BEST
Prerana Knowledge Transfer or something of that sort!
to: pmg16@googlegroups.com
cc: nitie_pmg15@googlegroups.com
Subject: Prerana Knowledge Transfer or something of that sort!
Dear All,
Let me start by stating the obvious, the following is mostly Gyan of the highest order. You may gladly choose to ignore all of it!
Of all things you guys might have learned through your summers, i hope the one thing you did realize is that life can’t any better than what it’s on Campus.
The ability to have full control on what you want to do next!…now that’s heavy crap man!
Not that i am complaining about life becoming less exciting/fun, I just stayed at the TAJ for a month, met some awesome people, did some crazy things, enjoyed south Bombay to the core; just that a lot of dependencies seem to have crept in (This whole JOB/Boss/Escalation/Permission/Sign Off/Work Groups/Process thing is a bit slow for my liking). It’s not the same kind of Freedom that i used to cherish while on campus.
Morale of the Story: Enjoy it to the fullest while you can!
Coming to the subject line, i have neither the enthu nor do i see the need for someone to actually tell you what needs to be done for Prerana 2010. I am sure you guys are already brimming with a similar sense of ownership about the whole Jig. But guys, it’s a lazy Monday morning, i am among the 6 humans on my floor who bothered coming in inspite of the bandh & all my work is dependent on folks who chose to stay home. So i am left mulling about life in general.
The following is actually what i could recollect from a 2 page draft i made about 8 months ago (Thank God i forgot posting that, so here goes the brief),
1. Sponsorship: Please try and go hard at it from D-1, as cash in hand would give a lot of flexibility in terms of what you can do. The contact list has been nicely documented, how to strategise/execute is at your discretion. Please keep your eyes open to what’s happening in other B-Schools and in rival batches! Be ready to move in fast, as and when the oppurtunity arises.
2. Prerana Business Meet: The data i managed to collect/collate (about 100 names) with direct lines to the top guys will really help, try to establish a hierarchy in terms brand image (Company/Personal) and run through it as fast as you can. Whoever is handling it, please remember that the first crack will always be the most difficult one, after that, it is easier to leverage on available names. So please be patient & stay motivated.
3. Blog: The link i registered the blog under has expired. Please do the needful if it hasn’t been done already. What/How to write, totally your call folks. Remember it is a brand utility and not a personal brag tool. I dont recollect using my name ever on the Blog. So, please use appropriate discretion!
4. Pundir: Whatever might be said about the Man, i for one will always vouch for him as the Best ‘goto guy’ on Campus. The kind of general hysteria around his modus operandi is mostly work of fiction. I must say the ‘method’ he inculcates in you would take you places even after you leave campus. No one can move things faster than him, so use him smartly.
5. Juniors: I used to brag about being this super efficient omnipresent guy during P-08, i must say, you guys made me look ordinary! I hope the progression continues, please go prepared while interviewing your juniors. I am sure you guys will get the highest number of applications among all commitees, use it as an apportunity to sell the brand individually to the entire batch. And for the guys you plan on taking, have a plan in place in terms of the skillsets you might require.
6. Innovation: Please keep your minds open to changing stuff & trying out new things. Always keep yourself open to asking “Why?”. And guys, if possible, one event on Advertising please!
7. Teamwork: This one is really the baap of all things folks. The whole concept about having this Dream Team in complete synergy on all matters is Utopian. People will always be less than perfect & that has to be dealt with. As a norm i never bitched about anyone in my team to an outsider, though i must confess everyone within PMG-15 has bitched about everyone else! Well that’s life, that is how it works! Just brush it aside and get on with it. It is imperative that you believe in your own brand (PMG-16) as that would be your biggest motivator.
And yea…congratulations on a job well done on the brochure! The gaint images on the PBM page made me nostalgic.
I am sure, if i sit longer, i can completely reconstruct my 2 pager and go on about how to make a “Spons Pitch”, target list for PBM & likely blog posts which will put me on par with the likes of Sanchit/Sandy in terms of churning out “Random Fart” out of nothing. Well, not exactly my Forte!
Feel free to get in touch with anyone of us, just in case you need an opinion. If not for some hunky-dory strategic advise, you can call us in, if you need an extra hand for putting up the banners!
Guess that will be it from me, Remember it’s your Event, Own it! Everything else will fall in place.
All the Best with your PPO’s & life in general!
