Faith is good; but how much ?????

Caution n Warning: Strictly for those who can understand Hindi written in English alphabets.

I went to one of my Tai Ji's and Tau Ji's house who live nearby. They are very old and the age reflects on thier body well enuf. Both of them are almost bed-ridden coz of illness and diseases which come as a parcel with old age. A small part of the discussion I had there:

Tai: ab bhagwan inko kitna kasht dega. Hamari halat bahut kharab hai beta.
Tau: beta (addressing me, that is).. ek park hai. usme 10 bacche khel rahe hai. sab bahut khus hai. Tum sabko jakar chocolate de sakte ho, toffee de sakte ho ... koi rokega ?
Me: nahi tau ji ... (still trying to guess what may come)
Tau: ab tum chanta (slapping i.e.) kisko maar sakte ho?
Me: jo apna ghar ka ho ... jaise agar mera bhai ya beta ho tab ...
Tau: haan, paas wale ghar ke ladke ko nahi naa maroge. Bhagwan mujhe apne ghar ka samajhte hai, isliye to chanta maar rahe hai. Isme ghabrane ki kya baat hai .... Hare Krishna.

and I started brooding ... Faith is good ... but where does it end ???????

Tradition of Joote Lo Paise Do: Redefined

Here's Pooja. My younger sister. The sweetest creature possible (only puppies are better, I guess). What she did on her (and mine) elder sisters's marriage was the best anyone can think of. So, here's a summarised version of what "Nautanki" she did on my elder sister's marriage:

The custom in question (you must have guesses it by now) is the "Joote Lo Paise Do" which takes place in almost every marriage in India. My didi and Jiju came to our house after the marriage and we were having a nice time-pass when she along with one of my cousins entered the room, excited like anything, and declared that they have hid the shoes and now, jiju must pay them to get the pair of shoes back. Jijaji agreed, reluctantly. Negotiation started. Pooja started off at 1 lakh (what a thinking !!! ) and jiju at Re1. The deal ended after an hour or so, when both of them stopped at Rs 1000. She got the money and went away ..... happy as never before.

But forgot to return the shoes. Now, the next day when jiju was leaving (along with my sister, ofcourse) he took his shoes and went away. And nobody noticed (no one was in a mood to do so, afterall, my didi was leaving) that he has wearing his own shoes which was not supposed to be there. Pooja was yet to take them out from her "top secret" place.

After they left, and we tried to return to normal moods, Pooja regained the Light of Truth. She tried to contact me and said (very sweetly, you know) " Bhaiya, I think the shoes I hid were yours and not Jijaji's !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "

And she was right this time.... :D

A new file or just a rename ???

Is it a 'create new file' or 'rename' command. I m unsure. Kavita Gupta ceases to exist anymore. For the unintiated, she got married the day before yesterday. Henceforth, she will be spelled as 'Kavita Mitra' and pronounced as "Kobita Mitro".

The moment must be very special for both of them. OOPS !! I haven't yet described Kobita's Hubby (and my Jijaji). He is named as Subhadip Mitra. A great person to talk to. Knowledgeable and polished. Fat. Logical and Understanding. Yeah, all these adjectives are ture yet few, and thats the sole reason why my parents were ready for this inter-caste marriage (first in the family, so u can definitely imagine the kind of resistance they had to face). Right...coming back where we left, the moment is very special to them. And to many others as well (the wellwishers, ofcourse). And I avail of this oppurtunity to wish them ALL THE HAPPINESS OF LIFE.....

Didi, We all are missing u and I am not crying .... Saccccchi !!!!!!

Kolkata Unleashed !!!

phew !!! after 3 days of relentess shopping, I got some time to spend an evening with my lappie. Not because I m done, but because today is a Sunday. and most of the places (where I intend to go) are close today. Now, you must be thinking: what kind of shopping centre is this which remains closed on Sundays ??

Well, I myself never knew such places existed in Kolkata ... but now that I have been there, I m quite sure and am determined to give u the detailed (somewhat) description of whatever I saw in these 3 days.

A point to be noted is that I learnt a lot of things during these "expeditions" (I choose to call these expeditions, and u wud agree with me once u go thru the text :D )

So here it begins (the 'events' are spread over all 3 days):

1) We have a sofa set which was not in a very good condition. The sponge was coming out at places. Needed repairing. Went to Chandi Market (This is the famous place in Kolkata for electronics goods). I have been there a lot many times but today the search criteria was competely different. So, I started seeking "Ganjee Foam" (thats what the covering foam of a sofa called). The passages were narrow and filthy, shopowners too rough (they havent read the customer satisfaction chapter in Kotler). I learnt that BHOR is the best company which produced Ganjee Foam but now its in locks. So, the next best is NATIONAL and thus I bought 2.2 m of the same.

