Madras Madness: Part 4 – A night not to be forgotten

Let me begin this article with a note of gratitude to all those readers who took their time off their busy schedule just to go through my last post. I highly appreciate it, as your constant support and constructive feedback makes me write more such articles or to put it in a fancy way, to share more of my memories with you J

So, getting into our new post right away, the following event that is to unfold is yet another memory out of my hippocampus. Well it is almost a decade now since it happened and to be more precise, from the late evening of Dec 31^st 2009 to the dawn of Jan 1^st 2010.

Hence, with the above dates mentioned, I am sure that you would have got a clue as to what the rest of the post might be all about. Well your guess is absolutely right, as it was our (me & my buddies) first New Year celebration out of our college hostel. In the last two years, we were totally confined in that so called “hostel” of Sri SaiRam Engineering College, which was of course one of the top-ranked colleges in Tamil Nadu, but was even more known for its insane rules & regulations imposed upon students. And so staying at such a place we weren’t even given the complete freedom of celebrating New Year. Amidst the stupid rules we still had our fair share of happiness and small-small celebrations happening occasionally, and which now brings me to think of putting a separate post on it.

So, right after the end of the fourth semester exams, we all had stepped out of the college hostel and had rented a small house in Chrompet. And the highlight of moving out was that all our parents had unanimously agreed to our decision of moving out of the hostel and they were totally against the cruel treatment of the college authorities. This made our decision easier to implement than what we had initially thought off.

Getting back to our story, on the 31^st evening, ultimately the plan was to head to Marina beach where one could find the best New Year celebration happening. Back then we didn’t have vehicle with us and so our only mode of transportation was the city bus. Aravindh, who popularly goes by the name “Mama”, had also turned up at our place for the night out. So, with the dusk approaching we took the bus “21G” to our first destination, the City Center Mall and from where we shall later be heading to the beach. The mall was just 2 kilometers from the beach and so spending the rest of the night at the mall and having our dinner over there was the best option to us.

As it was New Year eve, the roads were heavily packed and so it took a considerable amount of time to reach the mall. So, as planned we had our dinner over there, spent few hours at the roof top view point enjoying the cool sea breeze hitting our faces while we got an amazing view of the seashore.

With half-an-hour left for the clock to stuck 12, we made our way to the beach. It was unusually crowded with the air filled with excitement and people of all classes had gathered over there to share their happiness with the rest. Finally the clock ticked midnight and amount of fireworks display organized at the beach was amazing. People who had brought cakes with them started sharing it around with any stranger that they met over there. And the best part was you get randomly hugged by innumerable strangers on a single night, all wishing and exchanging their happiness with you. This was a new experience for all of us.

With the clock at half past midnight, people gathered there were made to disperse by the law enforcement department and we too made our way to the closest bus station, not being aware that we might be surprised right on the first day of the year. As we reached the bus station, the bus station supervisor informed us that the first bus to start from there was around 5 am only and that we were also not allowed to stay there until then.

WTF!!!

We were little confused and worried, since we had totally ignored the mode of returning home while drafting out our plan. Also, as we were students, we did not carry enough cash to even hire a taxi back home.

Since Aravindh had a considerable amount of experience being in the city, he suggested on checking out at the closest MRTS station for any night service train that might take us somewhere close to Chrompet. But, as we enquired over there, the station master disappointed us again by saying that there were no night service on that day and the first train in the morning was by half past four. Now, both the option of public transport was ruled out. However, looking at our plight, the station master informed us of a night service MTC bus available at the DMS (Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Service) bus stop.

Though it was a long walk from the Lighthouse station to DMS, we decided to take it still, as we were left out with no other option. As we made our walk there was total excitement filled in the air, all through the way and that made our walk even more entertaining. And every now and then we grouped up for a selfie or just find random spots to relax our tiring feet. The St. George’s church on the Cathedral rode had arranged for a special mass and it was so refreshing to hear in that hour of the day. Refreshing ourselves for quite a while, we further made our move towards the DMS bus stop.

The bus stop was deserted and we were the only ones making noise over there, well apart from the vehicles that were passing by the Anna Saalai. Say after twenty minutes or more, a bus made its approach near the bus stop.

Oh fuck, was our reaction looking at it!

The bus was jam packed with people clutching dangerously even on the tiny foot board and totally no room for anyone to even set a foot inside. It was such a terrible scene and we had no interest to put our own life at risk and board the bus. So now even the last hope of us getting back home was also lost. Sitting alone at a deserted bus stop at the early hours of the day, we never felt unsecured or dangerous, as Madras was by far considered to be one of the safest cities in the country.