Regards,
Vijay Garimella
AVP, Change Delivery, INM HTS
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.
…of, for & by the Brands that we were!
No part of the following post is intended to make sense!
However in the extreme case of the reader deriving logic, he/she would be best advised to join us in seeing a Mind Fuck specialist!
Chapter-1:
NG: “Are we gonna discuss anything else? i have places to go to!”
Chithh: “Yaar mujhe yeh bata, hum Gurcharan ko paise kyoon de?, itni tho kitaab bechke gaya hai woh”
TanD: “Mere hisaab se tho, dena chahiye!”
Bitch: “Guys, all these things can be taken up at Infinitum, lets dicuss something more relevent”
Esa: “ok, tell me why you made an apologetic call to the US?”
Kit: “Call tho maine bhi kiya tha…!, and there were no apologies at all…we were discussing Investment strategies for expected furture incomes!”
Vas: “If i continue to listen to all this, i will loose my high and die after 4:00am”
DKB: “Fruit tha, ee dala…Frooti ban gaya!”
VJ: “Pond hai, Eeeeh kar dal…Pondy ban jayega!”
Chapter-2:
Let me guarantee you, that you are not going to get the actual PUN intended here.
We can proudly claim bragging rights about now knowing NITIE, the best. The eternal axiom about how things moved slowly upstairs actually found its proof. The permission list required prior to our endeavor had points like, “Please get the toilets cleaned everyday”, Please ensure uninterrupted water supply on all 3 days”, “Please cut the grass in the lawns on Day-0 & please don’t water the plants once Prerana begins”, and the fact that this list had to be signed by 13 authorized signatories only puts the icing on this cake.
Everything regarding everything starts with a multiple push from upstairs and ends with a bribe ranging from petty cash to lots of tshirts!
G, Sirji…!
Sometimes people get really possessive about things they do and maybe given the time span of our effort that is justified in our case. The office space we ran, the events we did, the time lines we fix or maybe just the guests we bring along. Some of us just couldn’t stand the non compliance and the bust up’s and uproars probably only add to making the whole jig even more memorable.
Three months after my full scale dressing down from the then most irrational being in the world,
my opinion about the man has taken a U-turn.
i can now safely say that he is not the over hyped skeptic he is made out to be. The revered confrontations at his office and other such instances often dwarf the realist in him. Yes all of this makes for good gossip and great memories but things wouldn’t have happened the way they did if not for him. Of all the cynicism expressed in Chapter-2, he stands as the sole exception.
There can be a lot of argument and detailing that can go into justifying his case, but honestly being the privileged few who got to witness it, we would like to keep it all for ourselves!
So here goes, “Thank You, Sir!”
…but we don’t want to be here!
There are two types of P’s at NITIE, one being the reason why you hit this URL, the other addressed in Chapter-5. Over the past 18 months we have come to fall in love with the former, while the latter awaits us seeking vendetta for not doing anything but the first P through our stay at this place.
Having done everything for our thing, we stare the walls with the void of not being able to anything now.
How we wish there was one more ‘P’ to do…but i guess we had our one shot….hope we delivered!
the free spirited mavericks, the nerdy acads centric morons or somewhere in between…
At this point in time when most of our future fortunes are frozen in our respective Top Right Hand columns, i am just wondering whether this crib about not being the guy with ‘THAT’ thing on the resume would bear fruit at all.
“You being you is the best you could be!”
With the propensity to compare at its all time high these days, i chose to compare not the resume which apparently is the topic in vogue, but the bearers of this edition of Prerana and guys who would told the torch in 2010.
But then, how can a college claim to be moving forward if every junior batch isn’t better than their seniors’. For 15 years on the trot the tradition of making things better has held forte and i have no doubt in my mind that all of the Management Batch of 2011 in general and our beloved PMG16 in particular would keep the Prerana flag flying high in it’s next Edition as well.
Thank you All for your contributions to Prerana 2009, without you, it wouldn’t have been what it was & more importantly it wouldn’t have been as much Fun!
P.S: This would be my last post at this Space, i hope i did succeed in giving you guys a pint of the fun, i had in bringing this to you!
~Adios!
