Setec Astronomy

Hello world. And hello fullhyd. 

This blog has been dead for god-knows-how-long but am here to resurrect it. Me thinks the era of Payne ranting, raving and writing about movies is mostly over. The new Payne will talk and write about a whole new host of topics. Some post will involve hitherto unspoken things like marketing! While most will lie in the comfortable space of nothingness.  

Today, we shall talk about something interesting. It's called the Mitsubishi Cedia Sports Great Driving Challenge. Ok, I know that's a whole mouthful of big syllabled words, but I promise you it is way more simple than it sounds. Lets call it TGDC from now on. 

The concept: A couple (boy and girl wonly, no Sec 377 here) has to team up to drive across India covering 3000kms in 12 days; while they are it, they have to capture everything and post it online - blogs, photologues, photos, video (vlogs!), tweets, twitgoos...you name it!  

Selection is through voting online and by the quality of one's testimonials, blogs and photos.  

Why this is important: Because, in my opinion, this is the one reality contest that is completely linked with the way we live our lives today. Today, our lives are perpetually online; we catch up with friends by scrapping them or "posting on their wall", we celebrate birthdays by leaving tons of wishes and virtual gifts on social networking sites, we stand up in unison defending causes or fighting against some by joining fan clubs and petitioning online, we broadcast our lives 140 characters at a time on twitter, we rant/rave/cry/jump-in-joy/ponder/review everything and anything on our blogs, we build communities and earn reputation among these communities over time.... 

This contest brings all this together. The votes are not restricted to mass-mailers and spamming but by using Social Media effectively. Facebook, Orkut, Blogger, twitter and Flickr are our new SET Max and StarTV. Instead of sending smses for your favorite applicant, you're now asked by your friend or a friend of your friend, or engaged through reading a blog (like this here) or stumbling upon it. 

Gmail, Google, Facebook, Orkut and Yahoo are the common threads that bind urban India together in a sea of differences; irrespective of the type of vehicle you drive, the age-group you belong, the side of Sec 377 you fall on, the house you own, the office you go to or the people you hang out with, these are the things which are common to every urban Indian. More than getting rid of the bias that internet campaigns are for youth only, the challenge is pathbreaking the way it takes our online virtual world and relates it to something as "real" and offline as the sheer joy of driving. By using the online world to achieve something which is completely offline and by placing it all in India, the GDC takes the cake. Kudos to Experience Commerce. 

Ok, cool. So what I do now?: Obviously, I was bowled over by the concept and decided to enroll for the contest. Its been 2 weeks since my partner Namrata (from IIMI) and I have put up our application, and after leading the vote-count all this while, we stand at #3. It has been a true crash course in Social Media and people behavior over the last 2 weeks. 

We have coerced people into giving votes, we have worked nights over the route-plan - not easy cuz she's in Chennai and I'm in Pune! We've irritated our old, new and lifelong friends no end to ensure we get there. But its been worth it. I now properly know (atleast on the map!) the few parts of India am not so familiar with and I also know that even if we do not make it, I will do this 3100 odd km road-trip very soon. :)

Vote for Payne/old-timer-on-fullhyd @ The Great Driving Challenge by clicking here.

Simply: Click on 'Vote for Us' -> Go back to your mail-box ---> Open mail from TGDC team and confirm your vote!  

Cheers!
Payne 




Current Music: Random music on the tube (Ah khushi se khud-khushi karle :-s)
Currently Reading: Pune Times (it *could* be a book!)

Widespread notion: Mom's home-cooked food tastes the best.
Fact: That's the truth.
Reasoning: The only reason that home-cooked food tastes better is because the key stakeholder involved in the process also has to eat the final product. :D

In other words, home food tastes so good 'cuz the cook HAS to eat the same food!

I've cracked one of life's biggest mysteries. Thank you.

Payne

PS: Corollary as suggested>> Mohini Fast Foods employees eat upma a lot, and hence their style of upma also tastes damn good.

