Wonder Years

Wonder Years...a story about the childhood of Kevin Arnold...a story that we can all relate to....every time i watch any episode of this series..i go into a kinda weird mood....it somehow takes me back to my own childhood...down memory lane...
Maybe that's why i haven't been able to watch the whole series, even though i have had it for more than 2 yrs now...after every episode...i just feel like shutting down everything else and thinking about my childhood...old school friends, teachers...the kind of family life we used to lead back then...the crushes..the games..the lil problems which seemed so important to us then...

Somehow, in the process of growing up....we forget so many incidents. so many people..friends and those not so friendly...those who were important parts of our lives..who shaped our future the way it is now....

After watching yet another episode of Wonder Years...i just feel like going down memory lane..

My earliest memories are of Anand Singh..our driver in Jodhpur..who used to come take me to school...literally having had to drag me from under the bed ..and then rewarding me for good marks by treating me to a huge glass of sugar cane juice on the way back home..this was during LKG..and whats so moving ..is the fact that this guy still remembers us ..more than 20 yrs later

Then there was Thane...with my teachers...Kadam sir..who pulled out my teeth during class...Sunita Mdm..our hot teacher :)...my friends Rishi, Karthik, Keerti, Sandeep, Bunty and Rani.....i guess those were the golden days of our childhood..maybe cos that's the only time we got to stay at the same place for more than 3 yrs continuously and i made some awesome friends.

I was a different kind of person in Cochin...more into reading and sports..swimming and sailing..and the only close attachments i made there with my neighbours Soumya and Sangeetha di's and their dog Appu..

Then we moved back to Thane..and that's where i met Vinamra..over TT :)...one of my best friends....he deserves the maximum credit for whatever little i have achieved in life :D...i like to believe that we both pushed each other to perform better in every sphere of life...sports or academically..though he always beat me in everything..including in matters of the heart :D..
Teachers who really had an impact on me ..Kalanidhi Mdm..Rikta and Padma Sagar..its strange..i have been taught by teachers who are supposed to be among the best in the country..but i still feel that i have learnt more from these KV teachers...a more lasting bond ..

Then came Pune..where it can be said..the new Siby came into being..:D...Yanku..my 1st roomate..KK..Mishti..Bapat..Mou..Paula..More memories there than can be put down...

I know i am missing so many names...some i am doing deliberately..some not..

IIM indore was one of the best experiences i have had....something i wud treasure and miss ...Shreyan..deepti.richa.tanvi..shubh..dang...my nehbur...AOE..Bike rides and wild parties..aaaaah...

Now a new phase starts...

I HATE "WONDER YEARS"...stupid thing makes me ramble..all senti and nostalgic...

IIM Grads and the Money Issue

I was reading the Indian Express today and found this article by some guy…” Show us your worth”…. The essence of the article is that Indian cricket and IIM MBA’s are over hyped in India….with a snide reference to MBA’s as Masters in Barely Anything..
He claims that the IIM grads are being paid way too much without having done anything for the country or for its business and industry. I don’t understand why people have a problem when their fellow country men are successful and earning well…it’s the same with the cricketer’s issue…It’s a simple matter of demand and supply ..if the organization is willing to pay an IIM MBA grad something, that’s because it feels that the person would add value to that organization to a far greater extent than the compensation being provided to them. Its strictly a logical decision to pay that person an amount that’s competitive..i don’t see why anyone should grudge IIM grads for what they are earning. And as far as contribution to the industry and country is concerned, he himself says that no SWOT (sic) analysis has been done to gauge the effectiveness of these MBA grads..then how can he claim that the IIM grads have not contributed to the country. Obviously the private sector, which employs most of the IIM grads, feels that they are a profitable asset, otherwise why would anyone pay a dime to them??

