The ISB buff

The countdown begins!!

2007-02-08T13:13:00.000-08:00

8 more days to go before the D-day.. companies are already scheduled with their slots, you know which companies you have applied to.. the only thing remains is the shortlist.. once thats out, you can at least gauge when you will be done with the biggest thing you pursued an MBA for.. at least I would know.. :)

The next post now will be with the details of all the interviews I did and the ones I was able to convert.. so bite your nails, like I am doing and be ready for a thumping victory post from me.. ;)

87.5% MBA!!

2007-02-08T13:12:00.000-08:00

Back after a sabbatical!!... :) Yeah today I am 87.5% MBA.. just one more term to go and I can call myself an MBA from ISB.. WOW!!... :) But I think it would be even better if I have a tag of a good job along with it.. and how many more days to go for that? Just 8 more days.. can you beat that? 8 more days and we would see the academic center buzzing with students right from the wee hours.. that would be sight which was missing since the core terms.. the only difference this time would be that students would be dressed with "white color" attire.. :)

Next term, we expect it to be one of the most chilled out terms.. if the profs allow it to be like that... :) I have picked up courses like Retailing, Negotiation Analysis, Global Issues in IT Management and Strategies for Success in Web 2.0 ..sounds interesting.. lets hope they are.. Tried to pick courses which have the minimum amount of work through the term but found none.. :( :) :.. Anyways.. I am ready to take the last term head on, knowing thats its the last one!!.. :)

75% MBA

2007-01-06T01:25:00.001-08:00

Here I come again, with another post on me reaching one of the milestone of being a complete MBA!! Today I was done with my last exam, Evaluating Technology Investments. I dont know about investments in technology but it definitely reminded me of the investment I have done of coming to ISB, giving up one year of experience and the money that I could have earned.. not to forget the loan for paying the fees here.. :) And time has come for me to make sure all these investments bear fruit.. yeah placements.. this word has ruled my posts for some months now.. and now its just a month more when we would have almost a clear picture as to where we are headed..

When it started off 8 months back.. I was like... will this be the kinda life I will spend for the next few months.. will I survive? But then as its said "practice makes a man perfect".. in my case, if not perfect, it has definitely made me a "dont-bother never-mind I will reach where I want to" guy.. :) and guess what.. I am still one of those "75% MBA" guys.. ;)

7th term begins!!

2007-01-06T01:25:00.000-08:00

Our second last term begins on Monday and fortunately for all of us, almost all courses have been done away with the end term exams for this term. This would ensure that all of us will have at least a week then before taking on the placements head on.. I wonder how it would be then.. I mean the excitement in the air, mixed with sad and happy emotions.. dont know about others but I am definitely looking for those tense nail biting moments.. sitting outside the interview room waiting for your turn to get screwed.. :)

I hope all of us are placed well and at jobs that we wanted at the end of it.. 8th term would be so easier then.. almost every one around has made plans of just chilling out for that term.. I am so very looking forward to playing cricket every day in the front lawns of my student village... laze around in the shades of the founders lounge.. wow!!.. :) I hope we do get time to do all that after toiling so hard in the last few months.. :)

So yeah... we are reaching the end of one of the finest years of our lives.. and a great job would just add a bucket full of sugar on it!!

Marching towards 2007!!

2006-12-27T13:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas eve celebrated... Annual Alumni meet, Solstice 2006 celebrated.. what remains? The new years eve.. but what will you find me doing? Studying for my 6th end term exams.. :) But no qualms.. why? Because I will mostly be on my way to make every new year to follow a memorable one with the kind of job I will probably get.. I mean I at least hope it to be that way.. :)

What do I see in retrospect? 6 terms at ISB.. added with 3 months at Infosys.. the ecstacy of at last making it to ISB after 3 years of following this institute.. the feeling I had when I finally got a mail which mentioned that I have been moved to the "admit" list from the "waitlist".. the response I got from so many of my friends whom I had pestered over these three years about me doing an MBA... the feeling on entering the campus of this grand institute.. the 6 terms of hard fought battle with assignments, projects, presentations, workshops, seminars, guest lectures, classes etc etc.. the new friends I made here and who will remain dear to me for years to follow..

What do I see in near future? One main final battle still remains.. the placements.. two more "xerox" terms remain.. though I feel it will be lighter than before.. then the grand day of graduation, will be ready to throw the hat in the air.. :).. then the first day at the new job.. the reputation of being an ISB grad.. all this awaits.. and how excited I am to take it on.. so here is a heart warming, bear hugging welcome to the year 2007!!... ROCK ON!!.. :)

Team ISB Cricket!!

2006-12-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

This is the email alias we have for the official ISB cricket team... and we played, most probably, our last match on 16th December against Virtusa. We won it, though I wont say comfortably.. after all we should at least behave the way our Indian cricket team does.. try and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.. but seems defeat defeated us after all and we managed to win.. :)

I used the word "most probably" because we could not make it to the next round and with placements coming up in the next month.. the students wont be able to participate in the tourneys for another 2 months.. come March, we would have just one more month at the ISB and no tourney gets over in just one month.. so theoritically, it was our last match as part of the ISB cricket team..

Added to other things that ISB offered, I really am thankful for they had this official cricket team.. I could not have imagined a year without playing cricket.. and ISB didnt let me down.. :) The moments on the ground.. playing under floodlights on a field that could not have been any greener.. it was an experience I was not expecting at all when I joined ISB.. the fun of still going for a match with your end term exams hanging over your head for the next day.. but then after the exams feeling that it was a good decision to go for the match as any amount of preparation for the exam would not have helped... All these things were some things I would have to take another life for experiencing.. as I dont think I am in the mood of doing another MBA in this life of mine.. :D

So ya.. I had to write a word for the contribution cricket has done to my life here at ISB.. HAIL CRICKET!!.. :)

PAEV comes to an interesting end!!

2006-12-12T00:41:00.000-08:00

If you have been a frequent reader of this blog, you would have observed that there was one post which talked about this elective course we had, PAEV (Planning an Entrepreneurial Venture). I had taken it up as I felt this would give me a holistic view of planning, launching and running a new business. While on the journey to finish this course, we experienced a lot of hurdles.. not the traditional ones that one would expect in launching a new business...these hurdles were of a different kind. These were the assignments, presentations, projects we had for the other courses we had taken. We had to literally pull time out of our schedules to prepare a good business plan. I had Sonali and Anshul, my ever dependable friends to give me company of this journey.

Finally last week we were done with the final submission of our business plan and heaved a sigh of relief. Not because we didnt like the course but because one load was off our shoulders.. :) But then came the testing times, we were fortunately or unfortunately shortlisted for the ISB B-Plan Competition, where in you are mechanically made to volunteer yourself as you had taken the course. With over 4 assignments to take care of over the weekend, we were a bit scared to devote the whole of Saturday into this. We made some stupid excuses to our dear Professor and he picked those up quite brilliantly, leaving us high and dry, and at the mercy of the judges for the semifinals on Saturday morning.

Then came the prime time with the "Escapades!" team (yeah that was our team and project name) standing in front of the judges giving a 10 minute presentation, only to find out that they could not finish their presentation within the stipulated time.. :) They didnt know whether to be happy or sad.. happy because this might have saved them half a day and sad because there was this opportunity to gain some satisfaction for the effort gone into it in past 3 months. The results for the finals were declared by Dr. Nicholas Burns, Undersecretary of United States for Political Affairs. To our surprise and shock, our name was called out 4th from the 9 finalists.. the expression on our faces was worth watching with all of us standing with gaping mouths and clapping for ourselves.. :) The finals went well with us finishing the presentation in time but we didnt bag the final top 3 slots.. we werent sad.. it was a really rewarding experience for the effort which lasted over 3 terms. I would say the experience was really worth it.. and I am sure my colleagues would definitely agree to it!!.. :) A satisfying end to the course, I must say!!

Media Conclave just around the corner..

2006-11-23T01:47:00.001-08:00

The most awaited event of the past few months is happening at last.. the Media Conclave.. the first time at ISB. Why was it most awaited for me? Because it was eating up a lot of time from our schedule and we wanted to get done with it soon so that we are relieved.. ;) Kidding.. it was and is fun to organize these events as you to get in touch the YOU-KNOW-WHOS of the industry and its further exciting when you do receive replies from them showing interest. This is what the ISB tag can do.. help you in having people lend their ears and eyes to hear and see about what you have for them... :)

Now why this mail about the Media Conclave? Do you think I would write a blog about something I am not involved with? .. :D I am also one of the organizers for this conclave and we have top shots arriving for this one. You can just visit http://isb.edu/mediaconclave and find out more about it. Once the conclave is over, you will find more about the happenings on the day of the event in the ISB home page in the news section.. :) Catch ya all soon.. :)

62.5% MBA

2006-11-23T01:47:00.000-08:00

I am done with my EGGJAMS!!! Done with it yesterday and ESPN had a perfect thing set up for me for the evening of the last day of my exams.. but guess what.. The Indian Cricket Team had other plans.. they managed to pull out an excellent defeat.. :) a disgusting one to be precise.. :) I think the ISB cricket team would have played better.. ;)

There are folks who have their exams going on till Friday but the question is "Am I bothered?".. I am not because I am done.. Next term starts on Monday.. and I have just two courses lined up as of now as I managed to get just 2 out of the 5 courses I bid for.. :) Will get more once the term starts, and now dont ask me why and how? The course selection and bidding for the elective terms is something you will understand more when you are at the warfront here to experience it. So me mentioning that I will be able to rope in two more courses once the term starts should be enough information to convince you that the system is good.. :)

So nows whats coming up? Chill out for today and tomorrow.. watch DHOOM 2... Man I want to watch this and Casino Royale as well.. lets see how it goes. Saturday is the day we play the third cricket match of another Corporate Cricket tourney, so YEEYYY it will be cricket again after two weeks.. :) Sunday evening, I am planning to again try and cheer up our forlorn India team against South Africa.. exciting weekend isnt it?.. :) I am excited, arent you?.. :P

International placement interviews kick off

2006-11-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

The placements have started off with a good note.. much earlier than last year.. and the recruiters are impressed. The scene around is also looking good.. applicants are positive.. most of them have decided where to go and where they are headed to. The scene as I remember at the start of the year was completely different. So many confused faces.. questions like "Do I know where to go?" were quite prominent on everyones face. But now its settled in, sunk in that "this is it".. "this is where I need to go"..

Believe me, the stress of finding out that you are confused, is much more than any of the course that ISB can offer you. Moreover it gets worse when people around you fake that they are completely decided on their fate and they have it control.. and you are like.. "WHAT THE HECK? Am I the only one?".. only to find out later in the year that those same people are running haywire applying to all possible companies.. and you are the one choosing which company you want to go into.. :) So the gist.. if you are a prospective MBA candidate -

If you have decided where to go and are too sure about it, great!! Really great!! Hats off!!
If you are confused (which was the state of most of us here), just make yourself believe something till the interview is over and then start off with your MBA. The initial few months that you spend at the school will make you find out what you are made for.. :) Overly planned people will be there around you, but this is no reason for you to be psyched about. Just chill and time will come when you will find out what to do.. :)

Locking Supply to your Craving Mind..

