Dreams are realized :)

I do not want to lose the momentum that I have got after a long time. Also I’m not going to spend ages thinking about the topic. Actually that used to happen when I used to write selectively. But now that I have decided to write frequently, this should not be a problem. So here comes the next one. 

I want to talk about the phenomenal results that we’ve had at IMS this year. To begin with, here is the news. Neha has converted IIM-B and IIM-L. She was my student and it is so satisfying to know that one of your students has realised her dreams and got admission in one of the most prestigious and sought after B schools in India. Then there is Vidushi who has converted IIM-L and Saurav who has made it to XLRI. These two were in other batches so I don’t know them as such, but it still does feel good that we’ve had such good results. More than that, it is a reassurance that students from small towns too can make it. I never had a doubt about this; it’s for most of the aspirants here who are perpetually cynical and harbour such thoughts. So Kudos to IMS Siliguri and Kudos to Sumit!! :) 

I am reminded of something. I’ve seen the mad rush of people wanting a share of the limelight when the results are out. Everyone remotely associated with the candidate claims that he/she had a hand in contributing to the candidate’s success in one way or the other. Top on the list are the various coaching institutes that come out with data a propos their success rates, each vouching that it has had the BEST results. They were and are NUMERO UNO. Next are the neighbours and relatives who can’t stop talking about how they always knew that he/she had that spark and would definitely make a mark one day. Then friends! The list goes on... 

Now, I do not want to sound like any one of them ;) The reason why I want awareness about this is that it should help in changing the mindset of the people here – parents, teachers and aspirants alike. I always keep telling my students that it is a lot about the ATTITUDE. That’s the first thing they need to have – a POSITIVE ATTITUDE. It is, in fact, a pre-requisite. Students here, on the contrary, have various misconceptions.

• It is not possible for students from a small town like Siliguri to make it to IIMs. Forget about getting there it is not for us to think about it too
• We have never had IIM calls so far. If the previous batches have not been able to do it, then how can we? What is so special about us?
• The commerce students feel that CAT is not their cup of tea. It is a thing for the engineers only. We don’t stand a chance. The worst part here is that they are supported by their teachers. In fact I know of some colleges where the teachers tell the students that they will never be able to do it and hence drop it. How pathetic is that!

There has been a change in the last two years, no doubt. But that is just in a few students. I hope this changes. I do seriously hope that candidates realize that IIMs are within their reach but only if they have that ATTITUDE and that desperation. I hope this invigorates my current batch students and fills them with lots of positive energy :)

So dream on guys! It could just be you next year :)

Naughty Nupur - Part II

There had to be a part two for this post as I wanted to write about some more things. These are basically some memories that Nupur and I have shared. It's not possible to write down all, but just some of them are mentioned here: The first one definitely has to be my birthday cake. We had just a week ago and I had mentioned that I was really crazy about my birthday. But that year, in 2009, there happened to be a strike on 11th and I was already feeling low about it. So on 10th August around 10 pm the door bell rang. It was the delivery boy from Victoria Junction. Poor guy! He had been roaming around with that cake for more than an hour. The reason – incorrect address! Instead of mentioning Silverline Hotel, you’d given the address as opposite Tourist Lodge, which happens to be in Kurseong. How on earth was he supposed to find it? He finally did, with a lot of asking around. Now I was curious who had sent it. The first one was from Appu, and I’d pretty much guessed this one was from you. I asked the delivery boy but he did not have much to tell me. Only he gave me that paper where you’d written down the address. Do you remember what happened the next day? We’d gone to Victoria in the evening and that guy sees us there and tells me “Cake inhone ne hi order kiya tha”.

Next up are our Saturday hangouts at CCD and of course the rain that accompanied every week. Well you mentioned in your comment in the earlier post that I had missed out on the rain. No sweetie. How could I have? It’s just that I had this idea of a next post and had saved it for here. So, what days they were! And what rain too! Every Saturday we used to meet and then it used to rain, and rain heavily. Remember how we once got stuck in Cosmos for a real long time. Then finally we left. We had no umbrellas and there was no luck in getting the autos. So we were just walking. We were so totally drenched. But what fun it was! That time it was a protocol that if we met up, it had to rain. We used to so look forward to it. But seriously those were fun days. All we would do is chat chat chat, and chat nonstop, about anything and everything. It’s so different now. We are always talking about serious stuff. We should do something like those days sometime soon. What say? No serious talks, no tension – just let loose and enjoy!

There are various other things – the morning walks, the coffes, the movies, the night stays, shopping, talking and so much more. Like I said it’s been good. I don’t remember of a time when we have had a disagreement, forget about a fight. Touchwood! No, but seriously, this is commendable. Guess we just have the same wavelength and get along well. And now that I see time running out, I want to make the most of the days that you are here. We should meet often now :)

Naughty Nupur :)

A day in the first week of August 2009 it was. I was speaking to this friend of mine. My parents were out of station and I had lots of free time with nothing much to do. I was sort of bored. I happened to mention this to that friend and he immediately said that he had a friend in Siliguri, from Guwahati, who too stayed alone and did not know too many people here. He told me she was an RJ with Misty. The moment he mentioned her name, I asked him, “Naughty Nupur”? He sounded excited and enquired if I knew her or followed her show or something. No, I told him. I must have heard it on the radio sometime while switching channels. He asked me if I would like to speak to her. I said I had no issues. Normally I would not have been keen on knowing a friend’s friend. Definitely not someone I had never met. But I so readily agreed to speak to Nupur. Maybe we were destined to meet!

