Career perspectives...

This was the topic of an open forum at ISB today - with 5 esteemed speakers giving us advice and their perspectives on career building and MBA. I guess this is the first forum in which I have stayed wide awake thru out for 2.5hrs!! The session was just amazing and very informative. I won't disclose the profiles of the speakers here , but they were people who held posts like VP, COO, CEO's etc - very successful entrepreneurs and each one had a wealth of experience in their bags.

One of the speakers was explaining the importance of "brands" in today's world. He gave a very nice example...
Speaker : What is Kingfisher?
Students: (Immediate answers) ..Beer, Airlines, etc etc
Speaker: It is a bird :)
This shows that we remember Kingfisher first as a product and not a bird...It speaks volumes about what branding is all about today!! Any thoughts?

Some of the key take aways and learnings I have from this session .....

- Intuition is very important. MBA makes u dependant on the left side of the brain. Try to go by your gut feel too.
- Never let ego come in way of self-interest
- There is only so much u can plan. Be open for various opportunities that knock your door. One cannot have a definite plan in life, but have a general direction. Being at the right place at the right time really matters.
- Be careful of what you measure in life. Check how much happiness u are able to derive. Are you happy with what u are?
- Life is an optimization of compromises. It is full of trade-offs.
- Management is not science. You cannot replicate the learnings (like experiments) and get the same results everytime. Take the learnings with a pinch of salt.
- 3 important aspects in your job : Role, Superior, Colleagues - Even if one of them is a turn down there is no point in pursuing that job...
- Sticking to one company is a better idea than shifting bases often - Rolling stones gather no momentum.
- Networking is the most important aspect in a B-school education.
- Continuous learning is critical

Me @ ISB - Part II

Continuing from my previous post....The orientation for our batch started on sunday, with a welcome note by the dean and the asst dean, followed by a speech from the GSB (graduate student board) president. One common thing about all speeches here is the emphasis on the importance of "honour code". These are certain rules and ethics that every student here has to adhere to and they have scared us enough about this already :)

It rained heavily on sunday afternoon and the campus, with greenery everywhere, was a treat to our eyes!! One can feel very close to nature here with peace and quiet everywhere and a pleasant sight to see. The rains brought the temperature down drastically and the weather was awesome! Sunday night there was a 'welcome dinner' hosted by the alums ,followed by a party at the pool side - the rains didnt make any difference here! The party was a lot of fun - with dance, music and booze :) I heard the party went on till 4.30 am but I could hang on in that rain till 12.30 or so... One luxury of being in a hostel - can stay out late nite, go back to the apt and no one to question! (but I do miss my parents calling me now and then to find out where I am :( ) I guess we always tend to long for things which we dont have!

Rest of the 3 days were really busy with lots of activities. We had a lot of 'gyan sessions' every nite going on till midnite - about finance, marketing, consulting etc etc! Now I at least know what each field is all about !!! We also had "section gyans" where the seniors passed down the section traditions....and it was a lot of fun sitting in a classroom after 2 years !!! Our batch gave a farewell party for the alums in campus - sad that I couldnt attend this coz the party began only at 12.30 am .... I was in deep sleep by then..

We also had a community service activity yesterday - visited a few government schools and each of us created a profile of the kids there - this was for a scholarship which wud be offered by an NGO, here in hyd. It was a very touching scene at the school there and a nice experience playing with the kids and talking to them. I would want to do more of this in the next 1 year of my stay here...

Today was a relatively free day - with some quizz sessions and the most interesting inter-section cricket and frisbee matches. And our section kept up the tradition of winning :) I could finally find time to unpack and arrange my stuff. It has been just 5 days since I landed here but feels like ages! I am still little home sick but I hope to be fine soon - once I get busy with studies..

It hasnt rained again after sunday...so its back to scorching heat. Just cant live without an AC here!!

Me @ ISB - Part I

I still haven't got my laptop but managed to find an hour of free time- so here I am at the computer lab at ISB - too eager to pen down my experiences. The post will get too long, so I decided to split them into parts :)

As I mentioned, I reached ISB on saturday early morning, with dad. It was a short flight and a pleasant drive to the campus. Hyderabad has a great infrastructure - true to what I had heard! Got my apt keys and unpacked quickly. Met 2 of my quad mates, the 4th one still hasnt arrived!Tried to find some familiar faces around (had met a few batchmates from bangalore). Was not too happy with my room coz it faces the backside of the campus, not a great view (ISB has an awesome landscape) and it's at the second floor (too hot and AC is the only saving grace!!). Tried to get it changed but decided against it just to avoid the hassles. Had a quick bfast and went for the registration. It was a LONG process - coz I had missed out a few documents and had to run around a lot :( The campus is so huge that i need to walk about a km to reach the main building from my SV (student village). I dont think I need any additional physical activity here !!!!!! Finished the registration in 2 hours and went to grab lunch. The cafe has great quality and variety of food- I hope to put on a lot of weight around here !!

