m lovin' it

I’m back in Ahmedabad for a 18 day long vacation… m lovin’ it

I love having 2 breakfasts in the morning and it doesn’t matter that I don’t get up before 10 and am back in bed for a afternoon nap at 2 o clock after my multi-multi course lunch getting up in the evening only to have pre evening snake followed by loitering around with friends till the time of post evening snake.

I love sitting at station with a bunch of friends with almost no worries of how the day is going to be tomorrow and lurking at some beautiful lasses as they try to make their way out hiding their cute noses ( as if nak kat gaya ho …heee.heee) with their soft fingers ensuring they are not subjected to the highly poisonous smoke emancipating from nearby chimneys.

I love spending 6 hours sitting over Kankaria lake, at times alone, just staring at that serene water and looking around as couples embrace each other and murmur sweet nothings in each other ears and then look around to ensure that nobody has heard anything as if they have just shared the hideout of Osama Bin Laden

I love reading the nonsense in all those regional newspapers about how a dog is feeding a kitten and how a thief felt asleep after breaking in someone’s else house and how some local jackass got a chance to sing in an album of some ‘god knows who’ singer.

I love going on a long drive with that someone, at 2 am in the night on the pretext of having a cup of chai at a place 80 km away and returning back without a chai; for ‘the one’ feels it to be unhygienic to have a chai so late in the night.

I really love driving like crazy on my 2 wheeler giving a f*ck to the traffic rules, intentionally getting caught by a traffic hawaldar to give my intro, followed by his salute and a sigh of relief on my not resorting to anything against him.

I love moving around, watching places which takes me down on the memory lane of the moments I really rejoiced around here with all my school time friends and all the so-called ex’s, of all those places where we hid ourselves from the rest of the world and had pledged the last drop of blood in our heart to each other every time.

I love not been on line for the whole day and have an identity for self other than a name on the Gtalk and a profile on Orkut and reply to names and people whom I really wonder exist or not in real self.

But most of all I love the supreme peace of going to sleep without bothering at what time to get up, without bothering to turn on the alarm clock, without bothering to count the no. of lectures the next day, without uttering curses for having a 8 30 lecture, without taking to ‘udaaying all the gam in dhuaan’ aka devanand istyle.


PS – And I know that I have absolutely done mother –sister one of the English grammar but then I am now in the Gujju land. M Lovin’ it..

Na Mo gets cranky

arendra Modi, the MLA from my constituency, more favorably or I believe unfavorably known as the extremist chief minister of Gujarat by pseudo – intellectuals, is rather one of the few political leaders of today’s time for whom I do spare a bit of respect occasionally. However, this dynamic leader seems to have taken a leaf of motivation from the book of the red brigade, and his ideas and diktats seem to be getting far from ‘Gujarati asmita’ to ‘strong no-headed communism’. Seems our dear Naa. Moo is getting cranky nowadays. Consider this

On the auspicious occasion of Dr. Sarvapally’s birthday ( abe oo angrezi ke lote….teacher’s day..kyaa yaar) gave a diktat that all students in all schools in Gujarat be subjected to two hours of special torture of hearing Mr. Modi live as he goes about brandishing all bakwaas. A dear enemy of mine who knew about my compassionate feelings towards Mr. Modi got me a copy of that highly enervated speech. Mr. Modi summoned the students of Gujarat to learn Chinese apart from learning English. Now Mr. Modi, I do not present my views on the idea of importance of learning Chinese, yet even if the students were to learn Chinese, don’t you think it’s the education board who will have to implement that. And I am really glad to know that we have no short supply of Chinese tutors in Gujarat.

In another historic diktat, the Gujarat PSEs ( public sector entity of Gujarat) have been asked to consider contributing their 30 % of PBT to a welfare fund for the welfare of the state. No surprises the stock market reacted sharply by washing off over Rs. 12,000 Cr. in market cap in a couple of days from these companies. Btw, I wonder if welfare has to be done by the welfare fund contributed by this PSE, for what the hell were this companies paying tax. And a little bit of learning of Companies Act makes me consider this as a case of Oppression of Minority and Mismanagement. Any lawyers around ?

And in another typical communist istyle the Gujarat government wants the industry to reduce its electricity usage by 30 % to ensure that it is able to meet the increase in energy requirements from the agricultural sector on account of poor monsoon.

May the heavens bestow some wiseness on NaMo. This country may survive a communal rhetoric, but can’t survive any more communist rhetoric.

PS – As an idiot said, the true measure of the development of any society is whether one is safe after opposing the big brother.

PS- I really wonder at the time management skills of my beloved MPs from BJP, Sidhu and former health minister Shotgun Shatru, who after spending almost 3/4th of a day laughing at absolutely stupid, derogatory, plagiarized, vulgar sense of humor of me-too participants seem to be managing the affairs of this country.

itaali samachar

One of the ministers of Italy is a well known beautiful model, who used to pose nude and has appeared in her full bloom on many fashion magazine covers. And my imagination runs wild thinking of the mandarins from India…viz. amarsingh, lallu Prasad etc. Well, I pray that they do not take any motivation from this Italian minister…Amen !!! Probably fashion has a different connotation in Rome and Ramgadh.


There are reports here that Italy is paying Libya 5 billion dollars and formally apologizing for the colonial rule it had imposed on Libya. Now it would be really interesting if the Indian Government even gathers courage to demand an apology from the British …and yaa the Kohinoor diamond too from the bloody ..I mean the royal blooded queen. Probably, if the British were to repay the damages they have incurred on this world on the virtue of its colonization policy, forget the diamond in the crown, the entire population of Brits (queen included) would be stripped of their chaddis (matbal ….undergarments…tusi bhi naa ) …Now we Indians being so emotional can’t see so many nange – punge log around, so I think the idea can be dropped.

PS - I really wonder why people just turn blind to all the notorious acts of this former rulers…this royal blooded family. The royal prince Charlie kept on tanka bhidaying with that kamlila and that s*ut who people call Princess Diana still garners so much respect, but the plain truth being that she involved in a extra marital affair ( more than one) and got killed while alluding with her non official boyfriend….I wonder how she would be phrased if not belonging to the royal family…..Thankfullyu, nature’s justice it doesn’t give preferential treatment. :)

BATTING MAESTROS @ X L R I

It is really nice that most of my dear batsman took the previously mentioned stuff of this post in the spirit it should have been taken. But despite basketsful of public requests (and orders), yours truly has deleted the actual contents of this post. Maybe, I also like to have my own way, no matter the extent of criticism or praise. It would not be prudent on my part to not delete the contents, as there is a little possibility that few of my dear friends may fail to appreciate the intent of the post. My sincere apologies to them.

