XL Parting Poem

Dear Blog,

I’d written this poem long ago…as the name suggests, to commemorate the last few days @ XL. But since I am one of the four greatest all-time great poets in the world, I didn’t want to share my jewel so soon :-P …but I feel like sharing it with you now…so here it is…

Words cannot describe the time spent with u...

It’s only the smiles that i feel comforted in...

The 'Hi', the 'Cya', the 'Buzz!’ the 'U there?'...

Have so become a part of life, so ingrained within...

They say its part and parcel, a phase of life,

I say its memories, where feelings reside

I feel like crying, but something stops me...

It’s your success, and I am happy from within...

The laughter, the debates, the leg-pulling, the tests,

Nothing will be the same dear friends, not even the jests

It’s hard to let go, hard to believe,

That u won't be there...I feel emptiness within

Stay in touch comrades; let this not be the end,

We will create destiny, and rules we will bend,

The world will envy us, respect and be inspired,

May u achieve all the success, I pray from within...

My Bests - II

Dear Blog,

I’d said I’d be back with this one…and so here I am. The reason still remains the same, though – Its my back-up for any unforeseen hard-disk crashes :-P.

Memory is a very funny thing friends…it literally ‘throws up’ past incidents in one’s head when one might not be expecting or experiencing anything related to it at that time…even if it is something that you only wished in the past but which has not yet materialized…

…and then again, there are times when you desperately want to remember something, and then memory will play with you as Lord Krishna played with His Gopis!

So in order to avoid such mischief by my memory…My Bests – Part II –

Award @ XL – "The Omnipresent One" :) …Had actually not even thought about being nominated in any of the “Red Carpet” awards…but was pleasantly surprised :-D …Thank you everyone who voted!

Holi @ XL – in 2009, where we played more with mud than with colors!...I came down quite late...wasn't in the mood to play Holi...had it not been for Ankit and Rohan I wouldn't have come down at all. When I came down, the first sight in front of my eyes was that all men were semi-naked...no t-shirts on any one of them ('xept a few who had some exam or something)...so the moment they saw me in full clothes, they all ran towards me as if they ahd seen an alien who was best kidnapped or killed!!! Needless to say what happened to dear "ABG t-shirt" :-( !

Once I captured and converted into "one of them", I was part of the herd...hence, was meted with the same treatment as a baby is when he comes to this world...make him have as many baths as he can endure till he is big enough to protest another one!!...first came multani mitti (the actual word is "mud"; I am just trying to make myself feel good!) bath, then was fresh water (filled with colors and people's spit - mine too, later on - and all the dirt that they'd been accumulating on themselves since the last 1 week!), then was mud again, then came colors (finally!) but everyone thought that musd looks better on me than colors (!), and so it was mud again...but y'know the best part...I didn't have to do so much mehnat like others in having a bath... :-P

...and, of course, the time spent with friends thereafter, literally lazing around in front of the café, watching movies in the LH, non-stop bakar and the biking excursion :)

Gyan sessions – Hmmm…now let me see…where’d it all begin…oh yes, ‘twas during the “Induction” time of juniors…giving them gyan on “how to solve a case study” blah blah…and then the general gyan on Life @ XL (trust me, every senior loves to give this gyan :D)…but the best was the time when I was reviewing junior’s CVs for SIP…got to interact with so many juniors with whom I had previously not interacted. It was truly a great experience to be able to build a rapport with so many people in such a short time.

Car Trip – was (i) When I travelled from Jampot to Cal and (ii) Was when I travelled to an obscure waterfall and then to Ranchi with RJ, Rohit, Juhi, Chandu, Gunji, Neha and Gaurav (am I forgetting someone?...oops!)

Bike Trip – was when 4 of us went to see the Dimna sunrise during the sixth term…’twas an amaaazzzing trip! Here's where I learnt to bike also! :)

Compliment that I have received – “I am proud of you” (This was in the first term)

Gift that I have received – A teal colored sweat shirt. Will treasure it for my life.

XL t-shirt that I have worn –Hmmm….now this is the only topic which draws a ‘Hmmmm’ out of me….Hmmmmmm….I’ll get back to you on this one folks! :-P

Term @XL – Ummm…1^st term and…ummm…2^nd term…3^rd term was good too…4^th, 5^th and 6^th were definitely awesome….heck! every single minute spent there! :)

Most Busiest Day – was this day when I had 5 classes, 1 class quiz (don’t remember which subject!), ISE Final Presentation, PBM final submission, Consumer Behavior final report submission, final presentation AND a class quiz (for which, ultimately, I hadn’t studied a word!), BLAW presentation and an event to organize on behalf of CRESCENT…my group (including me, lest someone let their imagination run lose! :-P) finished the ISE presentation during the day, dragged and completed the PBM and CONB submission the night before, working till 4 AM (with the CONB presentation yet to be made, and with the first class at 8:30 AM!)…and whiff! Came the day and Poof!...it went away…’twas an amazing experience…love to stretch myself constantly…and this was one such day…

…by the by, just so that I remember the outcome of this day…I’d like to mention briefly the conclusion of all this activity too… :-D

