I want to write

I really do. All I can think of writing is what I have been up to at B-skool. I know I am missing out on a great chance to document the best times of my life by not writing often. Isn't this how special moments become faint memories of the past?

Time is a big constraint with all the classes, assignments, club activities and not to mention, the parties :)

Falling in love is nice but settling in love is not so nice. Well I don't intend to harp over this for much longer because I don't want to read this ten yrs from now and think 'how lame were you girl'!

I should've probably made it a point to write 1 post after ever term, that is 2 posts by now and very close to the third. Will try this term break I guess. Life's good so far.

Doing the due

Haven't been writing off late.. totally not a done thing. Life's been real hectic here with all the course work, exams and assignments. Its been a month and I feel exhausted already. 1 year's going to be tough!

I am glad I am where I am, not because the institute is of repute etc etc but because I feel like my purpose of learning is being met. I feel so much more intelligent in a month;s time...! The importance of having peers from diverse backgrounds and having certain years of work life experience makes so much sense. Learning here is holistic. My peripheral questioning has improved. I meet new people and I know how to be polite yet keep a distance - something I struggled to learn for many many years.

The long phone calls are still on and we seem to have reached a completely different level altogether. December is far but not quite so. It's a good feeling. Sometimes it gets a little tiring with all these long college hours but we seem to be managing well. If I choose to crib, I can find faults here too but I haven't had a nice experience in almost forever so I will focus on the beautiful for the moment.

Dad's on facebook and there is mass excitement among cousins and friends. Everyone seems kicked about it. I quickly changed privacy settings on some albums. Saw my little cousin's pictures on FB and I see he's grown up to be this really handsome young man. So proud of him. He's given me limited access to his profile. We used to be so close at some point.

None of my regular blogger friends seem to be reading/writing these days.. what has happened people?

I cant write in an interesting way anymore it seems. But I am happy as long as I write something every few weeks. I <3 you my blog.

Beginning of a journey called ISB

:)

That smile was for finally being able to open the once exploited link - www.blogger.com.

Here I am, at Hyderabad, after a 20 month break, 3 cities, -ve bank balance of 20 lacs and a few hundred kilos of apprehension. I am at the Indian School of Business. The much coveted B-School in India and as I'd like to believe, across the globe. This time not as a visitor or a candidate but as a student. A rather difficult 12 hr bus ride with dad and without mom, I entered the 260 acre campus 2 weeks ago, on 10th of April. I dont know if it was the tiring journey or the tiring paperwork or the load of expectations that almost instantly killed all the thrill of  making it to this place, the moment I entered.

So far it's been 2 days of registration process, a week of orientation - or disorientation and another week of pre-terms i.e laying foundations of basic mathematics, statistics and accountancy. The O-week was all about team building activities in the hot Hyderabadi sun and the pre terms were about sitting dazed in every single class, hoping people would shut up. I've never seen such a confluence, of 500 people who all think they are the best and want to tell everyone that they are indeed the best. I don't mean to doubt the capabilities or the achievements of people who are here but the effort behind trying to get noticed is ridiculous to my mind. I have always considered showing off in any form - physical or intellectual as the ultimate sign of weakness and to a large extent inferiority complex. This theory of mine, is of course debatable. More so because I am trying to transform myself into a deeper, mature and accommodating person - so passing value judgements like this is definitely not going to help me be who I want to be. So hopefully, by the end of the year I would have proven my own theory incorrect.

I have been one hell of a reserved person in the last 2 weeks. Except for this one night when I went and actually hit the dance floor, I've consciously kept myself away from any form of limelight. Why try to fake it? Also I think introducing yourself individually to 500 people is a time taking and tiring task. And to make the process less monotonous for yourself, you have to come up with different tones and levels of excitement or introduce a new facet of yourself to everyone and exclude some already used adjectives about yourself. The bandwidth required for this task is huge and I have now simply given up. I dont speak unless spoken to and speak as little as I can - just to make enough conversation to acknowledge a question and to avoid traps of further small talk.

Tomorrow begins Core Term - 1 and so begins the madness to catch up with peers at class, finish assignments and prepare for midterms which are exactly 3 weeks from now. I can already see time flying.

The next one year, will hopefully be better than the last 1 year. Amen!

And wishes come true :)

Dint I tell you my life has reached a period of legendary weekends?

So after all those months of GMAT, switching jobs, staying up all night to write essays, pestering ex-bosses to write recommendations, I finally have heard from the 1st college that I had applied to. And I have heard on the affirmative! Yes, I am joining ISB Class of 2011 on April 12 :)

So it is back to Hyderabad for me now. Yes, the stale Hyderabad but I am not complaining. It's new people, new campus, some old friends and a year of frolic.

So blogging will either increase a lot or decrease a lot! Tomorrow (hopefully) is my last day at work. It's then back home to arrange the monies and eat some awesome food and go for long walks by the beach with mom. And then shop for college.

Hyderabad, get ready - your lucky charm is back ;-)

P.S: Ya Ive chucked my American dream. At least for the moment.

Pink and Purple weekend.

So it was a great weekend. I went to Hyd for an interview at a world-class B-School. I did a mediocre or even a sub-standard job of convincing the panel as to why they should take me. I couldn't articulate my thoughts well. My answers did not convince me, let alone convince someone else!

But for a change it was not something that bothered me. I did not come out with a heavy heart or a sinking feeling, which I otherwise do when things don't go my way. I loved the sight of a campus and I knew I want to be there on some campus - this or some other. I felt small in front of the interview panel, which again was a great feeling. When you are surrounded by people who think you are doing great for yourself, it is important to have someone criticize you and wake you up from your fairytale dream . I felt I have a long way to go and at the same time I felt convinced that I was doing the right thing.

There was of course more to the weekend than that. There was the best time ever spent with Cams. There was watching of 8 movies, head massage, making omelets for breakfast and dal rice curry for lunch. There was going out at midnight for ice cream. There was feeling sick and getting pampered. He stood at the interviewee lobby at the campus, like a body guard, in t-shirt and denims without for once feeling awkward around all the immaculately dressed candidates. He was way more nervous than I was! He spoke to me about certain life-changing decisions of my life and gave me some perspective.

I felt I never left Hyd and he never got married. All the credit goes to him for treasuring me and loving me a little more every passing day. I haven't had a 'Thank God I have him/her' feeling in so long! I left in the morning with mixed feelings - so happy that I have him and so sad that our little vacation was over.

And as always, I know that one good time comes to an end only to make way to another.