Current Mood: Amazed
Current Music: Printing sounds of a Canon printer behind me going "zooooiyeeeeswoooosh"

See now. There are different kinds of south-indians. Ok? South-Indian is not an all encompassing term. We have people who pronounce things very differently from one another:

1. Tams - they have a "ae" after everything. Now the english language is not evolved yet to the level of tamil but you'd know the twang that I'm referring to here. The one at the end of every sentence - enna panrae, enna solringae, irikae. But wait, though the english lingo doesn't have an equivalent we find a similar term used mostly by sheep and goats. The ae in baaaeeyyyy, is what am referring to here.

2. Gults - they have an "uu" after everything. This is simple, its a ooooo...as in Paynooo, or stupiduuu, blogoo, or PayneGaru and so on. If a sheep was to say the same than it'd sound very much like an owl.

3. Mallu - the intricate rolling of the tongue leads to a smorgasbord of delightfully unique pronunciations. (wow! check out that sentence!) We have the rolled nnn - as in Phunnnee - or the rolled lll - as in glllig here do zubzkrriibb.

As for Kannads, I don't see any difference to gults. So no identity there.

In other interesting news, Mumbai totally rocks. The local trains give you a "taste" of how it is to swim in the great oceans of the world - go with the flow, be overwhelmed by the current and taste the saltiness of the ocean. Yes, the sweat does get into the air. :| :| The auto guys give you a pleasant surprise when they give you back your one rupee change always. The way everything is just a few hours away by road and just a few minutes by train. The way it's perfectly normal to be stuck in a jam at 6AM.:D And so on. Oh and Marathi sounds like gult.

Note To Self: Need to have things to write about. Yes.

Out.
Payne

PS: Because I can post. :D

Current Mood: Thoughtful
Current Music: The Moldy Peaches - Anyone Else But You

You know what is awesome about being a writer? Or a director? Or a screenplay dude? Or some guy who brings things to life? You know, like god?

You don't have a friggin' clue. So I'll tell you.

It's that moment when you've got everyone's bums slipping off whatever kinda seat they are on, when everyone's got a big huge lump stuck in their throat, when their heartbeat's ascending and they are very really on the edge. It is that moment when they have no idea what's going to happen next and have invested some considerable amount of emotional energy into getting to that moment. It is that exact moment when you get to decide how they are going to feel, how they are going to sit back and be silenced by what just happened or throwing punches in the air in sheer delight. It is that control over the bloody minds of your audience is what is awesome. It is that moment when you are creating reality as it exists, if only in the minds of the audience. When you are playing out god's role, if only for a few seconds.

Imagine the screenplay writer of Cinderella Man or Seabiscuit or any other "wooohoo_moment" movie delaying the inevitable (the victory) and letting the audience slip into a state where they truly believe that the end would be any different from countless others. Imagine the director pulling the shots on those last 3-5 minutes before the conclusion. Imagine the music dude getting those high notes and the orchestra ready for that silent second and then gettin' 'em back on even higher and even more goosebump-inducing. Imagine the author deciding whether his book's ending will leave his readers putting down the book in a thoughtful silence or getting off that easy chair with a smile on their face. Imagine the guy behind Arlington Road or Kingpin or Inside Man smiling knowing that you'll have no idea what hit you when you are done.

So, dear ladies and gentlemen of the obscure FH blogging community, this post is a plea. For all of you to give back to that community which strives to entertain us and take us to the edge of our seats every single time. It's a plea for all you to stop going to imdb and checking out ratings, and to watch a movie for what it's worth. To suspend your disbelief entirely for those 90 mins or so, and let the movie play it's course. 'Cuz at the end of the day, it's not the end that matters, it's the anticipation of the inevitable that is so much fun. :)

Thank you.
Out.
Payne

PS: This post was never supposed to be meaningful, but hey...who the hell is that who's giving this blog 1881 views a weeK! :O So this is also a plea for all those people giving this blog and some 3 others 1000+ hits a week to go out there and read the other blogs! Even if they are selling saris and churidars or asking you whether you want to be a model or talking 'bout MLC elections.

Is FH still alive? Where is the new FH? :(

PPS: Watch Arlington Road.

Current Mood: Amazed
Current Music: O Meri Jaan - Life in a Metro OST (AWESOME!)

