Fog has crippled Delhi airport. Or is it a scapegoat?? Dunno, but whatever it is, I was made to wait for a lifetime, the logistics at the counters, boarding pass counter, security checks and other formalities was so long I was pooped by the time I boarded my flight. But that wasnt the end of it. We had to wait for a full 2 hours more till we got permission for take off.
Travelled by Air Deccan for the first time. The interiors look almost like a Mumbai local with ads springing all over the place. The pilot openly admitted to reporting 'false data' to the control tower so that we could get an advantage in take-off position over the other planes. Apparently they could not handle the load. Bad crisis management I must say. Anyways, me was on one lucky flight which made it Mumbai at precisely 8:30 pm. A enthusiastic taxi driver then displayed some Formula driving skills to help me make it home at 10:00 pm. Placecoms training in quick dressing came in handy as I was bathed, out and into fresh clothes and made it to the service in time.
Was a tired day at the end of it all. Couldnt help it. Was lucky that I was one of the few people to leave Delhi. Praise God for that. Thats it from here. Today (26th) is Mama's and Daddy's anniversary. 27th is another party and so on... The celebrations and the festive season has just begun!!!
December 26, 2005
December 24, 2005
Urs Foggingly and byebye for a week
Yesterday Term 2 ended. I am now roughly 32 per cent of an MBA. As I evaluate myself on the huge costs (opportunity and real) that I have incured over the past 6 months, I ponder on the learnings (Cudn't help it fellow ManDevIans... WAC ka bhoot utara nahi hai!!!).
1) MBA is about making shit look like hot shit.
2) The faster you understand and implement point 1 above the higher will your Grade Point Average (GPA) and hence CGPA be, and the less expectations will you have, and consequently your satisfaction will be maximised.
3) Recruiters dont give a damn to how many Balance Sheets you balanced, how many models you optimised, what strategy you proposed (for the googled project you did for an MNC which you dint even visit once), what is your understanding of human resource mgmt, what is the positioning of the crap that FMCG companies generate, your exposition on world economics,.... and I could go on.
4) B Schools pressure and academic rigour are myths.
5) People will give their left ball/boob for an extra grade and RG a fellow batchmate.
6) Point number five is very valid in the corporate world too.
7) Job Job Job... is the light at the end of this MBA tunnel; at least in India.
8) Management is about bullshitting with elan and quoting esoteric gurus (with keywords thrown in for effect) to fool others. Finance guys fool investors, Marketing guys fool customers, HR guys fool employees, Operations and Systems guys join the fun (and the chaos and end up fooling each other)
So in the end its a fools game. I dunno why companies come in hordes and recruit MBAs in such large numbers?? I dunno.. seriously.. hope I am proved wrong!!!
1) MBA is about making shit look like hot shit.
2) The faster you understand and implement point 1 above the higher will your Grade Point Average (GPA) and hence CGPA be, and the less expectations will you have, and consequently your satisfaction will be maximised.
3) Recruiters dont give a damn to how many Balance Sheets you balanced, how many models you optimised, what strategy you proposed (for the googled project you did for an MNC which you dint even visit once), what is your understanding of human resource mgmt, what is the positioning of the crap that FMCG companies generate, your exposition on world economics,.... and I could go on.
4) B Schools pressure and academic rigour are myths.
5) People will give their left ball/boob for an extra grade and RG a fellow batchmate.
6) Point number five is very valid in the corporate world too.
7) Job Job Job... is the light at the end of this MBA tunnel; at least in India.
8) Management is about bullshitting with elan and quoting esoteric gurus (with keywords thrown in for effect) to fool others. Finance guys fool investors, Marketing guys fool customers, HR guys fool employees, Operations and Systems guys join the fun (and the chaos and end up fooling each other)
So in the end its a fools game. I dunno why companies come in hordes and recruit MBAs in such large numbers?? I dunno.. seriously.. hope I am proved wrong!!!
*****************************************************************
So since exams are over and the term break is on, Im off to Mumbai. Waiting to see home and family. In the meantime, fog has descended on us in the North. 'Kohra' as they say has caused havoc in all transportation systems across the North. Delhi airport is clogged. Flights are cancelled. Trains are held up. Highway traffic is moving at slow pace. Its frustrating. I have to complete the marketing assignment (whose deadline was postponed till tomorrow night), complete a friends report, catch up on much needed sleep, pack my belongings, etc. My flight is already delayed. Air Deccan has been kind to SMS me the news. Other friends are stranded at the airport with cancelled flights et al.
Will be back after a week. I might blog.. I might not.. Till the next post goodbye!!!
and since its already Christmas Eve, Compliments of the season!!! May the Lord bless ye all and ye families.
So since exams are over and the term break is on, Im off to Mumbai. Waiting to see home and family. In the meantime, fog has descended on us in the North. 'Kohra' as they say has caused havoc in all transportation systems across the North. Delhi airport is clogged. Flights are cancelled. Trains are held up. Highway traffic is moving at slow pace. Its frustrating. I have to complete the marketing assignment (whose deadline was postponed till tomorrow night), complete a friends report, catch up on much needed sleep, pack my belongings, etc. My flight is already delayed. Air Deccan has been kind to SMS me the news. Other friends are stranded at the airport with cancelled flights et al.
Will be back after a week. I might blog.. I might not.. Till the next post goodbye!!!
and since its already Christmas Eve, Compliments of the season!!! May the Lord bless ye all and ye families.
December 19, 2005
Elections
On 16th we had our Student Council elections for the next year, and boy have they thrown up a number of surprises. After the speeches interspered with hooting, cheering, booing, applauding, jeering, clapping and the voting which lasted for a cumulative 5 hours, we were left with a new council and Sharmaji, our canteen man was left with nothing (That was coz the new council treated us ... and we looted them ... literally!!!)
So heres presenting the new Students Council at MDI:
Gen. Secy : Subrat
Imperium : Sravan
Illumina : Harpreet Bajwa
Delphique : Samrat
Alumni : Ashish Singla
Corp Comm Cell : Karishma
PG Rep : Sanjay Mohta
PGHR Rep : Thariyan Chacko
Monetrix : Bhavin
Marquity : Makesh
HRDirection : Vishal
Iterations : Ramesh
Sports n Cultural : Vaibhav Mathur
Treasurer : Harshit Jain
Hostel n Mess : Nitin Sharma
That was the entire list. As for me, I ut my time to productive use. Read a book on 'Low Risk Investing' in the midst of the chaos in the Audi. ;-)
So heres presenting the new Students Council at MDI:
Gen. Secy : Subrat
Imperium : Sravan
Illumina : Harpreet Bajwa
Delphique : Samrat
Alumni : Ashish Singla
Corp Comm Cell : Karishma
PG Rep : Sanjay Mohta
PGHR Rep : Thariyan Chacko
Monetrix : Bhavin
Marquity : Makesh
HRDirection : Vishal
Iterations : Ramesh
Sports n Cultural : Vaibhav Mathur
Treasurer : Harshit Jain
Hostel n Mess : Nitin Sharma
That was the entire list. As for me, I ut my time to productive use. Read a book on 'Low Risk Investing' in the midst of the chaos in the Audi. ;-)
December 15, 2005
Of sub zero temperatures and survival guides...
The cold has hit a new low. It has become unbelievably cold in Gurgaon. Though it is a bit of a chore to dress up appropriately and take the necessary precautions so that tropical freaks like me dont exfoliate, the experience has been great. The maximum that my exterior has been subject to has been the cool environs of Matheran, Mahabaleshwar and the summer 'cold' of Nepal. This winter just a few hundred kilometers from the Shivalik (the foothills of the Himalayas) is a new thingie for me. The weather forecast has been sub zero at -3 to 0 degree range for the coming week. So I am told by an email shot off to the entire batch by the benevolent Singla.
Winter here means layering your skin with moisturisers so that it doesnt look like you seen a ghost or rather people mistake you for a ressurected being. (Dehydrated skin can give you a ghostly look). It also means wearing heavy clothing. Something new again for the equitorial me. Jackets over sweatshirts over Tee shirts over vest over skin is a must to prevent shivering. Also one has to supposedly wear thermal 'inners'. The first time I heard the term I thought it was some gizmo made from fundoo materials with heating properties. Looking at the model on the cover of the pack at the store I decided against it. He looked more of a ballet dancer. My shorts serve me better.
There are 3 zones of contact where you can 'get' cold. First its the ears... If not properly shielded with a monkey cap, shawl, etc. the winds of Rajasthan that blow with gay abandon over the plains of Haryana can give you a pain in the head. Second its the feet... here it is advisable to have them covered with socks or better still wear shoes. Inspite of all this they have the tendency to freeze your toes and boy can that hurt. Last but most important of all are the family jewels (at least for the guys... dunno abt the gals ;-p ...) Keep these guys reasonably warm and you can rest assured that they will keep all other fraternity guys warm. I have already explained the futility of the thermal wear.
Another point of caution.. DO NOT wash hands and then directly launch into the open. They hurt bad. My palms have been hurting coz in a display of scant respect for the winter air, I waltzed out of the washroom with wet hands and as the temperature of my palms reduced exponentially I felt a sharp surge of pain. It takes a long time to go. So beware!!!
Well for a guy nothing can be as irritating as dandruff problems. I have never, I repeat never, ha dandruff problems in my life. Here with the onset of the winters my scalp has chosen this occassion to make up for all the years of my existence. Every morning I play this silly game. It's called 'ScalpScratcher'. I vigourously scratch my head to shake of the dandruff that builds there over the past 24 hours. Mom says that I must oil my hair and wash it regularly. Alas! the oil that I use has solidified. I have to place the bottle under hot water and even after that effort all I get is the equivalent of flatulence from the blocked nozzle.
They say that this is not the least. The mercury is yet to fall to its lowest. The locals are awaiting the fog. They say its colder then, and claim that visibility is so poor it is limited to a few metres. I havent seen much of fog. Or was it mist?? Frankly I dunno... but what I know is that the winters here are a great experience. Just as the lusty showers of Mumbai, the winters of Delhi (and surrounding areas) have a charm of their own.
Winter here means layering your skin with moisturisers so that it doesnt look like you seen a ghost or rather people mistake you for a ressurected being. (Dehydrated skin can give you a ghostly look). It also means wearing heavy clothing. Something new again for the equitorial me. Jackets over sweatshirts over Tee shirts over vest over skin is a must to prevent shivering. Also one has to supposedly wear thermal 'inners'. The first time I heard the term I thought it was some gizmo made from fundoo materials with heating properties. Looking at the model on the cover of the pack at the store I decided against it. He looked more of a ballet dancer. My shorts serve me better.
