Memories

The Homecoming - 1

2008-08-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

The best thing that can happen to you in this hectic world is living that life again which otherwise is never gonna come to you and which is the best part of your life. That part of life which you always are proud of. That life which you have lived in such a heavenly and grand manner and that has struck you so deeply that it has become a part of you! That part of life which you always would like to live over and over again. That part of life which I know as GIM. Home and much more!

After I got out early from GIM (thanks to HUL) and then immediately after the convocation, I left for MP wherein I was undergoing my training stint. There was a vacuum which I used to feel every day. This vacuum was so difficult to fill in. And I don’t think it still has been filled in yet. And I don’t think it could ever be filled.

What was done to overcome this GIM-sickness was the plan to go and attend the Grand Alumni meet scheduled during a long weekend. The planning started one month before in July when I and Chetan started shooting mails to the batch through our late pgp06-08@gim id. It is dead now. May its soul rest in Mukesh’s ass! But the sheer thought of Alumni meet in general and GIM in particular was so exciting that flight bookings from places like Delhi, Lucknow and Jaipur started at least 20 to 30 days in advance.

The Mumbai junta was particularly excited. Initially we were thinking of booking a bus. But despite the idea being so rocking, the budget didn’t seem so rocking. It simply didn’t fit our budget and vice-versa. Hence, we took the mass booking option. I and Batta got our leave approved from the 14th. This meant that we were landing in Goa a day earlier as compared to the rest of the junta who had their bookings done for the 15th. For the batch of 2008, it was a special occasion. This was primarily because all of us were feeling the same. Bas Goa jaana hai!!

32 people had come from Mumbai (some of whom had come from places like Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur and Rajkot). Around 20 ppl had come from Bangalore. And around 4 to 5 had come from Hyd, Chennai and Pune. These were the people who were visible to everyone. Everyone met each other. Frequent and irregular spanking sessions kept happening and this made the visibility even more apparent.

Then there were a set of people who preferred to be in invisible mode. PG and Andy, for example, belong to this set. What excitement they would have got in being invisible and unheard! People have really amazing styles to live their lives.

I, Rahul and Rubal landed on the 14th, 3 hours late and we were picked up by Nidhi who already was there since morning (Bade log, you see). We dropped Rubal at Mayfair. Seema was our other abode for the next 4 days. And Maruti Alto was our mode of transport. We were given room no. 109. After dumping our luggage somewhere near the bed, I spread the curtain open and opened the door of the verandah to expose ourselves to the serene Mandovi. Man!! I and Rahul just stood there and kept gazing at it probably for 10 min (didn’t really keep a track of that). Its sheer beauty bowled us. Yes!! We were back!! To live the same life!! To go down the memory lane and realign our souls from the hectic corporate world to the quite, serene and heavenly GOA!!

After getting ready, we found that Nidhi had gone to the car repair shop in Panaji to get the speakers done. Good!! Time for Casa de Cha!! But alas, there was no Manoj Uncle and hence with him, it seemed, he took away what we really longed for whenever we went to Casa. The calmness. The “tere ko Kya” personalized service. The “Shonkhu”, “Rampuri”, and so many rechristened names. We missed the Casa which we innumerably went to and left behind us. I didn’t find it when I had my breakfast there. Hence I never went there again to get disappointed again. It is not the same place!

After the huge disappointment and with a little sad mood, we entered GIM. Not through the Corporation Bank wala gate. But the main gate. The smile was back!! And then we kept on meeting so many people. Kailash to start with and then followed by Saby, Jaggu, Shambhavi, even Mukesh, Mirchi, Parulekar, Nagarajan, Golu, CMR, Steve, Jeni, and Ranjini in that order. The interaction with the Faculty was really great. It was a strange feeling because this time they were asking us and we were answering their queries (I and Rahul spoke about sales and marketing in HUL and Rubal spoke about Fin and Capital markets). Things do change in 6 months!! We also met Tony, Jaidas, Bhanudas and Mahesh. And then the huge crowd from our junior batch who were on their way to either G5 or G3, kept coming to meet us and kept hugging us. Man!!! This was big!! We were missed!! Answering “work is going great” to the same question “how’s work” asked by all over and over again didn’t bore us at all!

