This week was the least stressful for me for a variety of reasons
1) mid-terms got done last week and the finals are at least a week away – so no thinking about exams
2) we learnt our lessons from the first marketing case and managed to complete the 2nd one with lesser amount of effort – it does take some time to fine-tune the optimal amount of effort, but we’re getting there
3) I’m loving the stats classes (more on this in another post) and both the quiz and the cold-call discussions were actually easy for a change. No eco quizzes (unlike the first half of the term) + the eco assignment was also done within a day – to be honest, i think both eco and stats have actually turned simpler in the 2nd half. Accounting on the other hand took a turn for the worse and has gotten fairly complex fairly quickly (at least for me). But the quiz was ok (did take quite a bit of research on my part to get the answers)
4) Donated blood and feeling pretty darn good about it. Amma felt pretty bad because she came all the way to the Rec center only to find out she couldn’t donate because of her age. AJ also found out she was ineligible because of VJ. Anyways, at least AJ will have an opportunity later. The NetImpact club organized the donation drive with the help of Red Cross and collected 269 units (up from 204 of last year I think). Some of the folks felt dizzy after donating and we were joking that they needed additional units of blood to stand up. So maybe the actual collection was much higher and some of the weaker donors actually sucked up our units. 269 = net, not gross – who knows, we may have actually crossed 300 
But anyways kudos to all the volunteers and donors. Way to go!
5) Finished up my photoshoot and thumbnail sketch for the CAS student profile book. If you wanna see a bunch of smart wannabe MBAs, check out the pic with groups F7 and F8 (only D from my group is missing in this pic and S is hiding behind me because he’s worn jeans)
6) Took a welcome break from acads by thinking about the GSB elections, supporting buddies from Sec F who’re standing for other Director posts (reviewing their manifestos, etc). By the way, our new president is ex-Army. Will see how he gets a bunch of maverick students to toe the line…
7) Took another welcome break by visiting my AIKYA host family, Mr. Vinod Poddar and his wife Anju. Great couple – and the hospitality and enthu they showed blew us away. I even saw a couple of Hussains at his place (Mrs. P is an art collector). I can’t make it to his place this weekend, but am definitely looking forward to visiting during the term break.
8 ) AJ is on the SFA (spouse and family association) steering commitee. She’s co-responsible for the Workshops Co-ordinator and Treasurer posts. I’m glad 
9) Participated in my first Photography walk – it’s just a walk on campus that a bunch of photography enthusiasts undertake in the wee hours of the morning (in the hope of glimpsing the famed fauna that we keep hearing about). About 10 of us gathered at 6:30am and went to some remote corners of the campus. But since a picture is worth a thousand words, take a look at VB’s gallery:
http://picasaweb.google.com/varun.bakshi03/PhotoWalk23052008?authkey=yX9E3EpZyZg
So now, I’m just looking forward to a chillax weekend. Will attend a couple of tutes by the TA, a consulting club session, a marketing guest lecture, help my wife with some chores and watch some IPL – life’s good.
