Kwality Khaiyen, Sada Muskuraiyen

To put things into perspective, I am not associated with Kwality Walls in any way, nor am I getting free ice creams to write this and as you go through this piece you will realize that it has nothing to do with Kwality Walls.

Our first weekend at Gurgaon (marketing interns know what a weekend is :P) and we (5 of us) decided to freak out in Delhi. Not knowing much about the place, we depended on local help and navigation maps. For people who aren’t aware of it, try that out, it’s freaking awesome and free. So we landed up at Connaught Place and went to some bazaar. I had heard a lot about the crowd in Delhi and got my first experience at this bazaar. Every blink and you will end up seeing someone. Does that beat Mumbai? Time will tell.

Later, we went to Palika Bazaar – an underground bazaar where you can find clothes and electronic accessories. As usual with such places one should know the heads and tails of bargaining. The market was suffocating and my fellow buddies will agree to that. After loads of window shopping and some actual shopping as well we ended up having ice cream at a Kwality Walls vendor near Gate 1 of Palika Bazaar.

Gupta ji (the vendor) had this peculiar chant “Kwality khaiyen, sada muskuraiyen” (eat Kwality Walls ice cream and smile forever) to attract consumers. We found this interesting and stuck a conversation with Gupta ji. Gupta ji is from Bihar and has been selling ice creams since 1988. Unfortunately my friend’s wallet fell down and all his belongings went haywire in the ground. So as we were gathering his stuff, Gupta ji told us “agar aap kuch bhul bhi gaye toh kall aa jana” (even if you forget anything, you can come tomorrow and collect it). Then Gupta ji went about telling us how important honesty is in life and will lead to rewards. Not that we haven’t heard about this before, but what he said was very interesting. In today’s world where majority want to suck up every single penny from others, we find a person who is so humble and honest. Am I so convinced about my judgement on Gupta ji? I think I am. He has a daughter who is a teacher in some school and both his son work to earn their living making their father proud.

At times, you end up meeting people who leave a long lasting impression on you. One starts wondering, what if, if everyone is like them and the world would be a much better place. Gupta ji is someone who belongs to this special category of people.

The year that was..

The first year at WIMWI has just come to an end and it has been one hell of a ride! As Harsha Bhogale says, ‘If you can survive the first year at IIM A, you can survive anything in your life’. I guess that sums up it all. It has been a great year overall. People say you don’t make friends in a B school. As far as I am concerned it is incorrect, or to say that as a professor would say – “global gyan, keep that with yourself”. I have found some really good friends out here and I guess the entire batch will have similar views.

I must mention about the dorm culture at WIMWI. I found a new home away from home, my dorm Difteen (Dorm 15). Will definitely miss the tucchas, especially the ones on the top floor but as they say “life goes on”.

I am off to Gurgaon for my summer internship at Nokia for the next 2 months. First time out in the corporate world for me, I have some expectations and I am sure I would not be disappointed. Gurgaon will be a totally new place for me and I am looking forward to a nice experience out there.

Cheers!

PS: I know it doesn’t really sum up the year. But there are too many things to be penned down. I hope to do that during Tucchadom (the 2nd year at WIMWI is called by that name) :D.

Duhb-yuh Eych Wahy???

No, this is not about the game “Why” of the late 50’s nor this is about the ‘World Hunger Year’ – a non profitable organization; this one is about the mystery of ‘why’. Known as one of the 5 W’s, a concept used in journalism and investigations, this so called ‘why’ has given severe headaches to most of the students like me (read fresher). The moment we started preparing for the gd/pi’s for the B Schools Mr. Why was always there with us. Be it the preparation sessions or be it hanging out with friends, Mr. Why was hell bent on becoming our friend. Though I did my best to avoid him but without any success. ‘Why MBA’ has to be one of the toughest questions that I have faced so far. I guess preparing for CAT was much better than thinking about Mr. Why and its mystery. Mr. Why managed to give us sleepless nights for sure, and I guess most of the freshers would agree with me. So much so that, there was a ‘why’ in everything. Why Enthusia? Why Technovanza? Why Pratibimb? (These are the names of our college fests). On the lighter side we (I along with Pratik) also had some fun, but the confusion never seems to die. In a way this was a good thing to happen, minus the sleepless nights and trauma (yes it was a trauma). What followed after Mr. Why’s introduction were a series of questions, which made sure that one has to do a lot of introspection. It is only because of this that I could know myself better as a person. Mr. Why also made me realize that it’s important to have some sort of goal in life, which many of us do not. In a way what happened was good, but the mystery of ‘why’ continues….

