December 22, 2006

Yuletide beckons!!!

I'm off to Mumbai for a week. Its nice to get away from the drudgery of Pre Placement Talks, academic rigour :), and the usual hustle and bustle of Change Masters. There are lots of things to look forward too, like:

(1) Making tea and drinking it in my mug
Middle finger to all you dip teas of the world. Welcome to the original brew, simmering on a hot flame
(2) Eating pork and pork derivatives
Damn Gurgaon for its obsession with chicken and mutton. You are not a meat-eater if you haven't tasted pork marinated for three days in traditional Mangalorian curry.
(3) Possibly assist the sweet making activity of home
Kalkals, Marzapans, Newrios, Guava cheese, Jujubs, Cookies, Cake ... my mouth is watering as I write this
(4) Playing Christmas carols full blast
(5) Midnight Mass on St. Anne's grounds
Rather its after Mass thats the happening part ;) Gatecrash a few parties if possible
(6) Catching up with the ol' gang
And their better halves / to-be better halves. I guess I'm the only bachelor in the group :(
(7) Mom Dad's silver jubilee on the 26th
Can't think of anything to get them
(8) Possibly a few weddings since its wedding season

I'm loving it!
Mumbai here I come!!!

December 5, 2006

Poker and Walker ... a nice combination

Well this was not inspired by 'Casino Royale', the latest Bond flick. It all happened when I was in Mumbai last month for Avenues at IIT-SOM for Avenues 2006, a business simulation game. On the way back we Mandevians played poker. For me it was the first time. And at the end of two days and countless games I made a profit of Rs.2.00 Obviously the stakes were small with cover charges of 25p and a stop loss at Rs.20. Nonetheless it was a great experience. We didn't have tokens but Harshit Jain made good the absence with his chopdi (notebook)

A few days ago we played poker again in the basement of the hostel. This time it was different. First, it was international. We had participation from Belgium, France, Germany, Morocco and India. Second, there were tokens finally instead of the chopdi toting Harshit Jain. Third, we had Johnie Walker Black Label for company.

The exchange students were good players. Its a different thing that Verghese always ends up winning some. The tokens added to the jazz and the JWBL was superb. I decided to have the Scotch neat. Bloody smooth. Three large ones later I was still feeling good. And mind you, no hangover in the morning.

I was wiped out in the first round and went to play some table tennis. I returned later to play for Verghese and as lady luck would have it I had two aces in my hand and one round later I had another on the table. Undoutedly, I cleaned up a huge pot I dunno how much coz by then the Black Label had had its effect. As for the net winnings, as usual I broke even. No profit no loss!

L-R: Tim, Thibaut (both from Belgium), Slyvia (Italy, onlooker), Moi, Verghese (Indian reps!), Robert and Evaristo (both from Germany)

Hasan (Morocco) had gone to get some stuff hence not in the pic.

December 1, 2006

Finally ... it is finished!!!

Ah finally it is over. There has been loads of work in the past few weeks. For starters it was JP Morgan's all India case study on the valuation of a Chinky company. At the end of it all I was haunted by Free Cash Flows and Excel sheets. However my team members Porter and Sanky and me learnt the inside out of valuations. It was a good learning experience.

Then came the autobiography on self for the course on Self Development and Interpersonal Relations. The prof wanted something of a minimum of 20 pages. Poor me. I started typing and along the way I got so carried away and it went to 31 pages. The autobiography looked good at the end of it all and believe it or not it made me relive some of my happiest moments. Yes I also got a bit sentimental in between. Autobiographies are a good way to explore yourself and they actually help you understand yourself better. Everyone should write an autobiography!

Simulataneously, I was working on a course of independant study on 'Corporate Renewal' We have an option here of taking a CIS in lieu of a full credit where we study a subject of our choice for the entire term. Obviously the perks are that there are no classes, no quizzes and that you define your work and your pace. The cons are that since one is free one tends to not work until the advent of deadlines.

So thats what took all my time and kept me away from blogging all this while. Will be coming up with updates soon!