Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Gladiators in College!
As days passed since the first time I stepped in PG I've been trying hard, not to allow my lazy past to set its foot into my education life, once again. Alas, I see the signs of it already with self delayed projects and assignments. If other colleges give pressure situation to their students, I wouldn't want to be left behind and so the self induced pressure."Whatever" said my life, to my so called rationale thought!
So to keep up the good work of self induced pressure, I watched a movie last night. GLADIATORS! Yeah so many years after its release and having broken quiet a few of the Box Office records, I finally managed to watch it.
I knew that it's a motivational movie and I was completely geared up to watch and get inspired for the coming week filled with projects and presentations. Dhan Ta Dhan! The movie starts and the main protagonist is walking down the sidelines of the war field and inspecting his troops when I suddenly hear a word, "huzur" Aying! Is my mind doing instant translation of the English words? Ok maybe I just need to relax. "Huzur" again it said. I adjusted the volume, even though it was at the maximum (lowered it first and then increased it again :p ) "Shakti aur..." Now this one was too real to be my imagination, so I FF (Fast Forward re duh!) the movie and to my sweetly inspired mood I found that I would be watching the "Hindi" version of Gladiator! Thankfully they were still called Gladiators throughout the movie. :-)
The movie was still inspiring I felt and especially the scene in which players played as a team against their enemy on Chariots in their first game of death! The way they protected the team and consequently self was the perfect example of what team work is, and then striking the enemy when the right moment comes. This is the perfect recipe of success! The movie got over and I wouldn't want to sit and do any review about it, because I liked everything in it. So, I sat down to give a thought if I see GLADIATORS in any of my classmates? A class filled with people who have just passed or would have at the maximum a year back, could it have GLADIATORS? A term which still stands to valour, truthfulness and ability to perform, is that there in the kids around me?
My first thought was to analyse the groups in the class. My next thought was to understand each of them. So the ones whom I didn't know were out of the fray and so the filteration provided me with a group who have it in them to become Gladiators. Or is it? The Gang of Dudes!
Mr,Fumble the perfect team man, who is ready to do anything for his team. Someone who is exuberant and who is charged up always. I wonder at times, where does he get this bundle of energy? Loud and lavish with his emotions he is always truthful. Infact his pranks are contagious!
The next in line is Mr.Hand of God! Extremely calm and composed, he is. Rarely have I seen him talking unless required! He chooses his words and emotions for the right moment but at the same time never fails to live the moment. Fantastically gifted, Mr.HOG, I feel is the silent backbone of the group. His silence is his strength as it helps the group for some well needed opinion at times, unnerving. I think its got to do with his love for music and arts!
Now its time for Mr.Humpty! Towering personality, that's what comes first in my mind when I think about him. Soft spoken most of the times but when the moment comes he can really stick to a point, with an authoritarian voice. The best part about him is that he asks Questions and even though all his Questions might not be on target but that doesn't shy him away from asking them again! That indeed is a quality which few posses, to question and get an answer. They say Good Questions make Good Answers and Mr.Humpty surely is on his way!
While everyone in the group is silent and questioning and ennergetic there's one who seems to be always lost, Mr.Tumble. He keeps tumbling with his thoughts but believe you me, is creatively sharp! Infact his doped looks forces you to mistake his abilities and so did I! Whenever he opens his mouth, he is a laugh riot, knowingly or unknowingly! But, undoubtedly, his best point is that he doesn't stop doing, what he cannot, just because he cannot do it!
That brings me to the final Gladiator, Mr. Showman! He is always there, everywhere! That makes him sound like a Superman but I shall keep that one for a future day. Mr. Showman, is good in Networking and at the sametime is lovable! He has the knack of pulling around people (guys & girls alike) when required. He loves taking initiatives in activities where the geeky type wouldn't want to and he puts his best into it, always! Full of expressions, he never fails to emote his feelings to just anyone! Mr.Showman lives each day as it comes and always loves being there and doing that!
Together, they form a nice group (Touchwood) but have to realise their true potential as yet. I did see them collecting study material once before a test and that was indeed nice as together they are a formidable force. Their strength is their Unity. Their strength is their belief in each other. Their strength is in their truthfulness to one another. Their strength is in their desire to do things together. Their strength is, to bring together everyone in the class. Their strength is in enjoying each moment without fail, it's as if their motto! Their strength is their infectious attitude! Their strengths will continue to keep flowing in with time, INSHALLAH!
Kudos guys! Keep rocking GANG OF DUDES!!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Phir se wahi hasssiiii!!!!!!!!! :D
Presentations were always known to be stress creators, especially 15 minutes before the actual. But in M.E.T. we dare to bust that MYTH! Yeah hell! Come on! Presentations could really be fun if its the way done in my class, all fun and really no one interested to listen, unless it's a certain Mr.Bond!
The class ventured into a "paper fight" as the professor sat in the front row to grade the presentation. Paper Fight after long (oops does that make me sound too old)made the class go berserk to say the least! The obvious aim of the perpetrators was Mr. Fumble, but once he left it was Mr.Champion. For a while it was also Mr.Charming who was targeted but he immediately with "chance pe dance" move, took a seat right behind the professor!!!
