TAP-ME!

So, a couple of days have gone by since I last attended class, right? Well, heck, that seems just about the right time to up and scoot off to TAPMI in Manipal for their fest! I mean it seemed perfect! The end terms were just ten days away! So we go to the station, find out there is no current booking, meaning, well, we just ride our luck in the sleeper compartments and hope the TC is a kind soul. With me on this memorable journey - Ravi Girdhar, Rohit Gupta, "People call me Pakaw because my name is Prashant Kowshik" Prashant Jagdish Kaushik and Nitai Utkarsh. We arrived in Manipal at Seven in the morning, and were wondering where we went next. The answer was - anywhere! Chick land here we came!( As far as I was concerned anyway....)

Now Manipal was touted as THE paradise on earth for young people, considering that they appeared to make up almost all of the population! So we go to the hotel, where this really courteous guy called Vivek is there as our welcoming committee. And right then and there started the wonderful trend of whispering ".....backwaters" into Baba's ear!:-D

Now the first thing we worried about was the darned loo! I mean the place was stuffy as hell, and I know the first thing that came into my mind was the person who went in next after, I think it was Rohit, would have to be given a respirator. We survived that without too much incident, but then another dilemma - IIM K tee-shirts and who would wear what. I had got extras for myself and one for Ravi, but the goodness of my heart saw me offering one to Pakaw, and offering Ravi a selection from the two left, that would be decided by whatever fitted his @@!$!@$! girth. Sadly, the one shirt that I actually fancy was picked by him. The stretch marks will serve as a constant reminder of being a friend in need. Ahhhhhh.....

Then we finally reached TAPMI!!! And no the place was not a diappointment....I guess. I mean if I had gone there for as shallow a reason as to just see some new faces, preferably female, I sure was not complaining;-) Now my batchmate Shounak was already here a day ago, to participate in the (ahem, hee hee) "Young(sic) Business Leader" contest. No real reason to mention that at the present moment, just in case I lose the thread later in what may be an involved story...and maybe to poke a little fun at our very own Geriatrix..heh.

So anyway, the formal events came and went, while Pakaw and Rohit won Crisis, some sort of a competition, for which, they won Stu-pen-dous prizes - Consumer Behaviour and Market Research..They loved their prizes. By the way, in the grand tradition of Bloopers, here is one - The certs were made out to Rohit, aaaaaand, wait for it Ravi!!!! It was quite something to see poor Pakaw's face when he realised what had happened! Ravi on the other hand seemed quite okay with everything..

There was, on the first day we were there, events organised on the Beach, a very nice touch. I mean it really was the most enjoyable time ever! There were all sorts of informal on the spot kinda thingies happening, like "a prize to the guy who is first on the stage with a lipstick mark on his right cheek". Well, I tried...Aaaaaaaanyway, I also nearly drowned on Pepsi, and spent about half an hour wondering when I would throw up after that particular compt. Then Baba, Pakaw and I won three vouchers for Cafe Coffee Day for doing a version of "Humma Humma" that was well supposed to be sung one word at a time per person! Pakaw was up on stage for a couple of other things and came back richer by a couple of CDs and a hotly contested poster of Britney Spears. By the way, Baba, you ol' son of a so-and-so, I was in your room today and did not see it up, so darn it, lemme have it!!!!

The main event in the evening was Quiz-on-the-Beach. That was truly spectacular, and I really had the most fun ever! Wish I had a camera on me:-( anyway, there was more fun the next day, when Ravi and I were part of this Selling game, in which the team that won had no idea what the heck they were doing!!! They seemed so morose about a fantastic deal they had cut. The best part is that I am pretty sure their opponents thought they had done a great job! Gaaaah
Well, then Rohit and I went to buy TAPMI shirts for mementos and realised, if we were not misinterpreting the comment that they thought the IIM K contingent was the most fun contingent of the lot of B-Schools attending. Why? Well, our secret weapon Shounak, for one! Hugely popular already in just the three days he had been there! Not to mention the IIM K contingent being the only ones to ask for a Tee:-)) They also thought we were having a lot of uninhibited fun on the beach....too true.

Unfortunately, then we had to leave right after the prize distribution ceremony, involving the case of the misrepresented Pakaw, as mentioned above and rush to the railway station, where I was delighted to find the new set of the comics I regularly collect had just arrived. Now here we met on the train this unassuming guy who turns out to be first year M.S. and we were all rather impressed, I think. That puts a lot in perspective. I mean you spend a lot of money to become an MBA so you can earn a lot of money as fast as you can, but all the service is essentially for yourself. Fine, I know about increasing shareholder wealth, blah blah blah, but lets face it - you want money for ME! Now a doctor, he slaves for a relative age to get to a place where he starts to earn decently and fine, he is working for himself, but his work ultimately gets translated into a healthier society. You know, while on the subject of doctors, there is this extremely cute girl who became one, and yours truly had a massive thing for her once, and maybe why I kind of get all very patronising about the profession is that if she is doing it, hey it must be good!:-D

Well, at the end of it here we were, back in campus, and wondering what the HECK major was doing running up a hill at one in the night?!? Ill probably get back with that one....