Day 390 - 28th January 2012

Winter isn't over as yet out here. Realised that in the morning when I went to play tennis with Anuja. Was shivering throughout the walk from Kachnar to the tennis court. Post breakfast shifted base to the library and continued work on the dissertation. Got the go ahead from my guide for the survey questionnaires. Took a while to find the right site to make the survey, the free versions available online have a lot of limitations. Have floated the questionnaires, will have to now start begging people to fill them :P Managed to finish reading The Elusive Fan today, the part I really liked about the book was the case study on successful sports brands. The US has come a long way in building a sporting culture so it was no surprise that all examples from there. Wrapped up work in the library by 8 in the night.

Kore gave his birthday treat today which was dinner at Honey9 followed by Agneepath at City Gold Bopal. I find the movie quite stupid, too much violence and the story was already known. Came back to campus by 2 and decided to watch the original version of the movie. Saw about half the movie till 4 in the morning before deciding to call it a day.

Day 389 - 27th January 2012

Didn't have any classes today. Woke up at 930 and decided to shift base to the library with the hope of starting work on the dissertation. Got a call from my guide to meet her regarding the questionnaires that I had sent to her. Had to make some modifications to them. Have resent them and am awaiting for her approval. Continued reading The Elusive Fan, I find it very similar to our marketing textbook, the theory sounds very obvious or pfaffy but the examples and case studies are very useful in understanding how marketing actually functions. Some MCSA work kept me busy post lunch. Played tennis in the evening for almost 2 hours. Had to leave the game half way for about half an hour because of a meeting with the chairman of the dissertation committee. The date of submission has now been pushed to 23rd February, giving us some breathing space. Continued my day long stint in the library pre and post dinner. Have plans to call it a day soon, want to watch movie before sleeping though, dont know if that will materialise.

Day 388 - 26th January 2012

Didn't have any classes today on account of Republic Day. As is the norm, Republic Day celebrations were held on campus by inviting schoolchildren from the nearby villages. Had a meeting with the Executive Registrar which went on for almost an hour. Had a nice 2 hour long siesta. Have started reading Kotler's book on sports marketing called The Elusive Fan (under the pretence of doing literature review for my dissertation). Spent most of the evening reading the book. Dinner was at KFC with Kalkar. This is the first KFC that has opened up in Ahmedabad and it was my first visit to the place. It did take some effort to reach the place though since the bike ran out of petrol along the way. It was worth all the effort though. Got back to campus by 11. Continued reading and along the way saw some videos on youtube. Will read for a bit before calling it a day. Have no classes till the 30th, hopefully can get some work started on the dissertation!

Day 387 - 25th January 2012

Breakfast was at Chota. Decided to spend some time in the library and read up a bit for the dissertation. Some MCSA work came up pre and post lunch which meant we had to miss the first hour of Indian Cinema. Made it in time for the second half which was a case study of Manoj Kumar's Shaheed. The movie is based on the life of Bhagat Singh, however the facts were conveniently tweaked to conform with popular belief at that point of time. It was an in depth analysis of the movie and went on for more than an hour. There was a movie screening with Satyjit Ray's Charulata - a critically acclaimed movie and Satyajit Ray's favourite creation. It is based on a novel by Rabindranath Tagore. Got done with the screening by 9. It is Kore's birthday tomorrow so there were the usual birthday celebrtions in Kachnar. Boys arent as kind as girls and inspite of the cild weather Kore was dunked with cold water. Food was packed from Honey9 for the ocassion and we all pounced on it like hungry wolves :P On that note, with a satisfied tummy, will call it a day.

Day 386 - 24th January 2012

Surprisingly woke up in time for breakfast at the mess. Played tennis post breakfast with Anuja. There was another MCL game today, this time between MP and Vineeth's team. It turned out to be a high scoring thriller with  MP's team chasing down 150 in the last over. One of the best matches I have seen in the MCL till date. Post lunch had a 2 hour long siesta. Finished watching Groundhog day in the evening. Have been wanting to formulate my dissertation questionnaire for the past couple of weeks, decided that it had to be done at any cost today. However post dinner procrastination took over. Saw some of the baddy matches couurtesy coxic smash then went to Chota with Kalkar and Buds. Came back to Kachnar and MCSA work took over.That went on for about an hour. The MCSA elections will be held in February, had to work out how to go about the entire process. Finally started working on the questionnaires at 1 a.m. Have completed them now and sent them to my guide. Also need to read up on some material for the literature review. Need to break the shackles from this lethargy that has set in and get cracking with the dissertation work!

