I was just analyzing the response to my previous post. It was quite lukewarm.
- The average time spent on the post was close to 3 1/2 minutes - a clear indication that the readers either just skimmed through it or left when they were halfway through.
- Some even came up with suggestions asking me to spice up the narration.
- Blogs on experiences are ubiquitous. To stand out, I need to distinguish myself either by citing incidents which people have never heard of (or) by analyzing a situation differently (reminds me of 'Freakonomics').
To sum it up, I hadn't lived up to the expectations of my readers.
But I promise to come up with a better one next time.
Friday, January 1, 2010
The Unwinding: Part I
THE DANDELI ADVENTURE (Jan 2009)
It was the end of an MBA season and enervation was felt all around. We all needed a bit of unwinding. That’s when one of my friends, Vamsi, the most proactive of the lot (hope he visits my blog to read this) drew an ambitious plan of visiting 2 places, viz. Goa and Dandeli, in one go (These 2 places are almost 500km apart). Sundeep and Ashwin chipped in with their opinions (accommodation, food, places to visit…the whole itinerary) and the trio came up with an initial draft (Sorry folks, in case I had missed someone in the Planning Committee :-P). After a brief brouhaha that ensued, we all decided to hit Dandeli on Jan 23rd and Goa on the 25th.
There were 6 of us from Chennai and 7 from Bangalore ( all guys, :( ). Bangalore was the meeting point and we were to leave for Dandeli on the ‘Rani Chennamma’ express ( 22nd evening ). I volunteered to book tickets for the Chennai – Bangalore journey. The travel plan looked like:
Chennai -> Bangalore -> Dandeli -> Goa -> Dandeli ->Bangalore ->Chennai.
(21st) (22nd) (23rd, 24th) (25th) (26th) (26th) (27th)
It was Jan 21st and we were all game for the adventure. The Chennai – Bangalore journey wasn’t much of an event and I will take the luxury of discounting the same.
Next morning (22nd), we were at one of our friend’s house in Murugeshpalya. The rest of the Bangalore folks were to meet us at the station that evening. The first half of the day was spent without much activity except for sleeping and eating. As planned, we all got together at the station. Many of us had not seen each other for long time. The usual pranks and laughter resulting from such a fusion caught the attention of other passengers. But who cares????
The train was on time and off we were on our adventure…Some of us even contemplated on dancing atop the train (Chaiya Chaiya Chaiya!!!) as the train passed through a rustic landscape…but some sense prevailed and we decided to occupy our berths instead.
Next morning(23rd) we were there at the Alnawar station waiting for the Cab to reach the place we were to be put up. Vamsi had made all the arrangements for our stay at a govt owned dorm (it was ridiculously cheap – Rs.75 per head). After the morning rituals, we headed to Sindheri Rocks. The place was on the banks of Kalinadhi and wasn’t frequented by many tourists (Dandeli, as such, is not pretty developed as a tourist spot and reaching any place involves a bit of trekking). It was, nevertheless, fascinating to see a huge block of granite carved out beautifully by the river.
It was 2pm by the time we finished our lunch, and next on the cards was White-Water Rafting. By Dandeli standards, the prices were exorbitant – 800 per head. There was a 5 km stretch that had to be covered in about 2 hours, i.e. 2.5km/hr– sounds simple right?? But that wasn’t all. All of us were amateurs with no prior experience and rowing a boat on rapids was even tougher than taming a horse. Each boat had an experienced instructor who helped us with the maneuvers. But for him, we wouldn’t have moved an inch and toppled over right at the start.
The stretch was very tortuous with intermittent rapids and rocks on the way. It turned out to be a perfect adventure. But all this euphoria lasted only till we reached a place where the water was relatively still. We were ahead of time and some of the guys ventured to take a dip in the river. I resisted the temptation (I didn’t know to swim). But there was this sudden gush of insanity and I dared to jump into the river relying completely on the life-jacket. What followed was the scariest moment of my life. The river was deeper than expected as I struggled to stay afloat. To make things worse, the river had driven me away from the boat towards the next rapid. The instructor too was helpless as it was him who was directing the boat. All that he could do was to get the boat towards me before I hit the rapid.
What next? It’s anybody’s guess. Rising to the occasion, my friends, with directions from the instructor, gave their best in getting the boat towards me.
Once, on the boat, I realized that there was another friend who had dislocated his shoulder (identity - concealed deliberately) in the process. Luckily, we were just at the end of our rafting. We took him to a nearby clinic where the doctor treated his wounds with the usual bandage. He was warned against straining his shoulders for the next couple of days.
After a tiring day, there were some tough decisions to be taken that night. My friend's injury was serious and we didn't want to aggravate it. We were all set to call off the trip and return home !!!
Read Part II (to be uploaded) to find more.
Some serious lessons were learnt here:
- You may have the heart of a Lion, but all that, is immaterial. Know your limits/potential and act accordingly.
