Diwali Dream

Sorry for posting this up too late... Had written it on the night of Diwali but could not post it, so now its here for u

I am back home in sirsa for diwali. I have never been too much into religion and customs but just wanted to share a wonderful sight that I just saw from my terrace. Its 10pm and I had just gone up to see the sight from the terrace.

My home is near Sikanderpur village, 8km from Sirsa city and the interim space is full of green fields. As I stood there I could see the top of the village temple brightly lit up for the festival season. All around the houses were well decorated and the darkness of the night would occasionally be disturbed by the light of a rocket lit by some village kid. Bombs and other crackers blew of all around.

Then I looked towards the western sky, in the direction of Sirsa. The huge 8 km expanse separating me from the city was dark but as u looked towards the horizon I saw a sight which any city person would never see. It seemed like I had been given an outside view of a city during diwali. Every second a streak of light would come up into the sky and burst into a wonderful ball of sparkles. Once a red, then silver, then golden, then green. It was just outstanding. It seemed a completely different world all together full of light and glamour.

So lets hope that this Diwali brings all this light and glamour into your life. May all of you , with this Diwali, begin a new life of love, hope and success. HAPPY DIWALI !!!

Thank you guys.... 50 posts !!!!

Firstly before i hit on other topics, i have finally touched a long time dream of mine, 50 posts.... This blog has been a really memorable journey for me over the last 6 months. It has given a great opportunity for me to interact with a lot of my friends, share my life fundas with them, share my best memories and share my lows and downs with them as well. So before i go on to other posts i would like to thank you all for ur constant feedback and encouragement for helping me reach this milestone....
Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome, be it positive or negative, because its this critical feedback of yours that helps me improve my work. Keep it flowing and i will try my best to give u somewhat readable material....

Love
Sampark

Rawte Days,Mumbai, Part 4: Eating out..Daily

One of the greatest drawbacks of Rawte was the lack of a proper mess. That left us guys with nothing but outside food to hog on... So in this post i just wanna visit all those places in and around Nana Chowk, Chowpatty, Gamdevi and Grant Road where u can eat as much as u can for Rs20/- to have just a bite for Rs150/-

Heroes Restaurant at Nana Chowk was the first place that i had visited. The waiters were such who had come to recognise us by names for every day at least 3-4 orders did reach Rawte. The chinese sucked but the chicken biryani and chicken fried rice was great... Just that Heroes food meant red finger nails because the colour that they used was terrible

The best food that all of us experienced was Crystal at Chowpatty. A shabby looking, dingy place but the food, just as mom makes at home. Rajma chawal, hot rotis, dal fry, aloo jeera. Never felt away from home there. Even though it was so shabby any guy wouldnt mind taking his girlfriend there for a date. The food was that great.

I still remember that shitty looking place just outside the hostel where u would find taxi drivers and watchmen eating. Why? Because it was all you can eat for Rs 20/- Watery dal, thick chapaatis, 2 god knows what sabzis... But as students when u run short of money there was no better option.

On the other side was this south indian outlet (again i seem to have forgotten the name) where i loved to have wada sambhar for breakfast. I still remember Rishabh ordering Onion Uttapa from there almost every day. The owner was rude but when you are the closest and cheapest, you can treat customers that day. After completing MBA will surely go back to teach him some managing skills.

The roadside dosa beside Patel Hostel was also fabulous. The chinese dosa, the pav bhaji dosa, the cheese dosa... They were mouthwatering. People got off Mercedes and BMWs to have dosas there... Miss that really..

Once u crossed Grant Road station we get into this small lane which had a Kerala mess. Loved the chicken pepper and paraathas and the fish and the mutton... And for a wholesome stomach filling meal Rs30-35 was enough. And then the bananas that we bought from the cash counter when we left.. Loved going there with Arjun and Aamer.

Some special days all of us we would take the bus to Mohammad Ali Road to have hardcore non veg. Sheek kababs, Chicken roast, Shawarma followed by the wonderful Rs5 watermelon drink we had. Even though we knew how unhygienic it was, who cared, till u enjoying.

Burgers and Pizzas no better place than MamaMias. I never had enough money to buy the Rs 100 better burger.Always managed with a Rs65-70 one. the best thing i loved about these burgers was the fries that we got along. Sadly i always ran short of sauce. Always told him send more sachets but that idiot never and i mean never even listened...

Another place that i miss terribly is the Gamdevi Farsan Mart and Azad Tea house. The farsan wala, Mukesh Bhai was such a gem. Every morning he would open the shop by 4 30 and we used to get out to have garam garam vada pav early in the morning. By 5.30 we would be ready to hog on tasty jalebis... By 8 o clock the first lot of cutlets would come out and time for some cutlet pav.. Rishabhs favourite, patti samosa, it was the one which had a vegetable filling instead of potatoes.... mouth watering..This accompanied by chai from Azad Tea House was the perfect way to start your morning..

Hey i forgot one more place, Guru Bar. Sorry guys i dont drink but loved the egg bhurji that they prepared here. This place also has wonderful memories because its here that we saw Yuvraj hit his six 6s and India and Dhoni lift the T20 world cup trophy. Since this particular channel wasnt available at Rawte, all of us used to go to Guru and sit with a cold drink for 3 hours till the match got over. The owner got so irritated that he threatened to throw us out and that also half way through the final. Lots of convincing and coaxing helped us see Dhoni lift the trophy and Joginder Sharma bowling that fantastic last over.....

In the middle days we also used to run off to the Wilson College mess to have our dinners. The attendants there were always troubled by the residents there so they welcomed us who, not being residents, always treated them with respect. Some of us found the food bad but some like me who had seen worse places was like, at least its eateable

There were 100s of other places that i might have left out but guys these were the main amongst them. These were my struggling days where none of us knew where the next meal was coming from (read ordered from). so much so that today my stomach is immune to all sort of shitty food and rubbish that i can eat from anywhere and eat anything as such.....

Rawte Days,Mumbai, Part 3: The Pune escapades

Mumbai had never been a place which i loved very much baring a few things here and there... so every few months that frustration and homesickness did follow me.. and that times i remembered my extended family, my school friends in Pune...

So everytime i felt i needed to escape the grinds of Mumbai, catch a Volvo and off to Pune... To meet Riya, Shreya, Antara, Rahul, Jaggu and Mayur.. To people who dont know this but i had got my admission in Symbiosis but due to a well thought of decision i decided to stay in Mumbai completing my graduation from HR college...

Since i never managed to find a very great group in Mumbai, i would look forward to these trips. The blast that i use to have during those times used to be fantastic... Those bike trips, those dinners on the highway, the all night talks just loved it...

Today will share a few of my memories all the way from Pune...

