scariest snap ever...

Originally uploaded by ttiot.

i dont remember what the time was...(S, E, G...help!)...i guess it was post midnight. and this was on the way from south->north goa. beautiful colors.

according to E, there is a paddy field (or something) right infront of the church. so when it rains (and it sure does in goa!), the reflection of the colors on the paddy waters make for an awesome snap.

anyways...so quite late in the night...and the colors capture me. i need to have a still position to take the colors...so was searching for a platform...and found one...inside th church complex...

and...it was jst like the movies...pitch darkness...(the background of the snap tells you that)...not a soul...not a whisper...only the sound of the camera...i was adjusting the settings...the girls in the car...outside and much far away from me...no wind...nothing

took me some 5-7 mins to get this shot...and all this while...it was as if there was someone right behind me...a hand approaching my shoulder...or a movie camera approaching my back....!

scary...!


anyways...life is good..work has been slightly loose nowadays. not much...definitely nothing compared to the 1st proj. have been watching ridiculous movies (spelled as KRISH in the english language)...though i did manage to catch MI3 and was mightly pleased with it. Also discovered a sexy restaurent (Azzuro) at the saket complex, thanks to A.

salary coming today....yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :)

~a

My Room

was browsing through my flickr account and came across this. and it brought back memories...! this was around september...much before i decided to throw my bed out and sleep on the floor...

god...used to love this piece of concrete...as if it had life. late into the night...move out of the window...with clothes in my arms like a baby...spilling over...take them to the laundry....come back...lie on the mirror pool and star gaze (once with S...which was bliss..!!)...put on the music...

"yeh hai meri kahaani...khamosh zindagi...."

~a

the last few days...

and this was in the last week...

wanna be back...

which is what is the good part about consulting...

my 1st project...absolute quant based. heavy modelling...excel files running into 120 spreadsheets and 28MB..! 5 nights spent at office beyond midnight...just missing the morning sun...! (ok exxagerated...but then u get the point!)...a requirement of 24/7 eyes open view...on numbers...where they come from...where they go..and what they do to the results.

my 2nd project...(and ISB's fav word)...'strategy'. getting free from office (actually...to be precise...literally being thrown away from office) at 6.30 everyday so far...! but a lot of thought...a lot of qualitative analysis. underatanding the market...and providing solutions.

stark contrast...!

but great fun..nevertheless....

this weekend was the delhi meet for 2006 batch. was awesome fun. some 30 odd people turned up...and lasted till midnight. the venue was laid back waters at the Qutub hotel. sweet place...! and we got a separate corner for ourselves..! was really nice to meet up with everyone...catch up on lives...where people talk about their work...and the lack of it...!

might get a chance to go to hyd...for a client meeting. which would mean spending the night at ISB..for sure..! was reading S's blog and the entry jst made my heart go 'pain'...! would love to spend time...jst the way it used to be...jst a few months back...! sleeping on the LRC couch during the exam prep time...! the chit chat...rarely stepping upwards of an 23 IQ level...post dinner...! the 'warikooooo' shout...right outside my window...! E's room/junkyard/rubbish can/bacteria incubator/awesomest hangout place at ISB...! G's 'ohh u shut up'...and S's 'thats an ugly fat ass potato'...!

godd...its work...and i am wasting client money on isb sob stories...!

:(

wanna be back...wanna be back...

~a

being a consultant...

so...my 1st project ended...and to much appreciation from the higher ups..! after the final presentation the team (comprising 4) went to Ricks (taj's pub, in delhi) and had a nice 2 hrs chilling time. bonding...so as to say. thats when you realize a lot of things about consulting that are usually behind gold doors in bschool...

1. Consulting is an extremely demanding profession. and unlike other areas (possibly)...the work only increases as you go higher up. so basically..even though you might leave at 4...and no one shall question you...its not that you get to see a movie in the evening. you basically leave to work from home..!

2. The biggest effect that such a profession has...is not on you...but your spouse. infact...the success of any consultant (especially a guy) should definitely be attributed to his wife. dont know if i can say the same for a female consult...cause i think she wud hv been better off without her husband...! :)

3. Its all about priortizing..! work...and life. no one shall ever tell you that its a 9-5 job..but then no one shall also tell you...YOU HAVE TO WORK 24/7...! its all about what you want to do...and how...! its all about...what you think is important..and in V's words...someone who places work in front of family all the time...will never make it big...

4. there will always be times (though 28 days is too less a duration for me to have faced one) when you shall question your existence as a consult. why am i here...what am i getting travelling 5 days a week..away frm family...building mileage points...! and then shall come the final client meeting. wherein the client will almost kiss your feet...or would kiss somewhere else if it wasnt for gay laws...! thats when you shall realize...what you get staying a consultant is not something everyone can boast off...


and all this is true...i am slowly realizing it . my 1st client places so much of trust in us...that when we show them the numbers...they actually stand up in amazement...and go..."holy shit..we never thought of that...we have to change directions"...and i think..."is he really serious. i mean..would one of the world's largest gas company change direction because a 25 yr old plugged in numbers in an excel sheet and did some macro shit"...! but yes...he will.

and thats when you feel scared. and burdened. and responsible. its a sexy burden though...cause on your analysis depends a decision...! that could possibly..."change directions"...! and then..you work...you work like an ass...take every move in a calculated fashion...jst to make sure that you dont let the other side down...

and then friday comes...and you go for a movie...and suddenly..you are not that important anymore...and yet...you love the break...

..cause monday...will be another long week...

i guess so far...i love being a consultant...! :)

~a

PS: To be on the safe side...and its always good to be that ways...i would want to put a disclaimer on the above. The client conversations are all fictitious...! And only indicative of the 'potential' of a consultant. At no point of time should anyone reading this, make any judgement calls on certain companies...and worse still...speculate on business issues...!