Showing posts with label Confessions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Confessions. Show all posts

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Reading my mind...

Srivatsa read 4 lines of my handwriting, and wrote down 20 lines about my personality.

Absolutely UNREAL!!! 95% of it was correct. Kudos to him.

But he missed one thing. I hate someone reading my mind or my thoughts. I'm never doing this again...

Hostel days

I've completed a year at IIM-I, living in a hostel for the first time, and now the new batch of first year students has joined us. Looking at their naive reactions this new life, I feel I have gained some perspective over the past year.


This is the first in a series of posts where I pen down my views on campus life, hostel living and its facets. Some of it may be generalised to any kind of hostelery, while some might be specific to my dwellings here. All of it, though, is entirely my personal opinion. Judge me if you must...

Thursday, June 18, 2009

The Real MBA degree... Please stand up!

Its heartening to read http://careers360.in/lead-story/iipm---best-only-in-claims.html

Finally, someone stood up and tried to expose the wildly innacurate and falsified claims and the media's complicity with Arin-DUM Chaudhary and his Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM). The name itself reeks of 'farzi'-ness. 'Planning'?? What was he thinking???

Nevertheless, no point in going on-and-on about how fake are his placement figures, how prepsterous are the average salaries, how innacurate are his claims of internation faculty participation and how his internation tie-ups and partner colleges are nothing but unaccredited 3rd rate colleges in their own countries. Its all there in that report.

The real question that begs to be answered is what is this mad rush for an MBA degree? And at what cost, and I i'm not even thinking monetary.

Being inside a premier B-school for about a year now, I can vouch for how hyped and overpublicised an MBA degree is. And no offences to people who don't make it to the top rung of colleges - its just not worth it going to an IIPM just because one sees green manna at the end of 2 years...

And I'll give you my reasons why... Firstly, I have learnt more outside the classroom at IIM Indore than I have ever learned inside a classroom. Classroom education can be replicated.. even duplicated. But what about the outside experience?

The sheer pressure of having to compete with the top 1% of the country's youth itself makes you raise your game several levels up. Organizing events with a budget of more than 2 lack, restructuring a committee by introducing best practices and processes, trying to gather common funds from 240 unwilling and sharply cunning people, keeping people motivated to do non-academic tasks in the face of adverse academic conditions, two months at a premier international bank, interacting on a first name basis with alumni who are CFOs and Country Heads running large organization... these are the things what a manager needs to learn to do!

A Kotler or a Damodaran can teach you only so much; but what about all the above aspects. Zig Ziglar never can tell you how to sell a concept where people have to pay INR 1000 as contribution for a party they can't attend. Porter can never envisage the forces at play when one has to design events that outsmart competitor colleges with better resources. Damodaran can only give you the best D-E ratio for a large project, but can he teach you how to raise 35 lack in funding for an internal event, with traditionally low sponsorship and rather low turnout, with absolutely no equity and debt?

Havin worked for about 24 months totally, at 2 widely different corporates, I have realized one thing. Give me 4 months at absolutely ANY job, and I can learn it! It is the 'other' experience that a top-rung B-School provides that outscores anything that an IIPM or other tier - 4/5 college can provide.

And secondly, an MBA isn't the ultimate quest everyone must aspire for. Over the past year, I have seen people do well at things they like to do, with or without an MBA. Trust me, you are better off doing something you like and are good at, rather than joining a B-School (be it any) simply because you've heard that MBA are paid monstrous salaries for incredibly simple work. Both can't be true together. And what about satisfaction? Whats the point of doing drudgery for 50 lack a year, when your heart is somewhere else, and the mind alltogether elsewhere?

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Loose ends

Just saw this movie - "Vickie Cristina Barcelona".

Beautiful, albeit... ummm... slightly weird, movie this.

But I have noticed that I get this odd uneasy feeling, an uncommon feeling of haplessness when I see movies like VCB or read books like "English, August"... storylines that talk about the hollowness of many of our lives's pursuits... of the continous search with no end in sight... loose ends...

Wonder why... not sure...

Monday, May 11, 2009

Sometimes...

Sometimes...

All you need is a patient ear,


Sometimes,

You want a hug, a warm embrace

 

Sometimes,

You need the hug, the warm embrace

 

Sometimes,

You want someone to say “It’s ok, tough luck”

 

Sometimes,

You feel cold, and want some warmth,

 

Sometimes,

You feel hot and tired, and need a cool calm,

 

Sometimes,

 you just want to be alone,


Sometimes,

you just don't, can't,


Sometimes,

you want to just go away with someone,


Sometimes,

you want someone to take you away,


Sometimes,

you want answers,


Sometimes,

you don't want to hear even a single question,


Sometimes,

you just want to break, out, free, away...