This particular trip was highly emotional for me because of its unexpected ending... but lets start from the beginning...
It was 28th February, 07... I had just finished my BCom 2nd yr exams and my Diploma exams were on the 10th and 11th of March... Another very close friend and my chaddi buddy, sandeep was in Pune those days so my friends called me saying, why dont u come over, the whole group again and then we could celebrate Holi together on the 4th.. So 1st evening i zoomed away to Pune... One of the best memories of this trip was all of us going to the dhaba on the highway. i dont remember the name, maybe one of them could make me recollect.. But it was after 2 years that all of us, had such a gala time.. we hogged on chicken like we had been hungry for ages... 8 of us on 4 bikes on the highway....man it was fun... then after that we rode through the streets of Pune late in the night enjoying the desertness and we being the rulers... We also managed to ride through the haunted street, Pashaan, i think they called it

I am not sure but i think it was this very trip that we very roaming around one day in one of the many haunted places in Pune when suddenly we turned a corner and saw this mysterious female sitting in the middle of the street. She had a dirty dog sitting by her and as we crossed her i managed to stare at the plate she was holding in her hand.. it contained all sorts of strange things that i didnt recognise and as we went ahead i did take the courage to look back and saw her staring at us, a bad stare i would say. We zoomed away from there, not brave enough to check upon her...

It was the next day when we had dinner in one the city restaurants and the guys were supposed to visit Singhad Fort that night but somehow the girls convinced us that it wasnt safe...It was the night of 3rd march 2007. Thank god we didnt go that day because if we had i would have never made it to the airport by 2 am.. Ya i had to run back, a phone call at 10.30pm almost shook my world.... Dad had passed away.... this was the only glitch that Pune had in the 3 yrs that i frequented it but with time i accepted this as well...

On my next trip we did manage to go to Singhad Fort. This was one of the most beautiful places i have seen. We left home at 3am for the hour long drive. The winding roads, the jungles all around, the scary darkness all built the atmosphere up. What i witnessed up there was the most beautiful dawn i had seen. With my camera loaded i did what i love most, click. By 8 am we were back, tired enough to sleep through the day.

Pune also shares loads of other memories. Those bike rides up the NDA road to sit on the parapet and watch cars racing past on the highway below. The cold coffee at Durga Coffee House was the best i have had till date and that also at a paltry price of Rs10.

I still remember the day when Mayur was coming back from Patna to Mumbai and then he was supposed to take a bus to Pune.. The flight landed at 10pm. I was waiting outside to take him to the bus stop. On our way there God knows what got into us that both of us boarded the bus. The 11pm bus to Pune just for the fun of it. We reached Pune at 3.30am. After ensuring Mayur had reached safely, i caught the 6am bus back to Mumbai... By 10am i was back in town.

Pune's greatest memories go back to before my graduation, much before Rawte days came into picture. That was, June 2005 when all of us had landed seeking admissions. The 3 weeks that we spent there filling forms, having fun, checking out girls.... That was just great... The places we ate at on JM Road, FC Road.

All those wonderful memories from BMCC to MMCC to Garware to Hanuman Nagar to Apte Road to Sambhaji Park to Kothrud to...... Miss those days guys....Thanx for the memories....

Rawte days,Mumbai, Part 2: Waves of the ocean

Once long ago i had read a book by Robin Sharma "Who will cry when u die". One of the chapters that really loved about that book was "Find your place of peace", somewhere where you are just yourself, without any stress of the outside world or any such tension....
Luckily i have managed finding it everywhere i have gone after that. For IMT its those moments when i can stand near the AEC and gaze at the stars, be it Place Wilson in France where i spent long hours writing some of my best blogs.... So when we go back to Mumbai it also had such a place..

IMT had the sky, France had land so with this trend Mumbai had its sea, The Arabian Sea...
i still remember those times when i used to feel low i used to walk to Chowpatty, half a kilometre away from Rawte and just sit there on the sand... During my CAT preparation days i used to sit back in college till late in the night. My college used to be at one end of the Marine Drive and Rawte at the other. So everynight used to walk back on the parapet of Marine Drive enjoying the sights and sounds of the sea. The third and final place where i loved spending time with the sea was Amarsons Park. Evening when i was free i used to walk to this place around a kilometre and half away. In addition to the breeze and the sound of the waves, one would get to hear the rustling of the leaves of the palm trees on the edge... Used to be a wonderful feeling...

In any of these places i would just sit there, feel the breeze on ur face and the sound of the waves to and fro non stop... There in the distance you could see a light or two of the ships anchored in the deep seas.. I loved these moments because the time that i sat there one disappeared into a world of trance... away from the rigors of life.... Something like Marine Drive, even though a 1000 cars sped past you, i would never even hear them once i got lost in those waves..

I had a grand time observing waves and how they work... The sea gulls who would swoop down on the surface and catch their prey, the crabs who would scamper about looking for their means of survival... A 100 thoughts, away from your life, would take ur breath and mind away...

Still remember the beauty of those days when the full moon used to be above the water and the surface use to shimmer like silver... a scene straight out of paintings and pictures and at times in the darkness and this shimmering, a late evening fisherman used to cross trying his hand at a last minute catch....

Those walks on Marine Drive would be great, plug ur ear phones in and go along singing away to "Yeh hai Mumbai meri Jaan..." The sea had a completely different look during those monsoon days when we used to go to chowpatty and marine drive just to get drenched in the downpour... and when the waves used to hit the parapet and splash up...those were divine moments....

If i do miss something about my Mumbai days its the sea and the moments i spent by it... be it Chowpatty or Marine Drive or Amarson's Park... It was just fabulous.... Just hope i could carry some of it to everywhere i go but sadly... It had to be left behind.... Someday......

Why are guys the way they are ???

Hey everyone,
Girls always ask why are guys so, why are they so immature and childish. Why is it that in reality they are so practical and stuff and when it comes to maintaining a relationship and a girlfriend do they become so impractical and childish...

The answer lies in one scene of the movie HUM TUM. There you see Abhishek Bachchan explaining this very same funda to Saif Ali Khan. He tells him that even though physically girls may not be as strong as men but emotionally (pointing to his heart) they are much stronger than us. He continues by saying that men may look very strong from outside but inside all of them is a kid who fears to grow up.

Ya guys and gals its true, we know the moment when we grow up we are expected to take responsibility and expected to be strong to face the hardships for life but internally we want to continue living that tension free life, where we are ones cared for.

Thats why when we come across someone who loves us, this childish side of us jumps to the situation of showing itself. Thats why, girls, at times you find your boyfriends childish, immature and impractical. They care for you all the time, at times they want to be cared for. They pamper you all the time, at times they want to be pampered.

