Give title, win reward

Right now, I don't have anything to say. But since when has that stopped me from talking to you.

Okay so got the first para down. First paragraph kahan hai?- you ask. Sir jii, upar hai. Two lines do a para make (err or some thing like that.) Still the question remains what should I talk about? Mature topics like Union Budget (papa paise bhejo, stock market mein nuksaan ho gaya), global recession (and how long will we have to wait before asking for a raise) etc. come to mind. But then who am I kidding! For a person whose sole source of daily news is the facebook status updates of overzealous high-IQ friends such topics can safely be ignored.

I mean I am sure loads can (and will) be written on Federer beating u-know-who and winning u-know-what and breaking u-know-'em records; but let’s leave it to those who care. I am as much interested in Federer's win as you would be in estimating the length of Kareena Kapoor's hemline in Kambhakt Ishq or evaluating the sociological psychological impact of legalised lesbian weddings on young teen age boys in Bihar and South Delhi.

Did you see Khambhakt Ishq by the way? Awesome movie. A definite must watch. It is sooo shweeet. Akshay keeps making cute crass jokes and Kareena keeps pretending she can act. Between the two, they display all prominent fashion labels and make you realize good fashion is not to wear anything too much - make up, clothes - sab kam se kam hone chaiye. Barely-there types. The songs are any music lover's delight and you would want to fast forward err rewind each and every one of them. So make sure you catch it today- even if it means bunking a client call, leaving the office before your boss or ignoring your girl friends' calls.

Btw have you ever done that? Leaving the office before your boss, that is. That brings me to another question: Have you ever worked in a 'La-la' company? These days, post placements at ISB, we are all busy exchanging notes on who got the cooler laptop, stupider boss and grosser coworkers. Sometimes we also talk about our roles as well and how much strategic impact will we be making to the company, its bottomline, its clients, its customers, the Indian economy and the world at large. (We are all not that petty all the time you know.)

Anyhoo (I like this word. Anyhoo. Say it aloud in your mind. Stress on the hoo part. Hold the ‘oo’ longer than 2 seconds. Doesn't it make you smile? No. Well okay it must be just me then. I find ‘anyhoo’ cute.) Any hoo, while making these comparisons and comparing notes sometimes a phrase crops up. 'Meri toh Lala company hai yaar, damn it'. The speaker with a pained look etched on his face looks around for support and comfort – much like I did while watching Kambhakt Ishq (mast movie hai, dekhna zaroor). Immediately concerned voices come up with stuff like:

Stuff 1:(confessional 'me-too same-boat-sailing' counseling) "Yarr meri bhi" and both start comparing the lala-ness of their respective companies and we watch waiting for the bigger lala to emerge victorious.

Stuff 2:(motivational 'recession-going soon, resume banai-ing, job badal-ing, yaar’ counseling) Economist is quoted and so is Wall Street Journal (Well, not really. Simply because we assume whatever our analysis is, it must match the experts. And if it doesn't, we are positive they will correct their misjudgements soon.) The discussion then veers to resume rebuilding tips, cursing placement season, are there news jobs in the market, cursing placement season, how we should renetwork again, cursing placement season, debating when recession will get over, cursing placement season. Incase you haven’t figured out my contribution in all such discussions is - yes you got it- cursing placement season.

Stuff 3: (mocking 'Really!-how unfortunate-my company is great-check my latest blackberry-company ne diya hai' counseling) Yes, sometimes someone comes up with that and it is always greeted by cold stone silence, awkward glances, shaking of heads, an occasional disapproval cough, clandestine abusive smses aimed at the speaker and few ‘oh-hmmms’. We all 'hmmm' to this monologue and then move on to topics that are slightly less apealing than KK's hemlines. But yes, the damage is done. Mental notes are made and exchanged that this guy shouldn’t be invited to the next meet. People try to recollect who got the bozo here in the first place. Silently the group stares at the unfortunate dude and he squirms, avoids eye contact for the rest of the evening. Typical in-group/outgroup thing this is.*

But ain’t I digressing. My original question was: Have you worked for a ‘lala company’? ‘La-la’ here is not the truncated ‘tra –la-la’ of the Buffalo Soldier song. The'Lala' here is…

Shh …cant talk now. Zoom TV (‘isko dekho’ tagline wala ) is playing suuperhit Kambhakt Ishq’s most melodious song of 2009 – Bebo Main Bebo. Have to watch this. Will continue the ‘lala’ post later.