2006-11-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

This is the name of one of the courses I have taken.. :) To make it simple, its Logistics and Supply Chain Management.. :) no qualms about taking this course and no one to blame but yeah its one of the toughest courses I have learnt. When I say learnt, I am questioning myself here as I am still to figure out what it is.. ;) Its so heavy.. even after my friends and alums telling me that the course is heavy, I ended up taking the plunge.. Now that I have, I will have to make sure I make the most of it.

The reason for the naming the post the way I have is because the assignments for this course are time consuming that I have ended up staring at the ceiling while trying to catch a wink.. what do you expect me to do when I get in to bed at 6am in the morning and have to wake up at 7 for a class at 8.. :)

All said and done, the course is good, if at all I had more time to give to it.. :) Makes me look at any "operation" happening around and wonder if there is anything that can be done to improve it.. ;) Thats what ISB does to you... adds perspective.. :)

That time of the year again..

2006-11-02T05:29:00.000-08:00

Its that time of the year again... when you keenly look into your inboxes to check if you have been shortlisted for the ISB interview. Now its been 3 years I have been a part the isb-pgp yahoo groups. First year as a rejected applicant, second year as a waitlisted applicant and now third year as a student.

I am aware of the exact emotions you feel during such a phase. Helpless.. you have submitted your application and just waiting with your fingers crossed for first of the special emailes to arrive in your inbox. The interview invite email.. every day, you end up checking your inbox at least 10 times to find out if its there, seeing some others get invites on the group, you end up calling your friend in the current batch who is busy with the tight schedule.. he suggests you to get in touch with the admissions department, you end up calling them just to find out that the interview invites for your city is yet to be sent. You are also told about the date they will start sending the invites for your city. Still this does not make you stop checking your inbox frequently..

The emotions on the yahoo groups reaches different levels. People receiving invites bombard rest of the applicants with the good news, some who didnt receive any mail after being from the same city feel that they have lost the battle... But friends its not the case.. who can tell you better than me who got in after trying a couple of years. It will definitely bore a fruit.. just be patient, work on your profile.. dont just sit for a year and apply again.. be positive and you will definitely make it. For those who have received invites, best of luck and be sure to crack the interview. Be prepared with your own application .. :) let the dice roll!!

High Pressure ZONE!!

2006-10-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

Mails have started flowing in.. about what? About the job offerings that will be coming to ISB later this year. Everyone around is excited, tensed, happy to see these mails. Its weird.. this is what was the reason almost everyone had come to ISB for.. so we should be prepared to take it head on.. right? But still I dont see myself falling in that category... why? Hmm.. thats because there is a lot depending on the result of this one thing.. :)

Interview preparation groups are pepped up.. professional clubs have geared themselves up in conducting interview preparation workshops and sessions.. it all feels so different suddenly.. the focus has started shifting from grades to jobs... quite naturally. We have already spent 6 months on campus.. 4 terms.. doesnt feel so.. another 3 terms and positively everyone will have at least one offer on hand... then one more term and we are done.. with everyone walking in directions they seem fit for their future... :)

The scene looks really positive for placements, not just because of the mails, but also because of the market condition.. jobs are there up for grabs... its just a matter of you proving yourself worthy of it. Best of luck to all.. and news will flow in as the proceedings go.. :)

50% MBA

2006-10-18T02:57:00.000-07:00

Here comes the traditional post that appears on this blog after every term. Though its a bit late but yeah its the content that matters.. :)

Term 4, technically got over today with our last postponed exam in the morning. As far as the classes go, we could have safely assumed it to have been over by 6th Oct itself but because of an unfortunate or fortunate incident one of our term 4 end term exams trickled into term 5. All said and done, we can now call ourselves at par with those folks who have completed a year in other 2-year MBA BSchools... yes.. we are 50% MBAs.. :)

Term break started off a lot hectic than the actual term itself. Every soul on campus had stayed back for the first couple of days to innovate.. now you might ask what was that? Influenced by ISB last years success at the Innovation Challenge, we had over 30 teams participating from ISB itself this year. And everyone had the pressure of performing well this year as they expected to be at par with the last batch, if not better.. :)

Now after the term break is over, and this being the first of the elective terms, it was tension all around with some people able to get the courses they had bid for and some people still fighting for it.. :) Though eventually everyone has got what they wanted.

With now placements in the near future, it adds even more pressure to our schedules with the normal assignments and the works still being there to keep us busy. So lets see how easily I am able to keep you all updated on the happenings.. :)

Peter Mukherjea Speech Summary in my words at TiE ISB Connect 2006

2006-09-30T23:20:00.000-07:00

Peter Mukherjea, CEO, STAR group, was at ISB for the TiE – ISB Connect event to share his views on “Discovery of New Media Opportunities, blending technologies and leveraging India”.

He started off saying that “convergence” is the key to opportunities in the Media industry. Customers these days have all means available to them to check on the media of today. Be it mobiles or internet or television or radio or wired cars or wired planes, each customer has it at his disposal to make use of it. Thus, it is up to the every media company to find answer to the questions like “Who? What? When? How much?”. It is the answer to these questions which will help strategize moves to capture the market.

He claimed that the new media industry is moving towards a tipping point and we can safely assume to have hit it when even the lower class of the society will be having a means to watch TV shows on their mobiles. After all this said and done, it’s a fact that television still holds its current place with increased choice and complete control.

Mr. Mukherjea supported interactive marketing to be the jargon of the day with more and more people preferring to choose what they want rather than taking what is given to them. Interactive television includes shopping of related products (like DVDs) while you are watching a show and also gives you the power to control it in different ways.

He threw some light on the market size of the media industry and also showed some figures predicted for 2010. As per the analysis, the current media industry (including Television, Print, Internet and Others) has a market size of USD 1000 billion and its going to touch USD 1450 billion in 2010. In the segregation of the pie, Television will continue to have the same share but the Print media might loose some of its share to Internet.

Coming to the next point in the agenda of where India stands today in the Media industry, Mr Mukherjea educated the audience by telling that it has the third largest TV industry with 112 million viewer households after USA and China. He also pointed out one of the pain areas for broadcasters that they get just 14% of the revenue generated, which was because of under reporting on behalf of the Local Cable Operators.

He also shared some more facts on the advertising revenue of the Television Media industry. Total advertising expense in 2005 was USD 2.79 billion of which Television advertising expense contributed to about USD 1.15 billion. This revenue is growing steadily at the rate of 14% year on year. Having said this, India still lags behind its counterparts (other Asian countries like China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand etc.) in this stream of revenue. He also pointed out the fact that the number of television channels are increasing at an alarming rate and we might end up having 1000 channels by 2010.

With all this about the television industry in India, our presence on the Internet has not been lagging far behind and has lot of potential which will become obvious in coming years.

Mr. Mukherjea also brought out other pain areas for the broadcasters as he cited examples of mandatory sharing of sports broadcasts along with content regulation and reduced advertising time being enforced on them. Also level playing field is not available, with regulation on different levels of investment allowed for FDIs in different sectors with in the Media industry.

As the TiE-ISB Connect was an event designed especially for bringing budding entrepreneurs and VCs together, Mr. Mukherjea did not leave out on telling the audience about the opportunities available in the Media Industry. Analog transmissions are giving way to Digital equipments with more investments coming in. Also there is a steady increase in the market for original specialized content creation for TV shows on niche fields like golf, gardening, weather etc. Apart from these, there is an emerging market for new media like mobile etc.

To conclude the plenary speech, Mr. Mukherjea let the audience know about the forthcoming targets for the STAR group as a part of their growth plans. STAR group, amongst other plans, would continue to concentrate on the Television media along with Broadband Wireless, Movies on a pay per view basis, DTH (Direct to Home), Network (distribution of new channels) and also tapping the regional channel market to provide a complete bouquet of services to its customers.

Posted by Mahesh Shenoy

TiE - ISB Connect Starts Tomorrow!!

2006-09-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

This is one of the biggest events of the year at ISB. We have delegates from different industries and sharing their knowledge with us. Then we have panellists from these industries also speaking to us. The main highlight of the event would be the presentation of the business plans to the Venture Capitalists.

This serves as an ideal platform for entrepreneurs to pitch for their venture. It’s also possible that it gets funded.

All this happening, I just come to know what I had missed in my life till now. This is how the real world, the real market, the real business looks like. How in the world I would have possibly known as to these kinda things do happen? Its really mind boggling.

Really really looking forward to the event!!

Where does the time fly?

2006-09-16T02:47:00.000-07:00

It felt at the start as if this term was the coolest of all the ones that have already gone by but now when I sit in my room in front of my laptop, I seem to have a 1000 items on my checklist. Its not just with me but with all of my batchmates.. no one is able to figure out where and how the time is lost? Knowledge is definitely gained in the time lost but still its somewhat confusing the way this is happening.. :)

This weekend we have at least 6-7 things to be done. Assignments, Speaker series, Events, Classes, Presentations.. etc.. a whole lot of it. All in all a jam packed weekend... also with mid terms coming up in another 7 days, its even more scary.

Also with the different sections enjoying the company of their section as a whole for the last time, its sad as well. Term 4 will mark the end of the core term and it will be the last few days our sections will be attending classes together. Its been so entertaining... the arbit class participations, the sleeping beauties, the cross talks, the late comings... all seem to flash back in my mind.. :)

Today we have planned the last section event of the core terms and we are going for a picnic. Everyone is thrilled about it are definitely looking forward to it. Also the fact that we would be half way through with the course after term 4 is giving everyone mixed feelings.. on the positive side, its the achievement of finishing an MBA (a rigorous one) and on the negative side, its the scare of the placements which would be approaching soon... will i get the job I dreamt of? Will I get a job after all? Will I Will I... so many questions.. :)

Lets wait and watch, what the future has in store.. you keep a watch here and you will know what the present is like.. ;)

Term 4.....

2006-09-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

With Term 4 at our doorstep after the term break, every one was pretty cool about studies. By now every one had got the hang of their life at ISB and knew how to tackle it with help of the "strategy" course already completed in Term 2.. ;)

Now with one week into the Term 4, it looks as if people are still in the term break mood. No assignment has been given to us till now for this term, which has never been the case for the previous 3 terms. Every one is enjoying this moment but I somehow have this feeling that its just the lull before the storm.. :( I also hope that I am wrong.. :)

To tell you all more about Term 4, we have 4 courses as usual and they go as follows:

1) Management of Organizations: A completely qualitative subject with official "paper plane flying" exercise happening in our 2nd class. We have never had any thing of that sort before and it was fun.. :) The name of the subject tells you what its all about.
2) Investment Analysis: Whatever was left over by Corporate Finance in Term 3 is going to scare us in Term 4.. :) It has started off pretty smoothly with the same concepts being revised again to create a base but have heard from sources that its uphill from here on. :(
3) Strategic Analysis of Information Technology: This subject deals with the much-accepted or rather assumed fact that implementing IT in every organization helps.. so we will find if this works for all or not.
4) Government, Society and Business: The name sounds pretty wierd ... right? How the hell this course would help us after an MBA? That was the exact question I had in mind but with a couple of lectures down my belt, I understand how the regulatory policies of countries and governments changes the rules of the game in a business. And its going to fine tune as the term proceeds. :)

Thats what we have for this term and lets see how and where it goes for when we can call ourselves 50% MBAs.. :)

Term 3 Ends!!

