Trillion

iOS versus Android

2010-10-12T11:54:00.002+05:30

Interesting metrics on how the Android platform is overtaking iPhones. Link. One very interesting comment was the following -

Jobs has done it again, just like he did it with the Macs in the 80s. iPhones will become a niche player in the mobile market, just like the Macs are a niche now in the PC market. Don't get me wrong he is a genius, in the 80's he was the one that made graphical interfaces for the OS very popular with the introduction Machintosh... Remember? It was the greatest. Then what happened, Bill Gates copied it and we now have the Windoze jargonaut. It could have been Apple instead of M$FT. What was Jobs mistake? He didn't allow vendors to clone his precious Macs. Instead Bill Gates welcomed them and the rest is history. Now Steve Jobs has done it again, he got into a corner with AT&T, and he has kept a tight grip on the developers. While Google is replaying Microsoft's killer tune... Remember this a couple of years from now.

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Very interesting take on Apple's strategy. I was a toddler when the Mac actually came out so don't know the dynamics of Apple vs. MSFT then. Will definitely do some reading on this though. However, should be interesting to see the Apple vs. Android dynamics now. Is there a Macintosh Part 2 we have on our hands now?

Who Brought Freedom, Gandhi or Netaji?

2010-09-04T14:30:00.007+05:30

Another article I came across talking about the lack of recognition given to Subhash Chandra Bose and questioning Mahatma Gandhi's (MG) actual contribution to India's independence. Interesting read and once again - makes me question whether MG was just a facilitator for the British.

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Recent research shows that Netaji Subhas Bose and the INA were responsible for the British leaving in 1947 in a hurry. The Fall of Singapore to the Japanese in 1942 rather than Mahatma Gandhi’s Quit India Movement was the beginning of the end of the British Empire. Dr. N.S. Rajaram finds out more.

There is a story that the late Mao Zedong, when asked his opinion about Napoleon as a leader replied: “How can I say? He is too recent.” Napoleon’s career ended in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and Mao died only in 1976. So what could Mao have meant when he said that Napoleon was too recent? He meant that a certain amount of time has to pass before we can view historical events and personalities objectively. Our reading of recent events is bound to be colored by our closeness to them. This truth was brought home to me a few years ago when I was visiting Penang in Malaysia as the guest of some veterans of World War II, but first some background.

In India, people are brought up on the story that Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru—with others receive grudging notice if at all—led a heroic struggle freeing India from the British rule. Miraculously, the whole thing was accomplished without resort to violence, by the application of a mighty spiritual force called ahimsa (non-violence) unleashed by the Mahatma. If true it is a tribute not only to the power of Gandhi’s (and Nehru’s) spiritual vision, but also a lasting tribute to the spiritual sensitivity of the British rulers. Like the tiger in the children’s poem (govina kathe in Kannada), which killed itself rather than eat the calf, the British gave up the empire and left.

This received a jolt during a recent trip to Southeast Asia where I had occasion to visit some people who had served with my late father during World War II. Their account of their experience in the period from 1942 to 45 casts serious doubt on this beautiful story. Here we are faced with a dilemma— the conflict between what we read in history books and what the people actually saw on the ground. The usual story is that after some initial reverses the British defeated the Japanese. But those who actually served there, now in their late 70s and 80s, remember it quite differently. Uniformly, this is what I heard everywhere and from everyone.

Report on INA“When the Japanese attacked, the British ran away. They were very clever. They had a wonderful life with bungalows and butlers and cooks and all that, but as soon as the Japanese came, they ran away. And once they got back to India, they sent Gurkhas, Sikhs, Marathas and other Indians to fight the Japanese. They knew it was too dangerous for them. That is how we got independence in Malaya.” Malaysia was then called Malaya and Singapore was its capital.

Not one of them remembered the British fighting the Japanese— only running away. They remember also Indian soldiers coming and fighting; some of them stayed back in countries like Malaya (as it was then called), Singapore and other places. One man, who as a youngster had been my father’s orderly during the War, invited me to his home in Penang for the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Singapore. What he told me took my breath away.

“That is why the British left India also. When the war was over, all the Indian soldiers who had defeated the Japanese returned to India, and the British got scared. They didn’t want to fight the Indians who had just fought and defeated the Japanese. So they ran away from India also.”

