Day 444 - 1st April 2012

The penultimate day at MICA. Spent the first half of the day in arranging for the bike to be packed and sent to Bombay. A lot of people started leaving campus, saying multiple goodbyes wasn't an easy job. Had our last group lunch at Pizza Hut - Kalkar, Shibani, Sania, Kore, Dua, Apu and Buds were there. Got back to campus by 5 in the evening. Caught up on some sleep in the evening. Spent most of the night copying as many serials as possible from myzone. The last dinner in the mess happened to be biryani. With so many people leaving, the campus felt like one of those deserted towns we see in westerns. Spent some time at Chota in the night. Saw the convocation video online before calling it a day one last time.

Day 437 - 25th March 2012

Woke up a little earlier than usual today since Jhamb and I had to take care of some MCSA work. Spent the first half of the day working on presentation that has to be made on the 30th of March. Went for a jog in the evening. Post dinner there was a batch meet wherein we took feedback from the batch for the presentation that was being prepared. Got done by midnight after which did some tp with Buds, Kore and Sania in Kalkar's room. Tomorrow onwards my last week at MICA begins, will take some time for that to sink in. 

Day 428 - 16th March 2012

Woke up in time for breakfast at the mess. Had some MCSA work to care of in the first half of the day. Post lunch had planned to take a siesta but before going to sleep checked the score of the match between India and Bangladesh. Sachin was batting on 41 and somehow it felt that today was going to be the day when he would score his 100th 100. Decided to sacrifice the siesta and headed to the community center to watch the game. As Sachin inched towards the landmark figure more and more people started pouring into the community center. Finally when the moment came, the community center erupted! I also realised that it was probably the last time when I would be seeing a match at the community center with everyone. There are some very fond memories of cricket matches seen at the community center - India's test series victory in Sri Lanka, the cliffhanger against Australia at Mohali where Laxman and Ishant Sharma put on one of the best 9th wicket partnerships, close Mumbai Indians games in the Champions league and some fantastic WC2011 games.

Went for a jog in the evening. Played cricket in front of Silveroak as a tribute to Sachin's record :P Made plans to go out for dinner in night to further celebrate the record. Sania, Kalkar, Kore, Apu, Shibani, Dua and I went to Tomato's for Jashn-e-Sachin :D The food was excellent (as usual). Got back to campus by midnight. Can go to sleep with a feeling of contentment tonight :-)

Day 427 - 15th March 2012

Woke up by 10 in the morning and had breakfast at Chota. Most of day was taken up by MCSA work. Had to meet the associate director and executive registrar. Continued reading Corner of a Foreign Field. Also had the Kachnar hostel pic for the yearbook. Post lunch Mathew sir screened a French movie in the audi, couldn't sit for the entire movie as some MCSA work came up again. Finished reading the book in the evening. Went to see Kahaani at City Gold in the night with Sania, Kore, Kalkar and Shibani. It is quite a decent movie, keeps you enthralled for the entire two hours. Came back to campus by 1 in he night. Have to keep finding ways to keep myself occupied over the next 2 weeks!

Day 419 - 7th March 2012

After yesterday's submission I expected to be a little free and had planned to catch up on all the books have to be read. However the first half of today was consumed by MCSA work. Had a meeting with the executive registrar and the associate director for some work related to the dissertation committee. The meeting for one almost two hours. Post lunch had to send out some mails for the senior committee selection process.

The finals of the MCL were played today and it was a PGP-2 v/s PGP-1 game, just like last year's final. It pretty much followed the same trend like last year's game where the PGP-1 team faced a batting collapse and put up an almost at par score. The PGP-2 team chased it but not without a few hiccups. There was even a prize distribution with all finalists winning medals and trophies for the man of the match, man of the tournament and winning captain. All of these were given by the MCSA :P

Went to the gym in the evening. Dinner in the mess was a pleasant surprise with soup, pizza and chocolate ice cream :). Post dinner had a meeting with all senior committees to figure out the dates for their selection process.  Got done with that by midnight after which there was a KT session for the new MCSA. Went for a midnight snack to Chota with Sania, Ishan, Baby Menon and Pallavi - tadka maggie in the chilly weather was heavenly! Got back to the room by 4. Tomorrow is holi, had escaped it last year but this time that wasn't an option :P

Day 416 - 4th March 2012

Woke up earlier than usual today but still wasn't good enough for breakfast in the mess :P Spent the first half of the day taking of care long overdue washing of socks and shoes. Had a 3 hour siesta, woke up by 530 in the evening. Went to the gym after that. Tried my hand at badminton again today, now I am not sure if I will be able to play tennis :P Post dinner Buds, Kalkar, Ishan, Sania and I went to SH-5 to see a documentary on anarchy during the Spanish revolution. It was pretty interesting, George Orwell's 1984 was inspired by that part  of Spanish history. The movie got done by 2. Back in the hostel now. Tomorrow onwards need to start ticking off items from the Ahmedabad bucket list.

