Silence

It takes getting some used to, this silence. I've been in Princeton just about a day and already the lack of sound is driving me insane. For someone who's used to staying next to a construction zone, such peace means an emptiness.

We take the noise in our life for granted, often annoyed at its bewildering array and constant chatter. But noise (or as I like to put it, sound) is life. In the beginning was the sound, although I wasn't really there and so can't be fully certain ! For a culture that seems to equate sound with life and action, this silence is even more deafening. 

The lack of sound is great in the beginning. It helps you relax and enjoy the other senses - the light, the breeze, the perfume - without being overwhelmed and distracted by all stimuli aural. But then what ? You've made your peace, have experienced sensory delight and now have left nothing to contemplate but that twisted thing hammering away in your head, a.k.a your mind. Where do you escape to, now that the distraction is gone ?

Sound for me is a thought train. Each beat setting of a string of interesting patterns. I never feel alone at such a time, knowing that someone only has to drop a glass for me to set off on another journey. Much as you'd like to believe, this is not a tendency of the mentally disturbed alone, but happens to us all. But with such depth of noiselessness around, it feels as if my mind has hit a terminus.

It's scary sometimes, being alone with your imagination. I'm not entirely sure if I'll survive this time in Princeton without irreparable damage (some might say it has already been done in years gone by, but me, I'm an optimist, no?). What can I do to relieve such gravitas ? Music, you say. Aha ! But music is interesting as an instrument to bring order to sound, as a comparative tool. Without the underlying texture of random noise, would music sound as appealing ? Perhaps not.

Maybe the idea is to leverage this silence, to learn to escape to it, much as we escape to music. That's going to be tough to pick up and even tougher to let go once I'm back home when the jack hammer starts up at 7 am !! It does help my reading though. Vikram Chandra's Red Earth and Pouring Rain has been a delight so far, although it's ironical that a book that draws on such a kaleidoscopic and chaotic landscape is being read amidst such a bucolic setting as a New England summer in Princeton.

I've been off blogging for a while now and it seems an eternity has passed in between. Neha's off to work (finally !) while an artist (probably the one true artist) in the family passed away. Both events will leave voids in the world, in more ways than one. 

Neha's departure finally marks the end of an era that we had tried to keep protected for as long as possible, a world of adolescence and innocence where things were stored to be relived in moments of joy and sorrow. With her gone, it's as if we're all grown up now, with all vestiges of connections to our earlier selves cast aside. There's no escaping here, either, mister. It's off to the real world, now.

My uncles' unexpected passing away seemed to shake all of us. For a man who was a consummate artist, time played the role of an artistic villain. No matter what we do, where we go, time catches up with us all. And when it does, it's not kind. It makes us weak, dependent, hollow shells of a once glorious prime. What shall keep us rooted then ? I'd like to believe that my life at that point meant something to somebody, at least to me. I don't expect it to have any grand purpose or even to achieve something. I just want it to be a life, lived, inshallah. Will it be so ? Only time will tell.

As you can tell, I'm rambling. Time to sign off.

I am but an egg

My sci-fi odyssey continues. This time, it's Stranger in a strange land, a beautiful examination of religion, philosophy, love, xenophobia and just what qualifies the term mankind. Strange ideas abound through the book, and once again, I'm surprised by some of the things I've been missing.

A few years ago, when I first read Roy's God of Small Things, a comment on the blurb caught my attention. It said that all good books invent their own language. I guess, then, that all great books are imbibed into the language itself. And here, Heinlein has talent non-pareil. Not just the word grok, he has added what I would like to believe one of the most innocent phrases - I am but an egg.

I interpret it to be mean something along these lines: I accept my ignorance without thought to consequences. I do not try to hide my lack of knowledge. Consequently, I am not afraid of being "found out". In a knowledge-weary world, it is a refreshing attitude. It opens one's mind, makes one seek knowledge for knowledge. It reconnects us with our childhood again. I get the feeling that considering knowledge is power in today's world, people are more reluctant to admit that they don't know something. Especially so in an industry like consulting. This becomes a way of life, unfortunately, which blocks any further progress.

Heinlein's other interesting definition is of mankind itself. When asked who man was, one of the characters answered, man was a creature that laughed at itself. Very poignant. Also, very true! I haven't even begun the more interesting part of the book, who knows where it will lead us.

It's getting late, but I can't resist setting out another poem that Heinlein references in the book, R.L Stevenson's (yes, he of the Treasure Island and Jekyll-n-Hyde fame) Requiem:

 Beneath the wide wide  starry sky, 
 Dig the grave and let me lie, 
 Glad did I live and gladly die, 
 And I lay me down with a will: 

 This be the verse you grave for me: 
 Here he lies where he longed to be, 
 Home is the sailor, home from sea, 
 And the hunter home from the hill. 

Haiku

I've been away for quite some time, travelling and in general being occupied with work. And within this manic world of instant everything, I discovered a form of poetry that I thought I'd never truly appreciate. Haiku.

I've never been much of a fan of romanticist poetry, though it does have extremely evocative imagery. I always believed that poetry should be based on elegance of thought and structure, being characterized by brevity in its form. If not, isn't it cutting it too close to prose ?

