IT IS A BAD BAD GAME%$$#!@$^

Another amazing morning at Lavale hill!!! The 11th of July and we are up at an unholy time of 9:00 AM. After a quick breakfast we head off to play Badminton. I had borrowed Gaurav's (Federer) racket as mine was broken. It would play a crucial part later as you will find out.

The most awaited match up in Badminton history......Raunak - The Baddy legend versus Karthik P. OK we are not gonna praise Karthik much and we will be pretty much focusing on me and my awesome abilities coz,....well after all this is my blog. Lol. So don't come cribbing to me if it is heavily biased in my favor.

So we start of and first match up and I am not really used to federer's racket and cant get a grip of things and that is the only reason Karthik manages to beat me 14-7. Please note that this is the only reason and no matter what anyone tells you don't believe them. But that is fine coz his ass is tired now and I am gonna swoop in for the kill, or so I thought.

Next game: I am right up for this matching him shot for shot. Boy I was in some sparkling form. I was hitting my stride and Karthik had no answer. I was up 13-6. Then the unthinkable, unimaginable happened.................my dad called..??!!! As I had not talked to him for a long time I had to take the call and that gave Karthik precious time to rest and recharge his batteries....what the hell. This turned out to be very critical in the end and he was able to bring the score back to 14-14. Now started one of the most dramatic matches in Baddy history...at least at Lavale....:D. It went back and forth from 15-14 to 15 all to 17-16 to 17 all. Needless to say that since I had around 4 game points and K had only 2 so I deserved to win. But you do not always get what you deserve at least in the short run and I ended up losing 19-17. I cursed the gods. Well as they say Shit happens and sometimes the undeserving get the glory but I am sure my time will come. K has told me secretly that he has nightmares of me beating him at baddy...ha ha rofl. It is Inevitable!!!

PS: Siddharth Gupta was eye witness and he will corroborate the whole story..!!!

HAND OF GOD, DEVIL OR THE COMMON MAN

What transpired in the quarter final between Ghana and Uruguay in the dying moments of extra time was certainly one of the most dramatic events of the world cup. Uruguay were right in the mouth of the crocodile and were almost knocked out of the world cup, when Luis Suarez made a classical goalie save at the line to deny Ghana. A penalty and red card ensued and Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty in an almost Hollywood movie style finale. The following penalty shoot out was lost by Ghana!!!

I am sure most people would feel that Ghana have been cheated and that there is a major loophole in the FIFA rulebook. Suarez is probably a villain to be banished from society for this heinous crime. Is he??

Well I beg to differ. What would any of us have done in such a situation?? Would we have done the noble thing as John Pantsil the Ghanain defender said?? It is very easy to say from a distance but when the football history and folklore of your country is at stake and an unsatisfied dream of 40 years is hanging in the balance, better men would have crumbled. Suarez did what was best for his team. Although he may very well have played the last match of the world cup, assuming the Dutch can brush aside Uruguay, but he has given his countrymen hope. The rules are there in the book and everyone plays within those rules. Even in our everyday life we try to bend the rules and take advantage of situations when the obviously the deed is unethical. We still do it, we evade taxes, we break traffic rules, we evade the law. Almost every one of us uses loopholes in the rule book to their benefit, then what is wrong with what Suarez did?? Not much let me tell you. That is what FIFA also feels, because he has only been handed the usual one match ban for a straight red card.

Of course your heart does go out to Ghana and especially Gyan. The penalty kick has taken so many casualties over the world cups. These men have been labeled with the misfortune for life. Look at Roberto Baggio, Zico, David Beckham and the list goes on and every world cup adds another fatality. Let us hope that the list is complete for this world cup and we do not see any more heart breaks and tears. That however is the drama at the biggest stage...let us see what transpires ahead.

A night of horrors!!

Well this story transpires in Kanha National park where I had been with some of my friends for a couple of days to 'get away from it all' as we say it. It was June of some year which I dont remember and the monsoon had already set in with a couple of showers in nagpur, my hometown. Kanha had experienced very heavy rainfall already and was just a few more showers away from being closed for the public. So anyways we set off early morning in my friends car to make the forest by about 1200 hrs.

We had decided to stay in the Dormitory provided by the Madhya Pradesh Tourism authorities in the buffer zone inside the forest. The Dormitory is pretty cheap and gives you the actual 'Kanha experience'. Now I dont think many people have been to a forest after so many showers for the simple reason that it becomes very difficult to spot any animals. However someone who can appreciate the beauty of the forest will realize what I am talking about. The forest was so picturesque and beautiful because of the greenery that it was certainly a sight to behold. As expected we did not get to see any of the prized possessions of this forest. But that is not what this story is all about. It is about what transpired later that night, and it shall surely be a story we are not to forget very easily.

After returning from the forest we decided to go for dinner in one of the dhabas just outside the buffer zone. Now bear in mind that the forest is far away from civilization and as such when darkness descends it is absolutely pitch dark and it becomes very difficult to distinguish for even a couple of yards further. Also on top of that and rightly so the MP tourism authorities have used absolutely minimal artificial lighting in the buffer zone to preserve the sanctity of the place as a forest. So we had our dinner and were making our way back to the dorm rooms when suddenly.......lights out!!!!!