So, for the first few minutes we were lazing around the bus stop, but after sometime we decided to move ahead as we were getting bored of staying at the same spot. Once again it was Aravindh who came up with a brilliant idea. He suggested us walking to the T.Nagar bus depot and by the time we reach there, we shall be able to comfortably take the first bus departing out of there. His idea did sound right and moreover we guys had nothing much to do, rather than stare at the deserted Anna Saalai. Our route map was to take the Mount Road and then turn right onto the Pondy Bazaar road. And on reaching the Panagal Park junction, we take the North Usman road until we reach the bus depot.

The route was pretty interesting to take and we marched all the way down the Mount Road. Once we entered the Pondy Bazaar area, it was such a rare scene to see the ever crowded road with no activity happening at all. We felt as if we owned the entire stretch of the road.

And one such interesting moment worth sharing here is that on the front yard of one of the houses, we found a strange rangoli put up for the New Year. A rangoli is not strange a sight at the entrance of the South Indian homes, but this rangoli had a strange message on it, which instantly grabbed our attentions. The message was “HAPPY NEW YEAR 20010”.

All of us burst out laughing looking at it and I still remember Sreeni trying his best to erase the extra 0 from it. It was so funny to think how crazy people become in the zest for celebration. So, walking further down the busy shopping lane of the city, we finally reached the T.Nagar Bus Depot and by the time we reached it, it was already dawn. The local tea shops around the depot had opened up for a fresh year of business. Gulping down some tea and biscuits, we saw the first bus getting ready to take us back home.

As we got down at Chrompet and made our way back to the room, we knew that the entire country had woken up to begin a fresh start into their life and here we lazy asses were so tired that we bounced straight onto our beds, later waking up by mid-day.

Wow!!! What a start for the year it was…

Madras Madness: Part 3 – Overnight Drink

A warm welcome to all my readers and here rolls out another fresh memory out of my mind.

Well of course I had mentioned in the earlier episodes of “Madras Madness” on how much I love the city and in-turn how much the city had given me back. So, every single moment spent in the city was well cherished by me and thereby I take pride in sharing with you some scintillating moments.

Note: It is purely my experience and love for the city that I am sharing it with you and it doesn’t necessarily require you to feel the same

So, this episode, as it goes by the name “Overnight Drink” started off just as a trial run, one night by a few guys of the Thiruvanmiyur flat, not knowing that it will later became a ritual for us. As you continue reading and get to know what I am about to share, well may be you might not be much exited or even think what so special about it, as we guys did. But as I said clearly before, this is just a recollection of the moments that I enjoyed the most at the city and you need not necessarily feel the same.

Disclaimer: So if you are not interested to know anything more, you may just skip the rest of the content and close the browser tab. No hard feelings at all. But to those who wish to know more, please continue reading.

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Well definitely your mind might be now releasing too much of dopamine to figure out what could it be. And maybe you might question us as well as to “What made it special for you guys”, since I had quoted it before.

Hmm, to answer that it could actually be a plethora of reasons. And to list a few here, 

it could have been the perfect mood & the flavor that elevated us, or be it the surroundings & the people with whom we shared the moment could have raised the bar. It could have been anything. But, there is no discrete answer to it with me, even right now.

Also, before I begin, a note of caution to you all;

Don’t just blindly come to a conclusion with the title, as many of you might perceive it wrongly, and especially when a teenager drafts out a post with such a weird title, your brain may tend to perceive it wrongly, especially if you were brought up in a conservative society.

So, with the statutory warning, let me straight away get into the main story. During the last few years of my Chennai life, I along with my friends had moved over to Thiruvanmiyur, a friendly neighborhood, mainly known for its serene locality with pristine beach. It was seafront apartment that we had rented and there was no shortage of the sea-breeze hitting our faces every day. We rejoiced moving over to the new place and it was like being in a rejuvenating camp, away from the bustling city crowd.

So, as we moved up there, we guys made it a routine to stroll the beach every night post dinner, sharing that day’s events among us and rejoicing through it. You ask me anytime and I would say that the time I spend with my friends is always valuable and incomparable to anything else. So, I prefer to spend an ample amount of time with them. I totally forget myself when surrounded by them and be the true version of myself with them. Well, a few like the way I am and there are others who take advantage of that and use me for their benefits.

Oops…I am drifting away from the topic!!!

Coming back to the scene of our night walk, one night we did notice a huge crowd gathered up at one particular spot of the beach. Well, usually the Thiruvanmiyur beach is less known among the masses and it is not that commercialized, thereby the film fraternity uses it to their advantage. And also planning a shoot at the most commercialized beaches of the city like the Marina and the Bessy means attracting huge crowd. However, Thiruvanmiyur beach attracts only the residents of the locality and hence it is easy for them to plan and execute the shoot. Therefore, looking at the crowd gathered there, our immediate assumption was that a shoot was going on.