On chance, I stumbled upon a couple of scribbled lines of Haiku and that led to a line of interesting research. It turns out that the 17 syllables can convey a powerful image. Like the Japanese language itself, a Haiku, to me, is the hieroglyphic form of prose. To some extent, the development of Haiku in Japan has been aided by both the nature and culture of the land. Buddhism lends itself well to Haiku, focusing on minimalist language to convey the deepest thoughts. For example, the following Haiku in my mind captures the true essence of Buddhism:

a world of dew,

and within every dewdrop

a world of struggle

The best Haiku always instills in me a feeling of serenity and peace. Of realization that there is beauty in this world after all. Of recognition that there is more to life than strife and toil. Of perfection. Of harnessed intelligence. Of quiet contemplation. Of a thousand words.

A couple more that I really liked:

so very still, even

cherry blossoms are not stirred

by the temple bell

--

at the ancient pond

a frog plunges into

the sound of water

Magnum Opus

One of the drawbacks of the internet age is the inability to walk into a bookstore, rummage and walk out with a book and the anticipation of not knowing how it will turn out. It was a good experience, then, to stumble into a Reliance book-store at Korum in Thane. And on a whim, I picked up what ultimately was one of the better reads in recent times. Let's face it, I have had just too many MBA turned authors strutting their stuff on my bookshelf. So it felt good to put my fate in the hands of a writer, someone who's actually studied the art and not decided to follow his whim after friends praised the blog posts! So yes - Vikram Chandra's Sacred Games succeeded in blindsiding me like no other book in recent memory.

I bought it thinking "What the heck - it's about the Mumbai underworld, how bad can it be ?!". Just a simple back-of-the-envelope calculation meant that I'd be occupied for days, in return for just Rs 300/-. Seemed like a good deal to an business grad and so I plonked for it over Nagarkar's Cuckold. And I was pleasantly surprised. The book is about everything, but at its core, it's about Mumbai - the city and its people. It takes the antipodean approach to the city when compared to Shantaram, which sometimes felt detached, as if you knew an outsider was writing about it.

Chandra, on the other hand, writes as if he knows it intimately and is familiar with every mote of dust and every drop of sweat. The characters are real, their problems are real and one can feel the research and work that must have gone into the book's writing. I get the feeling, strongly resonant, that the characters love Mumbai not because of its inherent goodness, but because of its frailties. He succeeds in capturing the city's language perfectly, its curious mix of Marathi, Hindi and English, simultaneously giving us a glimpse of its life-force - what it means to live in this city. So even though this book happens through the eyes of a sardar-ji cop, you never feel as if he's an outsider in this world. This is his city and he belongs here. The opening scene alone should rivet you to close attention. Yes, it's opus-sized at 900+ pages. And yes, it does tend to drag a bit, especially during the insets. But the writing is never dull and this book will definitely occupy good shelf space in the Indian author's section. It's disappointing that the book was not a runaway success, though it will be difficult for the author to match the scale and scope of this work.

It's interesting to note a bit of trivia on Chandra. He co-wrote Mission Kashmir with Suketu Mehta, who has himself written a largely documentary-style book about Mumbai - Maximum City (not a big fan). Chandra's sister, Tanuja, makes (or rather used to make) quite half-decent films. Mom Kamna wrote classics like 1942: A Love Story and Chandini while other sister Anupama is Vidhu Vinod Chopra's wife and a Bollywood historian/author herself in addition to being a consulting editor with NDTV. That is a family with some achievers !

This lack of cable TV has really been a blessing in disguise. Have had some good reads in this time. Finally completed Asimov's two remaining novels (End of Eternity and The Gods, Themselves - typical Asimov), Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card's masterpiece) plus Philip K Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Brilliant) and will start exploring the Gabriel Garcia Marquez books soon. Interesting times ahead !

I leave you with an elegant quote I came across:

 Life happened because I turned the pages ~ Alberto Manguel

Steed

After a long time, I'm mobile again ! I bought a Hyundai i10 Asta towards the end of May and God, what a relief it is to not depend on auto-wallas again :) I've been meaning to jot this down for a long time, but finally getting around to writing about how I finally zeroed in on the i10.

Since mom and dad were absolutely hell bent on not allowing me a bike (YZF R-15 ?), I decided to opt for a set of two extra wheels. I was quite sure I wanted something small for my first car that had a petrol engine and definitely didn't want a Maruti. The Beat was just too radical for my taste. Finally, the hatches in consideration were Hyundai, Punto, Figo and Polo. While Figo is probably the best VFM out there, I wasn't sure about the quality of the build and the petrol engine. Ford has always been associated to the oil-burner in my mind and it was difficult to break that link. Looks-wise, I loved the Polo, but reviews have noticed a lethargic 1.2L and was expensive for its bracket. That left Punto and Hyundai. I really liked the specs on the Punto and almost decided to buy the 1.4 Emo Pk. The only thing that stopped me was having to deal with Tata showrooms and service centers. That's a big no-no.

