The last day of this test match

Well.. so here I am.. looking at the end of an enjoyable two years (yes 2 - not 1. I didn't miss any opportunity to enjoy my first year)

There are a few in this batch for whom the 2 years at IIMA have led to actually a step down in their career. However, for me, my first experience of staying at in a hostel has changed me a lot.

On the personal front, I've gained a lot.. a hell of a lot. In terms of functional knowledge in various domains - again yes. In a sense, have learnt how to learn new things. Along the way, I've started looking at things differently.. have lost some of my credulousness.

But I think the biggest gain has been a circle of friends on whom I can count on.
Its not without reason that its said that the journey is more important than the destination.

No need to act

Stereotypes for actors can be good as well as bad- many have used it as the ladder to success, while others have tried to fight it.

After I saw the movie "Wake Up Sid", was wondering whether typecasting has some basis in the actor's persona. This led me to the thought that are there roles for which actors don't need to act; for which their entire life has been "research into the character"/"preparation".

Some examples that came to my mind:

1) Sanjay Dutt as a don

Its almost like, the rest of his life is the real role he's playing. Vaastav looks almost like a documentary more than a film - "Pachaas tola!!", "Trigger dabaneka.. aur khel khallas!!"

The credits should have read: "Sanjay Dutt ............... as himself"

2) Ranbir Kapoor as a spoilt rich kid

The only Ranbir Kapoor movie I've liked is 'Wake up Sid'. Again, most scenes look like "A day in the life of..."

3) Fardeen Khan as the dumb sidekick

After 'No Entry', 'All the best' and all his movies in between, don't think anything more needs to be said.

On the other hand, some goodl movies by otherwise typecast actors:

1) Main, Meri Patni aur Woh - Rajpal Yadav [an exceptional movie, one of my favourites]

2) Jaan-e-mann (yes, the 2006 one)- Akshay Kumar not in a khiladi/priyadarshan-comedy role

An unusable facebook status message

As facebook status messages go, there's an awesome one from the matrix - where Cypher's talking to Neo and tells him:

"I know what you're thinking... Why o why didn't I take the blue pill"

The blue pill referred to is one of the two pills - red and blue - that Morpheus offers: a choice between reality (how deep the rabbit hole goes) and the illusion that is the matrix.

And of course, if one were to put up "Why o why didn't I take the blue pill" with this in mind, there will always be at least one smartass..

Genkkai

Genkkai is 'limit' in Japanese.. I guess its better to remember this word in as many languages as possible..

And as every character in an anime realises at some point (esp. in Naruto), I too realised I had reached my limit on Wednesday. Limit in the sense, the amount I can push my body, the amount of sleep deprivation I can handle.

Sunday night - slept 2 hrs. Reason for staying awake: Stopped asking myself these questions in 2nd year.

Monday night - 2.5 hrs. Reason for staying awake: Submission for the next days class was started at 1:30 a.m.

Tuesday night - was looking forward to a good nights sleep, but some 4-5 idiots who wanted to go home for diwali but didn't have the guts to bunk ONE lecture of Ms. Kaul's Consumer Behaviour course, had lectures and hence the presentation preponed (for any non-Indian: [what are the odds?] it means changing the time of an activity before its scheduled slot. Kind of the opposite of post-pone). Hence slept for 2 hrs again.

On wednesday morning, am called on to present in class. Presentation is in my trusty flash drive as usual. Go to the desktop. The projector is on, and I haven't bothered to use an image 'freeze' or anything.

First, the drive doesn't open from the 'what-do-you-want-to-do-with-this-drive' dialog.

Step 1: Begin my search for 'My Computer'. Too dazed. Cant find it.

Ok.

Step 2: Open My Documents (Why?)

Step 3: Go back to desktop.

Searching.

Prompt: Use Windows-E (thank god for engineers)

Step 4: Finally! My computer. Open flashdrive.

Step 5: Everything else is as it should be. Except that my presentation is not there. I didn't copy it.

Step 6: Look like an idiot (Don't need to try too hard for this. It comes naturally)

Step 7: Ask your friend to make his presentation

Step 8: Go back to room and try to sleep, but since you screwed with your sleep cycle, its going to get back at you isn't it

Step 9: Pass out from 5 to 10 p.m.

Repeat.

(inspired from my signature in my dbab id: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1015)

Faccha Summers

Faccha summers should take place in a little over a month. Surprisingly, one faccha asked me how I went about preparing for summers, since we had somewhat similar profiles - this after all the mistakes I've made after coming here (or was it because of that? didn't ask..)

Anyways, placements at any B-school are hectic to say the least. Going through the placement process at an IIM can be an ordeal, especially if you aren't going to be making the IIT-IIM combo, or don't have a truckload of academic achievements and extra-currics. If someday, I come back as a recruiter, and am sitting on the other side of the table, I'd cut the interviewee some slack - especially if its the fourth day of placements or later - cause I know that the last 4 days would have been some of the most trying days of his life.

All the time in the world

Was heading out from Ahmedabad a week ago.. the time was 19:37, and the train was scheduled to depart at 19:45..

A little over a year ago, I would have been scrambling to get to my seat; but after 1 year of sending assignments due at midnight at 23:57, WAC runs and what not... 8 minutes seems like an eternity

What a match!

KKR makes 15 in the super over, which I thought effectively sealed the deal.

But Yusuf Pathan.. WOW! 6264, under such pressure. Respect.

And cant wait to hear what will fakeiplplayer have to say about this.. hope the blog doesn't die.