Meetings...meetings...

I haven’t had so many meeting in my entire career (spanning an illustrious 2 years…!!) as I have in the past one week. Its like Brownian motion dude…from one point to another…with no interior sense of direction. Crazy…!

But fun…!

Working some bit on Poseidon. It is going on good…though the progress is slightly a cause of concern. However I am sure that given the competent team handling it…things will be on track pretty much soon.

Then, I am conducting a quiz tomorrow…the teasers for which have been running for the past 4 days. I managed to get some good responses from people regarding the same…just hope that the turnout is complementary.

And last of all…the classes…phewwwww…it is crazy…! The MO gentleman is in my ‘point of view’ one of ‘that kind of part’ professors whose sole purpose is to make an interesting subject die a natural death… ‘therefore’ eliminating all ‘point of views’ in that ‘kind of part’…! And if you didn’t make any sense of what was that…JOIN IN…!!!

The IA prof is still on his bullet train with hindi subtitles…! And as the course deepens in mystery, its not hard to see why the ride ahead will not be smooth…

Mudit bid us adieu…and it was a class very well taught. Genuinely. He is a fun guy…and nowhere did it come across that we were his first MBA batch. Pretty impressive.

Banker saab…(IT) is one hell of a proponent of the outsourcing model. Well…he has done that effectively for his course. And the worst part is that people get points for absolutely random CP. Eat this…

Student X: “mobile industry has a lock-in, since I cant use a T-mobile phone for a sprint connection. It is locked…”
CP points awarded…and that’s fine
Student Y: “thts not true…the cellphones can be unlocked nowadays”
CP points awarded…!
Student Z: “there is a place in delhi where I can get the phone unlocked”
CP points awarded…what the…???

But then…the great CP is not hidden as well…and I am just glad about that…!

There are a lot of attractive competitions that are coming up…looking forward to participate in them…some awesome exposure…and not to mention shit-loads of moolah…!

Should be a fun weekend…

Bain turned pain

So…a senior partner from Bain Singapore and a Manager at Bain India (BCC, Delhi) had come over to explore the possibility of recruiting from ISB this year. I believe we are up against IIM C, which makes the ‘battle’ tougher and challenging. And I guess at some level even if we loose, it will be a well-accepted ‘defeat’.

However…this isn’t what was best about the visit. The 2 gentlemen sat through our classes and apparently both the profs and the students did a remarkable job. So Section A and B…thanks a lot dudes…! In the evening they wanted to have a small gathering of 30 off people…whom they could address and then interact with. Now…the statistics is easy…349 students…30 to select. We could have had elections…but there wasn’t time…we could have selected 30 based on the way they dress but then the idea was squashed. So ultimately the class reps were requested to send in the names of 8 odd people…whom they felt could do a good job of impressing the Bain guys.

Needless to say…Bain turned into a pain…with students criticizing the methodology used…etc etc…! Personally…it is hard to judge whether they are right in acting so. However, I do know that the 30 chosen are in no way better than anyone else on campus. And definitely nowhere near indicating that they will ultimately see through Bain in the placements. So if you look at it…30 had to be chosen…and 30 is a slightly smaller number than 349…so people would have been left out…one way or the other. It is unfortunate that people had to be left out…and I am sure it was not an easy choice for whosoever making it.

Anyways…

Life has been hectic like anything this week…assignments flooding us left right and center…with a few new ones coming in from the top as well. Have been fighting the same with diligence so far…hopefully will be able to sustain the same.

Got the corporate finance end term…did horribly bad…can’t believe myself…! So here is the deal…marketing bad…finance bad…IT will be bad…what the hell do I major in…? I wish they had home science…(G…heheheh!)

Loads to look out for this weekend. Section C has its last party together…! Am hosting a quiz this Saturday…then assignments as usual…onam celebrations…so pretty packed…and should be exciting…!

Life’s good…

~a

at this precise moment...

there are things that i hate about myself (and not surprisingly...such moments generally happen every 86,400th second...and last for 86,400 seconds...!)