Getting back as an alumnus is a lot different and hence it is difficult to live the same life you lived as a student. You belonged here as a student. And then you visit this place as an alumnus. But then who cares!! Being from GIM (no matter what you are: a student or an alumnus) is like having the same blood group. You always belong to the same family.

Hence we proceeded towards Gene’s and greeted Joe and Mary. And then did what we all do at Gene’s!! Ordered a beer and food. Yes!! What a feeling that was! You have to live that experience when you are at Gene’s. I don’t think words have that kind of guts to bring about that feeling!

As alumni, we always pay our bills wherever and whenever we consume anything. At Jaggu’s, we paid immediately after we had parathas and chai. We paid Kailash immediately after we ordered Sweet lime juice or whatever we had. And hence, at Gene’s as well, we paid for whatever we had (sigh!).

In Goa, it always rains before and after the Alumni Meet. This is my observation in the last 3 years. It never rains during the 2 days of the meet. It never rained in 2006, nor did it rain in 2007. And since the Alumni meet was scheduled from the 15th to 17th and since we were here on the 14th, it rained that day. Cats and Dogs. Our plans for going to Chapora and other places got royally screwed. We were left with no other option than to move our ass to CCD, Miramar. We were joined by Nishi and PC there who had their best (to be read as worst) journey from B’lore. As PC had put it, even the cockroaches in the bus got bored of the rickety bus they (PC and Nishi) had boarded to come to Goa. 18 hours!! I was all prepared to promote my brands under oral, personal wash, skin and hair categories to the poor ladies. But then, they were not in that condition for such promotions. Hence, I somehow restrained myself and kept listening to their traumatic journey.

We had coffee and the ladies had food after which Rubal and PC proceeded towards Mayfair. Rest of us headed back to home. The causeway (from Panaji to GIM) got into us the same nostalgia. Throughout the distance of the causeway, none of us spoke. There were expressions like “wow”, “oh man”, etc. But no words. Sometimes I wonder how deeply a place can affect you. Big FM 92.7 played songs in the background. We got Nishi to GIM. And then we kept meeting our juniors every now and then.

It was in DK’s room that we were told that the much sought after Bucket Party has been banned by the new Director. Now, over here, we really felt that we were alumni. No SAC. No Alumni Committee. No chance of even taking one more chance. The message was disappointingly conveyed to all the “visitors”. Then Joe came to our rescue when he declared that there is no dry day at Gene’s!!! Wow!! With this excitement, we waited for the BIG gang who were supposed to land the next day as we proceeded to Zen for our dinner.

Bal Thackeray

2008-07-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

Now, before you start reading this post or for that matter the title of this post, let me make myself very clear. I am not getting into any religion issues. I am not saying who did what and when. Please take this as it comes to u. I am just trying to put forward my personal views here.

I always have had high regards for Bal Thackeray. As a child, I wasn’t aggressive. I was too receptive. No dynamism at all. All such highly regarded attributes started sinking into me after 7^th standard.

I watched Bal Thackeray for the first time on Zee TV. He spoke absolutely fearlessly in front of the TV reporter (guess it was Nalini Singh and the programme was Ghoomta Aaina). The aggression and his confidence in expressing his beliefs is what hit me the most. I was so inspired by that aggression that I started collecting articles which newspapers and magazines wrote about him.

Bal Keshav Thackeray.

He is more than the leader of the Shiv Sena party. He is so far the biggest brand in Mumbai that is known to all. There are chances that a Tamil in Mumbai wouldn't have heard of Amitabh Bachchan. But it is impossible that he wouldn't have even heard about Bal Thackeray.

When we talk about the strength of the brand, then lets talk about the power one person can have on the entire Mumbai city. There is a mass of security guards around the bungalow. What does this mass constitute of? A total of 177 police officers; 152 constables, 19 sub-inspectors, 3 police inspectors and 3 assistant police commissioners. Does the PM get this kind of treatment in Delhi? The state government gives him police vehicles and a bulletproof automobile to travel in; His residence in Bandra is fortified and guarded round the clock.

Bal Thackeray. Bala Saheb. The Supremo. The remote control. The Tiger (after the symbol of the Shiv Sena).