I am sorry to all my fellow and senior batchmates who feel that deleting this post is an idiotic idea, but an idiot I am. I’ll also take the undue liberty of deleting the beautiful song contributed by the Papalaxi chief, the king of PJ. I have also been deleting few comments wherein names of some dear batting maestros were explicitly mention. I once again reiterate that the selection of batsman was not personal, but reflected the collective view of the interested batch. The timing of publishing and deleting the earlier post was 'strategically' planned to ensure that a major proportion of the upcoming lot of cricketers were busy with their adventures and roaming god foresaken villages.

Your Comments and a link to a blog presenting a different view to my earlier post have been retained for the time being. My ‘personal’ views about the highly enlightened CHIMNAXI (God save them !!!) and ‘Shaky Baby & Lolita Aunty’ in due time. Till then, HAPPY BATTING :)

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PS1 : The above post has been written for the pure purpose of light hearted banter. Unfortunately, or fortunately this post will remain online for a very short period. Adequate measures have been taken to ensure that only the senior denizens of XLRI are able to appreciate this post. Kindly appreciate please. The selection of the batsman mentioned above is not at all personal, but reflects the collective views of the batch. Sorry for this ultra long post. Considering the batting talents, couldn’t avoid it.

PS2 : As always, there will be no comment moderation. Your views, counterviews, abuses(voluntary), appreciation(mandatory) are more than welcome.

PS3 : Despite severe public protests, self has decided to withhold publishing about GALAXI queen(s) till I get myself a big life insurance policy. Though, a post on the two foremost bowlers ‘Shaky Baby and Lolita Aunty’ and a post on ‘Chimnaxi’ are under consideration.

PS4 : Captain Sharma shall be officially launching ‘SAXI’ soon….Everyone’s welcome.

BATTING MAESTROS @ XLRI

The hallowed portals of XLRI in recent times have been witness to epical batting skills of batting maestros who are truly artist of a genre above class. It has been not just raining, but pouring sixes and fours around the clock on the grounds of XLRI. The unassuming bowlers are hit in all directions, from all directions. Such pronounced is the batting prowess of this league of extraordinary batting maestros, who have taken to batting with a vow to themselves that they will not let go any bowler, I repeat, any bowler pass by ‘untempered’.

In order to acknowledge the batting genius of this batsman, we today will confer them with a place in the highly prestigious “Hole of Shame’. In order to separate real quality (bats)man from the boys, suggestions were invited from the spectators and the affected bowlers. A total of 44 respondents named 21 batsman and 2 batswoman whom they fear the most. The 7 most terrific batting maestros who received the highest votes have made it to the most sought after ‘Hole of Shame’. The above research methodology has been validated by our very own in-house expert Chaitanya Swami.

Bowlers, beware of this batting greats ! They are out there to screw you… literally.

But before we start with the real batting maestros, let us have a look at those aspiring batsman who just missed the “Hole of Shame’ by a whisker.

Mr. Fakir Tashan – Undergoing a patch of bad form currently. Often seen escorting coaching junior bowlers at wee hours… But remember, Form is temporary, Class is permanent. Rest assure, he will bounce back.

Mr. Arbit Aachaar – Rather than doing net practice on the grounds, he is found improving his dance moves with the new lot of bowlers. Unfortunately he get out too often at ‘silly point’

Mr. Harbar Sadabahar Chhatawaala – The reason for the drop in ranking of this Punjab-da-puttar is that our dear Harbar has opted to play with his umbrella rather than bat.. Rumours are he has lost his ‘bat’. Can anyone please give him a new bat ?

Mr. 100 (Soo) weak verbal applications ( waah..waah..m so good in PJ) - for rather than playing against quality bowlers, our dear batsman is seen playing with substandard local bowlers. He is so desperate for batting that whether he is in the team or not, he keeps on batting with any available bowlers…arree..bhai koi isko bhi team mein le lo naa….

Mr. Sab aao - This Ranchi rancho has the potential to make it to the top of the batting list, provided he can keep his mouth shut and ass cut.

Mr. Lingraj - With his current unperturbed focus on improving the cricketing ‘infrastructure’, he seems to have retired from his batting. We’ll miss you

Mr. Tiktik Gandu maru - This Charminar challenger is nowadays busy focusing more on fielding rather than batting. Tries to go over the ‘Deep mid wicket’ and gets caught.

Mr. Maximus Topiwala – A poor shot selection which hit him at midpoint has caused a drastic drop in his form. Rumours are he is now going after fellow batsman rather than bowlers… ‘Bowlers hence breathe a sigh of relief’

Mr. mAdi kyakarliya - This master blaster had set the grounds on fire during the recent concluded bhasad series, and had left many a batting great peeing in their pants. Being the humble self that he is, he claims that he is good only for ‘bang bang’ batting in 20-20….But we all know the true calibre of this master strokemaker.

The batting legends who have made it to the “Hole of Shame” are …..

No. 7 - If you believe that Sourav Ganguly, the Bengal Tiger is the only batting legend that Kolkata has produced, meet the Bengal hippopotamus. This joyous bespectacled batting maestro has recently made a career shift from TT and badminton to batting. We presume he prefers hitting balls rather than hitting cocks. (I mean shuttle cocks, you pervert). He has been able to step right in to the boots of our very own real dada, lovingly called the ‘water cooler guy’. Our dear Bengal hippopotamus believes in practicing hard without any interference and hence is seen practicing in solace with different bowlers at GMP lawns regularly in the evening. Now please, don’t disturb him. Concentrate to karne do zaara…His endorsements include Hippo Chaddis…

No. 6 - Meet this Sher-e-Punjab …Mr. Laddu..Apart from batting, at times he also focuses on ‘Woman Resources and Personal Relations’. We ourselves are dumbfounded how he manages his both interests so well. Though he manages an almost perfect 10 on his batting prowess, he has also been able to consistently score more than 7 on 8 in almost all aspects of Women Resources and Personal Relations. But all said and done, our Mr. Laddu is a very soft butted person. He is always more than ready to offer his butt and share all his gyaan with the new bowlers who have recently step foot on the grounds of XLRI. However, our Mr. Laddu is technically weak and is sooner or later going to get hit wicket.