2006-08-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

I thought life in Bombay was fast but now after 3 terms at ISB, there is no denying that time and life does not fly faster than this. It seems as if it was just a week back when I was still trying to fathom where I am and how I reached here.

The orientation week where we had the alums telling us all about it, their experience, the section wars and the batch strength. They had all events lined up for preparing us for the months ahead. Then came the terms, one by one and now after 3 terms, I think I have gained something.. not just in terms of knowledge but also in terms of life long friends.. a good network of people... Wait a bit.. what the heck? Am I behaving like my stint at ISB is over? Naa... not at all.. 5 more terms to go.. reality strikes and this time it struck a bit too soon.. :( :) : ...

Tonight is going to be a party night... Tomorrow morning on a flight to Bombay... Tomorrow afternoon, I will meet my dearest bhanji after over 3 months.. Saturday morning, I would miss the cricket match that would be played by ISB in the corporate cup.... Sunday morning I would back, and ready to play for the next match of the same tourney that afternoon.. Sunday evening, will sulk thinking that term 4 is going to start... :)

Anyways.. thats how life is at ISB.. fun with spice.. ;) Catch ya all during the term break with the details of the same.. :) Adios Amigos..:)

Too many things..

2006-08-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

... should have I got into it? I mean I hear people around saying I got an ELP (experiential learning programme) and I hear people saying I have an idea which I will use for the PAEV (Planning an Entrepreneurial Venture) course. Sometimes I hear the same person saying both. Am I at a loss? Am I just idling my time away? I hope not.. :)

I would rather do what I like and to the extent I can do it best. I am going to work just on PAEV and make sure I win one Business Plan contest. I love sports and I am sure I wont be able to do away with that part of life even here at ISB. So that stays for sure. Just as we say casually in Hindi -

"Padhai karke kiska bhala hua hai"

I would concentrate on studies to an extent I would not start hating it.. or else I think I would go mad.. and that would not solve the purpose.. dont you think so? :) So my agenda... from now on.. PAEV, Sports & Gym and Studies.. period!! Come on.. GET BACK TO WORK!!.. :)

Running for the baton

2006-08-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

I am almost there.. yes... one more week and one more term would be down!! 5 more pins to go and I would have a strike.. :) This term that would be my past pretty soon.. should be one of the most tiring terms I believe.. with assignments day in and day out.. with exams running at us at a speed that I didnt even realize when it hit me. But it was fun.. more details will come on it after the term has actually ended.

Also with respect to the content of this term, we had a whole of speakers series by all the clubs and it was good to watchs these people who have touched the sky and know how it feels to do so. The hard way of course.. :)

We had Sameer Chandra (Chief of Staff for Sanjay Nayar) from Citigroup talking about "Career Options in Banking". Then we had Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Naukri.com CEO) telling us about how he went about his entrepreneurial life. We also had one of the most influential person, Vikram Akula (CEO - SKS Microfinance) speaking on the topic "Microfinance and its effects on rural india". Shishir Priyadarshi came down to talk about the WTO and related topics. With his experience at working with the WTO in Geneva, he was able to give us a picture of some of the latest macro economies from present and latest past. We also had an interactive session with Ms Vani Kola who is considered the B2B queen. She found the companies, RightWorks and NthOrbit. The list goes on and on and on ... :) These were only a few of those amazing mind boggling speakers who had come down in this term..

I am sure there would be a lot more to look forward to as there is no dearth of greatness on this planet and its no harm in listening to people to find out on how to achieve that greatness. Who knows, one day I might be one of those giving guest lectures in BSchools... ;)

Basketball

2006-08-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

These days ISB is humming to the tunes of the Intersection rivalry in the game of Basketball. Its been a long time we had an inter-section tournament. Its much more fun when its a section thing. In games like badminton where you dont have a team playing together, it draws much lesser number of spectators but when it comes to a section tourney.. you find the whole section there to cheer the team.. and then there is a deluge the section slogans.. with everyone shouting their guts out to frustrate the opponent camp.. :)

Basket ball tourney started today and is going to go on for another 5 days. Its going to totally fun packed... and that too when there is added spice of submitting assignments each of those days.. its more exciting.. ;) Our section (B - Blazers) won their match against Section F pretty comfortably.. though both teams had possession of the ball for almost same amount of time, our forwards getting the basket most of the time.. and with the guards blocking the opponent forward's shots quite amazingly.. it was a complete team effort with our section winning by a margin of 22 points (40-18).

Our team for the match we played: Saurabh Kaura, Sameer Gujral (Captain), Ming Hsung Lee, Rehan Habeeb, Murali Reddy, Siddharth Lulla, Sreeja Iyer, Oshiya Ved, Mahesh Shenoy, Naresh M

Tomorrow we would be playing section C, who call themselves as "Pirates". Blazers are going to set the Pirates ship ablaze. Further updates on the tourney will be available at this very place pretty soon.. keep watching.. :)

PAEV

2006-08-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

Some posts ago, I had promised that I would write about an interesting course. We here have a course by the name "Planning an Entrepreneurial Venture". It’s more of hands on than a classroom course. We have to form groups of 2-3, then bring up an idea and start working towards it. This would involve most of the course that we have been taught till now. We would have to do a market analysis for the segment we are targeting and then draw some figures from it to show the idea's viability. Sounds like fun.. :)

I have already formed a group of 3 and we have started the ideation process. The brainstorming sessions during this phase are interesting. Everyone trying to pool in and with the sort of support we have here at ISB, it makes you feel comfortable to venture out in to ideas which look weird otherwise.. :) Stalwarts being there to help and then with their guidance, we would end up with a business plan which would be presented to our peers and then evaluators. And if everyone finds it good enough and if we are really keen on making it our baby, we can hit the investors (VCs or Angels) as well. With all this happening, I am raring for the term break... Ah ah.. Its not because I would get a rest or something, but I would get time to work on this course without a class schedule to worry about or any assignments running down my spine.. :) Doing research and collating information should be a treat!!..

Term Break on Campus

2006-08-01T05:41:00.000-07:00

As I promised, I am back with the details of the term break where in I didnt even touch the books.. :) Its different when you get up at the time you want and go laze in the dining hall doing a late breakfast, suddenly get up thinking you had some assignment to catch up on and then again realizing that this is a term break... :)

Movies Movies Movies... Watched GolMaal.. The security guy at the theatre suggested us this movie and I was looking around for him after I got out of the hall.. wanted to strangle him as he not only made us waste some precious money but also made us go through a torture for two and a half hours.. Looks like he pulled up a fast one on us, just like the characters in the movie.. Then came Superman Returns.. he did return but from where why how?.. no one knows.. neither do I... It was a tough ask to sit in an AC theatre for two and half hours at a stretch.. :) Now its going to be the desi superman's turn tonight.. yeah its KKrish.. :) lets see how this one goes.. :)

So this term break has been full of outings to the city.. have come to know more about Hyderabad roads.. :) Soon all this would come to an end with the term starting day after tomorrow.. most people would have even started doing pre reads for the first day of the term and here I am sitting and writing this blog.. catch ya later!!

Term Break on Campus

2006-07-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

As I promised, I am back with the details of the term break where in I didn’t even touch the books.. :) It’s different when you wake up at the time you want and go laze in the dining hall doing a late breakfast, suddenly get up thinking you had some assignment to catch up on and then again realizing that this is a term break... :)

Movies Movies Movies... Watched GolMaal.. The security guy at the theatre suggested us this movie and I was looking around for him after I got out of the hall.. wanted to strangle him as he not only made us waste some precious money but also made us go through a torture for two and a half hours.. Looks like he pulled up a fast one on us, just like the characters in the movie.. Then came Superman Returns.. he did return but from where why how?.. no one knows.. neither do I... It was a tough ask to sit in an AC theatre for two and half hours at a stretch.. :) Now its going to be the desi superman's turn tonight.. yeah its KKrish.. :) lets see how this one goes.. :)

So this term break has been full of outings to the city.. have come to know more about Hyderabad roads.. :) Soon all this would come to an end with the term starting day after tomorrow.. most people would have even started doing pre reads for the first day of the term and here I am sitting and writing this blog.. time to catch up on some readings myself..:)

The GOAL!!

2006-07-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

Operations... hmm... what is this all about? Wondering why am I talking about operations when I am doing an MBA??.. :) No I am still sane enough... this is related to the operations of a manufacturing firm that was being discussed in the book GOAL by Goldratt.. A nice book. Written like any other fiction novel but has a lot in it we could learn. Let me transfer a bit of this knowledge to you all.. ;) It mainly talks about 3 things: Increasing throughput, decreasing inventory and decreasing operating expense. Let me relate all this to me doing an MBA at ISB..

Increasing throughput: Hmmm.. whats the output of doing an MBA? I would say a fat pay packet with a satisfactory job.. ;) How am I supposed to increase throughput in those terms then? I will just try and apply to those jobs meeting the above criteria... that solves my problem...

Next is decreasing inventory:Oh come on!! I already have quite less when it comes to inventory. My brain's shelf space is almost zero.. it might have been that way since quite some time as it doesnt have the capacity to imbibe anymore. :) Inventory is already reduced to the minimum possible.. :) This goes out of the window!!

Now comes decreasing operating expense:All expense that was supposed to come by has already gone by.. already paid my tution fees.. :( the only expense I can decrease now is my diet expense... I hope I dont have to decrease that.. Come on.. i dont think I will able to achieve my GOAL, if I decrease that operating expense.. ;)

So all in all, looks like the learnings dont apply to me at this moment.. :) Jokes apart, the book was really interesting with all the mix needed to keep you engrossed till the last page. A good buy for me!!

The fun never ends..

2006-07-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

Today is the day we, ISBians of Co2007, would be called 25% MBAs. Yes we have achieved it... we have crossed hurdles involving the optimization of our lives, economies of our fellow men sitting across the ocean. Looks like I was the one who set up the operations for all the big firms all over the world and I was the one who strategized each and every move for them. Even the biggest of all researchers would not have chalked out successful plans for so many companies in one and half hours which I did sitting in the examination hall.. :) Last but not the least... customers are GOD... marketing is a religion.. but I dont know if I should be worshiping it.. :) Can someone please enlighten me??.. :)

All said and done... it was another wonderful episode (2nd out of 8) coming to an end... as the story unfolds, I am getting more curious as to whats more in store... Also this would be my first term break spent on campus.. It would be a completely different experience to stay on campus and you have the option of not studying anything... am raring to experience that feeling... must be awesome... :) Come back in another couple of days and you will definitely find another post with details on how I felt.. ;) Ciao!!.. :)

Tennis at 2AM...

