Duniya Oot Patangaaa

Chapter 17: Back on my feet. And letting the world know.

2011-04-25T20:50:00.002+05:30

"Yaar ek baat batao.."

"Poocho" said my friend at the other end of the line.

"LBO ke baare mein kya bata sakte ho?"

Stunned silence.

"ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!"

After the laughter subsided, my friend said.."Dude agar zamane ko pata chal gaya na ki tum finance ki baatein kar rahe ho, then pata nahin kitne log depression mein chale jaaenge!! Utkarsh Joshi doing smthing in finance...you know..I banking types!! unblvbl! haha!"
"I know man! Tell me abt it. But it has been a fascinating month so far. I have been basically doing some work around capital raising, market entry, business analysis and all. Been revisiting some fundamentals, working on something new everyday and not only making presentations. In fact the one presentation I made was really not up to the mark! Had to rework it multiple times and I thought I was good at that!! Had to unlearn that as well!! hehe So much to learn! Kya, kiya kyaa maine ISB mein! hehe"

"Oh cmon. So much we did in ISB. We slept, we partied, attended lectures and talks, hung out at the cafe, spent time at the rec centre, walked around the campus..AND..we studied as well boss. Thoda zor lagao dimaag pe!"

"haha! Yeah yeah now that you remind me! But its something else now for sure! Real world! Anyways, LBO ke baare mein bataoge kuch ki nahin??"

"No man. I wont. Then you will tell everyone that I don't know anything about it as well!! haha"

Still smiling and shaking my head, I walked back to my work desk. It had been a month since I had started working with by friends ex boss, now my boss, and the amount of stuff that I was getting to do and learn was just unbelievable. And this was real world. As real world as it got. No templates. Very few reference points. New industries, old concepts, new concepts, practical application, feverish pace of work, multiple threads of work, you name it, I was doing it. We were a three member team, my boss, me and a secretary. Having worked in big firms, with huge offices and a zillion people on the rolls, this was different indeed. Like a friend said, this was not uncharted territory. This was no territory at all!!

Once the work was done for the day, I headed home and prepared for the English classes - which I had shifted out to the weekends. Yes. They were going on as well. My life was turning out to be quite the circus all of a sudden. Like they say...I had attained the work life balance. Going from no work to no life!

And to be very honest, it was I who was pushing the limits myself. It started out as lack of judgement on my part. Most of my conversations on deadlines went as follows:

Boss: So by when do you think all of this will be done. Will be great if we can see this in a couple of days.
Me: Yeah couple of days should be good. I will start work on this asap.
(Me thinking: 2 days? Dude this is for sure 4 days. Unless you work like 32 hours in 2 days)
Boss: Couple of days? Sure? Well that will be great coz then we can start looking at that other piece of work that we discussed some days back.
Me: Sure!
(Me thinking: Why did I say 2 days? So many years of working and I still dont know how to say no!!)

But then I had to prove a point. I had to prove a point to myself of all the people. yes I was doing something new. Something which I had not done before but I had to assure myself that I was not as useless as my recent experiences made me out to be. I needed that pat on the back. It was my demons that I was fighting and I was doing it the only way I knew how to. By putting my head down and working hard. So out went the sleep and in came the work. There were days when I worked till 4 in the morning and meetings were being attended at 830 in the morning. But the reward was the resurgence of self-belief. And this was different from what I felt when I started teaching at TIME. That time it was all about money and my earning capability. This time it was about me.

Meanwhile, Indiatamasha was shaping up nicely. Whenever there was spare time over the weekends I was writing some stuff and putting it out there - the general...news views and opinions and the way I felt about what all was going on around me. The interface was going through changes on a weekly basis and finally I was happy with the way it was looking. But was it good enough to go out to the world? I didn't know. My friends thought so. And I was chatting up with one of them. It was around 1 in the night.

"When are you going to let the world know? Ho gaya abhi friends and family stage over!!"

"haha! I know yaar..I just need to put in some more things before sending it out" I said.

"Arrey sab to hai yaar. Articles hain. Look complete ho gaya. FB page bhi hai. What are you waiting for?"

"Pata nahin yaar..I just think that it needs more work..or maybe Im not confident about how it will be received?"

"hahaha! Dude 2 late to think about that now!"

"lol!! Haan wo to hai! Ab bana hi diya hai to broadcast bhi kar diya jaana chaiye!"

"Yeah. Send it out to basically your entire address book hehe"

And my friend was right. Why wait now? If it was not good enough then people would not like it. And there was only one way to find out. As I drafted the mail, giving the readers a snapshot of what I was doing, I thought to myself that this would probably fall under the category of friendly spam!! Be kind to it types! Well at least I would not die wondering!

Spell check. (Click)

Send. (Click)

(To be continued.....)

Chapter 16: Entering the world of Business

2011-03-20T19:19:00.003+05:30

I was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. Was it my blazer? Or the Hotel?

I was seated in the lobby of the Taj with the same folder I had taken to the TIME office about a month back. It had been brought out of short term hibernation and dusted off to be carried. I was wearing a blazer which I had worn after an year or so! It had been brought out of long term hibernation and dusted off to be worn. And I was waiting for my friends ex boss to show up. We had exchanged a few emails and phone calls over the last couple of weeks to fix up this meeting. Now this guy was an Investment Banker who had just quit his job to branch out on his own. He had reached out to my friend at first (who in turn had shifted to Mumbai by then) and so my friend referred me to him.

Like all lobbies of most of the big hotels that I had been to, here too I was faced with an eerie silence. The one which is usually found in large spaces with comfortable settings where people are completely overawed by the setting they are in and speak in low tones, so as not to disturb the status quo maybe. The silence was punctuated with sounds of clinking plates and glasses coming from the restaurant inside. As I was wishing for some some bollywood music, I heard someone call out my name.

"Hi, is that Utkarsh Joshi?"

I looked back to see a young guy, probably not too older than me, striding towards me.

"Hi. Yes Utkarsh it is. Good to finally meet you." I said as we shook hands.

"Same here! Let's go and sit outside? I think its not too hot today. Hope you had no trouble finding the place?"

"Yeah no trouble at all, except finding the entry to the hotel. They made me go round the hotel twice before directing me to the entry gate! I guess it's got something to do with the traffic and security issues that they face!" I said as I smiled and made some small talk.

"Hmm..So tell me a bit about yourself Mr Joshi."

Now giving interviews was something that we practiced a lot at ISB. So much so that I could definitely give an interview in my sleep as well. And here I was seated in the Taj open air restaurant. Nice weather and I was definitely not paying the bill. As it is I love speaking and not my surprise, it was such a joy speaking about myself. And so I commenced on a 3-4 minute monologue about myself, which culminated with the reason for us meeting today.

"So basically as your friend would have told you, I quit my job last month or so and have been trying to put together some deals for some people I know. And frankly speaking my workload is increasing as I am progressing. More people are reaching out to me and I need some assistance now. Now I am all good with us working together except that you seem to have very little exposure to finance and the kind of work I am doing." he said.

"Yes. That's true. In fact that was the first thing I told my friend as well. But then I figured that I can pick it up if I spend time on it and provided you are willing to teach me. That's the reason I wanted to be upfront about it with you." I said.

"Yes. I appreciate that. So with respect to the working arrangements what do you think is the best way forward?" he asked.

"Well to be honest, my only need as of now is that my loans get taken care of and additionally I get some cash in hand to take care of my expenses. That's all. With respect to working location, I can work from home. I can work from your office. I am comfortable with it either ways." I said.

"All right then. Here is what I offer. I am willing to invest my time to train you and will pay you around 50,000 per month. That should keep you going with your loans and leave you with some money to play with. And as and when we crack a deal we will share whatever comes our way. The exact details we can work out later. The ask is that you be open to learning something new and put in your full efforts to make this a success." he said.

The first thing I thought to myself was..Money!! Oh boy. If I take this up then that takes care of my loans! And then he seemed like a nice and knowledgeable guy so it would be nice learning from him. And it was quite funny, but the last thing I thought about - was the work part of it. Will I be able to do finance? I pretty much hated it in college. If this were a normal situation my thinking would have been probably different. Maybe even completely flipped around. But then this was no ordinary situation was it?

"Ok great. Yes. Let's do it. when do I start?" I said as we shook hands.

"Great. Today is Thursday. Let me send across the work to you via email and then let's catch up on Monday morning to take it forward." he said.

*********

"Yaar ek baat batao.."

"Haan haan...poocho..." I said as I updated my friend about the meeting.

"All this is fine and good. But don't you think you settled for too little an amount?"

"Yeah I guess so. But come to think of it. It's an opportunity to learn something new, working with an industry guy. And I'm staying at home so my expenses should be low. And who works for money anyways! hehe" I said...

"Dude tu na..stop being filmy!! Accha and how do you plan to teach and work with him and also work on your site at the same time???" he asked.

"Arreey Im not being filmy! Sachi mein! hehe But yeah THAT's a good question! And I am still thinking through that one. Workload ka fight ho sakta hai and frankly speaking, I don't know how I will handle it yaaar. But boss if I think then how will I do?!! Let's see. I'm sure there will be a way that will present itself to me. Somehow!!" I said.

"haha! Well all the best man. Let me know in case you need any help with anything." said my friend

"Sure thing man. I will definitely reach out to you!! I would need to!! hehe thanks a lot man...bye." I said as I hung up.

Was I doing the right thing? (ummmm dont know, maybe? maybe not?)

Or had I agreed for too less an amount? (ummmm dont know, maybe? maybe not?)

Will I be able to handle it? (ummmm dont know, maybe? maybe not?)

Somethings definitely not right with you. The worlds getting ahead man. (Yes. For sure. All the best to the world then! But I gotta do my thing man. This is the best chance I am getting so why not take it?)

As I got back to Killzone 2 on my PS3 in order to polish off some more Helghans I thought there was only one way to find out. But soon I was about to find out that it was not about high end finance. This way was all about learning the nuts and bolts of business. But at that point in time, how could I know what was coming my way? The ride as they say had just begun!

And so just like that, I took my first baby steps into the world of business. Not business as learnt in books and manuals. But business the way it is actually done.

(To be continued....)

- utk

Chapter 15: Belief

2010-12-06T00:00:00.003+05:30

Hello all! Has been quite some time since I blogged! Lot's of work and with what I have seen, more work is good work I say!! So just as a disclaimer this blog entry and the next few ones will talk about stuff that happened some time back, until I try and catch up to come back to what's been happening recently. Happy reading!

Trrrinngg...Trrrinngg...Trrrinngg...Trrrinngg...

I woke up groggily and turned off the alarm. I knew what time it was and it was early. Real early. Burying my head in the pillow, I started drifting back into sleep until suddenly I woke up with a start.

My bank balance flashed before my eyes and it was way too low in my dreams for me to sleep peacefully any more. I looked at the time. 15 minutes had passed by. It was 6:30 AM on a Sunday morning and I had to take an English class.

'Welcome to Hit 95 FM! It's a beautiful day outside and I am looking for my early bird of the day'...went Sarthak the RJ on the radio. Early Bird of the day!! Isski to..I thought to myself as I drove to the centre.

It had almost been a month since I had started teaching English at TIME and it was definitely not a cakewalk. It was tough and getting tougher. Teaching and interacting with the students was great fun and it was not as tough as I had expected it to be, and it was extremely fulfilling as well. But taking 3-4 classes per day was not fun at all. Parched throat, headaches, aching feet and lack of sleep all seemed par for the course. And almost every other day I was being called to take classes early morning! Since I was the only English teaching freelancer in the fold, all the regular teachers had started pushing on their extra classes on to me! But I could not blame them. I said yes to everyone.

And why did I say yes?? Frankly speaking I was getting a little paranoid about my falling bank balance. The loans mainly. When there is no inflow and only outflow, things are bound to head that way you know! It had been 7 months since I had quit my job and my balance was disappearing like nobodies business! Yes my dad was willing to help and had pushed some money into my account but still this was the month. Whatever I had tried out had not worked out till now and this was the only thing that I had in hand. If there was no inflow this month, then I would not have enough cash to pay out my loans in the next month. Hence the Yes to all the classes.

Thus went the Early Bird of the day onwards to take some English classes.

************

That week though something happened which would probably change the way my future panned out.

After a particularly exhausting Thursday and a very, very tough class (where the students were not bothered about the right answer, but were concerned about the incorrect options as well) I was incorporating some friend and family feedback into Indiatamasha.

There was some brutal and some kind feedback. As a result the site was looking very different from what I had started out with, and it had been less than a month since it had gone live!! But then that's what no investment and working on it myself allowed me to do. It allowed me to be nimble and make changes at will. Chop and change and modify and chop and change again.

Partly happy and partly unhappy with my progress I was contemplating another chop and change when my phone rang. It was a very close friend from ISB.

"Dude! How are you doing man?" he said.

"All well my man. How goes at your end? Howz Mumbai?" I asked.

"Yeah all going well man. Work is good. Accha listen, I need to ask you something." he asked.

"Haan haan. Bol"

"Are you on the lookout for some work? I mean as in a short term freelancing engagement?" he asked.

"Eh! Freelancing?? Dude I don't know. Never done it! Regarding what by the way?" I queried.

"Well basically my ex boss has quit his job and he is looking to go solo. So he is looking for someone to assist him."

"Assist him with??" I asked...

"Well the usual. Presentations, Financial models, Business Analysis etc etc." he said...

"Ok. Dude you know I had not taken any finance electives!!!! hehehe"

"So what man!! At least go and meet him. No harm in that." he said

"Yeah no harm at all. I just don't want to shift my focus from my website as of now." I remarked

"Yeah sure. Ok so I will pass on you number and email and he will contact you. Hope all else is well. I gotta rush man. Will call you araam se later?"

"Yeah all well man. Chalo bye. I'll let you know what happens when he contacts me" I said as he hung up.

As I put down the phone, I wondered as to why I said yes! Logic suggested I should have said No. A Big No! I mean Finance!!! I ran from it in college and it was not exactly an area of interest.

Maybe it was the rushed call that my friend gave me which made me say yes? Or maybe I was getting into the habit of saying Yes? Well either way the answer seemed too uncomfortable to dwell on at that time.

Suddenly my phone rang again. I decided that if it was my friend again I'd say no this time. It was an unknown number though.

"Hello?"

"Hello Sir. I am calling from TIME"

"Yeah go ahead?" I said.

"Sir just called to say that your cheque for this month is ready."

Relief, Joy, Elation, Happiness, Tiredness were some of the emotions that came over me simultaneously.

"How much does the amount work out to?" I asked

"Sir you took 32 classes this month. So that works out to be 25,600 for this month"

This was Amazing. My first salary in 7 months! And this amount and the existing balance was enough to take care of the next months loan. Phew! This corporation was not bankrupt yet!!

"Great! Thanks! I shall collect the cheque tomorrow sometime." I said as I hung up the phone.

Fantastic. My first salary after quitting my job was Rs. 25,600 I thought to myself. And I thought that this was me. All me. All done on my own. No placement cell. No companies coming to my doorstep to take my interview. No plush office. No coffee machines and water cooler chit chats. No coding skills. No MBA skills. It was purely earned with something that I learnt way back in school. And earned with very, very, VERY hard work. Probably the hardest that I had worked ever.

I was staring at nothing in particular and thought back to my first job. And my first salary back then. This amount was exactly Rs. 5,600 more than my first ever salary. Back in Accenture. Back in 2003. The amount, small by my earlier standards, was suddenly small no more.

Happily as I got back to working on my website, I was thinking about the value of this amount. The amount was valuable not only because I could meet my loans. It was valuable because it made me realize the value of hard earned money. It was valuable because it made me Believe......Believe in myself. Again.

(To be continued...)

Chapter 14: English Teacher

2010-06-10T00:19:00.000+05:30

As I was waiting for the center manager at the TIME branch in Gurgaon, the feeling was surreal. I was dressed in semi formals and I was carrying my resume in a folder. And I had come there looking for a job! To teach! Wow! Was it really so long ago that I entered an MBA coaching institute with my books to study? Along with the course fee and soon to follow course packs?

As I was pondering on the exact number of years between now and then, in walked the center manager, along with a permanent faculty.

"Hello there. How are you? Good to finally meet you. Please meet our permanent English faculty." she said.

"Thank you. Good to be here!" I said, shaking hands with both of them.

"So tell me....how can I help you?" she asked.

"Well, I am kind of between jobs and trying to set up my own thing. But it does not require my full time as of now. And in the interim I was wondering if there was some way I could do something useful and at the same time take care of my cash flows. And I heard you guys had some teaching vacancies. So here I am.." I said.

"Great! And what do you plan to teach?" she asked.

"English."

"That's great! We really need an English teacher! Well, we do have a lot of part timers with us who come over the weekends. Mostly from the IIM's. I think you the first one from ISB who has come to our center!" she said......

'Yeah...aint that a surprise! That's coz no one is as cuckoo as me..and why the hell did I say English? Well Maths was the reason I did not bell the CAT! But can you really teach English? I think so...' I thought to myself.

....."So as a next step all you need to do is give a small test and then we can start!" she ended.

"Err..Test ????" I said, as I snapped out of my train of thought.

