A Breakfast To Remember

The Indian and Sri Lankan teams stayed at the St Laurn Towers hotel for the duration of the first test match of the 2009-10 series at Ahmedabad. This morning, the Sri Lankan team and some of the Indian team members had breakfast in the cosy restaurant which extends from the hotel lobby. Courtesy my uncle and the special permission that he was kind enough to get for me, so did I.

It was a completely surreal experience. I took great pains to have a long slow breakfast in order to observe all the players. I didn't take any pics or hound anyone for autographs, however, because it would be impinging on their privacy and they wouldn't have liked it. Almost the entire Sri Lankan team arrived together at around 7.30 am - they were going in with the upper hand this morning and it showed in their jovial mood at the breakfast table. They were kidding around, sharing laughs and pulling each other's legs.

Dilshan traipsed in a few minutes after everyone else, and he was greeted enthusiastically by skipper Sangakkara, "Dilshan, You're late..." to a round of guffaws. In fact, 'Sanga' was clearly the most effusive of the bunch, and sported a huge smile on his face all the time. Jayawardene, who'd already played his part with 275 the previous day, appeared the most relaxed and was engrossed in reading the newspaper. Muralitharan was waiting for the toaster to cough up his toast. On the pretext of picking up toast myself, I shook hands with him - although he did not smile and looked a little preoccupied. He went wicketless in the innings, by the way.

I kept hoping that the Indian team (and of course, Sachin!!!) would soon show up for breakfast, but only Sreesanth and Badrinath had arrived around the time the Islanders were nearly done (7.50 approx). I noticed that Sreesanth had a South-Indian style 'pottu' on his forehead. Before I knew it, Gary Kirsten had walked across the lobby and boarded the team bus which was parked outside.

Then the moment I had been looking forward to arrived - Sachin Tendulkar stepped out of the elevator, took a cursory glance at the lobby and the restaurant with a slight tilt of his head, then walked out of the door and into the waiting bus, without saying a word to anyone. I hastily closed my plate and rushed to the entrance - through the glass doors I could see him seated in the front seat and reclining forward, his chin resting on his palms. I had heard about the 'mental preparation ritual' of Sachin and how he blocks out everything else on match day, but it was quite a sensation to watch his focus and intent. He didn't even have his customary headphones on.

I turned back to notice that Dhoni and Sehwag had joined the twelfth and thirteenth men for breakfast. I took a chance and asked the waiter to convey to them that I wanted to shake hands with them. Two minutes later I was standing beside their table and shaking hands with Dhoni (I wished him all the best and told him I was from Jharkhand too, for no real reason!) - he seemed like such a big unit and his handshake was strong and confident. He had an enthused smile on his face and he egged on his teammates, "Arre sirf teen minutes bachche hain, bus nikal jayegi. Sab chadh gaye!" and rushed off.

Sehwag smiled at me and took a swig from his coffee as Sreesanth and Badri went in after their captain - Viru was looking slightly despondent, probably since he had not much left to do today, having already scored a 50 yesterday. He got up, we shook hands and then he too left. I went back to the entrance and by then nearly everyone else had gotten into the bus - I didn't even catch a glimpse of Yuvraj, Dravid, Bhajji or Zaheer. Then the last person to enter the bus sauntered by - VVS Laxman, tall and serious. He passed by right in front of me and didn't appear to hear my low-octave 'all the best'.

As the bus pulled out of the hotel, I noted that Sachin was still sitting in pretty much the same pose, the embodiment of concentration and purpose. Of course, he was to score a match-saving 43rd test hundred later today and, also scale 30,000 international runs. A breakfast and a day to remember, indeed!

IIMA: The First Week

Q1 Report

Annexure I: The Beginning

Yes, Q1 is over at IIM Ahmedabad! I'm already through half of the first year, and glad to know that I'm still standing. It's also been so long since I've actually posted something here, so I figured I would put in a few words.

I'll start from the beginning - 22^nd June 2009. First day at WIMWI, and I moved into my room in the ground floor of Dorm 15. The room was is quite decent with all the basic stuff - bed with mattress, table, chair, wardrobe, bookshelf - and some more - a telephone, mirror, LAN connection and swivel chair. To my joy everything in it was brand new as I was the first occupant of my room, for the rooms on that floor had recently replaced the old campus gymnasium.