No. 5 - Meet Mr. Chandu Choti…Don’t get mislead by his looks which give a false impression of he being the traveler on the road less traveled. Mr. Chandu Choti is one of the rarest specimen who plays multiple matches at the same time and that too effectively. Mr. CC is a firm believer that batting is all about colors…And it doesn’t matter that the color happens to be pink. After devastating many a senior bowlers, Mr. CC is nowadays seen successfully tempering more than a few upcoming bowlers. He always remains on the prowl for any opportunities to hit the upcoming bowlers ‘out to the park’ without any respite. Mr. CC can effectively handle the ‘load’ of managing at times two, at times three and at times even more than that matches. I wonder how he manages this. Too much of batting so early in the career may lead to premature *&#@%.....( kya word hai who)….haan…premature retirement (aap kya soch rahe the !!) His endorsements include ‘Fair & Random’

No. 4 - Meet Mr. Sabka liya. And what a star batsman is he…koi aisa –waisa star nahi…..the best of all…the ‘Pole star’ which keeps shining like a precious stone. He has the eyes of a true batsman and though his leg glances are not that delightful to watch, his eye glances are better than the best. Our Mr. Sabka Liya picks up the gems among the bowlers…may it be diamond, pearl, ruby or ‘Sapphire’….and hits them with utter disdain. He bats exceptionally well in the darkness also, without the need of any floodlights. Infact the darker, the better.. Rumors are that he has taken his favorite four bowlers in his team in spite of high controversies. His endorsements include ‘Pole – All meat, no Hole’

No. 3 - Meet Mr. Hero Desperado, the true Nayak of batting. Our Mr. Hero has recently displayed a supreme surge in form and has been hitting sixes all over the place. He attributes this newly found form to a ‘secret’. Reliable sources quote that ‘If Boost is the secret of Sachin’s energy, Horlicks is the secret of our Mr. Hero Desperado’s energy.’ He displays abnormal animal tendencies in his ‘strokeplay’, which spectators attribute to his special interest in all the animals one can find in the zoo. I am sure that he is a perfect bet for a ‘long race ka horse’. He favorite shot is driving through the ‘gully’. Though, many Experts opine that he gets caught too often at the ‘silly’ point.

No. 2 - Meet Mr. Kaala Anna. “Naam hai iska kaala anna, patla hai jaise ho ganna.” He is after all the real ‘Dark Knight’. This tall, dark and non handsome Chennai super king is a ‘saccharined’ personality and has tried his hands at a multitude of games before finally taking to batting. His bibaca smile, thanks to his super white teeth which perfectly contrast with the ‘not so white’ background bedazzles many a bowlers. But his shot selection has been less than satisfactory and he always picks up the wrong bowlers. No wonder our dear ‘anna’ gets caught by the bowlers too often. Hope he soon finds the bowlers with whom he can have a strategic fit. He is the brand ambassador of ‘Bandar Chaap Kaala Dant Manjan’
Watch out for his photo at the end of the post…
….ch*tya banayaa…bada maazaa aaya…. ‘abe oye..iski fotu kahaan se aayegi, iski to negative hi niklegi naa’

No. 1 - And the top honors for batting excellence goes to none else than the grand ol’pa of batting. Mr. Bada Rod liya. Our dear grand ol’pa was born not with a silver spoon in his mouth, but with a wooden bat in his ass. His contributions to the world of batting are unparalleled. For his distinctive contributions to the domain of batting, he is unanimously conferred with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award for Batting Xlence”. He is to batting what Devanand sahab is to films. Notwithstanding the amount of criticism, they always have their own way. His footwork is amazing, his handwork is even more brilliant. He plans his every move maliciously..oops …i mean meticulously. In this era of macho hitters, he has kept the bastion of classic cricket alive by his deft touches which will be unchallenged till times immemorial. His timing is so impeccable that even the best of the best bowlers fail to realize the true impact of these godly touches. His ‘placement’ has forever been right on spot. He has the guts and nuts to hold the mantle all alone by his charismatic batting. So unbelievable is his array of strokes, that he doesn’t let a ball pass by untouched…no matter how wide is it. Though many of you poor souls are crying foul and are of the view that he should now retire and concentrate on the veterans’ cricket, I disagree. What else could be a more fitting tribute by me to this grand ol’pa of batting than ‘God doesn’t retire, then why should Grand ol’pa? The fan club of the Grand ol’pa (PAPAXI) on this occasion has decided to showcase their respect by means of a small song ( see Exhibit 1)


On being asked about giving any batting tips to the budding batsman, he smirks and replies with his typical tilt of head ‘ Batting karma kaam nahi hai baccho kaa…Tel nikal jaata hai acche accho ka.”

So dear all wannabe batsman….I know it’s a bit disappointing….But don’t lose hope, as we have with us the real batting maestro, Mr. Smokin’ Jones, the undisputed chief of the Chimney’s association to XLRI to share his insights on technically correct batting.

Smoking Jones speak …
“Batting is not a science. Nor is it an art. In its purest and most sincerest form, it’s a feeling that the heart lifts above and the heaven rejects not. True Batting is not just about hitting the ball. Batting emancipates from the soul, encapsulates the mind and exhibits through the being. Batting is not about hitting every bowler, rather it is about facing that one special bowler with whom you lock your spirits forever. Its not about the no. of balls you hit, its about the impact of just that one hit. Batting is not about scoring runs to win always, rather it is about holding on when there is nothing in you except the will that says ‘Hold on’ (Kipling). Batting is not about creating strokes with your bat, rather it is about letting loose the stirrings of your heart. For only those who shall play with their hearts shall enter the heavenly ‘Hall of Fame’. Amen !!!”


Exhibit 1 :
oyee...woh papalaxi song..bhul gaye kya ...
Song for the Grand ol’pa


[four four six four, four four six four, four four six four, Let's bat] 2

Hai bachelor (hai bachelor), Has lost some hair (lost some hair)…
Hai bachelor, Has lost some hair…
Spectacular! He’s a great batter (He’s a great batter, He’s a great batter)…

daddy ka bat tez hai, daddy ko balls ka craze hai…
daddy ka chashma thick black, daddy dikhta thoda aged hai (aged hai)…
XL ki Billiyan saath mein, Gale mein bahon ki maala…

[Par daddy can bat saala] 2
Han daddy bat kar sakta!

