Simmering Summer…

It’s been less than a week since I moved from the cool climes of Bangalore to hot, sweltering Jamshedpur. Yes, the weather is killing me. And I do miss the lilt in the Hindi accent of the people there, the numerous book shops, the awesome eateries, the brilliantly pleasant weather, and most of all – my erstwhile employers, Microsoft.

 

However, it has been an exciting time since I returned to campus. There’s a whole new crowd of new juniors, so we guys can enjoy being the ‘exalted’ seniors, who are fountainheads of knowledge. (hee hee)

 

Many facets on campus have undergone a facelift, and it’s nice to see freshly painted buildings, neatly trimmed lawns, better air-conditioning in classes, and lots of other changes (though the mess food is as bad as ever).

 

The best part is the junior ‘interaction’. There are 240 of them, and there’s just me with my limited processing power. How in the name of God shall I remember 240 names? And it can be doubly tough when almost all of the others know your name.

 

Anyhow, this term promises to be a mix of fun and learning, a mix of sweat and tears, and victories won and battles lost. (I’m just hoping that the wins exceed the losses.) Since we get to choose our own subjects this term, I’ve picked up some that I think I am interested in. They promise to be quite a mouthful.

 

In addition, the personal startup venture is still hanging fire, but hopefully, will take off by the end of the month. Once that happens, life should be suitably busier. Also, there are other responsibilities on campus that one needs to take care of, and they assure me of their time demands as well. :|

 

Overall, the summer seems to be a super-busy time but I am guessing that it will be satisfying and rewarding too.

 

Amen!

 

P.S. Sorry for the drabness of this post. And thanks for reading it. :)

Testimonial time

At the end of their two years at XLRI, as our seniors leave, to ply their respective trades, we wish them luck and happiness... here's the testimonial I wrote for my committee seniors, for publication in the yearbook...

I wonder… how does one compress a year of fun, learning, hours/days spent in work, minutes of madness, and what not, into one tiny, miniscule page? Thoughts gather in my mind, like leaves in an autumn wind, as I set out to complete this task of writing a note about you folks.

Where shall we begin? When we juniors were a bunch of greenhorns appearing for interviews for the committee? Or shall we jump forward to the post-selection phase, when we were invited to a ‘formal’ dinner with two senior profs from some American university? Of course, decked in our best formals, we reached The Regent, only to find out that our serious, no-nonsense secy, Vaibhav, had master-minded a prank!

We could also describe all those late night meetings, where we were encouraged to give voice to all our ideas, which threatened to gush forth and cause a deluge! But thankfully, Shradha, the voice of pragmatism, always detected a potential pitfall or challenge, allowing us to make things better.

Since Ankit decided to make use of the committee’s expertise and knowledge, to go abroad for a term, we didn’t get to know him too much, except for becoming aware of his brand name – Ghissu J and the fact that he, even when abroad, did his best to help us out.

Ambira, the consultant, who packs a powerful, intelligent brain, behind her beauty, was always at hand to bail us out of tough situations with a smile, and some nice ideas. And Arpan, the silent worker, always spot-on with work, and always game for some fun helped us integrate well into the team, and keep going!

You know, the next year will be tough for us. We’ll have some really large shoes to fill, and it’s a scary thought for us. Without Vaibhav’s focus and direction, and without the rest of you to guide us, we might feel a little lost, on occasion. But then, kudos to you, for setting such an awesome example, that we must live up to.

Of course, we wish we had more of a chance to know you better, work with you, and spend some more fun-filled moments too. We’ll miss you folks, but then, we’ll have with us many memories of the happy times we spent, and hope you do the same.

For all of you, we have nothing but good wishes and smiles, as you embark on your respective journeys through life.

Forrest Gump said, "I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental - like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both." I can’t help but agree with him, as I write this note.

So, till the time, another such breeze blows us back into each other’s lives, we wish you farewell. Godspeed, seniors!