The first day was spent in registration and getting acquainted with the campus (both old and new) - it did take quite some time to find your dorm out of a maze of eighteen in the old campus alone! And the Difteenos' Dorm (15) is pretty much at the edge of the campus, so it was quite an effort to gather your bearings and reach your destination. To top it off, our vision was also clouded since post-registration we had been handed a huge pile of books - a virtual avalanche which seemed more than enough for a year's worth of studying - but which was actually meant for just two slots encompassing a little over two months.

Also, that night we had an informal meet with all the inmates of the dorm. A round of introductions for both the fachchas and the tuchchas ensued. (For the uninitiated, fachchas is the term used for the first-years' and tuchchas, the second-years'). Coming from a college where ragging is the only known ice-breaker between batches, I was surprised to find no traces of old-school 'personality development programs'.

On the contrary, the tuchchas appeared really helpful and imbibed in us, very soon, a few truths of life in IIMA - "plagiarism is a punishable offence, attendance is mandatory, teachers always have the last laugh, and that the 'A' in IIMA stands for 'academics'. On top of that, use your time as you see fit." Wise words, indeed.

Days two and three were set apart for orientation. After listening to a round of speeches by everyone-who's-someone-at-IIMA in the day, we walked into our classrooms for the first time at night to witness the official handing over by our section seniors - Section C and CR-9, in my case. Another round of introductions was followed by our first dekko at the inter-section war-like competition TNite, and also the first experience of tempo shouts; including the soon to be dreaded chant of 'Muggo Fachchon Muggo'.

On Thursday morning we had a first taste of the case study method of teaching which is distinctively particular to IIMA, through a practice case. The first day's case discussion was more or less a remnant of the plethora of GD's that all of my classmates had trounced en route to this class. I remember wondering at the time how I would ever garner any CP points (Class Participation - part of academic assessment) in any of the classes, with such aggressive classmates holding fort. In due course, things did change a lot.

The next day was spent in a marathon session of attending presentations by the different clubs and special interest groups present in the institute. A couple of clubs which caught everyone's fancy included the Placecom and a certain lifestyle club, which boasted of stalwarts like Harsha Bhogle as an alum.

What transpired towards the end of the first week is perhaps best left unsaid, because it is an experience I wouldn't want to spoil for the future generations at IIMA. However, a certain book by an IIMB grad with a reference to clowns and cards has already played 'spoiler' to such a degree that I, for one, was able to see right through the orchestrated extravaganza - but it was fun nonetheless, culminating in a completely unexpected - but deeply appreciated - rain dance.

That being said, the first week was an apt initiation into IIMA - characterized by sleepless nights, rushed deadlines and relentless pressures; all of which have to be dealt with to remain happy at WIMWI.

Refer Annexure II for the report on slot 1..

Dispelling the CAT myth

In June 2009, I did not graduate from any of the IIT's. Even at the unheard-of engineering college where I did indeed earn my degree, my percentage score was stuck in the mid 60's. I was am not a math wiz. I did not have any prior work experience. Furthermore, I had been rejected in placement interviews by three software companies in a row. However, I did join IIM Ahmedabad that month.

If you are wondering what I am trying to achieve by self-bashing out here, allow me to take you a year and a half back in my life. There I was, in my sixth semester of Computer engineering course, talking to a pretty receptionist at the IMS centre in Pune and finding out about their preparatory program for CAT 2008. I had no inkling then that I would make it all the way here someday. All I had was a feeble hope and I stuck to it for all it was worth.

From January to April, I attended classes every weekend and all my learning was confined to those four hours within the class as I didn’t really find any reason to pick up the pace. November seemed very distant at the time, an insignificant speck on the horizon as I lapped up life at AIT. On top of that, exam time meant we had a two month break from classes at IMS.

It was really in July that I began preparing in earnest. The frequency of our IMS sessions increased – I was thus selective in choosing which ones to make myself scarce in. I put in more efforts towards CAT prep as I began to skive off classes in college. We had mock tests and I didn’t fair too well to begin with. I realised that exam strategy was of paramount importance and began to solve two-three tests every week.