• there are 3 mails in my inbox to which i havent replied to...and i was supposed to do so 3 days back
• there is still chapter 8 of Investments that i havent read...when i was supposed to...6 hours back
• there are still clothes lying in my room (with enough bacteria to make the clothes walk...!) waiting to be washed
• there is still the GSB article to be read for tomorrow
• there is still the retro party night that i didnt mention so far in my blog...and whose pics i havent posted
• i still feel the need to blog and not attend to the above

but then...life is all about 24hrs...right...and i guess i am managing well.

the last 3 days have been hectic...non-academically. friday nigth started with the competitive strategy paper viewing (an exam that i gave in my past life when i used to work as a goldsmith in birmingham!). did bad when i look around...but then cant help it.

then the retro night party took place...which rocked like nobody's business. A - thanks dude for the wonderful organization. you deserve all the accolades coming your way...i know how much you put into each event that you organize. keep it up.

the party had people looking at their craziest best (and some people acting at their craziest best...for information sake...we have a 'tina turner' on campus...!). V rocked...and M was looking truly retro. even N was good...and so were so many others.

saturday started early morning with a case competition. it was on the channel V and MTV rivalry in india...and designing strategies for both. went well...we expected the 1st position...got the 3rd one...and missed the 4th by one point...! so much so for over confidence...

today was good fun...attended an outstanding talk by Mr. T. N. Seshan...one hell of a gentleman. truly brilliant...in thought and in action. then studied for a bit...had an interesting conversation with G...went to the Bullfight (inter section debate - conducted amazing well by S and S) and now back to studies.

its technically the time when i should switch off and say bye bye...so...you are free to wander off to another webpae..cause what follows is most probably not of any concern to you...

S: always know who you are...and always respect for that. do not let anyone take away the pride that you should feel in being you...

E: no matter who you are...where you are...what you do...there will always be people who will like you. and you should derive your strength from them...and remember...you look really pretty when you smile..! :)

R: i just love you...the way i have loved no one else.......ever....!

~a

Geek Redefined...!

Every 93.5 years…there comes a geek. A geek so geeky that even god looks at him in amazement and goes, “I didn’t make him…!”…and yet, this geek is someone whom everyone can relate to. He not only comes down to the level of lesser mortals…he actually behaves like one of them. However, everyone around him realizes his genius…

One such geek is our Investment Analysis prof. that guy is god…! He is awesome with his flow…his teaching…and his concepts. Flowing effortlessly through the entire class. And as I had mentioned (in my previous blog)…the speed is something that’s complimentary. A caterpillar might think that he is speed of light or something…

However…the funniest part about Prof. Subrahmanyam is his sense of humor. Its Indian…and its impromptu…and best of all…its vernacular.

Scene 1:

Prof spends some 7 minutes explaining a concept…and at his speed you can guess that this is an hour of content for some ‘other’ prof. He ends…and calls on the hand that had risen some 2 minutes back.

A: “can you repeat it again…?”
Prof (to himself): “what the…”
Prof (to A): “kyon confuse karma hai logon ko…chalo…I will try once more…”
And so he explains…this time even better than previous…and then goes, “bas…main itna hi samjha sakta hoon…aur mujhse nahi hoga…”

Lost in his own world…he manages to charm us…somehow…

___________________

Have been working on the marketing research paper as if we were born academicians or something. Its painful…reminds me of MSU…and its painful…

The SAIT presentation happened today. Went awesome…great work done by P, J and A. The content was amazing…and the business presentation workshop actually showed results. Too good guys…!

Got the grade for the MDM course…the one we had taken in our previous birth. Did better than I expected we would…so am happy. However the mid-term for Operations Management hasn’t gone that well…but what the heck…

______________________

So…some decades back I had sat down to see one of my fav movies…and realized that movies such as it are extremely rare. I allowed my thoughts to go further…and actually came to the conclusion that more often than not most movies fall into the same category. They always show the same things…always have the same storyline…

A look…:

1. If the hero starts dancing on the road…he makes sure that everyone on the streets were enrolled in Shiamak Davar classes…cause they all know exactly how he will dance…!


2. any bombs placed in any god damn location will always show you in the largest possible font size the amount of time that remains for the explosion. Time for the hero to get cracking.


