Rumours

a new mantra?

2006-10-22T09:34:00.000+05:30

Was examining the Hindu philosophy of detachment...
Detachment to save oneself from suffering? dichotomous no? methinks.

I have a new project in my head- a blog for just me.. to take me through things i should be doing, and debate around why i should be doing them... thats the problem with some of us:) we need a why and wherefore for everything....sometimes to run away from "must dos" by reasoning.
Everything in the world can be reasoned- so the arm wrestling continues.
What Im planning to do, is talk myself into all the stuff thats good for me... with the help of a few good AEs (Pue, Cue, Rue and not to forget- Zue) and like a reasonable parent, provide me some discounts as well:D

Diwali resolution?
maybe!

and well, till i figure out detachment, heres a happy enough theme to live with!

"hum hain raahee pyaar ke hum se kuchh naa boliye

jo bhee pyaar se milaa, hum usee ke ho liye

dard bhee humei kabool chain bhee humei kabool

hum ne har tarah ke fool haar mein piro liye

dhoop thee naseeb me, dhup mein liyaa hain dam

chaandanee milee to hum chaandanee mein so liye

dil pe aasaraa kiye, hum to bas yoo hee jiye

yek kadam pe has liye, yek kadam pe ro liye

raah mein pade hain hum kab se aap kee kasam

dekhiye to kam se kam boliye naa boliye"

Id love to hear thgouhts of any passersby... comment on!

Wishing everyone in th blogosphere....

2006-10-22T09:32:00.000+05:30

a very Happy Deepawali!!

I notice a change in the O of orkut, looks like a bunch of diwali ladi's strung onto it:D

Alumni Dinner

2006-10-10T02:33:00.000+05:30

12:30 at night in a wagon r on delhi's quiet roads...
an old friend and a fellow aquarian on the wheel of a stereo less car...
I decide to sing...
on a night like this.. on any night when im out infact... high is the state im in... the air intoxicates.. opens me up more than any vodka shot could!
so i decide to sing...
and i sing... i take requests and perform...
rememebering the good ol days in college (not so long ago)...
abhi na jao choddkar..ke dill abhiii bhaaraa nahi...
seekho naa.. naino ki bhaasha piya...
love songs, lovely songs.. it didnt matter that i didnt have anyone to direct them at..
the love in them and my voice was enough....

takeaway... you dont always need a that special someone to cherish memorable moments with...
sometimes the night air...and a good friend will do...

:)

Oh

2006-10-02T13:44:00.000+05:30

"The world is blowing up
The world is caving in
The world has lost her way again
But you are here with me
But you are here with me
Makes it ok

I hear you still talk to me
As if you're sitting in that dusty chair
Makes the hours easier to bear
I know despite the years alone
I'll always listen to you sing your sweet song
And if it's all the same to you

I love you oh so well
Like a kid loves candy and fresh snow
I love you oh so well
Enough to fill up heaven overflow and fill hell
Love you oh so well

And it's cold and darkness falls
It's as if you're in the next room so alive
I could swear I hear you singing to me

I love you oh so well
Like a kid loves candy and fresh snow
I love you oh so well
Enough to fill up heaven overflow and fill hell

The world is blowing up
The world is caving in
The world has lost her way again
But you are here with me
But you are here with me
Makes it ok

Oh girl you're singing to me still
I love you oh so well
Like a kid loves candy and fresh snow
I love you oh so well
Enough to fill up heaven overflow and fill hell
Love you oh so well "

His voice is like melting butter.... no something better.... its like a hug... just sit inside it... what a wonderful monday... and what a sunday before the monday!!!
Sunday merits a post....[:D]...finally back to loving...back to happy... back to loving being happy

I Flewwww

2006-07-05T20:17:00.000+05:30

Its funnyhow 30...40year olds can be such kidds...
I feel like I went to school again!
Okay... my eyes were admittedly red..bloodshot..scary...
But shouldnt people have some consideration towards the sufferer (realised ijust morphed into a 14 year old):p
I mean Its not AIDS!!!(it spreads by touching)...
I OBVIOUSLY got it from someone at work (err..Yah.. I dont have a life;p)
And its a myth (Like AIDS Myths)that it spreads by LOOKING AT THE RED INFLAMED EYE.
So all I want to tell my readers (;-))is dont look away when eyes fly...dont be a kid or the semi kid will cry:p

Board results!

2006-05-27T08:56:00.000+05:30

My sister wrote her 10th class board exams this year and result got out this morning.
She has an aggregate of 93% and actually managed a century in sanskrit!!!
Who'd believe shes my sis:)
Whats funny tho is that some of her friends have a 93.something or the other and shes still about 6th in class. And that troubles her!
Its only after she went out and met some regular bacchas was she convinced her marks are 'not bad' ;)
Crazy this whole deal is.
But she got a 100 in Sanskrit:D
Yam proud!

blink..blank..

2006-04-03T20:41:00.000+05:30

Am reading Blink...
Amazing book, for many many reasons. The reason why it makes me write about it is has to do with economics.
I never quite got how having more choice allows the consumer to choose better...
Personally, the more i have to choose from, the more id get confused... blank...
Same as the author says...
He cites a study that says out of people who were given a choice of 6 and 30 varieties of jam, the customers with more choice bought jam 3% of the time,only.. much lesser than those with less choice!
Good, now i have a valid reason for not getting eco.
I hope to come up with more as i read:D

messrs missers

2006-03-02T19:16:00.000+05:30

hey...
as usual.. a lot happenning:)
i got me a nice good job..
shifted to Gurgaon...
the missers may call:p

I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.

