From the Centerstage!

When I was first asked to take up this blog, my reaction to Jo was – “ Me!! Are you out of your mind?! I hate this place.. And you want me to write about it on LIBA’s official Blog!?” to which Jo replied – “ Yes, 'cause I think you are the one person who is here, fighting it through, manage to get featured in ALL my blogs and still haven’t dropped out!I am sure when you write about it, it will have a heart in it.” ;)

 Haha.. well who knew that I would actually agree to take this up! Lets hope that I get to give LIBA a new light, something that’s not been done before. Ohh and yea.. sorry for my clumsy first post, I wrote that in 15 mins. I was studying for RSM and yea… u know how that went! :/

So yea why LIBA? Why would someone come all the way from where I live to a) Chennai and b) Chennai?? (Trust me, even the DM of the company I am interning in currently, asked me this with the most astonished look on his face, let aside all my friends, family and foe).

 To be frank the answer that I tell everyone is – “ Coz its Loyola! It one of the most prestigious universities of the South and yes India too. * The guy on the other side has an expression which says – yea right, but its not an IIM – Haah!” And my next sentence goes like this – Yea I know its not an IIM, but its nothing less than that. Its got superb faculty, a lot of exposure, loads of activities, great cultural mix and yes a more than decent placement scenario.” That kinda shuts the man up from asking further questions or rather reasons why my decision of choosing LIBA was not that fancy. At least for the moment. So now, the ones who are in LIBA must be thinking or actually gesturing as “ Hahahahaha.. Sure!” and the ones who are about the join LIBA or thinking of joining LIBA must be thinking- “ Really? Like IIM? Dude common, this is all fancy shit, all crap and no truth!” So yea now let me tell you MY answer that I say in my head, almost at the same time, as my mouth opens to give the above answer- “ I don’t know!” . Yes “ I don’t know” is the answer to the question why I joined LIBA. Trust me, I am about to complete a yea since I joined this college, in just another month and I still don’t know the answer to that. Afterall, I left my job in one of the top MNC’s of the world, amazing work culture, superb pay, friends, family, the kababs, Aiyaashi, everything. I gave it all up to come study here. After a year, I question myself, most nights or days when I am day dreaming ofcourse- “ Was it really worth it? Coming here?!” and pop goes the answer in my head to myself- YES. ABSOLUTELY”. And the voice inside my head goes- “ then why do you keep cribbing soooo much, almost all the time about being here!?” and then I smile and look around. Trust me, that’s like a involuntary action to that self generated question, lol. I smile coz I think and trust me I believe what I say next- that what I have learnt since I have come here, I don’t think I would have been able to learn anywhere else in the world!

 I personally believe that MBA is not about what we learn inside the class, but what we learn outside it. And since I am either sleeping or ……. most of the times, during class, I kinda have no other option but to learn outside class :P ( just kidding) The people who come here whether full timers or part timers ( Btw – let me tell you, part timers are hawwtt..! and bloody rich! Just incase .. ;) ) have so much too share. Just sitting with them over a cup of coffee, in our very own self proclaimed five star canteen – LOHO or just chit chatting in the OAT. The gups ( hindi for time pass conversations) are over the top educative. You get to know everything from who is dating who, to where all you can go and chill in Chennai ( yes, please don’t make this HUGE mistake of thinking there are no places to chill here- trust me, it would give the next door metro a decent competition, IF you know where to go, when to go and most importantly, with whom to go! ). You get to know all sorts of information, theatre, music, arts, name it and people are talking about it. All you need to do is make sure, you are not one of those uptight ****** people who think that “hum toh hum hain, baaki sab paani kam hain!” ( for translation- please ask a hindi speaking person next to you, or google! :P )

 Come here with an open mind, and you have the world to learn and experience. LIBA maynot be an IIM A,B,C…. X, Y,Z ( I am sure they are gonna open those in no time), but yes this place has taught me how to be friends with people who don’t speak your language, make mistakes that no one will ever let you make otherwise and learn lifetime lesson from it, sit and pray in the most beautiful church that I have ever seen in my life, and yes theories and way of education that more me is one of a kind. ( and yes, when I say it, I MEAN IT.)

