As Prerana’10 ended on a rocking note, so did the month of October and plans were made on the journey back to doon yet again! And It was exactly at that point of time that reality struck me, real hard! And so here I am finally checking out my blog to take it out of a deep slumber recently and pen down my thoughts…

What started as a ‘Chaos Theory’ and remains much more so even 16 months after, is coming to an abrupt end, at a pace not contemplated by many. Yes, there are only 3 months left.. That’s all the time remaining to mark an end to what in all probability should be my final stint at college (& for many more too). Much has changed from the time it all started in June’09 and much more is expected to change by the time its all over. But one thing which will definitely not change come what may: It is going to be all over come Jan’10 end.

The CEAS and the movies, the parties and the beaches, the college lecture halls and the hostels, friends and acquaintances, what was and what could have been: all that is about to come at a full stop. And ‘work-life’ balance is soon going to become the talk of the town once again and forever afterwards…

Well its not quite the right time to become nostalgic just as yet, but yes few random thoughts do linger on: the amazing CEAS bonhomie and P-16 chronicles (through thick and thin) are the ones that really stand out amongst all. The one thing still not sorted out: When and how will I find the “Miss Understanding” (if at all I will someday/night)? And even more importantly: Will there be an end or an obvious extension to my love for the ‘Land of the Sea’ :P

So as I somehow manage to find time for the classics of the Nolan, Aronofosky, Kubrick, Polanski, Coppola, Fincher, Coen brothers and the Scorsees of Hollywood amidst the real tight academic schedule ;). And to the journey of the next 3 months @ NITIE, Mumbai, the final countdown has indeed begun. A countdown to end all countdowns really!!

And I don’t think I am prepared well enough to look beyond just as yet!!

Remember: Only three!!!

The connoisseurs of pure cinematic excellence again stood up in awe and disbelief. The applause went on even as the crowd tried to comprehend what they had just witnessed, almost as if they were trying to kick themselves out of a dream. It was a hat-trick!

Nolan and Zimmer had not only lived up to their reputation but this time they had absolutely outdone themselves. For its one thing to create a masterpiece, but an altogether different class to put together a spellbinding show which lifts your spirits and souls, mind and heart to an aesthetic pinnacle! The more you watch it, the more you get soaked into it and the more you crave for it: a huge sedation, an irresistible experience!

The Architect, The Extractor, The Forger, The Mark, The Point Man, The Shade and The Tourist have successfully managed to plant an idea into my mind. They have successfully accomplished Inception for real. And it’s a very simple idea:

“Inception is the Greatest Movie of All Time”

And an idea is like a virus. Its Resilient. It spreads like a cancer. And after being Inception-ised for more than 7 hours now, it has indeed established a firm place in both my mind and the heart.

Much like Cobb, a couple of pseudo-Cobb’s have tried to De-inceptionise me of this idea. By bringing references to ‘Inception vs other Nolan masterpieces’ as well as even an absurd comparison between ‘Inception vs Matrix’, they have tried it all. But much like Mal, all this has been in vain, a sheer waste of effort indeed. But I don’t blame them for trying like Cobb, its worth a shot for sure. However, the fact remains that even if I have to die now to alienate myself from this idea, I may very well go into a Limbo. It’s a perfect possibility which cant be denied, considering the state of affairs at present!

Memento. For a long-time the non-linearity and the short-term memory loss concept of this Nolan classic had made it my all-time no.1, but only till 16 July, 2010.

Yes, it would require another Inception to completely erase this idea from my mind. But then it would be ‘Inception’ again: the Greatest Movie of All Time!!!

To damn with the IMDbs, Rotten tomatoes and the critics: this idea is going to live, grow and sustain itself for a long long time now :)

Rest Assured!

"When I get older, I will be stronger, They’ll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag, And then it goes back, and then it goes back, And then it goes back"!!!

On 11th June, The Beautiful Game began in all its magnificence in the beautiful stadium of Johannesburg in South Africa! The one month footballing extravaganza will yet again bring hundreds of nations, thousands of cities and millions of people to a standstill like only it can. It would not be wrong to say that Nothing unites people, brings them together, excites them to core and makes them passionate & emotional like the magnanimous event known as THE WORL CUP FOOTBALL!!

Talking about favourites, for the sheer amount of bench strength and the multiple number of specialists that they have for every particular position, Spain, the Euro champions, are undoubtedly the numero uno team to lift the cup. The time has come for the long-time underdogs to shed this tag & finally win the championship. Torres and Villa at the front, Xavi, Xabi and Fabregas in the midfield and Captain Cassilas at the goal-post, this is on paper as well as on form, the Spanish Armada destined to be 2010 winners.

