Sleep...where art thou??

It's 4:00am and almost the whole ISB is still sitting up trying to crack a case assignment. Having cups of coffee and listening to music so that we can stay awake. People are taking polls over the email as to who are the (un)lucky ones who are still awake at these wee hours in the morning!! The deadline is 10.30am and we are still half way thru the case...4 more hours and it is time to prepare for another case and go for a class!!! Cant even sleep in the class 'coz of the high pressure to do "class participation" as it accounts for 40% of the course :-) So..I am forced to concentrate on what's happening there. This has become the usual routine during this term... I have lost track of when my day actually ends and the other begins.. Sleeping 5-6 hours a day has become a luxury!! I can soon see myself sleeping every alternate day!! So dazed.......I feel like a zombie!!!!!!

But the best part is... you walk out of your room at this time and you see lots of other people walking around in the campus...wide awake...struggling with the same set of things.. and you know that you are not the only one sailing on this boat :-)

Software in Indian languages?

I came across this piece of news in Business Daily which said that there is work going on to develop software in 12-14 Indian languages which if used with low cost hardware will speed up the computerisation process in India. Hmmm.. I just paused here to think if this is actually a good idea and if it will really achieve its desired results? Well, considering how prevelant illiteracy is in India, this does seem like a good move. At least it can replace the manual processings in a lot of places which really eats away our time!! If you step into a government office in bangalore, more often than not, they still need to dig up a huge pile of ledgures to get hold of your case or profile. Also, this is mainly to cater to people who cannot communicate in English.The new software will significantly improve this. But I feel it could also act as a disadvantage. By making it easy for people to stick to their local languages, it really doesnt help them raise the bar for themselves or take that extra step to go ahead and get that English education. When India as a whole is trying to develop in every sector and every aspect, in my opinion, this may not be that good an idea in the long run! As an immediate step...it does sound good though..

The Namesake

I came across a review of "Interpreter of Maladies" in our to-be-published-ISB newsletter today and that reminded me of "The Namesake" by the same author - Jhumpa Lahiri. I happened to read this book about a year back and was really impressed with her writing. A very subtle story told in the most simple and interesting way. The strength of her writing is her exquisite details - be it describing a meal at the dining table or the interiors of a room. It is still so fresh and vivid in my mind!!

The book is about a Bengali family - Ashima and Ashok Ganguly who are in America, but are strongly tied to their roots, rituals and customs in India. They are blessed with a son, whom Ashok names "Gogol" (after the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol who inspired him). The book centers on how Gogol detests his name given by his father. His parents form a wide network of Bengali friends who meet often and celebrate the special occasions ..keeping up the Bengali tradition. Gogol, is more drawn towards the American culture and torn apart with his dual Indian-American life. But after a few relationship failures and few successes, his perspective changes over years and Gogol starts to connect back to his origin.

Jhumpa has done an awesome job in portraying the subtleties of many relationships - most importantly the bonding between Ashima and Ashok and the mother-son relationship, in addition to describing the culture shock that Ashima goes through when she moves to the U.S soon after marriage - the pain of leaving home and years of tradition. This Pulitzer-prize winner is a must read and a treat to the heart.

Entrepreneurship..

It's been 3 days into a new term and it already feels like we are slogging for term exams! This term seems to have the toughest and not-so-interesting combination of subjects.

"Entrepreneurship" is one of the courses and on the surface seems like it has not many takeaways at the end. I just wonder if "Entrepreneurship" is actually a required course? Can Entrepreneurship be taught? In my opinion this is something similar to Leadership. Some people are just born with it - to become successful entrepreneurs or leaders. I agree that analysis and discussion of 10 or more cases in class do give insights into the various challenges faced by people in different situations, while they just started on their new ventures. But according to me, every situation in life, every opportunity is unique in its own way. Different people give the same data and facts different meanings. The "personality" of an individual also plays a significant role in the kind of decisions he/she takes. So there isnt "one best way" or "one golden rule" to success. You cannot teach people "persistence", "perseverance", "creativity", "self-confidence" , "drive", "ambition" and "risk taking". These are - to a large extent - imbibed in our personalities and hence very tough to "teach" them or inculcate them into us, if we lack one or more of it.

I feel that more vocational experiences and more chances to work together in entrepreneurial initiatives will help develop the "enterprise skills". Facing up to failures - seeing it as something from which we can learn, taking calculated and sensible risks, meeting challenges, networking et al. come from practice and not theory - is my opinion!

Anger destroys reason...

Something good i found while reading TOI... in the midst of all the exam craziness around

Delusion arises from anger. The mind is bewildered by delusion. Reasoning is destroyed when the mind is bewildered. One falls down when reasoning is destroyed.
-Bhagavad Gita

When anger rises, think of the consequences.
-Confucius

He is not strong and powerful who throweth people down; but he is strong who witholdeth himself from anger.
-Prophet Muhammad

I have learned through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmitted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmitted into a power that can move the world.
-Mahatma Gandhi

To be angry about trifles is mean and childish; to rage and be furious is brutish; and to maintain perpetual wrath is akin to the practice and temper of devils; but to prevent and suppress rising resentment is wise and glorious, is manly and divine.
-Alan Watts


Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.
-Bible

I think people here at ISB can take up snake charming as a backup profession!! 3 snakes spotted in the Student Village - 1 within a span of 10 days...