Bebo main bebo..dil mera le lo.. la-la-la-lala..la-la-la lala

*will explain the ‘ingroup-outgroup’ phenomena later.**

** Bebo ki song aa rahi hai yaar abhi. Dekhne de.

Kodak Moments

I am as damn crazy about 'moments' as you can get. Let me explain. Kuch saal pehle TV par maine dekha woh Kodak moments wala advt. Voice over ne bataya ki Life is full of kodak moments. Abb aisa hai ji ki main mummy ki baat maanu ya na maanu advertisers ki sab baatein manti hoon. Toh agar add wale uncle ji keh rahe hai ki life is full of Kodak moments toh bhai life must be full of KM.

Bas tab se meri struggle shuru. Har samay KM ki fight. Aur saath mein shuru hui karibi logon ki shyamat. Kyunki KM banane ki zimmedari unki hai. Hamesha. Teen karibi log abhi tak psychiatrist ka bill bharne ke liye jo loan liya tha uski installment chukane ke liye naukri kar rahe hain. Two lapata hain. Aur ek ne aaj mujhe resignation bhej diya hai. Likha hai:

Yaar bahut fight hai tumhare saath. Bahut pressure rehta hai. Har cheez perfect karne ka. Agar jhagda bhi karo toh woh bhi tumko perfect chahiye.

Mera mann tha jawab doon: abbe kam se kam KM wala resignation toh karta. Kitna dramatic moment ho sakta tha. Main kehti: nahin Bhaiya nahin. Tum impromptu kuch deliver karte. Aur scene khatam hota mere closeup se.

Acha KM toh khair mashaallah kaafi aaye hain life mein. Pichle saal ke kuch pal (happy + sad):

Campus mein ghusna pehli baar. Mera pehla apna ghar. Tanay ka laptop thodna. Arora ki hasii. RK ka sweeetie namkaran. TB ki lapata belt par comments pass karna. RRS ka DMOP padana. RD ka "Hello madam ji" kehna. SP ke chakar mein Chachi naam padna. SI ke mails edit karna.(@#$% treat kahan hai meri) Pakode banana. Movie dekhna theatre style ghar par. Comp Strat mein A aana. Kale sir ki class. Bhagwan ji ki class. Moon sir ki jai. AB ko galli dena. (paper toh banaya karo yaar) Conjoint ka naa samajh mein aana. RJ se mulaqaat aur uske J-isms. AK ka ek saal. Diwalli ki mast photo meri. Grad mein sms karna phunny wale. Raat mein padna. Last 2 terms mein Ram bharose hona. Rona bahut sara. Nega mein dhoka khana. Prof DK ki counselling. Class mein advts dekhna- yaar subject hi wohi tha. VB ki bakar. Woh rooftop ki meeting. Gang ka fail hona. INFS mein B aana thx to dean listers and IIT passouts. Treats lena- dena. The Great kabab factory jana. Snooker seekhna. Squash raquet milna. TT mein nearly harana. Bday dunking. 3 cakes katna. Paise barbaad karna preterms mein. Seniors ka April fool banana. DBell ko dekhna. LDP mein time ka wastehona. ELP mein masti karna. Global Eco padhna. Nerkar ki class mein off the cuff brilliant cp karna. Goel ka khana. Mummy ko miss karna. Budget -rebudget karte rehna. Ric Charlesworth ko momento dena. C K Prahlad ka lecture attend karna. Nokia, Airtel, Biocon, Castrol etc. ke CEOs se milna. Pkakkar ka advt par funde dena. Naukri ka pehla interview. ISB ka pehla "Application shortlisted" sms. Consulting study group meetings bunk karna. Class ke break mein coffee peena. Chole Bhature cafe ke. Nimboo stall ko patronise karna. Relationship counselling karna. Aunty naam padna. :( Basanti banana. Dumb C jeetna.

bas yaar abhi ke liye itna hii..kaafi moments ho gaye.

Factfile ISB

*As I had promised earlier, here begins my monologue on the last year. To understand the same you need to be clear about few basics :

Programme: PGP in Management

Total: 8 terms
Core terms: First 4
Elective terms: Last 4
Total credits (subjects get you credit):36
Min credits to pass: 34

ELP: Experiential Learning Programme (For the official version click:http://www.isb.edu/PGP/ExperientialLearningProgramme.Shtml)

PAEV: Planning an Entrepreneurial Venture (For the official version click:http://www.isb.edu/PGP/PlanninganEntrepreneurialVenture(PAEV).Shtml)

Profs:A lot of professors score high on the presentation aspect (you enjoy listening to them) but lose out on the teaching part (zero learning post the 10 sessions). Then there are those that teach a lot but unfortunately it becomes a task to keep one's eyes open during their sessions. Finally come the small minority that capture your interest from the word go and leave you wishing for more. The super cool professors. I will only mention my super cool professors here by name. The rest will all go unnamed for obvious reasons.


