Nostalgeek

It was a nice Friday night dinner. A bunch of friends from ISB met at an Afghani restaurant called Samarkand, one of the better rated restaurants in Bangalore. The ambiance was nice and so was the food and we soon got talking over some nice starters and a wonderful drink called Angoori Nasha. But the first thing that struck all of us in the first 10 minutes of our discussion was the fact that all of us miss ISB.

ISB was everything a dream life can have. A group of very bright individuals and their families as friends. A gated community offering California lifestyle shielding us from the horrors of daily life. Wonderful stimulating discussions on all topics under the sun. Working your *** off till wee hours of the morning. Then sleepwalking to class and dozing off in a jiffy. Sharing the fun and the pain of everyday life with your friends and peers. And lastly the most awesome parties ever.

ISB parties are the single biggest phenomenon I miss now. There is no better fun than working hard and playing hard. Letting your hair down with a few drinks and then swaying with some wonderful music by DJ Ananth . And for grabbing a quick rest there was the grass banks by the dance floor which got renamed to the Great Wall of Bengal. And then there were themed parties... The rain dance parties with water sprinklers in the mirror pool and live chaat counters, the Bollywood theme party, pyjama party, section parties and the awesome Holi celebration. Thinking about each of them makes me sad and I long for those amazing times to get back. Here after ISB, I have not partied for ages.

Actually part of it also has to do with the company. Many of my friends have got married and I don't know why but their party appetite has now dropped to ZERO. Anyways for the friends who are still interested, I think we need to explore some nice places for partying in Bangalore. Although Bangalore nightlife gets over by 11 PM due to government restriction, its still better than nothing. I think over the last year at ISB, we used to frequent almost all the discs and nightclubs in Hyderabad in addition all the premium restaurants. And look at us now. We are not students anymore and earning now but our "quality of life" has degraded. Something needs to be done about this. I am serious.

O week at ISB

Ok guys lot has happened since my last post.

• I was proud to graduate on 4th and have my parents be present for the awards and the graduation ceremony.
• I partied the whole night on 4th while parents could not sleep due to the loud party music (even though it happened far from my room)
• Went back home with my parents on 5th and spent some of the most lazy days of my life. Suffered withdrawal symptoms from no work, lack of pace, lack of excitement
• Back to ISB on 10th April and would stay on till 19th morning for the orientation of CO 2010
• The CO 2010 is another fantastic bunch of individuals and I was really impressed in my brief interaction with some of them at their energy and enthusiasm levels. I am sure they will take brand ISB to greater heights
• The campus however isnt the same anymore. The memories of the place come back...same places occupied by new faces and it feels so strange. Anyways I miss the last year and the amazing friends I had
• I am clueless as to what I would do at home till end of May when I start work...I think I will have to give my travel plans some serious thoughts

Anyways that is that. Once I am home and get my internet, maybe I will attempt to write some nice fancy post. Till then take care :)

It is a strange feeling...

I wake up today morning and things are not the same anymore. No assignments to sweat about, no exams to worry about or classes to go to. Life as a student is no more. I don't know....Through the year how we have longed for this day but now that it has come it feels weird. The year has been one hell of a ride and maybe we all got used to the frenetic pace of things. So when I think of what I need to do today and find nothing, it feels so strange.

We start the disorientation week today and it will be parties and get together to relive the entire year. We graduate on the 4th and leave campus on the 5th. The journey that began one inspiring weekend in December 2006 preparing for the GMAT comes to an end in a week. I want to thank you all who have stood by me through everything over the last 2 years, through the GMAT prep, through the ups and downs of the application process and through the gruelling last year and made this study possible. I was/am really lucky to have had you around me when it mattered.

The realities of day to day awaits us outside campus. Again back to a new routine of work and home for 5-6 days a week and recuperate over the weekend. A new city, new people, new positives, new negatives and a whole new experience. Look forward to another life changing experience in the months to come. I do not know how I should feel - I am sad, cheerful, heart broken, excited, nostalgic, depressed and proud all at the same time....Take that for a mood!!!

Contrast

On popular demand, here goes a blog about some of our professors here in ISB in this term. Well first things first, let me clear a few things. I have my deep respect towards them and whatever I write below is an objective analysis and not meant to disregard their achievements and experience.