"Yes. Last years CAT paper. English section. Just a formality actually. This is just to check your basics. That's all." she said.

'What have I got myself into!' I thought to myself, as I stared at the English Verbal section from last years CAT paper. But since there was no possible way out from the situation (apart from laughing hysterically and just walking out while shaking my head), I decided to summon all my concentration powers and actually complete the section in the allotted time. Yes. It was timed as well.

And as it happens, the 40 minutes just flew by. And before I knew it, someone came over and took my paper. "Sir, time's up. Our manager will see you in 15 minutes. After we have gone through your paper!" Now this was turning into a proper job interview!

After 15 minutes of flipping through the oxford dictionary lying on the table next to me, I was summoned to the manager's office.

"So we have given thought to our earlier meeting and interaction and we feel that you have great attitude. We think you are a good fit and we would like you teach English with us. So welcome aboard! Can you take a class on Sunday morning?"

2 thoughts came to my mind:
1. Yipee! 2. Looks like the score in the section was nothing to write home about!

After talking about my terms (800 bucks per class; Number of classes: Dependent on me) I walked out, wondering how anxious the next 4 days till Sunday were going to be. I need not have worried. Coz they also flew by.

I was pretty close to rolling out the first version of my website and the work hours just seemed to be increasing. So, I was drawn into the website design with even longer hours of online research than before. And by Saturday night, the super beta version (as I thought Id call it) of my website was ready. The overall look and feel seemed nice to me but I guess proper feedback was the need of the hour. A mail was sent out to the F network (Friends and Family!) late in the night and finally exhausted, I clambered into my bed - aware of the fact that I had just 5 hours before I faced my first batch of students the next morning, for my first class.

Around 5 hours later, I was in class with 25 eager students who like me had just joined TIME. It was a 2 hour class and I had a strategy in place. A fixed plan with 30 minutes of intro, 30 minutes of basics, 30 minutes of handout solving and 30 minutes of explanations. Since it was an introductory class I decided to treat the intro more like a discussion. And so after general introductions, feeling totally in control, I decided to throw the floor open to questions. Big Mistake!

"Sir, which IIM did you pass out from?"

"What was your score? Cutoff?"

"Where are you working now?"

"Why are you teaching after your MBA?"

45 minutes into answering the questions my carefully laid plans were all but shot. What a start! Sigh! The price you pay for not being in a regular job.........

(To be continued...)

Chapter 13: Career switch

2010-01-30T01:16:00.002+05:30

I was tired. Damn tired. And I was sleepy. Damn sleepy. But I was happy. Dammmmn happy.
Finally I had figured out what the author was trying to say!! It was 4 in the morning and I had been breaking my head with researching the web, with details on how to set up my site. And it had been 4 continuous weeks of late nights and late mornings. Finally things were clear and I had a comprehensive list of what all needed to be done. Now it was time to start work!

Suddenly my gtalk window flashed. It was a friend who was in the US.....

JP: 'Arreey oooo...night owl! Have you stopped sleeping or what!'
Me: 'hahaha...no man...have been reading up lately.....on setting up a website.'
JP: 'Oh! That's awesome! What kind of website?'
Me: 'Don't know man! As of now I just have a domain name and I have some ideas around that.'
JP: 'Nice Nice! So how do you plan to monetize it?'
Me: 'No clue yaar. Like I said I have some ideas. No clue if they will work or not! lol !'
JP: 'lol!!'
Me: 'Lets see.As of now I just want to put it out there and then think about what next. I know, strange approach. But I think its the best way forward for me. Else I'll keep on analysing! :)'
JP: 'Haan. That makes sense yaar...we MBA's I tell u! LOL!'
Me: 'Exactly!! I mean I have spoken about this to a very few people in my circle. Everyone asks me the same thing. Revenue model kya hai? Strategy? Plan? Going for funding? SWOT? Competitive advantage!! I mean I don't know man! I just want to do my thing!'
JP: 'Yeah! Sounds like a plan! So what next?'
Me: 'Am done with my research. Now I need to start work! Took almost a month and I did not know there was so much stuff available online man! But I am pretty kicked about it!'
JP: 'Oh yeah its pretty vast! And so many sources! But good. Now that you have spent time, you would have a fair idea how to go about it. By the way....what's ur domain name?'
Me: 'Indiatamasha.com'

********

A week into the website related work and I was going insane!! There were so many things to choose from and so many options that I was having a tough time deciding what to include and what to leave out. The 4 AM was stretching into 5-6 AM and I was totally working in US timings! The world being flat and all.

It was one of those days that I got a call from my friend. The same one whom I had asked to find out about the teaching opportunities.

"Hello!! Arreey! Were you sleeping? Dude it's like 1 PM!!!!"
"Yeah man..I slept late. Bolo? Wassup?" I replied groggily.
"Accha, you had asked me to find out abt the teaching thing right? Well it seems you just need to walk into any outlet. Most of them have requirements and are looking for freelancers."....he said.
"I see. So I just walk in? Some help u have been man!! hahaha"
"HA HA! But I told you to walk in man!! Help hi to hai!!"... he retorted!
"Ok thik hai. I'll see which one is closest and then drop them an email. Let's see how it goes." I said
"Ok cool. Let me know what happens. And stop sleeping in the day man. Jobless!"

Since my sleep was already shot I decided to figure out which were the closest MBA coaching centres close by. I found TIME and Career Launcher. I sent across my resume and an email to both before going to sleep again.

TIME was the first one to call back. Unfortunately they also called up when I was sleeping. GROAN! Not twice in a day...I thought.."Hello?"
"Hello sir. I am calling from TIME. We got an email from you?" said the voice on the other end.
"Yes Yes!" I said. Wide awake now.
"Sir would you want to work with us full time or part time?"
Wow! Just like that? I thought.."Well as of now part time and then we'll see."
"Ok. And would you like to teach English or Maths? Sir, we have a really urgent requirement for an English faculty."
"Ok..No issues with that. Anything will do I guess." I said wondering if it was really this easy??!!
"Ok Sir. So can you come down to meet our centre manager tomorrow? Then we can talk abt the timings and payment per class." Wow!! Money!!!

From a techie, to an MBA, to an IT consultant, to a product manager, to being jobless, and now to a possible teacher? And strangely I did not develop cold feet at the prospect of teaching. Was it the lack of sleep or something else? This was turning out be quite an interesting year actually..I thought to myself as I put my phone on silent and finally drifted into sound sleep.

(to be continued...)

utk

Chapter 12: Rediscovering Progress!!

2009-10-31T16:15:00.006+05:30

The day dawned nice and bright and I was like a man on a mission. Well it was a 'mental' mission at least. All I had to do was figure out what I was good at and then look for some part time opportunities in the same space and I was set! Cool!

So what am I good at?

Well post MBA, it seems everything. Kuch bhi kara lo yaar! Spoilt for choice! Damn!

Ok let me narrow it down. What do I like?

ummm...Talking? Something to do with the arts maybe? Something which gives me independence!

That's better! Ok now what am I looking for?

Some cash flows and some time to work on my plans.

Err...what plan? Dude, you also need to decide on what next!

Yeah yeah! I know!! One thing at a time.

Elated after this theoretical progress I decided to take a break and make some tea for myself before I stepped out of the house. I had to drop my mom to school as the driver had called in sick today. Reflecting on her job as a teacher, I wondered if there was any better job than that. Mom also wondered and asked me once why I did not have a go at teaching? Not a bad option.

But teach what? Something related to engineering?? Don't remember anything from that 'era'! Something related to MBA? Doable. But wouldn't I need some more qualification to do that?

Suddenly, I had a thought! Ideaaaa!! Something which I had never tried before, at least not formally. But my gut feel told me that it could work. Well, only one way to find out!! After dropping my mom at her school, I called up a friend to know more.

"Dude! Kya haal? Kya kar rahe ho? Free ho? I need to talk about something."

"Haan haan bolo. In office, but can talk."

"Yaar, you knew someone at an MBA coaching institute right? How would I come to know if someone needs teachers there?"

"For whom? You'll teach?!!!"

"hehe I just might! Batao to sahi!!"

"Sahi!! Yaar I knew someone who started a small coaching centre and then sold it off to IMS. But this was wayyy back. So i'll need sometime to get in touch with him and find out."

"Cool. Please pata karo yaar. Time to take control and stop drifting."

"Sahi hai boss! Kya padhaoge ye socha hai?"

"Not yet. Kuch to padha hi denge. Have baantofied so much gyaan! Maybe I can make some money while at it! hehe"

"Yeah. Why not man! I think its a grrt idea. Give me sm days, I'll get back to you."

"Cool! Let me know man. And knowing your propensity to be lazy, I'll buzz you and keep reminding you! hehe" I said.

As I hung up I thought to myself - I had no clue what would be required and what I would teach and all! And there was only one way to find out I guess. This was still progress!!

I guess progress got redefined for me.

**********

Meanwhile, on the "Plans" front, there were two separate things that I was working on, with a couple of friends. It was in early stages yet and both had a long term horizon. So in effect I was left with a lot of time on my hands. Most of which was spent at home with family and friends and being online and catching up with friends who were whiling away time in their workplaces. Not much difference there. They were being paid for their time whereas I was working for myself hence was not being paid!! :D

And I was also watching a lot of TV. News channels. Entertainment channels. Business channels. Knowledge channels! You name it, I saw it. And I was getting pretty bugged with what they were showing.

A few days after the teaching brainwave (and reminding my friend about it) I was whiling away my time online when an email popped into my account.

It was from one of my venture partners in Mumbai who was asking for access to the .com which I had purchased for that venture. The understanding was that we all would share the costs once the venture got going. Well, that did not happen and neither did my money come back to me. It was not about the amount, which was nominal. But still...

Although I was in no mood to reply, I thought about it and I did. I wrote back that since it was not useful to me anymore and knowing that they might be still playing in the same space, I was willing to sell the name to them. At the same cost at which I bought it. Fair enough, right?

Not surprisingly, I never heard back from them.

Which got me thinking. Was there a way to monetize the name which I had bought? So I had a domain. I had a lot of free time. I had the internet at my disposal for research. I had a computer science degree and I had an MBA!!!

Around the same time, some random news channel was playing another random news story.

Ideaaa!!!! What if.....Can I? Is it doable? No no! Not feasible.There was almost a sense of deja vu as similar thoughts from two days back flashed in my head. Only the context was different. And this time I was excited!! Could it be that I had just thought of a venture idea? It was so out of the blue that I needed some time to calm down and gather my thoughts.

But don't I need a plan? Financials, Marketing strategy, Operational plan etc etc. - I asked myself.

Chuck it man! A fair enough idea, a one pager, lots of research and I should be ready to take off - I answered myself!! No time for analysis paralysis now. And waise bhi, it was all about execution. Right? I had already seen that. I had all the resources at my disposal and I needed to do this on my own, work independently and just go for it. Not be dependent on anyone. Make my own mistakes and learn from them.

Brimming with the idea and enthusiasm and gusto, and quite like an inspired, intrepid explorer, I dived headlong into my research and ideation process.

I still had no clue where I was headed, or what all was required. But with no easy answers forthcoming, I was willing to find out the hard way. And more importantly, I don't think I was in limbo anymore. I was taking baby steps towards where I wanted to go.

I guess progress was never redefined for me.

(to be continued...)

Chapter 11: Second wind!!

2009-09-19T23:10:00.009+05:30

It was great being back home! And of course it became sweeter since I had no office to attend to!! Waking up late, having breakfast and then sleeping off again. Meeting friends and family in the evenings, life was relaxed and life was good! Ekdum Chillax!

But that was just an exterior calm. Internally, I was struggling with the big question - What next? There were a couple of ideas and friends that I had spoken to but nothing was too concrete as of now. I was also contemplating getting back into a job! In the meanwhile, there was some lingering disappointment regarding the Mumbai incident but what the heck....easy come, easy go I guess!

But as a couple of weeks passed and with nothing to do, I was decidedly getting uneasy about where I was headed. And I think when faced with an uncertain situation, such thoughts come to the fore pretty quickly! So to figure out what next, I started looking for people who were in the same boat as me, and try and understand among other things, whether I was sane or not! In the same context, I spoke to an old friend from school, who had ventured into his own thing. I hadnt met him in like 10 years, but thanks to FB we were connected yet again. So one of the weekends, we decided to meet up at one of the watering holes in PVR saket

Now for those familiar with delhi, PVR saket is a landmark in the true sense. The first of the PVR multiplexes, it was a single screen named "Anupam" before PVR took it over. Soon it became a much in vogue hangout and even though bigger malls have cropped up close by, it still manages to pull in a decent amount of people daily. So it was there that we met at one of the watering holes.

"So tell me! What have you been upto man! It's been like ages dude!" I exclaimed as we settled down and ordered some beers. We caught up with what both of us had been upto over all these years, while remembering the time spent together. Pretty soon we turned to more serious discussions.

"So how is your venture going?" I asked my friend as he recounted his experiences with entrepreneurship.

"Great yaar. At least you got something off the ground! I am kind of stuck. What I was trying did not work out and now I am just trying to figure out what to do next, or maybe get back into a job?"

My friend said...."Dude first up, it's great that you are doing what you are doing! Not many people do that. And I finally feel great that I am not the only one who is acting weird!!!" ha ha ha

"But jokes apart, if you are really serious about entrepreneurship then don't give up. Do some freelancing and get some cash flows. I have been freelancing for quite a while now, and whenever I feel I should get back into a job - I just close my eyes and mentally picture myself in my previous job. 5 minutes there, and I am happy doing what I am doing. So don't give up dude." he said, as some more beer arrived!

Later that night after getting back home, I wondered if there was a middle path? Not being in a job? Getting some cash flows and also working on other ideas? All at the same time! Why was I thinking of only 2 options - A job or a successful venture and nothing in between? What if I carried on the same road, while distributing my energy between ventures and freelancing? hmm..maybe...just maybe...

Was that possible? Well I had some ideas in mind, but right now the beer was taking over! I thanked my friend in my head and felt enthused about the whole situation all over again.

I decided to do something about it, first thing in the morning.

zzzzzzzzzzzz

(to be continued...)

Chapter 10 : Confusion and Closure

2009-08-05T16:50:00.007+05:30

I woke up on Sunday morning with a splitting headache.

Coupled with hunger and a lot of body pain, it pretty much became impossible to sleep. This was after a thoroughly satisfying although exhausting 24 hours of music, drinking, gaming, talking, partying, movie watching, laughing & talking while movie watching, chatting, calling up friends late at night, driving around...Friday late night to Saturday late night!

Age man, age is catching up with you dude...I thought as I headed to my friends room to wake him up for breakfast.

"Dude...utho yaar please! Verry hungry! Lets go for breakfast!!"

"Abey, abhi to 8 bhi nahin baje! We slept at 5!!! So jaao yaar!"

"Dude, ISB waale ho ke aisa bol rahe ho?! Forgot the times when we used to party till 5 and be in class at 8, then sleep in class and wait for the coffee break at 9!! Point is, you can take it. You have been trained to do this.!!" I exclaimed.

"Kahan chalna hai?"

"Lets go to Vaishali! I want to have Idli, wada, dosa and coffee!!" I said.

"Wah!! That's practically the entire menu man!!"

After looking for parking on FC road, getting it far off from Vaishali, then walking down to (as always bursting at the seams) Vaishali, waiting for a while to get seated - we finally settled down in the open area and ordered Idli, wada, dosa and coffee.

"So whats next for you?" asked my friend.

"Don't know man. Havent thought about it. Actually, I havent given myself time to think about it. Abhi I am just getting over the disappointment. Similar to a break up you know!" I smiled.

"HA HA. Uska to kaafi experience hai tumhe!!"

"he he Oh yeah!! More than what's good for me! So what do you think I should do next?" I asked him.

"I think you should go ahead with your idea, without them. I know you can't do it without domain people and all, but there must be something you something you can start with. Maybe once it gains traction you can look for domain people."

"Hmmm, maybe. That's a thought, but I'll need to rework my entire idea and execution approach. And that's gonna take some time." I said, as our food arrived.

"Yeah, so what? Dekho yaar, disappointments like these will be part and parcel of your journey now. The sooner you get used to them the better." he said.

"True! Wo to hai. I am just maha disappointed I did not see this coming. Although, I couldnt have done much had I seen it coming as well! Anyways, let me go through with the sales work for my VC and wait for him to get back. I'll decide on my future course of action after that." I said.

"Haan. At least you have moved from pure IT work to some non IT work. This experience should come in handy."

"Yeah. As my friend said, 'Joshi, you have been succesfully un'IT'ed' "..we laughed, as the coffee arrived.

**********

After a thoroughly entertaining weekend, I was back in Mumbai. Nothing like a good party with friends, to reboot and to feel refreshed! I doved with gusto into the sales calls, but then a strange thing happened.

Even as I was slogging through the sales calls, and was thinking on the next course of action, there were days when I experienced sudden loss of focus. There were days when I felt like chucking everything and heading back home. Or heading back into the shelter of corporate life. Kya kar raha hu, kyu kar raha hu!! Am I doing the right thing? Is this the right way to go? Enough is enough!!