2006-01-19T22:33:00.000+05:30

Where Ive been all this while... ;) Thanks for the concern:)

PS: Really... Its nice to know you've been missed

Home Made Sympathy

2006-01-19T22:21:00.000+05:30

She’s been ill. She’s got sinusitis all over again.
The villain just flipped for her this time, and he’s sitting on her head, banging his hammer Bang! Bang! Bang! on her, she’s not sleeping either...
He squeezes the insides of her brains... so bad that she keeps expecting molten wax to flow out.
Molten wax and two blasts...two blasts for the two swollen glands under her two ears.

Paneer....

2006-01-19T22:13:00.000+05:30

Its such a waste letting old written things languish in a cobwebbed shelf of one's Dumps:// Drive. So heres something...

There’s Something about paneeer!!
My favourite vegetable-fruit-root and curry is paneer…
A more versatile food item I dare yu to show me…
The non believers might say aaloo…
But I ask yu...can yu envisage a shahi aloo?
What is shahi afterall..about aaloo? (Certainly not the hawaein:p)(if yu didn’t get that, good. You’re not a dedicated aaloo eater anyway then)
Paneer, on the other hand is a food for every season, every reason.
Suits every budget, every pocket.
Comes out a cow and is vegetarian.
Sizzles on top of a sizzler and sits at the side of Indian Mexican.
Goes with any veggy and is every mother’s delight.
Pretends to be bland in taste but is actually a clever karma chameleon
Salt it sauté it.. sugar it spice it up baibeh, Paneer’s the way to be

Show me one who liketh not paneer and I will show you
A liar.
A man who doesn’t know himself.
A lost soul yet to discover his true purpose in life.
To discover life, take a bite into a paneer tikka or make yourself that Caesar paneer sammich…
The sounds of pleasure that follow are what life is all about… not the drippy oily aaloo bonda…or whatever.
Dip that roti into the kadhai paneer…
String paneer spheres together and paint them green to look like grapes..then yu can eat them vamp style:D (make sure you use edible paint)

Conflict...

2006-01-19T21:56:00.000+05:30

.. happens when pieces of a puzzle don’t fit.
Pieces of the puzzle? Could be anything- two moods, two personalities, backgrounds, behaviors, and oh, expectations.
So, when you try to force fit Japan into UK, in the 1000 piece world map puzzle, its conflict.
How much ever you compare the sizes and find them a perfect fit, how much ever you push it back, it does come apart, or stands awkwardly in a location it wasn’t supposed to be at.
How can you have the sun rising in UK first?

lil more shallow... trying hard to be deep...

2005-10-22T13:35:00.000+05:30

Words can hurt…
Words designed to hurt; words not supposed to hurt
Words that were meant to convey something, convey something else….
That were meant to hurt in one way sometimes hurt in ways more than one

When you love someone deeply, and some one loves you back,
You want to give your all… be as honest as you can, tell it like it is… warts and all
You know you won’t be judged, the one you love understands….

Where are you??? Inside a M&B novel??!!!!

Talking to myself

2005-08-16T22:20:00.000+05:30

Been going through a bit of a rough time. And its going to stay hectic for the whole of this month. Work wise.
Hope I come out of this week and the next, alive! Am expecting lot of trouble, and a lot of heartache too maybe.
The confusion is a constant by now.
BUT I had a a wunnerful weekend... will take me through all of this... (and more:D..no not elaborating;) Also got an mp3 player:D with etta james and some brilliant songs I havent somehow heard ever before...
Its like find Sue again, and its now that I know I'd gotten lost for a bit...

I've started doing this lost and found talk thing often lately, remember writing a mail like this a month or two ago...
Have started taking things more lightly now, mentally.. let things come, happen, become, do, Its too much of a headache knowing or guessing in advance and then seeing theres nothing you can do to change things... better to let them be.
Thats the one lesson.
The other is Ego Massaging..
M gna have to do a bit of that i think....
Work Ex is something everyone should go though. An MBA without work ex seriously would be lacking... :p
I know I'm picking up things out of air right now, without bothering to explain the setting or the context, but from what i write, it should be easy enough to guess na?:)
I'd love for comments, if you find my writing boring, interesting, predictable, wish for me to change something, whatever.

Til then..... tally ho!;)

Analysing...?

2005-08-06T16:29:00.000+05:30

The more intelligent, the more evolved we get, the more books we read, the more ‘generic’ instances we see, the more intelligent we think we become.
(MY blog, I get the wholesale rights to generalize;)
The more intelligent we know we are, the more complicated we make our lives. For we know that many more possibilities, that many more problems and that many more alternatives.

That much more analysis is possible and that much more ego gets in the way too. Intelligent people have that. Dignity and Ego and Self Respect and Hurt and some more Dignity. That logical mind arrests and the heart gets lost somewhere. And then, sometimes the heart attacks suddenly, numbing and not letting the intelligent mind know what to think really.

And then one writes a post in one’s blog after a long long time.
A lot’s happened over the past month. More than I’d care to share. But I’m back now, and moi blog’s crossed a 1000 visitors!!!