Mybatch: The best yet.
Strength: (about) 440

GMAT Score:
5%: <=640
18%: 650-690
56%: 700-740
21%: >=750

Work Experience:
62%: >2 to <=5
30%: >5 to <=8
1%: <=2
7%: >8

Age:
2%: >35
10%: >30 to <=35
69%: >25 to <=30
19%:<=25

Sections: 6

My Section: Section E
Chant: Rockees
About my section:
Borrowing from an old post: {http://surabhik.blogspot.com/2008/08/isb-hmmm.html}

i am in Sec e ..and i swear its the kewlest section !!! we spam like crazy and i love it :) i mean we have had 200 mails in a 2 hr DMOP class, 2 am poetry competitions, a dunk ____ campaign, and hoax mails on just abt everythg from water on mars to kingfisher calender !! the CP is our section is gud ..we have had some gems tht i willl possibly share with u later and yes i think we are the only section that conducts in session polls..ie the class is on..the professor is explaining conjoint analysis and my neighbour passes me a sheet stating - poll of the day -- who is going to start snoring in class today . option 1 , 2 , 3 or 4. i check around to see all the nominees ..needless to say they are inches away from their afty siesta and after much deliberation i put a tick next to my fren's name and then dutifully pass the sheet along ..let me add we all take our voting rights seriously including the TAs. :) last poll list was passed to the TA too!

oh that reminds me i didnt mention the sleeping cell of E ..there are a few famous ppl in our section..famous for their ability to fall asleep during all sessions and still get straight As.. thats the sleeper cell ..no i am not a permanent member of the cell (i aspire to be but thats for another day) rather i am the life time member of the Arbit CP (class participation) club..they have put me in the last row at the rightmost corner - the worst place for CP (the prof never sees u) but i am on to them..down but not out..thats the motto here :)

New Post on the subject soon expected.

So there it is. Now that you are uptodate. Lets begin.

Just one more detail-
PGP Core Courses : 2008-09

Term 1: April 28 - June 8, 2008
Financial Accounting in Decision Making
Managerial Economics
Marketing Management
Statistical Methods for Management Decisions


Term 2: June 9 - July 20, 2008
Competitive Strategy
Decision Models & Optimisation
Global Economics
Marketing Decision Making

Term 3: July 21 - August 31, 2008
Corporate Finance
Entrepreneurship
Leadership Development Programme
Managerial Accounting
Operations Management

Term 4: September 1 - October 12, 2008
Government, Society & Business
Investment Analysis
Management of Organisations
Strategic Analysis of IT

***

Post MBA aftermath

You know you have become an MBA when you wistfully wonder how you can incentivise your friends to write your blog after you have explained the holistic vision and aim of the same. I am feeling lethargic after the initial burst of excitement. For one thing it feels like I am telling a half forgotten joke with the punch line missing. And then there’s the proverbial writer’s bloc. I wonder how people write books; trilogies even. The worst part is the people in question are MBAs too and I am sure you know how near impossible it is to get these damn MBAs to work. Such lazy bums I tell you!

ISB ISB ISB

As is with life post the entire grad school experience I feel now I am better equipped to go through ISB. What I mean is now I know what’s the best way to tackle assignments, how to manage my time, how to handle the pressure etc. So, I will pen down my learnings and experiences and hopefully you can benefit from the same. Do comment.

A brief background-

I was the diversity candidate. I am a non engineer. (Precise educational detail: MMS (HR) Gold Medalist) I have four years of hands on experience (loved my first job, I realize now how much) in an entrepreneurial organization (the best place to learn and hone your business skills) in the sunrise sector of education and training. (That’s my nifty way of saying I did not have a Fortune 500 brand on my CV) I had taken a break from work for more than a year for personal reasons right before ISB. My GMAT was 750. And yes I was a single mom on campus with a 1.5 year old brat. :)

Aisa bhi hua - kahin

* The characters, incidents, place etc. bear no resembalance to anyone/anything/any place.

** Its all taken from a credible source. I didnot witness this happen. So incase you were involved and disagree with whats written, well so be it.


The trap was set. In its simplicity lied its ingenuity. After all the targets were supposedly an intelligent sharp bunch of scoundrels ahem sorry people and for greater good (whose good- don’t ask me) it had to be ensured that they were caught. But then since they were clever it had to something simple. Something that they won’t even care about. Something so innocuous that it won’t catch their eye. So how about a class test worth 3 marks. Class test. You sound surprised. Oh didn’t I tell you it’s a bunch of (NCB) students that we are talking about.

