Days 431 to 433 - 19th to 21st March 2012

Clubbing the 3 days together on account of the 'test' match that took place out here. It was a 3 day affair with a maximum of 60 overs being bowled in a day and each team also could bat for a maximum of 60 overs per innings. Our team lost the toss and we ended up fielding for the entire first day! Dropped catches didn't make our life easy and we finally got the opposition out for 228 in 58 overs! Yes, 58 overs on the cricket field! Luckily we didn't have to bat on the same day. Before day 2 the pitch was watered, but the sun God decided to play a part by not appearing at the beginning of the day which meant we went out to bat on a wet pitch! And what a day it turned out to be. At one stage we were 2 for 4 and finally managed to reach 66  before becoming all out in the 33rd over. That gave the opposition a lead of 162 but it also meant that we got to bowl 25 overs at them on a minefield. Made the most of it by reducing them to 49 for 8 by the end of day's play. It was a typical 4th day test match pitch where one could not predict how the ball would behave after bouncing :P

The pitch eased out on the last day and we were set a target of 214 in 60 overs. The chase was going on well and we brought the equation down to 79 required of 18 overs with 5 wickets in hand which was akin to a T20 match. However a batting collapse followed which meant we ended losing by 60 odd runs. It was a good match nonetheless. Felt good to play a test match before leaving MICA. Now need to find other ways of keeping myself busy for the next 9-10 days :P

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 423 - 11th March 2012

Today's blog post is dedicated to one of the unsung heroes of Indian cricket. Being a cricket fan I was appalled that I had never heard his name until recently when a Prof. Mathew mentioned his name in the Indian Cinema class. The name Palwankar Baloo does not feature in too many Indian cricket history magazines/journals. Consistent with public perception, I was always under the impression that 'Colonel' C.K. Nayudu was the first star of Indian cricket. However long before Nayudu played, there was a Dalit sweeper from Poona Club who had captured the imagination of the nation with his mesmerising slow left arm bowling. Palwankar Baloo used to roll the pitch at Poona Club and make the necessary line markings for the crease. Some the English players asked him to bowl at them in the nets and they soon realised that he had some serious talent. As would be the case for most of his cricketing career, Baloo did not get too much of an opportunity to play in conservative Poona. He then made the decision to move with his family to Bombay - the home of Indian cricket. Even over here his selection to the Hindu Gymkhana team was met with stiff resistance, however his cricketing talent overrode his caste in this case and he went on to become one of the highest wicket takers in the Quadrangular tournament in Bombay. Baloo also raised his three brothers - Shivram, Vitthal and Ganpat to become cricketers. Of them Vitthal was the most successful, he was one of the most prolific batsmen for the Hindu Gymkhana.

Baloo's struggle did not end after he was chosen for the team. He was overlooked for the captaincy because of his caste. He was never allowed to enter the pavillion, lunch and tea were served to him in separate vessels. In spite of this he continued to play cricket and take wickets. He toured England in the early 1900's and still remains the only Indian bowler to take more than 100 wickets in a tour of England. There were many instances when he was dropped from the team by high handed 'Brahmin' selectors and was brought back due to the public outrage at him not being included. Baloo however would have felt a sense of accomplishment when his younger brother - Vitthal was asked to captain the Hindu Gymkhana team. An untouchable leading a team of royalty and upper castes was unthinkable in those days!

I have been reading Corner of A Foreign Field for the past three days and this story has stuck with me. As a cricket fan I feel it is my duty to acknowledge the Palwankar brothers' contribution to the game in India. Biased historians have not given them their due. It took Ramachandra Guha's book which was released in 2002 to bring to our notice the brothers who have to be treated at par with the Waughs, Flowers, Chappels and Mohammeds of the world!

Day 409 - 26th February 2012

Today's post is dedicated to the quintessential sportsperson at MICA - Suhail Kapur. It was the last day of SAMAR today which meant that the quarters, semis and final for most of the events to be played. Mr. Kapur's day began in the morning with a cricket match. This was followed by the men's singles final in tennis where he creamed his opponent who until then was the most hyped player in tennis. This was followed by the basketball finals where again his team won. After this he had his mixed doubles finals in tennis, where (surprise surprise) he won again.

