Beauty and the Beast !!!

The train had started moving. A 30 year old man was sitting at the window seat looking and admiring the beauty outside. When he saw birds flying he got all excited and shouted at everyone around, telling them how beautiful they looked. He was in awe of the trees that were passing by. For him even the light gentle breeze that was blowing carried a different freshness today. He could see the huge sugarcane farms in the distance having a distinctive sweet fragrance. After sometime rain drops fell on his hands, he was thrilled just like a small 5 year old, when they get chocolates and toffees. Seeing such an odd behavior from a 30 year old, a lady sitting beside him couldn't help asking him the reason for such demonstration. She thought that he was a krack case and needed to go to a mental asylum. Upon questioning him, the answer she received made her feel embarrassed on her thoughts. The man was blind since birth and had just come from the hospital with a new pair of eyes. For him all these things were new and he was enjoying it to the hilt.

Without even knowing the truth, the lady had made assumptions about the man being a nut case. How many times do we make this mistake? We make certain perception about people or things and stick to it without considering other possibilities that can exists. Thus, it is imperative to know the truth before making assumptions and acting on our beliefs because there is a story behind every action an individual undertakes.

This incident also depicts the fact that on one hand we have such beauty in our environment and on the other hand there are people who starve for food, suffer from ailments and are disfigured. It feels sad and unfair at the same time. We should consider ourselves lucky and thank god to be able to revel in the bounties of nature. We are the blessed ones who have the love of our family and support of friends. Each and every moment of our life should be enjoyed. There is beauty in the varying shades of butterfly, the slight tinch of pink in the morning sky or the glittering dots shimmering against a black velvet blanket during the night. All of this should be appreciated. We should try and find joy in small things like helping an old man cross the road rather than materialistic things which we run after.

This bad and good side of the nature also tells us the positive and the negative aspect of human beings. Each one of us has devil and angel residing within us. Its just the question of which one gets better of us. Human beings are generally victims of circumstances. Their behavior are molded by the various situations they face and experiences they gather. No individual is bad or good by birth. Its the various problems they face and the company they keep that make them the way they are.

Our society consists of both beauty and the beast. It is upto us to cultivate the beauty and convert the beast. I wont say kill the beast because there is a prince hidden underneath the mask.

P.S. First time i have used my Consumer Behavior concepts so well.. I wished these concepts could have been applied while writing the exams.. :P

ADIOS....

Each and every new journey brings with itself new hurdles and challenges and along with that we also catch hold of few people who help us through the journey making it worthwhile. I too have such people in my life who help me, solve my doubts, give me courage and motivate me to reach my aim. These are my friends.

When i entered IBS, i was cautious and had all sorts of ideas about people around. But never once thought to find such a wacky group where anything and everything is possible. When we all come together we have time of our lives. From sitting in the canteen (all day long cos of tushki to help him bird watch :) .. i guess i might be killed for this) to loitering around in the college to going to dhabha or for late night walks (that would be me pestering everyone), we have done everything. I still remember the fights we have had over Delhi - Mumbai (though i still agree Delhi is the best :P ), heated discussions over politics and endless talks about movies (Yeah we all are big time movie buffs ... ). Oh!! how can i forget our outings and trips which would be planned for days and then postponed due to assignments and submissions which are part and parcel of life at B-school. With lips drooping and face sulking some would go to Ramulu for pepping up and others like me would go to Osman Sagar lake ( can you imagine i have been there 5 times, i think no one in the college would have been such a frequent visitor) .

Many ask me what is it that you will remember the most from these past two years. For me it is not one moment which i can say is special but each and every moment spent with my friends is memorable to me. Be it trip to Srisailam, Vizag or even Ramoji film city ( which was by far the most embarrassing one for me n now dont ask me why :( .. ) , each carry a special memory. Even the auto rides where we all use to sing at top of our voices thinking that we are descendants of Tansen is unforgettable. The way we use to take the case of our teachers (remember the 1st sem guys ;) .. gosh how can we even forget), the times we supposedly went to library for studies but ended up sleeping and snoring on the the sofa (hehe) and yeah the birthdays - full of dirt, left over food, kicks and boxes and hardly any cakes ; all are memories worth a lifetime.

In IBS i have not found friends but a small and close knit family where everyone loves each other and at the same time fight with each other. Even though all are strange people with weird habits, they are dear to me.Since, the session is coming to the end, i find it difficult to bid goodbye. So, here's a small poem which captures my feelings and says it all

As we walk our path of life,
We meet people everyday.
Most are simply met by chance.
But, some are sent our way.