Btw let me tell you everyone cheats. Let’s not have pretenses there. Everyone had in some way or the other incriminated themselves over the two years of the program. With 10000 assignments and countless other pressures (classes, homework, grades, club activities (and we are not talking about the kinda club your parents went to here rather the Consulting, HR, finance types), speaker sessions, seminar preparations, B-plans competitions, sports, relationships, placements, expectations, apprehensions, insecurity, 5 different study group meet co ordinations, peer group competition and yes not to mention a dwindling personal life) its impossible not to ask the guy you share a roof with what is the answer to Q. 22 in a 50 question assignment that is to be submitted in 20 minutes.

And in case you still wear the holier than thou halo and look down on the imbeciles who cheat let me assure that in some way or the other you are in the same boat as them. ‘How?’ you ask. Well are you sure that every study group you were a part of never had a member ask his friend/ spouse for any help/clarification on any of the group assignments and projects over the 2 years. And if they did well you are damned too. That’s the rule right. All for one, one for all. And let me go a step further and remind you that the nifty work distribution you worked out within the study group (yaar tum assignment 1 dekh lena and I will take care of assignment 2) also is a violation of the honorable spirit we are talking about. Because on that assignment 1 in which you did no work at all, your name is still on it as one of the submisees.

So now you know the truth. Still it is important to show everyone that the establishment is above reproach. The students cheat but they shouldn’t. And well that’s something I can’t argue with. Because if you haven’t been there in that position you wont understand. And that’s not purpose of this writing anyway. The purpose dear reader is just to narrate an incident for a friend of mine who has requested me to do so because if she does it herself then you might guess the players involved.

Moving on. A class test of 3 marks conducted every week across 4 sections. Share the answers with the students after each test. And then. One day. Bam. Catch the students of the last section for having used the trickled down answers.

Q. How many did he catch?
A. Well many.

Q. Must be all back benchers right.
A. Ha.

Q. You mean some good ones got caught as well ?
A. Well there were merit listers, club presidents, social activists, international award winners, b- school competition finalists --- people who had done more for the institution than their peers who were going to judge them. And yes to be fair some were back benchers too.

Q. Then what happened?
A. Read on.

With 38 people caught there are 38 perspectives to this story. Each one handled the onslaught the best he /she could. But they were in store for a rough few months ahead. For one there was a tribunal set. Judges were assigned to the case. It was interesting to read those judges as well. One was a self admitted offender. You can always cheat dear whether a student or not. The other couldn’t care less about the whole thing. One was sympathetic. And in the panel of 5 two were student themselves. The irony of it all!

Post the panel setting there were trials conducted. 38 people individually grilled /scolded /humiliated and tried. Explanations were sought. Explanations were given. But as my friend puts it we all knew the verdict even before the trial started. Guilty as charged. What we didn’t know was the quantum of punishment that was to be meted out. And that kept everyone awake 38 people- 38 friend circles -38 families all waited for not the verdict but the punishment.

But why the fuss? It is just a 3 marks test for crying out loud. The faculty gave the answers himself. Didn’t he know students talk? Isn’t the code of conduct clear about this sort of thing? For an institute that’s been around for more than 60 years shouldn’t this be just a small incident. It should have been but it wasn’t. What was the crime committed wasn’t taken to account. Who committed the crime was understandably ignored. All that was considered was the act itself.

You cheated. Full Stop. It doesn’t matter if it were for a 3 mark 2 questions paper. You could have cheated for the entire 100 marks or so for all I care. You cheated that is it and now you will be punished. This was the judge’s argument.

And the punishment. Boy was it harsh. Short of expelling the 38 everything else was done. People suffered. It’s their own doing you might argue. Well so be it then. But the batch saw 38 hopes be dashed, 38 careers nearly ruined, 38 friends suffer. It hurt us because they were the unlucky ones who got caught. It hurt because some were the most meritorious students around and this meant all their accomplishments came to nought. It hurt because the whole thing seemed like a witch hunt and it hurt because it so unfair.

But a spectacle was made. A precedent was set.

Game set match, establishment.

ISB friends- Mr.X #$%^ &*

"hmm kya ho raha hai." that is how X starts all telephonic conversations. If that sentence is followed by 3-4 gallis in hindi you know the person he is calling is a guy. If no gallis then its the rarest occasion when the person on the other side either happens to be of more feminine origin or a CEO of some hot shot company. Odds by the way are more for the latter than the former. Still thats X for you. No niceties about the dude. On your first interaction with him I will bet he will rub you the wrong way. On further interactions he will still rub you the wrong way but then you will ignore that; cause by then you realise that if X is nice to you then somethg is terribly wrong. Either you have just lost you pet pooddle to a road accident or the doctors have told everyone :"Humnein sab koshish kar li. Abb sab uppar wale ke haath mein hai. Dua kariye." So you get up in the morning talk to X and he says something incredibly offensive or innocously mean and you smile and know that all is well.