Finally, after realizing that manual transmission in the i20 has the same 1.2L which brings down the power-weight ratio, I finally decided that the i10 is the right fit. I've not regretted it in the short time I've had it. Some good things:

• The interiors are plush, compared to the others.
• Seats are comfortable and the space for rear passengers is ample enough.
• It's got a very light steering which is a pleasure to drive in traffic
• The NVH levels are more than acceptable upto 110 kph
• The gear shift it precise
• The music system is sufficient for my use and
• You get good highway handling with ABS and EBD

And now the not-so-good:

• low-rpm grunt is sorely lacking
• Visibility is obstructed due to the front right pillar
• The gear shift sometimes refuses to shift into 1st or R
• The light steering is too light on the highway
• The headlights are bad. Really bad
• Well, there are just so many of them out there !

Overall, though, I'm quite satisfied with the package. For 90% of the time, it suits my needs. In fact, dad's considering getting an AT for himself. That ought to be fun.

What's not fun, though, has been the traffic. It's just crazy. It seems like only yesterday that I was weaving effortlessly out of traffic on my Pulsar. But somehow, seated in a car, you realize the mindless risks that people take to shave seconds. Rules are not even recognized, forget followed. Whoever said one has to stop at red light ?! The worst part is that akin to corruption, it is very difficult for an honest driver to make a fist of it. Basically, driving in India is more like loco motion rather than locomotion :)

Transition

So the ride that was ISB finally ended. The graduation day was well organized and I thought all the speakers spoke rather well. I do feel sorry for Mr Sibal, though, having to shake 550+ hands ! All in all, a satisfactory end to an energetic year.

I did expect the ride from student life to corporate life to be rather bumpy, a little like the morning after a night spent painting the town red :) I was pleasantly surprised then, to find that I had almost two and half months of doing nothing! It was fun at first, not having to be on your toes 24x7, but I guess it got a little boring towards the end. A part of the boredom was relieved by the arrival of my spanking new Hyundai i10. Being a newbie, the learning curve in Mumbai's traffic was rather steep. But we did manage to make trips to Pune, Nashik and Alibaug before I joined ZS.

The orientation in Gurgaon was simply a way to transition back into corporate life, I guess. I learnt quite a few things about ZS and the Pharmaceutical industry and survived the rest. The Leela Kempenski where we were initially put up was an excellent choice, but could have done with some better food. All in all, the 1st week was comfortable and a nice introduction to the company, function and industry. The second week was a deeper look at the respective practice areas and we did get a chance to interact with the MD, OMPs and other consultants/managers over dinner. More importantly, the NEO allowed us to interact across designations and hopefully establish some rapport.

Over the weekend, it was also an opportunity for me to catch up with classmates from BHU. I was rather pleased to find out that in this ever-changing world, some people at least have remained constant. With the Germany-England match in the background, it was a nice reunion at Connaught Place. Was burning with jealousy to find out that the Schneider Electric folks are usually home by 4:30 PM. Yeh kahaa ka insaaf hai ?!

The one thing that amazed me is the amount of development that Gurgaon has seen. All things have a new-ish feel to them. But, I was disappointed at the lack of a life beyond the professional circle in Gurgaon. You are expected to be either at work or shopping. For everything else, head to Delhi. I guess it could get really boring after a few days. Without full Metro connectivity and the lack of any mode of public transport, getting by without a vehicle is a challenge to say the least. I was, however, impressed by Delhi's Metro and if the quality of Mumbai's metro is as good, we are in for some comfortable commutes indeed.

After all this, I'm finally back a full circle. having arrived first in Pune in 2004, I'm back in the same place. The same lovely weather, the same traffic, the same attitude. It feels good to be back ! Magarpatta has grown in the years gone by and I notice that almost everything here is expensive, even when benchmarked against Mumbai. There was hardly any time settling in, since work demanded my attention almost immediately. However, I have decided to call a rental in Trillium my home for the foreseeable future.

That's about it for now, I'll try to put up a review of the i10 along with some pics and travelogues a little later.

Disconnecting

Leaving an educational institute is one of the toughest things to do. Even more so at a place like ISB. Just physically leaving the campus is a challenge in itself. For 360 days we have been pampered by Sarovar and nature. I can't imagine what it would be like to make my own bed!! As if to make things worse, summer has arrived with warmth, colors and today, cooling rain. Sigh...

Disconnecting from the more abstract attributes will require greater effort than anything else. In some sense withdrawal symptoms started to creep in after placements. The classrooms seem uninviting, the conversations repetitive and the parties monotonous. I guess I'm yearning for a newer challenge and the accompanying anticipation of the unknown!

For various reasons, term 8 is meant to facilitate this process. The courses are instructive rather than participative, giving us that much free time to create memories. Some choose to move the bull, others find memories a bottle and a few lucky ones like me get to go on an all-expenses-paid vacation to Bangkok! Team Trip-Plan learnt a lot in that visit, made a few good friends and overall had a reality check on what it means to be an entrepreneur. And of course, it wasn't just all work :)

We can do without the campus, without even the daily dose of gyaan since we will find substitutes once we leave this place. What I will miss are the students. Contrary to perception, an institute does not make the students, but vice versa. This is what I found at BHU and what I have observed at ISB. Whatever the ills and criticisms of ISB, what cannot be doubted is the talent inherent in the student body. Who knows if I'll ever find another collection of such specimens (!) in a single place at the same time.

