The MDI Saga begins.....

Its like one of those Star Wars movie's beginnings, Long Long Ago in a Galaxy...... or something to that effect. I mean I feel like writing in that frame of thought but what the hell, I'll just be my usual self.

So here I am, @ MDI Gurgaon one of the premier colleges.... ooops B-Schools in India right now. And frankly, I am loving every moment of it. This despite the fact that some things will never ever change including the fact that I slept through my Micro-economics class yesterday (1.5 hrs to be precise). So what is it that makes MDI tick? Well as we managers would say (lolzzz I know!), MDI has many core competencies. I guess I have fallen in love with the red brick campus here. There are very few campuses in India that are completely red brick ones. At 40 acres, MDI isn't exactly gigantic but its quite big. The best part is that it is very well maintained, it has to be the cleanest campus in India. There is a football ground WITH GRASS :) and a six hole golf-course to boot. Its really so green here, you have to see it to beliveve it.

The mess food is, well frankly its quite good and by far the best mess food you'll get at any management campus across India. Also there is Sharmaji's if you need garam garam Aloo or Gobi Paranthas, Samosas and Ice-cream. But the crowning glory is the all night canteen called Arcus. It starts around 6 pm and shuts shop at 6 am. And it spoils you for choice, all kinds of rolls you want, all types of kulchas and curries, soft drinks, sutta, everything. I have eaten chole kulcha at 4:30 am at Arcus and nothing tastes better after a good game of volleyball! Sports, name it and you have it, including a full fledged gym and yoga centre.

As far as the acads go, initially it is quite hectic and you require a lot of effort to pull through your induction week. But after a week, 4 hours of sleep becomes a luxury. Not that there's so much studies to do but there's too much stuff to do here. As an example, today, i'll go to my basement and Jam @ about 10:00pm and then go play badminton @ 12:30 am. Go to arcus after that, have something to eat, come back to the room do time pass, study a bit and go to bed by 3:30 - 4:00 am. I have a lecture @ 10:15 am tomorrow so I can lie in.

The profs here are killer! We have a marketing prof who has actually handled the recent South African Presidential elections. He is also one of the highest paid consultants in India. Our stats prof is an ISI, Kolkatta graduate and he is mad as a coot, but also a genius! His style of teaching is kickass! The thing is that all profs here are PhDs so they are basically knowledgable and very experienced. One prof teaches all management concepts by writing poems on the board. There is a huge amount of flexibility, students can change the syllabus if they wish to. Students can give bad feedback about a prof and he/she will be removed after the mid-term exams.

As far as what I have been upto, well I drank so much on freshers, I passed out after puking a bucketfull! Have been thoroughly enjoying, making loads of new friends, sleeping in class, reading chapters before going for a lecture, discussing cases till dawn, eating north-indian food, starting a small band as well! So you see, life is quite eventful as of now.

Before I sign off, few notices

@Raj: congrats for your selection dude, but wish you were here

@Chillar: Stick to it brother, I know some shit in life is hard!! and soon you'll be getting the first tapes from Gurgaon

@Opium: fuckah, if you ever read this please courier me GUNDA and SHAPATH man! please!

@Everyone in Francis who thought my jokes sucked: This one is from Shubhayan my roomie, from BITS Pilani

There are n people standing in a queue, the first waits for a minute and tells a story, the second for 2 mins and the nth person for n minutes! Now all the stories are different but to a person listening to them they all sound same why??

Answer: Since the stories are not continuous, they cannot be differentiated!!! :P

PS: If you need more, call me.

PPS: My new no should be out in a day or two... watch out for it.

ciao guys, me off to have chicken curry in the mess..... yummy!

cheers,

moksha

The Top 10 series....

Okay, this is something different. I got sick of writing routine posts so what I am gonna do now is put up lists of the top 10 in different spheres, with a little bit of info about each. So to start off, what could be better than the Top 10 Cricket Stadia in the world. Okay a note: The list is purely my opinion and if anyone feels differently please feel free to comment. Without any further ado.......

10.) The Gaddafi Stadium - Lahore, Pakistan

As of today, this is probably best known for the recent terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team. Built in 1959, it was originally called the Lahore Stadium and then renamed to the Gaddafi in 1974 in honour of Libyan President Colonel Gaddafi.Three hat-tricks have been taken at the stadium, by Peter Petherick of New Zealand against Pakistan, October 9, 1976, Wasim Akram of Pakistan against Sri Lanka, March 6, 1999 and Mohammad Sami of Pakistan against Sri Lanka, March 8, 2002.

