The Circus is in town!

So ends our five-yearly circus of democracy. Today, we will get to see which bunch of clowns will wear the high hat and which bunch gets to sit moaning about how it would have fit them better. To be frank, there's no sense blaming the clowns for their antics; we, the supposed ringmasters of this circus, have abdicated our posts, so who's to stop the jesters from running amock?

Initiatives like Jaago Re seem to have been like the proverbial hot air balloon, running of steam at the very moment it's needed the most. People registered themselves, got all furious and excited about exercising their franchise, but when it mattered, very few bothered to turn up. In a city that was afflicted by a terrible terrorist attack, whose sole surviving culprit is now facing justice, that the turnout was below 45% is not just shameful; it's downright hypocritical. These very same people came out in hordes after 26/11 and said that enough was enough; they cursed and berated the political class for 'their' apathy towards Mumbai. I wonder who will remind them that those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones at others' dwellings. Celebrities who exhorted people to go out and vote simply didn't bother to turn up; serious credibility check required, if you ask me!

Disilllusionment is something we would rather live with than do something about it. People who didn't go out to vote in Mumbai attribute their lethargy to the fact that the Election Commission very unwisely kept the voting date in Mumbai on the eve of a long weekend. SO WHAT? You could have spent 5-10 minutes standing in a queue, exercised your franchise, and then gone to whichever hill-station or holiday spot you went! 

In recent times, the ideological differences between almost every party in the fray have diminished to nothing, except for maybe a few so-called purists like the Communists. Basically, where Mammon directs, there shall his slaves proceed. It's rather uncomplimentary, but what the heck, I am not standing for the post of Prime Minister; not that I would do any worse than any of the cuckoos who are offering themselves for the opportunity! Is anyone listening?

P.S. at last view, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance seems to be leading by quite a good number and could be headed for a simple majority on their own. So, Doctorsaab will get one more chance to make a difference.

Quo vadis - To Williamsburg!

So finally ends the MBA campaign at the gates of The College of William & Mary's Mason School of Business. The day has been absolute poetry so far; when I opened my mail today morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find the Admissions Coordinator's mail (ok, that was an exaggeration; I was waiting for it for the last one week with the eagerness of a father-to-be outside the OT waiting for his child to come forth). 

The Mason School of Business and for that matter the College of William & Mary has a most splendid website, which really gave me all the info I needed to prepare my application as also to fill me with the conviction to want to be there. Maybe all B-schools are equally good, but then that's my personal opinion that a good B-School website should have all the info right there and easily accessible; it makes the student's life easier and lessens the correspondence to answer simple FAQs.

The College also has been really nice to keep on contacting me once in a while, just to give me a heads-up on where my application lay. It even appointed a senior student to guide me through understanding what life at William & Mary is all about, which goes to say volumes about how much they valued my decision to apply to them, and how they wanted me to have the most accurate picture of things.

On informing the Home Office of the good news, well the riverine tales began. Never get it why moms must cry, but heck, maybe moms feel that mera beta bada ho gaya, notwithstanding the fact that the 'beta' is a 24 year old bloke.

On telling everyone in the Foreign Office (the Home Office is les parents et le frère), the usual demands for treats and celebrations were raised and deftly deflected, but of course, merely pushed forward to a more opportune time (may that day never dawn :P). I should be scheduled to put in the papers once the Visa's stamped and delivered (fingers crossed about that); a lot's still to happen - must send check to college, get I20 from them, submit visa application....damn, learn cooking, get new clothes (:P)...so much to do, and so damn little time.

The happiness was a bit tempered by the fact that one's best friend was still without an admit, and was in the dumps, feeling all low and negative. It's so damn hard to console someone when you are seen to have what they want; it almost seems as if you are teasing them. Thankfully as the day ended, matters were more cheerful as the friend also received an interview call, making things look more positive and possible.

I have been browsing through countless sites trying to find out more about Williamsburg; the weather, the possibilities in terms of accomodation, financial aid, etc. I even started walking the streets, courtesy Google Maps :P. All in all, a great day! 

• The Mason School of Business
• Google Maps

Quo vadis.....?

Last year, around this time, with my GMAT score in, an MBA didn't seem that difficult a goal to achieve. But then a week is a long time, and a year even more so, and what a year it has been! Of the 11 colleges I have applied to, all save 3 have sent in their polite regrets. Each passing day fills one with despondency; the realization that it's now or never doesn't make things any easier to bear.

So time for a post-mortem; actually it's premature since I still have two more colleges whose replies are yet to come in, one which has invited me for an interview, and I have still one more application to submit. But I still feel it would be worthwhile to do a PM while one is at it.

The PM would start and end with just one sentence: One did not prepare as well as one should have

A favourite grouse of the parents, and quite justified in my case. Frankly I must admit that my whole approach to the affair was a tad frivolous. Deadlines are meant to be respected, but surely one could have written one's essays earlier than the day before the deadline. One's research about the college one was applying to was zilch in most cases, and by the time one realized that over three quarters of one's applications had been rejected. 

Essays could have been submitted for more detailed scrutiny by experts and peers; one always feels one writes well, but then one wasn't writing about the Napoleonic Wars or the Tokugawa Shogunate or the effect of Radium on a photographic plate; one was writing about oneself, perhaps the most difficult of tasks ever devised.