Paida daddy hua to kismaatein chamki…
Aur doosre batters ki strike rates thamki…

(hey array array) daddy karta hay hook pull cut…
(hey array array) dusre batters ko bolta hay dur hat…
(hey array array) daddy ke nazron me long leg hai…
(hey array array) daddy ke haath me whiskey ke peg hai…

[But daddy can bat saala] 2

Haan daddy bat kar sakta!
Papa kehte the bada kaam karega…
Nahi pataa tha daddy bus batting karega…

(hey array array) daddy kar raha hai MBA…
(hey array array) Manata hai summers jaise ho holiday…
(hey array array) daddy nazrein ladata hai…
(hey array array) Jahaan bhi jata hai, batting karna chahta hai…

[Cos daddy can bat saala] 2

Haan daddy bat kar sakta…
Yeah…daddy can bat saala…!!!

Courtesy : Papaxi (Bodhi tree has expressed its interest in using this song as the title song for their upcoming album)


PS1 : The above post has been written for the pure purpose of light hearted banter. Unfortunately, or fortunately this post will remain online for a very short period. Adequate measures have been taken to ensure that only the senior denizens of XLRI are able to appreciate this post. Kindly appreciate please. The selection of the batsman mentioned above is not at all personal, but reflects the collective views of the batch. Sorry for this ultra long post. Considering the batting talents, couldn’t avoid it.

PS2 : As always, there will be no comment moderation. Your views, counterviews, abuses(voluntary), appreciation(mandatory) are more than welcome.

PS3 : Despite severe public protests, self has decided to withhold publishing about GALAXI queen(s) till I get myself a big life insurance policy. Though, a post on the two foremost bowlers ‘Shaky Baby and Lolita Aunty’ and a post on ‘Chimnaxi’ are under consideration.

PS4 : Captain Sharma shall be officially launching ‘SAXI’ soon….Everyone’s welcome.

mallya ki to *&^(

Penned on 7th Apr., 08, @ 10,000 ft. above the ground

Yup…the travel bug has once again bitten me. I landed in Delhi today morning from Jamshedpur and am currently leaving for aamchi Mumbai by Air Deccan flight. Hmm…not too much travel considering my episodical travel indulgence pre MBA. But yaaa…after 9 months of nearly static existence, the traveler in me is once again gearing up for some exciting, traveling times ahead. Well, my project also being linked to improvement in shares of travel category doesn’t seem much of an coincidence by the way. The only difference being I have never been on a personal tour since the fall of the Roman Empire and my official business tours stretch across lands more vast than that of Chengiz Khan.

Yaa.. I will be traveling to Mumbai without any knowledge of where am I going to put up once I land there. My only contact in Mumbai is ‘out of range’ now. I really like uncertainty, rather I love it and being plunged into uncertainty currently in all aspects of my life gives me a new high. As uncertainty looms large on the academic front to personal front to career front to my own perceptions of the world outside and in this realm of uncertainty I need to make some of the more significant, if not the most significant decisions soon is going to test my capabilities of coping with ‘ambiguity absolute’ to the extreme.

By the way, am a bit depressed now…The f***in airlines wala took an extra 840 bugs from me because of the excessive weight (not mine re) of my luggage. I am hardly left with a few coins in my pocket and the bank accounts are soon going to be run out of credit. No liquidity crunch man, its credit crunch. I am sure I would not be in any position to repay my lenders ( read friends, friends of friends, relatives of friends of friends and so on). Poor them, they didn’t took a credit default swap while extending me an unsecured long term loan. I seriously feel for this poor fellows. Magar koi baat nahi….agali baar se kisi aise waise ko loan nahi denge ;)

By the way, there is a smart, sexy girl sitting right opposite to me and giving me glances. No, I just checked out in the mirror and there are no shoestrings hanging around my ears and no grease marks on my nose. I have also tightened my shirt buttons in the proper order. Yaa…that makes me consider the possibility of she asking me for a coffee….. Well, since I haven’t had anything since morning ( early morning) and am absolute broke, I would not mind having a pizza accompanied with that coffee. But hey…just hold on…!!! Looking at her ‘economy dress’ really makes me think whether she is high on some bollywood fashion or simple broke like me.. She again glances at me as she brushes her golden ( not golden …some damn new colour) hair aside. I run a check in my wallet. Haaa…haaaa….I really don’t have anything to loose.

Oh gosh…!!! WTF… the last call for boarding has been made. One of the first times when this airline hasn’t delayed its flight….For the first time, I am cursing this airlines for not delaying the flight…..apna pizza aur coffee to gaya naa….

As I stood up I feel the tragic emotions in her eyes, I really wish to go and give her my address and bank account no. so that she could transfer the amount for coffee and pizza to my account. But what a f**kin memory I have…I can’t even recollect my bank account no. Well, I think I should collect cash instead….yaa…that’s a great idea..I will rather ask her for giving me the cash. I start walking towards her, but a heavy voice disrupts my plans. K…..that idiot from school suddenly ‘tapaks’ down from nowhere. A second of conversation makes me realize that he is on the same flight….K forces me to run with him towards the boarding gate leaving my golden hair waali anarkaaali singing ‘ yooon naa jaao rooth ke, yeh dil abhi bharaa naahi’……

If flight delays would be more consistent, apna bhi koi setting ho jaata..sob ..sob …sob….

lagta hai vijay maal aaya ne Air Deccan' ko badal diya..... sob...sob...sob...

PS : Under production - Batting maestros @ XL. Thanks a ton for your loads of suggestions. PSS : The highly virtous Galaxy secy. will be announced soon. Keep checking this space....aur kabhi kabhi is blog ki 'advertisement' par bhi click kiya karo....support this blog

Back @ XLRI

After spending two hectic months in Mumbai, I have finally arrived at XL.
Feels so great to be back on campus..Life is good.. m lovin' it.

PS - Is it just a coincidence that every time I step out of Howrah Express on Jamshedpur station, that the floodgates of heaven open and the rain pours

A big mistake by Chetan Bhagat

After a hiatus of over 2 months, I am back ....Think I underwent a writer's block lately.