2006-07-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

... Come US Open, we have at least 2 ISB folks ready to take on the stalwarts.. :) Off late we realized that just studying all the time everyday and indulging in so-called intellectually stimulated discussions wears us out mentally. So there is Srikant and me, who have taken this initiative (for ourselves) of being physically fit, which will helps us not to go brain dead whilst we are at ISB.. :) Now now.. don’t start thinking that we have started this just because we are not going anywhere with our studies. ;) Just kidding...

I love playing tennis and that’s the reason for this post. Fortunately we have folks around who are equally interested, no matter what the situation is with respect to the term. Srikant is just one of those and we played tennis at an unearthly hour of 2am... and boy.. did we enjoy it?... yes we did... sweating out on a tennis court from 2 - 4am in the morning was one of the weirdest thing I thought I would do here at ISB.. :) Moreover I don’t think I would have done this if I was not at ISB. Also with just 3 days to go for the end term exams, it added to the thrill of the game... :)

Having said that I am able to venture out on more of such opportunities to make my life more entertaining here at ISB than it already is with all the exciting courses we have.. next post will have one of the most sought after course mentioned with some details on it.. :) The wait is worth it..

Markstrat D-Day

2006-07-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

Today was the day when the historical results of the Markstrat game was declared to the public..:)

Ok.. just so that you don’t feel out of place, let me explain as to what this game entails. Markstrat is a marketing game where in you are put up against different firms in the same industry targeting the same set of customers. Just like in real life scenario, you would find all sorts of market forces acting on your firm. You have to take decisions such that you have a competitive advantage over others and earn maximum profit. You have funds at the start and you have to allocate it judiciously towards advertising, employment of sales force, R & D, launching a new product etc. Your funds for the second decision would depend on the profit you make after the first decision… You are able to monitor your own progress and also your competitors’ progress based on the market study you do. We had 7 decisions to cater to over this last 4 weeks and every bit of it was FUN!!!

It was a nice thought to have the whole batch sit in the auditorium and have a look at their own performance at the end of the game.. with some groups rejoicing when they have done well and some trying to avoid giving answers to their neighbours for obvious reasons.. ;)

After such an experience, I wish we have more games to play during this course.. rather than crack some theoretical fundaes for some fundamentals that I don’t know when I will use.. ;) just kidding..:) Come on .. get back to work! There’s loads to study with end terms starting next Monday.. Ciao…

TiE-ISB Connect

2006-07-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

The TiE-ISB Connect is a joint initiative of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Hyderabad Chapter and the Centre for Entrepreneurship at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad. It is a forum that brings together early stage venture capitalists, start up and growth stage entrepreneurs and academicians, on a common platform to interact and help build successful enterprises. The first TiE-ISB Connect held in July last year was a resounding success with over 300 delegates attending the full-day event. Over 100 business ideas were presented of which about 15 are in different stages of development/ discussion with investors.

The TiE – ISB Connect 06 is scheduled at the ISB during September 20-22, 2006. This year we have significantly up-scaled the scope and magnitude of the event, with discussion tracks on diverse sectors including Internet & IT Services, Bio-Pharma, Media and entertainment, Infrastructure/ Real Estate, Telecom/ Wireless, Semiconductor, and Retail. Each track will have a keynote address by a successful entrepreneur, a review of global trends in the sector by an analyst, and a panel discussion by venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs on sector opportunities. Entrepreneurs seeking opportunities in these sectors may attend the event as delegates.

The entrepreneur community can also benefit from three specific opportunities: Investor Pitch (Presenting plans to potential investors); Venture Showcase (Exhibiting product/ service) ; Jumpstart your venture (Workshop preparing the aspiring entrepreneur for an exciting journey)
For further details, please visit www.tie-isbconnect.com

Corporate Quiz ACE 2006

2006-06-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

ASHA foundation in partnership with ISB is holding their annual Corporate Quiz ACE 2006. The important part:

Date: Sunday, July 30, 2006
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. *
Venue: Khemka Auditorium, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad

For more details visit: http://www.isb.edu/ACE2006/

Mega event - the “Editors’ Round Table”

2006-06-28T12:12:00.000-07:00

We, the students of the Indian School of Business, are organising a Mega event - the “Editors’ Round Table” being held on Saturday, July 1, 2006 at the ISB. The event will be held from 2:15 pm to 4:45 pm at the Khemka Auditorium at ISB.

The topic of discussion for the Round Table is:

Is the lack of political involvement amongst the youth a threat to economic growth?

We have invited interesting speakers for the Round Table and they are:
Alam Srinivas – Editor, Outlook Group
Kaveree Bamzai – Executive Editor, India Today
CRL Narasimhan - Associate Editor, The Hindu
Kumar Ketkar - Chief Editor, Indian Express Group
Niranjan Rajadhyaksha – Deputy Editor, Businessworld

In a world where professional preferences take precedence over political opinion, and political involvement is restricted to sporadic and half-hearted expressions of solidarity over individual issues - like the recent increase in reservation - the health of the Indian polity is seriously under threat. When political opinion can change the course of countries, it is disheartening to see the world's largest democracy lounge in political decadence; with the youth not doing much to change it. We hope to generate a healthy debate on this subject and sensitise the Indian youth to issues that have the power to influence our future. It will be a pleasure to have you participate in the interactive session during the Round Table.

We request you to share this invitation with your ex -colleagues and friends who are working in Hyderabad city and ask interested participants to register for the event at
www.isb.edu/RoundTable2006/

www.isb.edu/RoundTable2006/register.html

Incase you do know the mail ID of the HR head of any organization (based in Hyd), request you to kindly add a comment to this post so that we could send a personal invite.

Term 2 starts with a bang..

2006-06-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

... and is still banging me!!.. :)

Its already the second week in term 2 and I have just been able to key down some thoughts about it.... this should give a fair enough idea to you all about its packed schedule. The subjects are vast.. Competitive Strategy (CSTR), Global Economics (GLEC), Marketing Decision Making (MKDM) and Decision Modelling (DMOP). Every course is so deep that I am already drowning into the vast sea of knowledge not even able to soak in much of it.. ;)

It all started with an amazing tool.. MarkStrat... never knew that a year in an MBA course would get me back to computer strategy games like Business tycoon, Railroad tycoon, Patrician and the lots. Had I got time, I would have loved to spend hours on this game evaluating the strategy and possible ways to clinch the whole market for my firm.. ;) Those computer games used to give you the liberty of going wrong for a couple of times and you could reload it to play it the right way at your third attempt. But here the thought of winning it upfront sends jitters down my spine.. :)

Today marked a great feeling for me.. never felt so relieved at submitting an assignment.. so many things to do over the weekend that I never felt it was a "weekend".. :) We had to submit a one pager for a project we are doing in CSTR on Saturday, along with it we had to submit the first round for the Markstrat game, then was the first DMOP assignment for today and a 3-pager strategy statement for the Markstrat game for tomorrow early morning.

While there was hell of a rush at the library to collect the print jobs, I felt owning a printer here at ISB would definitely be a profitable business. I already own one but never thought of making a business out of it. Now with increasing assignment submissions, I feel that I should consider this option.. :) 12:00AM was the submission time for the DMOP assignment and I got 4 requests to print 15 page documents at 1130PM and it included my own assignment as well.. I felt a sudden rush of urgency and my mind went blank.. moreover I was yet to complete my own assignment as well.. :) the feeling I had then and the feeling I got just after dropping the assignment in the drop box dot at 12:00AM, were at two different ends of the emotional cycle.. ;)

Coming back to my quad, I coolly printed the Strategy Statement for Markstart that me and my group had prepared and walked down again to the Academic Center to drop it. Now I am FINALLY back in my quad and writing this amazingly different experience of mine at ISB of submitting an assignment just IN time.. :) The rush, the emotion, the confusion, the frustration, all added up, are a part of this thrilling and entertaining experience at ISB.. :)

12.5% MBA

2006-06-12T22:21:00.000-07:00

End term exams marked the end of term 1. Now please dont comment this blog asking how the exams were.. once the results are out I would post them as well and you can very well figure out how I fared.. :) On a serious note, it was a different experience altogether to have two exams a day for two consecutive days. After the exams got over, everyone felt as if they had completed their whole one year course in 5 weeks and were ready for a long break.. but soon reality dawned and we figured out that we just had 5 days break which is supposed to be one of the longest ones in this whole one year course.. :) Term 2 course packs were distributed to make you further realize that there is still lot more to come.. and the size of the course packs literally emanated that aura.. :)

With all this explicitly happening around us, everyone still managed to steal themselves away from studies and went ahead with their term break plans. I was heading for Bbay to be with my parents and meet my dearest niece who is now just over a year with all those tantrums starting to shoot up. I sometimes envy her with all the attention she gets even when she is not doing anything constructive like me... I mean doing an MBA is constructive for the whole world.. dont you think so? Once I am 100% MBA, I will definitely be doing something constructive for the society.. will I not? Why do I feel that I am not able to convince you all??.. :D

All said and done... I am 12.5% MBA now and heading towards becoming 25% MBA in another 5 weeks.. :) More to come.. :)

Voila... its Cricket again!!

2006-06-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

How much I love playing this sport?? I dont have words to explain it.. :) Just before coming to ISB, I was almost ready to convince my mind that I would have to leave playing this sport for a year. But over a period of time here, I figured out that I could still continue playing this sport I am so passionate about. Me and Srikant made it point to go to every practice session happening, proved out mettle and ended up in the ISB cricket team to represent ISB in corporate tournaments.

Currently ISB is participating in the SBH Corporate Cricket Cup and we already had a couple of games done during the league stage. We won the first match against Megasoft pretty convincingly. Srikant, our wicketkeeper cum reporter, wrote an article on the same sending it to the whole batch and faculty. Attached is the first match report.

We lost the second match to last year's finalists and this year's organizers, State Bank of Hyderabad, by a close margin. But this match was eventful with (coincidently) me and Srikant both getting injured. Srikant ended up with 3 stiches under his right cheek bone and I ended up with a sore brusied back and a couple of days complete bed rest. Moreover with end term exams with in a couple of days, what we got to hear from everyone was "Why the hell did you guys want to even play a cricket match so close to your exams?". Its altogether a different story that after the exams everyone said "Good that at least you guys enjoyed playing a cricket match. There was no point studying anyways..".. :D

Now with Srikant and myself having given our blood and back for a lost match, we at least expect to win the term 1 end term exams. Results awaited!!.. :)

Marketing Stunner!!

2006-05-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

Once the mid term was over, we had three subjects out of four for which the faculty changed. Marketing Management was one of those courses and the faculty we were expecting was Prof. Raju from Wharton. We had heard a lot about him from the alums... more than about his teaching skills and research ability, it was his cold calling which was talked about. Everyone was speculating as to what kind of treatment would one get if he or she does not know the answers, rather is dumbfounded on being cold called.. :) Our section is the first one to face the brunt of marketing every week, which meant every other section would be running after us asking about the experience of cold calling.

