Life's Like That!!!

Questions asked by P&G during the stress interviews while recruiting at IIM-B.

I am back after a hectic week of MS IT exams...
I think I did OK but was bored of sitting for 3 hours in the exam hall...
I wonder how I managed to do that during my 15 years of education...
Sometimes, I even used to complain that I did not have enough time to complete the papers!!!
The best part about the annual exams begins in the last 2 mins...

you see if you can crack any question in last 120 seconds....you try to arrange the sheets in proper order...check whether your roll no and name is legibly written...are all the sheets tied properly...scan around to see if all your friends have already left the hall...suddenly the bell rings...you give a final look at the paper and put the pens and instruments back into the box...you hand over the paper and walk out of the room...
what I do at this particular point is tra-la-la and a little jump in the air(especially if it is the final exam) and wipe that anxious look from my face..
We make a ball out of the question papers and tie them up with rubber bands...play full-toss cricket using the writing pad as our bat...
no need to go home early...the evening is still young and a long holiday ahead....

Those days were the best days of my life!!!

Smile at the past

with pride & Grace,

Live each today

With joy & verve,

Look at each tomorrow

With Hope and Faith,

This year, may all your efforts rewarded and

All your dreams come True.

Hope you and I have a great year ahead!!!

…And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you…

We are just two days into this week and already Fate/Destiny/Whatever has been working over-time.

- Will we see Veerapan caught like this - highly improbable...how absurd of me to even think on these lines!!!

- It took 22 years to tame the Kangaroos...Indian team no longers means Sachin alone

- I bet Agarkar will feature in an AD pretty soon...Fees of Dravid and Laxman would be sky-high by now *

- Had to happen one day...AIADMK headed by Jaya would be the natural choice for BJP because of the Hindutva factor.

p.s: My friends have not stopped petting my head. They say that shine on my head makes up for the lack of it on my face!!! The tiny hair on my head are beginning to peep out...grow up..grow up!!!!

Yes! I am now truly Bald and Beautiful.The former is because of my recent trip to Tirupathi and the latter is ,ofcourse, a subjective matter!!!

Vinod(my cousin) and I started for Tirupathi on saturday night from the Koyambedu Bus Terminus,Chennai.
The Koyambedu Bus Terminus looks really high-tech now with facilities similar to the Central railway station
We reached Tirupathi at 2.30 am on Sunday after 3 hrs of bumpy ride.
The early morning chill was hardly bearable,yet,the hustle-busle of the crowd was quite characteristic of second wealthiest temple in the World.
Warming ourselves up after a hot cup of tea,we stood in the serpentine queue.
The security was real tight(after the assassination attempt on Chandrababu Naidu)
The darshan time was at 9.00 pm in the night!!!but then, this is considered to be normal for a place where lakhs of pilgrims visit every day.
We started climbing towards Tirumalla.There are close to 3300 steps.
The first stretch is the real steep and we had to pause at times to catch our breath.
The second stretch(close to 2000) steps is ok...it is infact very flat.We saw a few spotted deers on the way.
The last stretch towards Tirumallai again requires lot of effort and stamina.
We were touched to see a physically-challenged man,climbing all the way,with just his hands while dragging his legs along the steps.
What are we complaning about???
In all,it was a wonderful experience.We reached Tirumallai in 2.5 hrs(22 kms in all).
Suprisingly we did not feel tired.After a quick freshening up and a cup of tea,we were in the queue for the tonsure.
After an agonizing wait of 3 hrs(There were only 3 barbers avaiable for 500 odd people),I fulfilled the vow I had made to God Venkatesh.
My tonsured head was smooth and i found myself circling my hand on it.
Another surprise awaited me while taking my bath.Water seemed to rush down my head as if it did not exist.I caught myself trying to dry my head with the towel!!!
It was almost 1.00 pm now...time for lunch.
We decided to try the famous Annadanam(Offering of Food)...luckily a kind soul gave us 2 meals coupon.The hall was big enough to feed atleast 1000 people at any given point of time(i think round the clock).The lunch was simple and tasty.
It was 3.oo pm.6 more hours to kill.
We decided to visit Papavinasam and Akash Ganga(water falls) and a few local temples.
We walked close to 10 kms.The air was crisp and chill.
Salubrious Hills streched wide and far.Forests looked dense and eerily quiet.
The only sounds were the vehicles on the long,winding and tortuous roads.
We had a quick cup of tea and headed for the Darshan queue to try our luck.
We were quite happy to hear that people with 9.00 pm darshan were being allowed in.
After 4 hrs of wait,we finally entered the inner sanctorum.
All we had to do was stand in the middle of the crowd and let the crowd move us ahead.
Gold glittered on the Gopuram.Signature of wealth was very evident.
The crowd was restless but they became silent and awe-struck the minute they saw the imposing idol of Lord Venkatesha.
I thanked the Lord for all that He has gifted me and prayed for peace and calmness within myself.
I lost my cousin briefly and after some frantic search,found him in the courtyard.
We got the world-famous laddus.The laddus are not as big as they used to be.
It was 10.30 pm when started back to Chennai.
All the walking(close to 40 km) is now showing up...my legs are aching...
Hope to make it again to Tirupathi again with my family.
long waits...restless crowd...but in the end ...Satisfaction :-))))