Day 385 - 23rd January 2012

Played tennis in the morning with Anuja for about an hour. This term so far has felt like a holiday, have a strange feeling that its all going to be come back and bite me soon. Came back to Kachnar and did the weekly washing of clothes - its always a game of chance with one washing machine at the disposal of 32 people. You've got to pray that nobody has left their clothes in. Have been lucky the past two times. The second round of MCL games began today, umpired the second innings. Was a relatively one sided match. Had Indian Cinema class post lunch. The session was a case study on Bombay Talkies - how it gave rise to the film industry. Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani, the founders of Bombay Talkies were true pioneers in the film industry with the kind of steps they took. They were the ones who started the concept of summer internships. Ashok Kumar, Kamal Amrohi and Dev Anand were some of the products of Bombay Talkies. We were also shown a documentary on Wagah which took a dig at nationalism.

Today was also the deadline for the CIM group assignment submission. This was one group assignment in which people just could not free ride. Was sitting with my group in the library for most of the evening working on the assignment. Got done with it by midnight, just in time for Apu's birthday celebrations in Chinar. She had bought pizzas from Domino's (I had prior intimation and had skipped dinner in the mess for it :P). Was in Chinar till about 245, came back to the room continued the daily tradition

Day 384 - 22nd January 2012

So the plans of going to the Little Rann of Kutch did materialise. 9 of us split up in a car and 3 bikes. It was a 90 km ride one way and the road was brilliant to ride on. Kore was riding pillion with me which meant there was a spare rider in case I got bored :P But the roads were so awesome that I couldn't imagine letting anyone else ride my bike! The trip was organized courtesy Rohini's dad. It started off with a lip smacking, finger licking good lunch at a resort near the sanctuary we were supposed to tour. Cars and bikes were allowed inside the sanctuary and the journey was like an off road terrain. Compared to the highway that we had taken to reach there the ride inside the sanctuary felt like a driving test! Nonetheless it was good fun and we got to spot some wild asses (dont snigger), neelguys and did some birdspotting as well. All in all a good day spent. Came back to campus by 730, had dinner saw a little bit of Groundhog Day and called it a day by 11.

Day 383 - 21st January 2012

Played tennis in the morning with Anuja for about an hour. Didn't have any classes today on account of TEDx happening on campus. They had some decent speakers which included the President of the Mumbai Dabbawalla association. His passion and enthusiasm when it came to delivering his talk was truly admirable. Another speaker whom I found interesting was this person who was out to professionalize the cycle rickshaw industry which is highly disorganized. Didn't attend any of the post lunch sessions. Went to Bopal to collect my tennis racquet which I had given for gutting. Came back and slept for a couple of hours. In the evening caught up with Prof. Mitra and Ganesh (a junior) where we were discussing the possibility of starting a sports marketing club in MICA. Post dinner started watching Groundhog Day. There are plans being made to go the little Rann of Kutch tomorrow, should be fun if it materialises.

Day 382 - 20th January 2012

Managed to wake up in the morning to play tennis, guess trying out the new racquet was incentive enough. Spent the hour before lunch surfing the net. Post lunch had a two hour long siesta. Spent most of the evening in Kalkar's room. He is not feeling to well, so Kore, Buds, Sania and I were spending some time with him. Didnt really feel like having dinner in the mess. As if on cue Apu called asking if I was game for dinner outside. Decided to give my pending dinner treat to Sania and her for the rural project and report. We went to Tomato's for dinner, had heard a lot about it and it lived up to expectations. It is like an American diner from the 60's with a very interesting menu card. Got back to campus by 1130. Caught uo with the Prof. Mitra, the prof. who helped me out with my internship and also takes the sports marketing course out here. Spent more than an hour at Chota discussing placements, the sports marketing scenario in India and many other things. By the time I got back to the room it was past 3 a.m. Slept off after I e-mailed him one of the cases I had written for my dissertation, it could be used for one of the presentations he makes at other b-schools.

