The changed face of friendship...

I am not a fragile character, and do not get the paranoid feeling that people are talking about me and laughing behind my back. But still I feel like writing this post because I value true friendship a lot.
Friendship can be a wonderful relationship that serves to support, encourage, and entertain. But It’s unfortunate, but some friends tend to take more than give and might need to be cut out of your life.
This is going to be an honest, at-your-face kind of post. I will say what I want to and I don’t care what others would think because barring a few people, I don’t care anything about anyone. I don’t want to indulge in humiliation and become what I don’t want to, so will avoid taking any names directly.

It must be pretty clear that what I am getting towards is describing what two-faced friends are. The friend who says one thing and does something else or the friend who is nice to your face and then talks badly about you behind your back is a two-faced friend.
In front of you they act all sweet normal and nice but behind your back they are the exact opposite making fun of you, spilling your secrets and talking bad about you. They usually do that if they are jealous, to get attention, be more popular, and they are millions of other reasons but it depends on the person. And at times their actions tend to be more severe than the typical casual gossip common among friends; their actions are purposeful, hurtful, and continue regardless of your objections.

Making fun or jokingly pulling leg directly is something different and can be easily understood. But if it becomes a third-person talk, the gravity and seriousness of the issue increases.

Another variety of such species include those selfish people who show that they share everything and would be together to travel light years with you, but who won’t tell what they are doing so as to remain ahead of you. Befriending others for personal gain has become a common phenomenon.

When you have your true friends around you, you might not be able to identify any of such backstabbers amidst them. But it is better that as soon as the realization comes, such friends need to be dumped, because they aren't your real friends just someone who will use you to do or get something for their benefit.

To sum it up, I am quoting a poem after modifying it suitably…

When you didn’t speak to my face,
And went behind my back,
I stood shocked in anguish,
When I came to know what you quack.

I never thought you'd be,
So mean, so cruel, so rude.
But since this you have showed me,
That this is the true you, so shrewd.

You lied to my face,
And talked behind my back.
You thought I would not trace,
That it has been you, the one to attack.

You will now have to see,
That this is the end.
Stay rest assured I would not wail,
Over such long lost friend.

It is time to say goodbye,
And I don't want it to end,
But I cannot take another lie,
From a lying two-faced friend.

Three of the best stories...

We learn a lot through our experiences in life. The following three stories I came across, do teach some lesson. It is worth pondering over them.
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The Turtles

A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. The turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at last!

For about six months they cleaned the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left.

Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years...six years... then on the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and begun to unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, 'See! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt.'

[Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we do not do anything ourselves.]
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The Frogs

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs! The farmer replied, 'There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs - millions of them. They all croak all night long and they are about to make me crazy!' So the restaurant owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant, five hundred at a time for the next several weeks.

The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, 'Well... where are all the frogs?' The farmer said, 'I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!'

[Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember, it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also remember that problems always seem bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in your bed at night worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming like a million frogs croaking? Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.]
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The Pretty Lady

Once upon a time a big monk and a little monk were traveling together. They came to the bank of a river and found the bridge was damaged. They had to wade across the river. There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river. The big monk offered to carry her across the river on his back. The lady accepted. The little monk was shocked by the move of the big monk. 'How can big brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females?' thought the little monk. But he kept quiet... The big monk carried the lady across the river and the small monk followed unhappily. When they crossed the river, the big monk let the lady down and they parted ways with her. All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very unhappy with the act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of accusations about big monk in his head. This got him madder and madder. But he still kept quiet. And the big monk had no inclination to explain his situation. Finally, at a rest point many hours later, the little monk could not stand it any further, he burst out angrily at the big monk. 'How can you claim yourself a devout monk, when you seize the first opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very pretty? All your teachings to me make you a big hypocrite The big monk looked surprised and said, 'I had put down the pretty lady at the river bank many hours ago, how come you are still carrying her along?'