That somehow means a lot, its like a 1000, or a 100 or 50 people, over months visiting again and again are interested in what goes on here...

For those who like coming here... Thank you.
And do keep visiting:)

The best compliment I've ever received:)

2005-07-13T11:05:00.000+05:30

Check this out!

TP

2005-07-02T19:22:00.000+05:30

What do you do when you're DEAD BORED?
Try this: Sing tunelessly. No. Wait.
Sing tunelessly, and sing the words a line ahead of the actual playback, while the song is playing:D
Hehe, ofcourse you have to have some predetermined defense to attempt something like that, especially if its a bunty babli song your sis loves. Like be ill and pretend iller with each step the threatener to your life takes to close in on you:D

MAN its boring being ill. Totally different experience from when it used to be fun to be ill and off from school.
Infact, I remember a doctor who couldn't diagnose what was wrong with me, except that i said i felt ill. He said i was faking it:p
To my defense, i hadnt been.
But he thought i was having too much fun watching cartoons all day on the TV and i dint twitch much when they brought in all the nuerologists and got in foreign accent wale doctors. Even mentioned to ma that maybe i need more care and attention and luv:D
Hehehe

Oh well. Im ill.:p
Excuse please.

AEs

2005-07-02T19:21:00.000+05:30

What do you do when your kinda short on tact and have a verbal diarrhoea to boot?
You blame it on the alteregos, especially the soft ones who are easier to manao later;)

;)

2005-06-30T10:49:00.000+05:30

Couldn't resist posting this one:D

One day in the Garden of Eden, Eve calls out to God.

"Lord, I have a problem!"

"What's the problem, Eve?"

"Lord, I know you created me and provided this beautiful garden and
all of these wonderful animals and that hilarious comedic snake, but I'm
just not happy."

"Why is that, Eve?" came the reply from above.

"Lord, I am lonely, and I'm sick to death of apples."

"Well, Eve, in that case, I have a solution. I shall create a man for you."

"What's a man, Lord?"

"This man will be a flawed creature, with many bad traits. He'll lie, cheat,
and be vainglorious; all in all, he'll give you a hard time. But he'll be
bigger, faster and will like to hunt and kill things. He will look silly
when he's aroused, but since you've been complaining, I'll create him in
such a way that he will satisfy your physical needs. He will be witless and
will revel in childish things like fighting and kicking a ball about. He
won't be too smart, so he'll also need your advice to think properly."

"Sounds great." says Eve, with an ironically raised eyebrow. "What's the
catch, Lord?"

"Well ... you can have him on one condition."

"What's that, Lord?"

"As I said, he'll be proud, arrogant, and self-admiring... So you'll have to
let him believe that I made him first. Just remember, it's our little
secret... You know...., woman to woman."

Eyes

2005-06-20T20:00:00.000+05:30

It’s eyes that play tricks. Eyes that play all the tricks.
Like a 10 year old’s ponytail that goes swishing right, even with oiling, pinning down and banding.
Eyes. Not the tricks of those girls with dancing eyes, that invite, entice, excite.
But eyes that look away when they really must bravely look through and pretend there isn’t much to look through…
Like air and water. Water and air. Raindrops falling right through air. Air making water whirl.

And eyes that look through eyes pretending to look through.
While lips are on autopilot. Trying hard to drown the insistent whirring of eyes that pretend and eyes that look through the pretence. The lips on autopilot. And the lips that barely can conceal a smile.
Do the lips that smiled know… Of the eyes that pretended mirth while concealing something else?

me, rite now

2005-06-14T10:08:00.000+05:30

Landslide..
fleetwood mac...
something like me right now.. :)

Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life

In Transition...

2005-05-22T10:33:00.000+05:30

School's over, college too. There was this voidish time too soon after but that's over too and now its Prep time before I become a 'grown up' who goes to 'office' and applies for a PAN card, has medical insurance of her own and looks at which mutual fund makes most sense to invest in:p
This is it baby.
This is what they were preparing you for all that time in college. There's the furtive convos in yahoo groups as to appropriate office attire and conduct; college snaps scanned are passed around, good ol' times awready recalled, some more interesting snaps 'morphed' by the morphers, college couples showered blessings to live together happily ever after...
In between, some money is made.. teaching in institutes that prepare for entrances to institutions that prepare one to get a job, a pan card, medical insurance, pay check and make decisions about tax savings.
Its fun to be on the other side. To be called 'maam', to have eyes looking gravely, heads nodding furiously as notes are taken, notes which include everyword you've uttered, including 'or whatever..'.
Its also gratifying to get an overall score of 7.88/10 to the question
'Evaluate your instructor, on a scale of 1 to 10'.
Especially when thats all you wanted to know, even though you gave them 5 other questions to respond to, in a class survey you prepared overnite to just see how good you really are.
My favorite answers were 10/10, Excellent:D. I'm not in KG anymore, but theres nothing like getting a 10/10, Excellent, in anything. (when i was in school, i used to pester maam till she drew 5 stars also, along with the 10/10:)
And then there is the dreaming, where one shall lose 5 kgs in that last week before joining work, and go jogging/cycling/running 'from tomorrow', and hence go shopping only after some flab is lost;))

While things go round and round again, after college, so does my blog for now. A brand new template, Finally the links to my favourite blogs, and some i find checkout worthy, and whatever else i think will go in a grown up blog:D will be out soon:D
Comments invited. I Have a new Be Regular at your Blog plan as well:D so hopefully, will be keeping all posted on the happenings in me life;)

PS: Does anyone have any idea on what vegetarian dish can be cooked out of asparagus? No im not getting married soon-so taking cooking classes, received an unusual 'gift' of some hundred sticks of asparagus, showed it around to frends and found out it was called asparagus;)) and dunno wat to do with it:p
Help!:)

Finally a chain letter I like!