3. Invariably, 9 out of 10 times…the hero manages to dismantle the bomb when exactly 1 second remains. The remaining 1 time…he dies leaving behind his love…who ofcourse never marries…!


4. The Eiffel tower can be seen through any window in paris.


5. A good police officer can ONLY solve a case when he has been suspended. He looses his power as soon as he taken back in…if at all…


6. Cars will explode instantly when struck by a single bullet. Same goes for the villain as well…and ofcourse not for the hero…!


7. If being chased…the villain will always take refuge in the Ganesh Chaturti proceedings…ANYTIME of the year…!


8. Prostitutes look gorgeous…so do maids…and so do secretaries…(duhh…!!). The hero’s sister on the other hand will have to sit through a 3 hour long operation to make her look like a female…!


9. All heroes can play the guitar…and the piano…and the saxophone…and the drums…and the violin…alongwith the gift of the gab to come up with profound lyrics...ANYTIME…ANYWHERE…


10. And finally…the best one…if staying in a haunted house, women have to investigate any strange noises wearing their most revealing lingerie…!

And that my friends…is what I do at ISB…(I mean…write non-sensical stuff…not roam around in my fav underwear)!!!

~a

The shit is hitting the fan...

And here are the remaining facts:

1. All exits to the room are closed…so we cant escape


2. Since there are 349 heads people think that the shit wont hit them. They don’t realize how much of it is actually there


3. Some people, called alums, had apparently been there before. And they told us that there are no fans in the room…forget the shit part…!


4. So basically…we are screwed…!

Welcome to term 4

Only one word will define the composition of the above. Assignments. And no…you wont have one every 10 days…not even one every week…but one every day. Each and every single day. This is ISB and we are like this…no questions asked…

“Excuse me…could I have my 15 lacs back…?”
___________

The day was hectic. The schedule this term has 3 classes on Tues-Thurs and a class each on Mon-Wed. and given that the term is technically only 4 weeks…we have classes Friday as well…with random timings. The profs are interesting though…

The investment one (Prof. Subrahmanyam) is the biggest geek ever. His speech could give the rajdhani a run for its money…and he does this with his eyes closed. It’s like stevie wonder singing some rap song…awesome fun. And he is good…though I have a feeling that it wont be so as we proceed. Investment is not like…lalalalalalal….ohhh…look what I got…A grade…!!

SAIT (short for the 1st IT course) was good too. Prof Rajiv Banker has, one…a funny way of speaking…two…great sense of humor when it comes to his presentations. The entire presentation was mixed with cartoons from galsbergen (www.glasbergen.com) and they are quite funny.

MO (organizational behavior for the layman) was kind of disappointing…for us and for this dude called Erik Peterson. He was the subject of the case that we discussed…and boy…what a year he had. We read case (A) and (B) and towards the end it was evident that Peterson was screwed…in terms of his workplace performance. However…it didn’t stop there. The prof gave us case (C), (D) and finally (E) and it kept getting from bad to worse for Peterson. He eventually committed suicide in case (E)…!

And with the assignments…it wont be a surprise that the next batch of ISB will read a case on all of us…how we died fighting for our rights…please…for god sake…no assignments every day…!!

~a

PS: I remember that I have to post my take on ‘movies and what makes them successful’. Next post…pukka…unless something else exciting comes up

Sob..!

Term 4 started with a bang. I felt miserable (and I really mean it…no matter how cheesy it may sound) the entire day about R’s departure. It was truly the best time we have spent with each other. I now realize what those poet types mean when they go about…”it was like a dream”…

Sob!

Well…to give it what it deserves…term 4 did start on a positive note. Mudit (Government, Society and Business) was truly a pleasure. To be frank, better what I had expected off him, through my informal interactions. Apparently the Investment prof is also quite good…so it seems we have competition for bhagwaanji…!

Then worked on a research paper that U, S and I are working on. Well…so far only they have worked on it…I have been the “oh yes, that’s a brilliant idea…lets do it” sorts…better known as the ‘comment always…work none…’ guys…!

