Okay Folks.. This one's been a long time coming.. So here you go.. Just little snippets of life since the last time I posted-
Feb 26, 2007.. the first time I flew... spanking new Aircraft, cool blue interiors, all said and done, a very nice experience, just that I was too tired for lack of sleep and rest had me prone to a neck pain like never before... Had a nice view of the Sea on my way to Pune, with the Sun turning the water into molten gold all over the place... When they say God's the better artist amongst all of us..it ain't a complete thought, after all, he's got the largest canvas to work on!
Pune's your regular bustling metro, complete with humongous construction projects, flyovers being built all over the place, and traffic that goes beyond your and my understanding... namely where are all the people going?
Nice food that I got all over the place was an added bonus.. But it's only the High-street places that do a good job. I visited Vaishali, Savera which are "the" breakfast and Lunch places. The 1st evening were spent successively at Kiva, a very nice joint with the best service to date that I've seen at a Bar/Lounge. Agreed that the place didn't have that many covers to contend with, even then it did a amazing job. Company for the evening was my freind from back in Wipro, Siddharth Franklin aka Frankie, who amazed me with his warmth since we guys weren't that thick all through the time that we worked together.
The next day was spent at Symbiosis, and was it a whack!! 1st up, the self introduction, something that I wasn't at all prepared for. People came in prepared with Musical PPT's, CD's with Videos of them, MTV Roadies ishtlyle, with parents and freinds talking about their qualities and how they will be successful at advertising got me hooked. I mean, look at all these people doing the stuff that they did, and what right did I have to be here, doing this and all. Then had the Group Discussion, where I fared well, followed by the Peer Interface, where current students asked me the time of the day and all, and last BUT not the least, the Stress Interviewm which I would like to dedicate an entire paragraph to, for reasons that will soon become apparent-
4 people in the room, 2 lecturers, your run-of-the-mill nice middle age ladies, with Cosmopolitan and savvy writ large all over their persona, and to complete the good cop-bad cop scenario, the Deputy Director of the Institute, a gentleman who managed to flabbergast me, something that no one has happened to do in my concieveable sense of recent history of life. We had started off the conversation with the usual, why not an MBA conversation and I managed to veer off the conversation to other corners of the globe. And then I managed to somehow make a point that Advertising combines Linguistics and Psychology in the best possible form.. something that I believe in. He then proceeded to give askance to my expertise with these two fields, and we got down to talking about semantics-Meaning and usage of words, and etymology-Origin of Words.
Mr. Deputy Director had the following say on my understanding of semantics and its semantics(if you get the drift good enough, else pass on to the next para, something about hot girls there)-
Per him, History is like [pause, hem, haw to think] Akbar drinking Tea!! Whoa!! I knew that it was a stress Interview and all, and they were to take me apart in pieces and all, but this surely beat it. I was speechless for lack of words, thoughts and ideas to tackle this one. Full marks to him for out-of-the-box thinking. Has sure made me think about the incident about a hundred times since, and put it down on paper here.
I made a freind in Pune, Dominic. He plays the Guitar for one of Pune's most prolific Band, Purple Patch, and without a preamble, played host to me on my stay there. My first memories of Pune will be sitting on his bike and cavorting through little-known streets, as he made me look at life from a new perspective. I know I'm 23 and all, not reached that age yet where I cant be a sage and all, but this guy amazed me with his quick wit, ingenuity and way with words. It's not many times that you meet a worthy one, and he's right up there. The days were spent exchanging quick-witted one liners, ones that I miss most in my conversations out here. The girls were piping hot out there (This last line is just to keep the promise, so ignore if you can please.
Day 3 was a 7 hour wait for a 15 minute interview, where I was asked again why did I want to frustrate my self, by the same director in the Delhi episode. This round went smoothly and on I was, to another night on the town. This was spent at 1000 Oaks, Pune's premier watering hole, my memories of the night- Smoke stung eyes and great conversation on western music. Franklin, me and Dominic were joined by Vishal, Purple Patch lead singer. Good Fun!!
For another account of this mind-boggling experience, click here to read Dominic's take on it. It's a little narcissistic on my part to put it in, as he's harped about me a little too much, but then, those wings on the neck don't feel too bad. :-)
Two consecutive nights out on the town is not something that I've done ever in my life.. and if you leave the smoke out, did enjoy myself to the hilt. It's another thing I must've smoked a pack and half, based on the ciggies that I lit up and the passive smoking that took place. 1000 oaks, heard of air purifiers yet?
The flight back was absolutely uneventful. So much for the facts. I resisted writing this post coz I wanted to be in the know of my results. And Ladies and Gentlemen, in case you did not know-
I AM IN!!!
Out of 4800 total applicants, yours truly is one of the 36 chosen ones for an admission. Don't know what to say or do... Now's the time to take the rap, the proverbial plunge from a cushy job to the unknown world of studies, and this will be the 1st time in my teenage-adult life that I will be studying full time, having spent my college years selling taps all across north India.
Life's come a full circle for me at this juncture, dunno what to do. My parents and my gal have a single thought in their minds, "Tu na, Dilli se MBA karle"
After going through all that I did, this is good! Things are going just as I planned, as they say..."Shit happens"
I'll keep ya all posted in case I manage to go to Pune and onto the big bad world of Advertising. Keep watching this space for more.
Next few days are going to be spent in office, and days trying to get a student loan. Phukrapanti, here I come!
Ciao.
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