9.) Super Sports park - Centurion, South Africa

 

This stadium hosted its first match on 16 November 1995 and its my favourite ground in South Africa, not in the least because the Mumbai Indians franchise is thinking of setting up shop here. It was remaned from Centurion Park when the television channel SuperSports brought shares in it. 

8.) The WACA - Perth, Australia

The ground with the most feared pitch, the Western Australian Cricket Association ground at Perth is one of the most famous cricket grounds in the world.  The first Test match was played at the ground in 1970. Throughout its history, the ground has also been used for a range of activities other than cricket, including Australian rules football, Soccer, Rugby League, International Rules, athletic carnivals and music concerts. The ground has seen many spectacular performances including Matthew Hayden's 380 against Zimbabwe and Glenn McGrath's 8-34 against Pakistan. On January 12, 2005, the WACA hosted Australia's first Twenty20 match, played between the Western Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers.

7.) Kensington Oval(The Mecca) -  Bridgetown, Barbados

 

Boasting a 120 year old history, 'The Mecca' has been the home to two of the greatest West Indian bowlers, Malcom Marshall and Joel Garner. Cricket at the Oval began in 1882 when the Pickwick Cricket Club assumed ownership of the ground. The first international match held was in 1895 when Slade Lucas' side visited the island. The first Test match was held in January 1930, when the West Indies and England played to a draw. Since the genesis there have been a total of 43 Test matches played on the Kensington Oval grounds, 21 of those matches won by the West Indian cricket team.

6.) Queen's park oval - Port of Spain ,Trinidad and Tobago

Queen's Park Oval, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, is currently the largest capacity cricket ground in the West Indies and has hosted more Test matches than any other ground in the Caribbean. It also hosted a number of matches in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. It is privately owned by the Queen's Park Cricket Club and has seating for about 25,000. The Trinidad and Tobago cricket team play most of their home matches at the ground. The cricket field has also been used to host several domestic and international football matches. But this is not what it is actually very much famous for. The Queen's park Oval plays home to the second-greatest Batsman of the Modern era (this argument will crop up in later posts too!), the King himself, Brian Charles Lara.

5.) Old Trafford - Manchester, England

The Old Trafford Cricket Ground, usually known as simply Old Trafford, is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, an area of Stretford in Greater Manchester, England that has been the home of Manchester Cricket Club since 1856 and of the Lancashire County Cricket Club since it was founded in 1864. International Test matches have been played there since 1884. This stadium will always remain steeped in cricket folklore, be it for Jim Laker's astonishing 19-90, or Sachin Tendulkar's first test 100 or for Shane Warne's 'Ball of the Century' to Mike Gatting.  

4.) Sydney Cricket Ground - Sydney , Australia

The Sydney Cricket Ground, simply called the SCG  is a sports stadium in Sydney. It is used for Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches, and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian Football League. It is owned and operated by the SCG Trust that also manages the Sydney Football Stadium located next door. Why have I put it up so high in the list? well the answer is 231.33, that figure being Sachin Tendulkar's average here, giving it the moniker of SCG - Sachin's Cricket Ground.

3.) Lord's - London, England

Lord's Cricket Ground (generally known as Lord's) is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the European Cricket Council (ECC); and until August 2005, the International Cricket Council (ICC). This is the home of cricket. The place where all traditions and memories of cricket are preserved. Where the white 'pukka' sahib can wear his white flannels and play the gentleman's game. 

2.) Eden Gardens - Kolkatta, India

I thought of putting up a pic like the ones before but then decided that for the Eden Gardens, its the crowd that really makes it so special. The present Eden Gardens Cricket Club came in existence some time in the year 1864. It has been called the Lord's of Asia.The stadium is the one of the largest cricketing facilities in the world, along with the MCG.The first Test match was played in January 1934. Since then the ground has hosted 35 Test matches, more than any other venue in India, the last match to date being India vs Pakistan on 30 November 2007, where the match was a draw on a flat pitch.

Having a capacity of 90,000 its the biggest cricket stadium and more often that not it is full to the brim. The crowd at Eden Gardens is probably the most provocative in the entire world, often being harsh on the home team itself. One remembers Vinod Kambli crying during the 1996 World Cup semi-final when crowd trouble did not allow the match to continue. Reason? India were 108-8 and the crowd had had enough. It is also the site of one of the greatest turnarounds in Test cricket history, when Laxman's 281 and Harbhajan's 8 wickets beat Australia after we were following on.