There are 3 zones of contact where you can 'get' cold. First its the ears... If not properly shielded with a monkey cap, shawl, etc. the winds of Rajasthan that blow with gay abandon over the plains of Haryana can give you a pain in the head. Second its the feet... here it is advisable to have them covered with socks or better still wear shoes. Inspite of all this they have the tendency to freeze your toes and boy can that hurt. Last but most important of all are the family jewels (at least for the guys... dunno abt the gals ;-p ...) Keep these guys reasonably warm and you can rest assured that they will keep all other fraternity guys warm. I have already explained the futility of the thermal wear.
Another point of caution.. DO NOT wash hands and then directly launch into the open. They hurt bad. My palms have been hurting coz in a display of scant respect for the winter air, I waltzed out of the washroom with wet hands and as the temperature of my palms reduced exponentially I felt a sharp surge of pain. It takes a long time to go. So beware!!!
Well for a guy nothing can be as irritating as dandruff problems. I have never, I repeat never, ha dandruff problems in my life. Here with the onset of the winters my scalp has chosen this occassion to make up for all the years of my existence. Every morning I play this silly game. It's called 'ScalpScratcher'. I vigourously scratch my head to shake of the dandruff that builds there over the past 24 hours. Mom says that I must oil my hair and wash it regularly. Alas! the oil that I use has solidified. I have to place the bottle under hot water and even after that effort all I get is the equivalent of flatulence from the blocked nozzle.
They say that this is not the least. The mercury is yet to fall to its lowest. The locals are awaiting the fog. They say its colder then, and claim that visibility is so poor it is limited to a few metres. I havent seen much of fog. Or was it mist?? Frankly I dunno... but what I know is that the winters here are a great experience. Just as the lusty showers of Mumbai, the winters of Delhi (and surrounding areas) have a charm of their own.
December 10, 2005
What Pattern is your Brain?
| Your Brain's Pattern |
 You have a dreamy mind, full of fancy and fantasy. You have the ability to stay forever entertained with your thoughts. People may say you're hard to read, but that's because you're so internally focused. But when you do share what you're thinking, people are impressed with your imagination. |
What Pattern Is Your Brain?
Got the above link from Amit Goyals blog. So simple nah! Just look at a pic and it guesses your thinking pattern, mental process. In the words of my Operations prof, so much inn-no-way-son!!! ... They just stopped short of predicting the mental attributes of my yet to be born children.
December 9, 2005
Management S&M
In the pursuit of our MBA degrees we are supposed to have a wholistic view of Management Science Models. Though many of my analytical friends will swear that it is one of the better subjects to study, and I dont blame them coz this is the only soccour to those enginneers where we get exact solutions (in an otherwise choatic world of mgmt.)
In another life the same things I studied under the moniker of 'Operations Research' and boy! did I kick ass then. Assignment models, PERT CPM, Linear programming, Simplex were like brothers. Now we are estranged, me after a stint on an MNC shopfloor where I was saw that they weren't as effective as academic oracles back at engineering college claimed them to be. In fact what worked best was the out-of-the-ass solutions that me and my colleagues worked out. Out there I learned to abhor theory and those serpentine formulae.
So today, when I am told that some linear graphs and similar methods are the answer to management jigsaws I find it hard to believe. I dont know why such subjects are taught to us. I dont think that 2 years down the line when I am Manager of some function will I be worried about the sensitivity of some god forsaken 2D line drawn by an MBA still wet between the ears.
Other than being a teaser for those with an analytical bent of mind, for lesser mortals like me who are petrified by too much of math the subject is psychologically a pain. I prefer to call MSM Management S&M. Yes friends, the subject is precisely that; its Sadism and Masochism in Management education. But then I'm happy to be studying it. Why?? ... Reminds me of those glorious engineering days. Reminds me of SG Patil (The engg.prof who taught me OR) and all the fun we had in his class; and all the imitating that I did. Yes it is gratification, by pain. True S&M!!!
In another life the same things I studied under the moniker of 'Operations Research' and boy! did I kick ass then. Assignment models, PERT CPM, Linear programming, Simplex were like brothers. Now we are estranged, me after a stint on an MNC shopfloor where I was saw that they weren't as effective as academic oracles back at engineering college claimed them to be. In fact what worked best was the out-of-the-ass solutions that me and my colleagues worked out. Out there I learned to abhor theory and those serpentine formulae.
So today, when I am told that some linear graphs and similar methods are the answer to management jigsaws I find it hard to believe. I dont know why such subjects are taught to us. I dont think that 2 years down the line when I am Manager of some function will I be worried about the sensitivity of some god forsaken 2D line drawn by an MBA still wet between the ears.
Other than being a teaser for those with an analytical bent of mind, for lesser mortals like me who are petrified by too much of math the subject is psychologically a pain. I prefer to call MSM Management S&M. Yes friends, the subject is precisely that; its Sadism and Masochism in Management education. But then I'm happy to be studying it. Why?? ... Reminds me of those glorious engineering days. Reminds me of SG Patil (The engg.prof who taught me OR) and all the fun we had in his class; and all the imitating that I did. Yes it is gratification, by pain. True S&M!!!
December 7, 2005
Movies to watch when your stoned, drunk, are frustrated with life...
1. Harold and Kumar go to White Castle
2. HitchHickers guide to the galaxy
3. Monty Phython series... 'Life of Brian', 'Meaning of life', 'The holy Grail',
The script of 'Fellowship of the Rings' is available at this link.
Well for now watch these... I'll add more if you are really that stoned/drunk...
2. HitchHickers guide to the galaxy
3. Monty Phython series... 'Life of Brian', 'Meaning of life', 'The holy Grail',
The script of 'Fellowship of the Rings' is available at this link.
Well for now watch these... I'll add more if you are really that stoned/drunk...
Exchange????????
The whole day today was spent on evaluating the benefits of studying (rather visiting) Europe as an exchange student. After a thorough analysis of the pros and cons I have decided against it. The were only two institutes I was interested in. European Business School (ebs), Germany and Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Denmark. Though both institutes have a stipend that makes the total expenses quite manageable, I am not too keen after lookng at the course content of either institute. Also the courses that I would miss over here are important core finance courses that should ideally not be missed in a Finance major.
So thats the end of a dilemma. Mebbe I'll visit Europe some other time.
So thats the end of a dilemma. Mebbe I'll visit Europe some other time.
The Great Bong
December 4, 2005
Salaam Namaste
Watched it finally.. a hindi movie after a long time... the last hindi movie I watched was ...shit dunno... it was so long ago that I forgot :-p
I believed that SN was decent until the last 20-30 minutes of the movie had me thinkin otherwise. Damn... people might say big 'crap' ;-) abt it showcasing the realities of modern Indian society. Agreed that to an extent it does... but then the movie doesnt live upto the climax it that shows a total disconnect between the 'cool' attitude and the slapstick comedy that is potrayed towards the end.
This is another reason why I dont like watching Hindi movies. Themes change abruptly, Plots follow convoluted paths and in the middle somewhere a song and dance routine is thrown in for good measure.
On the positives of the movie, I'll say that the direction and cinematography was excellently done. The photography is good. Saif dancing skills are well hidden by the zooming cams, the colour roit and other similar methods (as observed by Mansur). The movie could have really made it big with the sensitive issue it generated. However they lost it in the end with the 'crap'.
All said and done, it was a good way to spend 2 hrs on a saturday night.
I believed that SN was decent until the last 20-30 minutes of the movie had me thinkin otherwise. Damn... people might say big 'crap' ;-) abt it showcasing the realities of modern Indian society. Agreed that to an extent it does... but then the movie doesnt live upto the climax it that shows a total disconnect between the 'cool' attitude and the slapstick comedy that is potrayed towards the end.
This is another reason why I dont like watching Hindi movies. Themes change abruptly, Plots follow convoluted paths and in the middle somewhere a song and dance routine is thrown in for good measure.
On the positives of the movie, I'll say that the direction and cinematography was excellently done. The photography is good. Saif dancing skills are well hidden by the zooming cams, the colour roit and other similar methods (as observed by Mansur). The movie could have really made it big with the sensitive issue it generated. However they lost it in the end with the 'crap'.
All said and done, it was a good way to spend 2 hrs on a saturday night.
December 3, 2005
Retail or Corporate?
That was the question that vexed many an eminent panelist who congregated onto our hallowed campus to debate the issue in the post lunch session of our first ever 'Annual' Banking Symposium.
Well for starters we wore our suits/blazers for the first time on campus. Formal wear for the winters we were told. Unfortunately some a***hole decided not to turn on the air conditioning inside the packed and sealed (may I add) auditorium. So there were we all dressed and cooking inside our 'formal wear'.
The roll calling done (its a tradition to be followed... who cares a damn whether you are interested in the proceedings or not!!!) the panelists were escorted to the dias. I must say that the organising committee did a great job on the celeb front. We had the whos-who and the whos-going -to-be-next-who of the financial world. The keynote speaker was the Dy. Gov. of the RBI. (Forgot her name...forgive me!!!) and the rest of the guys were senior bankers/VPs/diros of firms like Ernst & Young, ICICI Bank, SBI, Yes Bank, StanChart, Amex, Citigroup, NCDEX, etc etc.
The entire thing would have been another also ran thingie at MDI had it not been for the sardar from SBI who livened up things at the fag end of the session. He rocked the place with his sharp wit, humour, sarcasm and hilarious stories. The other guys did a marketing job of their resp. cos and the ICICI bank dood did a typical MBA style presentation with lotsa data and the ubiquitous 'sa pa da pa'
So finally the conclusion... we need a balance of both COrporate and Retail banking... knew that was coming right!!! its a typical MBA answer politically correct and vague as hell... sardar dood was bang on target when he said that retail banking depends a lot on corporate banking. If firms borrow and grow, the returns flow towards the household sector who in turn then can drive retail banking. Way to go paaji... you probably said everything that had to be said in short sentences, in succint language and served with doses of common sense that probably they dont teach at BSchool
Well for starters we wore our suits/blazers for the first time on campus. Formal wear for the winters we were told. Unfortunately some a***hole decided not to turn on the air conditioning inside the packed and sealed (may I add) auditorium. So there were we all dressed and cooking inside our 'formal wear'.
The roll calling done (its a tradition to be followed... who cares a damn whether you are interested in the proceedings or not!!!) the panelists were escorted to the dias. I must say that the organising committee did a great job on the celeb front. We had the whos-who and the whos-going -to-be-next-who of the financial world. The keynote speaker was the Dy. Gov. of the RBI. (Forgot her name...forgive me!!!) and the rest of the guys were senior bankers/VPs/diros of firms like Ernst & Young, ICICI Bank, SBI, Yes Bank, StanChart, Amex, Citigroup, NCDEX, etc etc.
