Day 702 - Rocket

When the rocket goes up, it leaves a big impact on the cities around. No different was our stranded ship in the desert. When the clocked ticket 9.50 am, took permission from Suresh sir to go see the rocket. Not very far off, I could make out the small beast leaving a sky full of smoke trail. The magnitude of the of the smoke was much larger than the rocket itself. There was blasting thunder from the Sky. The buildings were ralling due to the vibrations. People were all running here and there to see the rocket. It was a marvel, everyone wanted to see. A sense of unanimity. The rocket.

The Rocket

Day 703 - Sell a product even when you are not sold

We were supposed to choose a product or service and market it. Of all the simple products we could've chosen, we chose Medical Tourism. The most complicated of all. A new industry with super complex data in the internet. There were thoughts questioning the integrity of the product. There were thoughts on the product's reliability for our project. People were losing interest off the product. There were even some plans to request sir to change it.

And we were not alone. This was the case with all the groups that were doing the marketing assignment. Even after the class was over, we saw many groups of students sitting, burning google, trying to find relevant data. There were discussions of requesting Sir to change the product going on everywhere! I was glad that we were not the only ones.

The project taking them to the floors

Day 704 - Ultimate

When digging up my room, I found a Pink Frisbee that somehow landed in my bag. It seemed a great idea. With the whole day raining, it was time to play Frisbee. Couldnt believe it would be such an awesome game! Real fun

small disc, big fun

Came back to room and found that there is a game called ultimate which is pretty similar to soft ball but played with a Frisbee! seemed pretty exciting.

Day705 - We want food and we want it now!

It was time to decide the menu. 80 people shouting here and there with their opinions on Quantity, Quality, taste, choice, punctuality and what not. It was a ruckus but in the end Satya Saran did a nice job listening to everyone. And the menu by the SWC was good too. Hopefully the caterer accepts it and puts it into action right away!

Paneer

 

Day 706 - May the ship shine more than its worth

Me and my camera. This day was dedicated to it. Camera, clicks and more clicks. I was getting perfect lighting in the evening and it seemed the ship was shining with glory. My photos made it a tad more beautiful place to live in.

My College

Day 707 - Learning cannot be erased. Or can it?

The ship gives you immense knowledge about the real world. It makes you a smarter person overall. It gives you immense amount of learning which is engraved in our brains. It is deep routed like the layers of ideas they show in inception. A sailor must know the weather. A financier must know his economics. So was the case in Prof Lahiri's class when he was teaching economics. The profound learning that he was giving was explained  by the board which refused to let the notes be erased!

The knowledge that is engraved

Day 708 - Ask me how to screw it up

It was a day of all screw ups. Maybe the tides had changed direction causing unrest. My lower back had some nagging pain all throughout. It started off with Organizational behavior class when I said I will take the presentation and didnt even ask anyone else. There was Divya, who came to present with me but I never let her say anything. I was even late for lunch where I met Tom. He had to miss the classes because of a fever, cough and cold. Did'nt even ask him how he was or went to check on him. Then after the marketing class, it was Sruthi who asked me to increase the temperature. Guess what I told her, to get out of the class! Then me and Padmaja were having a discussion about a marketing product that was part of our project. When someone notified me that she and I were tamilians, I instantly replied with a 'So?' that was a bit too loud for people around. And during the microeconomics quiz, which was the easiest quiz in the history, with just two questions and both straight off from the book, I made a mistake. Yes, I made the mistake and it was the result of my overconfidence, ignorance and what not! Moreover, even shooed out Dipesh who came to my room with all schmuck on his shoes. Hope the sun sets away and everything of this mood is forgotten soon!

Day 709 - Level

We had to scout the locations for our Volleyball courts, basketball courts and a Football field. That is whel I was the mean machine. The machine which can create and destroy the desert. The JCB! The shiva. The creator. The destroyer

Shiva

Day 710 - Small paths lead to big fun!

It was time for adventure and exploration. Sandeep gave me some route advice on a Aroor Sathyavedu loop. It was just plain amazing. Though 50 kms in 2.5 hours is slow, but it was well worth the venture in the desert. Getting lost in the middle jungle just added the fun quotient. The route also covered some parts of Tamil Nadu which is interesting to see are fertile lands with greenery all around. Most part of the roads were brilliant but not flat and a rough patches here and there. The classes at 11 made me come back in a hurry and I had a presentation today. It was about Monkey D luffy, my fictional hero. After classes, met with the charismatic Satya Saran for the sports committee meeting. As usual, he never ceases to amaze me. We give him 1 idea and he gives us 10 more to think about. He even mentioned sports like Golf and Long Tennis. Always so interesting to discuss things with him!

