Day 280 - 30th July 2011

• Last session on AFM - capital markets
• Lunch at Mainland China (bbuurrrrpp)
• Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - one time watch
• Palaash dance practice - we seem to be improving :P
• Birthday celebration in Kachnar - awesome chocolate cake from TGB
• FIF1 work
• Will read a bit of Pundits from Pakistan before calling it a day

Day 279 - 29th July 2011

The AFM sessions today dealt with 2 topics - budgeting and M&As. We had cases on both topics to be read before class. The case on budgets seemed a little difficult, although the company in question was making phenomenal growth its profit margin was quite low and the reasons for that had to be analysed. In M&As we were given a case on the HLL-TOMCO - the first merger to place post the liberalisation. Again a pretty interesting case with a lot of learning. Classes for the day were done by 12 after which had to take care of some MCSA work which took about an hour.

Could squeeze in a siesta today as well, a good hour and a half of it. Had some more MCSA work regarding certain electives for the fifth term which kept me busy in the evening. During the course of the day got to know about a book on cricket and sports marketing that was launched recentlly, used that as an excuse to venture out to Crossword. It started raining after I reached crossword so used that as an excuse to stop by at McDonalds next door and grab a bite while waiting for the rain to subside.

Got back to campus by 930. MICARE had its opening night tonight and they were distributing free coke float and souvenirs. After that we had to practice for the Palaash dance in the audi which was amazing fun. Also had a birthday celebration in Amaltas. Got back to the room by 2 and decided to start working towards clearing the backlog of books that I have to read. Started reading Pundits from Pakistan - a journalist's account of the Indian cricket team's tour of Pakistan in 2004. Read that for a bit before calling it a day.

Day 278 - 28th July 2011

The CC class began at 1030 today which also meant waking up earlier than normal as compared to previous days. Today's class was the concluding session on the module of ideology. The Nazi case study was continued and we were shown how they took complete control of the media - print and radio, to propagate their ideologies. In the second part of the class we were shown a video of Hitler and how carefully it was made to ensure that maximum subliminal communication. After that we were shown a video closer to home in which speeches of leaders like Bal Thackeray were analyzed during the peak of the communal riots in 1993.

Post lunch was able to do something that has been eluding me for the past week - sleep! The joy of a siesta is unparalleled :P Slept for a good hour and a half since the movie screening was at 430. Today's movie was a mexican blockbuster -The Crime of Father Amaro. It took a dig at how the church has also been propagating its ideology. The thing about these screenings is that Prof. Mathew gives a good description about the theme and what to look out for in the movie, the subtleties that would otherwise be missed out. Hope I get the hang of movie appreciation before graduating from here!

Had some FIF1 work in the evening that kept me occupied for about an hour. Dinner in the mess was Gujju food, which always invites extreme reactions. I fall in the group that quite enjoys it, more so because it is a welcome change from the usual stuff.Post dinner started with the pre reads for the AFM class tomorrow, we have 2 cases and related theory to prepare on. Didn't realise when I dozed off, woke up at around midnight which also meant that I had missed practice for the Palaash dance. Continued with the pre reads which went on till 4, have been browsing the net since then, shall call it a day in a bit and just hope that I wake up in time for the 930 class tomorrow.

Day 277 - 27th July 2011

The CC class was supposed to start at 12 today but because of the concept note submissions for the dissertation it got postponed to 230. Utilised that time to run my topic through one of the faculty members whom I have given as one of my preferences as a mentor. Apart from that there was also some MCSA work that needed to be done in the administration and programme office.

In the CC class we discussed a Nazi case study as to how ideology was driven into the psyche of people. It was also brought to our notice that marketing concepts like pre-testing, segmentation and TG all have their roots in the Nazi concentration camps where these techniques were used on the Jews. There were also some disturbing visuals of the concentration camps that were shown. The whole idea behind all of this was to show if planned properly and executed meticulously, ideology can easily propagated through the masses and how its applications/repercussions in the marketing context.

