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From ignorance to learning and back

I landed in some sophisticated place amidst the all-knowing studs. I couldn’t understand the technicalities of F-1 race I couldn’t understand the soccer terminology I couldn’t stand the cacophonic parties I couldn’t get a word of any English song. I couldn’t see any of booze or smoke around I hardly talked to girls. My language knew no slang or swears words. I believed in early to bed and early to rise funda. But it all wasn’t that cool. My weekend evenings were spent in front of a TV trying to understand who the hell Schumacher and Mr Alosno and Mr. Ferrari were. I woke up late in the nights to see the soccer world cup and all the club matches, trying to decipher why there are 22 crazy people running after a ball, kicking it and others. I did night outs chatting and loafing and playing computer games I tried to dance to indecipherable cacophony. I listened to western rock day in and out, with its lyrics googled and trying to phathom it. I often got drunk with some weirdly distasteful

I always knew it is going to happen

“I told you na …” “maine kaha tha ki aisa hi hoga” “I always knew this is going to happen” “I knew that India will lose today” “I knew that the professor will take the test” “I knew that X will be the murderer in the movie” And the blabbering goes on. I have often wondered how people know that something is going to happen with so much certainty. And there are just too many such geniuses in the world. Necessary condition being that the thing has already occurred. They always knew that idea ‘X’ is going to work if idea ‘Y’ didn’t, necessary condition being that there is no chance to execute the idea ‘X’ in that context any more. Maybe, some hindsight bias, as some jargonically sound person will say. You meet such kinds of people everywhere. They are all around us. Maybe I, you or anyone has such traits. Just have a conversation while having a journey and you may find different varieties of them in different shapes and sizes. Dare to say that there are very few geniuses!

MBA ke side effects

You tend to look down upon people who sleep before 1 AM or who sleep for more than 5 hours a day. Almost everything appears “GLOBE” You lose your interest in studies during exams. In other times you don’t have time to study. You love partying, even if you don’t actually like them. You seem to forget what it was to ‘live something like life’ You may fall sick, if there is one day without any kind of slogging. You may watch soccer and F-1 race just to be stylish, with no real interest in it You are likely to be looked down upon if you are awake during lectures. You apply theory of demand and supply to the beautiful girls. You may discuss soccer and F-1 endlessly for the sake of your ‘image’. You may hate any social gathering which is without any kind of booze. You do all kinds of things for that extra point in CV. You tend to apply all theory in places where not needed, and when needed you forget those theories. You are in a position to give gyaan about anything under the sun, without ha

A matter of choice ...

You have 2 options, and you have complete freedom to choose any of these. Each option leads to an outcome which is one of those given below 1. You are happy and everyone believing that you are not and sympathising with you. 2. Everyone believing that you are happy, while in reality you are far being so. Which one will you choose ?

We love losers ...

The match was close. It was cricket match between Australia and Bangladesh. Most people believed the result would be obvious, but the Bangladesh team offered a tough fight. People were mostly cheering for the Bangladesh team. But this time they didn’t win. Few months ago though, they pulled a surprise victory against the Aussies though, and people would have loved if they had done the same this time also. We all love upsets, unless of course, we or our favorites are on the receiving end. Or in a broader sense, we often tend to love losers. Be it loving Devdas making it a super hit each time it comes. Be it loving a hero who loses Be it cheering for a weak team against a stronger team Be it seeing a dark horse win. Be it suddenly having a new-found love for Sourav Ganguly, whom were abusing a year ago for non-performance. … Or is it the other way round? … Do we hate winners or achievers and love to see them fall? Be it secretly hoping that Australia loses each time it plays Be it seeing

A brief theory of Sleep

“Oops … I overslept” “I am going to catch on with some sleep” How often we do we heat these words! Sleep is one thing that often eludes us when we need it the most, and is always there to greet us when we least want this bug to hit us. This result can be derived by applying Murphy’s Law to sleep. Similarly, applying Parkinson’s Law, “All the possible post-activity time available is filled with sleep”. This may hold true even if the available time is as high as 16 hours. Most of the oversleeping occurs when we desire it the least, and have some important task lined up immediately after the ‘brief sleep’, which we miss because our sleep ends up not being brief. For the sleep to be sufficient, it has to be for optimum time. This optimum time may vary from person to person. If you sleep less than the optimum time, then you will feel sleepy due to lack of proper sleep, while if you sleep more than this, you get trapped in the vicious cycle of sleep and thus continue to sleep more or feel sl

Prof kehte hain ...

