Nostalgia - Outreaches !!

Cliched Start : Its been so long I wrote on my blog.

Cut. I've an early morning flight to catch and I am not feeling sleepy so I've decided to write on my blog. This baby was dormant for a long time but that was bcos all my grey cells were busy facing the recession and saving my job !!

Today I downloaded Gtalk on my latop and met two three ol' pals after a long time. Somehow due to reasons unknown, I didnt feel like chatting or talking to people online. But today after a very long time, I felt nostalgic about so many good times I've had with so many of my friends. So I called most of them and talked with them - just a Hi here and a Hello there, a mail, a chat but it felt good. Trust me ( a new frequently used phrase of mine !! ) So I flipped over few folders in my laptop and culled out few "good times" that I remember with my friends !!

I remembered the "heaven" in LBS - Outreaches !!! They were SOME days !!

Still remember Nayyar trying to make us laugh !! And Sandhu trying to be serious !!

This is how we used to look in those days !! Fortunately, Jinsi looks much more hippier than this now and Venko resembles Stallone now. Yours truly fortunately has regained the ever receding hairline !

This is my fav photograph !! Shows how seriously dedicated we were as a team !!
Anshu Johnson walking on Mumbay roads like Gandhi on his salt march and me trying to keep up with her looking expectantly at every passing auto !!


And Ritesh Maheshwari !! Classic, Vintage, and we so much screwed him ( I know Ritesh will read this and reply ! ) But he always got to sleep on the floor and NEVER got the window side !! ) But his concern for us in the form of home made food which would make a garrison survive for an year was most appreciated !!

Then the second year outreaches !! Venko writing on the board five key principles of his life which unfortunately the rest did not believe in !! However, that outreach was one of the best conducted in the history of LBS and all credit to our leader - Hail Venko !! ( and the idlees and gunpowder )

I lost my N72 in that outreach ! And I was pissed.Trust me !!! And the plight of the poor fellow who was with me ( and later Nakul's cos I bought a new N72 the same evenin on Nakul's credit card !! )

Nakul and Venko also developed some kind of NASA database. Though I have no idea what that was but everyone but me seemed to understand it and appreciate it !

But those were really good times. I wish they were to come again but I know they won't unless all of us take a 2 year lay off and once again do another MBA !!???? What say Jinsi ? What say Venko ? !!!!!!

PS : This post would be followed by many more !! And many more happy memories of my life that I spent with you guys !!

Help me Lord

"Long time, No Posts ?"
"Kya hua Mr. Blogger, forgot your Blogger password kya?"
"Kuch dino ka shauk tha, poora ho gaya hoga, haina Akash?"

Please do not get disoriented. Abovesaid are few of the many unrelenting pokes that were taken at me during the past few months. And its a fact. Not any of the above but that I have not written for a long time now. Why?

I was busy mopping up my academic life. Yes, thats the reason. No more studies for Mr. Average !!

Not that I did not enjoy the sadistic look on my batchmates' faces when I scored 56 of 100 in Chemistry ( I was not Einstien, you see). I consider that 56 as one of my biggest achievements in life. Its close to my heart (and the smell of Hydrogen Sulphide close to my nostrils !! )

Anyways, there has to be some rationale ( one of my Professors always asked for a rationale ) behind everything thats being written. So for this piece of bytes wasted on google server , the rationale is that I am practically unemployed for the next two months !!! Unemployed !!

That means (bullets again)

• No sleepy sleepy in classes
• No parties with friends
  
• Unlimited House Chores ( mumma must be happy )
• Loss to India's economy ( me out on a forced unwarranted sabbatical, so !! )

These are few of the many possibilities I might have to endure. But then being a positive fella , I say I would smile through these two months ( even though he process of me going bald would be expedited by me pulling my oh so less hair ). But still I would endure ..just because I would see myself where I wanted to be after these two months - my dream job !!

