LORD OF THE MINDS

Taken at the Alkmaar Cheese factory north of Amsterdam, Holland; this photograph shows all types of cheese they had on sale. With lotsa cheese to taste for free, this tour was truly a cheesy one...







Taken at a souvenir shop in Delft, Holland this photograph shows the prominent souvenirs that one associates Amsterdam with. "Good girls go to heaven, bad girls come to Amsterdam"






Taken at the Dam square, this tower is a national monument... A place for frequent parties and events; I loved the architecture of the area.








Taken at the world-famous Madame Tussauds museum located at Dam Square; this photograph is just at the start of the show which narrates the history of Holland.






I amsterdam!







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Taken at the City Hall, the photograph depicts a lady checking up messages on her cell. What I loved was the combination it made with the walls



Taken at the Vaxholm harbour which is a 30 min ferry ride from Stockholm harbour, the evening sky made for a remarkable shine in the water. The combination of water, sky and harbour makes the photograph breathtaking.



Onlooking the east side of Stockholm from the harbour behind the National museum, the city gives an amazing view.







This picture depicts the Vasa ship which was extracted 333 years after it sank in 1628 on its maiden voyage. The archaeologists have done a wonderful job preserving it and converting it into a museum.



Taken at the Vaxholm harbor, one of the major islands of the archipelago of Stockholm, the picture shows TK looking over the beautiful sea ... A tantalizing mix of clouds, land and sea.






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Taken at one of those places which reminds you of your watan, India Palace (or for that matter any good Indian restaurant) is what every Indian craves for when he/she goes to foren. Located in Central Copenhagen near Norreport, just the smell of a 135 DKK Indian buffet was enough to get you nostalgic.




Taken at Norresgade, one of the pool roads connecting Norresbro and Norreport, the picture depicts the superb afternoon sunny scene in Copenhagen. A walk beside this canal is beautiful and its no wonder that you would see a lot of people jogging on both sides.





Taken outside the Osterport station, this picture depicts the Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art. One of the rare places of art which don't get too crowded in Copenhagen.







Taken at the edge of Osterbro's Churchillparken, this picture depicts 'The Little Mermaid' or rather Den lille havfrue on the edge of the harbour. A popular tourist location, I actually discovered it during a morning walk around the park. The statue is actually under copyright after attempts by several sculptors to make copies of it around the world. Also, it was taken to Shanghai last year for an expo; the first time it had been moved after being installed a century earlier.

Taken at the Amalienborg Palace, the main residence of the Danish monarch, this picture depicts the Brockdorff's Palace or Frederik VIII's Palace. A popular tourist destination, this too I discovered during one of my morning walks. The location has actually four separate palaces all guarded by the special guardsmen (you can see one at the bottom right corner of the picture).

Taken during the Photo walk of IIM Lucknow campus organized by our Right AngLes, this picture captures the serene quietness of a regular feature of our rooms during monsoons - frogs. What we were not sure was that whether it was dead or alive. So we decided to click 1st before we checked it out.





Taken near Medusa, this picture captures the early morning brightness of the flowers at that spot. Mesmerizing!










Taken from atop one of the sidewalls of the ring road of IIM Lucknow, this picture depicts a moss. A macro pic, the leaf adds that special glow to it.

Taken during Team SynapsE's junior induction party, at Barbeque Nation, this picture shows us having a round of drinks and the kebabs. What I liked was the depth the picture captured and the glow of the wine glasses.






Waiting to be turned down, another gem at Barbeque Nation.

Taken on a beautiful wednesday evening in IIM Lucknow campus, this picture shows the beautiful flowers near the convocation stage.







Clicked near Medusa, the symbol of IIM Lucknow, this picture captures the beauty of the campus after a spell of rains.








The beautiful garden onlooking Chintan block.




An amazing rainy evening giving a special glow to the faculty block - Chintan

Taken from atop IIMB hostels on the last day of my internship at Bangalore, this picture depicts an evening sky in the city. The clouds were pregnant with rain, which is kind of a normal feature in the city. The could formations reminded me of my clicks in Coorg. Absolutely marvelous!





Taken at the busy Nagerbazar crossing in North Kolkata, the picture shows a hot summer day in the city which witnessed a historic change earlier in the month. And Mamata Didi is thanking everyone for believing in her "Maa Maati Manush" agenda.






Taken at the beautiful Victoria Memorial, one of the historic tourist locations in Kolkata; this picture shows the monument in its full glory. Truly a mesmerizing spectacle!






Taken at Princep Ghat, this picture depicts the evening scenery at the stunningly beautiful river banks of the Hooghly. The light on the water made it shimmer like gold. Thanks to my buddy Pradipta for the pose.






