Runway

One word headings seem to be the order of the day. And the reason for the seemingly unrelated heading is a particularly nagging preoccupation at this point of time.

I've often wanted to post. But I couldn't think of anything to write. I think this situation can arise in two scenarios: either you don't have anything to say, or you have too much. In my case it's the latter.

Life here has been so absorbing that I barely notice the days pass by. I have just started to connect back to the outside world - friends who are now scattered all over the country. Sometimes I feel exhilerated when I think of my environment and all that I could possibly achieve, if I tried. The opportunities are available.Sometimes I feel trapped by the numerous testsand assignments and the daily relentless grind of classes. On most days the first thing I do when I get back to the room is to crash on the bed, for as little time or as long as my schedule permits. I feel exhausted by the end of the day.

At one point of time I had wanted this blog to be a journal of sorts of my life here at SP, but then I realised that I cannot do justice to it by writing about it. Such a life only has to be experienced.

New friendships are developing, in various types and speeds. I am optimistic that we will form life long bonds :)

Finally!

I never knew when this day would come, and I am glad that it is finally here. It's been .. over 10 days since I joined SPJIMR, but it feels like years. Maybe it's because of the rousing welcome we got from the seniors. Maybe it's because of the schedule, which kicked off at full speed from the moment we arrived.

One major reason for this delay is that half of us here have not got our laptops yet. In the past week I've found it to be a critical part of the learning in the classroom and out of it, and most importantly it is the vital connection to the outside world. Not having one is a serious handicap.

I am currently staying in a building that is dwarfed by the numerous ones around it. The biggest and singlemost advantage of my hostel is its location. It's barely 30 seconds from the college and another minute from the mess, thanks to which I can get around despite the horrible Mumbai rains. Otherwise I feel like a caged bird. I look out of the balcony and see another (taller) building barely a foot away. That's it. That is all that is there, as far as the eye can see :(

Classes are interesting, but understanding-wise I falter between completely blank and a very very vague idea of the proceedings. The subjects have no relation whatsoever to my background. I am learning a new a-b-c. Let's hope that things get better with time.

I'm glad I am in a city, after four years in the middle of nowhere. Of course, Pilani has its advantages, but the lack of connectivity and some basic amenities gets to you after a while. I haven't ventured too far out yet, but am looking forward to discovering a city that many say "grows on you".

Six months at home sweet home has made me more attached to it than I realised. For a "seasoned" hostelite, I still miss home at times. The yawning distance and the impossiblity of meeting people dear to you is difficult to handle. Yet another thing which I hope time will heal.

Tree, tell me a story!

Someone has to keep up with Bangalore's phenomenal growth, and who to bear the brunt but the trees! For the discerning, I have not used the wrong pronoun. To me trees are more than logs of wood. If I could have been a comic character (hey, that's another idea for a post! :)) I would have chosen Dogmatix in this case. Dogmatix (Obelix's dog in the comic strip Asterix and Obelix. If ever there was humour in this world, it is this, it is this, it is this :D) loves trees, and howls his heart out in grief every time one is found cut. I feel pretty much the same grief when I see one felled/uprooted.

In Bangalore City most of the trees (still surviving, by the grace of God) are around 40-50 years old. Imagine all that they have seen in their lifetime! Imagine the stories they could tell.

Trees are old, and wise. Sit in the shade of a tree one day, and hear its Story.

P.S. The reason for the sudden spate of blogging - clearing the backlogs! :P

Come away with me

It took another day of "amazing" weather to feel like "Belonging" again. And this time it was right. I'll be leaving soon. For a new life, with new goals and new people to achieve them with. There is lots more that I am taking away with me now than I did four years ago. I am not much into Western Music, but I remember the few lines of "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones that I had heard a couple of years ago. Today it seems the right song to sing. This is what I want to tell all the people - parents, friends, and of course my teddy bear :) Come away with me...

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

This post is dedicated to that part of my life where I finally found what I had never believed existed, atleast for me - a deep, cemented friendship which I know, in my heart, will last lifelong. In that room in a quiet suburb with my friends, I felt at peace. At peace with the fact if I ever need a patient ear or a shoulder to cry on, one is available a phone call away, any day, any time. At peace with the fact that I'm not the only one who fights (and ultimately makes up) :P with my near and dear ones. At peace with the fact that while all of us are playing Life's games on different courts, we are bound to cross each others' at some time or the other.
Till we meet again.

Longing. And Belonging

Finally, something other than my work has made me want to blog!

I've known all day today that the weather was amazing. I couldn't resist taking a short walk outside my office building for some time, and I tell you, it's a crime to be inside! Cloudy sky, gentle breeze, air heavy with the smell of earth and the impending rain. Breathe deeply and you feel light and free, just for a moment :)

This kind of weather always makes my heart long for something, and the funny thing is, I don't know what. Considering the years that I was away from home, I thought that I longed for it - the comfort of the sofa, the cuddle of my teddy bear, or the warmth of my blanket. But today, I am at home, or as close as I can get, rather. And the beautiful weather still makes my heart ache, like as if something is missing in my life, something fulfilling. Strange..

Thoughts apart, if you're in Bangalore today, don't miss the weather for anything in the world!

BRAND

Some more wise words from my unlikely inspiration, this time, on what “brand” means:

“The saying goes, "a brand is a promise." On a personal level, I've always felt that statement was incomplete. A promise is the lowest common denominator of a brand - it's what people expect. Think of your favorite brand, whether search engine or sneaker or coffee shop or free software, and you'll know what I mean - a brand is an expectation. If you experience anything less, you're disappointed.”

I distinctly remember the time one of the candidates in my group was asked to define a brand in an interview. According to him, a brand was a set of positive (or negative) associations that were made with an entity – a product, a service, or even a person. It consists if certain qualities, some things that come to mind when that entity's name is taken. He continued to define himself as a brand, in terms of qualities and abilities, and that of an institute as well, expressing some of the ideals that it stood for. I thought it was a brilliant answer. It was only when I read the above blog that I realised that there is much more to this now-ambiguous-sounding word. And this knowledge/realisation comes with experience. I wonder, in the new world that I going to in a couple of months, how much knowledge will be realised into experience?