Once in a way life decides that you do not have enough excitement… and it throws you in the centre of a typhoon. Right now I am standing right in the midst of one…
Ok so ill start from where things usually start – the beginning silly!!! For four long years I have been trying my hand at what I think is India’s most Hyped Exam the Common Admission Tests (more popularly known as CAT). This year it actually was hyped with all the hullabaloo about the test going online. And predictions of the demise of the new online system even before it were given a chance to prove itself.
My track record began in my final year of college; I really did not know why I was giving the CAT except that I had to “further my education”. Fancy term it seemed then. So, I gave the exam without bothering too much to find out about the admissions. Obviously I bombed!!
The second time, I joined ABB at Bangalore, and I still wanted to “further my education” only this time it was just for fun. I tot I’d give ABB a try to gain some experience which counts, so I gave the CAT a light hearted try.. and surprisingly did quite well (Not well enough for the IIMs of course) but well I was kicking myself for not applying to any of the colleges. At that time experience that counts did not seem such a good Idea after all.. and the year dragged on.
I wonder if happens to all fresher, I was bored, yes too soon you may say. But two years into the job and when you are doing work which you think anyone with a basic knowledge of excel and math could do isn’t all that exciting is it? So, this time round I decided to give it my best shot! To further my education no longer seemed to be a fancy term or a light hearted trial. I dutifully did research of B schools, listed out ones I would be interested in and applied to each one of those. And I studied with respect to the exam too! Well… as fate (or whatever you call that abstract thing) would have it; this time once again I bombed not only in CAT but in all the other exams too…
Year four, I was a veteran now, a seasoned CAT writer.. I was doing pretty well at office; at least I had a better profile now! But still somewhere lurked the desire not to give up. That’s when life shrugged and dropped the next bomb.. There are only so many surprises that life can throw at you! CAT 2009 going online!! Thankfully the other B schools still considered the paper pencil test quite adequate for them. This I vowed was going to be my last shot, and hopefully my best. It’s funny you know, no matter how much one prepares; the best just does not seem good enough. All other B school results started rolling in..I was nowhere in on any list. The CAT result was the last to be declared, and of course was the most awaited. The number and types of rumors floating around made me wonder why there was a dearth of innovation in India.
The results were finally out. I was elated!!! Not bad on the border line of can be - cannot be. The uncertainty was unbearable! I even went to extent of changing my Gtalk status message as “Hanging on to the last thread of hope”. The IIMs of course were out of question. A month rolled by… I started doubting if I would make it anywhere… The Score was not good enough for MDI or IMT… So I gave up all hope.. I was kind of Shattered (that’s what my status message read).
It was a usual day at office. Not very eventful till there behold was a mail which read “Dear Divya Catherine Francis…. Congratulations! My heart leapt for Joy, Literally!!! Overjoyed, excited, thrilled, exhilarated, exalted all seem pale compared to what and where I was. Cloud 9 seemed too close to the ground..It was as if someone had just swept me off my feet and placed me on the moon. After a while the excitement did subside, and I went into a lower level of better conscience, but still am very much in the centre of a typhoon as I await my Interview. Please guys pray for me!!!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Citius Altius Fortius? No thanks
At last count, the 2008 Olympics were embraced by 11,028 athletes from 204 countries. That's about 10,900 more than the number of athletes that would be in action if all the top cricket teams of the world were engaged in battle at once. So cricket at the Olmypics? Does the IOC need us? And do we need them? Yes I've heard the quips, it would be India's best chance of a medal. That's not fair to Messrs. Bindra, Paes, Vijender, Rajyavardhan & Karnam Malleswari. But hey, cricket at the Olympics. Really?
What is so enduring about the Olympics? For every Carl Lewis, there is a Betty Cuthbert to teach us what the human body is capable of in the face of adversity. For every Jesse Owens who stood upto racism, there is a Jackie Joyner-Kersee who broke down the combined barriers of colour & sex. And there is Nadia non-pareil. How many of us can name a cricket "alpha-female?" To say that there aren't any is to be ignorant of a Diana Eduljee, reputed to be unplayable by Sunil Gavaskar, no less. It took the sister of a regular follower of the Ask Steven column on Cricinfo to remind us that while Sachin Tendulkar may have been the first man on earth to score an ODI double century, he certainly wasn't the first cricketer to do so, having been pipped to the post by Belinda Clark 13 years earlier. It is sad that the women's game is not given its due in terms of support of recognition. It is the single biggest reason why cricket does NOT deserve to be an Olympic sport.