And at these moments, the girlfriends lose their cool. "You werent so earlier, whats happened to you now." "I dont expect my boyfriend to be such a kiddo" Its just that guys get tired of putting that macho mask on themselves and they feel they can reveal their true selves to you. So next time you face something like this, remember my post, and just that stroke of your hand on their head or that sweet word or two would make their day. Its nothing more that we demand...

Rawte days,Mumbai, Part 1: 1st Impression

Hey guys, this is gonna be my first post on a period of life which i didnt enjoy professionally but ya personally have had great number of experiences. And i feel its gonna be damn long so i am gonna divide it into parts. So presenting to you

Rawte days,Mumbai, 2006-08 Part 1

January, 2007
i used to stay with my brother in Goregaon and travelling to Churchgate daily used to be a pain the a**. So half a year of my stay into Mumbai i started looking for hostels and PGs. Thats when, through a college friend, Rishabh i got to this place somewhere in the lanes of Gamdevi. A huge house owned by Mr Rawte so the name Rawte PG/ Hostel so 17th january 2007 started Rawte Days...

A place haunted by dangerous looking creatures, one would actually feel that there is something wrong with the place. You enter the gate and first person you meet is none other than... Subhash... you want me to describe it...Dont worry i will make you picturise it...

SUBHASH: 4ft 11inches tall with a huge ponch comes walking towards you as if a dead body is walking. Not even God would remember when he last had a bath. Filthy, dirty, disgusting you could smell him approaching from miles away. His hair is short but stiff due to not being washed ever, and i mean ever. He walked slowly and with that stare that if a ghost saw him in the dark even he would run away. Wait till you hear him speak. He had this hushed and grizzly sound, something like when you whisper but a little louder and all he included in his statements were "M*****C*** and B****C***" His clothes would not be changed for days, leave alone a bath.

Now one would ask, why such a gatekeeper... Do you think that with him at the gates, anyone dare enter. Even we use to dread entering, leave alone somebody else. He was an actual speciman.


Now moving on to the next speciman... Ya, dont worry Subhash was not the only one. There was more to come and you will surely say after reading both these," Sampark, where the hell did u stay." So presenting to you, the washerman, all the way from Nepal, Gopal.

GOPAL: 5.11 tall, slim but great muscles was our washerman. But then you would says whats great about him. He was blind by one eye. So this eye was silver in colour. So as he would walk in this eye, combined by the wicked grin that he carried along with him could scare the shit out of anyone new. I still remember Arjun's (hostelmate, great friend, would be introduced later) statement of when he first saw Gopal. He claimed he was damn scared.
And mix it with the days he was drunk. You mess with him and he would even get a 3inch broad stick to attack you (it did happen). So the better you maintain your relationship with him, the safer and the faster your clothes got washed.

So with the great welcome you get at Rawte with Subhash and Gopal, one thing is for damn sure, this place is not for the weal hearted..

So with this the Part1 comes to an end. In further Parts we would read about our eating joints, our hangout places, the friends, the specimans, the events and experiences etc... Keep waiting and keep reading....

Dijon, France.... The dream is still on..

Its been 4 months since i have got back but it seems like mentally i am still there, where it all began... 1000s of away in a small town in central France, Dijon...

It seems like its been ages, somewhere in my last lifetime....or more so like a dream... or more so like its just my imagination but then i see my screensaver on my laptop and i know it was true....
It feels that those 4 months never existed but those months were the turning point of my life...

Just an hour back i was sitting with friends downstairs and what was i talking about, France... Eshan, Mayank, Sunil or Ashok whomever i catch up with what do i talk about... France... Someday people here at IMT may get mad at me for talking only and only about one thing in life... Please guys never mistake it as arrogance or so...its just that i havent been able to cut away from those 4 months...
Met my international relations professor that day and he commented on me, " Sampark still hasnt come out of that mode." Yes guys i havent.... i still live those moments over and over again, every minute.

Some of you may ask me....Sampark why are u so mad over this whole thing... I have only one answer to you.... Kuch kuch hota hai, tum nahi samjhoge (its something, you will never understand)

In another few days, 2 french students are coming to campus... and in another few days my junior batch will know whose gonna go to the experience the world. Today given an opportunity i would pay double the amount, i am ready to put my placements at stake, i would do anything... Just if someone could get those days back for me...

As far as juniors who are going.... Just one thing will sum it up for you,

"GO.... LIVE A LIFETIME"

Sunrise..... Beautiful

I have 2 exams today (strategic management and services marketing) and I am not a least bit prepared.... And thats y i am up at 6am....
I woke up tensed knowing very well that passing today is gonna be a great task.... Somehow i struggle out of bed and switch on the laptop.... and i walk out of my room to the balcony outside and bang into an unexpected early riser....Sun

It was undoubtedly the most beautiful sunrise that i have ever seen... And thats why here i am writing about it within 2 min of seeing it.... Much more beautiful than the ones that i have spoken about in a previous post.... The perfect colours, the perfect blend, the perfect stance of the ever majestic sun.....there is a pic which i have taken but it could never capture the calmness and serenity i witnessed....

A wonderful beginning to what seemed to be going to be an horrid day but now seeing the beauty of God the first thing in the morning i know its not gonna be so bad.... So with that positivity that i just gained i better run back to my books or else a disaster awaits.... Wish me luck guys

Munnabhai MBBS: Lessons for life

Ever since i have seen this movie a few years back, a lot of concepts and fundas used have greatly influenced me. Everytime people talk to me about something related i dont mind using these instances. So here are my lessons from one of my favourite movies.

Thank you to the Sweeper
The scene begins with an elderly sweeper mopping the floor. The floor is all wet and Sanjay Dutt accidently walks over leaving stains. The sweeper in an irritated mood cribs that now he will have to clean the whole thing all over again. Sanjay Dutt stops and hugs him. On seeing the confused look on the guys face, Dutt explains to him that if he wasnt there the hospital would have never been clean enough to cure the patients. Its him who cleans every thing without a word from vomit to shit. Dutt says Thank you and moves on much to the delight of the sweeper

Later in the movie when Munna is being thrown out of college this sweeper stops the way of the dean. The dean in his anger shouts," who are you?" The sweeper replies." I have been working here for 20 years and you dont even know my name. Look at Munna, he ackowledged my contribution and said Thank you."

Lesson 1
No work is to be considered bad or demeaning. Every job has its benefits without which the equilibrium will be disturbed. There is this concept of dignity of labour. Respect each ones job

Lesson 2
There is no loss in saying Thank You to someone whom you feel deserves it. It doesnt cost you anything and it barely takes a second but these 2 words may mean the world to someone.

