After all, what are friends for?: Blog # 21

After all, what are friends for?

* A short story 

The clock struck 5 and the call taxi honked below the apartment. Sam and his mother set out to the airport. Before boarding she said “Sameer, All your friends complain you don’t keep in touch. There is more to life than work. You have accomplished a lot for your age. But have a life outside work also.” Sam had got tired of hearing this time and again. He hugged and said good bye to his mom.

Sam went through the last month’s calendar. There was a get together of college friends on May 3rd. He couldn’t make it. The project appraisal came up and when it comes to work, everything else can wait. The next Sunday, his cousins came visiting his uncle living in the city. Again he had to fill in for Riya who was on a holiday. He could have said no but he didn’t want to leave a chance to impress his boss.

Sam took the cell to check if the daily alarm was on. There were a couple of unanswered messages and calls. Nothing concerning work. May be there is some truth to what his mother told. He thought to himself.

Sam woke up to the 6^th ring of the cell . “Hello Sameer”.That meant it’s a call from his hometown. No one here calls him by that name anymore. Sameer, did I wake you up? I called up to say I am coming by evening bus. Be there to pick me up at the station. I don’t know anyone there ok? Before Sam could reply the phone was hung up. It took him a while to make out it was his childhood friend, Hari. They met last month after a long time during a mutual friend’s marriage. At that time Hari told he will be coming to the city this month. For courtesy sake, Sam welcomed him. He had no idea Hari will take him seriously. Things like these disturb him when people take things for granted.

            Today, Sam has a very important client meeting. It could make or break his upcoming promotion. He had been preparing all along for this particular presentation. He thought if Hari does not find him at the station, he will find a lodge and when they meet, he will make something up. Hari is so gullible after all.

Sam reached office. No one in his module has reached. As his colleague Riya always say, it’s because they all have a life! Yea right! Client meeting is at 11. Got some ground work to do. Collected some documents, some data backup, rushed through the presentation once. All set.

The clock showed 930 but there is some confusion in the office. Everyone is moving about. Then he saw Riya coming towards him with a long face. What happened? , he  asked Rhea. “ You didn’t know? It’s all over the news,”  

What’s all over the news?  What is it?, he couldn’t take the suspense.  “We are losing our jobs. Our chairman is arrested.” What? You are kidding me!!! ,Sam couldn’t believe his ears.

Our company is shutting down Sam! Got a mail from the HR asking us to leave the office and wait for further intimation . He checked the inbox.

He felt numb, He did not know how to react, What does he do now?

This company is his identity. His personal life is his professional life. He has not even talked properly to anyone outside work for the last 6 months.

Riya said she is not going home. She did not want to face her family. Ram also said he is going to his friend’s bachelor pad. Sam did not have anywhere to go.

He called up Rohit. The number appeared to be busy. He called up Maya. Her number has changed. He couldn’t go home. He went to the Fern hill apartments of Vidya and Rahul. Neighbours said they are on a vacation.

He went home. Alone and frustrated. He felt restless. The news channels were blaring with his company’s news. He was getting calls from home. He did not pick up.

He lost all his hope. He thought he knew what fear was. That day, he realized what it feels to be scared.

It’s 6 in the evening and the door bell rang. Sam wondered who could it be. He opened the door and saw Hari standing there. He hugged Hari tight. Hari said “Your mom said you might be busy at work. So aunty gave your address.”

Sam broke down. “It’s ok Sameer. Everything will be alright. I resigned the job back home. I have an offer from HP and will be joining next week. Let me see what I can do. After all, what are friends for?”.

                                                                                                                               Arun Babu.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

The courtyard Lawn: A Potpourri of Memories #12

**An ode to my Alma mater, Amrita School of Business(ASB)...The time when every day was a celebration, our college days...Here is an attempt to revisit those fond memories...

The courtyard Lawn          

             This is one place around which our lives revolved (literally!) for the two fabulous years in ASB.

