Why do we expect so many things in life?
Why do we expect that we will get an A? Even if we have put in a lot of effort?
Why do we expect to get that dream job? Even If we have worked really hard for it?
Why do we expect to get a role? Even If we really believe we suit it to a T?
Why do we expect a friendship to be reciprocated? Even if we give it our best?
Why do we expect to be liked? Even if we are nice to everyone around us?
Why do we expect us to be heard? Even if we are saying the most logical of things?
Why do we expect to be rewarded? Even if there is nobody else who deserves it more than us? Right now?
“Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway”
Monday, July 30, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
A Day at Hogwar..err..ISB
I get up to the sound of my alarm, snooze it and go back to sleep again. 10 minutes later the maid rings the bell and this drags me out of the bed. I open the door and hand over the clothes to be washed and then close the door and come back to the room. The bed looks inviting and I am about to crash again when the alaram wakes up from its snooze and makes that awful sound again!
I cut it off and stand there rubbing my eyes and look at my table. I see the latest edition of Harry Potter and wish for a moment that I had a time-turner which would allow me to go back a few hours in time, to sleep again!!
I make my way for the morning ablutions and dress up quickly and again, like so many previous occasions curse myself for not getting up early because I am going to miss the breakfast, you see! My eyes again fall on the HP book and this time I long for a portkey to get myself transported to the class room from the SV. But the reality is that we are “muggles” and so walk you will, from the SV to the class room.
As I lock the room and rush out I imagine ISB to be Hogwarts and smile to myself at the thought of apparating right in the middle of JR’s class.
I rush into the dining hall and gulp down a glass of juice and then grab a cup of coffee and then run towards the lift. There will always be people to give me company in this last minute rush and 5 minutes later, we are well into the first class of the day.
Classes in ISB are fun for multitudes of reasons. No, there are no star gazing sessions taught by Trelawney here, and lest I be mistaken to be a nerd, let me quickly clarify that the fun aspects come from not so much so the course in itself, but the behavior of the class.
There is no limit to the kind of innovative things you can do in the class – count the number of people who sleep, number of times the marathon sleepers’ fall down, struggle to wake up and then again fall down. Count the number of people chewing gum in the class (at least 1), count the number of people who listen to each and every word that the prof utters and then hastily write it down, time the entry of the last comer and see if he/she beats his/her earlier record. If you have a like minded person sitting next to you, then there is no concept of a boring class!
But all said and done, you do listen to the prof in between all these and try to absorb the pearls of wisdom (well most of them at least!)
If it is a class with CP and if it has weightage in excess of 10%, then you can be sure of some electrifying comments from the junta! There are people who makes points which are very relevant and if it from people with the relevant background and people of stature, then you shut up and listen to them – there is nothing which beats real life experience after all!!
There are also people who go on and on just for the sake of air time and makes you wish you had an invisibility cloak which you could have worn and gone over and clonked them on their heads!!
1 hour into the class and then the break – when the sleepy heads rush out for a coffee and the nicotine heads rush out for their “Breath of fresh air”!!!!!
The same story goes on and the classes for the day get over. The dedicated souls go back to their Quads/LRC for starting off the readings for the next day whereas the others hang around at the café for a cup of coffee and pakodas / samosas and make plans for badminton/booze!!
So you head off to the recreation centre and have a good 1 hour of badminton/gym/squash, you pick your choice! But hey, there are the club meetings and the speaker sessions to be attended, so you rush off to them one after the other! Lord Voldermort would have had it so easy, what with his 7 parts; he could have attended 7 different sessions/clubs at the same time!
You then trudge back to Goel for yet another mundane dinner (for lack of variety) and when you are in absolutely no mood to have another goel meal, you choose its cousin, the café!!
After the dinner, you get back to the room and start preparing for the “day”! Starting with the assignment and pre-reads, the google chats/blogging in between for the resourceful who are good at multi-tasking. Heinously long cases are skimmed with a speed which would have put the fire-bolt to shame! Speed reading is one talent which you pick up by the second term at ISB!
A welcome break in between this madness of reading at night is provided by the birthday celebrations at the pool. Ok, so who gets dunked? The birthday boy/girl and then the study group mates, then the quaddies, then the classmates. What?!! Did you say classmates?!! Yes!!! Whoever goes to the pool gets dunked, unless they keep a poker straight face and convey that they are suffering from some illness, which if one drop of water falls on their body will endanger them gravely!!
The dunk-mania ends with the cutting of the cake and the decorating of the birthday boy/girl’s face with the largest piece of cake!
And so the days overlap with each other and one class leads to an assignment to a meeting to a booze/party to a dunking to a badminton match to a mid term exam to another class and it goes on and on!!
Time flies here at ISB and once in a while that dreaded mail comes which says that XXX marks have been uploaded…..!
And then, when you go and look at your 6 weeks worth of cram results, you so wish you could have said “Repairo” and swhoosh, the marks changed to something less draconic!!