However, our curiosity irked us to make our way towards the crowd. Reaching the spot, we didn’t know as to what our reactions should be. Are we to be surprised or are we to be quizzed or are we to be astonished, I don’t know at all. There was no film shooting happening but it was after all an old man with simple attire selling buttermilk on a bicycle.

Seriously!

So, what’s the big deal if an old man sells buttermilk on a bicycle would be your immediate question. Believe me; we had the same question in our head, as well.

Well it was until we saw the line of BMWs, Mercedes and other premium cars lined up around him, people queued up around him, patiently waiting, just to grab their glass of buttermilk. Looking at this scene totally made us curious and we headed closer to check it out.

Well it is a global say that “You get easily noticed if you are unique out of the lot” and so was this old man. Chennai is known for its hot and humid weather and so road-side stalls line up during summers, selling cold beverages, and buttermilk is the most common among them. But here, this man totally re-engineered the script. Instead of the strong daylight, he sells them after sunset and instead of setting up the same boring stall, he rides around the beach on his bicycle.

And unlike others, his USP was not just to serve plain buttermilk but he adds finely chopped raw Mango and Boondi (Indian dessert made from fried chickpea flour) along to it. These add-ons actually elevate the drink’s flavor and you could never resist it, after a sip. Well looking at the scene around us, we made our order and had the first drink of the night. Well, the rest is history.

It kind of became a ritual for all of us, every single night and even after moving out the city, until to this day, the memories of those nights still linger in my mind, evergreen as before.

P.S. You can google "Moru Thatha" to know more about him

She moved in, but I had moved out – Part 7

So, just a small recap from the previous part, I was getting excited upon the news of moving to a new academic block, our regular academic session began in which Mithun & I shared most of our classes, and finally Mithun had woke me up from my nap just to share his excitement of finding Meenakshi in the same class and where I got petrified of a totally different sight.

A girl of peaches-and-cream skin tone with perfectly threaded eyebrows and waist length brunette half straight & half wavy hair had walked in right behind Meenakshi. Her eyes were calm and they were an instant attraction. She carried a perfect hour-glass figure with the right attire & accessories matching her complexion and structure, ending it with a neat box heel sandal. A shinning gold wrist watch slides down her smooth waxed arm every single time she moved the few strands of hair away from her face and a neat shade of “Starla” nail color gave a finishing touch to her beauty.

At the very moment, out of nowhere, the following lines started playing in my head, on a continuous loop.

“Chubby Cheeks, dimpled chin,

Rosy lips, teeth within,

Curly hair, very fair,

Eyes so blue, lovely too”

Do the lines sound familiar to you? Well, of course every one might have sung this famous nursery rhyme in their childhood.

I felt like the composer of rhyme composed it by looking at her, as it rightly exemplified her. She moved in gracefully with a broad smile that totally illuminated her face. And all these while my eyes were totally glued on her, ignoring what Mithun was saying to me or any other guy in the class, as this was the girl whom I wanted to meet right since my first encounter.

She was Ms. Elegant!

Thanks to my mind that it instantly put aside every other junk stacked in my brain and started prioritizing with the new job of just observing her. My eyes were in parallel acting swiftly to capture every single frame of her and getting it uploaded right away on to my hard disk.

Say, for another ten minutes or more, she was still involved in some sort of casual conversation with Harini, one of our other classmates from Coimbatore but I was doing just one task and it was to keep looking at her. And then suddenly it happened! She turned around and looked at me for the first time and it brought instant goosebumps within me. Her face was naturally radiant and the dimples were an instant eye catcher. Looking at me she gave a small smile.

“Khalaas!” I truly can’t express that feeling through words

(Honestly, even now, smile adorns my face while reminiscing that moment)

Getting back to my sense, my mind that was processing rapidly all these while did not expect this sudden bump to hit it that it got jammed totally. Not knowing how to react to the situation, I felt a gentle smile would do the justification. So, I acknowledged her with a warm smile and to my disbelief she welcomed it, turned around and blushed. Her peachy cheeks were turning bright red and she seemed to relish the moment.

What more will a guy ask for, other than this!

In your teens, normally if a girl looks at you and smiles; unquestionably you get butterflies in your stomach and I have heard a lot about it from my friends. But, for the first time when I experienced it, it was like a sudden rush of adrenaline flowing through me and as if all the other hormones that were on sleep mode were suddenly activated. It was one of those rare happy moments of my life when I had experienced such adrenaline rush; well of course the last time was when my brothers were born.

