I suppose there must be a lot of work going on at SNIFF, I haven't been there in quite a while. It's probably because I have other activities, longer that usual lectures, hardly any lengthy write-ups- but it also because the stepping down of Khan has had an unfair effect on me.
I have, to a considerable extent, lost my faith in the SNIFF system.
Thanks to the divisiveness of the core, I'm sorry to be that blank with you, but till the time I'm convinced that you truly believed SNIFF is better off without Khan, I cannot resume my previous enthusiasm.
So he yelled, he played dirty politics- so what?
Haven't you done that too?
Haven't you chickened when the Literature team needed you?
Have you ever gone out of your way to make any of your technical 'sub-ordinates' feel like someone important?
Have you ever believed that 'you are as important as I am- Committee member or HoD'?
Have you any idea of what you expect of SNIFF? Have you any vision?
How much have you tried, as an individual, to correct your dominating, emotionally curbing ways? He did.
Have you made yourself important enough in anybody's eyes that your opinion can't go unheard?
A lot of people I know feel that this is for the 'better of SNIFF'. Those also include some who had sworn to stand by Khan, just the way he stood by them.
I know I'm sounding ultra-Khanist, but I've made my principles very clear right from the beginning- I shall never compromise on Khan or quality.
If you are as good as he is, dear core, how come it is him who gets work done?
How come neither of the current VCP's have any hold like Khan over their respective committees?
So if tomorrow I yell, or can't talk in the politically correct way to people, despite of good work being done, am I likely to be thrown off SNIFF?
Is this the 'All for one, one for all' policy?
I have questions, core, and because this is one place I can voice my opinion without thinking twice (my page, remember?), I will say what I want.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
No good news
And 15 hours after I put up the last post, I get the news that Khan is officially out of SNIFF.
I'm angry, disappointed, lost, worried.
For me, he embodied 50% of the effective workforce.
A mentor in so many ways, a visionary. this may sound like an obituary, but to all those who haven't yet figured what they have lost- consider this.
"If I can do this, anybody can"
"Your potential is here (somewhere around his shoulders), and this (around his waist) is what you're working like"
And you call him demoralizing?
The only core in which I was present, where he gave me every reason to demand the stepping-down of our HoD. It seemed so easy for him.
Can't believe the head-scratching, nail-chewing Cro-magnon won't be around anymore.
I'm angry, disappointed, lost, worried. What will SNIFF be like with someone who can picture it in his head?
Hope the current VCP has a very good idea of what he wants from our team.
I'm angry, disappointed, lost, worried.
For me, he embodied 50% of the effective workforce.
A mentor in so many ways, a visionary. this may sound like an obituary, but to all those who haven't yet figured what they have lost- consider this.
"If I can do this, anybody can"
"Your potential is here (somewhere around his shoulders), and this (around his waist) is what you're working like"
And you call him demoralizing?
The only core in which I was present, where he gave me every reason to demand the stepping-down of our HoD. It seemed so easy for him.
Can't believe the head-scratching, nail-chewing Cro-magnon won't be around anymore.
I'm angry, disappointed, lost, worried. What will SNIFF be like with someone who can picture it in his head?
Hope the current VCP has a very good idea of what he wants from our team.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Khanology
Suddenly I see
This is what I wanna be
Suddenly I see
Why the hell it means so much to me
Sometimes in the SNIFF room, you really don’t have real work to do. Literature team has definitely been one of the hardest working for a very long time now. But with more assignments being completed, there is sometimes a lull in the activities. Me being the content writer and part of the busy work-force, I while my time in the room either
1. listening to music
2. chatting with everyone
3. playing spider solitaire
4. watching other committees work
5. doodling
6. watching Khan
Yes, the Khan everyone is so obsessed with bashing. Personally, I feel more than he works for SNIFF, it’s a case of SNIFF working because of him. Exemplary vision, command over all functions, great organisational skills, excellent appraisal of each and every committee, and an unfortunate lack of human interaction defines Abhishek Khan. The last factor plays a lot against him. Like true BMM students, the contingent prefers using words like ‘demoralising’ instead of rude, ‘dysfunctional’ instead of busy and ‘Cro-Magnon’ instead of ‘instinctive’. I admit the last term for the guy was coined by me, because of his high cheek bones, cropped hair and jutting jaw – but everything else about him seems more developed than any one else in the room. No, he’s real good – I don’t mean they’re dumb.