You've gotta love these moments. :D

I can count 3 of them in any MBA aspirant's lives or prolly only Payne's. 1) The CAT itself. 2) Ze summers in that B-school and 3) The finals.

So, ladies and gentleman, it is time for Payne to cross the final frontier. As the many toothpaste and coconut oil companies line up to pick n choose the miniscule numbers they come for, Payne gets ready. Once Again.

Checklist time!

1. Inspiring music. Check! It's time for arbit dramatic OSTs from the best of my collection - Armageddon now.

2. Last minute mugging? Check! Everything from distribution to the no. of outlets in rural India.

3. Ze suit and ze boot? Check!

4. Ze comfy undahweah? Check!

5. All possible answers to all possible questions including "why do you want to run around villages in the searing heat talking to rambabu instead of convincing mr.saxena to invest in MFs?". A *loud* check! (to counter louder music)

6. Pressing Send/Recieve in Outlook Express waiting for last minute shortlists. Check!

7. Post on dead blog about these mundane things. Check! :D

I guess am kinda immature. To be overwhelmed by the occasion than the task at hand, but heck...I've turned out fine so far. :) God's grace indeed. :D

So here's to the journey being more important than the destination! Here's to 2 years wrapping up in a few days!

Here's to the final frontier.

Payne

PS: All the best to all of ye. :)

Current Mood: Heroic
Current Music: Hans Zimmer - Armageddon Theme

THIS is irony. I live through 20 months looking forward to life beyond B-school. I step into this place with a view to make the most out of it, and move on. I tell myself that this will soon end, and the real life would begin. And then, I realize that these 500-odd days have been life itself. Some of the very best days of my life. Ending a week from now.

It's not goodbye yet. I know that. But this past week has gone by in me cribbing about so many things about a few placements that I've missed the big picture completely. This is it. This is the very end of a phase of my life. A phase that has lasted 18 long years. Of going to classes, of taking exams, of being a student...of being that guy on that bench. Of passing notes,of bunking classes, of waking up in the morning and sayin 'fuck this. am staying home',  of going late to classes, of jus hangin' around in the corridors, of waitin for grades, of muggin' late nights, of walking out early of exams...of not being a great student at all. :D

Fuck this. I shan't be senti. When I saw my bro passin' out his b-school, I wondered why the heck are they gettin' so senti abt this darn thing. I swore I wouldn't. And am not going to. Am gonna go out there and have that maggi. Sit here and watch my TV shows. I shall plonk my fat arse on my Blue_chair_with_extra_cushion and challenge the limits of elasticity of a human body. I shall go out with those idiots whom I call my friends and pretend am not gonna miss 'em when I leave this place. I shall crack crude jokes and laugh it all off. I shall procrastinate and be myself. I shall spend my time on the phone, I shall walk the corridors with a battered Sony-Ericsson stuck to my ear. I shall keep my room a gloriful mess and sleep on the same pile of clothes. I shall be me.

'Cuz after all, all I have is 7 days to live life the way I know best. To be the crazy senti bugger who swears not to be senti ever. :D

Bring it on! The beginning of the end!

I am NOT saying goodbye.

Out.

Payne

PS: All the best to me.

Current Mood: Feeling Better
Current Music: Baz Luhrman giving gyaan abt life on Winamp.

Current Mood: Heroic
Current Music: Savage Garden - 2 beds and a coffee machine

Is it?

Its interesting how in the past one year since I've started this program, I've never *never* blogged about what just happens to the biggest non-human love in my life> Marketing.

But then, this post is not about marketing.

This is a tribute to arguably the best professor I've come across in my academic life so far. Not that I've witnessed the very best in all these 19 years of education, but hey...this guy rocks! :D

He taught us B2B marketing - and boy have we learned. To the point where classroom experiences creep out into daily life...where case studies are no longer simple ppts and snore-sessions but 3 hrs of gripping discussions, where the prof actually has real-life anecdotes to narrate to us. A prof with a sense of humor, years of experience and a taste for drama. Each 90 minute session transformed into a captivating theatre-play with real-life characters and one helluva narrator.

