The Other Side of Life

I swear I heard them. It was a cold December winter night, two weeks back. I was tucked in two layers of razai and clutching my hot water bag for life. My head was inside the warm blanket, lest any cold air enters.  And then I heard it. A strange ruffle and a shriek. I slowly formed a small hole in my razai's enclosing to investigate the sounds. There was no mistaking the source. It was my bookshelf. I strained my ears to try and understand what was going on. Oh yes. It was the books. "Will you move? Bloody hell. You are standing on my back cover! If you don't move, I will tell all my fans and they will sit at Jantar Mantar and protest against you and your stupid establishment. MOVE. NOW." It was Five Point Someone, Chetan Bhagat's magnum opus, speaking to none other than Britannica's Encyclopedia. The giant encyclopedia moved with the slightest of movement and shifted his bulky weight. He grumbled, "Hell ya. Establishment. Who even looks a...

Is there a point in saying I am back? I don't think so! :D  But seriously, sincerely, I am back. And this time for real.  I started out for my MBA thinking about the 2 long years I'll get to be in college, the hike in salary I will get and the chance to sit in a class again. Before I could realize, its all almost over. I sat in classes and slept through some. I got a nice job. I explored sides to me, which I never knew existed. I wasted a lot of time and did some important things. And of course, I met some people, whom I'll treasure forever. MBA hasn't ended and I am already so sentimental. :-/ Anyway, DI tagged me and since I don't remember the last time anyone tagged me, I will gladly take this up and use this tag to update you about my 2012. Not that anyone asked, but, hey, last I remember, that's what blogging was all about! So, here goes.. 1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?  Appeared on Television thrice! That counts, righ...

So finally, after much procrastination, I decided to give the Book Reviews Program a shot. And as luck would have it, I got lucky with a great book! The Bankster, by Ravi Subramanian is an exciting read, to say the least. I must confess, I was slightly biased towards the author, having heard great reviews of If God Was a Banker, his first book. Here's the deal. When you are dealing with a subject as complicated as Banking (atleast for me), you need to have a very careful approach. You need to make things sound simple so that I as a reader, get a grip on the story, but at the same time, not make it too simplistic to make me feel dumb and lacking in knowledge. Ravi Subramanian passes this test with flying colors! Dealing with banking, frauds and the complexities of the financial world, he has created a wonderful script, which is easy to understand and at the same time technically perfect. The Bankster is the story of the Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) and a grou...

What? You thought I had disappeared again? If only. I am saying this one last time on this blog. Dear God, sometimes, you are really really unfair. And in times like those, I am sorry to say, but I feel jealous of atheists. At least, they don't feel guilty saying thank god. I mean, pray explain your logic behind making me take decisions I will regret later. If you and I had to play the "I-Told-You-So-Game", trust me, our equation would be very different. Seriously? I told you so? That's your BIG idea? I am disappointed.  And while on the subject, it would be great if you could explain to me why some people have ALL the luck in the world, while others have none. You have probably not attended B-School, but any voracious newspaper reader could explain to you the concept of Economies of Scale. Remember? Why do I always get phased out by luck? Why can't you distribute luck equally! Bruce Almighty had a very valid point when he went around dividing th...

That was one of the oldest memories of Independence Day. Homework on 14th August always included either an essay on Independence Day or "Nibandh Lekhan: Gantantra Diwas". Needless to say, it was still a special day. Living in Delhi, being a Government Officers daughter, studying in a school run on the principles of the man who proudly translated the National Song into "Mother I bow to thee" - how could we not love this day? I don't remember a single year in the past 20 years (counting since I remember), when I did not wake up at 6 in the morning to watch the Prime Minister's speech, scan the audience to locate my Dad, scribble words from the chaste Hindi commentary to use them in my essay later and stand up in respect of the flag and the anthem. I have vivid memories of the Independence Day of 1997 - the 50th year of celebration. I trudged along with my father to the Red Fort, with dreams of this day being very different from the ones I had witness...