Sputnik Sweetheart

So that's how we live our lives. No matter how deep and fatal the loss, no matter how important the thing that's stolen from us - that's snatched right out of our hands - even if we are left completely changed, with only the outer layer of skin from before, we continue to play out our lives this way, in silence. We draw ever nearer to the end of our allotted span of time, bidding it farewell as it trails off behind. Repeating, often, adroitly, the endless deeds of the everyday. Leaving behind a feeling of immeasurable emptiness.
-Murakami in Sputnik Sweetheart.

I like reading Murakami. Most of the time, I am not able to get what he is trying to convey. There are more questions than answers in my mind. But then it atleast raises some queries in my mind. The plots are interesting and the description vivid. It just catches your attention and you really cannot leave a book until you finish it.

Reading Sputnik Sweetheart, I really felt lost. I miss her sometimes. I feel the pain of losing something behind. I feel the pain. But then, this is it. I never tried to go back and turn the things around. May be I am afraid of it or may be the conviction, that whatever has happened is good for everyone, is too strong.

I will never be able to figure it out.

laloo bhaiya ki jai ho

"Laloo bhaiya ki jai ho."

You might think it was the porters on the railway station that coined this nara.
No my dear friend!! It was me who shouted it when I boarded the train for Mumbai on 26th feb. I guess one of the porter who was following me at the station heard it and then stole it. As I was in train, I could not do anything to claim my ownership over the nara and 27th Feb's newspaper all over the country attributed it to the porters.

Chal koi nahi... Neki kar dariya me daal.

So why was I praising Mr Laloo?
Just because he was a guest speaker at IIMA last year?
Of course not!!

As soon as my train arrived on station, I proceeded to compartment s3 seat no 6 to settle down for a long journey. But guess what!!! I found someone else sitting there in 'my' seat. So I go ahead to check the reservation chart to tell that firang "go mr chinki, I am son of this soil and this seat belongs to me."
But to my utter surprise, seat no 6 did not have my name against it. I checked my e-ticket again and was about to curse the IT system at IRCTC. Suddenly a "$" sign caught my attention on the list. It was marked against seat no 6. Being a well-informed consumer in this country, I understood in no time that there was some 'hidden' clause or term somewhere down the list. It indeed was there. I was upgraded to AC-3rd tier. That too for no extra charge. Now this is what I call luck. You pay just 380rs and get to travel in AC from Bangalore to Mumbai. Ye to laloo ke raaj me hi ho sakta hai bhaiya...

Amazing scheme this is yaar. I really loved it.
I hoped that I get lucky in my return journey too. This is called greed!!!
But alas, no luck this time. The train did not have provision of automatic upgrade this time. Koi nahi. Ek baar top mila naa...
Laloo bhaiya ki jai ho...

how much is too much

Gowda: I don’t get the respect a former PM should

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hubli: Former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Sunday reiterated he would rather have not been born in Karnataka.
“It is unfortunate the way a former head of the nation is being treated in the state. I don’t get the respect other former PMs enjoy in their respective states,” he told reporters. He was in the city to attend a private function.
Gowda then turned the guns on a section of the media, which, he alleged, was unnecessarily provoking him. Losing his temper when a reporter asked him whether he had spoken with the railway minister demanding provisions for the state ahead of the railway budget, Gowda said, “How can you pose such questions to a former Prime Minister? I know my responsibilities. I have spoken to the PM for an hour and a half and apprised him of what the state needs.”
Asked to comment on terrorism, he said police should not torture innocents citing terror links as a pretext.

My views: Generally I do not follow Mr. Gowda's political circus. Somehow today this article grabbed my attention. And I could not stop laughing. This old man should stay at home and get some sleep. His time is over. And he should accept it gracefully.

Being a resident of Bangalore I feel ashamed when he says "would rather have not been born in Karnataka." Just wondering where have all those pro-kannadiga groups [or should I say gangs] gone. I guess they are too busy chasing Laloo.

Since my childhood, elders have taught me one lesson. Respect is always earned. You never ask or request for it. The day you need to start cribbing about "not getting the due respect," you should accept that you have lost it all. And that it's time to move on. I guess Mr. Gowda has had a different upbringing.

comfortably numb

How does it feel?
Nothing new. It's same old feeling. May be I have become too used to it now. Nothing gives me a high now. Have I accepted it as a part of life?
I don't know.
I don't want to know.

But I Do know is that it is over. And I am happy for it. It just feels to be great there. I can say that I have "been there done that".

IIMA interview was really an experience in itself. After coming out of that room, I can always say that I could have done better. But then it was never about "could". It was always about what I "did". And here I announce to the world... Yes I did it. I am satisfied and I guess that is one big achievement. Of course the cherry on the cake would be a admit from IIMA. (amen!!!)

