Break Free!

We are control freaks by nature...No matter how much one denies...We are...We like to believe that we have some sense of hold over every aspect of our lives...Family, friends, career, boyfriend/girlfriend, spouse, kids...everything!!!

We want to KNOW everything and stay within the confines of our COMFORT ZONE so that we FEEL we are in control. Ironically this need for control gets even more pronounced when one is provided with independence, choices, freedom...the works!!! Seems strange??? Think about it!

While I am a stickler for discipline and  freedom with responsibility I sometimes can’t help but think why should a person know all the time where he’s headed for in life...why can’t for once he/she throw caution to the winds and go with the flow...while we may not always be presented with an opportunity to do so nor can we sometimes afford the risks that come along; we can however in some insignificant ways lose the sense of control, get out of our comfort zones and hand over our lives to the unknown forces around us for may be just a while...Here’s how:

1) This one is inspired from a friend’s blog, the next time you are listening to your mp3 player instead of you choosing a song for yourself let the player decide for you...Ask yourself any random question or think of any random person before a song begins...You’ll be surprised at the kind of insights it can give you...

2) Go to a library, pick up any title that interests you but you don’t necessarily want to read and flip through the book and come across a random page and a random line...Again you may just be amazed at the connection that one line has to any part of your life...

3) Close your eyes and flip through the contacts in your cell-phone, maybe you’ll come across the number of a long-lost friend, an acquaintance who you haven’t been in touch with for a while...Make that call or send a message...You never know how that call could change your life...

You truly will be amazed at the kind of insights, revelations, associations that can up when you handover your life to something as insignificant as a music player, a book, a cell-phone etc...That’s why when destiny has a plan for you it is something that makes you break the shackles of your comfort level, makes you reach greater heights than you thought was possible, unleash the dormant potential and see the world you didn’t know exists...Happy Exploring!

MET-Life

Time really does fly I feel as I write this post. Feeling slightly nostalgic about the fun-filled days gone by, slightly gloomy about the fact that life at MET is approaching its end and a lot happy about all the people that we met here, the friends that we made, the memories that have been created and the experiences that we all had (good and bad both) I wonder how it seemed like just yesterday we were stepping into our new lives; the first day feeling and looking resplendent in our new formals, smiling shyly, hesitatingly making eye-contacts, feeling nervous yet looking confident, anticipation, anxiety, excitement, curiosity, myriad of emotions running through us and yet we trying to maintain our poise and composure...

Then it was barely a month into our MBA programme that the same set of people we were smiling shyly at or hesitating to talk to slowly started becoming a part of our lives, the same formals we were proud to strut in during the induction slowly constricted us and some of us couldn’t wait for the weekends to arrive to breathe freely in a pair of jeans, t-shirt and a pair of chappals...

Projects, presentations, assignments, tests, vivas were thrust upon us every other day and we barely got a chance to breathe during an off day which existed only in the time-table on the notice board...

We all have had many new experiences both as individuals and as groups but what binds us is the fact that we were and still are all in it together...What follows is just a list of certain things we want to remember and certain things we can’t wait to forget about life at MET...

Things we want to remember	Things we definitely want to forget
Some professors for truly making us feel that we are in a B-school.	Some professors who forgot about the B in the B-school.
Friends who brought out the best in us.	Some people who brought out the worst versions of ourselves.
Prompt availability of all the required photo copies at the Xerox centre in a timely manner.	Hundreds of rupees spent on the same photocopies which were sometimes untouched even during the most desperate of times.
Projects which made us feel as if had conquered the world which was unfortunately a rarity.	Projects which made us think, “What the hell and why on earth am I doing this?” which was I guess for every other project.
Pleasure at finding a seat in the canteen for  every person in the herd we used to move in.	Displeasure at finding freebies such as cockroaches and hair in the canteen food.
MET Utsav- for the time pass we got to do in the name of volunteering, participating and cheering.	Lost matches, on stage goof ups etc...
Industrial visits which we most definitely ensured turned into a mini-vacation.	Scams and scandals that happened during those visits.
The rare occasions when we would get to watch a business news channel on the TV in the canteen.	The unfortunate times (which were most of the times) when we were subjected to “BREAKING NEWS” such as “A Crow playing a football” or any news related to the Bachchans, the Khans etc...

 

Ups and downs, highs and lows, mundane and exciting; life at MET has been nothing short of an amazing journey. As we conclude our MBA and as I conclude my post I just want to wish all of you the very best for the rest of your life J

New Year Resolutions...

January, the month of new beginnings, hopes, ambitions and the big R- RESOLUTIONS...Yes, this is the time when your mind runs into an overdrive trying to bring forth all the things that are put way back in the cobwebs of your mind; having left there half a month into the January of last year...

It just amazes me how we just can’t pick up a more apt time to make resolutions...Resolutions are essentially meant to be broken they say... One shouldn’t care whether one follows them, you just need guts to make them year after year, kind of shows your optimism towards life... There is a set pattern to most of the resolutions so much so that they seem like the 10 commandments...But the humour in the situation is accentuated by the fact that the timing of each of these clichéd resolution is so bad that they ultimately have to meet their fate.