There are many such times, not sometimes, often... But there isn't that someone, just no one.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Vote - its not your right, nay, its a responsibility

Voted for the 2009 parliamentary elections today morning.

Bad candidates, worse agendas, dirty campaigning, mud-slinging, horrible weather, neglected policies, broken promises, vote-bank politics, hate speeches, 'joota' attacks, delimitation, criminal backgrounds, bad actors turned crooked politicians, pseudo secularism... aren't excuses!

This isn't a privilege, for certain we've not earned it. It is a responsibility.

Go vote.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Mee ShivajiRaje Bhosle Boltoy

Saw a Marathi movie after a long time today. "Mee ShivakiRaje Bhosle Boltoy".

Rather expected storyline. A hen-pecked and insulted maharashtrian, well, a 'maharashtriy', as the movie prefers to call 'em, one day gets fed up of all the insults and being treated like a dog in his own backyard.

The insults are rather exaggerated, the acting slightly over-the-top and the plots rather idealistic. But, what the heck, anything is better than "Tasveer",  now isn't it!

The movie revolves around the protagonist D.M.Bhosle. The man is a middle class bank clerk who gets nagged (and often overly insulted) by just about everyone. He is the stereotypical 'asmita haravlela' (one who has lost his identity) marathi manoos. To add to the hassles of daily life, is an unscrupulous builder, and his (rather long) array of yes-men. Here, I felt the insults were too exaggerated. Nowhere does the fish seller insult a buyer aloud regularly. And neither does a movie director tun away a girl after selecting her for her merit, just because she is a 'bhosle', a marathi, who supposedly can't carry off western clothes and has a vernacular tinge to her English. Nevertheless, as expected, one day he just can't take it anymore. He loses it!

Enter Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj! Now this was a welcome change from the usual pathetic story lines dished out in marathi cinema. The Maharaj and his aide themselves appear in front of the protagonist Bhosle and guide him with the tonic of marathi 'bana'. Bhosle gathers his whiny act together, and decides to brave it out. Believe himself that he is part of the problem, and then try to fix it. Not just for himself and his family, but for the marathi manoos in general. To see how he does it, go watch the movie.

Some things here that really struck a cord, and some others that well, just fell flat.

Bhosle explains to the Maharaj that today's Mumbai is dominated by outsiders. The Sindhis andMarwaris control the business, the south indians control the food and restaurant businesses and the north indians have converted the civil services into their fiefdom due to rampant nepotism. The part where Shivaji explains to a distraught Bhosle, that the cause of this situation is the marathi manoos himself, really struck a cord. The crowd was literally 'pin-drop' silent. "Who stopped you from doing the same, Bhosle?" astutely questions the Maharaj off the protagonist. Who stopped you from doing business, from running hotels, and from entering the civil services. Not the sindhis and marwaris, not the udipis and not the bhaiyyas. Its our own inability, our own incompetance maybe, that has lead to this situation. "'Amchya shakha kuthe hi nahit' (we have no other branches) he mhanyat ucchata manoon kasa chalel?", he adds.

Though, I would accuse the movie of containing some stereotypes. The north indian taxi driver and the muslim tailor who are tenants in Bhosle's large bunglow. There is a part where Bhosle magnanimously makes sure that their interests are taken care of. He had explained how they too were as much 'maharashtiy' as him. Since they were born and brought up here, and their children study here in a vernacular medium school. Well, I just thought it was a ploy to distance the movie from the MNS's anti-bhaiyya taxi drivers plank. And, it worked too, to some extent. The typical 'Usman Parkar' bhai wasn't too convincing, at times even comical.

The movie also suffers from some over-zealous action stunts towards the end. That and the story in the latter part gave a feeling that the director just somehow lost his way, and wasn't sure what next to do.

Nevertheless, credit must be given for some excellent cinematography. My biggest complaint about recent marathi films has been the abysmal cinematography. The usual fare is too trashy to even merit a look, but even some great recent movies like 'Shwaas', have some very poor filming. See it and you can see the film quality change over scenes! But this one is a cut above them all in this respect. Excellent shots, a beautifully choreographed 'shahir' sequence, some crisp editing of Shivaji Maharaj's horse riding scenes that could so easily have overwhelmed the movie, and excellent film quality.