Prof 1 TN: One of the veterans in marketing management in Indian business education. He has taught even a couple of our friends fathers when they were in IIM. Aged about 75+ but with the energy and a sense of humour of a 25 year old, he really brings the Monday morning class to life. Now add to that the fact that after 10 classes none of us mere mortals could understand what the subject was all about and we have a perfect combination. The professor has an uncanny ability to come up with the most disjointed slideshow filled with acronyms only he can conjure up and an absolute lack of coherence between 2 consequtive slides. Now this becomes even more hilarious when he himself seems to be surprised as to what the slide means and says "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.................". The class has been so popular that we have had students come and attend the class even though they haven't taken this elective subject. A few of the classes attained spiritual level and students were elevated to the heights of self actualization in Maslow's hierarchy needs. Anyways the last say is that it is an ideal Term 8 course and a must for subsequent batches. 

Prof 2 SC: This person is a 30 something and his credentials go something like this. Bachelors from Wharton, Masters in Engg from Stanford and MBA from Harvard and now a professor at Wharton. Talk about resume...Though his name sounded very Bengali, it was not until yesterday that I discovered that he is indeed a bong. And I was excited to know that his parents hailed from Asansol and he had relatives in Asansol and Durgapur, the place I am from. However the only time he spent in those places was during his childhood when he used to come to India for vacations. Actually his parents were settled in Dusseldorf, Germany and he was born and brought up there before going to the US for higher education. But what is really phenomenal is the fluent Bengali he speaks and the passion that he exudes about India and Durgapur Asansol, places where he probably spent a very small portion of his life. In the brief 10 minutes we talked he even told me how he was eagerly waiting for the new airport to come up and how it could really work given the socio economic makeup of the region. Not all NRIs are disconnected with their roots and despise India, I thought. Anyways coming to his style of teaching. It is extremely modern with engaging discussions, references to cutting edge research by him and his colleagues and insightful takeaways from every class. The examples discussed are contemporary, the assignments thought provoking. The way how he tried to demystify the issue of post merger integration and proving that most of it is indeed science and not art as it is projected to be was just mind boggling.

Well that is contrast for you. Something that you only get at ISB. We are really privileged to have been taught by some of the best professors around. They leave an indelible mark on you and I guess these experiences are really priceless. There are surely some things money can buy.

Luck By Chance

It was just another evening - thought SB as he locked his door of his Hyderabad house to take his wife and kids for a Sunday evening outing. His wife had been pestering him for a long time for a decent movie and he had been putting it off for long. When SB was posted at a sub-division before this,  his wife and kids pretty much nothing to do apart from staying withing the confines of his bungalow. Security reasons prevented them from moving around after dark.  Things in Hyderabad are much better he reckoned. But one thing he never compromised on was security. He made it a point that his official driver had no prior clue of his travel plans and the whole driving directions were given by him as they moved.

The white ambassador rolled out with the red light on it with SB instructing the driver on the 30 minute drive to Prasadz - one of the leading multiplexes at Hyderabad. Once at Prasadz,they quickly went in to check up on the favourite movie but the show was full. Damn the Hyderabad theatres SB thought. Why cannot Hyderabad build a few more multiplexes? The next show was at 9:30 PM and it would be really late and the kids had school the next day. He looked at his wife and could literally feel the disappointment in her eyes. Let's atleast take the kids somewhere - she said. SB called his driver and in 10 minutes they were in front of the gates of Lumbini Park. There is a nice light and sound show from 7:00 PM. As they filed in through the gate, SB looked at his watch. 7:05 PM. The show had already started. Anyways he escorted his wife and kids to the open amphitheatre where the show happens. Most of the seats were taken. SB looked around. The only available seats were on a row fairly on the top tier.  What the heck...Slowly they made their way to the empty row. Four of them seated side by side from the aisle and two seats on the right of SB were empty. The man seating on the third seat from him seemed extremely engrossed in the show and did not even look at SB and his family as they settled in.

