The week that was crazy

It's crazy enough to be doing an MBA while having a full time job, but what's crazier is breaking down your course activities and having to juggle it between your Job and Family life while meeting a deadline that MBA imposes.

This was one such week that went crazier by the day. Apparently I had to cover over 180 pages of writing my MBA II semester assignments by hand. Thankfully someone else had done the painful task of collating the answers to the assignments. All I had to do was hand-write each of these 180 pages within my self-imposed target of Friday, Dec 17th  to submit it to the college. Noone could have predicted what lay ahead.

Sunday, Dec 12, 2010: Started writing my assignment. Completed 4 pages. Pushed rest of the assignment to the remaining days of the week.

Monday, Dec 13, 2010: Continued writing from 7:00 pm and slept around mid-night. Completed around 25 pages and yet to find my writing speed. Not to mention how horrid my handwriting was.

Tuesday, Dec 14, 2010: Began writing at 8:00 pm, dined and wrote till 01:30 am. Completed 70 pages in total.

Wednesday, Dec 15, 2010: Had my friends brother-in-laws wedding reception to attend in the evening. Began writing at 9:00 pm and wrote till 1:00 am. Completed around 130 pages. Still had over 50 pages to be completed in a single night. Fatigue set in and took a 15 min nap at 11:00 pm.

Thursday, Dec 16, 2010: Began writing my assignment at 8:30 pm, and wrote straight till 2:30 am. Looked like a dead duck by now. Physical condition: Fingers close to fracture and refused to straighten up not to mention the bad backache and the darkcircles too. Handwriting was a little short of a shorthand scribble.

Friday, Dec 17, 2010 4:00 pm: Managed to successfully submit my assignment at the College. Was proud I could make it within my self-imposed deadline.

10:00 pm: Finally I hit the bed early after a hectic crazy week and was planning on an 8 hr sleep. Now came the bomb when Raj a close friend called up. He had a family emergency and requested me to take his parents to Bangalore and bring them back to Chennai all within a day and that's tomorrow. With so less sleep the whole week, I wasnt physically ready for this 700+ km one day drive, but it was something I couldn't refuse for a close friend. Made a few calls to arrange a car and confirmed the plan with Raj. Time of Sleeping: 12:20 am.

Saturday, Dec 18, 2010: 04:10 am: Woke up to my phone's alarm. Was a sleepy head after a 4 hour sleep. Got ready and left home at 4:30, and executed all my plans on time. Reached Bangalore at 12:00 noon successfully. Physical condition: Tired, dead tired.

3:30 pm: Started my travel back to Chennai. Was a race against time because I wanted to cover the most distance under daylight. Loaded myself on energy bars and a large Red-bull that gave me an alert mind all the way till Chennai.

10:30 pm: Reached home after dropping Raj and his parents at their Chennai destination covering a total distance of 748 kms and driving for 15 of the last 18 hours. Hit the bed at 11:30 pm. Now I AM a dead duck !

Sunday, Dec 19, 2010: 8:00 am: Woke up to a perfectly good Chennai winter morning feeling good that the crazy week finally ended. Later that morning rode to college for a class and planned to return home for lunch. Here's my fate, a couple of kms before home my bike skids and I fall off my bike. I scratch my hands and a big bleeding bruise on my left leg.

So how crazier can a week get. Five straight nights of less than 6 hrs sleep, fingers close to fracture point, Driving 748 kms on the sixth day and now a bruised leg on the seventh day, I didn't ask for this... !!!

Kollywood actress in a London daily

Well, not an Indian but she can be labelled as a Kollywood actress for her performance in "Madrasapattinam". Yes, that's Amy Jackson for you. I got a chance to see this movie recently, and her acting is definitely commendable.

Here's an article in a British Daily "METRO" on August 17th, 2010 publication. The newspaper has categorised Amy as a Bollywood entrant which is technically not right, but outside India, all Indian movies apparently fall under Bollywood. So all you Kollywood fanatics, please pardon this daily and enjoy this read.

(click to view the complete image)

London Diary - Chennai to London, 04 July 2010

This travel turned out to be "just another travel" between Chennai and London and I'm glad it was this way. Here's how I recount the events of my travel to London.

It was a morning flight but my day began even early. Woke at 2:45, added 5 minutes to the snoozer and finally got myself up to get ready. The cab guy arrived with no delay. Since all packing was done last night, just had to bid a bye to my folks at home. Quarter stayed overnight and came along with me to the airport.

I had a heavy hand baggage (including laptop) and was skeptical about it but the guy across the counter gazed at it and let me go. Thanks Mr. "Across the counter guy"! Nothing special about the low-grade Chennai to Muscat flight. Surprisingly, they played a tamil movie, I mean I didn't expect this from Oman Air atleast. Watched the "Tamizh Padam" and it surprised me too. Infact I found it extremely hilarious the first hour or so, then it got a little boring, so took a quick nap. Had a 4 hour transit in Muscat. Rushed out of the plane like the rest of them, only to realise that I left my copy of "The Tipping Point" in the plane itself. Cursed myself for it, cos I just had another 50 pages to complete. Dammit, will have to buy the book again. And what's this thing about people rushing out of the flight when it stops, no-one's gonna miss their next flight or their ride back home. Hope people learn to show more patience (including me).

Happened to meet a guy from my plane at the Muscat airport who was travelling to London as well. He was travelling to London to pursue his higher studies in animation. He gave up his IT  job to realise his dream in animation. Another guy from the same flight too tagged along. He was on his way to Paris to pursue a 1 year programme on International Business. Amazingly, he just knows the ABC of French and was on his way to complete a course on International Business in French. Now that's what we call "confidence". Whether it's a foolish confidence, time will unwrap.

Munched a late breakfast, bought a calling card, made a couple of calls to India, Couple of calls to UK to inform the manager and landlord about my arrival, and tried calling Ranjay countless times, but in vain. Made 2 wrong number calls to Shema and gave up. By now boarding announcements for my Muscat-London flight had begun, and we guys went along.

This time my partner was a young brit girl, guys I know you are cursing me, but then don't worry. She was too loud, I mean really loud,embarrasingly loud!! Wished her a Hi, and her reply "Hi" would have been heard ten rows behind ! Looked around if anyone did indeed hear that, all seemed busy loading their cabin baggages. Good for me. By now, I gave up the idea of striking a conversation and left me to myself . (I'm sure you guys must be gloating with a wicked grin now!). Later I noticed these Brits are generally loud people which I got used to a few days later. Ate loads of flight food, watched 3 movies during this 7 hour journey. ("500 days of Summer", "2012" and "Hurt Locker"). Surprisingly I did not take a nap in this leg at all.

The flight was 30 minutes early and went around the bright London skies for a while before landing. Immigration was peaceful with no questions. Then came the medical check-up; luckily I followed my company's travel team's suggestion to carry a chest X-Ray along with a medical report. That saved me an hour atleast. Here's a tip for all guys travelling to UK on a work permit - Carry a chest X-Ray along with a medical report saying everything's fine and the airport authorities would let you out with no fuss. The Heathrow exit I thought was little confusing with many exits, but my manager spotted me easily. He had also booked a "sardar" taxi for me. Guess what, this was a Merc and the first Merc I've travelled in my life. So here's London welcoming me with a Merc, great I love this place ! Reached home after a 15 min drive and checked my room.

Rest will follow in my first week summary. Keep reading !