The reviews which self had got for Chetan Bhagat’s latest try at fiction were less than satisfactory. Yet, availability of the book with my roommate and me being f*king free made me take the risk of venturing through this pathetic piece which is nothing but a forceful attempt at amalgamating three of the most controversial and hot topics of contemporary India. Business, Cricket and Religion and its an absolute no brainer to be able to reckon that Religion is linked to Politics. Yaa, he also tried to bring in an unwarranted romantic angle, an unparalleled description of ‘sex scene’, barring which I would have finished the book in an hour and not two ;)

Believe its time that B-schoolers limit their extravaganza with literature to their soporific B school tales and not venture out to unknown realms of engaging fiction.

CB like his previous two novels succeeds in painting his characters alive without pursuing a descriptive mode. Yet the novel fails to grip the readers’ attention and lacks the creation of an engagement. The three central characters ( 3 friends) start a common business with a different personal motive. CB fails to capture the entrepreneur spirit of Gujarat by a mile, or rather may I say by a thousand miles. The characters in the novel decide to start their business due to lack of any other options, an absolutely false representation of the Gujju mindset. The fairy tale ‘bollywoodish’ touch on the cricket angle, combined with a weak presentation of the riots and quake makes the book a too shallow read even for fiction amateurs like me. The novel to me at a personal level was even a bigger put down as I am a Gujju and have faced the brunt of the earthquake and the Godhra riots in a much severe way in comparison the characters in the story.


A peep into some my experiences with those two devastating incidents of my life soon.

hmmm

RK buzzed me today after about 3 years and his first line was ' Hey dude..how many enemies you've made in XLRI ?'
Me - 'Lots', but still very less than I what I had planned for.
RK - ' Oh...thats bad ....really bad.
Me - I know
RK - From where the hell will you draw your energy if you are not having enough enemies.
Me - RK, I think I have changed, or atleast have lost the vigour
RK - You too Brutus...Taking the path of diplomacy...
Me - Maybe, I have lost that gut to fight out.
RK - What the hell makes you think so....
Me - Too many conformists Brutuses around..
RK - Did it ever matter to you...then why now
Me - hmm...i m in a dilemma
RK - What abt. the 'bloody seven'.
Me - hmm....
RK - hmmm....
Me - ( Changing the topic)..will be leaving soon for my summers to Delhi and then to Mumbai..
RK - Going to Gujarat
Me - Not till September
RK - Busy ?
Me - Damn damn busy.
RK - Planning to take that big shot
Me - Not sure...Too risky for me now
RK - What abt. Bloody seven
Me - hmmm.
RK - Do you wanna say something
Me - m sorry
RK - just wish you could turn back to our fight ..its 3 years now. If you wanna fight some day, or your goals have changed.
Me - The rebel is alive, but asleep
RK - Its 3 years now.
Me - hmm
RK - hmm.. ( after a long pause)
Me - Where are you
RK - in jamshedpur
Me - What....u in the same city ?
RK - Came to meet u.
Me - (after a long pause) hmmm...
RK - May be, some other time we will meet
Me - I wish so ..
RK - Really ???
Me - hmmm
.......and the conversation ended..
Indeed, words are poor conveyors, the heart knows itself

heeee....heeee

Some people can't open their mouth without reducing something from the sum of human knowledge. ( no prizes or prices for guessing that 'some people'..such a sitter of a puzzle). Its quite similar to Rakhi sawant not being able to act without showing some skin. Then who the hell looks in for acting.... and then who the hell looks in for knowledge. But a wise idiot sitting next to me says, ' Miss Rakhi Sawant is a vamp and by showing her skin will remain an vamp.' hmmmm.....well, the conclusion by the rationale of analogy isn't quite unexpected. Why r u giving that smirk ? Did I wrote something unparliamentary ?

PS : Recent Research suggested that 'cats' can get cancer if exposed to mobile phones. I am still thinking as to why would anybody call them up ?

aise hi BAK BAK

The sounds of "We will....We will ...Rock You' jeers from the late night party going on. As I have given up almost all the wordly pleasures including the temptation for tasting the heavenly fluids, I sit here in my room with my favorite lizard 'dhanno' as she goes around fulfilling her daily dietary requirement.

The overgrown beard, not just the result of the highly hectic schedule but the utter lack of self consciousness has in the recent days been the primary reason behind people applauding :) me with a variety of titles, the latest being of a suicide bomber. How interesting...But am yet to find a cause to die for. Hope I am able to discover the reason to live for very soon. And yaa...I just now murdered a mosquito which was trying to nest itself in my beard. Dare u mosquitoes try that again.... !!!

I have recently deleted my orkut account and got suddenly perplexed when I watched the no. of friends online on my Gtalk list appearing in just two digits. Need I mention that I had 645 friends in my orkut account. So, after being questioned by tons of sympathising mates about the reason for deleting the orkut account and the utter absence of same with me, made me really think for a moment ' why the hell did I really deleted my orkut account. May be I was tired of replying " I am fantastic' to all those once in a blue moon visitors with a question ' hey dude...wass up" or may be I just wanted to declutter. But I may start my orkut account again after some time, and this time it will be with a very specific purpose.

I recently also closed down my rediff account as I got sick of the umpteen mails ( 255 in the last one month) from consultants offering me a plethora of prospective jobs.

And yaa, after umpteen requests and even threats, I have decided that I'll finally equip myself with a cell after a month or so. Till then, mailte rahena....

kuch naa kaho...!!! kuch bhi naa kaho !!!!!

Me sitting on the the stairs in the college lawn having a cup of tea. A mob suddenly takes control of the lawn and the dunking party begins. Like Gabbarsingh, I asked a fellow comrade ' kab hai holi'.....22nd march ..came the reply ....i saw, i smirked, I sobed.

BHOOOOM.....I got shocked hearing this horrific sound and rushed out assuming emergency. No, it was just that somebody had turned on a 4 ft. speaker just outside my window. Thought to remind them that there was some human habitation in the vicinity of the speakers, but didn't expect brotherhood from them.

The drinking orgy has been given legal dominion. As loud music jeers, some tap on the dance floor, some 'somewhere else'....The long holy and watery nights seem to transcend boundaries....boundaries which need to be sacrosanct.. boundaries that need to be maintained....boundaries that need to be respected...But the boundaries is getting a bit too hazy here...seems it is mutual

someone asked me whether i care to perform on the seniors nite....somehow controlled my literarcy richness from flowing out.