The movie screened today was Rossentrasse - a movie based on the story of a Jewish girl living in the US tracing the roots of her mother in Germany during the Nazi regime. A very gripping story about what her mother went through in those days which explains why she became a devout Jew. Since classes started late, the movie screening got done at 9 in the night. After dinner, there was this discussion held on the Janlokpal bill by MICA alumni who is a now an adjunct faculty out here who also works with Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare on spreading awareness about the Janlokpal bill. A pretty informative session which gave rise to a very healthy discussion. That got done by 1 after which had to stay back in the audi to ensure that the committee interviews were running smoothly.

Got back to the room at around 2 and had to do some FIF1 work, we have a set of races coming up in Hyderabad next week, so the preparatory work is on for the same. It took about an hour to finish that off. It's been a long and tiring day, have a relatively relaxed schedule tomorrow, could catch up on some sleep then.

Day 276 -26th July 2011

Woke up at 1030 today and had to take care of some internship work before heading for the 12 o'clock class. Today's CC class was about IMC from a sociological perspective. We discussed about the proliferation of brands and advertisements, about how advertisers are getting frustrated and consumers are getting infuriated. The average time for ads in a half an hour show is now nine minutes, up from 2-3 minutes from the 1980s. Product placements were also discussed with the Walt Disney+Monsters Inc.+ Pepsi versus Time Warner+Harry Potter+Coke case study being discussed. The whole point being that the number of ads and marketing strategies when viewed from a sociological perspective gives one a lot to think about.

The class was followed by a movie screening, today's movie was a French movie - Three colours blue. Was quite zonked out during the movie. Realized that movie appreciation isnt that easy! This movie is a part of a trilogy with the other colours being red and white. They are based on the colours of the French flag with each colour standing for a set of values which are explored in each of these movies.

Post dinner had discussions on committee budgets for Alumni, SCAM and MICANVAS. That took around a couple of hours. After that had to work on the concept note for the dissertation topic that has to be submitted tomorrow. As of now have thought about naming rights for stadiums across the world and its scope in India as a topic. Got done with that at 430. Will tweak it a bit tomorrow before submitting it.

Day 275 - 25th July 2011

Had our first class of CC today. We were supposed to have this course last year but due to some logistic issues it couldn't take place. Today's session was an intro to the course and about Mergers & Acquisitions from a sociological perspective. The analysis was done over a period of more than 100 years. This lead to the discussion of the term 'mass culture' and the commodification of everything around us. In particular M&As in the media sphere were also discussed, how people like Rupert Murdoch control more than 30% of the media in Asia and in New Zealand tv, print, newspaper and radio is in the hands of just 2 people!

In the lunch break had to take a print out of the dissertation workshop assignment, most of us feel that we have done a pretty shabby job of the assignment because of the paucity of time, can't help it though. Post lunch had a film screening. Today's movie was a Brazilian movie Central Station (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140888/). An interesting movie on a young boy's journey to find his father.

In the evening had to work out committee budgets with each committee separately, its a tough balancing act to do and can be a very difficult job at times. Today was also the 5th day of the committee selection process, had to be in the audi for a bit for that. Got done relatively early today (read as 330), have another day of CC and a movie screening lined up for tomorrow as well.

Day 274 - 24th July 2011

Had 2 AFM lectures in the morning which I attended after 3 hours of sleep from last night. Today's lectures were on the merits and demerits of raising capital through equity and debt alongwith project appraisals. Once again realised the importance of having a good prof! We had two cases as pre reads and these were discussed in class. His approach to the cases seem to be simple and yet one is left wondering how they couldn't come up with the same idea! After class came back to the room and caught up on some sleep with a 2 hour siesta - which I think was the first proper one for the second year :-D In the evening started working a bit on the dissertation workshop assignment which is due for submission tomorrow. Its a group assignment, so we have divided the work amongst ourselves. The prof who has given this assignment doesn't believe in allowing students to form their own groups, he forms random groups and sends it across to the batch. We are supposed to pick a research paper and analyze the literature review, identify knowledge gaps and also come up with a concept note for the paper. Read the paper before dinner and started working on the assignment post dinner in the audi - today is the 4th day of the junior committee selection process. Will head back to the room in a bit, have a 12 o'clock start to lectures tomorrow so can afford to sleep in a little. We have culture and communication (CC) by Prof. Mathew followed by a movie screening in the afternoon.

