And this helps...

And just to make my life a bit more interesting, I get a completely distorted page for my blog when viewed on Internet Explorer and a page that is perfectly fine when accessed on Firefox.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....................

When did that week go by ?

I'm seriously confused, what happened? Students here seem to be suffering from an acute case of temporary amnesia (ok, "appologies" for the bad paradox). But it's true. With the kind of workload one witnesses here, the day is over even before you realise it. You're just caught wondering "What the....??", and before you know it, you've faced 5 lectures from 9.30 am to 5.15 pm, with a 45 minute lunch break where you spend 40 minutes editing documents, reading cases, preparing for quizzes, borrowing books required for the next session and the remaining 5 minutes having lunch with whatever is left on offer at the Mess (for once the Englishmen got this one right, 'coz it sure is a messy affair having lunch at one).

Suffice to say that I'm dead tired right now and really would appreciate just going off to sleep, but don't see that happening for a couple of hours since I still need to drudge through 2 cases that have been assigned to us, not to mention the presentation that I'm supposed to make in the "Analysis of Cases and Written Communication Class" tomorrow..... And oh, I've omitted the Financial Management presentation my group is supposed to make on Friday. Gosh !!

As expected, this has taken a toll on me. I don't think I've become thinner (most people who look at my thin frame don't think I could better my own record), but yes, I've almost become an insomniac and can't get myself to sleep before 6.30 in the morning, which results in just 2-2 1/2 hours of sleep in order to get ready for the classes.

Moreover, my personal life too has been victimized. I last spoke to "her" on Monday. Couldn't speak to "her" either yesterday or today (I'm still counting 'today' as Wednesday, though technically speaking, it ain't so). Sad...real sad...especially because I wanted to tell her that I dreamt of being with "her" just today morning during the precious 1 1/2 hours that I slept. What's worse, I think my SMSes have offended her.

On the other hand, I'm really fighting to keep afloat as far as my studies are concerned. I know, I know...everyone tells me the same story. I am from a Commerce background and I should be finding the going relatively easier as compared to the engineers, but the truth is that I am lagging behind.

I know this sounds like a real sad post, but it isn't helping that I've been feeling terribly homesick the last 2 weeks. I can only dreamily-eyed see my room back home in Calcutta, all while the prof. tries to explain what 'penalties' are to be allocated while considering the cost of sending 'x' no. of goods instead of 'y' no. of goods from location 'abc' to location 'xyz'....

Do I not sound like a worry-bag ?? Extremely sorry for this post, but had to let go somewhere...

Whew...finally, a book review !

I've just come back from the Institute. Finally got a book review done this week. I have been really worried about the fate of "Sumantra", the book club that we've founded this year in our Institute. Things were really going kinda ok, but the problems that crept up were impromptu scheduling of classes on the day when we would have our book review. As a result, lots of people couldn't come and we would only have a handful of them.

We'd not had a book review for a month and a half. So, finally when Reema presented a book review on "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" by Robin Sharma, it was a great relief. To think the faculty-in-charge Anil Sir had actually contemplated scrapping the book club !!!!

Anyway, had a good discussion on the book. One thing that I really found interesting was (this was also pointed out by lots of other people who'd come) that this book didn't really contain anything new. You would've probably read similar material in The Alchemist or some other management self-help book. But what is important is how much of it can we apply to our daily lives ? Can we, for example, just be a bit more judicious while spending time, being more disciplined towards our work ? Food for thought.

Our campus

Well, everyone goes ga ga about it. One of the most beautiful campuses in the country. Visitors to the campus never go unimpressed by the infrastructure. Even Businessworld ranks us highly. Wanna know why ? Here's why.


And mind you, these are just views from the balcony. You can well imagine what it would be like to stroll around this place !!

The Silent Ones...

The quiet, unassuming but brilliant Rohit Srivastav (top) and his roomie, the ever-smiling / laughing Kamlesh Sharda (bottom), occupants of room 719. Applause for Kamlesh, these pics are courtesy his ... oops. These gizmos aren't allowed on campus you know. :)

A few good men...

