was awesome, in a way that can't be expressed through my lexicon. It was simply superb. Awesome. Amazing. Whatever!!

And we called it a day by singing songs.. all kinds of ranging from Md. Rafi and Kishore da to Shaktiman and Chandrakanta to Vicco Vajradanti and B-Tex!!

An experience to remember.

The pics can be found @ http://picasaweb.google.com/goonjan88/SavanDurga?feat=directlink

Tech Toys!

2010-01-17T21:34:00.004+05:30

Well, this is imagination now. But, within a few years these things will become a reality. Some ideas are:

iHandkerchief -- This special handkerchief will actually be a virtual laptop. Yes! Carry it inside your pocket. Open it, project it on your lap or anywhere and start working.
Additional feature is inherent television. Hang it on your wall. And use hand gestures as remote control.
iPhone – More or less like the present Apple iPhone, but some must haves are:
1. D-SLR type camera, with auto settings using the touch screen.
2. Connectivity with the handkerchief (above).
3. Top it all with molding… roll it to make a ball and play catch-catch, make it like a rod and use for water heating, and so on.
iTravel – A portable car or something like 'Alladin ka Jaadui Qualin' where one can travel to any place with the speed of thought (ok! Speed can be compromised a bit, say around speed of sound).
iRobot – A robot, controlled mentally or orally, which can do all sorts of work. In short, a 24X7 personal secretary that can take minutes of a meeting, schedule work, clean rooms, wash clothes, and even shave!

Aal iss Well!!!

2009-12-29T23:06:00.005+05:30

Dil saala darpok hai… isko bolo "Aal iss well!"

And for the entire time during the movie and after it, and still now, this is what I am saying to myself. College over! 'Real' life starts!

I am still in doubt. Am I ready for this? Am I enough grown up? Do I really want all this responsibility? And when I introspect, introspect deep, all I can come up is – "Dil ko bolo… aal izz well!".

What do I really want? Time! A rewind button to my life. 'Give me some sunshine, give me some rain, give me another chance… I wanna grow up once again'. And in this second chance there are many things, many many things that I want to change.

I know it now; and now as I see it I have always have known – that I am not living my life to the fullest. Not even half. That all my life all that I cared is lazing away—killing time with friends and the idiot box and the not-so-idiot box.

I know it now, and somehow have always known, that time is the most precious thing. That the saying 'time is money' is not right. Because time can-not be equated with money, it's much much more precious.

So with this rewind button, I want paint the empty time frames of my life, with varied colors. Color of sports and outdoor games. Color of creative writing, literature and music. Color of travel and adventure sports. Color of falling for someone and that special teenage-love bond. Color of true hard work – for study and other social affairs. And color of doing something good for the society.

Alas! There is no such rewind button. And is for a reason, to make new plans and make up for the past by doing more, much more in the present.

So, with the end of 2009, advent of 2010, its time to once again make promises – make the New Year resolutions. And like all the other years, I promise myself that I will keep to it. And I hope, unlike all the other years, I keep up to them.

So here it goes…

Run every morning, and self-train myself to run for marathon. (In the next year's resolution the same line will appear with marathon replaced by triathlon, I hope.)
Remove all the flab in my belly, and make it six pack (not eight, see I am setting realistic targets!!)
Being socially active. Join toastmasters (for self growth) and join some NGO (to do something close to my heart, like teach poor kids).
Become a virtuoso in harmonica!
Learn dance; western and/or dirty! Multiple benefits, you know!
Go places. Indulge in adventure sports. Buy a sexy camera. And keep this space regularly updated.

Chuha haat me liye.. Bhid gaye hum bhi Billi se... !!!

2009-12-06T20:29:00.001+05:30

28th Nov. 2009:

Day 1 of CAT'09. And i am all anxious... What am I doing? Refreshing PG every minute, searching twitter #CAT OR #CAT2009, reading blogs, surfing TalkTime, numerous blogs and news websites.

This continued for next day also... with almost same vigour.

Dec. 2009

All this took a back seat... not completely eliminated. The new anxiety became irritating people by asking (ok pestering) people for questions and reactions.

This coupled with frantic mail and chat exchanges with anxious people like me.

Yeah, anxiety level decreased with pattern all freezed. And sectional tests became the need of the hour. And I fulfilled it... although partially.

Gave a chilled out compre in between, was good.. helped in changing my mood... very much essential.