Amidst this cute moment, I failed to notice that the staff was already there in the class and she had been talking to Harini. Shortly then moving to the center of the class she gave a small self-intro and asked us to do the same. The guys in the front rows started introducing themselves finally ending it with Mithun and I. Now the staff turned her attention towards the girl’s side and so did we. Mithun was equally excited to know more about Meenakshi as how I was to know about Ms. Elegant.

Meenakshi started and finished off her part in an instant and she sat down quickly, to which Mithun was totally disappointed. Next in turn to speak was my girl. As she stood up, her thick free-flowing hair glided gently on her back like the waves that hit the shores. She introduced herself as Sri Vidya, from Bangalore. Her voice was so soft, she was very attentive and clear in speaking about her, just to make sure that I get hold onto every word that she spoke (which I learnt it later).

Finishing her part she sat, flipped her hair sideways, turned towards me and gave a small nod, asking if I had taken down the details. Well of course, every guy tends to put in his full attention on the girl he likes and I am nowhere different from them. In fact I had noted down inch-by-inch of her from head to toe. But being a good boy (as how the society tagged me) I acknowledged her with a small smile and for the next few minutes our eyes were glued on to each other. This new feeling was something first of its kind for both of us and we both seemed love it. So, we just ignored the rest of student’s intro and were busy with our own task.

But, when you have a friend like Mithun, your special moments aren’t supposed to last longer. Mithun shook me vigorously, as it seems he had been lately noticing the short romance that I was having with Sri (that’s how I always refer to her) and also purposely since he was annoyed with Meenakshi not speaking much.

“Hey Dude, get back to your sense and focus on the class. May be you can continue with your romance, later”, said Mithun, turning my face away from her, still pissed off!

I turned around and stared at him for ruining the lovely moment and started focusing on the class, though not whole heartedly. My mind was constantly hovering and over the next forty minutes, Sri & I would have exchanged looks at least 10 – 15 times.

The class came to an end and as per the school rules girls moved out of the class followed by the guys. On the way to the next class Mithun started pestering me with questions. “Well, you always stick with us but had never mentioned about her. So, how did this happen?” asked Mithun, cornering me inside the class.

“See there was nothing to hide from you guys. What you saw today happened for the first time”, I said, but Mithun was not ready to accept it.

And I was very sure that Mithun would definitely reveal the incident to Kishore and he will not take it easy and light. So, I had to warn Mithun to shut his mouth and keep this incident to himself and we made our way towards the boy’s staircase.

So, to what extent did this first sight between Sri Vidya & Raghav take them into?

Wish to know more? Then please stay tuned until the next part rolls out!

She moved in, but I had moved out – Part 6

She moved in, but I had moved out - Part 5  (The link to previous part)

In the last chapter, looking at Mithun’s thoughtless act, I gave him such a big philosophical lecture, just like some spiritual guru does, still not knowing that in another few days, I myself was about to get trapped in the charms of a girl. A girl, who just swept me off my feat!

Of course, every girl is beautiful in her own ways, but this particular girl, who made me insanely fall for her, was beyond every one. Getting back to our school days, it was slowly moving on and we were getting the hold on to the imprudent rules that were imposed on us. Yes, we evidently hated our school life; however our hostel life was something to relish about. From 4pm until 8am of the next day, Kishore, Mithun & I used to have the best time of our life. We three used to hang out together; be it at the room or the canteen or the study hall or even while doing yoga, which we purposely attended to continue with interrupted our early morning sleep.

To be honest, it was actually a hell of a life for anyone studying there and kids as small as 6 years were put up in the hostel, just with the false expectation of making them a successful person (WTF). Well that was where the parent’s belief rested upon. In fact they believed that the school would pave the way for their child’s future. Hmmm, what a foolish mindset is it. Well nothing more can be said of this, as by default we are stereotypes.

So, amidst this hard f***ing life, as a relief, came the news of us moving to the newly constructed academic block, which housed a part of the boys higher secondary classes, as well. It seemed not everyone welcomed this news as how I did it, since now they miss the chance to secretly catch an eye on the higher secondary girls. But, I was much relieved now, since I get the chance to meet my brother, every single working day.

Right since childhood, I had grown up seeing him and in particular, just by calling him as “Gautham anna” itself brought in some sort of excitement within me. Not all the words that you use every time have a strong sense of connection within you, but there are very few that holds the magic in it. And to me, his name was one of them. So, having him around in a place where everything else was against me was indeed a blessing in disguise and now I was least concerned about anything else happening to me there. In one way as this news elevated my endorphin level to unimaginable point, a part of my mind still hovered around Ms. Elegant (the girl whom I longed to see from a long time).