2005-05-22T09:22:00.000+05:30

I died laffing while reading this one...
Do excuse the expletives, have deleted some, but if i remove all, effect chala jayega:P

"Hello, my name is Basmati Kasaar. I am suffering from rare and deadly diseases, poor scores on final exams,extreme virginity, fear of being kidnapped and
executed by anal electrocution, and guilt for not forwarding out 50 billion ******* chain letters sent to me by people who actually believe that if you send
them on, then that poor fricking 6 year old girl in Arkansas with a breast on her forehead will be able to raise enough money to have it removed before her
redneck parents sell her off to the traveling freak show.

Do you honestly believe that Bill Gates is going to give you and everyone you send his email to $1000? How stupid are you? Ooooh, looky here! If I scroll down
this page and make a wish, I'll get laid by every Playboy Bunny in the magazine! What a bunch of ******* BS.

So basically, this message is a big F*** Y** to all the people out there who have nothing better to do than to send me stupid chain mail forwards. Maybe the
evil chain letter leprechauns will come into my apartment and sodomize me in my sleep for not continuing the chain which was started by Ceaser in 5 A.D. and was brought to this country by midget pilgrims on the Mayflower and if it makes it to the year 2000, it'll be in the Guinness Book of World Records for longest continuous streak of blatant stupidity.

F*** them!

If you're going to forward something, at least send me something mildly amusing. I've seen all the 'send this to 50 of your closest friends, and this poor, wretched excuse for a human being will somehow receive a Nickel from some omniscient being forwards about 90 times. I don't f****** care. Show a little intelligence and think about what you're actually contributing to by sending out forwards. Chances are
it's your own unpopularity.

THE FOUR BASIC TYPES OF CHAIN LETTERS:

Chain Letter Type 1:
(scroll down)

Make a wish!!!

Keep Scrolling

No, really, go on and make one!!!

Oh please, they'll never go out with you!!!
Wish something else!!!

Not that, you pervert!!

STOP!!!!

Wasn't that fun? :)
Hope you made a great wish :)

Now, to make you feel guilty, here's what I'll do.
First of all, if you don't send this to 5096 people in the next 5 seconds,
you will be raped by a mad goat and thrown off a high building into a
pile of manure.

It's true! Because, THIS letter isn't like those fake ones, THIS one is
TRUE!! Really!!! Here's how it goes:

*Send this to 1 person: One person will be pissed off at you for sending
them a stupid chain letter.

*Send this to 2-5 people: 2-5 people will be pissed off at you for sending them a stupid chain letter.

*Send this to 5-10 people: 5-10 people will be pissed off at you for sending them a stupid chain letter, and may form a plot on your life.

*Send this to 10-20 people: 10-20 people will be pissed off at you for sending them a stupid chain letter and will napalm your house.
Thanks!!!! Good Luck!!!

Chain Letter Type 2

Hello, and thank you for reading this letter. You see, there is a starving little boy in Baklaliviatatlaglooshen who has no arms, no legs, no parents, and no goats. This little boy's life could be saved, because for every time you pass this on, a dollar will be donated to the Little Starving Legless Armless Goatless Boy from
Baklaliviatatlaglooshen Fund.

Oh, and remember, we have absolutely no way of counting the emails sent and this is all a complete load of b*******. So go on, reach out. Send this to 5 people in the next 47 seconds.

Oh, and a reminder - if you accidentally send this to 4 or 6 people, you will die instantly.
Thanks again!!

Chain Letter Type 3

Hi there!! This chain letter has been in existence since 1897. This is absolutely incredible because there was no email then and probably not as many sad pricks with nothing better to do.
So this is how it works... Pass this on to 15,067 people in the next 7 minutes or something horrible will happen to you like:

*Bizarre Horror Story #1
Miranda Pinsley was walking home from school on Saturday. She had recently received this letter and ignored it. She then tripped in a crack in the sidewalk, fell into the sewer, was gushed down a drainpipe in a flood of poopie, and went flying out over a waterfall. Not only did she smell nasty, she died.
This Could Happen To You!!!

*Bizarre Horror Story #2
Dexter Bip, a 13 year old boy, got a chain letter in his mail and ignored it. Later that day, he was hit by a car and so was his boyfriend (hey, some people swing that way). They both died and went to hell and were cursed to eat adorable kittens every day for eternity.

This Could Happen To You Too!!! Remember, you could end up just like Pinsley and Bip. Just send this letter to all of your loser friends, and everything will be okay.

Chain Letter Type 4

As if you care, here is a poem that I wrote.
Send it to all your friends.

FRIENDS:

A friend is someone who is always at your side.

A friend is someone who likes you even though you stink of shit, and your breath smells like you've been eating catfood.

A friend is someone who likes you even though you're as ugly as a hat full of ****.

A friend is someone who cleans up for you after you've soiled yourself.

A friend is someone who stays with you all night while you cry about your sad, sad life.

A friend is someone who pretends they like you when they really think you should be raped by mad goats, then thrown to vicious dogs.

