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.