Of rains and the subconscious

I heard somewhere that it has been raining all over the country and what with all the flood stories that the news papers invariably carry in addition to the local 'strike' news, the tidings I got from the birdie seem to be true. The point I am trying to make here is that even given the nature of rains in different parts of the country, I am sure that very few places can match up to the glory of this place on the hills, especially when its pouring like this. The misty mornings (days???) give you that happy feeling in the pit of your stomach...as if you have been looking at the tresses of some very beautiful girl...jet black hair, falling as smooth as the way clouds move in the sky...shining as bright as the snow capped mountain peaks...the never ending fall of those black stars accompanied with the music of life...a symphony that thrills and even scares you...that soothes you to sleep and accompanies you to the ultimate realisation...oh, the glory of it all...the wind, the mist, the hills and the water pouring down...will it ever end...I hope not. Let it continue for as long as it wants to, don't make it go away for it is the reason why we are here, it is a celebration of our existence, is it not?

What the rains have done for me is that they have made me think and think deep (you might have guessed that from the post's initial few lines! :-)) I have been thinking about things that I normally keep on the back burner...happy things, sad things, generally things that can be thought about, lying all cozy and warm in your thick bedsheet or sitting on a chair in your balcony watching the rain splash your feet every now and then. It was in this mood that I came across the latest post on Priya's blog where she had written some of her thoughts (is it the thinking season???) on why we are the way we are. I don't have the patience and the time (have to go for dinner to the city) to write all that down again...might as well do that some time later...in the meantime, if any one is really interested (why...why not??? :-)) in my views on the subject, they can read my comment on her blog.

Marketing the drizzle

Kozhikode is certainly a beautiful place and the campus of IIMK, especially so. I missed my jogging today because of the Tuesday fast but even if I had decided to go for the jogging, I couldn't have. There was a slight drizzle in the morning that made going out not impossible but certainly a little difficult. However, the kind of view the rain, combined with the beautiful hills around this place, gave was simply out of this world.

Classes have started here and are now in full flow. For the other section, the load has been a little more since they had two classes yesterday as well as today. For the A section, which is supposed to be luckier in terms of the teachers, the routine is not so hot on the first two days of the week. The coming three days are going to be a diffrent story, however, with the Quant Prof., Professor Gopal Chouwdhry, having already asked us to study the first chapter before coming to class. The schedule is also a little more tightly packed with four and even five classes on the coming days.

We had the financial accounting class today and the teacher, Professor Broca, was very energetic, to say the least. The first impression that I had of this teacher was that he is carrying with him a sense of fullfilment on being chosen to teach at IIMK. Also, he seems to be a person not used to too many changes. He has a distinct methodology which looks to be quite rigid. I don't know if these observations are correct in their entirety but they would certainly come to the forefront before long.

We had the most interesting of the student committee meets yesterday. Mpower, the marketing interest group at IIMK met last night for a very interesting session. Starting with the weekly updates on the marketing world, the focus shifted to a quiz that was well conducted and well fought by the IIMK students. It almost felt as if it was a beginning of the concretisation of my interest in marketing as a discipline. I have not yet decided on the specialisation that I am going to follow for my MBA but if Mpower was any indication, marketing may well have a role to play in my future.

On the personal and emotional front, things continue to be as far from rosy as possible. I am still not able to break the ice and in fact, have somewhat resigned myself to fate and decided to give things some more time to settle down. My only worry is that if I give too much time, the situation may become unsalvagable.

Revelry of the young and old

For the past few days, I had been thinking of organizing an outing in Patna. Nani has been feeling so lonely ever since Nana left and she just used to sit idle, staring into the darkness. It was very important that she have a change in her daily routine. Mananmama has got a new car and a trip for Nani in the car was also due. So it was that yesterday, we decided to go to the local Zoo for a picnic trip. Rita Mausi was here from Muzaffarpur and Mausi was already here in Patna. It was decided to have two trips by the car to transport all twelve people to the zoo.

