World War 3

Shocked with the title??? So was I when I was debating with Kapil.

With the latest developments regarding the Afghanistan blasts, Pakistan's ministers visit to India and the Indian support to Afghanistan, the World War 3 is just very visible...

This blog is a part of debate that I had with Kapil and will be conversational. Though we have no intension of spreading the rumours for WW3 but with little knowledge and logic that we had, we came to a point where, we see a conspiracy happening and global power shift.

The conversation between me and Kapil started with who is Richard Holbrooke? for those of you like me who didn't know, he is US representative for whats happening in Pakistan and attacks in India, attacks on Indians, Taliban activities, etc. He was reading the news about the recent Kabul attacks and the latest updates on it. So he told me about Pakistan's possible involvement in the blasts. So I asked him why are they blaming Pakistan when none of the groups have taken any stand for it or no proof for it is available. Then I told him that there is a possibility of Taliban hands in it. So what he told and what connections and cross connections could happen might just lead to another World War (WW)

So the connection goes like this:

Pakistan's possible hand in the blasts in Afghanistan--> the reason being India's high involvement in Afghanistan's development and democracy --> India's support to Afghanistan will in turn give support to India in curbing terrorist activities by pacifying terrorists that India being so called "hindu country" is supporting muslims. (though that's another fact that we have highest population of muslim citizens in India after hindus) --> this might not be acceptable to Pakistan --> Pakistan has already broken cease fire 23 times since Kargil pact. --> but India has never retaliated --> because if India opens fire, it wil lead to huge economic loss which it may not be able to sustain. Also, our ammunitions are less as compared to china (remember China-Pakistan pacts) --> so we may need help which we might get from Russia ( India-Russia arms agreements) --> USA is another big supporter to Pakistan because of Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban --> If USA enters this (which may happen because of Russian involvement... past woes), then we may see a quite WW situation with US, Pakistan and China on one side and Russia and India on other side....

But wait that's not all, let's go one step forward towards the result, with the limited resources and funds, Pakistan and Indian economies would be the most affected. USA is still trying to come out of the recession and the credit crunch. So who could be the ultimate winner??? No points on guessing, the communists China and Russia !!!

CONSPIRACY in the Making ???? I am smelling fear and danger...

Don't know what could just happen...

Wait and watch is what we can do, but we need to be careful !!!

Regards,

JAM

PS: these are views of Kapil Kapoor and Jain Amit Manraj only.... !!!

Think !!! Socho !!!

“Something Different Something Unique… “ most of my SDM readers would know this sentence. Finally, I am done with my PGDM and am at home with no work to do… It’s really hard to pass time being so jobless… and as someone said (rightly or wrongly you only decide), Empty mind is Devil’s Workshop so I desperately needed some work. I called one of my friend and she told why don’t you write a blog. It will keep you busy. I also agreed, at least something constructive… (At least this will construct some space of mine on the WWW… hehehe)

But then what should be the topic??? Socho… socho…. Socho…. Haan… “Soch…” that’s the topic.

We think a lot… We think about so many things… right from our smallest activities to the biggest decisions in life, we think… We think for many reasons… some very important some not-so important. Sometimes we don’t want to think but we think to not to think about it. Sometimes we want to think but think it’s not worth thinking.

Right from morning or afternoon as the case may be… when we get up, we start thinking… are aaj yeh kaam karna hai… aaj yeh project ka submission hai… aaj yeh test hai… today we have a meeting… today the SENSEX will go up or down?.... will India win today’s match???.... So many things to think… but we never think something that’s the most important thing to think… How will I contribute to the society today??? What can I do to repay my country whatever it has given to me??? Is there a way to remove the social evils???

We need to think in this direction… We are growing and growing at a fast pace but in this race are we losing something behind??? We talk of an Inclusive Growth but do we really mean it??? We wish our Traffic system improves… but think do we really contribute to its improvement??? We wish to have a quick and efficient judicial system… but do we try to avoid doing something that might end us up in useless law suits??? We want to eradicate poverty…. But do we really try to help those who need our help??? We wish our citizens be well educated… but do we contribute for upliftment of schools and students???

I know many of you will think…It’s easy to talk big… but it’s equally difficult to work on it… I accept … but now when most of us will be stepping in to the corporate life… sooner or later… or even starting our own ventures, we will become independent… we will start earning our own money… At least then we can start thinking about this… Hope when we start our corporate life, we don’t forget our social responsibilities apart from the CSRs of our respective organizations.

