A T Pierson had commented long back that 'Life is a game' and immortalised himself. Nearer home our cricketers have made foray into all walks of our lives- we listen to Sachin's advice to select the brand of toothpaste one should use, soap which is best for health, that energy drink which will give you and me his power, the kind of hair oil which will make us achieve that perfect shine. Rahul, Saurav, Dhoni, Bhajji are not to be left behind when it comes to selecting the kind of flat TV one needs to purchase, soda that gives a fizz, biscuits that provides super powers and ad infinitum..
They have something or the other to recommend from our birth to death. Your and my choices are closely governed by a bunch of cricketers who have consistently managed to beat bangladesh, kenya, zimbabwe and lesser known countries in their own chosen profession- cricket. It is funny to note that one takes Sachin's, Saurav's or Dravid's choices into consideration when purchasing a toothpaste, TV, washing machine, electric blade (and what not) when they among all the other people would be the last authority on such matters (let alone cricket where they have failed to win a series abroad excepting the sorry shores of West Indies recently)!
I was watching the cricket match yesterday- the last one day match between India and Srilanka
where our Indian players managed to beat the Lankan team comfortably with all batsmen managing to toy the bowling at will (which was sans Muralidharan and Vaas who have featured in more Lankan wins together akin to Mc Grath and Shane Warne for Australia). But like always the world cup is around the corner again and the experts and punters are here to make their comments. Expectations as they say is lowest since 1983. Yet it is likely that by the time India beat Bermuda and Bangladesh in their opening matches jingoism and patriotic fervour would have been whipped up by the usual parties (advertisers, media, former players and our very own idol worshippers).
Winning the world cup we would be made to believe is just one step away which is a mere formality for our stars to achieve. And this is how gullible you and me would be wooed by our Ad-men to buy more soaps, electronic gadgets, moisturizers, health drinks, biscuits, etc etc..
With all the sponsorship deals hailed as a mental victory and just a step away from victory on field, one just hopes that our stars re-discover their fluent cover drives and mesmerizing googlies and not just be satistied with practising the silken signature on the many cheques that are coming their way!
In between all this, here goes an ode to the Indian consumer- 'We buy things we do not need, with the money we do not have, to please people we do not like. This is consumerism at its best and this is what drives the modern economy'.......
Ciao till next time...Harsha
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Trying to gather my thoughts
The long break between module 6 and winter internships has really helped me in trying to slow down and analyse myself. It has been a longish break starting off right after placements (Jan 4, 07) till now; with winters (winter internship) starting off from Monday.
It was good to do some of the things which I really wanted to do; but had failed to find time during last year.
The first thing which I did after placements was to roam around Mumbai- its splendid mangroove forest (now just confined to some parts of the old islands), beautiful fort area, some of the oldest zoroastrian temples, the oldest church in VT, yeah also the busy Crawford market and wonderful lunch at Rajdhani- a must visit restaurant if in Mumbai (and many more places which everyone in Mumbai is aware off... the best & tiresome was the journey to fishers village; too bad that I bought my camera only afterwards!).
A welcome break from the moribund routine was also the trip to Chennai, Vizag and Kolkota. Stayed in Chennai for a day or so (in which time my dear friend Vandy was too engrossed in other important activities to show around the city much!), after which the trip to Vizag was really interesting- for all the right and wrong reasons. The right reasons being the beautiful environs in and around Vizag- the beautiful Borra caves, Kailasgiri hills, Submarine and also the wonderful time we had in the water park. The wrong reasons can be attributed more to the exploits of a most unique, innocent and near kiddish persona of Pilaka... Subbu, Vandy and Myself will never forget the antiques of Pilaka during the trip to a nearby hill station. It would take too much of space to highlight the googly of events, so let me restrict my comments on that!
The tour around Kolkota can really be termed as 'something to remember'. It started off with the chill weather creating havoc to Vandy's and my health. Unsuspecting victims as we were; we had not taken warm clothes in the middle of winter there. Another bad timing being the time we reached there- middle of night. But cold or otherwise the hospitality of the bong gang (bengalis from our batch) of NITIE ensured we get back to ship shape. A special thanks to all the bong dada's is especially needed. Well, I have not introduced you to the real reason for visiting Kolkota! We had travelled all the way there to attend to the marriage of the inimitable Sharba's marriage which turned out to be a good meeting place for good friends too. It was really interesting to observe the traditional marriage from the Eastern part of India- especially to someone like me from the south. They can easily be termed as oppulent and also most colorful of marriages. One never really felt out of place with such warmth and friendliness around (that too with my limited understanding of bengali- restricted to only 2 words- ki holo and kemon aachis). The marriage itself is short compared to the considerable buildup associated. It was nice to see so many NITIEans around in marriage and also catch more than some passing 'attention' myself! Uh, that apart Kolkota is worth visiting again in leisure. One of the drawbacks of the long trip was the amount of travelling involved!