1)      The very common and fairly obvious resolution: Thou shall lose weight...

Well, geniuses who think they are even remotely going to succeed in keeping up this resolution with all the candies, cakes and chocolates being thrown into your face (figuratively speaking and sometimes literally too) need to make one more resolution: Thou shall staple your mouth shut...If you wanna keep your word...As someone rightly said, “People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas!”

2)      Secondly: Thou shall exercise often preceded by Thou shall wake up early...

Guess what? You plan to do that on a night you are gonna stay up way past midnight; eating and drinking merrily...so this one definitely goes for a toss on the 1^st day of your resolutions...plus the winter season doesn’t help either when all you want to do is snuggle into your bed for as long as possible...

3)      Next (this one applies to the student community) Thou shall study all of thy subjects regularly and in a timely manner...After years and years of learning this lesson that we are the kind of species who work on the principle of rocket science we fail to understand that we won’t be picking up the book until our tails are on fire...But still we like to keep the teeny-tiny ray of hope alive that someday...someday we might just do the impossible...

4)      Thou shall control thy expenses... Well, in this case I don’t know about guys but girls definitely refrain from such a resolution because for most of them a new year and new resolutions mean nothing until and unless they have a few new items in their wardrobe...

5)      Thou shall be more focused... Can you imagine being focused on anything when all your friends want to do is swap their holiday stories, show off their new wardrobe, hairstyle, gossip and giggle...

 

So you see how badly we time our “New Year Resolutions”? A month passes by, then another, then another till you are back to square one in the last week of December with the same hopes, dreams, ambitions repackaged as “Resolutions for this year” and a smile on your face and a tiny voice in your head saying..."See you next year!”

 

I would like to end this post on positive note by quoting Oprah Winfrey “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right!”

 

So wishing everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR IN ADVANCE J

Regret.....

A six letter word that makes or breaks your life, changes it, makes it better or worse depending upon which side of the situation life has thrown you in. You may regret many things in life...........
1. Not having taken that dance class when you so desperately wanted to.....
2. Not having smiled at the friendly stranger who passed by you.....
3. Not having had that piece of the wonderful chocolate for fear of putting on a few extra calories....
4. Not having the guts to stand up for something that was truly unjust....
5. Having missed a friend’s birthday when all they wanted was simply your presence....
6. Not having given a last chance to a fading relationship....
7. Not having apologized to a friend due to an over-inflated ego and thus lost out on a wonderful friendship......
8. Not taken a risk in life and just done what one’s heart truly wanted and not what the rational mind demanded......
9. Not having had the courage to confess something at the right moment....be it your love or a simple apology.....
10. Not having answered that call when someone truly needed you......
11. Not having a little more patience to wait for what you truly want....
12. Saying “NO” when there was not any reason to do so.......
13. Not taking that reckless, mindless, careless trip to a place you truly wanted to visit in the middle of a manic Monday afternoon....
14. Not having asked for something for the fear of being let down or rejected......
15. Not taking off your shoes on the cool sand and just run like an enthralled kid.....
And the list goes on........

Some of the things we lament are the ones which can be looked forward to again, things which can come back, time which is not truly lost, however the most heartbreaking regret is the regret of not giving your best and realising it when it is too late....

In life when you do not give anything your best you are sleep-walking through it, which most of us in this world are presently doing. Either living in the past or in the future, not realising that past is something that’ll never come back and future is an illusion. Truly contented people embrace the present and hence have fewer regrets.

As someone once rightly said, “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new end”
It’s never too late to say that small sorry, thank you, confess your love, have that chocolate, learn how to dance, sing, laugh like crazy......It’s never too late to start LIVING........