All those who like X (yea you will find some) and more importantly all those who X likes (thats a shorter list of people) will testify that he seems like the ultimate "friend in need" to have. If you fall ill hes the one to call. Not only will he stay up the whole time (day AND night) but run to the chemist, get the medicine and wait for the next day to hand you the bill. He will fight all your battles for you if it serves some purpose for him. Otherwise at crucial times hes forever missing. If a rickshaw walla bhaiya is troubling you for more money then i cant think of a better person to negotiate the deal than X.

Some how during the grad school, X and I managed to strike a friendship. Pretty strange that is if you know either one of us. But still i think we are friends because we constantly amaze each other by our reactions and actions. X will never do the stuff i have done in my life and i will never dare to replicate his. X dabbles in all sports. There is till now not a single sport i know of that he hasnt played and lied about being good at. I stay away from sports and never lie. X likes to show people that he reads all sorts of books. Hes one of those compulsive readers who has to finish a book if he's started one. I read the book only if i am sure i will like it and if somehow the author manages to piss me off midway, I dont waste my time finishing the book. X is people crazy and organised; I am creative and more of a loner. This has the potential to turn into a really long paragraph so I will cut it short here. In brief, X and I are different.

But then this is true for everyone X hangs out with. Its difficult to club X with anyone. Where do you put the guy whose idea of a compliment is to say: you are not looking as fat as you normaly do today. The guy who will stop a cricket match in the middle to fight with the captain of the oposite team (they nearly came to blows). The guy who ABSOUTELY hates losing (Gen. rule: Stay away from X for 5 hours after he's lost a match which happens with efficient regularity). The guy who cribs about everything under the sun and is never happy until everything is exactly his way - all the time.

So thats X for you. Do't trust his words becaue he can be a compulsive liar and barring 5 conversations with X, in almost all the remaining ones I have felt frustrated, irritated,annoyed, angry, hurt, sad and other similar mixed emotions. Hes criticized everything about me - my clothes, my friends, my attitude, my writing, my cv (for 2 full months i never sent him a copy fearing his lethal feedback), my car (on the day i bought it), my (again this has the potential to turn into a really long paragraph so i will cut it short here. You get the drift.) But despite all the criticisms and brickbats we have remained friends. I dont know why.

Now since he might criticise this post too I will reserve the ending post his feedback. :)

ISB friends- Mr. Hellozz

That’s how a dear friend of mine always starts everything with. Hellozz. Countless meandering conversations and soul searching dialogues owe their origin to this word.

Between the two of us we have discussed, analyzed and dealt with almost every major occurrence at a grad school. We have gossiped about fellow mates – of crushes and affairs and had many ‘did you know he is secretly seeing her? Nooo really!’ conversations. We have analyzed all professors - their performances and quirks - and developed our own grading system for them (Few profs aced it. Some failed. :)) A and I have deliberated on the TAs and their relative usefulness in the grand scheme of things; on how certain TAs were sweet and nice - ready to ignore minor attendance deviances, mark all CP points and generally spread merriment all around and how a certain one was an absolute meanie with no heart ruining a career or two for personal gratification.

Our talks have on a lot of time focused on a common goal for the two of us- to get better at a sport – squash to be precise and a lot of time has been spent in motivating me to at least reach the squash court. It has to be said: An able squash player A tried a lot to get his protégé to a decent amateur status in the game, providing her with oodles of motivations, many smses scheduling squash appointments, taking responsibility of booking the courts and carrying an extra racquet always and finally sending ‘good game’ smses as well.

Towards the last few terms we were study group mates as well and happily may I report last two terms I do not think I did much work at all. Sadly though, let me add, my grades very sharply reflect that. As I used to tell A “it’s a catch 22 situation.” If you have a job you don’t feel like studying (grades then really do not matter) and incase you do not have one then in that case assignments and mid terms are the last thing you care about. A however diligently got the other people in the group working and ensured that we never missed a deadline.

I still chuckle as I recall a particular conversation we had. The subject was Retailing. We were 5 -6 people in the group. In those days we never met our study group members. Rather assignments were divided over emails and on the submission day the completed assignment was mass mailed to group with the standard sentence- PFA the assignment submitted. So a week post a project submission date (projects typically carried 30-40% of the grade) A and I have this conversation.

S: isn’t the project due soon?
A: Let me check.( a couple of minutes later) Oh It was due a week back.
S: Crap. Did some one submit it?
A: I am sure someone must have done it. I know people were working on it.
S: Kaun? (And rattle out a name)
A: Nahin. He is with us on another subject. Let me check the mail we sent to TA about group formation. (Searches for the mail and forwards the same to me) Dekho sincere log hain kar diya hoga. Yaar, abb kuch kaam karna chaiye iss term. :)

Yes we were that unconcerned and yet all assignments and projects got done on time (even the ones we were accountable for :D ) and let me add we were always above average in our submissions, weren’t we A?