Much like the Hogwartz world, we come to love and hate ISB, with the former taking the upper hand!!
Sigh! I wish I had a wand!!
I cut it off and stand there rubbing my eyes and look at my table. I see the latest edition of Harry Potter and wish for a moment that I had a time-turner which would allow me to go back a few hours in time, to sleep again!!
I make my way for the morning ablutions and dress up quickly and again, like so many previous occasions curse myself for not getting up early because I am going to miss the breakfast, you see! My eyes again fall on the HP book and this time I long for a portkey to get myself transported to the class room from the SV. But the reality is that we are “muggles” and so walk you will, from the SV to the class room.
As I lock the room and rush out I imagine ISB to be Hogwarts and smile to myself at the thought of apparating right in the middle of JR’s class.
I rush into the dining hall and gulp down a glass of juice and then grab a cup of coffee and then run towards the lift. There will always be people to give me company in this last minute rush and 5 minutes later, we are well into the first class of the day.
Classes in ISB are fun for multitudes of reasons. No, there are no star gazing sessions taught by Trelawney here, and lest I be mistaken to be a nerd, let me quickly clarify that the fun aspects come from not so much so the course in itself, but the behavior of the class.
There is no limit to the kind of innovative things you can do in the class – count the number of people who sleep, number of times the marathon sleepers’ fall down, struggle to wake up and then again fall down. Count the number of people chewing gum in the class (at least 1), count the number of people who listen to each and every word that the prof utters and then hastily write it down, time the entry of the last comer and see if he/she beats his/her earlier record. If you have a like minded person sitting next to you, then there is no concept of a boring class!
But all said and done, you do listen to the prof in between all these and try to absorb the pearls of wisdom (well most of them at least!)
If it is a class with CP and if it has weightage in excess of 10%, then you can be sure of some electrifying comments from the junta! There are people who makes points which are very relevant and if it from people with the relevant background and people of stature, then you shut up and listen to them – there is nothing which beats real life experience after all!!
There are also people who go on and on just for the sake of air time and makes you wish you had an invisibility cloak which you could have worn and gone over and clonked them on their heads!!
1 hour into the class and then the break – when the sleepy heads rush out for a coffee and the nicotine heads rush out for their “Breath of fresh air”!!!!!
The same story goes on and the classes for the day get over. The dedicated souls go back to their Quads/LRC for starting off the readings for the next day whereas the others hang around at the café for a cup of coffee and pakodas / samosas and make plans for badminton/booze!!
So you head off to the recreation centre and have a good 1 hour of badminton/gym/squash, you pick your choice! But hey, there are the club meetings and the speaker sessions to be attended, so you rush off to them one after the other! Lord Voldermort would have had it so easy, what with his 7 parts; he could have attended 7 different sessions/clubs at the same time!
You then trudge back to Goel for yet another mundane dinner (for lack of variety) and when you are in absolutely no mood to have another goel meal, you choose its cousin, the café!!
After the dinner, you get back to the room and start preparing for the “day”! Starting with the assignment and pre-reads, the google chats/blogging in between for the resourceful who are good at multi-tasking. Heinously long cases are skimmed with a speed which would have put the fire-bolt to shame! Speed reading is one talent which you pick up by the second term at ISB!
A welcome break in between this madness of reading at night is provided by the birthday celebrations at the pool. Ok, so who gets dunked? The birthday boy/girl and then the study group mates, then the quaddies, then the classmates. What?!! Did you say classmates?!! Yes!!! Whoever goes to the pool gets dunked, unless they keep a poker straight face and convey that they are suffering from some illness, which if one drop of water falls on their body will endanger them gravely!!
The dunk-mania ends with the cutting of the cake and the decorating of the birthday boy/girl’s face with the largest piece of cake!
And so the days overlap with each other and one class leads to an assignment to a meeting to a booze/party to a dunking to a badminton match to a mid term exam to another class and it goes on and on!!
Time flies here at ISB and once in a while that dreaded mail comes which says that XXX marks have been uploaded…..!
And then, when you go and look at your 6 weeks worth of cram results, you so wish you could have said “Repairo” and swhoosh, the marks changed to something less draconic!!
Much like the Hogwartz world, we come to love and hate ISB, with the former taking the upper hand!!
Sigh! I wish I had a wand!!
Monday, July 09, 2007
A "Term 2" Forget!
I honestly cannot remember what date is it today unless I look at my inbox calendar or watch (yeah, note the order!). Seriously! The only way in which we realize that the dates are going past is the reduced redundant constraint of how many more weeks/days to the exam! So you may ask, if I know the exam date and number of days for the exam, cant I calculate the date?
That’s the whole point! I know that the exams are “next week”, but I don’t know which date!!! Unless of course I am planning to go home and have booked tickets for the next day!
So what’s the whole point?
Well, the point is that this place has a knack of making us lose sense of the time, the day, the month etc. there have been lot of occasions when I had to actually stop and think which month this is. Time flies so fast that you really never get an opportunity to savor a good meal or a good night’s sleep or a good couple of hours of game of badminton or good extended moments of chatting and time pass with your friends. (Well I said “Extended” because this activity happens anyways!).