Right from our freshers' day party to our farewell party, this lawn has been indispensable.

Every Pragati(our B- Fest), this place takes the centre stage. The promos, the lighting, the decorations everything found a prominent place here.

Many kalkruti events took place here. The ‘Iron hearts’ event of the last kalakruti conducted here is unforgettable.

The face painting of Utsav is still fresh in my memory. So are the many tea parties that happened here.

Many a time we have also done some last minute prep before the exams.

This is where we threw a handful of colours and celebrated Holi. This is where from we lit up the whole of ASB with beautiful diyas and celebrated Diwali.

            And to top it all, how can we ever forget the famed ASB flash mob and the DJ nights.

The courtyard lawn is also home to the Lone fish. Near the Photostat corner, you see the small pond with the lone fish in it. It’s sad that it has to live a life of solitude. It is so reclusive that its appearance is rarer than the pink slip (Gargi bhavan gate pass). I think some forum should take up its cause





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The SKH : http://praisesnbrickbats.blogspot.in/2012/05/skh-that-is-not-sri-krishna-hut.html

                                                                                            

    

          Arun Babu

Home away from home: A Potpourri of Memories #11

**An ode to my Alma mater, Amrita School of Business(ASB)...The time when every day was a celebration, our college days...Here is an attempt to revisit those fond memories...

Home away from home

          A day in the hostel starts thus: The alarm goes off at 6:00 am. After a lot of contemplation I finally wake up to the see the sun shining brightly through the misty ‘elephant mountains'. At Amrita, this is one of the things I fell in love with first.  

If my friend Jai comes around, we go for a morning walk. Else I sift through the day’s Times of India, sipping a steaming cup of tea. A bit more lazing around later and listening to the wonderful medley of songs that my balcony mate chimby puts together, I head for a shower where the bathroom singers in us come alive. Mostly it will be kutty, chimbi and myself.

After everything, if we have the luxury of time, we head to the mess hall to have some breakfast else we run to the ASB canteen to grab a cup of tea and then to the class.

After the morning session, our hostel, Gautama Bhavan beckons for an afternoon siesta. It’s 5 o clock and there is chatter in the corridor. The evening tea and snacks have arrived. We march towards the road side pavements with our precious little cup of tea. After the evening routine, we come back to the hostel for dinner. It is just an excuse for the night canteen coffee. We sit on the corridor in front of some unfortunate M.tech guy’s room and will go on chattering about nothing (mostly k7 holding court with Kris, Rb, Vikku n Me listening intently J ) that matters, yet great fun J J.

Then everyone goes to their own rooms but me. I head towards the C Block, my room being in E block. Then we spend a lot of time playing pranks on each other. My turph in C block being Suddu, Gilma  and GP’s room. It goes on till late night. It is then that we give suddu a mild heart attack from behind the doors  and do a bit of vaasthu arrangement in Gilma’s room, , the long ‘small talks’ with GP ,Surya ,Mill and yes, Guptaji and viswas’ fun antiques.

Aditya says he knows it’s exam time when he sees me there as that is when I go to viku’s room. I also find this compulsive urge to switch off the light (from outside) of Sharan’s room when he is not inside and at times, when he is inside too J . I must thank the C block a lot for many a hearty laughs.

Hostel life will be incomplete without the birthday celebrations(the cake that flies around, the hugs n the bashing up, the running around...), the Cola* parties, the stolen puff of a smoke, the smuggled in buffets, the list goes on and on... :)

The clock strikes 2 AM and I decide to call it a day. I move on to the first floor cooler for some hot water. I look out to the expanse of the elephant mountains from the first floor balcony and head to my beloved E112.

*Cola drinking is injurious to health ;)

# Hostel will remind me of Phani daaru. Whenever we meet, he tells me his room number indirectly reminding me of the promise I made to him about sweets from home. And I did get him those sweets although on the very last day of stay at hostel.

Continue reading @

The Courtyard Lawn : http://praisesnbrickbats.blogspot.in/2012/05/courtyard-lawn.html

                                                                                                                                   Arun Babu.