The panel consisted of three of the most friendly people I have ever met. These people are brilliant in their ways. Within 20 minutes you become a fan. You feel like "yes, this is what I want to be like"

General awareness, current events, statistics and some faltu gyan. To top it lots of microwave theory. I don't understand why they always choose this shitty subject out of those 50 odd mentioned on my mark sheets. There is no escape. :(

Lots of smiles and a bird that hit the window pan.
A cadbury eclairs in the end.

I am going to cherish it all.

so whos the big daddy?

IIMA website claims [with a big proud smile] that we are world's toughest management school to get into. The-Economist has proved this through its surveys too.

So here is the news.
I am coming there big daddy. You may be the toughest place to get an admission into. But I am coming there tomorrow to give my best try.

7 years back when I was writing IIT-JEE, FIITJEE sent me a greeting card saying
"You have done all the hard work. It's time to be the winner now."

I am feeling exactly the same now.
May God bless me with the best opportunity.
Amen...

Indore 5 things

Five things I would like to change about in Indore:

1. The infrastructure needs a lot of fine tuning. Especially the drainage system, and water supply channels.
2. The central business district (Rajbada, Sarafa, Cloth-market etc) need a better traffic regulation. They are too congested.
3. Air connectivity needs to be upgraded. It still does not have a direct flight for Bangalore. Need more flights for Mumbai/Delhi.
4. There is a good supply of engineering graduates from the various engineering colleges. Need to develop IT infrastructure and get more IT jobs in city [or in areas surrounding].
5. Indore has good potential to be the food capital of India [or at least central India]. It should rebrand itself as tourist attraction in a better way.

validation

Validation is a very simple exercise that helps in lot of routine issues that you face in your relationships and interactions with others. Validation technique focus on accepting the existence of issue rather than denying [or not accepting] it.

It works on three levels:

1. Listen & pay attention: Whenever you are faced with a situation where someone comes to you and starts talking about his/her problem [or issue or concern], first thing you do is to listen. Listen to him with great attention and positive attitude. Your body language should be forthcoming showing your interest in listening about it. There are two more things that you need to take care at this moment - a) Stop finding an answer. Do not think about the solution. b) Avoid judgments.

2. Reflect and Clarify: Reflect on the situation and also clarify it. Ask the person if what you understand is correct. This step mostly will involve framing the issue in your words. Make sure you do not add your views or judgments at this stage. Just repeat what the other person has been saying and get confirmation from him. It will assure him that you have been attentive enough to listen to him. And it will be a positive display of your concern.

3. Now try and guess what the person might be going through. Try and formulate small questions that will help the other person express himself in a better way. Many a times the person in distress find it very difficult to express his feelings. Help them by guessing lots of possible feelings. Something like "oh so you are feeling tired?" "oh but are you feeling ashamed?" or so on. These questions will help you in knowing more about the situation.

Once you have followed these steps, you will find yourself in much better situation to deal with the issue. And even if you are not capable to solve it, you have been a great help for someone to understand it better.

Give it a try. I feel it will work well.

ps: Learnt from Dave and Fiona in the workshop organized by Dream-A-Dream. Will update about it more soon.

ek cutting chai

Sitting in front of my system sipping chai from the same old cup - that's me these days.

Sometime I feel really alone at home; am getting bored of listening to same songs; there are no new interesting mails in my mailbox and I am losing my interest in cricket. I am jobless too. It's the same stuff again and again and again. But you know what I am loving it.

I feel so happy that I took this break. I have finished reading two books in last one week. I have written 6 posts in last 7 days and more are in the pipeline. I am getting back the enthu and energy to start working again with those children. And yes, I am preparing for my interviews too.

"What kind of preparation do you think you needed for these interviews?" someone asked me.
And I here is what I can think of.
I needed to find my reason. I wanted to halt for a moment and look back at my achievements. I wanted to see where all I could have done better. And wanted to check if I actually learned from those mistakes.
It's the time when I want to open my eyes and look around. And of course look inside too.

I am loving doing all all these. I am finding myself. This self-realization would be the greatest achievement from this journey.

Mithya and Jodha Akbar

I am one of those movie-goers that go for a movie because they have to go for it. Mithya and Jodha Akbar were added to my list from the day I watched their first promo. Alas, I took sometime before actually watching them. Anyways, here is my take on both of them.

Mithya

Johnny Gaddar, No Smoking, Bheja Fry, Mixed Doubles - these are all movies that the director makes for his own pleasures. Call it his self-indulgence or self-satisfaction. End result is the same. An honest effort of movie-making. Mithya is another movie in same genre. That Rajat Kapoor (director for the movie) had to wait for almost 10 years to get this script on cinema-screen, shows that how difficult it is carve your own paths in this fantasy lands. But again, the fact that he has finally done it speaks a volume about his passion and determination. Story is novel so is the execution. Time and again I have said that I am a big fan of Ranveer. This movie just adds one more feather to his cap. Storyline is fast and you would love to flow with the plot. Watch it if you like to watch a good movie.