If you thought that was where it ended, then you are woefully wrong. That was just the beginning! He had seven back to back badminton matches in various categories - mens singles, mens doubles and mixed doubles. He won all his matches out there and that too convincingly against all opponents. The baddy court was packed till 2 in the night with everyone wanting to watch him play one last time for MICA. And he didnt let the crowd down at all, with his trademark strokes with the shuttle appearing out of nowhere when would expect a normal human being not to reach it.

He has been christened Krish by our batch for his heroics on the field. But personally I respect him because he does not lose his cool on the field, something that is very common in inter college matches. Sport reveals character and he has always maintained his composure on the field, a true ideal for any aspiring sportsperson.

In sports marketing literature, there is a term called BIRG (basking in reflected glory) where a sportsperson's victory is considered to be our victory. Suhail Kapur has been the cause of reflected glory for MICAns for the past two years and I wonder if the void left by him can ever be filled at MICA. I feel honoured and privileged to have been in MICA for the two years that he has entertained us and given MICAns something to cheer about. 

Day 407 - 24th February 2012

Samar started today. I had registered for tennis and cricket both of which didnt go too well :P Lost the men's singles and doubles. Lost a very close match in cricket as well. Spent a major part of the day at the tennis court or at the cricket field. Was dead tired by the end of the day. Had dinner at Chota which was a chicken fest - aneesh paratha, frankie, chicken chilly and manvi rice! Came back to the room and finished watching Johnny English. Getting sleep tonight shouldn't be too difficult!

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 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.

Day 359 - 14th December 2011

Played tennis in the morning for about an hour. Didnt have classes in the morning but had a company presentation at 1030 which went on for a couple of hours. Post lunch, managed to squeeze in a disturbed siesta. In the course of 2 hours, was woken up at least 4 times for different reasons. Played cricket in the Kachnar courtyard in the evening, following which had planned to start working on the semiotics assignment which was originally die tomorrow. Got a mail that the deadline got postponed to 19th of the month which meant the evening was relatively free. In continuation of going out for dinner over the past couple of weeks, went to Mainland China for dinner. The soup and starters itself were quite filling, so skipped the main course and went to Chocolate Room for desserts, the dutch truffle shake was a nice way to end a sumptuous meal! Got back to campus and did general tp on the net. Will make the most of the weather and call it a day early again!  

Day 340 - 24th November 2011

Had a rest day today on account of the grand alumni meet and Natrani over the  weekend. The day started off with the pgp-2 womens' cricket match. Quite a festive atmosphere at the cricket ground with quite a lot of spectators who came to witness the action. The ladies were as competitive if not more than the boys, with some brutal sledging happening on and off the field :P All in good humour though. The match was a closely fought one though with the result being decided only in the last over. Post the match MCSA work kept me busy for a good 4 hours! Had to go to the city in the evening to pick up sandals. Got back by 9, dinner was at Chota courtesy the mess food. Some of the alumni have already started coming in. More are expected over the next couple of days. Should be fun!

Day 335 - 19th November 2011

Managed to wake up on time for the BA class in the morning. But the lack of sleep meant that though the class was interesting, had to keep fighting sleep to pay attention. The sessions continued from where we had left off last week. How the brain functions and how we construct ideas/memory based on a context that is prevalent. Some examples from certain marketing gimmicks were explained as to how one option was made to look superior compared to another. Class got done by 1145 after which I was free for the rest of the day. Had a 3 hour long siesta, could have been longer had it not been for a phone call. Played cricket in the evening for a good hour and a half. Have an MCL game tomorrow which is a sudden death match. The match is at 7 in the morning followed by classes till 8 in the night! And we thought Sunday's were there to relax.

