The Corporate Life from a Fresher's eyes

So I finally started working at Marsh India Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd.

1. Swanky location. (Like the building is sooopppeerrr HOT!)
2. Sophisticated technology employed at every step.
3. Completely 'professional' in terms of people and staff.
4. Work Phones (Blackberrys) to each employee.
5. Flexi timings and low hierarchy, amazingly open place.
6. Decent work. Not at all uninteresting. The least boring form of insurance :p
7. People seem good, helpful but keep to themselves.
8. Being an intern is fun and completely chillax! Do work and Have Fun!!
9. The coffee/tea/biscuits/toasts in the pantry are a life-saviour!!
10. I like it here. Somehow it fits and it fits well :) :)

Pssstt... the fact that they are paying me for working is AWESOME! :P

Highlights of a brilliant night

The following awesome things happened within the span of 4 hours! :)

• PG A vs PG B … Who is the coolest?! (as if it needs to be discussed!) War of the classes!
• Filmy style meeting with Kaushik Mgr ;)
• Clicking pics in the taxi :)
• Hit the club looking awesome ;)
• 1^st cheers with my love of SIMSR :-*
• 2^nd hit with VT \m/
• Dancing with Saji, Jaju and Govind. B-)
• Emotional Goodbyes to Sukhmani and Risha :)
• Fundoo Freaky Dance with Vikash!! :-O
• Unstoppable bak-bak with Saji :p
• 3^rd one with Jaju and Saji \m/ \m/ \m/
• Getting Krishna to Dance (Yippee!!)
• Delhi vs Mumbai … Which is more Awesome?! Wars!! (Ofc Mumbai wins hands down!)
• Amazing friends who will not think twice before embarrassing you, to do something you actually want to do! (But are too chicken to do it!)

The Real World

Another post that comes bang in the middle of exams and well on a related subject.

Finally people around me realized that 'mugging up' every 5 weeks to vomit it out in the exam isn't the way a management course should teach you something..

Which got me thinking.. Every exams.. I while away time watching TV series and movies and keeping up with sports and other updates in the world, every soul around me is drenched in mugging up.But what will i remember after say 5 years??

I was on UEFA's site today checking out last night's scores. And i realized, I don't remember any exam that I gave 2 or even 3 years back.. But what i do remember are the legendary matches that happened 5 years ago. Who can forget how Liverpool came back to defeat AC Milan at Istanbul in 2005.. And i still remember how my heart broke when Arsenal's unbeaten run in UEFA was killed when it lost to Barcelona in Paris in 2006. I still remember Sachin Tendulkar bashing Shoaib Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup at the Centurion, right after his father's funeral. It bought the whole nation to tears.

I remember the pride we had, when Ratan Tata introduced the world to Nano. I remember the joy when Chandrayaan landed on the moon. I cherish the fact that we had a president who is a brilliant scientist and an ideal for the nation. The pride when Indira Nooyi became the CEO of Pepsico. The shock when Lehmann brothers fell.  And even though Lagaan released in 2001, a movie that put India's name on the Oscars (ofc which had cricket in it too!), I still watch it every time it comes on TV. For that matter, one of the most loved TV series in the world F.R.I.E.N.D.S. is a favorite with all kinds of ages, and even 7 years after the series is complete, people still watch it again and again!

The real world is much more interesting, fascinating and stimulating than the 'laboratory' of a classroom. Indian students need the outside perspective much more. That is the hard fact. Not for nothing did corporates use movies like 'Chak De India' as a team building tool! 

I am pretty damn sure i will laugh at these exams 2 years down the line. I just feel like we could be laughing at them today too.. They are meant to test memorizing skills and not your understanding of the subject matter. Wish more people would subscribe to that view. Until then, Gotta clear all exams!

Highlight of the day: Today after a nightmare of a subject, my friend Pujal says, "I don't know if I will score marks or not.. But i know one thing for sure.. i know Strategy...." Made me smile... :)

a night of AWESOMENESS!!

More than a month prior to my birthday... (well thats how early i get excited! :P), my brain came up with a huge idea. Invite all friends @ SIMSR to my place and celebrate it with them and my family.. So as i sat down to make the guest list, the work was tough but i managed to put in most people i really wanted to come.

