Hello friends…This post now takes you to the next phase in my life as I show you a new dimension in my life from the various other facets that surround me. How strange it is to write back on your own life in the written form when you know that there are certain things which cannot be explained by writing them out, but clearly you got to feel them and experience them as they are cherished later on – also, this experience throws up many answers for what I did in those days and what I didn’t do…
So, in a way, I would strongly recommend you to read these posts but not make any impression or judgment of what I am and what I have done. Some things cannot be solved easily, they remain complicated and as a result, mysterious.
So, in a way, by giving a kind of a disclaimer initially here, I begin my new post by telling you how I spent the next 2 years in my junior college – Ruia College, Mumbai – one of the top colleges that you can get admission into, after your school. Getting there was itself a matter of pride and a feeling of success crept upon each student as they cut through the competition and made it to that college.
Of course, in those days, competition was in terms of who would get admission in Ruia or Ruparel College – as these were the top 2 Institutes in the heart of Mumbai city.
Getting 86.67% in SSC helped me in joining Ruia College – that too, for a vocational course on ‘Computer Science’.
Let me tell you first something about my long-standing affair with computers – the first time that we met was when I was the third standard and MS-DOS, LOGO were the first so-called technologies that we learnt in those days. Seven years of affair in school with the PC was good enough an attraction to go for this vocational course. I was hell bent on getting that course as I saw myself doing well with computers. We didn’t have any computer at home in those days and so, it was the computer lab at school or in my junior college where our love affair blossomed (talking of course, about the PC).
The 2 years at Ruia College were remarkable – a sudden transition from spending 12 years of education in a boys’ school to joining a college which had 70% girl students. YES, such a huge difference.
The initial few months were a nightmare with so many girls all around. I was repenting that why so many girls are here??? God, please help me. I used to run away if a girl came nearby and even before she started to talk. Studies were going on great and I was doing well in exams, as usual. But there was this so-many-girls syndrome that I was facing. Not that the girls are going to scare me but when I look back and reflect on my past, especially these days, I laugh a lot to know that I was behaving like that too.
There was this one girl whom I liked and had a crush on. We knew each other earlier, before college started. She thought “kaisa ladka hai, baat bhi nahi karta hai, yeh toh bahut bhaav khaata hai”. I managed to explain to her before those 2 years ended that I was simply shy and scared to talk. She laughed at this and thought I was kinda cute.
Later on, I started talking with her and then her friends but I used to talk very limited – rarely uttering some words. My friends saw this and these guys then started teasing me – as what happens each time a guy talks with a girl – the other guys simply pull the guy’s leg.
The height of teasing came in later during the month of December where the college had organized an event – name??? ROSE DAY… I had pre-decided that I won’t even step out of my house that day and go to college or else, I’m dead. I knew my friends would be waiting for me. But, as it turned out, they came to my home and took me along despite me making false excuses of being sick. My Mom told them that I was well and nothing’s happened to my health and so, I was caught.
They took me to college and as expected, took me to the grand concert in college which was going on. All my friends started dancing and enjoying while I was watching them and trying to pacify them by quietly stepping out of the crowd and looking at them dance. It’s not that I don’t like to dance but in those days, the typical dance that we did ever was in Ganapati celebrations.
Then, they saw that girl and her friends. My friends came to me and insisted that I have to give the girl a rose. I told “No way boss….are you crazy? I’m not doing anything like that or else, I’ll get slapped”. They didn’t hear anything that I had to offer and were simply adamant. I somehow got rid of them temporarily by telling them I’m going to the washroom. I went to a friend’s place instead (he lived in front of the college) and I was hiding there. As my friends found out that I was missing, they started to call each other in their network to find me. They got the news where I was hiding and they told that friend to bring me back to college. He made sure I came back to college with him.
Then, they handed over a rose to me and told me to get ready as she and her friends were coming out from the auditorium towards the garden area where people were meeting each other for giving roses. They themselves then were hiding in other places and watching what I’m doing. I was so nervous. I could see her coming and when I saw that her friends are also coming with her, I turned back and signaled to my friends that it’s not possible that I can give. Her friends were along with her (all of them were girls – her friends). But they were not listening to any excuses now.
