Styx

 

These were the iconic heavy metal songs played at Styx back then

 Holy Wars  Megadeth 

High Hopes Division Bell

Wasted Years Iron Maiden

Hallowed be thy name COF 

Mama I'm coming home Ozzy Osbourne 

Bhutan Bullet Boys

Gregorian year 2020, a year of many firsts: 
First gregorian new year's eve spent outside family 
First Bullet ride for a length of 10 days 
First overseas pleasure trip 
First snow adventure amidst the mountains 
and many more...

Every man dreams a Bullet ride across the mountains and snow away from it all for a few days. Well my dream became true in the begining of 2020 

How it started:
It all started in 2019 when I met an old school friend and realized that my bucket list is lost in the sands of time. Hence I made a new bucket list. A key attraction of the list was Bullet bike ride for atleast a week maybe to Ladakh or Bhutan with the boys and away from family.

Status check:
Upon a quick status check, I discovered that my reality is nowhere close to my dream
1. Forget the heavy Bullet motorcycle, I had lost touch riding regular 100cc motorcycles for almost 5 years now. 
2. Didn't have the stamina to do over 10 burpees at a stretch

Preparations:
There were 2 beeg things I had to accomplish before going to the trip for the upcoming gregorian new year's eve 2020
a. Learn to ride a Royal Enfield motorcycle which weighs about 200kg
b. Have enough stamina and persevance to ride the motorcycle for a stretch of about 10 days 😕 

'a' i.e. heavy motorcycle acclimatizaton was not an easy task. So I had to start small. Thus I started booking Ola bike rides and convinced the ola guys that I will ride his bike hahaha. The next idea came up that I could do test drives of Royal Enfield motorcycles. 

After few test rides, I used to hire Bullet motorcycles almost every Sunday. Then came the practice trips. I also did smaller road trips with the boyses. One in Bangalore to Avati with 5 riders for 100 km roundtrip. Next Hyderabad to Bidar with 12 riders 300km roundtrip. Last one being a solo ride Hyderabad to Vikarabad 150km roundtrip

'b' building stamina was difficult too. All my attempts to stay fit went in vain. This journey was simply hilarious.

In the begining, I joined Zumba classes in the society, the instructor got knee problems and discontinued
Next I joined a Zumba dance institute nearby my house, the centre closed down due to less customers
Lastly I joined CULT. I hope I was not a 'Panuti' or 'Iron-leg' for the business
The instructor at CULT gave me an uphill regimen. Inspired by Hritik Roshan from Laksh, I started this journey of excercise 

 

The trip:
Bhutan is a paradise indeed. There are no flat lands, It's a land locked hilly country with peaceful and accomdating people. And yes they speak Hindi, accept Indian rupees as well.

The tour Operator was Deyor Camps 
https://www.deyorcamps.com/bhutan-bike-trip-package-from-india 

The trip route was as follows 
https://goo.gl/maps/sxzERfeUsqCUutqz5

Day 00 of 09: Get the biking gear ready at home
I figured out that i will have to sell my 2 kidneys, 2 eyes and my unbroken heart ( LOL ) if I have to buy the heavy motorcycle and snow gear. Instead of going to such extremes, I decided to rent the gear from Sharepal which came to about INR 8k or so for 10 days. This idea is from Corporate Finance i.e. it is better to avoid Capex ( Capital expenditure i.e. buying stuff ) when you can have Opex ( Operational expenditure i.e where you could rent stuff ). Hence it is better to save money, save organs too haha

Day 01 of 09: Siliguri to Phuentsholing 175 km
Arrived at Siliguri by flight and headed to Phuentsholing. These motorcycle rides are headed by a Capain. Then there is also a mechanic who comes along the group. The mechanic also carries critical spare parts of the motorcycles. Then there is a luggage and supplies van which accompanies the group. There, everything is set and taken care of. What is important is the experience now

Day 02 of 09: Phuentsholing halt for Visa
Bhutan had a policy of Visa on arrival for Indians. The process took about 4 hours or so. There were 2 reasons to celebrate. Obvio! The visa and another was the upcoming gregorian new year 2020. New 'squad' for about 10 days or so by the campfire 🎉 

Day 03 of 09: Phuentsholing to Thimpu 150km

The weather started getting colder, we got our woolens / rexins on. The picture here is a typical traditional room heater in Bhutan. Firewood is burnt in circularly placed outlets. The stones placed act as heat inducers. What you see in the middle acts a huge heat capacitor. This stores the heat which is burnt from firewood and gradually releases the heat to the surroundings.