2) got to buy some cosmetics. Papa told me to visit Kajaria Market in Dalhousie. Initially I had some inhibition: Why go that far for buying cosmetics ?? About the market: a highly congested building with small shops (around some 300 ft each). Just enuf space for a person to somehow paas between two opposite shops (yeah, they were that close). Still, each person there is talking in lakhs and crores. Thats the biggest cosmetic market around here which supply materials to the whole city. They dont entertain a single piece customer like me. "Managed" to get some of the best cosmetics, at prices I cud never imagine in my dreams (wholesale prices, you know).

3) Next in line is the Bhikamchand Market where Steel / aluminium items is the core competency. Again in Dalhousie, the market is probably the oldest building I have seen (at least, the outlook suggests so). The shop where I went to have my 7.5 ltr Prestige Pressure Cooker is owned by a person called Mr. Amarnath Kundu, who seemed to a very nice guy. He gave me some discounts (am good in PR :D ) and even showed me the way to Thirhatty Market.

4) On the way to Thirhatty Market. Lots and lots of shops, all selling electrical items: bulbs, lights, tubes etc etc. It seems that all markets in Dalhousie try to develop monopolies by mutual agreement (We studied this in Economics, and as expected, I am unable to remember the exact term right now !! )

5) hmm... straight off to Baghri Market (Dalhousie, yet again). The product which I was wanted to buy was a shaving brush. The speciality was that the hairs were not normal, I mean, common. The hairs used in the brush were taken from a Horse's tail. Priced around 6 times that of a normal Gillette Shaving brush. Believe me, I dont know what it feels like but the price suggests it must be good. Only time I failed to find a product. Returned empty-handed to the pavilion.

5) My last place of adventure (again in Dalhousie) is a market which I dont know by name. I started asking ppl: where is the market where I get Locks and Keys?? and they were smart enuf to understand that I am a new to the place and they must help me out. So I enter another building, shops selling locks of all possible sizes. Got thoroughly confused. Absolutely no idea how to judge a Lock by its outlook. Decided to go by the weight and number of levers. Well, bought whatever my list (made by my mom n dad) asked me to.

6) On the way back... till now, the experience has aroused enuf curiosity in me to explore more. Went about roaming and saw a place which seemed like a slaughter house, though not exactly. was a lot bigger, not in a house but spread across a huge area.

Tried to learn more about the place (Dalhousie and burra-bazaar) and got the following info:

There is a "Gali" where u get only balloons... wow, what an idea...isnt it !! and another gali where u get only hangers ... do the people manage to earn a living thr ?? god knows ....

The places out there in Dalhousie are of those times when Kolkata was the capital city in India under the Brtish rule. No doubt, these must be the posh places then but ofcourse, they dont fit our style of living today. Nevertheless, the places are something to be seen (at least for once). Not only because of the historical value and the best buys u can have, but because you will see how busy a person and how narrow a road can get. U will see people always rushing, no one bothers for anyone else, people using slangs at will and throwing the leftovers of Pan-masala wherever n whenever they feel like.

Well, I now firmly believe that I am far away yet closer (than what I was) to Unleash Kolkata.

The night before POM ....

Stage: 3 o'clock in the morning. Me with Chiro in his room... my loomie (in VGSoM, we have a concept of loomies ... better recognised word will be a Bathroom-mate, though only literally i.e. we never use it together :D). Exam is at 9.00 in the morning.

Me: The day was awful ... reading thru all this SHIT. and now continuing this late. uuufff !!! The night before POM (Productions and Operations Management) is turning out and always is, so pathetic ....

The sentence was unfinished when Chiro jumped up....
Chiro: POM ???????????????????????

and it set my grey cells to the active mode. It was not before some 30 secs that I "reconciled" it was not POM but the most celebrated subjects among the B-school grads: FINANCE, which I was studying and studying and studying ....

Just an incident to illustrate the kind of phobia I was in before the FIN exam. 14 chaps in a single day+night .... it was quite expected .....wasn't it !!!!!!

Back to Nazism, albeit with a difference.

Well, not exactly but somewhat. The similarity lies in the fact that Nazis smacked, whipped and killed Jews just bcoz of the fact that they were born JEWS. And here, we follow the Nazi policy (minus killing process) with the person just bcoz he/she was born.