All set:

Got a feel of Delhi jams...an awful experience I must say!

Faridabad as always is very good!

Watched Swades... for the umpteenth time.

The C-experience...one word... awesome!

Why awesome?

1. Test center close to home.

2. A treat to eyes...you know why!

3. No queue for me.

4. A beautiful girl sitting next to me.

5. Oh yes! CAT paper was easy!

So what next?

Well, a couple of things that i have to do.

One is to start writing. So from now on, you will find all kinds of shitty things on my blog. All kinds!!!

Another is to start reading, reading voraciously... not just the basic novel stuff, but bhari bharkam stuff.. like mythology... yaar interview me bolne ko kuch nahi hota apart from chess..ab kuch to karna hi padega!! :D

But now, I am all set to enjoy the last week on campus... all set to give my last compre... all set to say goodbyes...

Exhilaratingly Neuralgic!!!

2009-10-31T03:20:00.001+05:30

I am in pain. My neck is hurting. My ankles have given up. My body is aching. And I am lying like a dead body on my bed(of course my dead body can type on the keyboard)!!!

And, I am absofukinlutely loving it!!

So, why this neuralgia? All because of Gods coming right out from heaven to BITS, Pilani at OASIS FL!PS!DE 2k9.

Jhoom barabar Jhoom was perfect start keeping in mind the physical state of people after a few pegs.

And, thus began the magic of Shankar Ehsan Loy!!!

Being within 10ft. of the God himself, shouting at the top of my voice, and dancing like a drunk mad... I haven't even known this side of me, ever!!

Mitwa and Sinbad the Sailor... made me think... and I was able to see what needs to be done.

And, Breathless... omg! omg! it was awesomest, bestest, and all other 'ests.

@all People who have missed this show, dearo, I have no words!!! And if you were here and you missed it, i could say only one word - Idiot!!

PS:

1. Loy on harmonica was amazing.

2. Shankar Mahadevan's son also has a superb voice, his MJ song rocked the house.

3. Anusha, apart from being super sexy, has an aphoridisical voice!!!

4. I cannot keep my neck straight any longer due to infinite head bangs during Rock On! songs.

5. I am still mesmerized!! And this feeling will last for ever!!! Signing Off...

Journey Khichdi

2009-10-21T13:22:00.004+05:30

Every time you travel, you bring back tonnes of random stuff in your head. Some make sense, some don't. Isn't it??

I know why I am writing this post.

I want to get back to writing.
I don't want to forget the little tit-bits of journey.
Graph of visitors (including me) in Google Analytics is lying flat at zero. At least it should have some activity.
I want to prove to myself that I am not that lazy, after all!!
I want to show this to twitter ... Although you have made all of us lazy, and I agree typing more than 14o characters is pain... It is still fun.
I want to check, after I finish writing this piece, how dis-organised I have become! So, this post won't be restructured. It contains the link of my thought flow process, if someone can figure out the same, please let me help understand myself.

Ok, enough of self trash. Now some journey incidents.

"Aalasya manushya ka sabse bada aur sabse sameepvarta shatru hai... Isse bache!!"--
An old guy, sitting idle on the side berth, suddenly got up. And pasted a sticker on the train wall....
I figure out three things. A. Hindi is still not my friend. B. This message is for me. Thank You old man . And C. I must write a blog after I reach Pilani.
A couple with a cute kid. --Guy takes 3 week leave for his child's mundan and South India trip. He works in a private firm!!His gyan to me:
A. If you join a easy going company, you will be stuck forever. You cannot then handle challenging jobs. And he is a live example.
B.He tells me the right strategy of switching jobs.
C. How to handle interviews --- importance of eye contact, and how interviewers figure out stuff (he being one himself).
G-Show.
Time- 11PM. Venue - S12 seat nos. 17-22.
Act- I am reading '2 states' by Chetan Bhagat.
Enter 3 girls, 20-something. I had a look.. obviously. They didn't interest me. (No points guessing.. they weren't hotties.)
So, I start enjoying again... the novel, ofcourse!
Inside the girls mind --- What is this? He didn't even look at me. Why is he laughing..Is he laughing at me?? Don't I look good? Am I fat... I worked so hard to lose 5kgs.!! This book interests him more than me... How??
Time 11:15. She switches off the light. I give her a dirty look. She ignores me. Her friend, smiles at me. Ok, I get it... attention seeking problem.
I close the book hard. She has a smile on her face... Good night!
PS: I avoid the deadly combination of arrogance and ugliness.
In my mind... "Why i love short vacs?"