We think so many things… Just think of a day… when our country will be everyone’s dream country.

Now I know many of you will think… “Why did I read this Blog???” or “ Why this fool is writing all this???” It’s my way of spreading a message… though not a big scope of operation but I am doing my bit and will continue to do it… Hope you will also contribute to it…

Come let’s make our country a better place to live…

“Together We can & We Will”…

Regards,

JAM

BRANDING @ SDMIMD PART 2

Well, as I told in my previous post that I missed some names to keep it short... but then now I realise why not make another one... so here's PART 2 of the previous post:

"BEBO"/"RAJKUMAR": They say your looks could be deceptive... but after seeing Bebo, you cannot deny this fact... When I first met him, he looked so quite so cool and a very sidha-sadha types... But time goes and the real Bebo has come out... He is the angry young boy of the SDM 2008-10 Batch... Dare not challenge him... But at the very same time... a wonderful singer, great friend and above all... I believe, he is the most logical person in the whole SDM 2008-10 batch... He never takes any thing for granted... Are cheez ka logic chahie... and logic kyun chahiye uske lie bhi logc hai uske paas... but then, the best part is when he comes to my room and padhai k bahane just dozes off to sleep.... hehehe... That's Kapil Kapoor for you..

"BAD MAN": A die hard Rajnikant Fan, Brother of all SDM girls (except 1, he told me to write this) ( m not joking... he calls everyone "akka" which means sister), undoubtedly the busiest PC member... Bad Man is the answer to all... When he dances, I can only say... "aadraadilllaaa".... When he walked the ramp, the crowd went roaring... He is indeed the most sought after person in the campus... be it a girl or a boy... reason you know... Placement Info... But when he is around, his sisters are always worried about their cellphones and room keys... I wonder what he will do with their keys... Like any other Tamil movie lover, he worships Rajni deva... he is none other than Nammalvar...

"BOND": Bond is the best at CS... Well, though not many people like to play CS or like when CS is played ... but everyone likes to call him Bond... Undoubtedly the best player in CS in our batch... when he is at his best it g0es cool but if its not his day, his neighbours can come to know... Well i need not elaborate how... he will tell it to you personally if you want to hear... he is missing his darling "CS" since many days... hope people start again...main bhi kabhi kabhi khel leta hun.... heheheh.... Apart from CS, I know him as among the most unpredictable persons with travelling... from last two times I have travelled with him, I can make that out... If you want to know his real name, he is Vishal Shah

"BAWA": Well this one is some what deviated from other brands but he is another brand with whom SDMites have a strong association of Dance.... He is undoubtedly the best dancer of SDM...be it in his own dances or his choreographies... He is the best... These days he is trying to portray himself like NEO of Matrix... but sorry Bawa... we love you as Bawa and not Neo... Well I need not tell his real name cos its his brand name itself... Abhishek BAWAnkar....

"CHOTA DON": har dil ajeez.... naya naya DJ of SDMIMD.... Sabse chota but not Sabse khota.... thodasa bachpan thodi si shaitani... but he is not that a kid... he has been studying out of his home since 7years now and he has matured enough to know how to live out of home.... but he is very emotional... Friendship day k din wish karne aaya to ro pada... indeed a very sensitive person... Chota Don DJ...Hard(d)i(c)k Jain

"MADAME": No there is no spelling mistake... Its madaaam (French)... She has her own style... her own way... smart, witty and at times can bowl you out with her words... Well for the name... the credit goes to Prof. Mihir K Mahapatra.... People say first impression does it all, but madame is different... her first impression was not the last impression... at least for me... Well... I hope madame wont mind if I tell her name here.... Ms. Sucheta Devaraj...

"BANTU": He has changed his names... from DAVIDSON to BANTU to AJ... but then in the middle of all... he is today known as Bantu... He is the most dedicated sleeper in the batch.... also he is the most caring about his neighbours... He keeps alarm for them... cos he is never in his room when the alarm rings... ehehehe.... he is Anubhav Jain.... you have to "anubhav" him to understand him....

"RDX": Dont worry he wont explode... I have just seen him exploding once when our SRK disturbed his sleep... else he has never exploded... RD bhai is what we call and the "X" is just an addition from me... hehheehe.... Cool person... among the most disciplined persons of SDM2008-10 batch... He is lovable and he loves everyone... He is simple and sooooper.... I love the way he calls..."aae aamyaa"... reminds me of how my mom calls me at home... Thanx bhai... waise RDX is Ravi Desai...