Not so soon, I thought to myself as I somehow dragged myself through those days. One thing that kept me going were the sales calls! They were going on great, as the product I was peddling was fantastic. But I was becoming more and more disillusioned with my stay in Mumbai as the days went on.

Somehow, 3 weeks went by and finally my VC came back. We decided to meet up the next day after a catch up call in the night and discuss everything.

"Hello Sir!! How have you been? How are things?!" exclaimed my VC as I walked into his office.

"Brilliant! I think all the places I visit showed interest! We just need to be smart with the pricing model and all of them will be on board " I smiled and replied.

"Excellent! Yeah we just need to break in. Then the product will sell itself! What about your venture? Are you in touch with your partners? If you want I can arrange a meeting." Said the VC.

"Nope. Nothing after the mails 3 weeks back. And I dont think I would like to speak with them either."...I said.

"Fair enough. Look Utkarsh, you need to be very careful while taking this next step. You see, entrepreneurship is like being in a candy shop. Every item looks tempting. And you I see are geared to the idea of entrepreneurship than to an idea in particular. Which is good, but you need to be careful of your next idea. Don't decide in haste. Give it real deep thought. You have been through a stumble and another one will surely hurt you."

"Thanks. Yeah thats correct. I will be sounding out some of my friends who are planning to go my way and then lets see what happens." I said.

"Good! Let me know if I can help in anyway. Now with respect to the sales work, you'll be done in the next 2-3 days?"

"Yeah. Then I plan to go back to Delhi, need to attend my parents anniversary!! And cool down a bit after all this action." I smiled.

"Great. I'll keep your payment ready in a couple of days. And then after your break, in case you think you would want to help me further on this, let me know. We can work something out. OK? I need to head out now. Take care and we'll keep in touch."

**********

So I hadnt made it. The VC tried hard to get us together again, but I was really not into it now. The trust was gone so I politely declined.

A week after I had the conversation with the VC, I was heading back home. Rajdhani express. 430 PM. Mumbai Central to New Delhi. Thankfully there was no uncle around this time. :)

The next steps were still not clear as I boarded the train, but I had ruled out the option of working for the VC, even though he was all for it. Somehow I was not confortable with the idea of workng for someone, so soon after taking the plunge. So I decided to put that on the backburner. Looked like, going by elimination was the only thing that I was getting good at.

What was I going to do once I got back home? I had a couple of ideas in mind but I was as clueless as I was when I got to Mumbai 2 months back.

But maybe this was the start of my journey and not the end? Maybe Mumbai to Delhi was the direction I was supposed to take. Maybe there really was pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Maybe this was rock bottom and the only way was up.

Chalo, at least I still had some hope left.

(to be continued...)

Chapter 9: The End?

2009-07-07T09:33:00.010+05:30

"Waah! You are looking different today!" exclaimed my friend as I got ready to leave for the VC's office. And kyu naa ho! I had fished out my formals from the depths of my luggage and was pretty much feeling an out of shape mannequin, wearing spotless and starched clothes. It was time for my first Sales call! EVER!

"Beta, blazer pehno!" smirked my friend.

GROAN! "No man! As it is already I am so uncomfortable! That's the reason my blazer is still in Delhi while I am in Mumbai!" I said smiling.

"Cmon dude, if you are going all professional, might as well go the complete distance. What's the harm! Here try mine on." exclaimed my friend.

Oh well! Might as well go the full distance! The fit was good and it kind of covered up the out of shape mannequin and actually made it look more presentable! But still, if it would not have been for these clothes I would have been completely at ease! Grumbling, I hailed a cab and made my way to the office.

It had been a couple of weeks since I had been "borrowed" by my VC for his firm's work and the weeks had been all a blur of product meetings, sales strategy sessions, sending out emails, cold calling people, creating presentations, following up and fixing up product demo meetings. No time to hink about anything else! Meanwhile my venture partners were on the lookout for some short term projects. The understanding was that what ever money the three of us make in the short term will be channeled into registering the organization, creating stationary and setting it up. Bootstrapping.

There was no luck yet but they were digging up their old contacts in order to get something. In fact I had not spoken to them since last week! What were they upto exactly? Making a mental note of the same, I arrived at the office.

"Arrey boss, kya baat hai! Aaj to chaa gaye! Kyaa lag rahe ho! Kya koi ladki se milna hai kya abhi call pe?" I chuckled as one of the guys in the VC's office saw me! Young guys and their hormones! Sheesh!

"Ah! Your looking different young man! All set?" asked the VC.

"Yeah! Have lined up 3 calls for today. Lets see how they go!"

"Great. Lets meet up tomorrow. There are a couple of things we need to speak about. All the best!" said the VC as we made our way to the waiting car.

En route, while stuck on traffic on the western expressway, just like that I had this sudden attack of contemplation. Quite movie like, the camera began to pan out and I saw myself in third person. 30 years old, MBA, sitting in the front seat of the company car, stuck in traffic, going to make some sales and demo calls. Definitely not what I had set out to do! Why and how did I ever get into this?? Now what! SIGH! Maybe I was over reacting. All for the greater good. I told myself as we reached our destination. I was still in a preoccupied and contemplative mood while waiting for a certain Mr Pankaj and tried to shake it off. I mean come on! This was the last thing I needed at this point.

"Hello!" called out a voice as I was leafing through a magazine.

Whoa!! Either it was my lucky day or Pankaj had a really feminine voice. I turned around to see a nice looking girl entering the meeting room. "Hi. My name is Shalu. Pankaj is on leave today so I shall be meeting you. I hope that's OK with you!"

"Oh yeah! Not an issue at all!" as we began our discussions.

And just like that my mind was off the contemplation. Sometimes it really needs another distraction to take care of a distraction! Guys and hormones man!

"I think we should get some further interest from all three firms I met yesterday!" I said as I beamed happily while updating my VC the next day.

"That's great news! All went well?"

"Yeah apart from some minor operational issues, all well. Have lined up some more calls over the next three weeks."

"Excellent! That takes care of that. Now, let's talk about your venture."

"Yeah Sure. What about it?"..I Said.

"I don't think you guys have been talking too much since the last couple of weeks."..he said.

"Yeah...apart from the odd email and phone call, I think we all have been quite busy!"

"Well, when I proposed this working structure, I was looking to keep you guys in execution mode while at the same time enable you guys to look for some short term opportunity. But I don't think you guys are working together anymore. You need to look at some of the decks they are sending to me for review. Not upto the mark!"

"Wow! I have no clue as to what you are talking about. They have not sent me anything!"

"That's what! Please take some initiative and try and put this in order. Both your venture partners are in Mumbai tomorrow and I am leaving for the US day after. Hopefully you guys can sort this out by then. Oh and also work on the remaining details of company incorporation."

"Sure. Will do." I said, bristling with irritation.

***********

After phone calls in the night, the next day all three of us decided to meet up at the VC's office. No one had broached the topic yet, but I was pretty pissed with the way things were shaping up.

After sharing some pleasantries and status updates with each other, I decided it was time to tackle the thorny issues head on.

"All right guys we need to take a decision on the stake."

"What decision? 30 each and 10 for the VC. Sochna kya hai!"

"Ok I spoke to some of my friends who are having their own startups and the general consensus I got was that stake dilution upfront generally should be avoided. Since the VC is not putting in money as of now, can we link his stake to his performance? As in let's give him 7% and then based on where we reach in 6 months and his contribution, we increase it to 10 or even higher."

"No No. This is not right. This is cheating. I am not in it for the money dude." exclaimed the guy.

Cheating??? That was really kiddish man.

"Is there any harm in giving it a thought?" I asked.

"No man. I can't work like this. If you guys think this is the right thing to do then I am not going to be part of it! I dont think I want to work with you man. Our wavelengths dont match at all." said the guy.

Quite taken aback by the sudden outburst, my mind started whizzing, flitting through a zillion thoughts at the same time and I controlled an urge to say something harsh.

"All right then lets move on then. I want to know why was I not copied on the mails you sent out to the VC? I had told you that I can help on the decks!" I asked both of them.

"Look dude, I'll lay it out for you. You are a nice guy and all, but for what we are doing now, we dont need you. We synched up with the VC because we thought he would fund us. Now all this short term, long term thing we can do on our own. If you can help us get funding then we can work together, else...." said the girl. Ah! I see! So I had outlived my utility!

"And after all it was my original idea! And we had decided long back that we both were going to work together, even before you came into the picture." said the girl. Oh! So we were never a team I guess!

There was nothing much left to say after that. I was extremely disappointed.

"All I can say is that you guys really need to buckle up if you are gonna work on your own. I am no expert but really, I think you need to be more professional in your approach. Let's end this now. All the very best." I said as the meeting broke up. I sent an email to the VC before I left his office. But I decided not to go home immediately, instead I decided to head for the beach. It was evening, the breeze was cool and my IPOD was at hand.

I walked down the juhu beach stretch, beyond the policemen seated outside JW Marriot and the sundry couples scattered all over the place. I parked myself in the sand while the sun set in front of me and some music played in my ears.

Too many thoughts. Too many questions. Brain whirring too much. My phone beeped at that point. I had an SMS from my VC. It read 'Saw your mail. very concerned. Lets talk about this when I get back from the US.' Damn!! So I cant get a quick resolution on this. 3 more weeks?! SIGH!

What now? What next? I thought as the sun slowly sunk into the water.

Actually on one hand I was pretty relieved that I was not working with them. Better they backed out now than later. But I was also pretty crestfallen. Talk about a false start!! But there was no point in being too sad about it. Jo hona tha wo to ho gaya I thought and I was learning as well. And probably all for good. Someway or the other. And I figured some setbacks were gauranteed. A small price to pay for the chance to be my own boss.

I needed to Reset, Reboot, Replan and Roll with the situation. I decided there was only one way to get over this hurdle ASAP! I needed to party and party hard, ISB ishtyle!! For starters, I decided to pick up some beer on the way home. Maybe a trip to Pune tomorrow early morning?

'Whoaa!! Hold on dude! Pune? Suddenly?'

'Why not man!! I just feel like going. When was the last time you took off on a whim?'

'Actually I dont remember.'

'This one you'll remember for a long long time. I guarantee! Dude you are learning to fly, but you are still free! Buck up! Tomorrow's another day.'

Ah what the hell! Pune waalo main aa raha hu.....I thought as I saw the last of the sun disappearing over the horizon.

(To be continued....)

Chapter 8: No Pain, No Gain

2009-06-20T14:47:00.002+05:30

Solemn advice to all budding entrepreneurs – whenever someone says that the hardest part is taking the plunge obviously hasn’t counted on the toil involved after taking the plunge.

Was it age? Or was it just doing some legwork after all this while that was taking its toll?

Whatever the reason, I was frazzled within a week of starting my innings. Shuttling between the VC’s offices and home was way too tiring. Add to that the hot and humid Mumbai weather and I always ended up exhausted by the end of the day. All for some “Sweat” equity!

How very true! Whoever coined that term knew what it was all about.

But the good part was that we were making progress as per the plan that was laid out in the last week. We were doing some preliminary research on how to roll out our offerings and also at the same time figuring out who would play what role in the setup. Now coming from different backgrounds ensured one thing. The skills that we brought to the table were pretty complimentary. The two of them would play the domain expert and business relations role, and I being the MBA would play the strategy and business operations role. The VC was also contributing to the discussions – telling us on how to go about things while at the same time suggesting some short term revenue making opportunities for the team.

Being a new industry for me, I was still getting insights into how things work there. There were constant rants about plagiarism, scandals, people with less knowledge and talent ruling the roost and so on. Kind of like people running the game of cricket being non cricketers themselves. Initially it was fun, hearing about a tryst between a music composer and a singer, or a singer not being upto the mark and still making it via “contacts” and so on. But soon it began to get boring. What’s with the anger guys – to me these guys were achievers in their field but they seemed not to think so themselves. Or maybe they were just too bitter. Also, another fallout of me being in an alien industry was the constant “Shush, we know what’s right.” attitude. I mean thik hai yaar but that always used to get my goat! But still they were right - they did know more so I had to be patient in that respect.

I was working on an investor presentation which I had to run by the VC. Fixing up and appointment I landed up at his office.

“All right. Let’s see what you have got.”

I walked him through the deck. It was the usual investor deck – the idea, the need, the execution plan, the team, the projected revenue numbers, risks and mitigations etc. He suggested some changes and asked me to add a couple of more case studies. Satisfied that it went off well I began packing up.

“Can I suggest something else?” the VC asked.

“Sure!” I said, surprised by the suddenness.

“I don’t think you should approach the investors with this plan!”

Whoa!! Hang on!! How do we set up the business then?

“See you have to understand there are many ways to setup a business. Sometimes you get upfront money to startup a business. Sometimes you get help from friends and family and sometimes you bootstrap. In this case, my sense is that you can bootstrap the business. ”…he said.

All right, now we were in totally new territory.

“Now I am not in a position to give you any money, as in angel investment – but I can put you in front of angel investors. I have links. But I don’t think this business is such that you need angel funding. You can do some short term stuff to earn some revenue and then go about reinvesting that money into the business. Bootstrapping it.” …he finished.

Thoughtful after the discussion, I decided to call a quick meeting with the rest of the team and apprise them of this latest development.

“So that was what he said.” I finished after walking them through the whole story.

“Ok so no funding from him. Now he’s asking us not to ask for funding from anyone!” both of them exclaimed.

“Yeah! Seems like that. But you know I kind of agree with him. I mean the part where he said we can bootstrap our business. It’s always better not to look for money from elsewhere but our own pockets. ” I said.

“Nahin re. We will never be able to make that kind of money to launch this on our own.”..said the guy.

“Well at least we can try. Can’t we? There might be some opportunities that we can go after right away!” I said.

“Nahin re! Tujhe nahin malum yaar! For this we need lots of money. Tu apna presentation bana and we will look for investors.” he said.

“Presentation is ready! Start looking man! Coz I don’t think the VC is going to help us further on this angle.” I said, getting irritated.

“Whoa! Whoa! Hang on guys, why are you fighting like kids?!” interrupted the lady.

“Why can’t we look at building this bit by bit? Why do we need all the money up front? We can start with the offline arm and then slowly move to an online presence. And that was what we had decided as well, right?” I said exasperated. I don’t know why these guys don’t speak up in front of the VC when they have issues? Why say something now and something else later?!!

“All right! I think we need to break up now and speak with the VC tomorrow.” she said. We decided to call it a day and I walked off in a huff.

And thus it was that the first cracks appeared in our team.

Early next morning, before we all met the VC, I decided to talk it out with him regarding yesterday’s discussion and it’s aftermath.

“All right. What’s troubling you young man?” he said as soon as we settled into our discussion.

Zapped, I told him of our discussion smiling and shaking my head while doing so.

“ I see. That’s an interesting development! Oh Just in case you are wondering, how I knew - such pains are something that most of the startups go through. The earlier the better! And also, the phone call from your team member last night helped.” He said smiling.

“See, this is something which you’ll need to contend with. I don’t think they would be open to a lot of flexibility in execution plans where as you would be!” he said.

“Yeah. Why not! After all I have attended the entrepreneurship lectures at college.” I said.

“HA HA! Yeah that and also the fact that you belong to different schools of thought! Let me do one thing, I have a plan in mind. Let’s talk about it when everyone is here.” he said.

************

An hour after I had had a vada paao lunch, washed down with some cutting chai, me venture partners walked in. I had half expected a cold shoulder from them but surprisingly they were pretty civil to me! Pleasantries were exchanged and we settled in to discuss stuff.

“Ok, I have had a couple of discussions with all of you since yesterday over the phone and face to face and I have to say upfront that you are heading in the right direction. Some push and pull is required for a healthy working relationship.” started the VC addressing the three of us.

“Having said that, I still maintain what I had told Utkarsh earlier. I don’t think you guys should go looking for investors. Why waste your energies towards something which is not worth your time? I think you can really bootstrap this venture on your own. Rest is up to you guys. If you think you are better off looking for funding, do go ahead by all means. ”

And just as I expected, there was hardly a murmur of dissent from anyone in the room. This really was turning into an issue now.

“Now how do you sustain yourselves in the short term? Have you thought about that?”

“We plan to do some event management related activities.”

“Well if you don’t mind, can I borrow Utkarsh from you?” asked the VC.

“Borrow!!!? As in?”…I asked!

“Well I need someone to spearhead my sales and distribution effort and I think we have the talent in house now!” he said smiling.

“This is for your product?” I asked.

“Yes! Our new product is ready and we need to start taking it to potential customer’s now. And that is where I could use your help. Also, I think this will give your team some structure as you would meet me more regularly and also use the office space more regularly - unless you are doing some field work that is. This way we’ll be more on top of things.” the VC said.

“Don’t worry, we shall pay for your services”, said the VC probably sensing my mood more than anything else.

“I am OK doing it, as long as there is some connect to our overall long term goal.” I said.

“Oh yeah! The people you’ll be meeting will be your potential customers. So it should work out well from a relationship building point of view. And also, the money will help you survive until revenues start flowing in for your venture!” he said.