Personally, I thought the plot was.... ummm... well... can't really describe it. I'm sure though, that I wouldn't call it a good storyline. It definitely had a tinge of Munnabhai, but only up to the idea of a man visualising a famous historic personality. 

But there are some real lessons to be picked from the movie; at least worth the one watch.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Work-Life balance... is there anything like that??

Quite thought provoking, this...

Excerpt of a dialogue from "The Devil wears Prada"...

Nigel: Excuse me, will you adjust the attitude! Don' make me feed you to one of the models
Andrea: Sorry... it's... aaa... a busy day. And my personal life is hanging by a thread, thats all.
Nigel: Ah, well, join the club. That's what happens when you start doing well at work... Lemme know when your whole life goes up in smoke... that means its time for a promotion

Makes me wonder... "How True" I say... is there really something like 'Work-Life' balance. Or is that all just bullshit?

Monday, January 26, 2009

Back to debating

Took part in a Parliamentary Debate organized by the debating society today.

Can't believe its been more than 3 years since the last time I participated in a debate. I had forgotten my own voice!

I lost today. Qualified for the final round, but me and my team-mate came third among three. All three were separated my 1 point each, so it was one really closely fought contest. Worst part is, didn't win any cash :-(

Nevertheless, the best part was that I enjoyed it! I had given up debating after my team's loss in the Fr. CRCE memorial annual debate in my final year in engineering in 2005.

Felt great to be back in that debating atmosphere. Somewhere over the years, I had lost that edge. I don't know why... maybe out of fear, maybe out of shame of losing, maybe out of embarrassment or maybe out of sheer laziness, I had entirely stopped debating, and consequently, was completely out of touch with current affairs and issues. Well, now I'm back!

The Bhimbetka excursion

Just got back from a 2 day trip to Bhimbetka, a world heritage sight about 250km from Indore.

It isn't a particularly spectacular place, but I just HAD to get out of this campus! The extended weekend presented the perfect opportunity, and for once, I jumped at it.

This place is basically some rock formations and rock wall painting dating back about 9000 years to Mesolithic man. Most of there are hewn into solid rock by wind or water where, presumably, Mesolithic man lived, ate, drank, slept and hunted. As proof, all we have is wall paintings using 'geru' or natural orange/ochre paint, that is absorbed into the stone. This prevents the paintings from being erased by natural forces over time. The pictures mostly consist of cows, bulls, other random animals and hunting and party scenes.

The best part was that I got the first chance to unveil my new camera, the Canon SX10 IS. Had a field day taking photographs in every possible mode and situation. That was the highlight of the trip :-)

Thursday, January 22, 2009

An enviable death

This is touching statement I heard on TV the other day.

Some crappy news channel was interviewing slain ATS chief Hemant Karkare's widow, and she was talking about her husband. For a typical Indian lady, she appeared very composed. While descibing the incidents, she made a very poignant statement.

"People envy the life of big people... People envious of the life of Shah Rukh Khan (people envy the life lead by famous people like Shah Rukh Khan), but my husband's death is enviable".

Hemant Karkare is really blessed, and I envy him - in life and death.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

It SUCKS to be undecided

"So, what are you planning on specializing in?", "So, what are you planning on doing?". In the last couple of days, somehow, I've been asked these question quite often. A majority of times, by myself.

And I don't know the answer!!!

There is this song that says:
"Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life...
the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what
they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don't."

It's really easy for people to say that it's cool to be undecided; Yeah RIGHT! They won't understand how hard it is to answer the above questions when every person you meet after a span of more then a month asks them to you. They will never understand how it feels like to stand in a group of people who are discussing industry trends and career paths, when the only thing going on in your mind is :"F*&%, these guys are GOOD!". They'll never understand how difficult it is to motivate yourself to do things like studies.

And most of all, they'll never understand, that when you are really low, when everything around you seems to be going horribly wrong, when you are doubting your own abilities, how almost IMPOSSIBLE it gets to explain your most mundane actions. It seems surreal, when your very existence becomes inexplicable.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The deepening void with not a straw to cling

I realized what blindsided really means. There are some pent up emotions inside everyone (which, by the way, I feel girls are much better at releasing than guys), some feelings, thoughts, reflections, and all it needs is some trigger, often quite unrelated. And SNAP!

Something snaps, and the floodgates open, and all those reflections come running out. Blindsided.