Khan has this particular pattern of moving and making sounds. I may sound like a zoologist talking about a primate, pardon me for that, but it’s just a note of keen and severely bored observation.
He enters the room sideways- he’s always looking outside. He moves arms first- they’re all over the place. His hands are very busy- either having their nails chewed off, or scratching the back of his head, or correcting a few hours of work by someone, or plainly resting at the back of his head when he’s reading literature content.
Coming to the face- It bears the most intriguing expression. Something like how a Manhattan office goer will look when kept amongst a bunch of Zulus. He looks constantly amused by the level of stupidity that surrounds him, like he’s wondering what on earth happened to mankind. This happens is all conditions- if he’s happy, joking, thinking, yelling, eating (which like Hemanshu and a dozen others, depends on Renu), angry- you name it. I award him for consistency.
Then comes his voice. I do think the tone’s a lot like Suniel Shetty. The pitch has a tendency of spreading all over the octave in a breath (ask him to say ‘Yeh literature itna aawaz kyon kar raha hai?’). He can’t seem to whisper. It’s either a volume adequate enough for a person sitting 3 feet away to hear or it’s to the whole room. More like the whole room.
His moods. I can’t define them, because they’re very simple: savage, hungry, kind, rotten, busy.
In a savage mood, Saleha’s bound to be fired.
In a hungry mood, Renuka’s asked to get him a brown bread schzewan vada paav, or chocolate waffle, as I heard last.
In a kind mood, I get a pat on the back, literally. Though I must add, he’s really nice to me. May be because I’m a Khan-loyalist, as my team puts it. Very well. The others get some funny statements and there’s a leg pulling session. It happens when he’s fed and getting entries.
Rotten is when you should avoid him. Of course, his voice booms through the room like the walls have speakers, but steer clear of the Khan roller and you’ll live.
Busy is when he’s mute, and expects the whole room to go mute. The PC he uses gets a post-it saying ‘Khan’s computer for the day’. You tend to forget he’s in the room. The atmosphere seems like there’s a one day going on, India’s score is 341/9 while Pakistan’s 341, and Shoaib’s bowling the last ball to Tendulkar. All suspense and dramatic. It’s the end for those who choose to poke him in the back with dividers, like Ankur the Valiant.
The effect he has on the committees is phenomenal. You know Khan’s around when everyone starts streaming into the room and getting about their work after playing around. People have raised eyebrows, like they’re watching Chidambaram announce the budget. Literature’s smiling, maybe except Sri.
You’ll know the complete Khannedness only if you spend an hour in the SNIFF room.
He’s pretty much my idea of a boss, of sorts. A visionary, an artist (www.art-republic.org for his creations), a man with a mission.
And an excellent specimen of peculiar behaviour for bored committee members!
This is what I wanna be
Suddenly I see
Why the hell it means so much to me
Sometimes in the SNIFF room, you really don’t have real work to do. Literature team has definitely been one of the hardest working for a very long time now. But with more assignments being completed, there is sometimes a lull in the activities. Me being the content writer and part of the busy work-force, I while my time in the room either
1. listening to music
2. chatting with everyone
3. playing spider solitaire
4. watching other committees work
5. doodling
6. watching Khan
Yes, the Khan everyone is so obsessed with bashing. Personally, I feel more than he works for SNIFF, it’s a case of SNIFF working because of him. Exemplary vision, command over all functions, great organisational skills, excellent appraisal of each and every committee, and an unfortunate lack of human interaction defines Abhishek Khan. The last factor plays a lot against him. Like true BMM students, the contingent prefers using words like ‘demoralising’ instead of rude, ‘dysfunctional’ instead of busy and ‘Cro-Magnon’ instead of ‘instinctive’. I admit the last term for the guy was coined by me, because of his high cheek bones, cropped hair and jutting jaw – but everything else about him seems more developed than any one else in the room. No, he’s real good – I don’t mean they’re dumb.
