Mail to my Bestie 19-04-2018

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UPES Dehradun



Hi,

Back from Kolkata now. Reached Bhubaneswar 6 am in the morning. Then went to Khalikot to attend a thread ceremony. Now finally home.

Writing just so things. About last three days. On Tuesday we went to Kolkata - Baba, me and Sanu Mamu- in the morning chair car. This was my first time traveling in a chair car, and I quite liked the sliding doors, the seats, the table-like structures in front of us where our food was served. Much like in flights. The six and half hour journey had three times eating (all veg)- breakfast (bread, butter, jam, frooti, cutlet with fried peas and potatoes) , soup(with bread sticks and pepper powder and butter) and lunch(rice, rumali roti, dal, aloo kofta curry, curd, pickle, and Amul Icecream). I really enjoyed this first time experience. I love eating in journeys.

And Sanu Mamu and I chatted throughout the trip. Baba slept halfway. Then we read newspapers that were provided- The Telegraph and The Bussiness Standards. Sanu Mamu talked about his MBA days, his passion, his job, and financial scenarios around the world, very interesting talks. He said, once they had to give a presentation on "Best Team" - they could use any company in the world, should explain why it stood out for the teamwork in it and why they think it is the best team for them. He said the MBA students were so innovative and out of the box, that to come to their level one has to have a real tough competition. And no Masters program is easy. When you get to a Masters you realize that Bachelor's degree was indeed a cake walk. So one of his classmates performed the presentation thus- he prepared a video of an ad agency, and let the video run in the background with no voiceover. He then explained each and every detail of the video, every aspect of the video without turning back even once. This was so impressive, many students got stuck thinking how could they try to beat this guy.

Sanu Mamu had done on something that he loves- movies. Pixar animation studios- they have created only about 12-16 movies so far and more than half has an Oscar nomination, and more than half of that has even won an Oscar. 

We also talked about movies, Downton Abbey (our favourite English series) and about career too. He said UPES, is very good but also can be just a good last option. And as he said, not many students had turned up for interview. The interview happened over Skype with a faculty member in Dehradun.

************

I liked Salt Lake- the place where Sanu Mamu stays with a friend. Theirs is a comfortable house, maid comes to cook twice a day- breakfast, lunch and dinner. The place Salt Lake was like Bangalore without traffic and with battery operated rickshaws. There were lots of mango trees with mangoes hanging from them, most of which fell on the road that day evening due to the heavy rain and wind. The weather cooled down thus. 





Road to UPES Dehradun


PS: This was before I moved to Dehradun for pursuing M.Tech. And I did question the decision time and again, but now, after three years I can say I have no regrets. And finally our convocation is to be held online on 21st August. I am sad, as is everyone else. Miss the place, the corridors and the scenic views from college. But excited to enjoy this in virtual mode.

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon.

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Queeristan by Parmesh Sahani

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  Queeristan (Amazon Link) Thanks to Audible Free Trial I listened to this amazing non-fiction on LGBTQ inclusion in Indian workplaces. Author Parmesh Sahani identifies as gay Indian, working closely with Godrej higher management and employees for years to create an inclusive workplace, both legally and in spirit. This book is a result of those years of experience, research, collaboration with individuals from difference spectrum of the society and organizations who has successfully transitioned into a queer friendly one.   Indian history is inclusive. From the Khajuraho temple architectures, to Konark to the Rig Veda, there is existing proofs even 2000 years ago of Indian inclusiveness of queer. It’s the draconian British law that criminalised it, which was scraped in 2009, came into effect once again following a sad judgement in 2013 and eventually was scraped off for good in 2018. I am in awe of the lawyers who fought this legal battle- colleagues and partners – Arundhati Katju
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