a. You are free to do whatever you want. As time passes, your liberties at home start getting curbed.

b. You are out of the daily bakwaas. "Ye kharab hai. Ye kaam baaki hai. Mistri nahi aaya. Saaman le ke aana hai. bla bla bla..."

c. You are out of the family gossip. Iski shadi usse ho rahi hai. Iske ghar me ye ho raha hai. Usne aisa kar diya. Come on... gimme a break. I have hundreds of better things in mind than to know ki mummy ki masi ke bete ki chache ki ladki ki shadi kisse ho rahi hai.

And guess what, my mother says, tum ghar me nahi reh sakta!! I say... absolutely true. What say you thy reader???

d. Chotu is well behaved. Bhaiya sirf 4-5 din ke liye aaya hai. Which means less fights over TV remote!!!

Ok, enough of bakwaas. I guess, I made my point of not being super lazy (sirf lazy.. i agree!). And i hope..Number of visitors will go up. I may receive a few comments. Aur bhai, someone click on Google adsense, I have zero hits till date on any of the ads. (This does not mean that i will reply in kind by clicking on ads on your blog... i hate such things!!)

The two ways..

2009-08-05T00:53:00.004+05:30

The two ways are both based on one theme... Being 'a bit' Different!

And the ways are: A. Brilliant and B. Pathetic.

Why so?

I'll explain by using two examples. Examples I love to use -- movies.

A. For Brilliant, sexy, awesome, ... my example is -- "Love AajKal".

Well, this piece is a normal love story. And with the gorgeous couple - Saif and Deepika you would definitely be expecting fireworks. And you, obviously, get it.

The point I am making, that this is not a so-called "formula based" typical love story.

The movie differentiates itself by presenting Love 'Aaj-Kal ishtyle' on the backdrop of the traditional 'Go-slow-ishtyle'. There are a very few movies that are so well co-ordinated. And, i am sure that most of you will be able to connect yourself to Saif/Deepika charecter at some point of the time in the movie. It won't be entirely wrong to say that the movie is in a league of its own. The engrossing opening, stunning songs, breathtaking Deepika and a simple-and-sexy yet stylistically different plot; the movie has all the ingredients of a brilliant movie. I wish i had a girlfriend now... as this is a must watch for all couples. Dude, its Love AajKal.. for the AajKal Generation!!!

B. On the contrary, to use this 'slightly different' concept to brilliant counter-productive use, watch 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'. Mr. Yates used this trick to near perfection.

What he did is simple! Tamper with the plot. Remove the emotions. Remove the subtleties. And to add cherry on top of a disastrous cake, he tried to add ridiculous love plots in a pathetically dark background (of which i fail to understand the need!).

If i would have been J.K. Rowling, i would have sued the director for making shit out of gold. Lucky chap David Yates!

I wont continue criticizing the movie, just because of the fact that I absolutely love Harry Potter books, and I don't want to refresh my memory with the horrible movie.

So, with the message- That something which can make something superb, can destroy another thing... so be careful!!

I sign off!Unavailable today atleast for girls. Wishing all the brothers and 'their' sisters a very Happy Rakshabandhan.

The 10 best days of my life...

2009-06-21T01:43:00.003+05:30

The ten best days of my life is probably the most unique experience in my life. And hence, the absolute best. Surprisingly, these days were the toughest days and stunningly silent.

So, what did I do in the 10 days?

Well, I tried to tame an animal – wilder than the wildest and stronger than the strongest… yes, you guessed it right – the human mind.

And how exactly I tried this crazy and super difficult thing?

By the meditation technique of Gautam the Buddha – Vipassana.

Before going into the details, let me first tell you that I’ve thought of n number of titles for this post in the last 10-15 days and I have enormous content to share, but I will try to keep the most significant ones here, so that I don’t bore my readers.

Warning: This post may contain many experiences. These are purely my experiences and must not be believed unless you feel it for yourself.

So let’s start.

I have met many people in my life. All of them have influenced my life in some way or the other. Surprisingly, the two most influential ones have been Goenka’s.