SB finally turned his attention to the show which he had seen a number of times before this. His family still loved coming to the park and it was really worth to see his kids enjoy. And then all of a sudden - bang - The whole world went dark for a second. It must have been 5 seconds. SB regained his senses and the first thing he looked around was to find his wife and family relatively unhurt. He just told his wife to run. She got hold of the kids and rushed down the stairs along with the streaming chaotic masses. At first SB thought, it was a murder attempt but as he looked to his right he realized what had happened. There was a huge explosion which had formed a crater and bodies of innocent visitors laid strewn all over. The bomb apparently had gone off 2 seats on the row SB was seated. He was not supposed to have survived and neither was his family. Later he learnt that since the blast was unidirectional, by providence, fate, destiny, it killed everyone on its path on the other side. He shuddered to think what could have been of the direction of blast was a little bit different.

SB has such unbelievable gripping incidents from his eventful life to tell us here at ISB. But listening to these really makes me wonder as to how foolishly we feel we are insulated from all that is happening in the world around us. When it does not affect anyone we know we feel safe and secure. But the truth is we are as vulnerable as ever. The world watched a dastardly act being committed against the SriLankan national cricket team. To peace and prosperity in the world we live in..... Amen

New Look

I was thinking for quite a few days to change the look and feel of my blog from the default ones that Blogger provides. It took some bit of experimenting with different templates and some bit of technical troubleshooting to get it to work with most of the original widgets. Hope you like the new look. Well at least I like it.

One small request. I know many of you do read my blog and I really am happy about it. It would be great if you could become a public "follower" of my blog by clicking the application on the right hand side(below the blog visits counter)  and entering your Google User ID and password. Just a request... (it should not take more than 2 minutes of your time).

Ok that is it for today. Before I let you all go...one small piece of secret...I am trying to change my look as well...Wait..I am not growing that moustache back ( That one picture has been famous enough here at ISB). Just trying to get into shape and trimming the one pack flabs. It is no easy task and so wish me luck.

And I am back.....

Namaskar, Hello....I am finally back on campus and back from the wilderness (staying without internet access for 10 days seems like living in wilderness these days).

So how was the vacation? It was pretty nice. Lots of good yummy food, a few extra kilos gained eating and sleeping most of the days and caught up with a few old friends and spent time with parents. Ohh also happened to watch a bengali movie after a long time - "Antaheen".

This Aparna Sen and Rahul Bose starrer did not disappoint. Some people may criticize its slow pace and lack of a "real storyline" but the film treads on the makeup of relationships in modern day urban middle class society. It also touches upon the sensitive aspects of a relationship developed purely online where the two protagonists know each other only through Yahoo Messenger. The complexities of modern day and the need to share your feelings, frustrations, likes, dislikes with someone you do not really know is becoming more a norm than an outlier. The cast delivers a very mature performance and although the film has a tragic ending, it is not the ending but the sensitive portrayal of feelings of different characters that lends the film its credibility.

Anyways Term 8 starts tomorrow and to be honest...I do not feel like studying. I dread having to go to class, do the assignments, mid terms, end terms...bla bla bla. All I want is to spend the last 6 weeks enjoying and chilling with my friends here. Already I know I will miss this place like crazy after April. But as they say..."All good things come to an end".

Term 7 comes to an end

Today Term 7 at ISB came to an end. It seems just a few days back I used to blog about Term 1 and Term 2 and the stress busting late night parties at ISB. Well now that Term 7 is over, the campus bears a far different look. On one hand the long arduous road to this point has taken its toll on people. In addition the current economic uncertainty has played a dampener as well. So no parties tonight.

We are having placements on an ongoing basis and till most of the batch is placed, we will try to avoid large scale celebrations. Reading my own blog posts feels so nice sometimes. I can almost relive my journey through ISB. Well Term 7 brings an end to the wonderful unity of our "COBRA" quad with one of my quad mates going to Duke for an exchange program. We went out for dinner last Saturday and arranged a wonderful farewell party for him with presents and lots and lots of booze. These are times when I feel so nostalgic. This one year in our lives is going to be so cherished for the coming years. The fun, pranks, heartbreak, joy, pain, games, parties, dunkings, clubs, and overall the phenomenal environment and infrastructure at ISB. We are all going to miss it like crazy once we head out on the 5th of April.

These days with the motivation for studies waning by the day, I am averaging 2-3 movies a day. Although this does not beat my wonderful record when in US, it is pretty impressive. In spite of exams today, I managed to watch Vantage Point and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night. The latter is a nice movie and the concept is pretty neat. After a significant period of time, I watched a good drama. Although my heart still goes out for Slumdog Millionaire for the upcoming Oscars.

