MindTree Mini Marathon'08!!!!!!!!!!!

“Its not about how far you can run, its how far you can push yourself…”
~ An ancient Greek Saying

It is rather odd, that with all the major modes of transport in this world, man today has converted his most primal mode of movement, walking or running, into an exercise. I for one, have always preferred to be on a two or a four wheeler, than running around for something or the other. Or rather, this preference was something that was an integral part of me, till sometime back.

The meeting on the first day, for the MindTree Mini Marathon was a revelation in itself. How difficult can it be to organize a marathon, was the thought that was running through my mind over and over again. For one, I didn’t see the reason why so many people were required to pull of something I considered so very minor. I was in for a surprise.

The MindTree Mini Marathon had practically nothing mini about it. Its mini nature was thwarted by the great deal of preparation it took to get it in place. For one, the marathon was not being run on a straight track, and hence required constant monitoring to ensure that us, otherwise hard working honest people, wouldn’t take the shorter route to victory.
My ideas took a serious beating when I realized that it would take several meetings to ensure that the event took off without any hitches or glitches. Strategies were made, plans were worked on and groups in charge of various different activities were done. Murthy, with utmost care and diligence worked out various issues and circumstances which would ensure that nothing went wrong on d-day.

Discussions often took rude turns with all of womankind at MindTree protesting about why the marathon was made shorter for them. After all, us women can do anything men can do, so why give us the easier task? A good thought taken as an insult ? I don’t know, but yes, as a woman myself, I don’t see why I shouldn’t run as much as anyone else. Interesting solutions were worked out for problems, which at moments seemed unsolvable. For example, when Tanglin Developments disallowed us from putting up posters on campus, we were in a fix about how one would show the participants the so planned track, atleast for the first time around, till someone came up with the ingenious idea of getting a bike to show the way for the first lap!

When d-day arrived we organizers made it a point to be there on campus at 6:30 and as sharp as expected, everyone one of us, was there, ready to work things out at the earliest. The marathon was a grand success, people ran their hearts out, and for a moment, I just stood there wondering whether I was lucky to be organizing this thing, or would I have been luckier running this marathon.

At the fag end of the whole thing, all the success had put the whole team on a high, but the big task remained, the wrap up was still left. We spent the rest of our time, till afternoon picking up bottles from al over the campus and restoring MindTree to its pristine self. The MMMC ( MindTree Mini Marathon Committee), which was what I prefer to call us organizers went out for a nice lunch. A job well done, a project well executed.

The appreciation we got the following day was the icing on the cake. With people like Puneet, Partha and Jagan appreciating our efforts and many a MindTree minds walking up to us and telling us what a good job we had done, what more could one want. My ideas shattered and a new one place, I now realize the importance of this run. Its more than just a way to exercise, a marathon, mini or maxi, is where we can push ourselves to achieve more than what we have in the past. I so sincerely hope, that this remains a fixture in MindTree for many years to come, to encourage people across all sections to come together and run for their lives !!

.NET Panic

Came back to the class after a "Strong cuppa coffee"...
"Aditi, the midterm results are out shouted my neighbor, check how much you scored?”
To it I replied, "Hey take a chill, it’s just an assessment to check how good the tutor is!”
(N meanwhile I was logging in to my web mail)...
Ouch!!!!!!!!!Shouted me! I have scored in 40's!!And then laughed my neighbor, "I told you its not your cuppa"(.NET she meant)...
There was a chaos in the class, everyone running around to find who scored how much?
And believe me no one asked me, cuz they all thought I was dumb. (Thanks to my super intelligent tutor and my 'I don't no nothin about .NET' attitude).That evening was probably the weakest I’d ever felt! I thought I’d lost all in life. I’d never scored so low in my entire life. And the icing was people coming over and rubbing it on REAL HARD...
Now when I think of that day I don't blame no one. We Indians are brought up in an environment where scoring more than the neighbors’ chintu is more important than the child's emotional satisfaction(families can go on cold war if I score lesser or vice versa, either which ways they go on a war)..
Getting back to my status after the midterm results,
The in charge called us for a meeting the next day and made us realize how worthless we were and how unaffected the company would be if we were thrown out (they were indicating our exit if we din clear the final and deciding assessment)
It just hit me so hard. The heart began acting emotional (N I had to rushed to the loo) the mind yelled “Be practical”!! They tried their level best not to be in sync. I was in such a fix. Being rational looked hazy to me in the washroom mirror!! Silence within me was killing me. Agitation and Irritation were haunting.
I just kept to myself that entire day and went back home.
It was time of reckoning again, with my final exam a week and a half away.
Neared the EXAM time and I start getting anxious and spend sleepless nights. The thought that often lingers in my mind is that, is the examination which tests the true ability and the knowledge of the person? Does it in any way show how much the person has command over the subject? The answering of these questions will lead me into the never ending debate with my conscience. And then its all the more tough when I come from engineering background where I used to get my books a day or two before the exam(I'm sure all the engineers will agree with me on this one, at least the true eng;-)) and I used to still clear.
I am of the opinion that examination on the whole should be banned. Since examinations do not test the true ability of the person. Why should a person prove himself or for the matter of fact herself by the medium of examinations??
Anyway, the officials conducting the exam thought otherwise:-(
N hence I worked worked and worked like a dog! Left no stone unturned. I sat in office till 9 each day, went to a friends place each weekend to understand the tough topics. People around me were concerned(I mean the one's who cared viz. Mom, Sudha mam, Krishnan, Adity) about my behavior. I kept to myself and those were the only days I didn’t go to the House of Joy (and hence lost the trophy later ;-)) and didn’t have lunch with Adity.
As the days neared I stopped taking calls from home(My folks are way too sentimental about me and the whole .net panic had taken on them, they told me to quit and stay at home peacefully!!)
The "D" day arrived and I did my objective well in the first half. Then was the coding assessment after lunch. Gas agency design was my job. I did it really well.
But, ppl!!
It wasn't anything lesser than a Farah khan movie climax..
The authorities came to us and told us 3 days later that our codes looked similar and seemed like a replica of the tutor’s code. Hence we would have to take another assessment all together.
Can things go worse????????????????
But, surprisingly, it was cooler and better this time. I wasn't nervous, neither scared. I'd given up on being stressed. I went to celebrate the New Year despite the exam day after!
We came to office all set like the Spartans in 300.But!!!!!!!!!!!Again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We were divided into a group of 60 each and sent to different offices of MT and different systems without network connections!!Beat that folks!!
New problem statement, Comp's on my left and right left unoccupied.
I did all that I could. Didn’t discuss about the exam at all and went and slept. Told everyone including parents I was cool and not bothered about the result. But the only thing in my mind was What if I don't clear and they chuck me? What about the humiliation? I'll never be able to talk to the friends I made here? N blah and blah...
And then the cultural day came up and I was occupied in the preparations.
Can my life be any peaceful people?
My results came just 10 minutes before I was to go to the stage and compare.
But curiosity kills . I couldn't wait. I went and checked my results.
I screamed and jumped. I had cleared successfully!!
And all that effort didn’t go in vain..
But 1 thing that keeps haunting me ever since I was a kid is
"Do a few decimal points in marks make one child smarter than the other?"
I'm still searching for that answer.