A friend is someone who scrubs your toilet, vacuums and then gets the check and leaves and doesn't speak much English...no, sorry that's the cleaning lady.

A friend is NOT someone who sends you chain letters because he wants his wish of being rich to come true.

Now pass this on! If you don't, you'll never have sex ever again!

The point being? If you get some chain letter that's threatening to leave you shagless or luckless for the rest of your life, delete it. If it's funny, send it on. Don't piss people off by making them feel guilty about a leper in Botswana with no teeth, who's been tied to a dead elephant for 27 years, whose only savior is the 5 cents per letter he'll receive if you forward this mail, otherwise you'll end up
like Miranda. Right?

one of those blues

2005-04-27T13:24:00.000+05:30

Sometimes, you experience something that really hurts. You think your all grown up and mature, but there you are. Didnt know where to put this, but it had to be out somewhere, so well, this is what i started a blog for na!
sans the loud thunder rain weather metaphors :p ...

it feels the same still
the instant smile that reaches the eyes, and then the frown
like a hyperlink to an old pain..
frown,
how easy to frown
ignore
talk ill
feel bad
how easy to feel the hurt the pain
old pain
senseless pain that musnt be talked of
pain that shouldnt have hurt
what if i barred the link to pain
would the frown still hurt
why frown when no one's so bad
and everybody hurts

just an inverted u
for those who really hurt inside

last days @college

2005-04-23T22:24:00.000+05:30

exams starting on 27th april... last few days at college.. farewell had been totally awesome.. as had last day at college... have it all on video too:D a hundred copies being written on cds right now, a few hundered mbs of memory for everyone to cherish..
duno what to write in words.. so many thoughs come rushing, so much that has happened
maybe i should try later:)
for now its back to business policy and strategy;)
hope to be writing more often now on...
cheers (hic) !
suey

Drishtikon Reloaded

2005-04-10T00:19:00.000+05:30

Hey everyone...
Am back briefly, after a long long looong time..
Drishtikon is long over, but i havent yet posted on how it went.. havent been able to write something out exclusively for your viewing pleasure, but heres something i wrote on drishtikon for our college mag, slightly edited... for the reading pleasure of those who still keep mailing to remind me:D
I have the third round of a really important for me job interview on monday.. wish meh luck:d and hope yu enjoy the read, even if disconnected in the beginning...

In what was a first, our faculty coordinator invited individual proposals for Drishtikon’s Core Committee this year (as opposed to randomly picking out students he thought were smartish), outlining ideas for the event, topics, contacts for speakers, sponsors etc. Yours truly had been doodling logos for drishtikon on backpages of notebooks since a sem earlier.. so had to jump in :D..somehow
At the end, a motley crew of 8 got together, soon joined by 3 more from 2nd year.

The Mission: To make Drishtikon a meaningful experience for its audience, its students, it was important for us to go back to why seminars are and should be organised in CBS at all...
To see being put to practice, what we have learnt in theory. To learn new approaches, the current market scenario, from those who are involved in changing trends.
A seminar is our only contact point with corporates from the industry, so it goes without saying, to market CBS better.
It is also the only place students and corporates from the industry share lunch, and tea, and there is no better setting than lunch to impress a prospective employer.;)
An event well organised can help bring any brand to the fore front. And we wanted Dristikon 05 to do that for CBS.
As Team Drishtikon learnt during a meeting with one of our panelists, who also recruits from CBS, CBS is a very good catchment area for Talent. We however need to market ourselves better.
So there, we had a goal to reach. Not just to make Drishtikon a success, but to help CBS gain from it!
The work: After much discussion, consulting teachers, and some more discussion, we settled on the sessions, relevant topics to be discussed and the format for each session. It started slowly... Drishtikon 05 needed an individual identity… after much drawing and sifting through magazines (oh, and some net surfing for inspiration ;) we came up with the logo(hehe, finalised on the logo i had once doodled;) and the tagline -Viewpoints that Matter.
We also managed to book a 5 star hotel for the seminar, after some heavy duty negotiations, though with relatively low strife as compared to previous years.
With a Venue, an identity and a mission statement ;) it was time to do the rounds of prospective sponsors… It was heartening to see sponsorship kits and concept papers disappear by the dozen, seeing the juniors take such keen interest in extending their hand to make the event a success…
Sponsorships, it turned out, were not to be a problem for Drishtikon 05.
Work for sponsorships, venue, speakers and even details like brochures, folders and badges started nearly two months in advance.
We also came up with a Pre event contest- ‘What’s your Drishtikon?’ which in hindsight, received a better response than we had imagined, it being the first time such a pre-event activity had been undertaken. I recommend other events in the future to try such a tactic as well, since it gets people interested. Even those who did not send us entries enquired, went to our website, read about the topic, which only got them more hooked onto the actual session during the main event.

Roller coaster ride: Planning well ahead always helps, they keep saying. We took the saying to heart- A week before Drishtikon 05, we had all our 15 speakers confirmed.
2 nights before our event, we were left with 11.
Due to unavoidable circumstances, they left, one by one, like in the movies.
Each left us a little more crushed, a little more determined to start over.
A night before the event, after replenishing our stock of speakers, we were faced with some more 'outgoers'.
This is where all the crisis management crept in from photo stated notes into our being and our thought process. And so, we managed to find another illustrious speaker who went on to become a hit at Drishtikon.

