Its a new day...

I havnt penned my thoughts in a long tim... mostly was empty headed.. so nothing really to pen... my job was getting mundane... challenges over and was personally at the top of my game at BIG FM. i had to do something when the going was good.. instead of picking up from the rubbles...

but then a sudden wave hit me... start my own company... what an inspiring thought.. so i thought and i thought and then i thought some more.. finally running out of ideas... went off to wrk.

I knew that for me to move my fat ass and do something wud take a monumental task. and so i did just that. Come jan 2010, i put in my papers and quit BIG FM.

Now i had a mission... do something worthwhile and not wrk for some company. decided to launch my own chain of preschools (hey! everyones doin it!)

So there u have it folks... Me George Mathew... launching my own preschool chain....

My friend put it aptly when she said "Oh! so now u can start ur education!!"

:-D

First for 2010

Almost a month after the start of 2010, here is my first post for the year. Rather slow dont you think? Me too! So what's been happening? Well, lots actually...

1) 2010 came with a bang. Yes, new year was lots of fun. I was with my sweetums, my lil colour tele and we had the most romantic new year together... she serving me the mind numbing visuals and me lapping it up. Anyone's guess who the bigger idiot is!

2) Well, the debate about the bigger Idiot will be made clear with this next happening. I quit as Station Head of BIG 92.7 FM! And that too without another job in hand. So come Feb 22, ill be out on the streets without a job. None of my attempts so far at another job is bearing fruit.

3) Im thinking of alternate career options:

a) Entrepreneurship - Dotcom company. workin on a few ideas.

b) Agriculture and associated industries

c) Rural Tourism - what say? I am from a very scenic village in south india with mountains, waterfalls, temples and beaches. If i have a good product, will you buy?

So there you have it. An exciting start to 2010. Well, lets see where it leads me.

What do you think?

The Placement song...

Adapted from Jim Reeves Merry Christmas Polka

This is Placement season 

So there isn't any reason 

We can't prance the Placement polka...
Hear phone-bells ringing

Everybody's shouting, 

doing the GD polka...

Placement freeze and chaos 

Makes everyone so potty 

And gloom just fills the air...
It's a bloody screwed up time 

For a boy and a girl to get placed

While crying the Placement holler...

The scary Placement polka

Let's howl, let's scream, let's shriek...
Everyone's so snappy

The air is filled with dread...

Watch the sweet friends bluffing 

As they pace beneath the company logo
It's a sight to behold 

For the placed and the not-so-placed 

The meeeerrrrrry Placeeeement pooooolkaaaaaa...

:D

Dwarfed amongst Giants!

In the village there is an ominous whisper to be heard.. among the trees, among the gathered folk. “They” have landed…

Everything is still for a moment… then screams, confusion and mayhem rule the roost. The fort is sealed and doubled up with sentries. Every able bodied soldier is bought out into the fray to fight. The children are sent to the safe confines of the dungeons. If you listen carefully you can hear their muffled cries. And the frightened fort awaits… their DOOM…

Every ear is tuned to the familiar clickety-click of hoofs. Once they hear that, they know their end is but hours away… Eventually the worst is confirmed… “They” have reached the gates.

The fight ensues… The fort puts up a brave fight. Slowly but surely the defences fail, one after another. Then in one final blow the fort falls… The prince is bought to his knees. But “They” are merciful… ruthless, but merciful… “They” grant the prince his freedom in exchange for treasures and submission. Having ensured victory and collected their trophies, “They” ride out into the sunset… In their Black Stallions, their mind set on their next target… But none know who or where.. And this keeps the princes in the neighbouring counties guessing and confused… Awaiting their turn, unable to defend, unable to win…

Who are “They” you ask? Well, not the Norman conquerers. But close… “They” are conquerors alright! And “They” have been relentlessly at their task for some time now… Leaving behind death and destruction wherever “They” set foot.

“They” arrive in small groups… To fight for glory and fame. “They” are trained to feel no pain, to fight till their last drop of blood, to their last breath. To do or die… The strength that makes them such a formidable foe, a force to be reckoned with.

“They” bulldoze enemy lines, leave behind carnage. “They” Bring back gold, glory and trophies, encrusted in gold, silver and precious gems to their Alma Mater.

So, what does it feel to have the best of the breed in your midst? What does it feel to look up and see glory? What does it feel to stand along side Giants?

Ask me, and I shall tell you!  Ask me, and I shall tell you stories of their victories! Ask me, and I shall deliver the victory song, with the war cry and the dances.

Ask me, and I shall tell you what it feels to be DWARFED among GIANTS.

And I’m proud of being part of the clan…

To see full (and growing) list of their conquests click –>http://greatlakes.edu.in/studentAchievements.php 

Long time, No see...

Hi all,

I kow i havnt blogged in a while. Reason? I was touring Singapore and Malaysia as part of an International Study Tour that we have here at Great Lakes. 

It was a fantastic trip. I shall be writing about it soon... but now, i have an exam to write tomorrow and havnt started prep for it. 

Ill take my leave now. and be back with a bang (or whimper) however it is you see it...

:)

My first payment...

Today was an important day in my photography "career" :) I got my first ever "payment" for a picture that i took of my classmate - Abhishek. What did he give me? A big pack of Cadburys Dairymilk :) (Ofcourse, i dint ask for it)

Actually, the pic in Qn is not one that im particularly proud of due to several reasons like its out of focus, the exposure was way too high, the ISO is at 1600, there is visible shake etc etc etc. 

But hey! My client is happy... Not only happy, he is positively ecstatic! And that's what matters... the happiness of your clients. Apparently, he got a LOT of positive comments and admirations from friends and others...

Thanks Abhishek!

:)

LOVE is all around us...

