If anyone believed in ‘holding on’, it has to be me! I can survive anything… the worst storms, the lowest crevice, the meanest times, on the single belief and hope, of a better time and a better life! I can ‘store up’ energy, hold in the expression… for the right person :) , the right time and the right occasion. Call it a unique ability? It most certainly is!
Now that automatically translates into maintaining that vision of yourself… A hope, a memory or a belief that carries you through the trials and trivials in each day and lets you see past all that. Cool. Really works.
Now what happens when this stamina is put to test for about 6 months at one go? You get tired. Doubt, disillusionment and frustration seep in. You can’t see the light of the day anymore. Its an easy sentence to make. In experience? Its pure hell.
So what do you do? Hmm… A lot of things, actually… Im quite a survivor. ‘Coz at 11.30 P.M I get this inspiration (from some useful stuff like old photographs, some books and the like which I keep aside for these very times) that I take this pill: Life is here and now! Everything I am, I am now. There’s no point in trying to be at another time or place. (Not when you have an exam the next day!) It’s a bitter pill to take, for it means you can’t run… and the torturous slow passing of each day… (time always slows down…)
Sigh…I guess what Im saying is…Life is always a package. With great pain, comes great joy. Sometimes when the 2 clash, the dichotomy is a lot to handle… And with tough times come the lighter moments in it, and the fairly apparent promise of a better time. The trick of survival is in seeing the other side, for long enough and well enough to understand the dynamism in life. Sometimes it is useful to see things in totality. Then, the concept of temporary and ‘passing phase’ makes better sense.
No point in trying to pass the winds of a storm without passing the center, see?
Think about it. If I don’t sound crazy to you, then maybe you’d like to think about this last sentence. :)
Cheers everyone! Live Strong!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Count your Blessings
To be honest, I don’t even know why I am writing this blog… I’ll keep this short and succint, then… For I am sure atleast of the inspiration behind this piece… At the Ashram tonight, it came to me with the speed of a running train that I was so blessed, with so many things… I felt it was unfair that I be unhappy even for a single day! :) If only life were that simple… :) Its actually quite amazing I can choose this line of thinking despite the terrific pressure I feel in here, right now, in the place I am in Life right now…
I don’t have all the answers… What I feel is (and I read something like this somewhere recently) that happiness is not in an object, nor in a person… not in an achievement even (sometimes), it lies in those small moments during the day, when you feel that you are living life the way you feel proud of… It takes an enormous maturity, from where I stand, and how old I am… to see this… Im guessing tough times bring out the ‘steel in you’ like someone told me today… :)
To be honest, its not a nice feeling…. Growing up, being detached… letting go of the things you want…:) for something more, perhaps a greater cause or a bigger plan…
I guess all I want to say is, no matter how hard it gets, always live the way you think it should be done… for at the end of the day… many times… all you have is yourself. You’ve got to live with that atleast, don’t you? :) Hold on to those few things in your life, or the day, that makes you feel there’s a bigger plan or better places, in short, things that remind you of Hope! For all you know, there could be very many more things going for you! Only you don’t see them yet!
Good Luck everyone. Life is some long journey!
Rajeswari
I don’t have all the answers… What I feel is (and I read something like this somewhere recently) that happiness is not in an object, nor in a person… not in an achievement even (sometimes), it lies in those small moments during the day, when you feel that you are living life the way you feel proud of… It takes an enormous maturity, from where I stand, and how old I am… to see this… Im guessing tough times bring out the ‘steel in you’ like someone told me today… :)
To be honest, its not a nice feeling…. Growing up, being detached… letting go of the things you want…:) for something more, perhaps a greater cause or a bigger plan…
I guess all I want to say is, no matter how hard it gets, always live the way you think it should be done… for at the end of the day… many times… all you have is yourself. You’ve got to live with that atleast, don’t you? :) Hold on to those few things in your life, or the day, that makes you feel there’s a bigger plan or better places, in short, things that remind you of Hope! For all you know, there could be very many more things going for you! Only you don’t see them yet!
Good Luck everyone. Life is some long journey!