Day 381 - 19th January 2012

Had a 'rest day' of sorts from playing tennis. Woke up at noon at had brunch at Chota. Had to go to Bopal in the afternoon to get my old tennis racquet fixed and also bought a new racquet. Got back to campus by 4. We had planned the MCSA photoshoot in the evening at the OAT. The junior and senior MCSA havent had any photos clicked together, so we thought we might as well do it properly in the OAT :P This was followed by dinner at Barbeque Nation. Spent a good 2 hours out there which speaks volumes about the food that was eaten! Got back to campus by midnight, just in time for Pallavi and Satya's birthday party in Chinar. Ishan, Baby Menon and Sania had spent a major part of the day decorating the courtyard with drapes and lighting. The end result was quite good. Was the party till around 3 in the morning. Hope to play tennis tomorrow morning and inaugurate the new raxcquet.

Day 380 - 18th January 2012

Played tennis in the morning with Anuja for a good hour and a half. Couldn't squeeze in a siesta today as MCSA work kept me busy throughout the afternoon. We had to work out the timelines for the submission of the dissertation for which we had meetings with the executive registrar and the dissertation committee. Couldn't sit through the Indian Cinema class as some MCSA work came up. Ended up sleeping for about an hour before dinner. Post dinner didnt have much to do, continued the daily tradition of reading articles/watching videos shared on facebook.

Day 379 - 17th January 2012

Played tennis in the morning with Anuja. Finished transctibing the CIM interview before lunch. Managed to squeeze in a siests for an hour and a half. The Indian Cinema class that was scheduled to take place in the evening got cancelled which meant the entire evening was free. Had some MCSA work after which I came back to the room and saw Fire in Babylon (for the second time). Post dinner saw some of the badminton games that were going on courtesy Coxic Smash. Cafe Coxic also set shop today, had a coke float from there. Continued reading the book on how Brand NFL was built. Its been a pretty chilled out day, will call it a day now.

Day 378 - 16th January 2011

Played tennis in the morning for a change. Also managed to wake up in time to have breakfast in the mess. Strted transcribing the interview I had taken for the CIM group assignment. Transcribing interviews is one of the most painful things I have come across in quite some time. Listening, pausing, typing, listening again and so on. Post lunch took a one and a half hour long siesta. Had Indian Cinema class in the evening. It started with a screening of a few scenes from India's first motion picture - Raja Harishchandra. The lecture that followed was about the growth of Indian cinema and how businessmen got involved to make it as professional as possible. The evolution of the use of sound in movies was also discussed. The moment sound came in, the actors who previously acted in silent movies became redundant because language was a huge barrier (with India having 1652 languages!). Hindi was predominantly used but Marathi and Bengali also picked up in those days. The complete adoption of sound took place with the usage of music in movies. The first song recording was done in a studio near railway tracks in Bombay and it took four long months to record those songs since the noise from the passing trains created a lot of disturbance. Also got to know that there were movies with as many as 70 songs in them!

After class came back to the room and continued the transcribing. Dinner was at Dominos with Sania. The Cheese burst pizza was really good! Got back to campus by 1030. Coxic Smash - the intra MICA badminton tournament started today. Although I cant play badminton, watching experts play is a visual treat. There was one such match today which was amazing fun to watch. Came back to the room and continued the daily tradition of watching interesting videos shared on facebook. Will read for a bit before calling it a day.

Day 377 - 15th January 2012

Woke up at 11 which meant I slept for 10 hours! After breakfast at Chota, started working on the CCRM assignment. Used some research papers for reference. The subject is quite interesting with a lot of case studies on crisis management. Lunch was at the upper crust stall courtesy the sankalp fest. Played tennis with Tathu for a good hour and a half in the evening. Did general tp until dinner watching videos on youtube. Dinner was at the chinese stall set up for Sankalp's fest. Went to Chota after that with Sania and Kalkar. The grand finale of Sankalp's fest was a series of short plays called 'Classic Milds' by a theatre group called Akvarious. For the first time in MICA I have seen comedy being pulled off on stage, their sense of timing was brilliant and there wasnt a soul in the audi who wasnt laughing. Came back to the room by midnight and have realised that there are too many videos posted on facebook that are extremely interesting and worth a watch. Want to take a break from sitting in front of the laptop now and read a bit (for a change) before calling it a day.