Then had the ELP class. The MD of Ma Foi had flown down from Chennai to meet us. I wasn’t present through most of the meeting…however I did get a gist of what’s required off us…which is a small word known to the English language as ‘everything’. However…the project per se sounds pretty interesting and am sure it will be quite stimulating and challenging…

There was a talk by the regional manager, Asia of IFC – the investment arm of the World Bank. Pretty impressive…actually lemme rephrase…pretty interesting. The work that they do and the way they differentiate themselves from other investment banks. And I am particularly interested since they are based off Delhi…which is orgasmic for me at this point of time…! (

Really looking forward to a wonderful 4th term…have loads lined up…

~a

Its over…all over…!

Term 3…that is…!

The exams were not that bad. Bhagwaanji did much better than what was expected…the exam was fairly decent and good preparation would have seen everyone through. Yah…its another case that knowing this fact rarely helps…!

Entrepreneurship on the other hand was class 8th, social studies…! Keep on writing…keep on moving…! I took 15 minutes to exercise my wrist…sleep…drink a gallon of water…and pee two…! I did reach a point wherein I wished for a secretary whom I could dictate to…!

The next 2 days are the business presentation skills workshop. Followed by evening which will be spent working on the brands paper. And then have to finish the LDP assignment as well. not to mention the ELP (experiential learning program – a fancy name for a company project) that I have managed to get. And just so you know…I am not paid for this…infact I spent 30 times more than I will earn in the next 30 years…to do this…

However…R is coming this Friday…and life cannot be more exciting…

Another term…another experience…

~a

biggest battle...tomorrow...

Had the term 3 end exams today (which btw in ISB time are only a few seconds after the Term 1 end exams…!). There were 2 of them…Managerial Accounting and Operations Management. I have a feeling…scary it may sound…that they went well (so this can easily be the case of overpromising and underdelivering).

Tomorrow will be the biggest battle ISB has seen till date. The gods (actually…there is only one god…as we all know…sirf ek ‘bhagwaan’)…and the lesser mortals. Best is the fact that there is nothing to gain. Only 5% will get the Param Vir Chakra…another 10% the Vir Chakra…and the remaining…a good IT job…! And mind you…all this is not dependent on the result of the battle…cause if you didn’t know already…bhagwaan hamesha jeettaa hai…!

See you tomorrow…!

~a

hats off dude (rajeshwar)

Its very humbling…life…! Unfortunately…rarely do people come up to someone and tell him why he is so special. However, the few times it happens…you realize the impression that you have left…and the way in which you have unknowingly touched…maybe even influenced people…

Today was one such day. I just find myself lucky to be surrounded with people who think I am worth something. The last class of LDP made us go through half an hour of an extremely fulfilling exercise. Make notes on “I like XXX because…”…where XXX could be just about anyone. And the idea was to personally deliver the note…

I wrote some 40 odd notes…received quite a few as well. More importantly…I realized that no matter how much one is himself…he will never be so…in the real sense. It is as if every person belongs only to this colossal society…where people expect certain things from you…and don’t mind appreciating you if you do fulfill those. And, unlike what many might think, those expectations are not always selfish in nature. Many will be just as happy if you can simply smile at them…everytime you meet them.

Another thing that Rajeshwar talked about (and something that I totally endorse) is how to constantly feed your mind. With material that walks towards the right direction. Most of us cant even start to count the endless hours that we have spent infront of the TV watching Baywatch and kyunki saas bhi kabhi yeh thi aur kabhi woh thi…contaminating our thoughts with particles capable of reproducing at will. And I shudder to think of the effect that all these years of brain drain such episodes have caused…!

I am so glad I have left TV…! However I do read a lot of junk on the net…(which again has reduced somewhat cause of the newly introduced isb web filter…wink wink…!!!)

Anyways…

Studies in full swing…loads of stuff to cover…and the thought of R over is making the same all the more tougher…! However…I shall persist…

Watched an awesome movie last night…yet again…Pi…then sat down and wondered why movies such as these are not made with the frequency I would wish…

Eventually came up with a rather funny list…will share it with you soon…

Pardon me if a blog doesn’t happen before Tuesday…

~a

25 years....