Jodha Akbar

Govarikar is the showman of new millennium. If you think Lagaan was a movie of grandeur scales. Think again, Jodha Akbar is the father of all the grand scale movies. And when I talk about scale, I am not talking about the big and lavish sets. They are just the symptoms. The actual strength of the movie is in the conviction with which he has made it. Mera Naam Joker was another such grand movie. It just shows the passion he has for a dream-cinema. And take my words, you have not seen such a beautiful movie in recent times. Watch it for its camerawork, watch it for its execution, watch it for Hrithik. I just loved the movie.

Entry No. 444

One bad thing about new expressways is that they do not give milestones their due respect. Most of the signboards are either the advertisements or the information charts. Journey is losing it's significance, and so are milestones. Nobody wants to see what they have achieved. The hunger of moving forward (or keep going) is insatiable. Every junction where you have a chose the next course of action is the new generation milestones.

I am in the mid of a journey. The work is only half done. I do not want to stop; but I do not want to miss these milestones either.
Let me note down my footsteps. Someday I will look back and trace my journey.

Entry no 444.

An African Proverb

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.

Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up
It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.

It doesn't matter if you are the lion or the gazelle.
When the sun comes up, you better start running.

- An African proverb.

while i was sleeping

All of you who have read "The World Is Flat" by Thomas Friedman would surely relate to the title of the post. I wanted to write a post on the same last night, but somehow did not do.
Today I have got one more reason to write about it. And that's why I am here.

One of my biggest fear is that I will get behind in the Race while I was sleeping. Which Race? you may ask. It is the race of time. Sleeping is a symbol of ignorance. Last 7 years or so, one the biggest learning I have got is that information and knowledge is the most influential thing in life. It makes you what you are. Of course character and vision [dreams for us not-so-larger-than-life human beings] play an important role too. So the race is always on. To gather more knowledge, to use it more.

I had another interview today. And to my good luck [or was it bad luck? Doesn't matter now] I mentioned about "The World Is Flat". From that point till the end of interview, the discussion revolved around the book and its theme. I have not yet finished the book. Still it was a great experience discussing that book with those professors. They know so much and share their knowledge so nicely. This is what I want to be, I say to myself day in and day out. Till now all my interviews have been a really great time meeting nice people. They make you feel special and trust me that makes your day. I hope this continues for the remaining ones too.

Amen!!

one step at a time

After certain extent 'it' does not feel any odd. It's like a religious duty that you do without questioning its motives.

I gave one interview on tuesday morning in Bangalore; took at late night flight to Mumbai; Gave two rounds of group interviews [plus two irritating psychometric tests] on Wednesday; and took a late night flight to Bangalore.
Now I am here preparing for the next one, that is tomorrow afternoon.

I will call it my good luck to be facing such a mad rush.

But one thing I have realized is that it is always one step at a time. All these days come in their own signature style. And yes, one bad or good day has no bearing whatsoever on the outcome of the other; except the mental conditioning that comes from the experience. Learning from one does help in the next one. And that's the only thing that is going to form a link between all my interviews.

As I have told earlier, "It is me against myself now" And I really stand by it today.
Will update as and when I have more stories to share.

your time has come...

"Weary of his company's fear of change, Andi took it upon himself to show them exactly what they'd been missing"
"Whoa, okay!! We'll switch to J****!"

Sitting on my comfy seat in cube 4.0.3.3 whenever I raise my head, the comic strips on the wall greet me with messages like those given above. They bring smile on the face immediately.

Life has been so good so far. Fun mixed with work. It's addictive, my friend. Take my words for it. I have got used to it now. I have met so many interesting people in such a short span of time. I am really lucky.

Today:

"Your password is about to expire in 2 days. Do you want to change your password now?" When I see this message everytime I log in to my system, it gives me a blatant warning that your time has come. You have been here for so long. Time for a change!!!

Oh No... Not so soon!!!. This joureny is not yet complete.

But then I feel the omens are shouting it aloud. It is the best for everyone. Last year almost the same time, one gyani gave me this small lesson:

"End of the day you can say only two things:
1. Yes, I did it.
2. If I had done it.
& you know which is more glorious"

Truely. I have got responsibilities that want me to give my 100%. And I am certainly going to do that. This last one year has been a good learning experience and I surely will charish it my whole life.

Time for a change. It's my time.

ps: As I write this post, I realize that even my yoyo has stopped working smoothly.
Yes yoyo, I got what you saying. Just one more day buddy. Bear with me.