When Prof. Raju started off with his class, everyone was ready to duck under the desk. He started off with review questions from the material taught before the mid term. The situatin is somewhat like this:

The projector focuses exactly on the center of the white screen and the heading of the slide reads "Review of the last class". Everyone is the class is now all set for a bombbarding. There is just one guy, Mr. Vibhav Agarwal, who is reclining on his chair, least worried about being picked. Next scene, a question slides from the left side of the screen on to the center. Zoom comes a photograph of the person who is supposed to answer the question. Everyone shifts their focus from the screen to Mr. Vibhav. He is still not ready for it and still enjoying the reclining chair, when suddenly he figures that it was his photograph being flashed on the screen.. :) Now comes the million $$ expression and a million $$ comment from the professor. Vibhav looks as if he is suddenly pushed by the chair on to his desk, waking him up... and pop comes a comment from Prof. Raju: "So rahe the kya?".. The expression on Vibhav's face then was the toughest one to explain... noone could figure out whether it was because of the question asked on the screen or because of the comment passed by Prof. Raju.. :) He blurted out a couple of statements which further proved that he was zonked to the hilt. He became the talk of the week.. :)

But there on, everyone got ready for getting famous in every marketing class, which ended being beneficial as everyone ended up scrapping through the previous marketing class.. :)

PS: This blog could have come earlier as this happened more than a week back but today's is Vibhav's birthday and what better than today to publicize his feat.. :)

Eggs crack ...

2006-05-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

... and brain "jams" do happen just like traffic jams. This is what happens when you start using your brain a bit too much after it has been rusty for a very long time. Thats what I realised on Friday when our first ever academic exams at ISB got over. I was a completely different experience to see a huge crowd in the atrium (http://www.isb.edu/virtual/atrium.htm) at that moment. For the first time I saw almost the whole batch at an open place (sessions in the auditorium are common place now). Some tense faces, some people moving ahead after realising the truth, some ecstatic ones with a feeling that you get after finding out that you are one of the few who almost cracked the paper... :)

I loved the feeling after the exams, just like the one we used to have after our engineering semester exams. But the difference was that you had more studies following immediately after this exam.. :) But who would stop us from taking a days break. Saturday was a fun day.. We had an unofficial cricket match with Microsoft guys working opposite the ISB campus (obviously in the Microsoft campus). It was after a long time that I played a leather ball match on a ground with marked boundaries and with all players in cricketing whites. Nevertheless we lost the match but not because of having a bad team but because of bad planning and coordination... which was bound to happen as we were playing together for the first time as a team. One of my closest friends, Srikant, outperformed in my team with excellent display of some really good technical batting.. and some excellent wicketkeeping as well. I was as usual able to terrify the batsmen with my bowling (speedometer crusher as I have been named.. ;) )... still need to figure out how I end up wicketless after every match.. but its fine till the time I am the most economical bowler.. :)

Afternoon, I had a small power nap of 2 hrs.. ;) and then evening we had inter-section football tourney.. here again our section (Section B) guys had never played as a team and were lacking coordination, which is most important when it comes to football. We drew the first match against Section C, when we were actually winning the match 4-2. In the last few minutes we conceded 2 more goals and the match ended up in a draw.. :( We then played the strongest team amongst all sections, Section E. Mann.... think about coordination and class, you would see it oozing out when you see these guys play.. :) We lost to them 7-2.. But the star of Section B was again Srikant with some cool goal-keeping.. looks like the ball had some sort of attraction towards him and it ended up in his hands most of times when the opponents tried to score a goal. After a tiring Saturday, Sunday was bound to be tough.. with all assignments piled up.. :(

I just have managed to wrap up some of them and that was an incentive for me to pen down the happenings.. :) Will tomorrow be a new day... ?? I hope it is.. but have a strong feeling that its going to continue the same way... FUN blended with STUDIES!! Thats what ISB is all about. :)

Egg jams

2006-05-17T00:13:00.000-07:00

This is the normal breakfast I have every morning here at the "Goel" Dining Hall.. ?? Naa... Its the new fever running around on campus. Exams approaches... everyone involved reproaches.. :) Questions like.. "Why do we need exams in an MBA program..?? Isnt it all about networking, cross industry knowledge sharing etc etc.??" pops up in everyones mind. "Everyone" here does not include the janta who are a part of the "Maggu Club" who are ready for any academic exam anytime in their life.. ;) Just kidding.. :)

Most of the students here have been into the habit of enjoying a months preparation leave for the exams and at ISB, but when you come to know that everyone is in the same boat attending lectures till the day before exams, its FUN.. :) The schedule as of now goes like this:Breakfast.. Attend lectures.. Lunch.. Catch a wink.. Study... Break.. Study.. Dinner.. Study... Study Study STUDY!!!.. :) And the vicious cycle continues..

With all this said, I am sure about a couple of things which is bound to happen to me over the coming one year. I would have acquired skills on how to brush my teeth, complete the morning ritual, take a bath, shave, dress up and run for breakfast in 15 minutes flat.. :) If you talk about it in formal terms, its called Time Management skills.. :) I would be able to appreciate the value of time for sure.. :) Along with this skill, I would also be well equipped on how to present something in a way that seems convincing to others, even when you know that its actually BS.. :) Both the skills are a must for a manager.. and I am pretty sure I will be one after "post" graduating from this place.. :)

Ok.. time to get back to my study... next blog would be about my first experience with my first exams at my first stint at ISB.. :) I may have a second stint at ISB, WHO KNOWS??.. :)

COFFEE -- Addicted!!

2006-05-10T00:47:00.000-07:00

SLEEP... what does this word mean? The dictionary meaning says: "A natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended." I am not an English laureate, so I wont be able to refute this meaning and going by my experience, my brain tells me to completely abide by it.. :) Sleep has become an important word in my life at ISB. You will definitely hear these two phrases here:

1) "I was not able to get enough SLEEP yesterday night!!"
2) "I was so very sleepy in class!!"

Now how does this sleep thingy talk about the title of this post? This directly relates to the second most common phrase that you would get to hear on campus.. :) Morning class induces sleep, especially when the stuff being taught rockets past you at a speed you cant even fathom.. :) Moreover, when you try to evaluate what was being discussed just now, you end up spending at least 5 minutes on it and what happens in the meantime? The prof has discussed some more topics which you completely missed when you were vagabonding in the world of some doubts which propped up earlier.... :) Now what has happened with all this? You are completely OUT of sync with respect to rest of class.. yeah... there will be a few other elite people who involuntarily joined you in this feat.. which you figure out later when you get out of the class.. :) This leads to something which is called SLEEP syndrome i.e. Out of sync system induces sleep in itself.. :)

Today itself I experienced the same when I was trying to put in a lot of effort to understand what was being taught and people sitting by my side in the class joined the elite club!!.. :) Fortunately I was addicted to coffee after habituating myself to carry a flask to class filled with the "serum".. I was able to stay awake... :) May be thats the reason Americans are so very addicted to Coffee...?? Now if we extrapolate this information, may be thats the reason they have propelled themselves to a place which they command right now? May be they are able to stay awake most of the time working for the country, which in turn is affecting their economy??... Looks like coffee addiction has caught up with India.. which indirectly is positively affecting its booming economy.. :)

You might have already figured out that the initial days at ISB has taken some toll on me and has lead me to make such weird conclusions... :) Came to know one more side effects of coffee addiction: You loose your brain cells and start thinking abnormally.. you thoughts ramble exactly the way the gist of this post has.. :)

Just kidding.. all said and done.. its fun getting adjusted to this "study" life with all this "study" pressures.. Next week, we have our first ever mid-term exams at ISB.. and everyone is gearing up for it.. so rather than continuing with this post.. I think I should sit and study.. :) Catch ya all soon!!.. :) With another of those weird posts.. ;)

Assignments and Weekends - Hand in Hand!!

2006-05-06T23:25:00.000-07:00

This seems to be the mantra of the first weekend after the core term has started!! Thursday was the last day when we had our classes for the last week.. everyone was aware of the load that was supposed to be taken care of over the weekend. But all said and done, everyone gate crashed as a bunch of crazy morons left unattended... almost the whole batch was unleashed into every part of the city to chill out. That is the kind of response you get when corporate people start attending classes after such a long stint with their functions in their industries.. :)

What happens next? I mean after the memorable Thursday evening??... You get goose bumps thinking about the assignments lined up for rest of the weekend.. :) Friday morning.. you dont see a soul roaming around in the campus.. you start wondering??.. "Where is everyone? Still in bed?" ... but later gator you find out that someone is either in the LRC fishing for books to complete the assignment... or someone has shut him/herself in their quads while pouring over the cases.. and thats when I realized that the BUG has caught up!!.. :) Its fun to see people around scratching their heads thinking where have I gone wrong on this problem.. and with honour code zooming past their ears all the time, no one even dares to ask assignment related questions outside their core study group.. :) You would not hear people asking questions - "Hey whats the answer to problem number ##?"... rather the questions would be like - "Man... did you finish that darned assignment?"... And if "Yes" comes the reply, then you witness an expression which makes you feel as if the world has fallen apart for that person.. :)

Fortunately for me, my core group, which includes, Anshul, Murali, Sreeja, Sonali and Rahul, are dedicated enough (unlike me??!!).. and agreed to have Sunday almost free, before we plunge into the world of Stats, Eco.. SEEKHO!!! on Monday. We finished discussing the cases and problems by Saturday night... and pssst!! do you want to know a surprise?.. WE ARRIVED AT A CONSENSUS!!.. :) That's what is team work all about.. getting to a consensus instead of being strong headed. Anyways, philosophy does not sound good, especially when it comes from me.. ;)

Now with the whole of Sunday looming large over me, I am wondering what to do... loads of interesting options you see... Stats self study, Eco problem practice, Accounting fundaes, Marketing myself. But I think I will go ahead with an uninteresting end to the weekend... READ A FICTION, GET INTO MY PLUSH BED, SLEEP AND DREAM ABOUT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL HANGING AROUND WITH ME IN THE CAMPUS! Hmmm.. the last part seems to be a bit unrealistic, so I better keep it to my dreams.. ;) If a lightning strucks or a genie comes by with a wish, you might see my next blog realizing that dream.. ;) Catch ya with more details next week.. :)

My Daily Life @ ISB - AS OF NOW!!

2006-05-02T23:57:00.000-07:00

By mentioning this as the name of my blog, I hope I am not building any notions here.. :) This is going to be a pure "personal" perspective for the initial days of our core terms. Now when I say perspective, one thing definitely rings in my mind... seems this is one of the most important words you will hear when you are doing an MBA. It all depends on a perspective that you hold for any business case that was cracked years back!!.. :) Now before I start discussing one here, I would rather pen down my experience of the core terms till now.

With the kinda hype created by people around that its gruelling and you undergo a trauma through this one year, one had to give it a thought. But now with some experience behind my back, I feel its all about how you manage to handle the pressure. Its about being smart, its about being concise in your approach. When the faculty mentions that you need to preread stuff before the class and lists a whole of chapters and references, everyone ends up assuming that its a must to "mag" all the stuff and plunges deep into it for rest of the day. But if you are smart enough, you would definitely realize that its about making yourself aware of the concepts and not about the statements verbatim.. :) Now let me put down my daily schedule (as of now) by the hour.