Finally, I took a deep breath, prayed to God and took the first step (literally, the leg going forward was so difficult – I was like almost a statue). I walked and she and her gang were coming in my direction. I stopped her by calling out her name. I put forward my hand and gave her the rose. She stopped for a second and thought. I was sure that I would get slapped and was getting mentally prepared for a tight slap on my cheek.
However, to my surprise, she accepted the rose, smiled (a wonderful, beautiful smile) and said “Thank you Rohan”. Her other friends (girls) were looking at me, giggling and whispering something in the background. But all that didn’t matter in those few moments. I was looking straight into her eyes and was literally standing there as still and cold as a statue.
She asked me if I could join her for the concert in the playground and I nodded my head in the affirmative.
Later on, I spent time with her and her friends as we enjoyed the concert and my friends then came in and joined the group. All of my friends were winking at me and giving me that kind of an expression that I was feeling embarrassed. But when I think about this incident today, I cannot stop laughing on myself to realize how shy and timid I was then.
Later on, after that day, she accompanied me to all college events and that was the start of the first relationship that I had – struck by Mr. Cupid’s so-called blessed arrow. After that event, the rest of my junior college life was great. All-round activities were going on - be it exams, movies with friends, going out with her, events at college, partying, playing sports, etc.
Time passed by at a fast pace and at the end of 2 years, I can conclude that these were the years that sparked off the previously unknown abilities that I had within. I surprised myself by being able to come up with so many new things that I hadn’t ever thought of, in my school life. Junior college days were full of excitement, fun and plenty of happiness – spent together with great friends.
Finally, it was time to bid adieu to Ruia and move ahead to the next phase of my life – an Engineering College awaiting me to spend my life’s next 4 years in there.
Gradually, I lost touch with this girl after junior college as we got admission into separate colleges and then our lives that were intertwined earlier, now became separate. We stayed in touch for few months initially but then we got busy in our own schedules. After engineering, I came to know she had gone to US for doing her MS and since then, I was very rarely in touch through email. But then, even that stopped. She’s in my past now although we shared many wonderful moments together, worth remembering even till date. However, I was over the entire episode a long time back and of course, the next phase in my life made up for many more exciting days which were coming up in the future.
Getting back to the moment where I was leaving Ruia. As I moved out of junior college, I looked forward to what life had in store for me at that time as I took the first step into the long, gruesome journey of 4 full years in the infamous and harsh world of Engineering Colleges – where I had heard that people get grilled and only after going through the harsh, rough and tough times – does one become what it takes to be a guy with a B.E degree from Mumbai University.
Concluding the post now at this important juncture. Putting down all the memories together and that too the junior college days isn’t easy as how I’ve realized by now. If you feel that I’ve missed out on anything pertaining to my junior college life which I could have covered in this post, kindly provide your feedback and I’ll make sure I’ll write that too.
Signing off now. See ya, friends!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Childhood Days
Don't know if its the right way to say but I have to admit that I had a childhood filled in with some interesting incidents as those years passed by. My Dad is the eldest son in the family and he has 3 elder sisters. He also has 2 younger brothers. So, when I was born, I was the first in the next generation of the Naik family.
Naturally, being the first member of the new generation has its advantages as I found out. Everyone was so happy and that translated into some amount of pampering.
Although my parents made sure that it doesn’t get to my head by disciplining me from the right age, as I reflect back and wonder how beneficial was their decision at that point in time.
Being the eldest one in the new generation of our family also has its responsibilities and I wouldn’t call them as disadvantages or pain points, but it is more like you have to keep that extra caution to be followed whenever you speak or act in a situation.
Getting back to my childhood, in the early years of my nursery, kindergarten and primary school, we had a joint family system in place. So, it was always a filled up environment with plenty of hustle bustle going on in the house. Birthdays, weekends, occasions, religious ceremonies, etc were all organized at our home, as it was located right in the middle of the city and was convenient for everyone else to travel and reach there. So, from childhood days itself, I was used to seeing lots of family members around, interacting with each other and coming together to celebrate each occasion.