"Mr. SUVIDHA CEO": Needs no introduction whatsoever... The SENSEX Ticker of SDM...He is the Jhunjhunwala of SDM... He is dedicated to his work and does it with full enthusiasm... though he might sometime irritate you...but out and out he is a very logical person.... He is our very own... Kalpa.... Kalpeshhhh Vaswani....

"SUBBARAO": Dont worry I aint talking about RBI governor, but he is no less than him for us... He is a respected name in the field of finance and especially equity investments... A die hard trader.... but yet he calls himself to be a risk averse person... He is the Warren Buffet for SDMites... People ask him tips for investing and he generously gives but with the warnings just like any other professional investment analyst... He is Suresh S.

"PRITLA": Well... if you were at SDM and had to name the most sincere persons of SDM 2008-10... He will undoubtedly be the leader... Bhagwann ka banda hai yaar... The techno master of the batch... Be it his Presentations/ assignments/ videos/ crashing laptops, Pritla is the answer to all your technical problems... in fact I once told him of starting a business outside SDM for these services... Well, he was among the first persons to complete 100 days at Yoga along with Duggal... Now that's an achievement ... Pritesh P Lodha... is the name...

"DUGGAL SAHAB": I told BEBO has the deceptive looks... but Duggal sahab beats him.... Noone can be as deceptive as he is... bahar se bhole par andar se shaitan... Till date... people still do not understand how shaitan he is... well, I had told about him in the previous blog "3 ID!OT$" so wont repeat it... but just a word of caution... Don't fall in his trap of bholi si surat... Ankit Duggal is not what he looks like...

I tried hard to include everyone... but agar ab bhi koi reh gaya ho to please write that in the comments... I would be happy to receive info about those brands...

Thank you

Enjoying the Last Few Days at the Heaven... !!!

JAM

BRANDING @ SDMIMD

Branding and JAM ???

Don't know what combo is this... But yes this combo has come because of our very own Managing Editor of Dimensions, Vinitha Valsalan. ( For those of my readers who do not know what is Dimensions: It is our college's quarterly magazine)... This quarter's issue for Dimensions has the theme of Branding and as always I approached her with my weird ideas... I asked her to write an article on BRANDING @ SDMIMD... But as I had expected, the magazine goes out to corporates for circulation and hence the article on such a topic cannot be included. But then she gave me this idea to write it on my blog... So here it is:

I shall not define what is Branding else, all my Marketing friends will kill me for this... So I believe, I will directly start with the brands of SDMIMD...

"PAPA"... I think he is the "most strongest" brand of SDMIMD. People have forgotten his name and everyone calls him "PAPA"... and if I am not wrong it was Ashish Chaddha to give him this name... Well, an English dictionary in himself, PAPA is out and out a marketing person and he has successfully marketed his brand here... Well if you do not know who he is, then you are actually not in SDMIMD, I believe. He is Deepansh Agarwal. I am privileged that he is following my blogs and if anyone of you are really interested in good reading, you can visit his blog. PAPA, if you read this, please share your blog link....

"JANAB".... Well, he may not look like a strongly built person, but his brand has been built up very strongly... And I can bet upon this that many of the Juniors actually do not know his real name but know that he is JANAB.... He is among the chosen one for Core Finance.... A diversified personality: Topper in academics, Unbeaten Garba dancer in SDMIMD, a Sportsman and yes he is also an artist that is hidden but I have had a chance to see it and it was great... Full of Positive Energy, he gives a new dimension to the word : Friendship.... The real name: Prashant Bayeti...

"GAANDAA".... (Dont pronounce it wrongly... It has "aaaa" sound between G&N and not just "aa".... A unique personality indeed... Great Sportsman.... Good Friend... and a great ability to handle critic's comments. Well for the brand name... Ya... its he himself who proves it.... "Gaandaa" is a guju word meaning "Pagal/Mad"... and at times he proves it and proves it in style and with a smile.... Hats Off to his spirit.... Well to tell his actual name... Its Wadhwa Vinay Manoharlal....

"MODI"... Hey... M not talking about Gujarat CM Narendra Modi... but he is our SDM's Modi.... Die hard fan of Politics and Narendra Modi, especially, this person represents a pakka gujarati in all sense.... Yet another strong brand and enchanting way... His speech clearly shows the influence of politics in his life... Marketing and Modi are made for each other... and he proves it in all aspects.... Our Modi is: Ashish Trivedi....