Day 376 - 14th January 2012

Was woken up with some MCSA work in the morning. That took about a couple of hours. Went to Bopal for a haircut before lunch. Post lunch saw Die Hard 3. The first movie of the series seems to have a corrupted file, need to look for another version to complete watching the series. Worked a bit on the CCRM assignment (read as 1 page) before playing tennis in the evening. Dinner in the mess was Palak soup and Parathas. Post dinner came back to the room and started watching American History x, a movie about racism in America. Pretty thought provoking stuff. On that note decided to call it a day. Have to finish the CCRM assignment tomorrow and start transcribing the interview I had taken for the CIM group assignment.

Day 375 - 13th January 2012

Friday the 13th today! Nothing extraordinary happened though, had to submit the rural report in the morning. As expected, there was a huge rush at the printing center in the morning and to add to our woes, the colour printer was giving problems.Took about half an hour to get a printout of the report. MCSA work took over after that. Had a meeting with the executive registrar and the associate director prior to lunch. Since tomorrow is Sankranti (which is a holiday for the staff) lunch was served at the
football field with a complete Gujju fare. Played tennis for a while in the evening with Shom. Since today was Lohri, Culcomm had organized a bonfire in front of Asoka with Popcorn and sweets being distributed. Punjabi music then tookover with people having a lot fo fun and dancing talent being showcased from some unexpected quarters :P Got another rest day coming up with Sankalp's theatre fest scheduled to happen over the next couple of days, should be interesting.

Day 374 - 12th January 2012

Had a late start to the day today which meant breakfast at Chota. Didnt have any classes in the morning, but the rural report is due tomorrow morning. Did a little bit of work for that before lunch. Post lunch had the second session advanced excel training. The session was on control structures and coding in macros. The session was really interesting and didnt even realise how 3 hours passed by. Played tennis for a bit in the evening after which had to get down to helping Sania and Apu with the rural report in whatever little way I could :P Kalkar wasn't feeling too well with a sore throat and he came up with this phenomenal medication of having Shikari chicken at Honey9. How could I have said no for such a noble cause ;-) Though the flip side when ever it is only the two of us who go out to eat, the food to bill ratio goes for a toss. Got back to campus by 9 and decided to go to the library for a change of location. Ended up watching videos on youtube and working a bit on my part for the rural report. MCSA work took over post midnight. Everyone seems to be up completing the rural report, something tells me that there is going to be a huge line at the printing center tomorrow morning!

Day 373 - 11th January 2012

Woke up at 11 today. Since it is Jayati's birthday, there was barbeque party at Chinar last night, with some awesome kebabs being made! Had breakfast in Chota. Spent a major part of the day taking care of some MCSA work. Had meetings with the director and some faculty members. Had IC class in the evening. The session dealt with the origins of Indian Cinema. Got to know that the conept of summer internships actually originated in the film industry. Also got to know many interesting facts about how cinema halls started in Bombay and the kind of marketing schemes used in those days to entice people to watch movies. Dadasaheb Phalke and India's first motion picture Raja Harishchandra werw discussed in detail. The amount of time he spent researching and learning how to use the camera coupled with the struggle that he had to go through to complete the film was truly astounding. For the female lead role, even prostitutes refused to act, so eventually he had to cast a man in the role who had to dress up as a woman! As is the case in many movies, here  is wife had to keep her jewelery as security for him to get money to make the movie. The final movie was a blockbuster with bullock carts being used to carry the coins received through ticket collection.

In the evening had made plans to work on the rural report but then a plan was made to have dinner at Ikobo. Around 15 of us went to have sizzlers in the freezing weather :P Was good fun though. Got back to campus by midnight. Surfed the net for a bit before calling it a day. Guess, the rural report will have to start tomorrow!