He goes on to say…”Its all about five star culture, large expense accounts, club life and golf” ..” Well its not a bed of roses all the time…The competition to get into an IIM is phenomenal…if you read the description about IIM’s given in www.wikipedia.com you will realize that CAT is the toughest exam to clear in the world…the amount of pressure and preparation u need to put in is tremendous, and then the stress to perform and the competition and rigor once in college is a different matter altogether…its not all party during college..but 5 hrs average sleep time. And once you start working, I don’t think any company can afford to pay you a fat salary to just play golf or go clubbing…you have to meet your targets…and I am absolutely sure that the expectations, responsibilities and targets on a person earning 20 L is going be more than on one earning 4 L……so how does it matter what that person does in his free time….I am not saying that others don’t work hard….but that doesn’t mean that IIM grads don’t work any less and are served anything on a platter either as it seems from these statements of his.

Hari ooooooooom !! Why do we behave like crabs?? When one sees the other climbing up to some sort of success, he tries to pull him down….that’s why crabs can be put in an open basket without any fear of them escaping..

The Last One

My life at IIM Indore has been punctuated by many a trip..hiking..driving..climbing...swimming...be it by bike..self powered or by train...thanks mostly to the indomitable spirit of Shreyan...these trips...the one to Table top, the one to choral dam and THE LUNCH, the one to Sitala Falls, the one to Tincha have been among the high points of our days at Planet I...but the one that beats them all is...THE LAST ONE

Here is a mail i wrote to my buddies on this trip..just some recollections of all the joy, laughter and perverted times we spent together

Its been a month since we are done with our MBA's and i am so bored that i looked back at our two years at planet I..and wht i am most glad about when i look back at it..is our last trip...lots of memories...

It all started with Shreyan..as usual...planing this trip since God knows when..initially it had just me and Dangy as fixed cotrippers or whatever. Mayur, Deepti and Shubh came in to add glamour quotient to our trip and finally it was on...other than a lil tantrum from our own Fattu after she somehow managed to misplace her camera :).You guys have no idea how hard i and Dangy had to work in order to curb Shreyan's enthusiasm and make him drop some of the wilder ideas...hehe making this trip possible for mere mortals like us :D

First Stop: Jalandhar/Amritsar

We reached Jalandhar after an uneventful train journey and jumped onto cycle rickshaws...the first time for many of us..Shubh so excited that she couldn't hold on to anything at all...bags..wallet cap..everything flying off ..thankfully she remained on board ..

Dangy's house was our first pit stop and we ate and relaxed there...hogging ourselves on Aunty's delightful cooking. The girls went gaga over Dangy's brother. Had fun in the night when Dang took us to a theme restaurant..along the lines of Nakhrali Dhani...Shubh and Fattu had fun making pots and Shreyan went nuts with his camera and over some lil girl who danced there.

The next morning, Shreyan, irrepressible as ever, woke us up from our slumber , dragged us up to the roof and put colors on us..HAPPPY HOLI..he got budday kicks and chu chu fries for his trouble and i was left without nightclothes and had to make do with Deepti's gift ..well thats another story altogether.

The Golden Temple was an amazing place...so serene, beautiful and calming...the fish were too cool...though we weren't able to have the langar..Shreyan managed to get a religious Sikh knife..one made in China :P

Jalianhwala Bagh was nearby and we went there too..scary and sad to think that so many people gave up their lives there. Wagah border was awesome...exhilarating in fact....music blasted from that side and then from this side...shouting slogans..and then the amazing march past kinda ceremony...Shubh's high point of the day was cuddling around with the BSF labradors.

Makke ki roti and sarsoon ka saag was awesome on the way back.

Stop Two: Jammu and Hospitality

After a sleepy bus journey, we reached Jammu and the house of Dangy's friend Akshay and our first experience at how culture differences could lead to overeating." gin raha hai ???".."khali kyon baithahai"..."kitna patla ho gaya hai??" resounded in our ears as we stuffed ourselves to the gills with Aunty's amazing food and dessert.