Also worthwhile was catching up with all my friends here in Bangalore- Perot gang, SAP friends, Koramangala brothers and RV mates after a looong loong time. With most of the weekends booked to catch up with all the buddies here, it does feel good to be back amongst the known faces, 'swalpa adjust maadi' type of crowd and offcourse with the familiar 'yella ok, cool drink yake?' type of local pubs!
Just looking forward for winters to start off in full swing now.....! Up and raring to go...
Ciao till next time...Harsha
It was good to do some of the things which I really wanted to do; but had failed to find time during last year.
The first thing which I did after placements was to roam around Mumbai- its splendid mangroove forest (now just confined to some parts of the old islands), beautiful fort area, some of the oldest zoroastrian temples, the oldest church in VT, yeah also the busy Crawford market and wonderful lunch at Rajdhani- a must visit restaurant if in Mumbai (and many more places which everyone in Mumbai is aware off... the best & tiresome was the journey to fishers village; too bad that I bought my camera only afterwards!).
A welcome break from the moribund routine was also the trip to Chennai, Vizag and Kolkota. Stayed in Chennai for a day or so (in which time my dear friend Vandy was too engrossed in other important activities to show around the city much!), after which the trip to Vizag was really interesting- for all the right and wrong reasons. The right reasons being the beautiful environs in and around Vizag- the beautiful Borra caves, Kailasgiri hills, Submarine and also the wonderful time we had in the water park. The wrong reasons can be attributed more to the exploits of a most unique, innocent and near kiddish persona of Pilaka... Subbu, Vandy and Myself will never forget the antiques of Pilaka during the trip to a nearby hill station. It would take too much of space to highlight the googly of events, so let me restrict my comments on that!
The tour around Kolkota can really be termed as 'something to remember'. It started off with the chill weather creating havoc to Vandy's and my health. Unsuspecting victims as we were; we had not taken warm clothes in the middle of winter there. Another bad timing being the time we reached there- middle of night. But cold or otherwise the hospitality of the bong gang (bengalis from our batch) of NITIE ensured we get back to ship shape. A special thanks to all the bong dada's is especially needed. Well, I have not introduced you to the real reason for visiting Kolkota! We had travelled all the way there to attend to the marriage of the inimitable Sharba's marriage which turned out to be a good meeting place for good friends too. It was really interesting to observe the traditional marriage from the Eastern part of India- especially to someone like me from the south. They can easily be termed as oppulent and also most colorful of marriages. One never really felt out of place with such warmth and friendliness around (that too with my limited understanding of bengali- restricted to only 2 words- ki holo and kemon aachis). The marriage itself is short compared to the considerable buildup associated. It was nice to see so many NITIEans around in marriage and also catch more than some passing 'attention' myself! Uh, that apart Kolkota is worth visiting again in leisure. One of the drawbacks of the long trip was the amount of travelling involved!
Also worthwhile was catching up with all my friends here in Bangalore- Perot gang, SAP friends, Koramangala brothers and RV mates after a looong loong time. With most of the weekends booked to catch up with all the buddies here, it does feel good to be back amongst the known faces, 'swalpa adjust maadi' type of crowd and offcourse with the familiar 'yella ok, cool drink yake?' type of local pubs!
Just looking forward for winters to start off in full swing now.....! Up and raring to go...
Ciao till next time...Harsha
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Latest trek- Kalavara Betta
One hell of a trek it was... it had been a long time since we fearsome four (Nagi the smilin assasin, Sejil the doc who knows everything, Pree who knows more abt planes than the pilots themselves and moiself) had met up.
Dont want any repetition here- chk this for more in Nagi's blog
Some pics here in my fotu blog.
PS- Sadly you will find pics only till 40% up the hill, as Sejil and yours truly chickened out and could not climb to see the peak. As they say 'Uve got to climb the hill to see the view'.
Ciao till next time...Harsha
Dont want any repetition here- chk this for more in Nagi's blog
Some pics here in my fotu blog.
PS- Sadly you will find pics only till 40% up the hill, as Sejil and yours truly chickened out and could not climb to see the peak. As they say 'Uve got to climb the hill to see the view'.
Ciao till next time...Harsha
Hey what's anti-valentine's day?
Some interesting pics from the e-mails in my inbox now-
Ciao till next time...Harsha
Ciao till next time...Harsha
Monday, February 05, 2007
Don't take this test!
I am usually good at taking online tests, but after taking this one....my suggestion- don't risk this one!
Ah...why is my love life pathetic :((
Ciao till next time...Harsha
| This Is My Life, Rated | |
| Life: |  7.1 |
| Mind: |  8 |
| Body: | 6.9 |
| Spirit: | 7.1 |
| Friends/Family: |  5.3 |
| Love: |  1.5 |
| Finance: | 7.4 |
| Take the Rate My Life Quiz | |
Ah...why is my love life pathetic :((
Ciao till next time...Harsha
Friday, February 02, 2007
What's missing?