D-Day: had Urooj and me (we were the powerpuff gurls of Drishtikon:D 2 powerpuff girls? haan.. kyoonki hum do hi teen ke barabar hain;) compering the event. Our speaker woes had yet to end when one of our speakers almost refused to come, on phone. But persuasion was an art we were adept at by then. In all the frenzy and adrenalin rush, we 'facilitated' and 'facilitated' and 'faci-felicitated' our illustrious panel ;). With the Finance Panel a big hit among the students, and ending with tea, we were one down, two to go.
The HR session made up for a speaker less, with new learnings in the biotech arena, and an interactive Q & A session. The session brought out the latent interest students of CBS take in HR, evident by the well informed opinions and intelligent questions students fired at the panelists. For a long time. Despite rumbling stomachs and the knowledge that lunch was to follow!
The Marketing session as well started and ended on schedule, without any untoward incident :D and with a Q & A which carried on beyond the event...
The Vote of Thanks was given, our hard work recognized, photographs were posed for and Tea was served.
The seminar ended with Team Drishtikon happy and relieved for no glitches barring an unreliable power generator of the Hotel and the Non announcement of the customary till then post-event holiday.
We celebrated with pizzas and excited banter.

Post event: We received tremendous positive feedback from our panelists, in the form of SMSes and phone calls - something unprecedented! One of our speakers is impressed by our student quality (thanks to the interactive Q & A) enough to have his organization hold talks with our placement cell to recruit graduates into an organisation that hitherto took only MBAs. This, for CBS is not a first, and hopefully will not be a last either!
It wouldn’t be wrong to say CBS has won some new fans :-)

In the end, despite the classes missed, the sleepless nights spent working, or sometimes in plain stress, the incoherent muttering of cell phone numbers of speakers, and the humongous petrol bill, Drishtikon was worth it. It taught us more than just what books can teach. And despite the cliché, the experience of being out there doing everything, mere novices, but learning every minute, is one that each one of us would cherish forever.

Holi Hai!!!

2005-03-26T14:17:00.000+05:30

Heres Wishing Everyone a Very Happy Holi!
Rang Barse! ;)

outburst

2005-03-12T21:26:00.000+05:30

why were manners invented?
why do i have to have to say somethings even if i dont mean them, just to be polite?
does it matter what everyone thinks if i say out loud what i think?
must i say something artificially nice, copy pasted from memory, without meaning a word of it?
why should there be a set template on behavior?
why should it be decided how everyone should behave?
how can it be a pleasure to meet everyone or wish the same nice way best of luck for everyone?
Then arent words just an empty, ineffective medium?
what matters more? being told what is wrong to my face, or not being told to not 'hurt' my feelings?
do they really care? should it matter if they care?and should i do what "should" be done?
who decides "should"?

A Learning Experience

2005-03-06T21:09:00.000+05:30

This one's a long delayed post on this speaker (we'll call him Mr K) we met....
He reversed all the mounting stereotypes we as a core committee have been carrying in our heads about speakers and personally id been forming, about mankind in general:p.
For some reason which i havent worked out as yet, im not ready to divulge his name.
But the one meeting and the many following phonecalls must be written about.
Maybe more than the bickered about not so cooperative others of his breed.
So here we were on a weekday afternoon, kinda late for our appointment thanks to an incident with a speaker, lets call him Mr A, ushered in about 5 mins after we announced our arrival.
The guy's the president of a hotshot company, no less, mind you;)
Exchanged pleasantries(!wow) and had a look at our concept papers, while talking on 4 out of 4 of his fones which rang incessantly, wrote a mail, checked out a screen.. (the man's multitasking king:D)
On observing a speaker on our "proposed list" (jee haan the same Mr A we'd just had a disaster with), whom he recognised, he quietly dialled him.
Spoke, chitter-chattered, fixed lunch at a swanky 5star place and hung up.
We were like, ab ye bhi gaya:p.
But he agreed to come so i took the chance of telling him Mr A hadnt relented.
He said he'd talk to him, and later on, actually made him agree to come:p.
Next, he called up a Mr V, a big guy on news television, telling him to give us an appointment!!!(we were looking for someone to moderate our finance session)
And a Ms S, another TV anchor, glamdoll, from a rival channel, to give us an appointment.
No jaan pehchaan, no contacts we had!
He told a story too. Which was the point of this post actually.
As a student some 20 years ago, a great Maestro had been invited by the college for a classical music nite, paid a whopping Rs 25,000 for his performance. He played a moody 20 mins, and walked off.
20 years ago, 25k wudve been even more money than it is to students today:p
And there was this relatively newcomer, a Zakir Hussain, who they hoped wud play atleast an hour. The guy (who's known as the charismatic, sexy man who never grows old apart from his prowess on the tabla and whose autograph i cherish:D) played till like 4 AM.
And commented he'd never played to such a receptive audience. All college students.
Now, asked Mr K, " who do you think id like to pay and watch? obviously Ustad Zakir, we chorused.
A lesson we learnt. Something, he said, one shouldnt forget. The student community always matters. And never dissappoint anyone who comes to you with lot of hopes. Students often have just that.
Thank god for that experience he had. He became our Zakir Hussain!
He has single handedly helped in putting together our finance session, and got us a superb keynote speaker. We're looking for ways to felicitate him, to show our gratitude. Such people usually don't look for felicitation. Probably why they should be given that extra mention!

