Its been 8 days now, since I became a follower of NITIEism, and to put it in a nutshell – LIFE HAS CHANGED! (The words in Caps are put there knowingly).

It all started with my initial footsteps into the all-green campus in the hot afternoon of 17th June. As my auto screeched to a halt in front of PGP-1/2/5 Hostel, with the huge luggage accompanying me, I was suddenly encompassed by that special feeling – last felt 2 years back in Thapar University!

Room No. 622 on the 6th floor was destined to be first year abode here, with Chandu & Nishant being my opposite room occupants, reaching at almost the same time with me. The Firsties were a mix bag. The room was in a complete mess, but pretty liveable once it was cleaned. The Mess food was not at all messy, and still holds good till now (3 cheers there). After the orkutty & gtalky interaction with fellow batchmates during the past 50 days, the time had come to meet them in real. Arvind, Manoj, Himanshu and the likes happened to be first among those. After lunch, we all had a campus stroll, which took us to the beautiful pond and the playground. Then I met my dear roomie – Bravefart a.k.a Himanshu :D We also managed to play a cricket match on the very first evening :)

But the Chaos Theory essentially began the next day: The IN-DUCT-ION programme!!

For as the clock ticked 6pm on the evening of 18th June, we all felt an IMPACT of a magnanimous kind, seldom seen before! The Intros started and the USPs and what not! From Marketing presentations to Pole dance, from Finance case study to strategy games, from B-Plan to campus tour, and from Out-of-the-box skits to the rainy bonfire dance – there was everything, so much so that it surpassed my wildest imaginations by a long range! 6-7 hours sleep in 3 days/nights – well that was all we could manage.

Amidst all the Chaos, we all interacted with each other – From 5 years work exp. Junta to gold medalists freshers, the diversity was one-of-a-kind. We had dancers, singers, athletes, sketchers, actors, intellectuals etc. and ordinary souls like me too :P The 200 something junta was definitely one of the best amongst the country. I was amazed & thrilled at the same time. Another pleasant surprise was the super-ratio of almost 1:4 that we managed to have in our 9/11 batch.

NITIE as a campus also felt so aesthetic, almost like a rainbow of colours. GREEN with all the trees around, BLUE with the pond, PINK with all the beauties being there, BROWN with the dusty playground and trekking zones, BLACK with all the mysteries surrounding some places here, YELLOW with our new hostel shades, and finally WHITE coming out as the spectrum of all colours!

Its difficult to believe that its only been a week since I came here, because so much has happened around me. With a bustling group of friends already accompanying me everywhere, with the very latest discussions focusing on Goa trip and breaking the fairer sex-code :P, I am already in an all-enjoyment mode here.

The classroom studies have commenced, the assignments are pouring in now, surprise quizzes don’t seem so far and full attendance is almost compulsory. The MBA-feeling is slowly but steadily sinking inside me now.

So as I blog down the closing words of my first post in NITIE with the clock ticking 3am (well the difference between am & pm has almost seized to exist now), I am sure that this journey during the next 2 years will definitely have a life-altering impact (the basic premise of the Chaos theory)!

NITIEism ROXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. The icing on the NITIE cake has been the wonderful weather in aamchi-mumbai, which after a super-humid & all sweaty first 2-3 days, is now at its rainy best! The NITIE-MUMBAI Combo has started to click guys!

The stakes were really high:

He was in a Grand Slam Final. One win away from the elusive French open crown. One victory short of a 14th Grand slam title, to equal Pete Sampras’s feat. A performance which could make him only the 7th player in the open era to win all 4 major slams. He was up against the Super-Swede Robin Soderling, the conqueror of Clay King Rafa earlier in the tournament, in this all-important final. His passage to the final had not been smooth though, he was pushed to the limit by Haas and Potro in the earlier rounds.

After almost 100 minutes of riveting tennis in the heavy clay of Roland Garros, HE DID IT. He is now G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time)!! He is the Swiss maestro – Roger Federer!