Regarding the building that I stayed in, I’ve to admit it that it is the best possible place that I could have been living in. The entire shape and structure of the building was such that interaction with friends, neighbours, etc had become kind of a norm. Also, we had 2 playgrounds within the area of the building where all friends used to gather to play many different sports – cricket, football and only the big boys in those days used to play volleyball. The smaller kids like us had to be content with playing cricket and football. But it was still fun.
Few highlights of the year where all friends used to gather and celebrate were birthdays, New Year Eve, festivals like Holi, Kite flying, Diwali, Dahi Handi and the main event of course has to be Ganesh Chaturthi.
Birthdays in those times were typical – we used to contribute some amount (those days, it was Rs 5 or Rs 10 maximum which was enough) for the birthday boy / girl, few of us went to the nearby gift shops to buy the birthday gift and a big sized chocolate, all of us then used to dress up neatly and go to the birthday boy’s / girl’s house, the typical menu was potato chips, birthday cake, samosas or potato vadas, small chocolates like Melody or Eclairs and farsan or chivda. Before feasting on this, we used to sing the Happy Birthday song and clap, the birthday boy / girl cuts the cake, the photo session starts with a Kodak camera in those days having the standard 36 photo roll and then the fun with either some song being played on the Audio Cassette Player. No CDs or DVDs in those days dude, forget mp3.
New Year party was similar to the birthday celebrations except that an additional feature was a Quiz that was being conducted by your truly as the Quiz master. I was the brightest kid in the entire building when it came to General Knowledge and Quizzes. Well, the brightest category can be applied to some other areas too. But I won’t disclose them right away. Wait and watch as the suspense unfolds.
Holi was celebrated early in the morning with all friends already having brought new pichkaris and colours, water balloons, etc in order to be equipped for the so-called warfare among boys and girls on Holi (Rang Panchami). Diwali celebration was mainly firecrackers as we shopped each year at the famous Essabhai Fireworks Shop at Bhendi Bazar (Masjid Bunder in Mumbai). Early morning shopping at 7 am for firecrackers is one of the strange things I’ve done in Mumbai. Also, carrying the entire big box on my lap as I used to sit on the backseat on the scooter for around 30 minutes as Dad drove back home. Such memories will always be cherished whenever I look back…what all we used to do for celebrating.
Well, I can go on and on about the occasions in my building but I feel that will take a new post itself. So, I’m cutting short about it now.
As for my studies, I was doing well and scoring good marks in those days. Mom never had to worry about my studies, according to what she said in the past, what she says still in the present.
The best school in the world, Don Bosco High School, was where I did my schooling for 12 years including kindergarten. Studying into a boys’ school had its pros and cons…hope u got my point here itself and I am glad that I need not elaborate further on it. But even though this entire experience made me shy when taking with girls of my age, I was comfortable talking and interacting with my cousin sisters. Obvious, as they used to visit our home every weekend and stay during their vacations.
I never opted to become the class monitor (CR kinda position in those days) as the person should wear tie in school and I was not knowing how to wear a tie. So, I used to avoid from being a monitor in class.
I had a crush on one school teacher and it was so silly when I look back now at it. Those days, I used to help her out in her work whenever she asked. In her class, I used to answer the subject questions she asked. Organizing certain debates and elocutions was what I was looking forward to, since these events involved her.
My school is the best because in those years, it was a rare thing for a school to ban homework for students. Plus, they promoted all-round development of kids - not just studies but sports, debates, elocutions, social work, etc.
Then, in those days, we used to carry bicycles when we were promoted to 8th standard. During the lunch break, we used to visit the 2 nearby girls' schools and do some bird watching, waving to the girls as we used to sit on our cycles and flaunt the fact that we own bicycles which was pretty much impressive in those days. Then, the security guards for the girls' schools used to chase us and we had to escape from there. But we never admitted defeat and we repeated this adventure again and again. Finally, during the vacations, these girls used to visit the nearby gardens and then we used to play cricket there so that they can notice us and talk to us. Attempts were successful and some of us got the fruits of patience in those days.
