She is beautiful !

She has captured my heart. Her photo has been occupying my desktop for the past few days. I am longing to meet her again and hold her and kiss her.
She is my cousin's daughter, Dhriti. I haven't seen anything more tender than this.

Found this somewhere on the net.


American sports fans kind of pride themselves on following their own sports that no one else in the world really cares about. The people who follow soccer (as it's known over there) are generally not "Sports fans" as such (or of South American descent). Basketball and Hockey may be big in other parts of the world, but US fans don't care about anything but the NBA and NHL - the various World Cup and Olympics apperances of USA teams in these sports are mere blips on the radar compared to Super Bowls, World Series and NEXTEL Cups.

In short, the only way F1 is going to break big in the states is if it becoms unpopular in the rest of the world. That's just how it is.

A year old !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exactly a year ago I started an unsure journey as a blogger. One year on, I look back at what I ve been writing and what I’ve got out of this activity. My posts have been a mixture of personal incidents and general issues and of course, Formula One. I have deliberately not given a definite shape to this blog. I guess this somewhat reflects my personality. I am a bit of everything. Sometimes shy, sometimes bold. Sometimes naughty, sometimes serious. Sometimes proactive, sometimes inactive! Since I myself seem to be a confused soul, you can expect something similar from my blog too. Moving forward, you can expect to find an assortment of articles relating to whatever comes to my convoluted mind.

Looking at what I’ve gained from blogging, the least I’ve gained is that my writing has improved. Just as it is important to keep reading and speaking to improve one’s language, I’ve realised that writing something from time to time can also be a big help (especially since the only other writing I seem to do is once every three months during my exams). When I read through some of the old posts, I realised that I was storing my thoughts and my ideas though this blog. Now of course I am not an Einstein or a Gandhi whose ideas are of relevance to anyone. But somehow, I feel good when I look back at my thoughts. It is almost like travelling through time and revisiting certain moments. One more thing that I derive out of blogging is of course the gratification derived from the knowledge that what I write is being read by quite a few people. But this was not the reason I gave myself for starting a blog, not is this the reason I give myself to continue blogging.

At this milestone I have some resolutions. I hope to be more regular in my postings from now on. I take this opportunity to thank all those poor souls who were unlucky enough to visit this blog and senseless enough to go through my posts!! And if any of these poor souls intend to return, then I assure them that I will try and keep improving my writing and will try and make their reading a little more fun.

The Verdict

Sanjay Dutt was charge-sheeted by the CBI for possession of weapons which included three AK 56 rifles, hand grenades and ammunition. These weapons were allegedly meant to be used in the 1993 Mumbai blasts. Last week a special TADA court gave its final verdict in which Dutt was convicted under the Arms act and not under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.

The full verdict of the case is not yet available to the public. But I must say that I am bewildered and disappointed with the verdict. Dutt’s argument had been that he had the weapons for self defence and that he was not a terrorist. Hence he should not be convicted under the TADA. Now, the judge has said in his verdict that Dutt did possess weapons illegally. But he also said that he buys Dutt’s contention that the weapons could have been for self defence. He also said that there was not enough evidence to prove that Dutt was a terrorist. But apparently there was enough evidence to prove that Dutt was in illegal possession of weapons and hence the conviction under the Arms act. Now, can any sensible person justify the possession of AK 56 rifles and grenades for self defence? Isn’t that ridiculous?

Among the co accused in the case were those who allegedly delivered the Arms to Dutt and those who tried to destroy the evidence by melting the rifles. Both of these men were convicted under TADA. But Dutt was seemingly just an innocent person caught in the middle guilty of simply possessing illegal weapons!!

I am sure that money, power and politics had their role to play in this case, as is common in such cases in this country. The fact that his sister is a MP of the ruling congress party and Dutt himself is a Bollywood celebrity should have been indication enough that one couldn’t expect a fair verdict. I have tried to gauge people’s opinion on the verdict. The responses ranged from disappointment to indifference. And then there were some whose thinking was something on these lines:

‘C’mon, he may have stored the weapons for some reason or pressure or whatever… but for sure, this guy is not a terrorist! He is a good actor. He may have been misguided in the past but now he is a reformed man trying to live a decent life. Whatever happened in the past is past. He is now trying to live a peaceful life. Why do you want to punish him now?’

Now what can I say about this. It is true that the objective of punishment is to reform a person. But there is another very important objective. The act of punishing a guilty man serves as an example to the society and shows that the laws of the land are functioning. This deters potential criminals from indulging in such activities. If the punished is a celebrity or an important person, the example is that much stronger. In the end it is the society which is benefited.

Sanjay Dutt, his family and his fans are happy that he escaped the TADA conviction. Of course they believe that this guy is a transformed man. Maybe they are true. But this verdict is one more nail in the coffin in which lies the nation’s legal system.

Children's Day Special

This children’s day I went to a special place. The Social Responsibility Forum (SRF) of our institute had organised a function for children in an orphanage run by a NGO called ‘SUPPORT’. I went there hoping to be of some help in organising and conducting the event. As it turned out, the number of volunteers was far more than what was required. I guess the students were all excited about contributing something to the society. As you know, too many cooks spoil the broth. So I decided to stay on the sidelines and instead just looked around the place and observed things. I also talked to a few kids. This was my first time in an orphanage and I was just getting a feel of things.

I am not a great observer of things (even though I am a finance major!!! ) but I observed a few things. Most kids were going through a lot of suffering and hardship before coming to that place. The place that they are living right now is not really that good. A bit too cramped for space. What we did for the kids that day- conducting games, movie, snacks, etc- was not much. But the kids were really thankful for what they got. Of course they would’ve been told to behave in such a way by the NGO. But in the eyes of the children I could see real gratitude. When the kids were served snacks, all of them closed their eyes and prayed before eating. Each and every single kid prayed sincerely and loudly. Even in such hunger and at such a young age, many of the kids kept offering us the snacks as they saw that we were not eating anything. It was really touching. The kids were extremely disciplined. All this makes one want to go to the place again and again and give something to the kids.

In the eyes of the kids I saw so many bright young minds. Potential waiting to get unlocked. These are smart kids, these are the country’s future. These are good times for the country’s economy. If only these kids are shaped properly and given a chance, they will definitely grab the opportunity. I hope that all the kids I saw that day go on to work for an Infosys, a Maruti, a HDFC bank, or do MBA from a NMIMS or maybe start some entrepreneurship some day. Believe me, all these kids are capable of doing this. They are smart, hard working and have the fire in their belly.

I am convinced that if I do not do substantial contributions to such efforts as what is being done by SUPPORT, then my career and my life is a waste. It felt good to see so many volunteers that day. Especially the kids from MBA Tech. Younger minds are more easily impressionable. This kind of an experience should have served the 17 something students of the MBA tech course well.

We keep hearing about the economic growth of our country. What’s more important is inclusive growth. I hope citizens of this country keep this in mind. Our country is supposed to be full of ‘highly intellectual’ and intelligent men and women. If that is the case then we must realise that distribution of wealth, inclusive growth and social justice are more important than 10% GDP growth, FII and trillion dollar forex reserves. Let us all play our role in making India a great nation and not just a great economy. Let us all give these kids a shot at life.

My First Trek!

Last Sunday I went on an ‘adventure trip’. Some of my friends had been planning to go on a trek with some members from a club called Nature Knights. At the last moment all my Sunday classes got cancelled and I planned to join my friends.