7:00AM - My alarm goes off and I look around for the snooze button... and snooze it.
7:10AM - Snooze again.
7:20AM - Drag myself out of my bed, trying it to make it as involuntary as possible.. :)
8:00AM - Walk down from my Quad to the Acad centre, which does something to me which a bath was not able to... WAKING ME UP!!
8:15AM - Start with a heavy breakfast... which is something out of my control. By the end of it, I feel I pity myself, as it might result in me going to sleep in the class.. :) Thats when a big cup of coffee does the trick.
8:45AM - The battle starts!!
10:45AM - First battle successfully ends!!
10:45AM-11:15AM - Chill out. Go for a smoke or may be another coffee or a small snack!!
11:15AM - Second battle starts!!
1:15PM - This one, most of time, ends somewhat unsuccessfully!!.. :) Run for the dining hall, you have exhausted most of your breakfast, using your brains over the past few hours.. :) Ok I know that the brain is no where physically related to your stomach, but mann its not my fault that its works that way for me.. :)
2:00PM - Go back to my quad. Log on to the network, figure out whats in store for tomorrow. Get complacent that it would be easy and that I do deserve some sleep.. :)
2:30PM - 5:00PM - DEEP SLUMBER!!!.. :)
5:00PM - 7:30PM - Run through one of the pre reads for the next day. Feel happy as if I have achieved something great, beyond anyone's comprehension.. :)
7:30PM - 8:30PM - Flaunt your body around in the gym.. ;)
8:30PM - 9:30PM - Dinner!! SLURP!!.. :)
9:30PM - Quad again!! Figure out that you still have loads to study.. problems to solve.. bang your head against it for a couple of hours...
11:30PM - You get a call from your friend asking if I want to join for a BEER!!.. Ummm.. Ok... one bottle wont matter much.. I run for it..
12:30AM - I get back.. and with a feeling (after the discussion that normally happens only over a bottle of beer) that I can crack the prereads... and voila!! By 1:30-2:00 I am done with all thats needed for the next day.
1:30AM - Get into the bed with a book of my choice.. now now dont get any ideas.. I was talking about fiction books like the one I am reading as of now.. The Fountainhead.. :)
2:00AM - My system switches off!!

Next day morning, the same story is repeated. This has been happening for last 3 days.. but from what I can forebode, its going to get tougher with group assignments and exams and quizzes flowing into the schedule. Also with all the battles mentioned earlier in my schedule, I need to mention some comments about our faculty. It is definitely world class, with these folks having a whole lot to offer, each one of them definitely holds an immense baggage of knowledge. Its upto you on how you manage to extract the most out of them.

All said and done, jokes apart, I feel this one year at ISB is going to be purely your take on time management skills you possess. Its how you get that special talent out.. :) I am in no mood to write another blog on my schedule here... so I hope I am able to keep up with the above schedule even when all those future action items come into place... ;) Just kidding.. as usual!!.. :) wait for the next one.. about my first weekend after core terms started!!

Into ISB!!

2006-04-25T00:21:00.000-07:00

With one week down the lane of ISB, let me tell you what has the experience been like. Through with the orientation week, two things have been definitely grilled into me. Firstly, ISB life is strenous and ISB life is FUN. When I say strenous, it includes the stress that would come from the FUN part too.. :) One week of orientation was planned in such a way that we got to know our own batchmates quicker. Now now.. I am not saying that I am already friends with the whole batch of 428 (or something closer). :) Its not humanely possible but still maintaining contacts with a few 10s is easy. The Alums were here to give us company for the first week and they were the ones who helped the CCA (Co-Curricular activities) office organize this week. They were very well aware as to what they missed during their orientation week last year. This itself made clear to me that ISB gives a lot of importance to a change for betterment.

The whole batch has been divided into 6 sections and Section B has been really lucky to have me as a part of their racous group.. :) The orientation week included a whole of activities. Cricket, Frisbee competitions, Quizzes, Section gyan from last years analogous section, Photography contest, Talent Nite etc. etc. As a new concept, the alums had brought in point system for each of these contests so that sections start working together right from the start and there is some sort of bonding which, believe me, would definitely be necessary over the next one year. And can you guess which section won the tourney considering all contests? Ahh... ok.. you got it right... it was Section B... sweeping everyone off their feet in almost every duel.. :)

Apart from all these fun activities, our alums also gave us "GYAN" on what group activities to take up to have some kind of movement in a direction which would help us decide (or rather finalize) the career opportunities we want to take up at the end of a gruelling year. At ISB, its common to hear: "You need to give something to get something" and if whatever you are getting is worthy enough, its good enough to give a gruelling year from my life for its sake.. :)
Now with all the fun and partying over with the orientation week, all have taken a plunge into the pre-term courses. I have registered for all 3 courses though I didnt have the need for it... Mann its been sometime I have been confronted with the classroom environment.. and nothing better than the pre-term courses to make yourself accustomed to it before the core term starts on 1st of May, 2006.

Hoping that the fairy tale has just started and its ends as a pleasant reality.. :) Next to come would be the core courses.. and with that would come an actual day in the life of an ISB student. :) Sayonara!!..

Hectic Hectic!!

2006-04-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

March 21st, this was the day I received a dream offer.. Naa... with all those placement news floating around, dont start thinking this to be a job offer. :) ISB had offered me admission to their PGP course which is to commence on 15th April 2006. Now with excitement all around what was expected of me? I needed to accept the offer, apply for a loan, resign from my current job etc. etc. Leave apart all the hassles of shopping, closing bank account, changing addresses and all that crap!! So how do we expect a guy to find time to write a blog??.. :D

Also with the kind of change I was about to have in my life, I was expected to party out at least a couple of times.. right? So 21st March evening saw me with my close friends "rauking" to some "rauk" mujic and drinking some "child" beer!! Then I had some friends join me for a party at the "phamous" hookka joint in Pune... "Bashos". Even God would not know why the owner ever thought of naming his eating joint after some obsolete Chinese poet no one (I hope so) as ever heard of. Anyways, nonetheless we had a good time with some "peggas" of "Bodka" and "Bhisky"!! Now with all this happening in Pune, why should we quarantine Mumbai, my dearest hometown.. my first love.. my blah blah blah.. :) I ended up partying again in Mumbai. Amongst all this partying, fortunately I did remember that I had a lot of things to be done before I end up spending, presumably, the busiest year of my life at ISB.

I had expected that bidding adieu to my beloved organization would be tough... my last 4 years at this place have been eventful and fruitful.. for me.. I dont know if it was the same for the organization.. ;) Must have been.. what do ya think? :D But not surprisingly, I walked out of the gate as an "ex-XXXX" without any guilt!!.. :) But mann they did make me work the most on my last day.. making me run around for so many chores.. even my mom has never made me do so much of running around when I used to irritate her.. :). At last, on 4th April 2006, I ended up completing all "official" formalities and handed over my ICard to the facilities department, may be they would need it for hanging someone else.. ;). Now I am running through the personal checklist and I end up adding one new item to the checklist everytime I see it. Miraculously, I have not seen any item being struck out till now.. :) I wonder how can that be??.. Ok.. Ok... I will finish those off, please dont ride on me for it... I think this will be the only few days of freedom I am going to enjoy, with no one pushing me left and right and front and back and up and down.. so let me take care of it at my own pace.. ;) More blogs to follow!!.. Ciao!!

Was I Tense or Psyched??

2006-03-23T03:31:00.000-08:00

"You look a bit relieved after you got an ISB admit" - This is what I heard from many people. They felt I was a bit pscyhed out off late. Hmmm.. was I really looking that bad??.. :) I was not psyched out or anything but busy speculating my own future. Past 4 years I have spent in a field just because its gives me money. I have never taken up IT related subjects in my life as I hated it from the bottom of my heart. Insptie of being qualified enough to get any stream after HSC, I didnt go for a BE in CS.

Stories apart, below are some questions asked to me by people and I have tried to answer them in a way to help all who might read this blog!!.. :)

Q: What is ISB looking for in the interview? Your experience of the interview?
Ans: They evaluate your complete profile in the interview. They verify all the special things you have mentioned in the application with diffferent questions. A thoroughly professional interview unless you make it unprofessional.. :) If you have written your essays really well and have brought out real life incidents there, they might be interested in asking you questions related to that. They judge your confidence, judge your cerdibility, judge whether you really aspire to make it big. After all this, they find out if they are suitable for you. They would want to make sure they find a right job for you. So if they neglect you, that may be mean two things. One, that you were not suitable for them. Second, they were not suitable for you. If they are apprehensive about placing you well, they wont take you in. It wont be justified.

My interview experience is posted (Aha!!.. ISB Interview experience!!) on this very blog.

Q: What kind of information are they exactly looking for in the essays that we have to submit with our application?
Ans: Essays will be out in a couple of months time for the next batch. Even if you are not going to apply next year, still you can register and start the online application (this doesnt require money). That way you will be able to look at the essay questions. Get a habit of writing frequently. In your essays (for any bschool), make sure you are creative and narrative but professional. If you mention that sense of humor is your strength, make sure it comes out in your essays. Similarly about your other strengths. Bring it out in your essays. Dont target the admission committee of a particular bschool in any of your essays. Make it generic as if you are addressing a crowd with that topic.

Q: Why did you prefer ISB over other B-Schools which provide 1 year MBA?
Ans: If you want to settle in India, if you want to finish your MBA soon and save a year of earnings, if you want to continue in the stream you are currently into, if you want to avail world class infrastructure and faculty, ISB is the place.

Q: Did you look at other B-schools apart from ISB? If yes then which were those ?
Ans: I didnt. That was the biggest mistake. Make sure you have different school options at your disposal. Its always good to have options. I would suggest, prepare well for CAT as well and approach IIMs also. Select good US Bschools and go for them as well. You can reject their offer if they dont give you a scholarship. If you are well off and can sponsor your education, then nothing like it.

Q: What kind of salary can a person expect after successfully completing the one year ISB course?
Ans: Depends on your profile. Depends on how you perform there. Depends on how proactive you are in your involvement with ISB over that one year. The average domestic salary at ISB roams somewhere around Rs. 9Lacs.

Q: Considering my current job profile (IT: 2 years), what kind of job profile can I look for after ISB and how will ISB help me in achieving that?
Ans: Depends on you, what stream you want to get into. ISB will provide you the tools to bag offers you want. Its upto you how you convert them. If you want to continue in IT services, keeping in mind your current position in another year, you might end up with a Project Manager or a Senior Project Manager job.

Hope these answers help all!!.. :)

DOs and DONTs...

2006-03-22T06:28:00.000-08:00

... for an ISB re-applicant or an ISB IT applicant!!

DONT:

Be over confident
Write off your essays in a jiffy.
Argue with the interview panel.

DO:

Have back up plans (MOST IMPORTANT). Even if you are hell bent on getting itno ISB, do make sure you dont loose a year if fortune does not favor you.
Spend time on getting your essays reviewed
Apply early

If you are from IT, make sure you have something different in your profile. International exposure is almost a must. I was a model earlier in my life. Also I worked for American Red Cross when in the US and got a normal recommendation letter from them. Played US California county cricket and bagged some awards. What different can you do?

