Bengaluru-Chennai Road Trip - In Conversations!

20:37 Hrs - What’s in a name? @ IIM-B campus

V: We have to call the car something, like a term of endearment

P: Champa...

V: Come on! Some nice girly name...

L: What are you guys talking about?

V: Giving some nice name to the car man

L: Which Car?

P: (in an orgasmic tone) Champaaaaahhh

V: No no... hmmm... ok how about Choi... the registration number is CH-01... kinda reads like Choi na!

P: Choi... sounds Chinese! Wokay with me!

L: You guys are serious about this aren’t you!

21:15 Hrs – When do I get to drive? @ Hosur Road

V: Hey P., when do I get to drive?

P: When you reach home and get to sleep and start dreaming.

V: Hey come on, you can’t be driving the whole journey!

P: Watch me!

L: (grins wide)

22:37 Hrs – Nice Cuppa! @A2B 17 Kms from Hosur

P: That’s some nice coffee I say! Let me buy myself one!

V: (angry with P. for drinking half of his) hmmm, ya I know!

P: (comes back in shock) Shit man, the Coffee costs 20 bucks! Crazy!

L: (grins wide)

00:07 Hrs – Chicken Run @ some toll gate after Krishnagiri on Blr-Chn Highway

P: Look at all those chickens on that truck, man!

L: They know they are going to get killed!

V: Naaa! They don’t have that sense right!

L: Whats there to have sense! They just see one being taken and killed. Its not that hard to figure out that you are going to be next soon.

P: (in an orgasmic tone) have you seen how they are killed?

V: Ya I have and I dont see what the big deal is!

P: It’s not right! There should be a more humane way to it!

L: A more humane way to kill?!?

00:10 Hrs – License to Drive @ some place 3 mins after some toll gate after Krishnagiri on Blr-Chn Highway

P: Ok V., Lets see how u drive now!

V: Ah! Finally!

L: You sure you wanna do this P. ;)

P: Hmmm. Ya, I want to analyse his driving.

V: Analyse, it seems! Ready to go! Start Music!

P: Wear your seat belts!

L: Here we go!

00:15 Hrs – Crash Boom Bang! @ some bridge 5 mins after some place 3 mins after some toll gate after Krishnagiri on Blr-Chn Highway

P: Stop! Brake!

L: Brake!

V: (silence) (braking) (praying)

P: Brake!

CRASH!

L: Shit! That stupid chicken truck!

P: Shit!

V: (silence)

P: I better drive V.

V: Let me just get off this bridge!

01:08 Hrs – Divorce speed & stay married! @ some place on Blr-Chn highway

V: It’s real annoying to see these stupid safety road signs after a crash!

P: Ha ha ha. Dont worry V.! Shit happens!

V: So whats you analysis on my driving P.

P: You drove too fast without knowing how much brakes the car would do! You were going faster than me!

L: Ya but that Chicken Truck could have cut in even when you were going at 100, P. It’s just a question of bad timing for V. I think!

02:45 Hrs – Waste of Parking Space @ V’s home in Chennai

V Mom: (in ok Malayalam) Go bring the car and park it inside! Why have u parked it so far away! Lots of looting going on around this area!

V: (in terrible Malayalam) na... thats ok Amma. I am sure that apartment's watchman will take care of the car.

P: (in Guntur Telugu) Silence... Namaste!

V Mom: (in English) you really should bring the car in. I think its very unsafe outside

V: not to worry amma! Am sure it will be safe. Lets go sleep!

V Mom: Hmmm. Good Night (sniles)

V Dad: Good night

V: Good night

P: er... Good Night!

08:30 Hrs – No Beach! @ V’s home in Chennai

V: Hey P. Wake up man! Its 8:30 we have to be there by 10. Wake Up!

P: Weren't we supposed to go to the beach at 7?

V: We were but as you can see we overslept! so just get up and get ready quick! We can't end up missing G's engagement after all the shit we have gone through! We have to pick up L. from his uncle's place as well!

P: Wokay wokay! Done!

10:00-12:00 Hrs – They are singing a duet @ G's engagment venue, Hotel Matsya, T.Nagar

P: Is this the place?

L: It looks like it!

V: Am sure it is! check the names!

P: Aah there he is!

L: What are they upto? I guess the engagement is over!

V: I think they are about to sing!

P: Thats what they do in an engagement?!?

V: How does it matter? Lets just wait for the food, eat and leave!

V,P,L: (in chorus) Hey Congrats G. Thanks and great food man!