Khan has this particular pattern of moving and making sounds. I may sound like a zoologist talking about a primate, pardon me for that, but it’s just a note of keen and severely bored observation.
He enters the room sideways- he’s always looking outside. He moves arms first- they’re all over the place. His hands are very busy- either having their nails chewed off, or scratching the back of his head, or correcting a few hours of work by someone, or plainly resting at the back of his head when he’s reading literature content.
Coming to the face- It bears the most intriguing expression. Something like how a Manhattan office goer will look when kept amongst a bunch of Zulus. He looks constantly amused by the level of stupidity that surrounds him, like he’s wondering what on earth happened to mankind. This happens is all conditions- if he’s happy, joking, thinking, yelling, eating (which like Hemanshu and a dozen others, depends on Renu), angry- you name it. I award him for consistency.
Then comes his voice. I do think the tone’s a lot like Suniel Shetty. The pitch has a tendency of spreading all over the octave in a breath (ask him to say ‘Yeh literature itna aawaz kyon kar raha hai?’). He can’t seem to whisper. It’s either a volume adequate enough for a person sitting 3 feet away to hear or it’s to the whole room. More like the whole room.
His moods. I can’t define them, because they’re very simple: savage, hungry, kind, rotten, busy.
In a savage mood, Saleha’s bound to be fired.
In a hungry mood, Renuka’s asked to get him a brown bread schzewan vada paav, or chocolate waffle, as I heard last.
In a kind mood, I get a pat on the back, literally. Though I must add, he’s really nice to me. May be because I’m a Khan-loyalist, as my team puts it. Very well. The others get some funny statements and there’s a leg pulling session. It happens when he’s fed and getting entries.
Rotten is when you should avoid him. Of course, his voice booms through the room like the walls have speakers, but steer clear of the Khan roller and you’ll live.
Busy is when he’s mute, and expects the whole room to go mute. The PC he uses gets a post-it saying ‘Khan’s computer for the day’. You tend to forget he’s in the room. The atmosphere seems like there’s a one day going on, India’s score is 341/9 while Pakistan’s 341, and Shoaib’s bowling the last ball to Tendulkar. All suspense and dramatic. It’s the end for those who choose to poke him in the back with dividers, like Ankur the Valiant.
The effect he has on the committees is phenomenal. You know Khan’s around when everyone starts streaming into the room and getting about their work after playing around. People have raised eyebrows, like they’re watching Chidambaram announce the budget. Literature’s smiling, maybe except Sri.
You’ll know the complete Khannedness only if you spend an hour in the SNIFF room.
He’s pretty much my idea of a boss, of sorts. A visionary, an artist (www.art-republic.org for his creations), a man with a mission.
And an excellent specimen of peculiar behaviour for bored committee members!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
29th September
Happiness has taken over SNIFF. With 7 entries in hand today, from the University of Mumbai and a clay-modelling company sponsoring a whopping Rs. 2,00,000 for SNIFFety SNIFF(okay, I got my facts wrong, or rather in the wrong order. Some company sponsoring the clay-modelling event), things seem to have turned unusually bright. (oh hell these guys can’t seem to decide where the clay comes in the picture). I couldn’t capture the moment of course, but Khan and Co. were more grins than I’ve seen them in the past month. I had my own share of grinning to do. It happens to be Srinath’s birthday, and I’ve quite handled the celebrations. Two cakes, a whole lot of people wishing him, a lot of whom who haven’t heard of him included, chocolate on the floor (yeah dearies, chocolate wasted right before my horrified eyes!), me mopping it, a singing candle that went on to play its mourning tune for 3 hours. Wish Anand was here. Poor guys would’ve found the chaos way beyond tolerance. The visiting cards are ready. Oh by the way, I think sri’s peering over my shoulder. Affirmative. I thought he’d be embarrassed by the whole birthday affair, but he seemed to have enjoyed it. I’m glad, I would’ve run home if there was such a yada yada made about my janamdin. But, I stick to happiness as the theme.