Day 04 of 09: Explore Thimpu city
The beasts also deseve a rest after the rides
And the would prefer to be in the company of each other for their bullet-brotherhood

Day 05 of 09: Thimphu to Punakha 85km
Riding in the snow is not easy. One has to be really careful. One miscalculation would make the rider and the motorcycle go tumbling down the series of hills and mountains. Of course it's easier if one has 4x4. But why would one want to miss the thrill !

Day 06 of 09: Punakha to Paro 126km
Nearby is a place called as Chelela pass the highest motorable road in Bhutan at 13,083 feet above sea level. Going to this place was a challenge indeed

Day 07 of 09: Explore Paro

In Bhutan, Forts are quite common. Forts also house the Buddhist monks. These forts are called as 'Zhong' in bhutanese.  The background here is a 'Zhong' and what I'm wearing is called a 'Gho' the traditional male dress of Bhutan people

Day 08 of 09: Paro to Siliguri 297km
The final ride was one of the longest rides I had done in a day, that too amidst the mountains from a snowy weather in Bhutan to a tropical weather of India. One by one the layer of clothing came out as we descended from moutains up above.

Day 09 of 09: Departure to home
With a heavy heart feeling that the trip is over. All good things come to an end.

Afterthought: 
I returned home promising myself that I will do a roadtrip again. Maybe I will do this Goa rider mania in the future. This is an after-movie from youtube channel of Royal Enfield: 

https://www.royalenfield.com/in/en/rides/events/rider-mania-2019/motorcycling-events/

PS: 
One philosphical moment occured during the trip. I had visited a shop to buy woolen gloves in Bhutan market. An older lady at the cash counter enquired and asked:
Lady: Why do you people come to Bhutan during winter and ride these motorcycles in dangerous snow filled mountains ?
Me: That's a thrill I want to remember for the rest of life
Lady: And what if you die ?
Me: No regrets, I'm content
That is when it dawned me that I had no unfinished business, no regrets, no other expectations. I am fully content. This is what Buddha says: 

Clown car

It's been quite sometime since I have posted.

Here is an excerpt from a great book that I have read. I would recommend this book because of this concept of "Clown car" in a book by Mark Manson

Link to the book: 

https://markmanson.net/books/everything-is-fucked 

Here is the excerpt that I liked: 

"

Let's pretend your mind is a car. Let's call it the "Consciousness car". Your Consciousness Car is driving along the road of life... 

Now, there are 2 travellers in your Consciousness Car: a Thinking brain and a feeling brain...

We generally assume that Thinking brain is driving our consciousness...

Here is the truth: the feeling brain is driving our consciousness car...

If thinking brain is weak and/or uneducated, or if the feeling brain is riled up, the thinking brain will succumb to the feeling brain's fiery whims and dangerous driving. It will lose the ability to think for itself or to contradict the feeling brain's conclusions. This effectively turns your consciousness car into a Clown car...

Your consciousness car becomes a clown car when your thinking brain has completely capitulated to your feeling brain, when your life's pursuits are determined purely by self-gratification, when truth warps into a cartoon of self-serving assumptions, when all beliefs and principles are lost in a sea of nihilism.

...

The book:

continuing the excerpt...

The clown car invariably drives toward addiction, narcissim, and compulsion. People whose minds are clown cars are easily manipulated by whatever person or group makes them feel good consistently. whether it is a religious leader, politician, self-help guru, or sinister internet forum. A clown car will gladly steam roll other consciousness cars (i.e. other people) with its big red rubbery tiers because its thinking brain will justify this by saying they deserved it - they were evil, inferior, or part of some made-up problem.

...

It's hard to pull someone out of the clown car once they're in it. In the clown car, the thinking brain has been bullied and abused by the feeling brain for so long that it develops a sort of Stockholm syndrome - it can't imagine a life beyond pleasing and justifying the feeling brain. It can't fathom contradicting the feeling brain or challenging it on where it's going, and it resents you for suggesting that it should. With the clown car, there's no independent thought and no ability to measure contradiction or switch beliefs or opinions. In a sense, the person with a clown car mind ceases to have an individual identity at all.