 So yea, all those who are already a part of LIBA and those who are to be, I am sure one way or the other, we all are proud to have decided to choose LIBA over the various other colleges that we got through, or not :P but still, the fact of the matter is, I don’t think there would be anyone who regrets coming here ( I mean common, if a total LIBA cribber can fall in love with it, I am sure anyone on earth could! ;) lol )

So good luck to all of the new joinees, and to my batch mates. Hope your internship is going good if not great! J Chalo, I need to get back to playing with my little nephew.. I will post sooner this time! ;)

 Ps – those wondering about the placement – its good enough to make you whoop with joy, once you get the offer letter in your hand! :)

Yours,
“I am sure you must have guessed it this time! ;)”

From CenterStage!

After a lot of succession planning, I got my first choice to agree to write here. The gossippy Pandora will be replaced by a more happening CenterStage now.. The Junie has decided to keep secrecy for now. Give us your feedback and we will definitely get better with days to go.
The junie just started. So give it time and encouragement...

Its almost time for the seniors to leave.. and also for Ms. Pandora to move head to achieve her dream.. So now who would be reporting to you the “latests” for LIBA!?? :O
Aaah.. since everyone was anyways busy with exams.. I thought I would be the helping hand here.. And let those who have been out of the loop for this term know whats been cookin.. all this while! ;)
So to begin with … hmm lets see.. LIBA term 3 for 1st years and the last term for the seniors, both the batches witnessed a lot of social drama, that’s the least I could say. The first years had an awesome batch trip to Banglore- Mysore and Coorg, what was more interesting to observe was the love that was blooming throughout this trip! We have some new and official couples and I guess this trip must have sealed a lot of hearts and feelings together, which were initially in doubt whether to give studies priority or love! Haha! Love finally got its well-deserved space! ;)
Now as far as the trip was concerned I hear it was fab! No actually to speak the truth, I witnessed it :D it was the best trip I have witnessed in my student life. There were songs, stories bonding from all over the regions. There were no tests to be worried about, no assignment submissions etc etc.. all there was was a lot of late night games, early morning “getting ready” and visiting a lot of beautiful places. It was truly a well bonded trip.
And then there was also the amazing adventure trip for the first years, to Pegasus, near Pondicherry! Now this was one trip where “TRUST” was instilled. I mean, that’s the least I can say! F11 bonded and learnt the true essence of team spirit. They were there for 3 days and were made to do physical activity tasks and strategic games, which challenged them to be their best while believing in each other. True OBL it was!
Now when juniors where having all the fun! Seniors where LIVING their last term. We could see a lot of groups de-grouping and Re-grouping and letting go of the grudges happening! It was afterall coming to an end, so whats the point of those frowny faces. They chose to smile and ohh yes they did! Most of the seniors as we could see, had planned their holiday trips to exotic locations ( read Kerela, Coorg etc) and as the fb pictures showed, they too had the time of their lives!
Ohhh there was Chrysalis on the way tooo..! how can we forget that! Though we didn’t have much seniors to help us through ( yes we were upset about it :/ but nevamind!.. its ok! Go have fun u guys, is what we thought! Its ur last term anyways) we did have a spotted few who stayed back to help the juniors! They could mostly be seen at the registration desk, making it look pretty and signing away certificates! So yes, in a way, full credit goes to the junior 360 degrees team of LIBA and the rest of the batch who coordinated some of the best games that business schools witnessed so far! ( as quoted by a participant from another B-school!). There were terrific performances from the participants as well as from the event coordinators side. Kudos to all of you guys!
And then there was POWERSTAR – did he make the days brighter or was it just his charm that reflectef through the whole OAT! He afterall renamed our college to “LAYOLA Insitute of ….” Now that requires some serious charming, people! No kids’ task it is! Haha.. and we also saw the very famous Kotler and troop dance with the Powerstar himself! To say it was extremely sporting of him and the others to go up on the stage and perform with him- just for LIBA! Hats off to you all! :D
And then as we all had our share of mastiii and rigorous class schedules from 8am to 8pm, and soon... it was time to bid the seniors farewell!
And what a farewell it was! Nicely organized ( though there were some social glitches in the middle) but two people – the Egghead and the Markit chick together organized a well-orchestrated and much applauded farewell. The theme – “ENIGMA” truly did bring about some enigma, when some drunken dory couples where seen. enjoying in front of the Library! ( Whhhatttt.. !??? It’s not what ‘I’ am saying.. its what EVERYONE saw! Don’t blame me please! :/) well all’s fair in love and farwell.. and it was the last time for them to “bond” afterall, so.. ;)
We also witnessed a pretty controversial awards ceremony, which left a few confused, a few super happy and a few pretty upset! Come on now how would you react if one gives you an award for cross-dressing! Hmmmm… well with that thought lurking on our minds and a sunken feeling that actually it’s time for the seniors to leave.. ( today being the last day for most) , we the first years hope that you had an awesome time here, coz we surely did with you! And you have been the best seniors that we could get! Seriously you all would be truly truly missed (aaahh someone pass me the tissue-box please!), coz we just didn’t make contacts, we made best friends for life here!
Love you all and would miss you F10!
Ps- F11 its time for us to take the Centre stage!! ;) Are you guys ready for the challenge! ;) [ ahhh yes the juniors too! :P ]