I am heading out home tomorrow morning for a well earned break of 10 days. It is going to be nice staying away from laptop screens,emails, Orkut and Facebook profiles and blogging. I hope to be able to spend some time with parents who have been patient and supportive with everything that I have gone through over the last year or so. A friend of mine called me the other day and was shocked to see so much stuff on my blog. Well, most of it is plain simple ramblings and would amount to 0 bytes when compressed. But then who would come to read my blog for intellectual enlightenment.
See you all in 10 days and take care and Happy Valentines Day in advance to all you beautiful ladies who happen to read this post(at least no harm dreaming that many of them will do).

Slumdog Millionaire

A few days back I watched the most talked about film in recent times Slumdog Millionaire. It is an awesome film, not only because of the fantastic cinematic technicalities and Rahman's sweeping tunes but due to its inherent simplicity. Inspite of being made by a foreigner, it is totally an Indian movie which tells the rags to riches story against a backdrop of struggles in Indian slums, love lost regained etc. Hundreds of films have been made in Bollywood on this theme but Slumdog simply stands out due to its masterpiece execution and innovative storytelling.

Some of my friends were however more cynical. They felt that the movie really maligned India since it only projected the dark underbelly of Mumbai and not the shining part of it. Not everything is bad in Mumbai they reason. My only answer to them is to look out of their train windows when they travel to work. You can literally see both sides of the railway tracks filled with these slums and the scene of answering nature's call in the most unhygenic conditions is extremely common.

I think its time we stopped living in denial. Agreed that India has made rapid strides in the last decade but to think that all its problems are gone is height of foolishness. In fact most of India still are starving from clean drinking water and sanitation facilitites. So much so for India shining.

The problem with Indian middle class (I am taking some liberty here to paint everyone with the same brush) is that they want to live in the small cocoon they have built. They can afford a car,  have a nice dinner as a plush restaurant, go dancing to a nightclub and come home and sleep with the AC on. They want to believe that life has improved for everyone. 

One of the best things in the movie is the way how the Indian energy has been portrayed. Indian people are fascinating in the sense that every day they wake up and muster the enthusiasm to work hard to make their lives a tiny tiny bit better. It is this constant push towards betterment that drives them on. And the director has done a fantastic job to capture it. I just happened to come back from a meeting with a Dutch delegation from Amsterdam and they wanted to interact with the students at ISB. During the interaction, one of them asked an ISB International student from Spain as to what has been his best learning experience at ISB. He said competitiveness and ability to strain yourself and test your limits. He said openly that Europeans in general have become more laid back and it is high time to sit up and take notice at the changing world order. It is important more so today to make yourself saleable and more lucrative for the global labour market. Point right on I felt and the delegation seemed to agree too.

Slumdog Millionaire in spirit is a movie about all Indians. Their aspirations, their struggle, their persistence and the never-say-die attitude. "Jai Ho"......

Here is to wishing Rahman a best of luck for the Oscars for the two songs below

O Saya (Slumdog Millionaire)

Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire)

FT 15 [ Hats off to MR]

Its official now...We were waiting with anticipation, fearing how the school would do in the Financial Times UK ranking of global B Schools. Last year's rise to 20th was a mammoth achievement in itself and we all basked in its glory for a while. Jury was out on whether we would be able to maintain our position in Top 20 this year. And lo and behold we are 15th this year.

Although not a firm believer of the different rankings, I think they give an indication of where the school stands and how the world views it to an extent. It also helps build the brand considering a school as young as ours.I think the ISB management specially former dean MR Rao deserves a real pat on the back for helping establish the school in the global arena. In spite of the flak he has received for the unfortunate Satyam fiasco, I think this news will make him feel real proud. The alums should also be applauded since their success 3 years out of the school plays a key part in the success in these rankings.

These days it is a tough ask graduating from a B school due to the uncertain economic circumstances. But if ISB continues with the current trend, it will achieve a lot in the year's to come. Here is to ISB. "WE ROCK".

Real good news coming through on the Republic Day. Jai Hind!!!

For the curious, please click on the image below to see the details of the ranking.

Once in a lifetime.....