The actual academic year hadn’t started yet and instead we were having sort of extracurricular sessions, like, some sort of orientation program. Hanging around with the other two and participating in most of the activities, we never realized that we had successfully survived two months in that hell. And every now and then, Mithun tried his luck with Meenakshi but nothing worked out. Also, from my observation I understood that she is more of a studious type and doesn’t give a shit to any unwanted stuff trending around her.

Mithun’s act of getting Meenakshi’s attention was one among them in her list however it was well received by the other girls of the class. They seemed to like it, however going by the school’s rule; they resisted their emotions & relished by hiding it within themselves. But, not even a single time did Meenakshi pay attention to him or rather was busy glued to the text books always. And I didn’t want to reveal this to him, as I never wished pain for Mithun. I definitely knew that it would completely devastate him.

You know what; the best thing about Mithun was his smile. It was so refreshing & addictive that you instantly forget everything. And to a face that brings in happiness to others, how could I, being his close friend, add sorrow by revealing this news. So, every time that he speaks about her, I gave him my full attention and supported him, still making sure he didn’t do anything insane and land us all in a tight spot.

And very soon our class schedule turned up and luckily I was sharing most of my classes with Mithun. Since, Kishore had taken Tamil as his second language and we had taken Hindi, his schedule slightly differed from us.

The first day of the academic calendar began and classes started rolling on with every minute passing by. It was the first hour, post lunch and we had our Hindi class. As per the schedule the class was located somewhere in the ground floor of the academic block. On the way to the class, Mithun & I were heavily arguing that it will be more of a casual interaction session and rather a formal class. As we entered the class, there were a handful of guys seated and a single girl, whom we didn’t care much about.

The class just had four rows of seats and as usual, we took the last row. Feeling bored and not knowing what to do until the staff arrives, I laid on the desk to take a short nap, since my tummy was full, after a so called satisfying meal (totally sarcastic).

It would have been just a matter of seconds before I had closed my eyes that Mithun woke me up. I said, “What is it now man?” still not opening my eyes.

“Raghav…Raghav, wake up and look, its Meenakshi. I didn’t know that she had taken Hindi, as well, as her second language”, exclaimed Mithun happily. 

My mind voice was like “Hey Bhagawaan!!! mujhe is ladke se bachao naa (Oh God! Please save me from him)”. Cursing Mithun with some good words (again sarcastic), I slowly turned my head towards the doorway, when something else instantly caught my attention. Believe me or not, you should have looked at my face then. I was sitting stunned as if some powerful spell had hit me. The sorrow that held me all these while had suddenly vanished out of me and I was looking fresh & energetic, as if some sort of energy booster was released out of my brain.

So, what petrified me & what got rid of my sorrows?

Curious to know more about what happened, then please stay tuned until the next chapter rolls out.

The Perfect Grill-O

As the evening sun was setting low, my hunger was slowly building up. I looked at my watch and sadly I had an hour more for the shift to end. Today was one of those rare days when I missed bringing some food to much at the office. And as I had recently moved to a new apartment, just two days back, finding stuffs in the morning before rushing to office was also tiring for me.

So, not knowing what to do and sitting idle would rather increase my hunger, I decided to shift my focus onto the World Wide Web. Going through few financial news on the Economic Times website, I checked my watch again, hoping that time would have moved on, but just five minutes had passed by.

“Oh God, not today” was the thought running in my mind.

With every minute passing by the rumbling sound of my stomach was pitching up. I somehow tried to convince my stomach by saying to myself that, “Calm down, no hurry please. We shall be at the restaurant very soon.”

So, with this same excuse I somehow managed to get rid of the next one hour and was on my way to home. Usually on days when my shift is until 2100 hours, I take my food outside, since it would become very late if I go home and prepare the dinner.

As I was walking through the lake side, my attention caught sight of a small eatery at one corner of a big building and I proceeded towards it. I had never been to it before and so the curiosity naturally drove me towards it. Approaching the café, I remembered couple of people from the locality talking great about the place. Not once or twice but I have heard the café’s name a lot many times. Now that I am actually heading to it built up my expectation tenfold.

The Tea Break café was a small, tastefully decorated and less crampy hangout spot, positioned well away from the eyes of the public. Only to those people who had a hang of this place, visited it often and they were the ones who marketed it out to the unknown rest.

By the time I entered it, the place was totally empty and the guy at the billing desk welcomed me with a broad smile and a “Hello”. I figured out instantly with his accent that he was a Malabari (term used in Dubai to refer a person from Kerala). As I was tired of conversing in Malayalam at the office, I held myself this time and conversed in English with him. Their Menu was limited but the options were wide and the list of ingredients used with each was something new and unique. Never had I seen the mixed usage of such items, however they sounded flavorsome.

