(A post from Roanoke Airport)

Nine months back, I was at the same airport, completing one part of journey and about to start as a business student. Till now it was a fun ride but the experience I had on Smartway bus was unpleasant. That discussion with few local people about foreign students and how things have changed in Blacksburg wasn’t very encouraging. I felt unwelcoming and out of place. I wanted to catch next flight back home and leave.

In next two days my idea about the place had changed. I was in Hokie Nation and things were different here. People I met at Cranwell International Center and Graduate Life Center changed that perspective. They were good people and made sure international students do not face any issues. I had not expected such a warm welcome and caring attitude 8000 miles away from home.

Classes had begun and I felt out of place. This was mainly because of my engineering background where I am used to see things in particular way expect solutions the same way. Over that my teetotaller and introvert natural were not helpful in mingling with people. I knew, I just had to give enough time and things will work out.

After that the journey has been pretty rosy. I met some good people and made great friends. I traveled with most of them, either in Sunshine State or chilly Wisconsin or just commuting to college and it was great fun. Different mix of people, some with great organization skills, athletes, experts, know-it-all, travelers,  hard workers etc and that helped me learn something new, not just about them but lessons of life too. All this have helped me clarify my thoughts on many topics. People always tell that one learn a lot outside the class in business school, now I would completely agree with it.

MBA classes are very tough, not necessarily in what we do but the amount of work we have to do. This tremendous pressure can’t be handled single handedly, sometimes we just want to vent out our anger, sometimes we need help in coming out of situations, sometimes we are just unhappy with teammates, some ideas needs brainstorming and if we have some good friends this process becomes very easy. Testimonial to this is the comment made by a friend “One needs a friend to survive MBA!” One does not need help academically but the number of front one person is fighting at, can drive one crazy.

I am happy to have good friends here and wishing them a nice summer.

Blogger classmates – Alice and Matt, not my fault that only French blog

Two friends, call them A and G who are very close to me and know me very well decided to attack me. G who has been a great friend for last fifteen years and A who is a friend for last three years do not know each other personally, but since I keep on telling them about each-other they believe they know each other well. They talked for first time today and made a list of my qualities and mailed me (4:30 AM) and were seeking explanation for my behavior in certain situations. Both bugged me a lot (over twitter) for the reply, since I was unaware of conspiracy (and no net connection) I delayed the reply till I reached office.

I replied to the mail with each quality explained and was feeling proud of my reply, that I can handle any situation, but then came reply from A, This is hilarious. Your reply is exactly as G predicted it would be. They had prepared a template for the kind of reply they were expecting and it matched perfectly. I was confident of my reply and was expecting it to be doosra, but it turned out they had hit it for a SIX!

Now what to do, for them, I am too predictable, G has lived with me since childhood and can predict any move I make. Any action will have (more than) equal and opposite reaction. What should be my next move? How to be unpredictable?

This post got similar replies from Bhagyashree, Sree, wesleyneo, Divya and Praveen : Be happy you have such great friends……and whenever in a situation you dont know wht needs to be done, ask A and G and they will tell you your predictable behaviour……so cheers…

friend: You are mad! (after reading one of the short stories I wrote)
me: why, what happened?
friend: you spend all your time in front of computer, now your stories also start and end with computers.
me: wrong, one ended over the phone
friend: I am sure you will find your love online.

Open to: All, results viewable to: All

How many of you agree with my friend?

This weekend we had plans to go for Moonlight trek at Skanda Giri (Kalavaarahalli Betta), I have been there but that was day trek, the fun is trekking at night, before sunrise complete hill is surrounded by clouds, and sun rises over the clouds. That would be a memorable scene.

We had decided to start at 1 AM so we can reach by 2:30 and can start trek. But our bus did not reach to pick up; I called and found out that bus had an accident on Hosur Road while it was coming to pick up; travelling agent confirmed that at this hour it is impossible to get any other vehicle for 14 people. I had given up and changed by cloths too, but few friends did not give up and finally managed to get a Tata Star bus by 2:30, by the time we picked up everyone and left city it was 4:15 and there was no chance to climb up by sunrise.

We reached (after losing our way once) Skanda giri by 6:00 and there was sunrise. From down we could see how clouds have covered the top. We started the trek and realized that there were lot more thorny bushes then last time and it was very hard to cross them. There was a lot of grass and was making it very slippery to move, but still we kept on climbing. We were climbing with the theory that just reach some point and from there find way for another point (like traversing a graph without knowing what comes after next node). But that theory failed after 2 hours as we reached a DEAD (it was too slippery to move on) end, we had to climb down. Proving local maxima exist and can be deceptive sometimes.

One guide was waiting for us (he was sure we will miss the way) and we hired him as we were tired and it was getting hotter. It took us one more hour for guide to bring us to path that had to be followed, during which we had to cross two very steep and slippery sections. Rest of the climb was relatively smooth and we took two more hours to climb. It was amazing view from there and the view from there was exactly like ‘Google Maps’ view. We were exhausted but the cold breeze was relaxing enough to rejuvenate. Energy levels were restored by Amul Sandwiches, Haldiram’s Samosa and Sohn Papdi.

