Thursday, November 11, 2010

power of silence.....

 POWER OF SILENCE....

As saying goes, "Character of a true person lies in his silentness, calmness and composure". All time solution to the greatest problem  lies in silence within yourself. Things are very simple. We human being makes it so complex that in end we end up without solution. Uptill now, I learnt many things from my people. I am indeed grateful to all my friends for being part of my life's journey. Yesterday, downwith fever over the last few days, I was reluctantly checking mails. I came across one beautiful mail by our Anil Sachdev Sir whom I repspect a lot in my life. He spent a day teaching @ ISB. He got very nice feedback from the ISB students. We are very fortunate that Our dear sir shared those feedback. This indeed shows the transperancy level of our B-School School Of Inspired Leadership [SOIL], Gurgaon. We are really grateful for becoming part of SOIL. Specially to be remembered as the 2nd batch of SOIL. 

One of ISB B-school Student, Sanjeev Bhalla, who wrote feedback and shared his poem whose poem captivated  me so much that I want to jot it down on my blog so that I won't miss it when its needed. He shared 5 poems... I will share those poems one by one :) here it goes the 1st one.

The Silence of the Eternal Night

In the silence of this eternal night,
My heart stirs, my lips arch a sigh,
This silence has a timeless quality,
As if it knows, what remains unknown.

The harp plays, the crickets sing,
The Ocean roars, the lightening thunders,
Yet, I am parched,
As I gaze across the inky Ocean.

O Moon! Where are thou..
Lend my heart a sliver of your light.
My loneliness is my companion,
Accompanied by the melody of my pain.


Love... you have pierced my heart,
You came as I lay asleep,
You took away the solace of ignorance,
You killed me, yet called that awakening?

My eyes look across the sky,
In the wait for the beloved,
A tear trickles away into oblivion,
In the silence of this eternal night.

                                       --- Sanjeev Bhalla [ISB Student, Batch 2011]

Power of Silence can only felt through silence no matter how much I write about it. This poems says it all.

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Miss you always.........



Accidently, I came across this video, after seeing this video. I felt kind of Deja Vu feeling.

"You don't have to do this" , he told his weeping son. "Yes I do", the son declared. "Well then, we are going to finish this TOGETHER"..

Missing that TOGETHER word in my life. After you have gone, saw the harshness of this life. whatever I did, I am following my heart. I don't have any regrets for it. Finally, landed at SOIL with scholarship. I was so happy at that time to share these moments. I believe, you are watching me. Life with you was so much fun and memorable. But now racing alone without you by my side. Now living in your memories. Dad, dunno how am I gonna finish this race without you by my side. However memoir of yours time spent with us, your unconditional love for us and that innocent smile keeps me moving on & on. I am grateful to the God for this life. Miss you DAD. I dedicate this songs to you. I can feel your presence everywhere in everyone.We all miss you.

You Raise Me Up: "

When I am down, and oh my soul so weary...
when troubles come, and my heart burdened be.
Then I am still, and wait here in the silence,
until you come and sit awhile with me.
You raise me up so I can stand on mountains,
you raise me up to walk on stormy seas...
I am strong when I am on your shoulders,
you raise me up to more than I can be..

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Today's feeling

The best of times, the worst of times.

Your Joy is your sorrow unmasked,... 
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being,
the more joy you can contain,
Verily you are suspended like,
scales between your sorrow and your joy.

----- Kahlil Gibran, The prophet

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A song close to me....

I'm not a perfect person
There's many things I wish I didn't do
But I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know

I've found out a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is you

I'm sorry that I hurt you
It's something I must live with everyday
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears
Thats why i need you to hear

I've found out a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is You


       ------ By Hoobstank (The Reason)

Friday, July 09, 2010

Introspection.....