Giving them a really tough run for the ball, however, would be the likes of Argentina, Brazil and England indeed! If there is only one man who is capable of changing the course of this whole tournament and bring back the cup glory for Argentina, Lionel Messi it is!!! The world footballer of the year has been compared to the likes of Maradona and Pele already and HE IS THE ONE who can make this world cup his very own. How all we wish that he does so!!! Five-times winner Brazil have always been a major contender for the title and in coach Dunga, they have the commander who can take them to the distance. But it would be interesting to see how they counter the threat posed by Ronaldo’s Portugal and Drogba’s Ivory Coast in their ‘Group of Death’!! And after an outstanding qualifying campaign, England will fancy their chances of going all the way with the help of some luck. With the likes of Rooney, Gerrad and Lampard at their disposal, English are a serious threat for sure!

Having said all that, history has time and again proved that a football world cup is incomplete without its share of surprises. And the three dark horses: the Netherlands, Portugal and Germany will all prove to be a tough nut to crack. As I write this, Germany has already made the most resounding start to its campaign with a 4-0 thrashing of Australia!! And it would be a huge mistake to undermine the skills of Van Persie and Cristiano Ronaldo viz.a.viz Messi!!

The defending champions Italy are always a contender for the title. And no matter how much I personally hate them for their defensive style of play-making, it is also the biggest strength of this Cannavaro led compact unit.

With only 18 goals in 11 matches thus far, the first half of the tournament has been rather dull in terms of goal-scoring. Nevertheless, two things have ensured that WC’10 remains in the thick of headlines: The Vuvuzela trumpet and the Jabulani balls!!

Not for one second in the complete 90 minutes of the match, can you stay away from the blaring sound of the vuvuzela trumpet, known to be really high on the decibel levels. What started as something which will add to the fun-factor of this African safari, is now increasingly becoming an irritation for one and all alike. And then we have the case of the Jabulani footballs which made David Green, the English goalkeeper, in-famous as the ‘Hand of the Clod’ in their matchup with the USA, what with the ball conveniently slipping past his hands inside the goal!! And its not only the goal-keepers who are complaining, even the strikers are finding it very hard to keep the ball down during set-pieces and while making that final blow inside the D on the goal. Hence, the embarrassment is shared by both!

Only time will tell that which country will hold the ‘Waving Flag’ on 11th of July. But rest assured, this one month will once again prove to be full of excitement, passion and enjoyment!!

The Red Fury – GO GO GO!! :)

Date: 14 May, 2010
Time: 12 midnight (Paris)

3 souls are hypnotized with what they are witnessing in front of them! One of the 7 wonders of the world is glittering with stunning lights over and over again, for the next 10 minutes!! For me, the already special day (my Mom’s birthday) became a day I will always remember forever!! Eiffel tower at 12 midnight in all its lightning beauty touched me inside the heart to the core. Yes, this is Paris!

The Paris trip started in almost the Barca way for us, travelling around a lot to find the right apartment and made even more exciting because of THE GAME we played (JD will agree the most I am sure :P). And then the Paris experience went from being good to better to best to near-perfect!!!

The monumental Arc di Triomphe with six diverging roads leading to all the architectural master-pieces such as Eiffel tower, Pantheon, Concorde, Notre Dam, Sacre Coure etc. The ‘Monalisa’ painting of the Louvre Museum attracted one and all, besides the other magnificent paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michael Angelo.
La Defense malls and the shopping we finally did at Zara and other biggie stores! Moulin Rogue in all its sensual colours (Red and more ;)). Lets keep some secrets here!

And then there was DISNEYLAND!!! To me, the defining moment of the whole Euro trip. One full day spent in this magic-world, the world that amazed us, enthralled us and glued us to our TV screens (in the form of Aladdin, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and so on…..), was now right in front of us and yes we could feel the magic!! Another experience, which one really has to experience to thoroughly enjoy the super-exciting world!!As it turned out, this was one place, where me and JD completely beat Kamra in enthusiasm levels: day-in & night-out!! :)

Amidst all the fun we had, there was one question which boggled me wherever I went!! Counter this: Temperature less than 5 degree Celsius, windy atmosphere and mild drizziling too: How can not only the teenagers (read 15-25 year olds), but also adults (read 50+ junta), both male and female roam around in shorts and skirts everywhere?? When we three can’t get enough warmth in our inners and full sleeves shirts and sweaters and jackets and gloves and caps?? Everyone said: “Adaptability”! Well I don’t agree with this guys: For I still melt the same and my sweat-o-meter hits Richter scale even after spending 1 year in Mumbai, and I still wear all that woolen stuff in Dehradun in January for the last 10 years!!! Food for thought guys??

