its past 10.30pm and i am sitting in one old cyber cafe in a god knows where location. its some place near the bangalore airport. for a fact that the place where i live is near the airport, i used that to take some good pictures of aircrafts in motion. with much difficulty i found this cafe and decided to devote some time to blog. the lankans are playing the aussies today. it would be great in the lankans win - will they? well, thats a big question given the force with which the aussies have been playing all through the world cup. the keyboard i am using right now is so weird. its got some kannada symbols on it and its confusing me so much.
shilpa shetty has hit the front page again! from big brother to hollywood mega star richard gere - she needs the credit. or should it go the extremely stupid and hopeless indian press. arent there better things in this country to worry about than two people kissing on stage? some talk abt the indian backround - WTF, the indian background has already gone to the dogs when teenagers started wearing their 9 year-old sibling's clothing to cinemas and pubs. as years go by, the length of the skirt has decreased considerably. the people who did not talk abt tradition then are opening their dirty mouths now? and according to that idiotic lawyer in jaipur, kissing on cheeks is a sexual activity. isnt there a limit to that insane guy's claims and for god's sake, he has some supporters too. well, in that case, every dad, mom, son and daughter in this country should be accused of sexual activity. sometimes my blood just boils and i feel like thrashing these lawyers who just want to make some publicity. especially this ***tard, who had filed some 50 odd public interest litigations before this one.
class of 2008 seems to be very focused on academics i heard. some ppl who write to me say that as a big worry for people who dont want to read. well, u'll learn abt handling all that in the next week when statistics starts. everyone falls on the normal curve somehow. its also called the bell curve. what it really means would be explained more in the lectures (let me not go into the details), but the bottom line is that there are always outliers. in the case of ISB, the ppl who dont study are the outliers. but they'll still fit into the curve - somehow and somewhere. and being an outlier is not bad at all. I WAS ONE. so, welcome to the jungle if you are reading this post.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Spending time at home
I realised its not easy to spend time while being at home. I started reading a David Baldacci. Never knew that he would write stories on american politics. im almost on the verge of finishing it, but its definitely not worth the bestseller title. the whole plot is just another presidential killing based on the lines of the muslim war, but here a few americans are also involved. ultimately, it gives us the feeling that its not just the muslims who are fighting the war, but there are a few people within the country, lets easily call them traitors who provide sufficient government information for some monetary benefits. its so common everywhere.
suddenly there is lots of time that you really dont know what to do. i've even started thinking of what would be the right time to have a shower in the morning. its so silly but thats the height of laziness. i checked the renault logan and the ford fiesta yesterday. although i didnt get to drive the logan, i felt that the car was a steal for the price. the ford was an awesome car. another one will be on its way to my house for a test drive sometime today.
A new planet has been discovered. I always wondered if there were aliens living somewhere in another planet or another galaxy, and if they were looking at the earth like a cartoon network on their television screen, laughing at what we were doing and planning to get here one day to surprise us.
the reservation quota result has been postponed for a while now. i am so happy that this was done right at the time of b-school admissions. after 60 years of indepedance, people still want reservation. for such reasons i would be so happy if india were ruled like how the chinese rule their country. moreover, members of the parliament should undergo an aptitude test before they appear for the elections. and decisions should be taken only by people with relevant qualifications and not based on number of votes gathered. doesnt this sound like a utopian government? well, for a fact, most MPs in the UK are masters graduates or lawyers from premier institutions, so wy cant we have people of such calibre in our parliament? barring a few like the minister of information technology and others whose names i fail to remember, we have a rustic lot who dont know the bigger picture. now thats MBA funda.
my future are-you-one-of-those-father-in-laws have started calling up. there are atleast a two everyday. its quite interesting to hear to the conversations. everyone has become so electronic. they ask for stuff over emails and my parents are still loyal to the indian postal service. as i am the only technically inclined person at home and also very lazy, i am serving as an intermediary for the time being.
suddenly there is lots of time that you really dont know what to do. i've even started thinking of what would be the right time to have a shower in the morning. its so silly but thats the height of laziness. i checked the renault logan and the ford fiesta yesterday. although i didnt get to drive the logan, i felt that the car was a steal for the price. the ford was an awesome car. another one will be on its way to my house for a test drive sometime today.
