MBA : First Impression

I admit that , with only few days of experience in college(to be specific 10 days) am not qualified to
comment on the programme or people. However as seniors and faculty members have told again
and again that getting time for yourself will be become a illusion in days to come , I thought it is
better to write whatever comes to mind. And I must tell beforehand that whatever statements am
going tomake now may be not completely true as I gather more experience here


1. Induction Programme : As per college manual , objective of the programme to initiate
interaction between faculty and new students and between final year and new students.
I am not going toelaborate the process as it will take the fun part of the programme.
However one suggestion 'pleasedon't miss it' as you will miss the whole concept of MBA
programme

One personal experience that I can share is , in the first day of induction when the faculty
asked all of us the question which we had prepared best during interview days ,'why MBA'
nobody raised handamong hundreds of students. It was quite satisfying experience for me
as I really do not know the answer.

2. Difference between Night and Day : I am a person of simple habits when it comes to sleeping.
If  I remember correctly last time I had less than six hours of sleep in a row was during 12th
board exam.I can assure you that from then on I had never have problem of sleeping 7-8 hours
in a day. I have followed that regime for the last 12 years , even  during graduation in my engg
college when friends were active in various extra curricular activities (watching movie , playing
computer games andother things) or during the years after that when I had a job

However in these few days, I have a sincere doubt whether people ever sleep here. It's like
twenty four hours a day and nobody is complaining.

The reason may be in following picture

When this Sunday , I went to bring the books from academic block a surprise was waiting for me.
I signed the acknowledgement sheet and received the books shown above and the madam
distributing the books shared the addition information (shock) that these are not for a whole year .
These are meant to be read in a trimester (10 weeks period) . Other than the above books one
can borrow reference books from library and may be provided additional reading assignments by
profs.

3. Class Participation. : I belong to those marginal section of students who went to govt schools
and colleges. So , whoever in the class raised their hand to answer or question, we used to make
fun of him/her as the 'show off person of the class'. Times change and so as places. Here the
motto is to show off else suffer in your grades.

As in today's class , most of the people animatedly discussed for an hour on difference between
values , morals and ethics , I was searching  for soul like me who was getting bored and when I
find none , the hindi tune kept ringing in my head 'ye kahan aa gaye hum'

4. Friendship or Networking : Here rarely you are going to make Friends .You have to make
networks then Friends (if any) will come to you . I am still learning the concept , hence cannot
detail on it. IfI mange to decode it , which has a near zero probability , I will elaborate in the
next blog(s).

So this is for now. If I do not get sucked into the supersonic pace of life that is a norm here ,
I will come and share my experiences soon.

As the song goes

"Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away.

Now it looks as though they're here to stay.
Oh, I believe in yesterday"

Good Bye & Good Luck Vizag

You can say goodbye to people. But can you really bid farewell to a city.?

I came to Vizag in Septmber 2006 with a single agenda of earning livilihood and in a way revive my
self respect which was lost in the turmoil of being jobless in preceding three months.

I have to admit that initially I hated this place. There was no particular reason. May be unrest in my
heart brought the worst of me. But at the end I submitted to the temptation the city provided and
fall in love with the place.

In these last 57 months , in between hundred hangovers,  I cherish those night drives with friends ,
numerous office gossips , alone moments in the beach measuring weight of sand in hand or on the
rooftop making figures in cigarette smoke or roamings through city on my bike when it rained.

But all the moments are lost forever like tears in the rain. And life goes on.

I can remember the first lines of a old ghazal ' Ab ke hum Bichde to shayad kabhi khwabon mein
mile , Jis terah sookhe hue phul kabhi kitabone mein mile '(In case we get separated this time ,
we may meet in our dreams like those dead flowers we find inside books)

And the first few lines of New Slang (The Shins), which goes as follows

                    Gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth.

                    Only, i don't know how they got out, dear.
                    Turn me back into the pet that i was when we met.
                     I was happier then with no mind-set.


                     And if you'd 'a took to me lik A gull takes to the wind.
                     Well, i'd 'a jumped from my tree
                     And i'd a danced like the king of the eyesores
                     And the rest of our lives would 'a fared well


So without any pretense or confusing emotions , I bid farewell fom Vizag as I bid farewell fom a friend  , 'Good Bye and Good Luck Vizag'


 

10 things of beauty

This post is for the contest "What does real beauty mean to you?" in Indiblogger sphere with collabration of
Yahoo India and Dove.

I have tried to point out beauty of 10 human virtues/qualities /emotions ( through some of the historical figures and events arranged in a chronological timeline to the extent possible.

The characters , events and emotions are :
1. Sri Krishna , Mahabharat War , Spirituality    
2. Socrates  , Knowledge (Philosophy)
3. King Leonidas and 300 spartans in battle of thermopayle, Courage
4. Omar Khayyam (author of rubiyat) , Poetry 
5. Michelango (Sistine Chapel) , Art 
6. Beethoven playing ninth symphony , Music
7. Florence Nightingale in Crimean War , Empathy
8. Roebling Couple (Builder of Brooklyn bridge) , human spirit 
9. Mahatma Gandhi , non-violence & unity
10. Love


One day , master of my world told me to travel to far end of universe
And to find whether children of men are as beautiful as the maker claims
I roamed beyond the realm of light to find new world named earth and my search began then and there

A person shining liking a ten thousand suns , standing on a chariot, in the surrounding darkness of war
He proposed that true enlightenment is beyond this ephemeral world
With that , I understood the real beauty of spirituality

In a land called Athens , a old philosopher refused to escape the prison and drank poison
His sacrifice is a purifying remedy to the land's misfortunes
I can see beginning of new era and real beauty of Knowledge

Then I heard the roar of few hundred men fighting a million in the land of thermopyale
Who are they , for what they fought I did not know
But I can sense the real beauty in their courage

I came to the land of sand , where a man started to write song of life
About wine , love and paradise that will not come
I was glad to have real beauty of poetry

For four earthly years , I watched the artist painting the image of creation in a chapel
I can see the joy in his eye the day his job was finished
I understood the real beauty in art

I heard  a round of applause and saw the music maker who cannot hear the sound of appreciation
Then he turned back and saw thousand people clapping for him , drops of tears rolled down from his eyes
I knew that music is real beauty

There was a war going on , dying people screaming for redemption
And lady with the lamp came as there salvation , an angel in human form
In those solitary nights , she reminded me the real beauty of empathy

A crippled man lying on bed was instructing his sweet wife to build a bridge as it was his father's dream
Everybody told them to stop but the couple did not give in
And the day she walked on the completed bridge , I understood the real beauty of human spirit

I went back to the land from where my search had began ,
An old man leading his followers in a impossible fight by not fighting
I saw the beauty in their unity

After all this knowledge , I still was missing something
Then I realized I have to return to be with the person I Meant to be
And after all these years I understood the real beauty of love