Malaysia Trip Revisited

It was the fag-end of the 1st semester and a break of 4 days was given after a long, tedious, sleep deprived, stressful stint at my MBA. The preparations had already started 1 month ago and everyone was looking forward to the Malaysia trip. We had the whole schedule with us before hand and hence helped us in planning out the trip. I must say that we were extremely lucky because the Foumula1 race was held in Malaysia at exactly the same time in which we had the break! We wanted to cover the maximum places over there in the time allocated to us and most importantly with minimum charges. We started off by booking the tickets for the F1 race and hence we did the strategic analysis of the track where the view of the whole race is best but the tickets are the cheapest. So we took up the seating that were free and we had the a huge open hill where we can sit near to one of the turns of the track where the cars slow down, take the turn, and then accelerate ahead. That was the corner where we could find a huge screen to have a great view of the whole race. So we ordered for 15 K2 seats. By that figure of 15 I recall that out of the batch of 98, 65 were going for this trip and we all were sub divided in their respective groups and everyone had their own strategy and plans for the trip.We got the visas stamped as those were to be done previously and is a time consuming process. So more than the exams that were looming over our heads, it was the trip in which everyone's energies were focused on. We were preparing for the exams as well as jotting down the various options that we have which includes the mode of travel, places to visit, where to stay and obviously the costs involved. We started noting down everything that we had and prepared a matrix in the excel sheet! This was unbelievable because we were actually able to implement the learning that we have had in our MBA to practice. After noting down the options, we took up the most optimum option which covered the maximum places with minimum costs involved. The projections that we made were close to 9000 INR. The exams week started and it was hectic like hell. We had to give exams for subjects that were all alien to us including the financial accounting, financial management, micro economics to name some of them. Life became extremely stressful with each day as we had continuous back to back exams and the nights got shorter and shorter with sleep curve going down from 5 hours to 2-3. The exams were pretty tough with each paper and course difficulty rising exponentially. But we all knew that the back of our minds what awaits us after the exams get over. My first formaula1 race(though I was jut going there to watch the race but the enthusiasm was as if I was the leading driver for Ferrari).The day exams got over; we set off to Malaysia by train. The plan was the go as backpackers who have their entire luggage on their bags and travel only the bare necessities. We left off by the local MRT (metro) of Singapore and reached the Malaysian border. We had reached there at 3.30 AM but the ferry that we had booked was at 7.30Am. So we slept off the shore as we were extremely tired and a little too frustrated with the recent happening.As my eyes opened with the first rays of light, I realized where I was, man it was heaven. The sea water was crystal blue and the islands were beautiful that were in sight. It was an absolutely beautiful sight to watch true beauty of nature lied in front of us and it was difficult for me to imagine it to be true. My first reaction was that I was dreaming and have reached a place somewhere in heaven. But when I looked around my friends, I was sure that I can’t be in heaven as almost all of them were there and I was pretty sure that God can't commit so many mistakes and that too all together. So there I was boarding the ferry and we all took the front seats on the top of it. As the ferry gained momentum, the sight became more clear and the nearer we went to the islands, the more beautiful they looked. The speed was pretty fast with which it was moving and with waves shaking the whole ship up and down, it felt even more adventurous. There were many islands in close proximity and they all were virgin with pure natural beauty all over. We reached our destination the Tioman Islands, one of the most beautiful islands of the world (source: wikipediea). We had booked a banglow on the beach and the whole thought of it was exiting. But when we got down from the jetty, I realized that God really have made some mistakes by sending we guys to heaven. It looked a perfect place to relax and enjoy. The sand of the beach was pure white unlikely of what I have ever seen in my life. The journey was tiring but we were reenergized by seeing such a sight and we dumped our bags in the banglows and jumped into the beach to chill out. The bunglows I must say were far better than my imagination as we booked the cheapest ones available and it was better than most of the ones found in Goa. The sea always excited me and I was always a beach lover. We wandered around the place and soon figured out were to get what we all wanted so badly.. Booze! And to my surprise, it was cheaper that the rates that we had in India. So we bout some 100 cans of beer, 5 bottles of vodka and lots of chips and namkeen. The crowed around was 100% European as those guys where here for their vacations and were chilling as we were. The feeling was amazing with me relaxing in the beach, beer in my hand and bikini clad European babes around.