The Loop

Eucalyptus cover all around

Good weather in the morning

Even palm trees

Tamil Nadu Border

Day 711 - We persuade and we win!

It was time for our Group presentations. It was Nitish, Bhavan, Mallika, Aveek, Prateek and me. We were practising and practising all throughout the night and we made the video from '12 Angry men' just in time. Another interesting event in the day was Prof Somdeb telling me to explain a concept to class. That is something I am definately not looking forward to! Anyways, the presentation started off well and I was confident as usual. There were no hiccups and everyone of us did really well. My Idea of talking about IFMR campus shift to sricity was one of the things Lalitha Maam appreciated. I was on cloud 9 when she told me my part of Follower was really well done. She is one of the best teachers I have ever seen. A charismatic person who is, according to me, the best communicator in the PLANET! Getting a compliment from her was an achievement!

The staff examples

Day 712 - 300 aboard, time to rock!

All of the seniors were here and it was jam packed. The climate became nice and the food, amazing. There was committee selection all throughout the day and I was selected as a representative for IFMR B-sportive Sports committee. After all the people were chosen, it came down to Freshers party where there were some drama, skids, songs, dance and the likes going on. It was a fun filled night but cut short due to a presentation which was due for us tomorrow!

Praveen doing a pole dance assuming Bhavan to be a Pole!

Day 713 - So where do you belong?

It was jam packed. the ship was was loaded and boarded. The batch numbered 14 were here to sell their committees. there were presentations, there was fun and lot of IFMR culture all around. I was surprised that one of the seniors, Ankur, even knew my name! Loads of information was exchanged. Nice to see them here. Also got to meet Gireesh, who was 4 pointer and got 2.5 lakhs scholarship! Amaiiizing!

Ankur presenting Arthasabha, the Finance committee of IFMR

Day 714 - We are used to Torture, not bliss

When you are used to constant torture and you build up your endurance to such high levels, then even a few moments of bliss is enough to distract you. It was the climate again. The desert was not a desert anymore and sun was no where to be seen in the morning. It made me do 5 laps around. Even the classes were bright and interesting. Instead of studying, we preferred to have a photo session in the evening. But with rain, comes a deadly sun the next day.

Intense rain in adjacent parts

Day 715 - When the load overtakes the work

IFMR, one of the most prestigious B schools in India. Extensively known for its Finance and research. You do not expect such a college to go easy on you. After finishing my QABD presentation on Monday, which was surprisingly a success, now I face QABD assignment, WAC case study, MAC Group presentation, MAC individual presentation, role plays, surveys and Marketing plan presentation in my hands now. Multi-tasking is just not quite enough. Have to cut down on the 'waste' of time like everything apart from the above. I've not come here expecting anything less anyways.

Some nice views

Our Hostel

Day 716 - The stories of the ancient

The desert had some archaeological ruins from the past. It was a Temple built for the God Vishnu. But the god and the temple was long forgotten and given away to human greeds. There is no idol in the temple, and there is vegetation growth all over this 15th century masterpiece. It is amazing to see that such a structure still stands tall after around 550 years of earth.

The ancient temple at sricity

Day 717 - Rocket Ride

Sriharikota - India's Rocket launch site was around 50 kms away from Sricity. It made a nice menu on Sunday's exploratory Ride. Glad to be joined by Sandeep as well.

Day 718 - The secrets of the desert

And then those are the days when there are many things to do and you end up doing nothing. The deserts have many faces to it and often wanderers run into an Oasis every now and then.

The place I discovered in Sricity

Day719-And so the journey begins

The begining

With the first week of studies in IFMR, it was anything but a smooth ride. Each step on the way makes you question more and more. Is this the right step forward. Was I better off drinking Tea and Coffee and online shopping in Cognizant.After all these years of black and white in science and technology is economics the stream which holds the answers. I found economics to be a weird subject. we have almost close to n assumptions and we are not sure of anything. Its all based on how the human brain is supposed to react. Almost on all grounds it breaks the laws of Science but thats the way it is. Maybe the world is not a mathematical equation after all. Maybe there is quite some hope in the vessel thats fallen from the skies in this desert. Only time holds the answers to all this. Hopefully its not too late.