The song in the hospital
Jimmy Shergill has been detected with cancer and he is soon gonna succumb to it. He is depressed and upset that having not lived life fully, how will he fulfil all his dreams and aspirations. That night Munna sends dancers who change the environment of the hospital and in the song they sing are the lessons to be learnt

Lesson 3
There is one solution to all pain. What is past is past. Whats left live to the fullest.
Always remember life is only a 4 day journey which should not be wasted. Enjoy each moment as if your last. Go through each day as if its the end. Because on your deathbed you dont regret what you do, you regret what you didn't do.


Sunil Dutt and the pickpocket
Sunil Dutt has just arrived at Mumbai station when he gets pickpocketed. Somehow the crowd gets hold of the pickpocket and start thrashing him. Sunil Dutt stops them and says since he was the victim , he will decide the punishment. He turns to the pickpocket and says, " you see the eyes of these people. see the frustration, see the anger. Someone has had a fight with their wife, someone is angry at their kids for not studying well, some are angry at the Indian cricket team for not playing well, somebody is upset at the government because the roads are not good enough, someone is angry at their boss. See the accumulated frustration which these guys are looking for a vent for. If i hand you over to them imagine how much you would be beaten up"

Lesson 4
Todays world is indeed full of stress and frustration. Agreed the times are so but even in this competititve environment we need to keep ourselves cool. And accumulating of stress in harmful in the long run so beware. And dont you take out that anger/ frustration/ tension on someone who doesnt deserve it

Jaadu ki Jhappi
One of the greatest concepts of this movie was the Jaadu ki Jhappi (the magic hug). The solution to every problem. It indeed works. No matter how tensed you are, no matter how bad the situation is, no matter what the sorrow....a hug always makes you feel better. Be it your mom, your friend, your girlfriend or even a complete stranger... it works..

Lesson 5
Go out and spread the magic....The magic of Jaadu ki Jhappi

The love of Formula1 : From Schumi to Force India

I still remember the times when my love for Formula 1 began. I used to watch these races on the Tv with my grandfather. Having no knowledge of Ferraris or Mercedez, all that mattered for me was the colour. So if the top 2 racers are red and yellow, i would take the one leading and my grandpa would take the one coming second. Supposedly after some laps if my racer was overtaken i would abruptly change my driver to his. He would taunt me that i was cheating and then readily change over, always ready to come 2nd to see me come 1st.... Love u Nanaji.... (More on this on another post of mine)


Then came the time when every 2nd Sunday i would wait for the race to begin. And it was to see one man, Michael Schumacher, the legend. Many of them came and many of them left... Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinan, Juan pablo Montoya, David Coulthard. His rivalry with Mika Hakkinan, those last lap engine blow ups, the last lap overtaking....The McLaren vs Ferrari rivalry was great. Montoya was the most aggressive F1 driver i have ever seen... His overtaking manouvres were just fabulous. His teaming up with Ralf Schumacher took BMW Williams to its greatest days.

Slowly Hakkinan left, Montoya went back to Nascar, Ralf lost that zing in him, Coulthard lost the top places to new drivers. Schumi continued his great run winning 7 driver titles.... 5 of them on the trot. There was this season where he seemed to break all the records winning 9 races on the run and reaching the podium on, i think, all occasions.

The last year of Schumi's career was a disappointment by his standards. That was when a completely new brigade came up. Alonso and Raikkonen were ready to take over the mantle. Schumi left and Ferrari was with a new driver line up of Massa and Raikkonen. Alonso had gone on to become the youngest drivers champion in F1's history.



Around the time Schumi left my love for F1 moved from the front row of the grid to the last rows. The fastest and first Indian on the F1 calender had arrived, Narain Karthikeyan...
After a year of struggle with his yellow Jordon he too disappeared from the scene. A year later Schumi also left. Formula1 for me took a back seat.

In the mean time Hamilton arrived with a storm and with it came another man who would change the scene of F1 in India, Vijay Mallya. The previous Jordon went from Jordon to Spykar to Midland to our very own Force India. The car that Karthekiyan once drove was finally Indian.

The car that we see below was the original Force India. Then 30 races later came the turnaround.
Brawn GP had shaken the F1 world. They in their first season are on the course to win both driver and constructor titles. Then in the Belgium GP, Giancarlo Fisichella drove the Force India to its first pole position and subsequantly to its first podium. He immediately jumped to Ferrari but Force India continued its great run in the Italian Grand Prix with Sutil coming 4th. Next week is the Singapore night race and see who can beat the Force India this time around.


In this mean time F1 is going through its worst crisis, with allegations of Renault having fixed last year's Singapore Gp. The man who created Schumi and Alonso, Briatore is now gone. Lets see how this crisis ends.

My love for F1 runs beyond the race track. The only game i love playing on my laptop is the F12002 i have. Even though the drivers and cars are old and outdated i prefer it to Counter Strike and Need for Speed any day. Crashes, Pit stops, cutting tracks, jumping starts are all the things that thrill me... Almost know all the tracks by heart now... The favourite...undoubtedly Monaco....

I am not be a tech freak, dont have too much knowledge about the technical details of the cars and may be bad at records and stuff but the best compliment i got about my craze for F1 was from my bro a few years ago.... In the movie Iqbal there is the song about fulfilling your dreams and everything is achievable with the protagonist doing anything to make it to the Indian Cricket Team. My brother one day out of the blue commented, " whenever i hear this song, all i can picturize is my younger brother zooming lap after lap in that red ferrari" It was never on a serious note but a great way to make me feel great... Me and my ferrari...

Formula 1 is planning to enter India soon and the love for F1 will surely take me to the tracks and hope so someday, my dream of watching a Grand Prix will come true... Who knows Schumi might just be back and on the podium that day.....
1

Reason, Season or a Lifetime.....

Guys,
This was a mail i received today but it matched my thinking cent by cent so i thought y not share it with u guys....
Waise if u read few of my earlier blogs on LIFE you may notice the things that i am talking about...
So for you, not written by me, but believed by me...

Reason, Season or a Lifetime

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person..
When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support,
To aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
This person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on..



Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons,
Things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson,
Love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.



Thank you for being a part of my life,
Whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.

The Suns, Moons and Clouds of IMT

hey guys,
this is gonna be a small post so i suppose wont bore you too much

Since the day i joined IMT one thing has really fascinated me about this place.....the nature

The sunsets that you see here beat even those days when the sun sank into the Arabian Sea off Marine Drive and those that i saw in France. The beauty of nature seems like it gets enhanced. The orangish glow seems to put the whole sky on fire... I mean it....it does...