The Human Run Machine Still At His Maximum Efficiency!!

It comes by running down the ball to fine leg. By the time the little master reaches the non strikers end the crowd goes crazy. The helmet comes off, the head tilts up skywards, the head comes down and the eyes look at team mates and the crowd in acknowledgment and the bat is raised again for the n’th number of time. I have lost count on that one now. For the record this one against New Zealand was the Master’s 43^rd century in ODI cricket. Even his strongest critics might be wondering how he can do that again and again and again. I remember what Mr. Ravi Shastri had said once after Sachin had scored a century, “And they say Mr. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar should retire from cricket, MY FOOT!!!” The other day I was watching a news channel wherein the anchor was discussing about Sachin’s retirement. Well he will be hiding for cover for sure. It is said think twice before saying anything; I guess the saying should be modified for the genius, think ten times before commenting on the great man. Well I guess no one and I mean no one in this world has a right to decide or even comment on his retirement. He has proved himself time and time again and let the man who has played only 425 ODI’s and 156 Tests, scored only 84 centuries and 142 half centuries in both tests and ODI’s decide his retirement plans.

The 163 scored yesterday was special. One would imagine that a player who has scored so much in an innings would keep the opposition interested, not to be. The master stamped his class and scored his first ODI century in NZ. It was a wonderful innings and NZ had no idea of what was coming for them. He took charge after Viru got out, gave Yuvi a wonderful stand and then took on the attack to the opposition with Dhoni. If it was not for his injury I think there was a fair chance that he would have went on to become the first player to score 200 in an ODI. But records do not matter; in the Masters own words, "I am enjoying the game. I just want to go out and enjoy my game and not have targets. While doing that if it happens, well and good. The most important factor is to keep enjoying my game, and keep winning games for India." That’s the way to go Sachin, you keep enjoying the game, keep scoring the runs, keep winning matches for India and bring a smile to millions and millions of people around the world. It’s a great pleasure to watch you bat Sir. Only West Indies is left where a century has not been scored and I hope and pray that the final frontier is conquered. All hail Sachin!!!

P.S. The match was a little too close for comfort. India has a serious problem in finding the third bowler. I guess with Ishant coming back in the next ODI we would see a better performance by the Indian bowlers. And I am still wondering why the hell Munaf was smiling after being smashed all around the park and had the courage to stand in front of MSD after that, luckily he bowled 2 waist height no balls and hopefully with Ishant back we wont see him again in the tour. The first few lines of the post were inspired from cricinfo.com, I liked those lines so much!!

Those 28 hours at IIM Ahmedabad!!!

It finally got over. I had my essay writing and personal interview round for IIMA on the 16th of February. The process took place at the campus of IIMA itself. I reached Ahmedabad on the 15th and stayed in one of the dorms, D – 305 (reminded me of the D block in VJTI and a coincidence that I always go to D – 305 when I am in the hostel). The campus is huge. The majestic buildings made from bricks give an amazing view. I also happened to see the tunnel that connects the old campus with the new one and the photo gallery therein.