Now for some serious stuff. I had few trysts with the Hospitals in my childhood. First was a hernia operation when I was an infant, second was a neck operation when I was in the 4th standard and finally was an unfortunate accident when I was in the 7th standard. The accident on July 5, 1995 changed my life. I was coming back from school, walking down a busy road. Suddenly, a taxi (cab) came from behind at a crossing and the driver tried to turn quickly to the left. I was unaware that this guy was coming from behind as he didn’t even honk. He hit my right leg and I collapsed on the road. People rushed in and tried to make me stand on my feet. But I could see my leg broken and it was a fracture. The pain was unbearable and I could not even stand up properly. I could see the bone that came out due to the hit. After a nervous and panic filled 2 hours, I was operated upon and when I came back to my senses, I already had a plaster around my right leg and it was night time. I felt so weird and miserable that tears rolled down my eyes as I saw my family in front, all looking at me. I was confined to bed rest for the next 6 months and after a period of almost 7-8 months, I was back to normal. But the accident caused a lot of frustration and trauma for me. I still remember each minute of that incident even though it has been 14 years since that ill-fated day.
Enough of the sad part for now.
Well, to sum up, I had a very nice childhood and I must say that I’m indeed very lucky to have got such wonderful and loving parents and family members.
Pichle janam mein zaroor kuch punya kiya hoga maine, jo aise log mile.
Concluding the post now. Gathering all my thoughts together and that too for the childhood times isn’t easy as I’ve found out now. If you feel that I’ve missed out on anything pertaining to childhood in this post, kindly provide your feedback and I’ll make sure I cover it.
Signing off now. See ya, folks!
Naturally, being the first member of the new generation has its advantages as I found out. Everyone was so happy and that translated into some amount of pampering.
Although my parents made sure that it doesn’t get to my head by disciplining me from the right age, as I reflect back and wonder how beneficial was their decision at that point in time.
Being the eldest one in the new generation of our family also has its responsibilities and I wouldn’t call them as disadvantages or pain points, but it is more like you have to keep that extra caution to be followed whenever you speak or act in a situation.
Getting back to my childhood, in the early years of my nursery, kindergarten and primary school, we had a joint family system in place. So, it was always a filled up environment with plenty of hustle bustle going on in the house. Birthdays, weekends, occasions, religious ceremonies, etc were all organized at our home, as it was located right in the middle of the city and was convenient for everyone else to travel and reach there. So, from childhood days itself, I was used to seeing lots of family members around, interacting with each other and coming together to celebrate each occasion.
Regarding the building that I stayed in, I’ve to admit it that it is the best possible place that I could have been living in. The entire shape and structure of the building was such that interaction with friends, neighbours, etc had become kind of a norm. Also, we had 2 playgrounds within the area of the building where all friends used to gather to play many different sports – cricket, football and only the big boys in those days used to play volleyball. The smaller kids like us had to be content with playing cricket and football. But it was still fun.
Few highlights of the year where all friends used to gather and celebrate were birthdays, New Year Eve, festivals like Holi, Kite flying, Diwali, Dahi Handi and the main event of course has to be Ganesh Chaturthi.
Birthdays in those times were typical – we used to contribute some amount (those days, it was Rs 5 or Rs 10 maximum which was enough) for the birthday boy / girl, few of us went to the nearby gift shops to buy the birthday gift and a big sized chocolate, all of us then used to dress up neatly and go to the birthday boy’s / girl’s house, the typical menu was potato chips, birthday cake, samosas or potato vadas, small chocolates like Melody or Eclairs and farsan or chivda. Before feasting on this, we used to sing the Happy Birthday song and clap, the birthday boy / girl cuts the cake, the photo session starts with a Kodak camera in those days having the standard 36 photo roll and then the fun with either some song being played on the Audio Cassette Player. No CDs or DVDs in those days dude, forget mp3.
New Year party was similar to the birthday celebrations except that an additional feature was a Quiz that was being conducted by your truly as the Quiz master. I was the brightest kid in the entire building when it came to General Knowledge and Quizzes. Well, the brightest category can be applied to some other areas too. But I won’t disclose them right away. Wait and watch as the suspense unfolds.