Thats what I have been asking myself over the past couple of weeks. Is it some sort of withdrawal symptom??, am I an overtly emotional individual (I suppose I am emotional, but.... not overboard), Is it just a normal thing that happens to every individual who comes out of those 1200 odd MBA institutes every year?
Ah.... I know I've yet to introduce my problem here- something has suddenly gone amiss after the hum-dum of NITIE! Ah... technically I have yet to complete one more module @ NITIE before I could call myself an Emmmmbeeeeyeaaah grad, as I am yet to complete my winter internship still; but for all practical reasons my further stay there would be only during the final presentation sometime during May and after that- will get restricted to the yearly Sansmaran (the alumni meet @ NITIE)..
Well, what is it that has suddenly gone amiss? Lemme just list down the top 10 here-
1. IP messages.... ah, u'll definetely understand if you are a B-School student. The lifeline of the batch is the inimitable IP messenger!
2. Night mess....nescafe outlet....ataria....general masti@PPO road. Uh, will these just remain as memories now? that's how it seems.....
3. Parties....where else will one find them...
4. IMpress!!! how can I forget my committee.... the late night meetings... the trips to south mumbai... media summit... (how can i forget how we changed 3 speakers on day before it took place:)) and off course all the parties we went out to...
5. Mastishk..... uh, was a real passion for last few months... and my phone expense in one of the months was 2000+.... how can I forget how we got sponsors after much catchin up :)
6. B-School fests... case study competitions.... debates... B Plans...oh, all getting in some handy money whenever my bank account looked dry :)
7. Friends.... and those few GODs who made life simple for us mortals with their notes... one particular mention has to go to an Associate Consultant with SAP GDC :)
8. Some unforgettable getaways- pondside, MDP hostel terrace, short ride to KB, SP and likes..
9. Uh... sometimes I think even the classes were bearable...mess food eatable.... ethics money gathering (urggh...laundering) passable and placement meetings pleasant!
10. Sleeping.... and yeah reading (i was surprised to see that I had bought up nearly 2 carton full of books when I was there, sadly not many text books; but everything apart that)!
Well, contrast this to the everyday life that I am leading now- good food, atleast 8 hours sleep, TV to watch, a handy bike to roam around.....etc etc...
But I just realised one thing that I'm missing more than anything else......- 'The pretence of being occupied, being busy with something or the other, doing things- more than one at a time... and what more, keeping myself up late nights to work on things which may now seem trivial- but felt earth shattering then!'
Hmmm...... let me get back into the 'I'm busy mode'!! Cypress.....bring on the winters fast!
Ciao till next time...Harsha
Ah.... I know I've yet to introduce my problem here- something has suddenly gone amiss after the hum-dum of NITIE! Ah... technically I have yet to complete one more module @ NITIE before I could call myself an Emmmmbeeeeyeaaah grad, as I am yet to complete my winter internship still; but for all practical reasons my further stay there would be only during the final presentation sometime during May and after that- will get restricted to the yearly Sansmaran (the alumni meet @ NITIE)..
Well, what is it that has suddenly gone amiss? Lemme just list down the top 10 here-
1. IP messages.... ah, u'll definetely understand if you are a B-School student. The lifeline of the batch is the inimitable IP messenger!
2. Night mess....nescafe outlet....ataria....general masti@PPO road. Uh, will these just remain as memories now? that's how it seems.....
3. Parties....where else will one find them...
4. IMpress!!! how can I forget my committee.... the late night meetings... the trips to south mumbai... media summit... (how can i forget how we changed 3 speakers on day before it took place:)) and off course all the parties we went out to...
5. Mastishk..... uh, was a real passion for last few months... and my phone expense in one of the months was 2000+.... how can I forget how we got sponsors after much catchin up :)
6. B-School fests... case study competitions.... debates... B Plans...oh, all getting in some handy money whenever my bank account looked dry :)
7. Friends.... and those few GODs who made life simple for us mortals with their notes... one particular mention has to go to an Associate Consultant with SAP GDC :)
8. Some unforgettable getaways- pondside, MDP hostel terrace, short ride to KB, SP and likes..
9. Uh... sometimes I think even the classes were bearable...mess food eatable.... ethics money gathering (urggh...laundering) passable and placement meetings pleasant!
10. Sleeping.... and yeah reading (i was surprised to see that I had bought up nearly 2 carton full of books when I was there, sadly not many text books; but everything apart that)!
Well, contrast this to the everyday life that I am leading now- good food, atleast 8 hours sleep, TV to watch, a handy bike to roam around.....etc etc...
But I just realised one thing that I'm missing more than anything else......- 'The pretence of being occupied, being busy with something or the other, doing things- more than one at a time... and what more, keeping myself up late nights to work on things which may now seem trivial- but felt earth shattering then!'
Hmmm...... let me get back into the 'I'm busy mode'!! Cypress.....bring on the winters fast!
Ciao till next time...Harsha
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