1.) The Wankhede Stadium - Mumbai, India

The Wankhede (*sighs*)......  This ground was built after disputes between the Cricket Club of India which own the Brabourne Stadium, and the Mumbai Cricket Association over the allocation of tickets for cricket matches. This became severe after the Test between India and England in 1973. At the initiative of S. K. Wankhede, a politician and the secretary of the Mumbai Cricket Association, MCA built the new stadium in South Mumbai near the Churchgate station. It was built in six months and opened in time for the final Test between India and the West Indies in 1975. Since then the Wankhade stadium has taken over from Brabourne Stadium as the main cricketing venue in the city. The stadium has a capacity of 40,000 and is always in contention to host an international match in India.

Many people consider this to be a small ground and capacity wise it is. But take this for some history. It is the home of some the greatest players ever to play the game including Ravi Shastri, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Vinod Kambli, Snajay Manjarekar and Sachin Tendulkar. It is the home of the 39 time Ranji Champions and the home ground of Mumbai Indians. The stadium has been witness to great innings like Gavaskar's 205 against the Windies and Kallicharran's 187 in the same game in the 1978-79 series and all round heroics like Ian Botham's century and thirteen wickets in the Jubilee Test in 1980. which England won by ten wickets. The highest score by an Indian at Wankhede remains Vinod Kambli's 224 against England in 1992-93 in only his third Test. Incidentally Ravi Shastri's six sixes in an over off Baroda's Tilak Raj en route to the fastest double-hundred in first-class cricket was on this ground in 1984-85.

And to say nothing of the intangible factors. If you have not sat in the Sachind Tendulkar pavilion and chanted "Sachin.... Sachin...." or booed any poor opposition fielder on the fence near you with the choiciest of swear words, you have not witnessed live cricket. The stadium embraces you and hence Shaun Pollock becomes Polly Kaka, a moniker given to the lgendary Polly Umrigar. That is the magic of the Wankhede.

Hope you guys liked the post.... stay tuned for the next one......

cheers! :D

Hawa ki Kokh mein

I wrote this poem quite some while ago. Its in hindi but since I could not get the font on blogger, I've put it up in english........

Hum hasaane ke liye aaye the, Hum hasaakar chal diye

Aap dekhne ke liye aaye the, Aap dekhkar chal diye

Aapne hume yaad rakha, Isliye hum shukraguzaar hein

Hum hawa ki kokh mein sokar aaye the

Hum usi ki kokh mein sokar chal diye.

Hamari hasi ne aapko khushi di, Is khushi ne hame hasi di

Yehi tammana thi ki thoda aapka dukh lele,

Pehle dil ne aapki aur ishaara kiya tha, 

Ab hum kisi doosri aur chal diye!

Jaane kis nukkad, kis gali mein phir mulakaat hogi

Shaayad us waqt hum thoda has denge, thoda ro denge

Jo hume pehchaan jaye, bas wohi ek muskaan kaafi hogi

Hum hawa ki kokh mein sokar aaye the

hum toh bas usi ki kokh mein sokar chal diye

Time for some new Gyaan, trash talk and blah-blahs

Wassupp everyone???

The Gyaan Man is back! Welcome to another post full of crap and bull****!!!

Its almost 8 months since I last posted (really???), so I guess I need to talk upfront about what exactly has been happening in that time. Apart from the world getting depressed economicaly, Ponzi and FD scams here and there, Mumbai being attacked(again!), etc. etc., I CLEARED THE CAT. Yes, you got that right, THE CAT. I scored a whopping 99.40%tile and got calls from IIM A and IIM C for the GD/PI rounds. Cool huh? I guess most you of must have read my earlier blogs (actually rants) about the CAT and moi. So it feels good to have overcome that particular monster. Since I have been mired in all that preperation, I really couldn't write a proper blog! (you guys can stop sniggering and start reading now!)

So, here I am, trying my best to get into either IIM A or IIM C. Hopefully I'll get both calls. Atleast that's what I aim for you see. 

Also in the last 8 months, I have started guitar lessons. Now I am no Hendrix, but yes I can play Floyd's "wish you were here". And I am getting better.  So life's been jogging along pretty nicely. Apart from the 12th fret F-chord positions, I can pretty much hold my own. lolzzzzz! I have also started playing badminton regularly you see. I really need to loose weight, not that I am exactly obese, but yet, I need to look human. :D
I guess this post was more of an ice-breaker. I need to give a definite direction to this blog, write about something substantial. But you know me, I'll probably give someone a sound dressing-down in my next post. And since old habits are hard to go by:

"Knowledge and timber shouldn't be much used till they are seasoned." -  Oliver Wendell Holmes

cheers, 

moksha

PS: I know the quote doesn't have any relation to the post, but I really liked it and since its my blog........

Independence Day.......really???