And just after the sun sets as you look onto the western sky is just terrific... Somewhere in the distance you see the tiny lights of some far off village and just above that on the black canvas of the nights some brownish orangish paint has rubbed off from someones brush.

Just a few hours later, someone else is here.... The moon... Just love those moments when u sit in the basketball court, tennis court and just look up... Its like you get transferred to those Star Wars location. Even Neil Armstrong wouldnt have seen a better view....
The sexy moon with all its bodyguards, the stars are here. At those times i just wish that all the lights of IMT go off... The times that it does, within 2 minutes the generators are on but those 2 min are the most cherished by people like me.. I just wish someday i get to spend the complete night in complete darkness.... Just me and, hopefully, her....under the sky and the only things that give us company is The moon, The stars, The breeze and The romantic atmosphere......



Another few hours... and its time for the sun again... thats a normal part of IMT life again.... Slowly the eastern sky gets the lightish blueish glow and then slowly out of nowhere its there...the sun and so on...day in and day out...

If you ever see the cloud formations you can actually trying figuring out the various scenes it creates..Its just out of the world... Sometimes its the clouds taunting the sun, sometime it just pulling the moons leg and sometimes its the clouds by themselves who create a scene enough to make memories last a life time....The spread of the clouds, the blend, the flow, Bhai bahut mazaa aata hai

Someday, even if you arent a student of IMT you should come here and enjoy the scenes...
Enjoy life and nature at its purest... Once you get out of here, be it to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata or Bangalore, do you ever take out the time to stop, look up and see God's creation....



You dont na... But guys do stop and look and you will see that even with all the mess that life is in, its still a beautiful world to live in.... It is.......

P.S. All the pictures above are true and unedited pictures of IMT... So u see i was not writing fictional stuff... It is as beautiful as i say it is....

9/11.... 8 years on.... The Untold Story

11th Sept 2001.... Osama Bin Laden and his planes shook the world.... And altered the history of United States and the World......
You reading this expecting something on the similar lines, arent you? If you are, you would be highly disappointed....

Because 8 years ago....one more world got altered.....my world.... The day which changed me, which made me what i am....

Rewind.... 9/11/2001..... 2.45pm.... Tuesday
Venue.... Little Flower School, Jamshedpur.... corridor in front of Principals office
Protagonists.... V (Name changed to maintain anonymity) and Sampark....Two normal 9th graders

Situational Analysis.....
We were just back from our chemistry practical test... we were standing in line waiting for the dismissal prayer to happen and run home.... i was standing in line behind V.... And suddenly a buzzzz happened that the prinicipal was approaching from the back.....

(Principal: Sister Helena, Irish Nun, Aged 65-70, White robe, Dreaded by many and the principal for the last 25 years, does not understand hindi )

And me, dont know why, was in a different mood that day.... I leaned forward and kept whispering in V's ear "Budhiya aa rahi hai, budhiya aa rahi hai" (Old lady is coming, old lady is coming) and before i noticed the old lady was standing beside me. "What are you 2 upto. Come out of the line"

We stood outside the line till the prayer got over and were then directed to Sister's office. V was called in..

(V. Kumar... One of my best friends... fantastic student... went on to become the captain of the Yellow house)

Sister: "What were you two talking about"
V:" Nothing sister, we are sorry"
.
.
.
Sister:" Tell me or i would suspend u"
V:" Sister, he was cracking jokes"
Sister: "What jokes"
.
.
.
V:" Sister he was cracking jokes on you"
Sister: " Tell me what jokes or both of you get suspened"
.
.
.
V: " Sister he said, " Old lady is coming"

Boom, Baam, Dhishum and on and on and on

For the 1st time in my educational career, i messed with someone and that also with the prinicipal....

I was called in and given the dose of my life (22years). I was shouted at and screamed at and told not to come to the school next day.
I walked out crying and sobbing not knowing what to do.

At this point, would like to share another story which i came to know only later on
One of my male teachers was walking home when he saw me coming out of the office crying. he caught hold of one of my classmates and asked him what had happened... when this friend of mine narrated the whole OLD LADY episode my teacher gave him this odd look and replied, " What wrong did he say" He was one of the coolest teachers in school and this statement proves it. After all she indeed was an old lady

So off i went home that way... Those days i was staying at my uncles place... I ran up the stairs and out of sheer fear, went off to sleep... Mom came home from office at around 5.30-6 and came and woke me.... She was in a very good mood and as i got up...i just fell into her arms and started crying....explained all that had happened...Got a firing but wasnt beaten (Love my mom, she never raised a hand on me)...

She went off and i sat their crying for the next one hour... Mom did not tell any of this to my uncle....

7.30 pm... Uncle calls out aloud and i slowly go downstairs.... the Twin Towers were on fire.... Who cared...my world was on fire....
Sometime later...The towers crashed.... Who cared.... My Schooling career was crashing....

Next day the class teacher came to the class and asked who got into trouble last evening and when i raised my hand i got the most painful comment i could ever get " Sampark i didnt expect this from a student like you"
I was summoned to the principals office again and another dose.... i was outside class for over 2-3 lectures.... She almost suspended me....But i was let off, this being my 1st major goof up

AFTER EFFECTS
My class teacher never spoke to me straight faced after that. I would have surely been in the race for captaincy of red house next year which i sure shot lost that day....

But for me, since that day, life changed.... i realised that i was going wrong.... My friend circle was slowly going bad... I was ignoring my studies.... I was going in the wrong direction.... But as a kid, this incident freaked me out so much that i actually mended my ways....

If i had not pulled it back, i would not have never managed a 88% in my 12th boards, let alone reaching the best college of Mumbai and then to IMT and finally to France and back. People claim that there is one point in their lives when it changed forever and for me it was 9/11, the day the world changed.

When i passed out in March 2o05 wanted to go back to Sister and Thank her but somehow i lost that chance

Next i came to know that she had left for Ireland, never to return again... A few years back I tried looking for someway to contact her on the Internet but wasnt successful

So dear readers, LFS friends and ex-students, if anybody can somehow help me get in touch with the person who made me what i am, i would be really grateful...