The Study Corner: A Potpourri of Memories #10

**An ode to my Alma mater, Amrita School of Business(ASB)...The time when every day was a celebration, our college days...Here is an attempt to revisit those fond memories...

The Study Corner

          When the notice boards scream “Exam time table”, many of us find solace at the study tables in ASB first floor. The Library is too serious a place and the hostel is too comfy to study. The study corner finds the right balance. It’s easier to study here although the proximity to canteen is also a reasonJ .

            It is like this. After the exam in the morning session, we head to the hostel for an afternoon siesta. Then by around 5 o clock, we reach the study corner in ASB first floor. Being not out of the sleep-mode, we head to the canteen for a cup of tea. Sipping the tea along with a bit of surfing the net and FB – ing, we open the book by around 530.Once it is quarter to Se7en( that’s when the canteen shuts down), we again visit the canteen for some snacks. If at all we study anything, it happens only post dinner of course if we don’t get tempted to go for a night walk!

            This study corner did help us in making our professors believe that we are among the studious lot ;) .

Some exams made the study corner a fun place to be in and some other, made us want to rip our hands apart and through it at the books.

Then came our new dean, Dr.G.K and the many comforts that he ushered in. One among them was the couches which gave the much needed companionship to the study tables.

            Those couches were like recliners for us during the tiring exam days. These corners will always remind us of a few hectic yet fun filled days in ASB.

# Study corner reminds me of Anoop aka ‘Karadi’ . Believe me when I say no one in our batch takes exams more seriously. For me and vikku, it was always comforting to see someone is more stressed during exams than we were.

Continue Reading @

Home Away from Home : http://praisesnbrickbats.blogspot.in/2012/05/home-away-from-home.html

                                                                                                                                              Arun Babu

Easy hour: A Potpourri of Memories #9

**An ode to my Alma mater, Amrita School of Business(ASB)...The time when every day was a celebration, our college days...Here is an attempt to revisit those fond memories...

Easy hour         

I have always loved the ECR classes. Not only does it provide a comfortable distance between us and the professors but also due to the cosiness it gives. Be it the cushioned seats or the lighting or the awesome air-conditioning, ECR (easy hour) is a getaway for ASBians.

The first memory is when we all ‘suited up’ for some photo shoot. I think Bala sir was giving a mock class for the session. Then we had some of the colloquia conducted there and how can we ever forget the ASB talkies.

         

There were the Pragati elections and nominations, the pre placement boot camp and the late night SAPG classes with Uday sir. Then Ted-X came visiting ECR and the many conferences that followed.

The ECR sure leaves a lasting impression on the visitors, especially during Pragati. It surely contributes to the paraphernalia every B-school should have which our ASB is in dire need of.

It was during one of the Capstone classes that the Professor moved to write the marker on the board which is used only for projectors and we all let out a collective gasp which surely made his heart skip a beat J .

       

           The defining moment I will say will be the summer project presentations.

# ECR reminds me of Sub Saharan Africa, MDG and the World Bank. During the ‘Nation – Analysis’ presentations, Prita Mam asked Gilma (Arun Karthik), “How are the health indices of the country?” And Gilma explained eloquently in one word “Very Good!!”  J J .         


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The Study Corner : http://praisesnbrickbats.blogspot.com/2012/04/study-corner.html

                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                              Arun Babu.

The Pink slip : A Potpourri of Memories #8

**An ode to my Alma mater, Amrita School of Business(ASB)...The time when every day was a celebration, our college days...Here is an attempt to revisit those fond memories...

The Pink slip

            There are things that money can’t buy. One such is our Gate pass! I do not want to romanticise this as it is one thing we all despise. This grey/pink paper decided whether we should remain confined to the campus or be allowed to the world outside. But thank God! We did not have to endure as much as engineering folks did.

This is the only pink slip which the girls of our batch love to be awarded with. All of ours negotiation skills were put to test with the wardens for this piece of paper.