Day 273 - 23rd July 2011

Had only 2 lectures today which began at 2 in the afternoon, so could take the liberty of waking up at 1 in the afternoon. Surprisingly could understand most of what was being discussed in class. Net Present Value, Future Value, Annuity etc. seemed to have made some sense. The AFM prof. also has this practice of asking people questions at random. Yours truly was asked a question from the case,which I could fortunately answer, phew! The class got extended because of which the case could not discussed. After class played cricket in the evening in front of silver oak, was good fun. There are some good players in PGP1 this year which is a good thing for the MCL.

Today was one of those days where a trip off campus became absolutely necessary. Went to honey9 for dinner for the customary shikari chicken, was well worth the trip! Came back to campus by 10 and have been in the audi since then. Did the AFM pre reads for tomorrow. Slotting for the committee interviews for today have been pretty smooth today as well. Have been having long discussions with SIR about placements and placecomm in general and his experiences in the JPC. Went to Chota for a midnight snack. Its 5 in the morning now, will head back to the room and catch up on some sleep. Have class starting at 930 tomorrow and also have a dissertation assignment due by day after tomorrow. Things are slowly returning to how they were in the first year :P

Day 272 - 22nd July 2011

Had our first couple of sessions of AFM today. Had read a bit of the chapters and the case that was to be discussed as a part of the pre reads. Could understand some of the discussions that went on in class because of that, though when it comes to finance (pardon the Siddhuism) I am as lost as a baby in a topless bar! After the lecture came back to the room and caught up on some sleep. Woke up at 345 in the afternoon which meant that I had missed lunch in the mess. Had lunch with Sir, Kalkar and Rana at Chota. Post that had to go through the committee budgets with Jhamb and Apar and try to figure out how we could fit into the overall budget.

Had the second day of the new junior committee selection process today. Thankfully the internet didn't give way today. Things were relatively smooth today with Sir, Megha and Sania managing all the slotting. Was in the audi since 10 just in case any kind of help was required. Did the AFM pre read for tomorrow as well - have 2 chapters and a case. Got done with all the work by 530 in the morning. Luckily have classes in the afternoon tomorrow, so can catch up on some sleep!

Day 271 - 21st July 2011

Woke up at 1 today, which also happened to be the last of our rest days. Had the placecomm budget meeting with the management at 3 which went on for about an hour. Turned out to be a pretty fruitful meeting. In the evening had a batch meet with pgp-1 to explain the junior committee selection process to them and the reason behind taking their rankings for the committees they had applied to. The process for committee selections started in the night. Five committee interviews started in parallel today and tomorrow eight committee interviews will be running parallely. Post dinner was in the audi where most of the pgp-1 candidates had gathered from where they would be sent for their respective interviews. As our luck would have it, the internet stopped working everywhere on campus! Because of this all communication to committees was sent on handwritten paper. While in the audi also managed to squeeze in the pre read for tomorrow's Advanced Financial Management (AFM) course. This is one of the core courses this term and I only hope that is better than FA from last year. Was in the audi till around 5 in the morning by when most of the work for the day was done. Just hope that I am able to wake up on time for AFM tomorrow!

Day 270 - 20th July 2011

Woke up at 2 today! Decided to skip the mess food and had lunch at Chota. Had some FIF1 work in the afternoon, which took some time. Also had some MCSA work for the junior committee selection process. In the night had the PGP-1 culnite, the one where PGP-1 showcases their talent to PGP-2. Needless to say, they are a talented bunch. Similar to our Babli dance, this year's PGP-1 was made to dance on this song. :D Good fun overall.