Yeah, thats a bit exaggerated but nevertheless, it gives an approximate idea with whatever I had to face just a couple of hours back. I'll try to give a comprehensive summary of the same in the sequence of events which followed:

(All actions henceforth, if not mentioned otherwise, are directed at me)

1. Kicked in the A** like anything by god-knows-how-many people.
2. Smacked again, ruthlessly this time, despite the sincere efforts of our beloved POM Prof.
3. Soaked in hot-water (thanks for that, I mean, the "hot" water).
4. Soaked again, this time it was something like Tea or coffee. Not sure.
5. The only time I did something: Sliced the cake and tried to distribute it as much as I can with everyone enchanting the musical "HBTY" song.
6. Smeared with the cake all over my face, neck and ears.
7. Coated with the yuuummmmy Butter Scotch Ice-cream. A suuden shift from the hot-water and hot-tea trend.
7. Rolled on the ground. Well, the ground was not clean, nor was I, but thankfully, it was smooth enuf.
8. Finally, as a topping, an egg landed on my head.

The best part was getting the wishes of soooooo many people at a time. And that proved to be a good enuf incentive for me to get thru a bath in the cold nights of november.

Sincerely thanking all my batchmates@VGSoM for making my 25th bday "THE BEST ONE".



A pic of mine on the D-Day ..... :D
Life is Beautiful ..... isn't it !!!!

morons

OOPS!! Sorry for the misleading topic. There is nothing related to morons here, but nevertheless....w'll add some 60% letters to the word moron.
Confused !! well, the topic for today is Oxymoron. I came across this word during my MBA preps and since then, the word has ever intrigued me. Lemme start off with a conventional definition and a couple of examples for the word "oxymoron":

A paradox reduced to two words, usually in an adjective-noun ("eloquent silence") or adverb-adjective ("inertly strong") relationship, and is used for effect, to emphasize contrasts, incongruities, hypocrisy, or simply the complex nature of reality. Examples: wise fool, ignorantly learned, laughing sadness, pious hate.

I m not going to revolt against the use of the word or its definition here. I, rather, happen to like it a lot. What came in my small "8086 processor" was to have some oxymorons for the much-hyped-modern-era fast-life-loving-people. So, here we go ....

1. Playful Childhood
2. Fresh Air
3. Healthy Love
4. Peaceful Life
5. True Friends
6. Lax Deadlines
7. Free Weekends
8. Nice Sleep
9. Sweet Dreams

Will add more as and when they 'knock' me .......
comments invited for addition / deletion / modification of the list!!

cho chweeeet .....

"Kitna piyoge ??? Subah se pi rahe ho......"

and I was drinking WATER !!
have u ever heard a comment sweeter than this .... :)

I m smarter now ....

History repeats itself ... well, everyone knows that and you must be wondering what has that got to do with mine being smarter. Allow me to explain this:

History will repeat itself and catch u in the following 4 situations:
i) U have read about the experiences and learnt from it (theoretical knowledge types)
ii) U have read about the experiences and and then forgot(dumb)
iii) U have faced the situations and learnt from it (practical knowledge types)
iv) U have faced the situations and still do not realise (dumber)
v) Dumbest ... no idea what is going on !!!

Well, mine is the case number iii (lucky enuf, isn't it) and thus I claim to be an experienced person having practical knowledge (since I have faced) along with theoretical knowledge (since I think). So, let history repeat itself but I m smarter now !!

y not the Gennext !!!!

"Human behaviour can change, but not the principles nor the pyschology".
This was the reply to "Sir, why do MBA's of 2006 do cases from the 1954 era ?"

Prof. KC, IGBO Class, E-201, 6.20 pm.

had a break...... kit-kat !!

We won the Volley tournament. Well, accepted that it was an intra-VGSoM tournament but still competition was high. Six teams participated and played thier hearts out in the awesome milieu created by the spectators. They deserve a huge round of applause for cheering and shouting for the players and motivating them for giving thier best.

So, this is what we did for the last 4 nights. Matches started after dinner and continued late night. Its not that cases and assignments were not in place. Its only that we somehow managed. True managers we are. . . . . :)

Bottomline: Scorpions beat Assasins in three straight sets. Party time team mates ....

wanna win ??

"know your opponent and know yourself,
in a hundred battles you will never be in peril."

Quote: Sun Tzu's Art of War

IIT ka tempo .....

Some snapshots (in words) for illu and rangoli@kgp:

1) thousands of diyas used per hall ..... (biggies litting up some 50,000!!)
2) rangoli: if u see a snap, in all probability one wud think its printed .... awesome
3) The moment judges enter the hall premises, 800+ guys vanish in jiffy (to clear the place for presentation)
4) After they leave, all heads shout in unison : MMM ka tempo high hai ....
5) Topping it all, fireworks ..... too good
6) visitors flooding the place like anything .... if u get a chance in life to be in kgp (or anywhere near kgp) during diwali, DONT MISS IT.