Why is this such a popular name? Why people automatically associate with some or the other things with this name? There were times when eminent personalities used to touch his feet (they do it even now). The list goes from well known politicians to industrialists. Sunil Dutt reportedly cried and begged in front of him to get Sanju baba out of jail and which he did!!

Michael Jackson touched his feet to seek his blessings before the only English live concert in Mumbai during the Sena days. Others were simply not allowed. Neither in Mumbai nor anywhere else.

Impressive!! Isn't it?? How did he do all this?

Well, we would need to get back a little into history to understand this.

His monstrous ego was nurtured from infancy. His father was a social reformer and anglicized his surname after William Makepeace Thackeray, the Victorian author of Vanity Fair. His mother had given birth to 5 girls and no sons. She prayed ardently to the family deity for a son and was blessed with Bal. He was therefore considered a navasputra, a boon directly from God.

His mother always wanted him to be a government servant. But his father never wanted him to be clerk. He wanted him to be an artist. He in fact brought him a bulbul tara, a stringed instrument. He could never learn that instrument to play!! He was an absolutely inept musician.

It was during that time (same time when WW II broke out) he started making sketches of the Banbury’s cartoons that used to come on the front page of the Times of India. Along the way, Bal got a sense of the larger political struggles around the city, whose rule was in dispute between the Gujjus and the Maharashtrians. He would listen to his father giving speeches at the meetings of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement.

He started his career as a cartoonist in the Free Press Journal. And this was the platform which gave him so much freedom to express his opinion daily. He started his own cartoon weekly, which turned into a forum. Most of the Marathi speaking readers used to raise their concerns which usually used to revolve around jobs which are mostly occupied by the Southies (Tams and Mallus).

These all concerns and many other issues which used to be addressed to him encouraged him to form his own political party and he named it: Shiv Sena (the army of Shivaji, the king). He ruled Mumbai then. He rules Mumbai even now.

He is more than 80 now. But he is still the same tiger!! He has grown a long beard resembling a typical sanyasi, but then Saheb is always a Saheb! How can one challenge the supremo??

He is still the same Bal Thackeray on TV I saw when I was in 7th standard. Fearless. Confident.

The Habit of Winning

2008-06-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

by Vince Lombardi

Winning is not a sometime thing. You don't win once in-a-while. You don't do things right once in-a-while. You do them right all the time.

Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that is first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game - but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been a zeal to be the first in anything we do and to win, and to win.

Every time a football player goes out to play, he's got to play from the ground up. From the soles of his feet right up, to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's okay - you've got to be smart to be number one in my business. But, more important, you've got to play with your heart. With every fiber of your body. If you are lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

Running a football team is no different from running any other kind of organization - an army, a political party, a business. The problems are the same. The objective is to win. To beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't it is.

It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive team. That's why they're here - to compete. They know the rules and the objectives when they get in the game. The objective is to win - fairly, squarely, decently, by the rules - but to win. And in truth, I have never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, did not appreciate the grind - the discipline. There is something in good men that really yarns for....needs...discipline and the harsh reality of head-to-head combat.

I don't say these things because I believe in the "brute" nature of man, or that men must be brutalized to be competitive. I believe in God and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hours, his greatness fulfillment to all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battled victorious.

HUL market visits

2008-06-21T22:39:00.000-07:00

I don't wanna write straight away about how my visits to the market are like before i explain why i make these visits. So, this is how i wanna start.

I did my summers at Kotak Securities - Financial Planning divison. I had to sell portfolios churned out of the research team to HNIs. We usually did this by offering them a proposal such that doing business with Kotak would help you grow your money. I used to boast of the research team that Kotak has and the kind of returns the research team has been giving across various portfolios.I did not have any idea which stocks were picked up and why were they picked up.

I got a PPO, which came to me very late. This was because I already had made it to HUL.

Anyways, after coming to HUL, I realised that I wasn't doing anything different from what I did in summers. In fact, I was not only offering a business proposal to the HNIs (here distributors) but I also convinced them that in no circumstance their RoI would go below a certain threshold limit.

There is no research team involved here. These business partners (as we usually call them) invest their capital in growing our business. We know the science how to deliver the results. And we do this not on our own. It involves the entire sales and marketing team with the entire other support functions in bringing the technology to the distributor's point and hence support the science which in turn helps the field force to deliver the results.