Huh.. but I wont like to end on a question nary note!!

Awesome Mausam, Beautiful people, Clean surroundings, Majestic architecture, Automatic gadgets: All in All a lifetime experience!!

Europe: I will be back :)

J'aime Paris!!!

Hotel Marina in Bogatel turned out to be a not so easy destination to reach! The three of us had been walking on the road for almost 2 hours now, quite a few kilometers for sure and if you have to keep up with kamra’s pace, you have to speed-walk or should I say mild-running! Now Bogatel is a small place in Barcelona… Now if I have to repeat a similar series of events in Mumbai, trust me we all would either have a heat stroke, melting from the sweltering heat and dehydrated our bodies to the last drop of H2O… But then we were enjoying ourselves in a very pleasant climate, with vacant roads, ultra-clean environment, very impressive crowd and the fact that we had finally arrived in Europe for the one week extravaganza!!

Right from the luxury of our 4-star hotel with majestic rooms and lavish breakfasts to the booming La Ramblas market (with JD’s couple dance with uncle: the icing on the cake :P) and the beaches and the night clubs and yes, I almost forgot – the beautiful, very beautiful Montsserat: Barcelona is an absolute delight!!

If we were all awed by the exquisite metro trains with their overwhelming interiors and amazing curls, then we were thrilled to the core by the crackling sound of Alonso, Schumi & Webber’s F-1 racing dynamos (cars would be an understatement)!

Moments that took my breath away:

3rd: The cable ride to Montsserat and the place itself: WOW!
2nd: The taste of the Sangria drink and its after-effects, something I can never ever forget. Infact, the one single reason I would like to be back in Barcelona again: WOWW!
1st: Club Razmatazz@4am!!! No I can’t describe this in words, you have to be their to experience the SHOW: WOWWWWWWWWWW!!!

Adoro Barcelona!! (I love you Barcelona in Spanish) :) :)

When Kimi Raikkonen stormed past the likes of Gavin Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to emerge the Formula One Champion few years back, my F-1 Grand Prix passion had reached its peak!!

When Barcelona, powered by the likes of the mercurial Lionel Messi, dominated both the Spanish Liga and UEFA Champions League, my craze about Barca was at its zenith!!

And the Eiffel tower, the Louvre museum of Da Vinci code as well as the Disneyland had always amazed and thrilled me forever!!

However, to think that I will be there in person to witness all these and more anytime soon was not even in my wildest of dreams, frankly speaking!!

So when I board the flight to Barcelona, early 7th morning of May, I would be on my way to what promises to be a trip, which is going to blow my head-off and put my world in a tizzy, its already a time for great expectations!!

Yes, the sequel to “when dreams come true” is all set to begin and the next week is going to change my world upside-down (or so I hope :P)!!

Let the EURO TRIP begin (7-15 May) – Barcelona & Paris!!!

The Frontrunners are coming :)

He tickled us to the last gasp of ROTFL act with ‘Khosla ka Ghosla’ – 9/10

He made us smile, admire & love his Superchor with ‘Oye Lucky Lucky Oye!’ – 9.5/10

And then he delivered his masterpiece, which had it all, with ‘LSD’ – A Perfect 10!

Yes, Dibakar Banerjee has done IT!

In a country, where avid movie lovers absolutely freak out at the beauty of the F-word, when used in Hollywood (Scorsese’s Departed) and are in awe of the reality cinema showcased by the camera effect (Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield, Blairwitch project), it needed the shocking-ness aura produced by LSD to transport them to a similar world in Indian cinema.

All credit to Mr. Dibakar, for its not easy for a Hindi movie to hit the theaters in raw form, with all the abuses and crude scenes, after passing through the Censor board. It sure would have been a hell of a task to convince the so called moral saviors of our ‘filmi duniya’ to give the green signal to this one!

However, once they did it and thank god for that, we witnessed a show seldom seen before in the history of bollywood: 3 parallel stories shot in live camera throughout, bringing to screen the 3 most outrageous emotions and passions of today’s world – LOVE, SEX & DHOKHA!!!

And to think that the stellar performances in all these stories have been delivered by debut-making-actors in bollywood, makes it even more amazing!! Yes, these actors (and few of them are real finds for Indian cinema) are the result of a one year ‘bharat bhraman’ undertaken by Dibakar!

