First trip to IIMA

Finally the day to leave for IIMA arrived. I boarded the Ashram express at 1500 hours from Old Delhi railway station on 18th June'09. I was travelling in a first class compartment for the first time. I had a notion that since a 3rd class compartment has 6 seats and a 2nd class has 4 seats, a first AC will have two seats. With me being a lone traveller, i was expecting the goddess of fate to smile at me and bless me with a female companion.

First look at the compartment and the truth dawned upon me. First AC also has 4 seats, only difference being that it is closed compartment with a few improvements in aesthetics over a 2nd AC. But then i guess even fate gets bored by screwing the same person over and over again. A german couple were my occupants of same compartment. That german chic was easily one of the most beautiful girls that i had ever seen. We talked a lot about India and Rajasthan in particular. I have only been to Jaipur in rajasthan. With this bit info and a few other crumbs earned from Bollywood movies i talked like an expert on rajasthan culture. I also didnt mind throwing in the fact that i was going to join IIMA - toughest B-school in this world in terms of applicants to final offers ratio. Luckily that girl knew about IIMA as she was studying in a German B-school with which IIMA has an exchange program. I could see why alumni say that this course changes your life and earns you respect... though I was hardly eager for respect. :)

After realising, actually finally admitting in my heart that she wasn't single, i sat on the top berth. This was the only place where i could sit and stare at her without being stared back by her male companion. Around 8 PM a girl entered and occupied the fourth seat in our compartment. From where i was sitting and the slight glimpse i got of her, she looked good. She was wearing a pink shirt and a trouser. Very formal and smart attire. I waited till dinner arrived and then came down from my berth and had my dinner. I sat there for around half an hour but could not talk to her. When i was about to get up on my berth the german female asked me a question about IIMA. It was then that the girl sitting next to me started smiling. I looked at her curiously, trying to come up with a one liner when she extended her hand and introduced herself. Rest of the night was spent talking to her...And guess why?

She was also a IIMA PGP 2009-2011. She was gonna be my batch mate for the next 2 years. :)

I have read many times,"Nobody dies a virgin. Life screws all". I guess my days of getting screwed are finally gonna end. :) Looking forward to adventerous next 2 years.

We reached ahmedabad station at 7:50 AM next morning. She had a few relatives to pick her up. We parted ways and i boarded an auto. Within 30 minutes i reached the campus. The enrollment process was very streamlined. By 9:30 AM i was in my room with laptop configured to access net using LAN cable. I was allotted Dorm 9 Room 9. This is where i will be spending the next 2 years of my life.

First walk through campus, seeing its red-brick designed with geometric shapes (circles, rectangles, squares, semi-circles), was a dream come true. I had seen this building in magazines and articles a million times and had always wondered what it would be like to be a part of these hallowed portals. And here i was, witnessing the same location with my own eyes. Heart was filled with pride and a sense of satisfaction. This is what it feels like when dreams come true.

Awkwardness of it all

Neha and I - We were both Gupta's and were called the "Gupta twins". Though i must specify that we were the kind of twins that Barney and his brother are in "How I Met Your Mother" - If fairness is defined on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being charcoal and 10 being Nicole Kidman, then i was a 4 and she was an 8.5.

We were best friends in school. I was number one in class (academically) and she was third. She had the best hand writing in the class and i had and still continue to have the worst, almost illegible. We would always sit and study together. Ours wasn't the most liberal of the schools and one of our teacher would often comment to us,"Tum dono jud kyun nahin jaate? Besharam kahin ke. (Why dont you two join together? Shameless creatures.". We would do all the leg-pulling together. I had this habit of never bringing a pen to the class and for almost 2 years she carried a spare one for me. She would whisper the answers sitting next to me when i was in the firing line of teacher's questions, often getting caught in the process. She knew about my crush in the class and would always tease me. We had a great time together.

After class 10 we went to separate colleges (In Amritsar and few other cities in Punjab, you have on option of going to a college or continue in a school for 11th and 12th standard). We never met for the next 8 years or so. Then we met on Orkut and finally after 8 years we met at Brijwasi - an awesome chat papdi and kinda stuff place very close to my place.

It was interesting meeting. On the day of our meeting i didnt want to be the first one to arrive so i was wandering in the park close to our rendezvous point, always keeping an eye at the entrance. I saw a good looking 8.5 (on a 10 point scale of hotness) arriving in a car. She was wearing a red sweater and was looking really good. I was wondering what she was doing at that place. It was not the best of places for a chic of her standards. Anyways, she didnt enter the place. She had one eye on the watch and the other sweeping the area looking for someone. I kept waiting for Neha for about 10-15 minutes but when she didnt show up i decided to go in and see if i had missed her. The moment i passed by that good looking chic, from the side of my eye i saw her staring at me.