There have been times when we had to run up and down from the gate to GB- Once the warden forgot to sign! and then we got the dates wrong. This might be one thing we all love to bid adieu to.

#Gate pass is closely associated with Sharan. He is more of a day scholar than a hosteler. It is rumoured that the college changed the residential course policy as Sharan’s gate pass usage was affecting the hostel budget ;).

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The Easy Hour : http://praisesnbrickbats.blogspot.in/2012/04/easy-hour.html

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                              Arun Babu.

Billboards of ASB: A Potpourri of Memories #7

**An ode to my Alma mater, Amrita School of Business(ASB)...The time when every day was a celebration, our college days...Here is an attempt to revisit those fond memories...

Billboards of ASB

          The notice boards (NBs) are the billboards of ASB. Every day, we look for (or rather are ought to look for) new announcements.

The first thing was the trim 1 time table if I am not wrong. Then the various selection lists of forums and the many announcements that followed. The time when they get a lot of eyeballs is when the grades are out – the sighs of ecstasy/relief and at times, despair.

            Be it the various conferences, B-fests, assignment submissions, everything comes up here first. Another time when the Notice boards’ TRPs go up is when the elective lists come out - When we do the umpteen permutations & combinations in order to fit in both our academic and non academic interests J.

Although the group mails and the social media are posing a serious threat which might make the NBs redundant, they have their own charm.  

#  For some reason, NBs remind me of Raghubhai. May be because we come to know of all the announcements through him, at least I do :) .

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The Pink Slip : http://praisesnbrickbats.blogspot.in/2012/04/pink-slip.html

                                                                                                                      Arun Babu

The Mango Lawn: A Potpourri of Memories #6

**An ode to my Alma mater, Amrita School of Business(ASB)...The time when every day was a celebration, our college days...Here is an attempt to revisit those fond memories...

The Mango Lawn...

          This is one place which is going to be so fondly missed. The mango lawn, just outside the ASB canteen beats any roof top restaurant. After the 5 o clock classes and during the in between breaks, this is where all our happiness spills over to.

            The small talks, the fights, the celebrations, the photo sessions – you name it and the mango lawn has played host to everything.

            Many a time, we have witnessed the drama practices by engineering folks from here.               

           It is here where Nano was kept during Pragati. The numerous pics that we have taken sitting around the rock in the middle and even on it J .

          It is from here that we spotted the forest fire on the elephant mountain.

            Not quite far, the happy benches under the neem’s shade provide solace at those times when the lawn has a ‘Sub- Saharan’ weather ;) (read noon).

            Come dawn and the sodium vapour lamp comes alive and so does the lights in the faculty rooms. When the security bhaiyas are less attentive, steal a moment and lie down on the lawn. Nothing beats the view of the star – lit sky.

          The mango lawn owes its existence to the ASB canteen. The canteen will be more dear to engineering students that to us for obvious reasons :) . The only things which most of us found edible were the ice creams that came towards the fag end of the course and the famed tea!. And for me personally, the cornflakes :) .

#The mango lawn reminds me of Soumyaji. I don’t think anyone among us appreciates and enjoys food the way she does. The visual that I get when I think of the mango lawn is munni devouring a chocolate or even our canteen tea!

Continue reading @

Billboards of ASB : http://praisesnbrickbats.blogspot.in/2012/04/billboards-of-asb.html

                                                                                                                         Arun Babu

Night Walks: A Potpourri of Memories #5

**An ode to my Alma mater, Amrita School of Business(ASB)...The time when every day was a celebration, our college days...Here is an attempt to revisit those fond memories...

Night Walks

            In the University, there are some privileges that come by if you are a student of ASB. We are a class apart - or so we believe J . We are a more liberated bunch, thanks to our dear Professors. One such liberty is to be out of the GBs (Gautam/ Gargi Bhavans) till late night owing to our group projects.