After the culnite, had to sit with all the committees to take a final call on the process to be followed for junior committees this year. After a lot of deliberations it has been decided to adopt a new process this year. Committee interviews will be scheduled in parallel and SIR will be handling the slotting interviews to ensure minimum clashes and uniform workload distribution for candidates. Hope it goes off well (fingers crossed!). Got done with that by around 345 and am back in the room now. Want to finish off selecting the electives for the second year before going to sleep, the deadline for it is 5 p.m. tomorrow, don't know what time I will be waking up so better safe than sorry :P

Day 269 - 19th July 2011

Spent the first half of the day giving finishing touches to the markstrat assignment. We also had all the committee presentations for pgp-1 in the night for which preparatory work had to be done. Over the past couple of days there were a lot of issues and concerns regarding the system for credits in the second year. The MCSA and ARC had discussions with faculty members over the past 2 days and today some of those issues got resolved. We have a bouquet system for courses in the second year where we can choose which subjects we want to pick in both the core and elective area. Apart from that we also have certain compulsory courses from the general management and communication studies area. Have until 5 p.m. day after tomorrow to select the subjects for this year. In the evening had to go through the committee budgets with Apar and Jhamb which took about an hour or so. Also had some FIF1 work which needed to be done.

The committee presentations happened in the audi from 1030 onwards. Each committee had to make a pitch to pgp-1 as to why they should apply for their junior committee. Some of the presentations were really good, the challenge being to hold the attention of 164 people for 5 hours. SCAM went a step further with the committee members presenting in sports gear and also entering to music from jo jeeta wohi sikander :D The presentations went on till 315 in the morning. PGP-1 now needs to decide which committees they have to apply to. MCSA work kept me up until 530 in the morning, last couple of 'rest' days ahead before classes begin.

Day 268 - 18th July 2011

Had kept the alarm for 830 but ended up waking up at 1030 (which is still better than 245). Started working on the markstrat assignment when at around noon we got news that the deadline had been extended by a day! Still finished off the part on the internship before lunch. Had to meet the marketing area head today to discuss our concerns regarding the total credits available to us and the selection of courses for this year. They will be forwarded to the associate director who should get back to us by tomorrow. Went to Bopal in the evening for a haircut. During the day, the heat became oppressive to say the least! However it poured in the evening which brought down temperatures considerably. Have been working on the markstrat assignment since dinner, had to go to Kore to get some more doubts cleared. Have been watching ads/music videos on youtube for every set of 100 words completed :P Finally got done with the report at 3. Have to give it some finishing touches, which can be done tomorrow as well. The deadline for the submission is 6 in the evening.Will call it a day now and hope that I can actually get a rest day one of these days! :P

Day 267 - 17th July 2011

Woke up at 230 in the afternoon today! Have to do something about waking up slightly early on rest days. A lot of people from campus went to see Harry Potter today. After being here for more than a year we have gotten to know that there is an IMAX in Ahmedabad! All the HP fans headed out there to see the latest movie, yours truly doesnt fall in that category so I stayed back on campus and played a little cricket in front of silveroak. It was good fun, brought back memories of the MCL. The MTV shoot also happened on campus today. In the evening there were special performances lined up in the audi - a musical, stand up comedy and a play. Divyanshu, PGP17's very own stand up comic, stole the show with by far his performance till date! He deserved the standing ovation that he got at the end of it. Also realised that apart from our batch, the junior batch is also a very talented bunch. Since the MTV shoot got done at 9, which happens to be rush hour in terms of mess traffic decided to have dinner at Chota for the second night in a row. Post dinner, had a meeting with all the committees to discuss the process for the junior committee selections for this year. That went till about 2. That was followed by a markstrat team meeting, we have our first submission of pgp-2 tomorrow. Need to submit a 1800 word report out of which 1000 words should relate our internship experience to the markstrat world and the remaining 800 words should analyse the decisions we made in any one areas over the 8 markstrat years. Kore explained most of what was done and we divided the work amongst ourselves. Tried starting work on the report but then that familiar battle against sleep began. Sleep -1 me - 0 .

Day 266 - 16th July 2011

Had the first of our marathon 'rest' days until the 21st of this month. Woke up in time for lunch and was did general tp until evening when the weather gods were kind enough to allow a game of tennis. What we didnt anticipate though was the quality of the new clay court post the rains. It has become extremely soft at certain places which leads to a lot of uneven bounce. Its like a 5th day test match pitch with the ball even turning 90 degrees at times! Still managed to play for about an hour and a half. The 'rigours' of tennis coupled with skipping snacks meant that dinner at Chota was on the cards. The all time favourite of paratha and burji had the desired effect. Post dinner have been reading up on some articles and listening to music. Its become extremely hot again out here, makes sleeping all the more difficult!

