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.