Welcome 2008

My journey through 2007 was the same in terms of the plethora of emotions that I came across in all the other years but extremely different in terms of the experiences I have been through...I believe thats the way it's gonna be till the penultimate year of my life...

It was a good share of joy,achievements & friendships and a not so good share of loss,pain & turbulence...But then I believe it was the same for all you folks too...

Yes!!!! we got 'some' and we lost 'some'...At the flagend of this year, we need to know that was that 'some' we lost and got really worth the emotions and energy we had invested on them????

Certainly 'yes' & 'no'...

My resolution for the new year is to have more number of 'yes' at the end of 2008.

Sorry for the aforesaid philosophical note...

On a more level headed note 2008 is gonna be a very crucial year for me...A year when I would be actioning on some of the critical decisions I took recently...

From mid February I would be preparing for my CAT and XAT exams in the persuit of getting into my dream Business School ie XLRI or TISS or MDI or MSSW[As they are the best for Human Resource studies].. I have to put my heart and soul into studies in order to realise my dream...
Now getting into any of the above mentioned B-School[Preferably XLRI :-)] would be a serious challenge...My score alone would not decide my fate into the Business School...Perfect preparation for Group Discussion and Interview is also needed...My profile also needs to look ultra awesome..So it's gonna be an action packed journey...

Now let me discuss the most important events of my year 2007-

• My graduation from MCC- Felt awesome after becoming a BBA graduate from MCC. Finally three beautiful years in the college came to an end. I was happy to be blessed with all the learnings and friendships I garnered but felt remorse stricken while saying good bye to the friends and proffessors.


• My Campus recruitment- Getting recruited by one of the best employer of the country was delightful.


• My HR project from a fortune 500 company-It was on 'Emotional & Spiritual Intelligence at workplace'. I stood first in the dept.


• India winning the Twenty-Twenty world cup- Though not a personal event but still a day to be cherished. Felt extra patriotic that day.I remember doing three cheers for India in the office. Would have been happier if Saurav DADA was also in the team.


• My first day in office- I was really excited.Very nice induction session.


• My ILP training-Awesome learning and awesome fun.All the trainers were too good.


• THE FIRM decision on MBA-Well this decision is one of the most serious decisons I have taken in recent time and my year 2008 will completely revolve around it.

To sum up I am happy with the way 2007 went by.Among the key things I am looking forward in 2008 are as follows -

• Preparation for CAT & XAT Exam,GD & PI.


• Reading some good books.


• Key learnings from my work experience[little more than 8 months].


• A bit of Yoga and Reiki.


• Expert Language Certification[English] from British Council.


• Six pack abs.


• Acting in atleast one play[theatre] after CAT exam.


• All the Shahrukh Khan releases.


• Reading newspaper regularly.


• Drinking lots of water[Dad complains I drink very less of water!!!!]

Well enough!!!!

Wish all of you a happy,prosperous and healthy new year!!!!

Have fun!!!!!

-Saikat Saha

Sports in Bollywood....

A few months back before the release of ‘ Chak De’ if I had written this article then I would have probably given the title ‘Sports & Bollywood’ instead of ‘Sports in Bollywood’. That article would have compared sports & bollywood in terms of their popularity. I would have also not reached any consensus at the end of the article.

But what I am writing today deals with the growing inclusion of sports theme in Bollywood movies. I mean it did exist earlier also like in case of Lagaan [But not a main stream sports movie],Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar[my favorite sports bollywood movie] and a few forgettable ones but they were the rarest breed of Indian Cinema.

Now I believe that this breed is going to become an integral part of Indian Cinema. The reasons for this is very simple. Firstly we seem to enjoy such themes as observed in case of the superhit SRK starrer ‘Chak de’ and the very promising trailors of movie ‘Goal’ starring John Abraham, Bipasha Basu and Arshad Warsi.We are inquisitive about other sports apart from ‘Cricket’ as both the movies do not deal with Cricket.

Secondly such movies inevitably give us the sense of ‘victory of the human spirit’ with which the masses associate in a besotted manner.

