The Thing about Fun

It was a long cherished dream to be in Gujarat during Navratri. When D got selected in IIM-A, it was a triple whammy. IIMA is the best, Ahmedabad is close to Udaipur and I could enjoy garba in Gujarat.

As I write this post on last night of Navratri, I find the glass to be half empty. Though I did go out on 8 nights, something was lacking....sometimes it was a group, sometimes the steps. The event at IIM was good to begin with but deteriorated as Bollywood took over the garba numbers. It was easy for the DJ to dish them out and the crowd lapped it up. All of us who had come with the intention of dancing the garba till 3 in the morning were disappointed and left.
Garba is fun when you are in a group which loves dancing and more importantly, knows how to!
So even after Gujarat, the quest for a perfect Navratri continues....The thing about fun is that it is quite elusive. I might have the spirit but if I don't have a group which shares it, it's not adequate.

While I was anticipating Navratri, I was also aware that its onset would mark midway of my stay at IIMA. Six months done, six more to go. The arrival of new PGPX candidates for interviews heightened the feeling that the innings are drawing to a close. It's already the beginning of the end!

Piggybacking to LKP

I would not be exaggerating when I say that Louis Kahn Plaza (LKP) is to IIMA what Trafalgar Square is to London or Times Square is to NY. LKP is the heart and centrestage of IIMA.

It was in LKP during T-Nite that I got to share the stage with the creme-de-la creme of future managers in India. T-Nite is a misnomer as in fact, it is a 5 night long cultural event, which showcases the talent of freshers. The feeling of not having earned the right to be on the same stage creeps in....but you hush that feeling, shove it under the carpet, go out there and have fun! It's an opportunity handed down to the spouses and when such an opportunity knocks, grab it with both your hands :) We all had loads of fun participating in the T-Nite. It wouldn't have been the same had we just been a part of the audience.

Pub-run was awesome and took me by surprise.The atmosphere was electric. Standing in the wings as one of the runners, I felt like an Olympian. Pub-run (Gujarat is a dry state and pub-run doesn't mean that the first ones to reach the finish line get to down as many beers as they want) is short for publicity run where a team of 5 girls and 5 boys have to run and grab spaces in the mess for displaying their posters. These posters advertise the cultural events that each team would dish out in the coming nights.

The coming nights were a mix of events. Fashion show, dance, music and non-stop rehearsals. I was on stage each night and enjoyed myself thoroughly. I also got to choreograph a Rajasthani dance. What amazed me was the immense talent that students displayed. Given the constraints of time and academic pressure, they still managed to enthrall with their ideas and performances. Shouts of 'Ek, do , teen, chaar....band karo ye atyachaar' and 'Awesome' were the two most dreaded and cherished sounds respectively during the event.

Each evening, we would assemble at a designated place. The whole bunch would then march to the Main Campus to the beats of drums. At times, it felt like we all were baraatis, following an invisible dulha. T-Nite brought us together, closer and introduced us to hidden traits of people. There were Moms who were so keen to participate that they practiced till late in night after the kids had gone to bed. Some even took painkillers to keep themselves going. In the end, it was all worth it, as the event left us richer with some wonderful memories.

I M at IIM !!

Every few days I remind myself 'You know what, I am living in IIMA!' But now, I M at IIM and how! I have made it as an RA and now that I am here in my own right, I am even happier. A small dream got fulfilled. The day I got the news of my position, I was thrilled. ('The Secret' does work!) I am working in the field that I like the most at India's best B-school. My workplace is a 3 minute walk from home - the shortest commute ever (discounting all those work-from-home assignments). I have an IIMA mail id (yeah, it's a big deal for me), and IIMA will be on my resume, yippee!!!

Home, work, friends, entertainment, everything is on the campus. It's my cocoon that I am quite happy to be in. Who wants to turn into a butterfly and fly off? Maybe the slogging souls out there but the ones who are enjoying the nectar without the hard work, life's cool!

The Magical Orbs of IIMA

New Campus, IIMA

From Inside One of The Corridors, Main Campus

The New Campus

RJMCEI, Main Campus

Simple, aesthetic, thought-provoking, enigmatic...... these are a few words that crop up in my mind when I look at these huge circles carved out of brick in IIMA. It's difficult to decide upon the best description for them, but then I make up my mind - magical they are!

Be it the Main Campus or the New Campus, they beckon you from every facade. They make you pause and ponder. Each time I see them, I can't help admiring them. At times, I just stop in my tracks to take in the interesting sight. Views through these orbs are ever changing.The majestic circular apertures at each end of the CR complex in Main Campus, the twin orbs of RJMCEI, the smaller concrete ones of the New Campus, they all speak to you in a vocabulary of light and shade. In nights, do these circles represent black holes of ignorance, suggesting the infinite sea of gyaan, waiting for students once they are inside the institute? The early morning shafts of soft sunlight pouring through these orbs surely beckon students to the portals of learning. As the day progresses, they turn to solid beacons of light.

How do you interpret these circles? What would have inspired Kahn to design them? A circle is a never ending collection of infinite points. The institute serves the never ending quest for excellence.