Day 265 - 15th July 2011

The all nighter from day before, woke up at 10 in the morning. Had the second day of the crafting dissertation workshop. Today's session was all about the different types of research methodologies we have at our disposal. Some case studies and paper presentations were also discussed. During the course of the day had some work at the programme office wherein some issues had to be sorted. Post that had to meet the associate director regarding foreign travel for some of our batchmates who will be attending a conference in Seoul. Also had to take care of some my internship work. Had to make a to do list for the next 3 weeks just to ensure that nothing is forgotten! In the evening had a meeting with Team Interface alongwith volunteers from pgp-1 for the MTV shoot that is going to happen on campus. They will be on campus on 17th and 18th and will be covering different areas around campus, so all the activities had to be planned accordingly. The meeting got done by around 7.

Was relatively free in the evening after quite a long time, so decided to go to upper crust for dinner. That place never ceases to amaze me! Not once have I come back disappointed or without a bloated stomach from there :P Got back to campus by10 and had some more MCSA work lined up which dealt with the other committees on campus. Wrapped it up within an hour after which have been generally chilling reading some articles on the net and listening to music. Shall call it day soon!

Days 263 & 264 - 13th and 14th July 2011

Pulled off my first all nighter of the second year! 13th was a rest day to woke up at noon (in hindsight it turned out to be a good thing since I didn't know what was lying in store for me :P). MCSA work consumed most of the day. Started off by meeting the chairperson of the dissertation committee to finalise the timelines of the dissertation submissions. Post that had to meet the associate director and registrar to have the first round of discussions regarding the committee budgets. Also had to discuss the status of the internship report that had to be submitted, finally came to a mutual agreement that no report had to be submitted! :D In the evening had to sit with Apar and Jhamb to discuss the way forward wrt to the Junior MCSA elections which were to be held in the night. This year we tried something new by going online for elections, saves a lot of paper and time as well! The Junior MCSA elections started a t 1030 in the night. Candidates had to make a speech followed by Q&A from their batch. This was followed by elections from where the top 3 girls and guys would proceed for interviews which were to be conducted by the MCSA. We had to interview 13 people after the elections. The interviews started at 230 and went on till 8 in the morning! At the end of it we've found a Junior MCSA that we are very happy with and from whom we expect a lot. Also have to say that the junior batch also seems to have a lot of talented people, a heartening sign for MICA :-)

Had the first day of the crafting dissertation workshop on the 14th which started at 930 in the morning - which effectively meant no sleep at all on the 13th! Managed to pay attention for the first hour and a half after which the lack of sleep started taking its toll on me. Pushed myself to stay awake in class until the post lunch session. At around 330 excused myself from the class and came back to my room. Slept until 7 in the evening. Had JPC speeches and elections in the night, the online voting system was tried there as well. It worked quite well for both elections, due credited to be given to our chief election commissioner - SIR alongwith with Kore and Kore for devising a foolproof system. After a long time had dinner at Chota since the mess food was quite boring. JPC speeches went on till about 230 after which I came back to the room and crashed!

Day 262 - 12th July 2011

Technically today was supposed to be a 'rest' day. Woke up at 1030 only to realise that I was late for a meeting with the chairperson of the dissertation committee. The meeting was about the timelines for the dissertation timelines. During the course of the meeting we also realised that the dates for certain college events had to be changed. Had to meet the registrar for that as well, we were able to get those sorted. Also had to block time with the associate director to finalise the committee budgets for the year, that meeting will happen tomorrow. Managed to squeeze in a half an hour siesta after which had to prepare for a batch meet with PGP1. Junior committee selections begin from tomorrow, first up is the junior MCSA. Had to brief PGP1 about the job entails and also the selection process. Post dinner had a meeting with all the senior committees to discuss the process for selection of junior committees for this year. We have something different in mind which we want to implement this year, lets hope it clicks. After that had to work out the modalities of the junior MCSA elections for tomorrow with SIR, who is also helping us out with the new process that we are trying to set in place for the junior committee selections.

