first impression...

the one thing that i realize...work wont really be ISB...and hence...posts wont be that frequent..! nevertheless...this time around...it shall be the quality wins over quantity scenario....

so...work started may 01. thats labor day...and in the words of my boss..."we arent laborers...so we dont get a day off!". alright...accepted...!

the office is plush. in one of the best office complexes in delhi. the 14th floor allows u to measure the dust particles per microcentimeter...in the atmosphere...standing beyond a 12 inch thick glass that doesnt allow even the smallest 'particle' of airconditioned air escape the office. on the house tea/coffee/juices...u ask for water and they fetch an unopened kinley....and u go..."no..i want water that doesnt taste...the one that my grandad used to have for his morning gargle..!"

the day was pretty much spent on logistics...bank account opening...credit card opening...forms that allow your family to make money if u die...or r hospitalized...! and that was pretyt much it. the new joinees r pretty smart people. 2 frm IIMA, 1 from IIIB, 1 frm IIMC and 2 frm ISB. thats delhi. mumbai has a slightly different ratio...with no one frm isb in there.

come tuesday and we left for gos for our orientation. stayed at the taj village resort...pretty decent place...and had it not been for the humid weather, i wud hv largely appreciated the greenary arnd as well. anyhow...so we took the kingfisher flight...which has a stopover at bangalore. the entire flight took us 4 hrs...which btw is 2 hrs less than what it takes one to fly half the world..! what was best was the flight back...5 hrs...!!!!! and it got delayed by 1...which basically meant that we spent the time it cud hv taken to reach london...in simply sitting in an aircraft...watching the indian laughter challenge...! sic!

and then...we hv to give to mr mallaya. i mean...u get balls of steel to get yana gupta to speak hindi...let alone show how to unbuckle a seatbelt. the words tht she used were last used in 2000 BC...when the aryans were taking their first bullock cart ride...! i mean...who in gods name...uses "sunishchit...!!!" nowadays. i am sure in some part of the plane...a lady wud hv gone...."there...thats the name of my 1st kid...!!!"

and the funniest part was blowing the lifejacket. it looked like a lipstick ad...! guys who travel kingfisher...watch out for this...! funny...

so anyways...moving on...! the 1st day was awesome...the taj guys had planned a treasure hunt for us..to bond and all...! and with 11 guys and 1 girl...bonding was meant to take whole new different heights...! :) but it was awesome...we did mountain climbing...rapelling...some tree climbing...and rope jumping...and weird shit. wonderfully organized...and loads of fun. in the end we did manage to 'bond' well..

and then the next day we had a raft building session. which was mind-blowing. we mad a raft using tyre tubes and bamboo sticks...and the entire operation was to reach the other side of the backwater and fetch a flag. we did manage to travel 20% of the distance when the currennt took over...and we realized we had covered the distance that we were supposed to....horizontally...!!!

the classroom sessions started...meant to sensitize us to the consulting process and the A.T. Kearney way of doing things. V and D did a terrific job...they held us together...and thats a difficult task when u r sitting in a conference room...next to the pool...in goa...wearing formals...(typically the people outside wudnt be wearing as many clothes combined...as wud be one of us sitting inside...!!!)...

and then the exercises...and the feel good factor created around what we shall be doing in the time to come...etc. it was great fun...and along the way we realized...and this is a frank opinion...that Kearney didnt do that great a job selling themselves on campus. i mean...as of today...set aside the fact that i am now part of the organization...i can say that Kearney is surely up there. one of the best consulting firms in the country...and a leader in quite a few verticals. our position in auto and energy is quite widely accepted as being the best...and it reflected frm the kind of work we have done...and the feedback we have received.

overall...i felt proud being part of this team. even the people who have worked here for sometime say...that the best part about the organization is that everyone is happy. which is so very important...and at the same time so tough to achieve as an organization.

we all left saturday...and it was an amazing 5 days spent. totally worth it. have to thank V for organizing the entire thing and putting in..what was clearly...a lot of hardwork and time. atleast from my side..it paid off wonderfully...

monday today...looking for the real work to start.

life's good...

~a