The field force involves in execution of this science and hence bringing those cheerful words of appreciation from the distributors. This relationship is long term in nature. This is the reason we still have distributors which are 50+ years old and are doing exceptionally well. We have field force which have been with HUL for more than 3 decades!!

We bring primary customer delight by doing this.

The customers of our distributors are the shopkeepers. These shopkeepers earn their living by selling our products. For them, HUL is something which nobody questions, which is easily available, which is easily visible and which captures almost 60% of his shop area.

The field force makes regular visits to these shopkeepers to check whether evrything is alright.

We bring secondary customer delight by doing this.

The outlet sells our products to consumers like households, youth, old, everyone. By using our products, these consumers feel young and fresh. They get what they want at their nearby Kirana store at their convenience.

We bring tertiary customer delight by doing this.

My training stint involved in understanding this correlation. This would not have been possible had I not made visits to the biggest of the shopkeepers and the smallest of the Kirana store.

The best thing about HUL market visits is that you always are offered either tea or coffee or cold drinks or if nothing else, then chilled water. For the shopkeeper, HUL has always been "maai-baap". We are treated like emperors.

"Sir, yeh to aap hi ki dukaan hai", "Sir, aap jaisa bolenge, hum waisa hi karenge", "Sir, aap hi kaa maal bikta hai".
These are some of the very common statements I come across when I ask them if every thing is alright.

When I spend sometime (say 15 to 20 min) in some of these outlets, I get to know about HUL more than any of the field force would have told me. They explain to me the competition much more logically than the salesmen do. They report much more satisfyingly the overall impact of a new launch whether it has been well accepted or not.

The gratitude which they show towards HUL is immense. Though there would be some issues they would be facing regarding something or the other, they never mention it in the first few min.

HUL, so far, as been a very smooth journey irrespective of so much of moving around (10 towns in 10 days with almost all nights spent in trains!!).

But, this also brings along with it the platform to meet so many ppl. Business is the same everywhere. But the way one runs it is so diverse. That is why different distributors have differnt margins to boast about.

The next time you go to an outlet to buy anything and you happen to buy anything from the HUL portfolio, then do give a thought how that product would have reached you!!

Tertiary Customer Delight!!

HUL memories

2008-06-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

Memories are understood by all of us (in a very simple way) as those moments which we have already lived through in the past and we remember those moments in the present. These moments which are brought and remembered in the present are usually good, pleasant and soothing moments. A normal human being always talks about pleasant memories.

Statistically speaking, out of 10 memories, 8 are usually good and pleasant memories. The other 2 could be out of anger or something unpleasnt.

I have spent more than 4 months in HUL now and I am now gonna share a few memories that I think is gonna stay with me for the rest of my life!!

Now, this doesn't mean that my memories @ GIM wouldn't be written about anymore. I think of that place all the time. And i don't think that GIM is past. It always would remain in the present.

The memories of HUL which i m gonna share with u all started not on the day I joined this esteemed organization. It did not start on the day when HUL came to our campus and gave us the offer letters a week later. It started when 2 PRs - Ayan and Sudeshna went all the way to Backbay Reclamation, where our head office is situated (bang opp Jamnalal Bajaj), made presentation to Leena and Doug and a couple of other top brass. This was the first ever presentation made by any GIMite at such level.

D'Lima was a big force in making this event happen. He crafted the entire plan and I think he contributed in a BIG way in bringing HUL to our campus.

3 ppl made it to HUL. Myself, Rahul Batta and Gautam Gupta. After we were told briefly about how we shall be going ahead by the HR, what we experienced would have never happened to anyone. The OTFF corridor, which joins the Lib corridor and the one which runs perpendicular to it to join the OTFF washrooms, was crowded by our batchmates and they were all clapping for 3 of us. Man!! This is BIG. Really big!! HUL effect was already seen and experienced!!

The joining was marked by mixed emotions. We were excited that we were joining the best FMCG co. But we were a little disappointed that we were joining too soon. We joined HUL on the 11th of Feb. 3 months prior to our avg DoJ which usually happens in May.

In any MBA and especially in Goa, the last semester is the best semester. Nobody gives a damn to acads. Ppl make plans which are usually in weeks and geographies that are covered are far far Goa or even places like Kerala. These are like the last few months which we get to spend with each other. These are like the best few months we get to spend with each other.