I tried to explain to him that Gandhiji’s nonviolence was the force that convinced the British to leave. But this man, not an intellectual but a battle-hardened soldier with sound commonsense would have none of it. “If it was non-violence, why didn’t they leave earlier? Gandhi and the nonviolence were there before the war also. Did they have to wait for the Japanese to come and teach them non-violence?”

One may smile at this simple way of looking at history, but as will be seen later, this revisionist view has good support. The ‘authorized’ version with Gandhi and Nehru as central figures continues to be taught in India because it benefits those in power. It shows the British also in favorable light as a magnanimous and even spiritual people, which of course they don’t mind. But history shows a different picture.

The year 1942 was momentous. It was the year in which the British Empire suffered a massive defeat at the hands of an Asiatic people (Japanese); it was also the year in which Mahatma Gandhi launched his famous but ill-fated Quit India Movement. Subhas Bose also entered the picture at about that time, first in Germany and later in Southeast Asia. But first it is necessary to get an idea of the momentous impact of the Japanese victory on the psyche of the colonized people as well as on that of the colonizing powers. What triggered it was the Fall of Singapore.

The fall of Singapore in 1942 heralded the end of the British Empire and of European colonialism in general. Indian independence came in 1947, but what really ended the Empire was the fall of Singapore. This has received scant notice by Indian historians who remain trapped in Eurocentric thinking, but there is ample evidence supporting it. Among Indian historians, only R.C. Majumdar has seen its significance: the fall of Singapore broke the spirit of Imperial Britain. As we shall soon see British historians have themselves admitted it. Let us look at what really happened to the British in 1942.

When the Japanese attacked Singapore in February 1942, its large and well-equipped British garrison surrendered without a fight. These well-attended ‘pukka sahibs’—used to good living—had little stomach for war. For decades, the ruling authorities had avoided facing the truth that they were not a fighting force. They had deluded themselves with resounding slogans— calling Singapore the ‘Bastion of the Empire,’ ‘Impregnable Fortress,’ ‘Gibraltar of the East’ and such. None of it helped when Singapore fell to a Japanese army less than a third the size of the defending forces.

Yet, so far removed from reality were Singapore’s British residents, that even on the verge of surrender, a gunnery officer was refused permission to mount guns on the golf links for defending the city. He was told that he needed permission from the golf club committee. And the golf club committee would not be meeting for at least a week, so he better hold off!

In the fall of Singapore, its symbolic significance was infinitely greater than the military defeat. It destroyed the myth of European superiority over the Asiatics once and for all. Historian James Leasor wrote in his Singapore, the battle that changed the world:

“Dazed by the incredible superiority of the Japanese, the defenders’ will to win had withered. … The psychological damage was even greater than the military defeat— and this had been grotesque enough. …Under the lowering Singapore sky lit by the funeral pyres of the British Empire … a door closed on centuries of white supremacy … ” Actually the Japanese had planned it that way— to break the sense of superiority exuded by the Europeans, by the British in particular, in their dealings with the Asiatics. Leasor wrote:

“At the start of the campaign, each Japanese soldier had been issued with a pamphlet that set out Japan’s reasons for fighting the British and the Americans. Her [Japan’s] claim was that she would liberate East Asia from white rule and oppression,” for since “We Japanese, as an Eastern people, have ourselves for long been classed alongside the Chinese and the Indians as an inferior race, and treated as such, we must at the very least, here in Asia, beat these Westerners to submission, that they may change their arrogant and ill-mannered attitude.”

The Japanese attack on Singapore accomplished much more: it ended the British Empire to be followed swiftly by the end of European imperialism itself. To return to the fall of Singapore, as with the fall of Hong Kong a few weeks earlier, the only worthwhile resistance had come from the Indian garrisons— the Sikh and the Gurkha regiments. The prestige and the mystique associated with the British Empire were shattered by these ignominious defeats.

And this is how my gracious host in Penang and his friends, men who had seen it at first hand, remember it. As they saw it, the massive defeat destroyed the British morale. It was the specter of the whole nightmare being reenacted in India, with nearly three million Indian soldiers just returned from war, which made the British leave India. “They ran away,” the old soldier kept telling me repeatedly.