Thirdly such movies have a huge scope of being a multi starrer which adds great value to to the audience’s movie watching feast.

Finally and most importantly such movies seems to be doing great deal of good to sports in itself. Indian Cricket team won the T 20 world Cup, Indian Hockey Team won the Asia Cup,Vishwanathan Anand is the reigning king of the chess world and yet a lot more positive developments have taken place in Indian Sports. Shahrukh Khan has been able to contribute a lot more to this recent upstream phenomenon of Indian sports more than any one else in the country.

This lateral shift of sports into Indian cinema is a healthy sign for both bollywood and Indian sports which would ensure entertainment meets laurels.

-Saikat Saha

Talent Branding

The word 'Brand' seems to be a very familiar cell in the marketing DNA but with the growing capitalist nature of our job,life and the thought process; we somehow can very easily associate Brand with anything which has a keen consumer market. Be it a familiar FMCG,Movie,Book,Educational Institution to the more new age products like thoughts[in the form of blog],networking[Orkut,Face Book],Career[IT,BPO,KPO] etc to the more recent but ever existing product called 'Talent'.

It's overwhelming to see my aspirational domain area getting more market savvy or for that matter even Tech Savvy like 'SAP HR Process'.

Now let me justify the chemistry between 'Talent' & 'Brand'-

*In the marketing domain we serve the external customer & in the Human Resorce domain we serve the internal customer. Afterall we both serve 'customers'. Though we need to be a little more clearer about the products and services we serve to the internal customer.

* Talent is the hottest selling entity[ Sorry!!!! for using the word 'entity'.Thanks to my vocabulary constraint...he...he...he] in the corporate market. In other words 'job hopping' is ever increasing because of 'personal reasons'[We know exactly what personal reasons actually mean...Don we????].
So the demand & supply of talents is either getting a thrashing in the wrong place in terms of quantity or quality of talents.

So according to my knowledge bandwith [Thanks to my B.B.A from MCC, my common sense and my keen interest in people] I feel anything which qualifies to be in the realms of demand & supply inturn can be or rather must be catapulted to a more respectable height through the propeller which is branded as 'Brand'.

*Yesterday after watching the trailor of Om Shanti Om, I was in my Half Karmic state [day dreaming state] thinking about the way this movie was getting promoted or in other terms' 'marketed''. I recently read in the internet that it has already made crores before it's release itself. Now what makes this movie a success before it's release itself. With all due respect to all other propellers of the movie like the experimental Farah Khan, gorgeous Deepika Padukone[my collegues latest crush], the supporting cast,behind the scene people; I still feel it's Shahrukh[known as SRK] who is the most powerful catalyst of the movie.
Or should I say SRK the 'Brand' as it was quoted by someone once that in bolly wood only the popular three letter word S** and SRK sells. The movie's USP is SRK and he has reinvented his brand with a new USP in itself called 6 pack abs. Probably SRK will be giving more contribution to health and fitness for our youth [I am a part of it too:-)] than any fitness guru has ever done in this country.
We are here discussing about a 'BRAND' called SRK and even a 'TALENT' at the same time.
Talent Branding is not new in bollywood, it was there in Sholay too. Don we all still remember the brand called 'Jai','Veeru',Basanti,'Gabbar','Thakur Baldev Singh ',Radha'.The brand 'Sholay' in itself had brands like them. And all these brands were as big if not bigger than the parent brand 'Sholay'.
If your company has the guts and I repeat the word 'GUTS'[ I am completely in my senses while using the word] to create such talent brands then only the company's brand would be a long lasting flourishing success.But be careful you kick out the Gabbar Singhs[not literally] and tightly hug[literally] the super hero brands of your company.