Have another 'rest' day tomorrow, wonder what's in store for that :P

Day 261- 11th July 2011

Had our last day of markstrat today. After leading the pack for one period we slipped to second place by the middle of the day. During the day the MCSA also had a meeting with the dissertation committee regarding the schedule of submissions for our dissertations. That took about an hour or so. We have been making plans of going to Honey9 for dinner for the past couple of nights, tonight that finally materialised. Kore,Kalkar, Rana, Sir and yours truly went have our first shikari chicken of the season. With no girls present we thought the food to bill ratio would be low, however to our the bill amount was pretty much the same! Got back to campus at around 11 after which we had a batch meet with PGP1. Had a placecomm meet after that to discuss the selection process for the junior committees. Have a rest day tomorrow, hopefully can wake up post 1030!

Day 260 - 10th July 2011

Sleeping for less than 4 hours for the past 3 days finally took its toll. Woke up only at 1130 today which meant that I was late for the first session of markstrat, however with Kore in our team there's not much to worry about ;-) We were market leaders for one period in the afternoon but then slipped to second position by the end of the day. A point worth mentioning though was the fact that we launched a project called SIR1 which exceeded all our expectations and consistently went out of stock. Sir's legacy thus continues at MICA! Had made plans to go to Honey9 for dinner but persistent rains ensured that we stayed back on campus. We didn't get a raw deal though since there was biryani in the mess :-P

Have our last day of markstrat tomorrow, the impending rest days after that should be incentive enough for me to wake up on time!

Day 259 - 9th July 2011

Started off with the actual round of markstrat today. Now we have Kore in our team, who is a genius when it comes to analysing loads of data and making decisions based on that. So we are pretty lucky in that regard. He has been explaining the decisions to all of us, and needless to say there is also a certain amount of free riding involved ;-) Our team has consistently been in second place today (after 2 periods). In the evening had some MCSA work which as usual went on till the night. It poured today as well which ensured that the temperatures dropped further, sleeping now seems to be a more comfortable proposition. For a change will call it a day early today by sleeping at midninght. Two more days of markstrat followed by 2 rest days!

Day 258 - 8th July 2011

First day of markstrat today and also back to the schedule of classes at 930 in the morning. Markstrat is a simulated environment where 5 teams compete against each other. Each team has 2 brands and there are 5 sets of decisions that need to be made for each period which represents a year in the markstrat world. Today was reserved as a day for trials so that we could get acquainted with the software and the interface. Had to make decisions for 2 years until evening. Got done by around 6 in the evening. Went to Bopal in the evening to pay off the mobile bill. Got back to campus and had to start preparing for the special interest group presentations for PGP-1. The presentations went on till about 430 in the morning and yes I have to wake up in time for markstrat tomorrow!

Day 257 - 7th July 2011

Had our second session on the subjects offered in the second year. Today's session was taken by the area heads of marketing,advertising and market research. Each of these areas have pretty interesting subjects on offer. We have a couple of weeks to decide on which core subjects and electives to choose. The good news is sports marketing is a 2 credit course with 20 sessions - 10 sessions more than last year. Managed to clock in a two and a half hour siesta in the afternoon. Played a little tennis in the evening before the rain gods decided to be kind to us. Continued the tradition of the rain dance in the badminton court. Thankfully now the temperatures have dropped to humanly tolerable levels,but the flip side is the number of insects that will now be found all around campus! Post dinner MCSA work kept me busy. Have markstrat from tomorrow, just hope it turns out to be better than markops!

Day 256 - 6th July 2011

PGP-2 sessions officially started today. The culture and communications area heads laid out the course curriculum for the year ahead. Some pretty interesting subjects are on offer this year. The one that I am looking forward to are Film Studies, Indian Cinema and Semiotics and metaphors. Got done with the session by 11 and the rest of the day free. MCSA work kept me occupied after till the evening. Played a little tennis after that, inaugurated the 2 new clay courts on campus. That went on till about 7 in the evening after which I had to go to collect the bike from the service center. Post dinner MCSA work kept us busy, due to the onset of monsoons there was some problem in the drinking water. Apart from that a few other issues needed to be looked into which ensured that we stayed up till 4 in the morning yet again!