The entire thing would have been another also ran thingie at MDI had it not been for the sardar from SBI who livened up things at the fag end of the session. He rocked the place with his sharp wit, humour, sarcasm and hilarious stories. The other guys did a marketing job of their resp. cos and the ICICI bank dood did a typical MBA style presentation with lotsa data and the ubiquitous 'sa pa da pa'
So finally the conclusion... we need a balance of both COrporate and Retail banking... knew that was coming right!!! its a typical MBA answer politically correct and vague as hell... sardar dood was bang on target when he said that retail banking depends a lot on corporate banking. If firms borrow and grow, the returns flow towards the household sector who in turn then can drive retail banking. Way to go paaji... you probably said everything that had to be said in short sentences, in succint language and served with doses of common sense that probably they dont teach at BSchool
And this number is dedicated to....
I cherish this song... Other than being one of the fave numbers I love to dance to each word is meaningful to me... I've been listening to it continuously for quite some time tonite...
This is dedicated to you .... Audrey ... Bryan Adams with "Heaven"
Oh - thinkin' about all our younger years
There was only you and me
We were young and wild and free
Now nothin' can take you away from me
We bin down that road before
But that's over now
You keep me comin' back for more
Baby you're all that I want
When you're lyin' here in my arms
I'm findin' it hard to believe
We're in heaven
And love is all that I need
And I found it there in your heart
It isn't too hard to see
We're in heaven
Oh - once in your life you find someone
Who will turn your world around
Bring you up when you're feelin' down
Ya - nothin' could change what you mean to me
Oh there's lots that I could say
But just hold me now
Cause our love will light the way
N' baby you're all that I want
When you're lyin' here in my arms
I'm findin' it hard to believe
We're in heaven
And love is all that I need
And I found it there in your heart
It isn't too hard to see
We're in heaven
I've bin waitin' for so long
For something to arrive
For love to come along
Now our dreams are comin' true
Through the good times and the bad
Ya - I'll be standin' there by you
This is dedicated to you .... Audrey ... Bryan Adams with "Heaven"
Oh - thinkin' about all our younger years
There was only you and me
We were young and wild and free
Now nothin' can take you away from me
We bin down that road before
But that's over now
You keep me comin' back for more
Baby you're all that I want
When you're lyin' here in my arms
I'm findin' it hard to believe
We're in heaven
And love is all that I need
And I found it there in your heart
It isn't too hard to see
We're in heaven
Oh - once in your life you find someone
Who will turn your world around
Bring you up when you're feelin' down
Ya - nothin' could change what you mean to me
Oh there's lots that I could say
But just hold me now
Cause our love will light the way
N' baby you're all that I want
When you're lyin' here in my arms
I'm findin' it hard to believe
We're in heaven
And love is all that I need
And I found it there in your heart
It isn't too hard to see
We're in heaven
I've bin waitin' for so long
For something to arrive
For love to come along
Now our dreams are comin' true
Through the good times and the bad
Ya - I'll be standin' there by you
December 2, 2005
Shopping!!!
Today was my shopping day... After attending a sad PPT and a good workout, Ramesh, Pradeep, Mansur, Sethu and me went out shopping... We had a good time and followed it up with dinner at McDonalds.
What did I get???
A pullover, a winter cap, a cool jacket and a tee. Was going to buy cargoes but didn't like the designs. Will do so in Mumbai.
Missed the CRC meet... damn... but alls well that ends well... me off to finish Season 3!!!
What did I get???
A pullover, a winter cap, a cool jacket and a tee. Was going to buy cargoes but didn't like the designs. Will do so in Mumbai.
Missed the CRC meet... damn... but alls well that ends well... me off to finish Season 3!!!
Late night ramblings....
I have always imagined what it felt like to speak in the cold wheather and have moist vapour escaping my mouth. I have grown up seeing the BBC corresspondent reporting from Sarajevo spew vapour while giving the final touches to the telecast. Today it finally happened. After a screening of 'My brother Nikhil' at the auditorium by the 'Samaritans' - A club oriented towards social service- we went for a coffee and there I was with 'smoke' when I spoke.
Well me going to watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Season 3. Gotta thank Anee for the CDs!!!
**************************
22 more days to go before I land at home. Mannnn... its the Christmas season and Advent (The Christmas season) started last Sunday... The end terms are also just 2 weeks away... Projects and lotsa work lined up.... AAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!! I wanna go home!!!
Well me going to watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Season 3. Gotta thank Anee for the CDs!!!
**************************
22 more days to go before I land at home. Mannnn... its the Christmas season and Advent (The Christmas season) started last Sunday... The end terms are also just 2 weeks away... Projects and lotsa work lined up.... AAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!! I wanna go home!!!
December 1, 2005
A day in the life of Gordon D'Souza
2:30 AM
I called Audrey. Middle of the night I know. And she was busy playing with chemo drugs. Wrong time to disturb a person I say. Like they say at CCD's "A lot can happen over chemos".
------------------------------
3:45 AM
I complete the HRM presentation on training of senior managers of a banking company for leadership skills.
------------------------------
8:15 AM
Alarm rings......
------------------------------
9:30 AM
I wake up ;-)
------------------------------
3:45 PM
Back from class....
------------------------------
5:50 PM
Back from the gym
------------------------------
8:15 PM
Finished chatting with Audrey...... ;-)
------------------------------
9:00 PM
Dinner with chole and puris with lotsa jalebis :-)
------------------------------
9:30 PM
My brother Nikhil screened at the Audi
------------------------------
11:45 PM
Me blogging this!!!!
So that was today... and its been a week like this... completely chilled out... dunno if I've got used to the system or wot???
Also, wonder what happened to the guy who was being administered chemo drugs... Smiling and joyful nurses can heal what chemos cant ;-)
I called Audrey. Middle of the night I know. And she was busy playing with chemo drugs. Wrong time to disturb a person I say. Like they say at CCD's "A lot can happen over chemos".
------------------------------
3:45 AM
I complete the HRM presentation on training of senior managers of a banking company for leadership skills.
------------------------------
8:15 AM
Alarm rings......
------------------------------
9:30 AM
I wake up ;-)
------------------------------
3:45 PM
Back from class....
------------------------------
5:50 PM
Back from the gym
------------------------------
8:15 PM
Finished chatting with Audrey...... ;-)
------------------------------
9:00 PM
Dinner with chole and puris with lotsa jalebis :-)
------------------------------
9:30 PM
My brother Nikhil screened at the Audi
------------------------------
11:45 PM
Me blogging this!!!!
So that was today... and its been a week like this... completely chilled out... dunno if I've got used to the system or wot???
Also, wonder what happened to the guy who was being administered chemo drugs... Smiling and joyful nurses can heal what chemos cant ;-)
November 30, 2005
Counting karo tum...!!!
Thot of Amir Khan saying that line in the 5 buck Coke commercial and said heck why not me have a counter too. So thats just what I did... registered on Bravenet for a brand new counter. Will have to forego all the clicks till date though; but it wont be much of an issue considering the fact that the blog is not visited so frequently.
Value steel
Past few days have seen a lot of bidding for Dofasco, the Canadian steel maker. First there was a hostile bid by Arcelor, the second largest steel co. Apparently, Arcelor wanted to strengthen its automotive steel division. Arcelor already is a major supplier to european carmakers, on the other hand, Dofasco has been a major supplier to North American carmakers Ford and GM. Probably the acquisition would create a monopoly in the automotive steel and Arcelor would be in a position to armtwist the already flagging auto industry in the West. It could also sound the death knell for US automakers. There could be a chance that GM, Ford and other US automakers might have forced Dofasco to reject the proposal from Arcelor.
As soon as the Arcelor threat was averted, Thyssenkrupp AG, the German steel maker made an offer at 40% premium to Arcelor's bid. Thyssenkrupp is also an automotive steel supplier, then what makes TK different. The only difference that I can see is that TK can add value to Dofasco's steel since TK has a service that caters to automotive design and planning which coupled with Mechatronics can be a differentiator in this old economy industry.
Should indian firms follow this model. I say a resounding yes. With demand from China set to slow down in the coming years due to the cooling of their economy there is going to be a reduction in demand for steel. Add to that the effect of falling prices due to overcapacity generated due to the highly liquid environment of the past few years, theres set to be havoc in the global steel industry.
In such a scenario, firms will survive on two counts only. Either they consolidate or they differentiate. The global consolidation game has started with Mittal steel setting the pace last year. These year will see more acquisitions. Dofasco is the first big fish this year. But will blind acquisitions aid survival? Somehow I dont think so. Primarily because these will create inefficient monopolies. But in the case of Thyssenkrupp I can see a strong value model. In fact its going the way GE went in the 90s by increasing the services component in its portfolio. There's a lot of value to be unlocked by linkages to customers (read value added service based steel) rather tha than just forcing iron down their throats.
As soon as the Arcelor threat was averted, Thyssenkrupp AG, the German steel maker made an offer at 40% premium to Arcelor's bid. Thyssenkrupp is also an automotive steel supplier, then what makes TK different. The only difference that I can see is that TK can add value to Dofasco's steel since TK has a service that caters to automotive design and planning which coupled with Mechatronics can be a differentiator in this old economy industry.
Should indian firms follow this model. I say a resounding yes. With demand from China set to slow down in the coming years due to the cooling of their economy there is going to be a reduction in demand for steel. Add to that the effect of falling prices due to overcapacity generated due to the highly liquid environment of the past few years, theres set to be havoc in the global steel industry.
In such a scenario, firms will survive on two counts only. Either they consolidate or they differentiate. The global consolidation game has started with Mittal steel setting the pace last year. These year will see more acquisitions. Dofasco is the first big fish this year. But will blind acquisitions aid survival? Somehow I dont think so. Primarily because these will create inefficient monopolies. But in the case of Thyssenkrupp I can see a strong value model. In fact its going the way GE went in the 90s by increasing the services component in its portfolio. There's a lot of value to be unlocked by linkages to customers (read value added service based steel) rather tha than just forcing iron down their throats.
November 23, 2005
The Thirst Theory
I have developed this theory called 'The Thirst Theory'. It states that "If a person sees a bottle of water in the middle of a discourse, that person feels thirsty." The discourse here applies mainly to classroom lectures. It has been proved beyond doubt in the last 5 years.
A typical experimental proof goes something like this. A specimen will make it known to all other specimens that he/she is drinking water. Subsequently, thirst levels start going up in surrounding specimens. Somewhere far away, a particular specimen's thirst will cross the threshold level and he/she will solicit the container of water. But as the container of water begins its journey across the class, the threshold of specimens in its vicinity is immediately crossed (something like the 'Lord of the Rings'... the water bears its influence on those who carry it) and they drink of that precious little that remains. The value of water goes on increasing as it inches closer and closer to its real destination. As it reaches the intended specimen, there is little left, and the specimen relishes each drop.
Funny but true. Check it next time someone drinks water in class.