[This very old Chinese Zen story reflects the thinking of many people today. We encounter many unpleasant things in our life, they irritate us and they make us angry. Sometimes, they cause us a lot of hurt, sometimes they cause us to be bitter or jealous .. But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go away.We keep on carrying the baggage of the 'pretty lady' with us. We let them keep on coming back to hurt us, make us angry, make us bitter and cause us a lot of agony. Why? Simply because we are not willing to put down or let go of the baggage of the 'pretty lady'. We should let go of the pretty lady immediately after crossing the river. This will immediately remove all our agonies. There is no need to be further hurt by the unpleasant event after it is over.]

Pleasing everyone, is a task that cannot be done...

I know and live this statement so very well indeed. When you try pleasing everybody, you usually end up pleasing nobody at all including yourself. Oh well, everything in good time.
What I feel like and what I would actually do is two totally different things. It just isn't in me to run. Part of my problem I guess, I have to face it full head-on.

A serious problem with trying to please everyone is that you might be forced to abandon you ideals. Stooping down, as it were, from the bar you’ve raised for yourself just to make someone else happy will only makes you unhappy. In other words, there will always be a price to pay when trying to please everyone.

I just wish I could somehow solve all the problems and conflicts that I am encountering. Furthermore, solve all these with the least amount of trouble and pain and hurt if preferable. Many at times I feel like running away, but that isn't even an option anymore. It never was I guess.

I realised that if my best isn’t good enough for some people, bluntly speaking: that’s their problem. I can’t punish myself for that. I have decided not to waste more time and energy (because I have none to spare) in feeling bad because I can’t make everyone happy. Coming to terms, accepting things as they really are, actually helps. I just had to let go of the wishful thinking.

I’ll be happy with this truth:
Although I can’t please everyone, I can always please SOMEONE.

Is it the beginning to complete bifurcation of the country???

It is a sad time for India, going down a very bad path. As we keep dividing the country along state lines, I remember only one lesson from Indian history: be wary of "divide & conquer". Either its riots, divisions of states, complications like agitations against non-“Marathi Manoos” in Maharashtra or political controversies; India seems to be creating hurdles for its own development and progress.

And now, the oversimplification of the Telangana issue is ridiculous. It is wrong to divide the country on the basis of language, religion, or dominance of some caste. Division should have been purely on the administrative grounds.

Granting of Telangana is no solution, whereas it will be the root cause for developing fissiparous tendencies all over the country by interested political groups. If political parties do have political will, they must discuss this issue threadbare to assess the pros and cons dispassionately and then only move forward. And when there is a clear divide between the various political parties over the issue, such a big decision cannot be taken stand alone. The only persons to benefit from division are those who will become, ministers, chief minister DG police, & Chief Secretary & head of other departments. Rest everybody will be loser.

One must agree that the deprivation of opportunity and development cause separatism than any other reasons. If a geography is constantly ignored for whatever reason, then a revolt is bound to happen. But dividing into separate state is not the solution for underdevelopment. The whole world is worried about economy, climate, jobs, infrastructure, technology and future prospects; and look at us we are worried about forming a separate state. Instead, let’s try to fight the underdevelopment, get rid of the naxalites and create a healthy environment.

Some argue that what are the grounds on which we created Jharkhand, Uttaranchal and Chhattisgarh, that Telangana doesn’t satisfy. But if we go by the same logic, after creation of Telangana, what are the grounds that we can deny separate states for Vidarbha, Gorkhaland, Bundelkhand or Coorg to be created? Their protests and agitations have also become.

And suppose, we still succumb to this demand and Hyderabad will go to Telangana. The question remains that why all the development in Andhra Pradesh should be taken straight away by the new state? What would be left in the remaining AP? Everyone has been immersed in developing Hyderabad, that most other cities seriously lack the resources.

Though the Constitution created the federal-like set up with three layer governments, in reality, the bottom layer - so called "Panchayat Raj" - has already vanished purely because of corrupt political atmosphere in the country. It means people lost voices in their own administration, despite India technically called a democratic nation! But is fasting, protesting and demonstrations a way to get things done in a democracy? The sovereignty and unity of the nation is at stake.

Thinking about it, my family and relatives agree that my house should be a separate state and I don't understand why the Govt. of India should object to this genuine demand. In fact, our neighbour works hard and earns more, which is something we cannot bear. I want my house to be made a separate state and the government should send me funds for development directly; if not, I will retaliate.