I wonder if someone has ever counted the number of circles in both the campuses. Do let me know if you have!

The Blog

This blog was born sometime in the UK and then I had forgotten all about it. Luckily (for me, of course!) it was reborn after blogging caught my fancy again. I recently started blogging to keep family and friends updated on my stay at the campus. It was more to serve the purpose of bulk mail and the first post was a copy-paste of the mail I had written to family.The blog wasn't ready for wider circulation - yet. So I was taken by surprise when one fine morning, a mail announced my blog's inclusion in pgpx-blogosphere. Parag asked me if I minded being added to the blogger's club. No blogger worth her salt would say no to being read! I assented but at the same time, got a bit uncomfortable. A friend hit the nail when she asked if I would be 'sanitizing' my blogs as these might be read by the IIM community. It was a tricky choice and being indecisive, I just stopped writing! Is this what they call a Catch -22 situation? I couldn't say 'no' because I wanted to be read but couldn't write because I might be read :)

My New Addiction

Mornings!! Yeah, they are my latest addiction. Beautiful, cool, gorgeous mornings....

Though I don't get up as early as I would like to, but I do make the most of my time after I get up between 6:30 and 7:00. I walk to the IMDC lawn and place my aasan below a Neem. Then I proceed to do Pranayaam. I had started Pranayaam since I came to Ahmedabad but it was only after a few days that I started going out to this lawn. Lack of smart morning wear was an excuse for not venturing out. Then I went out at 6:30 one day and the morning had such a magical effect on me that there was no looking back. This, plus the fact that there were not many people around, emboldened me to gallavant in my night pyjamas on all my morning sojourns :)

The lawn is huge and I am the lone soul doing my exercises. I enjoy this time thoroughly. A fresh and cool breeze generally keeps me company. (It is, in fact, quite unbelievable how a cool, innocent morning turns into a merciless, scorching noon! )
I do my exercises for half an hour. Then I walk bare-foot on the green carpet. It is such a beautiful feeling that I want mornings to last a lot longer. These days, I carry a book along which a friend has very kindly lended to me. 'The Secret' can be life-changing, if it catches your fancy. More on it in another post.

When I return at about 8 from my morning venture, I feel that I have spent 1 hour quite fruitfully. I feel enriched. On my way back, when I see drawn shutters and think of people sleeping off this golden time, I pity them with the new found disdain of a person who has discovered something precious and to which others are knowingly oblivious. They know not, what they are missing, poor souls.....and I was one amongst them till just a few days back. Thanks to the constant cajoling by Mummy and Papaji, I have rediscovered mornings!

Water, water everywhere....

Water water everywhere, nor any drop to drink....This is how I feel in the campus. Gyaan and intellectuals all around me but I am deprived of enlightenment. What a tragedy! I feel like back-end support. Though I would have loved to make it to the IIM campus on my own, I am glad I am here at all. Just think, I am breathing the same air as some of the finest management gurus! A great saint once said 'Kajal ki kothri me kaiso hi jatan karo, kajal ko daag to laage hi laage' By this logic, will some of the IIM magic rub off onto me?

One month since the ball was kicked off. Exactly one month back, the induction had started. All the students had walked to the old campus in the new PGPX T shirts. Families were invited at the induction and I got to know the wide spectrum of profiles that constituted this batch. Right from a fighter pilot to an MD from AIIMS, an IFS officer to an architect, the rainbow has more than 7 hues.

I had come to IIM with small hopes of my own. Will I get to work with an IIM Prof? Only time will tell.

Life as a Wife of a PGPX-ite

These days, Dinesh is a blur,whom I get to see with some clarity only during breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. I can't even sing the original score of 'Hai, Hai ye majboori.....' as the course costs a bomb and not 2 takas. Anyway, who has got the time to listen to my renderings , even if I sing? These days, our conversations are highly distilled. Samples are: "ETA is 1:40 and ETD is 2:30?' 'Wake me up in 10 minutes' and 'DND' interspersed with 'Bahut padhaate hain!'

Had we got time for a duet, this is what our lines would have been:
Dinesh: 'Dhal gaya din, ho gayi raat, jaane do, jaana hai (work group mey)
Me: 'Abhi-abhi to aaye ho, abhi abhi phir jana hai??'

The message is loud and clear. I have to look after all the household stuff. I'm the PR, the page boy, the refrigerator-stocker and cook. Friends and family, I need all your support to survive this year. If you can come and cook, great! If you can't, at least send some fast-to-cook, good-to-eat recipes and some funny forwards to keep us in good health.

The initial settling-in, the dinners and the intros are all over. I've finished twiddling my fingers and thumbs and soon will be done with the toes too. Apart from envying all those who walk out enlightened from these portals and keeping house and chatting with new-found friends , I am trying to find what i can do for iima and more important what iima can do for me :) Wish me luck, so that while Dinesh is getting polished, I also walk out with some shine!

Hope this is not how people value his MBA!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcoDV0dhWPA

At last! IIM Ahmedabad!