So the day arrived, my round was scheduled at 2 pm. I met a friend of mine from my college and also got acquainted with the others who were there. As expected, stakes were high; one could feel the tension in the air. Everybody looked nervous, me included. I was in panel 1. 10 of us were supposed to be present but 1 person did not turn up. We were asked to sit in a room. Tables and chairs were arranged in a rectangular manner. A professor came and greeted us, told us about essay writing. We were supposed to write an essay of about 30 lines in 10 minutes. I was a little nervous as some of the topics for the previous batches were a little weird. But I got lucky; the topic was “How will India win 200 medals in Olympics 2020”. Since I have a very strong background of sports and had done my homework on Beijing Olympics ’08, I managed to write a descent essay. I feel 10 minutes are not sufficient for an essay. If someone does not have enough ideas about the topic he will lose out in the essay, as was the case with few people who just could not complete their essay. After this we were asked to wait outside and the interviews started. I was scheduled to go in 6th.

In the waiting room, people were talking with each other on varied issues. Some of them were clearing a few doubts of theirs. As the time went by, we realized that Taylor’s series was being asked to everyone. I called up a friend of mine and asked about it and was also told about Mclauren series. My turn came and I was called in by the same professor who gave us instructions during the essay. He stressed on the general part in the interview, so I will call him Prof G. The other professor, who I think was a Bengali, asked about acads, so I will call him Prof A. The interview begins…..

Me: Good afternoon sir (prof a), good afternoon sir (prof g)
Prof G: Good afternoon, take a seat.

(Prof A enters into the scene)

Prof A: So, were any of your friends in the panel with you today?
Me: Yes sir, xyz, he is from my college and he is in abc department.

Prof A: How did you come to Ahmedabad?
Me: Sir, I came by train.

Prof A: Which train?
Me: Gujarat Express.

Prof: Did any of your friends accompany you?
Me: No Sir.

Prof A: Did your parents come with you?
Me: No Sir, I came alone.

Prof A: Ok, tell me the name of stations you encountered in your journey?
Me: Sir, startin from Mumbai, there was Palghar then Valsad, Surat, Vadodara, Ankaleshwar, Anand and Ahmedabad.

Prof A: Tell me the expansion of e raise to x.
Me: Told

Prof A: log x
(ye kaha se aa gaya yaar, ye kise yaad rehne wala hai)
Me: Thinking……..
Me: I cant recollect Sir but maybe I can try to derive it.

Prof A: how?
Me: I can use the Mclauren series.

Prof A: I have only heard about Mclaren Mercedes, a team in F!.

(Laughter all around)

Me: Yes sir, it is a team in F1.

Prof A: Who is your Mclauren then?
Me: Blah blah blah….

Prof A: Derive
Me: Started, stumbled a few times, did something and showed to him.

(The prof was lookin curiously, in the mean time I realized a mistake I made asked him whether I can correct it, he obliged)

(well the final answer was wrong in any case :p)

Prof A: What is piezoelectric effect?
Me: told something, he wasn’t satisfied?

Prof A: what is the value of pie?
Me: told

Prof A: asked a few qs on degrees and made me conclude that pie = 180 degrees, asked me the reason for diff values
Me: told

Prof A: what is e and tell me its value.
Me: told about e, dint remember its value.

Prof A: What is LCD?
Me: told about liquid being inside it, blah blah

Prof A: You mean to say liquid will flow out if the LCD breaks.

(huge round of laughter, even I join in)

Me: I never tried that Sir, (;))

Prof A: what is LED?
Me: told something, the prof wasn’t satisfied.

(Prof G takes over now)

Prof G: Ok Prashant, you are from Nagpur?
(haila, ye kaha se aa gaya!!!!!)

Me: Sir, I have been in Mumbai for the past 13 years.

Prof G: But I read Nagpur somewhere in your profile!!
Me: Sir, I was born in Nagpur.

Prof G: How long were you there in Nagpur?
Me: till 2nd std

Prof G: Then you mite be having a fair idea about Nagpur.
Me: somewhat….

Prof G: What is vidarbha region?
ME: told with districts

(then a huge discussion followed abut vidarbha and its problems. The issues of farmers came up. A lot of discussion on the crops being grown and the staple diet of the people there took place. This part was manageable as I had done my homework on Nagpur and the Vidarbha region. In between I was asked about the Marathwada region as well, which I was able to handle.)