Ok jokes apart, we were talking about it and then I had to hang up for a while as I had to go to the kitchen. I was making pasta that day, I so vividly remember. We resumed our conversation in sometime. It was one of those ‘catching-up’ days when you’re speaking to a long lost friend after ages and so obviously have lots to talk about. At that time there was a call waiting, but even before I could check the number the line got disconnected. He asked me what number it was. Why would he be bothered, I wondered! He seemed to have read my mind and told me that it could be Nupur. What!! I was taken aback because that was real quick. He had just mentioned her some ten minutes ago. She couldn’t be calling so soon. Well, this would have been my reaction under normal circumstances. But that day I did not find anything strange about it. Maybe it was because things were happening in such quick succession or like I said earlier, it was destiny. Anyway, we checked the number and it was her. He hung up and said she would perhaps try again. She did, soon and we spoke for the first time. It was a short and nice conversation. So that was how we both were introduced, over the phone. So when did we meet next? Well that same night. Yes! Something must have really clicked between us because it was not a usual meet at a coffee shop or something. She came for a stay-over at my place. Like I mentioned earlier, it just happened so suddenly. In fact our common friend too was surprised. He said he had expected us to gel well, but not so instantly that she was staying over at my place that same night. Well the rest as they say is history.

I’ve now known her for almost two years and it’s been so much fun. Nupur is a sweetheart. She is extremely lively and absolutely fun-loving; we’ve had some crazy moments together. She is full of positive vibes and is the right person to meet when you are low. She passes on that energy to you and lifts your spirits up. She has so much of energy and can talk non-stop. Yes she speaks a lot, and why not. She gets paid to do that, so she better talk, and talk a great deal. In fact she gets so carried away when she is talking, she doesn’t realize when she gets loud. Especially, if it is a closed space, like a coffee shop, I always have to gesture her to be softer. I love the way she has a twinkle in her eyes at that time. She is someone with a pure heart, who doesn’t know any pretence whatsoever. This is what I love about her the most and this is why I can be totally myself with her. It is so just relaxing to be in her company. Today, she is my only friend in Siliguri but I’ve never really felt the need of having more friends with her around. I am so thankful that I met her. I’m saying this not because everyone says this about his/her friend. It is because I’ve realized something. It’s easy to meet thousands of people, befriend dozens and be good friends with some of them. But even out of these, it is just a few people who come into your life and make a difference. They teach you many things and you form a great bond with them. Life moves on and so might they, but then will have left an indelible mark in your life. Nupur has already left this mark :)

You will soon be going away and I am going to miss you a great deal, not because I am going to be very lonely (which I will be) but because I really love spending time with you. I cherish the moments spent with you. I’m going to miss spending time with you. In fact I think I’ve begun missing you already! I love you :)

We miss you, Nicky

I really miss Nicky, my best friend, and I'm sure my blog misses her equally. She always encouraged me to write and was more enthusiastic about it than me. I remember her calling me up very excitedly and informing me that she had found a lovely template for the blog. Yes, I never had to work on its look and style. She was more concerned about it and took great care to update it from time to time. She had that enthusiasm of a small kid who looks at every new thing with great thrill, keen to discover it and know more about it. And it was she who kept me going.

But she is now busy with her marital life and I too lost whatever little interest that I had (for various reasons). The result - my blog just looks so dry! There have been no comments for the last two blog posts. Call me a kid, but yes I used to be very excited about the comments, eagerly waiting. It is quite a paradox because very few people had the link. But this never quite bothered me, because Nicky made up for it mostly. Then of course, there were select others who mattered to me. They too were supportive in their own ways. Some expressed it via comments on the posts itself or through email and chats. Then there were the silent supporters who never said anything but I knew that every post was being read by them.

Anyway I have decided to be active and write regularly. This resolution has come many a times before but this time I am really going to stick to it. So comments or no comments, I am going to write.

Nicky was forever worried that I kept too many things to myself and never spoke about them. Thus she constantly encouraged me to write. She always desired that I use this as an outlet for expressing my thoughts, desires, frustrations, grievances, and memories – basically everything. Well so far it was more of recounting past experiences, but I now want to write about my present thoughts too. It’s not that I do not write them, but they are mostly lying in the drafts. But now, enough of hiding them in the closet!

Nicky I want you to read this and I know you will. You just have to know that I am back at it, and I am sure that no matter what, you will take out time to read it and loyally comment on every single post. Well, both my blog and I am looking forward to it.

Just Like That :)

My friend Nupur had stayed over for the night a couple of days ago and I happened to mention my blog to her. She told me she had never seen it. That came as a surprise to me because we’ve been friends (good friends that too) for almost two years now and I usually share my blog link with close pals! So I asked her if she wanted to go through it. She readily agreed.

We both started reading. I was simultaneously updating her about the various incidents that were penned down there. We were both having a good time – me, recounting and re-living those memorable incidents and she listening to them with the usual sparkle in her eyes :)

Reading some posts, especially those about Nicky and Joyeeta, took us a good half an hour, or even more perhaps. And why not? They are two people which whom I’ve had a whole lot of fun and countless treasured moments. It was then that I realized two things. Firstly, my blog is mostly in the narrative form. It is either a recount of my experiences with various people or a record of situations/events. Perhaps this is why some friends compliment me for my writing style and suggest that I should try my hands at writing a novel. Secondly, and more importantly, my blog has no mention of this very dear friend, who was sitting right beside me at that time. Maybe it is because from the time I’ve known her, I’ve not maintained my blog. Thus there is no mention of her or our friendship. But whatever be the case, it was there at that moment, that I realized that my next post had to be about her. She has been an important part of my life for quite some time now and I would love to talk about our escapades and the friendship that we share. I had begun writing about Music, something again that is very dear to me, but that has been sidelined for the time being. So Nupur, you will soon have a post dedicated to you :)