I've always contended that the greatness of a prof is measured by the number of "dramatic_silence" moments that happen in class. One or two in a course is rare, but then Mr.MK comes up with these in every class, again and again. From narrating his short-stories to how each of the companies analysed either "doesn't exist anymore" or "is now very very rich" to the corporate jail in Bangalore to every little idiosyncrasy that makes the man who he is - an outstanding marketing professional.

Here's to you Mr.MK! Here's to making marketing more real, more intoxicating and much much more fun!

Payne

PS: No, marketing is not only about winning. It is also about losing gracefully, sometimes.

PPS: How can a post be complete without a pic? :) I call this one "Holy Smokes"

Parikrama, Live in Concert at IIM Indore. November 12, 2006

Current Mood: Happy
Current Music: Kudrat - Humein Tumse Pyar Kitna (the definition of a relationship between a B2B marketer and his customer) :D

For a movie which embraces the triumph of the spirit, Seabiscuit for me has set new standards in story-telling. There were a point in the movie where it was possible to end the movie with a good enough ending, but it came back with a bang...just like the Biscuit himself. Maybe its the time of the morning and my general lack of sleep, or maybe its just my complete love for sports-movies of any kind...but this is a spectacular movie by any standards (at least by mine).

Every character was neatly sketched out with enough time given to understand Smith, Red, Howard and the Biscuit himself. Its almost like sitting in a tiny time capsule which takes the viewer back a good 8 decades...from the start with the Model T to the way the movie takes us through the early '90s, the great depression, and every other piece in history while keeping us connected with the central theme throughout. I mean, for a movie about horses, we aren't even introduced to a single horse race till the first 25 mins are past...or maybe I'm wrong. This is not a movie about horses, this is about the power of human will and every other lil idiosyncracy that it brings along. For 2 hours and 15 minutes, I did not dare to budge from my seat at the corner of the bed - sitting up for every race finish.

I was told to watch this movie to witness apparently awesome camera work at the end...looks like I missed it. Maybe it was because I was screaming "GO BISCUIT!" at 5:30AM in B-315...maybe I was completely immersed in my time capsule.

This was going to be a post about the movie Crash, the TV show LOST and a book titled Blackbox which have strikingly similar tales...but I guess that will have to wait while I look back at the story of a horse and 3 men who never said goodbye to their dreams. A story about never giving up, a wonderfully simple tale told in an almost perfect manner. A perfect movie about imperfect people.

"You don't throw away a whole life just 'cause he's banged up a little."

Payne
--------------------

So whats Payne upto apart from watching a movie once every...umm..full moon?

This>> www.iimi-iris.com

IRIS 2006 is only 4 days away. :) Am gonna miss all the work...or maybe not.

I really should post about different topics. But then, movies are so easy to write about. A multitude of emotions are always difficult to put down on paper or type out. Sometimes, its better for them to stay in my head then to exist in tangible reality somewhere. Or maybe not.

This post is for you. With no strings attached.

Payne. Maybe.

 

PS: Please do visit the site. All ye who read this. Also click on "Site Credits". :D

Current Mood: Feeling Better
Current Music: Bryan Adams - Homeland

"They are saying goodbye in their own way. Playing outlawed tunes on outlawed pipes." - Argyle from Braveheart

This is not goodbye to my blog, no matter how much ye may hope.

I do not know what is more memorable about today. The fact that I saw as many movies in one day as I've seen in the past 4 months  or the fact that I watched one masterpiece. Of course, that fact that I've seen only 4 movies in the past 4 months (including today) does speak much of my general absence from the living world.

I watched Braveheart tonight. I watched the sons of Scotland fight to death for freedom, and yes as always I got too involved in the whole darn experience and now am writing a blog about it. But this blog is not about the movie. No, this blog shall be written as the poet warrior Payne would write it; this blog shall be for freedom! No wait. Thats another line from the movie, only without Payne or the word blog - believe me, medieval blogs would have been boring to say the very least. What with all the loud "auuughhh"s and "grawwww"s. Medieval warriors did not need long and dramatic pep-talks like our country's warriors on our playground (playgrounds, battlegrounds...same thing), they made do with the above mentioned short, inspiring sounds.