Railway Olympics

Move over Beijing, here comes Mumbai!!! The recently concluded Beijing Olympics got so much hype that even people who are generally disinterested in sports were heard raving about Abhinav Bindra, Vijendar Kumar and company. However, what is even more interesting is that we Mumbaiites are at par or at times even better than some of the best Olympians in history. The only thing is that we have never realized this and hence have not thought of giving it an honor of an Olympics. So today after realizing this here’s a version of what a Railway Olympics in Mumbai would look like, if ever we have the fortune of having one.
Please Note:
1) The categories have been tailored to suit the activities performed before, during and after one has boarded and alighted the train.
2) There are no bifurcations between Central, Harbor and Western lines made as we Mumbaiites believe in “United we stand, Divided we fall” philosophy which is true in the literal sense also considering the situations in which we travel.
3) Categories are separate for Men and Women.
4) No bifurcations between First and second class. (Please ask the Railways if they are able to distinguish between the two in today’s times)
5) The winners were kind enough to share their secrets of being the Masters of Railway Olympics.
Category: Fastest Sprint into the coach
Mr. Ram Deo from Andheri for his sheer ability to BOARD a train from Andheri and still manage to get in first.
“ The only reason for my success has been the rigorous training provided to me by my dad who used to take me to Virar station every morning at 8.30 to practice three months before I started my work at Andheri. Compared to that, this win for Andheri looks like a piece of Jumbo vada paav. It’s that easy.”
Miss. Sushila Kumar from Virar, for her pin point accuracy of jumping into the train exactly 7 seconds before it completely halts and thus be awarded the luxury of a window seat.
“I was not fortunate enough to have a training program, whatever I have learnt and wherever I am today is only because of the number of failures I have faced in terms of losing a job, running late for an appointment or a date, missing the beginning of a movie due to my inability to board a train on time. The failures have truly proved to be the stepping stones of my success…I also…” at this point we had to snatch the mic away from her as we had other interviews too. Do all the Westerners have an incorrigible urge to go on talking???
Category: Strongest Sustainability
Mr. Sheikh from Kalyan for his ability to hold on to the handle bars of the coach from Kalyan to Dadar without flinching an inch.
ERROR: Oops! The above medal was won by MRS. Sheikh and not Mr. Sheikh, an error on the part of the railways in failing to recognize Mrs. Sheikh due to the muscles developed thanks to her years of travel on the Central line.
Mrs. Sheikh was too irate to give us a few sound bites, and even though we managed to capture a few we don’t think those are the kind one would like to hear. (Psst…for a sample of the kind of “sound” we are talking about, kindly travel in the second class compartment of a rush-hour train)
Category: Finest Balance
Mr. Harish Kumar from Belapur for display of fine “balancing act” on the foot board and maintaining the same till he reaches Wadala.
“I have always been considered as a balanced person. One who balances his work and fun, his friends and family, his wife and girlfrie…oops…ya so basically I am a truly balanced person in life which is why I have managed this feet…I mean feat”
Mrs. Shanta Dave from Ulhasnagar for managing a heavy work bag, two shopping bags and still being able to stand and alight impeccably despite wearing a sari.
“The sari…sorry…the sorry state of our local trains never deterred me from indulging myself into a healthy dose of retail therapy. My definite focus and also a little bit of training in ballet as a kid has made me the kind of person I am today. In fact, I have also enrolled my 5 years old daughter in the same ballet class. After all, now she has a tradition to maintain” concludes a beaming Mrs. Dave.
Category: Fastest alight
Mr. Ravi Choudhary of Kurla for alighting 30 seconds before the train halts. A very competitive standard set by him for generations to come.
“After having to bear the cost of not being able to alight due to being pushed back into the train and having to pay a fine three times, I said to myself enough is enough and made a steely resolve to alight before anyone does thus setting a high standard for myself and others” says a smug Ravi who is of the belief that his record won’t be broken for the next 5 years at least. (We seriously DOUBT this)
Miss. Roopa Iyer of Sion for managing a 10 seconds gap before the train halts. Unfortunately, she was not available to comment as she sprinted off the station before we could manage to catch her.
This is just a sneak-peak into the kind of ordeal we Mumbaikars face every single day. The ability to mock ourselves over this nightmarish situation truly testifies the real Mumbai spirit.

A 10 minutes journey to creativity

“Creativity”- the word itself conjured up motley images right before my eyes. Painters, writers, actors, dancers, musicians and the list goes on. For the record I do not or rather did not consider myself to be creative due to the precise reason that I did not fit into the above mentioned images. However, I got rid of my myth one fine day in an Integrated Marketing Communications lecture a.k.a Advertising.
The lecture required us to prepare an advertising brief for two products and so the Professor before giving us the assignment asked if any of us did not consider ourselves to be creative. There I was amongst the first very few people to raise her hand. What happened in the next ten minutes has acted as some sort of an impetus for me to start writing a blog. The Professor gave us three random words Nail, pebbles and river and asked us to come up with a story using these. I don’t how, what or why but the minute he said that I put my pen to the book and couldn’t stop writing until he introduced another word, chocolate. Continuing on the lines of where my imagination was leading me I finished the story which is presented here. Please note that our imagination was given a reign in the sense that the above mentioned words could be used in any context and not in the literal sense.
Pebbles was wandering down a grass-laden path enjoying the scenic beauty of the nature that surrounded him. He was in search of something but did not know what. He was just about to lie down under a tree when he came across a wooden board, he got curious and went towards it, on top of the board was written in big white letters the words “NAIL”. He wanted to know what it meant and started moving around it, in the hopes of finding a clue. He took “NAIL” across the gushing river that was flowing nearby and sat on it and sailed across the river. He was getting excited by the minute and his curiosity and joy were well rewarded when he saw where “NAIL” had brought him. It had brought him to a beautifully structured monumental building. He approached it tentatively and what he saw next made him feel as if he could not stop smiling for the rest of his life. The door said, “WELCOME HOME” and he finally realized what he was searching for. The bliss of having a haven in this beautiful place made the whole experience of wandering taste like a wonderful chocolate which gives you pleasure every time. The exciting anticipation before you pop one in your mouth, the contentment when you are having it and finally the lingering sweetness of it all.
So to sum up in the words of Debbie Allen, "But out of limitations comes creativity." This limited, timed, unexpected exercise was all I needed to know the true essence of creativity.