I guess I am quite an expressive person. My expressions and emotions are always hidden. But some of my closest say that my eyes say a lot; sometimes give me away. I wonder what my face says at such occasions, because not all can notice it. My parents have never been able to decipher them, many of my close friends can't see it. Vivek saw it rather instantly today, so I was wondering what gave me away. Cause, well, I was really Blindsided!

It's not that hectic life here is getting to me, because trust me, I can handle and have handled worse situations all alone. It's just like what they say, "sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind... the race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself". I guess I took this far too seriously. And when you seem to lag in this ultimate race, even with yourself, thats when it strikes you that something is wrong, terribly wrong!

I won't go into what exactly got me upset. Actually there were too many things. An initiative I wanted to drive wasn't coming along, committee w is pressing, studies are in the doldrums, and many more. Details, maybe later.

But what got me most upset is that there is no one or nowhere I can vent all this out. What I meant before is that girls find it a lot easier than guys to express such feelings (Well, this may be a generalization, I'm not sure if I'm right). They talk to their girlfriends (and they all have at least one), and with whom they are absolutely free. They bare themselves to them, talk it over, and its over! But for us guys, and especially jerks like me, such relationships are few and far between.

I am finding it increasingly impossible to talk about my deepest feeling to absolutely anyone. Its not like I don't have close friends. My best friends can't comprehend my panic in such situations. I have spoken to them about these things many times, but they don't get it. I just come across as the neurotic guy who keeps cribbing about everything. There are very few who can even notice that there is something wrong, given my behavior, and even among those handful, hardly anyone can sympathize, let alone empathize with what I am going through this very moment. And that scares me. Am I becoming incapable of building a more-than-superficial relationship with anyone?

At such times, you need someone to talk to, someone to be with, someone to hold on to, and how much ever my pride might come in the way of admitting, someone to cling to, to hold on to for sanity. I don't have anyone like that. I just realized... that I really AM alone.

Monday, December 29, 2008

I hate examinations!!!

Its 02.34AM in the morning, it's dark outside, and cold. I just had a paneer sandwich and a coffee, purportedly because I need to eat if I'm staying up late, but mainly because I am plain bored.

I have never studied (somewhat sincerely) till so late an hour, and I don't like it!!! When is this examination going to END???

Thursday, November 20, 2008

A candle for Manjunath Shanmugam

Manjunath Shanmugam was the IIM Lucknow graduate of the 2002 batch, who was murdered by a petrol pump owner and 7 of his accomplices in connection with Manjunath's shutting of the pump for adulteration and malpractices. Manjunath paid the price for his honesty and integrity.

The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust, in an international corporate collaboration committee that was formed initially to get speedy justice to Manjunath, and then went on to work towards a larger goal of attacking corruption and unethical business malpractices in the country. It works extensively in organizing RTI workshops across the country and also constitutes an award for positive social action aimed at reducing corruption by individuals.

In college too, we observed a small commemoration ceremony for Manjunath Shanmugam on his death anniversary, by lighting candles and taking the following pledge -

"I acknowledge that integrity matters today more than ever - to me, to those in my life and to the wellbeing of all of the collectives of which I am a part.

I commit myself to set an example through ethical conduct for the furtherance of integrity and to work against all forms of corruption that I come across, in whatever ways possible.

I will not acceptor offer any advantage, gifts or benefits that would compromise my integrity.

I am prepared to explain honestly and be accountable for my actions when dealing with all spheres of society. Therefore, my actions will be transparent/

I will strive for high standards of service and ethical behavior and promote these values in those around me.

Through the above actions I hope to promote the welfare of all our people."

I only wish there were more people to take this pledge...

Saturday, November 15, 2008

This ones for Aditya

Aditya Save (Born: July 27, 1984, Died: Nov 14, 2008). Fondly known as 'Professor Save'.

This is what he says about himself on Orkut: "Hi,I am very simple guy having positive way of looking towards life...!"

And that is exactly what Aditya Save was. It is hard to say 'was', the past tense. It's hard to believe he is past tense now.

I knew him since my days at TCS training together in Trivandrum. Save was an extremely hard working, even workaholic to an extent, plain, simple and down to earth guy. He had a quirky sense of humor and a very typical 'professor' like style of talking and walking. Thats him - leftmost in this picture taken on the last day of training at Trivandrum.

Save breathed his last yesterday when he succumbed to a long undetected brain infection. May his soul rest in peace.

Monday, November 10, 2008

IRIS is over :-(

IRIS, the annual management fest of IIM Indore... just got over. And boo hoo!

