Valentine Day and Me … Who ME ??

Well … to put things in perspective … before you read this post … you will have to go back to my previous post … bcoz this is but a continuation of the same (at least read the last 2 para for continuity sake :-)

I was talking about getting Nostalgic after reading the title ‘To Do Or Not To Do ... What To Do …’ … the title has a special significance and the significance is attached to the event which occurred on a special date ….

And guess what … its about February 14th ( Valentine’s Day )…
And guess what … Its not about Love nor about a girl friend …

its about something else altogether …. Its about M&A … nope … not about Mergers and Acquisitions … but very much about MastisK and Arbit … and Me … and the two other significant others who had much to contribute to the greatest M&A in my life … :-)) … Nikhil (Baba) and Shubham (Jackal) …

The Valentine Day had no great significance for me until 2004 … (that’s what everybody thought and I portrayed … but it was otherwise .. it’s a guarded secret and lets keep it that way …) … the V day of 2004 brought someone into my life who not only greatly influenced me and my thought processes but also re-introduced me to the infinite potential locked inside me … which I was literally forgetting … the passion inside me which was slowly diminishing in warmth and flame …

No no no … I did not meet a fairy or a lovely lady who changed my life forever and introduced me to the uncharted terrains of love and all that … as I said earlier … this V Day is significant for me but NOT from that angle … let me get to the story straight …

February 14th 2004 – For the first time, I teamed up with Nikhil and Shubham.

That was my first encounter with both of them. The encounter was a very enZoyable one. With the least amount of preparation and with the least amount of seriousness (whats that??) we came up with a supposed-to-be hilarious short skit for the V Day celebrations in our campus… (u can read more about it on shubham’s blogpost)

But the day and the event marked the formation of a small team with big potential. A team that has been inseparable ever since… the physical distances have increased greatly with Nikhil and Shubham in different parts of India and me in Switzerland … but the connectivity is still the same … We resonate and discuss as often as we can … with several mails shooting across our mailboxes to each other discussing various initiatives we have made, we plan to make and we dream of making ….

Since our V Day encounter with each other … we have worked on many diverse initiatives ... some that hit the bulls-eye and some hit the bull in the eye ... But the results of our efforts have never dented our friendship… there have been the usual ups and downs … differences of opinions and all kinds of things … but they all have just added to the strength and fiber of our friendship …

Nikhil sounded with me the concept of Online Mgmt Event … it seemed interesting … I had no idea what I would do … but felt that even a moral support from my end would be of some value and so I gave my full support to Nikhil … Both of us , along with a team of some great friends and batch-mates … created MastishK … India’s First Fully and Truly Online Management Games Event … it was a landmark decision on my part … because … the whole episode uncovered the hidden potential and awakened the sleeping giant within me … What started as a Moral support slowly and gradually took over me and I was completely consumed by the MastishK fever. MastishK was on my mind 24 by 7 for the entire quarter till its stupendously successful completion.

Today .. when I look back at MastishK 2004 … sometimes it really sets me thinking .. was it indeed I who played a significant role in the creation of a milestone in history … was it really me ?? …

Credit goes first to Nikhil for involving me and also to all the other great friends, who were there with me all the while, supporting and encouraging me.

Quite about the same time, along with the big M, even the small A was born. We came up with an idea of introducing an MBA Comic Character and thus began a new phase of journey with Shubham. We developed Arbit together … along with inputs from Nikhil and our entire group.

Although, officially, there are only 2 Arbit Creators, there is an un-official third one too .. Nikhil, who ahs always been aprt of our discussions and decisions on Arbit … and many others who have given some inputs for Arbit…

Working with Shubham on Arbit has been altogether an interesting eperience by itself ..

All three of us have worked together closely for Mastishk, for Arbit, and on many other things and concepts … I found two wonderful friends …

And yes … you must be wondering how on earth did the title of my last blog post make me nostalgic about all this … well the fact of the matter is that …

The title of the stupid play / skit which we performed on the V Day … the day it all began … was … To Do Or Not To Do – What To Do ??

Well .. I guess remember that I have to maintain some balance in life .. and I shud now move on from my blog to other priorities in my life ... after all ... V Day is coming (in about a couple of minutes) … :-)