Earlier this month we celebrated the first year anniversary of our rocking team in our esteemed company. The certificates of excellence which were presented to us had our names written on it along with a lovely title for each of us. Mine read as 'Saikat, The Perky Pundit'. It really made me happy but I am sorry for self promoting myself this way[ But why should I feel sorry,afterall I am just promoting the brand in the making called 'Saikat Saha']

Wishing all you Human Resource Superstars a very happy,safe and prosperous Talent Branding

-Saikat Saha[A wannabe Human Resource Superstar]

NEW AGE SPIRITUALITY

In this era where people are at a constant race to do things which they are expected to do and not things which they want to do; we need a support system which could aid us to do which we are expected to do.

That support system to me is called ‘spirituality’. Spirituality has provided me immense strength to find keen interest and a great drive in what I am expected to do as well as in things which I want to do in life.

What does exactly spirituality mean to all of us???? Everyone has their own perception to it.

What surprises to me the most is that most of us think spirituality and religion means the same. But I believe religion is just a divine medium to derive spiritual fulfillment. I have loads of friends who are spiritually intelligent but are not religious. They don’t know the Gayatri Mantra, they don visit the church everyday, they don read the Namaz five times a day. But for me they qualify to be spiritually intelligent. They know themselves well, they know what they want in their life and they are compassionate. What else should a man expect from spirituality in the 21st century where it’s too easy to be cynical while chasing the rat race???

I have also found an easy and interesting medium of spirituality. I simply try and keep the kid inside me alive through a game of table tennis, sometimes through cartoon network and sometimes while reading the works of Enid Blyton and Ruskin Bond. It helps me to listen to the beautiful music composed in my heart; it makes me a lesser cynical man and motivates me to be an impractical optimist in life. Again I raise the question of what else do you expect from spirituality????

My colleagues in the office greet me with Happy Monday, Happy Tuesday, Happy Wednesday, Happy Thursday and Happy Friday accordingly based on which day of the week it is. What it results into is ‘celebration of work’. Again I ask u the question, have you ever found a more spiritually inclined workplace????

My friend on getting his first salary donates the entire amount to an orphanage instead of making a so called intelligent ‘investment’. Is that not spiritual????

Huge number of youth gathers on road to distribute water and food packets to the shocked public minutes after serial bomb blast in Mumbai. I certainly believe such act of compassion does qualify as a potent prerequisite of spiritual intellect.

Even small acts like growing consciousness of physical fitness to wearing a livestrong band to support a noble cause to the immense public support provided during Jessica Lal murder case to participating in a marathon to the online signature campaign against the very recent molestation of women in DU campus by wanna be police men is extremely spiritual to us.

All the above mentioned paragraphs speak volumes about the spiritual enlightment of this Rang De Basanti era. I hope India continues to grow in it’s spiritual front in this manner. This to me is the contemporary face of spirituality with all due respect to what my readers perceive as spirituality.

We all are more comfortable with contemporary things…. Aren't we???????

-Saikat Saha

The Convocation Day- A short story set in a college

The college in which I embarked my journey to discover myself did not just merely give me my MBBS degree but paved a new beginning for yet another beautiful journey.

Today seated among the hundreds of student around me in the convocation day I can say that with a lot delight.Things were different sometime back when it was the last day of my college days. I was in my hostel room packing my bags. Abhishek and Shoibhik who were my roommates for the last five years were doing the same. Not quite literally but still Abhishek had to pack the cigarette butts, Shoibhik was busy adjusting the dozens of certificates he had won and I was staring at the love letters which I could never send to the person whom I used to call Sagarika.

Well I kept reading the letters for numerous times. Abhishek came and told me that had I even send those letter to her once then I wouldn’t have been pondering resentfully over it like this. At least I would have convinced myself of trying and giving a first and last shot at it. If not convinced, I was at least left confused over my state. Shoibhik added more to my frustration by saying that “Don’t be afraid to tell her about your feelings, if you do tell her she might break your heart and if you don’t then you might break her heart”. I replied instantly "So you are telling me to give the benefit of doubt to her".“Brother I don’t have the patience to continue this conversation with you but the bottom line is that if today you loose this opportunity then you have to prepare yourself for a transition from a looser to an enduring looser, need I say more”.I was clueless about what to do (well not really clueless).

