Too much water under the bridge

I can't believe that it has been one whole term since I last wrote on this blog. But believe it or not, this is true and for someone who used this blog as a tool to get things out of his system, I guess there were too many things bottled up this time to get out at all. Come to think of it, there are so many things that this blog needs to be updated with, that it is going to take me one lifetime if I start at it now.

So what I will try to do is to go sequentally with the updates. If I categorise all that has happened into broad episodes, hopefully, I will have time enough to complete the experiences per se, and add in my feelings (without which the posts will be incomplete, of course). Even though the end terms are close by, I guess there will be a lot of time at hand, given that the project submissions are almost done.

Be it the term in France, or the new year celebrations (or whatever it was) at Kovalam, or the experience that was Backwaters 2006, or the sheer joke that Term 6 at IIM Kozhikode was, or the job scene here at IIMK, or the tearing apart of the class of 2006 creating nostalgic feelings in one and more, there has been so much water under the bridge.

Have I been any wiser? Probably. France was one whale of a time and at the same time, one big teacher. Not only did I get to know so many interesting people from so many different parts of the world, but also got to see, analyze and appreciate their lifestyles, their cities and towns and even villages, and of course, their way of doing things which is so different from our own.

And then there have been Anne-Helene, Marion, and Gus, my three French friends (others' as well, but I would like to mention them that way, if you please) on their first trip to India, on student exchange to IIMK. I am not sure if they are having even half as good a time as I had in Paris (given the spicy food that is almost unpalatable for them), but it sure feels great to show them around India, makes me feel ever so proud of my country.

One of these trips was to Alleppey, the backwaters hotspot in Kerala. An out of the world experience aboard a houseboat, with stars shining down and their light getting reflected by the almost still water, it was time to just sit back and relax, and get ready for the gruelling weeks coming by (Backwaters was less than a month away). With the French gang (Sandy, Yash, Raul and the three French friends of mine) and some more batchmates (read Vishak, Kanika, Rohit) for company, the Christmas eve was a memorable one this year.

When Christmas was this much fun, how could New Year's fall behind? And so it turned out that we were on our way to Kovalam for the new year's. The tempo traveler for 13 had the same old gang joined by a few more, and off we were. Kovalam is one pretty place for sure, and the beaches can not be cleaner in any other part of India. Goa has its own charms, of course, but I believe that given proper publicity, Kovalam shall be able to hold its own.

Enough of the PR, anyways! The new year's eve was not particularly pleasant for me for a host of reasons, which are far too numerous to be listed down here. So let it suffice that it was not one of my most celebrated occasions and the music actually got on my nerves by the time it was time to say goodbyes to 2005 and welcome 2006. It was a very relaxed me the next day as we took our traveler back to Kozhikode.

As the vacations finally came to a close after three and a half months of doing nothing but having fun, there was a big challenge up ahead. The challenge that I had faced last year, as well, but in a different form. Last year, it was survival that Backwaters was looking at, this year it was trying to make an impression, set a benchmark for others to follow and scale. More about it in my next post...coming soon!