We weren't gonna get this at all. And that is why we were massively disappointed. We were disappointed not to have gone to Kerala where 35 crazy ppl had their best times of their lives. Though there was this little cheer in our minds that we would be joining them all in Mar when we come back for our convocation for 10 days.

Anyways, we reported to the HUL guest house on 10th eve. I came to Mumbai from Baroda, Gautam was already there and had come from Calcutta and I joined Batta at the Mumbai Airport and he was coming from Goa. There were 27 CMLTs in all which had joined HUL on the 11th and were staying at the guest house in Belapur where we were being accomodated for the next 4 days. The institutes which had been picked up for this new role (1D) were GIM, IMI, Welingkar, Fore and KJ Somaiya. BIM guys were scheduled to join in April.

I won't be writing about the new role i just mentioned above. But i would definitely be sharing the experiences I had when I used to visit outlets like wholesalers, kirana, family grocers, fancy stores, etc. Amazing experiences!! The brand HUL is what I saw was the main reason why so much of respect (and sometimes fear) was expressed by the "seths" of these outlets.

I would write about all of these later. But meanwhile, the touring which involves in training stint takes you to awesome places. Some of the pics have been shared here. Enjoy!!

Chirimiri is a hill station which primarily is known for its coal mines (South Eastern Coalfields Ltd). This view is taken from top of the hill.

Amrut Dhara. One of the best locations in Chirimiri. In monsoons, no one can stand where i am standing.

That is Ambikapur station building. Beautifully made.

The smoke which you see is coming from the ground beneath which is the hot coal which has not been mined. The view looks awesome in rains!!

OTFFU

2008-05-31T03:07:00.001-07:00

This the how the OTFFU t-shirt looked from the front

This is how the rear side of OTFFU T-shirt looked

OT first floor or simply OTFF is a historic place in GIM. Actually, GIM or Old Goa Hospital itself being so historic owing to its 150 years old building, OT is its small subset. It has its own flair and memories which the Goans are associated with.

But over here, I am talking about the historic angle which is attached to OTFF as a residence. OTFF was home to so many ppl in the last 14-15 years. It has been traditionally proven, over and over again, that OTFF was home to not only the guys who stayed in those rooms but also the ladies who used to stay and (most of the time) work at OTFF!!

Things happen so quickly in OTFF. Friendships. Relationships. Projects. Music change. Decisions. Venues to go for dinner. So many things.

OTFF is not just a place. It is a platform. It is a mindset that all its residents have within themselves as well as for each other. This mindset is such a big thing. It automatically brings that respect, that acceptibility, that resonance which no other place in GIM can provide. And this mindset is shared across not just amongst the residents, but the visitors as well.

OTFF is a brand in itself. Be it alumni meets, be it internally organized bucket parties. It is always known as OTFF party. The brand was so strong that we made a union to protect this brand. We called this body as OTFF union or simply OTTFU.

And we made OTFFU a brand. All parties were henceforth being organized by the OTFFU. We made an exlusive community on Orkut by the name OTFFU!!

We in fact made an exclusive OTFFU T-shirt. This was a limited edition launch and we then realized that this can be promoted in all alumni meets!! Hence we did that. And it was an instantanneous success!! And why would it not be?? Which GIMite is not proud of OTFF? The idea was obviously appreciated.

The idea, by the way, was conceptualised by CS and Alimax. What an idea!! The T-shirt's front view had a message " Statutory Warning Addiction Guaranteed" with the GIM logo above placed at the centre and not at the side (unlike the normal GIM t-shirt). This concept was taken from Adidas. The logo is always at the centre. The reverse had all the major activities that used to happen on the OTFF like Pela Pela, etc. The color chosen was white and black.

Pela Pela was fun. Though many ppl found it too disturbing (especially from the junior batch), but then who the fuck cares!! We enjoyed playing it! Whosoever started Pela Pela, dude, our hats off to u.....wherever u r!!

One thing was certain. This place was not for those who wanted to be alone, who focused on acads, who were used staying in Hill top. OTFF was a place which attracted all out of which a handful (57 ppl to be precise; 3 X 4=12, 3 X 1=3, 2 X 21=42) resided.