All I can say is that any decision taken in a hurry in such a scenario, by accepting the demand for a separate state, will give rise to a sever crisis and confrontation against the Law and Order of the country. It will set a bad example for the youth, to take the reins of violent protest to get the demands met.

Is the breakdown of our national unity nearing?

Truth or Happiness?

There is so much truth to the statement that truth or happiness, but not both. Since we encounter occasions where mostly truth and happiness do not go together, should one seek truth or happiness, is a question hard to answer. It requires a cognisant decision to be made as to which direction does one consider important – truth or happiness.

There is a quote that “The Truth shall set you free”. However in no shape or form does it say that happiness comes along in that freedom. And a learned person said that Wisdom is a burden if it does not make you free. This statement actually brings out the ultimate fact of life that we seem to overlook today. It essentially implies that wisdom is of no use if it is directed towards just imposing what is right or just finding what is right and not applied towards finding happiness for self and others.

This is completely true, I believe. I have been on the wrong path many times. My intention often turns out to be "find what is right", instead "let’s be happy". My experiences in life now say that – happiness is the better path, looking from the holistic point of view.

For example, I had already mentioned numerous times that a substantive answer to address most of the problems is having “No Expectations”. Now I want to also take another example, "Judgement". These days I have gotten stronger opinions about morals and right doing, as I now look at behaviour from a very keenly observant point of view, and find many "wrong" intentions in daily normal behaviour. For me, "ego" also falls in the wrong category, and this is one of important reasons why I find all behaviour "bad" these days. However, I do find the right ones, don’t worry. In fact I find more right ones than bad ones than many other people do, and hence I consider myself close to many people.

But I recently found that it was not helping me. Judging everybody was taking me nowhere. I needed to like the people as they are. Even though they are bad, they always have a good side, if not apparent, sometimes we need to dig it out from them. And most people need love and love can be the means of relationships. (These days, when it is becoming easy to live, people are more tending to not needing love with other people, but I am sure, if they have the proper experience, they will ultimate realize it regardless of how individualistic they are).

And then, when I found somebody who was really not understanding how things work and his/her lack of empathy was causing trouble for everybody, instead of finding solutions to the problem that lead to peace and happiness for all, my ego and anger started rising and I started finding ways which gave support to them (ego and anger) instead, causing bad consequences. However, hopefully I have realized soon, and I can swerve the future.

Finding truth in world, and living with is almost next to godliness now. Sometimes, living in a myth or amidst a false belief is essential. What I consider important is that we don’t lie to ourselves. And then everything is on track.

Let us all be successful in finding joy for everyone. Let was walk vehemently on that path, with determination to never fail.

A World In Motion...

I wasn't required to spend time in deciding this title for the post. It is the name of the event I am talking about here, and with which I am associated with. The concept is good, and I found it relevant as well.

A World In Motion (AWIM)

This curriculum joins together teachers, students, and industry volunteers in an exploration of physical science while addressing essential mathematic and scientific concepts and skills. Industry volunteers play an essential role in motivating the next generation to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math by bringing their everyday experiences into an AWIM classroom.

The abandoned citizens of Mumbai...

My current project office in Mumbai for SAP implementation is on Reay Road.

Reay Road Railway Station on harbour line is a landmark and a heritage railway station in Mumbai. But I doubt if one can get that sort of feeling on going there. Probably most of us who visit Mumbai, would not have heard of this place, forget about visiting it. But me visiting it the first time popped sever

What I saw there was another portrait of an underdeveloped Mumbai, where you see no signs of proper living conditions. So what seemed to be restricted to known areas, like Dharavi and Byculla, is definitely not the case.

Since the beginning of the city, slums have been a part of Mumbai’s landscape, posturing as festering wounds on a civic space. When you land or take off from the Mumbai airport, you get a good glimpse of the habitat.

