Date a guy who went to IIM Calcutta

“The title looks inspired!” – Captain Obvious

Date a guy who went to IIM Calcutta. Date a guy who spent two years in Didi’s land, and came out skilled in the art of Management. The guy who relishes narrating anecdotes about his friends back in college, and calls half of them ‘Dada’. Date a guy who knows that it is never too late to type in one’s entry for ‘attendance@5’.

Find a guy who went to IIMC. You will know he did when you discover a tattered blue washer label threaded to the back of his collar which he conveniently ignored to take off. He says he was never the sporty kind but still effortlessly manages to control a ball using any darn part of his body. That’s your guy. Try him, he might understand why having the ball in your court is important to you at times.

He’s the guy who saves up on his ‘allowed leave’ in office for a brief getaway to Joka towards the end of December. He’s the guy who joins applause by thumping the table in front, looks around to see everyone clapping, but continues anyway. You can be rude to him or make a snide remark in jest, and he will forgive you. If only you append a smiling NOMs to it. Be mindful. Make the ‘sss’ linger. It helps.

Take him out shopping. Be curious when he smirks when the salesperson shows him a XL-sized shirt. Admire the passion when he tells you innumerable stories of David-Goliath encounters, where, remarkably, Goliath lynched David every single time. Be surprised to see the passion back again as he wanders into a reverie on seeing a huge tyre stuck in the slush. Passion is important, ain’t it?

Be there for him when he is down in the dumps, but let him have his space. He can surely manage himself and come out stronger. Damn, he has, most definitely, completed an entire course on that when he was junger, er… younger. He’s the guy who will wade out smiling after being pushed into a lake (or is it sea?) of troubles. Rather, when the heavens give you sh*t, he will hold an umbrella for you. Experience matters, girl!

Ask him. Ask if he thinks you are the prettiest girl he knows. Flutter your eyes when he says he Couldn’t Agree More with you. A guy who went to IIMC knows relationships are built on deriving synergies between the two stakeholders. With him, there is no due diligence required. Let him acquire your heart, and add value (not to forget a whole lotta love!) to your lives.

Share the little pleasures of life with him. He understands the delight of enjoying a cup of hot chai on a jetty with the cool breeze caressing your cheeks. He knows the value of building bridges, go to the other side, or, at times, just stop right in the middle to relish the setting sun. This is a guy who is mindful of his business casuals and formals, but would eagerly jump out in the rain and experience the rain. Why? Because he knows how to have fun too. He would want you to be a part of these moments. Say yes!

They say, “Date a girl who reads”. Rather, date a girl who writes, they add.

Date a guy who went to IIM Calcutta, I retort. Or better still, date a guy who went to IIM Calcutta, and writes.

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Reference to context (Ah! CBSE :P) - http://thehealthywarrior.tumblr.com/post/12643733123/date-a-girl-who-reads-by-rosemarie-urquico-in

Postcards from Mumbai - Episode I

A little over a week in Mumbai, and it is hard to remember how different life was just a fortnight ago. Suddenly there is an incredible amount of discipline and routine largely evident in ever single day. It doesn't help that office starts before 8 am each day.

By 9-10, it already seems you are well into the day (fancy thinking that till very recently this was hardly wake up time!). Breakfast at the desk, accompanied by coffee. Going through statements of one firm after the other trying to understand their fundamentals - steel this, regulation that! Keeping tabs on all alerts for stock moving events, missing them at times and then making amends.

Surprisingly, I have taken a liking to following the market movements. Interesting times for metal stocks these days! Sonia Shenoy and the others on CNBC ensure that even news of falling stocks is pleasant to see, er, listen to. Anyway, lunch time, food and some chit-chat with other associates. It's nice to see that atmosphere on the desk has been peaceful and friendly. Leave office by 8.

At times the most uncanny of elements can bring that much wanted change in this rut of things. So one fine evening, on my way back from office, I happen to meet this taxi driver who seemed almost, but not quite, entirely unlike a cabbie. His perfect command over Hindi made me ask him if he was from U.P. or the like. And of course he was!