We brought in carom board there which was again a huge success. Hardly any doors were latched. This demonstrated the openness of the place, the free nature of the ppl who live there, the masculinity attached with the place!!

OTFF was a phenomenon which brought about the uniqueness of living in GIM. This uniqueness was itself an idea which shared across the batch!! We shared happiness in OTFF. We shared all our secrets there. We shared smokes in OTFF. We shared booze in OTFF.

GIM to was a unique phenomenon that happened to all of us. The biggest factor why this phenomenon was unique to most of us was OTFF.

The baton of OTFFU has been passed on. The brand I am sure is gonna stay in the decades to come.

Placement memories

2008-05-24T07:12:00.001-07:00

How often have u seen Naveen like that??

Ya baby!! those smiles are priceless!!

And those too!!
How often do u see that?? My best pic during placement week!

And more smiles!!
And even more smiles!!

Casa de Cha

2008-05-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

This is Manoj Uncle, owner, Casa

I never understood why we ignored this place in the first year. We always used this place for fags or simply chai at very irregular intervals. This could be due the fact that we weren't sure of such a place and since hardly anybody had meals there, nobody could know the greatness of the food there.

So what is so great about the place. Is it the food? Is it the place itself (almost on the banks of Mandovi and the view from the window seat was so serene!!)? Is it the service which Manoj uncle used to give. Why on earth we got so emotional and so attached with this place in the 2nd yr?

I think it all started with summers. Quite a few of our batchmates were doing their summers in Goa. And it was they who started having their lunch at Casa. And i think it was they who made the place so popular.

We tried. We liked it. We really liked it!! For the non-veg ppl, Wed and Fri was spl because chicken was prepared. And the best thing about the food at Casa was the simplicity. The simplicity was expressed in taste, in preparation, in serving.

And the lunch was usually followed by lime soda - "nimbu soda". This drink was a big hit. Everyone liked it. Everyone had it at least once. We used to have it after lunch. We used to have it after a match played be it Volleyball or football or cricket. This drink was consumed by all and it saw becoming a part of all the post discussions which used to happen after the matches or any other discussion - be it private or public.

Other items offered at Casa were nimbu cha (lemon tea), half fry, masala pav, samosas and MIRCHI PAKODA. This was one more item which was so popular. Prof Mirchi was asked my Manoj Unlce "Mirchi pakoda?" and Prof Mirchi used to say "haan..one plate". And then i used to ask Mirchi.."sir, u also come in plates???" and he used to laugh it away!!

So everyone was very closely associated with Casa. Be it us or Fac. CMR used to spend 1/3rd of his time at Casa out of the time he used to spend at the institute. Prof. Ranjini, Prof Sarita, Mukesh, Vivek the librarian, Prof Nagu, Prof Mihir, Prof Anand.

One fac which was never seen (or perhaps was seen only once or max twice) was Prof Parulekar. I still don't have any clue why he was hardly seen at Casa. Nina Jacob was one other person never seen there. But then HR ppl have their own creativity in explaining why they do things differently!! Sundaram would agree with me on this.

One typical habit we had developed in the 4th term was playing CS the whole night and then have breakfast at Casa. And then sleep the whole day. Visitng Facs were very kind enough to come in the middle of the term during the weekends. Hence we were vella the whole day.

This was followed by lunch at Casa. I always used to have Veg thali with more than 2 kappas in it. The typical ingredients of the thali were:
1) 2 cups of rice
2) papad
3) Salad
4) Dal
5) Bhaaji
6) Sol kari.
7) Kappa
8) pickles.

The non-veg didn't have Bhaaji and pickles. Fish (baangra or king fish and on very rare occasions prawns) was the regular feature in the non-veg thali.

As you can see, simplicity of the food was the biggest strength. But later on it was more of a hang-out joint. When we didn't want to be in the institute, we used to be at Casa.

Carlos and that lazy person (never knew his name).....were a typical feature of Casa. Carlos typical was hardly seen. But whenever he was visible, he was always on his toes. And that lazy person always used to forget the orders he took. Hence he always used to come the 2nd time to check whether he missed out any order. It turned out that he had to take most of the orders again.

I think this delay did a lot of things. It helped in oozing out all the fatigue we used to carry before entering Casa. I think it did a lot in building the bondage we share as a batch in a big way.