Filling up the year book did bring back tons of memories. It was surprising to note what people actually thought of you. For some, it was payback time :) . The last section party was great and given the large turnout, it absolutely rocked. People are now busy collecting pictures, videos, books, presentations, anything at all that defined their time here. I'm not sure if that's the right way. We tend to accumulate just too much baggage.

SLC has promised an absolute blast for the next three weeks including parties, lunches, paintball fights and what not. With the Hon. Kapil Sibal expected for Graduation Day, the coming days offer a plethora of entertainment.

I'm left wondering sometimes, though, what it would be like to call ISB an alma mater. How would people perceive me ? Would I be branded as snobbish and elitist or smart and wise ? Time will tell...

Validation

These last few days of free time have really brought on introspection. I'm yet to form an opinion of my time here at ISB. Unlike at BHU, where I was nostalgic even before I left, ISB seems to defy classification. So I decided to go hunting for other similar experiences.

Of course, talking to ISBians is too small a sample. But the overall feeling I got was that most of my MBA friends (ISB, IIMs, US etc) were underwhelmed by the MBA experience. This effect was even more pronounced with those who had harrowing placement experience (and hence could be discounted to an extent) but the nagging feeling that an MBA is not all that it was cracked up to be could not be shaken off. Why is it then that the stereotype of the MBA Gods has spread like wildfire ? Does society's perspective of MBAs differ significantly from the students' ? If so, why ? Perhaps it is because our benchmarks change once we're inside.

A couple of interesting reads helped put things in perspective. Keep off the grass by Karan Bajaj takes a "pot" shot at management education at the IIMs. It's a must-read to appreciate some of the absurdity that goes on behind the scenes in Indian management education. A second, and probably more cultured, version of the B-school experience is Ahead of the Curve by Phil Broughton. Based on his two years at HBS, he puts a more realistic spin on the pressures faced by the students at an international B-school and comes very close to what my experience at ISB was like.

Both authors speak of the pressure to perform, of somehow finishing top of the curve. They also talk of the serendipity of success, of learning to take failings in your stride and not being overwhelmed by peer pressure. Easier said than done when every incoming student will be fighting tooth and nail for that pot of gold called IB/VC/PE/MC. Is this correct ? Students will have to compromise simply because of demand supply mismatch. Is this fair ? Why ask people to write lofty essays about goals when you know almost 80% of them won't be able to achieve them ? I think the GSB prof was on the right track when he asked - How much will you bend over for ?

My own personality has undergone some change since I came here. I was always introverted and critical to begin with, but now I sense that I have become more cynical. A sameness begins to creep in after some time and diversity and participation become mere buzzwords. As managers, when we are taught to question everything and deal with the uncertainty of everyday business, it can easily become the twisted prism through which we view life. I would not like this cynicism to be my greatest takeaway from an MBA. Entrepreneurs, especially, will have to figure out how to retain their dreams when surrounded by this ocean of randomness and pessimism.

Don't get me wrong - there's no experience like B-school. Everything about them is larger than life. For a few months, you're likely to be more alive than ever before and you'll be challenging everything you thought you knew about yourself. It's a grand adventure. But, like all adventures, it's not without risks. I only wish that starry-eyed folks who come in expecting the moon can be better prepared to imagine the worst-case scenario and have the right contingencies planned.

Final Stretch

Term 7 is done, dusted, and with that begins the end. It's been a nerve-wracking past few weeks. And to be honest, I have almost no recollection of the time between Dec - Jan. It's as if someone reached into my skull and ripped my memories out. I guess that's what stress does to you. Now that I have a job and time to kill, it's about time I started stocking on books. The first one I ran across was Alice in Wonderland (this book has to be on the pre-read list for O-week) and came across this scene to describe my own personal placement experience:

Alice asked the cheshire cat sitting on top of the tree

"Which way I ought to go ?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to" said the Cat.

"I don't much care where so long as I get somewhere"

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go" said the Cat.

That's the perfect way to capture my emotions. All this expectation that any MBA student should have a clearly mapped out itinerary for his career is mostly bull. As managers we are expected to deal with uncertainty day in day out. I notice that people who deal with this the best are those who are flexible instead of stubborn. They are not zappered by a role/industry/function and instead can recognize a good opportunity when it knocks on the door. Is that what ISB must start looking for while admitting students ? We seem to have crossed the half way mark and further progress can be expected in the coming days. It's the last few remaining who'll face the toughest time.

As for the other tomes, I did manage to hunt down a modern rendering of the Mahabharata. It's been on my to-do list for far too long and after my failed attempt at reading the Gita translation, I realized that I needed a simplified version to appreciate it. An appetizer before attempting the real thing, so to speak.

Since our team was shortlisted for the Asia Moot Corp competition, I'm looking forward to going on a break to Bangkok!! We have tons to do in the meantime and my job is to get the prototype working before the end of Feb. You can never really separate a techie from code for too long. I've never really built a core Java app of this size and I guess timelines are going to be a challenge.

Anyways, I guess I'll be posting regularly in the coming days. Until then, adios...