All this talk of having T20 at the Olmypics bothers me. Who would you send to Cannes? Adoor Gopalakrishanan or David Dhawan? If at all there comes a day when cricket dresses in Olympic colours, I'd want it to wear white. When nations are competing for the highest quadrennial prize, it is the highest form of the art that ought to be on display. And yet it is not practically feasible to schedule a Test championship in a 3 week long Olympics. Heck, the ICC hasn't ever been able to squeeze in something remotely close to one. And so international cricket remains unique in crowning its world champion in all formats but the toughest one. I'd rather not have my favourite sport at the Olympics than see a T20 gold rush. We already have one of those by the way, it's called the IPL.
Cricket, along with the Telegraph & the Railways, is perhaps the most enduring Imperial legacy to survive the sunset of the empire. And that makes it one of the most prominent Commonwealth sports. So have it in the C'wealth games by all means. The experiment that failed in the KL 1998 Games deserves another chance. Delhi 2010 would have been an ideal platform, provided Sheila Dixit has the platform built in time for the Games :)
What is so enduring about the Olympics? For every Carl Lewis, there is a Betty Cuthbert to teach us what the human body is capable of in the face of adversity. For every Jesse Owens who stood upto racism, there is a Jackie Joyner-Kersee who broke down the combined barriers of colour & sex. And there is Nadia non-pareil. How many of us can name a cricket "alpha-female?" To say that there aren't any is to be ignorant of a Diana Eduljee, reputed to be unplayable by Sunil Gavaskar, no less. It took the sister of a regular follower of the Ask Steven column on Cricinfo to remind us that while Sachin Tendulkar may have been the first man on earth to score an ODI double century, he certainly wasn't the first cricketer to do so, having been pipped to the post by Belinda Clark 13 years earlier. It is sad that the women's game is not given its due in terms of support of recognition. It is the single biggest reason why cricket does NOT deserve to be an Olympic sport.
All this talk of having T20 at the Olmypics bothers me. Who would you send to Cannes? Adoor Gopalakrishanan or David Dhawan? If at all there comes a day when cricket dresses in Olympic colours, I'd want it to wear white. When nations are competing for the highest quadrennial prize, it is the highest form of the art that ought to be on display. And yet it is not practically feasible to schedule a Test championship in a 3 week long Olympics. Heck, the ICC hasn't ever been able to squeeze in something remotely close to one. And so international cricket remains unique in crowning its world champion in all formats but the toughest one. I'd rather not have my favourite sport at the Olympics than see a T20 gold rush. We already have one of those by the way, it's called the IPL.
Cricket, along with the Telegraph & the Railways, is perhaps the most enduring Imperial legacy to survive the sunset of the empire. And that makes it one of the most prominent Commonwealth sports. So have it in the C'wealth games by all means. The experiment that failed in the KL 1998 Games deserves another chance. Delhi 2010 would have been an ideal platform, provided Sheila Dixit has the platform built in time for the Games :)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
THE ROAD TO EL LH
There is laughter,
There are tears,
There are memories stored
Of many long years.
The walls stand in testimony
Of generations gone by
Of life of women
Who have taken it in their stride.
Hold the pillars close,
And hear a whispered note
Of love, of life
Of frequent anecdotes
Broken hearts , they say, heal
But bits are, left behind.
The rooms hold the echo
Of many a sob and sigh
The courtyard resounds
The festivals, the spirits high
The sound of Arts Week, of Onam, of Christmas
The sound of LH NIGHTS.
The summer brings in
Not just exams and rain,
The mango showers are eagerly awaited
By all sane and insane
The (phone) lobby has perhaps
Learnt of love and hate.
In newspapers and students tales ,
Of teachers and fellow classmates.
And so life goes on,
Its vibrant with life u see.
The life of many a woman…
“JAI BOLO LH KI…”
Life is a kaleidoscope. Looking through that kaleidoscope, I see the images of time I spent in the place called “The College of Engineering Trivandrum” and nestled in the corner is one place I cherish as my own. Well times have changed, faces have changed, ...but all the new never ever overshadow the spirit which has lived on and will live on forever…
There are tears,
There are memories stored
Of many long years.
The walls stand in testimony
Of generations gone by
Of life of women
Who have taken it in their stride.
Hold the pillars close,
And hear a whispered note
Of love, of life
Of frequent anecdotes
Broken hearts , they say, heal
But bits are, left behind.
The rooms hold the echo
Of many a sob and sigh
The courtyard resounds
The festivals, the spirits high
The sound of Arts Week, of Onam, of Christmas
The sound of LH NIGHTS.
The summer brings in
Not just exams and rain,
The mango showers are eagerly awaited
By all sane and insane
The (phone) lobby has perhaps
Learnt of love and hate.