If one does an analysis on the time spent outside the campus, then Casa would have a market share of more than 75%. This means that apart from classrooms and hostel rooms, the no. of times we used to go out, we used to be at Casa almost 8 out of 10 times. This is huge. As daily crowding at Casa was so frequent.

This daily crowding got infected so rapidly to our junior batch as well. In that way, they are damn lucky as we never had such infections!!

The biggest day in Manoj uncle's life would be when he recieved 80 grand in one day. This was our last day at the institute. Uncle was so over-whelmed that he was treating all of us with beer and cold-drinks at Gene's. In spite of us not wanting them any more, he kept "dumping" those bottles of beer on us.

And he was in tears when we all were leaving. As Ishaan and Ashish had put it, he misses us as much as we miss him. I miss that beg thali. Those kappas. That nimbu soda.

Jaggu's and Kal's juice centre

2008-05-23T00:13:00.000-07:00

Jaggu and gang. Former Volleyball champs

Kailash and his fruits at his outlet

These places has its own history. When we came in to GIM in 2006, there was no food served at Jaggu's then and the place was simply used for packaged foods like wafers, kurkure, etc, beverages like tea, coffee and cold drinks and ice creams.
We also used to purchase our stationary items from there. Phone recharge was also one amenity available there. Food sucked at Joe's and hence we used to either eat at Gene's or go out or selectively eat at Joe's.

Kal's juice center was crowded at specific intervals like just before 8:30 or 9 am classes, breaks in between 2 consequtive lectures, post lunch or post dinner, etc. Some ppl used to have their lunch in the form of fruit plate.

Both Kailash and Jaggu provided taxi services to the students (and one or two fac members) which used to be quite a respite to all us as both Madgaon station and Dabolim Airport were like 45 min to 1.5 hours of journey. A phone call was enough to take care of the logistics.

We became a lot closer to Jaggu especially after he got the approval to prepare Paratha's and Maggi and bread-omlette and curry-rice and other "non-meal" items. Our going out to dine was drastically reduced especially in 4th and 5th terms when the elective selectively were ripping our asses apart.

Turn wise mktg guys, fin guys and HR guys had to continuously attend anywhere between 3 to 6 lectures per day . And we used to have small breaks in between 2 lectures of 10 to 15 min. Both Jaggu and Kailash (and Casa....post on which is coming soon) gave us the necessary break.

The food item was just a tool to ooze off our mental fatigue which was done usually by Bakar sessions either with a smoke or just like that.

Parathas for lunch with a coke and Rajma or curry chawal for dinner followed by coffee or ice cream was a routine thing. Capstone, MI, Pricing, voleyball, cricket, football, movies, fac members, juniors, leg pulling of fellow batchmates, companies, career.

Everything was discussed on those stairs. It was open forum where everyone participated (while on their way to Jaggu's) and gave their opinions.
An example:
We were having dinner and while having dinner, we were trying to prove why Anant Sandhu is called a poojari or a sethbaaj!! After at least 3 to 4 rounds of rigorous discussions, which involved not less than 10 to 12 ppl, we could convincingly prove that Anant Sandhu is a sethbaaj and he is a poojari!!

All of these are not coming back to us. We might come back to them once every year for a day or 2 to relive these moments. But for the meantime, we don't have those parathas or chai and above all those bakar sessions.

Blog Community

2008-05-18T23:39:00.000-07:00

The blogs which have been launched by our batchmates so far are as follows:

1) http://peace-memories.blogspot.com/
(Tapan)

2) http://eplanalysis.blogspot.com/
(Ashish Bardapurkar)

3) http://askdpankazz.blogspot.com/
(Pankazzz)

4) http://csthinks.wordpress.com/
(CS)

5) http://daysofhourlives.blogspot.com/
(Ishaan)

6) http://vivekspeakz.blogspot.com/
(Vivek)

7) http://iplbydruid.blogspot.com/
(Sundaram)

Football memories

2008-05-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Did he score any goal? Maybe that's why that pose?

How did Falcons score that goal is still a mystery. But they scored it against Nanak!!

She doesn't have anything to do with the match!! That's P.An for u!!

The post-match analysis at Casa. Lemon Soda and Maggi and Kadak cha and etc.