Insanity Unbound

A new year. A new dawn. The same ol' ISB marathon. This spicy mix was stirred with a generous dollop of additional craziness. Yes. Placements are here.

Classes are half empty (pessimist?), assignment boxes too, and yet, LRC burns brightest as the future consultants dissect simulated cases on industries ranging from bubble gum to satellite launches. It's fun. Watching people stutter, stammer, blank out and come up with ludicrous solutions under the guise of "innovation" is truly a humbling experience. Campus abounds with nervous energy and yet is so deserted that you might expect a tumbleweed to roll past like a spaghetti western.

All the creative CV skills we have learned in our precious experience are on dazzling display. Would anyone notice if we added a few zeroes to the project value, a dozen more resources to teams managed, an award here, an appreciation there, all topped of with "strategy", "critical", "value", "client", "international", "global", "culture", "inter-personal" and other such lofty words ? Oh what fun the recruiters must have!!

The shortlists are in, the warriors chosen and battle lines drawn for Jan 16. As time passes, you can feel the tension rise. It's like in a circus, as the trapeze artist prepares for the final jump and the drum roll reaches a crescendo. It's unbearable, really.

Different people deal with this in various ways. Some try to hide a smile, others a nervous twitch and the rarest of them all are those who shake hands with confidence during these times. It takes brave souls to wake up each day and find out if you are worth anything in the market. We take valuation courses, but this is the ultimate test of what rupee-worth you place on yourself. Some short, some long, some just don't care. As always, ISB's diversity is tremendous.

And just as you feel you can't take it any more, the drums stop. There's a clash of swords as the trumpeter announces the commencement of battle. The audience waits with bated breath. By this time, you can't walk in campus. The tension's so thick, you actually have to swim through. Those with multiple interviews run around from room to room. But for the vast majority who don't partake of the spoils on offer on day 1, it is but a trailer of the things to come.

The Consulting sisters are in their full array of feathers and fur. Egos prickle, schedules disintegrate, escalations happen and then, poof - like that it's all over. 48 hours and a deathly silence settles before the final offers. There's gossip galore, the smart ones take wagers on who'll make it where. ISBians being ISBians know when to make a quick buck. Finally, it happens. The first offer, a clap on the back, a muted celebration, mindful perhaps of the hundreds still out there.

A sigh of relief and ISB settles down till the next day to repeat the pattern on a miniature scale. It's been two weeks now and it truly has been a learning experience. From people who believe risk can only be lowered by diversifying, i.e., applying to all sectors/roles/pay-checks/locations/companies irrespective of their preference to those who app to a selected few, it is a test of skill, focus and endurance.

How will this year be ? Who knows, each batch tends to react differently IMO to the same set of offers. Circumstances are not ideal and our batch is large. But we have some atypical profiles and new recruiters. I think we'll get there. Eventually.

I know - if you've read so far, the question is almost on your lips. Yes, I did get a job on D2. Consulting, but importantly, around Pune. Deja Vu. Disengagement has already begun while simultaneously, the class of 2011 begins their journey here

A la prochaine...

Twenty Years of Tendulkar

Sachin completed 20 years as an international cricketer recently. It deserves a salute, a prayer and gratitude. I wonder often, what could be termed as Tendulkar's calling card. It's not pure ability (Sehwag and Lara surpass him), neither is it grace (Ganguly and Laxman) nor is it stoic longevity (Waugh and Dravid). Why then has this Mumbai batsman has been regarded as the greatest modern batsman ever ?

Perhaps to answer that question, one needs to put it in context of what his exploits meant to a generation of Indians. I grew up without a world cup exploit to talk about, or a No. 1 test ranking to boast about. In the decade of the nineties, my sole link to the Indian team was Sachin - the epitome of excellence in batsmanship. I guess it also has a lot to do with the person within. Perhaps Rahul Dravid comes close - but the gravitas that Tendulkar the person brings to an occassion is unrivalled.

When Tendulkar was young and rising, we had no multi-crore sponsorships, no IPL. It was a different time. India itself was confused - what was our identity ? Would we, as a nation, succeed or fail ? The economic riches that some of see today were just a glorious tapestry then. We weren't aggressive, we weren't brash, we didn't slap team-mates and never were we accused of racism. Unfortunately, neither did we win.

But my memories of the 90s is defined by Tendulkar's achievements. The century at Perth, the marvellous 169 in South Africa, Chennai the lost cause, The Desert Storm at Sharjah. They inspired. They told of talent harnessed to achieve perfection. They told of one man against everyone. Tendulkar's achievement at this time was to show us the infinity of possibilities. Perhaps, as he became older, this also became the albatross around his neck. He grew up, his fans didn't.

Tendulkar at the crease caused us to devote attention. This was not a case of mind-numbing stonewalling, neither was it a case of unabashed swinging. With Tendulkar, you knew it would be a battle of wits. He had the technique to match the best of them. But perhaps Tendulkar realized that technique for technique's sake is useless. It has to be applied to score runs - that was his dharma as a batsman. And that made all the difference. Each delivery was analyzed carefully, field placements noted, angles calculated before that club of a bat came down like a bludgeon.