These become special friends
Whose bond we can't explain;
The ones who understand us
And share our joy and pain.

Their love contains no boundaries.
So, even we are apart.
Their presence enhances us
With a warmth felt in the heart.

This love becomes a passageway,
When even the miles disappear.
And so, these friends, God sends our way,
Remain forever near.

Dreams- weird and strange.. yet so compelling !!

In this world where we live, there are two kinds of groups. One is a large group of people who curse the almighty for everything going wrong in their life and always complain of life being unfair and unjust to them, and on the other we have a small group of people who struggle their entire life to make their living. Everything just seems to be working for them and to others they seem blessed. What do you think is the difference between this large group with complains and small group with satisfaction with whatever they have? The difference lies in their ability to dream.

Dreams are like mirrors. They tell you how you want to lead your life and the ways to overcome hindrances and challenges thrown at you. Dreams help you unleash the creativity burning inside you and gives you the power to go beyond. While its true that we all have dreams, it is not true that everyone of us is living our dreams. Well some of us could be stuck and be unable to get past the phase of dreaming to the phase of action.

If suppose we are climbing a mountain, the first thought to occur would be "How did others manage to climb it? Isn't it hard?". It's not that it was not hard for them or that they had some kind of superpower to make the task easier. It's just that they had the dream; they had the ambition. They were not focusing on the hardships that they were facing. In their minds they were already on the other side basking the sunshine and enjoying the wealth which the land had to offer. Their dreams were much more stronger than the obstacles facing them.

You should never let your resolutions and goals weaken just because of the fear of the inability to face the challenge. Always be a dreamer and envision the future. Keep the finish line in mind when you are running a race, think of the praises while in the middle of the project and in your mind always see yourself achieving your goals. You have to be willing to suffer through the pain and miseries in the way. You have to adjust to being uncomfortable till you become comfortable, because only this way my friend "YOU CAN ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS"

So do you have the motivation to join the few people who manage to get past the dreaming stage and actually live their dream?

Life in a hostel !!!

I still remember the very first time when i heard that i might have to go to a hostel for further studies. I was so scared and worried. All my life i have lived with my parents, protected and pampered by them. The thought of being far away from them that too for 2 years was enough to give me goose bumps. I was wondering that what in the world has happened that my parents are sending me away. Am i becoming too much of a burden?

While coming to IBS, Hyderabad (my soon to be college) to give my interview, i had full intentions to screw it up ( n i actually thought that i did). But all my planning and calculations got a hit when i received my call letter where it was clearly mentioned that i have successfully made it to IBS. Half halfheartedly i boarded the Delhi - Hyderabad flight still with the hope that maybe its all a dream. But to my disappointment and fantasy of it being a dream, 2 hours later there i was, standing at the new Shamshabad airport of Hyderabad, with my whole cupboard packed. The journey from the airport to the college was a task in itself. Reason being that the college is situated on the outskirts of the city (30 kms away can u imagine!! How n where will I party?) and 40 kms from the airport. Somehow i managed to reach the college with my supposedly happy spirits intact ( for my parents sake who all seemed happy about the prospect that i was going to a hostel). With heart thumping hard, blood gushing into my ears and fear of the unknown i entered my college gate. At this point of time i was not thinking about the different and exciting life i'l be having but how little time was left with me to spend with my parents. After setting up my room and filling the formalities, my parents left me in this alien world where i didnt know any one. Here i was supposed to fend for myself. The days of hot coffee in bed and "sleep my child you are studying since long" was gone.

So,begins my life in a hostel. Hostel life is very different from what i had perceived it to be. Being fed by the Hindi movies, i always imagined hostel consisting of stern female wardens, dormitory full of girls and late nights doing loads n loads of work. But that's not the case. Hostel life is supposed to be full of fun n masti. The part where stern female wardens n late nights are concerned is perfectly true but with a slight difference. We are awake the whole night not doing work but watching movies, updating ourselves with the latest gossips and listening to music. In between all this if we get time assignments and submissions are also remembered.

If we see, hostel has a lot to teach us. Till few days back i hated my parents for sending me to the hostel, but now i know the rationale behind their move. It was not because they hated me or didnt love me. Infact it's probably one of the toughest decision that they took. They sent me to make me a person of substance. Hostel teaches you to be independent ( atleast to me it has taught that), makes you value friendship and people around, helps you to take your own decisions in life ( that i'm still learning). During my hostel life i have seen the worst and the best of times where my friends have been a constant support (truly guys without you all, things would have been difficult). Here i have seen people change, some being positively others negatively. Hostel is a place where you commit mistakes and learn. It develops your personality not completely but surely enough to make others see the change in you. However hard have i criticized my parents for sending me here, i now feel its the best decision they have taken.

