Akhil Sir

Back to my college life...
I seriously need to document my cllege life for one simple reason. I hate my college.
Well, hate is such a big word so lets change it to dislike.
Frankly, even though the dislike might soon change to hatred and the first few lines will become obsolete, sometimes something happens which actually makes me believe
that my perspective might actually change.
Meeting Akhil Sir was one such event.
There's a student organisation in our college called ISTE. I won't bother with the
full form. Anyways, in my freshman year, I was bored to death by the sheer inactivity
of the students. For starters, there were no events. If there were events, there would
be no participants.
Life was dull and consisted solely of assignments copied from my friends.
In second year, I decided that I would stand up against the sheer monotony, even bunking classes was boring, to say the least.
One fine day, I saw a notice for an ISTE meeting. The agenda of the meeting was
forming an Organizing Committee for an upcoming event. "Yeah, right", I thought "As if
anyone actually attends one of those." But then, what the heck, I thought it would be
better than wasting my time bunking classes.
There were hardly 15-16 students who turned up for the meeting. That's when I first met Akhil. He happened to be the President of ISTE. The meeting began with his introductory speech.

He is an orator beyond compare. Akhil's words were so well brought out that I finally began to believe that, 'yes. there is life in this college'. He has this amazing knack of of marketing, if there is a person who can sell a fridge to an eskimo, its can only be Akhil.
Needless to say, I was so impressed that I volunteered for the Organising Committee.

I had taken part in quite a few events but organising was something new to me. Akhil Sir was an excellent guide. It seemed that every problem we faced had already been thought of by him. He had the solutions for every emergency that cropped up in the event. An excellent manager, both of material and human resources, he helped me
understand the value of properly channeling the resources for best results.
During the planning phase, Akhil had declared himself dictator. We were supposed to consult him before making any changes to the original plan. This helped us a lot as all of our ideas got the necessary feedback.
Till the last day, Akhil Sir was always there for guiding us.

I believe i owe him a lot. Its a regret that he passed out of the college this year.
Seriously, I could do with a mentor like him.
His friendly nature, that professional approach, time management, resource utilisation,
oratory skills....I could go on about him. Even though we worked together for only 2 weeks, I've learned a lot from him.
Akhil Sir, wherever you are, my best wishes shall remain with you always.

PS. Did I mention what a success the event had been? Its been one of the best organised
that I've seen. Completely by the students and for the students. Thank you Akhil Sir!

Taj Mahal...a load off my back

Well, today's the 26th of July and Taj has been crowned first among the
new seven wonders of the world.

On 7th July, India witnessed another one of its cases of mass hysteria as every
news channel was focused at a location thousand of miles away. Lisbon, the scenic
capital of Portugal, was chosen as the place to announce the 7 New Wonders of the world.
The campaign had seen a lot of enthusiasm from India...the reason being that a
publicity stunt organised by a private travel and tourism company was turned into an
issue of nationalism and patriotism. Cell phone companies, websites, newspapers,
television channels were doing their bit to ensure that winning the top honours for Taj became a public sentiment.

Cell cos made a lot of money through unsuspecting subscribers who phoned a "Premium"
number for voting for Taj Mahal, even 4-5 times so that the "Indian Marvel of Marble"
got the worldwide attention it deserved.

If you are among one of those who actually voted, well...its been 18 days since the
results were announced. And..........nothing.
Taj Mahal became one of the seven new wonders, but the news was forgotten within 24 hours thanks to a "United" player and a Bollywood heartthrob. Christiano Ronaldo and Bipasha Basu, if you didn't understand the hint.
Nobody remembers how an entire nation united in a fight...
not against corruption....
Not against poverty....
Not against casteism....
Not against greed....
Not against religious hatred....
but...
Just for an event organised by a private company that didn't even have any authority
on the issue.
But then, that's India for you!
Jai Hind

Here We Go

Hi, I'm Anurag and this is my blog....

So much for an introduction. As a matter of fact, although I am quite fluent
in English, there is still a major flaw in me.
I'm an avid..no..voracious..reader. A sucker for fiction novels, I've read many
great classics. But when it comes down to writing some...its a different story.

I simply love Orkut (the site, if you please). It has brought back so many friends
I never thought I would meet again. There's a friend I lost when I was in class III. Another is now settled in Canada. One brainy guy has moved to Delhi. And so on...
But atleast I'm still in touch with them. A big thanks to Orkut!!

The reason I'm writing this blog is because I happen to be quite an introvert guy.
"Yeah, Right!", my friends chuckle. But looking back at the time we spent together
I realized that maybe I should have opened up a bit more. I probably lost the love of
my life because I was too shy to tell her then. And now she's gone forever. I don't
want to repeat the mistake, I don't want to lose any more friends for the sole reason that I keep myself walled up.

So, here's the story of my life. My perspective on the things that really matter...to me
atleast.