It is the day of love ... So, what is love, eh?

It comes to us in many fashions,
Personifying endless passions,
Ignoring gender, creed and race;
Just look around, it's every place!
You'll find it in a baby's giggle,
And also in a puppy's wiggle,
In April's rain when flowers grow,
In winter nights, in pristine snow.
It's heard in songs throughout the land,
And felt when someone takes your hand.
Reflected in your dear ones' eyes,
When gifts are given for surprise.
It does not judge, condemn or scare,
But cradles gently, showing care.
So hear it, see it, touch it, feel
With your senses: it's very real.
It's here within the big and small,
The fat, the thin, the short, the tall.
It's what makes life worth living for.
Never enough? There's always more!
Human beings can't do without,
And this I know without a doubt.
So please say thanks to God above
For giving us this thing called LOVE!

May this day bring endless joy and eternal love ... Amen!!

Although the mid-February holiday celebrating love and lovers remains wildly popular, the confusion over its origins led the Catholic Church, in 1969, to drop St. Valentine's Day from the Roman calendar of official, worldwide Catholic feasts. (Those highly sought-after days are reserved for saints with more clear historical record. After all, the saints are real individuals for us to imitate.) Some parishes, however, observe the feast of St. Valentine.

The roots of St. Valentine's Day lie in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated on Feb. 15. For 800 years the Romans had dedicated this day to the god Lupercus. On Lupercalia, a young man would draw the name of a young woman in a lottery and would then keep the woman as a sexual companion for the year.

Pope Gelasius I was, understandably, less than thrilled with this custom. So he changed the lottery to have both young men and women draw the names of saints whom they would then emulate for the year (a change that no doubt disappointed a few young men). Instead of Lupercus, the patron of the feast became Valentine. For Roman men, the day continued to be an occasion to seek the affections of women, and it became a tradition to give out handwritten messages of admiration that included Valentine's name.

There was also a conventional belief in Europe during the Middle Ages that birds chose their partners in the middle of February. Thus the day was dedicated to love, and people observed it by writing love letters and sending small gifts to their beloved. Legend has it that Charles, the Duke of Orleans, sent the first real Valentine card to his wife in 1415, when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. (He, however, was not beheaded, and died a half-century later of old age.)

Freedom... 'Tis so sweet, so desirable - yet so intricate, so agonising.

Okay, all of you can put your bulging eyes back into their sockets and close your gaping mouths. I was not trying my hand at poetry of the Shakespearean era, nor was I flaunting my literary prowess. (Don't need to, do I?) I was merely sharing the amazing miracle freedom is. And I most definitely say this in relation to the sixth and last trimester of my two-year courtship with MBA.

Nineteen months of rigour lay behind me as I move on further on the path leading to the realities of what lies beyond IMI. These nineteen months have been eventful, to say the least. It was not just a matter of being up on my feet all day long; it was also the necessity of keeping my thinking cap on all the time. But for the innumerable presentations I made, I would never have learnt the virtues of brevity and precision. But for the various assignments I submitted, I would never have appreciated deadlines as I now do. But for the many courses I studied, I would not have learnt what life is.

And now, I miss all that. I know it sounds incredible, but I miss having the noose swinging in front of my eyes - the noose of those deadlines I struggled to meet each time. I long for those dread-filled hours when we worked, fully knowing we would need nothing short of a miracle to get the job done in time and as expected. Funny what the last trimester at IMI can do to you.

All this while I have longed for nothing more than to just sit idle and have nothing to do. And when such a time has come, I wistfully think of those days that have simply rushed by. One can never have enough of anything, and I feel like a living testimony to this effect.

Well, so much for the bawling and whimpering. Who said I was one to complain about how life treats me? I look forward to enjoy the few stress-free days I have to myself. From then on, it shall be a journey of responsibilties and decisions.

To the last few weeks at IMI, cheers!!

Nostradamus, born Michel de Nostredame, is one of the world's most famous authors of prophecies. He is most famous for his book Les Propheties, which consists of one unrhymed and 941 rhymed quatrains, grouped into nine sets of 100 and one of 42, called Centuries. Interest in the work of this prominent figure of the French Renaissance is still considerable, especially in the media and in popular culture.