Tendulkar, together with Dravid, is the last link to an earlier generation. There is no show of strength but humility in his achievements. Behind that helmet, also rests a thoughtful brain. My dad just cannot relate to the Indian cricket team without Tendulkar and neither can I. But when Tendulkar does talk, the audience listens. As the Aussie coach found out earlier.

With the swagger of a few lusty hits, the joy of a few undeserved wickets, some of the players have the gall to call him grandpa. They forget that this Grandpa, just crashed a majestic 175 against Australia recently. Why Tendulkar failed as a leader and a captain will always remain a mystery to me. I suspect there was more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye. Perhaps it just wasn't in him - the cheeky tendlya just couldn't lead the masses.

How will history remember him ? Perhaps as a fine product of Bombay Batsmanship. A thorough gentleman in a rapidly changing milieu. A thinker and a genius. A fighter, worn down by responsibility in his best years. A star reborn as part of a winning team. An underrated bowler. A beacon of hope for a generation past. A monument to greatness for a generation to come.

Thanks for the memories, Sachin.

Dude, where's my Term Break ?

Winter's Here !! The air's crisp and cold. And the placement bug going around seems to be a pandemic :)

Amidst the hoopla, term 6 has seen a quiet start and term 5 ended with a bang. Term 5, BTW, was one crazy term. The fact that you were outside your sections for the first time was quite disorienting. Each class had different faces, different groups and different interactions. It took a little adjusting to.

And I realized how much I missed my section. There was a maturity about our section that helped everyone belong in one way or another. Not to mention being exposed to other CP Kings and Queens. I never realized people had so much to say about everything !! At times though, I think Section A had gotten it right wrt CP.

Term 5 was a very Quant-heavy term for me. With Fixed-Income Sec, Options and Marketing research, the work load seemed a little overwhelming. But the learning was equally good in most cases. The final project that we submitted for a new product launch was a great experience that taught us pretty well the uncertainties faced by management. However, the slew of project work meant that my term break went up in smoke.

The last few days have also been ones of introspection, personally. The decision of which career track to pursue cannot be put off any further. One way or the other, I have to decide and pursue my choice with gusto. Oh, what I would give for some BHU-style procrastination !!

Neha was here for here Birthday. That meant she experienced it ISB style - with a freezing dunk, cake, wine and a sumptuous meal !! Anyways, that's it for now. Solstice, ILS and other events are on the cards in December. I'll try to put up some pics in the next post.

Time

It's that simple four letter word around which our lives revolve at ISB. It controls our day and our night, our sleep and our action. Without time, life at ISB would have been incomplete - time gives meaning to our existence at ISB. That's what the philosophically minded folks would say. In my opinion though, time is pure evil. Satan's invention intended to cause ulcers to MBA students. And ISB is its favorite haunt. We understand the meaning of Just-In-Time through practical experience.

With so much to do, we prioritize and organize to the minutest detail. Assignments are pushed back to the day before submission. The actual deadline though is hilarious. Imagine the scene - 8 AM on a Monday morning. You're in the atrium at 7:45 enjoying a nice warm breakfast, proud that you slogged through the night for the submission, yet feeling guilty that you had to leave it till so late.

And then you see inspiration running towards you - a fellow ISBian in PJs and all, half groggy, a handwritten assignment in three different inks, writing tilted at a 45-degree angle. "Give me a god-damned stapler!! Whaddaya mean you don't have one ?! I tell you, carrying staplers should be made mandatory - just like I-cards." 10 minutes to go. You hear frantic shuffling as the masses gather to deposit their pieces of wisdom in the drop box. I hear sighs of frustration, mingled with exhaustion. 5 minutes - and the rush turns into a flood. TAs emerge, to claim their property. "Damn, I forgot to attach the Excel sheet - puuuuuhllllleeeezzzzzz can you extend the deadline while I fly back ?". And with the final drop, the torture ends. It's now in the hands of the almighty TAs to strike down a night's effort with the stroke of a red pen. Cruelty knows no bounds.

But there's no relief - the 8:15 class beckons. What's it today ? Management of Organizations ? There was a pre-read ? What ? 45 pages, there goes my CP ! A cuppa in one hand, out comes the course pack and you hear random words like "enterpreneurial networks", "cognitive biases" etc. You take a deep breath. Considering that you have risen above the mortal maya of puny CP marks, you congratulate yourself on not having read a single word. What's more, you are confident that nobody else has either, which means we're all in the same boat thanks to relative grading - No tenshun.

So begins another crazy day. The prof tries his/her best to make us see light - but alas, halfway through class, most of the students are in various stages of dozing off - CP be damned. Sometimes though, you hear absolute gems of knowledge that truly brings "insight" to those who were unfortunately awake.

I hear snores emnating from the guy next to me. Nice. Four hours later, positively refreshed, we head off for the real education - study groups, meeting, clubs and parties.

C'est la vie

Poised on the edge of Forever

That's one of my favorite phrases - from Sagan's Cosmos. I guess that beautifully captures the essence of the past few weeks at ISB. Things move so rapidly here that it's like falling into a black hole - everything seems to slow down and accelerate at the same time.