09/07/2010, on this day, I have been forced to go depth of myself. Tomorrow, we have Academie flag-off. Objective of Academie's are to initiate thought process various Streams/domains/functional areas within “Management", To provide some insights into what are the Industry requirements in different types of industries.And To provide the initial exposure of Marketing, IT, Consulting & HR Academies. I really like this concept. Only problem I am facing is that, I need to work on my long term goal. Tomorrow gonna be the very important day. Eager to see what really lies in that so called BIG BIG designation.


What I learnt:






" Be the Observer of moments/thoughts. Never ever react on impulse" - outfromdeep

Thursday, July 08, 2010

back to blogging......

ooooooosh, yeppieee, almost 15 days. I am struggling to cope up with situations.

  • Got dinged from Reliance Stanford Fellowship, however it's a nice experience to write essay in those short words. There are many profiles which really rocks and worthy to appreciable ones who deserved the scholarship. Congrats to all those people who made it.

Overall I am happy for the decisions and choices I made. I am going through changes in SOIL. Today is a very very special day for me because today we have SIP (Social Innovation Program) program. I felt this is what many B-schools are missing in their curriculum. Mr. Jeroninio Almeida guided us through ICONGO. His presentaion was amazing. feeling great to meet such people in SOIL. Last but not the least, in the End he showed us a captivating video, it reminded me the kind of experience I have saw through. It's reality of life of people who are working at grass root level. By just shedding tears after seeing such videos does't change anything ( I appreciate the concern we show but that doesn't make any changes). As Jerry rightly said, we need to involve ourselves and work for the change. I will share the video if I will get hold of it.


Another few things what I saw in GGN is that many fellas use: FUCK you man, fuck this, fuck that.... hehe it's funny to see people use words for in their every sentence. Though I shouldn't comment on this issue because it's left to the individual.

Dunno why people become not reachable after getting placed. OR may be they perceived me as arrogant or egoistic fella. But believe me I am not. I am struggling to get myself out of my comfort zone. I am bit introvert. I am going through changes. It takes time. Till then I might lose few ones whom I don't wanna loose., they helped me alot.I am ever grateful to them but this world hardly ever understands the expressions without words specially GGN :(.

In the End I would love to end, by saying........

"To make a change, Be the Change what you want to be" - outfromdeep

Saturday, June 19, 2010

few days more to wait.......... :(

My laptop got crashed & No internet connection. seems like few more days I have to wait. Till then No blogging, no wasteboook, and no more posts on PG.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Reliance Stanford scholarship - essay

Huh like as always, this time too, competition is stiff. Only 50 students will be shortlisted who would then apply to Stanford.There is no change in Reliance Stanford scholarship - essay compared to last years essay question. The Question is 
How do you aspire to shape India's future?

Good thing is that it's same as last years one but the thing where it sucks is its 250 word limit. God knows what to write in such short words. Personally, I felt short of expressing my thoughts clearly in those 250 words. However I tried my best to put to it.

There are few tips which I gathered from few blogs. Would like to jot it down here so that it can help aspirants like me who are in dire need such scholarship.

  • Its "Shaping India's Future"; not "Changing. As trystwithmba quoted. This essay is all about expressing your experience and how it shaped/shaping Indian Society( even if its tiny change, it doesn't matter)
  • As leoneidas said rightly, This Scholarship is for "developing leaders in India who are committed to the country’s human and socio-economic progress." Hence it is imminent that the essay should discuss human and socio- economic issues in India and how they form part of your plan of shaping India's future.
  • The Application form asks about your professional aspirations and also states that "In the essay section, you will have an opportunity to elaborate upon your professional aspirations." Hence it would be advisable to link your professional aspirations to the theme of the essay.
  • Last but not least, DO KEEP IN MIND that, You have to complete the essay WITHIN 250 WORD LIMIT.