If you were enquire my Amma about the her children,She would say "I have four Kids.Harish,Girish and Suresh.My fourth child is my Garden".
Such is the love that my Amma showers on her Garden.
We have always lived in Flats.First,Second and Ground floors,We have seen it all.
The flats were typically small with little space for the garden.
Inspite of the constraints,Amma always made sure there is a garden in our house.
Plants of various kinds,of varying colors in pots of various shapes and sizes always doted the balcony of our flat.
Amma spends a considerable part of her free time in the afternoons in her small garden.
She believes that plants responds to human touch and care.
Amma's re-arranges the pots,almost a daily basis.She frequently changes the soil in the pots,adding all kinds of home-made manures(mostly vegetable and fruit wastages).
She lovingly talks with the plants as she waters(only drinking water and not the typical tap water) them.
She gently cajoles the plants which don't bloom or which would be slow in growth.
I even suspect that She has a name for each one of them.
The pain is evident on her face when she has to remove a decaying or dead plant.
The garden in our first floor flat was a matter of envy in the entire CPWD quaters.
We had two giant money-plants(kind of creepers),which would form a gracious arch before intertwining with each other.
Many tried imitating it but failed,I suspect,because of lack of human touch.
In the present flat,we are lucky to have two balconies and a terrace.
As you would have guessed by now,both the balconies are adorned with potted plants.
The plants in the balcony are mostly flowering varieties or of only decorative purposes.
The terrace now houses a tomato plant,a kind of spinach,Jasmine and Singapore grass(used for producing mouth-watering aroma in biriyani)
The present pride of Amma are the white,red rose plants.
My contribution to her garden is to water the plants in the terrace and I get scolded often for either excessive or deficient watering.
how am I to know the correct propotion of watering for each plant.
This week again,we plan to shop for more plants and pots.
This time around,Amma is planning hanging pots!!!

lately cool breeze has been sweeping across chennai nights ...early mornings are also quite chill...I have never known Chennai to be so cold.The temp are well below 30 degrees...I am enjoying this a lot...before the hot hot Chennai summer strikes.Hoping for a few good showers before that!!!

You are naturally born with a gift, whether it be
poetry, writing or song. You love beauty and
creativity, and usually are highly intelligent.
Others view you as mysterious and dreamy, yet
also bold since you hold firm in your beliefs.

What Type of Soul Do You Have ?
brought to you by Quizilla

2 day weekends are great!
Saturdays mornings are the best coz you know there is always a sunday left!!!
Sundays evenings are the worst coz monday is not far away!!!

on top of it...I went to Fisherman's Cove,a beach side resort on the outskirts of Chennai for a Project party.The Resort is run by the Taj group of hotels.
The resort is Salubrious and definitely a must-visit place if you come down to Chennai
Had a great time.The water was so clear that I could see the shells and the fishes in the beach as we walked along the shore.We played Beach volleyball,soccer and a variety of indoor games.Felt real great though the food was not upto the mark.
we spent wonderful 9 hours at the resort and came back exhausted.

what did I do this weekend?

* I regularly visit the nearby Ayyapan temple every Saturday Morning.
The temple is small but divinity is evident.I always make it a point to go there irrespective of my present state of mind.I hope and wish I would be able to do something for the temple in future.

* Slept through most of Saturday afternoon with the "Ultimate Hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy" on my chest!!!

* Started brushing up my CAT books.The re-test is on 15 Feb.Hope to crack it this time.