Back to the masti, what was surprising was this charge was being led by a lady! I have never seen that sight in my life, a lady leading the charge to do masti in a classroom! Usually ladies/ girls are supposed to be coy and "superficially" respectful to the professors, but here is a lady who was leading as fearlessly as similar to, probably, Rani Lakshmibai on the battle field. And battle field it was, the way it looked towards the end of the lecture.
It was raining paper missiles left, right, up & down for Mr. Champion who occasionally opened the book to shield himself. He looked like a street thief who was being mauled by the passerby's! So what does Mr.Champion do to save his reputation, especially in front of ahhmmmm....., he gets up and picks an empty mineral water bottle! huh? Dude! Are you in your right senses was the question each of the perpetrators asked, as they immediately stopped showering him with the paper. Mr. Champion was stunned and you could see it through his bespectacled eyes, as he sat down. That moment , that very moment as he sat down he was immediately showered with missiles once again! Yes once again!! That spontaneity of the perpetrators can never be matched! That very moment gave birth to another something, my laughter, which I wouldn't have had in a while. This time it was the same as the one, I remember, I had during engineering. It was difficult to control, to keep the sound low and even more difficult to stop. It was HEARTY!
The day, mentioned here, can be matched only to an engineering lecture which I can never forget in my life and "yours truly" was "THE PERPETRATOR" then! In one of the drawing lectures, the seniormost professors at K. J. Somaiya was teaching us, as the attendance (the love of my life for which I attended lecs in Somaiya, if I did) sheet was moving around the classroom. I happily put my name in the sheet for the first time,which others were signing for the 5th time! (But I do have the record of not missing my name on even a single sheet!) As the sheet completed its duties and responsibilities it was happily kept on the first bench by a studious geek, under his PENCIL BOX! I asked for it, on the pretext of checking my attendance. The girl ahead, gave me a stare which was self explanatory, "Dude, are you really serious?" it said. Nevertheless she realised it was better to pass me the sheet as that would keep me occupied in the otherwise not so enterprising lecture. As I scrolled through the sheet I don't know how and why that "keeda", as they say, just wouldn't let me sit idle! I picked up the pen and immediately added another name to the sheet; "Digen Verma" If people remember, this was an Ad by Frooti in which they created this fictional character "Digen Verma" and started shouting,"Digen Verma ko bhi Frooti pasand hain!" to create the wave! Yes, it was that Digen Verma whom I had got into my classroom and the laughter in the class and mine too is something which I can still not forget! It was the same yesterday as well and I have no doubts when I say this, that it's "one of the memorable laughter's".
All thanks to my classmates!
Phir se Wahi Hasssiiii!!!!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Back to the Game!
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!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
A New Experience
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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Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Another week in the B-School.
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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Sunday, September 27, 2009
A foot into the PG World!
Week 1 was good. I really enjoyed most of my lectures except the but obvious Finance Tutorials. It's not that the prof is bad but I have a weaknees and that's Finance. I really need peace and tranquility equal to attaining Bliss to understand Finance, so now you know what I mean!
Most of the professors are really good when it comes to delivering lectures and probably that's the reason why I'm enjoying it. I read this on Captn.C.K. Gopinath's Tweet today,""The mediocre teacher tells.The good teacher explains.The superior teacher states.The great teacher inspires." William Arthur Ward " It speaks the best of what I want to say.
To come to the point of my classmates, people with whom I would be spending most part of my day, I should say it has been a mixed reaction (sort of 80-20) 80% of them are good and 20% not bad. I liked the way they all gelled and jumped on the day of the photoshoot! It was terrific to be in that experience, sitting there and watching everyone make noise, jump, smile and click! It was an experience which really helped me sit back and soak the environment I would be in, for the next 2 years. I liked a few of them, a certain guy from a Market Research Agency, got good brains I should say but I only wish he opens up too often. That's something which I felt in this class, that they are scared inspite of the fact that they have been in college now for more than 3 weeks! It reminds me of what my undergraduate prof had said, "Speak, Open up. Even if you make a fool of yourself it's better to make that here in front of your classmates rather than in the Board room." I guess they should start adapting this policy. They will I guess in a matter of time. Some of the guys are helpful, like one who earnestly came forth and explained me the groups and the projects. Another one did some "jugaad" and got me into his group. They are nice, nice people! Some couples already exist in class I guess and of the two that I assumed, I liked the pair! Fantastic they look together! :) I hope I guessed it right.
Masti during lectures is full on, even during some really serious lectures. Like the other day during the Accounts lec by one of the noted professors of the city, Prof.Chopade, a guy actually had the gutts to do mischief by passing the slippers of his partner (as in person sitting next to him) to the person sitting next to the door. The facts to note are 1) he was sitting at one end of the class and the door guy was at the other end. 2) the girl (the partner) was oblivious to all of this until forced by habit she wanted to put on her slippers, after a while. I still cannot forget the "SHOCK" on her face on realisation and the other moment which I cannot forget is the way she clenched her fist and thumped her legs on the floor to drain her frustration! "LOL" was the word of that moment!
I just pray and hope that as the course draws more seriousness all this camarederie isn't lost, all this spirit of being classmates doesn't evaporate and this oneness remains forever keeping the spirit of education!