Signing off…
Yours fantastically…
“Keep Guessing!” ;)

Guest Post by B11! (Finally! :) )

All characters in this blog are fictitious. Any resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental. Anyone feeling hurt or mentally disturbed after reading this, please go visit Amma hospital in Choolaimedu  :P

Life in LIBA is coming to a close and we’ll all be parting pretty soon. Each one going our own ways, profession, cities, etc. etc. Well here’s a small bit for you all to remember when we’re all long gone.

Hmmm now where do we start from? Alphabetical order seems good, or should we follow a degree of controversy ranking? Nah .. Let’s just talk about a normal day at LIBA.

First things we notice on entering the canteen are two people sitting and eating thayirr saadam (curd rice) n bhindi (vendakka) usually. Thickest of friends is what we think they are. One argues with no reason or point and the other is a silent killer. As outgoing as they seem, they do make life fun for a lot of people here in LIBA.

After passing them, we go straight to get breakfast coupons. OMG..!! what do we see here? Ans: A loud thunderous voice saying… “Annaaa Poooori” (comes first and is passed on to a girl with a halo on her head) and then “Annaa Dosaaa” (comes after 15 mins). By the time dosa reaches the table, the poori is over.. We wonder how?

Next escaping from this entire crowd, for a breath of fresh air, where does one go? Ans: Near the window. And what do you see – transporters Mr. Bean with his empty car and Salman Khan’s action packed car. The reason we think for this differential is that after the crash test, the old car doesn’t seem to pump as much as it used to anymore ;) or is it because Sallu bahi is working out only his biceps at 99F. Is this why Sallu Bhai misses his TT practice these days.?

Moving away from this scene, just outside the canteen we see the “AR Rahman in the making” boy on his bike competing for the same transporting business. And just beside this, thin Vijay Mallya, with his Canon DSLR searches for new Kingfisher models. We do know that Mr. Mallya personally interviews all his models, and we wonder if our own Mallya does the same too? He also has another side to himself- philanthropic activities with half the diameter. Now is this what we call split personality disorder? Wait whoa… The boy who bought Dosa and poori is walking away carrying a bag now and following him is the soft spoken “holy” girl. After two years we finally found out that they are just good friends.

Further moving into the OAT we spot many interesting permutations and combinations. Our Azhagiya Tamizh Magan having a conversation; irenically oops sorry for the typo- ironically* :P. Guess they are planning his upcoming wedding with the girl who visited him during LIBArated. On the other side, there’s an awesome threesome. :O Guess if he has lost his cruise control after their entrepreneurial venture with pollution masks. Talking about entrepreneurship “He came, he saw, he left the college”. The team and investors seem to be tracking him down. Kya picture abhi bhi baaki hai?

After this we go into the library to the stack room to finish up some work for an assignment. We stumble upon the Alto’s brand ambassodor making plans to promote his tagline “Let’s go in an alto”. We wonder what is the purpose of the stack room.? Is it for learning or some bonding happening with books or over books? Talking about assignments, the “imommy” seems to have an upper hand with all her presentations. Is it because of all her i-products or her honorary membership with Scribd.com.

Tired, we go to the common room to get some water. OOH., we see a Crishnan with his new Samsung galaxy S2 phone. Wonder where he bought it from?? Or was it a gift? This gentleman has also converted the common room into a dining hall under the pretext of studyin with an 8 point someone :D. His friend, “Milky bar” has been dealing in a lot of “activities” recently, which has resulted in the misuse of the Economic Times. The proof of which was found out in the room of the “boy who plays shuttle with his phone”.