            Post dinner and of course post assignments ;), we set out on a walk along the by lanes of university.

It is during these walks that we get to see up close n personal, the flora and fauna of our beautiful campus. It is then when we discovered the banyan tree near CIR, the plants on the pavement of university building which bore different flowers every other season, the well right in front of estate office, the haunting palm trees near Gargi...

We have come across rabbits, wild bores, snakes, mongooses, and some other creatures which we think are unique to Planet E!. Once we saw a huge pig crossing our path with a dozen piglets following it in a line.

            It is then that we discuss the most trivial of things and yet laugh our heads off. It is said these long walks have played a huge role in many a ASbian’s life in changing their ‘single’ status on fb J.

            We always used to walk till the university building and then take a U-turn lest the watch men get over concerned ;)

#The night walks remind me of Sreekrishnan sir. However late we returned to ASB from a night walk, we could find Sreekrishnan sir there. Guess he works on a different time zone altogether as do most of our System guys,rt sir? J

It also reminds me of the Pragati time. The promotions that we put up late night in the ASB lawn  and how Gokul anointed Deepak as the ‘creative head’ are always reason enough for a hearty laugh.  

p.s. I think the photographer should be thanked here for the beautiful pic .It is Kris Menon who took the pic :)    

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The Mango Lawn : http://praisesnbrickbats.blogspot.in/2012/04/asb-memoir-potpourri-ofmemories-6-asour.html                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

                                                                                                                               Arun Babu

In the Nick of time: A Potpourri of Memories #4

**An ode to my Alma mater, Amrita School of Business(ASB)...The time when every day was a celebration, my college days...Here is an attempt to revisit those fond memories...

In the Nick of time

          The otherwise bland walls of our CR(Class Room)s are adorned by a clock – One each in the CRs, all in different time zones. None of them ever show the same time.

            We are all thankful to these clocks for being there to stare at – a stare that speaks volumes about our impatience when a professor transgresses in to our precious little tea/lunch time. We also got in to debates with professors when there were disagreements between their watches and these clocks. Aswathi will know what I am exactly saying J.

            There were times when we made certain ‘interventions’ when the clock hands defiantly refused to move, especially during post lunch sessions. These brown circles of time calibrate our endurance to the incessant flow of knowledge. In other words, they will always remind us of the lectures, mostly interesting and some bore some.

# Many a time, our friend, Pappa couldn’t bring himself to agreement with professors on the aspect of time. Neither could these clocks.  

Continue reading at :

The Night walks : http://praisesnbrickbats.blogspot.in/2012/04/night-walks.html

                       

                                                                                                                           Arun Babu.

7 Pillars of Silence: A Potpourri of Memories #3

**An ode to my Alma mater, Amrita School of Business(ASB)...The time when every day was a celebration, our college days...Here is an attempt to revisit those fond memories...

7 Pillars of Silence

          Living up to how a 'cool' student should be, I also love to hate the library. The number of visits most of us have made to this sanctum sanctorum of silence will be countable.

The only time when the ‘Lib-mall’ gets some decent footfall is during exams. The 1ast minute/11^th hour doubt clearance sessions or worse if you forgot to take the text book for an open book exam J  is when we visit the library.

The first acquaintance with library was when a bunch of us were given a half an hour session on how to use EBSCO which made us take a walk down the  siesta-street.

Most of the time, we reach the paper stand outside the library, but then get too busy to get inside J . I must mention our librarian who has been very cooperative and helpful towards all of us.

If at all the 7 pillars were to start speaking one day, they will have a lot to tell about those among us who are ‘Just good friends’ and spend a whole lot of time in the Lib ;).

#For some reason, Mohan comes to my mind whenever I think of Library. It might be because of the fact that he is a man of few words albeit being a power house of knowledge. So is our Lib mall!

Continue reading at :

In the Nick of Time : http://praisesnbrickbats.blogspot.in/2012/04/in-nick-of-time.html 

           

                                                                                                                                              Arun Babu.