Comfortably Placed

It was exactly one year ago, I was sitting on an old metal chair in the middle of a classroom... my plastic smile betraying the sense of discomfort I felt as three strangers stared at me with their piercing eyes. The two angry men in dark suits had the exact same look on their faces... a look that seemed to scream out – “how dare you have sex with our daughter?”... and the pretty young thing... well, judging by the way she was being mollycoddled, one would think she definitely was the daughter in question! Shit. My mind was beginning to warp. I knew right then I shouldn’t have stayed awake all of last night watching back-to-back episodes of Modern Family. I tried to focus on the present. The three people on the other side of the table had come from the global consulting firm X&Y, and this was my final placements interview. It was the kind of situation b-school fantasies are made of... and all I could think was – “I wonder what she’s doing now.”

Placement season is the craziest time in a management institute. As a fitting end to the two years of dealing with Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome that fucks up your body and mind, here’s an intense three day window of emotional turmoil that sucks out your very soul. Three days. A hundred odd companies, all looking to hire the best brains of India, descend upon the hapless students much like the Biblical swarm of locusts. As a run up to the actual event, an air of gloom seems to envelope the entire campus. Suddenly, the same people who acted like you didn’t exist, want to know what you’ve written in your resume... you become the competition. More often than not, the burden of living up to those expectations gets too heavy for our frail twenty-something shoulders. I’ve seen my classmates burst out in tears, indulge in substance abuse, and even contemplate suicide. The Lord gave David a choice of three punishments, and David chose three days of plague.

Let’s face it. We all had our own reasons to want to improve our lives... and the dark suits were our Messiahs. There’s no point complaining about the way placements are conducted in our top b-schools. Maybe there is something inherently wrong about our education system; maybe our entire social structure is fucked up. But we can leave the "trickle of positive change" (sic) to Chetan Bhagat for now. The way I see it – if an organization is hiring someone on a million rupee salary, they have every right to put us through hell. Not that we minded the torture too much, the lure of big bucks kept us all going strong. Scratch a little beneath the surface, and you would find that it wasn’t just the money. We all had that one thing for which we were ready to compromise on the salary. While most of my friends desperately wanted a change in their job profiles, others fantasized about working for a particular dream company. For me, I had my heart set on shifting base to Delhi – the city where she lived.

It has been exactly one year since I didn’t get the job at X&Y Consulting. But I did get another one. In Delhi. I no longer have to wonder what she’s doing now.

Lager Beer and Dry Chili Chicken

The other day I was catching up with an old friend over the usual lager beer and dry chili chicken. With the conversation fast drying up, we ditched the obligatory small talk and did what old friends do best... we started reminiscing how awesome college used to be. The next three hours just flew by. At the end of the evening, supremely drunk, we promised each other that we should do this again.

I understand there’s something inherently sad about the fact that these days my good times are spent not creating memories, but reliving them... but let's not go there. What really got me thinking the next morning was why do we all have this almost romantic fascination for college nostalgia? Ask anybody about their college, and you’ll hear a sigh... "ohhh, those were the best days of my life"! What’s the big deal about college life anyways, that, years later, most of our conversations still revolve around the experiences we’ve had during this time?

Well, the answer isn’t that hard to figure out. College was when we grew up... from little girls to ladies... from little boys to, well, smarter boys. College was our first tryst with the big bad world. College was our last dance with innocence. College was where friends became closer than family. College was where we found out what it meant to belong.

Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away. Talking about the "good old days" seems to activate my fondness for poetry. In fact, it was during college that I developed and honed my taste for all things beautiful. Though we never exactly gathered around in dark caves reading dead poets... my friends and I did everything else to "suck the marrow out of life".

Most of you have been part of this corporate world for a while now. Important decisions are being taken not by you, but by your deadlines and deliverables. Stop. Pick up that phone. Call an old pal. Because there’s only one thing that goes well with lager beer and dry chili chicken... your college buddies!

A Tale Of Two Cities

A new beginning isn’t possible without an ending. Sometimes these endings are abrupt, and you’re left wondering what the hell just happened. Sometimes you’re lucky to get enough time to say a nice goodbye.. like I did.. with Mumbai.

I’m all set to leave the city I called home since late 2005. In a few hours, I’ll be in Delhi.. a new city.. a new chapter.. a new beginning. This shift of base is all part of a long term plan. Like a snake shedding its skin, I needed to slither out of my slaphappy days. It was high time I took responsibility for my future. With this change, now I’m all set to reclaim my life.

I’m excited because I don’t know what’s gonna happen next. I have taken the leap of faith.. and from here on in, the possibilities are endless. Amidst all the chaos that crowds my head, there’s just one thing I’m sure of.. the reason why I’m shifting to Delhi.

Rabindranath Tagore said about short stories - "shesh hoyeo hoilo na shesh". This was my story.. it ends right here. The rest belongs to us!

She's Perfect

This is her first birthday since we started going around. And all that she has asked for is a blogpost dedicated to our love. She says I write well. But honestly, I'm kinda scared right now. I know she would be overwhelmed with anything I scribble. I've seen her eyes go wide with excitement when I made two chocolate bars appear mysteriously from under my sleeve.. I've seen her wipe away tears of joy when I walked her in a room lit with scented candles. For every simple gesture of mine, like a little kid she will hold my hands and thank me a million times. I know I need not be nervous. That's how much she loves me. And that's exactly why I want to make this gift absolutely perfect for her.

So, while the perfectionist inside me keeps on trying.. here's to the beautiful lady who has made my life perfect. Happy Birthday!