For the first sixteen years of my life, things I have learnt from one person were almost equivalent to things I learnt from all others combined. Looking back, I feel it’s all because of that one single person; I am what I am today.

But, let’s not talk about that for the moment. Why? Because, I have bigger plans now.

The second Goenka who I am extremely thankful to is Mr. S.N. Goenka – the Vipassana teacher. I am also extremely thankful to Prof. Sunil Handa – for introducing me to the technique. I have learnt more about myself in these ten days than in the entire 21 years.

So, what is Vipassana?

Vipassana is the best and also one of the toughest meditation technique, discovered and taught by Gautam the Buddha around 2500 years ago. And it is based on true Dharma – The law of nature—“Law of impermanence—change is the only constant.” And law of nature is same for all whether you are a Hindu, a Muslim, a Sikh, a Christian, a Buddhist or non-believer. It’s the same for one and all. Nature does not distinguish or differentiate.

But, I never heard of it before. Why?

Because, the technique is so pure that even if you mix any bit of any other meditation technique, it loses all its power. And all the “Dharma ke Dukandars” (businessmen of Dharma) destroyed the technique in the process of selling it. True Dharma(Law of nature) can’t be traded. ( FYI: At the Vipassana Centres everything including fooding and lodging is absolutely free of cost.) We are indeed lucky, that the technique has been preserved in its purest form by a select few of our neighbor – Myanmar (Burma). And we can actually benefit from it now.

To know all the details and all related FAQ’s please visit www.dhamma.org .

My post will be dedicated to a select few of my own 10 day experiences.

Day 0 : We take the vow for noble silence and the 5 Sila’s – not to kill, not to speak lies, not to engage in sexual activity, not to steal and not to take intoxicants. We are then introduced to the first technique of the deepest operation of the unconscious mind—Anapana technique. Actual work starts tomorrow.

Day 1: WTF! Please let me sleep. I can’t get up at 4 AM. Somehow I pull myself up to the meditation hall at 4:30AM. And what the heck, its 6 AM … but how?? Ah! I fell asleep. Bad start!
I pull myself up, no more sleeping. I am here to work. And work hard I will. The next time I went for meditation, I picked up things really fast. But, with that what cropped up in my mind was RDB! I’ll explain tomorrow.

Day2: Not again. I wake up at 4:35AM, and somehow made it to the meditation hall in 10 minutes. 15 minutes late, hmm… not bad according to my standards.
A really difficult day. It’s difficult to sit even for a few minutes. No wild animal wants to be tamed. Same with the mind. Its difficult to concentrate even for 5 minutes. And again the RDB dialogue seems so apt—“Ek taang past me, te ek taang future me… tabhi to hum aaj pe moot rahe hai”. Somehow, the day gets over. Ah! Huge relief.

Day3: Yoohoo… I make it before time… 4:28AM. The operation gets deeper. The animal needs to be forced back to work. Significant improvement. The energizing lecture… I remember Matrix… “Mr. Goenka can only show me the door… I have to walk through it myself”

Day4: The day for the deepest operation of the mind. Its Vipassana day. Your concentration level has increased 10-20 fold in the last three days. Now you are ready.
Just after Vippasana. Oh! The feeling cannot be described in words. I feel ecstatic. I am amazed. I am spellbound. And only thing I can say is – “You can’t be told what the Matrix is, you have to feel it for yourself”.

Day 5,6 and 7: The toughest days. The operation is at its peak. And the entire bad stuff comes out of the mind… in the form of thoughts, of course. The wildest of dreams to the most horrifying thoughts… everything just creeps up. You lose confidence. But, if such a thing happens, you are on the right track. You might feel like running away. But that is where determination helps. You are getting rid of your disease. The weeds are being uprooted. Deeper the weeds, deeper the pain.

Day 8: (contd. From last line) And deeper is the relief. You feel good. No not good, brilliant. You have somewhat tamed the wild horse. (This feeling varies, like all others, varies for all individuals. This is because you are experiencing nothing but the truth. And truth, for you is what you feel. As simple as that.)

Day9: You can concentrate long hours. You do things that you felt were impossible to do. You want to stretch time. You want to take maximum benefit. 10 hours feels just like a whisker. To modify a few dialogues from LOTR – “History became legend, legend became myth. And something that must not have been forgotten, have been lost. But, Dharma has a power of its own. It revived itself after 2500 years -- being so well preserved by some nice people in Burma… I feel good Mr. Gandalf; and so do all who live in such times Mr. Goonjan.”