Prof G: Lets move on to Bombay, tell me something about it
Me: Told about the origin of the name Bombay, then moved on to Mumbai and why the name. Told about GDP, financial hub, blah blah blah…..

Prof G: I am more interested in history. Who could have been the rulers of Mumbai?
Me: Told about Portuguese and the Britishers.

Prof G: How did the British arrive here?
Me: I am not so sure sir, maybe through their encroachment plans.

Prof G: Wasn’t it a gift given to them by someone?
(this was actually the answer)

Me: Not sure.

Prof G: Who is the CM of Maharastra?
Me: Told

(some discussion on congress followed)

Prof G: which is the other party and who is their leader in Maharashtra state?
Me: NCP and Chagan Bhujbal is the Dy. CM and he is an alumni of my college VJTI.

Prof G: Why did the NCP come into existence?
Me: Mite be, because of some differences with Congress.

Prof G: But their leader respects the Congress leaders very much.
Me: Agreed and told about Sharad Pawar, blah blah blha

Prof G: Were the differences related to Barrack Obama’s campaign in the USA?
Me: Sir, since I am not too sure, I would not like to comment on that.

Prof G: (smiles) we are done, thank you.
Me: Thank you sir.

I could have done better on the acads part. Overall it was a feel good interview. The profs were very friendly, no one was stressed. The profs actually were leading us to a solution if we dint knew about it. It was a great experience.

I must mention about the campus at IIM A. I havent seen a bigger library in my life before. Lawn tennis courts, basketball and volley ball courts, baddy courts sprinkled around, cricket and football grounds, truly amazing. I left in the evening, had no reservation, so had a horrible journey. But it was worth it!!!

We Went, We Climbed and We Conquered!!!

My first trek happened to take place on Friday to Lohagad (after the trek I wondered what took me so long, but better late than never). For people who have no idea about the fort, well Lohagad is one of the hill forts of Shivaji Maharaj and is situated around 52 km from Pune on a side range of the Sahyadris. Let’s go back a few centuries and know more about the Fort. Shivaji captured the Fort in 1648 AD but was forced to surrender it to the Mughals in 1665 AD by the Treaty of Purandar. Shivaji recaptured the Fort in 1670 AD and used it for keeping his treasury.

Initially around 10-12 of us were supposed to do the trek, but people backed out (they really missed on something truly adventurous and amazing). So finally we were 6 of us, me, Nikhil, Prerna, Gaurav, Deepak and Yogesh (Baba as he his called, thanks to me :p) who set out for the trek, most of us first timers except for Gaurav and Baba. As decided we met at Dadar station at 6:15 am and as expected Deepak and Prerna were late ;). We caught hold of the Mumbai – Pune Intercity Express and reched Lonavala by 9 am. We had to wait for some time for the local train at Lonavala, till the train arrived we relished on the sandwiches brought by Nikhil. We finally reached Malavli station, the station was anything but the crowded and buzzing stations of Mumbai at that time in the morning.

We started the trek around 10:30 am. The weather was pleasant with a nice cold breeze giving us company on our way up. We had some short conversations with locals to know about the route and to acquire some info about the place. On our way we decided to visit Bhaji caves (glad we visited it before, as per original plan we had decided to visit it on our return journey). It was a typical cave, nothing too special about it. We had a look, took some snaps and then decided to head towards the Fort. What began next was the best part of the trek. We had to descend from the caves and we decided to take the short cut. The terrain was rocky, a few cactus welcomed us on the way, a dried up water fall passed by, as we went along.

After reaching down we started our journey towards the Fort. A road led all the way to the fort but we all decided to use the short cuts that were more fun than walking along the road. We took breaks in between, had plenty of water and all of us were beginning to tire. At one moment we though we were lost (we cursed each other for taking those short cuts), but we were on the right track. We took a nimbu paani break in between, and started the final part of the journey. Finally we reached the base of the fort and the steps started, we went along counting it (actually Deepak was the one counting). As he counted step no 167 we reached the gate of the Fort. We all wondered how something that was made 100s of years ago could last so long. The Fort was like all the other Forts, not properly maintained (I guess the authorities should do something about preserving them). We had our snacks, took snaps, spoke to the officer there. We were shocked when the officer told us “I take 40 minutes to climb”. Were like “kuch bhi kya”. What took us around 2.5 hours (with all those breaks) is actually covered by someone in 40 minutes. But wikipedia says it takes 2 – 2.5 hours, so we weren’t disappointed. The zephyr up their was refreshing and all the tired souls were charged up again.