Ah, I digress. Again and again. This blog is about my disconnection with the living world. My indifference to anything outside of Photoshop or my nearest friends or the phone. It is sad that I still somehow exist in the virtual world too with this blog that has a pathetic one line as its last post.

Four months have passed since then.

A shade over 130 days which have taken me places, across India and even outside. Life in the second half of the ride of an MBA has been tough, busy, relentless and highly unforgettable. So many things to blog about, but then as life would have it...the one time I actually had things to write about - so much of it - I could not find the time to do so. Days passed, weeks have flown by and now it is the turn of months. The draught stops here, but am afraid it does so with a blog I'm sure noone would read for the simple sake of reading.

There in lies the paradox of this blog. People everywhere in this small microcosm of reality encapsule bits of their lives for posterity's sake, some others write so that they may be read and criticized, some write about current happenings and get quoted in newspapers which feel they understand the purpose of blogs - or even worse how to start one on your own (oh the mystery is solved!), some write stories, some bitch (as a verb not a completely disconnected abuse), some write really long sentences finding every possible way to keep it going whether it be brackets (like this) or hyphens - or dashes if you want it that way - or just continue to banter utter trite just to keep their blog from dying.

So is that it? Is that the purpose of this post? Am afraid not, you poor bastard whose innards are running amok on the floor thanks to this post. Am sorry. The paradox is that this blog does not have an identity, it never did. Its never been a blog one would come to read something good or informative or gossipy or even an insight into a life. It has always been an ugly blue html page with really small fonts that some crazed maniac chooses as a platform to unleash completely senseless, egotistic, well punctuated words called blogs.

And somehow people read it. Everytime. Maybe its the kind of dizzy feeling that the process of reading white text the size of the brain of the reader on a bright blue background leaves one with at the end of it. Maybe it is that surreal high that all my readers are in search for. So where's the paradox, you ask? You poor innard-less zombie, there is none. You've been trapped again. Hence, enjoy this high...concentrate your eyeballs on something blank for a while. It shall help.

Ladies, gentlemen and my readers...I hereby announce the return of Payne. I promise nothing to myself, I know not when the next blog shall be. But I shall say this>> This was great fun while it lasted.

Out.
Payne

PS: Wow. It feels good to be back.

PPS: How can I forget a photograph? A lil show-off here, but then who's complaining? >> From the Trocadero, viva la Paris! 

Current Mood: Heroic
Current Music: If you thought Id be listening to the Braveheart OST - you were wrong. Im now typing more nonsense in this place too. And it goes on and on.

Today was good.

:)

Payne

 

Current Mood: Cheerful
Current Music: OST Last of the Mohicans

...just another arbit photograph by Payne. This one through the fence in our parking lot back on campus. Shall cover MDI soon too. :)

 

Signing out.

Payne

Current Music: Naam Tera blaring away from some speakers on the road.

"What is your life's ambition?" - Anonymous International Yoga Champion

I never asked him his name, I blurted out something with an awkward grin on my face as the answer. He was from Manipur and he said he'd travelled India and most of Asia teaching Yoga and that he was taking classes here in Delhi right now. He spoke like any other of those south-east asian dudes, "I from Manipur la, you?" . He was friendly and tried very hard to understand my kind of english. He shut me up with that one question. He got me looking into the distance out of the window. He got down at the next stop.

What is your life's ambition? Do you have one? Is there ONE thing I can put my finger on right now and say hey this is where I am, where I'm going and this is where I want to be? Why do I keep running into this narrow-eyed lean buggers who get me all thinking for 2 nights in a row or more? Why is it that I have to strike up conversation when the chap beside shows a glimmer of a smile? What if I could get back in touch with all of these souls whose paths intersected with mine in these 22 years? What would I say to the pregnant lady who was on the connect flight between US and Delhi and whom I'd scared by moving violently in my seat while playing F-Zero? What would I say to the uncle on the Air-India flight back in 2002 who told me that making it to an IIM was the best thing I could do, and I laughed it off saying that all these entrances are over-hyped? or the people in my school-auto whom I never spoke to? or Soumita Ghosh, the bald guy on the train to Bangalore in 2001 who was working at L&T and spoke about how he was 28 and he deserved to have his hair? or Azhar, the chap who shared his chappathi and mutton with me? Damn, I remember way too much.