Rajeswari
Thursday, August 2, 2007
The World of an M.B.A student….
You know how people (like our Proffs) talk about people who manage stress badly to end up insomniacs by the age of 50? Imagine how it feels to be one at 21,then. :P
Well, I don’t think Im quite an insomniac seeing as how I can unfailingly feel sleepy in some lectures, but when its 2 A.M and I cant sleep ‘coz Im thinking about the list of tasks for the next day, I feel like one stressed out manager!! Im sure it happens to the best of us- one of those days when you just can’t seem to get work out of the way (or should I say head). The week just seems to go on, and on... I cant even remember how it started... The funny part is, what you really want to do, is to just get the work outta da way and enjoy some well-earned hours of chilling-out in your room and forget about the 16-hour day you had on Wednesday, the Presentation you made at 9 P.M today, and the day-long Forum selections coming up in a days’ time… But then, you have this assignment you haven’t even begun on… A class tomo you know you’re going to blink through ‘coz the Operating Cycle using Pipeline inventories so whizzed above your head in the last class… And atleast three other submissions for next week which requires you to be at your analytical best…
Not sleeping can make you a zombie, ye know… Today, there was this hugely amusing episode when the Professor found, much to his astonishment that a large number of his students had slept only 4 hours prior to the morning class time. I was a safe seven hours off, guess my safety net for tomorrow has effectively evaporated. :P
I once upon a time, used to convince myself to just ‘Hang in there’ and get the work done with, no matter how inhuman a time it stretched on for. Now, Im not so sure, ‘coz unless you are smart enough, or as we were told today- ‘strategic-minded’ enough, we are going down!! Life moves on, you know… It doesn’t wait- so if you forego that phonecall you want to make home, or that one hour of sleep you want, or that movie you badly want to see saying ‘Later, once this is over’… you’ll find time doesn’t return for you.. I don’t think this is ‘getting over’!! It’s the beauty of an M.B.A programme: everytime you think you’ll cope with it- the threshold is upped… always… This year’s norm seems last year’s maximum!!
The Life of an M.B.A student, at times like this, is spent convincing oneself, that this is really, truly what one wants!! (‘coz if there were an iota of doubt: we would run, and fast!! :P) Its hard…’coz all that ‘wanting’ takes you to class on time tomorrow, but its not going to stop your eyes burning tomorrow from lack of sleep, or your feeling a bit blunt, and you mix up which group is for which paper…(O, at which point did I mention we always handle atleast 4 groups at any one point?)
I think a good laugh, helps!! In case anyone offers me a hanky now, (or better: A pillow) :P. let me end with a joke by an IIM student I read somewhere on the web:
‘I know there are a lot of guys out there who’re dying to be in our shoes… Well, we wish you were here too!!’
They get killed in there too, and much worse, I suspect… All good things come at a price, eh?
‘Let’s see this through…This Sunday promises to be fairly free.. Of course: notwithstanding the 3 submissions outstanding… One more day.. Let’s do this, then we can rest… ‘
:) It resumes…
Rajeswari
Well, I don’t think Im quite an insomniac seeing as how I can unfailingly feel sleepy in some lectures, but when its 2 A.M and I cant sleep ‘coz Im thinking about the list of tasks for the next day, I feel like one stressed out manager!! Im sure it happens to the best of us- one of those days when you just can’t seem to get work out of the way (or should I say head). The week just seems to go on, and on... I cant even remember how it started... The funny part is, what you really want to do, is to just get the work outta da way and enjoy some well-earned hours of chilling-out in your room and forget about the 16-hour day you had on Wednesday, the Presentation you made at 9 P.M today, and the day-long Forum selections coming up in a days’ time… But then, you have this assignment you haven’t even begun on… A class tomo you know you’re going to blink through ‘coz the Operating Cycle using Pipeline inventories so whizzed above your head in the last class… And atleast three other submissions for next week which requires you to be at your analytical best…
Not sleeping can make you a zombie, ye know… Today, there was this hugely amusing episode when the Professor found, much to his astonishment that a large number of his students had slept only 4 hours prior to the morning class time. I was a safe seven hours off, guess my safety net for tomorrow has effectively evaporated. :P
I once upon a time, used to convince myself to just ‘Hang in there’ and get the work done with, no matter how inhuman a time it stretched on for. Now, Im not so sure, ‘coz unless you are smart enough, or as we were told today- ‘strategic-minded’ enough, we are going down!! Life moves on, you know… It doesn’t wait- so if you forego that phonecall you want to make home, or that one hour of sleep you want, or that movie you badly want to see saying ‘Later, once this is over’… you’ll find time doesn’t return for you.. I don’t think this is ‘getting over’!! It’s the beauty of an M.B.A programme: everytime you think you’ll cope with it- the threshold is upped… always… This year’s norm seems last year’s maximum!!