Holi was celebrated early in the morning with all friends already having brought new pichkaris and colours, water balloons, etc in order to be equipped for the so-called warfare among boys and girls on Holi (Rang Panchami). Diwali celebration was mainly firecrackers as we shopped each year at the famous Essabhai Fireworks Shop at Bhendi Bazar (Masjid Bunder in Mumbai). Early morning shopping at 7 am for firecrackers is one of the strange things I’ve done in Mumbai. Also, carrying the entire big box on my lap as I used to sit on the backseat on the scooter for around 30 minutes as Dad drove back home. Such memories will always be cherished whenever I look back…what all we used to do for celebrating.
Well, I can go on and on about the occasions in my building but I feel that will take a new post itself. So, I’m cutting short about it now.
As for my studies, I was doing well and scoring good marks in those days. Mom never had to worry about my studies, according to what she said in the past, what she says still in the present.
The best school in the world, Don Bosco High School, was where I did my schooling for 12 years including kindergarten. Studying into a boys’ school had its pros and cons…hope u got my point here itself and I am glad that I need not elaborate further on it. But even though this entire experience made me shy when taking with girls of my age, I was comfortable talking and interacting with my cousin sisters. Obvious, as they used to visit our home every weekend and stay during their vacations.
I never opted to become the class monitor (CR kinda position in those days) as the person should wear tie in school and I was not knowing how to wear a tie. So, I used to avoid from being a monitor in class.
I had a crush on one school teacher and it was so silly when I look back now at it. Those days, I used to help her out in her work whenever she asked. In her class, I used to answer the subject questions she asked. Organizing certain debates and elocutions was what I was looking forward to, since these events involved her.
My school is the best because in those years, it was a rare thing for a school to ban homework for students. Plus, they promoted all-round development of kids - not just studies but sports, debates, elocutions, social work, etc.
Then, in those days, we used to carry bicycles when we were promoted to 8th standard. During the lunch break, we used to visit the 2 nearby girls' schools and do some bird watching, waving to the girls as we used to sit on our cycles and flaunt the fact that we own bicycles which was pretty much impressive in those days. Then, the security guards for the girls' schools used to chase us and we had to escape from there. But we never admitted defeat and we repeated this adventure again and again. Finally, during the vacations, these girls used to visit the nearby gardens and then we used to play cricket there so that they can notice us and talk to us. Attempts were successful and some of us got the fruits of patience in those days.
Now for some serious stuff. I had few trysts with the Hospitals in my childhood. First was a hernia operation when I was an infant, second was a neck operation when I was in the 4th standard and finally was an unfortunate accident when I was in the 7th standard. The accident on July 5, 1995 changed my life. I was coming back from school, walking down a busy road. Suddenly, a taxi (cab) came from behind at a crossing and the driver tried to turn quickly to the left. I was unaware that this guy was coming from behind as he didn’t even honk. He hit my right leg and I collapsed on the road. People rushed in and tried to make me stand on my feet. But I could see my leg broken and it was a fracture. The pain was unbearable and I could not even stand up properly. I could see the bone that came out due to the hit. After a nervous and panic filled 2 hours, I was operated upon and when I came back to my senses, I already had a plaster around my right leg and it was night time. I felt so weird and miserable that tears rolled down my eyes as I saw my family in front, all looking at me. I was confined to bed rest for the next 6 months and after a period of almost 7-8 months, I was back to normal. But the accident caused a lot of frustration and trauma for me. I still remember each minute of that incident even though it has been 14 years since that ill-fated day.
Enough of the sad part for now.
Well, to sum up, I had a very nice childhood and I must say that I’m indeed very lucky to have got such wonderful and loving parents and family members.
Pichle janam mein zaroor kuch punya kiya hoga maine, jo aise log mile.
Concluding the post now. Gathering all my thoughts together and that too for the childhood times isn’t easy as I’ve found out now. If you feel that I’ve missed out on anything pertaining to childhood in this post, kindly provide your feedback and I’ll make sure I cover it.