At-last done with Stanford GSB Fellowship

After suffering from mumps which took me 15 days to recover. At-last now submitted the Stanford GSB The Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship. Now All I have to do is to follow up this Scholarship. In the mean time 5 days to go for BTG scholarship Announcement. :)

Timing :

1 June 2010 Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship application submission deadline
1 July 2010 Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship finalists notified
1 July 2010 to
6 October 2010
Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship finalists prepare for and take GMAT exam (and, if applicable, TOEFL/IELTS)
1 July 2010 to
6 October 2010
Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship finalists prepare and submit Stanford MBA application
December 2010 Stanford MBA Program notifies Reliance Dhirubhai Fellows
September 2011 Stanford MBA students matriculate.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

The "alien" in me

Credit goes to Suraj Viswanath, and his friend :).

 The "alien" in me 
 "Ships are safe when docked. But that's not what ships are built for! This is the story (rather broken memories) of a friend, who dared to dream and whose visions determined the course as I sailed out of my cocoon into the unchartered waters around. His colorful ideas emblazoned my hitherto dark and dull skies! His ship is not around today, “returning to my elements” as he would often refer to, but his memories live in me forever.
I knew him from the time he started looking out into the dark starry skies from our pigeonhole and kept wondering why those brilliant stars couldn't just wipe out the darkness in between! The craziest form of wonder ever posed to my analytical brain! I started listening to him when he explained why the beautiful things in the world just can't keep you happy at all times! We shared a common room in our eventful years of engineering but it was not artificial intelligence but natural imagination that we were up to in our night out talks. He was not keen on studies, he was never a member of our study group and no one really noticed this lonely soul until he ran into me with his crazy (I won't say that now though!) visions! And luckily for my friend I was a good listener and sharp arguer. There was a strange tinge of beauty and mystery in his eyes as he reflected on his experiments with space, time and the life that existed in their coordinates. To him darkness and disorder were the default entities in space, birth the default in time, and sorrow the default emotion in life! I would argue citing the beautiful sunrises, perfect pictures and happy minds around.
Then he would ask me, “Dear friend are you happy today?”
My frank answer would be “No! Something or the other definitely went wrong, just the depth of wound varies day to day!”
To which he would say, “Huh buddy you just can't swallow the beauty around, you just can't truly replace sorrow, you just can't align the stars… because disorder is meant to be there for evolution! Like the darkness carved out hard on the skies, sorrow is imprinted in you from birth; from mom you imbibe more than anything, pain!”
"Happiness, and order are illusions the human race invented out of evolution chains and the day the cover is blown no magnificent sunrise will protect you but your elements will: your elements which originated amidst those chaotic times… times when no order, no light not even 'time' existed!”
“So buddy be among the stars and nothing can touch you from this world! At the end of every dazzling night all candles are but flames.”
I am dumb. I couldn't just take those heavy doze of philosophy wrapped in his crazy words. But frankly I started liking the way he viewed the world around and I believed he never 'belonged' here and gave him the nickname 'alien'.
The mysterious connection between darkness and sadness was revealed before me as my friendly philosophical mind carried me to the boundaries of imagination. Both are deep and vast, I couldn't help correlating! But I never gave way. I am not crazy! I held firm to my line of thoughts…
With the wisdom of a scholar, I would say, “These days, engineering days… are meant to be so! Later on, we will find our own careers and have a family. Everything will be in order and happiness will fall out from the dark skies… the sun will rise again!” For a moment I thought I had convinced him about my own theory of happiness ahead but then he would smile back at me as if there was no tomorrow! Well, for him the only truth was birth. He was never afraid of death as “death is nothing but our final birth”, in his crazy, crazy world! “You came to this world in pain and in a birth and when you leave for the 'balanced' world you have to leave in pain and through a birth.” His law of conservation was way out of reach for my encephalon!
My head used to explode as I revolved, like the earth, around his mysterious world, keeping the pace and distance so as to avoid being sucked into the sunny flames of his ideas! But then, these thoughtful nights' lasting hangover equipped me with an expanding mind ready to face the next dawn's surprises. For me the intoxication in his visions was just the beverage for my mind!
Years passed by, the sparkling rainbow in the vanilla sky threw back its colors on my life. I got the job I thought I wanted, the girl I truly loved and had the “order in life” I always predicted. Seasons rolled by, drenched in summer showers and in autumn I gazed with dismay at the leaves, fallen from life, indistinguishable.
I didn't see 'alien' again… rather never did I dare to find him, but his ideas remained with me. Every sunrise gave me a new birth; happiness never ever was retained in the delicate sieve of time.
And today, as time waits to place the final spring of life in the form of lifeless roses on my chest, I suddenly find my friend 'alien'. He wasn't crazy but 'he' was 'I' fast-forwarded into the future! The fresh air, fragrance of red wine and promising roses still clung to my frozen black suit in tact, but I will be carrying back just the pain for my 'last birth'. Church bells ringing around my deaf ears had the whisper of my love's words as I succumbed to time. Oh my dear friend can you be more right? This coffin is as good as a cradle… birth indeed is the default in time! And as I look out to the fading stars from my glassy cage I ask 'alien', “Dear friend, tell me why this engulfing darkness in spite of the brilliant stars out there?” I almost kissed the stars when I saw him smiling as he whispered, “Soul mate, be among the stars and nothing can touch you from this world!” The final realization of life came inches before my black hole but still it made the transition smooth!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Reason A Season and A Lifetime"© by Brain A. "Drew" Chalker. 
People always come into you life for a reason, a season and a lifetime.  When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.
When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly.  They have come to assist you through a difficulty, or to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or even spiritually.  They may seem like a Godsend to you, and they are.  They are there for a reason, you need them to be.
Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.  Sometimes they die, Sometimes they just walk away.  Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.  What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.  The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.
When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.  They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.  They may teach you something you have never done.  They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.  Believe it!  It is real!  But, only for a season.  And like Spring turns to Summer and Summer to Fall, the season eventually ends.
Lifetime, relationships teach you a lifetime of lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a slid emotional foundation.  Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway); and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas in your life.  It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.  Thank you for being part of my life...."