To add to the spice, the pump at home was burnt out. Water had to be stored into drums and buckets because the mechanic had given Monday evening as the probable time of fixing up the motor and pump. Mananmama decided to have a full bath at Mausi's place in Rajiv Nagar. Since we also had to pick them up for the trip, I, Mananmama and Shanu left for Mausi's place with all our clothes for the first phase of the trip. How little we knew that this phase was all we could have hoped for. The rain gods unleashed their fury as soon as we were all ready to depart with Mausi's family for the Zoo.

After some hour-long deliberations on what to do and a score of telephone calls later, it was decided to have the picnic in Mausi's home. Mananmama went back to pick up everyone else, including Nani. I agreed, though with a heavy heart (because of the plans getting cancelled), because it would anyway have turned out to be a good outing for Nani, especially since she would be able to meet up her favorite daughter. Pappumama, as expected did not turn up. I always knew that unless the plan to the zoo materialized, he will not come. That was another of the reasons for my being upset by the change of plans.

Everything turned out to be good in the end as we did have a nice time. The lunch was good and full of fun and some good laughter all around. The most satisfying part was that Nani was having a good time and that's what finally mattered to me.

Chatting away with some friends in the night (thanks to the twelve hour internet pack that I had bought yesterday), I could not help but philosophize a bit about life. Here was Nani, all alone and full of life, slowly losing recognition of all those she held dearest to her through out her life. There, just a few days back when I was in Varanasi, was Bharat Bhaiya's new born baby daughter, who is fast busy gaining recognition of all those who are going to be close to her. So much is at stake for one while the other already has her plate full. The difference, however, is negligible. For an outsider like me, who is not in constant touch with either of them, what is important is not to let their attention wander into loneliness...keep them occupied...the methods differ but the objectives don't. Both of them are fragile as fragile can be. Both of them have to be pampered and cared for. Above all, both of them are so…so very dear to me...

A drenched evening

Yet another day when I trusted Yogi for a good time out (Hey Yogi, I never said whether my trust did or did not pay off). I had just started with The Tristan Betrayal by Robert Ludlum (looks good, so far) when Yogi came in after watching the movie Peter Pan. He might have been in the same fairy tale mode when he suggested going to the beach and dinner at some restaurant on the beach side. True to reputation, we agreed (me and my poor room-mate who gets dragged along with me on all these trips)

We decided to make a stop for some chaat and sweets at a famous sweet shop enroute. In the middle of our snacks, it started to pour and believe me, the heavens were crying like anything yesterday (perhaps because I trusted Yogi, yet again...even after the Charas experience :-)) It hardly seemed prudent to go the beach in this weather but it was equally difficult to turn back. We decided to brave the rain and when it was less than a downpour (yet more than a drizzle), we started our journey. A distance of 5 kms did turn out into a journey, what with the rains from above, and the waterlogged streets below. Sandals submerged, jeans rolled up, we kept walking...not forgetting to drain off the water from out hair in pukka filmy style, whenever we saw a girl coming across (rare occurrence, that, considering the weather).

It took us some 2 hours to cover this great distance from my house to the beach and by the time we reached the place, the sand was all wet, of course and we had no option but to turn in to the restaurant for the dinner. Whatever be the prologue, true to habit, we did not compromise on the food...had a nice meal and then all the way back. The rain-gods were still mocking us, (the three muskeeteers, eh???) as we made way through the pools of water, me and my room mate cursing Yogi all the way for a drenched evening (even though it was not the poor guy's fault, at all).

The best part of the evening turned out to be not the rain, not the food...and certainly not the pools of water that spoilt our sandals. Actually, the best deal was the jokes that Yogi tried to crack to pass the time, as we waited for the rain to stop in the sweet shop. The jokes were okay, perhaps by a beginner's standard, but owing to the difficulty that any joke faces to make me and Puneet (my room-mate) laugh, Yogi was devastated. Jokes after jokes he churned out, and we remained impassive, asking him to raise his hand when the joke was over. Believe me Yogi, your jokes were funny, but perhaps, just not funny enough...