"HUDA": Well, this is an invincible brand @ SDM. He is the youngest person of our batch and yes we all love him alot... Incredible sense of humour but also loses temper... Good sportsman and a great mind @ creativity.... Be it Presentations or skits, he does it all and does it in Style... Well, he, like his name-twin, has lost his real name amidst his brand... During Naissance 2010, I used to tell the participants to contact HUDA and not Prashant Talreja... Now that's heights...

"MASAKALI": Now, this brand may not be very famous, but yes he is also a very special component of Branding @ SDM.... The reason why this brand has not been very famous is because of his other names.... If I am not wrong ... it can be termed as "cannibalization"... His names like Shoki/Ashokiiiii have decrease the limelight of his real brand name... Well Chaddha's creation again...

"GURUJI": The name seems very awkward, but there's a long story behind this... which I think if I write... Guruji will kill me... So without saying much... He is our very own... Bibhu Prasad Pati...

"GURU": Well we had GURUJI...but we also have GURU... Its not his brand name but his habit of speaking this word has made people call him GURU... Another marketing person.... Great Mind ... Great Ideas.... Had fun with him in my marketing project... He is none another than Mahesh M.

"SRK": Shah Rukh Khan of SDM.... or Shiv Raj Kumar??? hehehe... whatever u call him... but he is SRK... Among the first couple of students of our batch to join his work place, SRK of SDM's style is no less than SRK of Bollywood.... A Suvidha member and a stylish person in his own way, he is our Sagar Ostwal.... They also call him GIDDU MARWADI... Do not know why... but it is also his name.

"DADA": Two Bengali men, competing for this title, but only our Mr. Sleeping Student of the Batch can get this name... People call him DADA... To his good luck or bad luck, even girls call him DADA... (DADA in Bengali means Big Brother...Now you know !!!).... Well, he is among the elderly groups of SDM and DADA is very apt for him... and he accepts it... But this does not mean that he considers himself to be old.... A kind hearted person, great orator and yes.... is undisputed champion of sleeping in class in our batch... Another ultimate marketing person of batch 2008-10...He is none another than Debojyoti Banarjee.

"KABIR": Well, talking of brands, how can I forget this name... Though people rarely call him that in public, but we call him Love Guru... KABIR KHANNNN.... Wont say much about him as I already mentioned it in my previous blog... but to tell you his real name... He is Ankush Jain...

"CHAKS": Well, how can I forget this one... oopss... sorry CHAKS... Yes... he only knows how many names poeple call him... CHAKS/CHUCKLES/CHAKLA/CHAKU... and what not... He was my CDO for Naissance (Chief Designing Officer)... and no points in guessin... he is a creative mind.... great artist and a cool person... Best Manager... Keep up your art work.... He is our Saurav Chakladar...

Well... too many of boys... time for some girls....

"TEACHER": Well, I believe, she is the strongest brand among the girls of SDMIMD.... No wonder everyone right from seniors to juniors, everyone calls her Teacher... Poor girl, she longs to listen to her real name.... Well, to be called as "teacher" you need not necessarily be in teaching profession... but she was in it before joining here... God... I wonder what made her shift from a respectful post of teacher and downgrade herself again to Student... but kehte hain naa... iss janam k paap is janam mein chukane padenge... Bahut pareshan kia hoga isne apne students ko... tabhi bhagwan ne ise fir se student bana dia... jokes apart... She is a gem of a person... Cute and smart... Awesome dancer... Great smile... and killer eyes... define her... She is none another than Rachana Priya...

"GABRI": Well, this aint any tough choice... Yet another strong brand... And just like Sholay's Gabbarsingh..., She is SDM's Gabri... Ready to take on challenges, enjoys harassing students and we enjoy being harassed by her... She will kill me if I do not say this line... "Ab Maine Kya Kia"... I know if she is reading this, she will be saying this... Yes, she never does it... but it just happens... But that makes her different from other girls... Another great dancer, cute looks and her face says it all, when she is happy and when she is "hungry".... hehehe.... Well for her real name, its Swati Bansal...

"MAATEY": Wondering who is she... Well, I would not mind taking credit for giving this brand name to her... Yes, I was the creator and the marketer behind this brand... Don't be confused by her name... She ain't any elderly lady but she is so caring that she reminds me of my mom... and so I gave her this name.... Well, don't know what to say... but yes she has another name for her and it is also very true... She is the Drama Queen of SDM... She is Yoshita Singh...