I got up at 5 am. I think that is the earliest I have woken since coming to Mumbai. Four of us left from the hostel in the early hours. At the bus stop we met the other four people from our institute. Three of them were French nationals who have come to our institute as part of a student exchange program. We also met the other people who were to come with us on the trip. There were a total of 23 members in the group. We left on a minibus from Andheri bus stand.

We went to a place called Tung near Lonavala. We reached the trek site at around 10.40 am. The mountain we were supposed to climb was ‘kathingad’. At first site the mountain/hill looked like a short but steep climb. The experienced members in the group seemed to think that this is gonna be an easy climb. I was not very sure though, since this was my first such excursion. We started the climb at around 11 am. The climb to the top took us 2 hours but with plenty of breaks. An experienced climber could probably have done it in an hour. But all the breaks were worth it. We stopped often to take in the breathtaking scenery. We also took some photographs. As we reached the top, it was time for lunch. We ate the food we had. Another group actually did some cooking there and had a nice time.

As everyone was simply lazing around, we took the opportunity to interact with the French students whom most of us were meeting for the first time. Thanks to the trek I got the opportunity to meet these wonderful people. Nicolas, Audrey and Joanna were nice company and I am glad I got to know them. It was interesting talking to them and learn about their country and their people.

We also did some rappelling while on top of the mountain. That was fun to do. I also very much enjoyed the serenity I found at the top. If you don’t know what rappelling means, well it is a way of climbing down the mountain using a rope. The quietness and the sound of the wind and the scenery below were very pleasant.

The climb down was much more difficult. It needed more balancing. We needed around 40 mins to climb down. We spent some time chatting at the bottom. Some people played cricket with the village boys. Even Nicolas tried his hand at batting and managed to make contact with the ball many times!

We started our trip back at around 6. we stopped at lonavala to have dinner. We reached the hostel at around 9. After looking at beautiful scenes through the day, the city looked ugly. But then this is where people make money, make a living. I guess that’s how life is. There are always two sides to a coin.

Anyway, the trek was an awesome experience. More so because this was my first trek. And I am eager to go on such treks more often.

Another competition, another experience

Last weekend I had gone to a b school in Mumbai, NITIE for their annual inter b school event, Prerana My team was shortlisted for an event called B Sultans. Since B Sultans constituted of many sub events spanning 3 days, we had gone there prepared to stay there for the three days.

The NITIE campus was really amazing and beautiful. It had lots of greenery and was surrounded by 2 lakes. The students of NITIE are indeed lucky. The event itself was very exhausting with lots of games involved. One of the games required us to go to the streets of Mumbai and sell toys worth 2500 rupees. It was a real challenge. The final event was a presentation of a paper we had written on offshore outsourcing. We learnt a lot while preparing for the paper. The events as a whole were interesting. Although we did not win any prizes, I think we all gained something from it.

This is the second competition I ve been part of. The first one being IIM Indore. It will be unfair to compare the two institutions. But both my exoeriences have been pleasant. I was unable to watch Euphoria when they performed in Indore, but as luck would have it, the same group performed in NITIE during Prerana. So I had the opportunity to watch this famous group's performance.


Thanks to my roommate Arjun's initiative I participated in this competition. It was definitely three days well spent. Lot of good food, fresh air and indeed good learnings.

A welcome break

I recently returned to Mumbai after a trip home for Diwali. I am feeling very rejuvenated since I came back. Its really surprising how such short breaks with one’s family can do wonders to one’s mental frame. It is times like these when I feel lucky to have a home, my own folks, relatives, and of course friends. The 10 days in Chennai really flew- like they always do. I met so many friends and relatives after a long time- and still there were so many that I could not meet. And the time I spent with my sis, mom and dad was as usual, wonderful. Its definitely Home sweet home!

I didn’t burst any crackers for Diwali this time, having lost interest in such things. For a change I did not go to any movie this time (not that I did not try). And I was bloody shocked when I saw the rates at some of the cinema halls in the city. At this rate Chennai will be as bad as Mumbai in another 2 years.

The city is changing rapidly. Lots of new hangouts have sprung up. And having lived in Mumbai, the costs seem really reasonable. One bad thing about the city is of course is the CAS system. Now am just waiting for the DTH system to mature and stabilise before deciding whether to opt for it.

I saw a special person in this trip to Chennai. She’s got the softest cheeks and feet I ve ever seen. And the cutest smile. Her name is Dhrithi.She is the most beautiful baby I ve seen!
She is my cousin’s daughter. And she is barely a month old now! It was a wonderful experience to hold her in my arms and spend time with her- although its quite another matter that she was asleep most of the time and quite oblivious of my presence!

Yet another friend of mine, Vivek will be going abroad shortly on a job assignment. I really wonder if any of my old friends will remain in India by the time I complete my course! Hopefully Prasanna will be back in India soon, and I hope to meet him.

All in all, the holidays was a welcome break (don’t ask me from what! ). And Fernando Alonso winning the world championship for the second time was the icing on the cake, even though I was unable to watch the final race thanks to the CAS system.

Back here in Mumbai I feel fresh and raring to go. My team has made it to the final round of a competition called 'B Sultans' in NITIE. So, right now busy writing a 'thesis paper'. Lets see how it goes..

Trip to Pune

My 4th trimester exams got over last week. Went to pune after that to meet some old friends. Both of them- Rahul and Kunal- were my school mates whom I hadn’t seen in years. Had a nice time with them. As expected both of them are engineers working in a software company. Now isn’t that - engineers working in a software company- getting seriously clichéd?

I enjoyed the weather in Pune except of course the rain on the last day. The open spaces with lot of green was a relief to the eyes after being in Mumbai for so long. If only the roads are improved and the traffic pollution reduced, Pune would be a great place to live in. The cost of living though is another pain in the back. In many cases Pune is almost as expensive as Mumbai. Inflation is going through the roof. This really is a city that is booming big time.

I was very happy to meet Kunal and Rahul, both of whom were close buddies in school. I am really happy to get back in touch with 2 great firends...

The last evening was a bit of an adventure. I had to ride a ramshackle old motorbike in proper rain without any protection for more than an hour. And with the clock ticking we reached the railway station just in time- literally. All the usual drama was thrown in on the way to the station. We had traffic jams, red signals… even the bike ran out of petrol. We had to run like mad, and were thankful that the train was late by 5 minutes.

All in all, it was a nice experience. And I am really happy to get back in touch with two old buddies.

How life comes a full circle

As a b school student often does, I often think about my future. What kind of job would I like to land in… Which is my dream company… Which sector would I like to work in, etc… And like most b school students, I am clueless. The only thing I am sure of is that my job should pay me well, shouldn’t be too taxing and also give me ‘job satisfaction’. Economics students may call this the unholy/ impossible trinity. But hey, I am human and I have the power of hope and imagination :)

Recently I was chatting with a good friend of mine. During the course of our conversation I said that right now I am looking at IT companies for my final placement. He reminded me that we had a conversation on the same topic about a year and a half back. At that time I had told him that I came to do a MBA because I wanted to get out of the IT sector in which I was previously employed. At that time I had wanted to end up in anything but the IT sector. How ridiculous isn’t it… Human mind is so fickle! What I didn’t want to do 15 months back is precisely what I want to do now! Life has come a full circle so soon!