27th September
Happiness just got a new definition. I’m sitting in the SNIFF room, having finished my current quota of work. Shaarika on the right doing something on paper, and a laptop. Creatives at work. Music blasting, literally, my ears. A lost-looking, or rather, jobless looking Shantanu wandering around, looking for work to do. (he isn’t jobless apparently, on a break). Sajal seems to be checking mail. Ankur looking his busy self. I haven’t spoken with the fellow more than once, but there’s this certain immense respect I seem to have drawn for him. Shruti’s come, and I’m bound to be asked something. Yeah she asked me if I’d like Peppy. Ali’s here too. Srinath’s busy with his share of work.
You know that at this moment, you couldn’t possibly be anywhere else in the world. It’s like that destiny thingy. Have to be there doing that. Its making me happy isn’t all that difficult I see. I think all I need now is a hug, but it’s ok if I miss out on that too, just in case it isn’t in the ‘perfect’ menu.
Saleha’s here and she tells me I’m done for the day. Happiness. The team’s together again. Contentment.
You know that at this moment, you couldn’t possibly be anywhere else in the world. It’s like that destiny thingy. Have to be there doing that. Its making me happy isn’t all that difficult I see. I think all I need now is a hug, but it’s ok if I miss out on that too, just in case it isn’t in the ‘perfect’ menu.
Saleha’s here and she tells me I’m done for the day. Happiness. The team’s together again. Contentment.
Monday, October 6, 2008
The who's who.
A week without SNIFF, and I'm not complaining all that much. Just a few random memories pass the passive mind as I look through the SNIFF album in my computer.
I've said very little about this place to you, actually. Considering the expanse of this Festival, we have a lot to talk about.
I'll start with the hierarchy, and then the personal descriptions of people in it, the way I see them, will follow.
Chairperson: Shaarika
Vice Chairpersons: Jay, Himanshu, Abhishek
Heads/Sub-heads:
Media: Nupur/Zaira
Literature: Saleha/Renuka
Creatives: Shreyas-Ankur
R&D: Chetan/(will let you know asap)
Marketing: (will let you know asap)
Management: Varun
PR: Tanaya
Event: (will let you know asap)
Don't get me wrong, but I'll tell you the blank names soon enough.
I've said very little about this place to you, actually. Considering the expanse of this Festival, we have a lot to talk about.
I'll start with the hierarchy, and then the personal descriptions of people in it, the way I see them, will follow.
Chairperson: Shaarika
Vice Chairpersons: Jay, Himanshu, Abhishek
Heads/Sub-heads:
Media: Nupur/Zaira
Literature: Saleha/Renuka
Creatives: Shreyas-Ankur
R&D: Chetan/(will let you know asap)
Marketing: (will let you know asap)
Management: Varun
PR: Tanaya
Event: (will let you know asap)
Don't get me wrong, but I'll tell you the blank names soon enough.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
New beginnings, and all that tosh.
After a gruelling time with the team over the Saleha-heading issue followed by the 'bonding' lunch, I have been given some work. SNIFF '09 in concise for emails. How is a person to find 15 different ways to describe the same event. But that's just why we were shortlisted for the Lit team. Tadaa!
