Single in the City

BITS happened in the summer of 2005, and ever since I reached Goa I have felt like a nomad. I felt at home at home and also, at BITS - my new home. Before coming to BITS I always traveled with my parents who ensured I was comfortable wherever we went. In BITS, I had many journeys and sojourns, without my parents, and they taught me how to make any place my home. The latest in the list is Bangalore.

Back in December last year, before I left the campus, I knew coming six months were going to be in Bangalore- thanks to PS2. I knew that after spending every single minute I was awake with friends, for the past three-and-a-half years, Bangalore was going to be difficult. without them. Even for someone like me who loves(loved??) solitude. That is the effect college, especially hostel, life had on me.

For those readers who don't understand the closeness and deep bonds of friendship that you develop in college, I don't know how to explain. I can just say, try staying away from your home, away from family after being dependent on them for more than 15 years of your life. Try being surrounded by hundreds of people sailing in the same boat as you. And then try to explain the complications of your day to day (happening?) college life to your family members sitting hundreds or thousands of kilometers from you. Try to stay fresh and alive and happy and perky as you move away from your loved ones. Try it. You will understand. Trust me.

For those who have the experience, well, what can I say, you know the feeling. Those of you reading this, who are still living this rosy period of life, my advice is live it to the fullest. And those of you who are out, you could join me in raising a toast to the days gone by- the golden period of our lives.


Ok enough! I am going off the track... So my campus life is over. It has ended and has brought me to this new stage-Practice School 2. The PS2 program is a weird feature. Actually it is a good entry into the world outside the campus- or a good introduction to the working environment. You are out of college and don't have the option of bunking or sleeping till after midday. You can't or at least wouldn't want to disappoint the host organisation, the BITSian ego in you will make sure of that. Yet, you are not into the corporate world. Unless you are really unlucky, chances are you will have a dozen BITSians for company. Your weekends will still be spent eating out, catching a movie and sometimes sitting on the footpaths (though less often now), with familiar faces. The only change is the background of the image. The objects remain the same.


Now out of the campus, it is a strange feeling of independence. This is the first time I am staying away from the sheltered environment provided my parents or BITS. No restrictions what so ever(except that I need to come to PS everyday!). And I am liking it, as I am sure most others are too. This freedom is even sweeter for my committed friends who can spend more time with their gfs/bfs without the fear of being caught by anyone(of course everyone fears the moral police). There is a lot more for them to do, and many more options to hang out, and more freedom, thus more demands on their time.


So, what happens to me when all my friends are busy with their bfs/gfs? Well, I am alone on the streets of Bangalore(after a point its boring to sit in a 12X12 feet room with three beds). I see many things around me which I hardly notice when I am in a group. I simply love the tiny bird hopping on the wet grass, the small helpless boy in tattered clothes selling tea to get some money for his dinner, the bright yellow shirt a wannabe metrosexual guy is flaunting, the speed at which Honda Civic crosses me, the look in the eyes of the pink faced one year old in his mom's arms, the look of affection in the mother's eyes, the smile on a pretty girl's face as she is busy typing on her iPhone, the assurance of protection that a father offers his son who is firmly holding his dad's hand, the happiness on the face of a young boy of five when his mom gets him a Happy Meal, the fascination on his face when he plays with the toy, the group of people standing on the road to cross the road, in a rush to reach their destinations on time, the guy wearing white shirt and stylish sunglasses at night, waiting for his girlfriend to come and sit behind on his CBZ, the girlfriend who is walking with great difficulty in her high heeled shoes, the last few rays of sun giving a brilliant glow to the sky, the big strong trees disappearing into the darkness of the night, the autowala haggling with two guys for ten bucks...and a lot more.


Sometimes I feel that silence and solitude are the best things in the world. It makes me look at things I often miss in my everyday busy schedule when I am hanging out with my friends. Things outside and inside. I absorb my surroundings better. I just sit at CCD with a book and cappucino. I get to checkout books in Landmark for hours, without having to worry about someone else. I eat what I want, when I want and all I want. I watch the stupidest movie ever made and laugh very hard. I go off to sleep contented in my heart-a weird kind of peace. I don't understand the feeling myself- I wish for more time alone.


And this new city has given me a lot of it, which I have used to reflect upon my past, savour the present and dream of my future. At the end of each day I feel that being a single ain't that bad. At least not in this city full of life and with a head brimming with thoughts.

My To-Do List

1) Get down to washing clothes. Every two-three weeks when my wardrobe has more dirty clothes than clean ones, I realize the big number I own. And still I feel they are so less!