G: Thanks for coming guys! Do drive back safely!

V: Hey P., we should send G. the bill u know!

13:30 Hrs – There goes P's record @ Bangalore highway, Sriperumbudur

CRASH!

P: Where did that truck come from?

V: (smiling)

P: Shit, how did I not see that?

V: (smiling) I am kinda relieved now Papi!

P: F#@$*R

14:30-16:30 Hrs – Random conversations

Are you a virgin? Aren't you disappointed with all the Marks/CG Race? Didn't you think IITians would be smarter/more intelligent? Whats your ultimate aim in life? Do you want to have coffee? Lets get some tea! What is the best way to evaluate an MBA student? Lets take the elevated highway!

17:00 Hrs – Choi gets a heart attack @ Silk Board

P: Oye, what happened to the car man?

V: Huh?

P: Its not starting, push it to the side of the road and lets call the service!

V: you think they will come on a sunday?

P: They better!

Service came on a Sunday!

19:30 Hrs - Returned to IIMB campus!

As Term 1 rushes to a close!

A good friend of mine from Star Vijay dropped into college campus and got shocked at the kind of books I had to read as coursework... he just cracked up when he found out that I had to study Financial Accounting, Business Statistics etc. considering the only Finance we ever did in our office was trying to ensure we had the correct change in paying off Shekar, the friendly neighbourhood tea 'master'.

Its been quite a shocking ride from where I was 2 years back to where I am now. Been constantly trying to cower behind the fact that I did not do anything remotely close to Mathematics - probability, differentiation, integration, algebra etc. - for 8 years and using that as an excuse for some of the shoddy performance. Truth is I should have worked harder or rather I should work harder but there is no motivation for me to get the top rank or the top grade or to have 3 extra alphabets assigned to the start of my name. I am not a part of the rat race, because I am much more the mouse! The only worry is about going to the slow track which would only result in me spending an extra year in college. Not really something which is on top of my priority list to say the least ;) (another soul like me)

What's even more bemusing to me is the way the people over here fight and struggle for marks. Some of them learn and study, most of them just study and I am still trying to figure out how many learn. I am not the only one who is in the campus with work experience. In fact, majority have work ex here but I wonder if they ever contemplate things the way I do. I guess they are too busy putting fight (college lingo for working hard) to get the best marks they can to even pause and think for awhile.

I look around at people and wonder how many would I want as my manager. Some of them cheat over time limits. Most of them get jealous or have petty arguments or raise questions just to put off the presenting student/group (when students make presentations). Maybe the behaviour is just a representation of the business world and the society we live in... or is it?

I have been living in the society for 25 years now and it is competitive no doubt about that but at the same time it is fair. Those who succeed either deserve it or want it more and that is all it should be. One man's freedom ends where the other man's begins. Maybe I am a type 2 error at college (one of those concepts that I learned or think I learned from Statistics) and have way too much time to have such thoughts and blog about them.

Life is going to be somewhat hectic over the next week with the first term drawing to a close. I have heard the second term gets crazier than the first. Hoping I would like the craziness more as I think the craziness is related to summer placements which is not really something I am too worried about (or so I say now)

Second term will start with me moving to a new room and more importantly a single room so it has started off in the right note and I am sure by the time I begin to loathe it, it too shall end the same way Term 1 would be ending in a week... me being battered and bruised but still standing tall!

Reacquaintance

I am sorry for not visiting you more often... its just that I am faced by this scarcity of subjects to write about. Actually there are tons of things I could post about... just mundane straight forward things... I sleep for lesser time than I used to which would then imply that I stay awake and see more of what life has to offer which would then directly imply that there would be more things that I could blog about... right? WRONG!

Have been awake all right... but not been seeing much of life. Life restricted to IIMB campus. Great buildings and architecture. Joined a couple of clubs - Cultural Committee and Merchandise and Retailing Society (CulCom & MARS respectively) - and tried to do some useful work. Been awake to study but not been learning much. Finally getting the hang of Quants and the reason why it is being taught in a B-school. Wish I didn't suck at it so much though.

Been Tweeting more though and have tried to indulge in a bit of creativity here and there in campus life but still not been able to get around to logging on here and making a post. Shall be more purposeful and try hard to get back in touch with you over the next couple of weeks. Will not be able to break off from my affair with twitter though. Affairs of the shorter and sweeter kinds are a lot of fun... I guess blogs are like marriages, once the honeymoon period is over you just do not know what to say!