Taken atop Hostel 15 of IIM Lucknow, the picture depicts a typical evening sky! What I like were the streaks of light penetrating the clouds. Amazing! :)

Taken at the F block of IIM Bangalore hostels, this is the sign that the particular block is that side. This section has yellow tubelights for some reason giving it a kinda burning feeling. Also the sign of F (the dreaded grade for MBAs) makes it seem like some burning Hell.




Taken from inside the bus while on the way to Mysore, this particular picture has Smiti soaking up wonderful summer sun. We were on the way to the beautiful city to attend our beloved classmate Sunil's marriage. In the picture, I kinda liked the way the light played with her shades and face. A totally opportunist picture!
Shot after another spell of rains in IIM Bangalore, this picture is from the PGP block towards an eatery called Amrutha Kalash. One of the more green sections of this beautiful campus, this pathway has an amazing classic feel to it which I loved.





Shot at the amazingly beautiful Amphitheater of IIM Bangalore (where they manage to conduct their convocation which I am yet to understand how given the space constraints!), this picture has Sonam relaxing beside one of the section of flowers after some rains there. To my credit, I really had to convince her to smile well for the picture. Think I did a good job! :)


Taken after yeah yeah, the same rains of IIM Bangalore, this picture shows some beautiful fruits at H block. The rain drops kind of cleaned the surface of theirs and gave them a juicy feeling. The depth that this picture showcases gives the picture a truly wonderful touch. Loved it!

This picture is taken at Coorg on the way to Abby falls. It was evening time and the skies were kind to me to provide for such an amazing scene. In fact, the entire area of Madikeri was witness to such heavenly scenes throughout.
The essence of the picture has come out so well that you would feel its a professional one (although I won't mind hearing it. :))



This hilarious picture is taken at the Nagarhole National Park. We were hugely disappointed when we got to know that the safari was not available that day because of the immense rain the previous night. Anyways this poor creature provided for enough entertainment as we satisfied our hunger of clicking pics with 'wild animals' with pics round these. :)




This picture is the result of a comedy incident during Monica and my birthday treat this year at Silver Metro, Total Mall, Bangalore. Apparently Mandar had 'reserved' his seat as he went about filling his plate for the next round during the buffet lunch. But Ankita 'madam' took over his place. So when she went for a refill, Mandar came round and left this note. Nonetheless, when Mandar went for his refill, Ankita stole his new place too to replace this note with 'I Have Taken This'. :)

This amazingly beautiful picture is taken at Somanathpur Temple during the journey to Mysore for Sunil's Marriage. The serenity and calmness of the temple made for a perfect moment. Taken in Black & White, the slight light gives the pillars a soul which in general they lack due to the lack of activity at the temple.




This picture is taken at Talakad, on of the tourist spots on the way to Mysore from Bangalore. The temples ther are submerged in sand and thus are referred to as classic. Taken again in Black & White, the presence of my friends gives a feeling of exploring India's classic monuments and observing the beautiful constructions of yesteryears.

Taken in Black & White at the corridor of IIM Bangalore PGP block, this picture captures the timeless beauty of arguably the most green section of the beautiful campus.
This particular section is in front of the library which has a huge poster of the latest batch that graduated from IIM Bangalore right at its entrance.
A photographer's treat, this building provides an excellent opportunity to click pictures both during daytime and at night.
This picture on the right has been taken at the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary which is about a 20-30 min drive from Mysore on the Bangalore Mysore Road. The sanctuary is beautiful with all different kinds of birds and even some crocodiles lurking around. The highlight is the boat ride which by all means is one where you wont stop clicking. I missed pics with the birds in flight but was lucky to get this one.


This picture of the Tanga is taken outside the City Palace, Mysore. Considering the bustling activity of the arguably the center of the city, this tanga provided for a stark contrast. Taken in B&W again, I wanted to capture the essence of the vehicle of classic times.






This one is taken at the Mysore City Market a stone's throw away from Ladies Circle (I am yet to fathom the reason for such a nomenclature). It was dusk and somehow the clouds came round for an amazing setup. The crow in the sky provided a perfect center of the storm kind of a feeling.





This picture is taken at the Brindavan Gardens, Mysore. Arguably one of the two most famous spots of Mysore, this garden has been witness to many movie shoots both in the Hindi movie industry - Bollywood and the Kannada movie industry. This exact spot is the lake behind the Dam when you cross the bridge to go towards the spot of the Dancing Fountains' show. The play of the lights over the water was simply irresistible. In fact, it was the scarcity of light that made the picture what it was.