Wow!! I was almost tempted to ask how much money?! But I figured at that point in time, any amount would really seem like a windfall!! Also, I could see what the VC was trying to do. I think he had sensed that there was no clear leader in the team and we were all listening to only one person – himself! So this way, he would be able to direct us better, having regular check points with me. Well, looks like some good had come out of our disagreement!

“And also, do you have any formal wear with you?” asked the VC smiling at me.

“Err..Yes I do!”…His question was not inappropriate as I had always appeared in front of them wearing jeans, T-shirt and sandals!

Well, not what I had expected to do in my quest for becoming an entrepreneur – sales work – but seemed like I was on my way to do something which I had never done before. I think I can safely call it the theme of the year 2009 for me.

Boldly going where I had never gone before!

(To be continued…)

Chapter 7 - Visioning

2009-06-03T15:04:00.003+05:30

Travelling to and from Delhi, even by flight does not change a thing. One can easily experience the same feelings experienced at the railway station or the Interstate Bus Terminal (ISBT). The cabbies are all over you, the cops are fleecing people here and there and the moment you get into a car, the honking and the stop start go journey begins. The same happens in a number of other cities – but something in the Delhi hawa paani is different. Aggro levels are quite high here and the only way to end a confrontation is to confront others with even higher Aggro levels!!

Anyhow, being a short 4 day trip, I did not go out much. With sedate birthday celebrations (consisting of celebrating the earth hour and staying without lights for an hour) and calling over my friends for dinner the day after, the Delhi trip was short and sweet. And before I knew it, I was back in Mumbai.

Here I was, 30 years old – without a job, out on a limb trying to do something that not many in my family thought I would do.

“Not in a regular job? Wow!” (To be read as: Crazy or what!)

“Arreey! Shaadi ki umar ho gayi hai ab to! Kya kar raha hai ye ladka?”

“Watch out haan. Don’t let anyone use you!”

Thankfully my folks thought a bit differently. I told them that the job prospects in the market would take time to come back on track. So why not use this time to make something out of nothing? And like true rockstar’s they just asked me if that was what I wanted to do. With the answer being yes they were all for it. Concerned but very much with me, I landed in Mumbai with their backing, intent and a lot of purpose.

Once in Mumbai, I was back in Bhakti Park, Wadala with a couple of my friends; One who had also landed in Mumbai a week back as well and the other in whose place we were putting up. The VC’s office was in Dadar which was not that far off from where I was putting up.

So, exactly on the 5^th day after the page 3 event, I entered my VC’s office in Dadar.

“Welcome! How have you been? No trouble in finding the place I hope?”

“Not at all sir. I know my way around Mumbai.” I said.

“Good, Good. Why don’t you take a seat in the conference room. The other guys should be here soon and I’ll join in when they are here?”

“Sounds good!”….. I said and made my way to the conference room at the far end of the office.

“Sir Coffee?” asked the office boy.

“Yes, please!” I said, as I took in my surroundings and settled in to wait for the rest of the people.

It was a nice, cozy small office. There were a few people who were around in the common work area, there were the customary desktops and computer chairs, and there was some hustle bustle around the place. Presently, my potential partners walked into the conference room.

“Hey there! Sorry to have kept you waiting. We got delayed due to traffic.”

“No problemo. I enjoyed my coffee in the meanwhile!” I said.

“All right. Now that we all are here. Let’s get down to business! As we spoke earlier, all of you approached me with a couple of different ideas. These guys met me before you did and as luck would have it, both of you were talking the same language.”…said the VC, looking at me.

Now, my potential partners were a guy and a girl – who knew each other since long and had been planning to start something in this space for some time now. They had in fact met the VC just 2 days before I mailed him. In a nutshell, they had an idea in the online space, being experts in the offline sphere. I had an idea and some experience in the online space, with no expertise in the offline sphere. The VC recognized our complimentary skills and decided to get us together.

To begin with we explained our ideas to each other in detail – just to be on the same page. Once we were done with that, the VC stepped in again.

“Ok now that all of you know where the other is coming from, let me also explain where I am coming from. Now as I see it, both your ideas are not doable in the current shape they are in.” he said.

Whoa man! Ye kaisi chaal!! I thought to myself. Itni door bulaya ye batane ke liye!!

“What we need to do is to come up with a middle path – which takes into account both your ideas and irons out the deficiencies present in them. So why don’t you guys work that out for now and we shall revisit it when you are ready? Say in 2-3 days?” he said.

And of course, with no other seeming option – all of us readily agreed. Though looking back in hindsight that was the first of many things I could have done differently – to avoid what would happen down the line.

Now, brainstorming, or visioning – which was the process we were going through is in itself a pretty demanding process. I remember going through a similar process at times at ISB and of course the results were never satisfactory immediately. It’s a time consuming process. I think my study group in college was the first one to start work on assignments and the last one to end – many times without a conclusion! Moreover, that was between friends. Now imagine having to do that with totally unknown people. It was almost like being back in a MBA prep group discussion.

Anyways, the intent was still very much there and we got down to business straight away. We bounced off ideas and discussed potentially where we could reach. After a couple of hours I proposed that we break up – work on it in isolation and then meet the next day with some fresh ideas. And so it went on. After 3 exhausting days, we were finally able to come up with something concrete. Now I wouldn’t say it was a bad idea (what we had collectively come up with) – but it was nowhere close to what I had originally thought of. But I figured since I was so much out on a limb, might as well go the full distance and see where it goes.

The VC kept drifting in and out of our conversations always shooting down whatever we presented to him. “More thought, give it more thought! Explain your business in one line to me!” and it was only on the 3^rd day, that we were finally able to convince him with what we came up with.

“Now that’s something!” he exclaimed when he saw the whiteboard.

At that point, I launched into the pro’s of the vision along with some strategy and a quick cost benefit analysis. Could not help doing so. An MBA does this to you. We had broken up the execution plan into the online and offline extensions of the original plan and took the VC through the same. It was also the first time I noticed that strangely the other 2 seemed to go silent whenever the VC walked in. Maybe they were not used to such a setup. Oh yeah? As if I was!!! But still, they spoke whenever required and so we ended up what we had set out to do. Convince the VC.

And it was there that I realized that we had erred.

Without any of us realizing it, the focus had very quickly shifted from finding a common vision for our venture to convincing the VC. Yes they were interrelated as he was going to help us set it up but still, I believe it was like losing sight of the woods for the trees. But still, there were not many other options at that point of time were there? Still, it was a disturbing thought which I quickly pushed to the back of my mind.

“So that is that.” He said, after I had captured all that was written on the whiteboard. “Now let’s formalize this on paper. With respect to the stake, let’s split it 30 each amongst you 3, and 10 for me. What say? Let me know what you guys think and let’s meet up on Monday to take this further! Enjoy your weekend.”

Post the meeting I called up a couple of friends who I had not called in a while and gave them a low down of what I was up to. Told them where I was, what I was up to and what might happen! All said and done, it was a happy thought. 30% owner!! Own firm!! Not a bad start Mr. Joshi!

**************

It was Friday, my first “entrepreneurial” weekend. And no, it was no different from the other weekends. There was beer, and some English football to look forward to and I was with my friends. Being MBA’s them selves, we always ended up having discussions around what I was up to in my venture and what should happen and should not.

“So what happened today?” asked my friends, as the beer was opened and we settled in to watch the match.

“Well today we firmed up the vision of our firm.” I said.

“Finally! Badhai ho! Kaafi din laga diye!”

“haha I know man. It was not easy. But abhi ISB mein hota to shayad it would have taken longer. Aakhir loha hi lohe ko cut karta hai!!” I said.

“So what are you guys doing finally?”

As I explained the entire vision to him, I decided to hold back on the thought that had occurred to me after the visioning was done. Too early I thought. I should give it some more time before reaching that conclusion.

“So you guys are OK with the stake divisions?” my friend asked.

“Yeah, more or less! Though I have some thoughts which I need to discuss with both of them.”

“Good yaar! Things are moving!”

“Yeah” I said…“ Bas ek hi issue hai. I need to do something to sustain myself financially. Cash flows are totally zero as of now. I mean I have some money but not much and I don’t want to take any from my folks. So both of you – I am in no position to pay any rent. So please bear with me.”

“Hey! No issues at all yaar. Dost kab kaam aaenge.”..both my friends said.

“Kuch socha hai waise? Part time or something?” asked my friend.

“Don’t know yaar. Maybe I’ll do some freelancing or something. Let’s see. Right now I have no clue how or what! I have cash flows to sustain me for 3 more months before I would have to take some financial help. I need to think about it now. If I had thought about this earlier, maybe I would not have been here!!” I said.

Where did all my money go?! Well, loans and of course the effects of being unemployed since Jan were finally beginning to show. My biggest achievement this year has been a Play station 3 purchase in Jan, right after I quit my job! Chalo, at least I can die happy now! J

Upon reflection, it had been a bittersweet week – with my original idea being sidetracked, and the thought that I had pushed to the back of my mind. But hopefully, it was the beginning of something constructive. The only immediate problem was the cash flow.

But as always, something was beginning to get lined up for me. My sustenance issues would be sorted out soon. I just did not know it yet.

(To be continued……)

Chapter 6: Old times and a new course

2009-05-26T16:59:00.001+05:30

Post lunch after exchanging bye bye’s I hailed an auto and headed back home. Going through a gamut of emotions, I was too tired to think anymore now. A massive overload on my brain had forced me to postpone all the thinking and analyzing and introspecting.

Listening to some music, we made our way to my friends place in Aundh – which is where the majority of people – not from pune, stay. Once there, I realized that I had left my key inside the house! And the only alternative was to go upto hinjewadi, where my friend worked, to get the key from him. I called him up.

“Dude, got a minute?”

“Haan haan bolo, kaisi rahi meeting?!”…answered Gaurav.

“Went off well man…he’s asked me to come to Mumbai tomorrow.”

“ Sahi hai boss!! Congratulations!”

“He He Thanks man. Let’s see kya hota hai! Pehle ye batao ki you have the house keys right?!”

“HA HA..kya bol rahe ho…locked out?!!! Yeah come over man…I’ll give you the keys?”

Thankfully, the Auto I had travelled in was still there.

“Boss, Hinjewadi?”

“Haan! Kyu nahin?! Chaliye.”

Once out into Aundh, we passed the Medipoint hospital – which somehow has become the landmark for all the people staying in Pune. Ask anyone in the IT park at Hinjewadi – where do you stay? Pat will come the response – in Aundh, ‘close’ to Medipoint. This ‘close’ ranged more than a KM in either direction. Of course – we used to stay close to medipoint as well. 200 meters or so.

Pune was not new to me. Less than an year back, I was here.

This was the place where I had landed up post ISB. Fresh out of B school and ready to take on the world! This was the place where I had bought my first – and of course only - car. This was the place where the sense of accomplishment really sunk in. Wow man! MBA done! Cushy job!

Life’s good! Bring it ON!

Daily routine set in very soon. Getting stuck in traffic…reaching office, looking for parking, work interspersed with chai breaks, lunch and 4 PM snacks, heading back home at 6 or so, getting stuck in traffic…..But it was still fun. The financial independence was back. Staying and working with friends from ISB it was a comfort zone like no other. Long drives at night, weekend parties, movies…..

Life was one big party.

But the work - though there was work, it seems there was not much work for people who had just joined. You know, learn the ropes, get to know about stuff and so on. And on top of that we had this wonderful option of working from home! So naturally, with work being non existent – the next step was staying at home. At least I have the Dish TV and the Playstation! While of course – waiting for work!

First signs of uncertainty. Less work but chalta hai! At least good money for not doing much work and so much partying! But ennui was setting in for sure.

The bravado and swagger was still there – if someone asked me what I was doing – I used to tell them I am part of the cross functional consulting division in my firm! Which I really was. Wow! Groovy!! But deep inside uncertainty prevailed. Work was trickling in very slowly and was becoming repetitive at an equally opposite pace! And before I knew it almost one year had gone by with very little additional skills.

What a waste of an year in the end… I wondered if I was the only one going through such a phase post MBA???

But this was probably the biggest reason I refused the same job – after quitting my startup. So maybe, just maybe – I did make use of that year, to figure out what I did NOT want to do.

I was jolted out of my reverie as my mobile rang. “Dude, where are you?”

“Almost there. Where are you?”

“Just near the guard room there is a waiting area. Wahin aa jaao.”

On arrival, I asked the Auto to wait and went over to the guest room.

“Aur, ban gaye entrepreneur?”

“Don’t know man. I am not thinking abt it now! I am just going with the flow. Don’t know sahi hai ki nahin.”

“Hmm…uncertainty to rahegi yaar! It goes with the territory. So basically, today you had more action in Pune than your entire last year!” he said

“HA HA! You bet!”

“Saale, bade hero bante they. I still remember we used to be heading to office and tum ommlette bana rahe hote they!! I mean WTF!!!” he exclaimed.

“It was part of my controlled diet you know..protein rich diet…for my gym sessions in the afternoon!!! Hilarious man! Those sessions used to be the high point of my day. No wonder I jumped at the first available opportunity. Funny no what too much of a good thing turns into!” I said as I got up to leave for home.

Once back in Aundh – I asked the Auto guy how much I owed him…he said 300 bucks. Pretty steep but then I thought that’s why I bought a car in Pune. While handing over the money I told him “Kaafi lamba chakkar ho gaya aapka?”

He said “Arrey sir, sab naseeb ka khel hai.” And proceeded to tell me that he had to earn upto 500 rupees by the end of the day – in order to pay his son’s fees and keep him in school. Now with this stroke of luck, he’ll earn a lot more than 500 today and also be able to save something from the day’s earnings after that.

“Sahi mein boss, sab naseeb ka khel hai!!” I told him as I headed home to prepare for my Mumbai trip.

*************

The next day – catching a “Neeta” (A volvo bus service, happily referred to by it’s first name), I was back in Mumbai.

As per the SMS directions – I had to present myself somewhere close to Juhu beach at 9:30 in the night. Careful not to be late, I ended up being half an hour early to the venue! Quite unheard of in my case as all my friends would vouch for – and thus I was quite at a loss on how to kill time. Not nervous but a little bit excited, I decided to calm my nerves by visiting the sea shore. To my surprise, Juhu beach was much cleaner than before!! Sipping on a pepsi , watching the waves recede into the darkness I took a reality check as to where I had come from and where I was going to. Now, these people I was meeting were from the ‘big bad entertainment industry’. It was funny but I had not thought about this aspect while working on my plan. With limited exposure to people from this background, I wondered how my pre conceived notions will affect the whole thing.

The time was nearing 9:30 and I was wondering when my VC will show up - when I received his SMS. He was running late, so he asked me to go ahead. My name was on the guest list. Did he say guest list??? Guest List!!! Whoa man!! Chalo ab ye bhi dekh lete hain!

As I entered the place, I was stopped by the staff and told that it was an invitation only event. Quite feeling like Double Oh Seven, I replied “I am on the guest list. Utkarsh Joshi.” And there I was – top of the list! My name was even before my VC’s name. Feeling a little heady, I entered the place.

Now, the event seemed like any other typical Page 3 event – only I hadn’t been to many page 3 events myself! There were gangsta style hugs between guys (firm hand holding, followed by bumping the opposite shoulders); there were air kisses between girls followed/preceded by squeals of Hiiiiiii Baaaabyyyyy…MUAH MUAH! And there was quite a lot going on when people of the opposite sex met. But then I thought – we friends also end up doing some crazy things when we party. It’s just different people doing their thing that’s all.

I was bemused and standing in a corner with my glass of juice (no alcohol mixed with business) as I did not know who my contacts were or what they looked like! No names ,nothing. I had never on been this sort of trip before. I was meeting new people by the day with no clue as to where I was headed!

Suddenly, over the crowd I spotted my VC! Phew! Corner standing no more I thought as I went across to him. He was with a couple of people. As I went over he saw me and introduced me to them.

“Ah! Utkarsh. How are you young man?! Please meet the people I was talking about!”

Hellos were exchanged and introductions were made. They seemed like nice, amiable people and we began to have free flowing conversation about a lot of sundry things. The VC kept jetting in and out of our conversation, while meeting his friends as well as giving us some space to talk it out. Very soon it also became apparent that we were different like chalk and cheese! They were domain people who were part of the industry – both self made and never held a regular job. Here was I, always had been in a job, no entrepreneurial experience - more bookish knowledge than anything. We came from totally different schools of thoughts, lifestyles and backgrounds. But still, there seemed to be some sort of getting along – at least in that initial conversation. We discussed some work related things but decided to skip most of it for a later meeting. No one was in the mood for too much business talk at that time I guess. And I also felt that things had been set in motion and maybe just staying the new course was need of the hour.

At the end of our meeting/dinner we decided to meet up in 4 days time at the VC’s office to further brainstorm and work out the next steps. Meanwhile, I was asked by the VC to see him the next day.

“Err, Sir can I see you in 4 days time? I need to make a quick trip to Delhi.”

“Oh! Sure thing. Everything all right?!” he asked.

“Oh no. All is fine. I have my birthday coming up and I want to celebrate it at home.”

“Oh! Very nice! Advance wishes. How old will you be?”

“I’ll be 30.” I said.