"VP": Gnosis... Pronounce it correctly... "G" is silent... she will kill you if you do not keep the "G" silent.... She was elected as the VP for the Forum by all its members and yes from then, she is called VP... However, she has moved to President this year, but still she is our VP... Also a member of Placements Committee and yet another artist, a singer of an unmatched class in SDM... She is Shwetha Rao Yermel... (sorry if there's spelling mistake VP !!!)

"TOOTI-FOOTI": no wonder why she is called so... She still holds the record of most plastered student of our batch... We now take extra care for her bones than her... when she broke her bones the second time... all said... "Shruti, Not Again!!!"... Well, Shraxis... (UTI is now AXIS...so shrUTI is shrAXIS... she had sent this in a mail)... hope you do not continue this tradition from here on... Some traditions are good if they are broken...

Well, did not want to prolong this one... my Editor-In-Chief had advised me to keep it small... but could not help it... However, some are still remaining.... My readers can still add... Juniors...sorry for not including your brand names... its because of "Information Asymmetry"....

Anyways, Its last 20 days at SDMIMD...... Hope my SDM Brands will not consider anything offending in this... if they feel, they are free to tell me... Naissance 2010 was successful and we really did it in STYLE....

ALL THE BEST EVERYONE !!!

Regards,

JAM

3 Id!ot$

Yes !!! Finally I got something to write...

Guys and gals, Happy New Year !!!

Wondering what is this, this is my version of 3Id!0t$ !!!

AD (Ankit Duggal a.k.a Duggal sahab,duggs) KABIR (Ankush Jain) "naam to suna hi hoga" & yours truly JAM (Jain Amit Manraj).

We take pride in calling ourselves the 3Id!ot$ of SDMIMD. I should thank Jithu for this. The first day I arrived at college (I was the last person to come..9days late) he introduced me to Ankush (B.E., E&C) from Alwar, Rajasthan. A simple shy looking boy with a cute smile. Even the girls would envy her smile so innocent and so deceptive. I never knew what this bholi-si surat had behind it... Saalaa 1 number ka chalu hai... The first year nobody actually knew about the Kabir Khan hidden in him. It was only during the end of the year, we came to know about the whole list of girls who had crush on him or whom he had crush on... Chak De India was a recent movie that time and we saw SRK coaching the Indian National Women's Hockey Team... Hence, came the name, our Ankush became Kabir. Chatting till early mornings... He used to compete with Ashok Kumar his neighbour for sleeping late. Ashok would sleep by 3.30am but for our Kabir 4.00am was normal... People call themselves Multi-taskers but I have not met any multi-tasker like him. Are he can bindass chat with 4-5 girls (age no bar) at a time and had none of them would come to know about the other. The whole first year past like this... but things change and so has our Kabir... Gone are the days of late night chatting now he chats in day time ... sudharega thodi... Kabir aise hi thodi naam pada hai... Are humara Love Guru hai woh... and you start writing the names and you will know even one Hockey team is less for him... This is only one side of him but the what makes me proud of him is his other side. I think he is the most sensitive boy I have ever seen. Not only his face and smile but also his heart is sweet... He cares alot about his friends and is always busy on attending calls, consoling one friend or other, advising them, whether love, job or even marriage, he helps everyone who comes to ask for his help. But then, you can always come to know from his face when he is happy and when not... inspite of his trying again and again to hide, nothing can be hidden from his face... May it be his dissapointed friends or his own personal problems, his face tells everything...

A totally different personality, AD, B.E. (Mechanical Engineer)...& now Mr. Mapro (The first among us to be placed).. U listen "Mechanical Engineer" and you think they are the most spoilt brats par yeh to Bhagwan ka banda hai yaar... bilkul different from the other Mechs. First year, he was so shy that he would not even talk about girls. Among the few (really few ) boys to go regularly to Yoga. He was known for his regular attendance at Yoga and above all sincerity in class. Always before time and attentive in class. But... for how long ??? In the second trimester itself our seats shifted to last rows and here comes out the real AD. Saala yeh bhi kameena kam nahi hai... 1 number ka badmaash... Non-stop chatting and playing in class... His passion about driving still amazes me... Just give him a bike and he will be ever ready to go anywhere you say... Ziddi (stubborn) to yeh bachpan se tha... bas it took us almost a year to actually realize it... Scheduling and Timing are among his hobbies and we know him for that... He says 6am in the morning means 6:00:00 am and never 6:00:01am... And if you are with him and dare to break the time table he had decided, you would have it from him... Many do not like, but for me it is his best quality. Are how can i forget his hidden love story which is no secret ... Aaj bhi uska naam lo to his face turns pink with shyness... shhh... I wont tell anything here... Secrets...