Signing off now. See ya, folks!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Know Your Host
Now is the time to move ahead of the ‘Soft Opening’ post. Before I begin sharing my life and the experiences that have made it up, let me thank those people who read the previous post and took their time off to write a comment on the same. Appreciate your generous response, friends! That’s exactly the kind of support I’m looking forward to, as I write more and more.
Rather than start with some incident or moment that have taken place in my life, I’d begin with a background of myself, telling you all who am I, where am I from, what do I do, what have I done and other stuff. That’s the reason why I give this post a title of ‘Know Your Host’.
By now, it should be obvious to you all but as a formal start, let me say that my name is Rohan Naik. Now don’t get confused with the surname – its Naik, not Nayak – well, I’ve been made a South Indian (Nayak) by many people due to this confusion. To clarify then, I tell them that I’m a Maharashtrian and that the right surname is Naik. It’s not that I mind it but better tell people the real name so that an imaginary guy named Rohan Nayak doesn’t get created.
I was born Sagittarian on December 16, 1983 (a Friday) in the afternoon at around 1:45 or 1:50 pm. Don’t worry about the detail that I’ve given out here regarding my birth. There’s a reason for mentioning each detail in that line and that will become more clear as I go ahead.
I live in Matunga and am a true Mumbaikar. Proud to be one. Love this city, it’s the best in the world, according to me.
Don Bosco is the institution that I can never forget in my life. It is my school – the best school that I can ever think of – considering the years in which I did my schooling (from 1987 to 1999). This school is way ahead of the other schools, when I look back in time and notice certain things.
After spending 12 years in a boys’ school, comes the time in my life where I join a junior college that’s famous for having girls as a majority. The college??? Ruia College, of course. 2 years of life at Ruia College were unique in one sense that we boys were a minority as the college had 70% students of the opposite gender. I studied Computer Science instead of Biology and that meant the only language course that I would study was English.
Getting a Bachelor’s Degree from the infamous Mumbai University wasn’t easy. To make matters worse, the college I opted for was Vivekananda College in Chembur (popularly known as VESIT – the full form being Vivekananda Education Society’s Institute of Technology). I say worse not because I think my decision was bad to join this college, but because of the discipline (almost jail like) that we went through during the first 2 years. But overall, I would say I opted for a good choice – in the end, I got enough learning from this institution.
More details on each of these educational phases would follow in subsequent posts.
But for now, let me keep the door open for you all by giving these short notes above as trailers. Rather, each phase of my life that I describe here would be like a trailer or an episode. I’ll cover more on them later.
When I was in VESIT in the third year of Computer Engineering, I was selected through campus placement in an IT company called Syntel. I spent 2 years, 7 months and 5 days in Syntel and can proudly say that my first company was a dream company to work for. Great stories to follow on this front but not now.
After Syntel, I got selected in IMNU (also known as Institute of Management, NIRMA University) for doing a full-time MBA programme. I’ve completed 1 year out of the 2 year course, did my summer internship at an IT company called Omnitech and have come back to college for the final year of MBA programme.
That’s my academic and professional life – described as a trailer of a movie and at a fast pace. But, the real movie is still left, my dear friends.
Now, let’s move on towards my personal life.
The people who know me since my childhood days will vouch for claiming that I am a shy and reserved guy. I don’t disagree with them but I can say that I’ve so-called improved and become more open as life has emerged. I’m somewhat lazy but that’s more when doing things I don’t like much. Whereas I’m really up for it when something excites me and I feel like doing the same.
I have been performing well in academics and to an extent good enough in sports. Friends and acquaintances do say that I am intelligent and humble. I agree with them to an extent but I’ve always underestimated my capabilities – that has been the case with me always.
I’ve never expected too much from myself which is why I don’t get disappointed. Rather, my friends have had much larger expectations from me regarding academics and some other things. I’ve shared the same thought when interacting with some of them clearly mentioning about how I think about myself and my abilities and they seem amused when I tell them the same.