25 years…

…of maintaining relationships…and failing at them as well…

…of goals…and not reaching them as well…

…of hope…and not believing in it as well…

…of happiness…and not appreciating it as well…

…of love…and not worshipping it as well…

…of hurt…and not regretting it as well…

…of feelings…and not feeling them as well…


…of life…and not living it as well…


Happy birthday dude…!

~a

reflective

The mood is reflective…and I know that if I sit to pen down my thoughts, 2 things will happen.

1. People will never come back to my blog…


2. People will never come back to my blog…

So…won’t…!

Will get back soon…don’t feel like writing now…

~a

ummeed

Yesterday was all talks and talks and talks. However had a great time with G as well…gone to buy V’s gift. He was evidently pretty happy with the gift…had that sheepish smile with the volcanic excitement contained within…

The BCG folks had come down to address the class of 2006 on ‘careers in consulting’. Pretty impressive talk. For one…they didn’t pitch for BCG at any point of time…and two…the perspective was really honest.
“consulting is not the answer to everything…”
“we do fail at times…”
“we know we are not mckinsey…but we are great in our own right…”

This weekend is screwy by all standards. 3 submissions are due…and then one due on the 25th…and then the LDP assignment due on the 1st of September. We are required to watch the movie ‘basic instinct’ and talk about leadership with respect to the same…(YAH RIGHT…!!)…no…we are required to watch ‘a’ movie called Amadeus…(on the life of Mozart) and connect our understanding of leadership from the class to the movie. Seems to be pretty boring a task…I mean…of hand I cant think of anyone whom Mozart led…except himself. However, I have full faith that he did something more than just compose…we will discover…

This term (and what I am going to say has been repeated by approximately 99.98783% of the student as well) is somehow going too easy. When the fact of matter is…its not. Cmon…corp fin is not easy…little’s law in OM is no reflection of how ‘not so little’ is the course and its content…(I cant say the same about the prof though…!!!)…I am sure no one knows what the heck is MADM all about…and entrepreneurship will have a case as the final…which will require a lot of thought…

So basically…the situation is…lots of tough courses…the desire to study at the lowest level possible…and the tension of this combination not creeping in…! phew…! I can so totally see my grades this term…(which I am sure I will not get to see before my 2nd  kid celebrates his silver anniversary…)

Anyways…ummeed pe duniya kayam hai…aur main bhi…!

~a

alacrity...and amol...

some 10 billion years ago..when doordarshan was considered the hottest thing on the indian soil..there used to be this 30 seconder ad or whatever you may call it...which went "let us discover the Gandhi in ourselves"

now no one really used to take this seriously...unless ofcourse if you were a farmer and were hooked on to 'krishi darshan'...so much so that you saw reason in every ad that followed the same. however...one non-farmer must have been influenced by it...and i had the amazin forture to meet this gentleman today.

amol karnad, CEO of alacrity, chennai

our entrepreneurship prof is one hell of a dude. he got amol, the subject of our case study, to come and talk to us on a personal basis. now if you...(and i so wish everyone could) went through the case...trust me..you wont have many good things to say to amol. cause he is a maverick...eccentric...trying to do something that not people are capable of. he owns a construction company in chennai and is known to process his business at the highest level of ethics. no bribery (mind you...the construction business...!)...no black money..nothing that will not allow him to sleep with a guilty conscience...!

unfortunately...i cant really call alacrity a success. yes..at some point of time they did have 25% of chennai market share. however...as of today the company is a financial mess. and its hard for someone to see how they will be able to build themselves up. so...yah...amol might have failed as a businessman...not believing that te social responsibility of business is to make profits.

however...this is not why he fascinated me...! his conviction...his passion...his tired face which was a reflection of the battlefield he was a soldier of...his hands which were trembling with the burden of responsibility that he was carrying......and the faith he has in the society.....all moved me beyond bound.

i salute u sir...i truly do...!

dmo results out...done as expected...! have to (and i am repeating myself here...sic...!) start studyin for the finals. have loads of assignment due this monday...will surely die....!