Last about me??? I think I better not write anything about me... I leave it to my readers to write about me !!!

Well, this is my version of 3Id!ot$... Chetan Bhagat and Vidhu Vinod Chopra & Co. are fighting with each other for the story of the film... and credits but for me I do not have any reservations. I know these two idiots will have something to say about this and I leave it to them to add...

Anyways, Happy New Year and Have a Prosperous New Year !!!

Waiting for the Dreams to come true !!!

JAM

Twists In A Tale !!!

Hi all,

Finally I am back and got some time to write this... Actually I have been waiting to write this more than ever...This one's about my journey to and from Ahmedabad... Travelled about 6000kms in 10 days... From Trains to buses to cars to Auto rickshaws to two wheeler all included...

After a continuous watch on ticket status finally when I got the seat numbers thought my tickets got confirmed... We were three of us as I mentioned in the previous blog.... But to everyone's surprise we had a fourth person to accompany us Vishal Shah a.k.a. Bond. We were waiting for the auto outside the mess when this guy decided to join us... In fact we had 5 tickets to Ahmedabad between 4 of us.... We had confirmed seats for 3 of us but could not get one for Bond so he had to travel in the unreserved class... We reached Hubli station morning 4.30am and we had to catch the train to Ahmedabad scheduled at 6.30am from Hubli so we had enough time... All of us slept at the railway platform... (Another first time for me).... Inspite of it being a busy railway station we all had quite a sound sleep after all the sleepless night during exams we could happily sleep even in the noisiest place... We had inquired about the platform so we need not worry about changing platform... 6.15am when I woke everybody suddenly we have an announcement "6532 Garib Nawaz Exp from Banglore to Ajmer is going to arrive shortly on platform number 5 instead of 3"... We got up in hurry packed the blankets and hurried towards platform 5... the Coach number was S11 ... the last coach of the train... and the steps reached at S1... 10 coaches plus a Pantry Car to be crossed and the train was already at the station... A stop of hardly 10 minutes... It was like a morning drill for us... hurrying towards the coach... Here comes another twist... The seats that I thought as reserved were actually not confirmed but in RAC wherein we get half a seat per ticket. So Aadmi 4 aur Seat sirf 1 ... bahut naa insaafi hai... more over the seats were not in the same compartment... so half seat in one and half in another... The train was jam packed with passengers all going towards Ahmedabad or some station in Rajasthan... (Marriage season!!!) no chance of tickets getting confirmed on the way also.... The Reservation coach seemed to be more of an unreserved class... Passing the day was fine but what about night...Luck favours the brave... We were brave to travel 4 people on 1 seat so luck favoured us and the 2 seats opposite to our seat were empty all day... neither did the passengers returned in the night... So Bond and Huda slept on one seat... and Gandaa slept on the other seat.. Now it was me who was left out... However, we had RAC tickets so half a seat... So I had to sleep on the half seat sharing it with some other passenger.... the side upper seat which is already the smallest seat in the railways coaches of length similar to my height...infact a couple of inches lesser than my height... could not even strech legs or change posture while sleeping... JAM got jammed...

Next morning 7 o'clock we were to reach Ahmedabad station but before that we have a small station Maninagar which is very near to my house and by the time train reaches Ahmedabad station I would have reached home so decided to get down there... So got up at 6.30am and packed the blankets and pillows and woke others also to get ready.... I asked the Pantry Attendant if the train was running on time and he said yes but when it was 7'0clock we had just reached Nadiad station... the train was actually running 1 hour late... When the train reached near the Maninagar station we got our luggage near the door as the stop is hardly of 30seconds to a minute... Indian Railways is not called great without any reason... The trains are expected to stop at the station but ours passed the platform and became damn slow so thought we would get down from the running train (Dangerous... Never done this before!!!) As only Bond and me were to get down I need not worry about the luggage as the other two would hand them to us once we get down... The platform passed and we got down from the running train... Well as soon as we got down and collected the luggage, the train stopped.... (Great Indian Railways!!!)

