T minus 10

I'll be leaving for Hyderabad on April 10, just around the corner. It's been a long and arduous journey for my MBA, and I do hope that it will be worthwhile. The last few days have been quite hectic. The preliminary shopping has been done with, all that remain now are miscellaneous items and last-minute food stuff.

I'll be accompanied by Mom, Dad and Neha, presumably to take in the sights and sounds of Hyderabad, but I suspect it's more to ensure that ISB doesn't admit that it made a mistake in letting me in and turn me back at the gate :). Time permitting, they should be able to take in a city tour, Ramoji film city and the Jyotirling.

I'm finished with all the pre-term exams as well. It was fun getting re-acquainted with Mr Calculus. I realized how much I had missed the beauty, symmetry and unpredictability of maths while working in IT. Quant and Stats presented no real problem; it was Accountancy that I was worried about. Thankfully, with a little bit of reading, I was able to pass this test as well. After reading up and chatting many ISBians, I had decided that the pre-term was better spent networking and learning core subjects. The fact that the pre-term was not graded also weighed against it.

Finally, my housing at ISB was finalized yesterday. I'll be king of SV4-I11, dispensing favors from my high throne !! SV4 is the new student village, not even found on the current ISB map. Perhaps we'll all be put up in a 5-star hotel like the 1st batch of ISB was. At the very least, we'll get first use of a brand new hostel.

On an unrelated note, Neha cleared the written portion of the CET with flying colors - 166/200 with a 99.99 %ile, thereby almost guaranteeing her a place at JBIMS. In fact, she's done so well that she'll probably finish off with a single digit rank. Quite an accomplishment considering that CAT was so disappointing. Anyways, to get into JB is ordinary, to get in with 99.99 %ile is extraordinary.

As expected, mom's over the moon that both her kids will be starting MBA simultaneously. I think she's still unconvinced of the horrors that await us at placement time. Until then, she can bask in the glory of having taken the final step in the implementation of a plan that started many a year back.

Marhaba Bahrain

Dad's back in Bahrain since Nov 2008 and I finally found the time to visit the place where I spent the best part of 16 years. Woweeeeeeeee !! This place has morphed into something way more hip than when I saw it last in 2002.

One can almost see the petro dollars at work here. New construction has popped up everywhere. I might venture to say that it even eclipses the boom in India. The spending on infrastructure by the government is astounding. New marinas coming up in the city to house the new bussinesses. Free-hold apartments are also being offered. Bahrain is probably the best place to settle to a quiet, luxurious life.

Bahrain is positioning itself well as a financial hub. Throw a stone in the Seef area and you're likely to hit a bank. It's the Middle East's Bangalore of Banking :) Lots of diverse people are joining in and the population has pretty much exploded. Shopping malls have mushroomed all over the place.

It was great fun visiting some of the old landmarks, checking out new ones and mourning the loss of others. The Indian School is still pretty much the same, too bad I couldn't meet all the teachers. The Bahrain F1 circuit is quite beautiful, with lots to do.

Well, rapid development has come at a cost. Traffic snarls are now the norm in the city. The open spaces where you could catch a game of football at any time have almost disappeared. Children now hang out at malls and around PS2s. The scenic roundabouts in the city have been replaced with soulless traffic signals.

Still, Bahrain continues to offer the perfect mix of sun, sand and shopping that make it unique. To anyone who wants to visit, all I can say is Marhaba !!

PS: This post comes to you courtesy of my new laptop - HP DV4-1225ee