I made my order for an Egg Mushroom Semi Club sandwich with a small cup of Zafran Kadak Chai (Saffron Masala Tea). While waiting for the order, my eyes scanned the place and it felt refreshing to be in there. I had always wanted to open a café and the interiors of this place gave me ideas on how to make it appealing to the customers.

And before my stomach could make any further rumbles, the order arrived at the table. Though it was a simple order, the culinary presentation was awe-inspiring. I took the first bite, it was really hot and my tongue took the burnt. However, within minutes I suddenly felt the blend of soft mushrooms, egg and cheese melting in my mouth. I could not explain my feeling as it was beyond words. The ingredients were well cooked and grilled to perfection. And munching it with a hot sip of Zafran Kadak chai elevated the taste.

With a satisfied heart and soul, of course stomach as well, I complimented the chef and made my way out of the place. Walking back to my apartment, the taste of the sandwich that was still hovering in my mind, made me believe that offering good food can attract a great foot fall, irrespective of how big or small your space is.

Time Flies by!

Dubai, the land of dreams, has never failed to live up to its name. It is one city wherein you find people from all walks of life. Be it the tourists, who fly in to experience the grandeur of this desert nation or be it the white-collar employees, charting out big dreams for their life, or be it the blue collar employees, in the hope of earning some extra cash (in Dirhams) to support their families, back home. So, everyone whom you meet in this city will have a long story, left behind.

And so is one such story, the story of a young teenager, traveling all the way from India into a foreign country for the first time in his life. Never did he expect that even his passport will be stamped one fine day. Every single event that made his journey to Dubai was totally unplanned. What started off as a commitment to keep his relationship intact, ended up losing both the girl he loved and the anticipated B-School of his choice. But, his parents had always believed in him and they had always trusted his moves. It was they who suggested him to fly to Dubai, even though it meant burning their pockets heavily. But, they did not worry about it, as all that they wished was for him to have a new life, a better life, away from home, away from the losses that he suffered, and away from everything.

Classes went on well and so was his urge to learn. Over the past twenty-five years, it was here wherein the urge to study & learn more hit him like a thunder. Of course, he did it pretty well in comparison to the whole batch. And in the company some great people, his life was progressing fine. Days went by, weeks passed on and years flew by, and suddenly today he is still in Dubai, but not as a student anymore. A nice job at a multinational firm has made his schedule busy and engaged. He did understand that the next phase of his life has begun and it was the time for him to move out of the place, which hosted him for two long years; (i.e.) the college hostel.

No more late night studies, assignments, exams, chatting, fighting, gaming, late night walks and finally, preparing spicy Maggi in the middle of the night to feed the starving stomach. When he recollects those memories, a small smile pops up at the end of his lip. And at the same time thinking that there won’t be any more such moments to cherish upon does make him emotional. It is time for him to step out of academic city perimeter and relocate into some cozy neighborhood.

“It feels like yesterday when I first entered Dubai and now I don’t even remember how each day went by”. Time just swept me off my feet and I don’t know how further it will take me, is what dwells in his mind.

Those small moments, well enough to steer your life forward

With the series of unexpected death in the recent past (Sri Devi and other few Bollywood stars), it is evident that life is unpredictable. And in such a case what is the point of charting out your long-term plans, when you are unsure if you will be alive the next morning.

You may think that I am being pessimistic, but I would call it being “realistic”. Expectation and reality never come together and so I believe that it is better to stay alive and enjoy the very moment of the reality rather than living in the world of expectations. Who knows, if you or I will even get a second chance to live the moment?

And so was one such moment of reality that I shall cherish for the rest of my life. Though I am the only one who knows the true reason for seeking an admission with Institute of Management Technology Dubai, I adapted well early to this place and with my batchmates too. I started liking the place and made it work for me in the way I preferred. Though there were too many cases of back-stabbing and bitching about one another, nothing much happened with me or to me, as I was being fair with everyone (except for a set of students from a region). So, over the two years of MBA, life was pretty good with too many moments to cherish about.

One such incident that will remain close to my heart was this year’s birthday celebration that was planned by my close ones. To be honest, I, after a certain point in my life, felt no interest towards celebrating birthdays. But this birthday was so special, only because of them. I owe a million thanks to my besties (Boss, Rishab, Shivani, Sayani). You made the day and you also made me feel the importance of holding on to certain relationships.

So, a big thank you, to each one of you, who planned and executed it very well. I wish many more such happy moments in all our lives and hopefully, we shall all stay connected over an extended period.

No boundaries to confine you!

It was an overcast day over the island nation and the semi-barren agricultural land, far from the downtown city, was eagerly expecting the first few showers of the season. The weather man had forecasted rain by the dusk, but the usual bustling activity of a busy city did not recede at all. Vehicles kept honking through the streets, hawkers with their shops lying across the footpath and trying to woo in customers, Office goers having a round of their evening cigarette with a hot cup of coffee and school students hurrying off to their houses before the sky opens.