To cut a long story short, I concentrated only on practice tests and gained a lot of confidence before push came to shove, and the D-day arrived – I stood outside the barred gates at my centre, quite aware of butterflies in my stomach. Everything I had ever heard about the most vaunted entrance test in India was buzzing between my ears (could have also been the butterflies) and telling me that I had little chance.

I walked in, picked up the paper and cleared my head. I reassured myself that it was just another SIMCAT and scored a 99.95 percentile. I suppose that’s just too bad for the buzzing voices – all myths in my opinion.

The first myth I want to address is that ‘the brain reigns supreme’. I believe it’s all about solving one question at a time and that your preparation counts.

‘There’s never enough time!’ is another misconception. If you stick to a well-devised strategy and can draw out timelines at the beginning of the test there would be no problem. At the beginning of the SIMCAT season, I had scored just 35 percentile in the Math section. I changed my strategy to devote one hour to it – and I ended up at 98 percentile in that section.

People often believe that you ‘need to stay away from the pack in order to get ahead’. I learnt many techniques and short-cuts from my classmates and can very clearly remember employing one in the test. More than anything else, it helps your nerves to have a support group with friends who are in the same boat as you.

Then there are those who feel that ‘if you underrate yourself, you have nothing to lose’. The moment you decide that, you have as well as put down the gauntlet before the battle has even begun. I agree you have to be realistic, but I can tell you from my own experience that CAT is not as tough as it is made out to be – it’s all about those three hours and whether you are in the right mind to tackle what’s thrown at you then.

Another common mistake is that people think that they should maximize their score in their section that they perceive as their strength. But the question is ‘at what cost’? My strength was English but I actually improvised on it by devoting lesser time in that section and devoting a full one hour (out of 2.5 hrs) to Math, my weakness. As a result, I scored really high in English and reasonably well in Math as well.

There are many more misleading beliefs pertaining to CAT and not everything you hear about the test is true. For instance, I didn’t have to make any sacrifices – I had about the same schedule as I would have followed otherwise, just had to dig out about 2-3 hours of my free time every day and put it in the CAT prep bucket. Another thing is that I have met a lot of CAT crackers, and a majority of them did not even take classroom coaching. However, classes do help and joining a test-series even more so.

Once your score is out and you get calls from the colleges you were aiming at, there’s another long story to tell. Without going too deep into it, I would like to remind you that there’s no substitute for a good CAT score. However, don’t get too daunted by lack of extra-curricular activities on your CV, the reputation of your grad college or even your age (I have a classmate who’s pushing 50!).

In the end, it all boils down to the person that you are and how much you believe in yourself. It’s not about how good your mind is, but so much more about what frame it is in.

'When you really want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you achieve it.' Although Paulo Coelho might have said it, I can truly say that I have experienced it. Do you want to?

The Verdict on 10th April - A Red Letter Day in My Life

I had spent the previous two weeks religiously counting down the days and trying my best to stay distracted. On the eve of the final results to the IIM calls though, my patience was running out and it was all I could do to stay calm by visiting the temple in the evening.

My heart was set on converting either one of IIM A and IIM C - although I knew that I had given my best showing at Calcutta, I hoped and prayed I would get through to Ahmedabad. The other three - Lucknow, Indore & Kozhikode - were important, but didn't figure heavily in my plans at all; more of a really good fall-back option.

Of course, there was nothing left to do but wait.

Here's a blow by blow account of the euphoric drama that ensued.

9th Apr, 9.45 pm: I received a message that IIM B results were out. I was not in the hostel at the time, but rushed up to my room as fast as I could in the hope that the remaining IIM's would follow suit (as it is mentors from IIM C had informed us that results had been ready for over a day and they were just waiting for the others to release theirs).

9th Apr, 11.45 pm: Still no luck on any of the five sites I had bookmarked about a week earlier - IIM A, C, I and K showed no signs of activity, while IIM L was reporting an error (10 pm onwards actually). All of the people lying in wait (connecting with each other mostly on PagalGuy), were under the impression that atleast one of the IIM's (L being most likely) would declare the result at midnight. Even my friends and flankmates were excited.