The champs of 2008!

aaaa and lalala

2008-05-16T05:46:00.000-07:00

I don't exactly remember which class in the very first term of our PGP1 days was it, when I was given this "aaaa" tag. The man behind this hugely famous tag is none other than hamaara neta Vaibhav Rampuria. I still can't figure out why did he do it. But it made me known as aaaa or made aaaaa know as Tapan.

I am still called Tapaaaan or simply "aaaaa" or "lalala"

The history of its origin goes back to the CP days of PGP1 in the first term when all were unusually active in class and hardly 3 to 5 ppl slept in the class. Courses like Marketing 1 and OSD drove enthu CPs whereas courses like FAM and Micro Eco drove forced CPs.

Irrespective of the course, my style of delivering a CP was unique. This unique style was advertised in a big way!! And following are the examples of how it was advertised and my aaaa (which is just a natural pause either between sentences or words) was made famous:

My attendance was never in the form yes sir/ma'am, but a loud "aaaa" from the crowd.

Whenever a fac asked me about my views, then it was preceded by an aaaa from the crowd

I actually was asked to sing a song "Kaun hai jo...." which had an aaaa in every line of its mukhdaa.....man that was something i must say.

In Mumbai, during our summers and in the first Mumbai meet, i was actually addressed as aaaa at CCD, Carter rd....thanks to Batta.

the first line in the Yearbook starts with a long aaaa!!! and my middle name in the year book is lalala.

GBMs, hi/hellos, Counter-strike, bakar sessions at Jaggu's and innumerable instances when this aaaa and lalala were used.

lalala has its own history.

I never played CS in the first year. I somehow managed to get a hand on it during the summer break where i used to stay in Wilson, Chowpati. I and Alton used to compete on our own machines as to who can kill the max terrorists at the same difficulty level and with the same no. of bots.

He never kept a name and i kept lalala.....maybe because of the music played in the room and i humming the tone. I never changed the name (and continued using it till the last time i played CS) and loved the response when my CS friends found out that lalala was me !!!

I never felt bad about it. In fact, marketing says, brands are recalled best by their distinctive characteristics which we imprint in our minds.

aaaa and lalala were just ways ppl used to recognize and turn around and look at me. There was an element of ridicule which initially was intended for. But eventually, these were just names (brands !!) which everyone used in those 2 lovely years to address me.

And everyone is definitely gonna remember these names in many years to come.

I want them to remember me as these names.

Be Together

2008-05-15T03:23:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of continuing to write my blog the way i had planned earlier. But i don't think this plan is allowing me to share what i really have been longing for.

This includes my 2 absolutely fabulous years at GIM, my joinig HUL, my birthday get together recently held at Mumbai (where i almost got drowned!!) and many more. This would at least give me a kick to restart my blog ;)

So, i start with the latest. My birthday get-together. This day clearly is one of my most memorable days ever. To show their benign presence on this day were my closest of buddies. It was a great feeling when 21 ppl got together on an eve which ended the next day at 6 am!!

The excuse was to be there on my birthday; but the intention was to meet those ppl with whom there was a strong bondage. This bondage was an outcome of the 2 lovely years we spent at GIM. This bondage was just a reflection of the kind of proximity we demonstrated being the batch of 2008.

Why would one spent 6 grand and come from Delhi to Mumbai to just get together? Why would one fight with his folks to come from Nagpur in a train with his ticket not confirmed and bribe the TTC for just some sleep? All this for a get together? Why would one spend 5 grand and come from Hyderabad just because it is friend's birthday? And why would one come to Mumbai from Aurangabad to watch a Chelsea-Bolton Wanderers match in a place which just has an ambience to boast but no space to accomodate all their ardent fans?

All these ppl didn't turn up to be there just for my birthday. All these ppl turned up because they "really wanted" to be with their friends. Friends mean a lot to these ppl. Friends mean a lot to me. And this is why our batch is so special. We just need an excuse to be together.

We may live different lives in different circumstances. But when we get together, we live and talk and breathe the way we used to in GIM. Ppl who claim they have stopped drinking, all of a sudden order pitchers of beer!! We used to goto Aces in Goa, and we now goto Monde or SBX or even Gokul in Colaba!!

These things are never gonna change. We still would keep getting together, every now and then, and would keep enjoying every moment of those get togethers!