Term 3 ended in August. Not a bad outing - I had some apprehensions about Managerial Accounting, but did well in the end. Operations was as I had expected - did just about average. No big surprise there - Ops was never my favorite subject. Entrepeneurship was...interesting. A different class experience where we got to intereact with a lot of entrepreneurs on a first hand basis. And then there was Corporate Finance. Prof. Bhagwan Choudhary really brought the discussion alive and made seemingly complex concepts sound simple. Combined with his sense of humour and the energy, we devised a new slogan - In Bhagwan, we trust!

And then, in September, something snapped, and ISB has just burst forth in a wave of creative orgy. Music, dance, painting, drama, workshops, speakers, conclaves - all seem to be swirling in a majestic kaleidoscopical experience. The PaEV projects and the ideas that came up were amazing. Most of them would fail in the real world - but some of them, like the on-demand singing choir - turned out to be really interesting. I wonder what has changed but a sense of energy has come back to campus, that was sorely lacking in terms 2 and 3. Everyday there are at least a couple of events for us to sample.

Time has moved on to a new plane that I'd like to term continuum. One really can't decide where a day ends and the next one begins. People might freak out at the amount of work students put in. But the good thing about this is that it helps us test our limits. It teaches us to prioritize and makes us understand the importance of each activity we undertake.

At ISB, I learned that you need to adapt, you need to stand still, you need to learn, you need to unlearn, you need to chillax, you need to focus, you need to listen to others, you need to make yourself heard, you need to be practical, you need to be moral, you need to bullshit, you need to mean every word, you need to....always push yourself.

I've been kept busy with the BTC and ELP activities. The conclave is coming up in October and preparations are in full swing. Now that we have won ourselves a ELP, there has been some additional learning on the sidelines, combined with the demands on time, of course. These days, I see more sunrises than ever before - and not voluntarily I tell you!! But the campus has begun to look really pretty. With just a hint of light rain, the cicadas singing and the stillness of early morning, it's hard not to simply fall in love with this place.

The short trip home in August was a big boost. Rest, recuperation, rejuvenation - perfect! Combined with the Ganesh Utsav, it provided for some fun and entertainment. Neha's having a hectic schedule at JBIMS, makes mine pale in comparison.

Anyways, been interacting with a few guys from PG and if that's any indication, ISB is going to have some interesting profiles next year as well!!

Exhale

This is pretty much going to be a rambling post. Term 2 is at an end and we're in the vortex of timelessness before the next one begins. Time for reflection, rest, rejuvenation, movies, music, masti !!

The campus wears a deserted look, since most have gone home to seek solace from the rigor of term 2. Somehow, it seems more imposing with the clouds hanging around, windswept trees and the peacocks singing themselves hoarse. Indian Hogwarts, anyone ?

LRC is empty and I feel for once as if it's home. Books surround me and I have no distractions from people mistaking this for a cool place to hang out. Term 3 sounds like a finance-laden term, but I expect it to be slightly easier except for the submissions.

I've finally gotten time to work on the BTC activities. 1st order of the day is to get the pages on the website up to standard. I hope to add some more depth of information to these pages and work simultaneously on the insider. Technology will make or break placements this year for many of us and efforts are already under way to make sure that we are well-prepared.

2009 placement stats are out. And things are much better than expected. Apart from the drop in the salary figures, what might concern me is the quality of the placements that might not have been reflected in the placement statistics. Many-a-time, people accept jobs which may not pay highly, but are excellent spring boards. I wonder if this desire for quality was not sacrificed last year.

PG is buzzing again with profile evaluations. I don't see the point of these questions. I mean, come on, is your life so uni-dimensional that a 5 lines can enable a complete stranger to put a number on it ? Some people just don't see the uselessness of these questions. And suppose I tell you that there's no way in h**l you'll get into ISB, is that deterrent enough ? Would you give up so easily ? If not, why ask ?

I'm contemplating forming a book club out here. Lots of well-read people, but the LRC has a severly limited collection of fiction. OIC is on to it, but a book club might bring like-minded people together. Let's see how things pan out.

At home, things are looking up. Neha's JB course should start by July end. Hopefully (I think that's not a recognized word), dad should be around to get her started. I would have loved to be there to welcome her back from the 1st day though...

That's it for now, expect a few more posts before the term starts. Until then, so long...

Once more unto the breach...

So the all-too-short term break came to an end and my Mumbai trip seemed to be a distant dream as the grind began, this time under the new avatar of Term 2!! The Term 1 results too were released last week. It seems I did just about OK - neither too bad nor too well - Above average in most cases. Most of the class was just waiting to exhale, and when the results came out, it's as if the campus heaved a collective sigh of relief that they had made it to term 2.

Prima facie, term 2 seems to be much more interesting than term 1. With Marketing and Competitive strategy, it now feels like a B-school !! However, underneath the veneer, it's a non-stop roller-coaster of assignments, homeworks and presentations. So thrilled was I to read that there would be only two mid terms, only to discover that the MarkStrat decisions require much more work :(

Speaking of MarkStrat, it's one of the more interesting ways to teach a management student. By giving you almost complete control of a firm, it provides a very realistic simulation of a typical business environment and allows you the chance to apply all the concepts taught in the classroom. In many ways, it's similar to the Management Game that's taught at various US B-schools. How did we do ? Just one decision into the game, we are already facing a price war. How we respond will determine our survival.