All in all, diwali is something to be seen here.
IIT KA TEMPO HIGH HAI .... kafi high hai.

A different life ..... ;)

its 5.22 am. ppl will say thats normal in a B-School.
ofcourse it is. but it feels really gr8 when u spent a night decorating the hostel for events like ILLU and Rangoli instead of the "stupid" assignments and cases. Now, these are the biggest inter-hall events at kgp. students give huge effort, bunking classes, missing meals and sleep as well as large money for this 15 min event in kgp.

each hall arranges for some thousands of diyas and make figures/theme out of those (in vertical plane!!) for the Illumination. For rangoli, at least a fortnight is spent by the selected few who have good handicraft skills. The spirit among hosteliers is awesome and the synergy to be watched. And it adds more fun when u see ur wardens and profs supervising till 4.

It is a huge fun time for us. No words will suffice here.

cud not control myself from writing this b4 going to sleep.... :)

fcuk the nation !!

ET headlines on Fri-20th Oct

The central goverment is considering the proposal from dalit commision to make it mandatory for all the goverment companies to buy 30% of thier materials from dalit entrepreneurs only. This will ensure thier financial stability and they will have a level playing field with the "advanced" castes.

:Here comes another feather in the cap for the dalit commision. Another law for mouth-feeding the dalits so that they are NOT exploited. One more step to ensure that they dont fight thier way up and be dalits all thru thier life. A huge leap from the indian perspective for removing the caste biases in the country. N d most important, another weapon in the armour of our beloved politicians.

Suggesstion: fcuk the nation. will take lesser efforts for both the participants in the process.

Catch me if u can .........

Tragedy ....thats the word we use when something unexpected n negative happens.
Selfishness.......thats what we are n which causes tragedy for someone else.
Psychology.... a study which is absurd in the sense that mind is trying to define itself with mind.

what happens when u ask someone a question as simple as: "did u like it ??" BANG !! comes the reply which makes u go over it 10 times trying to figure out whatever is meant.
alas, u fail ..... but when you fail someone else sud be winning. So who is the winner. definitely not the other person in this case. The winning smile can be clearly seen on the devilish faces of:
TRAGEDY, SELFISHNESS and PSYCHOLOGY.

they are challenging: Catch me if u can..... n we all r horses, rather "dark horses".

am an IITian !!!

latest rankings from Times Group places IIT as:

The 57th univesity worldwide
The 3rd best global tech-institute.

doesn't that sounds gr8 .... from an Indian perspective
more so when u r a part of the institution ....

Proud to be an IITian.

Marriage =/= Sex

Should one always marry the person whom he/she loves ..... or marriage is independent of the emotional intimacies ??
well, in the previous era Rabindranath Tagore said something like this " Dont marry the person you love, coz once u marry love vanishes ". He was read, recognised and criticised equally for that.
Years later, the concept has resurfaced, this time by Esther Perel (by virtue of a book titled Mating in Captivity). She announces " Love needs closeness and intimacy and familiarity to flourish, desire does not. Desire needs distance, insecurity, novelty and surprise. Desire needs tension, breaches, repairs......desire needs fights"

Management is What ?????????

well, Management is an Art.
And Art is a four-lettered word where the 'F' is silent.

Thats Life@MBA

After 10 days of holidaying was thinking of going back to college tomorrow with fresh minds when just a couple of mins back .....

A girl pinged me up and asked the dreaded question "whats the status of the software assignment?". Now, what was that. Shell shocked. "Oh Shit!! How cud I ? Sud not have done so ?" No use blaming. It was me who forgot and it was me again who is going to have a night out (this time at home) for assignments.

Thats the MBA life. THE MBA LIFE.

written at 12.20 am the night before leaving for KGP.

gone are the exam times

aha ... at last its over. nopes, its not the cyclone which recently hit the east coast I am talking about, its our exams. yeah, exams are the most tortorous time for a student and more so when u get a max of 2-3 hrs of sleep on an average. well, no use of talking abt the exam time .... the best thing is "No more for the next couple of months".

so how does one celebrate dis in a MBA insti ... ?? dance party, daru and jamming ...
yup, we did it all and addition to that ... cheddis.
donno abt cheddis !! Its the most celebrated hang-out space@IIT-Kgp. A small chai-shop where u get a cuppa tea at any time of the year u wish... :)

Simply speaking, yesterday was the best day at Kharagpur. Memoirs for life.