Prof kehte hain ... ( inspired by Papa kehte hain frm QSQT !) Dedicated to the b-school goers ! Here it goes : Doston, Aaj submission ka aakhiri din hai … Aur sabhi ne apne project ke baare mein kuch soch rakha hai But maine kuch nahi socha hai … Really … I mean it … Aur aaj baar baar mere dimaag mein yahi baat aati hai … Prof kehte hain badaaa naam karega, Student hamaara aisa kaam karega, Magar yeh to .. Koi na jaane … ki meri slides … hai kahaaan … Baithe hain milke, sab project mates apne … Sabke dilo mein armaan ye hai … Wo presentation mein, kal kya kya bolegaa … Har ek nazar ka sapna yeh hai Koi introduction ka kaam karegaa Globe maarne mein koi apna naam karega Magar yeh to .. Koi na jaane … ki meri slides … hai kahaaan … Mera to sapna … hai i-bank jaana … Dekhoon jo usko jhoome bahaar … Account mein khilta dollar ka mausam, Style mein jaadooo, bangla aur car ! Banda ye khoobsurat kaam karega … Powerpoint ki duniya mein apna naam karega … Magar yeh to … Koi na jaane … ki meri s

Maybe

It was yet another mundane day at the office. The client had once again told to pull up the socks, if the project had to be completed in time. My manager had one again told that my work was still not upto the mark. I was feeling totally demotivated as I strolled past the park on my way home, when I decided to sit on an empty bench in some corner of the park, which was surprisingly vacant. I was throwing stones at the tree which was a few meters away, but missed it every time. This wasn’t a proper day to try all these. Maybe I would end up hitting somebody, and probably landing at a hospital.Then suddenly this old gentleman came and sat beside me. I smiled and he reciprocated. This man seemed to be somewhere in his 60s, but yet seemed full of energy. He was dressed in an executive suit, which I found a little odd initially. Maybe, he was someone in the high echelons of the corporate world. Anyway, it was none of my business. Yet, few minutes later I found myself engaged in a deep conver

UNCONVENTIONALLY ATTRACTIVE

(My first attempt at writing a short story … read at your own risk!) Moments later after I somehow managed to throw myself in the train compartment, it started moving. Had I been stuck in the traffic jam for even a minute more, I would have had to book my tickets once again. But finally I embarked on the journey, the one which will lead to my homes, the one which will make Bangalore “the city I lived in” from “the city I live in.” I finally landed in my seat, somehow adjusting my luggage below and over the seat. I was really exited about the journey. I had managed to secure an admission into an IIM and was soon going there for a management education. To add to this I had a beautiful girl sitting next to me in the train. This was sort of unusual, as the coach usually I travel in hardly has any beautiful girls in it (courtesy Murphy's law). Later on I got to know from the reservation chart that she was Aditi Mishra, Female (obviously!), 21 years, going from Bangalore to New Delhi. “H

Games Students play

It is not about sports like soccer, cricket or TT; nor about some indoor games like chess or computer games. How often we hear words which on surface convey a simple meaning but deep inside the meaning may be totally different ?!. It is about these ‘games’. Formally defined, games are a form of ulterior transaction, and which leads to a definite payoff. Ulterior transaction is the one, which on surface may appear to be completely normal and without any hidden “trick”, but at psychological level it may mean something totally different. For example it may appear as if an adult is talking to an adult (adult – adult transaction), but at psychological level the ‘adult’ speaker may be talking to a child (adult-child transaction). (No more technical jargons from now onwards!) How often we hear the phrase “In US it isn’t so; actually there it is …” At the surface it may seem like a mature adult talking to another, stating plain facts. But at other level it is telling that “I have been to USA”.

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