Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Happy Diwali :)

“Chetan Bhagat graduated from IIT Delhi in 1995 and IIM Ahmedabad in 1997. He currently lives in Hong Kong and works in a prominent investment bank . Chetan’s first novel , “Five Point Someone” was released in May 2004 and continues to top the bestseller lists across the country ever since , over seventy weeks after its release.”

And last Sunday , I met Chetan Bhagat , listened to him tell about his life and writings , and bought a personally signed copy of his recently launched second book .

That’s another good part about being at an IIM. You get to meet people who get clicked by pesky reporters and can be seen smiling on NDTV and smiling a little more on page 3 of glossy newspaper supplements . Over the last few months , we have had Lillete Dubey , Harsha Bhogle , Shyam Benegal on campus , to name a few.

Chetan told us the bosses in corporate world can be real bad . And in spite of the fact that the employee stood first in every contest held around him , from the leg tied frog race in class three to the entrance exams , the boss can make an employee feel like a perfect ten scorer on the uselessness meter . And he said his boss did just that to him. And he needed to do something which he enjoyed, and made him feel slightly more useful than a ladies perfume in a boys hostel . So he wrote . And wrote Five Point Someone.

Now I do not if this like a god given gift or something , but I can feel things coming. And I can clearly visualize my boss, yelling in a Americanized accent – “You goof !! When are you going to submit that report ?! Sometime after the next Hailey comet sighting happens ?” , while I stand apologetically and mumbling something to prevent an immediate firing from the job. And I would love to do a little rebel act then , and come up with some novel called “I am not a goof. My Boss is a goof.” or “Kidnapping my boss’s daughter” or something which goes onto become a bestseller and is talked about at all the parties my boss attends and is discussed by my boss's in laws .

Chetan pointed out a thing. A young , pretty , shrill voiced Nursery class teacher asks a classroom full of bumbling little kids , “Tell me how many of you can draw ?”. Rahul remembers the Giraffe he drew in his last class and sticks up his hand. Shreya thinks about the drawing she drew of her pet dog , and even though her depiction looked more like the corpse of a dog ran over by some three trucks , she sticks up her hand. And most of kids in a nursery class would say “ I can draw.”

But when a lecture hall full of IIM students was asked the same question, just three hands went up. Are we scared to free ourselves and see what happens ? And who knows , whom you may have within you , a writer , a poet , a painter , a singer , a kuchipudi dancer , a caberet dancer .

And in other news , imagine a big mental asylum. Imagine all the crazy inmates there who drive imaginary cycles and swim in imaginary pools and spend hours calculating the distance between New York and USA . Now imagine taking out all of their brains and fusing them together to make one combined brain.If you think this brain would be crazy , the class schedule here at IIM C is going crazier. I attend classes at 7.30 in the morning and some classes end at 10.45 in the night. Mom calls me up at 10 in the night and I say I am in the class and she says a three year old kid can think of a better excuse to avoid talking to his mom.

And before I close this post , I wish all of you a very Happy Diwali. It sounds a little strange to wish someone I don’t even know. But , whoever you are , whether a jealous you stole your rich classmate’s expensive pencil case in class two of school , or you still bitch about your boss who drives a Lancer and makes you work overtime , I know you are good at heart . Everybody is good at heart . So bring out that goodness . Be good. Do good. May you get all the good things you want , except Aishwarya Rai.

I would miss being at home and the Diwali aarti session where we sit down before the little temple at our home as a family , and sing all those aartis . Its more like yelling though and god must get real pissed at all that noise . If someone asks “who can sing ?” , no one should from my family should put up a hand.

Happy Diwali .

41 comments:

. said...

Harsha Bhogle & Shyam Benegal??
*goes green with envy*

Happy Diwali :)

Kaala Kavva said...

I can draw a cockroach very well and trust me it does not look like a corpse!
yes sir! so i would've raised my hand!!!

i think chetan bhagat is a dirty man. Im not sayin that he does not take a bath or brush his teeth but the pic. he gave of iit.. shit man! i was depressed my whole 1st week... that book's too much of fiction based on too much of a real place...

Thank you abhinav! You just opened my eyes.(dont ask how i read ur post wid closed eyes). I always knew I could kuchipudi and that today you have recognized it, I will dance every dance that exists in the south.

