Shak " Samvit 09 " @ IIM L

There are days when waking up early on a Sunday

morning is worth the effort..

So, after the usual week long hectic schedule, I woke up
at 9 AM (this IS early by our standards..) and readied
myself for 'Samvit 09' -the Leaders' Conclave @ IIML

Our 'Samanjasya' was decorated quite elegantly, as if it
was about to hold some big fat Indian wedding reception.
The flowers, the tapestry, the welcome gate… all looked
quite awesome.

Taking a seat amidst students who had already arrived,
I sat and thought – will it be one of those Gyan sessions
that do not make any sense and are reminiscence of Shoaib
Akhtar’s bouncers that fly miles above the heads…
or is it going to be an enriching experience that our institute
takes pride in showcasing as one of those ‘intellectually gratifying’
sensations..

And to my lovely luck, it turned out to be the latter case…

As the big-shots started entering the hall, I could sense 'that' air of
corporate excellence that everyone loves to sniff....

All formalities duly performed, the honchos took the seats on
the stage, our Diro Sir sitting amidst them as well.

Mr. Sanjeev Srivastava – Editor, BBC India took the reins of
the conclave in his hands and laid down some basic rules
regarding the time limit for each of the six highly distinguished
speakers.

And then it was all GYAN ka Saagar..

The talk took off from discussing various upcoming ventures
like green energies, services (IT / Non IT), finance, education,
infra to name a few…

Ms. Kalpana Morparia, the highly acclaimed CEO of J P Morgan
talked about the idea of women empowerment by usage of
‘money on the move’ – the idea of e-trading and e-commerce
using hand held devices.

Mr. Ajit Balakrishnan, the acclaimed founder of Rediff.com,
talked about the entrepreneurial spirit that is so critical for
the growth of any country.

The conclave took a different turn when our esteemed guest
Dr. Sandeep Pandey, Ramon Magsaysay Award Winner for 2002
talked about the negative role of MNCs in the bio degradation
of natural resources in India. He was all in for a public outcry
that should be done on the lines of ‘Non Cooperation Movement’
to oust such MNCs.

The high point of the talk was when Ms. Meera Sanyal,
CEO, ABN AMRO, challenged us to dare and take the road less
traversed – politics. The crowd too was quite reactive and
asked the leaders to share their thoughts on any road map
that they would like to suggest for taking up the idea of civil
involvement.

The conclave was a big success, and made me realise what
all it takes to become a leader in a land of promises, of hope,
of opportunities – India.

Hail India…

.

Taandav Nritya @ Insti party @ IIM L

We were back from a tiring

detour to Hazratganj and

Gomti nagar Malls..

Making sure that we 'indulge'

and vent out our energies that

have been cocooned and

focussed towards the

Mid Term Examinations...

Well, Mid Terms kaisey huye..??

I cannot answer this question as of now

because of two reasons...

1) I have no idea wat i wrote in the sheets..

some greek, some roman, some ancient Hebrew i

guess... But yes, i encompassed the Entire Human

kind and took inspiration from all the living and dead

to answer to the GLOB(E)alised questions... ;-)

2) Also, i am still praying to God...and there is quite a

possibility that He might pick up the call ;-)

Anyway, let's not move away from the main point..yes,

we returned from the 'City' and decided to meet at 2300

hrs (yes, tht's exactly wat i told them..) outside 'SamanJasya'

- our Holy Convocation Hall...

As usual, the gals took more than the stipulated amount of

time, and during that time, i had actually helped a poor damsel

in distress ( i won't name her due to privacy issues..) to enter

the doors of the 'convo hall-turned-Music DJ Floor' ...

Once we were inside,

the Music/booze/etc.

(can't explain wat etc. is..

just for a clue - 'Grass'

was greener on my side)

'took' me to the Seventh

Heaven,

a place where i remained

seated for the entire evening ..

only to come down on frequent intervals and display

my 'Taandav' for christ's sake..

During the entire 3 hrs i was there.. i did these things :

1) Danced light years ahead of

my stamina ..

2) Played dance instructor to

few innocent girls who

were simply standing on the

floor lines and were not

entering the 'Dragon'..

3) Understood the meaning of

'Grass can be greener on

Ma Side'..

4) Made friends with unknown faces..

some batchies,

some 'unsuspecting' seniors....

5) Fell backwards, only to be saved and

cheered up to again get up and dance...

The night it was, what a blast it was..!!