Very happy to be home.... Saw my newly born nephew.... peacefully sleeping... but wait the devil was actually sleeping and once he got up from sleep the exercise starts... everyone in the home tries to make him quite but the little devil would not stop crying... I picked him from his bed and he started to calm down... but when I put him down, he again started crying... Mom told me that not put him down ... he will cry more... What a habit the little angel developed... here's his uncle carrying him for next 30mintues to 45 minutes in his arm so that his mother could finish household chores...

In the evening I had to leave for Rajasthan... Again the tickets in waiting list... not confirmed... God!!! The Indian Railways was playing a spoil sport with me... Got the tickets cancelled and booked tickets in a sleeper bus.... What an experience... once the bus started and I felt asleep... I just could not make out the difference whether I was travelling in a train or bus... so comfortable... Plus my seat was covered with glass frames on two sides and wooden on the rest so no chance of the cold breeze coming in... (Rajasthan's winter are as harsh as its summers !!!)

Got down at Jodhpur at 6am and its was chilling... went to maternal uncle's home where my grandmother lives (Mom's mom)... I was so happy to see her and so was she... Got to eat hot jalebis with milk along with Pyaaz-kachori and Mirchi-vadas in the breakfast... a typical breakfast that you would find in a marwadi house in winter mornings... I was missing them... That's not all... my aunt prepared Puran Polis, my most favourite dish, for lunch....(Puran polis are jaggery and chana daal stuffed parathas to be eaten with ghee)

Life's boring without twists..... We had to board a bus in the afternoon to my native village about 100kms from Jodhpur... the bus also jam-packed... What to do... however got a seat besides the bus driver.... I sat on the engine hood in the bus on the way to my village... Another experience...My aunt's daughter's marriage was the actual agenda for going to Rajasthan... It's a tradition in our society that the bride's maternal side gives certain gifts to the bride's family and guests (traditionally called "Mayra" in marwadi)... So we went to invite few villagers for the function.

Next morning had to wake up at 6am as we were to catch the bus to Pushkar at 7am... But it was so chilly that neither of us woke up and we all were under blanket till 7am... however we got a 8am bus to Merta from where we changed bus for Pushkar.... On the way to Merta... I met a boy who is doing his BBA... and is going to appear for CAT next year... I told him about what he could do for preparing for his CAT (He has no coaching centres in his village or nearby town :( ) and also what could be other tests he should be looking for... I also gave my SDM card to him so that he can contact me... (Travelling helps networking and this was my first real time networking)... On the way I saw the villagers of small villages talking on their Cell phones and Sim cards for almost all the companies being available... Telecom wave was showing its effects... where there were no Landlines 5 years back, people are talking on mobile phones now....

When we reached Pushkar my cousin was very angry on me... she expected me to be there at least a couple of days earlier...but then however I explained her the system here and solved the matter... Pushkar is known for its Brahma Temple and the Animal fair... Well... also for the foreigners who come there ;) The market place was so lively with all the colourful traditional Rajasthani dresses and toys... but the year's recession had taken its toll on these also... the visitors were low and so were the sales...

From Pushkar we went to Jaipur in our car...With my sister and mom with us and Jaipur's main market areas nearby... we could not miss shopping there... Mom bought a couple of Saris and some bedsheets. We went to a shop called Narayanji who made jaggery biscuits (known as Gajak) and was the most famous person for Gajaks in whole of Rajasthan. If you are in Jaipur and you have not been to LMB's Vegetarian restaurant you have certainly missed something.... The restaurant serves food made in pure desi ghee since more than 200 years now and the food is undoubtedly the best...

The next day we had to travel back to Ahmedabad from Jaipur more than 700 kms journey to be made in car and we had to start early... but again the winter took the toll and we could start only at 10 am... However, the Indian Government has improved a lot on the infrastructure facilities in the country.... All through the 700+kms journey we had a great 4-lane tolled highway... The car could easily cruise at an average speed of 70-80km/hr. The amount paid for tolls was nearly Rs. 300 but then the time saved was very important. On the way where we stopped for our lunch, i saw a Porsche Carrera ... at the Highway restaurant... You don't see these beauties easily on Indian roads.... I love driving and hence asked my driver for the keys and told him to sit back and relax for some time... The road was so smooth and safe that I could easily drive the car at an average speed of 80-90km/hr with max speed at 110-115km/hr.Reached Ahmedabad by 10 pm.