Day 333 - 17th November 2011

Had only two lectures today starting at 930. After keeping an alarm for 830 and snoozing it once, I ended up waking up at 940! It meant I missed the first lecture of ROMI. Made it on time for the second lecture which covered brand valuation. Was free for the rest of the day once class was done. Had bought a book in June on the IPL which was about the Modi Tharoor saga and all the behind the scene happenings that transpired during IPL3 which led to both their downfalls. Written by a journalist who experienced the entire episode first hand, it felt like reading a fast paced novel. As is the case with most books that I like, finished this one in one sitting.

Post dinner Sankalp had organized Khula Aasma with 4 plays staged in the audi. That went on till 1 in the night. Have another early morning start tomorrow, cant afford to wake up late again!

Day 312 - 9th October 2011

Had a pretty eventful day today. As is the norm on a rest day, woke up at 1030 and had breakfast at Chota. Did a little FIF1 work before lunch. Post lunch a few of us went to see Real Steel at PVR. I hadn't heard of the movie before but it turned out to be quite entertaining. It was similar to the storyline of Rocky, just that this time it was Robots who were fighting. Came back to campus by 730 in the evening, just in time for the CLT20 finals between MI and RCB. Dont know after how many years I saw an entire cricket match. MI started off well but then a batting collapse after the 15th over saw them score a below par 139. It was expected that RCB would chase it down quite easily considering the fact that they chased 200+ scores in their previous two games. However the fact that they were playing at Chepauk for the first time in the tournament worked against them and once they lost Dilshan and Gayle it was never going to be very easy for them. This was MI's first tournament victory and it felt good to watch it live on TV. Surfed the net a bit and started with a little groundwork for the dissertation proposal. Hope start making some progress tomorrow onwards! 

Day 304 - 4th September 2011

Had another rest day today, woke up early (read as 9 a.m.), had breakfast in the mess after ages! Went to Bopal for a haircut, luckily reached the barber's just before the Sunday morning rush kicked in. Got back to campus by noon. Post lunch had the PGP-1 v/s PGP-2 game. Didn't play today's game. PGP-1 won it quite comfortably, this time around chasing the target with 8 wickets to spare. Had most of the evening free, utilised that time to catch up with Geeko, Fruit Loops and Apu, something which has pending for quite some time!
A quintessential rest day, will call it a day soon, have a full day of classes lined up tomorrow.

Day 303 - 3rd September 2011

Got back to campus last night after a week in Bombay during which I had to go to office for some FIF1 work and also got to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi at home. Didnt have any classes today but had some work lined up which had to be taken care of. Have not been feeling too well over the past couple of days, wasn't feeling great today either. However I couldnt resist the temptation of playing a cricket match in the afternoon. It was an unofficial PGP-2 v/s PGP-1 match. Played on the ground for the first time since the MCL final! The match was a huge letdown though, we got mauled and lost by 65 runs, a very rude wake up call for all of us. It was extremely humid during the game and I must have lost nearly 3 litres of water :P Came back to the room and slept for an hour so.

Had Sania's birthday treat at the Marriot today, courtesy a pretty decent offer from snapdeal. 18 of us feasted on the buffet and as is the case in such buffets, the desserts took the cake(pun intended). Came back with satisfied bellies! Will sleep a little early tonight, still reeling from the after effects of the cricket match and just before sleeping SCAM has sent a mail announcing the opening match of the cricket season with PGP-1 playing PGP-2 tomorrow ;-)

Day 298 - 24th August 2011

The sports marketing sessions started at 1045 today. Today’s sessions were mainly about consumer behavior in sports marketing wherein we studied the different types of fans. Did get a little too heavy in the middle, but the prof had warned us well in advance that the first half of the day was going to deal with theory. Post lunch we had the first guest lecturer for the subject – Joy Bhattacharya, Team Director of the Kolkata Knight Riders. It was a brilliant 2 hour session with the first half on the business model of the IPL and the second on brand KKR. Invariably the discussion had to veer towards Sourav Ganguly and his exclusion from the team in the last season, it was a tough decision to take, he did admit that but it was taken from a long term perspective. Though he did acknowledge the fact that Ganguly is West Bengal or should I say Paschim Bongo’s favourite son. “Tagore, Satyajit Ray and now Ganguly, us bongs don’t have too much of a choice when it comes to our heroes” :D The best part about the discussion was that he patiently answered all sorts of questions ranging from the Fake IPL player to match fixing in the IPL. In a reply to one of the questions of player fatigue and the debacle in England he brought to our notice that India’s rise to the number one position began in 2008 and culminated in 2011 and the IPL was present in that very period, so it would be unfair to pin all the blame on the league. The best line of the lecture though had to be his opening line “Let’s make a deal, you don’t ask me about Shah Rukh’s sexual preferences and I wont bore you” :D