Overall, the focus this term seems to be on the practical side of things. Even though Optimization seems a little theoretical, its application certainly is not. Combined with the MarkStrat simulation, the Competitive strategy cases and Macroeconomics, this term will be critical in shaping our understanding of the world of business.

On the co-curricular side, now that the GSB core is in place, things are beginning to get a little more traction. If I can only manufacture time, I'm sure this avenue will be equally critical in building up a perspective of the real world.

On another note, the admissions for Class of 2011 have begun. I met some prospective students on campus and I could sense their trepidation. Deja Vu !! When I get some time, I'll put up a comment on the essays this year.

Until then, be good !!

Dazed and Confused

It's been exactly a month since I landed up at ISB. And as I celebrate the fact of having survived 30 (thirty !!) days of this never-ending roller-coaster, it's perhaps time for some reflection.

Classes here are nothing like the ones I was used to at the under-graduate level. Heck, it was an achievement if you even showed up in class back then. Out here, you have to show up and contribute !! Some do buckle under the pressure to put the best foot forward, succumbing to the foot-in-mouth disease. Compared to other sections, though, mine has fewer horror stories to report. For an understanding of the quality (or the lack of it !!) during class discussions, check out ISB Co10's Bakwas Band Karo blog. And all for a fistful of CP points :)

While some of the classes are top-notch, others not so much (yet), the overall quality is still pretty high. You're expected to hit the ground running. Sometimes, even that is not enough as the prof dashes through 2 hour sessions, leaving you wondering what the hell just hit you. With, pre-reads, reads, post-reads, assignments, planned and unplanned quizzes, club meetings, dunkings, parties and sports, I and Mr Sandman haven't had much time to catch up !!

I do wonder whether such concentrated and intense doses of academics will help me retain things in the long run. Perhaps ISB subscribes to the theory that pressure brings out the best in a student. For example, some teams have to submit 2 assignments, solve 1 quiz and prepare for another in 3 days. Relaxed learning that allows you to delve into a particular subject in detail is probably not going to happen out here. Already the strength of club meetings is dwindling. BTC found it tough to even fill up a Mini LT.

On a lighter note, a classmate of mine was particularly targeted by fiends of the slithery variety. Not one, but THREE snakes in his quad. Now that is probably an unforgettable experience. I leave you with some amazing pictures from the 1st month:

Hello, ISB !!

Obviously, my absence after the last post has been rather long, busy as I have been in moving to Hyderabad. Let's get the first impressions out of the way - the new airport is smashing, its location bad and the city center clean and green.

Staying at Lakdi-ka-pul for the first day meant that we were almost in walking distance from Hussain Sagar lake. It's kept neat and clean and the surrounding gardens lend an excellent ambience. I did manage to take in the view from the Birla temple (heavenly), a quick walk in the NTR and Lumbini parks (pleasant) and a jaunt in Snow World (fun), before I landed up in Gachibowli for the registration. Mom, dad and sis did manage to catch some more spots before they left, though.

The registration was a rather stressful affair, but passed off without any glitch. I should have been better prepared for the heat out here. It makes even walking out for lunch a laborious affair. Thankfully the apartments are air conditioned !! Speaking of the accommodation, I've been put up in the new student village - SV4. The quality of the construction and furniture is quite good, although it looks a little morose since the landscaping hasn't been completed yet. However, my room affords me a beautiful view of the setting sun each day !!

The campus as such is very well maintained, with lots of trees around. It's a far cry from the wild but humongous campus I was used to at BHU. At around a 100 acres, it's quite small compared to the 1300 acres that BHU occupied. However, the quality is infinitely better.

The first week was the O-week. We were bombarded left, right and center about ISB's capabilities, the professional clubs, the social clubs, the various departments and the honor code (hmpf). To top it up, we've had a talent night, a sports meet, a treasure hunt, painting, team building, movies, alumni interaction sessions and three parties. Already, the duration of my sleep has dropped by close to 50% !!

"Get Future Ready" is ISB's tagline. However, as I look at the course details, I'm reminded more of "Abandon all hope, ye that enter here" from Dante's Inferno. ISB's academic rigor is very high. However, this time, the batch admitted has a very diverse profile, with representation from almost all industries. The average GMAT has dropped a little to 716 while the work-ex has increased to 5 years. A brief write-up can be found here.

I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few of my friends from BHU out here. Already, the class is beginning to gel rather well, making us feel as if we've been here for 7 months instead of 7 days. On a lighter note, though, I haven't had so many introductions in my entire life, as I have had in this 1 week. Stepping outside the campus for the first time yesterday, we realized how comfortably enconsed we are within our own little world.

Well, time's running short and I gotta rush to the library (surprise ! surprise !). I'll keep this blog abreast of the development as time goes along.

PS: To clear the air:

1. ISB has admitted around 575 students, close to its target of 560, not the rumoured 630.
2. Around 300 students are now out of the placements. The tentative time frame is June 09, but can be extended if required.
   

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