In the next few minutes, the initial few drops had hit the ground, thereby emulating the romantic scent of the barren earth, and kicking off the momentum among the city dwellers. Everyone wanted to get themselves covered under a shelter before the huge roar of the mighty sky take control over the exploited planet. And moments later, every pothole of city road was filled with water and those few surviving trees on either side of the road were taking some splashing shower, as the sky had finally taken its momentum. 

Standing behind the grilled bars of the verandah of her third-floor apartment, Priya was one among the thousand silent spectators of the city who enjoyed the thunderous downpour. The city was getting itself refreshed with the outburst and so was Priya. Extending her arm through the small gap in between the grills, she was enjoying the soft touch of the rain drops caressing her palm. With every single drop flowing out of her extended palm, she was feeling the joy of unboundedness, which the rain drops had privileged with.

Being brought up in a highly conservative society, Priya was mentally intoxicated with the repeated ritual of her parent, asking her to take forward the traditional values of the family. Though everything around her was technologically fast advancing, she wondered many a time as to what holds back her parent’s mindset from evolving. Why do they still stick to the meaningless customs of the ancient era? Instances like forbidding her from wearing skin-tight dress or mingling with the opposite gender had made her feel like an alien every single time when she tries overruling her parent’s ideologies. And when she tries to express her feelings to her parents about how wrong they are about the worldly perception, it usually ended up with her getting harsh abuses.

The age-old perception of the worldly matters doesn’t have an effect anymore. With every passing day bringing in some advancement in the field of science, why is not the human brain advancing, which was also evolved out of science? Why can’t everyone see what the truth is and what is their surroundings like and act accordingly! Just because some age old customized creature is still practicing and imposing his/her practice on his/her descendants, people like Priya, who wish to breakdown the barrier and lead the life as it is meant to be, are highly stressed out and traumatized.

“Is this how girls are treated in this modern society”? And what does everyone mean to be modern, when one does not even have the right to express one’s own feelings. Thinking deeply about how miserable her life was, she was brought back to her sense with few rain drops hitting her face. With solitary confinement in her case for the rest of the life, she envied the rain drops, which in turn had no boundaries to be confined within and was free to flow anywhere.

Birth of a new Salesman

Dubai, the dream destination for many travelers became a home to me, not before I chose to pursue my higher studies here. But right from the day I stepped in on this miracle land, where anything could rise out of the sand and touching the sky, money was concurrently out flowing from me. Ten months already flew with no opportunity to find a way of sourcing cash inflow. Too many pleas, requests and false guarantee of the close circle went useless, all through these months.

Finally came in an opportunity via a man whom I had always trusted (so far he hasn’t broken it). It was a four day assignment with Videocon mobile on a festival promotion activity. The company had come up with new range of mobiles and they were looking out for promoters for the same. I grabbed the opportunity and was offered a store in the farthest of the location, Al Quoz. Though it is considered to be a close proximity to the main business center of the New Dubai, yet it was far from IMT. A solid two hour travel will take me to this highly populated labor camp, mostly filled with Indians and Pakistanis.

There was no hesitation from my end, as I considered this as an opportunity to explore the beautiful city. Actually speaking, these locality project the other set of Dubai population, the working and labor class, who equally contribute to the economic fluctuations of the nation and less exposed on the media.

Occupied with mile long warehouses and labor camps on either side of the road, the way to my destination was entirely different than what I had witnessed with the other half of Dubai. The hypermarket was positioned in a prime location and with heavy footfall, throughout the day. To assist me at the store was a wonderful person, who could not be matched with anyone I had met at Dubai, so far. He was so supportive and encouraging, though knowing that this was my first attempt with sales. His encouragement and strong belief raised my spirit and together made us achieve a huge target sale of 71 mobiles, over the four day period. It was even the highest number achieved across locations, where similar promotion was happening.

Till that day I never realized that I could convince someone so well to take up a product, amidst heavy competition from competitor brands. And adding to my credit was the use of language. I had to keep switching my language between Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and English spontaneously, as people of different region visited the stall one at a time. Speaking fluently without stammering and conveying the information in a short span of time, it was such a daunting task, which was eventually done with ease.

In total, I would have spent close to 28 hours at the store, but the number of people who became my friends were innumerable. The store staffs were too friendly and the best part of this whole new experience was sharing the Iftar dinner with them. Never in my life had I ever witnessed such a mass dinner. Though the food was light, it was delicious and enjoyable when sharing it with everyone around you. I realized the real sense of togetherness and the motive of Ramadan, then. Over and all, I would say these four days to be highly productive days of my life.