:D

2005-03-04T08:24:00.000+05:30

Was reading 5 point someone, at IMS a Cat preparatory institute, where my frend was having a mock interview.
Now the book is by an IIT-IIM A alumni, and kinda funny at first, and yours truly doth giggle:p
"Enjoying the book?" Moi looks up to the speaker, gurl waiting for her mock interview typo.
"yeah kinda-5 point someone"
"i know, i saw the cover. are you from IIT?"

:D

2005-03-04T08:23:00.000+05:30

My frends getting thru mckinsey and all...BOL Chintz:)
Last Sem of coll has a very final ring to it. Whats bad is that people adjust too well to it. So, last sem, get jobs, pass out. Or drop year, crack cat the second time round. Doesnt seem to occur that college is getting over. Lounging in the canteen, hot paranthas for 5 bux with dahi and achar at JJ's. And the chai. Learning to sneak around till yure name is called at roll call and then saying present sir and running back to the canteen (did it just once,:p but wah, the adrenalin rush:D)..
Hey coll isnt over yet. Still have a few weeks to go...
:)

aloha

2005-03-04T07:51:00.000+05:30

Its been ages since I posted last. Been preoccupied mostly. With Drishtikon, assignments, and now with psuedo job interviews...
of course i dont give interviews all day or study all day either, but once yure home, yure still thinking about it.
Also looking for some inspiration for making the coverpage of the college mag... (nope! not inspiration ala anu-the so gay indian idol judge-malik:p)
Drishtikon is less than 2 weeks away!!!! :D

ii

2005-02-24T09:46:00.000+05:30

Another interesting fact..the iata's global airport monitor rankings are prehistoric for many of the worlds airports..They follow the AETRA customer satisfaction survey, launched by Airports Council International (ACI) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA)in 2004 jan, (superseding the eleven year old Global Airport Monitor.We're determined to start behind:p

Airports

2005-02-23T08:08:00.000+05:30

The govt finally wants some good airports. I wonder if its because-the-whole-world-has-it and only-we're-left-now or if its because of some phoren-delegate-to-india's comments. I'm told airlines actually have problems with the standard of the delhi and mumbai airports, the ones proposed to be 'modernised and restructured'. I hope there's some prestige related reason behind this move, its the only thing that seems to make the govt hilo. Take the example of the Delhi Metro, the speed with which it is being completed, much ahead of schedule and world class. Think, if it hadnt been for the common wealth games coming!

One thing strikes me as sad still. We always benchmark to the best, copy, follow. The current overall score of mumbai and delhi airports on a scale of 5 is 2.2 on the IATA global airport monitor rankings. The end aim, is to increase it to 3.5.
Said to be a very difficult task in itself, that of upgrading, it is considered 'practical'.
But there isn't a mention even of striving for the best. Of a 5. Why not?
True, the best airports in the world have ratings of about 4.25. But while we're aiming, cant we aim for the best, and for once try and get it?!!
HongKong International Airport won the best airport award last yr with a rating of 4.26
The metro is a great example of how we really can be the best, atleast among the best.

BW says the best airports are in Singapore and Dubai.
Now i dunno how these ratings are done and I havent been to Dubai, but the KL Airport compuleetly overshadows the Singapore Changi Airport, atleast according to me.

SpeakerRule

2005-02-23T02:27:00.000+05:30

we were at cp. had to meet two speakers for drishtikon. early. In hindsight, that was the mistake. anyway. early. we had grumbling stomachs and after a short debate as to merit of kake di hatti and saravana bhawan where the latter won (not because of merit, but because yures truly hadnt eaten at saravana bhawan in ages and it reminded her of her nani's khana and and it meant we had to walk less) and well, we reached. waited for a table. sat. hogged. ambled out.

thereafter we split into 2s and reached speakers' offices.....
blew it:p

lessons learnt..
* THE rule to pitch at a speakers office, its always to atleast an articulate person and a layperson, or a layperson and a gurl.
* The other rule.. Dont eat pet bharke and go to the speakers office:P ... thirsty-hungry-hardworking-sweating it out for speakers-students is the kind of profile they prefer.
Obviously dont starve, but sprinkling some water and wearing an unwashed shirt that stinks might help:p
(once yuve eaten, yu stop giving a damn :p..)
:D

Shout box up

2005-02-20T22:38:00.000+05:30

awritey:D

I Yam BlogRolled:D

2005-02-20T20:16:00.000+05:30

Thanks Ankush a.k.a QuintEssense!
Will have my own blog roll up soon folks.. have a few blogs to recommend meself:D
Cheers!