I told him of the good number of years I have spent in Meerut and Kanpur, and thus sparked off a barrage of witticisms, anecdotes and profound analogies from him, some of which deserve to be recorded here:

1. On the fact that loads of people come to Mumbai to struggle and seek a livelihood -

इस शहर के समुद्र की लहरें जब पत्थरों से टकराती हैं तो यह कहती जाती हैं की चाहे जो कठिनाई आये संघर्ष करते चलो! मैं यू.पी में बहती गंगा से सीखा की निरंतर बहते चलो, और यही पल्ले बाँध कर मैं वहां से एम्.पी और आगे मुंबई आ गया |
(The waves of the sea crashing against the rocks teach us to struggle inspite of all odds. Having seen the unimpeded flow of the Ganges in U.P, I learnt that one needs to go with the flow of life, and that is what brought me all the way to this city.)

2. On how the educated can potentially be a cause of greater ruin than the illiterate -

Here he quoted a Sanskrit phrase: साक्षर: विपरीता राक्षस: भवती ||
This is a clever play on the word साक्षर: (Literate) which when reversed turns to राक्षस: (Demon), signifying how an educated mind, if it turns devious, can serve to cause havoc like a demon.

The guy mentioned how he was a little dissatisfied with his current occupation, yet spent his free time reading everything from religious books to stories from the likes of Premchand, Jaishankar Prasad. He had quite a few comments to make on the political scene (coincidentally his name was Akhilesh Yadav which led me to talk of how another Akhilesh is rocking the UP political scene), on how Mumbai takes everyone and anyone in its folds and feeds them...

It was truly refreshing to meet a guy like that in the most unlikely of positions. And a brilliant motivator after a tiring day at work! :) It's often nice to be in a city like Mumbai - a veritable melting pot, offering these unique experiences, anytime, anywhere!

Saying Goodbye!

It's one of those junctures in life again when one has to say goodbye to a lifestyle they had grown so used to (loving a lot of it, hating a few things here or there!). Ans suddenly, one sees life standing at the beginning of a road yet untraveled.

I saw one such moment when I was leaving IITK nearly 2 years back. The bonds were strong - four years after all. But well, maybe we knew we were just starting out in the world. There will be tons of opportunities to meet (and relive the fun times, as one might say). Personally for me, I was content on entering another campus, and though it was a more 'professional' degree, I knew hostel life could not be a dampener.

Today I see a completely different inflection point in the trajectory of my life till now. Firstly, we all know we are entering full-time careers now. For nearly all of us, there will hardly be any respite, let alone long summer vacations, etc. from here on. Add to that the fact that our peer group here was rather motley in terms of their life stages. Inspite of that most of us spent our time here as equals. And all around you see batchmates getting married, engaged or trying to be so.

And you realize, life is in full gear now. Yes, we'll have our moments as early twenty somethings, partying away or vacationing with friends. Yet, everyone around would expect more responsibility, greater maturity. Here is where the quandary presents itself. On one hand, you want to cling on to old friends, keep on the attachment, and be a part of their lives. Yet, on the other, you know that to become the person the world outside campus wants you to be, you might have to redefine a lot of relationships.

Time, for one, might never offer itself in such abundance. Hence, hilarious adda sessions would soon constrict themselves to hangouts in restaurants, to finally keeping in touch over watsapp, and peppering it with small get-togethers on the fly. Moreover, as many people enter the 'family' stage of life, one would have to accommodate for them not being the 'boys' and 'girls' you once were close chums with. Emotional attachment and sensitivity, coupled with effective restraint - heavy words, way more difficult to practise.

Anyway, having said all the above, I would acknowledge that most of it is a picture I have sketched from vicarious experiences, and the reality, as some people testify, is not as grim. Probably, all that is essential is to keep one's head when life is zooming past, and maybe reconnect to one's roots/past once in a while.

Here's to a fresh start!