Saturday, May 08, 2010

DreamChaser's

Taken from DreamChaser's NerverGIveup TIPS.

This post also won the best post from clear admit.

As R2 results slowly rolled out for various schools, the blogsphere/online forums became active again. For some, it was a triumphant finish. For others, it was the land of nowhere.

This post is dedicated to those who unfortunately did not make it this application season, especially those who I've personally interacted with.

It was heart-breaking even for a bystander to see these individuals pouring their heart and soul into bschool applications, as well as two years of precious time, and ended up with nothing but disappointing emails from their dream schools. As a fellow applicant, it was also my worst nightmare that I had once imaging myself going through. It's definitely a low point in life.

Then again, among the large pool of applicants this year, there were those resilient re-applicants, who got up where they fell and charged forward with such determination that one can only admire. Many of those re-applicants succeeded in their 2nd or 3rd try because their applications got better, or simply, because they persisted.

I have always believed that the key to success is about having the right attitude, which includes an unshakable confidence and a real humble heart. I fully understand that rejections from our dream schools can be so crushing, that we feel desperate, insignificant and incompetent. But the truth is, there is so much to you than four essays and a simple five page application! So friends, please don't let bschool application define or defeat you. The future is still bright, as long as you are up for it!

I feel like I have a lot more to say but don't know exactly how to say it. So I am just here, to show my support, as a fellow applicant.

I hope five years down the road, you can look back at this episode of your life with a big smile.

Sunday, May 02, 2010

The Great Learning....

I was going through The Great Learning by Confucius. This one is really captivating. hats off to Confucius.  

Leadership @ ancient times.

Things have their root and their branches. Affairs have their end and their beginning. To know what is first and what is last will lead near to what is taught in the Great Learning.

The ancients, who wished to illustrate illustrious virtue throughout the kingdom, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated their families. Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their persons. Wishing to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their hearts. Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the utmost their knowledge. Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things.