Folks back home have been worried as to the kind of people I've been spending time with.

So, here's a snapshot (from hell ?)

Proudly presenting before you, Vikram Chandak (left) and his roommate, Achin Jain (right). They're my neighbours, room 716.

Before you pass any judgements about them, please also consider the fact that these pics have been taken at 5 in the morning after these folks have been up the whole night doing QTM assignments (presumably).

Am I a maverick or plain silly ?

The jury is still out on this one. Going by popular vote of the people around me, however, it seems I'm the former. There are many idiosyncratic habits that I've got which make me a branded maverick. Take for example what I did last night.

After the two extremely 'low' mood posts, I was down in the dumps...mentally of course (not possible physically, I live on the 7th floor of the hostel). And what did I decide to do to get myself high on life again ? I surf the Net for info on.....Dhirubhai Ambani !!

For the uninitiated, he is one of my heroes. His rags to riches story never fails to excite me and I always end up having an adrenalin rush after listening to / reading episodes from his life. Gita Piramal's "Business Maharajas" certainly had a big influence on my young mind a few years ago. Hence, last night, I decided I would just surf the Net and save some pages on Dhirubhai. It took me half an hour to get up and excited and "bullish" (Dhirubhai would've been happy at the use of this term) on life.

Since then, life has been rocking. I've been trying to finish work quickly. I tried thinking of what Dhirubhai's response would've been to my condition. I could literally hear him shout instructions to me in Gujarati (must admit, being a Gujju helps).

For example, as far as my friend's problem goes..."Koi vaandho nahi, tu e saaro manas cho ane ee pand vyajbee chokri che..Be divas ma pacha mitra thai jasho. Aani upar chinta nahi kar, kaam upar kar." (Nothing to worry about, you're a decent fellow and she's a reasonable girl. You'll be back to normal friendship in 2 days. Quit worrying about this and concentrate your energies on work.)

Do you have a similar habit or trait (or am I the only crazy person who tries to emulate his / her hero) ? What do you do when you feel "low" ? How do you manage to get your spirits high again ? Please do post a comment. It could come in handy, not only to me but also to those who happen to go through this blog.

I saw her again

I left for dinner immediately after the last post. Saw her there again. She was laughing, beckoning to a batchmate. I quickly directed my gaze to the floor and walked right past her. How long is this gonna continue ?

I'm almost dreading Monday 'coz I'll be with her for the classes. How awkward is it going to be ?

"She" is fine. She called yesterday and we were extremely excited to speak to each other after so long. Like I mentioned earlier, she's in Tirupati. Funny how things turn out. Just the other day I was thinking myself of taking a short trip to Tirupati if something I wish for works out fine. Next thing I know, she's there. Are we made for each other or what ?? :)

I must return to my books. Progress must happen.

Someone is upset with me

I know, I know. I haven't posted in like....ages. But have been extremely busy.

What prompted today to finally log on and post is the fact that I've done something terribly wrong and hence hurt a friend...a very dear friend. Wouldn't want to name her...yes, its a her, but not "her". "She" is away, off to Tirupati for a quick visit. However, the friend that I've upset has every reason to be. The only problem is, she is one of the very few close friends that I've made after coming to this B-school.

Perhaps I'm posting this blog in the hope that someday in the future she'll go through this blog and know how upset I am with myself. One doesn't find good friends easily, and those that you do should be taken extra care of... period. Even Shakespeare wrote so; refer to Polonius' advice to Laertes in "Hamlet".

Anyway, I've never been this upset with myself at having hurt a friend, because, in my memory, this is the first time I've ever hurt a friend. And it is bad. Never been in a more pathetic situation. Soon after I realised my mistake, it was difficult to even muster up the courage to go and stand in front of her. For the last two days, during the HR conclave, I've been catching glimpses of her...either while she's having lunch in the mess or in the auditorium while the presentations are being made. When alone, she seems upset and lonely, which scares me further from approaching her..what if she gets even more upset ? And when she's talking or laughing in someone else's company, I'm scared I'll ruin her mood.