A typical experimental proof goes something like this. A specimen will make it known to all other specimens that he/she is drinking water. Subsequently, thirst levels start going up in surrounding specimens. Somewhere far away, a particular specimen's thirst will cross the threshold level and he/she will solicit the container of water. But as the container of water begins its journey across the class, the threshold of specimens in its vicinity is immediately crossed (something like the 'Lord of the Rings'... the water bears its influence on those who carry it) and they drink of that precious little that remains. The value of water goes on increasing as it inches closer and closer to its real destination. As it reaches the intended specimen, there is little left, and the specimen relishes each drop.
Funny but true. Check it next time someone drinks water in class.
November 10, 2005
The last of the mid terms...
Mid terms are over and thats a relief. This mid terms have been much better than the one last term. Did quite well and I'm waiting for the results. Have decided to spend a good deal of time in the library this remaining term.Our management symposium is coming up this weekend. Delphique... thats what its called. Seems to be a much decent event than the ones previously organised. Only thing that sucks is that there is compulsory attendance. Crappy I say. But in an upcoming bskool we need to humour corporates. The focus is not on learning but again on Corporate Relations. Sadly, we are not out of that mentality yet. Gotta stop cribbing about the things here.
November 6, 2005
Illuminated??
Had been desisting from posting this from a long time... Illumina our market research fest concluded on 31st October. Here in the guise of a Diwali Mela we students at MDI lead consumers to play asinine games (of course after assuming that they are a bunch of gullible fools). At the end of the day we claim a footfall of a few grand and the sample from where we collect our data wouldnt impress a chimp agency. The data collected is allowed to flow through a series of software iterations and the output is presented with fanfare.
This year we had HLL which gave us a brief of getting consumer insights into cappuchino coffee. Yes Boss! the mighty HLL is going to take the esteemed opinion of yet-to-be MBAs (who have gained insights into consumer behaviour from those great games that they designed) on whether they will launch their coffee. After all Nestle is a small fish. They are nuts to carry out MR with firms like AC Nielson, ORG- MARG and the like. MDI's greats are better. Talk about gaining competitive advantage!
The other games the less said the better. However, must say that the event was organised well. But the concept sucks big time. Events like these are all relationship building exercises. And this is not restricted to MDI. All insitutes do it. So confirms my friend from a reputed Mumbai based institute. So what are we doing here. In the quest for relationship building do we teach students what is happening at in the real market. You should see the confidence with which people were willing to swear by the MR. Brings me back to the point I raised a few weeks ago that we are generating managers with lack of practicality. God save us!!!
Anyways I gotta prepare for the mid terms beginging tomo...Wish me luck.
This year we had HLL which gave us a brief of getting consumer insights into cappuchino coffee. Yes Boss! the mighty HLL is going to take the esteemed opinion of yet-to-be MBAs (who have gained insights into consumer behaviour from those great games that they designed) on whether they will launch their coffee. After all Nestle is a small fish. They are nuts to carry out MR with firms like AC Nielson, ORG- MARG and the like. MDI's greats are better. Talk about gaining competitive advantage!
The other games the less said the better. However, must say that the event was organised well. But the concept sucks big time. Events like these are all relationship building exercises. And this is not restricted to MDI. All insitutes do it. So confirms my friend from a reputed Mumbai based institute. So what are we doing here. In the quest for relationship building do we teach students what is happening at in the real market. You should see the confidence with which people were willing to swear by the MR. Brings me back to the point I raised a few weeks ago that we are generating managers with lack of practicality. God save us!!!
Anyways I gotta prepare for the mid terms beginging tomo...Wish me luck.
October 16, 2005
The Treat
We were the blue eyed boys of the evening. Jai, Ramesh, Prady and me took the gang (and Prady's women) a total of 20 odd people out to dinner.
The venue
We decided to go to Debonairs Pizza. Hari Nair was excited. Thought it was a Mallu joint. (Everything that ends in Nair need not be Mallu!!!). Pranesh 'The negotiator' Nagrajan tried to rob the Debonair guys with a wacko deal that fell thru. But nonetheless we got double decker deal.
Shravan and Pranesh did the optimising of the order. Prady did his flirting (heck.. thats his occupation...but there was no stopping the birthday boy). Me...I'm the hogger...I hogged on the pizza.
Me with some amazing pizza...damn the fork and the knife this one's too good
Done with the pizza and coke was the bill. Yup I wasnt surprised considering the bhukkads that we are. But then it was a worthwhile treat considering that I also was placed on week zero. We had a photo session outside Debonairs and then we hauled ourselves back to MDI.
Some snaps taken when we were waiting for the pizza to arrive....
Mansur, Me and Hari (The real Nair)
The photo session after dinner...some crazy moments...
Hada feeling Pranesh... We all knew he had those tendencies...Roomie Hari will have to take care!!!
The venue We decided to go to Debonairs Pizza. Hari Nair was excited. Thought it was a Mallu joint. (Everything that ends in Nair need not be Mallu!!!). Pranesh 'The negotiator' Nagrajan tried to rob the Debonair guys with a wacko deal that fell thru. But nonetheless we got double decker deal.
Shravan and Pranesh did the optimising of the order. Prady did his flirting (heck.. thats his occupation...but there was no stopping the birthday boy). Me...I'm the hogger...I hogged on the pizza.
Me with some amazing pizza...damn the fork and the knife this one's too good
Done with the pizza and coke was the bill. Yup I wasnt surprised considering the bhukkads that we are. But then it was a worthwhile treat considering that I also was placed on week zero. We had a photo session outside Debonairs and then we hauled ourselves back to MDI.
Fleeced! BDay boys-(L to R)Ramesh Ananthakrishnan, S Jai Anand, Yours truly and Pradumnya Jhandyala. Seated L to R-Pranesh 'The Negotiator' Nagrajan and Harshit Jain
Mansur, Me and Hari (The real Nair)
Hada feeling Pranesh... We all knew he had those tendencies...Roomie Hari will have to take care!!!And thats how it ended... the blue eyed boys were a year older, the Debonair guys a bit richer, the MDI gang a bit fuller... Prady a bit happier....Hada bit bit more happier (Sorry Hada couldn't stop it after you were caught on cam) and we all lived happily till the time I'm blogging this!
Standard Disclaimer: Anybody coming to my room with sorry tales of leg-pulling will not be entertained nor shall I be coerced to change the contents on any grounds whatsoever. The intentions of the author are not mala-fide nor does he have ulterior motives thereof to cause harm to the reputation of anybody. All matters are subject to the jurisdiction of BCCI.
Standard Disclaimer: Anybody coming to my room with sorry tales of leg-pulling will not be entertained nor shall I be coerced to change the contents on any grounds whatsoever. The intentions of the author are not mala-fide nor does he have ulterior motives thereof to cause harm to the reputation of anybody. All matters are subject to the jurisdiction of BCCI.
October 13, 2005
What ails management education....and my expectations from MDI
We wonder why we come to BSchool after we spend a term or so here... And after the term is over (and the butchering that follows it in the form of screwed up grades) you wonder why you left the cozy comfort of your home and the comfort of your job to come to this hell-begotten place where you are on the run 24x7. The assignments never seem to end. There is no holiday (everyday has something which you can directly or indirectly call work). You are away from home, i.e. if you are not a Delhi-ite. And before you know it some form of assessment be it quiz, mid-term, end-term, project work, some bloody event, an extra-curric, club meeting, etc. comes u and screws up your schedule.
Having gone through the motions of one term, I have come to realise what I want from this institute. Majority of management graduates seriously lack HR skills, rather softly put soft skills. Not that spending two years is going to improve anyones people skills, but it is very important from the following perspective. From what my mentor, Mr. DN Dalal, in Siemens told me, a person spends max 3-4 years using tech skills...maybe less. After that the focus goes into 50% tech-50% people mgmt. And further on the focus is totally on people. As Prof. Debi Saini, here in MDI clearly says, People come before strategy. Problem is that not many freshly minted managers have a people orientatiom.
Another area of concern is tha total lack of development of long term thinking. All simulation games prepared for BSchool students and all that comes out from the academics of BSchools is a terrible short term focus. Though this might work in the minutely narrow area of highly-liquid investments, I doubt its sustainability on corporate strategy. What you get is a mass assembly line output from n number of BSchools churning out short term specialists who are well suited to work out short term strategies fed on learnings from crappy analysis of business cases, last minute botched data from Google and the types. We are generating managers with lack of vision.
Which brings me to what I want from this place. I want to master the knack of thinking into the future. I don't know how I'm gonna do it, but I think it's the single most important learning I can take from this place. I also want to get into the art of managing people, since people are the most important component of any organisation. I think my academic group is a good place to experiment. I successfully tried out certain truths on group dynamics with my previous acad group.
I have learnt that when people are presented with a model which delivers results excellently, they accept it, assimilate it and propogate it. There is no better catalyst for organisation change. It is some form of self propogating fire. It is also much better than other forms of change because other models depend to a huge extent on assumptions that are not practical. (More on the practical applications of models later)
I know most of this might sound extreme gibberish to many. But to those who may understand an iota of it, you know what I want from MDI.....
Having gone through the motions of one term, I have come to realise what I want from this institute. Majority of management graduates seriously lack HR skills, rather softly put soft skills. Not that spending two years is going to improve anyones people skills, but it is very important from the following perspective. From what my mentor, Mr. DN Dalal, in Siemens told me, a person spends max 3-4 years using tech skills...maybe less. After that the focus goes into 50% tech-50% people mgmt. And further on the focus is totally on people. As Prof. Debi Saini, here in MDI clearly says, People come before strategy. Problem is that not many freshly minted managers have a people orientatiom.
Another area of concern is tha total lack of development of long term thinking. All simulation games prepared for BSchool students and all that comes out from the academics of BSchools is a terrible short term focus. Though this might work in the minutely narrow area of highly-liquid investments, I doubt its sustainability on corporate strategy. What you get is a mass assembly line output from n number of BSchools churning out short term specialists who are well suited to work out short term strategies fed on learnings from crappy analysis of business cases, last minute botched data from Google and the types. We are generating managers with lack of vision.
Which brings me to what I want from this place. I want to master the knack of thinking into the future. I don't know how I'm gonna do it, but I think it's the single most important learning I can take from this place. I also want to get into the art of managing people, since people are the most important component of any organisation. I think my academic group is a good place to experiment. I successfully tried out certain truths on group dynamics with my previous acad group.
I have learnt that when people are presented with a model which delivers results excellently, they accept it, assimilate it and propogate it. There is no better catalyst for organisation change. It is some form of self propogating fire. It is also much better than other forms of change because other models depend to a huge extent on assumptions that are not practical. (More on the practical applications of models later)
I know most of this might sound extreme gibberish to many. But to those who may understand an iota of it, you know what I want from MDI.....
October 10, 2005
What a blast!!!!