Things being investigated, knowledge became complete. Their knowledge being complete, their thoughts were sincere. Their thoughts being sincere, their hearts were then rectified. Their hearts being rectified, their persons were cultivated. Their persons being cultivated, their families were regulated. Their families being regulated, their states were rightly governed. Their states being rightly governed, the whole kingdom was made tranquil and happy.

If  this world adopts Confucius principles then there will be no more boundaries, no more racism, no more jealousy, no more terrorists, no more poverty, no more hungriness and no nuke war.

One more to go...

Quick note:

After submitting SOIL's scholarship and BTG scholarship. I left out with The Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship Stanford. Currently, I am working on their Essay.Hope to get it done as soon as possible.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

life takes course of it's own...

The Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship Stanford Vs SOIL Vs BTG Scholaship

Are you  bugged by the B-school admission fees?, do you feel you can't afford that much? Is this iffy feeling, making you to give up your dream school?. Are you giving up your dream chase?. Don't do that. Believe in yourself. More above listen to your heart. Heart never lie. It always shows true path. So cling to your dream because Life is full of surprises and gifts to be embraced.
 
Looking @ my life so far. I can't even think of paying normal B-schools admission fees. However I strongly believe in

 

““When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.””

                                                                                                        -- Paulo Coelho

  Accidentally, I came across School of Inspired Leadership. Founded by and backing with such leading Industry leaders. It aims to  build competent, compassionate and inspiring leaders. After going through their SOIL website and interacting with current students and faculties. I am so much happy to see a B-school which weighs more on leadership than management. As far as I know, especially in India, our B-school stresses more on management than bringing out the innate skills of a leader. What I like about SOIL is

  • Individual Learning Plan ( ILP ) & Social Innovation Project (SIP). 
  • Close ties between students and faculty. 
  • Unique Caliper and TAP admission Process.

Still SOIL has a long way to go. However I feel. It's gonna be best B-school in coming days provided. If it keep up the continuous improvement as its doing now.  After going through their admission process. Here in the end. I am selected into SOIL Business Leadership Program 2010-2011 batch. Though I can't afford whole admission fee and many private and nationalized banks are not entertaining  for education loan ( I can understand their fear because firstly it's new B-school, secondly its not recognized by AICTE. However As far as I know, none one year Executive PGP program recognized by AICTE).  As we all know, it's hard to convince Indian Government Servants as their mindset set only on AICTE. They don't even bother about the school's vision and placement stats.

With their rejection for education loan, now I am struggling to fund my admission fee. When we have storm clouds of trouble and doubt in our lives, our faith in God and faith in ourselves will help us find our way.  After discussing this Issue with Current Students. I found a ray of hope. I came to know that SOIL provides Need Based Scholarship to Financially weak background students who can't afford their admission fees. So now, I have applied for the scholarship as I belong to Need Based Student group. Eager to see how future will unfold now onwards.

In the mean time, I am on the verge of completing my beatthegmat scholarship essays. And I will submit before this month end. And Luckily, I found the The Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship for Stanford MBA program. Which covers all your admission and living fees. After seeing this my soul say hooray :). I am applying for this scholarship now. .

BTG scholarship -- SOIL scholarship -- The Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship.. Wow Thank you god. That's all I can say now. keeping my fingers crossed. :) 

Thank you guys, for providing such scholarships.

Monday, April 05, 2010

If many of you, who still unaware of BeattheGMAT scholarship. Don't let money hinder your dream chase. There are always opportunities. We should grab those opportunity at the right time. Right Now BeattheGMAT scholarship knocking your door. Open your door before it goes away :).

Please check out the following link.  to know more about BeattheGMAT scholarship eligibility and process criteria.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Take Charge of UR destinee

Azim Premji, founder, Wipro , at IIT Delhi's convocation ceremony.