God !! Am I thinking too much on this issue ? Or should I just brush the matter off ? Should I do something about it ? I've already apologised, in fact, also sent a mail to a particular authority that I'd earlier thought I wouldn't (although, haven't told her this yet). But will all this help mend the bridges ? Kya hamaari dosti phir pehle jaisi ho jayegi... Keep your fingers crossed, I know mine are.

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day India...

Never before have I been so thrilled to celebrate our Independence. For starters, I've never celebrated Independence Day at midnight. Now when I look back, I wonder why not ? It makes perfect sense since the first one was celebrated with much joy "at the stroke of the midnight hour", when the world slept and India awoke to Independence and freedom.

At midnight, all the guys landed up on our floor. Slowly, chants of "Bharat Mata Ki....Jai" filled the air and before we knew it, we were called to the ground floor by our seniors. Under normal circumstances, this call would've been seen as an invitation to lessons in hostel rules. But the nationalistic fervor was so high, that the entire junior batch marched downstairs singing songs dipped in patriotism.

Once gathered at the front gate, we realised that the meeting had been gathered to celebrate Independence Day and not to advise us to keep quiet at late hours (the same being the case a few days ago when a particular gentleman's birthday was celebrated on the 7th floor).

What followed next cannot be described by words. I experienced the joy of being an Indian for the next one hour as song after song was sung by a group of to-be-MBAs. To hell with 'babudom' and to hell with 'parliamentary politeness'.. We were here to proclaim, and proclaim loudly, to the entire world that we were Indians.

The songs and dances went on for an hour and even the poor hostel guard, whose sleep was hampered by all the shouting and chanting, was a quiet spectator to scenes of jubilation. By now, the loud shouting and singing was slowly making the voices hoarse, but nobody seemed to care and continued singing at the top of their voices.

I have just one message for the politicians and the ever oh-so-remorseful-for-the-country aunts and uncles. Don't ever say that this country doesn't have any hope or that you don't see the same sort of nationalistic pride in the younger generation. Perhaps, there haven't been challenges which have been apparent, whenever the challenge presents itself, you can be sure of one thing... we, the youth of India, shall be up to the task.

Signing off on a patriotic note....Jai Hind

Time flies...

Whew !! Finally the weekend is here and we can bid goodbye to the first week post mid-terms. "Laidback" is a term which defines the attitude here after the exhausting midnight studies we needed to do for our mid-terms. Everyone is on the "Chilled Out" mode right now and mentions of pre-readings evokes sentiments of dismay/anger/bewilderment. One has but little option.

Not that this relaxed attitude has been without results. Twice in this week has the class been told about the severe repercussions we might have to face the next time the 'janta' attends a class without doing the pre-reading.

This caused me to wonder. When and how does time fly ? There have been numerous occassions when one has returned to the hostel from the institute building around 6 in the evening but isn't able to get down to 'serious' work before midnight or 1. Why ? Where does all the time go ? We surely aren't working on our assignments or pre-readings for the next day or researching stuff in the library or on the Internet. So, is it just our extra-curricular activities, the different clubs that take up so much of our time ?

It would be interesting to see the comments I get for this one. As far as I'm concerned, I'll post my thoughts about where I end up spending time as soon as I figure it out myself.... :)

My first post

Hi. So, this is how one does their Organisational Behavior assignments !!

Before I get into the technical nitty-gritties, let me introduce myself. I'm Shekhar Ruparelia, currently pursuing my MBA at Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad. This is where the story begins....

I logged onto the Internet at around 3 to try and find some relevant info on the OB assignment. Ended up creating a blogspot of my own. That's my life for you. Unpredictable, fun...and some seriousness thrown in for good measure.

Haven't got an audience in mind. I shall mainly attempt to write whatever I think is worth mentioning and thereby not turn this place into a morose jungle of personal tribulations. And yes, I shall definitely mention why I chose "Adventures of a Traveller" as a blog name.

Till then, ciao.