Of Life and Love

Confused kya? Well, that is not a typo. Let me explain. It is strange when men get possessed by the urge of doing something out-of-the-box. Now before any ideas get into your head, let me say that it is a perfectly noble intention and is born out of a continued drudgery in one’s current occupation. And when you are doing MBA, chances multiply manifold that you would do this someday. But what form this out-of-box experience takes is something to be viewed carefully. For me and for some of my friends at XL, it translated into an urge to roam aimlessly in the soccer city; an urge laced with an inexplicable attraction to the pre-historic hunting roots that human males have. And so we three (Akshay, Lalith and yours truly) set out one very wintry night with my camera fed and fattened for the experience. I was determined to enjoy this out-of-box trip and I began by enjoying the freezing air rushing at me as I sat in the superbly ventilated auto. Brr… The plan was to buy tickets ...

The plan was to catch the metro back to MG Road as we had to go to College street. Now that is a street where you get hawkers more educated and savant than your aunt and your literature teacher, peddling books at dirt cheap rates. One look at the place and I knew why Cal was so full of ‘ babu moshais ’ for-ever lost in the intricacies of the written word. Only the traditional  dhoti  has been replaced with jeans I guess. Otherwise the  babu moshais  can still be found sniffing for their cherished treasure at College street like fish swarms sniffing food through coral reefs. Wow! Hey…but wait! I forgot to tell the most lovely part of the experience. We entered a sweet-meat…aww chuck…a  mithai  shop at the metro station and then began a sweet-gobbling game that resembled a child’s foray into a toy shop. Akshay and Lalith kept pointing at sweets just when it seemed we were done, the shop-keeper kept dishing them out and I kept rushing back from the wash...

Confused kya? Well then. I won’t try to explain; maybe if you read this piece you will get the drift. Be warned that I am writing this down in special circumstances and I have a certain objective in mind which just might miss the objective you have in reading this! Although I can’t prove it, I think you are smart enough to figure out things that life throws at you. So you will figure this one out easily. I am sure of that! So who was Adam? That flamboyant Australian wicketkeeper-batsman who played some really painful innings for our team and for other teams as well? I guess you must be right. But wait! He is not ‘was’, he still ‘is’? Hey, don’t try to mislead me now. I was talking about the first Adam of the world, The Adam. Yes, now I am back on track. Ok let me get down to whatever I have to say and then you can go back to whatever you were doing that was so boring you had to turn to reading my piece! I had checked the lecture schedule before sleeping and had been absolutely ...

What do you think is the right time to take a break? Living a monotonous life is something no one wants. And yet people do live such lives. I don’t think it is easy to decide the kind of life one will lead in the future. But I think it is very much in one’s control to make life interesting. It is easy. Go take a look at the still water surface of the lake and look at the reflection of the moon in the water. Look at the beautiful night scene (you need a lake in a beautiful setting and you need to go there at night, preferably a calm one without wind) in the water and feel the deadness of the atmosphere around you. It seems to be desperate to shout, to talk; the leaf hanging limply on the branch over your head is praying for a gust of wind, something like the one that came last night (who knows he just might manage to touch the beautiful leaflet by his side); the blade of grass that survived your boot wants some insect to come out of the earth and to tickle it (ah…if only that talkative ...

Value Add Infinitum A treatise on the phenomenon of Value-Add in B-schools and the classification of the B-schooler in this respect Paper by: Abhishek Tripathi Dated: Nov 6, 2005 “I joined a B-school for value addition to my career.” “The course was ok but there was absolutely no value-add in it.” “Oh, I am not enrolled in this course. I just attend for the learning value.” Well well, what do you make of these? These are utterly common and weather-beaten phrases uttered in B-school campuses, at least in our country. And just before you start thinking it is simply a fashion statement, the in-thing, I’d like to warn you that you run the risk of offending serious B-schoolers who walk about their campuses with their Value-meters slung on their shoulders. Although I am tempted to talk more about these creatures of precision and astute judgement, I will consciously refrain from it for the simple reason that I might, in the very near future, need to learn something from them. If you want to...

Winter has one good thing after another piled up for anyone who cares. Let me begin at the very beginning. First there is the laziness and coziness of the morning, the bliss of the beckoning sleep; and the feeling of stepping out of the pace of life by refusing to wake up. The fun is in the rebellion, the mischief of saying ‘boo’ to life and it’s fast paced rules. Second, there is this morning full of a shy sun trying to break out from the tyranny of the clouds and struggling to give us some warmth. And the tussle the two opponents have: sun and wind, fighting for supremacy. Third is the absolutely relaxing time post-lunch when not a single soul, XL dogs counted, can refuse to stretch out in the smiling sun and indulge in some gossip. Or maybe sit alone and think! That’s an uncommon way of relaxing but quite a few people like it, including the dogs (always) and me (sometimes). Then there is this evening thing, the rapid decline of the blooming day into the potent dusk. I can never help...

Scene 1: (A hostel room, most likely in GH III XLRI; the incumbent is asleep, sound asleep; evening time; the room is otherwise in good shape except for a confused pile of academic paraphernalia on the reading desk and an assortment of wires, mouse, keyboard et al that pop out here and there). A guy knocks on the door. No answer. A friend knocks louder. No answer still. “He’s asleep, strange. I’m sure he called us at this time.” The first guy seems amused and hesitates at the door, knuckles held back inches form the wood. “You know, this goes to show we juniors are exceptionally committed to this work, rather far too much if we wake a sleeping soul in XLRI. You understand we are committing a crime?” They both have a hearty laugh, pitched high intentionally to help the inmate out of slumber. No response. The first guy tries at last, only this time he calls out a name. They hear the inmate stirring inside. Bingo! Shuffling steps, someone comes to the door, some scratchy sounds an...