10th Apr, 12.30 am: I was tired of hitting refresh over and over again. It was by now quite clear to all and sundry that the results wouldn't be out till morning. I called up Mom (she was on the computer back home in Ganganagar and wide awake!) and asked her to get some sleep too. Turned out the lights, set the alarm for six and headed to bed.

10th Apr, 04.00 am: My body clock was on high alert, I guess. I woke up, checked all the relevant sites, saw nothing; went back to bed.

10th Apr, 06.00 am: Woken up by a call from my bro (Da), just seconds before the alarm went off. IIM L was out with its results - filled in my details to get a rejection first up. Dejected a little, but still looking forward to the other results. After all, the essay-cum-GD at Lucknow didn't constitute my best performance. Found out that most of the people without work-ex had not made it, so didn't lose all hope. The next couple of hours were fruitless again.

10th Apr, 08.00 am: I was tense - really tense. The monotonic ritual of refreshing pages finally yielded dividends - IIM C homepage had a new link for results. Clicked on it, heart pounding...

The joy washed over me - the tension was broken. At that moment, I realised that even if Ahmedabad were to put me down, there was no way I could feel sad. Of course, I would be happier still if IIM A were to come calling.

Made calls to family and loved ones - everyone was beaming. Da was out playing tennis and would've not been able to take the call if not for the fact that he broke his racquet strings and was about to head back from the court.

I was still waiting for WIMWI (that's Well-known Institute of Management in Western India!) to release their list. There was really no point looking at Indore and Kozhikode results at this point - no offence meant; both really good institutes but dwarfed by IIM C.

10th Apr, 09.00 am: As is customary in AIT hostels, the power supply went off. In anticipation of the event, my parents were already online back home and I finally moved to have breakfast - had not left my comp since 6 am, except for five minutes spent in brushing my teeth.

I had figured out by now that A would probably come out with the results at about 10 am. During breakfast at about a quarter to ten, Dad called to tell me that IIM K had waitlisted me. A little bit of a surprise that, considering I had a decent outing there. Ate quickly and rushed back to my room, just in case the Gods had decided to be kind enough to provide electricity. No such luck.

10th Apr, 10.05 am: Received a call that IIM A had released their results and I had made it. Shouted with pure elation & excitement, and it suddenly seemed my toes had springs attached to them, for I couldn't stop jumping. Ran to the other end of the flank corridor shouting 'Ahmedabad mein ho gaya!!'

Dialled the home number in a hurry - Mom & Dad hadn't yet caught the new link on screen. It was as joyous a reaction as I had ever heard from them. Dad entered my details on his computer and read aloud (with great pride in every syllable I might add)...

The Aftermath: Phone calls from almost all members of the extended family (it was tough to get Da on the line again, but he was so happy). Friends literally lifting me off the ground in celebration. The wild rush of excitement and the feeling of being on top of the world - ready to break out in song! It took the entire day for the realisation to actually sink in. And even then it felt like I was living a dream.

In fact, in all the euphoria of converting the Ahmedabad call, I didn't even wait to check the results of Indore - Dad called me in the afternoon and told me I had converted IIM I as well. Neat!

It's been nearly four days since. I have been busy lapping up details about IIM A with a boyish enthusiasm, thanks to the Google Group - IIM Ahmedabad Class of 2011. Wow! To say I'm a member of that group gives a different feeling all together, one of belonging. In fact, I am so excited I don't think I will be able to wait till June to catch a glimpse of the campus.

I've heard of LKP, Dorms, T-Nite, Chaos, Sangharsh, CP..and lots more jargon that I hope to be able to explain in lucid detail here soon. I am ready for the grind.

An Epoch In My Life

Calling this a memoir would merely amount to employing a euphemism to ease the pain. Heading into the fag end of college days, we have had to endure phrases like ‘last few days’ and ‘final semester’ blatantly thrown around by juniors with an ease and fancy that’s excruciating.

How do you learn to move on from somewhere you’ve spent four amazing years of your life? I’m certain many of us wouldn’t have stayed put in a single place for this long, ever. It grows on you, AIT – the environs, the people and most importantly all the special memories you’ve shared with the friends who turn out to be such an integral part of your life.