“Welcome to this side of the hill boss! HA HA”

“Thanks! Actually more importantly, with my trip being extended by so many days, I am seriously having some wardrobe issues!! I never thought it would happen to me but I am actually running out of clothes!” I exclaimed.

“Hieeeeee!!!” squealed the group behind me as a starlet walked in.

Whoa man! I had lots to tell my friends once I got home that night!

(To be continued…..)

Chapter 5: The Business Lunch

2009-05-17T13:25:00.002+05:30

It was Tuesday morning.

“Dude! Today is the day!” said my friend as he handed me my cup of tea.

“I know man! I could not sleep properly last night.”

“Ha Ha. Cmon man! Aisa bhi kya hai! It’s just a meeting no. Don’t worry it’ll go off great!”

“Arreey yaar baat meeting ki nahin hai! What’s making me nervous is what can happen if it goes well! Then what!!! Hehe”

“Yeah that’s true. Will be like a new beginning!”

“Well I have done that already! I have already had a new beginning!”

“Bole to?” asked my friend.

“It was sometime in December 2008, and we were going over to attend a friends wedding to Dehradoon. There were three of us in the car Myself, Ballu and Swami – close friends from engineering days. Just before one gets to doon, there is a plain stretch of road just before the hilly road starts. It’s a single lane road. I was in the back of the car, sprawled on the back seat .….That was where it happened.”

“What happened?” asked my friend.

“An oncoming car suddenly came onto our side of the road, while overtaking another car. My friend swerved to the left in order to avoid the car. ‘Ballu, watch Out!!!’ The front left wheel went off the road and he lost control of the car. ‘Oh ****! Have lost control!’! ”

“We swerved wildly to the left and for a moment seemed to head straight for the electric pole in front of us – at more than 100 KPH. Somehow, my friend turned the steering wheel to the right. We came on to the road but the car was still out of control and we started skidding across the road. Just missing an oncoming group of vehicles, our car skidded right across the road – into some brush. We crashed sideways against a tree – which finally brought our car to a halt.”

“Damn!!” exclaimed my friend. “Then?”

“Hona kya tha! The car got trashed man. The chassis got screwed badly. 3 of the tires were bent at almost a 90 degree angle to the car. The driver’s side mirror was smashed. The windshield cracked.” I said.

“Shucks Man!”

“But you know the most amazing part? None of us was hurt! All three of us came out of the car perfectly fine! Not even a scratch. Touchwood!” I said.

“Wow! Touchwood boss! Abe kaafi ajeeb si feeling hui hogi?” said my friend.

“Ajeeb! Yeah! I was feeling like Samuel El Jackson in Pulp Fiction. ‘This is Divine intervention my friend!’”

“HA HA HA HA HA”

“No but seriously, sometimes life gives you such a jolt man! Even after being all set – I was forced to think about where I was headed in life. I think it could have been a reason for me to quit my job as well. I began to question whether all the work, all the stress was worth it. Week after week, office work gets done. Month after month, money keeps coming in and going out. Time goes by and we all remain where we are! Aise kaise poore hongey Armaan!!” I emphasized theatrically!

“Dude ab tum philosophical ho rahe ho!” grinned my friend.

“Ha Ha Ha I know man! I transform into a gyaan guru at times!! Anyways, so you see I have already started anew! And by deduction this meeting has to be an important chapter in my ‘new’ life! And that’s what making me nervous!”

“Chill Chill. It’ll go off well. Waise what did you do after the accident?” asked my friend.

“I thanked god and called up all my ex girlfriends!”

“No wonder you are trying to become an entrepreneur. You are a Brave Man!!”……. HA HA HA HA HA

*************

1: 15 PM: Mainland China.

The smiles were all but gone. The meeting had been set for 1:30 with a morning call, and I had reached before time. Considering I was on a vacation, my own wardrobe consisted of t shirts, jeans and a pair of sandals. My friends were kind enough to lend me a formal shirt and shoes. And so here I was, formal shirt, jeans, formal shoes and a shoulder bag - with my friends laptop. While sipping some Chinese tea, I was going over the plan in my head and also trying to remember what all I had said over the phone call. I was not feeling nervous as such, but there were some butterflies in my tummy for sure.

1:30 PM: I had requested for a table near the entrance so that it would be easy to find each other. Though I did not know what he looked like, still it’s easy to figure out if someone is looking for someone and I was counting on that.

1:45 PM: Now I was getting edgy. I mean first meeting and late? What if he did not show up? I decided to try out something. I flicked out my ever trusty mobile and did a google image search on the guy! Very stalker types – but it worked. And there I had a number of images of the guy. OK! Now I knew what he looks like. If only he’d show up now.

Suddenly, the image on the phone gave way to number and my phone started ringing. The VC himself was calling.

“Hello?! Hi Sir. How are you?”..I said.

“I am good Mr Joshi. Where are you?”

“At Mainland China sir.”

“Oh! Surprising! I am here as well. Where are you seated?”

“Right near the door. And you?”

“I am on the inside, right opposite the bar!” he said.

“Ok, I’ll come over.” I said. As I walked over, I chided myself for not taking into account, the possibility that he could have been here before time and before me. Short sightedness!!

“Welcome! Welcome! Please have a seat.” Said the VC - as I settled into a chair opposite him. Now this guy was a bear of a guy. Tall, huge, broad shouldered and graying at the temples.

“So sorry. I have been seated on the other side for quite some time now!” I said.

“Really?! Oh! So we could have started earlier! So tell me more about yourself? Where are you from? How did you land up here?! ” he smiled as I filled him in on my background and travails up to then.

Now there was something about his demeanor that put me at ease right away. Even though he had an intimidating persona he did not appear intimidating during conversation. He had a kind face, was ever smiling, had a good sense of humor and most of all he seemed very open to anything that was being said to him. Maybe that was part of his job – being open and receptive, and if it was – he was doing great!

“Well, well. I am impressed. You quit your job and you are looking to start up something – in this environment!” he exclaimed!

“Yeah! I don’t know whether it’s the right thing to do or not but I just felt that it is the right time for me. This recession allows me to take a break – which is quite an optimistic view of my situation.” I said and smiled.

“See, I think the right time is whenever you go for it. Yes, you might have to alter your execution plans in order to adjust with the current climate, but that’s what it’s all about – circumventing the obstacles. And you know, to be very frank, I would really like to encourage entrepreneurship. I think we need more young people to jump in – take things by the scruff of the neck and run with it. I mean look at you – you can go back to a cushy job if you wait for what 2-3 months? But no, you wish to do this and seem committed to the cause of entrepreneurship. And it really gladdens me.” ..he said.

WOW! Talk about inspiration and a good feeling! I bet he could see the glow on my face…“I wholeheartedly agree Sir. It’s a thought out decision and now I am looking for some help on how to get there.”…I said.

“That’s where I come in!” he smiled and said…”so tell me more about you plan. I went through your summary email, but did not have the time to look at the attachments.”

And taking a deep breath I began. It was a good thirty minute speech – interspersed with his questions and comments and I thought it went off quite well. I had him convinced about the basic idea – though we differed on the execution part of it. It was while speaking to him I realized the beauty of it all. I was talking about my own idea and my own thoughts on how to go about it. I was talking about creating something from scratch. I guess it’s difficult to hide the passion and conviction while you are doing so.

“Ok, on a basic level I think your idea sounds good. But what you are proposing will just let you skim on the surface. I think the real value is in modifying the idea a bit and getting deep down into the real core of the business.” He said and I think I agreed – to an extent.

“So here is what we should do. You don’t have a job right – so I assume you can stay back a little bit longer?”..he smiled…“ Why don’t you meet me in Mumbai tomorrow night? There are some people I’d like you to meet. They came to me with an idea in the same space around last week. Maybe together we can work out something exciting?” He said.

I was stunned! Whoa man!! This was going way faster than I was prepared for it!! I mean it was a just a 2 week leisure trip! Talk about derailment. But it also explained the fact why I was so readily called up for lunch. There was some synergy which he saw in the entire thing.

“Why not!” I just about managed to say that, before I gulped down my entire glass of water in one go.

“Excellent. So I’ll message you the coordinates tonight and we’ll meet up tomorrow night in Mumbai. Now, let’s eat, the food looks good!”

I was still reeling with what had happened. Elevator pitch, to a lunch meeting, to meeting possible partners for my venture? Was it that easy?! Why did I not do this last year sometime then?! Don’t know man. Who are these people? Kya hoga!! Anyways, let’s see. I was going to Mumbai and for now I was relieved and hungry!!

“Oh and one more thing. Are you married? Girlfriend? Looking?” he asked.

“No Sir. Single and not looking.” I smiled and said.

“Well let me tell you something young man. Your marriage prospects can be seriously dented – parents now a days don’t want their daughters to be married off to an entrepreneur – until of course you have made it. Or if you have someone in mind – get married ASAP. She can fund your venture as well!! HA HA HA… So think about it – before striking it out on this path”… he said and grinned.

“If that’s the case then I think this is the only way left for me to find true love. HA HA” I said.

“That proves it. You have not flinched when told about the denting of your marriage prospects. You really are committed to the cause of entrepreneurship boss! “ …Loud laughter.

“Bon Appétit!”

(To be Continued.....)

Chapter 4

2009-05-11T15:31:00.004+05:30

And just like that, my entrepreneurial journey had begun.

Or so I’d have liked to believe.

To be frank, I had absolutely no clue as to what to do next! Who can help? Where should I look for people who can help? What all can be done? What all needs to be done? How to go about it? Looking at the “macro” economic conditions, is this the right time? Beta, baat to bahut kar raha tha, ab ban entrepreneur! The more I thought about it, the questions were increasing - in discomfort and intensity. Every time I went out, there was always this thought at the back of my head. How? What? Where? When?!

So I decided to do the next best thing - I parked my entrepreneurial ambitions for a while. After all, what’s the point of doing something on your own if you still do it at somebody else’s pace! I was on a Mumbai - Pune trip after all and this was not part of the holiday package! Yeah Mr Joshi – how typical!

But then as they say, life is what happens to you when you have other plans!

It was the Friday after the train journey and the Mumbai leg of my trip was over. Bade Miyan late in the night, Café Mocha in Juhu, the bhel at chaupati, driving by the Big B’s and Shahrukh Khan’s bunglows – I had been kept quite busy. And now, it was time to move on to Pune. Reaching Dadar from Wadala (where I was staying with my friend), I was surrounded by 4-5 people asking me if I wanted to go to Pune.

“Sir, Pune? Taxi mein jana hai? 150 Only.”

“Sir Pune? Neeta mein jaana hai? AC Volvo?”

“Sir Pune? Metrolink Metrolink? Non Stop!”

But, as is always the case, the best option was the one which was not screaming itself hoarse! The state transport bus counter was to the side of the road and I made my way towards it. True to form, when I reached the counter there was a long line of people waiting. So I too got into line and began to wait for my turn.

“Is this the line for Pune?”…asked a voice.

I turned around to see a pretty looking and pretty flustered girl struggling with a huge bag. She seemed pretty out of breath and also pretty relieved to be in time for this bus. And I began to wonder as to why all my thoughts were being punctuated with the word “pretty”!

“Yeah. This is it.”…I said.

“Ok. Thanks.”

In some time I inched up to the counter, took my ticket and my free copy of the most amazing tabloid – Mid Day, and got on to the bus. Wah! Window seat! And as luck would have it, the pretty girl came had her seat right next to me. I mean considering we were in line together, I would have been pretty unlucky if she would have been sitting elsewhere. Lucky me! Though it was a still a struggle to avoid being hit by the pretty large bag she was carrying.

Pune was about 2-3 hours away by road. The bus journey would take us from Dadar to Navi Mumbai to Lonavala and on to Pune – via the Mumbai Pune expressway. Once on the expressway I turned to see the girl next to me going through a big fat book…which coincidentally I knew just too well. It was known as the “Official Guide” – a book for GMAT preparation. Had I been in an animated series, I am sure I would have grown the devil’s horns at that particular moment.

“GMAT?”

“Yeah. I have the exam next weekend.”

“ Oh! All the very best! So how much have you been scoring?”

“Between 650 and 700. Can’t seem to go beyond 700!”

“Happens. You’ll go beyond 700 in the actual exam.”

“Ha Ha yeah I just hope I do and get into a good school man. I want to do an MBA really bad.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I am just fed up of my job. And there is no growth at all.” she said. Aha!! Another disillusioned youth! Kya hoega iss country ka.

“But doing an MBA is no guarantee that you will not get fed up of your job later! Trust me. I know…..” saying that I proceeded to tell her some details about the curious case of Utkarsh Joshi.

“No waay!! So that means you are jobless post MBA? Post ISB?” she exclaimed incredulously.

“Err, no. Not jobless. Just between jobs!”, I said a little irked.

“Haan haan same thing.” She said, as the aura of herogiri I had around me began to crumble.

“I am also considering starting my own venture”, I said, hoping that I would redeem myself.

“Wow! Really? What are you planning?”… Whoa man! Kya baat hai! Smile and all! That worked!

“Have some thoughts. Have not done anything yet. Figuring out what to do next.”

“That’s a great thought. All the very best to you too! But you know what, until you do something about it, nothings gonna happen. I think.” she said. SIGH..I know man. Thanks for reminding me.

What was with me and my travel companion’s!! And this was a truly self inflicted wound. But, well she was right, and I realized I was being pretty silly by not doing anything about it. Time after all was a wasting. And there was just no way around it. I had to get out there and do something. Leaving her to her book and resuming my thoughts, I forced myself to chalk up a strategic to do list by the time I reached Pune.

The first thing I did after getting down in Pune was placing a call to my ISB entrepreneurship faculty and telling him about my plans and thoughts. He listened patiently and asked me to contact a person who works in the same space. Now, this person was an entrepreneur himself and was associated with ISB as a VC. So after 15 minutes of talking, I had an email ID to begin with. Step 1 of my plan was done already. Not bad!

But since it was a Friday night, there were other pressing matters to attend to as well. And me and my friends attended to them straight away. All of us were in the mood for music and drinks! So we went over to our favourite lounge bar, Kiva! Now Kiva is a smallish place, but it plays the best classic rock over the weekends. And they play it LOUD! So we listened to some classic rock and of course at the same time drunk ourselves silly. As the night wore on, I mentally prepared myself for send out an email to the VC.

‘Should I talk to him tomorrow? ‘

Was I doing the right thing? Maybe I should wait and prepare better before talking to him? Hope I Don’t make a fool out of myself! And there went my mind in overdrive. Offo!! I had had enough of such thoughts. Maybe the alcohol helped, but my mind was made up. Almost made up.

‘Tomorrow it should be!’

The last song for the evening was playing now……..

“ …….I knew the moment haaad arrived…..

…..For killing the past….and coming back to life….”

I smiled to myself. Tomorrow it was.

************

Tomorrow started with an awesome hangover from the last night. And especially after such a late night, it is but natural that I woke up earlier than usual. Add to that the curse of Saturdays and I was up early, early morning at 7 AM. As I prepared tea for myself, my thoughts turned to the email I was planning to send to the VC. So while sipping tea, sitting on the floor, I started drafting the email using my friends laptop.

Many corrections, additions, deletions later (I went from 100 words to 300 words to 100 words again) I was ready with the email. It had taken me about an hour to do so. Satisfied with the result, I tried connecting to the internet when suddenly the power went off! Noooooooooooooooooo!!! Man! I had almost sent the email.

Anyways, I waited for the power to come back. Before the power came back, my friends came out of their slumber.

“Kya kar rahe ho be?”

“Nothing man, VC ko mail likh diya. Was about to send it and the power went off.”

“Very good! Now you will not be able to send it before evening.”

“What?!! Why???” I asked.

“Dude, some cable work going in this area. So no power for today – 830 AM to 530 PM. Kal newspaper mein bhi aya tha.”

“Oho!! Abhi?”

“Wait karo! Aur kya!”

“No man. I want to send this. Else it’ll keep playing in my head. Waise hi badi mushkil se I have gotten myself to write it!” I said.

Well, there was only one option that I could think of. Email via GPRS, via mobile! And I proceeded to type out the email on my mobile. And BOY, was it painful or what. Careful not to use shorthand and giving spaces and para breaks, I was able to type out 100 words in about 15 excruciating minutes. Once done, I proof read it and sent it out. Relieved, we started planning out the day.

“No power man, need to get to a mall and stay there!”

“Abe! Ladki type? Window shopping? Haha. Sorry not me man.”

“Oho! I mean khana khate hain, and movie dekhte hain.”

The banter was going on in full swing when my phone began to ring. It was from an unknown number. Shushing my friends up, I received the call.

“Hello?”

“Hi. I got an Email from an Utkarsh Joshi, which had this number in the signature. The email was regarding a business plan and entrepreneurship opportunities.”

“Hi Sir. This is Utkarsh. Yeah I had sent out the email.”

“Good, good. How are you doing?”

“Great.”

“So tell me yaar, have not gone through the attachments and all, but in a minute can give me a gist of what you are talking about?”

I could not believe it! I was being asked to give an elevator pitch!! MAN!! Why didn’t I get any advance notice!! Anyways, the time for panicking was non existent and my survival instincts took over. Shutting myself in the closest available room, I took a deep breath and spoke my part. Concentrating hard, I went the whole hog – the idea, the need, the USP etc. Once done, I paused with bated breath.