Then we hear a sudden laugh outside in the bike park. Sin(v)/Cos(v) screaming at the top of her voice assembling her “gym-team”.  One DANGErous gentleman wondered “whether its bout fitness or matrimonial sites providing them feedbacks and suggestions”. Whatever it is, it is quite a sight to see the results emerging. ;)

After a long day we come back to the hostel. Sports fever is back but looks a lot dull this time because of an additional badminton court at the girl’s hostel. We still see coaching sessions happening. Last semester means trips also. We recently heard about a trip to yearcaud by the “tu mera hero boys”. This song seems to have become a hot favourite now in the hostel playing alound especially during their drinking sessions.

Coaching Sessions

  

Valentine’s Day just went by. We smelt a lot of love in LIBA air. The B11 boys made trips to Bangalore, Khadar Nawaz Khan road, Azuri bay, EA and one of them ended up going to church also. Guess who went where. We also got intelligence reports about double date activities at the Hilton hotel. The self proclaimed “Single girls” went on a consolation dinner too. Are they really single? because we see them often mingling with a lotta people :) .

To conclude on a serious note. Its raining marriages and engagements at LIBA. We wish all our forward looking boys/girls good luck. May God’s choicest blessings be with all the couples.

Here is a parting message from the B11 boys. “We will miss you all. Let your light shine, and make our college and nation proud. Those who feel like crying please get a tissue paper, and those who don’t please go cut an onion”

wanted- if found please inform Merry Boy :) 

 New found party animal :)

 Gym girl’s diet :D

-B11

A Journey to Remember -2

Guess whose!

A Journey to Remember...

The Finance Study group meeting diligently...

Gossips + Events + Updates on coming issues + PICS

Things are moving fast in this part of the world. The vacation saw 3 people get commited. The insight technical guy who committed into marriage, this year's vital committee Cordinator and the CTS girl who is leaving for the states this month, in engagement . Wow! We seem to be faster than our senies. Congrats guys! :)
The moon flower boy of f10 has come out about his girl finally. Pics can be found on facebook for the curious ones. Seems the story is 7 years long...
(F09 is also catching up. Marriages are happening left right center.)

Meanwhile, the celebrations are at a swing this time of the year.
Junies had chrispops and chrismoms who made each other's Christmas and New year special for them. Gifts and tasks were exchanged and given to everyone. Seems they are already practicing to give tasks to the F12 batch coming. :P
The postponed Libarated on 21st of the month. Although the theme is the same, the excitement seems to have died down. Organizers listening? Will that 70s night be black and white?
Pongal celebrations unlike last year, due to time constraints, is only for half a day this year and the "Pongal boys" have taken it onto themselves to make it a big success.
The ELA [extra liba activities] organizer has taken up yet another program for our social initiative wing. This time a lot of trees are going to get planted and taken care of.
The cocoon is getting ready again to slowly transform into the butterfly. It is that time of the year again. A group of enthusiastic ones are working on both online and offline events this year.

The couple formation is still in vogue.

Any guesses why these guys are waiting 
near the girls hostel mess anybody? :P

The cat eyed girl is seen spending a lot of time with a guy. Even thoug they maintain they are just friends, the smile after that could mean something else.
The 'knight rider' (or so he would like to be called here) made a small scene on facebook saying it was finally official with the 'american indian babe' in his own words. People wondered if his lady friend was an american indian by any chance.
And the "blue legged" girl of past also seems to be going on steady with her beau.
There are other couples who are lying low to come out at the right moment. Keep guessing who!
And as the 2nd year is coming to an end, the serious couples are seen hanging out together literally all the time. Good luck to them. :)
There is certain 'milkybarish' tendency to some of the conversations that happen around. Wondering if the milkybars sold these days are crushed!
A certain outsider was seen touring the campus with the 'tamil cry baby' recently. "Just friends" reply seems to be the only thing other than smiles that she could give when pandora inquired about it.
The 'baby' seems to have a crush on somebody in the batch. But somehow, teasings were taken in stride by both of them. So, it could either be a yes or no. :P

The KD of F10 seems to have decided not to go for the exchange program because he didnt think spending money for it was worth it. He should have let the other students try and get through who would have gone for sure. And the other one has already left. She is Delhi for a week for the VISA processing and stuff.

The exchange students are already here for the sem. These bunch are from again france, germany and mexico. There seems to be a buzz in the ladies' lot of liba about one of the exchange students. He is considered cute and worth a shot by a lot of girls here. The committed ones, please hold onto your girlfriends tight :P

On a lighter note, Anybody Interested? :P

The graceful lady is back from her Yatra. Her yatra is supposed to have made a big impact on her life. She met entrepreneurs and even people who had quit secure jobs to do community service for life. Hope our some of our junies go next year and have fun and gain exposure.