We had amazing food in the afternoon(each and everything was better than my expectation, the place, the people around, the food) and we dozed off to sleep in our rooms are we had quite a lot of fun and probably our bodies gave up though the mind wanted more. In the evening, we set out to check out the place around and we found a lot of wonderful places like lounges and pubs for us to hang out in. We had a barbeque dinner (which was mouth watering) on the beach with lots and lots of booze. We set up a born fire and chatted till the wee hours of the morning, played and danced a lot with music playing in the nearby restraint was rocking. I had lost count of time and didn’t know what time it was when we decided to call it a day, but most of us had already slept off to sleep there on the beach itself and I had neither the energy nor the interest of picking them up and taking them to their rooms so I decided to sleep on the beach too on the net tied to the two trees. The night was beautiful with clear moonlit sky and the reflection of moon light falling on the ocean. It was a perfect day and a perfect ending to it.


The next morning when I woke up, the sun was up and I had a severe headache. Everyone was lying around and none had woken up. People were already staring at us but I was not in a state to bother. I tried waking them up but it was of no use. Filled some sea water some of the pile of empty cans that we had thrown last night. We had our breakfast in a restaurant on the sea shore and the view was again extremely beautiful. We enquired about the places to visit around from the local people and found that there are a dozen of islands that can be explored through small boats and there is a huge coral bed which means that there is a huge opportunity for snorkeling and scuba diving. Everyone was excited with the mere thought of it and we quickly had a bath and changes into our tucks and with sunscreen lotion on, we were all set to go. Started off on the small speed boats in group[s of 6 and the boats were real fast. With the sea waves getting stronger, it became even more exciting as I always wanted to ride one but never got a chance for the same. We reached to the virgin beaches and it was so beautiful & sensuous. The whole surrounding were so calm with us and some Europeans being the only inhabitants. The water was very clear and one can already see the water bed from above. We put on our snorkeling gear and dived into the deep water. The experience inside was breadth taking. It was a different world altogether with life forms I didn’t even imagined existed. We did some snorkeling for the next two hours, clicked some photographs and left for the next beach. It was a more inhabited one with a lot of shop[s and people already there. While exploring we met some of our other batch mates who were staying there in one of the villas. We all were very hungry and had our lunch. I never expected to find such delicious non-vegetarian food. I cant recall the name of the dishes that I had but they were some of the very good dishes that I had in a while now. One we were done with it, went out for shopping and I bought a bracelet which was made of sea stones. While roaming around the place, we found that there was a volley0-ball court on the beach!! It was yet another dream come true for me. We formed teams and were complately into the game. Diving on the sand and those babes in bikini watching us! Chilled out with some beer and set out for the next beach. This one was extremely uninhabited and there wasn’t anything new to be seen there. But we still entered in the water and did some snorkeling there. By the end of it, we were dead tired and decided to return. Reached back to our beach and realized that the crowd had grown and there were more beautiful women with even lesser clothes. None of us wanted to go back to the banglow but there was salt all over and inside my body and it was extremely irritating. So we decided to go back, have a bath, buy some booze and come back to the beach and relax. So we set back and rented some bicycles as that was the only means of transport available on the island. Bought another 50 cans of beers and 4 bottles of vodka and set back after having a round of the whole island. We got freshen up, chatted for some time, went to the beach, had another bar-be-queue dinner, danced on the beach, played football in the middle of the night and collapsed.