Often we hear and read about plans to clear Mumbai, and provide housing to the slum-dwellers. But this looks like an intractable task to me. The reason being, that a place like Dharavi can be considered for redevelopment because it would be an striking proposition for the builders, but there are a whole lot of others which are along the roadsides, railway tracks or on footpaths. There is no money to be made there, so it would not attract the builder. The government also has been benign with their approach to the issue of slums and their proliferation. With these pictures of Reay Road, which are still a lot “human” as compared to what I actually witnessed but could not gather the courage to photograph, you would see that the appalling sores on the cityscape speak volumes of the fortitude of people. They are also the rightful citizens of the city, but have been left abandoned with their fate.It needs a conscience, a tremendous political will and the mindset of non-slum dwellers to get rid of this inhuman state of living, which is a blot on Indian civilisation.

Solution to a lot of problems in Life – “NO EXPECTATIONS”...

After a lot of thought and reflecting back on where things go wrong, I have found a substantive answer that addresses some problems in life. This does not correspond to only me, or any one section of the society, but I believe the mass can relate to it.

We frequently face conflict in our lives because we can't deliver to someone's expectations or we expect too much from others. When they fail expectations, we get angry, upset and forget all the good in them because of one failed expectation. For example, angry customers would create a scene if the products or services they bought did not fulfil their expectations. But I am talking of a much broader spectrum of expectations. I see that every day in my personal life, in the lives of my close ones, as well the public. Some hold on to that as a grudge and constantly bring conflict. It doesn't serve well in the long run. I specifically want to focus on the expectations in a relationship, primarily friendship.

It is high time as one gets over with that golden period of any relation wherein everything is ideal and works well, he should realize that friendship is not everything in life. As soon as one realizes it, better for him/her. What if one gets to know that friendship which meant the world for him is only superficial relationship? Some friends just care enough to be there in your good times and one incorrect step they are not there.

I feel like putting my hypothesis as “REFRAIN FROM EXPECTING TOO MUCH OUT OF A RELATIONSHIP UNLESS YOU TOO SURE OF THE RELEVANCE IT HOLDS FOR THE OTHER” because when your friendship becomes your world, and all of a sudden things come to a standstill, you start getting the feel of a lost creature and the whole motive of the friendship has gone astray. The belief takes over us that all the stories of true friendship are just too ideal, but in this world no one really cares. It hurts and makes one sink to the deepest furrow of grieves. This commandment is the best way to survive in this contemptible world where everyone lives for himself first and then thinks otherwise.

I received a text message which is also very true and apt in such scenarios. Never tell your problems to anyone except who genuinely cares for you. Most people would be happy that you are in trouble, and the rest don’t care about your sorrows. With thrashed expectations you can never revive your friendship again how hard you may try. At least when not expecting much from the relationship, everything is casual, and life moves on.

Relentless Thoughts

I think that facts are stubborn things. I believe in that. My life has had a number of insistent moments, which at times leave haunting memories and trails of thoughts behind ,affecting my perception and my attitude towards life and relationships. Despite of what I am writing here, I'm still open minded enough to know that circumstances surrounding facts can and do change. As have mine.

Days have gone, time has passed,
They say time heals, but to me, time kills and rots;
I may not be a great writer or a vivid poet,
But I can portray and scribble the words of my thoughts.

Each passing day, I settle in dismay,
Sitting by the window, all I see is my past;
Perplexed and baffled with the varied harsh experiences,
I wonder when it would be my lingering last.

Relentless thoughts plague me every day,
making me realise how much scathe I might have caused;
Hiding behind a mask of whimsy whims and pretensions,
I feel that the happiness in my life has paused.

I've been hurt in incomprehensible ways,
Hurts that last to this very day;
Tranquillity seems like a distant reality,
With my serenity beset, I guess it will always end this way.

Amidst the picturesque image of the illusions I had,
These thoughts of mine seem stricken;
I’ve realised that life's a bitch with no alluring presence,
Thus from now on there's nothing much on life to be written.

Is this what we want our life to be???

Recently I got a mail from my friend, which had this small description of how life is today. The way our lives have been reduced to being merely work machines, I found it apt and worth mentioning here.

Life is...

“Leaving the house in the morning, dressed in clothes that you bought on credit card for work, driving through the traffic in a car that you are still paying for, putting in fuel that you cannot afford, in order to get to the job that you hate but need so badly so that you can pay for the clothes, car, fuel and the house that you leave empty the whole day, in order to live in it.”