The freshness of these first-timers coupled with no-bar-holds real-time storytelling and that too in front of a live camera makes LSD a revolutionary movie all the way!!

Add to that the trance music, the unbelievably creative song lyrics and the magic of Kailash Kher and Sneha Khanwalkar – You really cant ask for more!!

Remember Paanch, DevD, Gulaal and Hail Anurag Kashyap!

Remember Maqbool, Omkara, Kaminey and Hail Vishal Bhardwaj!

And now lets make way for another master of bollywood, the ‘Terrific Trio’ is indeed complete with the emergence of Dibakar Banerjee!!

Thanks to this ‘Terrific Trio’ for making me (a Hollywood die-hard fan), for once sit back, enjoy and take that leap into the trance world – a world where you live with the characters, songs and the movie!

LSD – A LUST WATCH!!

Ideally this post should have been dated – January, 2009, when I should have supposedly got IIM calls once the CAT results were declared! But then, I had managed to screw up a section in CAT yet again! My dream college, like everyone else – Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad (IIM-A) had eluded me once and for all…

On 19 March, 2010 (the date which I will remember for the rest of my life now) – I, as a part of team frontrunners, got a life-time opportunity to achieve one of my long-cherished dreams: If you don’t make it to IIM-A, you beat them! Yes, NITIE vs IIM-A grand finale in Lessons in Marketing Excellence (LIME) at Taj Hotel, Mumbai was the perfect opportunity. The stakes were really high, the competition rigorous and the prizes – just awesome!

The IIM-A team seemed to be having the best marketing combination possible – three guys from 2nd year with marketing specializations and having already secured impressive jobs in the industry. To add to that, the same team was our nemesis in the semifinal round – pushing us to the second spot by a whisker!

Nandan Nilekani’s UIDAI project itself seemed to be the most challenging and arduous case study in LIME till date. And we had the most reputed jury in place with loads of industry experience. Yes, this was not going to be easy.

But then team frontrunners had always believed in the quote – “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going”, always using the underdogs tag to perfection!!

And YES – WE DID IT!!!

After a decent presentation followed by a tricky Q&A round, team frontrunners finally won the LIME competition after an intense battle with the so called ‘numero uno’ – IIM-A.

Yes, my dream had come true and with that an opportunity to be at the chequered flag in the Spanish Grand Prix, to attend the prestigious fast-track BLT (Business Leadership Training) programme of HUL with an international stint, and to be the guest editor on a Storyboard episode on CNBC.

But then this was ‘our destiny’, for team frontrunners consisted of two marketing jewels who are now destined for even bigger things – ‘Abhijit Kamra & Jeeta Das’!!

Well, frankly speaking, its really impossible for me to put on paper the rigour, sincerity and dedication with which both of them dissected each and every case LIME threw at us for the past 4-5 months or so (ya its been a really long time now). But I will give it a try anyways!!!

Always playing the catching-up act, I am absolutely a fan of the determination and unparalleled hardwork with which both of them toiled day-in, day-out, night-in, night-out for 5 consecutive months……………….

In my 25 years of life-history, I have never ever witnessed someone with such passion and infatuation (ya I really cant find another word which conveys the same meaning in a positive way) for marketing case studies. Yes, I was sometimes a little short of time to be completely devoted to the cases, but even if I had spent that much time, still would never have touched the marketing excellence levels set by this awesome twosome!!!

Guys – It really has been an honour of the highest order for me to be a part of such a super-fantabolous team, which was indeed a frontrunner, in its truest sense of the word, all-the-way!!!

Yes, it was a privilege to be a frontrunner that decimated the challenge of top-12 B-schools in the country, across a variety of cases spanning different sectors.

A learning experience to be treasured for the life-time, it really would not have been possible without the super-human efforts of Kamra bond & JD!!!

I don’t think I have done this before, but guys – this blog-post is dedicated to both of you as well as to the team frontrunners which made the impossible-possible!!

When Dreams come true…. Indeed!!!