A new planet has been discovered. I always wondered if there were aliens living somewhere in another planet or another galaxy, and if they were looking at the earth like a cartoon network on their television screen, laughing at what we were doing and planning to get here one day to surprise us.
the reservation quota result has been postponed for a while now. i am so happy that this was done right at the time of b-school admissions. after 60 years of indepedance, people still want reservation. for such reasons i would be so happy if india were ruled like how the chinese rule their country. moreover, members of the parliament should undergo an aptitude test before they appear for the elections. and decisions should be taken only by people with relevant qualifications and not based on number of votes gathered. doesnt this sound like a utopian government? well, for a fact, most MPs in the UK are masters graduates or lawyers from premier institutions, so wy cant we have people of such calibre in our parliament? barring a few like the minister of information technology and others whose names i fail to remember, we have a rustic lot who dont know the bigger picture. now thats MBA funda.
my future are-you-one-of-those-father-in-laws have started calling up. there are atleast a two everyday. its quite interesting to hear to the conversations. everyone has become so electronic. they ask for stuff over emails and my parents are still loyal to the indian postal service. as i am the only technically inclined person at home and also very lazy, i am serving as an intermediary for the time being.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Wind-up
From April 15th, when I last blogged on to this space, which was a Sunday, we've had three student parties, one dinner hosted by the administration and one hosted by our placement committee director - the last two were only for our batch. It was another roller coaster ride for all the alums on campus. For once, we got to be gurus of the little we knew about the place we had inhabited a year back. The handover process had techically begun on the 14th with the registration and it went on till talent nite yesterday evening. Between all that, myself and manu jointly managed to click 800 plus photographs of the new batch doing various things on campus. When it was time to leave, all of us felt very different about leaving campus and heading out to find our own goals. It never hit me so hard, but today morning, when one of them told me good-bye, I almost cried.
I was amazed to see the profile of the next batch. Although I heard more in detail only from section-c, i kind of had this feeling that i might have not got through to ISB if i had applied this year. the focus on technology has reduced drastically and next year, the infosys and wipros of the IT industry will have to fight to get those few mba's who want to get back to IT. now, there is more focus on learning from experience. and every year, ISB is taking that bold step to face new challenges. the increasing diversity of professions signify that we will need to cater to specific demands of the students. at the same time, it also makes ISB occupy a distinct space in the b-school education space.
all alums have answered questions like nobody's business. the knowledge dissipation has happened right from the phone number of gachibowli wines to what electives are better in term 8.
suddenly the incident in virginia shook me. i was trying to rationalize the whole thing. but it never made sense. i dont understand why people are allowed to possess a gun. i mean, why should guns be available for everyone to buy or access. in our country, we have a strict rule and you need a license issued by a controlling authority to possess a weapon, but it doesnt seem to be the same way in the united states. the gun culture in america had begun becos of hunting and militia. initially it could have been acceptable to use firearms to protect yourself from invasion or hostile indians, but it doesnt seem logical now when we have enough forces to protect the state. why are individuals allowed to possess a weapon. if you'd seen the movie CRASH, you'd be shocked to notice less than 20 yr olds stealing cars at gun point. sometimes they end up shooting too. is all of this because of bad education? in india, a bomb blast in kashmir is not a big thing. it happens almost every alternate day. as far as i know, america is a nation that has gone into mourning when just 5 of its soldiers were shot in iraq - the initial few days. and the school incidents are not anything new.
so where are we heading? with this thought, i am starting yet another phase in my life. a whole new perspective of the western world. i am trying to understand the larger motive behind this ever expanding cycle of crime, punishment and governance.
I was amazed to see the profile of the next batch. Although I heard more in detail only from section-c, i kind of had this feeling that i might have not got through to ISB if i had applied this year. the focus on technology has reduced drastically and next year, the infosys and wipros of the IT industry will have to fight to get those few mba's who want to get back to IT. now, there is more focus on learning from experience. and every year, ISB is taking that bold step to face new challenges. the increasing diversity of professions signify that we will need to cater to specific demands of the students. at the same time, it also makes ISB occupy a distinct space in the b-school education space.
all alums have answered questions like nobody's business. the knowledge dissipation has happened right from the phone number of gachibowli wines to what electives are better in term 8.
suddenly the incident in virginia shook me. i was trying to rationalize the whole thing. but it never made sense. i dont understand why people are allowed to possess a gun. i mean, why should guns be available for everyone to buy or access. in our country, we have a strict rule and you need a license issued by a controlling authority to possess a weapon, but it doesnt seem to be the same way in the united states. the gun culture in america had begun becos of hunting and militia. initially it could have been acceptable to use firearms to protect yourself from invasion or hostile indians, but it doesnt seem logical now when we have enough forces to protect the state. why are individuals allowed to possess a weapon. if you'd seen the movie CRASH, you'd be shocked to notice less than 20 yr olds stealing cars at gun point. sometimes they end up shooting too. is all of this because of bad education? in india, a bomb blast in kashmir is not a big thing. it happens almost every alternate day. as far as i know, america is a nation that has gone into mourning when just 5 of its soldiers were shot in iraq - the initial few days. and the school incidents are not anything new.