All i will say 8 years down the line is " Thank you Old lady"

The Magic Of INDIAN MAGIK: A Captain's Account

Guys this is going to be a very long post so let me apologise in the beginning itself bcoz a lot of my readers claim that why do u write such long and detailed narrations of your experiences

THE CONCEPT
Ever since milestone started coming near one of the juniors, Vikas kept pestering me and Priya that we should be in his team. And everytime i kept ignoring him, saying, who is gonna be a part of a juniors team. For almost 2 weeks this guy did not give up hope. Then suddenly 1 day i was walking on the road to the gate alone thinking about something, dont know what. Its then that a thought struck me. Sampark, why not make your own team. These guys who are keen to have them in their team, can be my team members. Then i thought about Urja (later to be renamed Syenergy), the team my friends were in.
What would i tell them, all the seniors would make fun of heading a juniors team. But then i thought about the benefits of the team that i was conceptualising. It would give me the practical hands on experience of my MBA skills. I wanted to see myself if i had the power to pull a team of 18 through such an event. (Very frankly i wasnt very satisfied with the result on this front)
So 2 days later it was final. With Priya as the perfect support for such a venture i was running my own team. Vikas and a few others had to leave the team because of Placecom commitments and in came Priya and me. With still quite a few slots left a lot of planning went into the other senior members. After asking a lot of prospects and rejecting many more the team of seniors were ready. All of them strategically thought about, Anubhav Bansal for Finance and Operations, Aditya Sharma and Kapil Tuteja for IT and Shweta Agarwal for HR. Priya and myself would cover the Marketing and HR front.
The juniors section consisted of Anuj, Akanksha, Anumeha, Anirudh, Mikhail, Nikeeta, Varun, Sweta, Yogi, Ricky, Sunny and Vibhor. We had Vikas as the perfect back up along with Pooja. The team was ready and raring to go

THE JOURNEY FROM OM TO FUSION TO INDIAN MAGIK
It took us 4 days to come up with a name which could comply with the theme of Anunaad: Resonating tech, tact and talent. On the very first day itself we came up with the name OM: The Resonance of Life. I fell in love with this name. First day it was rejected by all but by next day when we didnt get anything we decided to go ahead with this name. I had already thought of the marketing strategy, the ways to promote it and what designs this promotions had to be in. But next day came another twist in the tale. From insider sources we came to know that 2 yrs ago a team had already used this name so it would be better if we found another name. We were on the road again. a lots of names which other teams used were discussed by us....Synergy, transformers etc...all had been rejected by us. Then towards the end, in a desperate attempt we came to Fusion. But then i got the firing of my life from Akanksha, only God knows what had pissed her off so much. That night we sat and discussed and discussed and out of the blue came Indian Magik. We were gonna connect Tech, tact and talent with India.
We chose From Aryabhatta To Kalam as our tagline just to connect the name to the theme which otherwise sounded like a Kurkure flavour. i still remember Shantesh laughing away to glory when he heard this name. He kept teasing me " teda hai, par mera hai" a line from one of the Kurkure ads. But we were finally there with a name
INDIAN MAGIK: From Aryabhatta to Kalam.

THE PREPARATION
Our prep started a little late as i had already seen Syenergy begin with their banner painting. Priya and me had a very tough time getting the juniors to understand that Milestone is much beyond fun and frolic. The hard work and time put in is enormous. These 2-3 days included a lot of running and going mad. From running to Kalmeshwar to get the banners stitched to sending people to the city to get the Tshirts printed and the paints bought. I still remember the first day when Anirudh came back with the paints and the tshirt, i had got so pissed off with him. Next day i had to run to the city early in the morning to get this work done. Even the last day a final attempt for the kites and the graffiti boards was another hell of an experience. The pressure and stress had started showing on me and it took Priya a lot of effort to cool me down. Thanx a ton to the biker guys, Paaji, Vibhor, Mikhail, Kedia who would be ready to run to kalmeshwar or nagpur at any given moment, sometimes twice a day. Thanx to my designing team of Anirudh and Anumeha and my painters, Varun and Nikki who worked so hard to get the BEST BANNERS of Milestone 34 this year ready. On the sidelines, paaji led the scripting team and Akanksha and others took care of the dances. Sweta and Nikki with Pooja helped get my exhibition ready.
DAY 1
ICE BREAKER
That day i was just back from the city when the script was finalised and practice about to begin. I noticed that the script was a little out of the rules mentioned last night but it being the last moment i didnt raise any questions. Luckily the committee also didnt raise any questions on outside characters being added to the storyline. My movie on which i had to make a spoof was Hera Pheri and full credit to my actors, especially Kapil Tuteja. Bro ur acting of Paresh Rawal was the defining factor of this years Ice Breaker. His sizzling performance catapulted us to the 2nd spot behind Trinity. We had created the first impact. With wondersful supporting performances from Andy as Majumdar, Paaji as Sarabjit Singh and Adi as Jaisimha. Indian Magik had arrived.

THE D DAY: THE PROMOTION RACE
At 1.30am the promotion race was to begin from Baddi Court. In an act of negligence we forgot to ask our supporter, Pooja to change the Team Tshirt when she went to Priya's room. This year the rule did not allow any non-member to help in the promotions. Just before things began complains started coming in of Indian Magik supporters being spotted elsewhere. We, the team which wanted to play things fair was unnecessarily getting dragged into trouble. Pooja was removed from there before the time limit started and we had a narrow escape.
The promotion race was to begin on a whistle and team members were supposed to run and grab spaces for their banners. It was indeed a dangerous thing especially when it had poured a few hours ago. In one of the hoax starts we saw the preparations the other teams had done with their back up staff. From A Block banners of Samanvay flew down. From B Block Transformers and Trinity dropped their banners. We even saw banners coming down from locked rooms with lights switched off. We wanted to play fair, but teams had other plans.
It began and all of us ran in different locations and Kudos to my team. They managed to get all the places we had targetted. Be it the base camp. Be it the girls in B Block. Be it my balcony in A block and be it the canteen.
The only issue which happened was when Varun handed over the banner to a third person while tying, so as not to keep it on the wet floor below. This was spotted by the Milestone Committee and negative points were awarded. But overall it was a victory on the space grabbing front as well.





DAY2
THE GAMES
The games next day started with IT Game and Finance game. In the IT game we stood second with the team of Adi and Tuteja but we deserved first as its an unspoken fact that the team that came first, Swakriti, knew the answers beforehand. But we were happy, not knowing that this result would be the deciding factor in the end.
In the finance game, as well, there was an issue with a flaw in the game. All the expected winners disappeared. Everyone expected this game to be a straight fight between Sanket of Syenergy and Bansal of Indian Magik and to the surprise of many, both did not even appear in the Top3.
The Vyaktitwa game also turned out to a disaster. I had gone for this and because of one wrong decision of mine, we dropped from 1st position to 5th and eliminated. We were leading but a mistake under pressure and we were out.
Nukkad Natak was another failure as we came 9th out of 15 teams and Biz Quiz was our most disasterous performance with 13th. By the end of day 2 we had slipped to 5/6th position and it seemed like Indian Magik glory days were very short lived but not for long

THE RACE TO THE TERRACE
The terraces last year opened on day 1 during the night itself but this year for safety reasons they were supposed to be opened at 5.30 pm the next day. Every team was supposed to nominate 4 members who were supposed to run to the top. It was a scene straight out of Main Hu Na and New York which included a race to the top of the college terrace. The B Block terrace was our main target and Paaji and Sunny were given this responsibility and A block was given to Anuj and Yogi. From where i was standing, my balcony in A block i could see the B block race very clearly. The whistle blew and they were off. Sunny soon took 4/5 th position as they entered the hostel. anxious moments as everyone waited for the racers to reach the terrace. Sunny reached 4th and another good attempt by all the 4 to capture all the targetted places. Finally all our banners were up and the kites were filled up to cover the spaces left. Only the basecamp needed to be brought up to the mark...

