Mediocre But Arrogant-book review

A casual stride through the Indian Authors section of Crossword Book Shop showed me this 'No.1 Book On Campus'. Having completed my exams and searching a good-read for my insanely boring train journey, i picked up this book and flipped through the pages, to get the feel of the book. And guess what, i found few cartoons and doodles in it which immediately thrilled me to read and try new stuff among books. And as i leisurely opened the book, comfortably seated in my train berth, i dived into this imaginary world of MIJ. And the rest as they say, is history.

As the cover suggests, its a story of a guy Abbey, who stumbles upon luck and lands in MIJ-the premier institute of Management in India during the '80s who had been a Economics student in SRCC of Delhi University previously. Our protagonist finds its hard in the beginning to adjust to the stress-filled, pressurized B-school life, just like every living entity trying and adapting to the change that is induced in its environment, and during these modes of survival does he encounter many friends like Rascal Rusty( the brainy one who guides him every time a problem strikes), Gopher (the bottom licker of profs and nosy guy on campus), Ayesha-the coquette, Alps,Gur, Neats, Arunesh or lovingly called Annie, Pappu-the giant sleeper, Sethu-the geek etc.  A very good deal of narration spent on the professors like Haathi (Ed Hathaway-the founder of MIJ), Chatto (Chattopadhyay who gives 9.80 as the highest score out of 100 in the test of Mean,Median and Mode), Pari ( Parihar-who is the 40-year-old handsome hunk and know-it-all prof), Fr.Beez, Prof. Kameeni (shez Prof. Kaamini infact, but students change the name....you get the drift) will take the reader back to their splendid college days.

The story portrays the on-campus life, the love life of Abbey with Keya, Ayesha and Priya, although every time something nice is about to happen, he manages to mess it up. This novel brings the feel of college life, those stupid pranks on each other or the symbiotic life we opt for good grades during the exams, the rat-race for Placements or Summer Jobs, and the way one can get screwed and unscrewed during a summer job.

And halfway through the novel did i realise the actual meaning of the title-Mediocre But Arrogant which is indirectly screaming out its on MBA. Abbey says to himself, 'accept it Abbey, you are mediocre!' 'but i am an MBA' he defends. 'so what, do you expect the world to kiss your feet?',says his counterself.

Enjoyed reading this book and thoroughly laughed over Chatto and Gowariker of the book. And the author has a way with nicknames, they are funny and apt. 

Last but not least, the final letter from Haathi or Mr.Hathaway is the best advice for any outgoing student. Shows that he cares for his students and draws a summary for their college life at MIJ saying "You came here to understand yourself and your strengths. To believe how easy it is for you to make a difference. That is the purpose of higher education"

A real good novel for people not just aiming for MBA, but everybody who loves to go down the memory lane of their college life!

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dealing with results by reading about amor deliria nervosa

Spending days of sleepless nights and giving exams is rather easier than waiting for the result...especially when you are expecting something out of your hard work.


it feels like butterflies are flying in the stomach and you start praying to the almighty for everything to come out as expected.the moment internet browser starts to load the page, my heart beats faster than it should and makes loud noises which i fear someone might hear.and when the internet connection is slow, the torture is too much to take.i, at times fear i might collapse;but no,i have to remain strong.and it will be the most annoying moment when your friend calls and talks nonchalantly and at the end of the conversation you find out that results will be out some other day.annoying-because you've got to put up with all that distress once again.why am i saying this?because today is my D-day.results are going to be out and few people think its not today.and i seriously don't know what to do.


Well,to keep myself  preoccupied from last two days  i've been reading lauren oliver's Delirium and its sequel Pandemonium.Oliver has really done a great job and we can see it in her works.the world she describes presumes and proves that love is a disease and it should be cured,else people die when infected.there are many rules for the uncureds(people who are not yet cured of for amor deliria nervosa: scientific term for love).people can be cured only when they reach the age of 18 because children under 18 when undergo the procedure for the cure can have bad effects and sometimes it wouldn't even work.our protagonist Lena gets infected with amor deliria nervosa and tries to escape to the Wilds(place where invalids-the resistors for the system live) with her boy-friend Alex.but at last only she makes it till the Wilds with Alex sacrificing himself for her safety.

The second book-Pandemonium revolves around Lena trying to survive in the Wilds and joining the Resistance.she here meets Julian who is the head of DFA-deiria free america -an association which encourages or rather forces the uncureds to take up the cure and falls in love with him.two completely opposite characters, who fight together when they are in danger and atlast manage to survive and fall in love.its a beautifully woven story and in many ways different compared to the first part.also the last line of the novel leaves us in awe with the re-appearance of Alex who was presumed dead by Lena. this makes the reader wait for the next part-Requiem.
               

Frankly speaking ,i've enjoyed Pandemonium more than Delirium.the second part has more action thing going on rather than first one where Lena falls in love and starts to feel it and acknowledges that love is not  a disease and if it really  is-then she is glad that she is infected with it.the third part -Requiem will be released in 2013.i am desperately waiting for it.till then......................join the resistance and spread the deliria!!!!