"

This is a blog entry about a profound excerpt from an Inspiring book. To read the rest of the blog entries you may click here:
http://sataninfernous.blogspot.in 

"The subtle art of not giving a f*ck" by Mark Manson

Author website : https://markmanson.net

Here is an excerpt from "The Subtle art of not giving a fuck" by Mark Manson in Page 48 that is really profound:

Imagine you're at a grocery store, and you watch an elderly lady scream at the cashier, berating him for not accepting her thirty-cent coupon. Why does this lady give a fuck? It's just thirty cents.

I'll tell you why: That lady probably doesn't have anything better to do with  her days than to sit at home cutting out coupons. She's old and lonely. Her kids are dickheads and never visit. She hasn't had sex in over thirty years. She can't fart without extreme lower-back pain. Her pension is on its last legs, and she's probably going to die in a diaper thinking she's in Candy Land.

So she snips coupons. That's all she's got. It's her and her damn coupons. It's all she can give a fuck about because there is nothing else to give a fuck about. And so when that pimply-faced seventeen-year-old cashier refuses to accept one of them, when he defends his cash register's purity the way knights used to defend maidens' virginity, you can bet Granny is going to erupt. Eighty years of fucks will rain down all at once, like a fiery hailstorm of "Back in my day" and "People used to show more respect" stories.

The problem with people who hand out fucks like ice cream at a goddamn summer camp is that they don't have anything more fuck-worthy to dedicate their fucks to.

If you find yourself consistently giving too many fucks about trivial shit that bothers you - your ex-boyfriend's new Facebook picture, how quickly the batteries die in the TV remote, missing out on yet another two-for-one sale on hand sanitizer-chances are you don't have much going on in your life to give a legitimate fuck about. And that's your real problem. Not the hand sanitizer. Not the TV remote.

I once heard an artist say that when a person has no problems, the mind automatically finds a way to invent some. I think what most people-especially educated, pampered middle-class white people-consider "life problems" are really just side effects of not having anything more important to worry about.

It then follows that finding something important and meaningful in your life is perhaps the most productive use of your time and energy. Because if you don't find that meaningful something, your fucks will be given to meaningless and frivolous causes.

This is a blog entry about a profound excerpt from an Inspiring book. To read the rest of the blog entries you may click here:
http://sataninfernous.blogspot.in

Keep rocking!

PS: Joke of the day:
Boy: You must be in the movies
Girl: Oh really?
Boy: Just don't wear make up and leave your hair as it is. Best for horror movies!

Sapiosexual

Note : This is just one blog entry / prelude
To read more go to other entries 

What it means to be a father

Nov 19th is International Men's day. For this day, we need to understand the importance of being a man. What makes a man, a man? One way to define it is to comprehend the various roles he could fulfill during his lifetime, that of a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a grandpa, a mentor, a boss, an entrepreneur, a societal change agent, a sportsman, a movie hero. 

A picture of one of my acquaintances, Manjunath with his sons

Many people whom I have met have told me that "my father is my hero" or "my father is my first hero". Is still remember my daughter telling me few years ago,  that she thought I was stronger than the superheroes on tv. Well that is the image a father has to rationalize and live up to.  Fatherhood is a great responsibility in itself. A child's persona is shaped by many experiences.

I take this opportunity to share an fb post from of a person whom I know. Abhay had written it when his father had left him. I'd request the reader to go through this and think over and reflect upon it deeply. This post is also an inspiration to all men aspiring to be fathers. Because, I reiterate that fatherhood is a great responsibility in itself.

Here is the link to the post & the text of it:

https://www.facebook.com/abhay.k.vasishtha/posts/10208790378934635 

Quoting 

" 

This eulogy is dedicated to my dear Dad, whose untimely passing on 18th night has left me, my sister and my mother steeped in grief.Death is inevitable. Mortality is the ultimate reality. A mirror against our various accomplishments. Whether we chose to believe it or not, our mortality gives meaning to life. We work towards accomplishing something in life due to its time limit. Unlike the expectation of infinite time to live, the reality, like life itself, is very chaotic and unpredictable. We have a limited time to spend with our loved ones. This time, once gone can lead to regret. To truly live life to the fullest, one needs to live each day with joie de vivre. The best example to my mind was my dad. He always was happy-go-lucky and lived and loved to the fullest. As a doctor, his duty beckoned him everyday to save lives. He excelled in it and was one of the best surgeons in his field. Despite this, he always took care of us, gave us time, advised us in difficult situations and was there for us. 