In PBM, we got one of the highest marks in the class (yay!), the ISE presentation was super –we got the highest marks in class! I had the Law presentation right after the ISE presentation (yes, I gave both of them) within a span of 5 mins (had overshot time in ISE)…scored 10/10 in Law! Both these presentation have been the highest and quickest ROTI (Return on Time Invested ;-)) for me :-P

We somehow made the CONB presentation during the day, only to realize that our turn wouldn’t come in that class :-( …sab mehnat bekaar! The quiz was a funny case…we came to find out after getting to the class that nobody had studied for the quiz…hehe…so it was a guessing game all right…and since the grading was relative, so much less risk of being in the bottom few! :-P as it turned out, I scored pretty decent in the class (Sir! I listen to what you say!)

The event…well, disaster is a small name for it…some high-profile execs had come from the sponsor company, only to find out a near-empty Small Audi…it didn’t help that the guys were a little impatient themselves (They were organizing an event in the fag end of the term…what did they expect!? Duh!!)

Sunrise – This one was in the first term, remember? Chatting up till 6:30 in the morning bang in the middle of the hostel area, oblivious of the hostels and their residents, oblivious that it was, in fact, sunrise, oblivious of the fact that we had classes just some time later… (In campus, who bothered of sleep anyways!? :-P)

The morning after Welcome Party, when we went to Madsam with some seniors for the first time, remember?

The bike trip to Dimna with C.A.R.T. (The photos are on FB :-)) –learnt how to ride a bike there properly, and your truly tried his hand at photography too. Personally, I think some of the photos have come out really well…methinks there could be a chotu-motu photographer hidden in me somewhere, eh? It’s after these small…er…photo-shoots that my love for photography has grown. I will someday buy a GOOD camera…my present Cybershot is good too, but I want a better one.

Of course, these aren’t the only “Bests” I have had at XL…there are more, much more (which is what makes XL so special). As I am sure each one of us who’s been to XL has…or for that matter, anyone’s who’s ever been to any college has…some of them, we can share; some of them we can’t or don’t want to. A lot of the times, the ones we don’t share are the ones which are actually the best of the best, hai na? :-)

The Best

There are so many memorable moments of the time spent on campus...and once realises that they are "memorable" only after checking out of campus...now that I have enough time (and no other option) to reminicize about "those days", I feel an urge to capture them....

Please allow me to make an honest admission: I have a fear in Life...the fear of what if someday I suddenly lose my memory....what if I suddenly forget certain things!!? If somebody's reading this, I am sure he/she is laughing....but it's true...I fear that! and so, as a "back-up", am making this small effort to capture "My Bests" in XL (This is a partial list...Maybe someday I'll come up with an "addendum", just like I'll do for my "What do I miss most about XL" post...)

So here goes...My Best..

Wetnite in XL: 26^th January, 2009

Words I have heard on waking up: Good Morning! :)

Music that I have heard on waking up: My Phone ringing :)

Lunch while at XL: At Tango, at Dosa King

Food: Au Gratin with Garlic Bread, Pav Bhaji Dosa, Bull’s Eye, Litti, Golgappe

Sunrise: (i) At Campus, after a night out of gap-shap with my best friend and (ii) At Dimna in the 6^th term

Breakfast: At Regent…2 days in a row with the best company I could ask for :)

Movie Experience: Notting Hill, Jodha Akbar (saw it on a projector in my room!!!), DDLJ in the 6^th term and a host of others!

Interview experience: All CRISP Interviews!

Committee Experience: CRISP, Team Services (equally)

Grax experience: In Services Hub!!

Presentation experience: In ISE course (presented for only 9 mins as against the required 30       mins, still got the highest!)

English I’ve spoken: With Highly!!! (We invented a new way of speaking!!–Liking!!)

Eatery on campus: Bishu Da!

Of his offerings: Cheese Fried Maggi, Aloo Paratha and strong coffee :)

Marketing Prof: Govindrajan Sir

Fin Prof: Prantik Ray (No! Don’t die laughing!! I was just kidding!!), UD Sir

Dholki I’ve seen in XL: Well, the same opinion that SAC has! ;)

Dinner on campus: Thepl@xi Dinner, of course!

Horror movie experience: The movie 1408, In Sheela’s room in 6^th term with him, Highly and me…and Highly’s howls being more scary than the movie itself!!

Pizza’s in Jampot: At Pizzapuram

What Will I Miss Most About XL?

It’s so weird…how much a place can affect you…

I’ve never been too emotional…have always believed in the power of the mind, logic, practicality…during my undergrad days, my friends used to call me the guy with a pace-maker instead of a heart (and somehow, I used to like it too)…but XL has made such an indelible mark in my life, perspectives, personality…that its impossible to stay for a long time without thinking about XL..Impossible to spend a day without missing it…

I guess it’s true: You can take an XLer out of XL, but you can never take XL out of an XLer

I have always believed that this place has the overwhelming power to change a person…and any generous soul who has ever had the patience to talk to me on XL has heard this from my mouth :)…I have changed too, in a lot of aspects…and now that I am out of the campus, feel a void within me…

“What will you miss most about XL?”, someone had asked me recently.