THE BASECAMP
Things at the basecamp were not seeming to go well while the other teams around had begun with their activities. The exhibition was up but there was nothing good enough to attract the crowds. I had gone for the Vyaktitva game when things turned around. Priya along with the juniors had started the Photo studio where people could get themselves clicked as ravan and ram and hanuman and even Charlie Chaplin. Lots of people got their ramlila dreams fulfilled. Even mazumdar sir got himself clicked as charlie chaplin with his trademark moustache. paaji had started a game of his own where people had to pop a table tennis ball into a mug that he had attached to his hip. and he was junping around in different directions to make the game more difficult in each round. This attracted the people to the exhibition as well which was my trump card to get people to understand my name so an exhibition was organised which had the welcome board saying " Indian Magik present Indians who created Magik with their Tech, Tact and Talent. " i used this to get people out of the Kurkure mindset. The Indian Magik basecamp was a hit.

At 4 in the morning when other teams had would up we continued, this resulted in free publicity from the Trinity tent where, first, himanshu arya and then, jay upadhyay kept their comments flowing on Indian Magik, Sampark Sachdeva and his tirth yatra to France. One of the great memories of Milestone.
Day 2 came to an end with lots of brainstorming on the Marketing game to be held early next morning. The topic had been given and a service had to be promoted for jail inmates. priya, me, varun and kapil cracked our brain till 5 in the morning trying to think of something. We rejected the cooperative store, and event management company, an investment back, a courier service and had almost finalised on a home furnishings company when an idea struck me. The stress relieving company that i had made a presentation on while i was in France. We all went of to sleep for 2 hours before we would get back to our marketing mission. End of a more of less disappointing day 2 which saw Indian Magik drop from 2nd to 6th spot.

DAY 3
THE GAMES
I got up at 8 am to prepare for the marketing game at 10. I tried desperately to add marketing concepts to the PPT i had.... but seemed to fail badly...
9am and not too much progress.... By 9.20 a thought to skip the game also crossed...but somehow, however idiotic i finished the PPT
Our team, Priya, Varun, Akanksha and myself reached the hall with our shoulders drooped... By the time 4-5 teams had finished their presentations, my confidence started building up. It seemed people were in a worse situtation than we were.
I went up on the stage, relieved as much stress of myself with my company BODY, MIND and SOUL... an hour later the results came. The very game that i was about to quit, I came 2nd..... Yo man, thats the way..
The day continued with Tuteja, Bansal and Paaji coming 2nd in the Operations game...

With 2 second spots for today and 1 earlier, Indian Magik was back on track again....We lost the HR game. We came 4th and that also by 1 mark.... A setback when we were expecting a good show...

With this the management games were over and the results as of now were as follows:
Samanvay 545
Indian Magik 541
Transformers 507
In Sync 450
Syenergy 395
Swakriti 375

Now what was left was the creative side of it.... The strong points of Syenergy and Swakriti and the the weak points of Samanvay and Transformers... For Indian Magik and InSync it was not known what to expect... The tides could turn anyway....

The Face painting took place but results werent revealed.... the next day the graffiti boards were submitted and explanations given.... i felt that face painting was ok and the graffiti was good( we later came 3rd).... the promotion marks (500) were also left and i knew if anything could save me from here it would be my promotion

DANCE
The dance show began at around 8. Samanvay people gave a mixed reaction. Transformers was the most enjoyable but the least coordinated. InSync was ok. Syenergy was rocking and Swakriti was great. The pressure was on and Indian Magik was (teammates, not my view but the general public) was bad. We had to somehow save the last event, the fashion show.......

FASHION SHOW
We reached the baddi court with very little preparation... i was damn tensed and nervous... i couldnt screw it up from here.... Swakriti and Syenergy were at the best again.... Transformers and Samanvay seemed to have let the lead go... InSync did not live upto the glamour expectations that the people expected from it... Indian Magik, with all the screw ups, Surprise surprise, went real well. Especially the Indian flag we revealed at the end....
Thank God for this last minute savior.....(we finally came 3rd in fashion show behind Swakriti and Syenergy)


NIGHT BEFORE THE RESULTS
The results were to be revealed the next evening at the LRC. The night before it was bad for the captain of Indian Magik....First i sat with Amit, then with Pranay and Kabra and then with others on the floor discussing and analysing the situation.... I knew Syenergy would come flying up but promotion was its weak point....Transformers and Samanvay were no more the threats they were till now... InSync seemed to have lost the plot somewhere... Now after the ok face painting and satisfactory graffiti, bad dance and good fashion show, the only thing which could save Indian Magik from sinking was the promotion. I knew if i could lose it to anybody now, it would be Swakriti. I barely slept that night with the committee members highly guarding their cards.

THE RESULTS
The result was at 5.30pm and as i was about to leave the class at 5.00pm a SMS came... It was one of my junior members....
The results had leaked.... it said "We're 2nd, Swakriti 1st and Syenergy 3rd" Firstly i was furious at the Milestone members, if they could have guarded the results for 24 hrs couldnt they have done it for another 1/2 hr.
the results began and as expected Syenergy were 3rd with Rs6000 as their prize. Indian Magik after all the turmoil managed to hang on to the 2nd spot with Rs12000 and as per my calculation lost to Swakriti who got Rs 18000..... It is now when i came to know that we had lost just by 10 points.

THE AFTERMATH
I walked out of the LRC hall only to be lifted by my team and been given bumps like my Birthday. Didnt know that losing by 10 points would get me beaten up by my own team mates. Then an open counter at the canteen and the Maggi's and parathas flowed but the best part of the celebration was left. 3 Thumbs Up bottles were blown off instead of champagne. Kapil and vibhor had to sacrifice their Tshirts in this celebration. The team party is yet to happen since the very next day half my team was in bed. I was down with cold and fever, Priya, Anirudh and some others joined the bandwagon. Sunny went one step ahead. With stones in his kidney, he had to leave for Kolkata to get himself operated. He is back and recovering well. Akanksha is on the wheelchair with a torn ligament.....