* sunday morning as superb as I watched the hapenning movie in the city,Finding Nemo along with my friends,Prati,Pradeep and Karthik.
We couldn't get the tickets last time and instead watched DreamCatcher, a real yuk movie...avoid it at all costs.
Finding Nemo is all about love,friendship and brotherhood.The movie stresses on let-go attitude with our loved ones.

* picked up

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2 day weekends are great!
Saturdays mornings are the best coz you know there is always a sunday left!!!
Sundays evenings are the worst coz monday is not far away!!!

on top of it...I went to <a href=http://www.hotelsinchennaimadras.com/fisherman-cove.html>Fisherman's Cove</a>,a beach side resort on the outskirts of Chennai for a Project party.The Resort is run by the Taj group of hotels.
The resort is Salubrious and definitely a must-visit place if you come down to Chennai
Had a great time.The water was so clear that I could see the shells and the fishes in the beach as we walked along the shore.We played Beach volleyball,soccer and a variety of indoor games.Felt real great though the food was not upto the mark.
we spent wonderful 9 hours at the resort and came back exhausted.

what did I do this weekend?

* I regularly visit the nearby Ayyapan temple every Saturday Morning.
The temple is small but divinity is evident.I always make it a point to go there irrespective of my present state of mind.I hope and wish I would be able to do something for the temple in future.

* Slept through most of Saturday afternoon with the "Ultimate Hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy" on my chest!!!

* Started brushing up my CAT books.The <a href=http://www.business-standard.com/today/story.asp?Menu=2&story=28425>re-test</a> is on 15 Feb.Hope to crack it this time.

* sunday morning as superb as I watched the hapenning movie in the city,<a href=http://www.whereisnemo.co.uk>Finding Nemo</a> along with my friends,Prati,Pradeep and Karthik.
We couldn't get the tickets last time and instead watched <a href=http://www.dreamcatchermovie.com>DreamCatcher</a>, a real yuk movie...avoid it at all costs.
Finding Nemo is all about love,friendship and brotherhood.The movie stresses on let-go attitude with our loved ones.

* picked up <a href=http://movies.yahoo.com/ shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1800217371>Forrest Gump</a> at the LandMark...watched later that night.
It is one of my all time favourites.Planning to pick up <a href=http://movies.123india.com/contemporary/freviews/ archives/con_rev_1012.html>Dil Chata hai</a> and <a href=http://www.lagaan.com>Lagaan</a> the next time

* Went to a seminar on <a href=http://www.artofliving.org>Art of Living</a> by Sri Sri Ravishanker at Anna University grounds along with Pradeep.It was mostly Bhajans.The best part was the 20-min group meditation.We didn't even realize that 20 mins had passed by.Comtemplating on joining the course ... it is quite expensive...rs 1000 for 6 days.

* watched <a href=http://www.mouthshut.com/readproduct/925039332-1.html>Mesa Madhavan</a>, a malayala movie, at home.It was a hillarious movie and Dilip and Jagadee have done extremely well.

2 wonderfuls days are over and here i am typing away at my comp at the office on a rather long Monday evening!!!

waiting for next Sat and Sun!!!!!!!

WOW! Had a great B'day on the 27 th Nov...Here are some of famous Sagitarians
was excited to know Bruce Lee was born on 27 th Nov 1940...now we do share some common characteristics...
ok ok...i was exaggerating..so what?? :-))
Got some real nice gifts.

* Amma and Acha gifted me a gold chain.I generally don't like to wear ornaments.
But I will surely wear this gift of love from my parents.

* My elder brother,Harish,gifted me a wondeful book, Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy by Douglus Adams. It is a hillarious book with liberal mixture of science-fiction and homour thrown in.

* Anna and Uma,who recently got married,called to wish me!!! Anna is presently in Shanghai,China and Uma is in Newzealand.

* My younger brother,Suresh, gifted me a half-sleeved Tommy Hilfiger Shirt which I wore on my B'day

* My special friend,Aarthi,gifted me

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WOW! Had a great B'day on the 27 th Nov...Here are some of <a href=http://www.ecentral.com/astra/fsag.html>famous Sagitarians</a>
was excited to know Bruce Lee was born on 27 th Nov 1940...now we do share some common characteristics...
ok ok...i was exaggerating..so what?? :-))
Got some real nice gifts. 

* Amma and Acha gifted me a gold chain.I generally don't like to wear ornaments.
But I will surely wear this gift of love from my parents.
 