I never knew the true joys of Yahoo! Messenger till I happened to meet Anurag Saxena. And when we began to chat, my screen came alive with a deluge of smiles and smileys. And thus began my love for the technological wonder that Y!M is. To think a conversation can be as lively as any of ours even when it happens online was considered near impossible by me. Anurag changed the way I think.

Another successful year for IMI. The uninitiated and the uninterested would say, "So, what's the big deal, huh?" Well, here's what the deal is, and you'll see for yourself how big it was ...

IMI once again emerged as one of the favorite B-schools of the corporate houses with its entire batch of 118 students of the Class of 2006 getting job offers within hours from the scheduled start of placements on 9th January 2006.

Average salary - Rs. 6.37 lacs pa
Highest salary - Rs. 8.13 lacs pa (ITC)

Companies like the Citi Group and Infosys offered a package of Rs 6.5 lacs to Rs 7.2 lacs per annum. The Citi Group (Citibank, Citicorp, Citifinancial) jointly made 20 offers, emerging as the single largest recruiter for the second consecutive year. Infosys with 9 offers and JP Morgan Chase with 7 offers were prominent recruiters. Others include Ernst & Young, DHL, CB Richard Ellis, Progeon, Career Launcher, DSCL, HCL, IMRB, RocSearch, SAB Miller, Axis Risk Consultants and Newgen.

From a sector point-of-view, more students this year were hired by the consulting and knowledge-based companies. However, banking & financial services have continued to dominate the hiring process with Citibank, CitiFinancial, HDFC, Standard Chartered and HSBC AMC hiring in significant numbers.

Another emerging sector - insurance - was represented by ICICI Lombard, ICICI Prudential and Iffco Tokio. While eminent names as CEAT, Blowplast and JK Group represented the consumer durables segment, bigwigs like DHL and TNT reflected the growth of the logistics sector.

The India Today Group, Radio Mirchi. ABP Ltd and Dish TV represented media while Maruti and Tata Motors represented the automobile segment. The knowledge sector was represented by McKinsey Knowledge Center, Pipal Research, Pulsar Knowledge Center among others.

Several employers had to return empty handed. The year 2006 also witnessed a significant increase in the number of pre-placement and lateral offers.

Placements at a glance -

There may be days
When you get up in the morning,
And things aren't the way
You had hoped they would be.
That's when you have to
Tell yourself that things will get better.

There are times when people
Disappoint you and let you down,
But those are the times
When you must remind yourself
To trust your own judgments and opinions,
To keep your life focused on believing in yourself,
And all that you are capable of.

There will be challenges to face,
And changes to make in your life,
And it is up to you to accept them.
Constantly keep yourself headed
In the right directions for you.

It may not be easy at times,
But in those times of struggle
You will find a stronger sense of who you are,
And you will also see yourself
Developing into the person
You have always wanted to be.

Life is a journey through time,
Filled with many choices;
Each of us will experience life
In our own special way.

So when the days come that are filled
With frustration and unexpected responsibilities,
Remember to believe in yourself
And all you want your life to be,
Because the challenges and changes
Will only help you to find the dreams
That you know are meant to come true for you.

These are words from the poem "To A Skylark" by William Wordsworth. And they express what happiness in its true sense is.

Up with me! Up with me into the clouds!
For thy song, Lark, is strong;
Up with me! Up with me into the clouds!
Singing, singing,
With clouds and sky about thee ringing,
Lift me, guide me till I find
That spot which seems so to thy mind!

I have walked through wildernesses dreary
And to-day my heart is weary;
Had I now the wings of a Faery,
Up to thee would I fly.
There is madness about thee, and joy divine
In that song of thine;
Lift me, guide me high and high
To thy banqueting-place in the sky.

Joyous as morning
Thou art laughing and scorning;
Thou hast a nest for thy love and thy rest,
And, though little troubled with sloth,
Drunken Lark! Thou would'st be loth
To be such a traveller as I.
Happy, happy Liver,
With a soul as strong as a mountain river
Pouring out praise to the Almighty Giver,
Joy and jollity be with us both!

Alas! My journey, rugged and uneven,
Through prickly moors or dusty ways must wind;
But hearing thee, or others of thy kind,
As full of gladness and as free of heaven,
I, with my fate contented, will plod.

Another fresh new year is here …
     Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
     To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given to me
     To live each day with zest …
To daily grow and try to be
     My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
     Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
     And sing more joyful songs!