Silver Marshmallows

Today was the last day of the Orientation. I'm sort of glad that it's over because I'm on information overload at the moment. One of the events today was the Fuqua Olympics for the first years. I was a competitor in the Marshmallow stuffing contest, the objective of which was to stuff as many marshmallows into your mouth (without eating, dropping, chewing them). I was the representative from section 3, one of the 6 sections in the first year. Starting off was ok although I was rather alarmed after the few two or three to find that these marshmallows were quite large. But I kept laboring on...5, 10, 15, 25. After an eternity, I turned around to see that I and one other rather burly fellow were the only two contestents left. 28 got stuffed in, and then 30 and with 31, both of us had our mouths so stuffed that marshmallows were hanging out. At this point, the judges were on the verge of calling a tie because neither of us would give up. :). But at that moment, just as they were about to call it, a lousy chunk of Marshmallow dribbled down (in spite of my valiant efforts to keep it from falling) onto the ground. Section 6 won, and section 3(I) came in second. Silver...Bah humbug! Consolation prize is no good.

In the morning, we were treated to a very inpsiring speech from Duke Basketball's Coach K. He is undoubtedly a great leader and it was clear from his speech why Duke Basketball rallies so well around him. His style of leadership is certainly one to admire and emulate.

Now it's time to rest my back - again. I talked to a second year student who told me that her husband was diagnosed with a herniated disc. He, apparently, was scanned with an MRI to ensure that there is no nerve damage before determining that his treatment would be Physical Therapy. It sounds increasingly important for me to get an MRI scan done of my back soon so that I can find out what the current status of the problem is.

Business School Orientation

Orientation has started. And how? It's been crazy really from the get go. The schedule has been chock-a-block full of activities, speeches, information sessions, career information and all kinds of competitions. The main thing that a lot of people are doing - and some are doing this really well - is networking. This means meeting as many people as you possibly can so that they become potential contacts for employment in the near future. There are others who aspire to become the president of this association and the other. You know, I like meeting people. But when you're trying to meet around 398 different folks, it gets a little tiresome. So at some point I decided that I was going to try and chill out, walk around and meet whoever I bump into. Sometimes this is easy. Other times, it's not. What do you say to open a conversation with a total stranger. Our common ground is simply that we've come to B-school. So my usual themes are : Where are you from, where did you work etc etc. But frankly it sounds a little lame even to me. But I'm hanging in there. I have met some nice folks. At least they seem nice. It's too early to really tell. I'm already getting a reputation for bananas here.

People here are really competitive....(surprisingly, including me). Yesterday for a competition, I went as far as shaving (one of ) my legs to earn a huge chunk of points for my team. So now I can audition for one of those Nivea or Aveena adverts. :) The Boss was absolutely thrilled with my leg and said that I looked adorable. .

The pace here at B-school is really hectic. Hectic actually doesn't begin to describe it. It's just nuts. I'm just about managing to keep up and am wondering how I will once classes start. Things are just starting up and I'm already sleep deprived.

Back to California only to leave...

Our trip back from India was terribly long and uncomfortable for me given my nagging backache. Thankfully, things didn't get as bad as they did when I was in Chennai. I survived the long trip back to San Francisco. At the airport, the Boss forbade me to carry any luggage. So I was much the pampered husband. . But I felt quite caddish having to watch her carry the bags.

Mr & Mrs Nigeria were wonderful hosts for our one night in California. We met the Nigeria Jr., the Deutschlanders and Kutti before having to leave the Golden State. Another farewell...

Onward bound...to Durham and B-School...

More lousy college girls

As some of you know, our house here in Chennai is behind one of the premier women's colleges in the city. As a result, there are often groups of women milling around our neighbourhood. Usually this is a good thing . However, it caused me much embarassment recently. Needing some money, I took a walk to the nearby bank to make a withdrawal. I was dressed in a t-shirt and bermudas. If you follow the previous link, you'll find that they're quite respectable. Unfortunately, a gaggle of girls on my way tot he bank didn't think so. Poor me was minding his own business and walking all dignified to the bank when I heard some uncouth hooting. "Nice shorts!", yelled one of them. Hurmph...so what if my bermudas had a flowery pattern. How dare I get Adam-teased? And that too by some youngsters pretending to know what's hip!

Dogs

The Boss is incredibly scared of dogs. This is rather strange because her family owns a very affectionate Afghan Hound. In any case, we visited the family of a close relative that owned a really cute Daschund. This little thing, called Odie, was simply joyous to have new people to sniff and play around with. She clearly enjoyed the attention that she got from us (excluding the Boss of course) and for the first time in my life, I felt the urge to get a dog for ourselves. Odie was so excited that she kept running from person to person soliciting petting and scratches under her chin. Everytime she scampered towards the boss, there was muffled shrieking and whimpering - from the Boss. The poor thing was absolutely petrified of Odie. So she spent all of our visit perched up on her chair (legs and all) hoping that the Odie wouldn't launch a vivious attack on her.

While this was quite hilarious, the funniest moment came when were leaving their apartment. When we got up to leave, Odie figured that this was a great opportunity to be taken for a walk (she indicated this with a good deal of scampering and tail wagging). So our relative brought her to the lift lobby on her leash. The Boss and a few of us got into the lift, whose doors began to close. Odie suddenly broke free of her leash and rushed into the lift which then closed. The night was broken with several painful howls - some from the Boss and some from Odie, on whom the Boss was jumping in fright. The Cynic and I nearly died of laughter. Now I must see about getting a dog for ourselves. It should provide for much entertainment.

I'm back

After another few days of bedrest, I'm back on my feet. Right now, my back feels a lot better for some reason. I've also begun exercising my back (by doing the specific exercises shown to me by the doctor). I hope that things get better from this point onwards. I've really had enough of bed rest.

On the bed...again

I'm back from Kerala but the trip took its toll on my back. So I'm back to needing to rest my back. So this blog may be silent for a few days.