To all my fellow Indians, a very very Happy 61st Independence Day.
So guys what did you guys to for 15th August this year? I know, I know, it was a holiday, a 3-day weekend, so it was time to chill out, have a good lie-in and then just relax, right?
Its 61 years since we awoke to "life and freedom" in order to maintain our tryst with destiny. much has surely changed since then, except for one singular feature, that being the hoisting of the Tiranga, in offices, residential societies, where-not. My building had that function too.
The scheduled time was set for 10:00 AM, and the flag hoisting was to be followed by a cultural programme and "light" snacks. I make it a point to attend the flag hoisting ceremony every year, so I went down at about five minutes to 10 and big surprise, there were about only 50-odd of us gathered for the event. Now my building has 10 blocks, around 700 flats in total. Considering an average of 4 persons per flat, there are around 2800-3000 people in my building. This means that only 50/2800 i.e 1.78% of the residents thought it was important it was necessary for them to come down for the flag hoisting ceremony. Now I am not a big statistician, but I do know that the subject is based on the fact that you take a small sample, analyze it and expect it to represent the larger whole. If we apply this principle to my case, give a additional +/- 5% for errors, the result is pretty, well, shameful!
In a country of over 1.1 Billion people, only 2-7% people come out to salute the National flag?
OK, maybe that sounds a little far-fetched, but the point at issue is not my statistical analysis, it is the FACT that most of us really don't think it is important enough to get up early, have a bath and come down to salute our National flag, on our Independence day. And this fact is not limited to our National holidays. Consider an everyday scenario, you are going to watch a movie in a theater, where it is mandatory for the owners to have a rendition of the National Anthem. Tell me, truthfully, how many of you sing the National Anthem the way it is supposed to be? FLASHBACK, std VII, Civics class, the paragraph stating the way the national Anthem is supposed to be said - "The body should be erect, hands at the sides, without any movement, the National Anthem should be sung in aloud and clear voice, clearly reflecting your pride in it". I do not think that any of you ever think about these things whenever you go to watch a movie. Did you guys know that it is violation of law, not to sing the national Anthem in such a manner? Also that the National Anthem should be sung for exactly 52 seconds? If you are in class, and an NCC parade outside starts the National Anthem, would you in the middle of the class stand up and recite the Anthem? Think about it.Coming back to my local issue, what really hurt was the fact that the moment the flag hoisting was over and the snacks were announced, the number of people seemed to treble! So their patriotism was only restricted to their gastric calls?
Every Independence day we read innumerable articles about how India has progressed, how the Nation is an emerging superpower, blah blah blah.... There are so many feature films storied around the Patriotism theme. In this moolah of patriotism, have the normal citizens of the country lost the true sense of national fervor? Everyone need not be an Indian army jawan in order to show his/her patriotism. Like charity, patriotism too begins at home. The small things that I mentioned above go along way in showing how proud we are of our country. Cynics might argue that just by saluting the flag and singing the national Anthem doesn't prove thats you are a true patriot. Bingo! You do NOT have to prove your patriotism to anyone, it is for yourself to realize why you love and respect your country. There are many reasons why, here's probably the most mundane of them - Imagine if you were living behind the Iron Curtain in USSR and on a National Holiday, you never got up and saluted the flag, do you realize what would have happened? The KGB would have branded you an American spy and probably jailed you. You live in a country which gives you the freedom, if I may use the word, to NOT show your love and pride in it!
You know what I really hope for? The next time that old uncle who raised the tiranga in my building yesterday, raises it again, there should not be that look of suffering in his eyes when he realizes that today's generation doesn't seem to care about all the sacrifices that our forefathers made so that today we could sleep peacefully in our beds.
I think its time to end my post here, I take your leave with a sonnet that is as true as it was when written.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow
domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the
dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought
and action;

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

-Rabindranath Tagore

cheers,

JAI HIND!

moksha

PS: for all those doubting Thomases out there, I do observe the rules while singing the National Anthem and yes, once during an IMS lecture at RUIA college, I did get up midway and sing the National Anthem when the NCC band played it under our window.
PPS: This is not an idle boast, I am proud that I could muster up enough courage to do it.