Apart from all the madness in my mind, here's my official blog on being in Delhi. I've been here for 10 days now and have travelled by every mode of transport possible just missing out on the trains but thats always there for tomorrow. Autos, shared autos, rickshaws, trucks, pick-ups, cabs, shared cabs, on foot, cars, bikes, scooters and in buses. Yes, this was my first time in the buses...and what an awesome mode of transport they be. Especially the PRIVATE buses that are infamous around here, the kind of bus where the conductor is nearly falling out and is hanging on to dear life by the door and yet keeps yelling "gudgaoon! gudgaooon!" . Yes, am put up at MDI, Gurgaon which looks like an institute and not a collection of buildings on a hill which I've made my home for the past year. :) Gurgaon has NO public transport, a fact that is refuted by my roomie here - another first, a roomie. What can I do when Lucknow has taught him that rickshaws are a form of public transport? I miss Hyderabad and the autos. I miss flagging 'em down and saying "marredpally aayega?". I've actually taken pre-paid autos here with receipts and everything. But then...>

Gurgaon is fucking awesome. I get here at 11PM and am just stunned at the skyscraping buildings in the distance. The BIG malls and the innumerable, unbelievably designed architectural wonders called IT offices around. :D and most definitely the HUGE construction sites everywhere. If thats not the end, Delhi is bloody massive. The roads, the flyovers, the planning...Delhi just never ceases to amaze by its sheer scale. Capital indeed. Everything is built on a larger scale, everything looks like foreign. :) ...and this is from a guy who's been spending most of his time in the smaller parts of Delhi talking to kirana store owners.

Kirana stores, salesmen, sales registers, posters, candies, atta, biscuits, curry pastes, agarbattis, area executives, green center, delivery tempos, trucks, trolleys, hutch phones, area managers, WSPs, SCPs, Gen 42, DSRs, SPRs, WDs, DSS...and more pretty much sum up what I've been upto for 10 days now. :)

Over and out from Delhi.

Whats your life's ambition?

Payne

 

Current Mood: Lovestruck
Current Music: Alanis Morrissette - That I would be good

The world will never be the same once you've seen it through the eyes of Forrest Gump.

Last night over the course of 4 hours I watched Forrest Gump for the first time. Damn, am I disappointed I dint see it earlier. The movie encompasses every human emotion, every phase of a great man's life. It is a story so well told, one will be led to look beyond the almost impossibility of the incidents. A story so well told, you will wonder if its almost true. A story so imaginative, I was left with a big grin after every subtle anecdote (the Shit Happens one-liner, the Apple Computers buy, the Elvis step) related by Forrest.

But most of all, the movie beats almost every movie I've seen to the top because of the protagonist. More importantly, for the seeming stupidity of the character. In every walk of life, whether it be as an engineering students, a B-schooler, a commerce chap, a corporate biggie or whatever...its so easy to get caught in the trap called caution, to analyse, to fear. No wait, its not the stupidity of the character - its the simplicity. There's so much to learn from the movie...so for my own benefit I shall now bring out my B-school way of putting down things - the bullet-points way.

- Live life. Do not fear consequence. Chance may favor sometimes,and may not some other times. But in the end, atleast you won't regret not having taken the step forward.

- The more we analyse, the more monotonous our life gets. The sheer joy that lies doing something impulsive, not knowing the future - is the joy of life. :)

- Be straightforward. Keep it simple. Always. Stay honest with yourself and others.

- Give luck its chance. Have faith. :) Love. Even if you have no idea what it means. :D

...but hey, by writing off so many things about the movies in bullet-points and all I'm actually killing the movie for all it is. It is after all a movie that begs everyone to LIVE...hence I shall do that now. Live by having a nice sumptuous dinner. :D 'cuz thats how I live. B-) A major feast awaits.