Resistance to change..

At this eerie hour of the night, bored with case studies and strategies, decisions and optimizations, I just let my mind ponder over a few thoughts - thoughts which are always at the back of my mind and never seem to come out due to immense pressure and stress out here......I just wondered how people always tend to live in their past or worry about their future and just forget about "Present". The mind always seeks to deny the "Present" and to escape from it. There is always some form of a non-acceptance and unconscious resistance to what is happening at present - about things which have changed significantly compared to our past..I feel that a lot of pain which we create for ourselves is unnecessary - by oscillating between past and future - trying to change what has already occured or trying to get a hold on things which have not yet happened!! It is so necessary to associate ourselves with what is happening in life at present and stop letting the mind wander.. I came across these few lines in one of the articles of a newspaper recently..

Why does the mind habitually deny or resist the Now? Because it cannot function and remain in control without time, which is past and future, so it perceives the timeless Now as threatening. Time and mind are in fact inseparable.

Say "yes" to life and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you

This is so true...

It is very essential to make our "Present" the primary focus of our lives and am sure this does take a lot of effort. But this doesnt mean we forget our past and stop thinking about future. Paying brief visits to past and future helps in dealing with some practicalities of present.

Many a times we fail to realize that life is all about "Living in the moment" :-)

Back to business...

The term break flew by faster than the term itself and am back in ISB! It was just when I was beginning to settle down in bangalore and started feeling at home, that it was time for me to leave..This was actually harder than the first time.. It was such a short flight that I didnt even realize when I was in hyd!!

Now, am back to my usual routine - wake up, eat, study, attend classes, study, eat, sleep, wake up :) This term I have added one more thing to the schedule - swimming!! and I hope to get over my hydrophobia asap...Within few mins of landing at ISB, I figure out that there are 100 pages of gruelling pre-reads and 1 case study to be prepared for the first class of Term2 !! Hmmm...nothing new about it, now that everyone is used to being in the nazi camp out here :-)

12.5% MBA...and back in blore!

Yesterday marked the end of Term 1 at ISB and we have 7 more terms to go.. so to say a 12.5% MBA as of now :) That explains my sudden disappearance from the blogging community for the last 3 weeks... Was just trying hard to get the most out of the 24hrs in a day... Time management and stress management are the 2 key skills which am going to learn here in my tenure at ISB!!

Our finals of term 1 ended yesterday. The papers were just a nightmare. 2 were closed book exams , horrible performance and the other 2 - accounts and eco were "open" book but still the performance didnt improve in any ways - it was a zero value add!! Just hoping to do better in the next term...

The whole campus was partying yesterday and lot of people who have stayed back there still have party plans lined up for the next 5 days.. But 70% of the batch is back in their respective homes. The airport was a sight to see today morning....ISB students were the main source of revenue generation for the airlines industry today!!!

One whole term just passed like a wink of the eye and now am back in blore at my home sweet home!! Feels just great to unwind and relax for 4 days without any stress or tensions of case studies, assignments, exams blah blah... I have been away from this place for just 2 months but when i entered the city I felt so alienated... I have forgotten the way I used to live in this city and my home... My own room feels so new and strange to me today. Completely dazed and wondering - "Sleep - where art thou??!"... Waiting to catch up on all the things I have missed here in the last 2 months and everything which I have been craving for :)..

Mid-term fever and Election-pox?!

If you are wondering what the title is - they are the categories of the photography contest organized by a club here and it pretty much describes what's happening in the campus at present! We have a mid-term exam for Stats and Economics in the next 3 days and the whole campus seems to be burning midnight oil... The library is almost filled from 7am - 2am!! I have been slogging (or thats what i think!) to catch up with the pace. Every morning I plan my day and walk into the library at 8am and the guy at the counter says all books are issued!! Hmm...so u just end up paying for the not-subsidized photocopies (adds to the sunk cost!). These mid terms have really taken the sleep out of me. Even if i manage to get a few hours of sleep , all I can see is μ’s p’s z’s σ’s !!!!! Everyone is just waiting to get done with these exams and party hard!

It has been exactly 1 month since we all came here...and there have already been 5 confirmed cases of chicken pox on campus...Very unfortunate for people who are affected by it, especially with exams round the corner.. So everyone is extra careful here these days..

The next exciting thing happening are the GSB(Graduate Student Board) elections - for the president of the Student Board who would also be a brand ambassador for ISB.. The responses for nominations have not been good...There has been just 3 nominations and I guess not the "best" ones.. Well, I guess we either choose from the available choices or just refrain from voting!!

It's 1.15 AM now...and time for me to get back to my μ’s and p’s.... when the rest of the world sleeps in peace.....

Things that I miss...