- Do not venture into unknown waters, hoping to be rescued by some else in case adversity strikes.
- Lastly, the most obvious, learn to swim :)
It was the end of an MBA season and enervation was felt all around. We all needed a bit of unwinding. That’s when one of my friends, Vamsi, the most proactive of the lot (hope he visits my blog to read this) drew an ambitious plan of visiting 2 places, viz. Goa and Dandeli, in one go (These 2 places are almost 500km apart). Sundeep and Ashwin chipped in with their opinions (accommodation, food, places to visit…the whole itinerary) and the trio came up with an initial draft (Sorry folks, in case I had missed someone in the Planning Committee :-P). After a brief brouhaha that ensued, we all decided to hit Dandeli on Jan 23rd and Goa on the 25th.
There were 6 of us from Chennai and 7 from Bangalore ( all guys, :( ). Bangalore was the meeting point and we were to leave for Dandeli on the ‘Rani Chennamma’ express ( 22nd evening ). I volunteered to book tickets for the Chennai – Bangalore journey. The travel plan looked like:
Chennai -> Bangalore -> Dandeli -> Goa -> Dandeli ->Bangalore ->Chennai.
(21st) (22nd) (23rd, 24th) (25th) (26th) (26th) (27th)
It was Jan 21st and we were all game for the adventure. The Chennai – Bangalore journey wasn’t much of an event and I will take the luxury of discounting the same.
Next morning (22nd), we were at one of our friend’s house in Murugeshpalya. The rest of the Bangalore folks were to meet us at the station that evening. The first half of the day was spent without much activity except for sleeping and eating. As planned, we all got together at the station. Many of us had not seen each other for long time. The usual pranks and laughter resulting from such a fusion caught the attention of other passengers. But who cares????
The train was on time and off we were on our adventure…Some of us even contemplated on dancing atop the train (Chaiya Chaiya Chaiya!!!) as the train passed through a rustic landscape…but some sense prevailed and we decided to occupy our berths instead.
Next morning(23rd) we were there at the Alnawar station waiting for the Cab to reach the place we were to be put up. Vamsi had made all the arrangements for our stay at a govt owned dorm (it was ridiculously cheap – Rs.75 per head). After the morning rituals, we headed to Sindheri Rocks. The place was on the banks of Kalinadhi and wasn’t frequented by many tourists (Dandeli, as such, is not pretty developed as a tourist spot and reaching any place involves a bit of trekking). It was, nevertheless, fascinating to see a huge block of granite carved out beautifully by the river.
It was 2pm by the time we finished our lunch, and next on the cards was White-Water Rafting. By Dandeli standards, the prices were exorbitant – 800 per head. There was a 5 km stretch that had to be covered in about 2 hours, i.e. 2.5km/hr– sounds simple right?? But that wasn’t all. All of us were amateurs with no prior experience and rowing a boat on rapids was even tougher than taming a horse. Each boat had an experienced instructor who helped us with the maneuvers. But for him, we wouldn’t have moved an inch and toppled over right at the start.
The stretch was very tortuous with intermittent rapids and rocks on the way. It turned out to be a perfect adventure. But all this euphoria lasted only till we reached a place where the water was relatively still. We were ahead of time and some of the guys ventured to take a dip in the river. I resisted the temptation (I didn’t know to swim). But there was this sudden gush of insanity and I dared to jump into the river relying completely on the life-jacket. What followed was the scariest moment of my life. The river was deeper than expected as I struggled to stay afloat. To make things worse, the river had driven me away from the boat towards the next rapid. The instructor too was helpless as it was him who was directing the boat. All that he could do was to get the boat towards me before I hit the rapid.
What next? It’s anybody’s guess. Rising to the occasion, my friends, with directions from the instructor, gave their best in getting the boat towards me.
Once, on the boat, I realized that there was another friend who had dislocated his shoulder (identity - concealed deliberately) in the process. Luckily, we were just at the end of our rafting. We took him to a nearby clinic where the doctor treated his wounds with the usual bandage. He was warned against straining his shoulders for the next couple of days.
After a tiring day, there were some tough decisions to be taken that night. My friend's injury was serious and we didn't want to aggravate it. We were all set to call off the trip and return home !!!
Read Part II (to be uploaded) to find more.
Some serious lessons were learnt here:
- You may have the heart of a Lion, but all that, is immaterial. Know your limits/potential and act accordingly.
- Do not venture into unknown waters, hoping to be rescued by some else in case adversity strikes.
- Lastly, the most obvious, learn to swim :)
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Humbled by 'a' CAT
It was mid 2008 and I had switched over to a new company in search of greener pastures. I had 2 options (at least that’s what I thought):
1. Learn the nuances in Automotive embedded technology, master them and live with them.
2. MBA – having colleagues thinking on same lines was an additional incentive.
Being the usual “Cat on the Wall”, I decided to pursue both the options to the fullest extent possible.