If I look back at the reason I gave for disliking the IT sector one and a half years back, it sounds so stupid. And if you were to ask me the reason I prefer the IT sector now, I would probably not tell you. Because, sometimes the reasoning sounds stupid even to me. See, the problem is that I do not have a clear cut preference for anything. I do not have any area of interest so to say. I do not have a passion for any particular thing. Probably that is why I am not clear as to what my aim should be. Once I chatted with my dad about this. He said that it is good this way. One must always be open to anything. I think his point of view is that it is not important what job you get into. What is important is how well you do the job. Well I think he is justified in thinking that way. After all, considering his family situation 40 years back, he would’ve been happy with any job he could get. But I do think that there is a lot of truth in what he says. I think most people in this world end up in jobs they did not want to do. But not all of them are unhappy. And not everyone who gets into a job of his choice is happy with his job. One must learn to develop a liking to what one is doing. That is how one can be successful. I think to some extent I prescribe to this idea. During group projects in my MBA, many times we have to divide the work among ourselves. When the work is being divided I am not very particular about what part I get. That is because I tend to think that whatever part I get there is always scope to do a good job at it and impress people.

A few weeks back I had a conversation with Madhan, a good friend of mine who is working for a software company. He is doing very well in his job. He got top marks in his appraisals and is always cheerful. I told him that he seems to be very happy with his job and that he is very lucky to be in a job he loves. He said that rather than getting into a job he loved, he got into the job first and then developed a liking to the job so that he can enjoy his work. I think that is a very mature attitude and a very good approach to life. This kind of attitude is not only applicable in work life but more importantly in personal and family life too.

I hope I gain this kind of maturity soon. I know that I have the capability to do well professionally. With the right attitude I will hopefully live life the right way and enjoy it!

End of an Era

I am one of the people who have hated Michael Schumacher for a long long time. I am one of those people who have always criticised his attitude and arrogance. I am one of those people who thought it will be a great day when Michael Schumacher finally leaves the sport.

On Sunday I sat and watched the post race press conference in Monza. I heard the announcement from Schumacher. Somehow, what I felt was not happiness. I don’t know why. The guy whom I hated most was leaving the sport. Far from being happy, I was actually a bit sad at heart. Imagine the start of the grid next year. No Michael Schumacher. Hard to think after all these years isn’t it. I always despised Schumacher’s ‘anything for a win’ attitude. But when I saw the emotions on his face yesterday, I realised that I have no right to despise that attitude. It takes a lot to get into F1. And even more to stay and to win. Being fast is not enough for you to get into F1. You should know to be bad. And Michael Schumacher knew how to be bad. He got into F1 under dramatic circumstances by cheating Eddie Jordan. And he cheated him again to go to a top team, Benetton. There were a lot more controversial things that happened in his career. But there is no point in stirring up those stories now. The point is that, you cannot be goodie goodie and get into F1 and become a world champion. I do not know much about Schumacher’s family background before he came to F1. But one thing’s for sure. This guy had the drive to win. He was born to win. He could never have done a ‘Barrichello in Ferrari’ kind of role for anybody. If he had taken up boxing, I am sure he would’ve been a champion. If he had been a businessman he would’ve been a very successful one.

When you have that kind of thing inside your head….which says that no matter what, you must go for the win, you must win….then I guess you get what we call the killer instinct. And Schumacher had a real good killer instinct. And he was one tough SoB. Only he knows how much he wanted to get into the sport and how tough it was to get in. Only he knows the kind of hardships he had to go through in all these years. The kind of sacrifices he had to make for the sake of a win. He had to go racing the day after his mother died. And I think he won that race. Formula One is a tough tough sport. Schumacher was a hustler. I am sure inside his head he felt his actions in Jerez, Monaco, etc were completely justified. He was well within his right to demand preferred driver status in his team. There is no point in us arguing whether his actions were legitimate or not. Try to understand this man. When you have that kind of drive to win and that kind of ego inside your head, you cannot help doing what he did.

I have always hated Michael Schumacher and will perhaps always hate him. But one thing’s for sure. I’ll miss him when the drivers line up on the grid in Melbourne next year. I hope there’s another Michael Schumacher (not just in terms of talent, but in terms of the head) among the new kids on the block.

Hi Guys!

I know I've been lazy. Its been a long time since I posted something here. But I am determined to be more regular from now on. One more resolution is that my posts on Formula One will be reduced. Over the past month or so this was looking more like a blog dedicated to Formula One. I want to reassure that it is not so. For people who might be interested to know my views on F1, they can visit Linksheaven. It is a popular F1 fans website. I am one of the contributors to this website. Direct link to my posts is here. But from time to time you can expect some important posts on F1 here too.

To keep you guys updated on the happenings here, the past week or so has been a bit tight in terms of academic stuff. But to be very candid, I must tell you that I never imagined that an MBA (and that too in finance) will be such a relaxed experience. NMIMS is known for its cool and chilled out culture. If the first year was cool, the second year has been more like a vacation! Some ppl might disagree, but really, I am not feeling the pressure...well...because there simply isn't any!

With most of the projects and assignments over for this term, and with exams still more than 2 weeks away, I expect to put my brains to work and churn out some relevant posts here.

Destined to be Champion?

Usually I do not believe in destiny. But after watching yesterday’s race in Hungary, I felt that Fernando Alonso is destined to become world champion this year. On Friday Alonso committed some silly mistakes and got rightfully penalised for his actions. At that time the 2 second penalty imposed on his qualifying time seemed to have effectively destroyed his chances in this race. But just as the qualifying session was about to start, news came through that Michael Schumacher was also penalised 2 seconds for having committed a similar mistake. And then in yesterday’s race, when Alonso retired he must’ve been thinking about what could’ve been… But then, just as Michael Schumacher looked set to finish in a strong position and dent Alonso’s championship lead severely, he too retired from the race with just 3 laps remaining. Destiny, it seems, favours Alonso to win.

Undoubtedly Jenson Button drove a marvellous race and deserved a long awaited first race victory. But it was a champion’s drive from Fernando Alonso. Starting from as far back as 15th on the grid and with loads of fuel in the car, and in slippery conditions, Alonso did not make a single mistake. Even drivers like Schumacher were caught out in a couple of occasions in such tricky conditions. Agreed that Michelin had a good package for the wet conditions, but you still need an extraordinary driver to push the car to the limits in such conditions without making a mistake. There were a lot of terrific overtaking moves in the race. The best was perhaps Alonso’s overtaking of Michael Schumacher.

Leaving the ‘destiny’ angle and looking at things more pragmatically, Ferrari’s and Michael’s chances look better in the coming races. Renault have still not been able to use their mass dampeners. They have looked severely uncompetitive without those. Hungary was perhaps their best chance to overcome that. The wet conditions meant that the Michelin advantage more than compensated for the absence of the mass dampeners. This kind of advantage is unlikely to be there in most of the remaining races. For this reason Renault and Alonso are probably the bigger losers in Hungary.

Alonso’s mistake on Friday seems to suggest that he is beginning to feel the pressure. He will have to handle himself better. Of course Flavio Briatore is there to guide him. I am sure Alonso will behave in a more mature way in future and will not crack under pressure so easily.

Pragmatism may suggest that the unusual conditions in Hungary notwithstanding, things haven’t changed much. Ferrari are currently the stronger package and Michael seems to have momentum on his side. But I come from the land of rope tricks and horoscopes. I would like to believe in destiny and something tells me that Alonso is destined to be the champion.