The Mother Teresa Award function saw 6 corporate teams presenting. CTS, HPCL, Hindustan Zinc, MARG were among the teams. The student jury had 'father', the chery girl, the vedanta boy and the robin bird.

One of our lady faculty -Guess who!-has let her hair down literally this year. Students were surprised at this sudden style change. Most of them are still trying to figure out the reason for this style change. Any guesses or revelations?

The ladies hostel is finally blessed with LAN and that is thoroughly 'exploited' by the inmates. Wonder if the establishment and other charges, when they finally come, will make casualty admissions in nearby hospitals for fainting.
F10 has also decided to enjoy the last 3 months thoroughly. Beach parties, ladies' nights, outings... Most of us would be students for the last time in our lives.

And like an online year book,
Pandora will soon start a profiling of the 10-12 batch in the blog so that the batch, world and our alumni can come to know about the batch better. A lot of our batchmates have businesses running and awards that never were given much PR. I think it would be great if we knew each others' strengths better before we leave. And it would certainly be a good platform for you to promote yourself ;)

Btw, Pandora has finally found a successor who will write a guest post soon. Wait for it.. :)

Love till the next post which will be verrrry soon! (Promise! :D )
Pandora

Gossips + Events + Super Seniors + The Hunt!

The Vital committee member with a British accent has been trying on one of the exchange students for so long. Calling her for Pondy trips asking out.. But my reporters tell me that he has had no luck yet. But then, he does not seem to be the one to give up. Keep trying ;)

The precious stone girl is seen hanging around in the campus and outside it with a certain junior, most evenings. Coffees and Nescafes.. Has Obama been left out?
No. Obama is seen hanging around with the Musk Deer. But Musk Deer claims that he is just a good friend. So both the precious stone and Obama on different roads now?

Liberation has been postponed due the love affair between the circle and rain. :( It is said that events organized by the circle is jinxed with a curse from the rain. Incidentally, girls of LIBA has given '33%' reservation to guys in 'talking nonstop' event. While 2 girls took away the first and second places, third was given to a guy. ;) But the celebration went into the form of liberation in rain. After all the noise they[we] made at the OAT, a visiting faculty was seen dialing the authorities' number. This sent all of those who were liberated, running for cover. But yeah, liberated or not, we celebrated :)
So, the Circle members informed it will be in early January.

Well, the one who wrote here before me previous Dr. Love, went and silently got himself engaged. Out of the blue, FB carried his Roka pics and then the engagement pics. Yours truly interviewed him for a juicy gossip only to find that it was pakka arranged marriage. :( November 6th is the engagement and next year would see them getting married. After all those gossips he wrote about everybody, we could not find him putting the toe out of line.
The lady Love who is going to decorate his heart, designs interiors and is his Fate from now on. ;) Well, best wishes for your love filled life Dr. Love! ;)
Incidentally, someone's, [who was his best friend all through the life in LIBA,] likes and comments were present in absentia all the way. Go find who! :P

The biggest event of campus was a success this year too. Core team was seen running around on phones and teams to get things done. Good work and Insight team! Cheerz!
The 'Numbers People' of campus had their share of glory when their conclave found space in the pages of major newspapers. The noted point was that, it was a ladies' army leading the clan.
Espire prelims happened today and was organized by the Ecell of the college. This time, we see more initiative from the juniors' side. The next rounds as usual will happen soon with TieCon.
The mindfulness of leadership is also on the way. The Exec Lady is taking care of that event. We do have a lot of events happening all through the sem eh! :) This year’s theme is Eco-Innovation: Time to Wake Up!

The One in the four of the 'Mallu gang' who has a secure future, was found family planning, some days after securing it. :P How many years till marriage, till this... till that.. He is all set for future it seems. ;) What when how why...

The search [rather hunt] for the Pandora  of 2012 has begun. The stage is all set. People who are interested to carry on the legacy, mail me an exclusive scoop which portrays your creati-witty, humor and nose-for-news skills. :) The hunt has begun! Beware of repercussions of writing here btw :P
So, who is next? :)

Till Next Post,
Love,
Pandora


PS- Even though the messages from the junies have been a bit overboard, this competition needs a look from all of us for 'likes'. Go here and you will see the contestants and their posters. LIBA's highest scorer is just 100 likes away from being the overall first. Please like and promote LIBA and its contestants there. [On special request from Itty :) ]