Stop Three: Vaishnodevi Base Camp

With the climb started the true trip. All the chana that we ate till now came in handy as we chugged and wooshed our way up the 14 km climb. Fattu was ready to give up at the start...but then she pulled up her socks...snapped at us constantly and finally got going..imagine..CCD midway up Vaishnodevi ...Shubh was attracting all the ponies..must have had something to do with her long nose and snorting..or was it snorting..she had certainly eaten a lot of that chana :)

Man...was it cold up there..we crashed into our rooms and warmed ourselves by the heaters...and then went for darshan at 2 in the night..The climb down the hill the next day was a piece of cake and we found ourselves a maruti van to take us to our next stop...

Stop Four: Patni Top

The place we were staying was nice...breakfast in bed...butter toast and coffee and milk with bournvita..Shreyan and Shubh missed out on what was the best breakfast ever when they went out for a photo shoot.hehehee...Dang and i certainly polished it off most effectively

The levels of "pervertedness" were reaching new heights by this time..with even the great GURU being scandalised from time to time..Shreyan giving us the most fodder with his early morning wakeups and cruelty against monkeys...PETA needs to arrest him ;) We all got nicknames..Eboy...Another word for a cat ...Bongo Badmash, Bhaiya and Mumma and Bouncy Baby....Dangy remained Dangy.....went to see snow and played around there for quite sometime...for most of us..our first time in snow..Shreyan fulfilled his lifelong dream of making a snowman....

Secrets around the bonfire..now thats where Mayur showed off by analysing and getting down the list of girls Shreyan could possibly like to 3 names..had fun ..with lots of things coming out...including Subh's acadblock stories and Mayur's sweet love story..Shreyan refusing to divulge his secret crush...Fattu proving again to all why she deserves that name and Dangy for the first time coming clean :P

Stop Five: Dharamshala

This is where Dangy ditched us and we were left alone..at Shreyan'smercy.... we reached Dharamshal after a long journey...by van to Udhampur after a painfully slow journey and then by Shreyan's bullet train and then after hitching a ride in a sumo..found a sidey hotel to crash in for the night ..and crashed.

Morning and we found the most amazing place ever to stay..Kashmir House..truly awesome hotel..all of us fell in love with it at first sight..went to see McLeodganj..the house of the lamas..and the goat joke comes from there.... Shubh was telling me how the Chinese killed thousands of Lamas and i kept wondering what possible reason the Chinese would have in killing South American goats over Tibet...saw the Dalai lama..and Shubh and Deepti latched onto a Nepali baby and nearly kidnapped the cute lil bugger. Trapped in the hotel for the next two days due to rains...the game of jhingalala took true shape and is part of IIM folklore now :P..the videos are priceless..Shreyan got rid of his moustache...now..THAT took some convincing ..Shubh and Nag did a telephonic compatibility test...and then Shreyan got cranky and pushed off to see some place...found 3 hrs later wandering arnd Dharmshala with a sheepish grin and some story abt not managing to get a bus.Thanks to Mayur Bhiya's Veto...we spent another day in Dharamshala and saw some places nearby

Stop Six: Jalandhar Via Hoshiyarpur

The trip was uneventful other than for Shubh, who had some problems with a lil kid doing her thing while we were having our lunch..tch tch..such a snob..anyway..back at Dangy's place...and after some nice rest ..we are on our way to Delhi and Richa's house

Stop 7: Delhi and Richa's house

Richa came to pick us up..Shubh went to Paro's house ..the worst introduction and reaction ever for me..

Richa: this is siby.

Richa'sSis: siby??...the cheapo..??(a sniffing sound from the nose.like when usmell a fart) and then an about turn and there goes Richa's babysister..

Richa takes us to Red Fort..inadvertently giving us a Delhi Darshan after losing her way..YET again..and then after dinner at her place..we are on our way back to Indore

Truly an amazing trip guys ..lots of memories to carry back from this one..:)

Muah to you all

muah muah muah

Love Siby