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!!! :)