What should I blog???

Initially when I started writing, my contemplations were all about what to write on the blog, how discretely would I write, what shall be the title and the theme; and finally I decided that all these things don’t matter. All that matters is to start blogging and the topics and themes shall follow. And so I bring forward random thoughts and expressions of my life, trying to put them into words in the best possible way.

Today I have been deliberating that it is my blog and so obviously my turn to blog and it has been my turn to blog since Tuesday. But what to blog? I thought of several ideas to blog and here I am...blank. I guess I’ve been sort of blank in my writing these days, also. Not that I don’t have ideas, I always have ideas. All I have to do is go out on the road or think of my life and people around me or watch television, and I get ideas for my own. It is also a great way to get inspired. But lately I’ve been doing summery things. I think maybe there is a time for everything. I know I will write another post soon. I know the time will come. I will see others reading my blog and either smiling, or reflecting back those things upon themselves. But I just want to ensure that I am discrete enough not to make my personal life too open for others to bog me down. Probably I need to write my personal diary.

Subtle art of indirect communication...

One who reads this title must be wondering that am I so knowledgeable that I am writing on something so big and difficult. The answer is NO. It is just the change in the schedule on being in Mumbai has driven my brain into motion, provoking my thought process to think a little intellectually as well as rationally.

Subtle and indirect communication – that’s an art I don't have, and NO, being frank and speaking straight is not an asset. It is a big big big disadvantage.

Saying "I don't know, and I'm sorry I don't have the time to do it" is not right. Yes there's a right answer to it, I just don't know it.

Saying "I'm not going to do this bullshit, simply because someone else is idling and not doing it" is incorrect. Yes, once again, there is a right answer to it, a right way to tackle it, and I don't know that either.

Saying "this is not a fair price, I'll pay x amount", isn’t a smart way of bargaining either. And yes, you guessed it again; I sure as hell don't know the right way to go about it.

This is something I've been thinking of a lot lately. Things that happen at work, at home, amidst friends, when you're out shopping, or just trying to negotiate with life. I've always had a tendency to say straight out what I am thinking, and somewhere along the way, lost the art of getting work done by a circumlocutory way, what we term as ‘ungli tedhi kar ke ghee nikalna’. I am not good at it, and I also realise that it costs me. I pick more quarrels where I'm left looking like the offending party, when I could have answered obliquely and got back my own. I complain and nag about things which I can't seem to change, which I could perhaps have manipulated better and got better results. I am almost unable to bargain, since that’s one area where this skill is put fully to use. And needless to say, I end up getting upset and hurt, with a tag that I portray a lot of unnecessary attitude.

So effectively, my ineffectiveness at this effective way of communication has taken a toll on my efficiency in all aspects of life.

Anyone know of any diploma courses I could take in this??

Openness and Transparency...

Four months into my professional career, I get bewildered by certain thoughts. Openness and transparency – they seem to be such favourite buzzwords in the corporate world. All this talk of the utopian little universe where hierarchies have been flattened, levels reduced, there is free flow of communication and information - both upwards and downwards. But wait, we just flattened the hierarchy right, ok then, so let’s just say there's free flow of communication and ideas.

Of course there is much to do about openness and transparency, if we seek a work culture where resources operate in unison for common goals.

Writing this while I am in Mumbai for some work, and meanwhile I discussed several key aspects of the attitude and behavioural aspects of a profession, with my seniors.

Sometimes, some places seem to make an honest effort –to actually do things transparently. But I wonder, if perhaps it’s a cultural thing, especially in India, to fight against these things. To go out of the way, to close ranks, create hierarchies, use information as power, firmly treat managers as bigger people than others, try to keep people in their "place" so to say. And this trend is more prominent in the conventional family owned businesses, even though they grow up becoming MNCs. The conservatism still prevails.