The last few terms were also spent on career guidance and counseling. It was a chain rather. I was counseling another friend on his cover letter proof reading and ghost writing the same (PS: you promised a treat damn you post the Parthenon CL. I am still waiting. Kanjoos.) and A was doing the same for me. Sometimes he would send me his and I would edit it. Together we tried to fit two diverse backgrounds into the consulting mould and later the GM moulds. Unfortunately we didn’t do a good job of it. Rather the recession did us in! Today A and I are back to our old roles/ old profiles and no career switches. Although now we both claim this is what we wanted in the first place :P (don’t we, A?)

Anyways long telephonic conversations were spent discussing the merit of each line that we put in that damn CL, tailoring it for each profile and each role and I don’t even want to mention the nth iterations of the resume that we put ourselves through. I still do not know whether people for whom we did so much of work actually read the same given that in some cases the most bizarre people (in terms of role specifications) were sometimes short listed and more deserving candidates given a miss. Thanks to the free phone facility within ISB we were saved paying a bomb to TSPs. It was a tough few months for us. Some of our friends got placed on day 1, some (like me) on day 2 and some others had a longer wait. But more on the specifics later. It was a little strange because sometimes it felt as if each conversation I had with my friends depended on where that person and I were in terms of the placement scene. Those who got placed in the role of their choice were all happy and those whom the recession had hit below the belt were understandably frustrated. And then there were people like me. Not sure to which boat they belonged to and simply taking things as they were coming.

Placement season (7.85 blog entries (not more, I counted, sachi) can be written on it) I think was the most definitive learning experience at ISB. It showed us who we really were in many ways than one. I got to know more about the people I was with in this time than sitting in classes with them. And let me say certain people handled the whole string of defeats and drama with such class that I have enormous respect for them.

Now to lighter related things. A’s entire passion in the last 2 terms was to plan an excursion with friends to Rishikesh. This was further fueled by an innocuous trip that certain other people took to Thailand. The subject was well researched. Having been there in gud-old-engineering days, A was determined to relive the experience. Unfortunately none of the others cooperated and the trip still remains on A’s to do list.

A’s entire passion in the last 2 terms also was to cook for the entire gang. Fortunately that still remains on the to do list. :)

Btw I have to tell you, A is a good cook (as you can see I am well bribed). The kheer served on last Diwali is testament to that. However he doesn’t want his would be wife to know about this. He fears that he would otherwise be exploited by her (“ladkiyon ko batana nahin chahiye ki khana banana aata hai, nahin toh kitchen ka kaam karna padega umar bhar”)

Now can you guess what will be the first thing I will tell that girl (A’s wife- whenever he manages to get one; aunty please keep looking) )after helloz :D

These days our conversations have lessened to an occasional helloz over the weekend but the meaninglessness still remains. :)

I miss the ISB times. And now you all know some of the reasons for the same.

Why?

i dont understand :

1. why i have to do inva

2. why ppl dont like OB

3. why HR guys are treated with some much disdain

4. why cant my fren get over his one sided love?

5. why we all display tendencies of masochism

6. why is the grass always the greener on the other side

7. why do ppl substitute pepsi for water

8. why does our media ignore the 50% ppl living below poverty line

9. why the seven sisters and south not given their due ?

10. why do i ignore the glaring signs of civic society breakdown arnd me

11. what is "mainstream" and who decided it

12. what wud i do without google

13. why am i hooked on dev anand / hemant kumar/ kishore 's old songs

14. why is tanay such a brat at times

15. when will i do the things that have aways been there on my "to do" list

16. why isnt god kind?

17. why are some pp tgtbt

18. why do i love hobbes so much

19. why do ppl not stick to their word

20. why didnt i get that

Superhero Prof.

Without setting the context let me just say i asked a prof here (he's german btw) if u cud have any super hero power what wud it be? Pat comes the reply - the power to mindread

so what super hero power wud u like ?

LIFE@ISB

Term 3 is over and let me say that this time the alum feedback wasnt accurate..it was not a horror term by any stds. maybe in my case this was because the workload was intelligently shared bet study group members :) term 4 has begun..the first day is over. how was it u asked?