Day 372 - 10th January 2012

Looks like all the tiredness of playing two sports a day finally caught up with me. Woke up at 12 today! After having chai at Chota got down to completing the FMCG assignment. Had to skip lunch as there was a lecture by a visiting faculty from John Hopkins university on Online Credibility. Managed to grab a bite in the break between that class and IC. Today's session was a case study of Lagaan and how it propogated the caste system, disability and gender inequality. Case in point was Kachra, an untouchable who was taken in the team not because of his ability but his disability! The way he was potrayed throughout the movie was also questioned. The session also analysed the brahminical ideology that was evident throughtout the movie. Although one may not agree with all that was discussed in class it was certainly a different way of looking at things that had never been thought of before. Post snacks there was a movie screening. Since the discussion in class was about caste, the movie shown was Bimal Roy's Sujata. Its about how an upper class post graduate brahmin falls in love with an illiterate uneducated untouchable. The movie screening got done by 1030. Came back to the room after that and continued working on the FMCG assignment. Its Jayati's birthday tomorrow, cake cutting etc begin in less than 5 mins. Hope people are not savage enough to dunk her in this weather! :P

Day 371 - 9th January 2011

Played tennis in the morning for an hour with Anuja. Both of us have been practicing with the aim of being in decent enough form during our sports fest, hope that happens :P Post breakfast had to go to Bopal to give the bike for servicing (which has been long overdue) Picked some snacks on the way back. Before lunch worked a bit on the FMCG branding assignment which is due tomorrow. It is a case study on the toothpaste industry in India and there are a questions based on HUL's brands in the markets that need to be answered. Havent been in the best of form when it comes to batting, haven't lasted at the crease for more than over in the past two outings! Had to leave the match early since today was the first day of classes for Indian Cinema. The session was quite lively with a lot of DCP from unexpected quarters! It dealt with the evolution/decay of Indian Cinema, whichever way one would want to look at it. How capitalist ideologies have taken over the film industry and also the political inclinations/ideologies of all superstars were discussed. To end the class we were shown songs from the 1950s to 1990s and how things have changed in Bollywood. My favourite though was Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai from Anari. The idea behind seeing this songs was not for entertainment but to analyse them from the point of view of modernity. Didnt have a movie screening today though. Have been feeling extremely sleepy post dinner, will call it a day soon.

Day 370 - 8th January 2012

Played tennis in the morning for about an hour. Post breakfast finally decided to start working on the  CIM Individual assignment that is due tomorrow. A research brief was given and we had to write guidelines for an FGD which was going to be conducted based on those objectives. Played cricket in the afternoon (yes there is a lot of free time!). In the evening saw a bit of Up In The Air which I have been seeing in parts over the past couple of days. Since today was a Sunday chicken was served during dinner in the mess. Post dinner came back to the room and saw Die Hard 2. Did a lot of things to keep me occupied today but at least I started work on the assignments! :P

Day 369 -7th January 2012

Had the advanced excel training workshop today. The workshop on excel basics was done in the previous term. The session dealt with recording macros and the basics of coding in macros.The session got done by 4 in the evening after which I had to meet my dissertation guide. During the vacations I had conducted a couple of interviews based on which we discussed the findings and the way forward. So that just adds up to the long list of submissions/work. But that didn't mean that evening time was not used for procrastination :P. Dinner was at Honey9 with Sania, the first Shikari Chicken of the new year!
Got back to campus by 930 and did general tp. Watched some videos on youtube and terminated Buds on facebook, whenever people in Kachnar are bored he is our go to guy! Dont have any classes tomorrow but have assignment deadlines approaching with the first one due day after. Hope to start working on them from tomorrow at least! :P

Day 368 - 6th January 2012

Another rest day today. But woke up in the morning to play tennis for about an hour. Post breakfast went back to sleep and woke up in time for lunch. There is a lot of work lined up for this month with an assignment submission every 3 days till the 18th and the dissertation submission on the 1st of Feb. Having said that there is this state of inertia that has set in, with yesterday and today being free days, I have been on a movie marathon! Saw kick-ass in the afternoon, its a movie which takes a dig at super heroes. This was followed by Our Idiot Brother, a family comedy. So I guess starting with the assignments will have to wait until tomorrow! :P

Day 367 - 5th January 2012

First day of the last term at MICA! Didn't have any classes but there was MCSA work that took up the first half of the day. Had meetings with the Director, Executive Registrar and Exam Cell. There aren't many subjects this term, but a majority of the time will be devoted towards completing the dissertation. Was free post lunch, saw a Woody Allen movie - Match Point in the afternoon. Played tennis in the evening followed by cricket in front of Silveroak. Dinner in the mess was Pav Bhaji. Post dinner caught up with Apu whose leg is still in a cast. Came back to the room and saw Die Hard 4. Went to Chota for a midnight snack, dinner wasn't all that filling. Have been surfing the net searching for some good songs to download. Will call it a day in a bit.