I may point out that this is also the view of many Indians who saw action in the war— both in the Indian Army and those who fought in Subhas Bose’s INA. Indian soldiers saw that their British officers were frightened to death of the Japanese, while they themselves were prepared to fight them.

After the War, the British defeat in Singapore was followed by the French defeat in Dien Bien Phu at the hands of Ho Chi Min’s soldiers in Vietnam. This laid the groundwork for the American defeat in all of Vietnam and their inglorious flight from Saigon. No one today talks about the superiority of the ‘White Race’. The first nail in coffin was driven by the Japanese in Malaya in 1942.

It was this changed perception, that the British were just ordinary mortals like the rest that allowed Netaji Subhas Bose to recruit Indians in Southeast Asia into the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauz or the INA). Subhas Bose saw that the Indian armed forces were the prop of the Empire— not just in India but everywhere the British went. But Gandhi and Nehru, preoccupied with their utopian dreams of nonviolence failed to realize its significance. When the opportunity arose, Bose seized it to transform the armed forces into a nationalist force, while Gandhi and Nehru started the Quit India Movement which collapsed in a few weeks.

Before we look further, we need to ask: what support do we have for this revisionist view, that Subhas Bose and the INA brought freedom to India? The evidence is ample and impeccable. Several have noted it, but the most distinguished historian to highlight Bose’s contribution was the late R.C. Majumdar, one of modern India’s greatest historians. In his monumental, three-volume History of the Freedom Movement in India (Firma KLM, Calcutta) Majumdar provided the following extraordinary evidence:

“It seldom falls to the lot of a historian to have his views, differing radically from those generally accepted without demur, confirmed by such an unimpeachable authority. As far back as 1948 I wrote in an article that the contribution made by Netaji Subas Chandra Bose towards the achievement of freedom in 1947 was no less, and perhaps, far more important than that of Mahatma Gandhi…”

The ‘unimpeachable authority’ he cited happened to be Clement Attlee, the Prime Minister of Britain at the time of India’s independence. Since this is of fundamental importance, and Majumdar’s conclusion so greatly at variance with the conventional history, it is worth placing it on record (Volume III, pages 609 –10).

When B.P. Chakravarti was acting as Governor of West Bengal, Lord Attlee visited India and stayed as his guest at the Raj Bhavan for three days. Chakravarti asked Attlee about the real grounds for granting independence to India. Specifically, his question was, when the Quit India movement lay in shambles years before 1947, where was the need for the British to leave in such a hurry. Attlee’s response is most illuminating and important for history. Here is Governor Chakrabarti’s account of what Attlee told him:

“In reply Attlee cited several reasons, the most important were the activities of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose which weakened the very foundation of the attachment of the Indian land and naval forces to the British Government. Towards the end, I asked Lord Attlee about the extent to which the British decision to quit India was influenced by Gandhi’s activities. On hearing this question Attlee’s lips widened in a smile of disdain and he uttered, slowly, putting emphasis on each single letter— ‘mi-ni-mal’.” (Emphasis added.)

Another point worth noting: after the fall of Singapore that ended the British Empire, the most dramatic national event was the INA Trial at the Red Fort— not any movement by Gandhi or Nehru. This led to the mutiny of the naval ratings, which, more than anything helped the British make up their minds to leave India in a hurry. They sensed that it was only a matter of time before the mutiny spread to other parts of the armed forces and the Government. None of this would have happened without Subhas Bose and the INA.

The crucial point to note is that thanks to Subhas Bose’s activities, the Indian Armed Forces began to see themselves as defenders of India rather than of the British Empire. This, more than anything else, was what led to India’s freedom. This is also the reason why the British Empire disappeared from the face of the earth within an astonishingly short space of twenty years. Indian soldiers, who were the main prop of the Empire, were no longer willing to fight to hold it together. This is the essence of leadership.

This brings us back to Mao’s half joking reply— that it takes time to get the proper historical perspective. It is now more than sixty years since India became free. We can afford to look back and see the real reasons for British leaving India in a hurry. To sum up, by the end of the War, Gandhi was a spent force, and Subhas Bose was India’s most popular leader.