MBA and Role of B-schools

In today's time each and every individual aspires to become an MBA.When i asked my younger cousin who is just 12 years old that what he wants to be once he grows up i got a very unexpected answer, "I want to be an MBA". He didn't even know what MBA stands for. Earlier an individual with an MBA degree was considered highly educated and professional but now a days MBA has become more of a necessity and an object to flaunt off. Every 1 in 5 individual is an MBA. The rate at which people are post graduating with MBA degrees it seems to me that soon enough we will have a separate nation for them alone. Its not that I'm anti-MBA infact i myself belong to the very same herd of MBA students. Its just that i sometimes wonder why do people pursue this course. Some do it because chachi ya mausi ke bachon ne kiya hai so we also have to do, some (especially boys ; plz dont take me wrong) do it because the prospects of marriage increases, some of them do it for better job opportunities and others do it because they actually want to study (do these kind of people actually exists?).

But tell me one thing do you actually believe that to be a good manager we need an MBA tag? I don't think so atleast not with the kind of theoretical education we get in our B-Schools. Although MBA has been the fastest growing degree course in last couple of decades, its not a prerequisite for a managers post. An individual do not have to sit through formal examinations to demonstrate their knowledge and innovative thinking. Management according to me is practiced and not preached. Also, management cannot be taught in a controlled environment. No B-School can prepare a student for the contingent situations which they might face in future mainly because these B-Schools emphasize more on quantitative methods like economics, operations, statistics, market research so on and so forth. The qualitative aspects like leadership, basic boardroom etiquettes etc. are largely ignored. Detailed analysis of data is also not taught. These institutions lead us to believe that a managers job is only restricted to goal setting, strategy formulation and controlling functions. They fail to tell us that there is lots more to do; paying attention to details being one of them. Even the case study methods (which are supposed to prepare us to deal with unforeseen crisis) are function specific i.e. its not focused on the entire leadership dimension but restricted to a particular domain.

B-Schools also emphasize not on adding knowledge but improving grades. In this race of who comes firsts and who comes second, students tend to lose focus on learning and instead concentrate on those activities which can earn them higher grades. Hence, the philosophy of "by hook or by crook" is followed. Due to intense competition, pressure for placements also increase and students start asking themselves "What can i do to make more money?".

All these thoughts make me wonder why to pursue MBA and enter the rat race? Whats so special about it when even without MBA degree we can be as successful as Tatas and Birlas. I leave it to you guys to find out the answers which may be on all our minds but we never got a chance to find out

Blogging

The other day i was chatting online with a friend of mine and she sent me a link of her "blog" and asked me to read it. The first thought to enter my mind was "Oh God! how vella can one be", so i chose to ignore. But after a lot of pestering i somehow manged to read the blog. To my amazement i found her blog very interesting and i was eagerly waiting for the sequel. This unusual behavior of mine made me realize that blogging is not what we do when we are free. In fact its a medium of expressing yourself without any inhibitions. It requires a lot of time and effort and lot of thought goes into the process. So, after lot of contemplation and thinking , here i am with my first blog, which now makes me a part of this growing madness of blogging. Well, since i have entered this ocean, let me take the plunge and write some sense in this otherwise senseless blog.

The very same day when i got introduced to the world of blogging, i also got acquainted with another side of our Indian society. We claim to be the next super power, our economy is booming, infrastructure increasing, education level rising, then why still do we have an orthodox mindset when it comes to girl - boy friendship. When a country develops, its not just development of infrastructure or economy that takes place, the mind set of people too have to evolve. If we continue with age old notions, then our growth will be hampered and prosperity of the country will be slowed or may even be stopped. On one hand we claim to be modern and on the other we still question the authenticity of girl and boy being "just friends". When 2 people are from same gender and are friends then its OK, but if people from opposite gender come close and share the same friendship then we see raised eyebrows and question - filled eyes. We again come down to the very same old question which i believe is being asked from generations - " Kya ek ladka aur ladki dost ban sakte hain?". In my opinion girls and boys can be friends, in fact they can be best of friends. The level of understanding that they share is huge, fights are less( believe me much less! phew!) and the amount of care don't even ask, its not even comparable. Till the time a girl and a boy know the limits of their relation, their friendship should be acceptable and not questioned along the imaginary threads which binds our society.

With this thought i choose to leave and would love to hear your views about these double standards which some of our members of the society possess.