I'm not saying that other countries/cultures have an inherently open or better culture. Just that here the different strata seem to pay inordinate amounts of importance to different things. The seasoned veterans will still value years of experience at work and traditional mindset over a fresh gush of thoughts. And the newer generation needs more dynamism and radical changes, but instinctively classifies parts of work as lower grade. Becoming an MBA, you consider yourself to be of a different pedigree, and then you have a list of tasks as “touch-me-not”, a list of people you don’t attend to, and what not. An honest attempt at openness is actively discouraged. Very actively, by whatever means necessary.

All very well, maybe with our current kind of work and the mix of people who work, that is the only system that can perform. Maybe assembly line sweatshops can only operate in that environment, and not in one of the utopian concepts.

But the question still remains. Can you actually have creative output in that environment? Can you actually make the much envied "world class product" in such a setting? I don't think so. I might be motivated to keep my head above water, but beyond that? Is a collaborative approach possible?

Who knows...

Footprints '09...

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same. Going back to the college days is always fun - an opportunity to know what my batch mates or my seniors are doing now, and a chance to relive those memorable days together - a prospect to catch up with all buddies.

This is what Footprints 09 had in store for me, and all other alumni of IIM Indore.


October 1 evening: Though Footprints was scheduled from October 2–4, 2009, I and Asoka reached the campus the previous evening itself. The place was all buzzed up with the preparations for Indore Marathon happening the next day. It made us go back to the same day last year, when we slogged our asses out for organising the Marathon. Of course, we had lesser resources and more work to do that time. I and Asoka decided on going for a night-out at the marathon venue, as we did last year. So we packed our bags, and were all set to get into the bus, when suddenly laziness surmounted us, and we decided to watch a movie and take a nice nap.

October 2: The juniors were exhausted with the amount of work they put in for the marathon. And most alumni were going to arrive on 2nd itself, but Charkha was there early in the morning. So with a kind thought of utilising the time, we went to watch “Wake up Sid” with some more friends of mine. No doubt had a good time, but what was waiting for us back at the campus were floods of abuses and curses by the friends who were shouting like anything that why couldn’t we wait for them to go to the movie. Alas! All we could do was ‘hear and nod’. The day passed chitchatting and gossiping, pulling each other's legs.

As usual, the night life at the campus was remarkable. Counter Strike and cricket – what more did we need to mark an end to the first day of footprints. Back to the hostel with serene environment, surely was amazing. And to add to our joys, the weather showed a turnaround from scorching heat to pleasant breeze with drizzles.

October 3: It was the institute’s Founders’ Day, but no one bothered to go and listen to the exorbitantly intellectual talks by some eminent people in the morning. In the evening, we did go for the formal inauguration of Footprints, which as usual started at IST. But it was compensated by our diro, Prof. Ravichandran, who did us completely with his witty but thought provoking talk. The developments happening in our alma mater and the diro’s vision for future, truly made us feel proud.

I don’t know who suggested organising ‘Gandharva’ music late in the evening when a sumptuous dinner was laid out for us in the lawn. So as obvious, most of us preferred eating over listening to the music which wasn’t our taste. Relishing the food from ‘Sayaji’ has been something which we had been doing for the two years at campus. What followed was an awesome play “Breaking News” by Idanim, which acted as a cherry on the top of the pudding.

And eventually, the most awaited dealing for all the alumni as well as the participants. The famed melting pot and D-block basketball court of IIM Indore, which has been witness to many a students and events across years, was the venue of the informal party organised by the juniors (call it ‘DJ with Drinks’). Varied tones, from hard rock to Punjabi songs, kept everyone’s legs moving. The booze did the rest. The party went on till early morning, with Apoorva and Thagela being amongst the last to leave the dance floor.

October 4: After the sort of party that went on the previous night, one should not expect to see early risers. So it was the Alumni-com who went banging on doors to wake us up and get us to the mess for Brunch with faculty. Reluctantly, we all started filling the mess, with a lesser inclination to meet the faculty, but more interested in the food.

The mega-reunion came to an end on October 4th itself, with the reaffirmation of the clichéd saying, “I came I saw I conquered”.

IIM Indore still generates a strong affinity amongst its alumni, this was reflected in the number of alumni who willingly invested their time to attend the meet, coming from all over the country. As expected, the maximum junta was from the batch of 2009, i.e. my batch. But whosoever turned up, would surely have had a gala time.