Juan Pablo Montoya leaves F1

It was in the year 2001 when the world of formula one was introduced to a young Colombian called Juan Pablo Montoya. JPM was brought to formula one by Sir Frank Williams from USA where he won the CART racing championship the previous year as a rookie. Soon the fiery Colombian set the tracks of F1 ablaze with his pace. JPM never shied from speaking his heart out which led many people to doubt his temperament and term him as being too hot headed. JPM was equally hot on the track too. He brought excitement to the sport which had almost forgotten about it. When in peak form Juan Pablo was one of the best over takers the sport has ever seen. Many of his daring overtakings feature in video collections of F1 fans. This single ability to perform spectacular over taking manoeuvres won Montoya fans world over.

His debut season in 2001 was a bit of a disaster. The Colombian was marred by bad luck as a series of accidents and mechanical failures meant that he finished in just 6 races. He finished in the podium 4 times and won his maiden grand Prix in Monza.

In 2002 he was denied any victory by the dominant performance of the ‘bullet proof’ F2002 Ferraris. But a consistent performance throughout the year meant that he beat his team mate Ralf Schumacher and finished the season as the third best driver.

2003 was probably the season in which the Colombian was at his best. He consistently outpaced his team mate and finished the season 3rd, just 11 points off the champion Michael Schumacher. Sweet victories were scored in Monaco and Germany. The season was witness to many exciting tussles between the Colombian and Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher.

Montoya’s pace was obvious to everyone and top teams were vying for the Colombian’s services by now. The 2004 season started with McLaren making a shock announcement at the beginning of the season itself that Montoya will be driving for them from 2005.





His move to McLaren in 2005 sparked off expectations of an intense rivalry with team mate Kimi Raikkonen. Everyone in the paddock knew that there was no love lost between the two new team mates. But Montoya struggled with the Woking based team in his first season there. New regulations in the sport meant that tyre changes were not allowed during the race. This added to the Colombian’s woes as it did not suit his aggressive driving style. As he was consistently outpaced by his Finnish team mate, Montoya’s frustration grew. After he became a father in 2005, Montoya seemed to lose some of his aggression both on and off the track. In the beginning of 2006 McLaren announced a major coup- that of having signed Fernando Alonso from 2007. This meant that either Montoya or Raikkonen had to make way for the young Spaniard. As Raikkonen continued to outpace him, experts gave JPM little chance of continuing with Ron Dennis’ team for 2007.

The announcement that Montoya will be racing in NASCAR in 2007 has come as a shock to many of his fans in F1. Montoya was more that just another fast driver. His daredevil driving attracted many people to the sport. In his best form, he knew no fear and was undoubtedly the most exciting driver to watch. With Montoya in the picture you could always expect to watch exciting racing. He would never give an inch. Montoya has also been active in the social scene, helping underprivileged children in Colombia and the world over.

I still hope that he returns to F1 some day. He will surely be remembered by formula one fans long after his departure.

Montoya fans will enjoy this tribute

Half a manager??...Naah...

It’s a start of a new academic year for me. After spending a week relaxing at home in Chennai I came to Mumbai today morning. I was greeted by a wet and drenched city as the monsoon has well and truly set in. It was a complete contrast to the dry spell I had experienced in Chennai. Luckily the local train was not crowded and we reached the hostel soon. Although we had to walk through ankle deep water before reaching the gate, it was better than what I had expected. Just one week into the monsoon and the approach ‘road’ to the hostel already looks like shit. Wonder what’s gonna happen in the months of rain to come.

It is sometimes hard to believe that I’ve completed half my MBA course. If this means that I’ve already gained half the amount of knowledge I will gain from this course then I am in deep trouble. But being a sensible person that I am, I know that I will be putting in more dedicated effort this time. I have to…because there is only 6 more months left before placements begin, and by then I must’ve learnt enough to fool my prospective employers that I know more than what I actually do! Well, I was kidding (partly). The fact that half my course is over has made some seriousness dawn on me. I realise that the next one year is the best time for me to learn about a lot of stuff.

My academics in the past year have been pathetic to say the least. My grades suck. And I cannot claim that “grades are not representative of my knowledge/capability”. Because I’ve hardly learnt anything. I am gonna specialise in finance and I don’t even know financial ratios. Gosh…I am sometimes confused between assets and liabilities! Well…at least I’ve realised the seriousness of the situation and I know, now is the time to buck up. And buck up I will!

What else did I do apart from academics…I participated in a lot of competitions, both inside the college and in inter b school competitions. I managed to get selected for the final rounds for competitions in XLRI and IIM Indore. But since the dates clashed we had to skip XL. We presented a paper in Indore but failed to get any prize. But I savoured the opportunity to visit an IIM and interact with people from various institutes.

My participation in competitions reduced drastically once my health deteriorated. I always prided myself for not having suffered any major illness ever. But the pleasant environment of GR Jani hostel, in which I am honoured to be living for the past year, has been very conducive to friendly bacteria and viruses that helped me through Malaria, Rat Fever and Jaundice. The good part about this is that now I am not at all scared of another attack of malaria since I know what to expect from this illness.

One of my worst regrets has been my interaction levels with my batch mates and my seniors, which have been very limited. My interaction with girls has been extremely limited. I don’t know whether I should’ve expected this. I’ve always been shy with girls. It did not help that my engineering college had a stupid rule that did not allow opposite sexes to interact. When I joined cognizant, I was able to overcome my shyness and I interacted extremely freely with girls. But somehow, when I came here I went back into my shell when it came to interacting with girls. Maybe it has something to do with culture…its difficult to explain, but to me, there is a sea of difference between girls here and girls in Chennai. And somehow I could not come to terms with this difference. I hope in the coming year I come out of my shell and interact more freely with my fellow batch mates and my juniors.

As I look back at the past year various pictures flash in my mind. The crowded city of Mumbai, the daaru parties in the hostel, my first experience in a discotheque, ogling at the attractive girls standing in and around my college gate during the tea breaks, the lush campus of IIM Indore, my illnesses, the class presentations, sweating it out in the streets of Mumbai during the internship, the sleepless nights, the Sunday trips to Matunga for having authentic Tamil food, the longing for home, and many more…

In the coming year I hope to live life the right way. In the end I do not want to regret not having done this or that. I want to participate in competitions. I want to update myself with all kinds of knowledge. I do not want to be lazy!! I want to interact freely with people. I want to do well in academics. I want to experience life in a b school in the true spirit.

A Comment on the Schumacher incident

The following is an article by Steve Turnbull for updatef1.com. The link is http://formula-1.updatesport.com/magazine/article/Comment--The-Schumacher-Incident/1148908415.html
I am posting the entire (presumably copyrighted) article here for the benefit of those readers who are behind corporate firewalls which block such sites.



The Monaco Grand Prix, as is often the case, provided one of the more captivating races of the season so far. The duel around the twisting, heavily contoured streets of Monte Carlo proved exciting and unpredictable, as Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber all displayed the talent that has enabled them to reach the very top echelon of world motor sport.

Yet, for all the on track interest, the race was far from the major talking point of the weekend; that accolade went, as again is often the case, to the antics of one Michael Schumacher, whose last second manoeuvre at the Rascasse during Saturday qualifying brought the sport of Formula One back to the mainstream news, and not in the fashion we would like it to be.

Michael Schumacher and Controversy (the capital is deliberate) need no introduction to each other. It is as if the brilliant German arrived in Formula One, all those years ago at Spa Francorchamps in 1991, carrying ample supplies in his briefcase.