Now that he has left us for a better place, we are steeped in grief. The sorrow we feel does not have any depths. Yet in this moment, I imagine my dad, tapping me on my shoulder, telling me not to only experience grief but remember him for the best moments we had with him. The life he lived is living in the memories we have. To simply grieve is not enough. To honor his memory, I will try to remember him as I knew him best - the Superman in my life!

My dad, the first person to lift me on his shoulders as a baby, the person who encouraged me to ask questions and follow my curiosity always! My dad, the guy who taught me to enjoy the small pleasures in life, like mishti doi, like watching cartoons on holidays without any guilt, sleeping like a log while letting go of the pressures which you face during the day. My dad, who taught me by example, the value of patience and to roll with the throw of dice and accept life's puzzling situations. My dad, who enjoyed on every holiday we took, showing us the best way to relax and enjoy the moment. My dad, the first man to show me how to shave, to act mature and yet retain your inner child. My dad, who showed being stoic and emotional at the same time is not impossible, but a necessity, who taught me to evaluate objectively and yet be empathetic to the plight of people. My dad, who taught me learning languages can be a hobby, to interact with many people a benefit of an army life. My dad, who showed me being a polite person doesn't make you a pushover, and being stern when necessary doesn't make you a bad person. My dad, who punished me several times but also taught me the importance of keeping one's anger in check, who showed being accepting of one's mistakes doesn't cause one to be looked down upon. My dad, who was the pillar of support for his family, yet nurtured me to be there for our family when he could not be reached. My dad, who valued my opinion in major decisions and yet always managed to show me another aspect which I missed. My dad, who was proud of us and yet humble about his achievements, who always looked for new areas to learn. 

My dad, who I look up to, am proud of and wish he would have been there for a while longer. My dad, who is now with me in my heart and will be my guiding light for the rest of my life. I just hope I live up to his dreams and become the man he hoped I would become. I miss you Dad! Rest In Peace Colonel K.S.Kumar, SM.Abhay 

"

PS: Once a man becomes a father, typically maybe 20-30 years pass before he could become a grandad. These  inbetween years are made of few hundred weekends. I'd want to make each and every weekend count. To spend quality time with loved ones, especially the next gen, making sure that I'm a good influence. Teaching them how to live. Of course, less gadgets.

Finally, wishes to all the men on Men's day

Keep rocking,

Prabhakar MN
Satan Infernous

Note: This is one of the blog entries. To read the entire blog click here:

http://sataninfernous.blogspot.in 

About the author:

Prabhakar MN started his career as a blue collar workman,traversed an unbeaten path to complete full time MBA at XLRI & become a Director at BPO. Prabhakar may be reached at mnpsatan13@gmail.com

Six Sigma Black Belt

I've successfully completed the ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt exam.

 This is the FMEA I had done for the same

Important : I've also submitted this to Quality Progress, ASQ magazine with a manuscript. 

Sleep well, dear Manager

DISCLAIMER: This blog entry is for entertainment purposes only. If you’re having insomnia or such symptoms, seek medical help.

 

Historian’s note: This entry was written after 1 year of successful service at a BPO.

One might have come across the concept of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and “adequate sleep” is definitely in the below layers. If sleep is so important, the question to ask now is, why do people lose their sleep over things like “Esteem needs”? Is it really worth it? That’s definitely an introspection everyone ought to do. But it need not be done during the sleep time :)

The next question to ask is how much sleep does a working adult (housewives included) typically need? 5 hours / 7 hours / 10 hours per day? (or should I say night?) The answer lies deep within our ancient Indian sciences, the extent of sleep is also dependent on the type of metabolism in the body you possess (woah, “possess  a body !) However, I would like to point out this news article which refers to   “But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours. In our opinion, that killed him”  http://www.drshaileshthaker.co.in/blog/what-killed-ranjan-dasyoungest-ceo-and-lessons-for-corporate-india.html In that case, what are the steps to ensure to get adequate sleep:https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/caffeine-and-sleep Caffeine is found in popular beverages including Coffee, Tea (yes), Cocoa, Chocolate, soft drinks (Yay, it didn’t mention ‘hard drinks’, or did it?)