Some reflex action made me jump out of my bed and I started dressing up. Shoibhik and Abhishek were completely stunned for a minute or so.Abhishek anxiously asked "what’s wrong with you? I guess you need a new starter for yourself". I replied, "well nothing is wrong with me, I am going to tell her my feelings today, I have to rush to the railway station now, her train is scheduled at 3 o clock." Abhishek and Shoibhik in chorus "all the best dude".I finally arrived at the Howrah railway station in Calcutta. I was busy searching for her. Finally I went to the board where the reservation list was put up. I found her name on the reservation list. I was waiting in the compartment but to my utter dismay I could not find even a trace of her.

Well she is the kind of person who left things for the last minute so my hopes were alive to meet her. Nothing better to do, I grabbed a cold drink and gulped down the entire aerated drink at one go. Then came a glorifying burp.The burp did come but she did not come. Hardly less than ten minutes were left for the train to leave for it’s destination. I thought she would miss the train and I would have all the time in the world to tell her my feelings.

Then came Sagarika running towards her compartment. She was holding suitcases in both her hands. I was too preoccupied or may be too absorbed at staring into her eyes without realizing that I should have helped her to carry her luggage inside the compartment. Then I realized that Abhishek’s suggestion of getting a new starter for myself was not that bad idea and I took the luggage from her hand. Sagarika said "It took a little time for you to invoke the gentleman inside you.""Well sorry for that, so you are leaving and it's time to say good bye." Sagarika did not say anything, she only gave a smile and she looked gorgeous as always. I was speechless, may be lost into the illusionary world where only both of us existed.

Then she said, "Well I am leaving and I have to leave. I just want to tell you that you mean a lot to me and we have been the best of friends for the past five years, tomorrow we might be real good friends, after sometime we might miss each other then slowly we would loose contact with each other and finally we wouldn’t feel like talking to each other too but irrespective of what the future holds for us, all I know that you have touched my life in a very beautiful way. Thank you for all the things you have given me and above all thanks to God for blessing me with a friend like you.

I don’t remember how I felt then; I was not in my consciousness to feel anything. But the feeling was something very close to what I call 'pain'. Another thing that I remember was that my tear glands were at its work. I tried my best to not cry. The guard whistled and the train made that annoying sound that indicated that Sagarika was moving away from my life.I handed over the rasgullas (sweets) to her and waved my hand. Waving my hand at her was possibly the toughest thing to do at that point of time. I managed to smile and tell her "good bye Sagarika. I will miss you a lot." For the first time instead of staring at the rasgullas, she kept staring at me.

Within a span of few seconds only the last few bogies were visible (actually not quite visible as my tear glands were busy at it's work).Then I realized that today also I could not tell her what I wanted to tell her. Shoibhik's words crossed my mind and my transition from a looser to an enduring looser had begun. This was taking a toll on me. I turned around and saw Shoibhik and Abhishek standing.

I wept a lot that day on their shoulders. My emotional vulnerability was unplugged….

One year passed by since that day and the day was being celebrated as the convocation day. It felt great to be back in the college campus. When I entered the portals of my college it gave me a nostalgic feeling. Well everything was still the same in college but there was this vacuum inside me. It was difficult for me to recognize that unfamiliar vacuum.As I entered the hall I met all my friends and classmates (including Abhishek and Shoibhik). Had the regular conversation, shared some jokes but that unfamiliar vacuum was taking the life out of me.

The convocation ceremony had just begun and the chief guest came on stage to give his speech. There was pin drop silence then.But something broke that silence. It was Sagarika’s footsteps, again the last one to reach any place as usual, and probably the first and the last (love) for me too.She came and sat next to me filling not only the empty seat next to me but also the unfamiliar vacuum inside me.We then had our conversation where I portrayed that everything was going well and smooth in my life.