Day 414 - 2nd March 2012

Woke up at noon today. Went to Bopal for a haircut, picked up some stuff for the room on the way back. Need to start planning how to spend a month out here with no classes! Had a meeting with all committees in the  afternoon regarding the committee selection process. We had suggested the idea of offering PPOs to candidates to whom they are keen on retaining. Also had to discuss the process in which committees would be slotted for interviews to be conducted. Spent a good hour and a half discussing the process with Buds and Sania. Went to the city in the evening to pick up a friend of mine who has come down from Lucknow. Had dinner at Honey9 after which we came back to campus. Showed him around the campus in the night before calling it a day.

Day 410 - 27th February 2012

Had a rest day today. Spent most of the day sleeping. Had to take care of some MCSA work in the afternoon. The film studies assignment was due tonight. Gave finishing touches to my assignment before submitting it in the evening. Dinner was at Natrani cafe with Sania. Got back to campus by 10 and had to start working on the International Marketing Assignment that has to be presented in class tomorrow. Our group is working on how India can be marketed as a medical tourism destination. Got done with it by 1 in the night. Went to Gulmohar after that for Atin's birthday treat. Was there for half an hour before coming back to Kachnar and calling it a day.

Day 401 - 18th February 2012

Had two hours of international marketing in the morning. The prof. is a visiting faculty from the industry. He was heading Mahindra's tractor business in the US before returning to India a few years back. The session dealt with how we need to understand different cultures while dealing with international counterparts/clients. Classes got done by 130. Post lunch comtinued working on the dissertation. Had to complete the part on data analysis and interpretations of the results.

Played tennis in the evening for about an hour after which I went to the gym (yes, sixth term does give you a lot time). Had to go to Bopal in the evening to pick up some stuff for the room. Converted into a dinner trip to Subway with Sania. Got back to campus by 10, spent some time surfing the net before getting back to working on the dissertation. Went to Chota at around 3 in the morning for some chai and ended up chatting with people for almost 2 hours! Got back to Kachnar at 5 in the morning, dont see myself attending tomorrow's classes.

Day 395 - 2nd February 2012

Another day where I woke up with great difficulty to play tennis in the morning. This was followed by breakfast, library, siesta. Its amazing how with just a couple of months the importance of the library dawns upon many of us. Was having the same discussion with the librarian yesterday as he was showing me around the construction of the new wing. To be very honest, I thought this was a very small library with limited resources. But that perception has changed and how! The kind of books here are amazing. Just the other day I was going through this book on the economics of sports media. Wanted to find out the price of the book online - it was 13k!

Anyways, after a two and a half hour siesta came back to the library and started working on the film studies assignment. It is due only on the 10th of this month but wont be here for 10 days starting day after tomorrow. Lit Comm is conducting a taboo tournament which started yesterday. I wasn't keen on taking part however some smart alec put my name alongwith Sania in the draws. Got to know that our match was at 11 in the night. After a lot of prodding decided to play :P Have played taboo only once before. Our game wasn't bad at all, we ended up winning 23 - 18 :D Though I dont see us progressing further in the tournament since both of us aren't on campus starting day after. In a way its good to leave on a high! :P

There are 5 people from our batch who have been asked to join the company where they have been recruited earlier than everybody else. Their joining date is in the beginning of next week! A farewell party was organized in Chinar for one of the people who will be joining early. Made me realise that two years are fast coming to an end! Spent a couple of hours over there. Have decided not to play tennis tomorrow morning, on that note will peacefully sleep in :D

Day 394 - 1st Februrary 2012

Woke up with great difficulty in the morning to play tennis. Post breakfast shifted base to the library. Its become a kind of routine now - tennis, breakfast, library, post lunch siesta, back to library, dinner, post dinner in Kachar North West. Today was no different. Also met my dissertation guide during the day to discuss the research methodology. She had suggested some modifications which I made and sent back for her approval. The discussion then veered towards placements, the direction in which the institute is headed. The debate is never ending and from a student's perspective there are many changes which we feel are necessary. Some of these changes will be recommended by the MCSA and we hope to see some action taken.