I can analyze things, situations and problems well – that’s been one really great feedback I’ve received every time – about my analytical skills. About people skills, I feel that I need to learn as this is something which is never ending and cannot be stopped from learning. You meet different types of people often and learn from every experience.
Regarding helping out, people around me say I’m helpful and that’s one really positive thing which I would like to keep hearing. It feels nice to bring a smile to someone’s face. That’s one funda of my life – I find my happiness in others’ happiness. I like to see people smile and be happy – it makes the world a nicer place to live in.
Interacting with girls has been a roller coaster ride, from being in a boys’ school to the current day – so many different stories and of course, when it comes to girls, there is also a moral of the story for each one. More to continue on the same in latter posts – it’s a long version.
What more can I write??? I’m unable to come up with more but maybe you people can help me. I’m most welcome to know what you found missing in this post and what would you like me to post out here in relation to my so-called ‘Introduction’.
Do keep writing in your suggestions, looking forward to receiving the same. Until then, see ya folks!
Rather than start with some incident or moment that have taken place in my life, I’d begin with a background of myself, telling you all who am I, where am I from, what do I do, what have I done and other stuff. That’s the reason why I give this post a title of ‘Know Your Host’.
By now, it should be obvious to you all but as a formal start, let me say that my name is Rohan Naik. Now don’t get confused with the surname – its Naik, not Nayak – well, I’ve been made a South Indian (Nayak) by many people due to this confusion. To clarify then, I tell them that I’m a Maharashtrian and that the right surname is Naik. It’s not that I mind it but better tell people the real name so that an imaginary guy named Rohan Nayak doesn’t get created.
I was born Sagittarian on December 16, 1983 (a Friday) in the afternoon at around 1:45 or 1:50 pm. Don’t worry about the detail that I’ve given out here regarding my birth. There’s a reason for mentioning each detail in that line and that will become more clear as I go ahead.
I live in Matunga and am a true Mumbaikar. Proud to be one. Love this city, it’s the best in the world, according to me.
Don Bosco is the institution that I can never forget in my life. It is my school – the best school that I can ever think of – considering the years in which I did my schooling (from 1987 to 1999). This school is way ahead of the other schools, when I look back in time and notice certain things.
After spending 12 years in a boys’ school, comes the time in my life where I join a junior college that’s famous for having girls as a majority. The college??? Ruia College, of course. 2 years of life at Ruia College were unique in one sense that we boys were a minority as the college had 70% students of the opposite gender. I studied Computer Science instead of Biology and that meant the only language course that I would study was English.
Getting a Bachelor’s Degree from the infamous Mumbai University wasn’t easy. To make matters worse, the college I opted for was Vivekananda College in Chembur (popularly known as VESIT – the full form being Vivekananda Education Society’s Institute of Technology). I say worse not because I think my decision was bad to join this college, but because of the discipline (almost jail like) that we went through during the first 2 years. But overall, I would say I opted for a good choice – in the end, I got enough learning from this institution.
More details on each of these educational phases would follow in subsequent posts.
But for now, let me keep the door open for you all by giving these short notes above as trailers. Rather, each phase of my life that I describe here would be like a trailer or an episode. I’ll cover more on them later.
When I was in VESIT in the third year of Computer Engineering, I was selected through campus placement in an IT company called Syntel. I spent 2 years, 7 months and 5 days in Syntel and can proudly say that my first company was a dream company to work for. Great stories to follow on this front but not now.
After Syntel, I got selected in IMNU (also known as Institute of Management, NIRMA University) for doing a full-time MBA programme. I’ve completed 1 year out of the 2 year course, did my summer internship at an IT company called Omnitech and have come back to college for the final year of MBA programme.
That’s my academic and professional life – described as a trailer of a movie and at a fast pace. But, the real movie is still left, my dear friends.
Now, let’s move on towards my personal life.
The people who know me since my childhood days will vouch for claiming that I am a shy and reserved guy. I don’t disagree with them but I can say that I’ve so-called improved and become more open as life has emerged. I’m somewhat lazy but that’s more when doing things I don’t like much. Whereas I’m really up for it when something excites me and I feel like doing the same.
