A vent of emotions.........

The business communication class on 8/9/10 @ IIM Shillong witnessed some high adrenalin scenes .The topic of competition vs self satisfaction was broached by a dear friend which took the entire class into a mode of frenzy.Issues of stereotypical grooming,monotonous upbringing were brought up.The very fact that people do not explore the multitude of options that life offers leads to dejection and withdrawal at a later stage.We all have blinkers attached to our temples that make us see only in one direction,thus narrowing our aim to petty materialistic needs.People claimed that parents and relatives have a significant contribution in molding us into machines who are deprived from exploring creative facets of their personality.I beg to differ here.Parents hold the most important places  in our lives and the reason for their sermons is pure concern.Probably the fault lies in our communication and conviction.We can say "I am not really affected if I score low,I am in for knowledge" but how many of us actually mean it.How many of us can stand up for ourselves and choose the unconventional path thus pursuing it with determination.These are questions we need to ask ourselves.Mahatma Gandhi said "The greatest court of law in this world is Man's own conscience".So any moral dilemma can be best resolved through self introspection.I am confident that if every individual does contemplate on this issues of life,our country would rise to the zenith of glory with its bevy of enlightened human beings.

Kurukshetra

What is life if full of care,we have no time to stand and stare.The Kurukshetra or inter wing cricket tournament that took place in the old boys hostel of IIM Shillong from 24/8/10 to 29/8/10 was a welcome break from the grueling  schedule that has been followed so far.The matches took place in the open lobby of C wing of the hostel.Rules had been suitably modified.to prevent boisterous shots that could lead to any unwanted damage.High pitched hooting,sledging and a lot of energy filled the atmosphere every day when the teams battled it out.Inspired by the electrifying atmosphere created by the mens team the ladies also had a very close encounter that enthralled the audience.The matches were charecterized by 4 innings two per team and generally lasted for an hour.Some beautiful bowling actions and master strokes made all the contests memorable.We had active participation from almost the entire Ist year either in the form of players,audience,photographers or simply publicity although within the batch.Hoping for more such events in future so that life at IIM Shillong turns out to be worthwhile.

MY FIRST DAY @IIMS.

Achieving success is difficult ,but living up to the achievement is more challenging. This realisation came to me when I dug into the profile of the PGP2010 batch of IIM Shillong after getting the admission confirmation .There were branch toppers, trained singers, people having accomplishments in national level sporting events and of course the most formidable lot, people with substantial work experience from reputed firms across the country. At that point it was clear to me that life from now on wouldn’t be a smooth sail. Let us fast forward to the D day.

After a four hour ride from Guwahati through the mist and curves of the comely hills ,I finally reached Shillong on the first of july. After some shopping at police bazaar ,I reached the IIM campus late in the evening. My first encounter was with a group of seniors playing basketball . I got out of the car and thought of approaching them to get the directions to the hostel. On second thoughts , I went up to the security guard at the gate and found the way to old boys hostel. The explanation to this behaviour still evades me,may be I wasn't out of my shell yet. As ,I reached hostel I met Manav Jain, the hostel committee member in charge of room allocation. As I entered the hostel, the first room that I saw was B-9 which was locked. "Oh I will get another room ",I thought. I picked up my slip and B-9 it was. Room allocation rules were fixed and nothing could be done ,but problems weren’t over for me. My prospective roommate wasn’t available. Disappointed I went back for dinner with my father. We had delicious Chinese food at a posh restaurant named La Gallerie located in the heart of the city.I was greedily devoured chicken hakka noodles putting the tiredness of the day on a back burner.

Though I couldn’t stop myself from sharing the happenings of the night of first july, my first day at IIM Shillong actually began on the 2^nd of july which was the day of registration. The ceremonies started of with an inspiring speech by the director of the institute. Beginning ,with the importance and hopes attached to this new IIM situated in this beautiful part of the country he urged us to live up to the expectations of the institute. Quite lucidly he briefed us about the core principles around which IIM Shillong hopes to build itself. He specifically highlighted certain points where this institute differentiates itself from the older established IIMs. His encouraging words of growth and progress were meant to ignite in us the zeal to work towards building a professionally enriching caree. The chairman of PGP carried the discussion on a more serious note stressing on the importance of professional conduct and an inquisitive bent of mind. Learning transcends beyond the pages of books and confines of classroom. A good manager not only learns to do business but also to be upfront and proactive. With all this inspiring words our spirits were elevated. After brief introductions of all staff members we started off with our registration process which occupied most of the day. Bored and tired of waiting since my turn hadn’t come I along with a friend set out to explore the campus. We were impressed by the well maintained campus and lush green view all around.To top it the sight of clouds hanging over the mountains was breath taking. Ohh , pardon my forgetfulness, but I must mention that by this time I had met my room mate and shifted all my luggage into my new room. After the registration process I interacted with many seniors. A few interesting things that I remember include “learn from peers”, ”numbers will be your lifeline”, ”be professional, you aren’t a student” and “MBA is about 3Gs “.Even papa after interacting with some of the faculty members reiterated the rigors of MBA. That night we had a dinner party for the new participants and their parents. It was an awesome evening, where young men and women dressed in their prim business suits ,putting up their most decorous manner got a chance to share their experiences. After a fulfilling dinner party and loads of Kodak moments ,it was time for father to leave . There were a few other hugs and farewells.

That was a long night on my first day. After such a eventful day we were again called by seniors at night for an informal interaction. However the seniors made sure that the introductions were more a exploration of our personality than our professional competencies. During this session I realised how diverse my batch was ,in terms of student background. After a two hour long rendezvous with seniors that unravelled some very fascinating incidents in senior batches we retired dead tired to our hostels. As our eye lids drooped I am sure each of my fellow participants would be contemplating “will such a night ever come again at IIM shillong”.

Raavan -All 10 heads hung in shame

I would begin by apologising to Mani sir ,because I tried very hard but failed to appreciate the movie.I had not expected this from Maniratnam who has blockbusters like Roja,Bombay,Yuva and Guru to his credit.Raavan fails to bring about any freshness to movie making .The story is good but presentation is bland .A lot of effort has been put in to make each character connect to the plot which fails to bear fruit.There has been some painstaking shots amidst the woods but the whole flow seems to be missing.

The movie seems quite predictable from the start and at no point does the audience feel elated as having seen something unexpected. Govinda has done a good job trying to depict Hanuman from the original Ramayan,but the whole purpose of this depiction seems lost. As usual

AR Rehman has done a tremendous job with his scores. Junior B fails to impress the with his occasional hysteric utterances and contortions whose very purpose of inspiring a sense of fear among the onlookers stands defeated.Tough cop Dev (read Vikram) and henchman siddharth (read ravikishen) have done justice to their roles but Ash' seems inconspicuous.Seems Mani sir served dal roti to his biriyani hungry audience.

Better luck next time sir.