so where are we heading? with this thought, i am starting yet another phase in my life. a whole new perspective of the western world. i am trying to understand the larger motive behind this ever expanding cycle of crime, punishment and governance.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
A new beginning
Five days since I wrote anything on this mind-space. After the Alum-Current Batch meet on Wednesday, I found some time to watch this Tam Movie called Mozhi which translates to "language". Towards the end of the movie my recommendation rating went from a B to a D. But for some reasons this movie was okay - the usage of bright colors which was quite contrasting from the usual movies that hit the screens. The blend of the colors in the movie in terms of the background, or the clothing used by the actors brought some good emotions. The humor was rich and natural. At some points, one could actually relate himself to being a part of the story. But I always keep wondering why all Tam movies and a lot of other movies as well, have happy endings. Its perhaps the influence of writings from ancient times - examples are of Ramayana and Mahabharata and yes, you can name a lot of other stories too - the kings and the might warriors. Almost every story has a happy ending and that is attributed to the thought-flow of the script writers. Yes, we do have people who write tragedies and that end up being good movies, but the audience does not accept that very positively.
It was time for team building again. We came to Hyderabad and found ourselves in GreenFields where we had to spend two days(the weekend). It wasnt quite an interesting event because we had done most of it and were actually getting trained to do it for the next batch. Living in tents and bamboo huts was quite an experience.
The Class of 2008 is very interesting. Since yesterday, there have been enough people who have asked me about jobs and outgoing salaries. Although it freaks me out that people are worried about jobs and nothing else from day one, I wonder what kind of demands would be made to administration to fulfill their needs. The class is much diverse compared to ours and I am really happy about that. Now people will never complain that the IT background proportion in the batch is very high. This time they are almost a minority. Which is very good because this puts a lot of responsibility on the students and the staff to work harder to get better companies on campus. Its a risk and at the same time very rewarding if efforts are channeled effectively. A number of people I met are worried about grades and scores as well. I hope their preferences change soon - either they study study and study or else they'll end up worrying for the next few terms as well. Some of them would be happy if there was a book on "How to be on the Dean's List", but there will come a time when they'll have that realization. And after every conversation, I always wondered why I did not have any such questions during my orientation. Is Gyaan (knowledge) too much of bad medicine?
Anyway, as things were - yesterday's party, scores least on my party rating scale for parties at ISB. Now that I am back on campus, I am completely out of touch from the outside world. It feels nice to be back and stay in Exec Housing - all expenses paid and taken care of, courtesy ISB.
It was time for team building again. We came to Hyderabad and found ourselves in GreenFields where we had to spend two days(the weekend). It wasnt quite an interesting event because we had done most of it and were actually getting trained to do it for the next batch. Living in tents and bamboo huts was quite an experience.
The Class of 2008 is very interesting. Since yesterday, there have been enough people who have asked me about jobs and outgoing salaries. Although it freaks me out that people are worried about jobs and nothing else from day one, I wonder what kind of demands would be made to administration to fulfill their needs. The class is much diverse compared to ours and I am really happy about that. Now people will never complain that the IT background proportion in the batch is very high. This time they are almost a minority. Which is very good because this puts a lot of responsibility on the students and the staff to work harder to get better companies on campus. Its a risk and at the same time very rewarding if efforts are channeled effectively. A number of people I met are worried about grades and scores as well. I hope their preferences change soon - either they study study and study or else they'll end up worrying for the next few terms as well. Some of them would be happy if there was a book on "How to be on the Dean's List", but there will come a time when they'll have that realization. And after every conversation, I always wondered why I did not have any such questions during my orientation. Is Gyaan (knowledge) too much of bad medicine?
Anyway, as things were - yesterday's party, scores least on my party rating scale for parties at ISB. Now that I am back on campus, I am completely out of touch from the outside world. It feels nice to be back and stay in Exec Housing - all expenses paid and taken care of, courtesy ISB.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The loan scare
As soon as most of us from isb step into the real world, we get struck by so many things. planning becomes so important for a lot of dreamers. and all this planning is for the monetary component of your dream. as such, there is huge dent in your pocket that would goon for the next ten years if you wished to. thats the education loan. apart from that each and everyone of us would have wanted to own a four-wheeler and/or a house of their own. that adds a huge crater. i was looking at what was available in the city to buy - we are talking of real estate here. actually, there isnt anything available in madras to buy. if there is, then you cant afford it with the post mba salary. there are some in the IT corridor, but the corridor is miles away, almost close to another town called mahabalipuram and almost half way to pondicherry. and if thot that these places were affordable, then the minimum is more than 5 times my CTC. i used to ask myself why people with lesser experience demanded more salaries on campus. wonder if they figured out all of this and were calculating future cash flows based on these market projections. well, what the hell.
i have this strange sickness in me i think. i get to a place and then i dont move from there again. happened to me at isb as well. i got there and i felt so strange. a totally new place and everything looked like a maze. i got into my room and then i felt like locking up myself and not doing anything. cant imagine myself doing that, but thats how it all started. same here right now. i can just sit idle in my home. at the same time, if i am out, i can put all my energy into doing something. really weird i must say.
