Open Book

I have an End Term exam tomorrow (MBA is unpredictable, end terms can happen even in the middle of the term ) and it is an open book exam. The applications vary from person to person.

Application 1
Lots of students are scared of exams, even at this age. In order to make them feel better, they are allowed to take a book along with them to the examination hall. I'm not sure how this actually works. Last time i took an open book exam, none of the questions were from the book.

Application 2
The faculty reminds you that most of the stuff taught in class will not feature in your question paper. Better take a book along and don't blame the faculty once your results come out.

Application 3
Most of us spend more time peeking into our neighbor's answer sheet. Opening your book is a better alternative. It undermines the importance of the bright guy sitting next to you. Also, you don't have to strain your neck while playing hide and seek with the invigilator.
The answer's right there, lost somewhere in the middle. (maybe they should provide page numbers also)

Application 4
Some fellows (like me) get extremely bored and feel lonely in those two hours. So we can scribble in the book, unleash the artist inside us, appreciate the sacrifices made by the author while writing this book (read preface) or use the book as a headrest!

We've moved from a closed book to an open book pattern over the past few years. Why not take the next big step? Allow Google Search. After all, this is where we find ready made presentations, assignments and unlimited information. Just pop in a question and presto! A million sources of the correct answer are displayed. Choose the apt one and you're finished writing the exams.

Or else, make the exams optional. coz there are more important and meaningful things in life. Updating your blog is one of them.......

What do you learn during MBA ?

My friends often ask me, 'Why is an MBA degree so exorbitantly priced ?', 'What exactly do you learn that will help you become a successful manager ?' and 'How is an MBA college different from my earlier engineering college ?'

Here are 10 reasons why -

10. You read more newspapers in a b-school than the names you ever heard in engg
college

9. Mess food is now given yummy names, but it still tastes the same!

8. You play so many dirty tricks to from a project group, by the end of it you can
easily apply for politics

7. Formals is what you wear to classes, sleep in, dine in and @#%$ in!

6. Effective ppts are treated as 'Neighbour's envy, Owner's pride'

5. Verbal Diarrhea and DCP become essential for your survival

4. The required study time in one trimester of a b-school is equivalent to 4 years of
not studying in an engg clg

3. Weekends and Holidays are almost unheard of. Even if you manage to go home
for a few days, its enough to drive you in a hibernation phase

2. Liquor and Cigs are often acquired through the proverbial Import-Export
route(s). And its supply is always more than the demand.

1. You can flirt with as many girls as you want, but quite a lot of them are
committed, engaged, married or (as always) more interested in being 'just' friends
(stays the same forever)

Have more reasons, feel free to drop them in comments!

How i met your mother on Indian TV

HIMYM is my favourite T.V series. What if it was to be Made (read copied) in India ? And what if it was an Ekta Kapoor production ?

Tricky one! Here's my take -

Cast

• Ted - Tusshar Kapoor (no prizes for guessing)
• Robin - Shweta Tiwari (reunited with Ekta after her skin show in 'Is Jungle ...')
• Marshall - A new face discovered by Ekta's studio (he'll also feature in 6 other Balaji soaps)
  
• Lily - Preity Zinta (available till IPL 3 commences)
  
• Barney - Karan Johar (the initial choice was Salman Khan but he refused to suit up)

Plot Summary

• They can't hang around in a bar, coz the Govt thinks it'll spoil the younger generation. Instead, they'll be found chit chatting around a banyan tree. राम दुलारे will be the चाय वाला who'll replace the bar tender.

• Wendy, the waitress also finds her character replaced by .... wait for it ... राम दुलारे की wife. Barney can't hit on her as she calls him 'Barney भैया'. She even ties him a राखी when राम gets kidnapped by mafia. (oops.. spilled the beans)
  

• Barney is a virgin (self explanatory as K'Jo is playing this role), goes to मन्दिर regularly and wears कुरता पयजामा instead of suits.

• Robin used to be a bar dancer earlier, but she was rescued by Ted (what else can you expect with Tushar in the lead) and they fell in love. A couple of romantic songs were played in that episode
  

• Marshall and Lily are a happily married couple. They even have a kid and Lily now wears sarees with मंगल सूत्र
  

• SRK, Kajol and Farah Khan have frequent guest appearances. Those episodes appear quite similar to 'Kofee with Karan' with the only difference being that K'Jo allows Ted & Co. also to share screen space for 5 minutes

• In the future episodes, Ted and Marshall are soon going to find out that they were lost in some ancient मेला and that Barney had a surrogate father (Jeetendra's guest appearance)

To be continued .......

DCP redefined

Yes, it evolved faster than H1N1. DCP is born in a whole new avatar.

Desperate Club Presentations

5 symptoms to prove that you are affected

1. You are found wearing formals even in a Yoga session
2. You are found discussing marketing strategies with the tea vendor (The poor guy is forced to listen as you haven't paid the bill yet!)
3. Major part of the conversation with your GF/BF is a monologue, and at the end of it you allow her to ask questions
   
4. Your reply to a simple "How are you ?" is that "I'm sorry. We've run out of time. No more questions"
5. You feel that changing slides of a ppt is a challenging task
   

Issued in Public Interest

Just Committed

One of my batch mates was asked about his relationship status. He replied as - Just Committed. Yes, it sounds a lot like 'Just Married', maybe there's a whole new meaning to it.

• Either he recently got committed .... like a day or maybe an hour ago
• Or he was going to fulfill this commitment just for the time being
  
• Third reason - let's leave it for the time being

Conventionally, relationship status is about the present. Ironically, it's not! It reminds you more about your past (in case you've recently broken up and your status is 'Single again') or about your future (that's when your status is 'Still single' and you want to be committed asap).

For somebody like Barney who avoids relationships totally, there's the lemon law.

Barney's lemon law for dating gives a person 5 minutes to decide if the date will go on the rest of the night or not. They can call the date off for any reason in the first 5 minutes, avoiding bad dates.

I'm not really sure if this applies to the Indian context as well as it does in NY. Coz dates are limited in supply and the demand is more. So hang on to the relationship status cliche till then. What else can we think of ?

• Partly committed
• Moderately committed
• Anonymously committed

Don't know what my status is out of these, but i'm surely confused.

Yet another exam

The entire course is full of quizzes, mid terms and terms. By the end of it, looks like i would have appeared for more tests than i've done in my whole life.

It is in these exams that you get to see your classmates transform into the following types :

• Bookworms : They miss classes a day or two before the d-day (even for a minor\routine quiz), come out of their caves only at the exam time.
  
• Intellectuals : You'll find them at the centre of each study group providing last minute knowledge to the peers.
• Astrologers : Predict the format, toughness of the exam. Some even go to the extent of predicting the questions
• Happy go lucky : Examination is the last thing on their mind. Playing CS or watching movies is far more important
• Couples : They love to get equal marks. 1 mark more either side, would threaten the existence of their relationship.

There could be other types as well. But i'm still observing.

graduation, 2 yrs of work-ex and now back to college. This is how my story begins...

Sometimes i ask myself : New setup, new environs.... Time to make new friends?

Reason why i think about this is, my addiction to "How I Met Your Mother". As i exhaust one season after the other, i can relate to some of the characters. (Couldn't exactly do that with Saas Bahu soaps... glad some of that crap is over.)

So, when i picture a CCD (i don't drink, so swapped the bar with it), none of the people that i presently know, actually fit in!

Wanted : Marshall, Lily, Ted, Robin, Barney