Finally, the moment had arrived for the champion. For it was on this red clay, that Roger’s untiring charge for the French crown had been thwarted for the past 4 years by Rafael Nadal, the Spanish armada. But this time the Spanish armada had sunk. On a loss that hit 10 on Richter scale, an earthquake that shook the roots of tennis folklore. Rafa, unbeaten since his Roland Garros debut in 2005, was eliminated by then little-known Robin Soderling in 4 sets. What made this victory even more shocking was the fact that this same Soderling was demolished 6-1, 6-0 on Madrid clay by Rafa himself just a month back. However this was a different Robin, as Super-Soderling unleashed a flurry of unreachable winners to strangle Rafa’s attempt to take the crown for a 5th consecutive time, hence breaking Bjorn Borg’s record. The 31-match winning streak had come to a screeching halt.

And the minute that supersonic upset occurred, Fedex heartbeat had become faster. He, of all men, knew that this was his chance. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lay his hands on the very precious French crown. The desperation, the pressure and the change in attitude could be seen in the next matches of Roger. He came from 2 sets down against the German Tommy Haas and was 2 sets to 1 down against the dangerous Argentinean Potro. As the Swiss himself said – ‘Wherever I go now, people come out from everywhere and scream – this is your chance, you have to do it this time. Its now or never’.

The 5 time Wimbledon champion, 5 time US Open winner and 3 time Australian Open owner had silenced his critics once and for all. For the only thing that separated Fedex from the title of G.O.A.T was the elusive French Open title.

However, a 6-1, 7-6, 6-4 comprehensive win over the now-famous Swede meant that Roger Federer had reached the pinnacle of glory. For whatever he may do now in his upcoming tennis future and his subsequent life, the colossal burden has been lifted from Roger’s shoulders forever now.

As one of my dearest friend ‘Sid’ quoted in his sms just after the historic victory:

“Those tears after realizing the dream of conquering the world.. that sigh of proving yet again that he is better than the best.. those glittering eyes of the legend.. the king of the kings.. yet again achieving superlative supremacy on this world of tennis-ing arena.. we salute you.. Sir Roger Federer..!!”"

Roger Federer – G.O.A.T :-)

Everyday I want to fly stay by my side,
Everyday I want to dream stay by my side,
Every morning I wish I could just play,
Wish the mornings would just stay!

This Vodafone song happens to be my caller tune. The other day a friend of mine called up and was intrigued to listen to this caller tune, which according to him is too old now.

‘Ab change bhi kar le hello tune yaar, bahut purani ho gayi hai yeh’… I thought for a second and then decided against changing it, a decision I have been making every month now. The reason is simple: I just LOVE this song! These 4 lines somehow fill my day with energy, enthusiasm and that refreshing feeling. :-)

And that’s the hallmark of VODAFONE – whatever they do just touches your heart like a wave of fresh air. Actually I am a huge fan of Vodafone, their consistently innovative advertisements have always fascinated me a lot.



As far as I remember, it all started with the erstwhile-Hutch Dog, the one that kept on following his/her master whatever be the situation (I am sure that you all remember the dog, Vodafone or non-vodafone user). Then came this lovely song. And their latest ads have won the hearts of everyone – boy or girl, young or old alike.



The ZooZoos – the white extremely funny creatures in the Vodafone ads these days!! Be it the ‘star-player of the match’ ZooZoo or the prayer singing ZooZoo or the crocodile teasing ZooZoo or the ZooZoo couple roaming around the world and so on, they have managed to put a big smile on the sternest of faces. In my case, they have triggered the ROTFL effect!! (For the uninitiated, ROTFL refers to Rolling On The Floor Laughing) :D

Such has been the ZooZoo effect, that they are everywhere these days – orkut, facebook, you name it and these lovely characters would be found fighting, screaming, laughing, grumbling or teasing everywhere! The emergence of their numerous fan clubs with stunning fan following everywhere is the testimony to their success.

In this age of state-of-the-art marketing, the ZooZoos are destined to go down as one of the cutest and the most memorable characters in the history of television.

With IPL-2009 throwing one thriller after another, it becomes really tough to bear the monotonous ads in-between the overs, with some of them being so frustrating and meaningless that I feel like bumping my head on the TV! (thank God I haven’t enacted the violent act as yet :P). The ZooZoos with their mischevious acts come as a whiff of fresh air here also. Fresh air – well Vodafone ads atleast, if not the connection also, have become symbolic of this thing to me!!