Few days back the dramatics society had a play based on Godhra riots.....clenched my fists when a mob of shamelessly inhumane idiots said ' Wow...What a nice play...really enjoyed it...? Why didn't you come ?'

I really wonder at times, whether I am pursuing a PG course

Well, Few things never change. Few things we never intend to change. We call it "XL Culture'....

PS - hope i safe from chickenpox....

Dreams are nobody's monopoly

About 6 years back while doing TP on the last bench in a Production Lab, RT asked me ' If you are assured that you wouldn't fail, what would you do '...I didn't have any answer than..Just told RT that I'll buy lottery tickets. RT, raising his eyebrows said the most valued lines ' Just do it' whatever you wanna do and don't give a damn whether you'll fail or not.... Not to mention, I got so impressed by his gyaan that I walked out of the lab. and yaa I didn't fail in Production... Btw there were rumours, that JJ who was also overhearing this got inspired by RT's gyaan and proposed some 'maal' from the junior batch that day, though I am unsure of his success :)

Infact, most of the things we pursue just don't matter. And at times, we don't have the guts to pursue what matters most to us. The feeling of failure overwhelms many a brave hearts. That courage to dream, and dream big, and pursue it wholeheartedly seems to be a rare commodity.

Do you dare to dream ?

May be, I now have found a dream to pursue, an answer to RT's question...and I hope even JJ has..

PS - think i'll be able to complete that poem now.

bakar

My encounter with Operations Research was a disaster. Getting more than 10 % in this test would be nothing short of miracle for me. Considering that Operations Research was my elective during my engineering days ( yaa...those good old old days in 2002) it was even more disturbing, but not that shocking, as I am now a bit habituated to such shocks.

Its election time at XL. But the vigour, the passion is missing from the process and some of the candidates. It just seems so banal, so hackneyed relative to the engineering college elections. No lobbying, no hardliners, no kidnappings, no threats, no posters, no campaign, no clear strong stands taken ..., just basketsful of unwarranted bullshit diplomacy. Its just ' We will look into the matter' :)...'If required, we will do it'..' XL is one of the best B-schools'...holy damn, what a new finding. 'XLRI brand should be promoted'...gosh...that seems to be conclusion of some thorough research.....'Infrastructure will be improved'....yup, thats the problem with India too... As a friend aptly said ' yeh sabko pata hai, bandar paisa lene se pahele kitna nachta hai, aur paisa lene ke baad kitna nachta hai'

But I am not cribbing. Its 'XL tradition'. It feels so good passing on some useless practices and customs in the name of 'tradition'...

I watched 'Mithunda's Gunda' few days back..no..cudn't watch the complete movie...And if you think that you have watched a 'sada hua movie', you are utterly wrong, if you haven't watched this movie....laagi sart ?

PS - and why the hell am i getting this umpteen friend requests from random ppl. on orkut nowadays....yeh kuch friendship month chal raha hai kyaa...

Shapeless musings V

A string of unsignificant events unfold now and then, but somehow I ain't able to resist the temptation of indulging in it. There aren't really many things which indeed matter to me. I ain't able to really cherish those sudden spurts of joy which emerged suddenly from nowhere. Every fleeting moment makes me evaluate myself on an uncompromising matrix. I know, I lag behind. Yet those events, no matter how insignificant they may be, unravel the core enthusiast in me. I try to look deep in my reflection in that almost stained mirror. Even in that darkness, I could feel the undercurrents shaping up in the form of unmet desires, but I continue to rejoice those moments of unfluttering attitude. That sense of urgency which had been UPS's hallmark has deserted me. That knack of turning things around every time when the going gets tough, rather tougher has been on the backfoot ever since I landed here. That will to fight, and fight hard, the ever burning fire to compete all out has seems to have gather some rust. I know that this is not at all the place to fight or compete. Even I mock the calibre of the opposition. What left unsaid, better be unsaid. But then maybe I need to prove myself, not to anyone else, but at least to me.

Strategy - my take on Porter II

Porter 5 forces model for analysis of 'industry', as I mentioned in the previous post has been widely acclaimed and acknowledged, though there are some gaps which make the model less than good for all purposes of application.

Firstly, Porter fails to mention what constitutes an industry. This definition of industry can however can be adopted quite well from the concept of 'strategic groups'.

Secondly, as Porter mentions about the threat of substitutes, he fails to objectively provide any framework for assessing the 'extent of substitution' to be considered. Also, though Porter gets into depth of determining importance to be assigned to substitutes based on price-performance levels, he fails to capture the dynamicity of 'substitute products' i.e. a distant substitute of today can be a more direct threat in the future and vica versa.

Thirdly, entire Porter's model fails to consider the 5 forces from a constantly changing level. A 'scenario planning' tool used by Royal Dutch Shell is the only currently widely accepted tool for aid in developing strategies based on future possible scenarios.

Fourthly, Porter's model tends to serve only at the 'firm' level ( to be more precise..for individual product / specific product business unit) but is not replicable at the Corporate level. This limits its use for most of the companies in today's world as they are in more than products.

Last but not the least, though Porter's 5 forces model takes encapsulates 'substitutes', on prima facie atleast, there is no mention of 'alternatives' which pose a significant big threat compared to substitutes. An 'alternate' as I define, is an outright change/ vanishing of a particular need of the consumer, either voluntary or not. A complete ban by the government on the tobacco products / liquor products would be a case on involuntary alternative of 'no tobacco/ liquor'. Also, the evolution of alternates creates markets for new and innovative products.

PS - I know its kind of boring to have 3 posts on the subject of strategy...no more strategy now...porter ki kasaam

Strategy - my take on Porter

Porter with his 5 forces model made a lasting impact on the approach towards strategy formulation. His earlier writing regarding IO approach, competitive strategy and competitive advantage have also been well accepted across the academia and industry for quite many years now.

However, there is a significant extent of eclectism among the various theories propounded by Michael Porter, though the same can be said to be consistent with balanced pluralism in terms of drawing from basic economics.

Porter chooses to conceptualize the 'firm' in different ways depending on the actual purpose of its utilization. He conceptualizes 'firm' in the context of 'Production function' when trying to grapple with industry level phenomenon. He uses it as a 'Value chain' when trying to grapple with firm specific sources of competitive advantage and as a repository of knowledge and 'innovating entity while constructing his diamond framework.

Unfortunately, though the integration remains on the levels of loose framework and an absence of any attempt whether his above stated different theories are compatible at deeper levels.