This is going to be a little difficult, so stay with me:

98.91

He opened his office PC. Logged on to THE website. His eyes were fixed on this number for a complete minute. And the 61st second made him blurt out – OH MY GOD! (January 2009)

19.50

His mobile phone beeped. One new message. He opened it. His eyes were fixed on this number for a complete minute. And the 61st second made him blurt out – OH MY GOD! (December 2009)

110

The results were out. Before I could open that make-or-break word doc, my mobile phone rang and he gave me the news – the GOOD news. Selected in one of the ‘centres of excellence’ in Mumbai. My name across this S.No confirmed it. Out of the CAT race. (April 2009)

13

4th day/night running – about to sit for another GD. Mobile phone rang – cleared someother GD and need to rush for the interview now. Phone rang again – Finally!!! 13th time lucky. Out of the RAT race. (October 2009)

Numbers have always fascinated me a lot. They somehow quantify your intangible emotions. Happiness… Sadness… Feeling lucky… Not quite lucky… So on & so forth. And it is another number – 365 that has brought about a shift, a paradigm shift in me forever. These 365 days of the year 2009 has revolutionized my life like no year has ever before. And this change has been so constant in 2k9, that until the clock ticked 12:00 on 31st December, I was not sure whether there will be another shift even in that last millionth of a second. So, as 1st January 2010 welcomes us to what promises to be another exciting year ahead! Its time to look back at the 2k9-special:

Perfect beginnings and then perfect ending are so very rare in this real world. Moving to the fantasy world of bollywood, Aamir Khan proved it once again that if Ghajini (my 1 January watch) was the perfect beginning, then 3 idiots (28 December) marked the perfect ending of the year for him. For me, the paradigm shift was not so perfect – blended with all possible highs and lows!

The Beginning (Jan-April): The full-sleeves shirt, the dark trousers, the matching tie & the leather shoes – and you have the EVS professional in its elements! Back at H.No 20, the super-six made sure that the funtime never halted in gurgaon. Life was predictable but satisfactory. The hecticity in job was compensated by the masti with flatmates.


The Gearing-up(May-June): With CAT cracked, it was time to relax & then plan for the future ahead. After solving the MDI vs NITIE puzzle after 45 days of intense research (ya I am good at that), I was U-NITIE-D. All set for the ensuing MBA-times!

The Shifting Act(July-Sept): And then it all began – 18th June marked the beginning of a series of events that were going to have an everlasting impact on my whole life. Back to college, back to studies and amongst a new circle of friends – life started to change – slowly but steadily. These 3 months were quite an experience.

The Paradigm Shift(Oct-Dec):

Once upon a time I attended more than 75% lectures (read school & engineering college)…

Once upon a time I made lecture notes (atleast of few subjects)…

Once upon a time I dreaded alcohol, then started with it in minimum quantities and then reached the zenith…

Once upon a time I was afraid of case-studies, debating stuff, presentations, B-plans… Rather thought myself ill-equipped for such things…

Once upon a time I maintained a balance between my interaction with the two sexes…

Once upon a time I was socially net-worked only on orkut…

Once upon a time emosional attayachar was only restricted to DevD…

Once upon a time I was never ‘loaded’ with things…

Once upon a time I had free-time…

And then MOD-2 happened!

2/10 attendance – Roll No. 72 will not be allowed to sit in the Macroeconomics exam… I topped in the ‘ascending order’ of attendance!

One lecture copy having notes (no – read short-hand piecemeal writings) of the 8 subjects… And that ‘one’ copy was lost a week before the exams!

As far as alcoholic mis-endeavours are concerned, I did it ALL. 10 hours of BLACKOUT & I said Quits forever!

It all started with the Pepsi case, then Paragana debating competition, then Airtel & then the successful HUL case… they just kept on coming one after another… And Team Frontrunners scaled greater heights…

For once, I did not have those coffee-breaks, those pond-walks and those chatting chronicles with my fairer counterparts!

First Face-booked, then Twitter-ed and also Linkedin-ed – orkutting has taken the backseat now! What next?

Bouts of emotional un-intelligence hit me more frequently than ever before… Sometimes it was almost impossible to FOCUS with all the hara-kiri going around!

Loader… Loaded… Too many things & too less time!

YES – Time was running at lightning speed and I was always playing the catching-up act!

And then came 22nd December – the most important day of the year assumed even more significance this time, as it gave me the god-sent opportunity to take that much needed break… to break-free from everything! It was time to reflect & introspect… Time to learn from the past & move forward! Time to be at HOME :)

So 2009 was the year of the paradigm shift for me – the year in which I lived life on the edge… sometimes came back from the brink… sometimes did not… & a year of numerous firsties!!

The 2010 Avatar?

As the NITIE-MBA saga moves to its 3rd phase now, it is going to get more & more exciting as the stakes go even higher-up now! The bar will be raised to that next level – be it masti, studies (case & otherwise) or the com-work! The important thing is to bring some stability and planning amongst all the chaos & anarchy around, without compromising on the fun-factor indeed!!

The Old Year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months! - Edward Payson Powell

Lets get started with the 2010-Act…

Ah.. I almost forgot.. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!! :)