Are we lucky? or Just the people in the wrong time in the wrong place? Well two schools of thought. One set of people believe that the current financial meltdown is a once a lifetime thing never seen since the last depression in the 1930s. That means we are witnessing something really historic and epochal. So we are lucky.....

Or are we? Maybe 20 years down the line, I can fondly look back at time and say yaah...I have seen the historic event unfold in front of my eyes. Lots of learnings, lots of new changes, transformation of businesses etc etc...But right now. Life is a bundle of uncertainty. With less than 3 months left for graduation and the contagion hitting India, the ROI on the ISB MBA looks more and more risky....The morning newspaper makes me depressed each day but today is another "historic" day. Today is the day when the Indian "Enron" story is being scripted. After allegations of corporate governance failure, Satyam chief admits to a 1230 crore rupees fraud of bungled accounting and inflated cash balances. The details are yet to be public but from the looks of it this is going to send shock waves across the Indian industry...All the fundas learnt in class - accounting, frauds, corporate governance, buyout, mergers, acquisitions are just playing out in real in front of our eyes. Again, is that we are lucky to be witnessing it and learning from it?

Well only time will tell....For now just want to leave with a quote from one of our strategy professors "Tough times don't last but tough people do"

Food for thought

The last of the three days of the Term break. Tomorrow morning we start the penultimate term at ISB. Three months and we are done. But its still a long way to go. Need to get a job to feed myself post ISB and the batch needs to be placed well as a whole so that we can enjoy Term 8 to the fullest. However nothing in the present circumstances of economic gloom and doom seems to cheer us up.

I originally had exotic plans for the term break and the first few days of Term 7 but they all came out a cropper. It feels so weird....I don't know.

Last night went out to the old part of Hyderabad with my roomie since his brother and his fiancee have come to visit him in ISB. Charminar looks really nice at night, in fact much better than I had imagined. We went to Lad Bazaar famous for their gaudy churis and fancy pearls. Then walked back to Shadab and had some of the best biriyani ,Sami mutton and Pakistani chicken ever. Although the icecream at Famous Icecream parlour was a let down, nevertheless it settled the curiosity associated with the place since we all had heard such a lot about it. Hyderabad is really one of the best places to satisfy your appetite. So here I am, trying to eat my way to happiness in these times of uncertainty.

08.08.08

Sorry guys...I haven't kept up with the pace here over the last couple of weeks. ok ok you know what is coming...another load of the same excuses - too hectic, classes, assignments, blah blah blah....well they are correct you know..only you all at ISB know...when you are expected to be proficient in corporate finance, operations, cost accounting and entrepreneurship within a span of 5 weeks...things are not that rosy.

Anyways now onto some interesting news on the other things at ISB. Last week I attended a session on Leadership by Mr. Shiv kumar who is the VP of sales at Nokia India. It was one of the interesting and thought-provoking talks I have heard in a while. He shared with us ten interesting thought relevant for a leader.

1. Complexity vs Changes
2. Present vs Future
3. Boss vs Friend
4. Job vs Family
5. Do vs Think
6. Detail vs Big Picture
7. Responsibility vs Accountability
8. Popularity vs Respect
9. Good News vs Bad News
10.Self doubt vs Optimism

He shared with us interesting anecdotes regarding each of the thoughts and we also got to hear from him the insider account of his handling of the Nokia battery crisis which happened a couple of years back. One of the best definitions of a leader I remember from the session is that " A Leader is a dealer in hope".

We have Mr.NarayanMurthy(of Infosys fame) coming to campus for a session with us tomorrow morning. I am sure it will be another interesting and insightful talk. So all in all a lot happening on campus. At times you just stop and think for a second....its just mind boggling.

The hyderabad weather is extremely pleasant now and it gets harder by the day to pull myself out of bed in the morning. The good part is that I have classes in the afternoon which means no missed classes. I have a new project on my plate now. It is the experiental learning program at ISB where the students take up a consulting project with a company for about 4 months. I got a project of my choice which is related to formulating the marketing and growth strategy of a new Web 2.0 product. Hope it is going to be an interesting experience.

Anyways time to sign off. Having slept for 7 hours over the last 2 days, I think I deserve a bit more tonight. Ohh I happened to watch the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics...I think all I can say is Wow..Hats off to China.