Now i am not someone who is usually, rather ever, stared at by good looking 8.5's. Usually i get a 90 degrre head movement i.e. they look away and try hard not to even give a second look - a very potent and effective weapon used by them to keep guys like me at bay. Now since she was staring i thought of talking to her. The moment i turned, she smiled and said "Anurag Gupta, ab to tu pehchanega bhi nahin (Anurag Gupta, now you wont even recognise me)". It was Neha. I must mention here that Neha used to be quite overweight in school days and must have lost a lot in the last 8 years. I smiled, shook hands and we went in. While walking in, i took a second look at the place and then at her and was embarassed at the thought,"What the hell was i thinking inviting her to place like this". We had a good talk, shared memories of past and what we have been upto in last 8 years and then left. I never met her again till yesterday.

I was at Amritsar railway station, claiming the motor cycle that i had sent from Gurgaon after before leaving that place. I saw her passing by me and must mention that she was looking even better than the last time we had met. Now she was definitely a 9. I poked her with my finger as she passed by. She turned, smiled and shook hands with me. I started asking what she was doing, how things were and how it has been almost 2 years since we last met. She was feeling very uncomfortable. Fake smile on face, nervous demeanor and clutching of hands. And then i realized why.

While checking her out i had not realized that she was not alone. Then she introduced me to others," Anurag, this is my mother-in-law; he is my husband and she is my mother". I had not clue what to say next. And then a hand grabbed me by my arm and hugged me,"Anurag bhaiyya, mujhe pehchana?(Anurag, do you recognise me?) I am Neha's younger brother. Used to be your junior in school." He then faced me with his back towards others, stared at me with anger, his crazy eyes clearing saying,"FUCK OFF". Next moment i saw myself saying good bye to them all.

It was all so weird. In my usual disregard for circumstances and people, i had once again made a fool of myself. Anyways, lessons learnt:

1.) Dont ever poke a married women in public.

2.) If you do end up doing that, then make sure that you dont make her and others accompanying her uncomfortable with your friendliness.

And the most important one...

3.) Stay off a married female friend's brother. They are liable to get very angry.

I, Me, Myself

The following article has been written after "getting into our beloved Bhatti's shoes". For those who dont know him, Bhatti is - the centre of fun-poking of every group; falling in love like pat-jhad leaves, they just keep on falling endlessly every season; rising like a phoenix and again falling for next girl that he sees; never listening to Anurag, the wise one - kinda guy.

So when i say "getting into his shoes", i mean to imply that i have interpreted his today's status message keeping his above mentioned image in my mind.

So, Bhatti's today's status message read:

"Three main ingredients of happiness are; something to do, someone to love and something to hope for".

1.) Something to do: Bhatti is vehla these days. Absolutely no work. And sure as hell this time around he is not devoting his time (for the first time) running errands for his lady love. Some of the earlier errands being getting up at 6 in the morning to help her catch a bus - what the hell was that.

2.) Someone to love: I presume here that someone is just "one" and not "many". But in Bhatti's case we all know that this number can never be 1. It has and will always be more than 1.

3.) Something to hope for: For me Bhatti's hopes are - A tear shed for him in loneliness; a thought devoted to him and his loyalty :) ; a smile appropriated to his supposed sense of humour; a look at his orkut or facebook profile to get rid of that gut-wrenching pain of wanting to know what he is up to; a scan through good old happy-couple pictures to get a glimpse of him; assuming the roles of protagonists while watching a movie and savouring the voyeuristic pleasure of being with him; undertaking a journey back in time or in future with bhatti holding her head in her lap and gently caressing her, his minto-fresh breath wandering in her hair like a humming morning breeze...etc etc

So going by above three parameters, Bhatti should not be happy; but he is, he definitely is. And as Bhatti's best friend (Yes Bhatti I am your best friend. Though you will always say it is Nandu), I am hereby taking liberty to divulge and dawn upon him and any other senti souls like him the reasons for his happiness:

1.) Something to do: He is preparing for his upcoming stay in US, going for his MS.

2.) Someone to love: For the first time in his life he is loving himself ahead of any other damn soul on this earth.

3.) Something to hope for: He is hoping to do well for himself and his family after completion of his studies. He is hoping to get ahead in the race to be AOL's chief-of-staff. He has already assumed the role of AOL's face i.e. their marketing guy. (This is in reference to his very honest and convincing mail about joining AOL a few days back. Some of us had the divine fortune of being the recepients of his first ever marketing initiative.)

So to sum it all up, as per my theory, three main ingredients of happiness are - I, Me, Myself. Screw everyone else.