Next time specials - flavored vodka .. !!!

... Rail Gaadi ...

Few mercedes , a couple of bentleys, few dozens of 

BMWs wizzed pass us as we stood there , silent.. 

This silence marked the end of a long discussion on "life"

and was waiting for the final summarization on the one

hour talk...

And then he said :

" Yaar, apni life na, ek train ki tarah hoti hai...

   Uska ek track hota hai, aur agar aapney us

   track se bahar jaaney ki koshish ki, to pakka

   aapki train patri se utar jayegi..."

(Our life is like a train, which moves on a pre-decided

  track. And if we try getting off that track, then this

  train gets derailed....)

These words of wisdom came from Sanay, my 

kindergarten pal, while standing on the sides of a

bustling Hyderabad road.

Quite well put , i shall say, from a person who i would

say has seen quite a lot of those highs and lows of life..

"Isiliye yaar, bus Bhagwaan se ye prayer karni chahiye

 ki uskey devdoot , joki her track change karney wali

 jagah per khadey hain, wo sahi samay per sahi track

 change ker dain... taaki humari ye life ki train apney

 Final Destination pahunch sakey...."

(That's why my friend, one should just pray to God so that

  His Angels, that are deputed at every place where the track

  gets changed, change this track to the correct path, at the 

  correct time.. So that our train of life can reach its 

  Final Destination...)

Never knew my friend could be so deep and observant in his

thoughts..For me, he had always been that 'kid-on-the-block'

who had always taken life with a pinch of salt... But as has 

found by me and zillions of others earlier, one doesn't need to 

get his/her hair greyed to speak out these words of wisdom..

Anyone can be a Fountainhead... 

U .. Me.. Hum...

.

Blind Date

Disclaimer : Any resemblance to any person dead / alive
is Surely Intentional....

Scene : Blind Date between a guy and a gal who have
been chatting/talking since last few months now.
They haven't yet seen each other so far and have
finally decided to meet each other for a Date.

Actors : Guy and Gal and Poor Chauffeur ( PC )..

Guy : (To himself)
".. is bandi se main pichhley 3 mahino se
baat ker raha hoon... baat-cheet se to
theek lagti hai.. Dumb bhi nahi lagti...
(now tht's a rarity)...
Bus Bhagwaan, thoda achchi si dikhney
waali honi chahiye.. life ban jayegi..."

Flashback :-
This Guy had been making all efforts to make himself
look as Presentable as humanly possible. He had joined
the best Gym in the city and had been hitting it regularly.
He now gets his hair styled by the best stylist in the city.
On top of this, he had bought a branded attire from one of
the biggest fashion houses in the city.

The icing on the cake is the Chauffeur driven car
he had rented for the D Day...

This Guy.. otherwise quite balanced and wise in his
decisions, has lately been literally blown over by the
enchanting voice of this Gal.

It all had started when this gal visited this guy's profile
on one of the most popular social netwrking site.
Intrigued by a gal's visit his profile, the guy himself
paid a visit to her profile.

The interaction went from Elementary School to
Junior High status when they started chatting and
eventually graduated when they started clinging
to their respective mobiles for hours at stretch.

General talks gave way to flirting..and then came a
point when they were talking the whole night over a
single call. (u all wud be astonished to know that
during that particular month, even the CEO of their
mobile service provider was personally tracking their
calls, given the high revenues that these calls were
generating..)

And then, they decided to meet...

Cut - to Present :
Guy gets into his flashy attire, sprays his costly
perfume and offers his prayers to God
(again... a rarity..)
" Hmmm.. Bhagwaan, sab sahi jaa raha hai
abhi tak.... bus ye bandi achchi si nikle..
main prasad chadhaunga mandir main... "

Although a bit skeptical about his fate, he still
feels that the good deeds done by him so far in
life are going to make sure that this gal turn
out to be the 'damsel of his dreams'....

This poor chauffeur (PC), a middle aged Bihari ,
nonchalantly waits with his car, blissfully unaware
of what he is going to witness in the coming hours.

PC : Kahan chalna hai babuji...?
(Where are we going Sir)

Guy : Wo Civil Lines wala Club na.. wahan chalna hai...
(That Club in Civil Lines, there we are supposed to reach)

PC : Uskey baad kahan chalna hai..?
(Thereafter where would we be going..)