Played cricket in the evening in the Kachnar courtyard. Its always fun to play with a hard tennis ball on tiles, its akin to playing on Perth :P Played for a good hour at least. Post that there was a session on handwriting analysis conducted in the audi by a batchmate, which was pretty interesting. Have 3 birthday celebrations lined up tonight. Posting this one before they begin!

Day 294 - 20th August 2011

Today was the last CC class which was scheduled to begin at 430. Had some MCSA work before that. The class was a case study on Madonna and her marketing strategies as she evolved. How she has managed to stay on top consistently for 25 years, how she seemed to conform with all possible norms yet managed to take a dig at everything that she thought was wrong. She produced 5 top 20 tracks over a period of 17 months, a similar feat was achieved by Barabara Streisand in 20 years! We also were shown some of her music videos, some of which were even banned by MTV. The way she evolved as an artist and more importantly as a marketer were quite evident in those videos. A good session overall and a nice one to have as the last one of this sem.

Today's movie was promised to be a fun, breezy one and it did live up to those expectations! An Italian movie - Ciao, Professore. It was about how an elementary teacher tries to reform a bunch of third graders in a South Italian town plagued with crime and violence. Again, a nice movie to be shown as the last one of this sem. Class got done by 11 in the night. Dinner was at Chota since there was South Indian food in the mess. Came back to the room and saw some more cricket videos. There is a facebook community formed by a few of us where only cricket videos are posted. Its turning out to be a treasure trove of videos from yesteryear. Today was dedicated to Mohammed Azharuddin, spent a good half an hour watching some of his best innings. That was a nice way to end the day!

Day 290 - 15th August 2011

Independence day celebrations had to take place indoors today due to the rains. As has been the case for the past 18 years, school children from neighbouring villages are brought onto campus for the flag hoisting ceremony and served breakfast. Had a little MCSA work after that which kept Jhamb and me busy for half an hour. Post that we had a few performances from PGP-1 in the auditorium, good renditions of Vande Mataram. We also had an alumnus who is now an anchor with Star News visiting campus. The entire MICAn fraternity owes him big time since he is the guy who started Chota canteen :D Lunch in the mess was gujju cuisine served with Thums Up! Managed to squeeze in 2 siestas on either side of lunch before getting back to finishing off Pundits from Pakistan, overall a good read for a cricket fan or anybody who is intrigued by Pakistan.

Continuing with the cricket theme that has lasted this weekend, saw Fire in Babylon a documentary on the world beating West Indies side of the 70s and 80s. The movie just got done about half an hour back. Will call it a day in a bit, regular classes start from tomorrow again.

Day 288 - 13th July 2011

Due to my internship travel, had to swap the 1 credit course on Basics of Account Planning to Luxury Branding, which meant I had a rest day today. Woke up at 12 and was just lazing round. Post lunch played cricket in front of silveroak for a good two and a half hours. Felt good to be playing after so long. PGP-1 has a long weekend on account of raksha bandhan and I day, so campus is relatively empty. Playing after such a long time took its toll on me, ended up sleeping for a couple of hours in the evening as well!

Spent the rest of the day reading Pundits from Pakistan - its a book written by a journalist who traveled with the Indian contingent in 2003-04 during their first full length tour tour of Pakistan in more than 20 years. Reliving those memories provided some succour for the wounds inflicted by the English team during the ongoing test series. Post dinner saw a couple of movies - Austin Powers and The Butterfly Effect, have a rest tomorrow as well, need to find more ways to kill time :D

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