IRIS is a 4 day extravaganza held on the vast 193 acre campus of IIM Indore. It has a gamut of events covering a wide range of academic and non-academic interests for students from the top 30 B-schools in the country. From B-plan contests to gaming competitions, from Stock Market simulations to gaming competitions, we have it all. The culmination of the event is marked by a live concert in the institute main lawns.

But the crowning glory of this event, the flagship event (2 among 3) is Ashwamedha. Ashwamedha is our search for India's best upcoming manager. A continuous string of events, held over 2 days, are used to test the contestants on various aspects of an ideal manager's skill-set. From team skills, to intelligence, analytical ability, operations, finance, marketing; all are tested by innovative games and contests. We start with over 1500 participants from across the country. 2 online elimination rounds bring them down to the top 30, who are invited to the campus during IRIS.

This year, I was a part of the Ashwamedha Core team. That is how I realized the Ashwamedha philosophy. It's not just an event, not just a competition. It's an institution. Sounds like a lecture in OB? Well it did initially. But it makes a lot more sense after hearing the participants talk once the event is over.

Every year, it is out endeavor to make the event unique. Every year, the entire event is overhauled and new games are developed to be part of Ashwamedha. It was the same this year too. The first day put the 30 participants through a variety of innovative and interesting games testing various skills a manager should possess. After a grueling 15 hours on the trot, the participants were truly exhausted. But that was just half the journey.

At the end of Day 1, 6 top participants qualify for the next day. There would be no sleep that night for the chosen 6!

The 6 are then put through even more rigorous events and competitions. Out of the 6, the final is chosen after an open interview in front of a panel of 4 judges and an intimidating audience of 400 people!

But what was most interesting and educating was the entire experience. For me, Ashwamedha has transcended from an event, into an experience. The uniqueness of Ashwamedha lies not just in the fact that it is rigorous and trying, but that fact that it attempts to rise above the mundane and commonplace skills, and really tests tour mettle, your attitude, your very constitution. And not just for the participants, but also for the organizers. I can attest to that after sleeping about 6 hours in 3 days, and still appearing fresh and happy at the end!

So I hail Ashwamedha - 'Ekameva Jayate'!!!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Back after another prolonged break

Back to writing after a rather long break.... again!

This habit is actually bad, really bad. Not sticking to something, getting back after a while, all apologetic, and swearing that I'll never do it again... and end up doing that again. Again and again!

Anyway, thats just another one of my flaws discovered. Whatever...

Events have been thick and fast since I last posted. The student alumni committee (of which I am a member) held it's annual alumni meet. It's called Footprints. Unbelievable amount of work went into that, and thankfully, all that hard work culminated in a successful event. Gosh, that weekend I was up for days. Personal record set: 45 mins of sleep in 65 hours!

Classes started in full swing, and this semester is hectic! Gosh, 10 courses and so many events this time. And I thought I was ready for anything!

Divali was spent at the insti... Couldn't get a break to go home :-(

My birthday was celebrated in style here. I was first dragged to the Melting Pot (thats the hang-out spot outside the mess). There, a bunch of 30 odd folks had gathered to give me my birthday wishes. This is how they did it:-
1) Shoved 2 packs of ice-cream down my pants
2) Then proceeded to give me birthday bumps
3) Doused me with Mirinda, and other smelly aerated drinks
4) Some more bumps
5) Then came the cake! Cut a nice pineapple (I think) cake.
6) And just when I thought it was over, someone shoved my head into the cake.
7) So I barely got to eat any of that cake, and then spent half an hour bathing that crap off my body!

So, quite memorable, I must say...

@EI, that job is called "Commercial Co-Pilot" :-)

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Learnings

What I learnt after 1 semester in India’s premier B school

1. Clearly, I am not the most intelligent, capable and awesome person in the world.

2. Hard work must pay, cause I am nowhere near my dream job.

3. Unable to figure out what my dream job is, still...

4. I am not afraid of any situation. After going through the rigorous schedule and crazy examination, I feel I am prepared for any eventuality. Bring it on!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

A new walk to take

This guy in my section floated the idea of taking up some social initiative. He proposed that it be limited only to our section (which is a diverse group 60 people). We could all take up some social initiative, and act on it. There would be no publicity, no association with any existing Interest Clubs (or I-Clubs as we know them) and no tie-ups with NGOs. Just 60 people trying to do something good, and for once, without expecting returns. Just for our own internal satisfaction.

It's still in a very embryonic stage, but at least I am liking treading this new road, this new walk...