Fixed timing in my new work place meant that I could follow a standard plan of studying in the early morning and slogging at workplace for the rest of the day. Off on Saturdays and Sundays was a real bonus.
It was also the time when recession had eaten into my company’s projects and the place that once seemed greener, turned barren in no time.
Come November 2008 and I was all set to bell the CAT…high 99 percentiles in the mocks had boosted my confidence. Things however unfolded differently on 16th November. Pressure had gotten into me. Post mortem based on analyses from various institutes revealed that my performance was of the ‘touch and go’ type.
It was Jan 9th 2009; I had kept my fingers crossed so far, hoping for some miracle to happen. The ‘GOD’s however differed and I failed to get the much coveted IIM calls. I had missed the VA (92 percentile) cutoff by ½ a question for L and K. An overall percentile of 98.53 was good enough only to get a waiver on Mock CATs in 2009. I was beside myself with rage (recall this line from cat08?). Adding injuries to my wound, my XAT performance too was abysmal.
The year had started off in the worst possible way. My confidence levels were an all time low. It took a couple of weeks to recover. But I had learnt the lessons.
- CAT is a different ball game. With so much at stake, pressure is inevitable. Cracking it, therefore, requires a lot of “attitude” along with the aptitude.
- Verbal Ability is not synonymous to English. It is more of how one uses the English constructs to express his ideas/views lucidly. Reading regularly and keeping abreast of the latest developments in this world is the key.
- Clarity of objective is paramount. Get your priorities right. Sketch your career path with no bifurcations. Only a dead end in the intended path should lead to another path in a new direction.
- Last, but not the least, enjoy every moment of your life. Do not sacrifice the late night movie or the adventure trip with your friends for some unplanned mock test or assignment at work place.
Stay tuned for some more posts on how 2009 had its share of fun and adventure.
1. Learn the nuances in Automotive embedded technology, master them and live with them.
2. MBA – having colleagues thinking on same lines was an additional incentive.
Being the usual “Cat on the Wall”, I decided to pursue both the options to the fullest extent possible.
Fixed timing in my new work place meant that I could follow a standard plan of studying in the early morning and slogging at workplace for the rest of the day. Off on Saturdays and Sundays was a real bonus.
It was also the time when recession had eaten into my company’s projects and the place that once seemed greener, turned barren in no time.
Come November 2008 and I was all set to bell the CAT…high 99 percentiles in the mocks had boosted my confidence. Things however unfolded differently on 16th November. Pressure had gotten into me. Post mortem based on analyses from various institutes revealed that my performance was of the ‘touch and go’ type.
It was Jan 9th 2009; I had kept my fingers crossed so far, hoping for some miracle to happen. The ‘GOD’s however differed and I failed to get the much coveted IIM calls. I had missed the VA (92 percentile) cutoff by ½ a question for L and K. An overall percentile of 98.53 was good enough only to get a waiver on Mock CATs in 2009. I was beside myself with rage (recall this line from cat08?). Adding injuries to my wound, my XAT performance too was abysmal.
The year had started off in the worst possible way. My confidence levels were an all time low. It took a couple of weeks to recover. But I had learnt the lessons.
- CAT is a different ball game. With so much at stake, pressure is inevitable. Cracking it, therefore, requires a lot of “attitude” along with the aptitude.
- Verbal Ability is not synonymous to English. It is more of how one uses the English constructs to express his ideas/views lucidly. Reading regularly and keeping abreast of the latest developments in this world is the key.
- Clarity of objective is paramount. Get your priorities right. Sketch your career path with no bifurcations. Only a dead end in the intended path should lead to another path in a new direction.
- Last, but not the least, enjoy every moment of your life. Do not sacrifice the late night movie or the adventure trip with your friends for some unplanned mock test or assignment at work place.
Stay tuned for some more posts on how 2009 had its share of fun and adventure.
Reliving 2009
To, all those who were fed up of replying to my comments on their blogs – you can now take a sigh of relief. For long I have been a cuckoo leaving my comments (read posts) on someone else’s blog, more so, because of my ineptitude in finding a suitable topic. But as the year comes to a close, so do my inhibitions.
Having taken the initiative, it would be worth reliving the past year, which, with its share of disappointments, surprises and adventure, has had a profound impact on my character.
So the next few posts will be dedicated to the events that have been the highlights in 2009 and the events leading up to the same in chronological order.
DISCLAIMER: Going by the name of my blog, the next few posts will be all about my personal experiences interspersed with few debatable/ factual data and views. All these can be a real drab and may lead to a waste of your Precious time.
Having taken the initiative, it would be worth reliving the past year, which, with its share of disappointments, surprises and adventure, has had a profound impact on my character.
So the next few posts will be dedicated to the events that have been the highlights in 2009 and the events leading up to the same in chronological order.
DISCLAIMER: Going by the name of my blog, the next few posts will be all about my personal experiences interspersed with few debatable/ factual data and views. All these can be a real drab and may lead to a waste of your Precious time.
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