Back to the Game!

So its college life and what a way to live. Every alternate day it’s the game of Cricket which brings together around 12 bright young minds to play on the college grounds under the sweltering heat! What gain would it have, nobody knows and nobody cares as long as we play and enjoy!

It’s amazing to see how much power the game has in getting the guys on to the field and a certain girl on to the sidelines. Feel bad sometimes that we cannot take her in the game even as a “Kachha Limbu”.

It’s also heartening to see some of the guys playing to impress on their passing (girl) classmates. His friends wouldn’t want to be left behind and join in to appreciate the so called shot, even if the poor guy is fielding. After all that's what friends are for, "pehle maar ne ka, phir marva ne ka!" :))

The game also managed to pull a certain group of three who generally don’t mix in with the class and what a player one of them is! His shots clear the ground by miles! Immense power and timing something on the lines of an "in form Dhoni". Sweet timing and immense power which gets maximum results most of the times! It also produces the sweet sound when it comes right from the middle of the bat.

The game also pulled in the topper of the class. The sad soul is called by that name ever since he scored above others in a certain class test. He has almost vowed never to repeat that performance of his but he just cant get his vow right! Infact I guess coming to play was a blessing in disguise for him, as he could remove the mask of studiousness from his face with some princely shots and an excellent catch! His shorts are perfect cricketing ones, unlike most of the others. The problem with him is that he underestimates himself a lot and should do things, he fears, more frequently to get rid of them. His passion is his strength, if only he believes in it as much as I do in his ability.

The game is played in utmost spirit of sportsmanship and is played to enjoy equally. There was a point during todays match when the bowler himself declared a ball as wide, this inspite his team mates protesting. Camaraderie is at its best when some wickets fall, like a certain pair of guys jump in the air and give hi-fives! It’s serious fun like they say.

Fumble and tumble are the entertainers! Fumble a certain able-well-built guy is a weak player. So weak that the guys sometimes jokingly act to have selected the girl ahead of him! Tumble on the other hand, tumbles all over the place whenever he manages to connect the ball to the bat, like the way he keeps tumbling with his thoughts! They are nothing short of the entertainment which cheerleaders provide to T20, not in the sense of their sensual appeal but purely in terms of their entertainment. Infact in todays match they were sorely missed. Nevertheless both the matches played today went down till the last ball. It was the exceptional efforts of the batsman in the first match and the bowler in the second which won their respective teams.

The game has a charm which can never leave a true Indian, irrespective of their age. That’s the reason I went ahead to play it even though I had never ventured on to a cricket ground ever since I was 14 years old!

If I look at it from the perspective of a management student, there are still a lot of loopholes in the whole way the team plays. Encouragement from team mates isn’t consistent. It helps a lot to hear your team mates clap for you and the whole team shouting your name in support. There is an adrenaline rush which comes and helps you to make a productive contribution. But nevertheless they still are a great company to be with, the Cricketing group!

Sadly the studies are going to take prominence over this game and the whole fun of playing it. I am sure, when I pass out this would be one of those memories which I would treasure FOREVER and EVER!

Bus ek wajah...

Har khushi main kuch kum hain,
Har lamha, yeh aankhen num hain,
Har khushi hain baygaani kal se,
Har lamha tham gaya ho jaise,
Bus ek wajah se,
jisne badal di is zindagi ki har rah,
Bus ek wajah,
jisne mitta di sari chah,

Aaj phir woh sham ayi jab hum mile,
Aaj phir woh sham aayi jab hum bhoole saare shikwe aur gillay.
Par is rah main ab humain aur chalna hain,
Is rah main humain aur joonhjhna hain.
Bus us ek wajah ke liye jisse humain ek khwaab sa dekha hain,
Bus us ek wajah k liye jisse Khudda ne bhi kabhi nahi roka hain!

Random Thoughts Once Again

Just thought to post/share another random thought which came whilst making a project. Here it goes...

