Wuthering Heights...

The day is inching closer. The campus is beginning to freak out. Groups of students ranging anywhere from 2 to 4 can be seen sitting at various places, library group rooms, CEE meeting rooms, atrium, cafe, even walking on roads, doing case preps. Some have only one option; one such good friend of mine says he can get either only the First prize or a certificate of participation, there is no second prize for him. Some have more than one; its a bit relaxed for them, but is it? All are correlated - you do not do well in any one means something fundamental is wrong with you and is likely to show up in all others too. So, having more than one options doesn't really mean any relaxation.

I am one such guy - I have 5 options for the moment and I am the most freaked out. In the end, its only one day. I'll probably not even get a chance to sit with all. I'll perhaps have to make my choices and decline to some upfront. And then don't know how those I indeed choose to sit with would find me.

Though most of us can handle this but still we are fully aware of the recent increase in temperature in the month of January and the recent increase in pressure on the top of Deccan plateau at a height of 1776 ft above sea level.

Booze will flow at the end of the day - for some in celebration and for some in pain. Who will lie where, only the day will tell.

Miles to go before I sleep..

Huh...did I say life is fun?

I completed my 27th round around the sun today. The entire campus partied on this occasion. They called Raghu Dixit to perform. Our own class of '10 band performed and was amazing at that. Ya of course they dunked me in the pool at the start of the day - 12 midnight and smeared cake all over my face and head. And then we partied till 7 in the morning. The alums danced, students danced, spouses danced, and we gulped 1000 liters of alcohol. That alum in the morning was watching me with pity when I wasn't able to find my way to my SV. But I couldn't even see the road still! How could I know where to go! And they let me sleep for 4 hours only and started calling me up at 11 in the morning to wish me. The relatives and friends.

And just when I would say Man! this is the best birthday ever! my calender threw a reminder - McKinsey case preparation session due at 1 pm. I was still heavy with a hangover but had to drag myself into the shower for full 15 minutes in the vein hope that my head would feel a little better. That didn't happen. I spent the rest of the day from 1 pm to 8 pm doing cases with McKinsey alums. And what I get at the end of it? Guys, the preparation level of your batch is nowhere close to where the last year batch was by this time. You need to put in effort. Now how do I tell those guys that I am submitting one fucking assignment everyday, every assignment takes up at least 3/4th of my night, and then whatever time I find, like a machine I try to do a case or two. We did it in our times guys, nothing is new, they would quip. Now say, what a birthday!

But truly, what a birthday! This is the first one when I can look back and say yes today I have all that I wanted by this stage. And just when I want to sit back and relax, the McKinsey alums are here to tell me that this is just the end of the beginning...

A beautiful poem my Robert Frost to sum it all..

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep

Drunk and out..

damn damn damn...I am completely inebriated at 2.36 in the night. ISB Solstice, the annual alum reunion is going and ISB is in all festive mood.

The days are fun man! One week to go for exams and in this one week, I have two individual assignments to submit for merger and acquisitions, one group assignment for the same, one group assignment for financial statement analysis, two group assignments for new product management, and two group assignments for financial engineering. And oh yeah, the interview preparation for McKinsey and BCG is going on with alums from McKinsey calling me late in the nights for case prep and my group calling me in the library for 2 hour 2 case sessions every third day. It's almost like a finger up my ass.

But the days are fun man, really! I am coming from the 2008 party lounge, all full with about 300 people, many alums, many spouses and many friends-with-benefits, yeah you got it! But it was fun...three large vodka pegs back to back, a long due chat with Garora, my one close friend, and a reminder that yes this is what I had bargained for. And then someone asks me where that girl is..oh ya, the same girl I went on a date with in one of the parties, when the next day everyone in the class thought I am seeing her and was concerned because they think I am a 'good' guy and she has been going out with bit too many people and ditching them like anything too often. But I wasn't seeing her. She just asked me out and I went. But its fun, people care for you! So, she came today with this another guy from my section only. The new catch, oh ya. But life is fun dude! This another girl, the daughter of a big industrialist, who was in my negotiation group last term put on a glittering pink lipstick and is looking damn sweet today and add to that she joined me in chat. Nakul and Manju were leaving, so I joined them. Enough it was for me for tonight. I had my head spinning and din't need any more liquor. On way back, Aloke is talking about the damn interview he is expecting. What the f**k dude, get a life. I am drunk at the moment. I'll tell you what to do for the interview tomorrow. Now, for God sake, go to bed! He got scared and let me go. Those muscles help you sometimes, I tell ya guys! Kick-ass!

Tomorrow I am turning 27. But life is fun dude, I tell ya. This is what I had bargained for..

16" it is..

Wow, so today is officially the first time when the measuring tape showed 16" around my biceps! And I wrote only 15.5" on my resume...too bad.

All along the way, there were unspoken targets - 12" in the beginning, then 14", then 15" and finally 16". Na naa! I am not planning to go beyond 16" now. After all, there is something called proportions too. This is perfect.

But, cool, isn't it? I managed this all despite the ISB's grind!

So, is it destiny or you?

My mom told me today for the 64,783,726th time not to worry and that whatever happens happens for good. Not to mention, I agreed with her on phone.

But then, is it really so?

When something happens one way and your life takes one direction, you start moving in that direction. And if you are inherently inclined to work hard, you turn that whatever way to your advantage and earn a reputation. You become an achiever in your area. And then people look at you and tell you "See! Had you got the other thing at that time in the past, you would not be this. You would not have achieved all this."

There appears a clear causation fallacy in such observations. If you had got that thing you wanted in the past, you would simply have taken a different direction, worked equally well and achieved similar results.

Wouldn't you have?

Core terms payoffs

7 months in ISB flew by. For sure, now I realize what they mean when they say one year at ISB changes you, your perspective, and your life forever.

For one, sodomy of the core terms paid off today. I got the second ISB scholarship, this time for being in the the Dean's Merit List for core terms...phew! The first one was the ISB Admission Scholarship. Now I can afford to take the acads a little easy.

International placement season started some 15 days ago.

Resume is almost finalized now. It was difficult, took me some 30-40 iterations, just like the admission essays but has come up really well. All thanks to four McKinsey alums, and Sanjeev in particular. All of them gave valuable inputs and Sanjeev went out of his way in calling me himself and reviewing my resume for me. One alum from Citi group also gave a good piece of advice. Then my classmate Aloke gave me one full hour just 2 days before exams to review my resume. Of course I reciprocated.

McKinsey application deadline is tomorrow. I'll apply sometime today.

So much happening. And I have a feeling that I am forgetting something else too. What's it that I switched my laptop on for. Ohh crap! it's the end term exam tomorrow!

Movie for the evening..

Just watched '21'. The end was fantastic. Just look at the confidence of Ben sitting before the interviewer. Amazing if you can do it in real life!