2) Call my cousins. I was supposed to stay with them in Bangalore during PS, but decided in favour of staying with friends. But they had offered, and they are family. So, I guess its high time I visited them or at least gave a call.

3) Finish the book I have been reading for more than a month now. A million little pieces by James Frey. I am just too tired after sitting in front of the computer whole day to read upon reaching home. But I have to take some time out!

4) Call up some old friends. The short break in winters didn't give me time enough to meet them. And since I have come to Bangalore...well!! This place is costly. I haven't yet received my first stipend. I have a big ego- don't like asking my parents for a lot of money. I spend a lot. These four facts must have made you realize the cash crunch I am facing. So well, haven't called them for quite sometime now.

5) OK. This one is a not 'to do'. STOP EATING JUNK FOOD.

6) Get some exercise. Midsem report, seminar, interviews, a lot of laziness has kept me from it. And I have to still work on the 5th point above. So basically, I have to avoid bloating up.

7) Watch Notting Hill for the nth time. (I just love Hugh Grant)

8) Complete the drafts waiting to be finished and posted on the blogger.

9) Download some nice music... been a long time since I listened to something good and fresh. Right now just can't get enough of old hindi film music. Am stuck.

10) Wish Ramya on her birthday - need to keep this in my head - big day is tomorrow. :)



PS: Don't ask me the reason for posting my to-do list on my blog

SPJIMR interview

I had my SPJIMR interview yesterday. My CAT score was poor but XAT score was decent. I have an above average profile and I guess that is why the only MBA call I got was from SP Jain.

My interview was at 3p.m. at IIM Banagalore and I reached there at around 1p.m. I had gone through some forums on pagalguy and read some interview experiences bloggers had posted. There were very few helpful reads, and so I decided I would post my interview experience. Maybe others will benefit from my experience.

SP Jain conducts two rounds. The first round is elimination and the results are declared in 5-10 minutes after it is over. Both, the first and the second round, are group interviews.

In my first round, there were 6 people in my group. But, due to one guy's absence we were five in the room. There were two SPJIMR professors on the panel- a man and a woman. One taught organisational behavior. I can't remember about the other. Both were nice, listening to us patiently, giving us ample time to talk and nodding and smiling at us. That made us quite comfortable. The strange thing was they didn't even ask us to introduce ourselves, just gave a topic for GD.

Topic- What should be government's role for us to come out of recession. Pretty cliched, but even then somehow I could hardly find anything to say. More so, because as soon as I would start talking and make a brief mention of a point, this other guy(for future reference Mr. X) in my group would pick up that point, raise his voice and make us others shut up. I had to stop him once or twice for otherwise I would have been thrown out for not trying to control the situation!! so many complexities. During the GD, they had a look at our profile sheets also ( a questionnaire they had asked us to fill). Next, a 2minute intro and some general questions like why MBA , why marketing and a few others based on our introductions.

Overall, I felt it went OK. I wasn't really confident. Doesn't matter,I did clear the first round. Personally I feel that was mostly because of the second part of the first round- one on one interaction while 4 others are silent spectators as one person blabbers about his/ her career goals, and how he/she has been a great student, has a billion business ideas, has been the integral part of the team and so on...

Jokes apart, it was a nice experience. I interacted with some people who had finished with there second round. Everyone was using one word for it - weird. They were asking people for there opinion on Slumdog Millionaire and if they supported Barack Obama. Few others were asked to define Indian culture, a leader and similar things in a single sentence.

For my second round, there was a panel of two. One of them was a student and the other one didn't introduce himself. I had heard in the waiting/registration hall that one of the panelists was a psychologist! Statistics of the group- 8 people, 2 freshers(both from BPGC- me and Piyush) in a small room which could hardly accommodate so many people. And for my dismay Mr. X was again in my group :| He did his best to interrupt others and kept answering questions meant for others, and when a question was directed at him, he just went on and on and on...

So, the first question- you guys know what a personality trait is right? What is that one trait that describes you best? ... all sorts of answers came up- hard working, diligent, amiable, motivated, inspired yada yada . One guys said he was 'gregarious'. The panelist actually asked him the meaning and if the people around him understood this particular word when he used it !