So don’t be surprised if your family doctor advises you to watch ZooZoo videos in order to stay healthy and de-stress yourself!!

A big THANKS to Vodafone & their ‘Art of Innovation’ – I look forward to the next creative advertisement from them!

Till then it’s the ZooZoos and their squeaking – Love you white cute-pies! :-)

Mumbai Indians need 12 to win from 10 balls against Rajasthan Royals…

Abhishek Nayaar hits Botha for a huge six!!!

6 to win from 9 balls.. Game Over for RR.. One can almost hear their co-owner Shilpa Shetty sigh – No Chance!

But this is IPL and RR are the defending champs led by the mercurial Shane Warne!

Botha bowls Nayaar of the next ball….. 4 to win off 6 balls…. And then Munaf Patel bowls an amazing final over as the Royals win by a whisker – 2 runs !!!


Welcome to the ‘Incredibly Pulsating League’ 2009 – the ultimate combo of cricket and entertainment, it just does not get better than this atleast for me!! What with an unbelievable amount of time at my disposal, courtesy my ongoing holiday time at home, IPL 2009 is serving as my daily dose of thrillenium!!

However, this fun & frolic saga had begun during my last EVS days only, when I accumulated a good fortune with my perfect IPL prophecies. Had I continued on with those, who knows I could have been an IPL consultant by now :P

So as this cricketing mahayudh reaches its edge-of-the-seat climax, these are my top-4 for the semis (in that order):





Delhi Daredevils: Viru and Gambhir at the top, followed by Warner, Dilshan, Villiers and Karthik and you have a super-strong 20-20 batting line-up. This coupled with a more than handy bowling attack comprising Nehra, Sangwan, now-injured Vettori, Nannes etc. and you have a really formidable outfit. Not to forget the fact that DDR is also one of the best fielding unit in IPL. Sitting pretty at the top of the table now, this has been favourite team from the start….

“Yeh Delhi Daredevils hai mere yaar, bas cricket, victory aur IPL 2009 is baar” :-)

Chennai Super Kings: Led by the captain-supreme MS Dhoni, CSK is one of the most balanced teams in the tournament and one of the favourites from the start. Runners-up last time, the team had a very ordinary start this time, what with winning only 1 of its first 5 matches. But since then the team has bounced back in style and is on its way to a semis birth. With Orange cap holder Hayden going great guns this time, Suresh Raina blazing on all cylinders, Albie Morkel as dangerous as ever and a decent bowling attack, CSK may well make it to the finals yet again.

Deccan Chargers: After hitting rock-bottom in 2008 with the last spot, the team is determined to make up for the debacle this time around. Fully charged up under the able leadership of Gilchrist, who is himself moving to top gear now, DC would be a tough nut to crack this time. The return of Symonds has further bolstered the team that also includes Gibbs. With some luck, one of the strongest line-ups in the tournament is all set to reach the last 4 stage and from thereon, anything is possible.

Rajasthan Royals: The winners of the last edition had the worst possible start this time, after being skittled out for the IPL-lowest 58 in their very first match against Royal Challangers Bangalore. But the defending champions have bounced back in their inimitable style under the inspirational leadership of Warne. With Yusuf Pathan (one of the most dangerous players in this format of the game), Graeme Smith, R Jadeja etc. in their line-up, the side is good in both batting and bowling. Their 211 runs effort against Kings XI Punjab was testimony of how the team is all set to repeat their 2008-act.

The Surprise Package: Vijay Mallaya’s RCB has been the surprise package of the tournament so far. With their latest victory against CSK, the team stays in reckoning for the semifinal birth. Sachin’s Mumbai Indians may be in a gloomy state after their 2-run loss to RR, but other teams would ignore MI at their own peril.