Day 255 - 5th July 2011

Had a rest day today, so got back to the rest day routine of waking up at 1030 and having breakfast at Chota. Went to ISCON mall in the afternoon to pick up some stuff for the room. Also gave the bike for servicing, so basically took care of all the pending chores! Got back to campus in the evening and had to take care of some MCSA work (it may be sounding repetitive but unfortunately majority of my time these days is being consumed by MCSA work :P) Had to meet the registrar for internship related work. I have been given an extension until October and will be working part time from campus until then. He was nice enough to grant me permission for the same. After that had to meet an exchange student from Switzerland who is here for the first term of PGP-1. Had dinner at chota since the mess food seemed quite boring. Post that the MCSA work continued, didnt even realise when the clock struck 4 in the morning, guess my body clock has adjusted to the MICAn sleep cycle quite soon!

Day 254 - 4th July 2011

Had the inauguration function for PGP-1 today. Couldnt help but reminisce about our inauguration ceremony a year back, how most of us were a little afraid about what was in store for us over the next couple of years, how some of us were skeptical about whether this place would live up to our expectations or not, would we find the right jobs and so on. A year down the line most of those questions have been answered. Anyways back to the ceremony, as the President of the MCSA yours truly had the honour of lighting the ceremonial lamp. The COO of Lintas media group was the chief guest. His speech was about how our attitude defined how well we did in our careers. After the inauguration ceremony had some MCSA work to finish which went on till the night. Have a rest day tomorrow, can take the liberty of waking up late, dont know for how long I will be able to live such a luxurious life :P

Day 253 - 3rd July 2011

Seem to be waking up early for no reason whatsoever. It could also be because of the heat, it just doesn't seem to show any signs of relenting! Have bought a table fan which provides some respite, but then again its only temporary. The senior hostels seem to be filling up now with a lot of people coming back to campus today. In the evening went to collect my bike. It hadn't been started for 3 months and a servicing is long overdue! Finally had dinner at the mess today which was butter chicken and naan. Took care of some MCSA work in the night which took a couple of hours. PGP1 have their inauguration ceremony tomorrow, can only sit back and wonder how quickly a year has passed.

Day 252 - 2nd July 2011

A lot of people have started coming back to campus now. Its a good feeling to see familiar faces. Most of today was spent catching up with batchmates and exchanging internship stories. Continued my consistency of not having dinner at the mess by going to barbeque nation. Maushi had to treat Kalkar and me for winning crucible. Also continued the tradition of coming back from Barbeque Nation with stuffed bellies. Last few days of freedom on campus before classes begin, so everyone seems to be making the most of it.

Day 251 - 1st July 2011

Most of the day was spent in getting the 900 odd boxes moved to their respective senior hostels. Started the work at around 11 in the morning and got done with it by 5 in the evening. The MCSA also addressed pgp1 today and officially welcomed them to MICA. In the evening a few of us went to see Delhi Belly. Before the movie we had dinner at a place called Havmor, pretty decent place for vegetarian food. As for the movie - its definitely something that's being tried in Bollywood for the first time, some people might simply love it while others might find it outright disgusting though by by the reaction in the theatre the latter might be a minority. Sir and Kalkar came back to campus today so have been catching up with them. Might just go to Chota before calling it a day.

Day 250 - 30th June 2011

Another day during which we were kept busy with MCSA work. Had informal meetings with the registrar and associate director on the way to take things forward for this year. We also have the responsibility of getting nearly 900 boxes moved to the 6 senior hostels. These boxes contain the stuff left behind by the batch before we left for our internships. Couldn't get too much of that done today though since the people who were supposed to help us turned up quite late. In the evening went to Iscon Mall to buy stuff for the room and had dinner at subway. After getting back to campus caught up with some of the guys from pgp2 at the 'aam'chair. We have been relishing the mangoes that have been falling from the mango tree on campus. Went to Chota at around 1 in the night for a midnight snack and discussing about our internships, quite a lot of people have got PPIs which is a good sign for the batch. Came back to the room by around 2 and dozed off without even realising it.