So as I brood on my rocking chair ( I have one !!) , thinking how un successfully or otherwise I mopped my academic life, the "pokers" might see some frequent posts on this space. As you might remember - I have nothing to do till May !!

PS: Anybody willing to provide me with a two months stint at anything would receive my autographed photograph ( kinda rhymed, didn't it ??).

PPS: I would only do this stint if

• Renumeration is substantial
• I get to work from "Ice Cube", a restobar via Virtual Private Network ( Internet jaisa hota hai)
• I get a day off in addition to weekends

If interested, kindly contact me at akispartyman@whichevermailulike.com

Yours Truly,
Akash

PPPS: Its 2 am in the morning. After reading the preview of the above post I realized the effect of time is showing in the post !! It just does not make any sense !!

Tribute to MBA !!

This was long due. And I got further propelled to write because I saw even the "most unlikely" people writing on Blogs !!

If you belong to the Insane Cult ( people who read my blog, duh !! ), you might remember a post wherein I dissected my feelings towards MBA. Master of Blah Administration - this is what I refer to MBA as. And I still stick to it.

Let me justify the "Blah" Factor. You can save your ass in the "Corporate World" with smart and efficient use of this freely available but rarely used commodity. Period. The tragedy is, people are still stuck to the age old adage of "Knowledge is Everything"(KIE). Aaaaarggghhhhhh !! You have NO idea how frustrating it is for me to see a poker face guy ranting KIE like Gayatri Mantra !! If you are familiar with military lingo, a person who believes KIE would one day become KIA (Killed in Action !!! ), atleast corporately (notice the paradigm shift in my English??).

I have nothing against people who are Knowledgeable, Theorists, By the Books, Wear Glasses, Have Dilton as there middle name etc etc. I am sure they would reach the top of the pyramid ( sorry Mr. Prahlad). But there is a new race coming up. The race of BlahRons !! (Copyrights - Ak). This is the race who have JIT knowledge, believe in keeping the Cranium Inventory levels at the lowest and have mastered the art of Yapping. And this race is bound to break all myths about "Knowledge is Supreme".

You might strongly differ with what I say. If you do, you are pretty Knowledgeable !!

So my take home from an MBA is - you gather a bit of dirt, add colors to it and build a skyscraper. For a two year course this might seem to be very little output but this is what I have taken from "Education in Business Management"...and not to forget an opportunity to work with my dream company !!

I wanted to write about all nostalgic bullshit about how I made friends during MBA, my experience, interaction, everything management, campus (however small) days etc etc. But all that is given and becomes stereotyped.

Golden Rules Time (bullets again!!)

1. Never plan your future. You are eliminating your best result by planning for it.

2. Do not listen to anyone.

And finally,

3. Never get placed a month before the whole batch in your Institute !!!!!

It all boils down to "Moral Fibre"

Now the title of the post must be looking very philosophical !! Let me put on a disclaimer first -
The term "Moral Fibre" is picked up from a Hollywood movie. I am in no way as creative so as to coin this term.

Before I proceed to explain what Moral Fibre is al about , allow me to explain the rationale behind choosing this term.

I can associate with this term is the primary reason. Now you might be thinking - "Attitude , haan !!" . To that I say , the attitude is mine.

Another reason why I picked up this term is bcause I have so many real life examples - current and forgone , to justify Moral Fibre. Now I am sure all of you have MF ingrained in your personalities. Here is what I think about it.

You have a wish. You think that somehow it should come true , by hook or by crook. Now here is where Moral Fibre(MF from here on) comes into play. My MF says , if its by crook and you can do without that wish , Just Chuck it (Nike would kill me fo this!!). If you think you can live happily sans that wish coming true , Just Chuck It. If you think you have much better wishes to make come true , Just Chuck It.

MF has nothing to do with Morality and Ethics ( urrrghhh , I hate to use this word). Its what your instinct says , the instinct that has a halo on its head. Its that simple. And we have volumes of stuff written on MF.
MF advocates "Believe in Yourself" (sounds like a tagline , it isn't ). Now you can be right or wrong. But what matters at the finish line is that you stuck to your beliefs. You did not regret. And you saw what lies ahead.