And ya.. im not wishin u happy diwali... ill amrit you.. (remember wish amrit)

Hello I amrit you happy diwali and ya im not a good person from inside.. and btw i wanted aishwarya rai.. now that you thought evil of me, I will take my wish... rather amrit back .. Huh!!!

(heh juss mazaakin)

precise.movie.reviews said...

And most of kids in a nursery class would say “ I can draw.” But when a lecture hall full of IIM students was asked the same question, just three hands went up.

hmmm..so true..to think our creativity goes down exponentially since the time we enter school..

Akanksha said...

yeah,i agree completely....i dint know that i could stitch till the moment i realised that i just loved doing it. and lo..today i can copy any damn top in any mall!!!....i agree!! happy diwali!!

Tipsy Topsy said...

Some very thought provoking things there.

U answer ur fone in class? :O

Happy Diwali :) hope any darkness in ur life vanishes in this festival of lights. Am sure ur family will miss u as much as u miss them. I know i will be missing the absentee in the pooja at my place :(

amit said...

diwali mubarak ho.... i m also missing my family here sitting in Ahmedabad

Anonymous said...

Happy Diwali!
It's called Deepavali in Singapore. =)

R said...

naah!!!! no need to bother about american accent waale bosses now!!!! ab humara future Mouse Trappers and Associates Ltd mein hi hai!!
mein bahut mehnat karoongi and fir tum dekhana tumhara sabse zyada profit Anadaman and Nicobar mein hi hoga...dheere -dheere hum lob aur rodents mein bhi specialise karne lagenge...okay...fir na...hum all over the world offices kholenge...fir tum America ka kaam thode din sambhalna..fir tumhara umrican accent ho jayega...fir ek din...jab koi hapless sa employee( not me okay!) koi galati karega toh tum apane American accent mein kehna" you ggof !!!! when are goin to submit that report??? when the next sighting of the haleys commet happens"
yay!!!!!
;)

Anonymous said...

Happy Diwali Munnu! If blogging could be taken up as a profession, you'd do a damn good job of it.

Anonymous said...

And I would love to do a little rebel act then , and come up with some novel called “I am not a goof. My Boss is a goof.” or “Kidnapping my boss’s daughter” or something which goes onto become a bestseller and is talked about at all the parties my boss attends and is discussed by my boss's in laws......

You dont need to do anything different. The end product might not be a novel, but I am pretty sure that you will vent out your feelings against your boss in this blog....and it seems that your blog is definitely a hotspot, if not a bestseller.

Anonymous said...

bhaiyya aapko diwali ki dheero shubkaamnaein... sending u lotsa good wishes and love. Hope u had a good time around.

and chetan bhagat sucks. potrayed iits in such a bad light. wanted to make fiction? well then shud have chosen some other thing! he had ONE change to highlight IIT life 'per se' which he wasted!
Oh well but then that was pretty nice story :) loved the characters and the simplicity of things.


PS: updated finally ;)

Camphor said...

lol @ .. except Aishwarya. 3yr thinkign of a better excuse and 'no one in my family should raise thier hands'

signed copy of second book? *goes vibrant lime green* I think I have Discovered a Reason to move to IIM. Never mind that it's not going to easy.

deepti said...

hey abhinav!
happy diwali!!
btw,
have you considered taking part in the blogging contest at IRIS (IIM Indore)?
do look into it. details at http://www.iimi-iris.com/iris/irising/blogging.asp

Anonymous said...

you are too good as a blogger.

Happy Diwali :)

Vaibhav said...

Hey Dude,
Happy Diwali! :)

And good point about people becoming more apprehensive as they grow older... and most importantly, well worded! :)

VM said...

Hey Man ! Wish you a very happy deepawali

Anonymous said...

Happy Diwali Abhinav

Nice post.

I think there can be several reasons for the scenario you described abt nursery kids comprision with IIM students (for that matter with any matured group),(and chetan bhagat talked abt).

Matured people come to know their stengths and weaknesses (and may be drawing does not feature in their streangths).

Some may be apprehensive to speak out in the big group.

Q asked "can draw" not "like to draw" (thus Skill not desire) Though I could guess the response may be same even if Chetan Bhagat had remodelled the Q.