We started the return journey at around 3 pm. Going down was a much easier thing. All of us enjoyed going down (that was much better than climbing..hehe). We reached Malavli station by 4:30 pm. On the station a board read

Bhaji Caves 5 km

Lohagad 9 km

We all were like “wow”, around 20 kms in a day (considering the short cuts we took). We had some food at Lonavala, bought chikki and stuff and boarded the Indrayani Express to reach Dadar at 9:45 pm.

It was a really nice experience. I guess the trek would have been more fun in the rains. The trek was tiring (treks are meant to be tiring ;).. hehe). We had fun all along the way. I personally enjoyed it a lot. At no moment I felt the need to switch on my music player ;) :p. For the first timers like me this trek has left me wanting for more, and hopefully I will have many more treks, more difficult ones than this in the future. Really “Ye Dil Maange More”.

So Near Yet So Far!!

The new cricket season began on Monday and it’s not the kind of beginning Team VJTI would have hoped for as we went down fighting by 1 run against Jai Hind in the inter collegiate cricket tournament conducted by Bengal Gymkhana, Shivaji Group and were knoced out of the tornament.

The match which took place at Azad Maidan, CST was not a typical ODI match you would expect these days. It was more like a longer version where your temperament and patience is tested. Winning the toss Jai Hind elected to bat and got off to a slow and steady start. The opener’s batted carefully and made sure no damage was done with the new ball. The partnership was finally broken by Chinmay Kurve who started the season the way he ended last years (Chinu as he is called was the highest wicket taker last year). Jai Hind played on steady and kept the score board ticking per over with around 100 runs in the first 25 overs. Then they had a move on and managed to score at a much better and healthier rate with better running and sensible cricket, getting to a respectable 167 at the end of 35 overs. Chinmay ended up with 3 wickets.

167 was always a stiff target in the detoriating wicket and our openers got to a brisk start with Tejas looking very aggressive. With 25 runs on the board Jai Hind got their first break through. I and Nikhil steadied the ship for some time after which I got out lbw on 15, followed by a bizarre mix up between Nikhil and Pramod as the debutant Pramod got run out without troubling the scorers. NIkhil and Chinmay built on an important partnership and things were looking fine at 100 for three untill when 3 wickets fell in quick succession and suddenly it was 120 for 6 with Nikhil as the only front line batsman left. Wickets kept tumbling and suddenly it was 48 from 48 with 2 wickets left. When all seemed lost Harsh gave good company to Nikhil and kept us in the running. Harsh got out trying to play an expansive shot and it was 23 in 3 overs with a wicket left. Nikhil and Rajat kept the score ticking with vital boundaries in between. The match came to the last ball as we required 3 runs from it. Nikhil flicked the ball to fine leg and managed to run 2 as Team VJTI where celebrating the tied match only to find the square leg umpire give a short run and hand over the victory to Jai Hind.

The match belonged to Nikhil Sabnis as he scored out a valiant 67 and batted out the entire innings.(I guess that’s the first time in VJTI’s history someone has batted start to finish). He showed great patience and had the right attitude to bat on the wicket which earned him Man of the Match. (a kit bag as Man of the Match in a first round match is rare these days) He continued his scintillating performance with the bat and carried on the form of last year.

This is not the beginning we would have hoped for, especially after the success of last year (winning 2 tournaments and a winning percentage of more than 70% overall). There were too many extras, over throws, confusions in field placing. On the whole we weren’t up to the mark. Time to rethink few of our strategies and start preparing for the next tournament, 'Enthusia' scheduled in the second week of January. The defending champs would like to come all guns blazing for sure.