Grasping for objectivity in my subjective life...

“How can there be so much difference..between a day off and an off day ?”


Sundays are always off. But I finally get a weekday off for myself from everything: getting up early, hectic work, jingo colleagues, et al. And the occasion for the same, is Vishwakarma Jayanti. Sorry, but If you ask me about it, I won’t be able to answer anything. But still, there is not a lot that i have to squander away with the time I have. I just visited the book-fair and went window shopping. Totally unlike my usual self.

Frankly, I can’t recall when was the last time I spent a whole day in between the week, lazying around and sleeping and reading and watching TV, or going on a long outing with friends. Ah! I miss this so much. Come to think of it, it’s only being about three months on my job.

But whatever, it’s been a good start to my corporate career. My job profile’s good (something which I was too eager for), pay’s decent considering the recession and all that, and probably the most important thing is that I have, at least for now, not acted stupidly on the job.

Anyhow, the out-and-out worst part of the current job is the bloody travelling time. It takes more than an hour to travel to my workplace, and the type of hostile environment I get there, does not make it any better for me. So I have resorted to the best thing in life...Sleeeep. Taking a nap while going, and coming back, surely relaxes me a lot out of the busy schedule.

Anyways, this is not an act of bewilderment, or to gain sympathy. After all the serious stuff and critical writing that I have done straight away since I started blogging, I thought I needed a break. So while relaxing, I just put in this cribbing bit, waiting to see who all are lame enough to read this. That's why had to put in a attractive seductive title for this post. :P

Patience..a virtue lost in today's world...

“A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains...”



Yesterday, I was reading some stories from the book “Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul”. While reading it, there was an excerpt that I found very true with how we behave these days, and could relate it so well to myself. Thus, writing it here for everyone to give a thought.

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An old man was sitting with his forty-five year old son. A crow was perched at their window. The father asked his son “What is that son?” The son replied, “It’s a crow, father.”
After a few minutes the father asked again, “What is that son?” This time, with just a little hint of irritation in his voice, the son retorted, “I told you just now father, it’s a crow.”
A few minutes later the old man asked again, “What is that son?” This time the anger was evident in his son’s tone as he said, “It’s a crow, a crow!”
For the fourth time his father asked, “What is that son?” The son screamed back, “Why do you keep asking me the same question over and over again? Do you think I have no other work? I just want to read my paper and have my cup of tea in peace!”
The old man got up very quietly and returned with an old tattered notebook in his hand. The notebook was his diary. He opened the page to the day his son had turned three. He requested his son to read the page aloud; he would go to his room and leave his son alone with the tea and newspaper after that, he said.

Impatiently his son began:
Today my little son turned three. We were sitting together on the sofa chatting, when a crow came and sat at our window. He asked me what it was and I told him that it was a crow. With his three-year old mind, he had difficulty retaining the name of the bird and he asked me about twenty-three times what it was. I answered his question each time, spicing it up with a poem here, some information there, and a few stories about crows as well. Each time he asked me the question, I hugged him; after all who else will he go to with his questions.
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It is all about patience. It has never been easy to be patient, and it's probably harder now than at any time in history. But patience is a virtue that can be cultivated and nurtured. It is necessary to apply discipline to thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal.

I believe the message is loud and clear. I have made certain resolutions after reading this story yesterday. May be you should do as well...

Friends Indeed ???

Friends are an important part of our lives. Trust and respect is what defines this relationship.
But there is a question that keeps pondering me time and again - "Who are your real friends"?
There are times when we are tempted to put more faith in friends, but is it worth it?

I get the response to this question, when I think of my group "Phoenix - The Fire Within Us". Those who know about my group, would know the reason for Phoenix coming to my mind, and for those who don't know about my group, probably don't know me well. For them, I would soon write about my group as well, because that's something dear to me.

This poem was written by me a long time back, but have edited it over time, and is thus dedicated to Phoenix and all my other close friends. I have let the dilemma in my mind be a part of it.

A truth in today's world...

The irony of maintaining relations in today's world...
If everyone is happy with u, means u surely have made lots of compromises in life...