Porter also fails to provide any agruments that the basic IO is consistent with industry evaluation nor does he draw on any basic research.

The underlying resource endowments that allows firms to carry out their strategic plans are not seriously analyzed, and an analysis of how and why the specific resource endowment should be there is missing from Porter writings.

Though there aren't as well accepted models in the field of strategy as that of Porter's, focussing only on what I may take the liberty to call ' a figment of Porter's imagination' underlines the need for a more balanced and integrated approach to the subject and practice of strategy.

someone listening....????

PS - Strategy is not an art. Neither is it a pure science. They say its an assortmenet of different streams, but I differ. It is still a concept, a figment of one's imagination. And accepting someone's imagination ( read Porter's) indicates lack of imagination on the part of strategist.

Rest ALL is strategy

There aren't many things in this world which have the potential to piss me off. But our class sessions in the strategy course are an exception. I enter the class with a clear perspective and many specific questions. I come out with a more confused outlook and unanswered questions. I wonder how can one be so flawed in data, eccentric in reasoning, untouched by reality, erroneous in approach yet conventional in ideas. I wonder how can one be so superficial in understanding the basics of some well debated articles, yet take the articles on its face value and not objectively evaluate it. I wonder how one can speak with so damn confidence though his statements are based on nothing but intuitiveness rather than following a particular approach, and the utter convictions shown during defending one's intuition have been rather exemplary, though unwarranted.

Management strategies haven't been drawn from models. The models have been based on successful strategies. However, till date academia has used lag indicators to assess the successful strategy. i.e. Once a strategy has resulted into success ( read success in financial performance), then its is ATTRIBUTED to a no. of factors such as company's strategy, leadership, work culture and other crap. But our artful learned writers intentionally and at times unintentionally, tend to write as if this factors have contributed to success ( in terms of financial performance). This HALO EFFECT ( dekha....i know OB, though I missed the top grade by a fraction of a mark) of judging whether a strategy and other factors were good or bad from the financial performance has created much disservice to the field of management. Cisco for example had heaps of praises about its work culture and strategy in the late nineties when its financial performance was good.. great leadership, great work culture, truly innovative, fantastic marketing strategy.. Come 2001..the financial performance dips ...The people who earlier defined its leadership as charismatic termed it arrogant, the work culture which was praised as innovation driven suddenly became 'uncontrolled chaos'..and so on, though nothing had really changed in Cisco's way of functioning. Analysts and theorists' ability to fit examples to their own intutive theories, which have been the result of their figment of imagination and skewed research, deserves a salute. Tata Motors was criticised in 2000 when it registered huge losses , but suddenly became the epitome of best practices for many business writers in 2004 when its financials improve. The so called learned writers are supposed to define what contributes to a successful strategy, but they in hindsight or at times intentionally rather evaluate the factors as 'good / bad' or 'successful/not successful' by attributing financial success to them.

Also, many a times people try to classify their strategy or rather force fit their strategy into a particular model to articulate it better. 40 years back some great genius said ' The only two ways an organization gains competitive advantage is either cost leadership or differentiation leadership. Over the next f*king 40 years, people came out a myriad of other ways of establishing sustainable competitive advantage, say penetrating distribution channels, focussing on a narrow group, innovative marketing, counter culture trends, quality focussed...but some idiots try to force fit all this strategies under the same headings of 'cost leadership' and 'differentiation leadership'....Seems as if the wave of making 'complex' things 'simple' has been overstretched too far.

And we bunch of idiots derive our understanding from such super idiotic stuff.....

Let clear thinking prevail. Amen !!

PS : That you are right and those Porter & party are wrong is not too strong an assumption to make, provided you first fully understand what Porter & party really meant ....

PSS : The only thing that matters is 'money today' and 'more money' tomorrow. 'Rest ALL' is strategy - the only thing I wrote in my diary in the last strategy class.

PSSS : oops...cudn't bring out all my frustation in French....( m yet to learn any French abuses..faculty ne sikhaya hi nahi inspite of innumerable requests)...but the next post for sure gonna be in French.....sacchi...

merci

An encounter with JJ

I didn't wanted to pursue the French course, for which self had registered at what I consider the 'dumbest moment of my life'. So, here's the conversation between me and the dean's secy (JJ) as I try to escape from this self invited torture of french classes.

JJ : Why didn't you attend the 'French' classes yesterday ?
Me: I had just registered for the course. But I hadn't paid the fees, so I thought my registration would be cancelled.
JJ : But I hadn't send any notice that your registration was cancelled
Me : But I also didn't receive any communication that my registration wasn't cancelled inspite of not paying the fees.
JJ : Why didn't you pay the fees in the first place ?
Me : I didn't have any cheques for paying the fees. I lused to live on cash.
JJ : okie....you may submit the cheque now to the accounts department. Hope you are having the cheque now.
Me : Sure madam, I do have a cheque now.. But I told you naa, I used to live on cash. So, I don't have any cash in hand now and no balance in the bank too.. How about paying the fees as soon as I get my first salary ( thats more than one year from now )
JJ : okie...i got it now....you may start attending the lectures... don't worry about the fees, but please be regular in your 'french' classes. Attendance is compulsory for it.

So, poor me is now forced to attend 3 hours of french classes, apart from my regular 6 hours of main course everyday.

Moral of the story : Never mess with a sec'y.... they are more smarter than you think.



and yes, my next post is going to be in french....vrai, je parle francais. bon jour
PS : I paid the fees today for the French course

Too much

They say I crib too much.
They say I talk too much.
They say I read too much.
They say I sleep too much.
They say I smoke too much.
They say I fight too much.
They say I write too much.

I say 'F.O...Its too much.'

title zaruri hai kyaa

The grind begins tomorrow. With 4 lectures per day and the pleothera of case studies I am soon going to be in 'eternally busy - dare u disturb' mode. I spend today's evening roaming about in sakchi and trying to catch a glimpse of the human civilization which exists beyond XL. My life at XL has been confined to my room for sleeping, the lecture hall ( yaa...for sound sleep), Dadu's for my daily dietary requirement and that corner room in the library wherein I spend long hours in the maze created by over 55000 books and umpteen other journals. I meet the same ppl., cribbing all the time, those fake laughs over inconsequential tidbits, those same mediocre discussions, those forceful smiles and smirks, those irrelevant pressues which we build on ourselves, those undeterminate urgency for assignments, those last moment rushes of adrenalin, those clumsy parties and all those unwarranted heaps of diplomacy. But somehow, I have started enjoying it. Though my quench for intellect has been less than satisfied, I have developed a sort of liking for this surrogate life. I continue to be in a flux regarding my beliefs on the relevance of this endeavour at XL.