~a

being straight...and level 5...!

rumor has it that 'someone' acknowledged in class he is not straight...! rumor also has it that due to his level 5 benevolance the Corp Fin mid-term stands cancelled. finally...rumor has it that whenever i stand infront of the mirror...i can see that bastardo...!

life was pretty sweet this weekend. thanks to the national holiday, the friday strain of the mid-terms wasnt felt as hard. woke up all days at obnoxious timings...and slept at times to the same effect. did not study for more than 15 seconds at a strecth...and didnt even watch any movies. yah...attended a lot of talks, debates and what have yous..!


with only 2 weeks to go for the finals...and with not much clarity on what exactly happens in class...i can see the going rather smooth..! the managerial accounting class is still quite 'exciting' and manages to keep everyone awake...including the prof..! corp fin was good till the point the prof said..."i am not going to do any quant in this class..." and then proceeded to handle some calculus level math (ok..exxagerated...but u get the point...!). however...the class is quite amazing. i can see why i would like finance as a major.

OM is pretyt neat. the new prof (prof deshmukh) is quite cute...and good at his stuff. he goes through the entire exercise in a rather elaborate manner...making sure that everyone awake surely graps what happens. the new entrepreneruship prof was also quite good in his first class...!

so lookin forward to a the last few weeks...and then an awesome time in the break. oh yah..the placement feelin has started sinking in..with 2 organizations coming down for their presentations. need to start some serious work on this front.

rest all good...promise to keep writing regularly...apologize for not doing so...

~a

thought...and the action...

thought:
ISB students are known to suffer from sever amnesia. for god sake...they dont ever remember what happened in the class...right after the class...! hmmm...so how can we exploit this...

action:
Step 1: pick up last year's mid-term
Step 2: run a monte carlo simulation (or ask the next person you meet) to choose a number between 1-30
Step 3: Repeat step 2...20 times
Step 4: stand in front of the mirror...and go....HUUUUAAAAHHHAHAAAAAHAHAHHAAAAA...

Result:
yesterday's corporate finance mid-term

i kind of expected more from Prof Sundaram...i mean...he easily was one of the best profs that i interacted with at ISB. so...yes...its dissapointing...and at some level i think unfair for those who didnt get to see last year's mid-term (it wasnt circulated at an official level). however...its not an easy debate...and i can be on either side with equal conviction. lets see who wins...if i may use the word...!

the OM midterm was brilliant. had something for everyone...so at some level it didnt want to award you just cause you knew a lot. the demarcation was meant to be subtle...! stupid questions were 5 points...and so were some serious questions. nicely done...

last class of LDP was rocking! Level 5 leadership. satan did almost get me to not attend the class...however i am glad i came out well...! rajeshwar...even with his fallacies...is impressive...and i wish i was even half as well read as him. the ease with which he delivers shakespeare and oscar wilde and the gita and what not...is simply amazing. people might be led to believe that he does so to draw the credibility...but then the fact that he associates whatever he says to the context...in an almost immaculate manner...defeats this argument.

anyways...

had a nice time last night with N and A. A made kickass cheese omlettes...and played a perfect host. we then watched Zeher...which was a 'not-spo-bad' movie till about the last 30 mins or so...it was just downhill from there...! N had been down with sever fever for the past week or so...so it was a welcome change for her.

and A...my respect for u has grown after last night...! :)

really missing R lately...she is going through a tough patch...however given how strong she is...i am sure she will come through very soon....!

looking forward to the weekend...loads of stuff to handle...

~a

names people call me...

so if u have ever met me in person...the last thing that will come to your mind is 'intelligence'..and the first name that will strike you will be 'pappu'...

so...it didnt much for P and A to come up with the same. its another case that their entire time during class is dedicated to this character (aka me) aka pappu..

for instance...

P: Pappu..?
Me (turning back): kya...?
P: chal aage dekh...!
Me: damn u bastardo...!