"Life always lets you have an option, that’s the best part about life, but how to make use of that option depends on how best you could make use of that opportunity.
One of the ironies of life is that if you don’t make the best use of the option it always makes you pay for it."

A New Experience

I ventured out of home with a sick body to carry out an initiative in college called MET-NAG (News Analysis Group). All through my way I was confused as to what would I present to the group and finally I found a topic or rather an article on education which I could speak about.

As soon as I entered the classroom I was glad to see 10% of the class sitting and discussing/ analysing the news. But in between the discussion I came to know abot STORMET Marketing activities to be held in less than an hour. Brand Charade and Case Study on Virgin Mobile. Wow Case Study and that too Virgin Mobile, sounded cool! So I followed a couple of my classmates to the computer lab.

Start Google! Start Wikipedia! Start everything that could help me gather news about Uncle Richard! Looked to be an interesting case as I started guessing what could be the issue they would want us to present on. Branding / Communication / strategies, what could it be? Why haven't they succeeded? What on earth could be the actual topic of discussion?

I gathered as much info as possible and was moved to the venue. I was greeted with scenes of people working on laptops. Discussing the financial numbers, the reach of the advertisements, the everything and anything that I didn't search for. Nevertheless it wasn't the time to sit and analyse what you didn't have and rather consolidate your position. So I settled down with my group members and we started sharing our data. I was completely geared and raring to hit the audience with my thoughts and ideas.

Volunteers started moving around with pieces of folded paper which had the group number. We picked one and announced that we were the second group. I was glad as we would be able to present our ideas sooner than later and all that initial enthusiasm would not die. Wow!

Finally the organiser stood in front of us and started speaking out the rules & regulations. Ok! Now this is new but maybe could be some innovative rules for a case study. Maybe? Suddenly the organiser says, you cannot point out at objects in the classroom. Pointing at objects for case study? WTF? Aren't we supposed to present case study? What does pointing at objects have to do with case study? I finally gathered my courage to call one of the volunteers and asked him, "how would it affect if I point at any object in between a case study?" To my shock and disbelief I was told," the case study was cancelled just 10 mins back and you're the second group for brand charades!"

WTF!

Now I sit here trying to guess what people intend to say about brand names and their tag lines! Huh? I never played this game in my entire life not even when I was bored to death! So hmmmm I'm sitting here and guessing and trying to understand what exactly the "F" is it when you pull your ear lobe, what's it that you indicate when you hit your elbow, what do you convey when you stamp your fist? What the hell is it?

But what I did learn is that communication does happen without words and with minimal actions, with a lot of vigour and excitement which makes verbal communication not so exciting in front of this medium. :-)

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Another week in the B-School.

Body gave up last evening in its fight against traveling to college and the ever fluctuating weather. Lying on the bed, listening to music since morning, the one thing that I feel good about is that thoughts haven't stopped trickling onto my BlackBerry. (Wow! I'm learning IBA - In Blog Advertising :P)

The last one week has been a good time observing classmates and trying to understand their behaviour towards each other.

Camouflaged or how real? Slowly and steadily the gossips, likes and dislikes are coming out. The frustrations are being thrown out in the open. People who looked from one side as level headed and extremely knowledgeable turned out to be very self-centred. Would it mean that the countdown to groupism have begun? I wouldn't know (maybe I'm avoiding truth) and hope not.

In all this there are two classmates who really caught my attention. Both from outside Maharashtra. Both too casual. Both crowd pullers. Both athletic. Both with lots of enthusiasm and energy. But one is more on the calmer side and the other a bit too impulsive.

The calmer guy is more like a visiting faculty and does things with a certain amount of confidence. He also has a knack of becoming teachers pet. Somehow he manages to create a niche for himself in every ones mind.

The impulsive fellow is very regular to the class. Always participating in the right ways. He has confidence which can take him places and is very promising in terms of capabilities.