After lunch, it was time for dad to head back to b'lore :( I felt I was left all alone in a place surrounded by strangers. Started feeling very homesick, and I still continue to.... Got to know more people around and tried hard to remember names. It was soon time for dinner and back to the apt. I was extremely exhausted, depressed and dazed but manged to get some sleep....

Sunday was the beginning of the orientation- lots of sessions and games and parties and fun!!. Will continue in my next post...

Disconnected....

Title sounds confusing?? Well...thats how I feel now...totally disconnected from the rest of the world. I reached ISB yesterday and my cell doesnt work- realized I had to activate roaming in advance! :(. So this means I cannot receive or make any calls. Secondly, my laptop is being formatted. Will get it back only on tuesday!! Added to this - new city, new set of people, new lifestyle.....am so dazed and still figuring out my existence here! My only solace is that I have a computer lab which is abt 1/2 a km away from my apt and i can get to be online!! Now I realize how much I am dependant on technology :)

Will write about my experience @ ISB once I get my laptop....

Monday Blues?!?!

Life is so strange. Over the last 2 years, today is the first time on a Monday morning that I really wished I could go to work. Every monday, my mom would get tired yelling from the kitchen, asking me to get out of the bed but today I was up all by myself at 7am just wishing I had a reason to get ready and leave home! I used to have really bad monday morning blues - actually it would set in as early as Sunday evening and I would so wish I could stay at home and never go to office. And its nothing different today - I still have the blues - just the reason is on the flip side :(

As they say - "You always realize the value of something when you don't possess it". I guess it's just human nature. We tend to crave for things which we dont have and take it for granted and crib about it when it is all there!!

Last day at work....

"...For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something else.."

Today I know how it exactly feels to be unemployed. I am solely responsible for this decision. I chose to do this but here I am feeling sad and confused about it..... only time can tell me if I did the right thing...

I have never felt so low and depressed ever. Yesterday was my last day at work. I had to quit to join ISB. The depression had set in about 2 months back but it kept disappearing now and then. The fact is -no one can ever be really prepared for such things. You need to deal with it when it acutally happens. I dont know whether to be happy about doing something new and exciting or feel sad about leaving some really precious things behind. Tried my best to stay at work as long as possible after getting my admissions. But the time has come now. I had no choice but to quit coz my course starts in 9 days.

I just didnt want yesterday to end but ironically it just flew by. Had so much paper work to finish that I hardly found any time to say even good bye to people personally. Went out for lunch with the team- had fun taking around 30-40 pics in half hour transit to pizza hut! "P" was driving and I remember he almost made it my "last day" not just last day at work! Back to office and I finished my exit interview and it was time to wrap up and say adieus. The day just flew and I just have memories of it to cherish now.

When I woke up today morning (not that I slept last nite) and I had no reasons to get ready, I realized what I am missing - the realization that I can never get to be around with the people I gel'd so well, have 2 breakfasts, play TT, take coffee breaks, have those stupid time pass conversations on IM and try to do some work in between !!

It has hit me so hard that I have still not come to terms with the fact that life will no longer be the same...

Follow your dream...

A very nice poem which I came across..


Before you look for things to change...
look deep inside your soul.
The Lord has given you all the clues...
always follow your dream.

Inviting trouble is so easy to do...
it happens without warning.
Avoiding problems is easier said than done...
always follow your dream.

Sometimes things just turn out bad...
and you don't know where to turn.
The answer is as close as your heart...
always follow your dream.

Hope has always been the key...
it's sometimes our only hope.
When things are darkest and looking bleak...
always follow your dream.

Only the Lord has all the answers...
and he shares them with only a few.
But faith is as close as we sometimes can get...
always follow your dream.

Perhaps you feel the end is near...
and you've done everything you can.
Never give up, anything can happen...
if you always follow your dream.

Crash

I happened to watch this movie called "Crash" last week. Went with no expectations and really liked it. The only drawback is that the movie has too many characters and a whole lot of events taking place and needs to be watched with great focus to actually understand what's going on. I feel it takes a lot of guts to make such a movie 'coz not everyone can really appreciate it. The movie is about modern day racism and how people face problems related to it under different cirumstances. The whole movie is based in Los Angeles - There are so many things that happen in the movie, seem so un-related, but towards the end you realize that everyone there is connected some way or the other... everyone comes "crashing" together :-) and u can connect the dots.....thats what makes it interesting i guess!!

The movie has a very fast pace of events and ends on a positive note - sends a subtle message that finally we are all humans. People may fall prey to their anger and bad tempers but sometimes life does give a second chance. Definitely worth a watch.

Accounting - a nightmare?!!

"...Your knowledge of Accounting Concepts is not up to the level required for the core courses. It is highly recommended that you enroll for the pre-term module..."