Indeed that very debut was littered with the stuff: Bertrand Gachot was in jail, courtesy of a disagreement involving the Belgian Jordan driver, a London taxi driver, and a can of CS gas. Michael arrived with good references, and a healthy dose of Mercedes-Benz money for Eddie Jordan’s young team, on the back of assurances that he knew Spa like the back of his hand. In fact, he had never seen the place, let alone driven there. As history relates, he qualified eighth, went to the grid in seventh place, and promptly burnt out his clutch on the grid. Such a mistake was excusable, as the ripples he had caused when he first dropped into the pool were already spreading wide and far. ( A side note; what is not remembered is that the other Jordan, in the hands of Andrea de Cesaris, was rapidly gaining on the leader, Ayrton Senna, when mechanical failure put him out of the race. It is general opinion that he would have won.)

As history again relates, Michael next encountered controversy at the following race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where he entered in a Benetton. Jordan was incensed, as he believed he had a contract; Benetton countered that none existed, and Mercedes-Benz stood back and let things take their natural course. As we say, the rest is history and, seven World Championships later, we can look back and see how this controversial debut set the precedent for years to come.

Let us remind ourselves, in brief, of the incidents that have coloured Michael’s multi-hued career over these past fifteen years. Variously, and without detail we have: 1994: the ‘plank incident’ at Spa; the constant talk of ‘illegal’ traction control; the Damon Hill Adelaide incident. That was a good year. Then there’s Jerez, 1997; Austria and the USA 2002; these are the major incidents that stand out. There are many more, minor, less reportable ‘Schumacher incidents’ but, it must be said, Michael really pushed the boat out on Saturday in Monaco.

I don’t think there is anyone who, having seen the moment in question, could seriously doubt that at least some part of it was deliberate, was pre-meditated.

Sir Jackie Stewart was ‘willing to give Michael the benefit of the doubt’; he believes the initial ‘accident’, the lock up of the wheels into Rascasse, was just that, an accident. However, what followed, the neat parking of the car that brought out the yellow flags, Stewart puts down to Michael, and Michael only.

Keke Rosberg, on the other hand, expressed the opinion that Schumacher should ‘go home’; while Flavio Briatore explained that Michael had ‘parked the bloody car’.

These were just a few of the comments made, but the general consensus was that Michael was, quite frankly, out of order.

The Stewards, after several hours of deliberation, examination of telemetry and witness statements, agreed. Michael had deliberately impeded the progress of other cars and, as the regulations recommend, was promptly stripped of all his qualifying times and sent to the back of the grid. Most thought this fair, some thought it a tad soft, Ferrari and Michael, naturally, thought it harsh.

“Watch the video, I did nothing wrong” seemed to be Schumachers defence. Watching the video, however, condemns Michael somewhat. One fellow driver commented, dryly, that the German ‘should have covered the camera with one hand while he turned off the engine with the other…’

So, the verdict given, no appeal allowed, Sunday saw Schumacher storm through the field to an eventual fifth position, again giving us a display of awesome talent and unparalleled genius. The sheer pace made one wonder whether Michael needed pole position to win. It also begged the question – why? Why stoop so low when ones talent is so great?

Some have offered the explanation that all genius is flawed. This may be so but, I ask, could you imagine Jim Clark pulling his car to the side to protect a pole position? Or Fangio, Moss, Brabham, or even great 1980’s champions such as Alan Jones, Nelson Piquet, Prost or Rosberg? The answer is, unequivocally, no. None of those would have even considered such a move; it simply was not done. And yet, when one asks the same of Ayrton Senna, one could easily answer in the affirmative. Ayrton and Michael are from the same mould, the same mindset, where win-at-all-costs is the only way.

This manner of thinking has done Michael Schumacher no long-standing harm across his lengthy career. Many of those who have watched, with justified awe, his performances from 2000 onwards at Ferrari, will be too young to remember 1994, or 1997, or may simply have been uninterested back then. Many of those new to the sport will be questioning why such a seemingly draconian penalty was imposed for such a minor transgression. Good questions, too, but when a role model such as Schumacher, a man whom to many of the young drivers of today is still a hero, behaves in such an underhand manner, something has to be done to bring the message home: Formula One is, first and foremost, a ‘SPORT’ and, as such, must involve a level of sportsmanship. Sportsmanship involves courtesy, as well as competition; it embraces fair play, as well as ingenuity; and it is a sad fact that, in many parts of the world, Formula One only reaches the headlines when Controversy is involved (yes, the capital is, again, deliberate.)

Michael’s body language at the post qualifying press conference said it all; sheepish, guilty, embarrassed were all descriptions used on the day, and all may be right. How soon after he ‘parked’ the car, we may ask, did he realise the mistake he had made? How soon after the blatant move at Jerez, 1997, did he realise that the on-board camera would betray any excuse? And how soon after the embarrassment that was Austria, 2002, did this great driver realise how foolish, how ridiculous, he had made himself, his team, and the sport appear?

It stands to reason that the punishment may, in the eyes of the stewards, the FIA, and the many Schumacher and Ferrari fans world-wide, have ‘fitted the crime’, but consider this. From the back, Michael raced into the points – admittedly, attrition aided his cause – points that many, including myself, believe he should not have been entitled to. What discouragement is it to the younger generation that a blatant, clear as daylight attempt to contravene the rules is met with mere relegation to the back of the grid? Very little, I would say. For next race, all is forgotten.

The incident also adds heat to the fire that currently burns around Schumacher with regard to the ‘will he/won’t he’ retirement debate. This one incident, while presumed of ‘little importance’ to the future where Ferrari are concerned, has clearly had major impact on Michael. He is annoyed that he has been pilloried by just about everyone bar his team mates.

Why? Did he really believe he would get away with it? Did he seriously consider that we, who have watched him driver countless brilliant races in underperforming cars, pulling rabbits out of hats at the most unlikely places, would not question why a man of his ability could not recover a car from such a minor upset as that at the Rascasse on Saturday? If, indeed, he did believe so, serious questions should be asked of himself.

Michael Schumacher is, and always has been, a quite brilliant racing driver; he is, and always has been, superb to watch in a crisis, wonderful to watch on the limit, and controversial more often than the rest.

He once said, I seem to recall, that he would consider retirement once the younger generation begin to beat him, fair and square.

If, Michael, you have to resort to underhand tactics such as those displayed on Saturday in order to beat Alonso, or Raikkonen, or any one of the pretenders to the crown, surely that time has come?

Formula One 2006- Mid Season Review

It’s almost midway in the 2006 FIA Formula One championship season. And Fernando Alonso seems to have one hand on the cup already. The season started in Bahrain this time instead of Australia. But it didn’t make much of a difference to Renault. They started much like last year. They had the fastest car in the first 4 races. Schumacher and Ferrari upped their game in Imola. Imola was a good race, and ironically for Alonso, it was a complete reversal of last year’s race as Alonso tried in vain to get past a struggling but determined Schumacher. In the next race Ferrari were the better car and deserved the win they got. Going into the Spanish GP everyone thought Ferrari will do it again but Alonso and Renault pulled in some magic and won a memorable race. It was a fantastic win for Alonso- his first ever in Spain. And I must admit I ve never seen the kind of reaction from a driver as was seen from Alonso after winning the race. He was REALLY HAPPY!