In newspapers and students tales ,
Of teachers and fellow classmates.
And so life goes on,
Its vibrant with life u see.
The life of many a woman…
“JAI BOLO LH KI…”
Life is a kaleidoscope. Looking through that kaleidoscope, I see the images of time I spent in the place called “The College of Engineering Trivandrum” and nestled in the corner is one place I cherish as my own. Well times have changed, faces have changed, ...but all the new never ever overshadow the spirit which has lived on and will live on forever…
Monday, March 1, 2010
Ek hockey diya patke
At half past six, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, the intersection of Hurontario & Burnhamthorpe came alive. In a country where one could be forgiven for thinking cars didn’t have horns, the cold winter air was suddenly rent with a cacophony of honks. A spirited bunch of college kids was going berserk, brandishing hockey sticks & yelling at the top of their voices. Throw in a couple of cycle chains & this could have been a scene straight out of a Captain movie. And then I saw the flags.
It’s been 8 months since I immigrated to Canada & for some reason, I haven’t really allowed myself to assimilate. I still pronounce the second t in Toronto, I don’t go “eh”, I hate Molson & I can’t sing the national anthem beyond the first 2 words. I’m also guilty of the most heinous Canadian crime – Wayne Gretzky? No idea! But when Sidney Crosby slipped in a five-hole past Ryan Miller of the US, I celebrated a seminal Olympic gold with the entire country. I hadn’t watched a single minute of the game, preferring to catch up on the highlights of Tendulkar’s 200 on Youtube instead. But as footage of the sensational extra-time goal was played on television over and over again, it was almost impossible to remain immune to the euphoria. This country has given me a dizzying lake-side view from the top of the CN tower, rising half a kilometre into the sky, and a surreally primal experience at the Niagara horseshoe. And yet, Canada turned just a little more beautiful as she broke into a million impromptu street hockey games, with cans serving as pucks, and little kids handed out flags to the said honking drivers.
Coming against the US as it did, made it sweeter than maple syrup. The big debate over how to judge the better performer at Vancouver – a greater medal count (US 37 to Canada’s 26) or a higher gold tally (Canada’s 14 to America’s 9) – didn’t matter anymore (a debate which according to my mother wasn’t unlike the legendary Senthil-Goundamani 7th pass-10th fail argument). If the highest ever gold medal haul in the history of the Winter Olympics didn’t tip the scales north of the border, the dramatic victory in the Games’ showpiece event surely clinched it. Another loss-of-face defeat for the States following their ground-breaking earth-shattering (for Cricinfo junkies) T20 loss to Afghanistan. Well, at least an American team won the Super Bowl! And with enough Canadians in the side, one of them might even win the Stanley Cup
Now if only the Toronto Maple Leafs could be persuaded out of the bottom throes of the league. Sigh!
It’s been 8 months since I immigrated to Canada & for some reason, I haven’t really allowed myself to assimilate. I still pronounce the second t in Toronto, I don’t go “eh”, I hate Molson & I can’t sing the national anthem beyond the first 2 words. I’m also guilty of the most heinous Canadian crime – Wayne Gretzky? No idea! But when Sidney Crosby slipped in a five-hole past Ryan Miller of the US, I celebrated a seminal Olympic gold with the entire country. I hadn’t watched a single minute of the game, preferring to catch up on the highlights of Tendulkar’s 200 on Youtube instead. But as footage of the sensational extra-time goal was played on television over and over again, it was almost impossible to remain immune to the euphoria. This country has given me a dizzying lake-side view from the top of the CN tower, rising half a kilometre into the sky, and a surreally primal experience at the Niagara horseshoe. And yet, Canada turned just a little more beautiful as she broke into a million impromptu street hockey games, with cans serving as pucks, and little kids handed out flags to the said honking drivers.
Coming against the US as it did, made it sweeter than maple syrup. The big debate over how to judge the better performer at Vancouver – a greater medal count (US 37 to Canada’s 26) or a higher gold tally (Canada’s 14 to America’s 9) – didn’t matter anymore (a debate which according to my mother wasn’t unlike the legendary Senthil-Goundamani 7th pass-10th fail argument). If the highest ever gold medal haul in the history of the Winter Olympics didn’t tip the scales north of the border, the dramatic victory in the Games’ showpiece event surely clinched it. Another loss-of-face defeat for the States following their ground-breaking earth-shattering (for Cricinfo junkies) T20 loss to Afghanistan. Well, at least an American team won the Super Bowl! And with enough Canadians in the side, one of them might even win the Stanley Cup
Now if only the Toronto Maple Leafs could be persuaded out of the bottom throes of the league. Sigh!
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