I want to share these thoughts with you – the memories, the days in college. It’s difficult, like straining to hold running water in your hands. And it’s all steadily trickling by...

The first few days in college and it all began with us in awe of the BE’s, then we quickly learnt to steer clear of SE’s and TE’s, and gradually developed a certain level of nonchalance towards academics in general. Friendships were forged – some of them, we were told, were going to hold good for life.

I remember the euphoria of my first ever Aakriti – sleepless nights, vociferous cheering, competitions fought tooth and nail – for us FE’s it was nothing short of war. Then, of course, there was the Magazine Board. I found an avenue for myself in all the board’s activities, fun and frolic.

A memory etched in my mind is from the treasure hunt that we had organised then. I was manning a checkpoint with two colleagues, stranded without food or water in a desolate area, out in the rain with a solitary umbrella. In fact, it was here that destiny decided that it was time for me to imprint in the twilight, for a resplendent new moon had eclipsed the breaking dawn.

In SE, I moved into a new (or rather old) hostel and into a flank where I’d go on to live for the next three years. The first job we did as seniors was to plan the freshers’ party. With ego issues, arguments, unmet deadlines and technical hassles, it was a wonder that we actually managed to pull it off. A few unsavoury incidents led me to believe that I had made a couple of friends who would stick with me through thick and thin.

Memorable trips to Lonavla and Panshet followed (tip: do not forget a change of clothes. Believe me, it’s no fun trekking with your jeans glued tight to your legs!). Aakriti fever took over once again – I put in my best and enjoyed myself to the hilt, but individual success was not in sync with the fortunes of my branch. I shrugged away the disappointment and spent the rest of the year as most second years’ would – playing tennis/football in the evenings, lapping up the episodes of Friends, Prison Break and more of their ilk when in my room, spending weekends out in the city and going from one college fest to the next.

The OAC became a regular hangout zone for the group and there were actually days when we’d been there 9 to 5 (no electricity in the hostel a major factor there!). Before we knew it, exams were upon us. I can never be thankful enough to ‘Jigar’, the wonder collection of sample papers which saw me through all the four years.

In my third year, being appointed the CS meant a drastic change to my schedule – lucky for me that equations with my counterpart were not strictly professional. Our co-ordination was perfect and conducting Aakriti with her was a great experience.

The defining moment was being victorious in Verve – holding aloft the trophy was truly overwhelming on that (literally) grand stage. Also, the AWES meet was a wonderful experience – it felt almost as if we were on vacation.

Nostalgia finally began to dig deep in fourth year as we posed for photographs to be published in the college magazine and all of us hurried to get our pictures taken. I think it would be prudent to now make a small mention of some of my partners in crime – the inimitable Sheldon Cooper, my first friend in college and someone who has been there for me through all my highs and lows – I can never forget our freshers’ in SE, nor the fact that somehow everyone always got our names messed up. Intelligent and dependable, Joey is always excited and bursting with life – the special connection we share and the never-ending conversations we continue to have are amazing.

Rooney and I’ve become closer than probably either of us realises and our legen-wait for it-dary comradeship is accentuated by the simple things like buckets, squabbles and keys. Then there’s Monk, tall and reserved, who’s talented and knowledgeable yet a bundle of inspiration as he helped me realise my strengths and work towards them; with a similar bent of mind, he’s always willing to splurge as much as I do.

I have also had the pleasure to get to know Neil & Nikki, Verve’s Sidhu, Gossip Gop, Unicorn Tat-t, Goku, female Bob Dylan, modern Ayn Rand, Hero Singh, D-Company, FedEx, BCG Mathews and many more stalwarts whom I can’t mention for paucity of space.

Last but not the least in any way is my very own Bella Swan, who has left an indelible impression on my heart and who in her unique way continues to show me just how beautiful life can be.

As I pen this down, the time for calling curtains on our tenure in AIT inches ever closer. These years mark an epoch in my life and I will relish all the memories, indeed.

I know I’ve rambled on for long, but as they say it takes a minute to say hello and forever to say goodbye.

I wanted a perfect ending.  Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end.  Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.