The next day I had to meet my relatives, friends and even get my laptop serviced... I squeezed time and met as many of them as I could but still could not meet a few and they are furious about this... Well... sorry guys next time I will surely meet you before others. My mom was all busy preparing snacks for my stay of next couple of months at college.

I had a train next day at 2.30pm. Twists were the part of my whole journey... Initially Huda and me were to leave that day but Bond called a couple of days back saying he has a ticket and he is also coming with us... Great !!! well not so much... 2 hours before we were to board the train he tells me that the ticket he had was an e-ticket of another friend and hence he could not travel on that ticket... But then he knew that I had two tickets but he did not know that Huda was coming on the other ticket so now he had to cancel his trip and came next day by flight... that's not all our tickets were not confirmed till the day of departure.. thought again it would be a half seat travel...here's the twist the tickets got confirmed at the last moment and me and Huda returned by the train...

We reached a day late than the scheduled vacation but to our luck we did not have any session the previous day else we would be under the axe of downgrading for lack of attendance....Next day we had Infosys coming to campus and I was shortlisted for it... Had no clue of what to prepare for the interview just read something about the company.... Infosys is the largest recruiter for us and we all were looking forward to big numbers... They interviewed 32 of us and selected 18... Now that's a real large number for a strenght of 124 students....

Congratulations to all of themm...

Well yours truly could not make through...but no worries.... we are hoping for some more companies and as its said... It's not the end of the world.... So now I am looking forward to opportunities coming in future and hope to give you the good news of my placements soon...

Till then byeee and thanx for reading this long post !!!

JAM

The Term That Was !!!

Finally... Exams over and so is the term !!! phewww... What a term it was !!! Some great decisions and some not so great... Mixed emotions as another term gets over this day. Successful completion of 5 trimesters but only 1 left at this HEAVEN called SDMIMD...

The term that started off in high spirits. Placements season was on its way and so were our preparations. The result of the previous term (4th term) was shocking. An increase in grade from 3.18 to 3.23 when I expected it to fall below 3.10 (on scale of 4). A good surprise indeed !!! Having the option of only two finance subjects, had to take subjects from marketing and operations. That's where the term did not prove that great. QTMR (Quantitative Techniques for Market Research) proved to be a nightmare for many of us. No one expected that it would entail so much of hard work and research. Well for me it seemed I forgot that I am a core finance student. All those who took QTMR did only the project through out the term. It seemed the term had nothing else but QTMR. Well, Product Management another marketing subject was just Great !!!... though felt lost sometime during classes but most of the classes were interesting and had great fun... Supply Chain Management... Took that out of curiosity of understanding SCM... Nothing much to say for that... FIS (Fixed Income Securities) After FD (Financial Derivatives) expected some more encounter with YTM, Coupons & Hedging... But after FD I just sailed through the elective.... Last but not hte least MBFI ( Management of Banks & Financial Institutions)... had most expectations with it but well you won't get everything that you wish... Exams were interesting... as usual Kapil and me studied together for two most important subjects (PM & FIS) ... However the most exciting thing that happened was... A finance student teaching people marketing subject...!!!

Well that ends the elective list but not what I did in 5th term... Going t0 bakery with Janab, Playing basket ball after dinner and taking lonely walks at midnight became another hobby of mine in this term. Couple of friends maintained the SDM tradition of plasters while some of us had a narrow escape (includes me!!!). Vibrants discovered a new way of celebrating birthdays and that started with me ( Thank U !!!). Ankit will curse me and Ankush if I don't include his name here for harassing him all through the term and making him watch movies till 2am-3am. Even Kalpa for my new habit of listening music in loud volume. Not to forget to include my sweet friend and student whom we might not be able to see back on campus... Well Teacher, if you reading this... thank you for accompanying me in the late night walks... (Teacher if you don't know is RachanaPriya. She got suspended from the college she was teaching so she joined MBA!!! Just kidding!!!). Diwali went by this term and had great fun here at SDMIMD. Did not miss home... Waited at bus stop from 5am to 7am for picking up Karen from her yet another home trip...

Well the term has ended and new term is on the block... Expect to get placed soon and enjoy last few days of Official Student life... (We are students all our life)...

Going Ahmedabad from Mysore tomorrow most importantly don't have a reserved seat to go... going with Ganda (Wadhwa Vinay Manohar... I like to call him that ...) and Huda (Talreja Prashant)... Hoping for an exciting journey with a waiting list ticket for a journey of 40 hours....

See you all soon....

All the best for Next Term....

JAM