“Hmmm….sounds interesting.”….I could not believe he said that!....”However…”…arrey yaar…too good to last I guess!

“…there are a lot of things I can think about, but unfortunately I do not have time to elaborate on them in detail.” … the VC said.

“Ok.”…I Said, unsure of knowing what to say next.

“Where are you right now?”..he asked.

“ I am in Pune right now.”…I said.

“Ok and you are there till?”

“I am here till the next Wednesday, post which I head back to Delhi.”…I said.

“All right, let’s do this. Next Tuesday I happen to be in Pune. Why don’t we meet up for lunch? We can discuss this over lunch.”

Wow!! A lunch meeting! Full undivided attention for an hour or so! Sahi!

“Sure! That will be great!” I said.

“All right then. I shall see you on Tuesday, for Lunch. Somewhere near the University. Say, Mainland China? You know the place?” he asked.

“Yeah I do. Perfect! See you then. Thanks.” CLICK.

Wooohoooo!!! Jumping with joy, I went and broke the news to my friends. I mean an elevator pitch which got converted into lunch. Not bad for myself….if I said so myself!

“Kya baat hai! Dude humein bhi naukri de dena!”

“Yaar business yahin open karna, phir the party will never end!”

“I don’t know man. Maybe it does not translate into anything but still yaar kuch to hua!!! After being jobless for quite a while, it feels nice that things are moving.”… I said.

And the day went on. For the first time since the train journey, I went out with a much happier frame of mind. I was really looking forward to Tuesday.

And just like that, my entrepreneurial journey had begun.

(To be Continued....)

Chapter 3

2009-05-01T10:42:00.001+05:30

“ Sir aap kahan work karte hain?”

“Main? BMW showroom mein. Bombay mein. But I belong to Delhi.”

“Hum bhi Dilli se hi hai. Hmm! BMW! Wahan to bade bade log aate hongey?”

Hearing this, my ears perked up. I looked at my watch. 7:30 AM.

“Aur kya! Kapoors, Ambanis, Sharhrukh Khan, Bacchans, Rekha wagerah wagerah. Kaafi inside stories pata chalti hain.”

This was getting interesting!

“Accha?! Jaise?”

“Arrey, aapko to pata hi hoga, Rekha Jee ne shaadi nahin kari hai aaj tak. But jaante hain unki jaydaad kiske naam hai?”

NOW I was totally hooked man!

“Kiske?”

“Abhishek Bacchan ke naam! Ab batao. Rekha Jee ka driver aya tha gaadi le ke. Usne bataya humein. Bhaisaab ye pyaar nahin to kya hai?”

“Sahi keh rahe ho bhaisaab. Rekha Jee ne to maa ka farz ada kar hi diya na apni side se!.............”

ROTFL!! Listening to the two portly fellows – sitting in side berths across me - commiserating over “Rekha Jee”, I could not help but roar with laughter inwardly. The conviction and passion in the way they were going about their discussion was truly remarkable!

Each conversation in a train journey has a life of its own – Just like the one I had yesterday, which made me think - all night long.

And what a night I had! It was one of those nights when the introspection machine was working in overdrive. I never imagined that I would spend a sleepless night in a train thinking about my future!! But there I was. Hurtling towards Mumbai in the dead of the night, listening to music on my IPOD and thinking …..

By 6 AM as I finally drifted into sleep – my phone rang.

“Dude! Where are you?!” asked, my friend who was coming to pick me up.

“In the train aur kahan!! Abey time dekha hai, ghadi hai kahin aas paas?!”

Laughter, followed by….“No, No I mean , is your train on time?

“Yes dude. On time. I should be at Mumbai Central at 830 AM.”

“Cool. Chal we’ll see you there. Bye!”

So there went my last remaining chance of sleep. Don’t know what these guys were doing up at 6 on a Saturday morning! And then to cap it all, I was privy to the wonderful “Rekha Jee” conversation an hour and a half later. At least that put me in a better mood!

Uncle was up and about and enjoying his morning cup of tea as I freshened up and packed my stuff.

“Good Morning Uncle.”

“Good Morning, Beta. We should be reaching in a while, already crossed Borivali I think.”

“Yeah. On time!”

“Uncle I have been thinking about what you told me last night. And I have chalked out a couple things that I would want to do going forward.”..I said.

“Very nice! I wish you all the best.”.. said uncle smiling at me.

“All thanks to you uncle. You forced me to think about it! Tough times call for tough measures I guess.”

“You know what, the recession has affected me as well. I was laid off 3 weeks back by my firm, where I had been working for the last 10 years….. I am 63 years old, not with a lot of savings but I have invested in property – so I should be able to take care of myself and my wife…… I have a loving son and daughter in law – who have forced us to visit them and stay with them in Mumbai….. I could not say no. But I will still keep looking out for a job.”

I was stunned! And uncle was still smiling! Probably looking at my expression more than anything else…

“I am so sorry to hear that uncle!”

“No No! Don’t be! That’s how life goes son. You win some and you lose some. No worries on that part! But I am confident in my abilities and I’ll keep trying my best. The rest…is not in my hands anyways!”

And as uncle said this, the train began to slow down and soon pulled into Mumbai Central station. We had completed the journey to Mumbai.

************

As is the case whenever I meet my good friends – there was no back and forth communication. Everyone was speaking at the same time!

“Dude! How are you man?Long time; You have put on weight boss!; Aur, how’s your holiday going? Still off girls? hahaha”….were some of the comments thrown at me as I met my friends at the station. Three of them had come down to pick me up. One had come down from pune for the weekend.

“All well guys. Bas yaar recession has forced me to cut down on my gym expenses! Abey 6 baje phone karta hai kya koi kisi ko? Chai shai ho jaaye kahin?”…were my responses.

“Arrey lets go and have breakfast dude!”

“Nooooooooo..I am really full man. Please Please! Ghar chalo yaar…cricket hai na aaj? Let’s pick up some beer and phir match dekhte hain!”

“Abey, but we are hungry! Stuffed yourself in Rajdhani haan?!! No wonder you have put on weight! Hahaha Chalo yaar kahin. Bhookh lagi hai. English type breakfast karna hai?”

“Let’s go to Leopolds yaar!” someone said. Ooh!! Smart choice! None of us could say no after that.

Leopold’s Café in Colaba was a pilgrim like destination for all of us. Why? Because of it’s proximity to the Gateway! Because of it’s mouth watering Chicken Sausages! Because it says it was established a long, long, long time back! And maybe because even ‘Shantaram’ visited this place! J All of us made it a point to visit Leopold’s whenever we were in Mumbai. However, this was the first time we were all going there together. So off we went to Leopold’s.

Once settled in the cool confines of Leopold’s and after ordering chicken sausages among other things, the discussion finally veered towards more serious stuff. Or, as serious as it could get….

“Abe why did you quit your job man?” asked my friend.

“Yaar it was getting too much. Funding ki fight to thi hi, then politics and all, too much work and not so nice people. A good learning experience, but soon I began to question whether it was worth all the crap I was going through. To bas ek din dil ki awaz suni and resign! Waise bhi hum Akshay Kumar ki tarah jeb mein apna isteefa le ke ghumte hain”….I said.

“haha Saale filmy! How was your trip?”

“Don’t ask man! I met this uncle…” and I narrated my experience in the train.

“Matlab waise hi your circumstances are taking your trip, uske upar uncle also…..”..Loud laughter!

“hahaha I know man!! But he made me think!”.. I said.

“Yeah think about all the mess you are in! Yaar ye to hum bhi kar sakte they! Bas ek phone kar dete!”

“No! No! I mean think about what next?”.. I said laughing.

“Don’t tell me you are joining another startup? Abey last waali ko to band karwa diya…no no not anymore. Enough value destruction!”

“No dude this time I will indulge in value creation! I will become an entrepreneur!”..I said.

“Boss, the real thing is value appropriation, not creation!” said my friend.. and we all cracked up at this.

“You know what the point is? I think we are just too scared to experiment. At least I think I am.” I said.

“ True! Following the same old downtrodden path! At least you’ll be trying something new.”

“But yaar, remember Mr Jagmohan Raju said – If a majority of people are not doing some thing, then maybe there is a good reason for that.” and we all smiled remembering our Marketing professor.

“But people do things differently and still succeed right? Lot’s of examples!” ….I said.

“Yeah but maybe they are a very small percentage of the total number of people who actually do things differently!”

“ But why do you want to do thing differently? And why entrepreneurship man? You can look for another job as well right?”

“Imagine being my own boss and doing the kind of work that I WANT to do. And I think this is the best opportunity that I’ll get. Folks will be supportive. No wife, no girlfriend. Manageable liabilities! And even if things don’t work out, I can always hide my CV behind the recession! At least I’ll have the satisfaction that I tried! And as it is, it’s better than sitting idle at home.”...I said.

“Abey soch lo! Yo’ll remain off girls for a longer time this way!”..Loudest laughter at this!!

“Dude, but its not going to be easy. Cash flows will take a hit. Lot’s of uncertainty!”

“I know but so what man! No pain,no gain..which I think is a filmy way of saying high risk, high gain!!” .. I said.

“Abe pagla gaya hai ye! Shock lag gaya hai bhai ko. What do you plan to do waise?”

“I have some ideas…” I said.

“Dude, I also have a lot of entrepreneurial ideas, problem is most of them are illegal! And the remaining, well someone or the other has beaten me to it.”..said my friend.

After all the laughter had died down, I said..”No guys, I have decided. I think I’ll work towards becoming an entrepreneur. Who knows, maybe this recession is the best thing that happened to me!”

(To be continued…)

2009-04-26T17:06:00.006+05:30

Chapter 2

The thing about travelling with Rajdhani Express is that they will stuff you with so much food, that you'll end up feeling both good and bad! Good - while marveling at the value for money, the taste et al; Bad - while feeling stuffed all the while and seeing some of the food go waste! Catch 22 for sure. Khao to problem, naa khao to problem!!

We were into the 4th hour of our journey and already our third meal was being served. Post the tea, came the soup and now Dinner!

"So what place do you belong to?", asked uncle as I tucked into my "Non Veg" dinner.

"Basically Dehradoon, but have been in Delhi for quite some time now."

"I See. So you completed you studies from Dehradoon? Delhi?"

"All over actually! With dad being transferred around I have studied in Alwar, Jaipur, Doon, Delhi. In fact I completed my engineering from Vellore. That's in Tamil Nadu!"

"Wow!! That's some distance away from home!" exclaimed uncle with a surprised look.

I had been through this so many times that it had begun to get wearisome now. I mean North to South, but still in India yaar..one country! Anyhow, I had to be patient and to mask my emotions further, I put on my sweetest - 'yeah I know' look.

Meanwhile, I was feasting on the sumptuous rice and curry. The packing of the food had also improved over the years! Gone was the leaky packing, with the tray having more of the food than the containers themselves!

"Isn't this the same place as the Christian Medical College - CMC, Vellore. Right?"... asked uncle.

"Yes uncle. Though the place is known for our engineering college as well now." I said smiling.

But come to think of it, back in 1998 the place was just known for CMC, Vellore. My college was on the outskirts of the sleepy town of Vellore. A huge campus - sparsely populated with buildings and always blanketed with the fiercest cover of harsh sunlight that I had ever seen. A railway track ran right through the campus separating among other things - the boys hostel from the girls hostel!! I think that is still unique to my beloved college.

The most difficult thing in those four years was not studies or the weather or the distance away from home. It was adapting to an entirely new culture altogether. The way we were taught, the way we studied, the social etiquettes, what was deemed offensive and what not – were all concepts that were turned on their heads! I went from being an ‘early riser for studies’ to ‘a nocturnal creature’ with a vengeance. Gone was the time when I used to rise up at 5 AM to study. Instead, I used to sleep at 8 AM – after night outs and breakfasts. I went from “that first year guy” to the “The North Indian guy – acting too smart for his own good” to “Maccha” all in the course of these four years.

And of course, I was exposed to the phenom called RAJINIKANTH. And I was blown away. Of course it helped that I was able to enjoy his movies even without understanding the dialog completely. Well, surrounded by hundreds of cheering fans, whistling, clapping and dancing at every move that the man made, it was hard not to be blown away. A hush falls on the crowd, the phenom delivers his punch line and the audience, erupts! And no, I don’t take no crap from anyone on this topic. Like the man said:

“Naan oru dhadavai sonna nooru dhadavai sonna madhiri.” - If i say it once, I’ve said it a hundred times.

Meanwhile, I had moved on to attacking my chicken curry and roti’s. Deep inside I got the feeling that I had had enough. But ye dil maange more! And the spicy red gravy, floating in oil was too much to resist. After all chicken is one rich source of protein. Good for my bodybuilding ambitions!

“So the food must have been a problem for you in Vellore?” asked uncle. Not short on questions are we eh uncle?!!

“No. Not really. Initially yes, because it was all so different. In fact I remember, we walked out of our mess in the first year because we were not getting roti’s.”

“Haha…what happened then?” Before I could recover, uncle had shot off his next question!

“Well, seeing our protest we did get roti’s – but they were as hard as papad’s! So we willingly ate all the food on offer. Sambhar, Rasam, Rice and Tahir Sadam!! Slowly we figured out that a combination of north Indian food outside college and the regular meals in college, was not all that bad.”

“Yes. Thrown into the deep end of the pool, you start swimming in a while.”.. mused uncle philosophically.

“True!” I said as I finished off my dinner and began to feel like an overstuffed turkey. Like every time I had ended up overeating this time as well. I am sure that has some thing to do with the Rajdhani food. Or else how can you explain over eating on every Rajdhani trip?!!

“But don’t you think that you changed through these years?”.. asked uncle as I snapped out of my food related thoughts.

“Oh absolutely! Change is the only constant, uncle.” I said smiling.

Being jobless has it’s advantages. And the time one gets to introspect is surely one of them. And being jobless not once, but twice (courtesy both the recessions) had turned me into an introspection machine. Or so I’d like to believe. I did realize that I had changed a lot over the years. My friends also call it the growing old process. I beg to differ of course.

“So what are you planning to do after your break?” asked uncle. I wondered why he was asking me so many questions? Where was he headed with this?

“After? I don’t know uncle. I think first I need to decide when the break’s over!”

“Over? Well, the day you begin to feel guilty about all the fun you are having, that’s when your break’s over.”.. saying that uncle smiled, folded his arms behind his head and leaned back on his berth.

AHA! So that’s where we were headed all this while!

Amol Palekar was right when he told Utpal Dutt in Golmaal “Aapke aur hamare beech mein ek gap hai! Generation gap!”

Uncle just did not get what I was saying. I was on a break man! Why preach? I am not in any mood to listen now! All right uncle! You asked for it!!

“But uncle, I’ll tell you what the problem is. I don’t know what to do next! I know what I don’t want to do. Like I don’t want to go back to my previous job for sure!”.. I said.

“Ok. Fair enough. But you want to do something right? Make something of your life right?”

“Absolutely!” I said.

“Well then you need to step out of your comfort zone. That’s all.”

GRRRR!!! Not fair man! I did step out of my comfort zone and that’s how I ended up doing my MBA! I did join a startup an year after my MBA, didn’t I! And they went looking for their second round of funding bang at the time Lehman crashed!! Now look where that landed me, into more discomfort.

“Well uncle, I did. Tried a couple of things and they didn’t work out.” I said hoping that I did not sound too icy!

“Then keep trying. Keep stepping out of your comfort zone. That’s the hallmark of a true fighter. After all kehte hain na ‘failure is success turned inside out, the silver tint on the clouds of doubt!’ ” said uncle smiling at me.

And that set me wondering. Have I really tried enough? Or have I given up after the first obstacle? Can I step out of my comfort zone again?

What if I create a new comfort zone every time I step out of my comfort zone? Will I not be expanding my horizons in the true sense of the word? Will I not be getting so used to uncertainty that it stops being uncertain after a while?! Phew! THAT was way too deep man!!

My head was still spinning with these thoughts when the Rajdhani Express caught up with me again! It had one last meal up its sleeve!!!!!! GROAN!!!

“Sir, sweet dish? Kheer?” chimed in the coach attendant!

“I’ll have the Kheer!”..exclaimed uncle!

“Sir, aap?”..asked the coach attendant looking at me.

“No no, I am good.”

“Arrey lijiye Sir. Very nice Kheer!”

“Arrey, Eat beta. You don’t seem to be eating much young man! Kheer is good. Lo Lo!”

“hehe Ok. Do bhai, Kheer do!” I said as I reluctantly prepared to stuff myself again.I wonder how I manage to overeat every time!!!

(To be continued…)

2009-04-18T10:50:00.004+05:30

Chapter 1

As always, the sights and sounds of the place assaulted me the minute I reached the place.

Cars dropping off people at the kerb; Cars waiting in line to drop more people - behind people being dropped...."Take care"..."Don't get off the train on the way"..."Call up as soon as you reach"..."Ticket Rakha ki nahin???!!"...."Chalo Chalo, we are getting late"...