The Diligent Vigilante…
… Rand ‘O’ Me …
22:00 hrs: just came back from dinner, “Inn for Pizza”, enquired Sambit, said no…sat down to write a proposal for Beejal Parekh…thought of including PBM, but decided against it…drafted a separate mail, inviting Mr.Aditya Puri, want to attach the docket but gmail is acting up…
Random Pings for Mr.X…
The ever cherubic, omnipresent Mr.X always had his own way with words. He always made sure that his opinion got through to the concerned party at any cost (Costs which had no bounds on either side). Food quality, Lack of water, excess of Rain, class timings, cell phone signal, internet problems, placements & it’s behind the scene activities…Mr.X was always there, giving his erudite commentary on anything and everything that was worth commenting on.
A rebel, a nerd, a psycho, a genius…there are probably a large number of adjectives that can be used to describe Mr.X.
Scoring a B on average in all his papers, Mr.X has probably redefined the way employers perceive grades at his institute.
The astounding numbers on the top-right column of his resume are not a fair reflection of the true persona of Mr.X.
600 watts of music with a weird playlist at 3 am, climbing the roof top to see the sunrise at 5, entering the class just before the attendance is taken, verbal brawls with the Profs, boozing till everyone else dropped, going on Midnight treks & bitching about the whole wide world…Mr.X has seen, admired & done it all.
Even with his enviable appetite for adventure & his rebellious attitude towards every established rule, I wouldn’t classify Mr.X as the ideal being.
Before I proceed any further, let me stop at ‘I’…
“Dude, I think you should use ‘I’ instead of ‘we’ in your writings”…he once said.
Team spirit or the lack of it…I wondered!
For the many lucid comments he has made over the past 12 months, there is very little he can show for, in terms of bringing change!
Mr.X and his institute have created a hierarchy which for all its layers, in most cases ends up pointing fingers at its various nodes.
A body of individuals assigned to take care of a function, a body responsible for compliance of all other bodies which in return reports to an individual who has lieutenants responsible for various other functions, functions which are generally bitched on unanimously through instruments of mass communication, blame for which is never really accepted by the lieutenants, the individual, the body or the bodies! (Read again…Slowly!)
Mr.X has always been a strong advocate of change, of the right way of life…but he has hardly ever succeeded in making things happen on the ground…at least not in the past 12 months!
Mr.X through his many incarnations has always and will always be the first person to claim glory as his own, and will always be the first person to shield himself of all blame using the many layers of his Institute’s hierarchy.
There is no guarantee that Mr.X would stop wasting food, keep his taps closed, stop his downloads or for that matter stop cheating in his exams! The least he could do is stop making unnecessary fuss about everything and do things right & thus contribute in his own small way!
The fact remains that change or the lack of it won’t really affect Mr.X’s prospects in the near future, for all his concern for everything he believes is wrong, he remains quietly confident about his future. (God bless the top-right hand column!)
Here are a few memorable moments from my interaction with Mr.X…
1. “Dude, your blog on the website is awesome man!”
2. “Dude, your website on the blog is awesome man!”
3. “That was so hilarious man, who the hell is Gyani?”
4. “Arey can we have Beyonce at Decibelz; she was in Mumbai last year naa!”
5. “Call Harsha Bhogle man, I heard he does quizzes in Mumbai for Free!”
6. “Last time I went home dude…this time I will at least attend the Prerana Party…Pakka dude!”
7. “WTF man, you guys said Unlimited Booze, they shut shop after my 11th peg!”
8. “Arey I couldn’t get a weekend project anywhere man; could you get me a shortlist at one of your events?”
9. “Let’s discuss the funds you have brought for your event…in a Batch Meet!”
10. “Let’s change everything naa, the mess, the Hostel, the internet…but you go and talk naa…I have to study for the midterm!”
P.S: If it isn’t already clear enough, the easiest way to find a piece of Mr.X is to peep into the Mirror!
“The one in the room or the bathroom?”, Mr.X would ask!
the Return of Hector…
Prologue: You, heard of Hector?
Day-1:
Train journeys were never Hector’s cup of tea, but having decided to trot the sylvan path, his choice of both transit & itinerary were always limited to some of those entities which could only offer Non Materialistic pleasures.
On boarding his assigned ‘Second Seater‘, Hector found himself placed delicately between a group of Ladies, who’s waistlines outgrew their Age! But for what these 30 somethings lacked below their throats, they did try to make up with stuff inside it.
“The One next to me, could summon the chaiwala in the next compartment & still humble herself by claiming it to be a whisper!“…swears Hector!
Luckily, Hector did manage to escape the carnage of an ensuing Antakshari, by pouncing on the first “available on transit” seat.