It was done in style. The hours preceding the day I completed 23 years, were filled with activity that probably I have never experienced before. KK (of Pal fame) sang to a thousand plus here, MDI spent a bomb on some amazing fireworks, a grand party has been organised with the good spirits flowing, and a DJ to boot. Some birthday!!!
Also this was probaby the only time in MDI that the birthday cake was eaten and not grabbed in a free-for-all. We were finishing the cake, licking our fingers and savouring the richness of chocolate till kingdom come. Of course, no gain without pain. My behind had a highly intense footfall and for a second I felt as if my behond had fallen off.
Back in the room, Pranesh made a birthday shot. Surprisingly, it dint hit me. I seem to be getting better at this. At least having come to MDI has made a difference!!!
Enough for now. Its an unearthly hour and sleep beckons. Far away the college rocks to punju beats. But for me its sleep time. Happy Birthday to me!!!
Also this was probaby the only time in MDI that the birthday cake was eaten and not grabbed in a free-for-all. We were finishing the cake, licking our fingers and savouring the richness of chocolate till kingdom come. Of course, no gain without pain. My behind had a highly intense footfall and for a second I felt as if my behond had fallen off.
Back in the room, Pranesh made a birthday shot. Surprisingly, it dint hit me. I seem to be getting better at this. At least having come to MDI has made a difference!!!
Enough for now. Its an unearthly hour and sleep beckons. Far away the college rocks to punju beats. But for me its sleep time. Happy Birthday to me!!!
September 26, 2005
A new term and a new begining!!!
Today heralds Term 2 of my course at MDI. It feels like a new begining all over again. New books, new subjects, new profs... It really feels good.
First of all I want to incorporate all the learnings from the previous term. Term 1 was reeking with inefficiency, late nights, poor planning, tiredness and lethargy. Under the guise of 'BSchool life' I let my schedules go for a toss. Payed little attention in class. No pre-reads. Left everything for the last minute. In short, an engineering hangover.
All that will change from this term. I will sleep early. Get up early. Gym. Pre-readings. Efficient planning. Pay attention in class. No last minute studying. And make the best use of this place called MDI.
I am determined to make myself bloody disciplined, and began that with today. Hope that I can make this schedule last for the term. The first step to managing people is managng yourself.
First of all I want to incorporate all the learnings from the previous term. Term 1 was reeking with inefficiency, late nights, poor planning, tiredness and lethargy. Under the guise of 'BSchool life' I let my schedules go for a toss. Payed little attention in class. No pre-reads. Left everything for the last minute. In short, an engineering hangover.
All that will change from this term. I will sleep early. Get up early. Gym. Pre-readings. Efficient planning. Pay attention in class. No last minute studying. And make the best use of this place called MDI.
I am determined to make myself bloody disciplined, and began that with today. Hope that I can make this schedule last for the term. The first step to managing people is managng yourself.
September 23, 2005
Raging Bulls
Made it through Livestock, the stock trading competition from IIM A's Confluence. The event is a live trading floor where 50 top teams from across India will be participating for the top place. Our team called the ragingbulls consists of 4 Unnati people. For thse who don't know Unnati is our student initiative research and investment management group (in other words, a Mutual Fund) and me (I'm the non-Unnati guy). Between us we have 6 years worth of investing experience. Dhamija is a big mover, Anee and Goenka are said to handle big portfolios. I have done a bit and Sankalp also has investing experience.
The event kicked off with a qualification quiz of 60 marks which we were supposed to complete in 30 minutes. We have 3 junior teams and 2 senior team participating. Totally we have 5 teams from MDI.
We will be given Rs.25,000/- to trade with over a period of 3 months in the Indian stock markets. During this period we have to trade and produce research papers and justify our purchases. At the end of the period we will be evaluated on the final portfolio position, the cash on hand, the returns we generate and our research papers.
It all looks very exciting. We will be allowed to keep 30% of the profits we generate in addition to the prize money (forgot the actual figure but its pretty huge for small punters like us!!!). All's looking good, Looking forward to an exciting 3 months.....
The event kicked off with a qualification quiz of 60 marks which we were supposed to complete in 30 minutes. We have 3 junior teams and 2 senior team participating. Totally we have 5 teams from MDI.
We will be given Rs.25,000/- to trade with over a period of 3 months in the Indian stock markets. During this period we have to trade and produce research papers and justify our purchases. At the end of the period we will be evaluated on the final portfolio position, the cash on hand, the returns we generate and our research papers.
It all looks very exciting. We will be allowed to keep 30% of the profits we generate in addition to the prize money (forgot the actual figure but its pretty huge for small punters like us!!!). All's looking good, Looking forward to an exciting 3 months.....
Its almost over
The agony of the past 2 weeks seems to be nearing an end. Past two weeks have been an high octane existence. Sleep has always come in the wee hours of the morning. The entire night spent completing presentations interspersed with laughter, jokes, PJs, ordering food from the local call centre canteens, etc. Dunno what we would have done had there been no call centres canteens??!!
Eyes bloodshot. Body tired. Pushing the mind and soul for that extra bit every moment....MAN!!! MDI surely has some acad rigour. Sometimes I wonder if it is all necessary. I mean does the measure of a manager cme from how much academic bullshit he can handle.
Enough of gyaan ;-)... Me gotta finish the course on 'Managerial Economics' for tommo exam. It has made me less knowledgable on the topic, though the prof (Dr. Ashra) who teaches us is an exceptional fellow.
Till tommo 12:15 pm its back to exa mode........
Eyes bloodshot. Body tired. Pushing the mind and soul for that extra bit every moment....MAN!!! MDI surely has some acad rigour. Sometimes I wonder if it is all necessary. I mean does the measure of a manager cme from how much academic bullshit he can handle.
Enough of gyaan ;-)... Me gotta finish the course on 'Managerial Economics' for tommo exam. It has made me less knowledgable on the topic, though the prof (Dr. Ashra) who teaches us is an exceptional fellow.
Till tommo 12:15 pm its back to exa mode........
September 17, 2005
The Absence
Hey... If any of you are wondering where the Hell I was...lemme assure you I was right there, in Hell. The week gone by had a tremendous amount of work in the form of end-term submissions and presentations. So much so that I ended up with two bloodshot eyes and a completely pooped out body at the end of it... Today I finally got some well deserved rest. Planning to sleep the cumulative total amount of the entire past weeks sleep. Whew!!! Why MBA?? My job was much better.
Well now that the submissions are almost over...(My acad group reminds me that we still have some work to be done...Nooooooooo!!!!) theres no respite since the end-term exams will start from Wednesday triggering another round of sleepless nights...But mercy me the agony lasts just a four days and even then the chastisement during that period lasts just 2 and a half hours.
Looking forward to Saturday night....the end of Term 1 and consequently 16.66% of MBA (real) and 25% (perceived) ;-) ... since only 4 terms are counted for placements!!!!
Well now that the submissions are almost over...(My acad group reminds me that we still have some work to be done...Nooooooooo!!!!) theres no respite since the end-term exams will start from Wednesday triggering another round of sleepless nights...But mercy me the agony lasts just a four days and even then the chastisement during that period lasts just 2 and a half hours.
Looking forward to Saturday night....the end of Term 1 and consequently 16.66% of MBA (real) and 25% (perceived) ;-) ... since only 4 terms are counted for placements!!!!
September 1, 2005
Marks, Chlormint and Lays...
Have been receiving the fruits of the long gone mid terms. The grapes are sour. Literally. But the consolation is that I had a tough time during the exams. And under those circumstances I consider myself to have done decently. But sure would have liked to be much much higher up in class. It doesnt help matters that the marking has been arbit at best. A few subjects have marking that defies logic. But then as they say.."You win some, you lose some."
Chlormint is the new flavour in Pradeep's life. So is it for Piyush (Mansur's gr8 gr8 roomie!!!)... Piyush in fact, has access to a lot of Chlormint, (from Prayas) enough to make all the guys from PGPM 05 (maybe even from PGPM 04...you can never be sure with Piyush) run for cover.
Meanwhile, Lays is the new flavour in Mansur's life...
Chlormint is the new flavour in Pradeep's life. So is it for Piyush (Mansur's gr8 gr8 roomie!!!)... Piyush in fact, has access to a lot of Chlormint, (from Prayas) enough to make all the guys from PGPM 05 (maybe even from PGPM 04...you can never be sure with Piyush) run for cover.
Meanwhile, Lays is the new flavour in Mansur's life...
August 29, 2005
The journey of a few thousand miles begins with a single click...
Ah, that famous quote. How very apt to what I am going to share. Today early morning when I was flying through some CRC work (you dont wanna know what that is), I hit a loud of boredom; then a cloud of restlessness and finally a cloud of irritation. What the heck... I said to myself. I logged in to Yahoo! to see if any kind soul was willing to chat. All contacts had some wierdo status to their nicks and I thought it best to leave them alone.
But, in the mess of yellow smilies I saw Mansur online...(a completely useless statement because he was exactly 3 metres away logged in on Pradeep's lappie). I typed in some text and the click of the "Send" button took those text via my LAN cable to MDI's servers. From there it was sent to the ISP provider who inturn passed it on to the international gateway VSNL. VSNL transported that text via underground cables (or did it not??...dont care and doesnt matter) to the US. At Yahoo!' s servers there it searched for Mansur's ID and then began a return journey (maybe a satellite could be involved .. I dunno...me no tech guy) back all the way and to our very room where it all began. A loud ping was heard and those few words which had kinda gone around the world plopped onto Mansur's screen. The entire exercise took a mere 4 seconds.
We played a lil' more... sent each other invectives when we could have easily shouted it across the 3 metres that separated our lappies. We laughed our heads out at the crazy journey data was making. It was the height of joblessness!!!
Thats what it was... The journey of some thousand miles... it began with a lazy click...
But, in the mess of yellow smilies I saw Mansur online...(a completely useless statement because he was exactly 3 metres away logged in on Pradeep's lappie). I typed in some text and the click of the "Send" button took those text via my LAN cable to MDI's servers. From there it was sent to the ISP provider who inturn passed it on to the international gateway VSNL. VSNL transported that text via underground cables (or did it not??...dont care and doesnt matter) to the US. At Yahoo!' s servers there it searched for Mansur's ID and then began a return journey (maybe a satellite could be involved .. I dunno...me no tech guy) back all the way and to our very room where it all began. A loud ping was heard and those few words which had kinda gone around the world plopped onto Mansur's screen. The entire exercise took a mere 4 seconds.
We played a lil' more... sent each other invectives when we could have easily shouted it across the 3 metres that separated our lappies. We laughed our heads out at the crazy journey data was making. It was the height of joblessness!!!
Thats what it was... The journey of some thousand miles... it began with a lazy click...
August 28, 2005
Spam Festival @ MDI
Today saw an unprecedented 200+ mails from 2230 hrs yesterday to 0315 hrs today. Am still in splits after going thru each of the 200 odd mails. Ultimate bullcrap and random stuff happening on campus. Every student worth worth his salt in all the batches (PGPM, PGHR and all NMP batches) had a torrent of mails flooding his/her mailbox.