 The funny thing about life is that you realise the value of something only when it begins to leave you. As my hair turned from black, to salt and pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to realise the enthusiasm and excitement of youth. At the same time, I have begun to truly appreciate some of the lessons I have learnt along the way. As you embark on your careers, I would like to share them with you. I am hoping that you will find them as useful as I have.

The world you are entering is in many ways very different now from what it was when I began my career. It was the late sixties and India still depended on other countries for something as basic as food. We aroused sympathy, not admiration whenever we went overseas. Recently, someone told me, that when visitors came to India then, they came to see what they could do for India. Now, they come to see what India can do for them. As a hopeful Indian, I look at our country as one which is rich in ethnic and cultural diversity and one that has an effective, secular democracy which will help us build an enduring society.

Lesson 1: Take charge
This was the first thought that came to me, when over four decades ago, I stepped into Wipro factory at Amalner. I was 21 and had spent the last few years in Stanford University Engineering School at California. Many people advised me to take up a nice, cushy job rather than face the challenges of running a hydrogenated oil business. Looking back, I am glad I decided to take charge instead. Essentially, leadership begins from within. It is a small voice that tells you where to go when you feel lost. If you believe in that voice, you believe in yourself. When it comes to choosing your careers, you have to take charge of your own destiny.

Lesson 2: Earn your happiness
The second lesson I have learnt is that a rupee earned is of far more value than five found. In fact, what is gifted or inherited follows the old rule of come easy, go easy. I guess we only know the value of what we have if we have struggled to earn it.

Lesson 3: Nothing succeeds like failure
The third lesson I have learnt is no one bats a hundred every time. Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the head. The moment it does, you are already on your way to failure. And if you do encounter failure along the way, treat it as an equally natural phenomenon. The important thing is, when you lose, do not lose the lesson.

Lesson 4: Nothing fails like success
The fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility. There is a thin line of difference between confidence and arrogance. Confident people are always open to learn. A recent survey of executives in Europe showed that the single most important quality needed for leadership success was the willingness to learn from any situation. Arrogance on the other hand stops learning. It comes with a feeling that one knows all that needs to be known and has done all that needs to be done.

Lesson 5: There has to be a better way
Partly as a corollary to what I have just said, we must remember that no matter how well we do something there has to be a better way! Excellence is not a destination but a journey. Creativity and innovation sometimes need inspiration from other disciplines. It is probably not a chance that Einstein's interest in music was as much as his interest in Physics. Bertrand Russell was as much a mathematician as a philosopher. Excellence and creativity go hand in hand.

Lesson 6: Respond, not react
There is a world of difference between the two and in terms of success and failure. The difference is that the mind comes in between responding and reacting. When we respond, we evaluate with a calm mind and do whatever is most appropriate. We are in control of our actions. When we react, we are still doing what the other person wants us to do.

Lesson 7: Remain physically active
It is easy to take health for granted when you are young. I have found that exercise not only improves the quality of time but also reduces the time you need for sleep. The truth is that stress will only increase in a global world. You must have your own mechanism to deal with it.

Lesson 8: Never compromise on your core values
Mahatma Gandhiji often said that you must open the windows of your mind, but you must not be swept off your feet by the breeze. One must define what you stand for. This is not difficult. But values lie, not in the words used to describe them, as much as in the simple acts. And that is the hard part. Like someone said, "I could not hear what you said because what you did was coming out far too loud".

Lesson 9: Play to win
Playing to win brings out the best in us and in our teams. It brings out the desire to stretch, to achieve that which seems beyond our grasp. However, it is not about winning at any cost. It is not about winning every time. It is not about winning at the expense of others. It is about innovating all the time. It is a continuous endeavour to do better than last time.

Lesson 10: Give back to society
All of us have a collective social responsibility towards doing our bit to address them. Of all the challenges, the key to me is education. We have a paradoxical situation, where on the one hand we have jobs chasing scarce talent and on the other, rampant unemployment and poverty. The only way to bridge these two ends of the pole is by providing quality education that is accessible by all.