Spent most of the evening working on a presentation which I have to send to CD Mitra. The presentation is based on a case study I have prepared for my dissertation on Sahara Force India Speed Nights - the race screenings conducted at pubs across the country. It deals with how a non cricketing sport is promoted in India. Prepared the presentation and mailed it to the FIF1 marketing team for their approval before sending it across to CD Mitra, who plans to present it at sports marketing courses he will be conducting in other institutes. Post dinner Kore, Buds, Sania and I saw an episode of Roadies in Kalkar's room. This is something we used to last year as well, sit and have a good laugh at people's stupidity! Dinner at the mess wasn't that great which meant a midnight snack was on the cards at Chota. So chicken parathas it was, the parathas at Chota never seem to disappoint. Got back to the room by 130, read a bit of Ambani and Sons before calling it a day.

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 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 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 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 364 - 19th December 2011

The cough and cold pretty much ensured that I was bedridden for most of the day. Had to work on the semiotics assignment, major part of it was done with Sania's help. This is a really short post, cant write much about a day where most of the time was spent either sleeping or coughing :P

Day 361 - 16th December 2011

Played tennis in the morning with Kalkar. Didn't have any classes in the morning but there was a company presentation to attend which went on for a couple of hours. Caught up on some sleep post lunch, well it was a lot of sleep actually, slept for a good 3 hours and was woken up because the CIM class got advanced by an hour from 530 to 430. The class dealt with an analysis of the FGD that was conducted a couple of weeks back. Class got done by 8 in the night. Dinner was with Sania, Kalkar, Kore, Apu, Buds, Dua and Shibani at Masti. It was Sania's treat for receiving her offer letter. As is always the case, the food lived up to our expectations and nobody went back with an empty stomach. Got back and hitting the sack now, I think I am heading for a cold and cough, which is quite prevalent on campus right now.

Day 357 - 12th December 2011

Didn't have any classes today, nonetheless woke up at 730 in the morning and played tennis for about an hour. Had breakfast in the mess (which is quite abnormal for a holiday) and then headed to the library to work on the B2B individual assignment. Now that placement week is over, there is a barrage of assignments lined up, with submission dates even going into the term break. The B2B assignment required us to analyse 2 cases and make appropriate recommendations for the business problems that were being faced. Managed to squeeze in a half an hour siesta following which there was a company presentation. Also met up with my dissertation guide to decide how to take things forward for the research that needs to be conducted. We will be having a more detailed meeting tomorrow.  Went back to the library post the presentation to continue work on the assignment. Got done with it by around 7 in the evening. During the alumni meet we had got these coupons from Subway which entitled us to one free sub on buying a normal sub. The coupon expires in a couple of days so Sania and I decided to head to Subway for dinner. Got back to campus by 10 in the night and have been doing random tp since then. Had to start work on the B2B group assignment which is due tomorrow evening, have just about started work on it, will continue the rest of it tomorrow since its another day of no classes. For now, will call it a day!

Days 347 to 355 - 2nd to 10th December 2011

During our seniors placement week last year I always used to wonder how our placement week would be. There are somethings that never change - the anxiety while a shortlist is being announced, the disappointment of  not being able to clear a GD after being shortlisted and the greater disappointment of not clearing an interview after clearing the GD. Placement week takes its physically and more importantly emotionally on all people involved. Sitting through endless company presentations from as early as 7 in the morning to as late as midnight. Giving interviews at 4 in the morning and the anxiety of waiting for the result. There were just way too many things that were common between last year and this year, which leads to me guess that its pretty much the same story every year. There are some fundamental changed that I think need to be brought about in the whole concept of placement weeks across B-schools. Will share my thoughts on that later though.

Coming to the placement week - apart from the hectic schedule it was an emotional roller coaster for a lot of people. There were a lot of good jobs on offer. Kore made to an analytics firm, Kalkar got into a gaming company, SIR will be working with a pre IPO startup firm, Sania had a PPO from a leading telecom company and yours truly made it to the leading spirits company in the world which is associated with a lot of sporting events and teams through both sponsorship and ownership. It was the only company I applied for and I consider myself extremely lucky for getting through - for starters they didn't conduct GDs which was something I was dreading. They shortlisted candidates and were conducting interviews for everyone, though the interview was a rapid fire round of questions. My interview started with my internship, moved onto my career goals and some suggestions for the company in their existing marketing strategy. Got to know in sometime that they had made me a spot offer, which was a huge relief! Got my offer letter the same evening.

All in all, it was a roller coaster ride and I'm glad that now its over. Regular classes start from tomorrow!