I could always hide behind the excuse that the recession and the resultant upheavals in the professional world are resulting in a steep hike in the applications being received by MBA schools this year. Sure, that may be true and my applications' being rejected may have some connection with that fact, but does that mean I am completely exonerated? Perhaps not; what my competitors may have brought to the table was work experience, a uniqueness of exposure, but surely there must have been something even more unique I could have stated, had I chosen to look within? 

So the point is, the entire campaign has been a disaster, with a few triumphs thrown in between, so far; whether it eventually achieves the status of a fiasco is for time to tell.

Tribute to 'Ordinary' Miracles....

On International Women's Day, I could think of nothing better and no words more true than the words of this song. Here's a toast to the miraculous, to the charming, to the ever understanding and ever loving 'ordinary' miracles in our lives - women! Happy WOMEN'S DAY!

It's not that usual when everything is beautiful

It's just another ordinary miracle today

The sky knows when its time to snow 

You don't need to teach a seed to grow 

It's just another ordinary miracle today

Life is like a gift they say

Wrapped up for you everyday 

Open up and find a way 

To give some of your own 

Isn't it remarkable? 

Like every time a raindrop falls 

It's just another ordinary miracle today

Birds in winter have their fling

And always make it home by spring 

It's just another ordinary miracle today

When you wake up everyday 

Please don't throw your dreams away 

Hold them close to your heart 

Cause we are all a part 

Of the ordinary miracle

Ordinary miracle

Do you want to see a miracle?

It seems so exceptional 

That things just work out after all 

It's just another ordinary miracle today

The sun comes up and shines so bright 

It disappears again at night 

It's just another ordinary miracle today

It's just another ordinary miracle today

- Ordinary Day, Sarah McLachlan, Charlotte's Web OST.

P.S. Somu, this one's dedicated to Angel's memory....to the miracle of love that she brought into your life.

My best friends' engagement....

Today two of my dearest friends got engaged, and that to each other :) , making the occasion even more special. Those who had seen them first bump into each other 6 years ago knew that something special was going to happen, something lovely was going to come from this meeting, and it feels so great to be vindicated all these years later.

I guess that love is like a fine vintage; the sweetness of the grape, when slowly aged and matured, gives off the beautiful taste of the wine, just as the stroke of lightning one experiences at first sight, with the passage of time, becomes the deep and everlasting affections that one feels for that special someone. Some vintages take a long time to reach their finest point, some mature very quickly, and some never come to fruition at all; but the name of the game is to keep on trying to make that perfect brew, for one's own sake and for the sake of living life as it should be lived.

Seeing two dear friends come together in a bond of hearts, not out of compulsion, but out of a simple desire to love and cherish, fills one with emotions that cannot be described in all the words in the English or any language for that matter. To see the joy on their faces leaves one simply overjoyed for having had the opportunity to bask in the sunshine of their happiness.

Love coming to fruition gives a special glow to the faces of both partners; it's as if the sun shines through their eyes, through their very person. For one moment, you forget your problems, and just lie silently in their warmth, in the cheer that their smiles spread, and somehow everything seems all right, like the Biblical Garden of Eden. One could go on rambling, but such occasions are best understood when personally experienced.

Here's wishing them both a very happy life together! May it be filled with bliss, contentment, and felicity in every walk of life! May all the blessings that the world may have to offer be theirs by right and as is owed to them!

Raju and Nami, this one's for you! 

Morality and us.....

The Delhi High Court's judgement on the case of the 'obscene' kiss (makes it sound like a Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes novel....) is a bold way of taking the mickey of all these xenophobic and patently narrow-minded monkeys living in God knows which century and which country.

That a married couple should be arrested and subjected to such mental trauma over a period of nearly six months for a simple kiss or even for overtly displaying their mutual affections puzzles me. Don't the police have better things to do than watch out for couples kissing or holding each others' hands in parks and public places? Whatever happened to the good old days when the police had actual criminals to apprehend and punish? Surely not everyone of the delinquents is in jail? Or have all of them reformed, trembling in their pants at the 'machismo' of the Indian police who will arrest a couple over a mere kiss? I can't even think what they will do to someone who perpetrates a murder!

Morality is a highly subjective and personal issue, especially more so in a country like India where cultural influences and beliefs differ in every locality. What may seem unacceptable to one section of the populace may be perfectly normal to another; so how do our lawmakers decide what is best for the entire society? A good option would be to leave the morals to the people themselves; if they are mature enough to decide who's good enough to represent them in legislative bodies, surely they ought to have the sense to decide what is moral and what is immoral in their lives.

But no, we have these self-appointed guardians of morality, of a Indian culture that frowns upon kissing, holding hands and drinking in pubs. Bravo! So may we presume that the titans of Bollywood would now be expected to scale down on all the modernism that they are wont to show, because even if it's the reality in our society, it simply isn't 'right'? No more singing and dancing, eh? What next, the purdah? Dressing and grooming regulations for males? Shouldn't the pant be deplored as a foreign garment, meant to enslave poor Indian males into a sense of bondage, as opposed to the grand dhoti which is the very essence of liberty and freedom?

In conclusion, I am reminded of George Bernard Shaw, who very succintly put it, "When you prevent me from doing anything I want to do, that is persecution; but when I prevent you from doing anything you want to do, that law, order and morals." The Sri Ram Sena and all their brethren should bear this in mind.