Deutschland besiegt Portugal

Whenever Germany yet again prove the doubters wrong on the biggest stage, an aphorism usually attributed to Gary Lineker is dragged up: "Football is a simple game – 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win."

Living Life Fast Forward

Have you ever felt like you are desperately trying to catch up with things but it is always a step ahead of you? Well this is the exact same feeling I am having ever since Term 2 kicked off. Term 2 is a totally different beast compared to Term 1. Every other day there are group assignments, DMOP homework, Markstrat decisions and to top it LDP presentations. The list is endless and it is relentless. Every moment I feel that I am rushing through everything even sleep...can you believe that? even sleeping in Fast Forward.

Classes are not very interesting this term. Some of it has to do with the subjects but a lot of it also has to do with the profs teaching them. Although they boast of some incredible credentials, when it comes to teaching I think they have quite a long way to go. Markstrat is one of the highs of this term and is playing a big part in sucking away every one's time. We have adopted a nice policy related to Markstrat. We have decided not to spend more than 3-4 hours on each decision. Given that your company's results are not correlated to the amount of time you put in the game,it does not really pay to put in long hours. I am happy that this strategy paid off quite well with decision 3 and we did much better with lesser effort. A lot of buzz is going around campus with one of the groups having so much inventory left that they are planning to stash them in their quads and studios to avoid holding costs. But I must admit that the Markstrat game is a beauty. It has unleashed a competition on campus like never before and it is really funny at times to see people hyped about their company's reults as if they are really going to get a raise.

Its not just all these acads, its the football as well. I really wish I was not so passionate about the game. I have to give it another 2 hours each noght. I was upset to see Germany limp through to the Quarters. Tonight they play Portugal and I am really apprehensive of their chances. The German fan inside me is getting prepared for the worst. But then Germany still it is....We will know tonight.



I just hope Ballack shines tonight.

As if all this was not enough, I decided to contest for the post of President - Business Technology Club (one of the many student clubs at ISB) and luckily enough (or unluckily only time will tell) got elected. So now this new responsibility will also demand time from me. I just hope I can live up to the expectations of the people who have expressed their faith and voted for me. Ahh well we will see....So many people have survived this rigorous year and I am confident I will too...but right now I just want life to go even faster so that this freaking Term gets over and I can just relax for a day.

Weekend Entertainment

The term breaks gave me the opportunity to watch two movies of totally contrasting types - Indiana Jones and Sarkar Raaj. The first one fails to live upto the standards of prior Indiana Jones movies even with the state of the art special effects that Hollywood puts to use these days. However if you are looking forward to watching a non-sensical movie without having to bother the grey cells much, it might be actually value for money. So next time dont ask me "did you like the movie?" The response is totally dependent on the state of mind one is watching the movie.

Sarkar Raaj on the other hand is a different proposition. The starcast and the opening sequence is very very similar to Sarkar. Although inspired from Godfather, I felt Sarkar was a decent try by RGV. However Sarkar Raaj has an extremely weak storyline. Amitabh, Abhishek and Aish all desperately try to save the movie through a combo of decent acting and star power but the movie just falls through without a plot. I had gone into this movie with an expectation after having watched and liked Sarkar (inspite of its shortcomings) but Sarkar Raaj turned out to be a total waste of time. In the end, I was literally crying "Govinda Govinda Govinda Govinda Govinnnndaaaa" for the movie to end.

After two movie experiences, the only good entertainment from the term break was watching TV. I watched Ivanovic become the women's world no 1 and then I witnessed a rare sight of Roger Federer literally torn apart in Roland Garros by Rafael Nadal. And to top it all, I watched Germany begin their campaign in Euro 2008 with a convincing 2-0 win over Poland. Hats off to the greatest entertainer there is.... Sports!!!!!!!

Salvation Awaits

I happened to take a walk around campus a while back and believe me there was not a soul to be seen. The final exams for Term 1 begins tomorrow and for many of us its the last hope of salvation. Though I must say that each one of us have our own view of salvation. No matter how much many of us say that grades don't matter and that we don't care, the fact is all of us do. And it is not because we are obsessed about it but it is because we all are used to being successful. I mean all of us have been in the top bracket either in acads or work and the very thought of being resigned to mediocrity is a huge blow to our morale. Its a bitter pill to swallow. I can really feel what is going through most of our minds. Thinking about it, I feel that coping with these mental blocks, inhibitions and challenges and coming out on the better side of it would be an important takeaway for me from B School.

It is also true that having a support net of close friends is essential to survive through these difficult times. Each of us need that space where we can let go of our emotions,speak our mind and have others listen, understand and empathize. I have always been a firm believer that people whom you want to be with when you are feeling down, are the people whom you value the most. For those of us who have family on campus, the support system is in place and for others - the sooner we find it the better it is. As for me, I just want to say thank you to you all...you know who you are...>:)<

On a lighter note, I watched the IPL finals what a grand finish it had. Being a neutral I enjoyed the match even more without having to go through the angst of a supporter. Kudos to Warney and his team for proving the law of averages wrong and outperforming everyone else throughout the IPL.