People who have problems with authority (someone like me , for example) , MF stands a good justifier !! I don't mean to say it stands as an excuse to stand up against anyone. However , MF has a way of providing a backdoor outlook to the situation at hand. Thus , you can deal with any and I mean any kind of scenario that comes across you.

MF is not flexible. It is as rigid as enamel. But somehow (and I cant figure out how) , it enables a person to justify For and Against. It provides a perfect balance between doing right and doing wrong (Now thats what I call Optimality !!).

To quote someone - "Moral Fibre does not mean being a BoyScout , its all about finding the one thing you actually care about and working towards achieving it". Deviations will lure you. Thats why they are called Deviations. Try to fool these deviations , use your Moral Fibre and achieve what you want , and not something that others want you to achieve.

No Rocket Science This !!!!

Ok , My End Trimester Egg-Jams are on and me not studying.Duh !! Thats not news.
So me siiting , all tucked in proper and just thought of writing something on my Sacred Space.
With me , its like I never think before I start to "write". A happening in a day , something said by someone etc form a part of my so called creative writing skills.So I was thinking what all lingo people use while talking , either formally or informally.
Now this post might be irrelevant to people not in LBSIM but still read on if you have time and inclination.
Its been approximately 12/2 months in LBSIM and I've come to observe a lot of "customized lingo" people use here.
Here are few examples (some are quoted as "anonymous" , due to reasons I dont wish to get into)

• This is my Fav - "Falaana Dhakkad" by Navdeep Sandhu !!! Tops the List !! Methinks , Akshat Joshi also uses it a lot but plaguerism is not a new thing in India !! (Maybe its the opposite)
• This one is censored - "Obiviously" !!!
• This one again is censored - "Are you with me" !!!
• This is the most heard word in the Sponsorship meets - "Yaaaar" by Abhishek Kota !!!
• Sorry Venko , couldnt help !! - "Come On"
• Hee Hee , Puneet Agarwal - "Guys , there is an Annnaaaooouncement !!"
• Tanmay Dada - "Actually" , with a breaking hand gesture thats between box stacking and a karate chop!!
• This one is censored cos me not sure about the reaction I might get - "Base-a-kally" !! keep guessing..
• This is close to my heart - "Wassup Bro" with a hand gesture that is kinda slapping a chap behind you with the back of your hand !!! Who else but my Bro Jinsi !!!
• This is for my Ballu - "Hain" with a eyelid battings that beat a tubelight in flickering !!!
• And today's last !!! "What eeees theeees" ?? "Aaarrr weee Mad" !!! by Gaurav Sharma !!

Disclaimer : No offense to anybody , please.I just wrote it to keep my blog subscribed !!!

"Value Add" is the IN thing !!!

Dont be surprised reading a post on this blog.Virtual estate realtors were grinning that this space finally off the net. I really apologize to all those who thought that Ak was out...I might be down but "out" does not form a part my vocab !!

Anyways , all of the above forms a part of the "faaltoo" comeback speeches that everyone gives !!

Bottomline : Finally , I have an internet connection at my flat in New Delhi.As a result , I can blog !!!

Now diverting my ever deviating attention to the title of this post."Value Add". Now why does this phrase sound so academic and philosophical ?? As soon as you say this to anyone , one would immediately start imagining books , libraries , research papers etc etc blah blah......

Recently a person very close to me was so so disgruntled by our dear MBA curriculum. Why ? Cos she thought her MBA was not what she expected.A life starting at 9 , ending at 5 ; full of monotonous assignments , "group" discussions , grades.She actually decided to quit this course and join some event management company !! Now , why does an event management company sound interesting ? Cos its kinda glamorous , isin't it ? Managing events , meeting personalities , organising real time - not on your answer sheets !!