**after which I submitted the write-up to Khan. He seems to be in quite a nice mood these days**
Okay, approved by Khan in the first go. Trust me, it's an occassion to make note of. Anyway, talking about the Lit-team, it'd be okay to say we've sobered down now. What with all that accusing and 'trivial' problem-creating on in the team, we're back to a functional five.
1.Srinath aka Zebra
2.Radhika aka Ponga Pundit aka me
3.Eesha
4.Renuka aka Renu
NO PHOTO OF SALEHA's was available. but trust me, she's the only one remotely lookable in the team, seconded by Eesha!!
Renu's taking a two-day break from SNIFF this weekend. I think she really needs it. Eesha has clearly put up her deadlines. Saleha has cleared her misconceptions. I fought the case, so I need to rest. Srinath was pretty silent throughout. What was really intriguing about the whole affair was the active support of the VCPs. Khan, Hemanshu- thanks for the help!(cant find any of their photos)
All said and done, I'm glad to have this issue sorted. I wouldn't really want to talk about it.
***some time in the afternoon***
I was asked to come up with some alternative names for 'main sponsor'. They (Jimit, actually)wanted them striking yet creative. For a brain-dead person like me, I think I'm doing pretty well. However my very first suggestion (sponsors ka baap) was scrapped.
Jimit, Marketing HoD
***At about 4pm***
The scene's all busy and stuff. 50% of the crowd's looking like cattle, chewing gum. Sri's typing some other email content. I'm...err...drawing inspiration from the clock (??)- slow and never on time. Saloni Dangarwala's sitting across me, going 'dand dang, bang bang'. There, again. Talk of being absorbed. Now she's going 'Mojo mojo mojo man' -I'm praying I've heard wrong.
***5.30pm, approx***
Khan, Tanaya and Sajna seem to be having a heated argumentover something. The less written, the better.
Tanaya
Sajna
***6.15pm***
Abhilasha, when asked, said it was about the syllabus. Hemanshu didn't know they were arguing. I'm a two-headed iguana.
**after which I submitted the write-up to Khan. He seems to be in quite a nice mood these days**
Okay, approved by Khan in the first go. Trust me, it's an occassion to make note of. Anyway, talking about the Lit-team, it'd be okay to say we've sobered down now. What with all that accusing and 'trivial' problem-creating on in the team, we're back to a functional five.
1.Srinath aka Zebra
2.Radhika aka Ponga Pundit aka me
3.Eesha 
4.Renuka aka Renu
NO PHOTO OF SALEHA's was available. but trust me, she's the only one remotely lookable in the team, seconded by Eesha!!
Renu's taking a two-day break from SNIFF this weekend. I think she really needs it. Eesha has clearly put up her deadlines. Saleha has cleared her misconceptions. I fought the case, so I need to rest. Srinath was pretty silent throughout. What was really intriguing about the whole affair was the active support of the VCPs. Khan, Hemanshu- thanks for the help!(cant find any of their photos)
All said and done, I'm glad to have this issue sorted. I wouldn't really want to talk about it.
***some time in the afternoon***
I was asked to come up with some alternative names for 'main sponsor'. They (Jimit, actually)wanted them striking yet creative. For a brain-dead person like me, I think I'm doing pretty well. However my very first suggestion (sponsors ka baap) was scrapped.
Jimit, Marketing HoD
***At about 4pm***
The scene's all busy and stuff. 50% of the crowd's looking like cattle, chewing gum. Sri's typing some other email content. I'm...err...drawing inspiration from the clock (??)- slow and never on time. Saloni Dangarwala's sitting across me, going 'dand dang, bang bang'. There, again. Talk of being absorbed. Now she's going 'Mojo mojo mojo man' -I'm praying I've heard wrong.
***5.30pm, approx***
Khan, Tanaya and Sajna seem to be having a heated argumentover something. The less written, the better.
Tanaya
Sajna
***6.15pm***
Abhilasha, when asked, said it was about the syllabus. Hemanshu didn't know they were arguing. I'm a two-headed iguana.
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