Next morning had to take the early ferry back, so we all woke up early and immediately got ready, had beer in the breakfast and left. Took the ferry back to the shore and started our journey to Kuala Lumpur. It was a long journey by road, have had our lunch and we were in the Volvo so made the full use of it by relaxing and getting full recharged for the long night ahead as we had heard that the night clubs in KL were really rocking and hence we had big plans to p[arty that night. We were almost 50 Kms away from KL but the Petronas Towers were visible from that distance. The excitement of visiting that city mounted with every passing kilometer. As we reached there, it was like we had reached some place in India as everything was extremely similar. The roads were jammed and the cars weren’t that attractive. On reaching our destination, we got the first shock of the trip. The reservations that we had made in the hostels that we had done were cancelled and we had no other option of finding a different hostel which was extremely difficult as the race-day being the next day, all the hostel/hotels/motels were going all full. So we all set out in the hunt for hostels and we all decided to meet back from the point where we were dispersing so come back in 2 hours with the finding of each and everyone as none of us were able to make outgoing calls, communication was extremely difficult. By God’s grace, we managed to get rooms for everyone of us.


We had some rest there and changed for party! Left for the most happening place in KL where the Petronas Towers are located. The scene over there was rocking. There were people all over the place as if some carnival was taking place. There was this whole street which was filled with pubs, lounges and disks and there wasn’t a place to put your feet on. After standing in a very long queue we got inside and the scene inside was maddening. There were Chinese chicks all around the place and they were dressed pretty well. There was live rock bands playing and they used to stop for a while and the DJ takes on. We danced there till the wee hours of the night and then headed for the most fascinating thing in KL which has brought it on the world map – The Petronas Towers. We all had our cameras ready with us to click hundreds of photographs with it and we were pretty excited. But as soon as we reached there we had the biggest shock of the tour so far! The lights of the towers had been switched off! It was HUGE building no wonder but the beauty had faded in the night. It was so tall that we couldn’t see the tip of it. That was the biggest turn off for us. We had such huge expectations from it but with a heavy heart we all returned. We were disappointed that our schedule was so tight that we wouldn’t have had time to visit the same again. But anyways we had other things to look forward for in the trip. The biggest being the race for which we had to set off early in the morning.


It was a new day and it was the day which brought had brought us there – The race day! I was following the proceedings for the race and it was going to be pretty exciting and the competition was tight. We set off by having a heavy breakfast and reached the circuit – Sepang! It was another dream come true. The atmosphere was electrifying. There was some 5 hours in the race to start and it was already very hot and we had taken the open stand in which there was no roof and no seating arrangement. So we started roaming around and the place was a huge marketing success that they had built. They had provided a lot of attractions over there which included the amphitheater were they were playing a very good movie dedicated to F1 racing. It was good fun watching that and there was a museum in which they had kept the very first racing cars which was fascinating to see. Before the F1 race started they had lined up a race for Porches which was a treat for the eyes to watch. And then after a long wait came the moment we all were waiting for – The flag off. We were standing few kilometers from the start but the noise from the engines was deafening. There we were standing at the turn and the track was less than 100 meters away from us and we could see the cars coming to the turn, slowing down and then accelerating. There were 52 laps that were to be completed and each and every moment was breadth taking to watch. The race came to an end in some 2 hours with Alonso wining, Hamilton coming 2nd and Massa the 3rd. As soon as the race got over, we rushed outside and the scene was like some dam had broken loose and there was a flood of people exiting out. We took the 1st bus we could catch back and rushed to the booking office as we knew that everyone would try to get out of KL and to Genting Highlands where we were heading next. As it was an extended weekend and people from all over the neighboring places have come to witness the race and now Genting being the next most obvious destination. We realized that the next (and the last) bus to Genting was at 9 and there was just half an hour left for the same. So we started running back to the hostel to get out luggage as we were not able to find a cab for us. Fortunately we got one and took our stuff and headed back. The cab was not allowed to enter the bus terminal for some reason so we had to get out and start running again with all our luggage in our hands. There were 5 minutes left when we reached and there was still enough time for us to pick some food for us to eat and we hadn’t had anything to eat since afternoon and we were really tired after a very long and exhaustive day. We ate and collapsed in the seats of the Volvo and when we woke up, it was hard to believe my eyes as we had reached another heaven. It was a hill station and temperature around 15 degrees.