So would that mean that the rest of them don't really come under that bracket of "would-be-great" people. Definitely not! And I'd be the last one to judge someone like that but these two are people who leave their marks whenever they go somewhere, besides they dare to take the walks which others would be a bit reluctant to take initiative about. Like the calmer guy is a hit among seniors and the peer group alike. While the impulsive has gone ahead and become a part of the debating society. Two things which define a person in college are; how well you can interact with your seniors and how well you could debate with them to put your points. Both help to shape your thought processes. These two have ventured into each of these territories individually but still I would rate them as the most promising in the class because to be successful you need not be a part of everything around. It is all about playing to your strengths and not letting your weaknesses out, which I see in both of them.

I have hit off with a few people around me and I enjoy their company as well. Besides there's this group of dudes who are also a great company, a group which keeps the class lively. Infact the Group of Dudes and the Group of the Impulsive guy had lunch together, yesterday and it was indeed a nice sight seeing so many people bonding together! Makes me feel proud of the place I am. :-) There have been certain surprises too,like a really sweet but quiet looking girl making an excellent, confident and clear voice pitch during her I.T. for Management Presentation. But yeah she has got a long way to go.

The one sad part is that there's no representation in our class from the North East. I would really have been happy to see them, especially since they are music freaks. It would have been a perfect setting of a Mini-India. That's one thing that I would be looking forward to, interacting with people from different parts of India. The course has to open up minds for things which are not referred in the syllabus of Mumbai University.

But I'm sure looking & interacting with specifically these two classmates atleast for the next two years I would be able to open my mind and learn more about North Indias two most powerful places; Jammu & Delhi.

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Indian Youth

Not a great day to start with, reasons enough to have another bus trip to some unknown destination. Unfortunately this time I had to overlook that option as I had college.

Thankfully the first lecture got cancelled and I had time enough to reach college. I was glad to catch up with some rest as I hadn't slept last night. Luckily Anoop was there to drop me in college. I wasn't sure if I would reach college today but I did and I did almost an hour and a half earlier than the next lecture. Finally when the lecture began I almost fell asleep.The subject was Organisation Behaviour. My drowsiness continues till the first break and for a little time of the next part of the lecture which was,until I got the shock of my life. A photograph shown on the screen showed the faces of some National Leaders camouflaged in another picture. An observant student immediately jumped to answer the obvious question as to how many faces could he see;which was 10. The answer was correct but what was sad was,he didn't know the names of all these 10 leaders! That was a shocker for me! Where are these generation heading if they don't know who are their National Leaders? I wondered if this was indeed India Shining? It was sad to say the least.

Later on I moved towards my favourite stress busting hang out; Chembur Barista. The ambience here (I'm writing this blog from Barista) somehow,for some unknown reason works for me. For company I had a laptop too. So as I sat here I saw a life, through the glass window, which many of us still are trying to come in terms with even after so many years of existence. As my eyes wandered from one racing car to another it stuck to a roadside urchin crying. She was wailing and initially I thought she was just trying to create a scene. A little while later I could see a teenage couple talking to that lady and that's when I realised that she had hurt herself and was crying asking for some medicines. This couple immediately and got some first aid. There were so many well dressed & not so well dressed, educated & not educated human beings passing by but they didn't do anything better than giving a second look at the teenage couple. It was atleast a good sight that someone went ahead to answer to the wailing lady.

Atleast there is hope that the young teenage generation do care and take initiative even if they might not get their National Leaders names right.

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Thoughts

A few days back I got up early morning at 3 & was feeling restless for some unknown reason! A few hours later I could pen the following thoughts;



"A look out of my window actually shows how calm everything is when it's dark. The irony is we humans just cant see when it is dark but calm and rather prefer to search for everything when there is light and noise during the day. I guess it's because we fear to do something in darkness,just because we cannot see it. It's so unfortunate that we lay so much importance to seeing things and doing rather than feeling! "





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