Btw, Sleep is related to something called as ‘Circadian rhythms’. Which says that our body has endogenous biological 24hour process which is synchronised with the sun. (Sun! The Sun, yes the SUN. I knew it)

Light:

Taken fromhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.urbandroid.lux&hl=en “

Recent research suggests that exposure to blue light before sleep may distort your natural (circadian) rhythm and cause inability to fall asleep. The cause is the photoreceptor in your eyes, called Melanopsin. This receptor is sensitive to a narrow band of blue light in the 460-480nm range which may suppress Melatonin production - a hormone responsible for your healthy sleep-wake cycles. In experimental scientific studies it has been shown an average person reading on a tablet or smart phone for a couple of hours before bed time may find their sleep delayed by about an hour.” As I understand, the bluish light from mobile phones, laptop screens, LCD TVs makes us stay awake for additional time whenever we look at them. I’m not sure about fluorescent lamps or CFL lamps or LED lights
(now did I offend any environmentalist?)

 

Beverages:This article from National Sleep foundation says about Caffeine and Sleep.
https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/caffeine-and-sleep/ 

Stress: There is always work pressure, or ‘this’ pressure or ‘that’ pressure. But it is the individual who converts it to stress. I always believe that the worst thing to happen to anyone is to suddenly die. In that case, whatever else happens is always definitely less grave (oh man, did I say ‘grave’ after I said ‘die’). The next worst thing is to lose your job. You’ll always get a new one, because you’re THE MAN. So, chill !

 Few steps I have taken:

1.       Since my work is similar to UK shifts now, I follow a similar sleep pattern during the weekends also
2.       I’ve also installed Twilight app on my phone, and its definitely helpful
3.       Dimming the laptop monitors is also done, although I’m not sure about the benefits
4.       No to coffee, no tea, no soft-drinks. Yes to Buttermilk, lemonade and Jaljeera
5.       Daikin 1.5 ton inverter AC in ‘Coanda’ mode with expensive pillows
6.       Soft Sleep-eye-mask. It sometimes comes in handy, or ‘eyey’ (if there was such a term)7.        Eating at regular time windows. I’m not referring to the fast-food restaurant take-away window
8.          Monthly Sudarshan Kriya (from Art Of Living). 9.          And of course Yoga nidra

Keep rocking!
and 'yawn'

This was just one blog entry. In case you want to read more,
My full blog: 
http://sataninfernous.blogspot.in 

My linked in: 
http://in.linkedin.com/pub/prabhakar-mn/40/968/a11/ 

My FB: 
https://www.facebook.com/mnpsatan13 

Stay humble, stay bullish!

NP: "Time" by Pink Floyd 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSAeeEUkDbE 
"You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today,
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you?" 

The recent times:
Almost an year has passed in my premier B school. One could view our prestigious institution as a factory that produces leaders, managers, entrepreneurs and the likes. What exactly transpired during this past year? What really changed and what didn't? Well here 2 things worth noting:
1. Retained a standard sleep-food-cycle time-table
2. Wasn't very successful regarding the fitness regimen I had planned

The journey:
The journey (especially the last one year) of my adult life has been a roller-coaster ride so far. This picture still speaks more than 1,000 words.

Yes, I'm the blue-collar-workman who would be working as a Director now. My 'interview' was published last year: 
http://insideiim.com/from-a-blue-collared-worker-to-a-student-at-a-premium-b-school-prabhakar-mn-xlri-jamshedpur/ 

Grandpa, Chennai and me:
I'd be going to Chennai, its been 2 generations since my grandfather lived in 'Madras'. He used to do small comedy roles and has acted in more than 300 movies, mostly during the black and white era. The tiny house where my grandparents used to be known as "Guggu Mahal". Although they weren't rich, they were known for their accommodative mindset. The picture here is screen-grab from a Kannada movie in which he was a comedian.

Watch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMCjhnnzYEA 

The video link above contains a clip from a Kannada TV show with an opinion from a peer.

Humble:The word HUMBLE has many positive connotations including the ability to keep one's feet on the ground, to be open to new ideas, better viewpoints from others, to be willing to change for better i.e. accepting that there is always something better.
When I was a workman, I wanted to better myself by doing Bachelors in Engineering,
when I was doing an Engineering related job, I wanted to better myself by doing an MBA at a premier B-School

Philosophy:
That is also Surak's wisdom:
"There is no other wisdom and no other hope for us but that we grow wise."
http://michaelhalm.tripod.com/id53.htm

Bullish:
The word BULLISH implies the constant urge to move forward with heavy commitment (force). I had to get up every Sun at 0330hrs get ready and ride for 15km in different weather conditions to catch a train and reach Bombay for my MBA entrance exam preparation classes. It would get over and I'd reach home at 2330hrs. Losing every Sunday for months at a stretch is difficult indeed, it takes away a part of your domestic life. But a man ought to do what he has to do!