It's been about 3 weeks now since I came to hyd... feels like ages though - courtesy ISB ; coz of the zilion things that I've had to do here in just 20 days!!! I have kinda got adjusted here now - this new place, new lifestyle, new friends, etc..But amidst all this exciting stuff and a hectic schedule, in those couple of hours of time I get for myself, I really miss a lot of things - the stuff I have left behind....
- My home sweet home..
- My mom's delicious cooking (even my ex-colleagues at Intel would be missing this !!:) )
- Playing TT and carrom at Intel
- 2 early morning breakfasts - once at home and then at office!! (I dont get time to have even 1 here many a times)
- Those long and short coffee breaks with "A" during work ( I need to pay 5 bucks here for a small cup of coffee which tastes like sugar water !! )
- Those really stupid and time pass conversations and gossips on IM with "A" and "B"....
- Those frequent visits to corner house....yummy hot chocolate fudge! :(
- Pani puri at Calcutta chaat and Karthik's ( To eat any kind of chaat here I need to travel at least 12 kms :( :( ...
- Masala dosa at CTR!!!! ( my mouth is watering .....)
- Pubbing at Tavern and P claiming everytime that he can have 7 Tequila shots !!! It was so much fun seeing him drunk ..LOL
- My music class and guitar lessons from G
- Relaxed and stress free weekends (I cant differentiate between a weekday or a weekend here!! They are equally hectic)
- That beautiful bangalore weather (It's freakin' hot here!!!)
...........
...........

The list is just endless....

Economics in action...

I have always had the perception that economics is a very dry and boring subject (this was mainly based on my high school knowledge of the subject). It's very surprising that my views have completely changed in just a matter of 2 classes and few hours of reading of microeconomics !!(this is one of the 4 subjects of my Term1). Contrary to my initial perceptions, I find it very interesting and fun to read....one of the reasons is definitely Prof. Amit Bubna - a very cool and energetic guy who can make any person fall in love with this subject!

Economics does sound very abstract and "unrealistic". There is this joke about 3 people - a chemist, physicist and and economist. They are in an island where there is ample supply of canned food but no tools to open the cans. The chemists thinks about lighting fire and bursting open the cans, the physicisit advocates building catapult to smash the cans. The economist's idea? "Let us assume we have a can opener" :) So economics does have a lot of assumptions which may be unrealistic but I guess this is essential because of the high complexity of the subject.

Some new concepts which I have come across that have excited me -
How much does it really cost??
- No one is born with infinite wealth. People have to do some trade off's and are forced to make choices. You cannot have them all!! Anytime I have made such choices, I have never really thought about the true costs of these decisions. Consider me quitting my well paid job and spending a HUGE amount of money to do my MBA here at ISB. All I probably thought about is the return on investment after a year from now...but I guess there is more to analyze in these situations. Economists call this the "Opportunity Costs". So the true cost of making any such decisions is the value of what must be given up in order to acquire the item. Consider another case - there are 2 firms which offer interest rates of 10% and 12%. Where would you invest? Definitely the second one. What is the earnings/profit on making this choice? I would initially say 12% but according to economics it is 2%, coz u are giving up 10% in making this choice!! Hmmm......pretty interesting I must say

The importance of thinking Marginally..
I dont want to go in detail about explaining what are marginal profits, revenues blah blah... not trying to teach economics to my blog readers :) But one interesting application of this concept can be seen thru this puzzle -
A soccer promoter must allocate 40,000 seats in the stadium among the supporters of 2 teams X and Y. She can set diff prices for seating in the stands for these 2 teams. If she sells "x" seats to team X supporters she will receive (20-x/2000)$ for each while she can get 10$ per ticket from Y supporters, regardless of the number of tickets she sells to them. Her objective is to allocate the 40,000 seats that are available in whatever manner, so that she can earn the maximum money (revenues). How can the tickets be split?

Well..if some of u reading this post are jobless and wanting to do something, u can try and solve this puzzle and ask me for the solution :)

More posts on economic "fundaes" to follow .....!!

after a long break...

I could finally take some time off to post a blog after a really long break!! (its been just 10 days but this is long in my standards considering the frequency of my previous posts!). The reason behind this - I had a week long of pre-terms in accounts and business statistics, both of which were greek n latin to me (though I claim to have done a course in stats long back!). Yesterday marked the beginning of my Term1 - its been just 2 days but I really got a flavour of how hectic life can be here, at ISB. It took me a while to really get a grip on myself , to sit back and understand what is going on and what needs to be done!. There is so much to read before and after each class - for 4 subjects - u miss one day's reading and u need to slog to catch up with the pace!

Life is just so different here. I so wish I had more than 24hours per day - coz there is so much to do and so little time. This education system which I am exposed to is so very different from what I have been thru all these years - every class here is so interesting - some coz of the subjects and the others coz of the profs. These professors here are so amazing that they can really create an interest in you for even dry subjects like economics (dry according to me...). In just a couple of days of reading, I have developed so much liking to these fields such as accounts and economics , which I never thought were my cup of tea!! As and when I learn about these new subjects, I am definitely going to take some time off to post my perspectives on a lot of interesting and exciting things that I come across.... watch out! :)

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.