His new environs proved to be quite peaceful, as Hector managed to get through the 2hr journey by flipping through the current P.M’s ability to lead India, Priyanka Chopra’s opinion on the Slumdog Millionaire & Shilpa Shetty’s latest photo shoot!
On reaching the destination, Hector was pleasantly greeted by some cool breeze which magically claimed it’s origins from the twilight behind the mountains.
This inspired Hector to take a 2 mile walk, to what was going to be his sleeping station for the next 48hrs.
Armed with a Carl Zeiss, he immediately took off for a casual trudge along the expressway,
On inquiring with some localites, he learned about a certain lake and it’s sunset view, he was also warned about the local mafia and their appetite for twilight booze along the Lake.
And with the charge in his Shutter going Red, Hector decided to call off what he now claims to be, a Jump Start.
A hot shower, some Chinese food & a full moon weren’t good enough to drive him into deep slumber, his mind randomly wavered on many thoughts.
“Why did the college keep 1.5cr in a current account for the past three months, without taking a FD?”–“Will Rooney return against the Hammers?“–“How much must they be charging at The Lagoona?”–“What is the Toll Fee at the Expressway?“–“Aah, that awesome Streak with Penalties!, why did it End at Bhavan’s, of all Places?!”
Day-2:
The Day began with the usual, “Let’s Explore the World!“, high on adrenaline, low on Grey matter, Hector often goes through such phases only to cool off as the worldly constraints of Reality & Probability set inn.
He sets off to the Lake, after a torrid upward climb & 30mins on the clock, Hector gets his first sight of what this trip was all about, nature in it’s raw splendor!
The lake though small, had all the necessary neighbors to make a lasting impression.
After another 20mins going North, Hector came across a view, that started giving him one of his famous Adrenaline Pangs…midway through his trek on what was the tallest mountain in the vicinity, Hector finds his phone ringing,…”Mom,…“, he takes a break from going vertical, and mulls over the story he just made up across the phone…!
On reaching the summit, Hector could see a reservoir 6 times the size of the lake!, “It was masterfully shielded from common view by the mountains around it“…recollects Hector.
The day also saw Hector Hip-Hop his way across Caves & Forts built centuries ago, with wearing sculptures in sync with the self destruction Man has imposed on himself.
He also managed to catch the Blues dropping points, only for a certain El Nino to spoil what would have been a Perfect Day.
Maybe it was the Biryani, or the richness of the Visual Loot during the Day, Hector slowly dipped into a peaceful trans…
P.S: Happy Birthday, Hector!
Day-3:
The Day again began with the typical auto ride,
“they charge you freakin, 30 bucks per mile!“…yells Hector.
From a water park to a normal park, he then moved on to a Lake which he was told would only be full during the monsoon, a power distribution company, a naval base and the CCD next to it…nothing actually met his appetite for visual appeal.
Stranded on the road, and a good 8km away from the next Hotspot, Hector who was getting restless, got the best lifeline he could have asked for…a leggy Caucasian lady & her Sedan…!
what happened over the next 25mins during the upward climb from the valley are best left to, ” Hazy Memory!“
when all his non hormone driven senses came back to him, Hector realized that he was in the vicinity of a Dam which stored water from the Fall 250m above it…
Hector then headed to some of the highest points in the valley, the breath taking views and the scenic splendor would leave him in Awe of the creative genius of the forces beyond human control.
By the time his train arrived, he had managed to hop through the local market and also found time to try some local delicacies…!
Though miffed at the minor hiccup at the last node, the overwhelming delight of the past three days kept Hector in high spirits, good enough to barge into a movie which according to his peers, breaks the Indian Stereotype, the movie put in simple terms is the story of a prostitute, a drug addict & a boob flashing maniac who’s self proclaimed beauty is lost in the Stereotyping of it all.
“The movie did have a feel good factor about it, better than the overstretched melodramas drawn on a similar theme“…says Hector.
Epilogue: Hector, the self sufficient, self indulgent, reason unto oneself personified graced the blogosphere 3yrs ago as the voice of a discontented youth, ready to transform the mindsets of the stereotype & pioneer changes which would translate into the making of a world class Entity.
The chapter above is a sneak peek into his personal life, three years hence…mature, adventurous & worldly aware. It traces Hector’s journey through one of his many solo sojourns through the country.
Creative Liberties have been used at will!