Day720-Oneness

Today was about Oneness. The island of Oasis that looked majestic and big from far off, was waiting to be inhabited. After looking at the majestic structure, there are many un-answered and mysterious questions that run through the mind. It is a temple of Oneness, which means it is irrespective of religion. But then why is it called Kalki temple who is an Hindu god. Speaking of Kalki, kalki is regarded as the destroyer of earth who is yet to present himself on earth. Hindu mythology does not encourage preaching Kalki. Yet there is a huge temple for him. This temple stands tall in the middle of the desert giving hope and reassurance to travellers. But there are hardly any travellers in the middle of nowhere. Even more quizzling is there is not a single soul in the Temple. Not a human, animal or any bird. Its completely barren and new. Google tells me it is the temple having the largest pillarless meditation hall in the world. It is common sense to wonder why it is kept a secret. The attitude of the local people makes it even more mysterious. Some deny any such temple, some point directions elsewhere, some say its a normal temple, some advise not to go there. There was definitely some air of uneasiness when I ventured there. The guard didnt allow me inside but assured me an entry on Sunday morning 6 am unofficially. I am not going to this spooky place ever! After a few photos, quickly sailed back to the ship and got ready to learn.

The first view of the Temple of Oneness

The path towards the Entrance

A zippy 28 kms ride to the Temple and back

The majestic temple standing tall

The prominent Gate

The mysterious and deserted pathway

Day721 -Akkampeta

And finally my exploration started. With courage fully piled up and the camel ready and raring to go I was prepared to venture out into the Desert. Thankfully was out of sleep in the early hours of Dusk and assembled my bike. In no time, I was out riding along the vast plains of Sricity. Now a desert has a lot of sandstorms. Pedaling in such intense winds was a joke. As I pushed and pushed, the winds did not show any mercy and were very strong. I could barely manage upto Akkampeta, a small town near Sullurpeta which was the original destination and returned as Sun had fully come out. On my way back, I saw the Brahma/ Kalki temple which was completely white and in the foothills of Nagalapuram range. It was the Oasis I plan to head tomorrow.

The white Temple, my destination tomorrow

With around 30 Kms of cycling in morning, the classes with air conditioning was a good place to sleep. But a sailor has to sail when he is back on board. So it was the President, who continued teaching us with his notes on MS Word about Written communication, then came Prof Suresh, who was all fresh and happy to be teaching us. His innovative methods were funny and interesting and got to learn many new things. One of the catchy phrases, "In God we trust, others must bring data." and some contradicting ones like, "There are 3 kinds of lies, Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics". It was evident he was quite knowledgeable and has tons of information to give out. The final one was Microeconomics from Prof Lahiri. This time I am on the verge of giving up hope as even when I read the complete book, still his classes seem gibberish to me. Maybe its his continuous sleepy tone of lecturing that puts me off. Hopefully, we can figure out how to learn there as time goes by.

Day722-Ping Pon

The days started becoming Mundane. The math professor went on line by line from the book. He even finished 3 chapters in a session. Probably going faster than any other teachers at the moment. Prof Raghu Raman made the otherwise boring topic really interesting by starting off with a case study. It dealt with the two phenomenons of any organization, the productivity oriented manager and the process oriented HR. And post lunch it was Prof Venkatesh completing the rest of Marketing principles from the previous lecture. And soon our classes were over by 3 pm. So yeah,  nothing interesting today and went back to the hostel thinking what to do.

Well apparently there is a Table tennis table in our hostel and it is absolutely free. Immedaite to grab the opportunity, went and played there for almost 3 hours. Started off with Nitin and Tom, then came Ankit, then Sriram, then Vaibhav, then Sparsh and so on. tired and drowsy, I ended my day

Time for Table Tennis!

Day723-There is a Sunny day at sea and Rain in the Desert

So not all days do we get to be soaked up in sweat and dehydrated due to heat. The hope is not lost at all. With the clear and pleasant weather, there was an awesome view of the mountains as well.

There is nothing in life I love more than mountains!

In the evening, it rained even! Everyone was so happy and fresh. It seemed after one week of roasting, we finally got some air to breathe. the winds were electrifying cold. there was chill breeze coming in through the windows. The mud was wet and there was petrichor all around. The grass seemed green. The locals were enjoying getting drenched. Even people not so fond of rain (me) were happy to have been rescued. The desert has many surprises in store for us. To each day of its own.

Day724-Back on the Saddle

Sunday was dedicated to my cycles. So I rode one of them from Chennai to IFMR from 5 am to 8 am in the morning without any breaks. Reached just before the heat wave. And then, went back to Chennai by bus, and got another one of my cycles from 3pm to 7 pm just before the darkness. There was a huge traffic jam at the Andhra border because of the Andhra CM swearing in. Thankfully I was on my Cycle and can squeeze through the gaps. Met a few of the hostel people too on the way and they kept on with the usual cycling related questions.

The First trip in the morning

The Empty highways in Andhra

Cloudy Sunset

My second Bike

Eenadu Pradesh

Scenic views all along the road