Climb was easy but long, another two hours and we were back at base camp. We started back; once again I was sitting in front guiding. But since I had not slept at all last night, I fell asleep, it would have been dangerous so I was kicked moved to the last seat, and slept peacefully till we reached back.

There were few funny moments too, when I said ‘we should have brought rope and could have climbed using that’ and I got reply ‘better than climbing I would hang myself with that rope’. Most of the jokes were concentrated towards workplace, PoC etc (what more can be expected when WS, PEAS and Radien teams go together for a trek)

PS: I realized one thing during the trip, if I have a camera with me, no trek seems longer.

This is a story of a kid, kid with the bad luck. He had a very strange power, the power of making things “not to” work. This incident happened during holiday season. Kid was too excited about holidays; he had properly planned fun as well as studies together. He wanted his best friend to visit him, so both pals and go around and have fun. He has this habit of calling everyone on his friends list during New Year. And his greatest wish, he wanted a Nintendo Wii from Santa.

But as always, luck favored him. The mail server/network went down (partially to be blamed to Taiwan quake). Friend refused to come, as he had some urgent work (always there is one or the other work, it’s the kid who is free). Kid was not able to call coz of some issues with himself. And sadly the BSNL network went down (what else do you expect on New Year eve). Someone tried to call using Hutch connection and guess what, all lines were busy (nothing new for Hutch user, Vodafone, plz reconsider you’re bidding options). And Nintendo Wii, I guess Santa was not able to meet the Bangalore traffic, as with kid’s luck he might be still struggling somewhere in North Pole itself.

Kid is tired; he wants to go to sleep. Deep sleep and he can’t dream also, coz he always has one kind of dreams and he is too scared now. Lights are dim now and he can hear in background, no it’s not background it’s coming from his heart.

Never win first place
I don’t support the team
I can’t take direction and my socks are never clean
I was always in a fight
cuz I can’t do nothin right
Every day I fight a war against a mirror
I can’t take the person staring back at me
I’m a hazard to myself
don’t let me get me
I’m my own worst enemy
it’s bad when you don’t know yourself
so irratiting
don’t want to be my friend no more
I wanna be somebody else
I wanna be somebody else

Garvit Golu and Michael Schumacher have one thing in common, no Golu is no formula 1 driver, they share the same birthday. Schumacher : serial driver who killed formula one ( The Times) has been my favorite driver since I started understanding formula1. and Golu : serial driver who killed the driving, is the slowest driver possible ( and I always warn him that some day someone is gonna hit you from back as you are very slow) . He is gem of a person, from his daily behavior it seems he is kind of stone hearted ( Stone cold, his fav wrestler) but when we spend some time with him, we realise how big heart he has. Excellent mathematical skills ( some people call him Ramanajuam 2k also), with passion for all kind of sports, sleep lover, extremely hard working and dedicated to the goal ( never seen a dedicated and hard working guy than him) are few of his qualities.

On his birthday, I wish he archive everything he wants and may all his dreams come true. And one more wish ( as my friend Malini says ) “I wish and truly hope that every one on this earth , small or big, black or white, rich or poor, has a friend like X.” ( where X belongs to {Golu} )

Malini wrote a blog about one of her friends and I liked it so posted it here. Geo read it and wrote another blog starting with it breakup poetry. After reading all this I thought of contributing into it.

I can’t think of anything. I just have few questions.

“Is there someone in your life you need to talk to? Give a ring? Maybe just a smile perhaps….Do it. Don’t wait…for him/her to do it first.” What if it is one person who is making all the calls? Consider all the calls made from one side, it does not look like one person is trying all hard to push this and other person is trying to avoid? I am not talking about a girl-guy situation where there can be complications, but a simple scenario.

“Tomorrow will be another day.
Guess it’s too late to say the things to you
That you needed to hear me say.”
This is a scenario with a breakup from relationship, rite? Because I feel when it comes to real friends it is never late. I can’t understand what is the problem apologizing and getting back into the same state as before?

“Ultimately, the blame doesn’t rest on one individual. Both parties are culpable in differing ways. In the end, you have to take your share.” I feel the blame in most of the cases goes to one party only; sometimes one individual is too demanding, too possessive, very complex character and that leads to all misunderstanding. If both people are to be blamed I think it is a scenario where a solution can be reached.

Continued from last post Friends

I can never promise that our lives will be the same but I am sure that I will always remember him and cherish the moments we have spent together. Those moments in college and the work place will be etched in my heart forever.

There will be many people coming and going in your life but very few will leave an imprint. X is one of them. He has already left a big imprint (in face one third of that imprint has popped out of my heart. You know the size of the human heart na!) I want to thank X for being such a wonderful friend who has bestowed immeasurable care and love on me that I am not sure if what I am to him in return is enough. I really hope I am.

I wish and truly hope that every one on this earth , small or big, black or white, rich or poor, has a friend like X. above all that, I wish I am like X to at least one person on this earth. Thank you X for being my true friend.