5 am: alarm goes off ..cant wake up rite now..hit snooze button
5.20 am: curse the world..have to get up for the pre reads .note to self - stop sleeping at 2 am..this term has early morn classes
till 7 am-read the well pre reads :) (have OB this term..there IS a GOD !!!)
7 am - tanay wakes up..all work stops
8 am- start walking to the acad centre.
8.15 am - session starts
8.30am - first sms fom a fren - "wake up.. you have payed 5000 bucks for this class"
8.32am- try to think of a befitting reply ..cant think of a gud one ..go back to the half awake half asleep state
10 am - class got over early. thats a rarity here
10.05- stroll down to Goel's (dinning room) with frens and have my first ever breakfast at ISB
finish with a very strong cuppa ..everyone catching up with everyone else ..term beginning so there is general merriment all around
10.45 back to class
11.00 am damn this last row..so hard to pay attention
11.15 a fren rings in midde of the class from opposite corner..y?.."to wake u up"..damn y dont ppl pay attention to the prof ..i know i was
11.20 - observe akki ..so busy taking down notes ..wonder what the hellis he writing
11.45 - break ..hahahaha
general guftagoo
11.55 session continues
the subjects this term arent very technical..gud news for us poets
12.50 class ends
12.55 P_____makes a damn gud presentation abt the Bihar flood relief initiative
the entire section (well allmost entire) wants to contribute ..such spirit !!!! ROCK EEEEEE
1.15 return home
till 2.15 give tanay his medicine ..try force feeding a 2 yr old ..make that cranky stubborn two year old..spill syrup on self, bed, sofa (in that order) + Lunch
2.30 back to LRC elp team first meeting - hurraayyyyy
4 pm elp group meeting ends
4.05 pm - elp meeting with our prof strats
5.45 meeting ends, rush home, check on tanay
6.45 - another elp meeting groan
8.10 head home , while away time and watch BIG BROTHER :)
1.00am write blog
1.20 set alarm for tomo

Life @ Indian School of Business

ISB ISB ISB ISB ISB (then a deep sigh!)

thats how i responded when a dear friend asked me hows ISB..this blog and a few coming after this are dedicated to all those who are curious abt ISB and want to know every gory detail abt the horrors it contains. Let me begin by throwing in a disclaimer every experience of ISB is unique..so while a particular person may find the going tough it might be cakewalk for some one else. What u see here is a self confessed Regular Jane's view of the world. So take it with dollops of salt. :)

How is life at ISB? hmmm imagine all human emotions the gud, the bad and the ugly and then add a few more and this what life at ISB is . Its all that u expect and a lot u dont ! let me begin by saying that there is tremendous scope of learning and growth and how much of it u r able to accomplish depends totally on u. The trick is to identify what is it that u want from ur stay here and work towards it.

That said let me tell u figuring out what u REALLY want is decidedly one of the most difficult thgs to do. i mean i still feel like i am standing in front of a lavish buffet with all sorts of exotic dishes with a fork in hand !! Ok thats a bad food analogy..skipping dinner tonite was not a gud idea! What i mean is u just have so much stuff going on that choosing what to do becomes the key ..and the choices are quite stark..markstart decision (grades matter dude or dont they !!!)or say attend Kiran Shaw's talk..u got to choose and manage ur time well..this i think is going to be one of my biggest learings at ISB..i mean the most precious commodity at ISB is time and u better spend urs wisely.The faculty ..truly world class (well most are anyway!!) i have been taught by some of the best teachers in the world and that has twin benefits : one is obvious ..u end up understanding the most obscure / the most boring subjects and the other follows from it..if u still dont understand the concepts after attending the sessions taken by these gentlemen GIVE up (on that subject that is :) ) the second point is debatable but i kind of stand by it . what i mean is if after sessions by robert stine and richard waterman u still dont get stats leave it !!! try mktg instead !!! i had my aha moment in the Fin accounts last term.. i finally got it !!! accounting that is and i also realised that its not all that crappy ..an insight that made me warm up to my CA mates.

the first term was bad ..i mean a lot if us took time to settle in to the ISB way of life ..its a different world all together ..a world were a gud night's rest means 5 hrs of sleep ..where parties typically start at 1 am..where u throw ppl in the pool when u r happy..where u develop a love hate love relationship with ur study group ..where ur self esteem sits on a roller coaster ride which has more down slides than up..where the engineers (IITians ) are gods walking on the planet with a halo around their head (the dean's list) ..well i exaggerated a lil on the halo part..its not always visible..u got to stand close and observe maybe then if u r lucky u can see it :) I am kidding life's not all that bad ..:) i wudnt exchange my ISB days for anythg with any1.