Amethyst is a nice coffee shop in chennai - thats what some people say. we had a meeting with our next batch today evening. i didnt have much time to check out the place amidst the crazy questions that were coming across. i still wonder why i did not ask my seniors about academics, food and a lot of other things in ISB before i made plans to travel there - becos everyone today had a new question to ask and it felt like seeing that advertisement that used to feature on TV for Shah Rukh Khan's promo of Kaun Banega Crorepati (equivalent of who wants to be a millionare). oh yes, i managed to get it from youtube, watch it here....
another day or two and i will be back on campus again. now its time to just party and get drunk. the next batch will start the grind and we'll have fun giving them all sorts of Gyaan (what they call knowledge). and you dont have to teach ISB students to give gyaan. every mba student who graduates from the isb can give gyaan for the rest of their life about anything and everything. he/she will definitely not say - I dont know. Will they - lets find out next week.
i have this strange sickness in me i think. i get to a place and then i dont move from there again. happened to me at isb as well. i got there and i felt so strange. a totally new place and everything looked like a maze. i got into my room and then i felt like locking up myself and not doing anything. cant imagine myself doing that, but thats how it all started. same here right now. i can just sit idle in my home. at the same time, if i am out, i can put all my energy into doing something. really weird i must say.
Amethyst is a nice coffee shop in chennai - thats what some people say. we had a meeting with our next batch today evening. i didnt have much time to check out the place amidst the crazy questions that were coming across. i still wonder why i did not ask my seniors about academics, food and a lot of other things in ISB before i made plans to travel there - becos everyone today had a new question to ask and it felt like seeing that advertisement that used to feature on TV for Shah Rukh Khan's promo of Kaun Banega Crorepati (equivalent of who wants to be a millionare). oh yes, i managed to get it from youtube, watch it here....
another day or two and i will be back on campus again. now its time to just party and get drunk. the next batch will start the grind and we'll have fun giving them all sorts of Gyaan (what they call knowledge). and you dont have to teach ISB students to give gyaan. every mba student who graduates from the isb can give gyaan for the rest of their life about anything and everything. he/she will definitely not say - I dont know. Will they - lets find out next week.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Life in the real world
I graduated on Saturday morning with an MBA. If thats the way to put it. It was a packed hall. Almost 2000 people were there and it was filled with flashes from the camera as people walked on to the stage and collected their dummy certificates from Montek Singh Ahluwalia. It was quite an event for a number of people, especially the parents, to see their child walk down the red carpet to the seating area. Imagine Branjelina getting out and walking towards the Kodak Theater. It was like that. The flashes filled my eyes. I was surprised to see enthusiastic parents eagerly waiting for the son or daughter to walk past them and then they would think - ah! my child has done it.
Anyway, after the big not too interesting speech about the indian economy, we got our certificate. Technically I did not get mine because the bank has already taken it as a collateral for the loan I have availed. The food in the atrium sucked big time. It was the usual sarovar menu and it was pathetic. People queued around everywhere and were also taking photographs. We (my parents and I) had a quick lunch and then I took them for a tour around the academic center.
I got to see the yearbook too. I did get my copy. It was such an awesome feeling to hold that book in my hand. we had done so much work on it the last week including 2 sleepless nights and it had come out extremely well. it was a great moment of pride. no more words on that. its something that i will live with for some time atleast.
life in the real world has started from today. well i do get back for orientation coming friday, but till then its going to be something different and what i have to look forward to in the future. the first thing was the internet connection at home. it started playing up the moment i logged on. well, there is no 7555 to call up and ask what the problem is. no one will attend to your problem till 10am the next day. and this is something you cant fix on your own. it gave me a feeling of being totally left in the open without any support system. and this is what a comfortable b-school life does to you. now its not easy to have everything at the click of a button. and i am sure that i am going to see more of this reality everyday from now on.
yesterday, i had also been to this place called Srisailam - a few hundred miles away from hyderabad. i do have to write about that. but thats reserved for the next post.