Genting Highlands was hill station and was famous for the casinos and the amusement park. This was the only place where we had gone without any booking as we knew there are a lot of hotels which had a capacity of 1000 rooms each but call it our bad luck or another adventure, but we couldn’t find a single room in any of those! So it was cold and we didn’t have the right clothes and we were all on our own in the open on the floor. But we had to something to survive. We changed in the hotel restroom and submitted the luggage in the clock room after convincing the manager and headed towards the Casino! These were the only ones in the area around Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Hong-Kong. So there were a lot of people inside already. It was my first time at a Casino and it was fascinating to watch people play and loose! No body wins in a casino is what I have heard all my life and tonight was the chance to prove that wrong. I watched carefully and observered people’s moves and learnt some tricks. But when it came to putting money, I started with some low risk bets in which I made some money but soon I was on the loosing end. I tried to hedge my risk by diversifying but that didn’t help much. I recovered in the end and came out as soon as I got even. Some of our friends thankfully had booked some rooms in hotels there but they were far off and we need to climb down to get there. So we took a cable car and in the middle of the fog, we reached the hotel. To my surprise, it was a 5 star and a beautiful one too. But there were already 5-6 guys staying in the rooms but we still adjusted and set off got fainted. Another hectic yet exciting day came to an end.
We woke up in the morning with a heavy head but we had to rush again as we had to cover the amusement park and they reach Singapore by the night or we could be stuck for the next 2 days due to the heavy booking. When we reached back up there, we were shocked to see huge number of people flocking all over the area. The hotel where we had put our luggage, had turned into a refugee camp of some sort and there were people all over the place. We booked our tickets back to Singapore and we had just 2 hours to cover the whole Amusement Park! So we were again running all over the place to cover maximum rides in the time that we had.


So, that was the Malaysian Trip which was one of the most memorable outings of my life as before this I had never gone such far all on my own which made the experience even more special for me.

Cheers,

Tushar

True Meaning of My Independence

It was the 15th of August and it was yet another day of my life for me. My lectures have started after a long break that we had due to mismanagement of the college authorities but those glitches seemed to have sorted out and here we have our new professor for the topic 'Risk, security, resilience and ... something I can't even remember'. Independence to me didn't have much of a significance to me except it used to be a public holiday back home.

So here I was in the class wondering why aren't we all off today. I was the first working day of my life so far and it seemed quite strange for me to go to college on this very date. Not that I don't respect what the freedom fighters have done for us nor do I miss a chance to Cherish my Independence and my Freedom but never really realized the meaning of it until this very day when I was out of my country and realized that I was living in place still ruled by emperors and rulers. Just that very thought ran a chill down my spine. I realized how lucky I was in my own county where I had the freedom to do anything I want to do, express myself, lead a chilled out life which is not that easy over here. Though we don't face any such problems over here but the thought of being ruled by someone makes me feels a little uncomfortable.

So, I had started missing my country already and it was lunch time. We all were sitting in the cafeteria, having lunch watching channel V, the video channel and the whole place was crowded. It was a complete mess as everyone was in their own world discussing their lives and sharing their own sad stories. And suddenly 'Jana Gan Man' started playing on the channel; me along with my friends stood up right there leaving our food in our mouths. As it being our national anthem we gave the highest respect to it and to my surprise within a matter of a few seconds, every soul in the cafeteria was standing up, motionless, glued to the television screen and the whole scene had changed, from the noisy fish market the place had transformed into a church. And boy that moment was so very touching, I was almost in tears at that particular time and I am sure most of the people present there felt the same. For the first time in my life what Independence really means to all of us. We all were riding in the same boat and I believe, everyone must be feeling the same. For the first time, I realized how much I loved my county and that was the most touching moments ever. The channel V buggers played the song every 10 minutes and to my disbelief, everyone stood in respect every time the song played. And every time that feeling returned inside me and my love for the county increased every time we stood up and I started to feel proud of my county and I was a proud Indian. My head held high in the air and I realized why the freedom fighters would have given up the most precious thing that they had possessed - their lives! The freedom fighter in me had woken up and I would have beaten up any Brit that I would have seen at that particular time.

