Life or something like it

I have not given up on blogging. Just that I have had nothing interesting happening in my life for the past few days. Have been working pretty late hours. One thing I still make sure I do everyday is watch atleast one episode of Friends. I guess I cant live without them now!
There is another AIMCAT this Sunday. My preparations are basically bad. Hope to maintain my rank and clear the cut-offs in two sections atleast this time. That should be a real confidence booster.
This is also the season of application forms. Each institute makes applicants part with Rs 1,000 on an average for application forms. Apply to 10 instis and boom, you have lost 10,000 bucks. Phew!

 
Manoj

What a week!

I have not updated my blog regularly for the past week or so. It has been a pretty tough week for me. What with both my grandfather and his sister passing away. I am not going to write an obituary for my grandfather, Raja Rao, because I believe the man is an immortal. He has just changed his place of existence. Period!

I had the opportunity and privilege to see “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” the other day. My first reaction was “Wow”!. Here is a movie which sticks to its essence right till the end. Hats off to Guy Ritchie for providing some fantastic entertainment.

Other than that I am completely hooked onto Friends Season 3. Those guys are just amazing!

Manoj

AIMCAT 502: My best yet!

I am pretty happy today. AIMCAT  502 (All India Mock CAT for the uninitiated) conducted by TIME MBA Coaching institute went pretty well. I had never expected to break into the top 500. Just for the record around 11,000 wrote the test this time.
My rank was 446. That is good but not great. This is because I never cleared the cut-offs in two of the three sections. However I made really silly mistakes this time. I am sure that if I can reduce these stupid errors I can very well clear the cutoffs.
My rank in Chennai city was 29. Again very comforting.
Lets hope I do even better in the next AIMCAT.
 
Cheers (hic!)
 
Manoj

How to name this?

There comes a time when things stop making sense. When nothing seems to be meaningful. Yesterday was one such day for me. On Saturday I was informed that my grandfather was seriously ill and had only 2 days left in him.
My grandfather has been a picture of poignancy ever since I have known him. His majestic walk and his set of admirers more often than not following him has always filled my heart with joy. But yesterday I saw him struggling to breathe. When me and my mom walked into his room and saw what we saw both of us just broke down. My mom was inconsolable. As I am writing this tears are flowing down my cheeks.
And as I am trying to counter them, I wonder what life is all about.
 
Manoj

Addicted to PG

I have traditionally kept off from online forums. I always believed that they are a waste of time. Besides one could never trust the sort of people with whom one interacts. But one forum changed it all. And that is:
 
www.pagalguy.com/cat
 
This is a beauty of a forum. It provides a wonderful platform for all CAT aspirants. Besides it also fosters a community feeling. I have come to interact with some really responsible and like-minded individuals through the forum. I even conducted my first online monetary transaction through the forum. Even in office I am always logged on to the forum. I have become completely addicted to it.
 
Here is wishing everybody on the forum a wonderful

What am I upto?

For the past two days nothing has happened in my life, yet a lot of things have happened. Confused? Even I am! God only knows how to make sense of all the events happening in my life.
I have taken to reading Sherlock Holmes. I must say that I find it quite interesting. I am as it is interested in the Queen’s language at its peak and that is what I have been experiencing in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works.

On a different note: My schoolmates Prem Kumar and Shyam are off to Dubai on an assignment. Here is wishing them all the very best and Bon Voyage! (Hope you guys remember the password : “Gaja ka dost”)

Manoj

100 not out!

It is my pleasure to report that my little blog has registered a 100 hits in its 3 or so weeks of existence. Considering the fact that I had advertised my blog only in the PG forum and nowhere else this is quite a feat.
I take this opportunity to thank one and all who have visited my little online home and have been kind enough to leave messages and comments.
A special thanks to Raghav for being the 100th person to click on my blog. I had promised a public acknowledgment and here it is.
3 weeks is a very short time to understand the world of blogging. I have however learnt a few lessons.

Useless News Network (UNN) presents the following:
1. It rained a lot in Chennai yesterday.
2. I bunked TIME classes this weekend.
3. GMail just rocks! A 500 Kb attachment got attached (what else!) within a second.

Till next time
Ahoy!

Manoj

I have moved!

I have a new address in my office. I have moved from one wing to the other. It was a little painful though. I have worked (!) for a year and a half in A wing. Now I find myself in C wing. It will take quite some time for me to accustom to the new environment!

I am kind of nearing a milestone here. Two more hits and my blog would have registered 100 hits! A lot to look forward to then this weekend!

Manoj

There are days and there are days!

What is the secret of happiness? I would give anything to get to know this. If that would be asking for too much then I would atleast want to know the secret of not being sad! One and the same thing huhn?

Why am I suddenly rattling about happiness and stuff like that? After a lot days I felt really out of sorts yesterday. The worst part was that there was no tangible reason to feel so! I did not get hit by a lorry, I was not shouted at by my boss or I did not succumb to the charms of book-shopping. Yet something was amiss. And I am even more pained to think that I still am feeling down. Wonder when I will start understanding the vagaries of the human heart!

On a lighter note. Saw Lalu Prasad Yadav talking in English with Rajdeep Sardesai on NDTV yesterday. For a few seconds I was wondering if it was a spoof or something! Whatever one can accuse Lalu Prasad Yadav of, he cannot be faulted for not NOT providing entertainment!

What dreams may come!

A strange thing happened today. My profession changed!
Let me explain.
I was doing something completely different till the last Friday. From today onwards I am doing something that is so completely different, that I feel I am in Mars.
KP made a pertinent point about my blog the other day. I had initially started blogging to jot my thoughts down. But somehow the blog has veered around to being a running commentary on the state of the world!
So from today I will consciously make an effort to blog twice a day. One on me and myself and the other entry will be from the stables of Manoj News Network (MNN).

Manoj

End of an Era!

Yesterday was the last day the Meter Gauge (MG) trains that normally ply from Beach station to Tambaram and beyond, chugged along the tracks. They are being replaced by Broad Gauge trains from today onwards.

I used to work in Tambaram and now and then I hopped on these trains to get to work. It would always be a wonderful journey. The trains are great to look at and more or less are comfortable to travel in. The first class compartments are really comfortable and less crowded. The other compartments are where the action takes place. The “kadalai” seller, the “singing” beggars and unruly youth; they all converge here.

I have several warm memories of the traveling in these trains. I have not traveled in them of late. For quite sometime now, I had wanted to take a trip down memory lane. Alas time has passed. Now I wont be able to do so. For that reason and due to the termination of the MG services I am very sad!

It was a glorious era. Alas it has come to an end!

Manoj