Then came Monaco. It was another exciting race. Uncharacteristically, there were lots of over takings in the race. In fact I think so far in the season this has been the race with most no. of over takings. The weekend started on a sour note as Michael Schumacher was back with his prankster stuff. What he did in qualifying was disgusting and he thoroughly deserved the punishment he got. Everyone remembers what he did to Villeneuve and Hill and more recently (last season) to Barrichello. But one would’ve thought that he would’ve matured as he gets towards the end of his career. But no! he’s proven that bastards remain bastards, no matter what. I’ve always maintained that Schumacher is one of the best ever drivers. Not many have the kind of understanding of the car one drives and the track on which one drives as Schumi does. He’s a fantastic talent. Till last year I’ve said that he’s the best driver on track and this year I put Alonso and Schumi together as the best drivers. But despite his talent, Michael Schumacher’s attitude sucks. And that’s why I hate him. His drive in the race proved once again that he is a superb racer, but that cannot undo what he did in qualifying. If any of you haven’t seen the incident, you can view it here and make up your mind.

(if the link doesn’t work, just search for- Schumacher Monaco – in google videos)

Renault have upped their game since monaco. They realised where they were being beaten. Farrari were always faster at the end of the stints. So they made changes to their set up to make the car go fastest at the end of the stints. One could see this start to work in Monaco itself. Alonso was building gaps to Raikkonen towards the end of stints. It would’ve been a tight finish had the Mclaren lasted the race. Looking at Mclaren’s reliability I am really worried for next season as Alonso’s fan. The strategy of making the car go fastest at the end of the stints worked even better for Renault in Silverstone.

I expect Ferrari to up their game as the season proceeds. I think it will be a tough fight till the end. But for Schumi to win the championship, Renault and Alonso will need to have a lot of bad luck- like Alonso slipping in the bathroom and breaking his back.

News has just come in that fisichella will stay with Renault for 2007. more or less expected news. And it also means that Briatore has not been successful in roping in Webber.

There are 10 more races to go. I think the championship is not over yet. Its definitely much closer than last year. And we all know that Ferrari and Schumacher are fierce competitors. I expect a close and exciting tussle till the end.

Go Fernando, Go!!!

I will not forget...those amazing days

I was going thru orkut and saw a few testimonials written to me and by me. Just stirred a few old memories and I thought of writing something about it…

Engineering days were truly amazing. Our college- RMK engineering college- had a lot of stupid rules and was very strict. We really resented that when we were students. In fact we used to call it ‘the jail’ But after coming out of it we realised that there can be nothing like those days again in our lives…Despite all the rules and all, we did enjoy! I was in the hostel for the first 2 years. By nature I am shy and reserved. So I hardly interacted with anyone in the first few months. It took me 6 months to even become friends with my room mate, Chaitanya. It was Prasanna who helped bring me out of my shell. Had a good time with the ‘Tamil gang’ in the hostel… Cant forget those countless mokkai sessions we had before and after elections, cricket matches and during weekends and study holidays…Then there was the Hostel day skit in which I participated. It was deemed so vulgar that they stopped it midway through the show :).

I will not forget the long discussions with Srikanth that went long into the night. I will not forget the fights I had with Prasanna everyday we were room mates. Its truly amazing how you can fight with someone for so long and so much and you get irritated by that person so much, but still, at the end of the day you count him as one of your best friends…

I will not forget the boring long days during study hols when the only thing we all looked forward to was breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can assure that anyone who has passed out of RMK will never forget the food there. Truly mouth watering ..mmm… The chicken briyani, Dosai, Parota, sweets and much much more..

Then I moved out in the 3rd year. I started interacting with the day scholars- Ananth, Vicky, GK, and others.. We had lots of fun especially in the last year when we hardly attended classes. Had the first taste of alcohol with these guys..Three of us (Prasanna, Vicky and I) started drinking on the same day, and one of them is a hopeless drunkard now :)

I will not forget the chicken briyani in Vicky’s house. Nor will I forget those Dec 31st nights in the last 3 yrs of engg… I will not forget those truly thrilling rides sitting behind Vicky in his bike. Ananth and GK fighting was always fun for all of us. Jothi’s powers with girls remained a mystery to all of us till the end. So was Ananth’s lack of powers with girls despite his looks…Vicky trying hard to convince Sumanth to join us for a dinner or party became a regular affair.

Engineering ended, and slowly everyone departed to where life took them. Prasanna to Hyderabad, Ananth and Jothi to UK, Sumanth also went to Hyderabad and so did Chaitu, Rakesh and so many others. After a few months realisation came that ‘those days’ are over. Perhaps the best days of our lives were behind us. We still keep meeting each other occasionally. I know those days will not come back and things will not be the same again. But I want to settle down in a place where we all can meet each other regularly, have a weekend together every month and share our happy and sad moments together. I know that will keep me happy. It’s the kind of happiness that money can’t buy.

Some shocking Facts

Here I present some shockingly glaring facts which strengthen the case against reservation. These facts will show that:

-->There is no real need for reservation for OBCs

-->The existing reservation for SC/STs is not working and even after 50 years of its existence the reservations have not been able to achieve the motive behind them

-->If the govt goes ahead with the decision to increase seats it will severely hamper the quality of education and infrastructure available to the students. This is because the educational institutions simply do not have enough infrastructure and facilities and these restrictions cannot be overcome in a short time.

-->Even the first congress prime minister did not like the idea of reservation even though he was the one who initiated it.


***What is the proportion of OBCs in this country?
The report of the Mandal commission which came out many years back, states that it is 52%. But the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), a govt appointed body reported in a more recent study that OBCs form 32% of the population.

***The NSSO in its research in 1999 (which is the latest available research) stated that OBCs occupy 23.5% OF ALL UNIVERSITY SEATS

***A study done by the IITs themselves shows that 50 per cent of the IIT seats for the SCs and STs remain vacant and for the remaining 50 per cent, 25 per cent are the candidates, who even after six years fail to get their degrees.

***A report of the Parliamentary Committee on the welfare for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes says that looking at the Delhi University, between 1995 and 2000, just half the seats for under-graduates at the Scheduled Castes level and just one-third of the seats for under-graduates at the Scheduled Tribes level were filled. All the others went empty, unfilled.

***Sukhdev Thorat, the Chairman of the UGC. He points out that today, at higher education levels - that is all universities, IITs and IIMs - there is already a 1.2 lakh vacancy number. 40 per cent of these are in teaching staff, which the IIT faculty themselves point out that they have shortages of up to 30 per cent

***Jawaharlal Nehru: “On the 27th of June 1961 wrote to the Chief Ministers of the day as follows: I dislike any kind of reservations. If we go in for any kind of reservations on communal and caste basis, we will swamp the bright and able people and remain
second rate or third rate. The moment we encourage the second rate, we are lost. And then he adds pointedly: This way lies not only folly, but also disaster”

***In India only 16 per cent of the places in higher education are occupied by SCs and STs. The quota is 22.5 per cent, which means that only two-thirds of the
quota is occupied. One third is going waste.

Let me make it clear that I am not questioning the capability of students from the so called backward classes. I am a person who believes that all humans have the same inherent capability. My only point is that if there is to be any reservation, then that should be given to people who are really handicapped in a certain way in the society and are at some disadvantage. Basically it should be given to people who come from economically backward and oppressed sections f the society. Because these are people who are genuinely at a disadvantage when it comes to education. I wouldn’t really mind if a guy whose father is a railway porter and mother is a housewife, gets into an IIM even if he has a 75 percentile score and I don’t get through even with a 95 percentile score. But once a person gets the benefit of reservation then the same should not be given to his/her offspring.

Finally students in my institute have started discussing about this issue. We have decided to come out with a statement in support of the anti reservation protest. Students from the IIMs have also declared their solidarity with the protesting medicos. Students from DU and IIT Delhi have also joined in the protests. I, along with a few friends will hopefully be joining the protests in Azad Maidan this Sunday. Lets see how it goes…

The Issue of Reservation- Do we need it?

