Another day...another hour

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This is my space
These are my views
This is not meant for the common good nor for the common interest
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As soon as I came to my room after yesterday's election results were declared (at about one in the night), I started thinking about what I would be expected to do next. I know it sounds silly but the last election blog post turned out to be quite (a) hit, and as a result, anything that is said on this space about the elections, will naturally be followed with interest, contempt, disgust or in the rarest of rare cases, sympathy. Since I have had the fortune to have been in the good books of the voters, that is, I have actually been elected to the Backwaters team...applause applause...there might have been that knowing look on the faces of some. The question they might be asking is this: "Now that he has won, will he write the same scathing stuff that he did the other day?" They might even come up with the answer themselves...no way, man...it was his defeatist and loser attitude talking that day...tomorrow you will see a changed blog entry...

What is a sword without its sting, a snake without its poison, a word without its bite? So here goes...unabridged...another election coverage...and this time around, let this be heard by anyone who bothers to hear (especially the new media cell, if they are reading...that this post will not be withdrawn...come what may)

Hmmm....so have I generated enough interest in the proceedings...are the readers holding their breath for the next revelation that is going to come along their way...is the atmosphere hot and tense enough...are the pins dropping with enough racket??? Hold on, dear friends...for I am going to take you on the roller coaster ride of the century...

One of the first committees to have gained the top of mind recall of any member of our batch, Place Com had nearly 65 volunteers working for it (I was one of them, too). However, as days passed and people started facing the music of some reeal hard work that PlaceCom has to do, they realised that it is not their piece of money...so they abstained (I did, too) from nominating themselves for the final election round. However, there were still quite a few who did take the plunge (given the sort of glamour associated with PlaceCom, I do not find it surprising). Out of the 28 nominations, there was talk of selecting a smaller number based on some interview process as the faculty Placements head was not comfortable with such a large number fighting the elections.

Now comes the interesting part...ideally, there were supposed to be 16 final nominees but the number finally turned out to be 19. Though it was made clear initially by PlaceCom that the final number could very well be more than 16, the conspiracy theorists still started working. Tongues wagged and conversations became whispers as the "new additions" and their "contacts" in Senior PlaceCom were discussed.

However, with so many days separating the SCon elections and this one, the spark did not light up the fire and whispers started dying out...yet existing. The elction process was similar to what happened in SCon...candidates were asked to come to the well and speak out, with all audience questions saved for the end (there were hardly any, probably because of this). I must say that the highlight of the speeches for me were:

When some people started saying that they would teach how to do things to people who don't know how to do things by themselves. From my public speeches, I have learnt one thing...never undervalue your audience...even if you underestimate them, never let it show...if you have done so, you have dug your own grave.

When some people consciously tried to avoid using the table as a backrest...while some took the table head on :-)

For all other committees, it was decided to give the candidates one minute each to speak. It was going to be a mess, with nearly 68 people standing for different posts (as Yash was kind enough to point out :-)). I was so sick of the process that I didn't want to speak...I went and gave some shit about Horizons and as soon as I could, got my name removed from the list.

Good sense prevailed subsequently, as the other committees made the speaking optional. With the voters not in a mood to go deep (???) into the candidates' agenda, many eloquent speakers were booed out of the well with promises of votes if they just keep quiet and let the things go on...for God's sake.

And so it went on, with some good breaks in the middle...Prashant starting in his inimitable style with Pictionary which, slowly but surely picked up interest...Vikhyat talking about how he plans to bring down people from Switzerland (or was it Singapore) to participate in Horizons...Marda telling us about what he will do to keep our gastroenteric juices flowing...Amarpreet with his agenda of defeating IIM Indore in the number of internet hits...Bunty insisting on writing on the board that his name is not Bunty but Sarbamitra Barua...

The ballot paper was a long one...with nine boxes instead of eight for the PlaceCom (I am not nit-picking...just mentioning a fact, for God's sake)...and boxes for Spandan and Spic Macay, for which even the election quorum was not reached (shame on us...). With an amazingly (but not surprisingly...our batch has some enthu) huge number of nominations, the voters had a tough time, borrowing pens, looking at the names and associating the numbers with them...