My take on MBA is a bit different.So thats the take I explained.Why to get bogged down by the MBA curriculum ? Why to get monotonous ? Why to get into the grinding groove which everyone does ? A bit of innovation , swill to work hard and ofcourse "contatcs" is all one requires to make one's MBA as glamorous as any event management company or for that matter any fundooo course.

I started my MBA as someone with a mindset : Assignments on time , Presentations on time , Submissions on time , Remaining in 70-75% bracket , Attending all lectures , Doing what everyone tells you to do.Cos this is a place where you learn.Right ? Wrong !! MBA is not just about the abovesaid. Yes , it does form a teeny weeny percentage of an Business Admin study.But Business Admin study minus teeny weeny is something which is as vast as the space itself !!

Classroom is not the place to learn business.Saying "yes" to everything is not the way to learn business.Slogging one's ass (and then join your pillow on the bed) and LOOKING for credits is not how you do business !!

Actual MBA is out there (sounds like a pick from the X files!!) . Out where ? is something that you have to figure out. I have figured it out.I might be sounding Insane/Rebel/Lost Case/Deviated/Fool , but beleive me , if and when you know how to maximize this f(MBA) , I bet you would also use the same adjectives for yourself !!

Happy hunting for MBA......
Ak

(PS: I sincerely hope this post catches the eye of a friend of mine.)

Long Hiatus !!

Hi People !! Its been a long time since I posted something on my space. Many reasons why I could not post. And I feel its my moral and ethical duty to appraise you of the reasons. So here I go …….. (if you find the list too long , just skip the bullets and read the paragraphs)

1) I did not have time because most of my energies went into acclimatizing myself to a “B School” !!
2) There were so many things to write about ! So had I been writing everything , Blogger people would have killed me !!
3) My blogging pardner Venko is struggling with our laptop committee to acquire a laptop !!
4) No offense to blogging , but I recently found someone who can jhelofy all my bakwaas and chatter !!! So the load on my blog was distributed.
5) Finally I have slowly learned to talk nonsense so Sane Rantings was found wonting for some Sensible write ups !!!

Anyways , this one has no specific title.Its just Blah !! Oh , “Blah” for me is a sacred word , so never ever never never ever never laugh at “Blah” or disrespect it.

Alright.First updates.

Numbah 1 - Me doing MBA – that’s Master in Blah Administration. Its good fun you know. All you have to do is stand on a stage and maaro Blah!! I know its easier said than done , but still there are no technicalities involved as there were during my engineering days.
Numbah 2 - The search for my Insanity Queen is over.Now don’t get ideas !! Maybe the case that I’ve stopped looking for her !! Gotcha !!!

On a serious note (I know that sounds unlikely !! ) , its been a great learning experience , MBA.I have now learned not to keep the mobile phone alarm on silent mode !! Also how to keep a smile pasted on your face even though you wanna kill the person you are talking to !!

On a more serious note (I know that sounds more unlikely !!!) , life has become quite a chaos.Just like the Vietnam war , where you do not know where a bullet might hit you.If you learn to dodge those bullets , you have won the war.Same goes for MBA. If you are smart enough , you can dodge all the brickbats and leave the battlefield as a winner.Otherwise you become just like the medic who comes in the at the base last carrying the maximum weight !!

For me , this MBA thing is a boon.I met lotsa great people at the Institute , which by the way are no eminent personalities but my gang – Venko , Nakul , Batoo , Khalsaa and many more. Also I met one special person who as I said is special !! No more on this !!

Also now I wear Formals !! Can you beat that !!Black leather shoes and all that formal jazz !! Phew !! Wish my school principal sees me today !!

These two years might teach me anything or not , I am sure I would take a lot from these years. Academics I don’t care. Applications is what I am looking for. And needless to say – Moolah follows !!

I have loads to write as far as this new look variant of Akash is concerned but then it would be pointless , because you might fall in love with me !!

Just kidding …this was just a Blah post but next articles would be more specific and Insensible !!!

And if Venkat gets hold of a laptop in the next century , The Hood might as well come back on track.