There are a lot of things:
1) Submit some papers, if you are capable.
2) Excel in your current work environment and get some visible difference on paper for your profile
3) Develop some initiatives at your work place

There are lot many other things which you can take up to have a different profile. You would be the best person to find out what you are capable of. :)

As a re-applicant, you definitely need to have considerable improvement in your profile over a year. If you have not shown any change in your profile and have just added one more year of work experience, believe me, it wont work.

The wait that lasted longg....!!

2006-03-22T05:39:00.000-08:00

The series goes like this!!

Submitted my online application in Mid September after reviews and reviews and reviews.. :) Sent the hard copies by October first week. Had my fingers, toes and dont know what all things crossed!!.. Eagerly awaiting interview calls!! Damn!! Mumbai was scheduled to be one of the last locations for interview, which meant you have read all those "Interview call received" mails from a whole lot of people and wait for yours.. :) Got one at last on Dec 01, 2005. Interview was scheduled for Dec 10, 2005. Interview experience is mentioend in my previous blog.

Once again, it was time to sit back and wait.. which is the worst part but you need to deal with.. you see they say it develops you as an individual, you become a patient person!! Do hell with it.. I dont want to become one, so please let me know as early as possible. Unfortunately things dont work as you want it, so had to wait. Mails started flowing in on the evening of Jan 07, 2006. Those admitted to class of 2007 were ecstatic... and where was I? Still looking for that one mail in the deluge that I received.. courtesy isb-pgp.. :). It seemed as if it had been years the first guy posted his result and I hadnt received mine and then the laughing Yahoo Messenger icon in my last trap blurted out: "From: ISBPGP, Subject: Application Status". From my last years experience, I knew that rejects used to get a mail with "Decision on your application " in the subject and when I saw a different subject, I was thrilled and expected an admit. I never had "waitlist" in mind and BINGO!!! I was waitlisted... it was as if a 10 ton elephant had just sat on my head. All these years of gyming helped.. ;) I was able to get it off and was again crossing all things possible to get the waitlist converted with the R2 results.

Feb 27th, 2006 - R2 admits flowing in on the groups and there I was again, eagerly waiting for the "precious". Unfortunately, the "precious" managed to evade me even then. People started speculating that another list would be out on 17th March, 2006.. so the wait continued. Come 17th March evening, I felt that fate wanted me to wait for one more year and I chalked out some plans for the next year over the weekend after 17th March.

22nd March, 2006, afternoon 3:00PM, casually logged into Yahoo! Mail for sending a personal mail and saw an email lying there with an attachment. With "Kamasutra" floating in our inboxes over the last two months, the "clip" was the first thing that used to hit my eyes, even before the senders name or the subject. Then fortunately I happened to see the subject and I was like staring it with blank thoughts. This mail had come when I least expected it, I was completely indifferent to it even after reading through it completely. My name had almost become synonymous with ISB and I was not getting that feeling of ecstacy. My friends had to give me a good jolt before they could brain wash those plans I had made for the coming year, expecting a reject from ISB.

Then with some friends and some phone calls and some SMSs and some beer at a lounge helped me get that same old feeling of "I LOVE ISB".. :) and Yes I did get that feeling back!!.. :)
So finally "The ISB Buff" is not getting re-buffed by ISB. May be they had done this on purpose.. for me to avail my salary for an extra two months as I would have otherwise resigned long back and enjoyed a longgggg vacation at home.. :) Coming year... two things are for sure... ISB IS GONNA ROCK and ISB IS GONNA ROCK MY LIFE TOO!!!.. :)

Aha!!... ISB Interview Experience

2006-03-22T05:29:00.000-08:00

I know its been a long time I gave my ISB interview but it would be hard on my part if I dont share it with the world. Had posted this long back on the groups (isb-pgp) but was a bit apprehensive about sharing it on the blog as I didnt know if the interview was worth enough to get me through to ISB.. :)

So here it goes...

Had butterflies all inside me after reading Yugita's interview experience.. :)

Reached the venue almost 45 minutes early at 1045am. Got an essay on Adventure from the reception. Was called in exactly at 1130am in Conf room 5. Was greeted by Ms. Hema (Ad com), Mr. Ravi (either ad com or academics) and Mr. Vinay (Alumni). I wanted to break the ice myself.. so started off somewhat like this.

Me: Sorry about this but I hope you dont feel as if you have met a pack of incense sticks.
The panel: Why do you say that?
Me: I came in a cab and the driver had a couple of think incense sticks burning ferociously all the way from mulund to gateway and I was fearing that I might have caught the smell.
All of them smiled.. I took my seat.. :) I handed over the essay to Ms. Hema and then she started to go through it, when Mr. Vinay started off.. The series of questions ...

Mr. V: Your address on your resume says California but you are here in Mumbai for the interview.. why so?
Me: I was in Cali till around 10 days back.. This is my new resume with the updated address (handing over the resume, one to each of them).
Mr. V: So tell us something about yourself, your hobbies and your future growth plans.
Me: I am a reapplicant... blah blah blah..
Ms. H: (Is watching me answer) Before I could tell them about my hobbies..

Mr. V asks me about Modeling (which was a small part of my career)
Mr. V: You said you left Modeling. Why didnt you make it your career?
Me: Modelling was not my final goal. I wanted to use my available resources as I was not getting the so called elusive job. Also had some personal reasons for leaving the industry. Casting couch experience with some GUYS.
Ms. H: (Is watching me answer)
Mr. V: You left modeling because of this reason (casting couch). Why didnt you stay in the industry and try to eradicate the problem? What do you think would be the solution?Me: Not all model coordinators and agencies have this casting couch thing. Infact 90% dont have such an attitude.. but these 90% are so busy that they are approachable by the new talent. If they are open to new talent, the debutants need not go to the 10% peolple who have set this casting couch trend.
Ms. H: (Is watching me answer)
Me: You had also asked me about hobbies, can I continue on that?
All of them: Yes pleaseMe: Blah Blah..
Mr. V: You said you were working for Red Cross. What job was it? How did you manage to get in there?
Me: When I had been to the US for the first time, I could not figure out on how to use the free time I had, apart from cricket. In my second trip to the US, I had an idea on how to utilize my time for something humanely good. Also I wanted an out and out task for volunteering and the only such option was being a driver for delivering the blood collected at the Red Cross donation centers to the local hospitals.
Ms. H: (Is watching me answer) Once I was done with my future growth plans, I was asked about the client I was working for in the US.
Mr. V: Which client? Telecom?? Cool.. Which country has a good telecom future? India or China?
Mr. V: What kind of tasks are you into in the project?
Me (yet again): Blah Blah... :)
Mr. R: Which software or tool you used for Testing?
Me: (need I tell??.. :).. )
Mr. R: Ok.. you are from the TECH domain.. you are a techie (wellll am I???.. I dont think so.. neither do many people who know me.. :).. ).. But I am a completely non techie guy... so can you explain me what all different testing happens in the lifecycle of a software application...
Me: yes... these are the different type at different instants in the lifecycle of the application.. blah blah..
Mr. R: Ok.. you said Performance testing.. how is it done?? Have your heard of Winrunner?
Me: (I am bored of writing blah blah..:)..)
Ms. H: (Is watching me answer)
Mr. R: What is the future of testing domain?
Me: Great.. explaining them why so? (they were pretty convinced)
Mr. R: Then if its so goody goody.. why leave it and come to ISB? Why not grow in that domain and reach the top?
Me: Blah blah..
Ms. H:(Is watching me answer)

Both the male interviewers then looked at Ms. Hema and she dropped a bomb...
Ms. H: What is your fallback plan if we dont select you this time as well?
Me: (Stumbled for a couple of seconds but then continued...) Blah Blah yet again... :)
Ms. H: Any questions for us?
Me: My last blah blah.. :)

The interview was good.. no grilling or anything.. absolutely professional approach. Hope this helps who reads it!!...

This is just the beginning!!

2006-02-22T04:09:00.000-08:00

People getting dissatisfied, everyone either talking about joining a better job or moving ahead with further studies or just leaving the company. Is this spelling a bad omen? Yes , it definitely is. Everyone waits for this one whole year to just see how they have fared when compared to their peers and what do they get to see? That some other shithead has cracked it. How and why? No one knows... so what do you do? Just keep your mouth shut and vent it out somewhere else... may be some place like a blog... :) Whats the point in mentioning this to someone? Everyone is just going to lend you a ear but what happens after that? Zilch!!! It just goes down the drain.

A classic example!! One guy who has got admits from top class US universities. He goes to his top most manager (5 levels above him) and mentions that his aspirations are not being cared for. But along with this, fortunately or unfortunately, he mentions that he has admits from ivy league universities in the US. Bang comes the reply (not the exact words): "What are you waiting for? It would be really tough to get your aspirations realized here. Leave the company and go for further studies." This may have been a friendly advice but this somehow makes me feel that the higher management is a bit dicy on fulfilling the aspirations of the young blood.

A year back, I was the one who used to tell every dissatisfied soul around that this is the best place you would get to work for. And they used to tell me, one day will come when you will be on this side of the river with us. But I dont think I am even reaching the banks, may be will drown on the way... :)

Am I doing good?

2006-02-16T21:12:00.000-08:00

I am doing... hmmmm.... not so good... frustrated with the kinda work I am doing here... sitting on this shabby chair... hatching eggs... just delegating stuff.. not at all interested in whatever I am doing. Moreover I am in a project which has a huge strength in terms of members... 100 to be precise... and fortunately or unfortunately I am one of the initial members of the team, when the team was small.. 15 odd members then. The newer members who have spent a couple of months laugh at me when they come to know I have been with this project for over 2 years now.. :D So you can imagine the kind of project I am working on.. :) It has given me loads, in terms of promotions, perks, hikes... but still now the disatisfaction in terms of work has started to creep in... cant help it.. now marketing my project to new team members has become an uphill task. The reasons are umpteen for my dissatisfaction but would not want to state it here. :)

With all this said, I hope you have already figured out that I have not yet received a call from ISB.. am still waiting for it with open arms (may be legs too..:)..).
Now about an advice to the ISB R1 waitlisted souls, what can I say? I indulge in sports as much as I can. It has always been my first love in life so thats the only thing thats helping me keep my senses together these days. :)
Anyways.. the d-day should not be far off. Some admits have rejected offers and might have paved a path for us (waitlists).. :)
Keep the hopes alive.. me trying to do the same!! CIAO!!

Directing the young blood!!

2006-02-13T23:14:00.000-08:00

Did you ever feel confused early in your academics? What am I suited for? Should I go for Science, Commerce or Arts? If one of these, then why? Where will it lead me?

If these questions never came to you, I would say you were a prodigy. I was a mere mortal and had to face these questions. Fortunately I landed in a place which has brought me to a juncture now, where I would never feel I should have taken the other road then. But as far as my understanding goes, I feel the current generation is no different and would definitely be feeling the heat on deciding the best career path.