We are finally at Amdavaad! We landed at about 7 pm. Once outside the
plane, it felt like we were peanuts, being roasted on a slow fire. The
amusing thing was Dinesh holding his heavy duty winter
jacket :) The autowallahs surrounded us like papparazzi surround a
celebrity and we finally obliged a 'CNG autowallah'. He fitted in all
our suitcases and brought us to the campus only for 150 bucks. It was
a pleasant change from namma Bengaluru's autowallahs and auto fares!
Ahmedabad is economical, I thought pleasantly as images of colorful
markets and good bargains danced in my mind.

We reached the new campus at dusk. I was thrilled to set foot on the
hallowed soil. The building gave a good first impression. The facade
has been designed as a magnified stone image of the IIM A logo. The
reception looked slick and smart with a welcome a/c and a smartly
dressed receptionist in a sari. My hopes for a smart apartment soared
higher. 

A couple of housekeeping guys helped us with our suitcases
till our apartment - MSH 803. It's a reasonably done 1 BHK apartment.
A double bed in the bedroom and a single one in the living. All of you
who plan to visit us, don't hesitate....we can use a sleeping bag to
make more space. The bathroom was clean and spacious. The major
negative for me was the location of the loo vis-a-vis the kitchen.
They face each other......ughhhhh.....The apt. gives a cosy feel with
chatai blinds and wooden shutters. To remind you that you aren't here
for luxury, the ceilings are done with cement slabs. It's as if they
couldn't decide on the look of the apt. It's a mix of looks. I felt
very nostalgic for Carnation after having a look at this place. Missed
my beige-coffee kitchen, silk wardrobes and lake-view. Oh...Amarpreeet
is so lucky ( the tenant at Carnation).....To top it all, the view
isn't all that great from our place. It's a car-park on one side and a
lawn struggling to turn green on the other. Both of us felt very
strange at the changes taking place in our lives.

The apartment wasn't fully cleaned and so we left the luggage there
and packed a small suitcase to spend the night at the guest house.
This was better. We went for dinner at the canteen. Again, a/c and the
spread was lavish. Soup, salad, kadahi paneer, corn-khumb curry,
bhindi poriyal, daal, rice, curd, tandoori and plain roti. I ate
heartily and took generouys helpings of bhindi. It was so thinly
sliced and beautifully done. A stark contrast from long, fat
ladyfingers of B'lore ( B'lore's lady-fingers don't do justice to
their name! A rethink of the name to gent finger wouldn't
hurt.)....Rest later...I had requested a change of apt. and our fate
would be sealed in the next few minutes.

Jai O!

22nd Feb 2009

If I were to comment on Slumdog Millionaire purely on the criteria of it being a medium of art, I would say it rocks! I am not convinced about it being a movie worthy of Oscars, but it showcases a story in a fascinating manner. The truth - dark as it is, has been depicted in a gripping way. I secretly wished though, that the movie should have been screened only for an Indian audience. Ghar ki baat ghar me hi rahe to theek hai. How embarrassing to see a shit-laden Jamal gallavanting around for the moment of his life! The world already has misconceptions about India. Such a depiction only furthers a poor view of my country.

I would say that the movie was able to bring some pertinent issues in focus, at least for me.
The begging episode was heart-wrenching. I cried my heart out. Is such cruelty possible? This happens in my country and I am sort of aware of it, yet what do I do?As I was watching the movie, I acknowledged that the movie was good but the portrayal of India was definitely embarrassing.

I'll be glad if A R Rahman wins the Oscar. In fact, I am sure that he will win. I don't think that this is his best composition but as is said 'Waqt ke pahle aur kismet se zyada kisiko kuch nahi milta'. His waqt is here. India's waqt is here. We are in the 'O' league now. Abhinav got us the Olympic gold and Rahman will get the golden Oscar.

I am glad that I am not in the UK to answer embarrassing questions by my colleagues on the movie. I wonder what the world thinks of India, post-Slumdog. In the mental albums that they have of India, will they add images of open-air shitholes and children doing acrobatics on a moving train to get their next morsel.....

23rd Feb 2009
I was glued to TV since morning and had decided to root for Slumdog. Don't they say that there is no such thing as bad publicity? How is it possible not to be excited when my country is involved at some level, any level! Those slum kids were there!! Wasn't it a magical moment for them and for us? Had they, in their wildest dreams, ever imagined that they would be on that coveted stage? Hardly plausible, as they wouldn't have known the existence of such a stage in the first place.

Slumdog has again raised questions about real India. My urban friends say that this is not real India. Ask a slumdweller what real India is. Ask the farmers who commit suicides, what real India is. Ask a rich industrialist what real India is and ask a jet-setting yuppie what real India is and you will get a vision tinted by their own (rosy or otherwise) experiences. A different reality each time. Real India is the sum-total of multitudes of experiences, cultures and lifestyles of all Indians. This movie showed a slice of that lifestyle. Why do these videshi directors always choose a poverty- infested slice of India, is a different issue and should be tackled on a different platform but the fact is that there are as many 'real' Indias as there are Indians.

I am waiting for the day when a desi director films the West to expose its sores. We would then sit in our drawing-rooms and dissect their innards. Payback time is here......any director listening?