The Learnings
I won but failed in what exactly i had gone into see. I could not keep myself away from the tension and the stress. I had a very hard time managing my team which was only possible with Priya's help.. Thanx sis, you were great. No complains to my team, just that i didnt not know how to get some messages across in a more receptive way. Thanx guys, you made me learn a 1000 things about myself.
This experience will go a long way in teaching me how is it that you manage and understand your subordinates and manage people in your workplace. I realised that getting tensed and stressed and losing your cool doesnt find a solution but you need a more refined way to do that.

Before i wind up my acknowledgements....
Thanx Mom for making it clear to me which way i should go, my own team or with my friends
Thanx Poo for understanding why i was so busy and couldnt give time
Thanx to my friends at Syenergy for understanding that the friendship was at its place (even though all the leg pulling u did)

Thanx Priya for being my coolent... It was your hardwork that paid off
Thanx Bansal, Adi, Tuteja and Shweta,....each one played their role very well
Big Thanx to my junior guys: Anuj, Akanksha, Anu, Andy,Miky, Niky, Varun, Sweta, Yogi, Paaji, Sunny and Vibhor..... It was your team and your victory completely

And the biggest Thanx to all the Milestone guys, Shantu, Ritika, Swati, Adi, Ankur, Ritu, Mittal, Pankaj, and others....sorry i dont remember all the names....Juniors i barely know a few names... Thanx guys for making Milestone34 as unbiased and hassle free as possible.... You actually changed my impression which was formed last yr.... You guys are great

The Old n New of Sampark Sachdeva

In one of my earlier blogs my last line was something like the Sampark who flew out on 16th of January 09 would not be the one who would fly in on 11th of May. And 3 months after coming back i can feel that i have changed.... Its not the old Sampark any more...

I never believed in the funda of bookish knowledge and this feeling has got reinforced there. My life has become a blend of shuttling between MBA, friends, likings and learnings and at times it feels like i have bit on too much than i can chew.

Co-op is something i love being a part off but that requires time daily. But with all the things i have and am taking up it becomes very difficult to manage. With the great trouble Pepsi seems to be giving i dont have time to follow up on them.. If i had i actually would have got together with my services prof and done what he had suggested... tarnish the image of Pepsi in Nagpur. I still am in the mood of writing a case study on it.(New Sam)

One day I was walking alone near the mess when an idea struck me, juniors had been constantly pestering me to join their team when it finally struck. Why not make a team of my own, I know my friend circle was making a team, The Urja Team and i know i could have easily been a part of it. My team....why.... i wanted to test myself.... at the end of almost 3/4th of my MBA i wanted to give myself a test of what all i had gained at IMT.. Did i actually gain something paying those 6 lacs.... 2 days later it was done... my team was on (New Sam) .... The underdog team... with 11 juniors and 7 seniors... Seniors are like: r u mad u playing with such a team and i have only one answer for them... MS Dhoni led a similar team to T20 World Cup 2007 and the rest is history.... Milestone 34 is still a week away... I am still cracking my brains in the team composition and team details.... and all i can say is that running a team is no way an easy task... 18 brains, 18 thought processes and aligning all of them together is no joke... Over that my mom has given me a great challenge...Play through the whole without losing your cool....The fight is still on... At the moment we are going through the various stages of group formation and hopefully we will soon reach the stage where we perform and win (New Sam)

Coming down to MBA. Its the final year, work pressure has increased. I still dont believe in marks but i try making an effort in places where i feel i will learn something. For the first time i actually went to the journal sections in the library, though i dont get much time for it (New Sam) I realised 2 yrs late that the projects that we get, if done well, can be put in the CV as very important parts. So now, if time permits, i would like to do a lot of things in them which i wouldnt have earlier (New Sam). A few friends would raise objections here, saying i am a free rider. BAVFS i agree bcoz thats the only finance subject i have taken and i dont understand a shit of it. God knows what i was thinking when i took that subject. As far others are concerned, guys there would surely be a reason behind me not working. BAVFS is intentional, others situational free riding.

Marque- The Marketing Forum: I had left the forum when i came but on second thoughts i went back into it, planning to change what got me out. I wanted to do some serious stuff which actually added to my knowledge. Thats why i decided to get along with Viraj and help him with the journal. I am a little bad at writing articles so am helping him with the International Department. Mailing all my contacts from France and around the world for articles. As of now have got responses from 1 in Indonesia/France and 1 from Morocco/France. Hopefully may get more. And this year i am planning to use these contacts to circulate the journal in International B-Schools as well (New Sam)

Now coming to a very important point. My friends here at IMT. Time and again i have said no on various things to them, Be it the trip to Ramtek, Goa or making my own team at Milestone. Guys, I am really sorry, I know it gives a feeling that I am ignoring you or staying away. Just one thing, i will compensate this some day. Sorry guys... I just hope that in my progress on the Highway i dont lose out on important along the way....I hope u will forgive me...


Lets see where the new Sam reaches in his search of destiny...

28, Rue Gambetta.... A Vendre....

I just came back from dinner and switched on my laptop. Google Talk connected and the new mail pop up popped out. 1/1 Sunil Agrawal..... See pics of 28 Rue Gambetta

I excitedly connected to Gmail to see the pics of my house, the house where i spend the best days of my life. I signed in and clicked open the mail and pressed the download option. Within seconds "downloading complete" and "open" clicked.

The pic appeared and there from the top window hung a board "a vendre".
And seemed like the whole world collapsed.
Shit man.... its not possible.... my house couldnt be on sale.... and out of nowhere i noticed something i had never expected.... A Tear.....And it slowly rolled out... and down my cheek

I cant be crying i said to myself, but, yes i was.... and then another, followed by another...

Never expected myself to be crying over a house and that also rented one but when i look back i get so many memories of that one house, more than any other house i have ever been a part off

That dining table on which we spend long hours eating and discussing. That blue sofa and its springs which gave away by the time we left. The brown coloured couch whose cushions were used to beat Aishwarya. That window on which i loved standing and taking pics. That dreadful cellar which freaked you out if you went down there at night. That mattress bed of mine in the drawing room. That green staircase. That frealing photograph in the loo on the 1st floor. Ashoks always messed up room and Aishwarya's always not a spot of dirt room. The lamp which i broke just before we left and that huge mirror in the drawing room in which Self-Obsessed Ashok Kumar could not get enough off.

So many memories surround that house. So much the 6 of us have shared in that house. So many things i have learnt in that house. So many lives i have lived in that house. So many things i will miss about that house....

It so much that today i cant even see someone else staying in that house....

The tears roll down, and then i realise, even my tears are not precious enough to enable me to buy my house, my 28, Rue Gambetta.....