I’ve been thinking of writing on this subject for a long time…The students reservation issue. Its perhaps the most important national issue today. Its bigger than the volatility of the sensex, the assembly election results or LN Mittal’s Arcelor bid.

Is this democracy? Is this equality? I have nothing against SC/ST s or any other castes. But I feel unfairly treated, I feel cheated! Damn, I work my ass off for a whole year and struggle to get a 95 odd percentile in CAT and get into some top 15 B School . And then there’s a guy from a “backward class”, whose father is an IAS officer (and he got into the IAS cadre thru the reservation quota) and is hence quite rich , enjoys through his engineering days roaming around with his GF in his bike, having parties in weekends when I was giving SIMCATs and MOCK CATs. Finally he gives CAT coz his dad wanted him to, and being moderately bright, he manages to get a modest 75 percentile. But lo and behold, he gets calls from all 6 IIMs.
Wait a minute, 75 percentile ???? Gimme a break…I could’ve scored 75 percentile even if you had woken me up in the middle of the night when I was dead asleep and asked me give the test. I work my ass off, made all those sacrifices and still did not manage to get a single IIM call despite getting 95 percentile, and you tell me that this undeserving asshole is now thru to IIM A! What the heck! C’mon, there must be something wrong in the system somewhere! Yeah, damn right, there is something wrong. Quotas are OK, if they go to deserving candidates. They must satisfy the objective behind the quotas. If this isn’t happening then there’s no place for quotas. Isn’t this simple. Aren’t our politicians smart enough to understand this? Well, they are smarter than this. The only reason we still have caste based quotas is because it is a tool for certain political parties with which to play vote bank politics.

The following is the reaction of Narayana Murthy:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-802267813236081900


There are strong student protests going on across the nation against reservation. I hope somehow they succeed. I wonder whether the student community must ve been more proactive. Perhaps we should’ve started a student movement for reduction and elimination of quotas even before this episode started. Having this amount of quota for so many years itself is bad enough.

I don’t have the guts to go out onto the streets and join the protests that the medicos and many other brave students are currently participating in, across the country. But I will do what’s possible in my own way. And I am really proud –like I am,of our freedom fighters- of all the brave students and doctors who are putting their careers and much more on the line for such an important national issue.

I am shocked that there is little voice being raised by the corporate world against these govt moves. We all know that in this country if such reservation happens, its near impossible to reverse such a move. And I am sure that if this happens, it will have a mush bigger and long lasting effect on the economy than any budget or market crash. God help this country!

BTW, if there is anyone reading this article who feels that caste based (rather than economic status based) reservation is necessary, please let me know along with your line of reasoning.I would like to know

I urge all youth in this country to stand up and do something (apart from forwarding chain mails) , some little effort that will help this cause.

The following are some inspirational lines from a poem many of us have read in our schools:

“Ab Bhi Jiska Khoon Na Khaula, Voh Khoon Nahin Voh Paani Hai,
Jo Des Ke Kaam Na Aaye, Voh Bekaar Jawaani Hai“

Internship starts

My internship started a few days back.The actual field work started yesterday.And I made my first sales pitch! But haven't made any sale yet though..And by the looks of it so far, there will be no sales for the next 2 months unless the company reduces the prices. Boy, its a tough job to sell something thats available from other sources free of cost!

To tell the truth, I enjoyed the day yesterday despite the fact that I had to roam around in the sun like a dog with parched throat and sweaty clothes.I had expected some bad treatment from the clients like closing the door on our faces,etc.But no such thing happened so far.All the clients treated us well and they atleast let us give a proper pitch.

For one of the clients we walked for arnd 2 kms and when we reached the address finally,we found that its his residence and not his office.Cursing our luck, we went to the office.And let me tell u, most of u (and me) could never imagine an office to be located in such a place! That too, the office of a investment planner/MF distributor. It was in a small industrial 'estate'. There were a lot of manufacturing plants, all kind s of dirty stuff was being manufactured.There was a murky looking
building with rickety stairs.A narrow corridor in the 2 nd floor. There was no flooring or paint on the walls.And of course no lighting. It looked like a scene from a Ram Gopal Varma underworld film.I wondered who the hell will have an office there..But then, there was indeed a small office there. I have no idea why anyone will have an office in such a smelly,dirty,shitty,murky place!! And that guy
is definitely not poor! He has a nice double flat for a residence. Whatever..

Today I again go out, this time to another corner of Mumbai.And I have an asshole from another institute to accompany me.Lets see how it goes..

One thing looks to be for sure.I ll probably become more considerate towards salesmen.

MBA Myths?

I recently got this forward from a batchmte here. Its supposedly written by a MBA student, I dont know who or from which institute.But I can tell you from my own experience that its very close to the truth.

Yesterday Term 2 ended. I am now roughly 32 per cent of an MBA. As I evaluate myself on the huge costs (opportunity and real) that I have incured over the past 6 months, I ponder on the learnings (Cudn't help it fellow ManDevIans... WAC ka bhoot utara nahi hai!!!).

1) MBA is about making shit look like hot shit.
2) The faster you understand and implement point 1 above the higher will your Grade Point Average (GPA) and hence CGPA be, and the less expectations will you have, and consequently your satisfaction will be maximised.
3) Recruiters dont give a damn to how many Balance Sheets you balanced, how many models you optimised, what strategy you proposed (for the googled project you did for an MNC which you dint even visit once), what is your understanding of human resource mgmt, what is the positioning of the crap that FMCG companies generate, your exposition on world economics,.... and I could go on.
4) B Schools pressure and academic rigour are myths.
5) People will give their left ball/boob for an extra grade and a fellow batchmate.
6) Point number five is very valid in the corporate world too.
7) Job Job Job... is the light at the end of this MBA tunnel; at least in India.
8) Management is about bullshitting with elan and quoting esoteric gurus (with keywords thrown in for effect) to fool others. Finance guys fool investors, Marketing guys fool customers, HR guys fool employees, Operations and Systems guys join the fun (and the chaos and end up fooling each other)

So in the end its a fools game. I dunno why companies come in hordes and recruit MBAs in such large numbers?? I dunno.. seriously.. hope I am proved wrong!!!

I must tell you, its a very valid question this person is asking in the end.I myself was stumped by a question asked by a friend of mine a few months ago when he was preparing for his XLRI interview.He asked, " Tell me what have you really gained from these 8 months into your MBA?" And I was like..really clueless!

Another of my batchmates offered an answer to the question in the article. He said,

"why companies come in hordes and recruit MBAs in such large numbers is : companies also wanna fool all its stakeholder,shareholders and match the fleecing capability of it's competitors in the marketplace, esp. during the carzy times as we r witnessing now.hence the mad scramble for MBAs."

Bommu goes to USA

I have a friend called Bommuraj.He joined my engineering college in the 2nd year as a lateral entry student.He comes from a rural background.When he came to chennai 5 years back,it was his first time in a big city.From the beginning I was attracted to Bommu due to his enthusiastic spirit and straightforwardness.He is a simple guy who can never involve in any kind of chicanery.We have been close friends for the past 5 years.

Bommu would often say how his parents (who are daily wage agricultural labourers)forced him to study engineering, though he himself wanted to get into some job soon and start supporting his family.After completing engineering he stayed in chennai with some folks from his village(KK Patti).He immediately started his job hunt.For 2-3 months he roamed around chennai at the peak of the summer like a dog.Finally he landed a job (and he was among the first few from our class to land a job).It was in a small software company and it paid him just Rs 4000 pm. The office was on the other side of the city to where he stayed.Every day he would start from home at around 7 am and return at 10 pm. And saturday was not a holiday.