Earlier the plan was for the weekend, then a weekday it had to be! So thursday, 25th November 2010, some 37 people from SIMSR are making their way to my place in thane. Many wondering whether i have enough room.. (Well, now you know!!)

The first person to make it to my place... Elizabeth... and the next big surprise... She gets me FLOWERS!! whoa! totally unexpected... but completely flattering!! My parents and she immediately hit it off.. [[U know how liza and her one liners are!! ;) ] Some time later, enter koshy, aman and praaag :P. I was just glad that koshy came.. :) and then the others take ages to come... m sure JD took them for 'thane darshan'... (look guys, this is kunjvihar vada pav place... sachin tendulkar and vinod kambli came here... blah blah.. show off.. oops! C.A.G.!) So finally he manages to get a set of people to my place. The welcome drinks follow.. and yes, people did not miss alcohol! Enter dahiwada and chinese samosa.. Gosh.. our mess and canteen food really sucks!! The food disappeared like hot cakes!!

Meanwhile sneha ghadiali (the perfect bahu material certified!) helped my brothers and mom with serving the others. Thanks a ton Sneha! :) Junta kept pouring in till 10.30! the last one being niharika. meanwhile koshy, krishna, swapnil, auro and ghosh got the real taste of a marwari meal. In one 'thaal'.. i showed them, how we sit together in a single plate and enjoy the awesome maru food.. The menu: Gatte ki sabzi, Paneer ki sabzi, Lachcha Paratha, Roti, Pakode, Moong Dal ka Halwa... damn.. writing this sitting in the hostel doesnt really help!! :/ So well, they eat and leave and make promises to compensate for the lack of 'availability'...

the rest of the party is here for the night... one by one.. in batches of 7-8 they sit together for the phodu maru style dinner.. then i did what a maru host does.. Make sure every guest has the sweet from my own hands :) It was super duper awesome fun!!

Dinner over, 32 people cramped into that little room of my grand mother's and i must admit, they were cozy! 'Chidiya Udd' was the game of the moment! Mahek, shivi, abhilasha and many more had fun trying to hit each other!

And then as the clock said 12, there were all my friends, all around me singing Happy Birthday!! And WHAM!! there goes a cake of butter icing on my face! yess one FULL CAKE ON MY FACE!! followed by TOMATOES!! Rotten and perfectly ripe ones too!! But 1st time in the history of SIMSR did guys and girls both gave birthday bumps!! and well, me being myself, had to share it... Others who got their share of the cake/ tomatoes: Nidhi (the running away doesnt help!), Abhilasha, 4g, Rutuja, Viral, etc.. and 4g got birthday bumps so did abhilasha.. well nidhi got lucky there! ;)

after all this, the actual cake (the one we ate) came.. and there was a nice celebration.. :) My roomies (real and virtual) gifted me a nice top. :) I went quickly for a bath, and then what followed was another adventure...

So at around 1.30 in the night, we are 30 odd people on the street. I go there clean and huggable and receive my birthday wishes and hugs.. :) now we are a gang of guys and girls.. some masti is given.. Enter the COPS! Bloody, i never invited them! But who the hell does. And that the moment i knew my bday celebration would be remembered for real long... Now that cop took offense to some of our masti. So he told us to wait. JD and his negotiation skills come in.. No use. The guy refuses to bulge. Calls up higher authorities!! (Some people's hearts are in their mouths by now.. their mind racing... Out of MBA... No career.. Loser for Life!!... :P.. ROFL!!) I call up my higher authorities. Enter Daddy Dearest! He tries to reason with this cop.. but i am sure the guy thought it was his lucky day... and didnt want to lose out on the 'cash'.. ;) so his boss turns up.. and my dad talk to him directly! And turn of events... THE BOSS SCOLDS THE DEPUTY FOR WASTING HIS TIME!! LOLZ... Dad.. U Rock!! people return home shaanti se... and well breathe a sigh of relief!! Phew...

The night was amazing.. These guys gifted me an original Arsenal Jersey!! :) :D :D (Amazing gift people!!Thank you!! thank you!!) and the dessert too.. Rose Kulfi! The night had some nice games and even better performances... Notable was Jinx's 'hooker' dance (it wud put bar girls to shame!)... JD's mujra (total anarkali style!!)... Vivek's (i am about to strip dance!! (Plz dont threaten us again!! :O )...and Harish's pole dance.. Arjun and jinx did a couple dance too.. hard time deciding who should put whose hands on the waist!! :P and the games continued till the wee hours in the morning..