okay now a lil abt the ppl here ..needless to say they are a talented bunch but i will not gush abt them right now..let me just say that i already have a couple of ppl who are my 2 am friends..i call them when i am happy and more importantly i call them when i have made a mess of things which is quite often it seems these days.oh well..i will consider myself very lucky if i am able to make and sustain a few gud friendships out here..i like and admire so many ppl here ..some for their intelligence..some for attitude and some for sheer goofiness :) the power of positive attitude, the willingness to laugh at oneself, the ability to cheer some1 else these thgs really matter at here

i am in Sec e ..and i swear its the kewlest section !!! we spam like crazy and i love it :) i mean we have had 200 mails in a 2 hr DMOP class, 2 am poetry competitions, a dunk ____ campaign, and hoax mails on just abt everythg from water on mars to kingfisher calender !! the CP is our section is gud ..we have had some gems tht i willl possibly share with u later and yes i think we are the only section that conducts in session polls..ie the class is on..the professor is explaining conjoint analysis and my neighbour passes me a sheet stating - poll of the day -- who is going to start snoring in class today . option 1 , 2 , 3 or 4. i check around to see all the nominees ..needless to say they are inches away from their afty siesta and after much deliberation i put a tick next to my fren's name and then dutifully pass the sheet along ..let me add we all take our voting rights seriously including the TAs. :) last poll list was passed to the TA too

oh that reminds me i didnt mention the sleeping cell of E ..there are a few famous ppl in our section..famous for their ability to fall asleep during all sessions and still get straight As.. thats the sleeper cell ..no i am not a permanent member of the cell (i aspire to be but thats for another day) rather i am the life time member of the Arbit CP (class participation) club..they have put me in the last row at the rightmost corner - the worst place for CP (the prof never sees u) but i am on to them..down but not out..thats the motto here :)

my study group is a unique first at ISB three girls and a guy! so u can imagine :) and no hes NOT having a gud time trust me :Dthe markstrat world (for the uninitiated - just know its a simulation we play in marketing class that makes us want to hunt down our competition and beat the crap out of them ) is one thg u will encounter in the second term and let me tell u nomatter what u do ..u will either be screwed by the competition or by the customers.

Heard at a markstart meeting:

A: our product didnt sell

S: why

A: it turns out our customers were braindead irrational morons who commited mass suicide!! (translation : no units sold, huge inventory on hand)

S: oh that explains it ...i thot maybe we took a wrong mktg decision somewhere :)

i think i have rambled enuff for the day..if u r still reading this ..i just have one question WHY? :)

btw i heard piece of gud news today after a really long time ..am going to be involved in a very unique project at ISB..really excited abt that but have been asked not to talk abt it so will share it with both of u (the 2 who r still reading this ) later :)

on another note i want to thk a special person in my life who really helped me thru some stuff today..thx dude.. appreciate it big time

chalo more arbit stuff later :)

take care

ciao

Better late than never

Hi lets break out the champagne bottles..toast , everyone!!..after months of deciding to blog today is the D Day finally..now u must wonder (incase u have no other pressing worry on ur mind ) so what made me alter the months of laboured laziness..why write today?..well the answer lies in CCD ballunge Kolkata . Today is the day I got a close glimpse of the ISB Class of 2009 and it was enuff to shake any indolence off me. To the naked eye it must have seemed "We met , we yaked and we left"..But it was in reality a grand confluence of ideas that left most of us [I cant speak for all now , can I ? :) ] with a mixed bag of feelings ..on one had I was happy to have met my future batchmates, gotten to know them a lil more..putting faces on some of the names i was reading on Orkut ..on the other it made me get over the relief of getting into ISB and start wondering (rather apprehensively if i may add) abt the kinda times that are going to come ahead ..The reason..everyone was cool confident..for instance GMAT score 700+ (had secretly thot my 750 wud be among the highest...reality check..highest gmat score 770 !!) ..everyone had such a distinct profile and personality and such determination that we were discussing what to study be4 reaching the institute itself.. phew..say hello to books mam..[the gud news on this front got a mail from one of the guys suggesting we lay off books till april..needless to say I readily joined the pact] So what are my final thots after the first ISB co09 kol. meet..Its going to be a rocking year ahead..there r going to be smiles and tears, success and goof ups, triumphs and heart aches .. gala parties and long study nights ..but one thg is sure i am going to have FUN all the way..ISB is a platform for intense learning, soul searching, personal actualisation and a lot more..I hope I am able to utilise all the resources and opportunities that come my way and do the thg I say is my life's goal- LEARN!and for those who think this is going to be a tad easy ..well imagine having a calvin reincarnate one year old with u while u negotiate the tough terrains at ISB :)My baby , tanay is the name, is nothing short of a dynamite..to all my future frens a word of advice..plz hide all ur keys as disposing off them is his hobby..so on that naughty note here's wishing all of u a wonderful year ahead and hope all ur dreams materialise in 2009 !!! see ya take care