Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Enter the "Monitor"

"Life at ISB is tough. Be prepared to lose your deep sleeps, your recreation period, change the notion of a 24 hour day to a 28 hour day.........blah blah "

Wait a minute!!!. Did anyone forget something. Did they not tell me about the abundancy of flora and fauna around. Or rather certain kinds of flora and fauna, the ones that look deadly at the very least...?? Oh yeah they did, but they said they only lived outside in the grounds, the fields hidden by tall grasses. Yeah Right!!!

So i am going back to my room after a this long winded session of classes, where i found myself revaluating (once again), whether i should focus on this field where i could hardly say anything in the class ( how about one poor word against the books being delivered verbally by some !!!), and i am totally looking forward to a cozy bed to catch up on sleep. And i walk straight into Mr Monitor Lizard, lounging gracefully in my living room..........!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now for the record monitor lizards, or atleast most of them, though carnivorous are not extremely dangerous creatures and in fact are revered as pets in some parts, ( one of them was used by Shivaji's captain to scale some fort too). And like most animals you have nothing to fear from them, and they fear you more. Okkkkkkk........tell that to someone who bangs into a 2.5 feet long slithering monster on the ground of your living room, declaring victory over the domain. ...............

And so i screamed. I screamed so loud the poor lizard lost its wits running helter skelter. My poor roomie fell off the bed he was sleeping on in his room, came running out, and then shut the door on seeing the monstrosity. And so here i was trapped in my room, with Mr lizard for company, nowhere else to go to. My room is locked with route blocked by the diligent patrol. Or so i thought atleast.
Finally my roomie tentatively opens the door and beckons me in. Trying my best to avoid Mr Lizard, i scrape through in, and we call our pest control department to ask for help. In the meantime i radio in my other roomie, who i realised is actually from the "Friends of Lizards" organization and is keen to meet the new sentry. So he is rushing over too now. In the meantime however, our keen gaurd has vanished, no doubt sensing the extra attention being paid to him. And so when the pest control guys (PCGs) arrived, armed with all the stealth equipments, our gaurd is nowhere to be seen. We take the enemy has retreated.

But were we wrong??? Temporarily in relief we retired to our rooms. and as expected dropped off to sleep. But when my roomie wakes up, and walks sleepily to the living room, he finds Mr Lizard again, this time lazily perched on the window, viewing the scenery outside serenly ( no doubt looking for his Ms Lizard). And so we raise our alarm again.

This time the pest control guys (PCGs) came in better prepared, with more sophisticated instruments ( a long hard lathi, and a cast iron pipe) and with a determined look on their faces. They literally turned over the living room, and finally found the lizard hiding in a corner. And well, they killed the lizard. But not before it fought a valiant fight. Unarmed as it was, it tried to hide, and it took the guys almost 20 mins to fell the warrior.

On a serious note, we werent particularly happy about the killing. We expected these guys to capture the lizard and release it in the open. But trust me there was this manic frenzy on the faces of the PCGs almost as if they expected a feast.

Anyways one hell of day it was. This is what is a true test of ones courage ( or the lack of it :() under fire. I failed :((. but man, so would you. For god's sake.........mujhe kya maloom kya bala this woh. And no i feel bad it had to die, it shoudl have been let out in the nearby jungle anyways.

To conclude, to the general lizarding fraternity. Next time please announce your arrival before coming. I swear ill welcome you, and feed you too ( no not me, but something better). Trust me i hate surprises.

Adios

Chaos

Monday, April 21, 2008

Dunked!!!!!!!!

Yes!!!! and that too three times in a row.......even when my birthday was ages away. Once i volunteered for it as we ran on a treasure hunt, the second time was the price for watching a senior getting dunked, and well the third.......because we had won. But trust me its heavenly......the feeling of being chucked into the air and the flying through it to land into cool blue waters at 1 AM in the night.

Confused??? well thats ISB for you. The tradition of dunking the birthday boys and girls into the swimming pool has been there for sometime now. And having fun dunking and being dunked is just one of the number of things i have done over the past one week here.