Though on one side I feel happy about my new capability, on the other side I feel sad for making 71 people purchase a product, which I myself am pretty sure will not last longer. A kind of guilt crept within me as every single time when a mobile gets sold, since these people are not those few who purchase it for a passion. But, these are people who hesitate and think hundred times before investing their hard earned money on a product, which will not reap value, as it is conversely claimed to be.

God save them!

And thank you almighty for bringing out the “Salesman” out of me.

The biggest question of my life: Why MBA?

Seriously!

Yes, it was, until the moment I started my journey towards pursuing an MBA degree.

As your eyes linger over the bold text above, I believe the same question would have hit your brain too when you decided of taking up a management degree. If so, then consider you are lucky, since you are not blindly stepping into an unknown track, rather trying to form a track for yourself to race upon it, until the checkered flag of your destiny is waved.

So, how did it all began and most importantly, why did it begin with me?

As any other young and energetic teenager, I was also into engineering. Once graduated, the glitz and glamor of the Software Industry fascinated me towards it and so I kick-started my career as a software engineer. 3 years down the line, every ins and outs of the industry were very evident before me. The work that I was doing was easy enough to position me at the mid-managerial position and then on stagnant my growth once forever. Therefore, considering my long-term goal, I decided it was the time for the next big breakthrough. I decided to pursue my master’s degree in management.

Now as the decision was made, the next in line in the roadmap was to get constructive feedback and suggestions on my decision. As one of my cousins was an alumnus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad (IIMA), I had no trouble in seeking his feedback. After listening to my conversation about the decision to take an MBA, he, in a very subtle way, put forward a question to me.

Why MBA?

Believe me or not, this was the greatest life changing question that I had faced till date. Though I started listing him with few reasons then, I steadily started feeling that maybe I haven’t done my homework well. Gradually I also understood the seriousness behind those two words and started self-assessing over the question, “why should I do an MBA?”

Answering to it are few points listed below that I considered were some of the benefits or the fruit that one would reap out of the MBA course.

Expanding your knowledge horizon

One of the primary benefits of doing a management degree is that it opens the scope of your knowledge by bringing in the concepts of the business world and thereby implanting the roots of the essential business skills within you. In the future, one might pursue to become an entrepreneur or find a role as a middle manager, but with no right business knowledge and skill, it might turn out to be a highly turbulent journey.

Streamlining your Career

You might be an expertise in your field of work and feel happy that you are doing good in your career and progressing well too. However, it is virtually impossible to achieve the highest role with just your expertise in one area. As you climb up the ladder of responsibility, you need to have a broader picture of the rough sea ahead, else you might end up on a sinking ship. And this is where the business degree comes in rescue. The course is designed and formulated in a manner to give you a broad and encompassing 360-degree view of the business, thereby helping you to focus on the areas that will help you sail smoothly.

Skill Development

Highly ambitious and self-focused candidates not just exist with one or two skills, but are always on the lookout for enhancing their skills. Because, they understand the importance of skill building and the effect it will have on their career, especially in this fast-paced competitive environment. Possessing diverse skill-set can help one choose his/her career accordingly since the market will be wide open to them and not constrained as of those with limited skill-set. Thus,

• ·         Business degree program augments the candidate’s critical thinking and problem-solving skills in tougher and short-deadline situations
• ·         Fine tune in-depth analysis of the market scenario, since business is not just about the exchange of goods, but it involves knowing the right economic formulas, the demand-supply pattern, production of goods, making financial decisions, etc.
• ·         People skills, negotiating skill, soft skills and effective communication are an essential part of running a smooth business

Broadening your network

Your knowledge should not be confined within a box. As you open up to the world, it cultivates new thoughts, when you come in contact with like-minded people. A business degree thus helps in broadening your network with like-minded people across oceans. It aids you in connecting with the right people, thereby increasing your profile’s credibility, and who can also be a greater asset to you and your organization’s growth. When these right group of people joins hands together, it unlocks the door to millions of ideas and opportunities.

Roadmap to become an effective Leader

People still confuse a lot between a leader and a manager. A leader is someone who sticks by his team, guide them in the right direction and offers timely support, whereas a manager just sticks to his orders and expects his team to get the job done. Everyone wishes to be the former and not the later. So, what makes you a good leader and not a manager. Well, every business degree curriculum is framed in a manner that right from day one, you are being molded accordingly to the art of leadership. Bright candidates figure it out soon and display their skills over their stay at the B-school. Might you well think that don’t organizations develop great leaders? Yes, they do. But, what is unique about a business degree is that it makes an individual in understanding his role of acting as an organization’s Anchorage every single day. It also makes you an aristocrat of integrity, which is something that is expected out of a good leader.