Another slow moving line at the entrance of the paid parking lot...."30 rupees."...."Abey! I was in line first"..HONK HONK..."What's the delay man?!"...

Porters in red dresses straight out of Amitabh Bacchan's "Coolie" asking..."Which train? Hello..Coolie?"

Traffic cops lazily asking people to get a move on.."Chal bhai...aaage le le issko...chalo chalo"...

Add to that a milieu of people at the entrance of the station at the "Ajmeri Gate siiide" of New Delhi Railway Station and you get a heady cocktail of sights and sounds adding to the already chaotic environment.

But cmon, I think that's an outsiders view. For me, us, Delhiites, Indians - there is a certain comfort in this chaos. Not that we dont want change, I do for sure...but until that happens - I know my way around..I can sidestep potholes, avoid people out to fleece me and make my way through it all. Which is exactly what I did - after quick goodbyes with my brother, I made my way to Platform number 3, Coach A2, Seat number 28 on the Mumbai bound Rajdhani Express.

Even though there was a lot of hustle inside the coach, but compared to the relative action outside - inside the coach one felt like one was in the Himalayas! Cool(er), quiet(er) and definitely clean(er).

"Where are you going beta?" asked the elderly uncle seated across me - as the train left the station.

"To Mumbai, uncle. What about you?"

"Haan, we are going to Mumbai as well. So what do you do? Studying? Working?"

Sheepishly I replied - "Err, actually uncle none of the two. I finished my MBA a couple of years back. Was working before that and after that as well. I recently quit my job so on a break."

"Break?! Waah...I tell you your generation is so different. We never could imagine taking a break in our times. No such concept existed. It was either employed or unemployed. And being unemployed was not a good thing..so.."

As uncle said all this, I recalled in my head how I went from being employed, to being bored, to changing my job, then getting frustrated and finally "on a break". Frankly speaking, I had kind of travelled this path already but that was with my love life. And I had been "Off girls - On a Break" for quite some time now. Another way of saying "Koi mil nahin rahi!" But that was another story.

"Yeah uncle. You are right in a way. Things have changed quite a bit. I guess the way we look at things has changed and the way corporates and the whole economy functions has definitely changed."

Chuckling.."Yeah, talk about the economy! Enron, GM, AIG, Lehman, Satyam...it's all become a big mess. The same thing happened in 2000 as well. Though only IT was hit."

Tell me about it. A big mess for sure. Come to think of it I was in a way hit by both the recessions uncle was talking about. When I passed out from my Engineering college, I was offered a job with Satyam, but they did not honour their committment. Post the scam, I think maybe I still exist on their rolls. By now my salary would have also gone up and I would have got promotions as well (being the star performer that I am). Throw in some allowances and reimbursements and now multiply that amount with hundreds of cases like me and voila......What an Idea Sir jeee!!!

Anyhow, things improved - got into a job an year after my engineering days got over. A "Computer degree" from a good Engineering College, a good job with a well known "International" MNC, a part of the "sunshine" IT sector (Whoever coined that term is a genius man)...life was set boss!! But that was where characteristics of my different generation started showing their colors.

"Kya yaar! Same work, day in, day out. Where is the career growth?!"

"There are like lakhs of people in the software workforce. There has to be a differentiator man!"

"Have GOT to move from being software dependent to domain independent!"

"Kuch to karna hai, Dont know what though!!!!!! But for now lets party man."

"Oh by the way, what industry do you work in?"....asked uncle, as I was jolted out of my flashback.

"Err....Uncle I am into the IT industry."

"Oh..the "Sunshine" sector!!..hahaha"

"Haha, yes Uncle..Sunshine sector" I smiled - as the coach attendant brought us our first meal...chai and some snacks.

I did not know it yet, but the trip I was going on would turn out to be a trip of a lifetime.

(To be continued....)

2008-10-03T22:10:00.002+05:30

Back Home!

Ages! Its been ages since I last blogged!! And so much has happened since then! I moved across to Gurgaon, joined a start up here and am finally staying with my folks!! After 10 long years of staying away - in the wilderness so to speak!!! :)
Vellore to Bangalore to Mumbai to Hyderabad to Pune!! Now that's some traveling! If I say so myself!! And I left home when I was 19. So have I come back wiser?! Who knows! :) not for me to say! But yes, things are probably coming back full circle. And its great to be back home! Things have changed. Back then, mode of travel was buses, abhi car! That time survived on pocket money, abhi hard earned(!) money! And so on and so forth. But the more the things change, the more they remain the same. My folks fuss the same way over me as back then. Tab bhi single ab bhi single!! :D and so on and so forth!
But yeah its a new phase for sure, and it begins with homecoming! ;-)

Utk

2008-06-14T10:38:00.002+05:30

Crossroads!

Here I was!
At the crossroads, a very important stage in a anyone's life! Some numbers just hit you all of a sudden. I was about to turn 30! Everything was hunky dory in my head until a few hours of sleep messed it up last night. Lots of profound and silly questions have creeped in since. Where is my life headed? What am I doing right/wrong? Do I really want to do what I am doing? Is there a better way of doing what I am doing??!!
The best part about such situations is that one never gets to ask questions with happy answers!! Well for starters I never thought I would go through this. But I guess, having little work and lots of free time on your hands does this to you. Maybe it's all of for good.Maybe life does need a course correction. But why did I start on this train of thought? As of now I think its just joblessness, but am I really sure? I guess not. Like I keep saying, sometimes when one emotional bucket overflows, it affects the next bucket and so on! I am sure there was another trigger as well.
Now how do I get my self off this train of thought! Time for self improvement is back I guess! I plan to GYM!! Strict diet control and full body workout, cardio and weights! Ambitious? VERY!!! But it'll give me some positive energy as well as help me direct my thoughts. Maybe I'll get answers to some important questions. and mnot! But at least I'll be fit!!
And I gotta stop sleeping at 5 in the morning over the weekends!!!!!

- utk

2008-05-07T01:23:00.002+05:30

Ambushed!!!

Sometimes, seemingly innocent situations turn out to have a life of their own! Over the last few days, I have gone thru a lot of hearing, understanding, explaining, analyzing, doing...!! And all of them have come about becoz of situations so normal ki kyaa bataaun!! I mean something dramatic happens and you are ready for everything. But if everything seems normal and things go haywire....what does one do!!!! Well for one, you can surely feel ambushed!! :))
But of course, sometimes there is a lot of history involved with seemingly innocuous situations. Sometimes one says something without thinking that it will hurt someone, sometimes one is just well frustrated with things, sometimes the frustration from an event spills onto another totally unrelated event and so on and so forth.

So, how does one deal with this?!! Ideally what we should do is this....clear your head, think of it as a problem - which means it has a solution, explore the options, finalize the best option and act!! But then, I wish everything could be performed the consulting way!!! :)
With a plethora of emotions ruling your head and heart, with a lot of external factors clouding your judgement, with a lot of variables, people involved these things go for a toss!!! And thats when the heart begins to rule the head!! Which is fine, as long as it does not become a permanent thing!! I guess the important thing is to make sure that the ambush does not lead to collateral damage!!!! Now that would be an ambush leading to another ambush!!! Too much ho jaaega!!!

But then thats how life is! You gotta roll with it, adapt, recalibrate and keep on moving! Things will happen, the least we can do is to understand and learn. So that the next time, the ambush can be ambushed!!! :)

As said in one from the Rocky series........
"We all fall down, what matters is how quickly we are back on our feet. "

- utk

2008-05-03T09:21:00.002+05:30

The Tashan!!

Sunlight! BRIGHT Sunlight!
Yeah, it was a very sunny morning, and with the sunlight streaming in through the windows, it was impossible to sleep any further. DAMN! I had slept at 3 man...and it was what (.....looking for my cell.....) 8 AM!!! The song playing in my head:
"Dhoop tashan hai, raat tashan hai, apni to har baat tashan hai"! YEAH RIGHT!
Well, I guess it was inevitable...after watching Tashan for the second time the title track was bound to play in my head. Well the movie was nothing to write home about, but the songs are fantastic and so were some sequences!

Akshay Kumar flying around with the background score as:
"Bacchan Bacchan Pandey, Din mein dikha de taarey!!"

Bhaiiya Ji's Deewar rip off:
"Today Lots happy you will be, Lots happy. Today, the man who has never chadhoing your temple seedi, is failaoing haath in front of you..."

The "item" song in the movie pavitra Vidhwa - holy widow:
"White white face dekhein, dilwaa beating phast, sasura chance maare re...."

But what the movie really needed was a STORY!! I mean there is only a limit upto which you can tolerate nonsense! Or maybe the movie would have worked if it were only 2 hrs long. I guess, we are moving towards hollywood popcorn flicks while trying to keep our gana bajana intact. But someone please tell these folks, there is a reason why popcorn flicks are 2 hrs long at the most....BECAUSE THE POPCORN RUNS OUT SOON!! haha

But as for my plight, blogging away at 10 on a Saturday morning, the more pertinent question is, why did I watch it twice! heehaahaa...well thats another story. I'll just walk in slowmotion to my kitchen and brew a strong cup of tea, in style. Will make sure my buddies do not sleep in too long as well..sing tashan songs at the top of my voice to wake them up...and do it all in style.....
Am sure .... It eeej no problem, coz we all love the TASHAN!

- utk

2008-05-01T14:40:00.002+05:30

Kahani SMS ki!!!

Kehte hain, the most important of thoughts hit you when you least expect it. Now I dont know whether what hit me was important or not, but it sure came at a time when I least expected it! Over the weekend, enjoying Sukhi's tracks at apna Kiva, nursing my Bacardi limon, munching on french fries, listening to my friends discussing the future of IPL and BANG!! Like a rush of adrenalin, like a door being opened, like a torch being switched on - pointing into my eyes, like a gust of strong breeze throwing me off my chair, it was suddenly very clear. I could see my future. In short, I knew!!
At first, it was a happy feeling, then in turned into apprehension, and then it turned into a feeling of dread!!!!!!! ye nahin hua to? wo gadbad ho gaya to? What if I was just thinking in the air? Do you really think you have a chance??!!! While I was grappling with these pessimistic thoughts - which is so not me, I decided to throw caution to the winds and take CONTROL!
So I drained out my glass, ordered one more, had a puff of hukka, took out my mobile and started composing a message! Started..... half done..... almsot done.....done.....SENT!!!
And then the wait started......
1 minute, abhi to pahuncha hi hoga sms......
2 minutes, abhi to padha hi hoga......
3 minutes, maybe nahin padha abhi tak??.......
4 minutes, dude...padh liya but reply nahin aaega...u jumped the gun man!!......
5 minutes........and then I hear the sweetest sound! my SMS trrrring!!!

Lo and behold, the SMS rocked, and then......
l a rush of adrenalin, like a door being opened, like a torch being switched on - pointing into my eyes, like a gust of strong breeze throwing me off my chair, it was suddenly very clear. I could see my future. In short, I knew!!

- utk

2008-04-25T00:27:00.002+05:30

The M word

Since the last 2-3 days, almost every discussion that I have been having, somehow veers around to the talk of marriage! hmmm..the M - Word! And what with the inclusion of two more of my closest buddies into the M category I guess peer pressure is mounting!!! :D
Makes you wonder...kahin budhapa to nahin aa gaya hai?!! I have got advice ranging from an age analysis to behavioural analysis to reeti riwaaaz and then u HAVE to think abt it! And on top of that, with so many variables involved, end of the discussion it does not seem like marriage anymore!! Thats when my version of M = a nice understanding between 2 people, goes out of the window! Its just mind boggling!! But do people think abt so many things before getting hitched??!! Dont know!!
Anyhow, I guess it takes longer for guys to come to terms with this impending phase of life, compared to girls of course! Which is partly due to the fact that ye zaalim samaaj has drilled this into our heads that girls should be younger, they need to married soon and guys can take their time..I mean the 'past by' age for guys - 30 -32 and for girls 27-29!!!! Rubbish!!

I guess I am developing a perspective at least But well, sau baat ki ek baat....I still have not thought about it.

- utk

2007-12-19T14:33:00.000+05:30

As I looked at this empty page, waiting to be filled in and age.....
I wondered, do I pen the thoughts that talk about the things gone by
or should I dip into myself to write about I !!
Do I reminisce the happy ones and bemoan the sad times, where I rejoice at the thought of one and look forward to the other with Sighs
In the end I decided it to be a free for all, where my ramblings will choose the way the cookie crumbled...
After all what is creative licence, unless things do not appear jumbled!!!!

The outcome is due to a mixture of khali time and joblessness, where in at times- I still do not find much happiness...
Not to say that I am low and sad, but sometimes even if small things dont work out...life turns out to be a drag...
Well.....it's easy to understand the crawl, because sometimes, important does mean small.

I tell myself that it's mind over matter, and the way other things stand around me this should not be a bother...
But I shoot back and say, Hey - If I dont lament then how do I weigh, the fond memories against the bitter ones eh!!
I guess, as one lives and learns, these short moments get outdone by the long..and we learn to forget and to be strong.....
But Hey - Isnt that why I wrote this song!!! :-)

- utk

2007-12-07T16:31:00.000+05:30

Here I am sitting at home on a Friday afternoon! yes yes I work a 5 day week. Then how come home??!! Yaar kaam hi nahin hai!! And I used to think I would blog religiously...but its been almost 2 months since I blogged! Well my laziness and this wonderful reliance connection can be blamed.
But why did I decide to blog in the first place? well the reasons range from being an outlet for my "creative expressions" to the just plain and simple timepass. But considering that I have done nothing at all for the last couple of months, I think i am due for something special here.

And now why am I blogging again?? And of course there is a report doing the rounds which says that the internet has become a graveyard for abandoned blogs!! Determined to hang on as long as I can...which can be forever u know!! I got loads of stuff to keep myself busy. I have started gymming. I drive around. I spend PS2 time with my friends...but stil kuch missing hai. Since I have no work I have decided to make this a self development period in my life!! Hence I shall blog! Basically, do what I have not done before :-)

Dont know how many people get to read this, but hey at least I can look back at this! And maybe over the years recall how I was feeling on this wonderful Friday - When "there I was sitting at home....."

- utk

2007-10-09T20:58:00.000+05:30

Breaking News !!

Well it seems like my time at home just wont come to an end! I was supposed to go back last Sunday, but was suddenly affected by - the common cold; which was aided by a cough and which eventually led to "fever"!! Ye sab dekh ke more than one person remarked...." kahin se nazar utarwaao....grihdasha kharab hai!! " :)
I was also thinking of sending news about my condition to some of the news channels. Waise bhi they show anything now a days!!!

It all started with cricket!! India won and the channels went berserk!

It was nice at first...which means for a day or two; "India has won after 24 years"; " India defeats pakistan - again"; "Small town heroes, young players"

It progressed to ho-hum as the days went by - another 2-3 days; " An analysis into India's win"; " Dhoni's devils or Kapil's Devils"

And it definitely became irritating after that! Especially when the ODI series was about to start!! "Joginder sharma ke ghar mein hain hum...unki biwi se sawaal poochte hain. Kaisa lag raha hai aapko?"!!!!!

And the song Chak de India somehow lost it's sheen due to it being played over and over again! Why SRK why did u have to go and watch the final!! :-)) That really "justified" the song being played!! Thank god India lost the first 2 ODI's nahin to Chak de India would have been playing abhi tak, with reporters camped endlessly outside our cricketer's homes!!

And the worst part, there is more than one channel doing this!! My pick of the worst:

Rank 1 - Star News
Rank 2- India TV
Rank 3 - Aaj Tak

But it's not just about overkill. Some of t is downright silly!! Sample this "special" on Star News:
"MOSTWANTED SAAND" hahahahahaha LOL!! :))))))
Trust me on this! It was written in the same English in large fonts!!

I have not heard a more hilarious topic of discussion!!! It seems some bulls were on the loose in Ghaziabad and star news was discussing it with some municipal comissionar...LIVE!! And they had a bull in the background. He was the captured one, but the hit list had 9 more....YES....9 more...who were on the loose!! :)))))
I assume, we shall be hearing next in the crime related programs - " Gaur se dekhiye is saand ko...."

LOL!! Won't that be something to look out for!! :)))

- utk

2007-09-27T13:03:00.000+05:30

Back after a looong delay!!!

And continuing from my last post!!! Harry Potter is done!! All 7 books!! And what a rush!! All questions answered...finally. Though at the end of it all..JK Rowling does leave some questions unanswered. Some people die uselessly just for the sake of showing losses!! And some explanations at the end of it all are weird!!
But on the whole it was a satisfying read. And the books start from being kiddish and really come of age by the 4th and 5th books.
How am I getting time to read all these books while working and all....well I have been afflicted by Jaundice and am at home since the last 3 weeks!!!!
Kyaa beemiari hai Jaundice........u cant stay awake, u are tired, weak, hungry, u cant eat, all liquid diet and all.
On top of that...stuff like Karele ka Juice, Daal ka paani, Mooli ka juice....are supposed to cure me!!!!!!! I mean ye to hudd hai....One you are unwell and upar se such delicacies to eat :))

But then I guess, its all payback time from my body....which had been getting a lot of junk food and alcohol from my side since the last 3-4 years!! So I guess I cant really complain for the excesses that I have done..now can I??!! DAMN....I miss the red colored chicken dishes and the beer, once I even slept dreaming of food...Unbelievable......all in good time I guess!