It all started when a certain Kamlesh from the NMP batch sent an apology citing reasons why he was sending absolutely usolicited mail over the past few days. Some of the reasons claimed were the high level of stress that NMP goes thru (so PGPM indulges in social loafing eh?...) and also how he's been separated from his better half (Ardhangani according to him...seriously is he that stressed out??). Hence his decision to reduce the average stress level of every bloke on campus by indulging in crappy fwds. He aptly titled his apology "Closing of series"
What he got (and we in the bargain) was worse than a backlash. It didn't help matters that PG04 has their end-terms starting Monday and they too decided to "de-stress" themselves. We had our representation too, with Guru Bhobe, Piyush Joshi (Mansur's gr8 roomie), Singla, and many others freely spamming. Topics were arbit, replies even arbit, some guy copy-pasted Urdu poetry, another a research paper, yet another some crazy news. PJs reached a new level of sadism. The Maharashtrians did Marathi proud, the Bengalis followed suit, the Punjabis did an encore. There were many screaming for the whole thing to stop, and an equal number begging for it to go on.
One poor chap called Hemankur Upadhyaya got a bomb. (For the unintiated a bomb is when ur name is copied n number of times in the "To" field which sends you precisely that many mails.) To make matters worse people who replied to that spam knowingly or unknowlingly did a reply all. Poor Hemankur Upadhyaya got about 400 extra spams for no rhyme or reason.
When the junta got tired, they changed the "Closing of series" to "Here we go" reflecting change in the theme (which was not changed subsequently). People ranted and raved some more. After all the dust settled it was around 3 AM in the morning, with yours truly so busy reading and laughing his head off that he sent the penultimate mail of the festival.
Wish we had more of these... just a pleasant change from the usual MBA night outs.
It all started when a certain Kamlesh from the NMP batch sent an apology citing reasons why he was sending absolutely usolicited mail over the past few days. Some of the reasons claimed were the high level of stress that NMP goes thru (so PGPM indulges in social loafing eh?...) and also how he's been separated from his better half (Ardhangani according to him...seriously is he that stressed out??). Hence his decision to reduce the average stress level of every bloke on campus by indulging in crappy fwds. He aptly titled his apology "Closing of series"
What he got (and we in the bargain) was worse than a backlash. It didn't help matters that PG04 has their end-terms starting Monday and they too decided to "de-stress" themselves. We had our representation too, with Guru Bhobe, Piyush Joshi (Mansur's gr8 roomie), Singla, and many others freely spamming. Topics were arbit, replies even arbit, some guy copy-pasted Urdu poetry, another a research paper, yet another some crazy news. PJs reached a new level of sadism. The Maharashtrians did Marathi proud, the Bengalis followed suit, the Punjabis did an encore. There were many screaming for the whole thing to stop, and an equal number begging for it to go on.
One poor chap called Hemankur Upadhyaya got a bomb. (For the unintiated a bomb is when ur name is copied n number of times in the "To" field which sends you precisely that many mails.) To make matters worse people who replied to that spam knowingly or unknowlingly did a reply all. Poor Hemankur Upadhyaya got about 400 extra spams for no rhyme or reason.
When the junta got tired, they changed the "Closing of series" to "Here we go" reflecting change in the theme (which was not changed subsequently). People ranted and raved some more. After all the dust settled it was around 3 AM in the morning, with yours truly so busy reading and laughing his head off that he sent the penultimate mail of the festival.
Wish we had more of these... just a pleasant change from the usual MBA night outs.
August 27, 2005
Behind these hazel eyes
I can relate a lot to this song... And it's gripped me ever since I heard it... Its very apt... It just seems like my story... I wasnt going to post this until certain circumstances today afternoon forced me to... Here it is....
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" - KELLY CLARKSON
Seems like just yesterday
You were a part of me
I used to stand so tall
I used to be so strong
Your arms around me tight
Everything, it felt so right
Unbreakable, like nothin' could go wrong
Now I can't breathe
No, I can't sleep
I'm barely hanging on
Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes
I told you everything
Opened up and let you in
You made me feel alright
For once in my life
Now all that's left of me
Is what I pretend to be
So together, but so broken up inside
'Cause I can't breathe
No, I can't sleep
I'm barely hangin' on
Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes
Swallow me then spit me out
For hating you, I blame myself
Seeing you it kills me now
No, I don't cry on the outside
Anymore...
Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes
Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" - KELLY CLARKSON
Seems like just yesterday
You were a part of me
I used to stand so tall
I used to be so strong
Your arms around me tight
Everything, it felt so right
Unbreakable, like nothin' could go wrong
Now I can't breathe
No, I can't sleep
I'm barely hanging on
Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes
I told you everything
Opened up and let you in
You made me feel alright
For once in my life
Now all that's left of me
Is what I pretend to be
So together, but so broken up inside
'Cause I can't breathe
No, I can't sleep
I'm barely hangin' on
Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes
Swallow me then spit me out
For hating you, I blame myself
Seeing you it kills me now
No, I don't cry on the outside
Anymore...
Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes
Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes
August 26, 2005
We are the Champions!!!
Section A of PGPM had a cricket match against Section B; and by Jove, we beat the shit outta them. We played 12 players against the tradional 11. (We make the rules Wo-kay...!!!)Prady (Sec A skipper) got us to bat first and we ammased 73 runs in the allocated 15 overs. Dhamija gave us a good start with a coupla fours and sixes. Then there was a lull for some time. It picked up again when Raghav went to the crease. (albeit this time the runs came from extras). Me went as last man scored a coupla runs before getting runout on the last ball.
The fun started when Sec B (skippered by Hada) came to bat. They lost 4 wickets in the 3rd over. (Bowled by me obviously!!! ;-)...) 2 of these were due to some sensless running and some brilliant fielding. one was a stumping (thanx Prady) and the other caught (thanks to Tommy also...). Then some real tight bowling by Raj and a stupendous spell from Rohit Prakash (2 wickets each) that really broke the back of secB. Rohit is a gem of a bowler. He has a good line and length and can come up with the surprise bouncer too. He was the quickest guy today. Prady too joined in the fun with a wicket. Dhamija got one too and the last was a run-out in my third over. Pity there were no cams to capture the moments :-( ...
The match over, sec B had a bumps session. Hada got kicked. And we hauled ourselves to the canteen for a treat!!!
Three cheers for sec A Hip Hip Hooray!!! ...Hip Hip Hooray!!! ...Hip Hip Hooray!!!
The fun started when Sec B (skippered by Hada) came to bat. They lost 4 wickets in the 3rd over. (Bowled by me obviously!!! ;-)...) 2 of these were due to some sensless running and some brilliant fielding. one was a stumping (thanx Prady) and the other caught (thanks to Tommy also...). Then some real tight bowling by Raj and a stupendous spell from Rohit Prakash (2 wickets each) that really broke the back of secB. Rohit is a gem of a bowler. He has a good line and length and can come up with the surprise bouncer too. He was the quickest guy today. Prady too joined in the fun with a wicket. Dhamija got one too and the last was a run-out in my third over. Pity there were no cams to capture the moments :-( ...
The match over, sec B had a bumps session. Hada got kicked. And we hauled ourselves to the canteen for a treat!!!
Three cheers for sec A Hip Hip Hooray!!! ...Hip Hip Hooray!!! ...Hip Hip Hooray!!!
BCCI
Apart from the various clubs at MDI, this one club where you don't have to prepare for club membership interview...you dont have to have any interests...you are a member by default.
Introducing Bumps Core Committee Incorporated. (BCCI). We are a group of professional butt kickers. No incentives needed. No payment taken. Just plain simple butt kicking. All we need is a group of frustu people and an arbit reason (which happens 99% of the time...the rest are birthdays ;-)....)
A few examples where we have demonstrated our expertise....
Dheeresh got kicked for re-installing Windows
I got kicked for buying a new lappie
Hari usually gets kicked for scoring the highest in the quiz
Raj and Porter (Prashant) got kicked for DCP (Desparate Class Participation... more on that later)
Prady who got kicked for ummm.... (No, this has to remain secret!!!)
All the people elected/selected to prominent posts/committees in MDI. (There are many of them)
All the roomies/pseudo-roomies who get kicked whenever their roomie is kicked for any reason.
And many more arbit reasons...
If U are frustrated. If you have nothing better to do. If you just wanna get someone kicked, join us (No joining criterias), we have innovative reasons and we will not let you down ....
Hail BCCI!!!....
Introducing Bumps Core Committee Incorporated. (BCCI). We are a group of professional butt kickers. No incentives needed. No payment taken. Just plain simple butt kicking. All we need is a group of frustu people and an arbit reason (which happens 99% of the time...the rest are birthdays ;-)....)
A few examples where we have demonstrated our expertise....
Dheeresh got kicked for re-installing Windows
I got kicked for buying a new lappie
Hari usually gets kicked for scoring the highest in the quiz
Raj and Porter (Prashant) got kicked for DCP (Desparate Class Participation... more on that later)
Prady who got kicked for ummm.... (No, this has to remain secret!!!)
All the people elected/selected to prominent posts/committees in MDI. (There are many of them)
All the roomies/pseudo-roomies who get kicked whenever their roomie is kicked for any reason.
And many more arbit reasons...
If U are frustrated. If you have nothing better to do. If you just wanna get someone kicked, join us (No joining criterias), we have innovative reasons and we will not let you down ....
Hail BCCI!!!....
August 24, 2005
Pind Balluchi
Tradition demands that the junior core teams of all the clubs treat the senior core team of the respective club. And so, keepers of tradition that we are, a dinner was arranged at a nearby punjabi restautrant.
"Pind Balluchi" (thats the name of the restaurant) is a nice place with ambience for all settings. They have a family section, a kinda separate section (presumably for youth who prefer to rant, rave and scream between mouthfuls) and a short starry staircase which leads you to a dimly lit cave type setting with two chairs per table. (I dont think I need to mention the reasons for the above atmosphere)
The food was good. Obviously it is difficult to socialise at places where forty people descend onto few square feet and whose sole intention is to hog whatever the waiter brings on his tray. It reminded me of our birthday parties on campus where you can literally see cake disappear. (The waiter always lingered for the customary second it took to empty the tray so he could take it back an save his effort)
Back to campus and it was zzzz. Have late lectures tomorrow. Can afford to sleep and chuck the work!!!