Early morning... (yes, 7 is early by SIMSR standards!).. I wake everyone for tea and breakfast. people are barely interested in the breakfast but everyone had enough for dinner to last  till lunch! So i get the butte ka kiss and gajar ka halwa to SIMSR for breakfast! (Again.. disappeared in class before i could say Happy birthday to me!) All return to base with a nice cozy (read: super crowded) ride in the local train @ 8 in the morning! All was well!! we reached college well in time and some people even slept a little. Everyone was satisfied and well... happy :) And my birthday just had the most Awesome Beginning!

Thank you all SIMSR Junta for making this birthday one of the best!! Love you all, you guys simply ROCK!!

P.S.: On 29th Nov 2010, Monday, in college we cut a cake. Again, i had cake on my face and hair!! these guys just dont understand the value of cakes!! But yess, they do know the value of friendship and making someone's special day become even more special!! Thank You!!

Confessions of a Work-a-holic!

People who know me, well they know that i am a super work-a-holic! Even though my parents think otherwise, my friends and fellow classmates do think of me as one. I admit. I am a work-a-holic and proud of it. I party hard, i work harder! So here are some confessions of a work-a-holic which may sound a li'l weird to normal folks like u guys.

• Working gives us a high. When things are running smooth... oh boy, we really like it! and we would rather finish off as much as possible, so that the flow is maintained and used up. i mean, it makes us feel damn good when all things are getting done quick and smooth.
• When things are not going so smooth, its the challenges that entice us. We like to face a challenge and face it head on! I mean, let the challenge come and i shall deal with it! Again, it gives some kind of a high, working and overcoming an obstacle. It feels awesome.
• If work is not there, we can be lazy and/or relaxed. Hey, we're humans too.. Its just work comes higher up the order than chilling out!\
• Our levels of expectations are invariably high from the others (as in our team). Since we are putting in loads of energy and time, dude, i will expect some significant stuff from you too...
• Several times, work becomes a way to suppress unpleasant emotions. Like taking up a lot of work after a break-up or divorce. Just engrossing ourselves into it and thus delaying or postponing that confrontation with our own self. Its like a defense mechanism. We would rather work than think about something that hurts.
• We like to be appreciated for our efforts. (well, who doesn't! :P ) But since we put in a lot of efforts at work place, we feel happy when someone thanks us. and thats one of the rewards that we strive for.
• Our personal lives need a lot of compromise and understanding. the partner needs to be flexible and accept the crazy life that we live. Yeah, It Sucks!
• We may look for details or the big picture, but in the end its all about getting the work DONE!
• Sleep and work are inversely related.

There you go! From 1 work-a-holic to the world. This is what we are! Better learn to live with it! ;)

Oh! For the love of Exams...

This post actually comes in the middle of my mid semester exam. here i am in a hostel full of people who are just mugging their way to exams. I should've realised that even though i am in a professional management course, people here are the same fellows who've mugged their way all through exams in life. What gave me the right to expect people to understand and write stuff?!?!?!? I mean, they havent done it all life, why do they need to do it now...? Fair enough. valid question. why now..??

The answer i believe is that, you took this course up by choice... and when it is your choice, your 'doing-it-for-the-heck-of-it' attitude is just not what it ought to be. But they say that some subjects are of our choice, the others are not. But they all are instrumental to us learning how actually things happen in the real business world

Still, I would actualy peg that students dont make an effort to understand everything:
1. Teachers don't bring in a perspective where the student can relate to it.
2. Students want to stay focused, and just be good at whatever they are good at.
3. We've been groomed right from day one to 'study' things from an exam perspective only.

I wish, students could enjoy the life of being a student... Look at exams as if its 'just another thing' and not a 'do or die' thing... Exams were just an evaluation tool and not a memory meter.. And i wish, how everyone could just love studying.. the pleasure of knowing more about the subject, one is so fond of... the glory of that new bit of information acquired and what implications it had on the world.. the high of doing something of your own.. talking for hours and hours about it to people who exactly know its value... i mean, yeah... my notions would sound sooooo utopian, but that is what it is supposed to be now, isnt it...??

Wish, someday we'll like exams... alas.. doesn't seem so for my generation..!!