A Day in Term 3

7:30 AM: I get out of bed after having snoozed the alarm for the last 30 minutes. My eyes are all red as I slept at 3:30 AM in the morning after completing an assignment.

11:45 AM: Somehow manage to read through 80 pages of case and 30 pages of articles before submitting another online assignment for a different subject.

12:00 PM: Rush to meet ISB official to finalize the plan for a high profile speaker(President and COO of Computer Associates Inc) visit in the evening.

1:00 PM: Walk back home after co-ordinating the activities for the evening.

2:15 - 6:45 PM: Classes and Classes.

6:45 PM: Rush to Deans office to receive the guest speaker and show him around the academic centre

7:00 - 8:00 PM: Introduce speaker and listen to the captivating talk on successful technological mergers.

8:00 - 9:00 PM: Check mails and reply to the important ones.

9:00 - 9:45 PM: Attend a meeting with other professional club presidents

9:45 - 10:00 PM : Somehow gulp down my dinner

10:00 - 11:00 PM : Team meeting for status updates of my club

11:00 - 12:30 PM: Discuss and narrow down list of prospective ELP projects to apply

2:30 AM: Doze off to sleep with the casebook still open while reading another case for the next day's assignment due at 10:00 AM next day.

There is pressure and then there is Term 3. Its an uphill battle and will prove to be a test of my time management skills with all the added responsibility. Lets see. Wish me luck.

Here is a picture from the Computer Associates session that evening

The path to Nirvana

Will we ever fully understand ourselves? I guess not. There are times we feel that we know what we are doing. We feel we are doing everything for a purpose. We feel happy, content and lucky. But I wish that life was that simple. Just when things seem too easy, predictable and obvious something changes and all your ideas, beliefs and the obvious are no more and you look like a fool for having been so naive.

Life these days forces me to make a choice in even the most mundane of things. Should I have breakfast at Goel( the cafeteria here at ISB), have it at home or skip it altogether. Should I spend the extra hour on one subject for a lost cause or spend it on something else where there maybe better return on marks. Should I attend a party or catch up on some precious sleep. Choices choices and more choices. I sometimes so wish that these choices were not there. Our lives would have been so much simple. Anyways even before I came here I had to make difficult choices. Should I change jobs and settle down in the US, should I quit my job or take a leave of absence, should I study at ISB or go for Cambridge...the list is endless. And I made each of those choices, worked through them one at a time...fought with my fears and apprehensions but I believed I made the right choices. Well the only problem with the definition of "right" is that it makes us happy. So when the scenario changes, happiness moves further away and then all those decisions do not seem so right anymore.

Now when this happens what do you do? You feel disoriented, frustrated and helpless...and just wish someone would help you...You stretch your hand out in the hope someone will hold you and guide you out. But it is India where nothing can ever be right and just like the Hindi movies there is no help when you need it. The police always arrives late.

So I resolve to keep fighting. I resolve to wade the shit and come out on the cleaner side where the lawns are picture green, the water is crystal blue and the air is pure and fragrant. Hope that would after all make me Happy. Would it? The personal battle wages and end is not in sight....adios

Zipping through Term 2

It is a story of so near yet so far. Germany came closer to the crown. They came third in the 2006 world cup. In the 2008 euro they came second. But while I felt heartbreak to lose to Italy, I did not have the same feeling to watch them lose to Spain in the final of Euro. Spain played beautiful football throughout the tournament and in the final and totally deserved a title to put their under-achiever ghost to rest. Anyways a fitting finale to a wonderful tournament.

The term is breezing past. I really cannot express how busy days are. So much is hapenning on campus. The clubs have finally got their core teams in place. I had to sit for four hours at a stretch to take interviews of my interested batchmates.And to tell you the truth, I also realized how hard it is to make decisions. I mean ISB is full of superstars and everyone is capable. So to select someone over the other is a challenge in itself. Anyways I finally have my club team in place. And in the very first day, the team performed phenomenally to pull of a perfect session involving some very senior Google officials on campus. I also got to meet a lot of our alums in Google and chatted up about their new lives post ISB and they tried to relive their days in Term 2 through us.

The club activities mean that I end up emailing the whole day. Even now, I have been planning to go to bed for the last 30 minutes and have been replying to mails and getting items checked from my to-do list. My personal life is also taking a hit with my super busy schedule. I wish I had some more time for the people I love. I know they understand but sometimes that is not enough. Anyways thats life at ISB.. My life zipping ahead at galactic speed. Now off to the precious few hours of sleep.