I came across a friend on ISB yahoo groups who has pulled up an initiative of helping such young blood. I feel its really important to help these amateurs realize their forte and direct them in a such a way that they can put their strengths to use. Its far better to be well informed at least (if not decisive), rather than confused.

Resolvequery.com is a site I have witnessed which helps students who are still young and perplexed on which career path to choose. Answering questions from students, trying to suggest the best career suited for them is something really valuable to the society. That way we should be able to build the next generation ourselves. We, the so-call experienced folks, would find these questions easier (relatively) to answer. So why not help them?

So here I go again plunging into the unknown (for the students) waters. I hope I am able to shape the path for a few!!
Signing off!! Of course, its just for now!!.. :)

I am "colored"!!

2006-01-31T22:26:00.000-08:00

Now the title may make you feel I am a racist, but I am not!! :) Its an after-effect of watching Rang De Basanti. I saw it yesterday night and have already had 5 glasses of lime water. Why??? I am still trying to get over with the hangover it has left on me.. :) Have you watched it? No? Then you better do. Its people like us who are the pillars of a new tomorrow. I dont know how much I will be able to contribute to it. I dont want to sound like a politician.. ;) So its better I try and then tell people.. :) Not within a day or a month or a year, but surely in some more years I would make sure my existence proves worthy, though not in a way Aamir did in the movie... :)

Dont want to tell more or else I would be narrating the whole story here.. :) So would end this blog with another of those bywords: "Practice before you preach".. :)

Blogs Blogs and more Blogs

2006-01-31T03:01:00.000-08:00

Now you might wonder whats the big deal with this weird title.. :) Hmm let me explain. One Babu Moshai initiated a discussion on blogs on our very own famous ISB groups and everyone started sharing their own blogs. Ufff.. I hope that was not confusing.. :) If yes, I cant help it. I dont think I am going to go back and delete it. :)

Unfortunately, few people now know I write some stupid blogs, so I think they have the right (do they?) to know why I do so. When you have the passion to "type", to be humorous and if you have enough written skills, I think you can write blogs to either make other people laugh or may be to vent out your own frustration. Thats my reason to write blogs. Not that I write many but yes I do write a few. Does that reason sound stupid? Hmmm.. heard from many that it is stupid.. :) But the main thing is "DO I CARE?"... Naaaaaaaa.. :)

Enough of balderdash; coming to the main activity of my life these days. Keep logged on to Yahoo Mail!. You ask "Why?".

ANS: ISB can send an admit mail anytime mannn.. :)

As I mentioned to Sabya, so many people have been wishing for me to get into ISB that I dont think ISB will be able to do without me "this" time (yeahhh the word "this" is important. People who know I am a reapplicant can know that well..:)..). Also so many people think that I will be able to convert the waitlist. That has somehow made me confident and also made me stall my back up plans for some time. I hope I have to keep them stalled.. :)

People say "Patience is the key to success.", so I am patiently waiting for success!!.. :)

Inspired!!

2006-01-19T03:25:00.000-08:00

Iron Man!! Thats what I could call this guy. Dr Bala V Balachandran. I had just heard that he was one of the founders for ISB but never tried to look beyond that image. Read his interview on Pagalguy and mannn was I zonked!!??.. Yes I was. Dreams!! Its all about dreams, how you realize it, how much pains you take to make it true. Going beyond a certain humane limit to
achieve your goal in life is something I would want to take home after reading this interview. GLIM - Great Lakes Institute of Management. This is a baby that Dr. Bala is nurturing right now. After 32 years of teaching experience at one of the IVY league schools in the US (Kelloggs), after setting up the flagship programme in MDI, after helping in co-finding ISB, this is his own dream he is realizing right now. Getting world class faculty to come there and teach for FREE (as of now)?? I mean thats something beyond my imagination. That shows the kind of credibility Dr. Bala shares in the business world. How do you think it would feel to be taught by Nobel Prize winners? Yes thats the kind of faculty Dr. Bala is trying to get to GLIM (has already got one during its first year).Its not GLIM that has got me awestruck but its the larger than life image of Dr. Bala. The kind of money he might be splurging to get GLIM to his dream level is something that baffles me. The kind of dedication that he is showing to make it a world class B-school is something that amazes me. The kind of image he has established (rather earned) for himself in the business fraternity is something that flummoxes me. Its just an amazingly inspiring effort
from Dr. Bala to get India on to the business map of the world.

If I am able to somehow even make a contribution to my beloved country which is equivalent to even 10% of what Dr. Bala has done (and is doing), I would consider myself GREAT!!.. :)

Waitlist!!!

2006-01-19T03:16:00.000-08:00

Back after a long break!!.. :)

Waitlist .. This is what I had been told by ISB. Fine with me, if they say so, but my heart still goes out to ISB. Fortunately have not been given any number, or else it would have looked like a train ticket to me...:) I am not exactly able to figure out what ISB is looking for. May be diversity is the reason I have been waitlisted. IT IT IT ... its not the pronoun "it" but its "Information Technology" I am talking about. It looked all so rosy when I had joined this industry but
when I figured out that I rather like to use the right side of my brain, its become frustrating. But sooner or later, I will get a chance to be more analytical, more managerial, more friendly .. friendly in the sense, meeting more and more talented people, as I believe in EEP i.e. Experiential Exchange Program. A new course I have designed.. :)

ISB while looking at diversity, may have got flawed somewhere for sure, which I dont think is a crime. Have seen people from IT with a profile almost similar to mine get through. Then I start thinking "May be it was my interview" but even that does not make sense, as it was one of the best interviews I have ever given in my life. With a satisfied panel, it was a satisfied me. Anyways, I would get into ISB to find out whether its them or its me.. I am talking about being "flawed" here!!.. :)
Thats its from me for now!! Will come back soon with another one of mine... I mean a blog!!... :)

A Flummoxing Denial

2005-07-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

Hmm... This has been a tough one!!.. I have been rejected for the IIMA PGPX course!! WHY?? Because I am DEPENDENT by Virtue of Youth.. UNDERAGE!!.. :) That was just a statement from the dictionary. It seems I fall short of 6 months for the course. I am amazed on how much extertise would anyone add to the course with just half a year of extra work or study experience!! Especially if the person has spent most of his "illustrious" career abroad raking money for his "beloved" employer. Anyways... this was just an irritated animal smitten by a wasp from the hive of extra exeprience and not a frustrated wasp kicked out of his own hive!! So I have not lost heart instead more motivated to make to ISB as my blog name itself suggests... THE ISB BUFF... YES I AM ONE!!

With the app process kicked off for my beloved school, I am all excited about my attempt this time. Have loads and loads to prove my point that I am suitable for the school and how I can contribute towards its school of thoughts!! Just a month or two away from submitting my application and then will start the wait for the interview call. And yes, I am going to receive a call and MARK MY WORDS, I will also be converting it this time for sure... :). This year I will make sure that I work towards the dreams that I have for myself and some of my dear ones!!.. :)

An important word "Reality Check"

2005-06-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

I heard an interesting word a few days back from my closest friend, which, coincidentally, is same as the one mentioned in quotes in the title of this blog. What is a reality check? This word may not sound so important for a common man but when it comes to certain important situations in life like the one I am facing these days, about doing an MBA, it becomes really important to know what this magical word means.

"Reality Check" is a technique that helps you to become aware of the true state of affairs in a particular experience. Now how the hell does this relate to the situation of doing an MBA? It surely does, because I need to do a reality check before I go for "IT". Why an MBA? Which field? If you know the field, why are you interested in the same? I pondered on the same. I put to use some precious cells of the grey matter from my priceless brain.

MBA is a must!!! If you want to climb the ladder sooner than later, if you want to make big money, if you want to have an edge above others in decision making, you need to have an MBA. If you think you are interested in a specific field and would want to pursue your MBA in that field, find out if you really know about that field. The more you think you know about it, the lesser you ACTUALLY know about it. I know I want to be in the same industry in a company at a position where I would be the one making decisions towards the betterment of all involved in the company's turnover. I have definitely figured that out. Have you figured that out? If you think you need to change your field by doing an MBA, how much do you actually think you know about that new field? Find it out. Make sure you are aware, because in most cases we are complacent about this. We consider ourselves "Mr. I know everything". Attempting to get into a B-School, being over confident about your own profile, is definitely not something we should be heading towards.

So first do a "reality check" and figure out for yourself. I have done it, have you??

A "Spurring" start

2005-06-03T00:19:00.000-07:00

Hmmm.. This is my first blog.. took some time to think about the title for it.. Now can anyone guess the reason for this title? Ok.. let me tell about it myself. First of all, I am currently in the land of Uncle Sam and people here are crazy about a game they call Basketball and believe it or not, they have got me involved as well. Even I have become a huge fan about this original Amru game, never played myself though. Spurs have reached the NBA finals and they have been my favourites with players like Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, Robert Horry, Bruce Bowen.. And the other reason for me starting to write a blog?? I have a dream of getting into ISB and screwing my a** off for a year.. am pretty much desperate about the same and I am going to realize this dream pretty soon. Any prerequisites before even touching the ISB app? Writing skills, my dear!! And so this blog.. :)

Last year same time I had started thinking about going for an MBA and gave my GMAT with just ISB in mind. As I inched towards taking a plunge, I influenced some important people in my life to pursue the same and can you imagine whats the current scenario like? All of them have made it to ISB and I am sitting here writing this blog. I hope this statement of mine does not make everyone feel that I am resenting the same.. I am not. Infact it gave me some more time to work on my profile, to make sure that I dont leave any stone unturned this time on my road to make it to ISB. This one year would definitely make me have an edge over others when I get out of this nonpareil institute.

One year to work upon yourself is more than enough. Dont you think so?? Do you feel that you have started off with some amount of motivation but now seem to be dragging yourself along and loosing your focus as well? Well then this means you are still not sure of what you want to achieve, why you want to do an MBA? Well here when I say "Why you want to do an MBA?", dont start thinking in terms of the interview that you will be facing some months down the lane, across the table with some very elite members from the ISB interview panel. The answer for this question should be your own and should be the "ACTUAL" reason you want to do an MBA. The reason may be anything like you want to be the most highly educated guy in a cult you belong to or may be you want to hoard pieces of paper we call "Money" or may be you want to fulfill someone else's dream who is very close to you and you just want to achieve it to make that person happy.. It can be any damn reason but strong enough to keep you motivated.. and the reason in most cases end up with a cliched statement which reads "MY CURRENT JOB SUCKS!!". Well well well!! Isnt it very true?? Even that should be a good enough reason to go for a change?? Many people might suggest a change of job but what the heck?? If you look into your kitty, you dont have a s*** to show to the company where you will be interviewed on some alien language which you would never have heard of. So its better to grab as much as you can from your current job, work on yourself, shut your eyes and take the "PLUNGE"!!

So any guesses where I am headed these days?? I dont think this is a Million $ question.. so no prizes for guessing. Till the end of last month, I was waist deep, now I can almost smell the water, so it wont be long when I would have already taken the plunge and believe me, this time it will be for "GOOD"!!!