Day10: Operation over. Time to dress the cuts. Its “Maitri Day”. You feel good for everything in the entire universe. Noble silence is over. Although, you will not feel like speaking… you would like such a great feeling to last for ever and ever. You would like this happiness to last for ever and ever and may such happiness be spread over the entire universe. You feel to live in this heaven, but speak you must because you can’t go back to the big bad world without being adjusted back to speaking mode. This is the day that I learnt most about human psychology, as I met people from different religions and different nations. I also thank God Almighty to give me the determination to obey all the rules perfectly and the concentration that I picked up the technique so fast. This is because, if you don’t obey the rules and follow the technique, like many people, you won’t be benefited fully.

Day 11: 6AM: It’s time to say goodbye to all the friends you made yesterday. Everyone was gloomy when they started the work and now since the past 2 days you can see everyone smiling. You can feel happiness in the air. Happiness all around. The most important lesson I learnt, there are something’s money can’t buy, Happiness is the perfect example. We waste huge amount of money trying to buy happiness, yet we remain ignorant (or atleast appear to be) that true happiness is one that comes from inside and comes absolutely free of cost. All it needs is 100% dedication.

1382 words already. Ah! Long post. I hope you aren’t bored. Just a few final words.

Vipassana is the purest form of meditation and everyone, absolutely everyone no exceptions MUST do it. The earlier in life, the better the results (this is my inference). I believe that if each one of us adopts true Dharma… Dharma that is true for all living and non-living things, this world won’t just be a better, but will be the best place to live in.

I know it is difficult to take out 10 days from the busy schedule we have. But, believe me, people can spend their entire capital just to buy happiness; here you just need a short period of your time with full dedication and determination. Even difficult to imagine oneself quiet for 10 long days. But, believe me, if Goonjan Mall can, everyone on the blue planet can. This comes from all those who know me :-).

PS: Everyone will make mistakes the first time. Do not get disheartened. And listen to the instructions very carefully and follow them religiously without mixing an ounce from your side. This is very important. Please do not break noble silence, because each word spoken or each signs made will affect your meditation. Go there; make best use of your time. If you observe these and you don’t feel happy more than anything else in your life… you can shoot me in my head. That’s the level of confidence I have. For any queries, I will always be there. You can also mail or call up any of the hundreds of centers all over the world to get detailed information.

May all beings be happy.

Signing off with love and happiness for all.

Eight Point Someone and One nite @ Pilani Bus Stand...

2009-05-17T11:07:00.008+05:30

Well, this is a post written just to avoid sleep.

This is a post about the final moments as a very eventful (all events are tests, its just that their nature varies ) third year ends at Pilani.

And since most of you are having nothing to do, especially in this scorching heat, you have no other choice but to read this stupid post.

If, you have better things to do in life... skip this, 'coz this ain't going to do any good to you.

16th May

4AM : Aaah, chal ab tumlog so jao... The champ is up for the job. Bhaiya, ek special chai.

3 AM: Uth ja yaar...

Hmmm...... Hmmmmm... Hmmmmmm........

2AM: I said, I am asleep. Yeah, its absolutely true that I can sleep anywhere... yes anywhere, even on a footpath. (seriously, are u expecting footpath in Pilani??)

1AM: WTF! WTF! Both of them jampacked?? Yes. Rooftops...?? Also filled with people.

What now? Cab?? Na re... not worth.

So what do we do now?? We wait. What, wait here?? Yes.

Here, started the (un) eventful nite of one of the 'Last five warriors of BITS, Pilani... Mall, Ashu, Sethi, Chotu (Gaurav) and Aditya.

Bhaiya ji, 5 special chai. Ek lays (bada wala).

Guys, grab your chairs. Next bus is at 5:20AM.

15th May

10PM : Bye guys, we love you. Cya at OASIS. Have fun @ PS.

Ab kya karein? Speed sahi hai.

Yaar, orkut khol, mere school me ek mast bandi thi, dikhata hun!!!

9PM: Yaar seat nahi milegi... Lite le yaar Kadich... Hamesha tension me kyu rehta hai?? Pehle khana kha le thik se... nahi to Aggru patla ho jaega.

3PM: Thilli, u cant leave us. Pyar hai tereko humse. :D

Chal.... Happy Journey.