2 Months later.......

Well I guess I have used this opening before but what the hell...... I'm Back!
Its 2 months to the day and moksha is back with another wonderfully insane post about some crappy psychopathic thing. Well not quite! You see, I'm rather rusty from not having put fingers to keyboard for such a long time, so rather than being loquacious I would be just rambling about general events in the past two months.........
To tell you the truth, the past two months have been quite the roller coaster ride. Things have happened, causing me to confront some harsh realities about myself, and let me assure you it was not pleasant in the least. The way I have lived for the past 4 years caused me to become a complete worm in certain aspects, things which couldn't be ignored. One thing that I have realized is that whenever any person faces a non-physical dilemma, the only person who can help him/her out of it is the person himself. This is not to be taken as an attempt to be contemptuous of the efforts or the advice that my friends have given me. No. But sometimes you have to take some decisions all on your own and the more personal the decisions more is the onus on oneself to take them. There are times in ones life when he faces a impossible situations, (remember the age old adage "from the frying pan into the fire.......") then you really do not know what to do or to whom to turn. The easiest solution is to do what is right, and more often than not these decisions are somethings which cause you intense pain.
I take this pain as an absolution for all the wrongs that I have done to others, a small repayment that maybe God demands of me. There were many ways in which I could have avoided the pain, but I chose not to. My parents have always taught me that its always most important to do what is right, irrespective of the sacrifices that have to be made. So I try to do it. God knows my reasons and ultimately he shall judge me. I hope to do some good.
I guess I had mentioned that this would not be a psychopathic post but guess what it is! So as usual I bid adieu with a small quote:

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." Confucius

Cheers,
Moksha

PS: CAT time again..... so as usual I shall be dishing out my CAT fare pretty soon!
PPS: Time to say buh-byee to loads of friends who depart for the US; Andy, Ray and Rane figuring prominently.......

The last vestiges of engineering..... The first drops of rain........

The bell rang and it was over, just like that. 4 years of struggle, happiness, pain, tears, joy, love, hate, fights, patch-ups and all it takes is a nanosecond to finish it off! Well its over.......
Today was just like any other, got up at 5 to revise for one last time, changed, went to Saurabh's house, studied there, went to college and sat for the paper. Gave the paper and came out. Was there actually any difference to this day? As far as the ritual goes, no there was no difference whatsoever.
But something did change today. A whole group of boys and girls grew up. We have taken that final irrevocable step into 'life' as it is called. Somehow this reminds me of the British Raj and its departure from Indian history. That was something that was incredible, astonishing, a spectacle yet something that bound an entire nation, shackled it to the ground. Now that we have found our own independence, its time to let go. But you know the last viceroy of India Mountbatten wanted the Raj to go out in all its pomp and show and glory. So be it.........
Starting from tomorrow, no actually today itself, the show begins. Its time to party people! Another month or so and God knows where we will all land up! So what say guys and gals?? Lets kick some serious ass.......I remember putting up a to-do list before my CAT exam in one of my earlier posts, so here's version 2.0:

1. Sleep at least 10 hours a day ( note the 'day').
2. Go to college everyday and have a blast.
3. Watch at least 2 movies everyday.
4. Catch every new movie using the Vodafone Tuesday offer.
5. Join Andheri sports complex for badminton.
6. Go for a 5 day vacation with the entire gang.
7. Play CS every night after 12 (watch out for the next post......... :P)
8. If find time and get through submit application for JBIMS
9. Learn how to ride a bike
10. Learn the guitar
11. keep blogging....

Also this week the first drops of rains poured down in Mumbai. I find that the monsoons are the most amazing season of the four. Just the way heavens open up to satisfy the thirst of the parched earth, scorched by the summer heat, it is just such a balm for the entire world. Although I suspect there will be no one more excited about the monsoons than the Finance ministries across the world! I finally get to play in the monsoons! yipeeeeee!!!
The first drops of rain, bouncing of your hands, the smell of fresh earth, its thirst sated by the heavens, these are some things that really cannot be experienced at any other time. I was standing in my balcony (originally because 4 US chicks have come to stay in the bulding facing my balcony! :P) when the wind came from over the sea, bringing with it the smell of salt, the heavens opened up and ther it was, a small droplet of water in my palm..... gosh! Thank you God, thank you for all the seasons, especially for the monsoons!

And since this is a GYAAN blog, here are some pearls of wisdom for any of my readers who are still in college:

“You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does..."”

1. "A professor is one who talks in someone else's sleep."
   
2. "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."
3. "You are only young once, after that you have to think of another excuse"
4. "College is the fountain of knowledge and the students are there to drink."
5. "Of course there's a lot of knowledge in colleges: the freshmen bring a little in; the seniors don't take much away, so knowledge sort of accumulates."
6. "There's a kind of freedom in being completely screwed, because you know things can't possibly get any worse."
   

And my personal favorite:

"I learned three important things in college - to use a library, to memorize quickly and visually, to drop asleep at any time given a horizontal surface and fifteen minutes."

:D


cheers ppl,


moksha


PS: Comps finish on the 10th.......hahhahahaahahhahahahaha
PPS: really love the last quote man...... damn kool wat say???