Your whole life seems to be moving from one assignment to a case to an exam to a presentation to a meeting to another assignment to the class and so on…the link never breaks except for the parties once in a while. But even those have become monotonic now!
It’s almost like its one endless day with mini nights in between, for the entire week. There is no concept of weekends at ISB. These are the times when you are most loaded with work to do.
The second term has been particularly excruciating and most of the junta I know is waiting for the term to get over. On my part, Markstrat and Global Eco were the two topics which I enjoyed, one for its learning quotient and the other purely because of my interest in the topic.
Of course, being taught by Professor Jagmohan Raju was an experience in itself and I feel good about it. I am sure this would be an experience on which I would count back up on, some time in the future!
That’s the whole point! I know that the exams are “next week”, but I don’t know which date!!! Unless of course I am planning to go home and have booked tickets for the next day!
So what’s the whole point?
Well, the point is that this place has a knack of making us lose sense of the time, the day, the month etc. there have been lot of occasions when I had to actually stop and think which month this is. Time flies so fast that you really never get an opportunity to savor a good meal or a good night’s sleep or a good couple of hours of game of badminton or good extended moments of chatting and time pass with your friends. (Well I said “Extended” because this activity happens anyways!).
Your whole life seems to be moving from one assignment to a case to an exam to a presentation to a meeting to another assignment to the class and so on…the link never breaks except for the parties once in a while. But even those have become monotonic now!
It’s almost like its one endless day with mini nights in between, for the entire week. There is no concept of weekends at ISB. These are the times when you are most loaded with work to do.
The second term has been particularly excruciating and most of the junta I know is waiting for the term to get over. On my part, Markstrat and Global Eco were the two topics which I enjoyed, one for its learning quotient and the other purely because of my interest in the topic.
Of course, being taught by Professor Jagmohan Raju was an experience in itself and I feel good about it. I am sure this would be an experience on which I would count back up on, some time in the future!
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Thoughts at early morning!
I don’t believe in being half-here-half-there. For me it is either the full way or nothing at all.
What you see is what you get. If I say something, I mean it. Good and bad, both.
I have little respect for people who are all talk and no action. Say it only if you mean it. Mean it when you say it.
I can’t be second fiddle at things and with people who mean something to me. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I never look forward to having a boss!
If I am an employee, I want to be the best. The best employee!
If I am a student, I want to be the best. The best student!
If I am a friend, I want to be the best. The best friend!
Of course chances are that I won’t be able to be perfect in everything.
But I do try, but hey, I am human too.
If someone hurts me, I never forget it. But forgive, yes I do.
I believe that some quality time alone, is the best gift that you can give yourself.
I believe that words need to be spoken when they should be. Otherwise, the moment is lost.
I believe that you earn more respect by giving it rather than demanding it.
Blunt? Well, at least I am honest enough to admit it!
What you see is what you get. If I say something, I mean it. Good and bad, both.
I have little respect for people who are all talk and no action. Say it only if you mean it. Mean it when you say it.
I can’t be second fiddle at things and with people who mean something to me. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I never look forward to having a boss!
If I am an employee, I want to be the best. The best employee!
If I am a student, I want to be the best. The best student!
If I am a friend, I want to be the best. The best friend!
Of course chances are that I won’t be able to be perfect in everything.
But I do try, but hey, I am human too.
If someone hurts me, I never forget it. But forgive, yes I do.
I believe that some quality time alone, is the best gift that you can give yourself.
I believe that words need to be spoken when they should be. Otherwise, the moment is lost.
I believe that you earn more respect by giving it rather than demanding it.
Blunt? Well, at least I am honest enough to admit it!
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
An Ode
I was blinded by my instinct
which, often was my best friend
to separate the best and worst of the lot
A trust broken, a promise not held
scars, deep engraved and unhealed
cautious, wary and scared of, encores
how easily someone comes once in a while
and crosses the self inflicted barriers
breaks into your personal space and
makes you feel worthy, of being important
breaking away the emotional fortress
which I thought was strong and
took pains to build, through indifference
keeping away possible acquaintances
for a life, maybe a little less mirthful
but a lot easy and un-hurtful
little did I realize that, sometimes
visitors, uninvited, who wander in
makes a difference, and how!
which, often was my best friend
to separate the best and worst of the lot
A trust broken, a promise not held
scars, deep engraved and unhealed
cautious, wary and scared of, encores
how easily someone comes once in a while
and crosses the self inflicted barriers
breaks into your personal space and
makes you feel worthy, of being important
breaking away the emotional fortress
which I thought was strong and
took pains to build, through indifference
keeping away possible acquaintances
for a life, maybe a little less mirthful
but a lot easy and un-hurtful
little did I realize that, sometimes
visitors, uninvited, who wander in
makes a difference, and how!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