Q was definetly thought proviking

dots said...

hey..
HAPPY DIWALI to u too!!hope u had a great time despite being away from ur ear-shattering(?) family..:)
i had a rather useless diwali this time..wont go in2 gruesome details..still the spirit of diwali lives on in my heart;)
btw,did you wish aishwarya rai a happy budday ystrday?she's 32 now..i will hope nd pray that realisation strikes her and she comes running to u..that is my diwali wish for u..
HAPPY DIWALI..!
oh nd yeah..u nevr know what's hidden inside you till u try and explore and experience everything in life...:)

Anonymous said...

Happy Diwali :)

Hey Abhinav, you have a pretty good blog here! I'm definitely going to bookmark you!

I have a russian marriage blog. It pretty much covers
russian marriage related stuff.

Come and check out russian marriage if you get time :-)

Anonymous said...

ROTFL =)) =))

between something off topic: are u gonna make a bonfire and go around it 7 times :-/ sounds another silly ritual to me! If I wanna swear then why in the name of fire only ?

what a shitty site X(
I just thought it MIGHT present a good philosophy or two on russian ways. It turned out to be a matrimonial and dating site :-s

Shekhar said...

Hi Abhinav,

HAPPY DIWALI. Calcutta is where I'm from, though me in Ahmedabad right now. And yes, I'm missing my family a lot too.

Hope you're enjoying your stay in the city. Happy Diwali once again.

Phoenix said...

hope u ahd a good diwali...o-master-of-excellent-thoughtful-posts

Adi Oso-Groot Finch said...

congrats for winning the prize again!

Lady Z said...

yaar..where did the SB disappear? Ek information deni thi...

You have been tagged :D..details at my place..and no,u dont need to thank me for it..yeh to mera farz tha :D :D

Anonymous said...

@ranj : Yeah.And we had Kapil Dev before them.Wait , whats that dark smily green thing ? oh , its ranjitha.;)

@SQ- yeah :).wonder why mommy dint like it.

@mani - "(heh juss mazaakin)".man , u dnt need to tell that.tu jab serious ho tab mention karr diya kar.:p

@yossarian - yeah , or maybe creativity stays , but our ability to realise it and exploit it goes straight into the ground.

@akanksha - hailla ! presenting babloo , the master craftsman , contact for all types of fancy and colorful tops.top class quality.;)


@TT - oh , now a senti TT is tougher to handle than a loaded saddam hussein.shaant table tennis.she wud be back na.:)and yeah , i do answer phone calls in my class.but thats not a problem.coz im rarely in the class.

@amit - same to you lakho bhai.come on , to tu daler bahadur hai bhai.missing n all ?:)

@jun - thanks a lot jun :).the fact that you are not from india and still are wishing me , makes it so special .:)

@ruchita - abe tu tension matt le.tu andaman n nicobaar mein jeee laga keh mehnat karr , tujhe khoob promote karunga , mere baad kursi teri hee to hai.;)waise , this was an awesome business strategy from you , you are manager material man.IIM beckons.

@sunshine - thanx buddy.:).but wait a minute , wheres the leg pullin part in your comment.come on , sunshine comments , n it cant be without leg pullin.thats a rule.

@viveka - thanx and same to you viveka :).n CAT for you is as far as afghanistan , you got a lot of time.so chill.:)

@anon - oh , i need a crystal ball to tell if i would be writing this blog when i get a boss :).

@ashish - thanx bhai:)

@camphor - nothing is easy buddy.but i am a living inspiration for all the vaccum minded skulls.i did it.anybody can.:)

@deepti - thanx deepti.n ill surely check it out now.:)

@ananya - ah thanks.are you always so lavish in praising stupid bloggers ? :)

@vaibhav - same to you bro .:)

@bhim - thanx man .same to you:)

@anon - yeah thats a good point u explained buddy.

@nivindya - oh now thats the most beautiful diwali wish ive had in my 24 diwalis.thanx man.u wanted johnny depp , right ? a prayer just went up.

@russian wife - no thanx.shaadi ?abhi meri umar hee kya hai ? :)

@ashu - :D

@shekhar - ah another calcuttan.happy diwali bhai:)

@divs - same to you divs :).happy diwali to all of you , and that includes the angry sardaar.;)

@phoenix - oh plz man.dnt embarass me.:)happy diwali !

@raven - thanx bhai ;).some prize ! :p

@zarine - ah you are an angel.grrrrr.:p

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ritesh kumar said...

A perfect recipe to write a chetan Bhagat Novel:
Check this out:
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