The Disappointments: SRK’s Kolkata Knight Riders has turned out to be the biggest disappointment of IPL 2009. After being plagued by captaincy issues at the start, the team has been found wanting on all fronts – batting, bowling and fielding despite being a formidable outfit on paper. KKR is all set to do a DC this time around. Yuvi’s Kings XI have also disappointed this time and would have to win all their remaining matches to replicate their top-4 performance of 2008. They will also hope that other results come out to their liking!

All said and done, the last phase of IPL-2009 promises to be a supremely exciting affair!!
Hats Off to Lalit Modi for making this IPL another winner amidst all the problems faced initially and despite this cricketing extravaganza happening away from home!!

So guys, stay glued to this ‘Incredibly Pulsating League’!!

Let the best team (read: DDR) win! :-)

“A Picture can say a thousand words”…

So this is my endeavour to sketch my life with 8*10 tasveers :-)


Chhonu kaka, the gol-matol always smiling whiz-kid. Well, I have always been so cute you see :P This pic was taken in Assam – my childhood abode :-)



Sonu’s birthday time – HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me :-)
I used to be everyone’s “Aakhon ka taara”! the smallest cute-pie is my sis, the other kid is Aseem (my school-friend in Jammu, who happens to be in ISB Hyderabad at present!). And the open-mouthed-almost-my-age sweet gal is my neighbor! As my mummy says, she used to wait for me near the banyan tree for long periods of time & I never used to meet her there (which sounds so unbelievable to me now). Ah those kiddish times…….



The GANG of DAV Public School Dehradun. This is actually a get-together pic. I moved on from Jammu, when I was in 7th standard. Then spent 3 years here, till 10th standard – when I faced the ghastly BOARD exams! J



And this is the KV-ONGC get-together. My 11th and 12th standard schooling here…



Thapar & I – my rendezvous with the then TIET Patiala, started in 2003……….



Hostel dayz – with 2 of my best buddies in Hostel-B (if I remember correctly). They are called ‘Sid’ & ‘SKR’!


(Rank – 5)

One of my all-time favourite pics: the titanic-pose with Sid. Behind you can see the grand lake of Thapar!



IIP, Dehradun training time… I was at ‘home sweet home’ then and so are my training friends here (in this pic).



The super-duper industrial trips that we had - The McLeod Ganj trip was the BEST one!!



The Chemcheez party!!!!!!!! “Mehfil mitran di” was a moment to savor – we all used to have a blast here…..


(Rank – 1)

The PERFECT photograph! This are the last college dayz……… we are besides the NESCAFE hut of Thapar…….. One of my dear friends gifted me this pic in a photo-frame, which is still shining in my room cupboard! Another reason for my distinct liking to this particular photo :-)



My Doon home – my abode for the last 7 years now! “The greatest journeys are the ones, which bring you back home”!! And I have always loved being here…………



The CONVO time! The last time I saw many of my college buddies…… Really miss you guys………….


(Rank – 3)

Its not really about the pic here. Buts its about the lovely soul which accompanies me here. Piyush alias Double was/is/and will always be a GREAT friend of mine!!



My first meeting with Gurgaon – the UOP interview. This is one of the most photo-genic pics of mine :-) Thanks Batta saab!



The ‘Evalueserve’ times had begun…… In Cyberpark, Gurgaon!



The rocking EVS parties!!!


(Rank-4)

The Lotus temple pic with Bhalla ji and Pat (my dearest buddy)!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me again!! I really love 22 December guyzzzzzz!! All drenched with Cake in EVS office :-)



My short-stint with EVS Yoga classes, which culminated in my interview on ‘The Benefits of Yoga’ on NDTV!



The Jim Corbett Offsite. Loved it inside-out!!



The Eternal Sunshine of Nainital that was a part of the EVS Offiste!


(Rank –2)

Again its not really about the pic, but the hunks there :-)
House No. 20 and its inhabitants will always remain close to my heart.



Went to the ‘City of Nawabs’ – Hyderabad recently. A fantastic place!
I will be going there more often now, what with my dear sis going for an MBA there :-)

Talking about MBA – After 24+ years of my life, that’s exactly what I am going to pursue next………… The “million-dollar” question is: Where?

1. Mumbai (Juhu Beach here)


2.Gurgaon (Metro Mall here)



Lets see where my destiny takes me next……………….