(Contributed by Malini )

Day before yesterday I had a fight with one of my very close friends and it was kind of a serious fight. Well the good part of it is that we are both back to our normal lives now. So I thought today I will write about friends in our life.

I know very one will agree that friends are important. Maybe when I say important, it’s an understatement. They are the essence of life, the juice, the source of our hidden energies. I am a kind of person who is friendly with almost everyone around me unless and until that person is intolerable. To deal with intolerable persons is just not my cup of tea. But I see many people around me dealing with such persons in a graceful manner and am trying to learn from them.

So I was writing that I had a fight with one of my friends. The reason was that I spoke a little harsh to him over the phone. this friend, lets say X, is a very close friend of mine and X scolded me saying that I was not eating and sleeping on time, was talking too much on phone and all that kind of things. Well he meant for my good only but just as everyone hates advices, I too do and hence got a bit harsh. Hence fight.

That day we fought ferociously and the following day I cooled down but X was adamant. He was neither talking to me nor mailing me. Now the actual tension started. I tried my level best to woo him back to talk to me. But X was very smart. For four continuous hours I was mailing him at a gap of 30 minutes and there was no reply. Then I went for lunch.

Now that I had the delicacies that they served in the office canteen, my brain was revived and I had a great idea. I came back to my seat and immediately mailed X saying that if he didn’t want to continue this relationship with me, he can very well say that and this will be the last mail from my side. It was the most sentimental mail I had written in a life time. I even wrote that it all lies in X’s hands now to contact me or not. It was all his wish. In the end I wrote that I still liked him very much and I will take the memories of our friendship to my grave. Also I wrote a sentence that he could come back to me whenever he wanted and I would accept him as if there were no problem at all.

Now see, this was a fluke mail. I very well know that I will not be able to bear if I lost X. I knew it equally well that X can’t bear it either and will call me or mail me immediately. So it was just a method to woo him to mail me. I was so happy with my new innovative idea. But you won’t believe me what happened next suddenly got some tele conference and left his seat (which I was unaware of). Here I am sitting looking into my mobile phone as if I am seeing it for the first time (of course expecting the great Mr.X’s call). After two more minutes of waiting I could feel the impatience gnawing inside me. As I had written in the mail that I will not be the first person to contact X, I was unable to do anything. Ego was preventing me from mailing X but impatience was also growing.

I checked the sent items. Yes, the mail had reached X .I checked the phone. No, there were no calls from X. In the minutes that followed I literally turned the whole place upside down. Well of course I thought that X had accepted the mail and had decided not to talk to me. There was no one to blame but me. Why did I write that fluke mail. I did not have the slightest clue that he would accept it. I wanted him to call immediately and say “no dear, you are wrong. How can I not talk to you”. But here I was in deep trouble.

I called up X’s closest friend and asked for help or you can say begged for help. He said he will do it and asked me not to worry. (Later on to find out that the friend did not help at all). I was too worried. After around 1 hour our hero’s mail arrived. I worriedly opened it thinking it was the last mail from him. But alas… the mail said “no dear… you are wrong. “How could I not talk to you? I MISSED YOU”. And I was so happy, you won’t believe. Then the whole misunderstanding was cleared when he explained that he had to go for an unexpected tele conference. (I hate that word tele con from now)

What I was trying to say is that you never know the importance of a friend when he/she is near you. You will realize when the person is not in touch for quite some time. You will terribly terribly miss him/her. But in life it may not be possible to have contact with a person for your whole life. As time passes, things change, situation changes and may be friends change. But if you see a person after a long time and still feel happy, then you were real friends.

I know my relationship with X might change with passing time. But what will always remain are the memories, the small fights, the arguments, the mails and of course the care. And when I see Mr.X after many years, I will definitely fight with him again. He can bring out the child in me. But I am sure I will be the happiest person on earth at that moment.

I can never promise that our lives will be the same but I am sure that I will always remember him and cherish the moments we have spent together. Those moments in college and the work place will be etched in my heart forever.

There will be many people coming and going in your life but very few will leave an imprint. X is one of them. He has already left a big imprint (in face one third of that imprint has popped out of my heart. You know the size of the human heart na!) I want to thank X for being such a wonderful friend who has bestowed immeasurable care and love on me that I am not sure if what I am to him in return is enough. I really hope I am.

I wish and truly hope that every one on this earth , small or big, black or white, rich or poor, has a friend like X. above all that, I wish I am like X to at least one person on this earth. Thank you X for being my true friend.

I can never promise that our lives will be the same but I am sure that I will always remember him and cherish the moments we have spent together. Those moments in college and the work place will be etched in my heart forever.

There will be many people coming and going in your life but very few will leave an imprint. X is one of them. He has already left a big imprint (in face one third of that imprint has popped out of my heart. You know the size of the human heart na!) I want to thank X for being such a wonderful friend who has bestowed immeasurable care and love on me that I am not sure if what I am to him in return is enough. I really hope I am.

I wish and truly hope that every one on this earth , small or big, black or white, rich or poor, has a friend like X. above all that, I wish I am like X to at least one person on this earth. Thank you X for being my true friend.