As it was raining very heavily since the evening this was bound to happen. We parked our car near the dorm and got out. We could not make out where the door was or how to get there and crazily we had forgotten our torch in the room. Now mind you in the dorm having a capacity of 32 people, only 4 people were staying and we were three out of them. Somehow we managed to get to the dorm, when the other guy came out with his torch. Thank god for him!! We chatted with him for some time and he gave us the sad news that the electricity will not be back till the next day as there is nobody to repair the lines. We saw insects of sizes that you dont imagine practically possible. Man the forest is a crazy place at night. We said goodbye to our friend and decided to get some sleep. Perhaps things would look better in the light of the day.

We got to our room. One of my friends had just opened his mobile phone for some light when he saw a scorpion right beside his foot!!! He screamed and told us to get on our beds. I took out the torch and we checked all around the room to find that there were two more scorpions in the room. We were now really worried. We were in the middle of the forest with no possible source of medical care and here in our room were dangerous poisonous animals. We huddled on one bed and waited observing them in the dim light of the torch. Dare we go to sleep. Now obviously as it was supposed to be, my torch went out promptly after some 15 minutes and we were left with only our cell phones for some light. And so we waited, sitting on one bed waiting for the day to dawn so that we could get the hell out of that place. We all decided that its best to get going home the next day.

Obviously that did not happen. We fell asleep at about 3 in the night. We woke up safe and unharmed and got out of the dorm rooms. What a beautiful sight. There is nothing like the fresh morning air of the forest. Things certainly looked better in the light of the day. We decided to take another round in the forest before heading home. Rest of our journey was uneventful but surely it was a night to remember!!!

Kanha National Park and the Trail of the Tiger

This was definately one of my most memorable trips to this great place and the best national park in India by a long shot. The year 2008, the group-a couple of enthusiasts including me and a friend and some first time wannabes, the time-mid June, supposedly the worst time to visit Kanha National park or for that matter any national park, or so is the general belief.

We set off one fine morning, four of us, the promise-the sighting of the most prized asset in the Indian jungles-The Bengal Tiger. Now Kanha National Park is about 5 hrs drive from my hometown Nagpur and is popularly known as Kanha Kisli. Actually Kanha has two gates to enter the park one at Kisli and one at Mukki which is further away and hence the name as most people enter through the Kisli gate.

Anyone who has been to a National park knows that sighting of animals such as the Cheetal or the spotted dear is pretty much like sighting your street Mongrel while going to work or home. However sighting a bison is a little rare, Tigers are even more rare, and then come bears and wolves and Leopards and the sort. So our trip started of with the usual Cheetals prancing around and with the thick and tall grass and very dense foliage it was very difficult to spot anything other than these animals. You see it had already rained about 5-6 times before our arrival and hence the chances of seeing anything other than Cheetal was very bleak. After our evening round on day one and morning and evening round on day two and nothing to show for return we had all but given hope and were submitting to the fate of returning empty handed. What followed was perhaps the most exhilirating experience and one to be told to children and grand children over and over again.

For our morning round on day three which was going to be our final attempt we went straight to a region of the forest known as the 'Kanha Maidan'. It is a huge clearing right in the dense forest and which gave us the best chance of spotting a tiger. Plus we had recieved a tip off that a tiger had been seen relaxing in those parts the previous evening. So we waited at a good vantage point in the Maidan, when a Mahout pointed to a location where a Tiger was resting. We moved our Gypsy in closer and were staring at what looked like the ear or the tail of the Tiger, but we couldnt say for sure. With clouds threatening above us and the tiger not willing to get up, we were exasperated. After almost an jour of waiting, I spotted a black mass moving in our direction about a km away. The guide confirmed it was a bear!! We couldnt see him very clearly as he was very far away however we got an ok view through the binoculars. The bear was moving seemingly in our direction and kept walking until we realised that he was actually moving in the direction of the tiger. Wow, I couldnt believe our luck, just imagine we were waiting here and out of nowhere this bear shows and we not only get to see a bear but also a chance that he may disturb the tiger who may finally make some movement.

Now anyone who has been to Kanha knows that the news of a Tiger being spotted spreads like wild fire amongst all the tourists and after the Mahout's indication almost ten Jeeps had acculumated at the spot however the impatient lot had already left after some time and we were left alone to enjoy the sighting of a lifetime.

So as I was saying this bear was moving in the direction of the tiger and slowly lumbered up to him after about 20 minutes. This tiger was a male and not fully grown, he was about 1 year old and hence he was not very confident about his abilities as a hunter or a fighter. Now just imagine our luck here we were sitting in front of a tiger hidden in the foliage with no chance of ever getting up, and this bear comes out of nowhere. So this bear is standing in front of the tiger about 3 feet away and suddenly the Tiger gets up to face the bear!!!! What a sight!!! Two great predators standing opposite each other. The bear was a fully grown one but was apprehensive about attacking a Tiger and the tiger being very young was not very keen on taking on a fully grown male bear. They stood facing each other for about a minute after which the bear started moving out of the area. The Tiger followed the bear out of his terriotory to assert his dominance and then finally settled in the foliage again. What a legendary sighting it was.

