The following post was written as a "Psenti article" for The Fine Print, the newsletter published on BITS Pilani campus by the English Press Club, ,my last one as a member of the club.

The ceremonies have begun, indications have been given that it is the time for me to leave. I am at the wrong end of treats, eager to take snaps and making sure that I collect any pending debts for there is not going to be the dreaded journey through those badly laid roads for one more time. Over the last few months, I have had the belief that I have overstayed my “welcome” on campus. I no longer find familiar faces when I step out, get to know about the happenings on campus as soon as I used to or even find company for the long trip to sky from my hostel. With absolutely nothing to keep me occupied, one thing I have wondered about all the time is whether I will be accepted anywhere outside Pilani. I doubt that the habits and nature that I have grown used to over the past 3 years are considered regular and normal in the social setup outside these walls. Despite this, I do not feel sad, nostalgic or “psenti” about this place. I do not have any regrets or “things to do” before I leave. I do not know whether these were really the best days of my life, for I believe that I have a lot more to see. I do not know whether I would laugh over incidents on campus many years down the line. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that every moment I spent on campus will be etched in my memories, but it would not be a lie if I say that there are many moments and a large number of smiling faces which I will cherish as a memory of my time in Pilani. I have also realized that there is a distinct possibility that I might not be seeing many of these faces again and I hope that I encounter the same faces sometime in the near future outside of this environment . We all knew the day we stepped in that we had to leave, the 4 years on campus was expected to be just a preparation for more “exciting” things we expect out of life. I would prefer to walk out happily, thinking about all the time I spent here and the people I have got to know, than grieving over the fact that I am leaving and I might not be missed by anyone at all.

Last week seemed to be a huge relief from the schedule of doing absolutely nothing everyday over this semester. My "psenti" Oasis, the first of many things which I will be witnessing for the last time on campus as a student. Sadly, this one turned out to be a dud compared to the previous ones I have seen. 

The above words were made extremely popular by Steve Jobs in his commencement address to the Stanford University students delivered on June 12 2005 , you may find the full text here . I had the opportunity of reading a book with the same title about the story of 25 entrepreneurs from IIM Ahmedabad  and their now successful ventures (the book is yet to be released in the consumer market) .

It was a wonderful summer which included a great experience at lootstreet, getting to meet Harsha Bhogle, the slightly more consequential fact being that I got thrashed by 2 cricket "pundoos" ( nerds to those unfamiliar ) from Anna University who are now my good friends, catching up with long lost friends who have suddenly become scousers  ( Praveen ) and getting introduced to more interesting things , like the Hyderabadi Biriyani for one. I am back in Pilani and the usual laziness attached to college accounts for the lack of activity and the uncanny similarity to a Sloth as explained by Kutts last year at a similar stage. 

Are you planning to buy anything soon ? Please remember that you have the chance to bargain for it at lootstreet and get it delivered to your doorstep for no additional costs. Mr.Bag is always ready to negotiate with you for any of the products he has. So, log onto lootstreet to discover how effective bargaining can be.

Since, there are many products in our work-in-progress, in case you do not find the product of your choice at Lootstreet, you can mail in your requests at : wishlist@lootstreet.com . For any other related query : navin@lootstreet.com . If you want to know more on bargaining, possible rates for anything in particular mail me . Our product catalogue includes - Nokia,Samsung,Sony Ericsson,Hewlett Packard,Apple,Lenovo,Canon,Titan,Nikon,Seagate, Funskool, CD's, DVD's and books(any title of the last 3 will be available with us, drop in a mail and we will get back to you, if you do not find it on the site) . Please register with Lootstreet and start bargaining for any product of your choice.

The Internship at Lootstreet has been a wonderful learning place for me so far and in particular , I had an opportunity to visit IIM Ahmedabad last weekend. The trip was for the IIM Ahmedabad Entrepreneurs meet 2008. The meet intended to bring together all the entrepreneurs who had graduated from IIM A and hence try to pass on some valuable information to the current batch of students. The visitors list at the conference was a long one with many familiar ventures, but not-so-familiar founders - naukri.com,makemytrip.com,Subhiksha and Sintex to name a few.

The 2 day event was a good place for old friends to catch up, to network and get mentored by people who had done it all.There were a few panel discussions on start-ups, ecosystem etc and I managed to throw a question during one of them which was about the involvement of a VC with a start-up - 2 things about which I had minimal knowledge before May 19, 2008. It is not everyday that you get to be in a gathering where there are people(that too many in number) whose net personal worth runs in excess of Rs 500 crores and sit down and talk with them as well ! I believe that this visit has prepared me to interact people with experience in the corporate sector without any fear , which I hope gives me some additional advantage during my Placements and interviews that I will have to face over the next few months.


Through the course of my stay at Lootstreet, I have managed to gain a lot of knowledge about almost everything to do with a start-up, some bit on management,business development, interacted with a lot of people at different levels in their organisation and the best ways to get things done. The trip to IIM A was one more great experience that this internship has given me. To visit an institute where you aspire to be in the near future and meet a few of your "potential" seniors and interact with them is bound to be something that drives you further to make sure that your dreams come alive . At least for me, that has been one of the take-back's from the meet. As I stepped out of the campus on Sunday evening, I could only hope that this was not the last time that I walked out of those gates.