The orientation week that got off to a roller coaster start last saturday just went on and on. From heavy dosage gyan sessions by alums and administrators that left one reeling, to the "really really" invigorating breathing exercises, from the treasure hunt across the campus on a hot hyderabad afternoon, to the cheering of the teams on the sports, and finally from what seemed like a never ending talent night to the four all night parties thrown in, and what have you. We had fun, met new people, learnt a lot about learning and so on and so forth. And guess what, this is supposed to be just the beginning and not even the real thing.



And theres this one thing about going back to the academic world that i have always thought to be extremely relevant. Not only does one get back to the books and the academic grind, but it also is that time when you can perhaps sit back and introspect on that one particular aspect about you that you can improve on. I mean of course student life is hectic and yet perhaps you might just be able to tailor it towards building on that one thing youve wanted to. Or you might rediscover something about you that did not. In fact as i see it, its not just a professional sabbatical, but a personal, emotional and intellectual sabbatical that should do wonders for you. And yeah, at the end of it, you might just also land up with a good job. he he he.
Hang on, am i dishing out more and more gyan to you???? christ, only a week and i become a gyan guru. So let me shut and up and go off with the promise of keeping the space updated.

adios amigos

Chaos

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Cheers to Student Life

Errr, its a little early in the day perhaps but as i prepare to board the train to hyderabad this wednesday, i cant help feeling excited. I have been looking forward to that one last bit of student life for some time now. And though i havent yet been exactly involved my ISB class, on orkut or the blog, unlike most others ( blame it on my inherent laziness, one that i was supposed to be gettng rid of), i am more than ready to get back to the grind.
So the past few weeks have been spent getting stuff, looking for things that one needs. Got myself a new suit, a wardrobe overhaul, a new suitcase. Ya i know the books should have come first. he he. but i guess ill do that once i reach hyderabad. or maybe ill make one last trip to Nai Sadak in Chandi Chowk and get the book on accounting for my pre terms.

And yes i decided to finally gift myself a new mobile. This also means a shift from my trusty Reliance to a new as yet undecided GSM service provider. Have managed with 4 years of taunts from my colleagues at office on using reliance especially with the crude handset that i had over the past 9 months.

Anyways so wednesday ill be taking the AP express to hyderabad. That train has its own memories for me, being the first one where in i travelled in AC as a kid, when dad was posted to secunderabad, some 17 years ago. Maybe if time permits ill also visit my old school and one of my all time favorite teacher's in Secunderabad. Ah well that is it.

Ill keep looking through the glass into the kaliedoscope that promises me at ISB, updating those inklings here. I might just get that Nobel someday.

Adios
Chaos

Friday, April 04, 2008

In Between Times

Yeah i am back after an exceedingly hiatus, and numerous broken pledges of going back to my dashboard with an interesting anecdote to write. Oh i had ideas, and absolutely wonderful ideas which if had borne fruit would have put me right there on top with all the bookers, and the nobels and what have you. I had actually contemplated a winner's speech too, you that boring affair which you keep tweaking to suit the occasion. will post it someday here.

Alas, it was not to be and so here i am back to what i like most. random musings that one would hardly care to give a second glance. :).
Right now i am in between times, just as the title says. Have left my job and i am about to go on to pursue my Yeambeah . And this middle age is one that i have been enjoying over the past like one month. Trust me its that phase of your life you would never ever get after college. So much freedom you could just about laze out the whole day ( as i have done on countless occasions), or roam around, visit places and so on and so forth. Its a heady mix and best left to one on how best to use it.

So i spent this time visiting my ancestral place, cleberating holi, then was off for if i may call it a "spiritual" break of 4 days, and now i am back and looking forward to celebrating my bhanji's first birthday this weekend. And yeah in between i re-read the entire Harry Potter series right from book 1. Amazing pre-term orientation for an MBA student right? he he he. Now i know the job i am going to get once i pass out.

Anyways, this was an introductory return to the scene and i make one more absolutely breakable pledge of being regular and working on those Noble and Booker prize winning ideas henceforth and also keeping you abreast with the happenings in the year ahead.

adios

Chaos