Race is On!

This thought collided with me in between the mind boggling rat race towards the elusive CGPA excellence environment. This is part of "what if" analysis. What if someone who is reluctantly dragging along with the system, is paid an amount which will take care of all the financial requirements of his lifetime, then what will be his idea of work, career etc. What will be his approach towards his work? Will he be less hard working? Will he get exhausted and complain about a hard day of work? Will it be the same goal what he is pursuing now? I afraid the answer to most of these questions would be No! I believe half (or even more) people will change their course of career and go towards what they like most. The real passion will be discovered only then. Even if, some will feel now that lying around would be what they will do most in this case, I believe to the contrary. That will also be a hell lot of difficult thing to do after sometime. Well, I have a list of thing to do, if I get this imaginative financial freedom, where I can really excel. Till that time, I will remain a "risk averse" person running with all the madness towards becoming better than the best around. The only point is whether I will be satisfied and happy for the achievement (even if I reach there)? Probably Not! Or May be! Let me figure out the meaning of this fleeting thought until then... "Race is on"

Movie Screening Series-I

So.. the first movie screening by Mathew sir- All About My Mother

I went to see the movie with lot of expectation as the hype about Mathew sir's movie screening series was building ever since I landed to the campus. I thought I may not like it as much as if I had gone without expectations but needless to say, the film was too good and also thought provoking. A wonderful Spanish film addressing an array of issues including gender, AIDS, motherhood, drug abuse, transsexual prostitutes, organ transplantation, Alzheimer disease and struggle of women in their lives. A film by Pedro Almodovar (one of the greatest film makers alive as rated by Mathew sir)
Now, what struck me most about this movie was the spirit and lively character of Manuela (played brilliantly by Cecilia Roth). She was brilliant as a mother, friend and as a human being. There were two scenes which I felt very moving-
First, when Manuela donates the heart of his son for transplantation soon after he was declared dead on his 17th birthday. She had to sign the declaration for authorizing the transplant just minutes after her son's demise.
Second, When Manuela meets Lola (Father of Manuela's son). Lola says he is going to die soon. He always wanted a son. Manuela says him that he has a son. Lola gets ecstatic and asks whether his son is here and that he wanted to see his son from a distance. The changing of emotions on his face from ecstasy to despair when he learns that his son is dead is heart rendering.
There are different shades of all women characters in the film. Amidst all the worse things happening to the characters in movie, there was an underlying hope throughout the movie. As Mathew sir said in class today "I always end the class with hope!!” the film also ends fittingly with a hope towards life.
Watch the movie to know more........

A quote from the moive "You are authentic when you are closest to the dream what you want to be!!"

Beginning of a Transformation

So, the first regular class of our PGP programme- Sociology- to be taught by A F Mathews. Till that time i didn't realise how important are the next one hour fifteen minutes of my life going to be. He came and said first that he will say many things that may be uncomfortable to many of you. And, yes he was very true, it was uncomfortable not only for me but also for everyone in class. It was shocking-shocking in a sense to the normal categorised conscience of everone in us. The innumerous examples with a lot of sarcasm and humor without boundaries- here was the person in front of us who was shaking the base of everyone's faith and questioning the kind of environment and thought process we all have. How rational, changing and evolving it is?! Revealing the darker side of all religions getting various quotes from all religious books, about US hegemony, about the gender biases with elaborate and mind boggling examples and quotes, about sexual orientations and its implications with all the 'civilised' mindset getting uncomfortable listening to the alacrity with which he is unfolding things, the racial discrimination consciously and sub-consciously we all indulge in drawing examples from all the civilisations of the world and many more concepts of sociology. The stir it has created in me has spurred me to write what i realise as an important point in my life which i reckon that i am privileged that i could listen to someone with such an immense knowledge and independence of thought. I dont think i will go overboard if i say (and even if i am, it will let you know the influence of him on me) that "Everyone in earth should experience his class and the magnitude of force with which it hits you to come out of your cocooned self and the narrowed mind of vision of world,religion and society at large." I have just attended three classes of him till now and each class was an experience of awakening and true enlightening of soul. Ofcourse, you need to experience that to believe in what i say! May you get the chance to listen to great Mathews. There was no surprise that seniors of the PGP want to attend his classes out of their busy schedule when mid term is near and there are a long list of people who like him, adore him and have not forgotten him years after attending his class.
Long live Mathew-ism!