----iii-----

2005-02-20T19:51:00.000+05:30

Saw the same issue under discussion by Vivek Law on a show called Uncovered on CNBC.They showed a database peddler who charges something like 20 paise per persons identity. He sells the databses on cd, speaks fluent english and says he cannot get caught because he has a 'loophole', apparently a lawyer. Imagine. Your address, phone number, chosen soap, car licence/reg number, credit/debit card number, shampoo, footwear, favourite brand in clothing, updated.
Nething the client wants.
On sale without your knowledge and all for 20 paise.

ssspellling bee

2005-02-16T07:50:00.000+05:30

Eminent has a single m, i just realised:p
I see, I have some 26 visits to my page:D, genuine, woh bhi.
Many from pagalguy.com too.
So well readers, was wondering, if you could help me out some...
Drishtikon is the annual seminar of my college, and being a core committee member, I really want it to look good...
In case ne of you have ever organised conference/ seminar, Id love for tips/ suggestions.....
Oh even contacts for speakers (from the 'echelons' of corporate India, no less;)
Seminar's on March 17th, Venue, a 5 ishtar hotel in delhi...
and i could give more details if i get some comments maybe;)
:p

Finding 'emminent luminaries'

2005-02-15T18:16:00.000+05:30

Have started full time work for our college seminar Drishtikon 05, and as is the requirement of any seminar of reckoning( is that the right word here?:p), we want our seminar to have a great venue, awesome speakers that really add value, and ofcourse who represent well known and respected brands...
My friend suggested a good idea to ensure good speakers from good brands.
Gate crash offices in Gurgaon.
Take elocution tests of all heads that be of the organisation to ensure good accent, diction and voice modulation. Shortlist the ones with best designations:p
Invite.
Pray that they forget the act of doubting their achievements and diction and turn up for the few hours(for the free lunch at the 5 star hotel atleast:p)

Haappy VEE Day:D

2005-02-14T20:16:00.001+05:30

Got the sweetest veeday card today:D
Really dig being called sweetheart:D
Didnt do much, for celebration.
Except wear a certain blue sweater (thats special) and a wierd grin all day long thanks to the card...:p
my veeday's sometime in July!
to everyone else though..Happy Valentine's Day!!

Still clicking away...?

2005-02-13T22:32:00.000+05:30

Seen the print ad of Sagem mobile fones? the camera ones?
Shows a curvy girl's silhouttee as she walks away with her shopping bags, has guys staring at her behind and another clicking her shapely behind:p
Reads:
Simply aim and click your favourite moments and share them with family and friends.
yada-yada-yada.

Considering it was something two kids got expelled from school for doing, one would think the advertisement would be less reckless.
Reminds me of the debates that raged rite after the mms crap happened... with piyush pandey acquitting the advertising clan.
Isnt it after all the media which leads the 'implicit message sending' to everyone
who sees the ad?
Calls for some responsibility on the part of the advertisers.
Especially for a relatively new brand like Sagem.
Indians do not need pushing to click unsuspecting women unknown to them and pass them around as it is...
Need they be given a reminder as to the tool they hold in their mobile fones by such ads,
rite when schools, clubs, saunas are banning cell fones?

----ii----

2005-02-13T22:02:00.000+05:30

Vir Sanghvi's sunday editorial in HT is on the same topic as my last post...
was about to provide a link to hindustimes' site but i believe the article is only available on online subscription...
:(

What's my number?

2005-02-10T20:48:00.000+05:30

Not too long ago, the cover story of one of the weekly magazines proclaimed we have no privacy. Our personal information is being sold to parties with diverse interests, cheaply.
While the article dismayed me, I was more or less certain that no one except my family and people i know has my number.
Yeah there was the odd fone call from credit card companies asking me if i wanted to get a card, but never often. This morning though, i was in for a shock.
First i get a mail on gmail from a study abroad consultancy, asking me to make use of their services in my search for good courses abroad. I had been told of google's search funda and how gmail sends ads which are most relevant to me. I am impressed.
I write back, volunteering no details on myself, but seeking information. An hour later, i get a call on my cell. From the very same consultancy. Though i was impressed at their speed of getting to me, I had to know how they got my cell number!
On prodding I heard they hire a 'PR' agency which gets them databases. Where from? 'Probably airtel, I dont know.'
Id like to file a case against airtel for leaking private information- for not ensuring safety of my information and letting callous employees sell them for a price; or worse, selling it knowingly, i said to my friend. I recounted cases of the people who were out of town on roaming, forced to pay the surcharge on the call they picked up that was a direct marketing call center executive.(they always end up wasting some more talktime in screaming at the them for wasting talk time)
My friend said, I must empathise with the sales people. Afterall, how else will they get to me? And if everyone were to object to their calling up, what happens to all the day call centers calling up for selling products?
They do hear a lot of rudeness thanks to their invasion of our privacy. Cut throat competition will ensure that if one firm doesnt, another firm will get to me, thru these very means. And maybe get my business too. I am really curious though, how much increase in sales do they see through such means. Does it even help really?
Would passing a law (i believe such a law is in the offing) stop it?
Do free market advocates agree? (I ask this because of an interesting rhetoric on why patents and copyrights ought to be abandoned.Unrelated I know but propelled me to wonder what might be said on the issue of invasion of privacy. Does it fall into a similar domain?)

Haburdy!

2005-02-09T20:28:00.000+05:30

Haburdy 2 me:D
I turn 21 today. And a public blog for once seemed like a good idea.
Today has been funnish... My cell started ringing a few monutes before 12, and then on there was call waitings and more call waitings:D
Just when I thought nobody's gonna rememeber its my budday everyone seemed to rememeber.
Its childish actually, Im a big girl now and pretend on the surface at times that its aint no big deal. So yeah another day in the year. Happens to be the day I was born. And wasn't really in the mood for a bash this time either somehow. But having old frends call up from all corners of the world is ripping:D
Also fun to suddenly become mature in one day :p;)
Had an evening lunch out with two of my close frends, will also be going for BLACK probably on monday, when everyone gets free.
SO there... my first post...