11AM: The monster called ADVD... Killed!!!

Sir, yahan marks nahi mila... aur yahan ... aur yahan ... aur yahan...... Maam, 160 pe A hoga na... ???

Saale aur kya chaiye tereko... aur kitta chusega... A ho jaega... li8 le!!! Yoohoo....

7AM: Aaah... bhaut bhari trunk hai... saale is trunk me tu khud ghus jaega!!!

After a nite out for packing, tension was relieved by the rikshaw-wala...

To quote him

"Yo morning, Yo f*#@. Oh my god, Oh shit, Oh f&%@. Bhaiya, humne bhi aap logo se thodi bahut angrezi sikh li... Yo chowki, Yo F%@$"

14th May

9PM: Pel Pel ke kha liya yaar. Ab sala saman pack karna hai... Why do we always have to change the goddammed room? Yaar, kal to Malviya me aaye the... aaj sab ja rahe hai... saal kasie nikal gaya..?? Tests de de ke... aur to kuch bhi nahi kiya is saal.

8PM: Last treat... aaj sab sath hai... kal hum kahan tum kahan. Aaj to daba ke kaho.

Yaar, Mall, aaj chup ho ja.... aaj to hum chicken pelenge.

6PM: Free at last, Free at last... Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.

Presumption...

2009-04-03T20:32:00.007+05:30

This is an inspired post... Hats off to Bommarillu!!!

Well, if this post is about Bommarillu... then why is it named as Presumption??

As I grew up, I heard a lot of stuff about Gult (South Indian) Films or I should say I heard a pretty good deal about the god of Gults... Rajnikant.

{I think, as like any Gult movie or for that matter Bollywood movie -- the plot of this blog has become clear to you all.

Still, as like any other 'next door' movie, this 'next door' blog will go on!!!}

I know everyone of you always had a good laugh about Mr. Superman or Mr.He-Man or you can say Mr.Shaktimaan Rajnikant stunts. (Do I really need to narrate them here??? nah!!!)

I always made fun of these Gult-ra movies. I mocked them. (Hey! no offence meant.) I don't know when, but I kinda promised to myself that I will never watch a Gult movie. Never!

And I kept my promise till yesterday.

So, what happened?? Well, after a good deal of persuasion by my wingies, I watched Siddarth and Genelia starrer 'Bommarillu'. And boy! It completely blew me off my heels.

The whole concept of Gult films changed in my mind.

And what was the one thing that I kept thinking the whole time?? Perception.

It's quite natural to approach anything about which we have some prior incomplete information with a preconceived notion. As I discovered... this is wrong. And we must change this psychology.

The reasons being--

a. If you have heard good things, and approach something with extremely high prospect, then there is a pretty good probability that it won't live up to the expectation.

b. If you have heard bad things, and approach something presuming that this thing is crap, you will probably never get to know the real value of the thing.

So, the next time you meet someone or try out something, please don't presume that this is good or this must be dumb or bad. Try it out for yourself and judge only then.

As of now, for me, I'll watch Bommarillu once again, and this time hopefully with no presumption.

The Black Hole of Fear...

2009-03-31T11:24:00.005+05:30

Why does the heart pound when something new is to be done?

Why does the body shake when you have to speak in public?

Why does breathing rate increase when you have to face darkness?

or in short, Why there is an anxiety of the unknown?

In other words..... "What is on the other side of the BLACK HOLE of FEAR????"

Is it actually a 'black hole of fear' or a 'self created bubble of illusionary fear'???

This is the question that keeps throttling my mind each time I face some kind of a situation whether it is big or as small as calling an old friend!!!

In my experience I have observed that most of the time there is a beautiful world behind the black hole... or in fact, there is no such black hole its just illusion and the world is all good.

But, then again, why does the question haunts me again and again and again??? Any answers!!!

Summer of 2008 -- Goa and its upshot

2008-10-02T10:40:00.008+05:30

Well, again its been a long time... and i am sick of giving the same old excuse of not writing. Ok, I am very lazy, god please help me to kick it out!

So, PS-1, my play school was real fun. I greatly enjoyed playing with ArcGIS software, studying new methods of urban development and fixing up the "ice core drilling machine". The weekends in Goa were always great. Our outing includes places like Amboli Hills, Paulolem Beach, Vagator beach, Majora Beach, Old Goa and many more.