Anyways, we had a grand celebration for the Independence Day in the college but to my disbelief, we were denied to host the Indian flag in the open! So we had an indoor ceremony in which our dean along with the faculty members were present as guests. It was cultural event in which there were singing as well as dance performances, and I must say they were fabulous. The songs were sung by the junior batch and the dance performance that they had pulled off was a spectacle to watch. The senior batch too had a dance performance lined up which was again fantastic.

With all the patriotism filled in me, I returned to my busy schedule but that feeling was still present in me. I was more energetic and proactive but the work that I was into was something against my country and if that was passed into wrong hands could have negative implications for the country. I realized how much a hypocrite I was but then I realized that work is a religion and I had to put in my best efforts until and unless it is not unethical. So that's how life is and one must just play along with it. It will ask you to take tough decisions but there are the true test of character and one has to come out it with flying colours.

Vande Matram!


Tushar Seth

66.66% MBA and still going strong...

It was the day of the examination and I was up in the morning trying to figure out what the paper is going to look like what to read and what not to. As it was the first time I was looking at the syllabus which was absolutely contrary to my style of studying in which I used to finish off the course a week before the exams and at the time of examination, it just used to be a revision. The exam was in the afternoon and I just gulped my food and nearly missed the bus to the college. After giving my exams for the 4th term of my course, I wondered if I shall be happy or sad, weather to be ecstatic or morose.. but there was nothing to be sad about so that left me with just one option of joining everybody else in celebrating the graduation of 2/3 of my MBA. The papers that led to the completion of the 4th term were Data Mining(there was no clue of any data that could have been possibly 'mined' in the paper and after half an hour into the paper, I was wondering which subject is the paper for..) and Knowledge Management(which to me looked more like the reading comprehension type English papers that we just to have at school..) but never the less the papers got over in a single day and we had full 4 days of holidays with us(which is something of a miracle for us as we never used to get even a day off in the whole week) and I decided to go to my Bhaiya's place in Sharjah.

The hospitality was grand as usual(one of the most important reasons for my going there) and bhabhi cooked real amazing food that night and I was deep sleep before I even realized. A hard day had come to an end.

This was the best part of my stay at bhabhi's place, hot, buttered, stuffed aalu ke parathas served by Bhabhi along with curd, in bed!!!! Man that was like a dream.. some serving you right in the bed.. these are the luxuries that makes me think of getting married and get settled but that would come with a gamut of problems and difficulties and the whole ball game would change.. no independence, lots and lots of responsibilities, added tension and the worst.. staying with the same person all the time.. I don't have any issues is that but just to have breakfast in bed.. I think its a fairly bad deal.. Anyways, after breakfast, I again went into my state of coma and a huge big bang woke me up when I thought that a granad had fallen on my head. It was my couson who had hit me with his pillow which was the reason for the blast on my head. Amen, is 5 years old and a complete angrez da puttar, he doesn't know how to speak hindi and is extremely naughty who just cant sit in one place. But I have fun playing with him and he along with his elder sister make the whole house alive with their acts all around the place.

We went to a place called Spinich in the evening and it is one of the malls present in the area. The most attractive thing about these malls is not the shops but the people who visit them. I have not seen so many beautiful women in my entire life as I have seen here in the last 1 month. There is a mix of Arabic, Lebanon, Israeli, European, American & Indian women in here. So Dubai is a multi cultured, multi lingual, metropolitan city.

Spent the rest of the evening there, shopping, playing rides and having fun. Came back and had an entire kilo of chicken for dinner. Watched 'Awarapan' (which was extremely pathetic) and went to sleep.