Profile
http://www.mica-india.net/AcademicsandResearch/Profiles/Profiles%20new/Mathew.htm
A F Mathew Fan Club- Orkut
http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community.aspx?cmm=18463716

ANTARDWAND

DESTINY

"Every man has his own destiny"

I was a non-believer of this till not very long ago. Not anymore. "You get what you are destined to, No more or No less than that and not before when the time comes." No matter how well you plan your life and how astute you are in planning, there is always a window of at least 10 percent in everything you plan, which is governed by something that you don't have control over. With each failure and success of your plan due to this effect, the faith in the words of Geeta "Karma kar Fal ki chinta mat kar" increases more and more. Truly, the Karma is what is in your hands and Fal even if you think it is in your hands but it never is. This one incident in my life has made me the believer of these immortal words of Geeta.

Year 2007- Despite all odds I prepared hard and I gave CAT with utmost sincerity.
31st December 2007- Result: Rejected (I was devastated needless to say since I had put in a lot of effort)
Year 2008- Last 2 months before CAT I got into some serious personal issues and didn't practice anything. I thought even to skip writing CAT but then my inner voice said to me "why not! Let's write it with the best of my ability doesn't matter I get it or not. At least I would find where I stand". I wrote the paper.
7th January 2009- I didn't want to see the result as I had no expectation. Someone close to me saw the result. He tried calling me but I was doing my office work thinking there would not be something special he would have to say to me. Then his sms comes saying "You are shortlisted for GD/PI process of IIM K!!” I read the message once, twice and then sat down for few minutes in disbelief thinking Oh God! This is too good to happen.
10th April 2009(The day I would never forget in my life!!)- I was in big trouble and very very stressful because of some personal and family issues. Again I was getting the call from my friend and I was so much in stress that I didn’t think remotely that it could be related to result. I didn't pick the call. I called back after sometime and to hear that it was one of the best moments of my life. I told him to recheck the Name and Registration No. Then I checked myself! I don't remember what all kind of thoughts came to my mind after that but certainly I was not thinking about any of my problems. YESSSSSS!! I achieved my Dream! My life would never be the same again!

I don't know how else I can explain this that when I worked really hard and didn't get through But when I wrote the exam amidst crisis, managed to secure an offer in one of the premium B-schools (IIM K) in India. Well, I must say it was something which had to happen now and not before. That is what we all know as DESTINY.

http://www.iimk.ac.in/

What an Innings!

Test Cricket is a real test of a player's skills, temperament and mental strength. This has been displayed aptly by Gambhir and Dravid. The charm of test cricket doesn't lie only in the end result but in the process and the way it is played.
Consider the situation of Day 4 morning of Napier test.
India was following-on with 267 runs deficit and Captain (Sehwag) was already out in the pavilion
Yuvraj and Karthik were not in form
180 overs still to be played
Newzealand players charged up after having 3 good days behind them and the opportunity to level the series 1-1
All the commentators & critics were ready to write this test off as if India has already lost it. With such a psychological pressure, this duo played an innings which, without going into a winning cause, has made this match quite a memorable one.
With Dravid already played more than 3 hours in the first innings played another brilliant inning which spanned more than 4 hours but the most remarkable display of character came from Gambhir who is known for his hitting and the instinct of playing strokes. Gambhir challenged himself and stood his ground for more than 11 hours and showed that with determination and the zeal to achieve something one can do wonders. This is one of the longest Innings played by an Indian and deserves to be placed alongside Laxman's innings of 281 against Australia in Eden Gardens.
For Gambhir, you have won another diehard fan of yours amongst millions of others.
Hats Off!!

Keep Learning

Life teaches you many things - one of the most accomplished learning comes through the difficult phases. Everyone have their share of difficulties, worries and problems. Sometimes you try to come out of it, sometimes you don't know how to react and what's the way forward and few other occasions you leave it to your faith(whom we refer as GOD). I dont wish to suggest which one is good among them but something i am sure of is that the end of all, this leaves its big impression and teaches you certain things that you might not have learnt by yourself. Another good aspect of it is that it equips you with the qualities of fighting and struggle even when you don't want to fight. In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate! so keep fighting and keep learning.