The Life of an M.B.A student, at times like this, is spent convincing oneself, that this is really, truly what one wants!! (‘coz if there were an iota of doubt: we would run, and fast!! :P) Its hard…’coz all that ‘wanting’ takes you to class on time tomorrow, but its not going to stop your eyes burning tomorrow from lack of sleep, or your feeling a bit blunt, and you mix up which group is for which paper…(O, at which point did I mention we always handle atleast 4 groups at any one point?)
I think a good laugh, helps!! In case anyone offers me a hanky now, (or better: A pillow) :P. let me end with a joke by an IIM student I read somewhere on the web:
‘I know there are a lot of guys out there who’re dying to be in our shoes… Well, we wish you were here too!!’
They get killed in there too, and much worse, I suspect… All good things come at a price, eh?
‘Let’s see this through…This Sunday promises to be fairly free.. Of course: notwithstanding the 3 submissions outstanding… One more day.. Let’s do this, then we can rest… ‘
:) It resumes…
Rajeswari
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Second Year: This n That….
After all that speculation, second year of MBA is well underway… Summer Presentations practically whizzed by!! Of course: the process of presentation will be forever etched in memory-every, intense 70-minutes of it... :) The kind of satisfaction you get from getting through faculty like ours is really something else!! :)
Actually-this could have been the main topic of this blog, but some recent events jostle for space now...Like the ‘Ice-Breaker’ session we had with our Juniors last night… :) It was very reminiscent of our own Ice-breaking, and we spoke with many of them for the first time. Now we’re all jumped up about garnering the best of the lot for our Forums. :) Guess there is going to be a round of wild-grabbing of the best of them for our Forums, preceded by some frantic campaigning starting soon!!
Revised schedules nearly caused me to miss a class this morning… Guess it’s a taste of the year ahead...Different classmates everytime, and actually having work that’s not the same as everyone else… And of course: the strange freedom from being on the 3rd floor of hostel… Seems to mark the second year for me… Of course, there’s this ‘strange familiarity’ – an oxymoron, I know!!- with the campus and Life, because I never thought I would feel it…MBA is a course that teaches you never to get used to anything- work/no-work/sleep/no-sleep/hot/cold/.. Um…Guess you get the picture…:P
Anyway: I think I really cant say much until classes start full-blow… I haven’t even had some core papers…Guess it’ll become the familiar mad, mad rush when you’re grabbing at the next deadline… I was already made painfully aware in class about my inadequate revision of last year’s concepts... (Yes, from classes the previous December. :)
Now, we’re talking second year. :P
Good Luck all!! Juniors: for your months ahead which will prove to be very exciting and eventful. Batchmates: hold on to your brains, because they’re going to receive the ‘Treatment’. :P
Rajeswari
Actually-this could have been the main topic of this blog, but some recent events jostle for space now...Like the ‘Ice-Breaker’ session we had with our Juniors last night… :) It was very reminiscent of our own Ice-breaking, and we spoke with many of them for the first time. Now we’re all jumped up about garnering the best of the lot for our Forums. :) Guess there is going to be a round of wild-grabbing of the best of them for our Forums, preceded by some frantic campaigning starting soon!!
