0 The Indelible Imprints

In the end, we always remember the beginning.

On 3rd June, 2014, while entering the auditorium of SCMHRD for induction ceremony, I was taken down the memory lane to the day when I had envisaged the arduous journey towards a ‘good b-school’, when I undertook the first step towards the destination, when I believed I could achieve it.

The memories of the day, when I made my first trip to Career Launcher Tambaram with a notebook and a pen in my hand, flashed through my mind .I had landed all alone in Chennai, knew nobody, lonely, not-so-confident, naive but with a dream in my eyes. As I came in, a compassionate, yet strong voice came from the chair, “Hi! Come. sit!”. That was the time when I had the first ever glimpse of the man, who I would admire for a life time. Praveen Sir. He spoke from his chair the words that left an indelible mark on my mind : “You give me commitment, hardwork, sincerity and I will give you converts.”. Since that day, I never looked back and he fulfilled his promise. I converted 4 out of 5 b-school interviews that I attended.

Ajay Zener Sir, in his inimitable way, has taught us so much about life. Labelling him as a teacher par excellence, would not be doing enough justice because his contributions went far beyond academics. We were fortunate to have lessons that necessarily can’t be measured. Thanks to Jayanth Sir for the power packed sessions during the GD-PI season. Special thanks to Santosh Karnananda for his invaluable inputs

 Access to an elite brain bank with its vault full of life time experiences, has definitely played a major role in transformation from naive kids(term coined by Natarajan) to mature individuals. After one unsuccessful attempt, it was Ajay sir, who imbibed confidence, instilled energy to stand again and not to settle for anything less than aspired for. I thank heavens for bringing me to you. Career Launcher Tamabaram has given me memories to cherish for life and a plethora of friends whose unending bonhomie has always been a positive force. I shall be grateful to you all, indeed. 

2 I too had a dream

I too had a love story, complete yet incomplete. It was love- at-first-sight. It is still fresh in my mind as if it happened yesterday and the happy memories still flash on my retina and I feel a sense of DEJA-VU. With the setting sun, amidst the freezing cold, temperature vacillating between 0 to 5 degrees Celsius and dense fog, we encountered each other for the first time in an apparel store at 06:07 pm 16^th Dec 2010 at sector 17 Chandigarh.  I stood immobile, so was ‘he’. Reflected from ‘him’, a gush of cold air touched my face and I knew being with ‘him’ meant everything to me.  ‘He’ was still looking at me from the glass window. I knew we both would look adorable together and mere imagination of pleasant future would widen my lips into a gummy smile. Every time I would visit sector 17, I would find ‘him’ there staring at me from the same glass window.

I had accepted that my dream would remain a dream. But they say,’ When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it’. My father noticed me stealing glances at ‘him’.  My overwhelming emotions said everything. In the next four days I had to leave for Infosys Mysore. So I decided not to hide. Dad asked me, “Do you like ‘him’?” I was awe-stuck for a moment. My heart was beating faster than it ever had. He held my hand and took me near ‘him’. For the first ever time, I had had such a closer look at love-of-my-life : THE OVERCOAT, the impeccable Black Leather ,super soft, zipped Calvin Klein woolen overcoat with mao-collar. I donned ‘it’ with tears and remained in ‘his’ arms for next two hours. My father had to part with a dowry of Rs7000 to make love-of-my-life lawfully mine. IT WAS MINE; MY DREAM WAS NO MORE A DREAM.

Then came the day of separation. We met for one last time on 23^rd Jan 2011. The chasm of separation has inflicted a wound, which finds no cure but REUNION J I wish to meet ‘him’ soon and this time not to depart before we enjoy each others’ company fully (read long winter season).

FINGERS CROSSED!

I have had a dream, realized yet unrealizedJ.