I have been performing well in academics and to an extent good enough in sports. Friends and acquaintances do say that I am intelligent and humble. I agree with them to an extent but I’ve always underestimated my capabilities – that has been the case with me always.
I’ve never expected too much from myself which is why I don’t get disappointed. Rather, my friends have had much larger expectations from me regarding academics and some other things. I’ve shared the same thought when interacting with some of them clearly mentioning about how I think about myself and my abilities and they seem amused when I tell them the same.
I can analyze things, situations and problems well – that’s been one really great feedback I’ve received every time – about my analytical skills. About people skills, I feel that I need to learn as this is something which is never ending and cannot be stopped from learning. You meet different types of people often and learn from every experience.
Regarding helping out, people around me say I’m helpful and that’s one really positive thing which I would like to keep hearing. It feels nice to bring a smile to someone’s face. That’s one funda of my life – I find my happiness in others’ happiness. I like to see people smile and be happy – it makes the world a nicer place to live in.
Interacting with girls has been a roller coaster ride, from being in a boys’ school to the current day – so many different stories and of course, when it comes to girls, there is also a moral of the story for each one. More to continue on the same in latter posts – it’s a long version.
What more can I write??? I’m unable to come up with more but maybe you people can help me. I’m most welcome to know what you found missing in this post and what would you like me to post out here in relation to my so-called ‘Introduction’.
Do keep writing in your suggestions, looking forward to receiving the same. Until then, see ya folks!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Soft Opening
Hi Folks,
I've been contemplating since many months on this.
Was wondering if I should start my blog or not. Many questions came up in my mind - Why, How, When, Where - but somehow I felt that I've not been listening carefully.
Not listening to whom??? To the many people who insisted me to write. Write what?Write about myself, my life, experiences, those moments, the world that we live in.
They always encouraged me by saying that I write well and I write long enough that if I wanted to do so, I could write a book some day itself.
This entry is dedicated for those people who always believed in me that I can write well and for those who thought I made a difference to their lives. Hope, it was a positive difference.
I'll be soon starting to write more and more on this blog. However, I'm new to this world of blogging.
So, I thought let's experiment with the first entry. I remember a scene from the movie 'Ocean's 13' where the Bank Hotel has a "soft opening" on schedule. The 2 words clicked in my mind and so was born the title of this first entry. I feel that this title fits the occasion perfectly. Also, the content I write in here is more like a "soft opening".
I hope that the people who read the entries in my blog will excuse me if I do not write well. Yes, I've decided to open the book of my life and let people see what's happening in the universe surrounding this 25 year old guy.
Until my next post, as I always say to my friends, who say Bye Bye when leaving, I sign off by saying the same what I say to them as well:
" Never say Bye. Always say 'See Ya'. "
Here's Ronnie signing off... See Ya Folks !
I've been contemplating since many months on this.
Was wondering if I should start my blog or not. Many questions came up in my mind - Why, How, When, Where - but somehow I felt that I've not been listening carefully.
Not listening to whom??? To the many people who insisted me to write. Write what?Write about myself, my life, experiences, those moments, the world that we live in.
They always encouraged me by saying that I write well and I write long enough that if I wanted to do so, I could write a book some day itself.
This entry is dedicated for those people who always believed in me that I can write well and for those who thought I made a difference to their lives. Hope, it was a positive difference.
I'll be soon starting to write more and more on this blog. However, I'm new to this world of blogging.
So, I thought let's experiment with the first entry. I remember a scene from the movie 'Ocean's 13' where the Bank Hotel has a "soft opening" on schedule. The 2 words clicked in my mind and so was born the title of this first entry. I feel that this title fits the occasion perfectly. Also, the content I write in here is more like a "soft opening".
I hope that the people who read the entries in my blog will excuse me if I do not write well. Yes, I've decided to open the book of my life and let people see what's happening in the universe surrounding this 25 year old guy.
Until my next post, as I always say to my friends, who say Bye Bye when leaving, I sign off by saying the same what I say to them as well:
" Never say Bye. Always say 'See Ya'. "
Here's Ronnie signing off... See Ya Folks !
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