Revised schedules nearly caused me to miss a class this morning… Guess it’s a taste of the year ahead...Different classmates everytime, and actually having work that’s not the same as everyone else… And of course: the strange freedom from being on the 3rd floor of hostel… Seems to mark the second year for me… Of course, there’s this ‘strange familiarity’ – an oxymoron, I know!!- with the campus and Life, because I never thought I would feel it…MBA is a course that teaches you never to get used to anything- work/no-work/sleep/no-sleep/hot/cold/.. Um…Guess you get the picture…:P
Anyway: I think I really cant say much until classes start full-blow… I haven’t even had some core papers…Guess it’ll become the familiar mad, mad rush when you’re grabbing at the next deadline… I was already made painfully aware in class about my inadequate revision of last year’s concepts... (Yes, from classes the previous December. :)
Now, we’re talking second year. :P
Good Luck all!! Juniors: for your months ahead which will prove to be very exciting and eventful. Batchmates: hold on to your brains, because they’re going to receive the ‘Treatment’. :P
Rajeswari
Monday, February 19, 2007
Learning from Not-learning
Perhaps its one of the things you pick up at ASB, or maybe its something that any P.G course will teach you (if you care to open your eyes and look, that is!); that there is a lot to be learnt from your ‘not-knowing’. Of course, its first necessary that you care that you ‘don’t know’ and second that you have sufficient guts to look it and say ‘shucks! I don’t know that at all!’.
Its very easy to say ‘I don’t give a fair penny that I don’t know’. Its also called ‘escapism’ I think… :) especially if you want to kick-ass when you get into the Corporate World.
A very simple example to illustrate what I’m talking about is the feeling we have after writing an exam: (read: our Mid-Term exams) the Proff comes to class and goes over the paper (or rather: over your dismal performance in the paper!) and you squirm in your seat. He may make it sound all very simple (‘Read the text and all will be well’). Actually…. Its true…. You realize that after you’ve had the taste of the paper. No, Im not just talking about the phenomena of lack of preparation. If you can realize that perhaps this subject is actually worth knowing/ that it may actually require some more time/ that maybe you should be prioritizing better….. that’s what I’m getting at. Are we going to be smart enough to realize, and do something about, that there’s a whole lot we don’t know and we probably should be?
Let’s face it: when we go out: there’s always going to be this pack of smart-asses (no pun intended!) who will finish our sentences and do the math just a little faster and know the one detail you didn’t, about the subject. (And no: its not just the IIM breed I’m talking about).
So let’s just not sit on it and chew hay! We got a chance to remedy it…. (and by God, we can….!) Let’s take the chance and do what’s possible. Who knows, it may be the thing that creates the difference between the salary we get and the salary we hope to get…..
OK, I hope all the readers of this blog are sufficiently inspired! I think I’ll come back sometime later and try reading it myself! :)
Have a good day, ppl. :)
Its very easy to say ‘I don’t give a fair penny that I don’t know’. Its also called ‘escapism’ I think… :) especially if you want to kick-ass when you get into the Corporate World.
A very simple example to illustrate what I’m talking about is the feeling we have after writing an exam: (read: our Mid-Term exams) the Proff comes to class and goes over the paper (or rather: over your dismal performance in the paper!) and you squirm in your seat. He may make it sound all very simple (‘Read the text and all will be well’). Actually…. Its true…. You realize that after you’ve had the taste of the paper. No, Im not just talking about the phenomena of lack of preparation. If you can realize that perhaps this subject is actually worth knowing/ that it may actually require some more time/ that maybe you should be prioritizing better….. that’s what I’m getting at. Are we going to be smart enough to realize, and do something about, that there’s a whole lot we don’t know and we probably should be?
Let’s face it: when we go out: there’s always going to be this pack of smart-asses (no pun intended!) who will finish our sentences and do the math just a little faster and know the one detail you didn’t, about the subject. (And no: its not just the IIM breed I’m talking about).
So let’s just not sit on it and chew hay! We got a chance to remedy it…. (and by God, we can….!) Let’s take the chance and do what’s possible. Who knows, it may be the thing that creates the difference between the salary we get and the salary we hope to get…..
OK, I hope all the readers of this blog are sufficiently inspired! I think I’ll come back sometime later and try reading it myself! :)
Have a good day, ppl. :)
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