5 mins later

A: Pappu..?
Me (to myself): wont look back...
A: Abbe sun...
Me (myself again): no..wont do it...
A: pappu..sun naa...
Me (myself): must be important...(and turn back)
A: chal aage dekh...!!!
Me: aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!


but thats not it...the preparation starts before class. my name tag this morning won the guiness record for the maximum grafitti in a given space...

a brief look:

• pappu pager
• pappu tiger
• i know regression...what do u know...?
• if boy - go to hell...if girl - come for tuitions
• jahaan dikhi laundiya...karne laga dandiya
• murgi waalon...murgi bachao...pappu jawaan ho gaya...!!!

i mean..what retarded sense of humor dude...who would laugh at such stuff. its a pity that everyone does though...!!!

which gets me to think...my image here at isb is that of "with the women...for the women...always...dilli police..."...and its not that i do something out of my way to maintain this image. i guess its just got digged in for some odd reason...and P and A dont help much to take the image away as well..! ab kya karen...talent to bahut hai..time nahi milta...!!

anyways...mid term coming this friday. and then looking forward to an amazing weekend...! hopefully will watch sarkar sometime then..

on a sad note..i sold the nikon i had bought 2 weeks back...! slightly depressed at the same...but then..its all good...life is much larger...

life's an undeveloped photograph right now...a beautiful moment captured...waiting to be seen and appreciated...!

~a

if the mission requires...

Question
_______________________

Place: The Indian Army Camp, Siachen Glacier
Temperature: Minus 40 degree centigrade
Salary of a jawaan posted: Rs. 9,000
Extra Salary just cause he is at Siachen: Rs. 32
Freqency of a bath: 3 months
Frequency of shit: weekly
Freqency of death: daily

What is the motivation...?

(Possible) Answer
_________________________

patriotism
pride
power
money
prestige
...
...
bullshit...!!!

its all for the leader...the commanding officer...the 'in-charge'...

________________________________________________________________

Capt. Raghu Raman was here at ISB last evening. talking about 'leadership at 26,000 feet'...defining what leadership is all about...defining what it takes to motivate people under situations that are worse than anything possibly imagined...

he talked about crisis...which is not about getting a B grade when you wanted to get into mckinsey...or about getting tense cause you cant cope up with work pressure...! he talked about crisis...which is deciding whether to send 5 more soldiers in a blizzard to search for the 5 that havent returned...at the risk that they may never return...or that the 5 gone out might be 20 mtrs away from the camp freezing to death...!

he not only got a standing ovation (truly deserved) at the end of it all..he also managed to capture (atleast to some extent) the foolish-ignorant-pompous-greedy-selfish devil inside all of us and show him what the real gravity of the world is.

hah...i was dissapointed that we didnt win the frisbee final...! at the same time someone 26,000 feet above might not be 'allowed' to shed a tear when his friend doesnt return...forever...


its not the best feeling to know that your life is so trivial when compared to so much more...and especially when you have always felt that you have struggled so much to be where you are. someone out there worked a gigillion times more...and didnt even reach someplace...

i am blessed to be me...

~a

dmo...frisbee...caf...and me...!

today has been busy since morning...and fun too. got up for the paper viewing of Decision Models and Optimization (DMO) for term 2. have done decently well...just praying for an A. lets hope i manage one...though i have a feelin it wont come easy.

attended section B's managerail accounting class. prof sridharan is an awesome prof..but someone (maybe it will be me..if he is reading this) needs to tell him that we graduated from class 8 some 10 billion years ago...and so adding 20 and 40 and coming up with 60 isnt that big a deal. at some level i really respect the fact that he is trying to come down to our level and make things easy for us. but then at the mba level you dont want someone telling you that life is going to be 20+40=60 easy. infact its never gonna be 60 ever again...! anyways...

then clicked a lot of snaps (and o man i love this so much...!!) at the Capital Markets Symposium (CAF). infact last evening i had gone to the airport to receive Mr. Ravi Narain, CEO, National Stock Exchange. he was one of the panel members for the discussion this afternoon. we had a good conversation on our wey back..with moments of silence as well. i was going through my last 2 terms to see if i could come up with some intelligent question. and damn..was i good. a typical 5 minutes....