Next up, So what do u think are the traits of a leader. Some fools gave totally different traits from what they had associated with themselves. The next question was obvious. Do you think you can be a leader, especially as you do not have the one trait you think is most essential for a good leader? Mr X. was one of those who had made this blunder. It was so funny to see him try and explain things in his verbose manner. Actually similar thing happened to me... though I think I handled it better than X. We were discussing Narayan Murthy and Leander Paes as leaders in the corporate world. Next came Anil Ambani and this one word 'enterprising' just didn't strike me. I settled for 'adventurous' - not a bad option, but Piyush definitely bettered it with 'enterprising'. For some 5 odd minutes we discussed the meaning of a cultured individual... I still don't know the different points that arose from the discussion!

It slowly turned to hobbies and interests from there. 6 people had described their hobbies in as passionate words as possible. Piyush was the 7th and I was the 8th. In three crisp sentences he explained how he had been involved with organisation and thus got to be a part of many activities. One sentence about TT and he was interrupted by the panelist. He asked us if we had heard what Piyush had just said and what was to be taken away from it. He even asked us to summarize whatever he had said. For some weird reason Piyush thinks the guy was being sarcastic when he took note of what he had to say. I feel other way. Anyways, mine was the regular answer... my passion for dancing is well known to all my friends... mentioned sketching and painting and a few more things.

The ending was the surprise- the panelist asked the student from SPJIMR, who was sitting next to him to ask a question! The question- While in a group, we try to conform. Conformity leads to reduction in quality of output. So would you choose to be a perfectionist or a conformist? I chose to answer the question first and chose the middle path and so did a few others. It was a unique interview experience- a group interview. The entire thing took around 4 hours and you can't even begin to guess what the panel was looking for!!

Looking back at it, I feel I performed well. I am waiting for the results now, and only then will I know how I performed. And yes, there were loads of BITSians... around 7 I think and one in the same group as me. It made me understand the reach of the BITSians and how small a place the world is, especially if you are a part of the BITS family. I am sure wherever I go from here, I can be assured of finding a BITSian around me. Will never really miss BITS...

I will always have company :)

A Billion Beauty Queens

Do they have the right to bomb any place they like on Earth? Certainly not...but who will stop them?

Like so many of you even I am against war, or any other heinous crime against the human race. But, war is a reality that we tend to forget. It is struggle for survival, rooted in the human rage, jealousy and violence. A peek into the history of Earth can substantiate my statement. Since ancient times we have been fighting for varied causes. Wars for independence, for food, lands plundered and destroyed for colonization and sheer show of power. Truth is - violence is a drug, and it is difficult to get rid of the addiction.

For some weird reason man has as urge to control. Not his own life, but that of others. Self control doesn't seem to manifest power. The might of mightiest is in annexing and capturing others, the losses that entail are hardly ever considered. He who was once opressed fights against his suppressors and frees himself. He spends some time fixing his life. Before he is able to do so, he realizes that he needs a hundred things to improve his condition, not all of which are available that easily. So what does he do now? Drop the thought of having his wish fulfilled? Should he think of something new that might be more readily available? Wait, there is one more option, that tiny thing out there, was boasting about it the other day. Amazing! His purpose is served. He enters the house forcefully, beats and kills those standing in his way and with his pillage returns back home with a happy smile. I guess the logic behind declaring a war is simple: in order for you to survive you need to make sure the predator doesn't wander near you . Thus, the prey turns predator. As I said, the losses that entail are not in consideration here.

We all know that there is no end to our wishes and desires. As a result, I don't see an end to this activity of war. Led by a few beautiful, beauty pageant contestants, a billion people shout " I want WORLD PEACE" even as we are on the brink of another War. If only the leaders of the world were a part of these billion. Sigh!

With Love(oops!), Respect, to Mr. Muthalik

With all due love/affection/consideration (or just add any other word you might(not) sound offensive to you), I have a few things I wanted to tell you.

A lot has been said about you and your men after the Mangalore incident. I do not like this. It is obvious that you are unable to understand the true meaning of a Hindu and an Indian. It is obvious you are jealous of Amitabh Bacchan for hogging the limelight. Why should he have all the fun? If he can do a bold movie as Nishabd and stay in news, surely you are much more capable of lowering your standards (that is if you have any). I must say, you are giving him tough competition. He stopped after one debacle, but you are going strong, and with Valentine's Day approaching you are climbing the (un)popularity charts. You have become (un)popular across continents. Please, I urge you to read my humble suggestions :

1) Why waste your talents over here? You are a great orator. Also, you are confident. Otherwise who would have said such atrocious things in public, even as the entire nation was watching. And these days orating skills are all that are necessary to become a President. Of course, not in India Sirji. Why not try your hand at it? Unlike Advani ji, you won't have to run your own campaign. Your Rama Sene people will do it for you.