After receiving the degree we went outside for a brisk walk around the campus. Failing to bottle up my emotions, I finally told her what she meant to me. There was an uncomfortable silence, which surrounded me, and out of an impulse she said 'yes' to my proposal. Well I am not sure if that ‘yes’ was out of an impulse but that impulse has today brought Sagarika and me back to this college after 25 years for our daughter’s convocation day.Today my hair has turned a little grey and Sagarika has started getting her wrinkles.We are no more a pretty couple but my daughter says we are the most beautiful couple on earth if not the prettiest.This college blessed me with a degree, great friends (Abhishek and Shoibhik) and a lot more (Sagarika).
-Saikat Saha

Life at Madras Christian College

I feel happy most of the times and sad sometimes when I think of the golden period of my life at Madras Christian College.I feel happy because I was blessed with three beautiful years in MCC and I feel sad because I wanted to spend my entire life time that way and I couldn't. But one emotion which plays in my heart always is that of 'Nostalgia'.

When I look back to my years in MCC; a floodgate of memories start flowing from my heart and they merge into my soul reminding what a great teacher my college has been in my life.

I remember those days back in 2004 when I came to Chennai after my schooling from Delhi Public School R K Puram[One of the most respected schools of the country].I did have a great schooling.Every bit of my schooling was a learning experience with fond memories.But never did I imagine in my life that I would be transported so far away from New Delhi[Thanks to Dad for getting transferred to Chennai] where I did my entire schooling.

My first impression about the college on my first day itself was impressive. Primarily because of three reasons.Firstly, the huge size of the college which is approximately 365 acres of paradise filled with beautiful flora and fauna[ One can spot many deers in the campus], Secondly, the simplicity of the extremely talented students and highly qualified Professors.Thirdly of course, the rich history,culture,academics,India Today ranking,A+ accredition by NAAC etc.

But as I stepped out of the portals of my college after three years, it made me realize that It was the heart and the soul of the college which was much more bigger,simple yet much more truly special than the three above mentioned reasons which impressed me three years ago.

MCC has taught me much more than Bachelors in Business Administration.It has helped me to recognize myself.It has blessed me with great friends.It has given me incredible opportunities to prove myself and gain immense self confidence.And MCC has blessed me with the most wonderful memories of my life.

It feels good to close my eyes and think of those golden days.It strenghthens my belief in goodness,values,love,friendship,hardwork and above all God. As God is the one who blessed me with the 3 beautiful years in MCC.

In my last few days in MCC I recieved the following SMS from a very special friend of mine:
A place where sky is the limit.
A place where grass is always green.
A place where a boy is moulded into a gentleman.
A place where traditions are still kept alive.
A place where each stone has a story to tell
We call it Madras Christian College!!!
And who said paradise can't be found on earth?
Viva la MCC

All I know since then is that when I get a little too tired running in the marathon called 'Life'. I just look back towards my days in MCC. Trust me it does wonders.It helps me to run even faster and most importantly enjoy the marathon. But then I miss my teacher a lot.The teacher whom I call 'MCC'.
Miss those days in MCC.

Below is a link to a video done by some immensely talented students of MCC.This will surely bring you closer to what I have experienced in my college days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7R8TQ5OqIQ

The Mirage

Dead tired,brocken into pieces I enter the cocoon of hope....

As I close my eyes to illuminate my inner world with bright rays of hope; prayers come out from within my soul...

Prayers that silently calls you to merge into my mystical world....

The mystical world of solitude, which for years gave me enough reasons to despair and lament....

As I open my eyes; I see you.You and your eyes could not stop gazing at me....

Amazed by the fog of my remorse stricken look, You continue looking at me with your dazzling smile....

My soul gets a vibrant life at your beautiful look,Felt as if you read me like an open book....

My ambiguity rose to the summer mercury level; Wondering what's going in your heart....

To my utter dismay I realize that's the same old mirage which made a fool out of me....

Dad used to say 'History repeats itself' but I must tell you my once upon a time sweet heart that if this was a page of a history then you shall remain as the most treasured page of that history....

-Saikat Saha

The best poem I have ever read

Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there's some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.......

Poem lyrics of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost.