Wind-up

From April 15th, when I last blogged on to this space, which was a Sunday, we've had three student parties, one dinner hosted by the administration and one hosted by our placement committee director - the last two were only for our batch. It was another roller coaster ride for all the alums on campus. For once, we got to be gurus of the little we knew about the place we had inhabited a year back. The handover process had techically begun on the 14th with the registration and it went on till talent nite yesterday evening. Between all that, myself and manu jointly managed to click 800 plus photographs of the new batch doing various things on campus. When it was time to leave, all of us felt very different about leaving campus and heading out to find our own goals. It never hit me so hard, but today morning, when one of them told me good-bye, I almost cried.

I was amazed to see the profile of the next batch. Although I heard more in detail only from section-c, i kind of had this feeling that i might have not got through to ISB if i had applied this year. the focus on technology has reduced drastically and next year, the infosys and wipros of the IT industry will have to fight to get those few mba's who want to get back to IT. now, there is more focus on learning from experience. and every year, ISB is taking that bold step to face new challenges. the increasing diversity of professions signify that we will need to cater to specific demands of the students. at the same time, it also makes ISB occupy a distinct space in the b-school education space.

all alums have answered questions like nobody's business. the knowledge dissipation has happened right from the phone number of gachibowli wines to what electives are better in term 8.

suddenly the incident in virginia shook me. i was trying to rationalize the whole thing. but it never made sense. i dont understand why people are allowed to possess a gun. i mean, why should guns be available for everyone to buy or access. in our country, we have a strict rule and you need a license issued by a controlling authority to possess a weapon, but it doesnt seem to be the same way in the united states. the gun culture in america had begun becos of hunting and militia. initially it could have been acceptable to use firearms to protect yourself from invasion or hostile indians, but it doesnt seem logical now when we have enough forces to protect the state. why are individuals allowed to possess a weapon. if you'd seen the movie CRASH, you'd be shocked to notice less than 20 yr olds stealing cars at gun point. sometimes they end up shooting too. is all of this because of bad education? in india, a bomb blast in kashmir is not a big thing. it happens almost every alternate day. as far as i know, america is a nation that has gone into mourning when just 5 of its soldiers were shot in iraq - the initial few days. and the school incidents are not anything new.

so where are we heading? with this thought, i am starting yet another phase in my life. a whole new perspective of the western world. i am trying to understand the larger motive behind this ever expanding cycle of crime, punishment and governance.