Keep rocking!

This was just one blog entry. In case you want to read more,
My full blog: 
http://sataninfernous.blogspot.in 

My linked in: 
http://in.linkedin.com/pub/prabhakar-mn/40/968/a11/ 

My FB: 
https://www.facebook.com/mnpsatan13 

Man up my dear Manager

By Prabhakar MN, PGDM (GM) 2014-15 student at XLRI, Jamshedpur
Author’s blog:                         http://sataninfernous.blogspot.in
Linked in profile:          http://in.linkedin.com/pub/prabhakar-mn/40/968/a11/

A professor once told me that a great Manager is one who helps businesses take decisions despite incomplete information. I add to that by saying that the decisions have to be efficient (with minimal amount of effort Eg: time taken to reach a decision etc.). Also there is a degree of uncertainity in the enivornment. This is possible if he is emancipated; As I would like to look at this from an 'emancipation' perspective, one has to 
become a man before he becomes a manager. 
What makes man, a man?

Thinking beyond trivialities:

The trigger to this inquiry began when a fellow passenger once told me that he was unable to grow beyond his predicament of being rejected out by his prospective girl-friend. And that he would avoid seeing her in person again because he would burst into tears by becoming a wussy. Loving his girl to the end of the world is simply romantic. But, becoming a wussy isn't very presentable or manly for that matter. As much as a man would be able to fall in love, he should also be capable to fall out of love when needed. That brings us to the question -How do you turn a boy into a man? Well atleast, figuratively that is! 

Live it up!:

Which brings to us to the next set of questions:
Why isn't there a movie about a man sitting in front of his TV without moving?
Or a hit TV show about grass growing?
Humans find some things particularly interesting because we are wired to find them so. Drama, Adventure, Comedy, Success help us survive and gain materialistic status.
What is living it up?
Well this is:
“Discuss current music trends, discuss fun things. Don't just be plain normal and conform. Make personality interesting. Learn to tell a story! Become a renaissance man. Learn music or art, dance, history well. Specialize in one or 2 things; learn a little bit of everything. Just pick up a book and read about it. “

Get involved:

When someone exclaims, "You know the other day, I was reading about Leonardo Da Vinci ..." you realize that it’s a turn on. Pop culture, icons, romance are always in. When such people happen to pass by an antique building, they also know the story behind it. They would live every moment of their lives not worrying about petty things. Like a single cell, he too has a boundary similar to a semi-permeable membrane, where he could selectively let only the good things in and keep bad things out. Bad things here mean energy / mood drainers / disruptors.

Picture source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/1647611/trailer_bulletin_zack_snyder_amp_frank_millers_quot300quot/

From history:

There is a vital part of a male's journey in his life that makes him a man. And, this can be brought out by a process referred to as ‘initiation’ (metaphorically). In the movie 300, for 7 year old prince, this happened when he was sent into the wild which involved brutal cold and extreme starvation. He came back victorious with the wild animal's skin he had slain. He eventually became the king. For Nelson Mandela, it happened during when was in prison for about 3 decades. This made go beyond petty emotions of revenge, etc., and to work for the greater good of the black populace. Basically in order for the ‘manliness’ to be established, the ‘boyishness’ has to ‘die’. Boyishness here signifies immature peIrson who always seeks immediate gratification and lacks the composure and patience.

In the movies:

This concept is in the movies as well. Take the song where Rishi Kapoor sings:
“Aaj hum jaise jigar wale kahan. Zakhm khaya hain tab huwe hain jawan”.
In the movie Count of Monte Cristo (2002), the protagonist Edmond Dantes says
“Life is a storm, my young friend.
You will bask in the sunlight one moment,
be shattered on the rocks the next.
What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes.
You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome.
Do your worst, for I will do mine!
Then the fates will know you as we know you…”

Available solutions:

Do we have any kind of ‘initiation’ process today? The closest thing that we have today is compulsory military service. But would it help in times of peace! We seem to have lost this concept of male 'initiation' ritual. Because a man is expected to be in control of himself, not be overwhelmed by the situation and to be in sync with his environment for most of the times. In order to become that, boys need to be invited to the select world of men! And the key to that is the ritual of ‘initiation’

Image source: http://fr.canoe.ca/divertissement/cinema/nouvelles/2008/01/13/4770778-ca.html

Last 2 words:

Until we have formal initiation ceremonies in place, 
the manager just needs to 

“Man up!"