For those of you who are wondering what this is.....I had to give a test for assessment of my accouting skills which would let me decide whether I need to enroll for the accouting pre-term course and this was the message I got at the end of the 1.5hrs test. (Not that this was ANY kind of a surprise. Clearing the test would have been one!!!!!) Thanks to a friend who advised me just a day before, NOT to guess the answers at any cost 'coz if i would get lucky with them then i wouldn't be allowed to register for the test. Phew!! This would definitely mean I would flunk the actual accouting course :)

The test result message was pretty decent considering the way I fared!! It took me exactly 15 mins to finish the test. Not that I answered a lot of questions but the major time was spent in just reading all of them !!! I would have hardly got 5 out of 30 correct!! Knowing the experiences and reactions of some of my fellow classmates I really thought I would get to see the message quoted by one of them in his blog (click here) which goes something like this - "Dude! your skills are hopeless; forget accounting, you can't even count!" :-)

Hmmm...this is just my first experience as I step into the world of management...I guess I need to be prepared to many such similar ones!!

Happiness....

I came across an article in Times of India recently which spoke about "Liking yourself" as the first step to happiness. I gave it more thought and it really made sense to me....

You need to like yourself and try to achieve happiness from within. People can add to this but no one can initiate that feeling but you. I cannot remember telling myself even once that "I will be happy (period)". I guess happiness to us has always been conditional. It's very common of people to say things like "I will be happy,....IF i find my dream job", "I will be happy....IF i find that someone special" etc.. Why should it be based on something happening? Why cant we just be happy without waiting for things to happen? Am still pondering over these questions!!

The key to liking ourselves lies in embracing our good points and dividing our bad points into two groups - ones which we can change and the others which we cannot. For instance, If I am 5 feet tall and I don't like it, there's not much I can do about it. No miracle can probably change this. There are lots of things beyond our control. We need to just learn to accept things as they are and live with them. So I guess the best way to do this is to just change our perspective about such things and look at them from a different angle, see the positive side of it. When you start looking at things you dont like...changing what you can and accepting what you cannot - that is when miracles occur!! (ah..this really sounds so true. I should definitely try and imbibe this outlook)

"...Having yourself as a best friend has advantages. You cannot lie to yourself. You can be kind to yourself. You will not be lonely because in balance, you will not mind times when you are on your own..

"Disclaimer: Some excerpts are quoted from the article and rest of the views expressed are my own

Being Twenty Something....

This very nice write-up below came to me via email from a friend few months back. I found this today while digging through my old email archives and I realized that every time I read this, I relate to it more and more... Very thought provoking..

"Being Twenty-Something"

They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis." It is when
you stop going along with
the crowd and start realizing that there are many
things about yourself that
you didn't know and may not like. You start
feeling insecure and wonder
where you will be in a year or two, but then get
scared because you barely
know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and
that, maybe, those friends
that you thought you were so close to aren't
exactly the greatest people you
have ever met, and the people you have lost touch
with are some of the most
important ones. What you don't recognize is that
they are realizing that
too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or
insincere, but that they are as
confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close
to what you thought you
would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job
and realizing that you
are going to have to start at the bottom and that
scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what
others are doing and find
yourself judging more than usual because suddenly
you realize that you have
certain boundaries in your life and are constantly
adding things to your
list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One
minute, you are insecure and
then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the
greatest force of your life.

You feel alone and scared and confused.
Suddenly, change is the enemy
and you try and cling on to the past with dear
life, but soon realize that
the past is drifting further and further away, and
there is nothing to do
but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone
you loved could do such
damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why
you can't meet anyone decent
enough that you want to get to know better. Or
maybe you love someone but
love someone else too and cannot figure out why
you are doing this because
you know that you aren't a bad person.
One night stands and random hook ups start to look
cheap. Getting wasted and
acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.

You go through the same emotions and questions
over and over, and talk with
your friends about the same topics because you
cannot seem to make a
decision.

You worry about loans, money, the future
and making a life for
yourself... and while winning the race would be
great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading
this relates to it.
We are in our best of times and our worst of
times, trying as hard as we can
to figure this whole thing out.

First Thoughts....

I have been thinking of getting back to blogging from a really long time now and finally I managed to create a new account today [Unfortunately i could not retrieve my old blog URL or the account details :( ]. The last time I blogged was in 2004, sometime during my final sem of engineering!! Life's changed so much over these 2 years and now I am all set to get back to college and studies again. I have just got an admit into the Indian School of Business for a one year fast track MBA which starts in April. One of the main purposes of this blog is to capture my experiences and events during that 1 chronicle year of my MBA @ ISB. Hopefully it should build a repository of great memories which will let me re-live these days a few years from now, when I'm at home viewing this on my laptop !

I have read a lot of blogs of some current ISB students and a few alumni and that has given me a great insight into the exciting life at ISB...This has been one of the motivating factors for me to start blogging again after a long break!