 A lot. Everything, actually.

I’ll miss my classes, where I was always so punctual (always 5 minutes late is also ‘punctual’, right! [:-P])

I’ll miss my projects and those never-ending project meetings....I’ll miss all those case discussions, where I’d invariably be half-asleep and Highly, RJ, Bandit Queen or Chandu would fill me in with the details of the case and then would come the output (for which we have received appreciation also!)!

I’ll miss the people here…so many of them, each one so different from the other…since I’ve always liked staying among lots of people, have loved each and every moment spent with every one of you…

I’ll miss my committee work a lot…Services, CRISP, Crescent, even CII-Yi (very new relatively)…have learnt so much while working in them…learnt how to, above all, work with people who might not share your concerns, who don’t think like you…I’ve always believed that being in a committee isn’t everything; one must prove that his existence in that committee is justified…loved the pressure of proving one’s worth by making one’s ideas / contribution count…

I’ll miss Theplaxi…its been absolutely amazing to work for it…for organizing the Dandiya Nites, the Thepl@xi dinner last time (am very sad not to have been able to organize the dinner this time :( …am worried too, about how the tradition will be carried on by the juniors, since they don’t know what exactly to do…)…I’ll miss the Dandiya, the Garba, teaching enthusiasts whatever little I know…seeing people enjoy the program…the music, the halogen lights…the post-event cafeteria delights…

I’ll miss planning the 1001 things under the sun…with none of them even getting started!!

I’ll miss talking to Profs...not only like a student, but as a professional too....or in personal capacity. I have been able to speak to them more frankly in the second year. You’ll be amazed to see how receptive most of them are if you talk to them frankly…

I’ll miss criticizing the system (though I can do that for some time now! [:-P])…will miss defending the system…

I’ll miss Bishu Da and his amazing parathas and cheese fried Maggi…and the bakar sessions and Gyaan sessions there…and yes, even those two most irritating dogs on the face of the Earth!!

I’ll miss even the mundane tasks of coming out of hostel and entering my room…they have become so much a part and parcel of my routine that not pressing the lock code of my room for some time makes me think something’s amiss…

…will miss the amazing nite-outs, the long walks, the case-taking, the breakfasts @ Regent and Madsam, Litti @ Bistupur (yummm!!), watching movies in LH, gym top, the Learning Centre staircase, the Admin Building stairs, the faculty quarter roads, the photo-shoots (will always think of Chandu and Gunji whenever I think of the word “Photo” [:-D]), the biking sojourns, Budhaxi, all the “axi” ‘s, the highly chilling sessions!, my friends, my best friend…I’ll miss Life.

I’ll miss Life.

Happy Holi !!!

11^th March, 2009 – Haappppyy Holi!! Celebrated Holi on campus, for the first time :) …and I must say it was amazing fun!! 

This was the first time that I played Holi with “keechad”! In fact, I played more Holi with keechad than colors this time!! (It was yucky in the beginning…but after some time Ravi reasoned it was working like a scrub, so I thought…oh, what the hell! Bring it on!! Lolzz…)

I got up late in the morning, around 11:23…didn’t wake up in a good mood, so was contemplating whether to go for the Holi celebrations or not…then after some time, decided to go nevertheless…had just finished carrying out mum’s instructions (“rub oil beta…that’ll help avoid settling of the colors on the skin”) when a couple of juniors barged into the room and covered my face green! (Incidentally, that was the maximum color I was going to get from a single person the whole day!)…

After that I went down to JLT…(was without my specs, so all that I could see from such a distance was a mass of color moving here and there…)…and within 2 mins of reaching the grass, was t-shirt-less!!! Bloody hell! They didn’t let it be on me for even 2 mins…and it wasn’t that it “got torn in the course of playing Holi”, my dear Chandu just tore it off me coz he wanted a t-shirt to go to the faculty quarters!!! (Came to know about this a lil later in the evening, when he told me :) ) Must say it was quite awkward in the beginning…but then I looked around and saw, well…heh heh heh…so I thought, well…heh heh heh [:-P]…

…all this is post thought. Back then, I didn’t have too much time to think…as soon as my t-shirt gladly left me (coz it didn’t make any effort not to leave me!), some 3-4 people grabbed me and threw me in the mud pond…and started pulling and tugging me as if I was a knife they were trying to sharpen!! In the next 2 mins, I was covered with mud all over! Yuck! And then came Harry…! ‘twas as if people were waiting for her to come…as soon as she came down, she too was thrown in the mud pond, then immediately in the water pond, then mud pond again…7 times!!! OMG!

From then on, there was no looking back…slinging mud here, wishing “Happy Holi!” there, throwing someone in the pond here, getting suddenly thrown in mud / water pond there…it was a roller-coaster of two hours…! In the end, was so exhausted that I didn’t have the energy to lift a finger and each a bit too, even though I was famished!

Awwwssomme fun!! Will remember this Holi for a long time :) :) Happy Holi!!