Guy : Arey, pehley F-Bar chalo.. abhi se hi poorey
din ka details chahiye kya..!!
(First take me to F-Bar...Do you want the complete
day's itinerary or what..)

They had planned to meet at one of the most
sensuous Lounge in the city. And when the car
stopped in front of its entrance, man.. ,
the guy's heart beatings were sounding almost
like canons firing in a rhythmic fashion.

After all, this was a Blind Date.. and just like
anything can happen in a Cricket match, this date
could either become a memorable, romantic
encounter of two love-struck individuals..
or (err...) could turn out to be one of the
scariest nightmare of all times...

And then, remembering all the angels and demons..
the guy enters the Lounge..

And suddenly, Earth stopped to revolved and Clocks
forgot to Tick.. the guy's heart skipped a beat .. and
the guy turned into a Zombie..
For what (i cannot say even say 'who') was standing in
front of him was Zillion light yrs far from something
(again, i cannot even say 'somebody') beautiful...

To start with, she seemed gluttony personified ...
her assets (both which should have been highlighted
and which should have been wrapped ) were literally
bulging out and had crossed the 'fit' limits by at least
few yards...

The dressing sense was a disaster and resembled
'Kahin ki Eent, Kahin ka Rora..
Bhanumati ne Kunba Joda'
(an indian version defining a bad bad 'Pandora's Box')
"who could wear a Saree , and that too an Orange one
to a Lounge.. yaaackkkk..."

Coming onto the makeup, hmmm, it could have given a
small toddler very tight competition for the most
horrendous usage of lipstick and rouge..

Bole to, Guy ki badi waali lag chuki thi..

Nowhere to run, Nowhere to Hide..
The Guy took this blind date , in his Stride..
With No Gods around, Just thyself as Guide..
'I will play a decent date', he finally did decide..
- K_J

What orchestrated in the next couple of hours,
calls for 'few more blog posts' to say the least..

Kismet Konnection - Volume 1

Jab teri gali aaya ...

Sach tabhi nazar aaya ..

Mujhe mein hi woh khusboo thi ...

Jis Sey tune milwaya ....

Out of those millions of by lanes of the sprawling city,

it was highly improbable that he was going to find out

the light of his life in that tiny little 'galli' (lane)..

In past he had tried , rather unsuccessfully, to search and

meet 'the one' made for him.. but on all those ocassions(disasters),

he had literally been at the 'recieving end'..

A pyscho nymphomaniac at one time, an emotionally

imbalanced girl after a break-up at another time...

were the examples of girls he had come accross. His 'misadventures'

had left him gasping for air...(again, literally...)

This time, it is different, and strangely, all makes sense

to him now ....

The void he has been feeling his entire life got handsomely

filled with love and affection the very moment he saw her..

The smiling beauty was all Human,

.....yet Heavenly at the very same moment..

Her brilliant existence was forcing the guy to pinch

himself (Ouch..) and ensure that he was not dreaming..

And yes, he was certainly not dreaming at all... (Insha Allah..)

Her angelic smile produced much wattage that could have

lighten up the entire city... her voice sounded like that of a

Canary, and it felt as if she was crooning the melodious of all

songs ever written...

The girl asked :

"Tum itna chup kyon ho.. ? " (Why are you so silent..?)

"Kuchh to bolo..!! " (Speak up something..)

The Guy was not having any answer at hand.. all he could feel

midst those blaring city noises was the subtle breeze coming

straight from the Himalayas..

the gurgling of the mountain stream ..

the 'swish-swoosh' misty hilly winds ...

And he managed to speak -

" Tum ho hi itni achchi, mujhey samajh nahi aa raha ki mai kya boloon..!! "

( You are so good, i am not finding any words to speak ..!! )

" Tumharey saath kitna zyada achcha laga, main nahi bata sakta... "

( I won't be able to tell how Good I felt to be with you.. )

" Aaj ka din, meri ab tak ki life ka one of the best tha ..."

( Today was one of the best days of my life so far...)

"Aur main chahta hoon ki meri baaki ki life bhi aisee hi rahey..."

(And i wish that rest of my life goes good like this only..)

She had definitely understood the magnanimity of his feelings

in the subtlety of his words…

The girl smiled, giggled, and had a twinkle in her eyes...

"Kya Ladki ne HAAN keh diya..."

"Ya Fir Ladki ne Naa keh diya..."

In Sawalon ka Jawaab janney ke liye..

wait karain for ...

"... Kismet RE-Konnection ..."

.