"Pind Balluchi" (thats the name of the restaurant) is a nice place with ambience for all settings. They have a family section, a kinda separate section (presumably for youth who prefer to rant, rave and scream between mouthfuls) and a short starry staircase which leads you to a dimly lit cave type setting with two chairs per table. (I dont think I need to mention the reasons for the above atmosphere)
The food was good. Obviously it is difficult to socialise at places where forty people descend onto few square feet and whose sole intention is to hog whatever the waiter brings on his tray. It reminded me of our birthday parties on campus where you can literally see cake disappear. (The waiter always lingered for the customary second it took to empty the tray so he could take it back an save his effort)
Back to campus and it was zzzz. Have late lectures tomorrow. Can afford to sleep and chuck the work!!!
Another Birthday
Seems to be raining Birthdays. Today's was Harshit Jain's. Pranesh's roomie and the macchhan down the hall.
After the Rangmanch which I skipped coz of tiredness, we had a good time splashing cake and getting splashed too. Pranesh had arranged ummm..."balloons" :-) to be tied around Jain's neck. After the revelries where I perfected the art of cake snacthing. (We gotta do tht here else you are left high and dry), we landed our asses at the Nescafe stall on campus where Prady got bumps for reasons best kept secret.
Later we hauled ourselves to the HERO ITES canteen across the road where we hogged on mutton rolls, chicken rolls, Maggi and soft drinks.
Nice treat... stomach was bloody filled. Good end to an evening after listening to a speaker on business excellence.
After the Rangmanch which I skipped coz of tiredness, we had a good time splashing cake and getting splashed too. Pranesh had arranged ummm..."balloons" :-) to be tied around Jain's neck. After the revelries where I perfected the art of cake snacthing. (We gotta do tht here else you are left high and dry), we landed our asses at the Nescafe stall on campus where Prady got bumps for reasons best kept secret.
Later we hauled ourselves to the HERO ITES canteen across the road where we hogged on mutton rolls, chicken rolls, Maggi and soft drinks.
Nice treat... stomach was bloody filled. Good end to an evening after listening to a speaker on business excellence.
August 23, 2005
A belated Birthday
Roomie Pradeep Verghese's birthday was on the 14th of August; when me and Mansur (our pseudo-roomie) were out on holidays. We din't get a chance to kick him and Prady and Pranesh had taken the roomie's honours on our behalf (For the uninitiated, roomie's honours entail splashing cake on the bday boys face and also getting bumps from the mob that joins in the revelry.
Considering the fact that we hadn't gifted Pradeep and the unfairness to Prady and Pranesh we decided to have a small re-take.
We got Pradeep a brown-grey Tshirt, essentianlly because he has many black tees. Mansur was hell bent on changing his wardrobe (actually Pradeep's almirah is still not filled coz he's not unpacked). We also got him "Short tales of Saki" by some Hector Munro (Mansur's choice... im not a lit guy!!). All the macchhans of the ground floor, neighbour Dheeresh and Comm. Jt. Secy. Karishma descended to our room and surprised Verghese.
(Verghese surprised)
Clockwise : Birthday boy Pradeep (black tee), Pranesh, Abhishek, Prady (hidden), me, Suresh (can just see his glasses), Mansur and Karishma.
Verghese checking out his tee
Considering the fact that we hadn't gifted Pradeep and the unfairness to Prady and Pranesh we decided to have a small re-take.
We got Pradeep a brown-grey Tshirt, essentianlly because he has many black tees. Mansur was hell bent on changing his wardrobe (actually Pradeep's almirah is still not filled coz he's not unpacked). We also got him "Short tales of Saki" by some Hector Munro (Mansur's choice... im not a lit guy!!). All the macchhans of the ground floor, neighbour Dheeresh and Comm. Jt. Secy. Karishma descended to our room and surprised Verghese.
(Verghese surprised)
Verghese checking out his tee
It ended with birthday fags, Dunhill sponsered by Abhishek and lit by Pradeep. The smokers puffed. Non smokers (me included) watched. And then it was the traditional butt kicking session!!!
BDay fags... Dheeresh looks on
PS: Kindly forgive the clothesline in the room. We just decided to do our Laundry that day.
August 19, 2005
Dumb C Contest
The dark horses...entering a competition with sleepy eyes...not interested in the proceedings...and leaving the battleground 200 bucks richer and a second place to boot.
That kinda sums up my experience today at the Marquity Dumb Charades competition. We (Mansur, Pradeep and me) entered just for the heck of it. It was a bit unfair too coz we finished second by just a second. we guessed in 10 seconds and the winners in 9 seconds. But gracious second placers that we are, we accepted it gleefully.
We also probably guessed the maximum number of charades when we were tied up for the qualifiers to the final with Ankit and team and the tie-break went to three rounds!!! It was also a unique tie-break wherein a tie-break was played on two different scores. Anyways doesn't matter now that it is over. it was close on many occassions during that tie-break and i guess it was the most exciting and nailbiting situation of the day.
Hip hip Hooray!!! Hip hip Hooray!!!Hip hip Hooray!!!
That kinda sums up my experience today at the Marquity Dumb Charades competition. We (Mansur, Pradeep and me) entered just for the heck of it. It was a bit unfair too coz we finished second by just a second. we guessed in 10 seconds and the winners in 9 seconds. But gracious second placers that we are, we accepted it gleefully.
We also probably guessed the maximum number of charades when we were tied up for the qualifiers to the final with Ankit and team and the tie-break went to three rounds!!! It was also a unique tie-break wherein a tie-break was played on two different scores. Anyways doesn't matter now that it is over. it was close on many occassions during that tie-break and i guess it was the most exciting and nailbiting situation of the day.
Hip hip Hooray!!! Hip hip Hooray!!!Hip hip Hooray!!!
August 13, 2005
What love is for me...
Went thru certain experiences in the last two weeks which have made me introspect into the meaning of love... and here are my thoughts raw .....
Love is all encompassing. It is the creator of life. Without love there cannot be life. You cannot go through life without love. Life then becomes a burden, a liability.
Love includes many things. It has the good and the bad times. It includes great and not-so-great experiences. It includes happiness and sorrow.
When you love someone, you love without restraint. You give of yourself, completely and totally. You don’t think of what you want. “You” becomes immaterial. The person you love becomes paramount. You forget your needs. You give and give and give.
Love forgives. It doesn’t hold grudges, nor does it want to take revenge. In bad times also, it exults in the person you love.
It doesn’t look at appearances. It looks straight into the heart. It looks for true meaning.
Love grows. It takes the people with it on a journey of self-discovery. It teaches the mind, it trains the soul. It educates the individual.
Love is pure. It is clean. It is glorious.
Love brings forth fruit. It gives birth to emotions. It gives rise to feelings. It gives rise to passions. But it doesn’t mean that if the fruit is not there the tree is bad. The tree requires nourishment. Love requires re-enforcement.
Love can also bring forth experiences which may not be good. These may include pain, suffering, misery, anxiety, remorse and the like. These are testing times for love. They test the true nature and character of love. They set new benchmarks, to know the limits to which you can love. They are necessary to show you where you stand and where you can be.
Love doesn’t aim to change people. It takes pride in the diversity of itself. It doesn’t tailor the person to suit its needs.
Thats all for now... will add more later
August 12, 2005
Those were happy times
Four years have gone by… almost four years…and now life tells me it’s time to forget it all…how can life be so cruel??? Those were happy times…or so I thought…the world looked conquerable…the universe finite… and now today it seems vast, dominating, menacing…I pray for strength to walk the world ahead alone…the one who used to walk by me so far has chosen to go by a different path…it’d difficult, it’s tough, it’s hard…but I was told that life isn’t fair…so I must tread along…
Simple as I am…unsophisticated…uncomplicated…I don’t want to make sense for reason has far lost it’s path… how did I miss the bus? Where did I go wrong? These are questions that I don’t think I’ll get answers to …
Those happy times…they will come back…they will haunt my mind…every place visited…every moment cherished… hits like a thunder clap…jolts me outta my sleep…
Is this destiny??? Is this reality??? Destiny I don’t know… but reality it is for sure…bye dear friend…those were happy times…(for me at least)…I dunno whether we can be the same again…I dunno whether I must wait or move on…right here, right now I guess it’s best to take one day at a time…and wait for what tomorrow brings……
August 9, 2005
Homesick
Gave the FA mids without studyin as much as a word. Dunno how the two hours went... Just rambled on the paper... dint balance the balance sheet and dint get the P&L statement right....
dint matter anyways. Have pressing matters on my mind at present. Eco was horrible. I doubt i'll even get 10. Havent been eating well too. I Think i'm homesick...
Planned to go home just arbitrarily... tickets have arrivd too... leaving this place as soon as stats is over on thursday. bunking class on friday. giving up the trip to rishikesh on saturday. i wanna go home...
plan to get back on the 15th night. This mid term is going nowhere.....
dint matter anyways. Have pressing matters on my mind at present. Eco was horrible. I doubt i'll even get 10. Havent been eating well too. I Think i'm homesick...
Planned to go home just arbitrarily... tickets have arrivd too... leaving this place as soon as stats is over on thursday. bunking class on friday. giving up the trip to rishikesh on saturday. i wanna go home...
plan to get back on the 15th night. This mid term is going nowhere.....
August 1, 2005
Mid terms coming up
Its been a wake up call. I havent looked at the books for quite some time now and its a bit scary coz i have a lot to complete and do before i get confident abt myself.
Marketing, Human Behavior, Legal aspects of Biz, Financial Accounting, Economics, Stats, oral omm and presentation skills....damn the list is long.....
Just pray to God for grace to go through these trying times :) Lets see what happens.... first one FA coming up 8th August.
Marketing, Human Behavior, Legal aspects of Biz, Financial Accounting, Economics, Stats, oral omm and presentation skills....damn the list is long.....
Just pray to God for grace to go through these trying times :) Lets see what happens.... first one FA coming up 8th August.
July 30, 2005
Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink
Tuesday and Wednesday were probably the first time I really felt away from home. Mumbai was flooded and badly at that. I was oblivious of the entire turn of events until I received an SMS from my friend Rupesh. The message just read "Its pouring like hell here in mumbai. evrythng flooded & eytg shutdwn. schools clsd 4 nxt 2 days. Audrey safe in hosp.Puni @ uncls plc in ddr.Cal if pos."
Calling home was futile as the networks were jammed. But after numerous attempts finally got thru and came to know that dad had decided to spend the night at the office, Mom had just taken 3 hrs to walk from work to home, siblings were safe, etc. Couldn't get thru Audrey, and was glad that Rupesh had taken care of that angle.
The aftermath was bad. Numerous people lost house and belongings. Others lost loved ones. Huge losses shops. Industries shut down. Collapse of the infrastructure. Politicians disowning the responsibility, etc. The estimated loss is increasing by the day. Last estimates (as per my knowledge) were around Rs.1800 crores ( roughly US$ 413 mn). Around 900 people have lost their lives.