But tab tak.....curd rice, daliya, fruit juice, fruits, daal chawal zindabad!! Its a great weight loss diet you know!! :))))

- utk

2007-07-29T23:54:00.000+05:30

Harry Potter!!!

I never knew that these books were so addictive!!! It all started when the last book came out. I had not read any of them, since I was busy with the Lord of the rings when these books came out initially!! And it was too much magic for me back then :)) and also...LOTR was more grown up...:D
So I decd...I'll be happy with the movies instead!! But when the last book came out...I thought what the hell..let me read up on them......and then tackle the last book. And Boy, did I get hooked!!! I never knew they had so much in them!! Virtual page turners! [E-pages in my case...I have PDf's of all the books you seee :) ] No wonder the peole who had read them never liked the movies!!! The movies leave out quite a lot! But then to be fair...its just not possible to cram everything into the movies.
Am on Book 5 as of now. And have the kids grown up!! I think she really has pushed the limits in this one...everyone is getting frisky with everyone else and the story just remains where it is - at least for the first 200 pages!! :)) hormones and all!!! hahaha
But I wonder why we dont have such literature coming out of India! All these fantasy genres feel so Indian!! Jaadu tona, chudails, jaadugars people flying around, talwarbaazi and all!!! I think what they need is a good TV series or movies with kickass animation and all. This should give it exposure and then acceptance! I mean if Krisssssh can fly around why not all our jaadugars!! But then Krisssh has a distinct Marvel/DC comics hangover! I think the closest we have come to movies of these genre is thru movies like - HATIMTAI and AJOOBA!! :))))
If you have not watched these movies then please do. Hatimtai has jeetendra..and Ajooba has the Big B! Corny movies to say the least....but hey its our claim to this genre being ours :)

Tab tak sample this :

"Bhreem bhraam chush chaaa....jai chamunday namah...SHAITAN ZINDABAD" - Amrish puri in Ajooba (waking up the sleeping giant)

YEAH BABY YEAH!! :)))

- utk

2007-07-26T23:20:00.000+05:30

Aaah what the hell!!
Unleashed!
Now I am sleepy!!! :)

- utk

2007-07-26T00:59:00.000+05:30

"Ye hai meri kahani..khamosh zindagani" - Khamosh?? Abe....KHAAMOSH!!!!! :)))

It was quite some time before I realized that I speak a lot! And it was after some more time that I accepted the fact that I speak a lot! So much so that quite often I end up speaking in my sleep as well!!! And hence we come to it...Sleep.......sleep is actually the driving force behind me bloggng at this unearthly hour. Ok....lack of sleep is actually more like it. But you have to hand it to the blogging phenomenon!

Want anonymity but want to speak ur mind - U blog!
Dont want anonymity but want to speak ur mind - U Blog!
Social cause. Want to spread awareness - U Blog!
Anti Social Activities. Want to Spread Awareness - U Blog!
Love something - U Blog!
Hate something - U definitely Blog! :))

But laakh rupaye ka parshan hai bhaiiya - why am I awake at this hour??? When I have office the next day? When I got back home pretty late?? I think I can attribute it totally to my state of mind! I have been in a grrrt frame of mind for some days! Why? Because I did some work @ work today :)) or because of the weather? because of the excellent food I am having?
Well I'll let u in on the reason...its my CAR! hehehehe I am having such a grrt time driving it around ki kya bataun!! Awesomely smooth, the pickup is great and the so is the feeling!! And this is before the music system is in place. Thats for the coming weekend!! :D (the first song to be played will be from PARTNER!! :D)

Am seriously considering putting this link on my Orkut webpage! But first I shall get into a regular blogging habit and then unleash this insanity.......on the world...muhahahahaha :)))))

"Warna yun ki ye to wohi misaal ho gayi na - ki sar mundaate hi ole pad gaye...ab dekho..jyada baat karne ki aadat to humein hai nahin......."

- utk

2007-07-22T10:42:00.000+05:30

When was the last time you experienced a "new" emotion????
Well I just experienced a new emotion day before.....Friday, 20th July to be precise. I got my very own car!! :-)
Now I mean, I have driven around quite a lot But this time it was different! My very own car, a new one and my first one!!! And man was I nervous or what. The Showroom guy called me up to tell me that I could take delivery of the car at 5pm! And as I kept the phone down my stomach started doing rolls!! I was so freaking nervous!! :)))
Was it the right decision? Will I be able to handle the car? And all such funny thoughts were coming to my mind.
But Once I reached the showroom and I was handed the keys of my car, I was like WOW!! Man, meri gaadi, my own kamai ki gaadi, mine and mine alone!! hehehe And it was an Incredible feeling!! I was happy+excited+nervous all multiplied n times with itself!!! As I cracked open the nariyal and drove out of the showroom...it was pure joy!!! :)
My roomie who had come over on the bike with me was enjoying it to the hilt as well. "bahut dino ke baad bina helmet ke kahin jaa raha hu ghumne!!" :))
A couple of turns, some vrooming later I was ready to drive my gaadi home. And then the evening plans quickly followed and I have already driven around 200 KM only in a couple of days!!!!! But what can be a better feeling I wonder? I think gifting a car to someone or...buying another one!! :)))
I just wish I never forget this feeling! Ever!!

Amen!

- utk

2007-07-16T11:36:00.000+05:30

Well well well....What a weekend!!!

I finally got to watch Aap ka Suroor - The moviee!!
And guess what! It was a decent watch!! Surprise Surprise! I think Himesh Bhaai had a lot of practice on TV talent shows and interviews to have got it wrong. :-)) More than that I guess my expectations from the "moviee" were very low and who would have thought it would be a thriller!!! And was fun or what!! Me and my roomie, a couple of drinks and my very own trusted laptop.....a zero watt bulb, some Snacks from the fast food joint, no office the next day..Man...Thats what I call the weekend!! :-))

And friday night was even better. Went over to the sports bar near my place. No sports that night, so the bar people handed me the remote for the TV!! And I was like wow!! You know how it is...half the fun in watching TV is...CHANNEL SURFING!!! hehehe anyhow, after spending sometime there..(Went with some ofc colleagues)...i reached back home and me and my roomie decd to go for a drive!! So out we were..on a bike, wind whipping our faces looking for a chaiwaala!! And of course...in a city with so many young ppl..it was not tuff to find a chaiwaala! Near the ICC tower on Sneapati Bapat road...we had awesome tea at around 2 in the morning!! And there were 20 odd more youngsters there! Post tea, we went across the town, with my friend showing me all places...from the corporation to the Chor bazaar!!! :-))

Waiting for the next weekend to explore the city further!! By then I shud get my batmobile as well!! :-)

- utk

2007-07-09T13:30:00.000+05:30

Wow!

Last Post - Dec 28!! That was last year!! In the 6th term @ ISB! Man...I have been lazy! Actually what prompted me to restart writing were 2 things:
1. A recent report on the increasing number of Abandoned Blogs!!!!
2. My state of joblessness @ work :)

Anyhow, things have moved...and how! I graduated from ISB!! SOMEHOW!! hehehe :D I got a 2 month break post college and joined work in Pune on the 11th of June. Have joined as "Consultant"....something which I never really intended to become. But the work profile rocks...at least on paper. Not much work as of now, but expecting a lot of work pretty soon.
But hey, ending up doing something which was least expected has happened to me in the past!

First instance: School - 11th Std
I flunked in Computers! Man...who flunks in Computers yaar...I DID! And then promptly took up music to save myself!! Truly hated Computers! But hey....who would have thought..I join Engineering college and graduate as a Computer Science Engineer!!!

Second Instance: College - 3rd Year
I get only one arrear in all my 4 years at college. Subject: Engineering Economics and MANAGEMENT! And I truly truly hated that subject! More than computers I guess. And look what happens after that!! MBA!! And in the first term....I read all about the father's of Economics and MR=MC once again!! GAH!!

Third Instance: MBA - Pre placement time
"Who wants to do consulting?? I mean I dont understand the logic!! why are so many people running after it??!!" And lo and behold - the opportunity was presented to me on a plattter....and I had no hesitation whatsoever in accepting it.

Consequently I do not see any hope for the things I really want to do. I think I will have to work towards them :))

But as I read somewhere - "when the road ahead is unknown, that's what makes for the most exciting journey!!"
( I think Vishy Anand said that, referring to a game of Chess!!)

Amen!!

- utk

2006-12-28T20:03:00.000+05:30

Happenings!

This past week, our alums were here at ISB for their annual reunion!! And was it fun or what! I mean how often do you get a couple of assignment free days...a couple of parties and a whole lot of new people to interact and party with!! :D
So we had back to back parties! One thrown by the alums and one by the current students. Oh by the way whenever I say parties..I mean social gatherings where the drinks flow on late into the night, music plays loud, people sing and dance till they drop and thats something that does not end b4 4 in the morning!!! And somehow, I more often than not, remain riiiiiiight till the very end!! All sozzled and dancing and tired!! Jab ki pata hai subah class hai!! :)) What has the ISB turned me into!! :) but then I think to myself, my room's nearby, the course ends soon, class hi to hai, not going to work afterall and so it goes on and on!! :D

On the same note, met some members of the founding batch!! I have to hand it to them. If they would have not had the guts to join this place I dont think this place would have existed! Looking at how well they are doing, I see a lot of hope for myself.

Oh by the way...planning to write an episodic, part fictional, part real story based on my experiences in ISB. Will be loosley based on my favourite people here at ISB!! But first, i intend to write a post on them...:) to give everyone a feel of what grrt people they are!

- utk

2006-12-27T23:03:00.000+05:30

BOY!!! IT'S BEEN LONG!!

I last blogged more than a month back. I mean waise hi naya naya shauk hai!! And upar se ye irregularity!! "Ye acccchi baaat nahin hai!!"
Man it was an eventful one month though. I dont know why decembers in my life are turning out to be so eventful! Exactly an year back, I was neck deep in tonnes of work, I had just appeared for the ISB interview, I was about to go for my US visa interview!! Man it was crazy!
And I thought it could not get crazier! HA!! Life teaches you a lot hehehehe

Well what's been happenning Now! A lot actually! A LOT of fun!! :)) I sung in the ISB celebrations!! And it went off well :) I have been RJing for the ISB radio and that seems to be going off nicely as well. I have met a lot of new folks here at the ISB and can safely say that I know more than half of the batch now!! :)) My cousin sis got engaged! And I did not do too badly in my papers as well!!! Parties galore! The alums were here!! (More on them in the next post)

On the downside....well...Google was a disappointment! Not a big one though, because I was already thinking of it as a long shot. Maybe that was why I did not get through! Got shortlisted and as they say got dinged!! (ye dinged word ka origin dhundna padega!) Had some teeny weeny health problems, bunked a few classes! And MAINLY I lost a lot in squash!! AND I HATE LOSING!! Kyaa karen the only option is to get better!!Working on it!!! As some one said...."There is no place for compassion in sport!"

But its been long!! Planning to write regularly from now on!
I mean it's been so long that blogger has moved out from the beta version to the LIVE version!! :))

- utk

2006-11-21T18:36:00.000+05:30

Term Ends!!

Hellooooo!!!! The term's over! Just have a take home final due on thursday! And a presentation due on Saturday and oh haan...2 mini projects due on Saturday night!!!!! But apart from that I am pretty free! :)
Man time is flying by or what!!! 5 terms over!!! 3 more to go! And then.........

Manager Joshi will emerge!! hahahahaha LOL!!

Well a lot has happened in the time since the last post! Saw DON, Jaanemann, Departed, attended a couple of parties, got sloshed after one....and so on and so forth....the norm you see!! But the most amazing thing that happened in the meanwhile was the international job postings that came through! There was such a BUZZZ on campus! And that too for jobs which had a total of 12-15 openings only...and required a high number of years of experience! And I am so sure that all the 400 people must have applied at least once by now! And jisne nahin kiya....well all i can say is that he/she is not under any sort of peer pressure!! :))

Well I applied with MAQ s/w... it's a startup based out of Seattle. Got through to the second round but was dunked after that. Applied to SAP as well...but was not shortlisted. They have an amazing selection procedure......once they shortlist peole from all over the world(yes thats right..the world) they will select one person!!! I mean all that for an Executive assistant job!!! Matlab hudd hai yaaar!!!! :)) But nothing against them. It must be one hell of a job thats all!! :)
Relaxing for a couple of days now until the work starts again!

Apart fromt hat its been classes, assignments, masti and oh yeah, current point of interest....Squash!!! Now a days every evening......rec centre mein the Utk sqash show is on!! No just kidding....I am still learning but beware....I am gettting better at it peoples!!!! :)

- Utk

2006-10-27T11:16:00.000+05:30

Crazier!!

I read somewhere that ShahRukh Khan does not sleep much! He takes power naps and then is back on is feet and ready for work!! BOSS...someone tell me how to do that!! I have been so exhausted over the last couple of days and sincerely, dil se....I miss my weekends!!! I mean in the core terms there was at least one day on the week when I could wake up whenever I want to...sleep in....relax..but abhi....Friday...class, meeting after class, submission next morning, class after that, presentation preparation meeting after that, presentation the next day, submission after that!!! Its Crazy!! And you know the worst part.. there is no end in sight...:(( I have 4-5 submissions for one subject alone next week!! Ye kaisi chaal hai....2 classes for that subject next week and 4-5 submissions!!!!

And upar se India lost again!! Someone tell chappell that experimentation is when you do something different at times, it might seem logical and maybe its not. But then thats the whole logic of experimentation....not when you do something illogical all the time and the same thing all over again! Irrfan Pathan at No. 3 and one spinner is out and one pacer comes in!! Arrey....and on top of that the pacer ends up bowling only 4 overs and the part time spinners bowl 18 overs amongst themselves! As my dear friend Gaurav put it..."Spinners India mein nahin chalenge to kya Perth mein chalenge"........GROAN!!!

On the bright side..(I am not that defeated yet)...the resume bulding activites are in full swing as the placment season approaches and there is a different buzz on campus!!! The PPT for SAP was jam packed and I am sure would have been the same for Deustche Bank as well!! Some arbit companies have come in as well :)) ...."Al Ghamin" or something like that...but they are paying quite well!! But yaar...kaun jaaega Kuwait....at least I dont want to. BT has come in with an offer but it seems their intake is very low and of course they will be going in for people with relevant domain experience....but will that stop me from applying..NO NEVER...NO RETREAT BABY AND NO SURRENDER! :)

And then..........will be going to see DON tomm night! YAY!! And hope to get tickets for Jaanemann while we are there heee haaa haaa

Next post.....Review of DON coming up!!!!

- Utk

2006-10-19T01:31:00.000+05:30

Action!

After a 4 full action packed days here at ISB - I finally get some time. It took me some time to get my bearings right after landing here.
The first task - to find out..."Kal classes kaunsi hain...and kahan hain!!"
I mean I knew I had my first class at 8 the next morning but it got better.....I came to know I had a submission in the 10:15 class!
Anyhow, the first class....at 8 in the morning. I made an honest to god attempt to reach in time for breakfast. So the plan was to reach for brkfast at 7:30 (I don't remember the last time I had brkfast at 7:30!!)....and I never woke up before 7:30. ( I still don't remember the last time I had brkfast at 7:30!!). Somehow, running, huffing and puffing...I made it in time..tea cup in hand and the term finally got underway.
Since then, I have been awake till 4 in the morning a couple of times and yesterday I slept at 6!!! Right now, I have to prepare for the case tomm before I sleep.....and wake up refreshed for my wonderful 8 o clock class.... I mean hudd hai yaar...even classes in school did not start by 8!!!!! :))

Btw I did have to turn in the submission in the 10 AM class!!! It was mandatory and graded. Here's what happened! I met a friend in class who had not formed a group but who was done with his assignment!! So I formed a group with him there and then....and somehow got through that!!! I know...unethical - Now technically speaking..it kind of gets tough to prepare a submission when you dont have the course packs in sight!! :)) Have formed groups in the other sections with people I hardly know as everyone I knew formed groups in the holidays!!! I mean what the..... but again, this is just the beginning!!!

Trust me, it'll get better!! :)

- utk

2006-10-14T13:44:00.000+05:30

My first post!!! :D

It had to happen! But ye naa pata tha that it would happen so soon!!
Universal truth: Holidays will always end sooner than you think!!

Will be heading back to hyderabad tomorrow! And then the fun will start, instantly!!! Have a deliverable due on Monday itself. Classes start at 8 in the morning! No schedule, study groups in sight! Come to think of it...I dont even have my course material with me yet..:(( I mean these guys really know how to run a tight ship..."toit - toit" (as goldmember would say). And of course before that, need to have the customary khana "peena" gathering with friends! Man life is tough! And I am sure things will just get crazier as the sem progresses!But come to think of it, with such a packed schedule, I dont know what I am turning into!! More importantly, how will I cope with the khaali time once things get over here at ISB!! Errr...on second thoughts, I think I can handle the khali time well enough..:))

Next post from wonderland!!

- utk