* My elder brother,<a href=http://www.livejournal.com/users/harish_an/>Harish</a>,gifted me a wondeful book,<a href=http://www.abusinessbee.com/books/itm0517149257.htm> Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy by Douglus Adams</a>. It is a hillarious book with liberal mixture of science-fiction and homour thrown in.
 
* Anna and Uma,who recently got married,called to wish me!!! Anna is presently in Shanghai,China and Uma is in Newzealand.
 
* My younger brother,Suresh, gifted me a half-sleeved Tommy Hilfiger Shirt which I wore on my B'day
 
* My special friend,Aarthi,gifted me <a href=http://www.jonathanlynn.com/books/Complete_Yes_Minister/ complete_yes_minister.htm>
Complete Yes Minister</a>.I have been pestering her for the book for 6 years now.Not that I could get the book on my own,I wanted it as a gift from her.
 
* My friends at work gifted me 'Basics' Half-Sleeved Shirt which wore for them on the next day.I also got some lovely,treasurable cards from them.
 
* Another friend of mine,William,an IIT stud,gifted me a Nike T-Shirt.looks too good.
 
*Ramya,Suresh's friend,gifted me a cell-phone stand.too cute.
 
* My best friend,Pradeep,my college-mate and now my colleague gifted me a plater-of-paris model of a parrot perched on a tree and "To the most avid Bird-watcher" written underneath it!!!!
 
* on top of all this,My company <a href=http://www.igate.com>IGATE</a> had organized a anniversary bash.
I have completed 3 years in IGATE.I was gifted a watch with IGATE inscribed on the dial and a white T-shirt
with IGATE logo on it.
 

overall,I had a great b'day!!!
Thanks to my family and my friends who made my day!!!
and ofcourse THANK YOU GOD!!!

Hurray!!! I have completed 25 years - A quarter of Century !!! of life today!!!
Thanks to everyone in this world for putting up with me.
God,Nature,The One,The Truth , call what you will , has been extremely kind to me.
He has given me wonderful parents , incomparable friends , harmless enemies...what more can I ask for???
This is my first Blog in the rediff.I have been wanting to Blog for a long time.
May this be the first of the many Blogs to come!!!
Till then....Take it easy.

I introduced my friend aarthi to my brother's would-be Uma yesterday at Mount Road...
Aarthi was a bit scared...but Uma and Harish anna put her at ease...
we had ice-creams at Moonpek ...it was yummy....
our friend Mohan was also along with us...nice chap...
later aarthi and I went for shopping and she chose some dresses from Globus...
she is not bad at all..she just took 45 mins per dress..that's decent for a girl!!!
she is leaving to US on August...man will I miss her!!!!!!

The CAT application form is out and I did not even see it till my brother pointed it out to me...hardly 3 months left...have to make it this time..thats what my girld friend also prays for...should not let my brother(iim-b pass out) or aarthi..
Please pray for me!!!

The rainy season in chennai harsly lasts for a month or two(if we are lucky)...this time the weather is too good...more like the bangalore weather...don't feel like working today
a new month...a new beginning...hope July brings in joy and hapiness ...
i am off to bangalore this friday with my mother to meet my brother harish
may also go to Mysore to meet my future bhabhi Uma...
good things in the offings???

It is really bad when we forget the birthdays of the our friends.
I found this excellent service called www.BirthdayAlarm.com.
Birthday Alarm would send a mail 7 days before your friend's b'day.
you can enter you b'day for me at Birthday alarm

It is friday again!!! days seems to fly...it was the just the beginning to June and now it is almost July.
I have been wasting lots of time.
Have to do something productive...this realization,i believe,is the first step!!!

Have a nice weekend!!!!

hurray!! at last,this is my first ever journal entry!!!
Today is my Brother Harish's b'day.
Happy Birthday Anna!!!!
Acha,Amma,Suri and Myself would always be praying for your happiness and well-being.
just 1 more day to weekend...planning to watch Matrix Reloaded and Chalte-Chalte.
I love the character of Morpheus in the Matrix Reloaded.
I would love to have the sunglasses that Neo sports in that movie..they look so cool...
Sharukh is back to his old romantic roles ..4-t-shirt-one-jeans role...
Rani Mukherjee looks very good...is she wearing contacts?..her eyes look very prominent on her face...
hope to catch up with my CAT preparation...planning to write it this Nov. Hope 3 months would be enuf to get into the top-notch institutes
by the way,Harish is an iimb product..i am so proud of him...
hope to be in one of the iims soon........
catch you tomorrow!!!

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