100days

What?
100 days over, already?

Time indeed flies. I'm not talking about 100 days new government in our Sub-continent, but about my MBA at a premier Business School

Is there a report card? Few highlights are:

Promise: I'll keep this as crisp as possible

1. There is definitely a change in perspective after coming a long way from being a workman many years ago, graduate to an officer, and to maintain a resolve which would enable me to head as a responsible business leader in the future

2. One always notices many people slogging it out, burning midnight oil and sometimes becoming easily irritable when under stress or self-imagined-high-pressure. With all due respect to the aspirants who want to land in as the cherry (not icing) of the cake, I'm in no mood for all this and would settle to be near the mean of the curve when it comes to academics (hint: marks) and would love to enjoy this wonderful gift. Refer to the curve to choose your desired performance level. This is indeed a personal choice

3. Hey, BTW, one could get a set of visiting cards of his alter ego: 

4. For many Business Management students, day becomes night, night becomes day? Well, its one's choice. When does one want to sleep? No confusion here baby, No jet lag either!
NP: "Time" by Pink Floyd: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28HrY8_X2r0 

5. Coming to the trivial stuff, one gets to know that the month has passed only when the washer-man comes asks for monthly charges. Also its always a trade-off when you have only 24 hours (actually as per Aryabhata its less than 24) in a day when you have multiple things to be done at the same time in a.....
.... Premier Business School (you guessed it right)

6. One common pitfall or answer to avoid is "it depends" which I've been able to carry off well. Should I elaborate this in the near future? It depends!

7. I dread the 23:59:59 deadline of assignments, group projects and take home exams because I intend to sleep well before that.

8. Kobayashi Maru (reference: Star Trek)

9. As one treads deep into the MBA (do we have the liberty of time to do that?), it is also quite possible to forget the forest for the trees, and even forget the leaves for the chlorophyll? Zooming out from cholorophyll to the forest level, I'd reckon that my internal lyric (not rhetoric) is that I'm living my dream of doing an MBA in a Premier Business School. Yes, Premier Business School. Everyday that passes by doesn't come back again. it is even more valuable here. Most importantly, value of something is known when its not there. So, one should not take this MBA for granted (very important)!

10. Real life skills to be still improved upon is patience, tolerance and risk-management

11. A typical day would contain going through the concepts and practical applications of Monte Carlo simulation used in derivative markets, Du pont analysis of Financial results, Lean for service operations, Elements of marketing research, Human Resource Planning and game theory dynamics in Vickery auction of micro economics. Did I forget to mention case study competitions, club / committee work, group projects? Oh, the list would go on and on. Finally it would also attract the term "All is well."

And the most hilarious one:
12. Suffer fools gladly!

My dream for our mother earth:

In the early 90s, I used to read a lot of science-fiction comics and books. I always imagined that in 20-30 years from then, we would be able to colonize the moon, solve dangerous diseases, move towards one-world-government and the likes. Was I asking for too much? All I see is that we haven't achieved even a fraction of what we are capable of (I'm sure many of us realize this by seeing events like terrorism, misandry and diseases). On a larger, macro-level wars are nothing but anger of one state against another. But, is it usually of the state? No, it is of one or few leaders who are vociferous. Where did these leaders come from? Usually by due course of inheritance or scaling up from the ranks. Back then when they were small, as individuals, there was anger and ego. It was not contained as time passed through and manifested into the macro levels as well. Therefore it boils down the individual level. However deep and profound it may seem, I always say:
"For a better world and realization of our utopian dream, we need to make our anger and happiness cheaper"

This was just one blog entry. In case you want to read more,
My full blog: 
http://sataninfernous.blogspot.in 

My linked in: 
http://in.linkedin.com/pub/prabhakar-mn/40/968/a11/ 

My FB: 
https://www.facebook.com/mnpsatan13 

Are you game?
Satan Infernous

PS: Premier Business School

Where eagles dare!