After all the struggle, he is finally going to USA on behalf of his company on the 25th of this month. Of course his parents must be very very happy and proud now.And so am I.

Bommu would always say that his dream is to buy a large piece of land for his father so that he can see his father finally own the land he cultivates.He also wants to build a large house in his village and see his parents spend their last days in comfort.(Bommu says that his parents would never agree to leave their village and come and stay with him in the city).

I hope Bommu earns a lot of money in the US and comes back and sees his dream come
true.But please Bommu, dont stay there for too long.Come back here soon, we shall have a great time together.

The state of my country

We live in a democracy.And we pay a certain price for it.

Tamil Nadu will soon have assembly elections.This is what the main opposition has to offer to the people so as to woo them to vote their party into power:

Quality rice at Rs. 2 a kg on ration cards, free colour television for every family "for women's recreation and general knowledge," a maternity assistance of Rs. 1,000 a month for six months, wavier of all cooperative loans to farmers and free electricity to weavers in addition to farmers, were some of the highlights.

The DMK has promised free gas stove to all poor women, a monthly financial assistance up to Rs. 300 to unemployed youth, assignment of two acres to landless poor families, restoration of all concessions withdrawn to government employees and teachers and reservation for Muslim and Christians.

This reminds me of a scene in Ayutha Ezhuthu (yuva) in which Bharathiraja gives a campaign speech to a crowd of poor illiterate people and woos them by talking absolute crap. We might have had a good laugh watching that scene in the movie, but its not so funny when you see that it is actually reality.

I know that this country will soon wake up and be a model democracy, where there will not be any place for such political bull shit.I just hope that its soon enough.But right now,this country is going to the dogs..

Got my summers!

Finally I've got a company for my summers. I'll be doing my summer internship in ICRA online. Its a big relief that I've finally managed to get selected by some company! I'll be located in Mumbai for the duration of the project.The company is launching a new product which is some kind of a series of reports about the mutual fund industry.I'll be trying to sell this product to potential customers whom I presume will be Mutual fund houses,brokerage houses,etc.There are two ways to look at this:

1. Negative-
Its a bloody salesman job.I'll be roaming all around Mumbai in the peak of the summer in crowded local trains and dusty roads.I can't even be at home in chennai during the summer.

2. Positive-
Hey, i never looked at myself as someone who could be a good marketeer or salesman.But the company thought I could be! It means that I possibly have some capabilities which i had not realised before .Roaming all around Mumbai and trying to sell to people will be a good experience.I'll get to know the city well and more importantly i would get to know people well.I may not get such a good opportunity again.I am now forced to do what I've feared and hated doing-travelling and selling. I am sure at the end of those 2 months I will be much better off.I'll be more mature and I'll be more employable.

I look at my summer internship assignment in the second way.

Lok Paritran - A New Dawn?

What do four IITians, some also educated in the US and almost all of them from rural backgrounds have in common? Well, apparently they all have a rare spirit of patriotism and a passion to help this country move forward. I am talking about Tanmay Rajpurohit,Ashwalayan Shukla,Amit Beesen,and Chandrashekhar. These four guys are aeronautical and mechanical engineers who had a bright promising future ahead of them in some large American organisation with guaranteed fat pay cheques and a good house and a pretty wife. But instead they have chosen a different path for themselves.

These guys have created a political party called Lok Paritran. They have decided to contest the elections in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala this year. They claim that lack of money will not be a hindrance in their election fight.

I don't know what will happen to this party in future but I will surely keep track of them.I hope that these guys actually have the best interests of the country in mind (can't help being a bit cynical in this world of deceivers) and that the country benefits.

Formula One 2006

A new season is all set to begin of the FIA Formula One world championships. Renault and Mc Laren have been topping the time sheets followed closely by Ferrari and Honda in the winter testing. With a lot of changes to the regulations this season- the most prominent being changing the engines from V10 to V8 and allowing tyre changes- its difficult to predict who will be on top at the beginning of the season. Once again I will be rooting for Alonso and Renault this season. But I think the going will be much tougher for them this season. One might question Alonso’s motivation level after having announced his plans to shift to McLaren next season. Also, tyre supplier Michelin will be in its final year in the sport. So their commitment can also be questioned. The inclusion of Super Aguri will mean that there will be record number of lappings done by the race leader over the last placed driver this season. I cannot imagine the competitive level of Aguri who will be racing with an Arrows chassis which is atleast 4 years old ! I expect Ferrari to be more competitive this season with the V8s. I am sure Felipe Massa will be a worthy successor to Reubens Barrichello. He will play second fiddle to Schumacher perfectly. This will most likely be Schumacher’s last season. I think Raikkonen will be the most obvious target for Ferrari to replace him next season. Massa will then continue to play second fiddle to him. I hope my old favourite Williams team gets back to competitive form this season although there are little indications that this will be the case. So the competitive teams this season are likely to be Renault, mclaren, Ferrari and Honda. Lets fasten our seat belts and get set for another season for high speed action. Go Alonso !

Goa trip and an eventful start to the year

After a long hiatus I return to blogging. My exams got over on 4th jan and I left for Goa along with my roomies as planned. We spent 4 days there, had a nice time. Goa is a very relaxing place and we sure did relax there. We got to know a few things that we did not know earlier:
• Almost 100% of Goans speak English.
• Goa must be the state which has the largest population of Indians speaking Russian language.
• Infact we were amused to see that some shops had billboards in Russian and even the names of the shops were written only in Russian.
{The above points are of course due to the huge inflow of foreign tourists, especially central Europeans whom the locals try to woo for their livelihood.}
• A plain egg omelette at a small restaurant with thatched roof and plastic tables and chairs can sometimes cost you 30 rupees (and on other times even more).
• Its easier to get beer than to get water in Goa. People are amused (some may even get offended) when we say no to beer and ask for water instead.
• There’s probably no traffic signal (atleast we did not see any) in entire Goa.
• When a European rides a Bajaj Pulsar, his size will make the bike look like a TVS Champ.
• Goa is probably one of the few places in India where you may get an unofficial discount from shopkeepers, restaurant owners and hawkers just because you are an Indian.

Having chilled out to our heart’s content and our wallets’ lack of content, we returned to Mumbai on 9th. I left for Chennai the next day on a trip that was planned to last one week. But my stay in Chennai lasted more than a month as I was down with Leptospirosis (rat fever) and subsequently with Jaundice. My doc says that I must have most likely got infected 1-2 weeks before the symptoms surfaced. That would mean that the most likely place where I got the infection from is GR Jani hostel (yeah, that’s the name of my hostel). For those of you who are wondering what rat fever is, well don’t worry. It is not such a common infection and you are not likely to get it- Provided you are not a resident of GR Jani hostel. Ours is a great hostel, incubator of all the dirtiest diseases in the country. But anyway, I guess it doesn’t make sense to ramble about it now.
Three fevers (malaria, rat fever and jaundice) in three months, but none during the trimester exam. Guess I must be one lucky chap!

So, after about a month’s rest I returned to Mumbai. Got the results for the 2nd trim. A much better GPA of 3.11 this time helped move my CGPA towards more decent levels after a disastrous 1st trim when I got a pathetic 2.75. Lots more hard work to be done if I want to push my final CGPA to 3.0 and beyond. And this trim I already have my work cut out having missed 1 month of classes. Anyway, hoping for the best…