Hope I'll soon cut through the clutter and clear thinking will prevail. Amen !!!

PS - I somehow exercised extreme control in the Strategy class yesterday when the faculty again raised the question ' What is strategy ?' No, I wasn't going to say it is bullshit..have already said it once...I have refined my answer to be more politically correct. It is 'Strategy is a concept. It is a figment of one's imagination.'

Shapeless Musings IV

I fell asleep ..again...Some fears that had been submerged within my ultra busy schedule returned again to torment me. Some haunting memories flashed through my mind as I woke up in a state of utter disarray. I clenched the shawl as hard as I could with my hands, but felt self to weak to cling on to it. I looked around and seeing myself in the same so familiar so known room breathed a sigh of relief as my heart sank into my stomach. I just felt like that nearby tainted bottle of water whom nobody in the first look, can make out whether its full or empty. I tried to reach out for the bottle, but it was too far for me to reach. I looked up at the ceiling. No, it wasn't falling down. My dear fan, now giving me a perplexed look had a thousand questions, but I just didn't have any answer. I looked at my laptop screen and the familiar sight of a few dozen offline messages did lend the 'much required now' routinous familiarity. I skimmed through non pertinent 'sms's on my cell but all urgency seem irrelevant to me. The dark sky artfully lended a deceptive hue to camouflage the early morning hours. I tried to cry out loud, but cudn't. I closed my eyes as hard as I can, but the haunting scenes were still gushing afresh. The chilling air made a way through my now clenched fists. I craved for warmth and grasped the shawl with all my strength. I felt the cold air brushing my toes, but couldn't help. The cringing sound of the door resonated in my ears, as it fought with the cold, trying to protect me. I kicked with all my life to get up, but in vain. Again I tried to cry, but may be the tears were freezed within. I went to sleep ...again...

I am waiting to wake up.. And they say...I need to wake up soon...maybe sooner.

Its three years now...and yaa..I have woken up now..ready to fight that cold without a speck of fear head on....Let the trumpets blow.

From 'Shapeless musings' ...written by self on 20th Jan., 05

Quote of the day

'Strategy is bullshit' - my first words in the first strategy lecture.. Hope they are not the last words in the last lecture.

Flush it.

My new year resolutions

With this New Year begins a new term at XLRI. The last term was an absolute nightmare. With the summer internship process, wherein I had the worst time of my life…( haan bhai haaan, I know …abhi aage bahut kuch aanewala hai), and made me even curse myself on the decision to join the best private B school of the country for a moment and doubt the fairness and genuineness ( I still do.. ) of the entire process, to the absolute crap work we bunch of idiots did during our marketing project. This marketing project when combined with the handicraft skills I developed during the more crappier and absolutely shit MAXI fair made me nominate self for the award of stupid of the year, but as always I lost. This year I lost hands down to the Pakistani media who garlanded late Benazir Bhutto as the role model of democratic ideals even after she mentioned in her will that she wanted her son ‘Bilawal’ ( nice name) to be heading her political party. Maybe, in Pakistan the party president isn’t elected, its done by the will of Party President. (In India, it’s not much different either). Last year I lost to CITU when it tried to bring the IT sector employees under its gamut. Unfortunately, the CPM Politburo didn't give much of a fight except during the mindless random ramblings on every god damn important issue for the country. All communists aren’t fools, but how come all fools are communists ???

I’ve also made few resolutions for the new year and for the new term such as to regularly get notes of my nice, loving, charming, adorable, beautiful, sexy, generous, intelligent, genius friends photocopied time to time. I am also going to keep motivating all my group mates in all projects to put in their best efforts towards doing a nice project ( hey….c…now I need to develop my f*king dipolomatic skills too.....). I have also decided that I will be definitely attending more than 75 % of the morning 8 30 lectures this term. ... .kuch jyada ho gaya naa...okie ..lets make it 60 %. I’ve also decided that I will be reducing my avg. daily expenditure at the Dadu’s by 25 %. I have already scored many a double centuries in the last term. And yaa, I am surely gonna reduce on my OMAXI dues (sacchhi…. okiee….maybe some flexibility permitted in this resolution). I am surely going to find sometime to entertain myself ( that doesn’t mean I find time to entertain others…hey....u ....c'mon not that way...u pervert) and treat myself to some bollywood flicks.. m yet to catch on OSO & Tarre zameen par…haan bhai, I m still damn busy ( pyaar aur padhai ke siwa bhi hazaar kaam hai zindagi mein). I will also be pursuing my interests in photography soon…so all you XL ki billiya…oops..I mean kudiyaan..get ready to get clicked. I also intend to switch from TOI to HT after pounding my head on the nearby wall while reading TOI as the standard of English therein has been off late been even worse than that on my blog. I wondered how a tennis player got injured on her ‘upper leg’…gosh…again... u're indeed a pervert!!! I never knew about this anatomically wonderful part which tennis players possess. The quality of language has been so abysmally low in TOI in recent times that even American friends can now find errors in it. I intend to further cut down on my chatting time. I’ve already stopped chatting on Gtalk except for the very special/ emergency purposes or special persons. With over 800 dear friends in my list therein and about 150-200 ready anytime to discuss with me wide ranging issues from the economic reforms in the animal husbandry of Rwanda to the impact of the subprime crisis in US on the tourism industry in Costa De Rica and even the unaddressed areas in the governmental program on rejuvenating the vanishing Bolivian dance styles to the effect of rise in coastal temperatures on the reproductive cycles of the sea turtles to the effect of excess SOx in flue gases on the reheater tubes in supercritical boiler to the changes in ADB funding guidelines for infrastructure projects, I find myself at little bit pressed for time ( yaa..just a little bit..you moron) for chatting with you. Also, I am gonna continue with the dubious distinction of being the only moron on campus who doesn’t use a cell phone.

This term I am having ‘Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility’ as a subject. What crap…Turbulent times ahead in the lecture hall.

Hope you accomplish all your new year resolutions. Amen !

PS : I somehow missed to register myself for Term II. But will surely get self register for term III.