NP: "We will rise" by Arch Enemy 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9C2Vh1HMgc  

Long long ago,
so long ago,
nobody remembers how long ago...
Satan Infernous conceived the idea of doing an MBA, to discover that it has be done in a premium B-school only.
However there was a problem: Satan has left main-stream studies for work.
There was a realization as well: The odds of getting into a premium B-school increase if you're an Engineer
And thus started the journey of:
Studies - Work - Work+Studies - Studies - Work - Studies!
Confused: The schematic would help understand better. "Ah, a picture speaks a thousand words. So does a schematic"

Fast-forward 15 years and Mr. Infernous has made it, along with many others. The journey to this B-School was tough indeed. There were no 'top-of-the-edge' preparation classes in the Wine-capital-of-India. So Satan had to get up at 0330hrs, 
catch a train,
even in the rain,
oh the pain,
it didn't go in vain...
Dave Mustaine?,
and return by 2330hrs every Sunday. After the entrance exam, there was a gruelling interview. Satan was brutally honest during that. Yeah, there was a Group-discussion and blah blah blah. 

Finally a Duronto across south-eastern India and Steel Express beyond Raka Mines to reach 'the B-School'.Travelling in the train, curling upto a book (Mastery by Robert Green) while chilling by the window is defintely an under-rated pleasure: 
http://www.scoopwhoop.com/inothernews/joys-of-life/ 

B-School definitely fun and challenging. The accomodation is quite comfortable so far. The window faces east, so that one could watch the sunrise as early as 0500hrs. Yes, its quite opposite: Mornings are earlier here as its on the Eastern side contrary to the evenings were longer back in the Wine-capital-of-India as it was on the Western side. A picture taken at 0500hrs. I'm not sure whether this one speaks a thousand words..

Speaking of early:
1. Mission 120+ started
2. Organized 3 meetups in Bangalore
3. Resigned early and joined a ad-hoc job for about a month

What will this 1 year hold? Only time will tell...

PS: Limnology... IM...

Meter the heater

It was just a normal saturday, I attended a "Write club" meet up and was headed to meet Satana Infernous 90km away. The train journey was normal for the first 100min or so. Eating grapes, drinking buttermilk and chatting with a new-found auntie.

But then at around 2000hrs I took my cell-phone out. It came out of my pocket and went out of the window. In a split second all these things flashed in my complicated brain:
1. What about the contact details?
2. What about the lengthy procedure in getting the replacement SIM for the special number?
3. What about the pictures, songs etc. in the memory card?
4. What is the cost of a brand new cell-phone?
5. What is happening?

While I was thinking all this, I stood up by reflex action and also a made a mental note of the landmark, a railway pole. Yeah Satan Infernous hardly panics in emergencies and contingencies. I rushed to the door. The auntie shouted "Don't get down!". I had the resolve to jump into the partial darkness of the jungle. The determination was to get back the phone, added by the silver lining that the train was travelling at 10kmph, and that I could see the small-station about 2km away. The man sitting at the door took his own sweet time to get up and added himself to the chorus "Don't get down!". The human brain is an amazing organ. It could be your best friend or the worst enemy. In this case, the former was true, as my mind started counting the seconds passed automatically. It was about 20s when I got down. I estimated that my phone fell down about 40-70feet back. I started walking back & tried to search for it, but in vain. There was silence everywhere. I could hear a dog bark faar away.

There was a light at the end of the tunnel. It was literally a light, from somebody's farmhouse. I started walking in moonlit darkness. It was more like the video games where the character walks in the forest. I was walking across some tall plants and came upto the farmhouse. Pretty brave, Huh? Only to get scared by a dog which got up & barked! I explained to those people about my story.
Villager1: Didn't you get scared?
Satan: No, Big deal!
Villager2: You city people are not so brave
Satan: The worst thing that could happen is to die, and I'm not afraid of death!

We started our mission of finding the cellphone. We couldn't reach my number as the phone got dismantled (battery separated from main body). After combing the area for for about half an hour we found the main body of cellphone. There were more cracks than the no. of contacts on the front panel. Another 10min of searching yielded us with the battery. I didn't want to waste more time in finding the back cover. The Villager2 dropped off to the bus stand. I paid him 500bucks as a 'reward'

Epilogue:
When I met the villagers, they were delighted to see me that I wasn't afraid. I explained this to them: 

"Fear. An important psychological emotion. It has changed a lot these days. In olden times, one was afraid of being killed by a wild animal or the enemy. Today the nature of fear has changed. Fear is that feeling when you get that you don't have a 52inch LED TV at your home. Fear is not giving your guests ice-cream and snacks when they come into the house. Fear is when a college boy doesn't have a girlfriend. Fear has become more subtle and stealthy. It is this fear that the advertising industry uses!"