As I was about to board the bus, I looked back to the top of the last gate of Amausi Airport. It read 'Lucknow. Arrivals'. I just realized that I wasn't going to see the board for the next two months. I was about to leave my home for the past 10 months for a brief stint at Bangalore, back to where I had so many memories.
Exactly 294 days, 19 hours and 30 mins back I was at the same Amausi Airport. I was about to start a new life, a new beginning. The first month went well. My hard work in the committee selections paid off and I became a part of Team SynapsE. In one shot the doors to so many activities on campus opened up. In August, Section F had its first party at DC 54. We had a private lounge, some drinks (guess the topper?), a lot of hukaah (guess the other topper) and terrific impromptu dancing (The great Montek!) . And to top it all, the section anthem 'Battiyan bujha do ki neend nahi aati hai'. We literally sang the song like a zillion times on our way back in the cab (Dunno how the cab driver put up with that :)). A rocking party and a perfect way to celebrate our victory in Camaraderie 2010 where we won probably 80% of the competitions.
A week later we had the Dharam-Rishabh-you know who saga. A small mistake by Dharmesh led to 4 hours of ultimate fun and some embarassing moments for him. The talk of the campus and probably the basis for Dharmesh going on to work really hard during Index 2010 (Although he would disagree to that! :)). As they say 'Ek choti galti aapko ... bana sakti hai'.
The first term break was totally welcome. The first trip back home, some amazing time at the Sunderbans, lovely sightseeing, home-made food. The stay was peaceful to say the least. But little did I know that the peace was shortlived.
Term II started on a very promising note. We had Varchasva 2010 on campus amidst a lot of scheduling issues primarily due to the Ayodha verdict and the associated tension in the city. It was fun though watching an event being organized of IIM stature (although I doubt it reached the levels it had promised). I won Dwandwa, the English Debate even though earlier my team was not the best team from campus (who cares!). The highlight was definitely the fashion show (isn't it obvious?). We performed well overall but probably others had prepared better. Anyways, a nice time indeed. What followed that was a month long race. A race to get the best summer placements, the best job. I saw the best and the worst in people, best of solidarity and probably the worst of emotions. It was the end of November that Section F had its trip to Lucknow Mahotsav. What a trip! 30 people, a schoolbus and an evening at the Mahotsav. Still remember Saurabh Yadav's mistake, Rishikesh's monkey pose, Jhoolan Jhoola, pics with that Devil hairband and Rajasthani, Bareilly, Nawabi & god knows which all places' food. A delightful evening and yes, that section F anthem - Battiyan bujha do ki neend nahi aati hai... sung all the way back to campus.
Term 2 break was amazing. A trip to Mumbai after god knows how much time and finally the chance to get my hands on my latest love - My new Canon DSLR EOS Rebel T2i. My friends - Debanshu, Debashree and Shubhro ensured that I had a rollercoaster 3 days in Mumbai and some truly great memories. A day long trek to Sanjay Gandhi National Park (Saale Prinshu ne exams khatam hone ke agle din itna chalwaya ki....), checking out Chowpatty Beach, Marine Drive, Nariman Point, Sheesha (the pic on the right); and back-to-back movies to end the trip. Totally engaging and whole lot of fun! That was followed by a trip to Bishnupur in rural West Bengal (by then I was in total adventurous mood with my camera) and a short trip back home to complete the year.
New year and I was back to campus. Manfest 2011 was coming up and my work as Vertical Manager started. The run up to the D-day had lots of night outs at H9 developing the games, lots of frustrations and a little element of goofups as well. An amazing experience and whole new feeling of organizing an international fest, something that I had been craving for.The three days of Manfest were exciting to say the least. Co-ordinating two events, covering them with pictures, Pain of Salvation and Bollywood Pronite with Salim-Suleiman & Neha Bhasin (the pic to the left). Rocking performances and total entertainment. The weekend ended with a superb Insti party but rather a forgettable night, the actions of which I regret till today.
Ignicion Core brought out the creative person inside me. Promoting the mentorship program through all kinds of channels - online as well as offline, automating the mapping was interesting. But what stood out was the experience of making the video testimonials (Hehe!). 13 PGP-Is, 13 profiles, 13 locations and close to 10,000 views. The initiative that differentiated us from all the other IIMs! And judging by the feedback and ratings that we got from the mentees, its been an absolute hit.
The rest of the term went off with preparation for the internship. And yes, preparation for student exchange to Copenhagen Business School, Denmark (slotted for later this year). The plans for a Eurotrip were materializing and by the looks of it, it sure was going to be an awesome experience. Anyways, project submissions and presentations marked the end of the term and I was all set to go back to Bangalore, the city where I made my dreams. Back to old friends, back to the parties and hopefully back to those stupendous hangouts (Hard Rock included).
Thus an eventful 1st year at IIM Lucknow and I was an half-MBA (sounds stupid). Made lots of friends, lost some; brought smiles to many, tears and anger to some. But hopefully I 'managed' to achieve what I had set out for at the beginning of the year.

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