We need to ask some hard questions here. Why does a city that is so crucial to India is at the mercy of the elements? Why does the civic infrastucture fail every mnsoon? Drains are either filled with filth or clogged. Why can't Mumbaikars take care of the way they manage their surroundings? People openly transfer garbage from their locus to the drains. None take the effort to shift it to where it actually belongs. And the worst excuse is that how can my compliance make a difference? Why is the Met office always wrong in its predictions? Dont we have the best in supercomputers which is used for forecasting?
Lots of questions, but everyone wants to talk only of the 'spirit' of Mumbai. Can I say more?
Calling home was futile as the networks were jammed. But after numerous attempts finally got thru and came to know that dad had decided to spend the night at the office, Mom had just taken 3 hrs to walk from work to home, siblings were safe, etc. Couldn't get thru Audrey, and was glad that Rupesh had taken care of that angle.
The aftermath was bad. Numerous people lost house and belongings. Others lost loved ones. Huge losses shops. Industries shut down. Collapse of the infrastructure. Politicians disowning the responsibility, etc. The estimated loss is increasing by the day. Last estimates (as per my knowledge) were around Rs.1800 crores ( roughly US$ 413 mn). Around 900 people have lost their lives.
We need to ask some hard questions here. Why does a city that is so crucial to India is at the mercy of the elements? Why does the civic infrastucture fail every mnsoon? Drains are either filled with filth or clogged. Why can't Mumbaikars take care of the way they manage their surroundings? People openly transfer garbage from their locus to the drains. None take the effort to shift it to where it actually belongs. And the worst excuse is that how can my compliance make a difference? Why is the Met office always wrong in its predictions? Dont we have the best in supercomputers which is used for forecasting?
Lots of questions, but everyone wants to talk only of the 'spirit' of Mumbai. Can I say more?
June 28, 2005
Induction and memories of home....
Had an amazing induction... Was awake non-stop for 3x24 hours... a new record by my standards. Had a host of activities ranging from crazy ones to some really good ones too. but most of all liked the outbound exercises a lot.
BSchool life is much different from what I expected. Hope it keeps me sane through the two years I have to spend here.
Miss home a lot... and also the long evening walks with Audrey. Miss Siemens and all colleagues there... miss Orlem and the great crowd there...
Class starts 30th June...till then its zzzzz....
BSchool life is much different from what I expected. Hope it keeps me sane through the two years I have to spend here.
Miss home a lot... and also the long evening walks with Audrey. Miss Siemens and all colleagues there... miss Orlem and the great crowd there...
Class starts 30th June...till then its zzzzz....
June 22, 2005
Settling in....@ MDI
So finally dreams are coming true. Had the first feel of BSchool. Landed here after a short time in Karnal with my aunty. The nuns were very hospitable and stuffed me, mom and sis with good food. liked the place. Left from there to come to Gurgaon today. Landed at SBI, did the loan stuff. Got my photo clicked (the bank manager wanted it to adorn his noticeboard!!!)...landed at the hostel. got the room allocated and settled in.
Has been a bit tough to come a long way from home. Missing Audrey and home terribly. Plan to go home in December. Long time to go for tht.
Has been a bit tough to come a long way from home. Missing Audrey and home terribly. Plan to go home in December. Long time to go for tht.
June 16, 2005
Wanna 'do' IIM??
Last week i've come in contact with many people who have asked me "How to 'do' IIM?". I was like, "You wanna 'do' IIM.??!!!" What exactly do you want to 'do' to an IIM?. This is just another example of how the IIM brand has come to define management edcation in India. I a going to MDI, Gurgaon. Yet people think that I'm 'doing' IIM. The IIMs are in the illustrious league of companies like Xerox and brands like Velcro, Sun-Mica etc.
But before the IIMs rejoice, what does the future hold for them? The lower IIMs like Indore and Kozhikode have stiff competition from the 2nd rung BSchools. Lucknow has even greater competition from the top tier institutes like MDI, SP Jain, FMS, etc.
This is not to say that the top 3 guys don't have competition. The gap between the top IIMs and other top institutes is diminishing by the day. Questions are being raised on the credibility of CAT to screen students, where students are tested on just verbal and analytical skills. With a huge sample of around 150,000 students vying for the 1,300 odd seats less than 1% make it through. The difference between a 99 and 97 percentile position will hardly be a couple of marks.
The government has planned to build some more IIMs to meet demand. But will the new kids on the block be able to piggybank on the brand of A,B and C? I know many guys who gladly join 'others' than go to K and I. I had 98.48 percentile in CAT 2004. The guy with 99.1 was just 2 marks ahead based on % scores in the scorecard. In short, the difference in quality of students across the top BSchools doesn't vary much.
Slowly but surely brand IIM will be on par with the 'others'. Till then, if you are doing a management course you can say you are doing "IIM"!!!
But before the IIMs rejoice, what does the future hold for them? The lower IIMs like Indore and Kozhikode have stiff competition from the 2nd rung BSchools. Lucknow has even greater competition from the top tier institutes like MDI, SP Jain, FMS, etc.
This is not to say that the top 3 guys don't have competition. The gap between the top IIMs and other top institutes is diminishing by the day. Questions are being raised on the credibility of CAT to screen students, where students are tested on just verbal and analytical skills. With a huge sample of around 150,000 students vying for the 1,300 odd seats less than 1% make it through. The difference between a 99 and 97 percentile position will hardly be a couple of marks.
The government has planned to build some more IIMs to meet demand. But will the new kids on the block be able to piggybank on the brand of A,B and C? I know many guys who gladly join 'others' than go to K and I. I had 98.48 percentile in CAT 2004. The guy with 99.1 was just 2 marks ahead based on % scores in the scorecard. In short, the difference in quality of students across the top BSchools doesn't vary much.
Slowly but surely brand IIM will be on par with the 'others'. Till then, if you are doing a management course you can say you are doing "IIM"!!!
June 4, 2005
An Underpriced Stock!!!
I have found myself a hot stock...A bank owned by the Hindujas of London, and grossly underpriced even if i take into consideration last fiscals earnings. Whats more, it is heard that GE wants a stake in the bank. Thats already caused a lot of interest on the counters on the exchange.
The earnings per share have been as follows:
2001-02 ---> 3.17
2002-03 --->7.59 (Gain of 139% over last year)
2003-04 --->11.90 (Gain of 56% over last year)
Even at last years EPS and the current P/E of 8.4 which is pretty much the average for the banking industry at present the value of the stock is (11.90 x 8.4) = 99.96 ~100 bucks. At the time of writing this the stock is hovering around 66.50.
At current P/E ratio of it translates into an EPS of 7.91 which is highly unlikely.
This is of course the conservative estimate. Even if we assume that the earnings of the bank have flattened out and on reducing trend if we assume the bank to have a 25% gain in its EPS that will make the stock worth (1.25 x 11.90 x 8.4) = 124.95 ~ 125.
All this makes it a very attractive stock in an overvalued market. So before you pester me into revealing the name of the stock, here it is; its IndusInd Bank.
The earnings per share have been as follows:
2001-02 ---> 3.17
2002-03 --->7.59 (Gain of 139% over last year)
2003-04 --->11.90 (Gain of 56% over last year)
Even at last years EPS and the current P/E of 8.4 which is pretty much the average for the banking industry at present the value of the stock is (11.90 x 8.4) = 99.96 ~100 bucks. At the time of writing this the stock is hovering around 66.50.
At current P/E ratio of it translates into an EPS of 7.91 which is highly unlikely.
This is of course the conservative estimate. Even if we assume that the earnings of the bank have flattened out and on reducing trend if we assume the bank to have a 25% gain in its EPS that will make the stock worth (1.25 x 11.90 x 8.4) = 124.95 ~ 125.
All this makes it a very attractive stock in an overvalued market. So before you pester me into revealing the name of the stock, here it is; its IndusInd Bank.
March 20, 2005
BSkool here I come
Yiiiippppeeeeee!!!!
I have made it to bskool...have been granted admission to the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM) from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon. I am really excited to go there and pursue my dreams...at the same time, I feel sad coz I dinged the NITIE call....but I guess there is only that much you can do when the institute decides beforehand whom to take and whom not to...my interview in NITIE lasted a whole 5 minutes (maybe a few seconds more)..thats it.
anyway me looking forward to studying n stayin in North India...Gurgaon is a stones throw from New Delhi. supposed to be the lastest of a host of new cities that are fast growing by leaps and bounds.
Hoping for a nice stay ahead.
I have made it to bskool...have been granted admission to the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM) from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon. I am really excited to go there and pursue my dreams...at the same time, I feel sad coz I dinged the NITIE call....but I guess there is only that much you can do when the institute decides beforehand whom to take and whom not to...my interview in NITIE lasted a whole 5 minutes (maybe a few seconds more)..thats it.
anyway me looking forward to studying n stayin in North India...Gurgaon is a stones throw from New Delhi. supposed to be the lastest of a host of new cities that are fast growing by leaps and bounds.
Hoping for a nice stay ahead.
February 26, 2005
Books, Books, Books, Books....
I had been to Poona last month....for a Kaizen Mela....but this is not about that....rather, this is about the killing I made in a bookstore, where me and buddy Rupesh cleaned a bookshop away, buying three bagsful of books amounting to a coupla' grand...
Mois now got the following in my collection
1. Lateral Thinking - Ed de Bono
2. The Toyota Way - Jim Liker
3. Hire and keep the best people - Brain Tracey (this is for Nikunj.. he needs it more than I do)
4. The Goal - Eliyahu Goldratt
5. The McKinsey way - Ethan Raisel
6. The Monk who sold his Ferarri - R. Sharma
7. Psychology - dunno who...gave this to Audrey darling
8. some more I lost track of......
while Rpesh bagged
Da Vinci Code
Agatha Christi
Wings of Fire - APJ Abdul Kalam
and many more chotta mota books....whew!!!!
Plan to go on a reading overdrive in the next few weeks....back to the days of old....
Mois now got the following in my collection
1. Lateral Thinking - Ed de Bono
2. The Toyota Way - Jim Liker
3. Hire and keep the best people - Brain Tracey (this is for Nikunj.. he needs it more than I do)
4. The Goal - Eliyahu Goldratt
5. The McKinsey way - Ethan Raisel
6. The Monk who sold his Ferarri - R. Sharma
7. Psychology - dunno who...gave this to Audrey darling
8. some more I lost track of......
while Rpesh bagged
Da Vinci Code
Agatha Christi
Wings of Fire - APJ Abdul Kalam
and many more chotta mota books....whew!!!!
Plan to go on a reading overdrive in the next few weeks....back to the days of old....
Lot has happened in the past 5 months....CAT happened....did well by my standards....not that I believe in the system, but its the best that can be got when u've got 160,000 aspirants...now I have the opportunity to present myself before two institutes....
btw, NITIE has been a dream insti since SE days..(that's second year engg.)...hope I can make it...
btw, NITIE has been a dream insti since SE days..(that's second year engg.)...hope I can make it...
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