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.

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.

Debit Marks Credit Confidence

Well it has been one of the longest periods without a blog from me. I have heard from quite a few of you as to why I have not written for a long time (read a little over a week). Well here I am...after having my self-confidence in accounting take a severe beating, I cannot find a better thing to do at this hour.

A lot has hapenned over the last 10 days or so after mid terms. The courses with which I was anyways having trouble keeping pace with before the mid terms have quickened and lo and behold tomorrow is the last class of Term 1. Can you believe that? Four subjects over and with it 1/8th of the MBA classes at ISB. Wowww!!!

It was hardly a couple of days after recovering from the brutality of mid- terms and the results were out. All my notions of doing decently(above average) have gone for a toss and now I am desperately hoping that I can stay within my revised goal as I mentioned in my previous post. A whole slew of things get taught in classes and I really wish that I had not slept through them but then its not something that I really wanted to - it just happened.

Today has been a happy day for me personally. Two of my very close friends(one study group mate and another quaddie) won director posts in the student body at ISB. Congrats MB and JK!!!!They thoroughly deserved it.The good feeling was that most of the guys who got elected were the people I had voted for. I felt good that amidst the intensity of the competition and the groupism people did not lose their sense of rationality. A couple of days back I was really appalled at the lack of interest of my batch mates towards the elections and the candidates. Infact only 5% of the batch even bothered to show up at the soap box presentations of the prospective candidates. This is surprising since the student body contained some very key posts like placement committee director which should be of paramount interest to each and every one of us. I thought to myself that this represented the true picture of India. We in India do not bother to invest a little time to understanding and selecting the people we vote for and later come to regret and crib about it. Anyways I hope that the people who have been elected stand up to the responsibility bestowed on them and perform to the fullest. My sincere best wishes for them.

A significant event last week was attending the HYSEA(Hyderabad Software Exporters Association) meet at the Infy campus opposite to ISB. We were a group of four representing ISB and it was a nice experience listening to a rivetting talk by Mr.Jai Pullur who is the founder of Pramati Technologies. It was also a nice opportunity to "network" with Mr Pullur as well as Mr Narasimha Rao, chairman HYSEA and head of Infy Hyderabad.I have talked to ISB and hope to get Mr Pullur for a similar session in ISB. Another event last week was an alumni interaction event we had organized. It was one of the best sessions in terms of understanding where we may fit post ISB in the technology sector. We had the opportunity to speak with alums who have made it quite big post ISB. So "net net" very enlightening experiences.

As I speak the fear of the end terms is already playing havoc on my psyche. As a stress buster I have already started planning for the 3 days of term break post end terms. A movie, a visit to BBQ Nation,Hyderabad Darshan and a visit to my didi's place already figure in the plans. Added to that is the excitement of Euro which is scheduled to start on 7th. "Deutschland wird gewinnen!!!!". Wish I could fast forward time.......

Letting it Loose

It all hapenned last night. All the frustration, disappointment, all the pain, the agony, the longings of the past week was let out by large doses of rum!!!!Mid terms over and instead of reflecting on the carnage of Eco exam, it was time to party again at ISB.And with Bacardi sponsoring the party,booze was free and man it flowed. Nothing could deter the gathered party crowd - not even the smoke when one of the fuses blew up in the events lounge. Some people who were "sober" even thought the smoke to be the usual dance floor smoke.

Anyways, saw and heard loads of funny stuff too and after a point, many of us lost track of what was going on. Even as we were sifting through the party pictures today, we were finding it difficult to remember when the pictures of us were indeed taken.Well doesn't matter.The conversations were incredibly interesting with discussions ranging from batch presidency prospects,to the quantity of liquor in each drink, to Rajkumar(of Virappan abduction fame) films and why he is the best thing to have hapenned to mankind after Jesus.Now who dare say much when the stakes of conversations is so high.

But I had my chances to show my softer, vulnerable side and unfortunately MB got that recorded on tape..damn..Well it was one of the most enjoyable parties at ISB till now.Also this weekend marks the successful completion of 1/16 of my MBA sojourn.
A few photos from the party last night.....Enjoyy