Ankur: so you are an econ grad from cambridge. that must have been wonderful...learning eco from the best place possible.
Narain: oh yes it was...great place. but then i always wanted to do finance and i regret not haven taken math or physics instead.
Ankur (to himself): okkkkkkk...so its finance now..
1 minute of silence
Ankur (to himself): dude...come up with a good finance question...cmon
another minute of silence
Ankur (still to himself): COME UP WITH SOMETHING RIGHT NOW...FINANCE FINANCE...
another 30 seconds
Ankur (about to jump off the car): so...finance, interesting subject.howz the weather now in mumbai...!!!
Narain (to himself)...DUD...!!

anyways...back to the symposium today. it was great. i was the 'unofficial' photographer and it was awesome to be clicking after so many days. had a good hour..

ruched after that to change...to my sports gear (yah right...!). had the semi-final of the frisbee tournament. and it was some mighty kickass fun. we rocked right from the start...and 'ran' to a 5-2 victory.

have to study quite a bit this weekend. let me get back to that....

~a

its that time of the day...

you havent blogged for 2 days...you gymed today for 45 minutes...lifting weights...playing squash and badminton...its 1am in the morning...the day starts at 7.30 tomorrow and you dont know when it will end...

and you are medically dead...!

nevertheless, i will write...

life has been good these days. somehow the term isnt hitting me as yet...there is quite some bit to do...and i am doing it..but the pressure isnt even half of last term..just as section A's tee shirt isnt half as sec-c as ours...!! (prof venkat)

isb is hosting a microfinance conclave this friday/saturday and the who's who of the economics and finance world is coming over. i am required to host mr. ravi narain, managing director and ceo - nse. will be going to receive him at the airport tomorrow...and then show him around the place. should be good fun..though i will be missing some bit of the ldp class...(sigh..!)

had gone out for chinese today...decent food..good company. even R went out for chinese today...after she had a 'tennis date' with S. he seems to be taking 'good' care of her...chalo...as long as he gets to...! :)

section c had its t-shirt day yesterday. was awesome fun clicking snaps in the section tees...they have come out decently well. here..have a look..!



and till you adore the tee...lemme come back from my sleep...

~a

12 friggin hours...!!

is what i slept last night...12 friggin hours. and it was awesome...!

saturday night we had a party...which slowly turned into 'their' party...wherein their stands for everyone who hasnt paid 15 lacs to be in ISB and simply lives in hyderabad..! apparently there were some 20 cars of 'others' who had crashed the party...and went to the bar with 200 bucks for a vodka. little did they realize that booze at ISB parties is at selling price...(30 bucks for a vodka..!!). little did we realize that we will see them again at the next party..cause of this...!!

anyhow...the party was a blast. we had inter-section games...tug-o-war for instance wherein the section members not pulling were supposed to throw buckets of water at the opposite team. this was basically to increase solidarity amongst the sections and avoid any further water fights...(yah right...!)

A and her bartending team rocked that day. they were on it for some 7 hours...and did a remarkable job with the fruit punch. its another case that they have shared some tactics they used to increase sales...ahem ahem...("yeh fruit punch pehle waale se zyaada acha nahi hai..?"..."yah dud...cause it has more alcohol content.."..)

the party eventually came to an end just in time......for the sunrise...!!! and since i was incharge of te music, leaving midway would be a little less than committing suicide. however...no regrets...! overall...kudos to A for organizing the entire thing. bahut sahi...!

however...when one has to get up at 9.30 when one has slept at 6.30...and both the times are a.m....its not the best thing under the sun. ISB was organizing its 1st info session for the prospective students. and by jove...645 of them turned up...! so handling them was quite an achievement. it was good fun though...marketing for the brand. there were some really interesting prospective students...would want them here next year.

after the info session..the group met for exactly 15 mins to discuss the OM case. we took a strong glance at each other...before i broke down and went..."ok ok..i will do it...!"...(kiddin...!)

then went for a long photography session...after which there was a soccer match to be played between ISB and BITS Alumni. at first it seemed they would tear us apart...they were in jerseys and all..practising...warming up...while on the other side...our team was like..."aur suna...case ho gaya..? eco ka kya grade aaya...?"...

however...little did we realize that the warming up was the only good thing they could manage. we bulldozed them 3-0...!!!

overall...the day ended at some 11pm...and i decided to go off to sleep. the next thing i see is the afternoon sun...! :)

today went well...had an info session on the finance electives. seem to be awesomein nature...hope i have a good time doing them as well...

rest all good...

~a