The best feeling was going deep into the sea in a human chain and then ohh!!! getting' blown off' by a 8 foot 'giant' wave...

The complete account of all the visits can be seen at Shrenik's blog .

But, that's not all. There are greater things that i have learnt and enjoyed.

First, and the most important thing that i did in Goa was observation of people's behaviour --their reactions, their attitudes, their ethics... this was the best learning experience by far, because i think this was the first time i have seen such a varied lot of people, with almost everyone having the same thing to do -- and that's 'vellagiri'.

Then, i have finally discovered my love for brillant books. This was for the first time i used the library quite well. Read up the full Harry Potter series, Dan Brown, Chetan Bhagat, Jeffrey Archer and a few more. All thanks to the failure of my laptop video driver, which i failed to repair for some 2-3 weeks. Now, i can say with some more conviction that -- 'all that happens, happens for some good'.

I have the habit of getting carried away and I believe that I have also committed some mistakes. Now, all i can say that i think i have learnt from my mistakes and i apologise to anyone who felt offended.

It was for the first time in Goa that i was a bit health conscious and was quite frequent to gym and playing games. Well, all i can say that it feels good and i think i should continue... but for all those who know me would probably know whether i am doing it anymore or not!!!

Anyways, the return journey was also OK. I went to the Bombay Stock Exchange, just for having an inside view and getting a brilliant view of Mumbai from its tower; but only after paying a fine of Rs. 250 for without ticket travel (I hate waiting in queue!!!).In the journey back to Purulia, I was alone and ' Angels and Demons' served as a perfect companion.

And, as i was getting kind of used to the 'vella' lifestyle, life brought me back to Pilani.And lo!, now here I am, back to the boring 'ghot' lifestyle -- with MOS and circuits all around in my world.

Summer of 2008 -- The Journey

2008-06-17T23:40:00.008+05:30

'The greatest things in life are said in silence.'

Well, i am sorry (to myself and my few readers) that my laziness got the better of me past few days(is it really few!!!) and i didn't publish anything.

I read this somewhere -- "Your mind is a terrible master, but its a brilliant slave"
And i am a slave to this terrible master... but i am trying to change...and hopefully i will.

First, let me tell what has been happening these days...

I would prefer starting from Pilani... It was the dreaded 'compre' time... the 'ghoting' time...

One by one came the blows.Speculation of Grading was the hot topic. Everyone could be found either 'ghoting' or chatting about 'av', 'cutoffs', 'CGPA'. To say, acads was at its peak.
Finally May 14th last exam 'μp' gets over... hah! what a relief!!! But wait a minute, no relief now. Time to pack. A thing i really hate.What adds up to the packing phobia is getting things out from the 2inch layer of dust. Although i got 'Malviya Bhavan'(considered to be the best in BITS) but given an option to continue in the same room which would imply no packing and transferring the heavy trunk... i would have preferred not to change the room. Again an example of laziness. I know i must change but its difficult to say goodbye to a 'friend' who is 'with' me from the time i was born.

Anyways, finally left Pilani that same night. It actually felt very good. And why not! This was the most hectic sem till now. Specially post APOGEE (technical festival) life sucked big time.

The Delhi day... had a brilliant company of Suri and Shrenik. Wasted 80 bucks for 'Bhootnath'. Didn't expect this from SRK and AB. Seriously the name should be slightly modified to "*content censored*". Went to shopping malls and had junk food and after a long time some good NSP (don't ask me what it means, if you don't know sorry... i am not gonna help).And yes! Dinner at Suri's house was great.

Didn't get much time at Purulia. To mention, just got a haircut after 2 months!!!

After a back-breaking journey from Pilani to Delhi. And then traveling in 3 different trains in just 6 days is just too much for me.

But, the journey to Goa was good. Actually very good.
To start with it was blistering heat and we didn't get AC reservation.But... Pratik was in AC coach... so why should i worry. I get AC comfort for free!!! I spent most of my time in the AC coach. And oh! it was fun. We made good friends there. Played ludo... and... (*content suppressed*).
And as we were getting impatient to reach Goa specially due to neuralgia... just then all the pain in the world disappeared. We reached 'Doodh Sagar'... and the scenic beauty was just miraculous. Well, its GOA. The forests, the tunnels, the hills, the passing of train over a hundred feet valley...oh! it was simply mesmerizing. It is turning out to be the best train journey i ever had.