2) Have you thought about acting, maybe part-time? If our Bollywood actors can become MPs and hardly attend Parliament sessions, why can't our public figures become actors? After all you have a fan following bigger than Raj Babbar's and can put up quite a show.

3) Try your hand at writing. Maybe what is difficult to understand from your actions will be easier to understand through your words. You seem to be an authority when it comes to understanding Hindu religion. Let others benefit from your wisdom and knowledge. If Chetan Bhagat can sell his books filled with sh*$ , I am sure you will find a market for your work too.

4) Lastly, if you don't like any of the above, think about Parliament. Announce your candidature for Lok Sabha. A lot of criminals do.Every election . Even if no one wants you as their representative, I guess your boys will make sure you win. They will beat up every voter if he/she doesn't vote for you. No need to waste time and money. Beat up some government ministers and ask the government to make you an honorary member. Move a Bill in the Parliament. But yes, there you might find some problems. Not many of your fellow Parliamentarians will have the guts to support you on that. The Bill will be rejected. Never mind. You are not easily ashamed. So you fight. Move the bill again. Try harder. If the spineless gits in the Lower House agree with you this time, or you make them (of, course by beating them), you might stop westernization of our eastern civilization. Though you should be vary of the likes of Mallya who will be lobbying your fellow MPs. Their profits will be at stake after all!

I will pray to god for your sound mental health. I guess physical health and hygiene will be taken care of by endless supply of Pink chaddis you will be getting as gifts.

With love(oops!) Respect
A 20 something girl from Bangalore

As a single 20 something girl living in Bangalore I am forever scared of what I might face next. Staying away from home, I am working hard, and where I go to chill out or unwind is no one else's business. Last of all Mr. Muthalik. After a hard week, I feel the need to relax. I do not particularly like the family dramas and mindless comedies telecast on TV. I read before going to bed. So generally, during other times, I prefer sitting and having discussions with my friends. At dinner time we go out to eat. Well, we can't really talk can we? For starters, it is not good manners to talk with food in your mouth. Who knows hooligans of Rama Sene might come and bash me up for that. Secondly, the restaurant guys get pissed of if you sit there too long on a busy evening. For a country of a billion people we have surprisingly less number of eateries. So, now what do we do? Where do we sit and talk? The parks are too crowded and too cold in the night. Hey, I don't mind a drink and some nice music, so I move on to a pub.

Saari is the most gorgeous attire but I wear western clothes because I feel comfortable. I love lassi but I like Cola. I have seen F.R.I.E.N.D.S ten times, but I don't like watching Indian TV soaps. The reason is simple, the first one makes for a good laugh and has friendship as its backbone. Whereas, Indian TV soaps have bitching and spite as its theme. Who the hell are you to tell me what to do or not? Will you enter my living room and force me to watch these soaps?? How many people will you police and how many things will you stop?

If you so love your country, you should have started a campaign. I would have been the first one to support you. Generate a feeling of pride for our nation and not hatred for others. One line in Hindi spoken by some unknown aristocrat in some distant country makes you proud. जब बाहर वाले योग को अपनाते हैं तो आप फूले नहीं समाते हो| It is no more a part of their culture than Valentine's Day is of our culture. But, what is wrong if two people want to celebrate their love? Do they have to be married to do that? They love each other and by sitting together if they are showing it, so be it! They are merely showing you what exists there. If you don't like it, don't look at it. But NO ONE has given you the right to tell anyone what to do, let alone beat up women. And please show me our hindu literature which says that beating up women is justified and a part of our culture. It was a shameful act which reflects badly on our Indian culture and ethics. I would love to have a debate with the man who has the guts to bash up a group of women, for WHATEVER reason, and then shamelessly defend it!

मदिरा तब भी थी, मदिरा आज भी है| If you are so against it, lobby the ruling party to ban liquor.

Because you know what Mr. Muthalik, according to you , you have ethics but these pub going women don't. And they are proving it by this pub bharo and pink chaddi campaign. The latter is a very disgusting form of protest. But I guess when the center and state government sit quietly and watch women being harassed, these loose women have to fight for themselves. My guess is they will droop down to your level to teach you a lesson. वो क्या है ना, लातों के भूत बातों से नही मानते|



For you reference Mr। Muthalik:
--> I am an Indian
--> I am a proud Hindu
--> I don't drink
--> I don't smoke
--> I respect my fellow countrymen and women