We also got to see the bear cross the road in front of us in full view just two feet ahead of our gypsy. Boy were we satisfied with our trip or what. Even the guide and driver who were working there for 25 years + said they had never seen anything like it.

And to top this all of when we were returning from lunch that day to pick up our stuff and head home we saw a leopard in the Buffer zone just outside the forest. What a thrilling experience it had turned out to be. Everyone had advised us against going to the forest in June because of the rains, well they must surely be regretting the fact that they didnt join us.

The MBA journey.....so far...Chapter 2

As I said I was destined for gr8 things...however life had something else in store for me....
So I started this season with all the gusto and enthu...
I joined CL although pretty late, gave all sorts of test series and went throught the whole grind....
Filled in all the forms gave alll entrance tests...IIFT, SNAP, CAT, XAT etc etc..also I had filled forms for all colleges this time.
Finally after all was said and done....(wouldnt say much abbout the first online CAT coz it kinda sucked).....I had screwed up in IIFT, FMS, JMET...
I got calls from SIBM-P, XIM and XLRI...
Obviously XLRI was the call I was desperate to convert so I went ahead preparing for the GD/PI's.
SIBM was the first to conduct the GD/PI and I cannot say that I have ever seen a more beautiful college campus...perhaps IIM K is the same...but I would not be able to tell.
So newaz I wont say that as I stepped up the stairs I knew that this is where I wanted to study...coz that is bullshit.....of course I wanted to study in XLRI...
But anyways after a great interview and a very average GD I wasnt hoping for much as this was the first important GD/PI of the season and everyone was eager to convert. And it was proved correct when I recieved the regret letter....I didnt even make the WL. But I had managed a pretty decent 99.8842 in the GD/PI and was still hopeful.

Next were the XAT calls....first up XIMB.
My overall performance at XIMB was much better than SIBM and I was hoping for a positive result.

XLRI was not that good and was really disappointed that I had messed up my best call. I wasnt really hoping for much.

When the results came in I was WL at no 3 for XIMB and no 78 for XLRI....wat a poor performance. For someone who got good scores at the entrances I wasnt really good at the GD/PI thing.

So now started the wait...I promptly converted the XIMB call after the first deadline...

In the meanwhile I got a surprise call from MDI despite my low CAT score. I knew that interview was never gonna be converted because of their high weightage to the CAT score..So I just completed the formality of attending the GD/PI and frankly speaking so did the faculty....the less said about it the better..

I also got a calll from IMT-G which I propmtly bunked... ;)

Soon as expected I converted SIBM and was now in a dilemma as to which college should I choose. In the end I opted for SIBM coz of well pune and the fact that I was fixed on marketing as my specialaization..

So as I had said it does not always turn out as expected....but there are no regrets and whatever happens does so for a reason....so perhaps this just another piece of the puzzle that is my life...

The MBA journey.....so far...Chapter 1

Well friends my MBA journey started last year when two years ago when after failed attempts to get admission into a good american university for
MS, I joined Thermax in Pune.
I had completed my Chemical Engineering from Laxminarayan Institute of Technology in Nagpur.
After getting into Thermax I met frds who had MBA on their mind and thus began my journey which will be a part of folklore atleast in my family.
The first year in Thermax I saw all my friends appearing for CAT/XAT and all other entrance tests that existed. I too towed the line and filled the forms for CAT and XAT. However I didnt fill the forms for any specific colleges, which any MBA aspirant will know is a big mistake. Well I wasnt really expecting much from myself, having absolutely no background on MBA entrances and giving the exams for the sake of it.
Well after filling the form I forgot all about it. I was sent to a site visit in Assam and was fighting for survival for 1.5 months. The stories of that visit are perhaps for another time. And I forgot all about CAT.
One fine Saturday I was roaming about with my friends in Pune. It was 10 o clock at night that I managed to return home, only to find out that all my friends were preparing for the big day tomorrow. Then it all hit me suddenly that I had filled a form and then recieved a Admit card. I thought to myself that "screw" CAT. Who cares???, right.
So next day I took my I card and went to the center. The exam went all right and I was surprised that how simple it had turned out. Nothing like what I had heard about in graduation.

Well when I went home and compared my performance with other well prepared wannabe CAT crackers I realised that I had done pretty well....so now waited for the results.

Meanwhile another form I had filled (XAT) had arrived..

This time I browsed the previous years paper on the day before the exam just to check the format and stuff. This exam was also pretty good for me and I now waited for the results and waiting to show off my awesome scores to my friends...scores I had gotten without any preparation...

Finally both results came in and I had scored a whopping 98.19 in CAT and an absolutely unbelievable 99.36 in XAT. However I had badly screwed up Quant section in both and thus was deprived of any calls.

However with such awesome scores I was surely destined for greater things next year...

That is not life works however....