Goa. Well, finally reached BITS campus. Its good to see all stuff ready for us (could never expect this in Pilani). Everyone is excited. First day of PS(Practice School--summer internship) turns out to be good.

Coming up later--

PS1 or 'play school 1' as i say is turning out to be fun. Our daily schedule is to reach at 9, do some internet surfing (or more appropriately orkutting and chatting) and leave as and when desired is really good.
Weekends, ah! real fun.
Goa has changed me a lot. I can't comment on the longevity of the changes but...
'The greatest things in life are said in silence.'

PS: The sneak peak is just some lines from furute posts... I suppose that conclusions should not be drawn until the actual post is up!!!

Presenting : The Aesthetic Way

2008-02-19T00:19:00.009+05:30

Well, i know that a lot has been written about this topic...and i am sure that if you are reading this blog, you will feel that ohhh!!! one more... dude, I am bored of all this!!! Don't you??

Anyways, you are free and actually welcomed to comment, after you read this...

Don't you sometimes feel that someone who is "less content, more style" is more favoured???

Apparently, it may seem so, but in the long run, it is content that wins over style.

But, my point here is not this!!!

What I am more concerned is not 'Content v/s Style' but 'Content + style'. It is the perfect conflation of brilliant content with glamorous style that makes an aesthetic presentation. Mind you here, presentation is not just about giving a splendid speech or making an exquisite presentation; it is a much broader term -You can include anything you can think...After all, life is a presentation...isn't it??

Now, if you are thinking after writing all the 'obvious' stuff, i am going to talk about the do's and dont's of presentation...sorry, I am not. Infact, I am not the right person to talk about all this, as I am not even the pawn of the game.

The thing that i feel strongly, and often what we do not see is the work behind the screen. Yes, I am talking about the most important part - preparation. To put it bluntly, the success of a presentation is directly proportional to the weight of sweat you have lost. There can be millions of examples supporting this, but let me give you the examples that are the root cause of this post.
First, MTV Roadies 5.0. Today, as i was watching the roadies show, after the show, they show 'the making' of the show. I was bowled over by the way they do their homework, or rather the ground work. First, of all, when they travel all over the country, in search of the roadies they put in their heart and soul to choose the best people all over India, and in a very honest and transparent way. Then comes the bigger challenge. To prepare the sets, to make the camera adjustments and above all check the tasks i.e perform all the tasks that the roadies are going to do. And, all this with full backup, that even if anything goes wrong, the show must not stop. Now, this is real hard-work.
Second, the guest lecture by Mr. Singh, Assistant Professor IIM-L here at BITS,Pilani. The topic of the lecture was 'What is NOT taught at IIMs?'. This guy started with usual curriculum stuff of what is taught at IIM and then threw upon us some points, that were not taught at the IIMs but which would haunt us in the future. Here he focused upon time management-taking out time for family and personal health. The audience was flabbergasted by his honest thoughts and his unpredictably witty way of presenting it.

Now, this is content with a perfect blend of style. And the master key to both these is efficient hard work.

I hope that this post makes some sense to you!!!

Praxis...

2008-01-20T02:22:00.001+05:30

Praxis...translation of an idea into action. It is the single most important factor explaining why some people are successful and some are not.
The definition clearly can be divided into two parts, the idea and action.
Idea- To put it bluntly, idea is a conception of the mind. Now, different people have different views on idea generation. But, this is not the issue here.
The issue is implementation. Different people have different ideas/plans about different issues, but when it comes to persuasion, many people actually back out. They may have different reasons for it; but whatever the reason may be, the potential of the idea, or we can say the potential your brain is wasted. The people who actually implement their idea benefit from it and are successful.

The idea of this post comes from the 'Symposiarch' event-"Cornered". Every BITSian must have profoundly thought about the various issues in the BITSian system- may it be academic, management, placements, financial,...... ; even debated amongst themselves for hours, vowed to do something to change this, and what not. The idea of discussing these issues with the top-level management staff must also have come to some great minds. But what they did...nothing! So this is a waste of an idea. And now, after a long long time when the idea is actually implemented, it got overwhelming response. The discussion was quite fruitful and almost all the people were satisfied with the replies of Proff. Raghurama and Proff. Dasgupta.

So all i have to say is that- "An !dea can change your life", but iff you implement it.