Anyway, after the big not too interesting speech about the indian economy, we got our certificate. Technically I did not get mine because the bank has already taken it as a collateral for the loan I have availed. The food in the atrium sucked big time. It was the usual sarovar menu and it was pathetic. People queued around everywhere and were also taking photographs. We (my parents and I) had a quick lunch and then I took them for a tour around the academic center.
I got to see the yearbook too. I did get my copy. It was such an awesome feeling to hold that book in my hand. we had done so much work on it the last week including 2 sleepless nights and it had come out extremely well. it was a great moment of pride. no more words on that. its something that i will live with for some time atleast.
life in the real world has started from today. well i do get back for orientation coming friday, but till then its going to be something different and what i have to look forward to in the future. the first thing was the internet connection at home. it started playing up the moment i logged on. well, there is no 7555 to call up and ask what the problem is. no one will attend to your problem till 10am the next day. and this is something you cant fix on your own. it gave me a feeling of being totally left in the open without any support system. and this is what a comfortable b-school life does to you. now its not easy to have everything at the click of a button. and i am sure that i am going to see more of this reality everyday from now on.
yesterday, i had also been to this place called Srisailam - a few hundred miles away from hyderabad. i do have to write about that. but thats reserved for the next post.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
The Yearbook
With ISB, life on the fast lane never ends. I generally pulled myself into working for the yearbook and here i am, having spent a whole night working on it with the designer. two of us - ali and myself, have been going to the designers' place for the last three days and yesterday was our marathon completion task of looking at all the profiles and finishing the last touches. we finished at 5 in the morning. for the first time i saw the moon setting down. the last time i did a night-out was i think for kota fibres in term 3.
and i missed the white and blue GSB party for the term. this was the last on-campus party for the students. i have been missing a lot of things because of the yearbook. i missed two football matches that our team played - one semis and one finals. missed some more parties. in the last few days we have had a sports theme party, a traffic signals lights theme party and the one that happened yesterday. we have one more today and one tomorrow that will give the finishing touches before graduation.
i dont know what else is happening on campus. the media should be here talking to a few people. the placement results will be out soon. every department is begging the students to do a survey. starting from the PGP ( for this they dont have to beg because if u dont do the survey u wont get ur certificate), IT survey, library survey etc. then we have to collect out t-shirts that we ordered a long time back, graduation gowns, finance department bills, laptop check (thank god, we dont have to format our laptop now - microsoft has given us free license for life).
when all this is happening around me, i am still working on the yearbook. after so many days of work, i have so much gyaan to give to the next batch on this. obviously this doesnt take any importance when u need a consulting job, but it takes the highest priority in term 8 atleast for the people who want to get it out on time.
all meal plans are gone. now we are paying at guest rates and eating here. thats totally insane. someone was suppsosed to work out a better deal for us poor souls who did not decide to travel anywhere (say bollocks to the yearbook), but nothing has worked out in our favor. amidst all this, i have to pack too. i havent done that at all. i hope to get some time tomorrow. thank god i managed a few minutes to write this post. it still feels like being in core terms. i thought i could chill out and relax for the whole week - i dont think i'll get one whole day with that much luxury.
and i missed the white and blue GSB party for the term. this was the last on-campus party for the students. i have been missing a lot of things because of the yearbook. i missed two football matches that our team played - one semis and one finals. missed some more parties. in the last few days we have had a sports theme party, a traffic signals lights theme party and the one that happened yesterday. we have one more today and one tomorrow that will give the finishing touches before graduation.
i dont know what else is happening on campus. the media should be here talking to a few people. the placement results will be out soon. every department is begging the students to do a survey. starting from the PGP ( for this they dont have to beg because if u dont do the survey u wont get ur certificate), IT survey, library survey etc. then we have to collect out t-shirts that we ordered a long time back, graduation gowns, finance department bills, laptop check (thank god, we dont have to format our laptop now - microsoft has given us free license for life).
when all this is happening around me, i am still working on the yearbook. after so many days of work, i have so much gyaan to give to the next batch on this. obviously this doesnt take any importance when u need a consulting job, but it takes the highest priority in term 8 atleast for the people who want to get it out on time.
all meal plans are gone. now we are paying at guest rates and eating here. thats totally insane. someone was suppsosed to work out a better deal for us poor souls who did not decide to travel anywhere (say bollocks to the yearbook), but nothing has worked out in our favor. amidst all this, i have to pack too. i havent done that at all. i hope to get some time tomorrow. thank god i managed a few minutes to write this post. it still feels like being in core terms. i thought i could chill out and relax for the whole week - i dont think i'll get one whole day with that much luxury.
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