Signing off with some of the best quotes of all times..

"Mamma always said life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." - Forrest Gump

"Sometimes, I guess there's just not enough rocks. " - Forrest Gump

"Lieutenant Dan got me invested in some kind of fruit company. So then I got a call from him, saying we don't have to worry about money no more. And I said, that's good! One less thing.  " - Forrest Gump referring to Apple Computer :D

"I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floatin' around accidental-like on a breeze. But I, I think maybe it's both. " - Forrest Gump

Signed out.

Loving inconclusive, incomplete posts.
Payne

PS: Saw history unfold. The Aussie vs SA match. :) Was there to watch it. I don't think it was the bestest match of all time though - that title is reserved to a LOT of matches. One more SA/Aussie match comes to mind - 1999 World Cup semi-finals. Klusener and Donald fighting for that one run which wasn't to be. :(

PPS: Have some nice news coming up. :D

PPPS: One more pic for the blog. The updated collection over here.

Current Mood: Cheerful
Current Music: Sa Re Ga Ma - Boys

Why management? Why this company? Why this place? Why us? Why you? Why were you born? Ah, all simple questions tackled by every b-schooler and the critters on campus a million times across seasons and entrances and PLACEMENTS! Yep, its that time again, when a sh!tload of media releases announcing "world-record" placements and even wilder "CTC" claims hit the papers, TV channels and other such invasive communication channels. :) Well, after the summer placements 4 months back (wow! time does fly like crazy!), this was my second view of the placement process - albeit from a different angle.

From the behind-the-scenes perspective - rather than being one of the guys on the stage...and what an experience at that. I wonder if I should spoil the surprise for a whole-load of B-school aspirants out there who might really read this blog later on. So I won't. There are some surprises which are best kept the way they are meant to be. I will say this though>>

• Its an unbelievably organised world this.
• A world where walkie-talkies and communication on the lines of "First floor to control - confirm" and "Affirmative, over" are not uncommon.
• Where pin-point precision for time is taken for granted.
• Where its possible to forget which company's interview you are appearing for.
• Where its very easy to say that you are a marketing stud when you've spent the better part of 30 mins convincing them you are their man for finance.
• Where FBI stands for a completely new definition. Where everyday rooms taken on different meanings with special names/acronyms attached to each.
• When the suits, the blazers, the sarees are broken out of their slumber to be donned for a period of only a few hours.
• When feet used to wearing bathroom chappals 24/7 start to realize the pain and torture involved with formal shoes. When you wonder, how back in school you wore shoes with no complaints whatsoever.
• Where a bunch of people work in a claustrophobic room with a bunch of computer screens displaying a bunch of data, a bunch of layout diagrams, a whole-load of sandwiches, samosas and yes a few more walkie-talkies.
• Where the tension in the air is palpable.
• Where everyone in the process is critical - from the guy putting food on the plates in the make-shift mess to the guy sweating away in the above-mentioned room.
• When more than 220 students cramp themselves into a room which usually fits 60 and wait with baited breath for the results of everyone's work.
• When everyone, I mean EVERYone, exults in the joy of every single offer made at the end of the long day.
• When your hands hurt from all the clapping and the patting. When the sheer happiness in the air engulfs you. 

I'll stop here, because I'm starting to reveal some of the most revered surprises which make this place what it is. These images are common to all of the B-schools out there and definitely some of the most remembered. :)

Take my word on this>> For those who make it to this side of the fence - this is a time when you learn that words like "240 students placed in 36 hours" actually have some kind of wizardry involved in them. Wizardry conjuring up every facet of management - from sheer number-crunching to the best in operations to the shrewdest of negotiations and impression management. To be a part of it is to be part of the blockbuster titled "Making of the Indian B-school dream", when the lessons learnt go well beyond the rolling of the credits in this stupendously sychronised process. :D

*Payne bows to both the batches of I*

*ResTecP*

Ground floor, over n out.

Payne

PS: Just noticed that I never really mentioned where I'm heading for my summers. For whom it may concern - am off to ITC for my summer internship. :D

Current Mood: Amazed
Current Music: Summer o 69, the Hindi version