At Great lakes we are privileged to have considerable time kept aside for LOVE. Oh Yeah! You heard that right… We have designated time set aside, that too with the permission of the management, for LOVE. It happens almost every Sunday (and sometimes on other days in the evenings) when a few of us get together for these amazing sessions. And frankly, its one of the most exciting times we have here. Yes it is!

But before your kinky dirty mind starts imagining all sorts of things let me tell you what LOVE means to us. Our Uncle Bala defines LOVE as Leveraging Our Varied Experience. In essence, it is about sharing information or knowledge that has been gained from all the years that we had been working, whether in IT or manufacturing or Banking or Shipping or Logistics or wherever. The sessions are run entirely by the current students for the students. It is a medium for spreading knowledge (to those who seek it). It is a medium for expanding horizons. It is a medium for incubating and sustaining interest in fields otherwise alien to us.

A few examples:

Abhimanyu Shandilya, a Lawyer and classmate, takes a course called “Law for Managers” on free Sundays. He basically introduces us to many of the intricacies that we as managers need to be aware of. Of course, we cannot obviously expect him to teach a 5 year course in a few hours. But he does lend us enough information on contracts and Indian law to help us be on our toes. It is one of the best LOVE sessions currently running on House-Full status at Great Lakes. Infact, Abhimanyu does such a good job that he can probably give our real professors a run for their money. I personally think he will be very successful if he ever thinks of getting into the education field.

The other LOVE session of interest is the one conduced by the Punter’s club where experienced investors like Umesh gives us novice investors gyan on how to beat the market using his Technical Analysis, Elliot Wave patters, Candle Sticks and Fibonacci series methods. Most of the analysis he did made a lot of sense and the proof was right there in front of us to see. He has managed a whopping 54% returns on the current bear market in under one month!! Now that’s true Experience!!

The Great Lakes management is really forward looking in this way. They believe that the students need to be part of the institution building and is willing to help us in any way possible in our endeavours.

We the students also take the opportunity extended to us and make use of it theLOVE way!!

A dreaded thought...

Many of my girl-friends from school started getting married once they finished their studies. and after the average of 2 years of waiting period before deciding on settling down to family life. 

Initially things were quite fine... things were, well, normal... Maria gave birth to a healthy baby boy, so did San... All of us friends were obviously happy for them... there were parties to celebrate the babies' birthdays year after year... 

Then out of the blue things started changing... Not that the babies were unhealthy... they were fine... in fact, each of them were cuter than the previous ones... what was different was the explosion in numbers! 

It all started with Smrithi... One fine morning she calls us up and announces... "Guys! I gave birth! and guess what! Twins!! :)) " 

We were all ecstatic... after all twins are not what you see every other day right... Almost 2 years have passed and Smrithi has her hands full with her two wonderful boys and her MDS studies...

Last week we got a call from another of our friends, Roshni... "Guys! I gave birth! and guess what! Triplets!!! :))" 

Woah! Put the brakes on please!! What's happenin?? Last i heard, Roshni has 3 babies to feed and only 2 bottles! In short, she has more than her hands full!!

I now dread the day my girl comes to me and tells me, softly in my ear, "George, I'm pregnant! Get ready for Quads!!" I've already invested in a 4 bedroom villa and keep a stack of emergency heart attack pills ready at hand in my pocket!

:D

The new RE Thunderbird Twin Spark

I am a BIG (literally and figuratively) fan of Royal Enfield (RE) bike. It has been a long held dream of mine to own an Electra 5S. But the initial cost has been holding me back. But looks like my wait is getting rewarded...

RE has been comming out with  lot of technological break thrus of late the latest one being the twin-spark engine Thunderbird. The thunderbird is the ONLY TRUE cruiser bike in India. Other wannabes like Yamaha Enticer and Bajaj Eliminator are a joke. Infact the only thing about those bikes are their looks, which again is not too enticing! 

The RE Thunderbird is different. Its a mean machine and handles the highways like a song. I once had the opportunity of riding it for around 1000 Kms and it felt.. Great! Liberating! Truly a marvel of engineering...

Check out the new RE twin spark here --> http://www.royalenfield.com/ThunderbirdTwinspark/home.html

TOI teach

I got this mail from a friend of mine Aanand and felt it to be an important issue that i nee to pu out there. So if anyone feels they can help, Please do so.

Thanks

"

Times of India (TOI) had always been trying to do something positive and this time they have come up with an amazing initiative of Teach India. This initiative is aimed at helping the underprivileged children who cannot go to schools. While we boast of our technological progress and massive GDP growth, we must not forget that India still have a very sizeable population which is illiterate and Below Poverty Line (BPL) living under inhuman conditions. As people who had been benefited by the progress, I think it is time for us to give back to the society and i feel Teach India is the best way of doing that.
 
Many of us would have had the wish of helping out the poor and needy but would have not known the way of doing it. TOI has now come with the brilliant initiative of Teach India where you can help to teach the real underprivileged Indians. This initiative is being kick started in the traditional metropolitan cities of Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata which has a very high number of poor people. All you need to do is to spend some time of your weekend for this noble initiative. You need to first go to the website http://www.teach.timesofindia.com/index.aspx to register yourself as a volunteer to teach the kids. The necessary information regarding the Teach India initiative can be obtained here http://www.teach.timesofindia.com/about_teach_india.aspx. Alternatively you can also read through the free TOI electronic newspaper http://epaper.timesofindia.com/

I think we the younger generation of India are really eager to do something positive for the country's upliftment and Teach India is indeed a wonderful initiative which can be used to realize it. Do please join the initiative and try to do your small favor to the kids who would really like to come up in their life.

"

Its Official! Bajji and Symonds Tie the Knot!!

I cant believe it... after all this time... this what they really wanted.

A good clean marriage :)