Finally, after all the shouts and cries, came the absolutely stunning display of camaraderie and josh that filled many-a-heart (mine included) with joy and hope for good things remaining in this world. Desks thumping and hands joining together, shouting and catcalls followed each of the elected nominees as their name started rolling out in the presentation. It was absolutely fantastic to see the batch coming together like this...way to go, guys...hope this thing that has started, never dies out...Amen!

Because of the lack of time and space, I just thought that I will write what I felt about the PlaceCom members since they have an important role to play in my career...for the others, they will have to make do with an honorable mention in my illustrious (!!!) blog.

The PlaceCom (Placements Committee)

1. Abhilash Vijay Nair
With his IBM experience of hiring, and a serious demeanour, he was always a tough nut to crack for any competitor.

2. Abhishek Kumar
His tremendous popularity and the way he has raised his voice (for...against...people...things) in the past made him another winner.

3. Devroop Dhar
The silent types, he is also believed to be a smooth operator and has just that required blend of popularity and sincerity required for the job.

4. Gagandeep Kalsi
The kind of person, no one has anything against. Quite likeable (as most of the Sardars are) and pretty enthusiastic, a good choice again.

5. Kunal Bharadwaj
I have personally seen him work really hard at the brochures and if that is anything to go by, we have another good bet in the team

6. Pavithra B Poonacha
Seven years of work experience...and the only girl in PlaceCom to boot...need I say anything more?

7. Raul Sinha
The laptop guy...I had threatened him with my vote as the bargaining point if he does not get the lappie delivered soon...he was another winner with the hard work already visible.

8. Sauhard Saran
He had an interesting way of selling himself...associating himself with the dream of any IIM grad, he promised to make use of his contacts at his previous employer, Mckinsey.

An absolutely effective and wonderful combination...I voted for seven out of the final eight.

Horizons Committee

1. Abhijit Chakraverty
2. Deepak Nallur
3. Manish B Shukla
4. Sharika Munshi
5. Sundesh Sundar Shetty
6. Surabhi B Prasad

I voted for four out of the final six. Go guys, show them all, what it means to have a world famous Management fest!

Backwaters Committe

1. H Sandeep Reddy
2. Nitai Utkarsh (that's me...thank you voters...will try not to let you down)
3. Malini Pande
4. Qaynat Sharma
5. Saurabh Goswami
6. Vikhyat Srivastava

I voted for four out of the final six. Yana Gupta Yana Gupta Yana Gupta.....

Industry Interaction Cell

1. Prajakt N Deotale
2. Puneet Jain
3. Rahul R Agarwal
4. Ravi Girdhar

I voted for three out of the final four. People, we want lectures (read jobs) from the CEOs of the Morgan Stanleys and the Mckinseys...

Media Cell

1. Amarpreet Singh
2. Priya TS
3. Sandeep Gopal

I voted for three out of the final three. A great team, one intelligent fact finding Sardar, one mallu girl, and one smarty potential topper

Social Service Group

1. Deepak Kumar Sethi
2. Deki D Dorjee
3. Mayank Mohan Agrawal
4. T Ramesh Chandra
5. Tripuramallu Madhu Smitha

I voted for five out of the final five. Another good team, with many of them already having worked for the social cause and having the gravity enough to make the SSG a successful cause.

Alumni Committee

1. Suryanarayanan TN
2. Shailendra Chak
3. Vaibhaw Kumar Shende

I voted for two out of the final three. A liekable team that will definitely be able to hold the batch together even after we move out of these hills and cottages.

Sports Committee

1. Dheeraj Batra
2. Sarbamitra Barua

I voted for one out of the final two. The weighlifter and the dancer...what magic are they going to create for us? A basketball court...a football field...any other miracles???

Mess Committee

1. Aditya Sagare
2. Vinay Marda

I voted for two out of the final two. I want some good food, some well baked rotis, some more of paneer but some less of palak, a once-in-a-week menu of Hyson...Taj...Al Bake maybe???