Now, sixty years and more later it is time to recognize the truth: first, it was the Fall of Singapore in 1942, not the Quit India Movement that was the beginning of the end of the British Empire; and finally, it was Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose more than anyone else who was responsible for India’s freedom in 1947.

Link to the article

IIMs/IITs and Masala Novels

2010-07-28T23:47:00.006+05:30

Am just amazed to see the latest trend of IIM and IIT graduates to turn to writing. Its become a whole new category in itself. Someone I know (a former colleague) just published his book. I read an excerpt on his website - and it was PATHETIC!

With all due respect to the person and his writing 'skills', I am amazed to see publishers print that kind of stuff. The grammar was terrible and the plot was as interesting as a wet carrot. I guess the Press with its inordinate amount of coverage to these institutions, has got people really curious on what actually happens inside. So curious that they pick up just about anything as long as there's an IIT or an IIM printed on the cover. Of course, Chetan Bhagat has opened up a whole new category of english readers, through his 'masala' style of writing. These low cost (Rs. 95 per book) and not-so-sophisticated english readers do not expect top class writing and are happy with, to put it crudely, a 'book' version of Bollywood films. Moment you add IIT/IIM to the title, you've got a winner.

Chetan Bhagat's writing style will probably not win him a Booker but atleast the books are interesting. The newer writers I feel are just trying to ride the wave through the brand names of their alma mater.

Another person I know has turned a writer. Full credit for following their dreams, but rheir writing style SCREAMS WANNABE. Am sure they will improve with time but I only hope that the person concerned is not trying to free ride the writing wave just because they got the privilege to study at one of the top institutions in India.

Personally, I agree I don't write too well either, but I think I have read enough to spot crass/wannabe writing. And nothing irritates me more than the garb of being a writer when you're actually just free riding on your institute's name.

Godse - Why he killed Gandhi

2010-05-21T10:58:00.004+05:30

This is a link doing the rounds on Facebook. It is the speech Nathuram Godse gave in court after assassinating Mahatma Gandhi.

Somehow, I have never completely agreed with MG's policies and whatever Godse says, if true, validates that. Anyhow, decide for yourself what you believe in. This speech definitely gives me food for thought.

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JANUARY 30th, 1949 - The Mahatma was assassinated by a man called Naturam Godse.
After he shot him, instead of running away, he stood his ground and surrounded. He said, "No one should think that Gandhi was killed by a madman"

One of the best speeches of All time, which is compared to Socrates's speech in his trial. The Judge was astonished by his speech and commented that if India had followed the Jury system of giving judgments, Godse would have been adjudicated as "Not Guilty" by the Jury, cause after the speech, the whole audience was in tears.

This is the speech given by Nathuram Godse in the court in his last trial for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi

Born in a devotional Brahmin family, I instinctively came to revere Hindu religion, Hindu history and Hindu culture. I had, therefore, been intensely proud of Hinduism as a whole. As I grew up I developed a tendency to free thinking unfettered by any superstitious allegiance to any isms, political or religious. That is why I worked actively for the eradication of untouchability and the caste system based on birth alone. I openly joined anti-caste movements and maintained that all Hindus were of equal status as to rights, social and religious and should be considered high or low on merit alone and not through the accident of birth in a particular caste or profession. I used publicly to take part in organized anti-caste dinners in which thousands of Hindus, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Chamars and Bhangis participated. We broke the caste rules and dined in the company of each other.

I have read the speeches and writings of Dadabhai Nairoji, Vivekanand, Gokhale, Tilak, along with the books of ancient and modern history of India and some prominent countries like England, France, America and' Russia. Moreover I studied the tenets of Socialism and Marxism. But above all I studied very closely whatever Veer Savarkar and Gandhiji had written and spoken, as to my mind these two ideologies have contributed more to the moulding of the thought and action of the Indian people during the last thirty years or so, than any other single factor has done.

All this reading and thinking led me to believe it was my first duty to serve Hindudom and Hindus both as a patriot and as a world citizen. To secure the freedom and to safeguard the just interests of some thirty crores (300 million) of Hindus would automatically constitute the freedom and the well being of all India, one fifth of human race. This conviction led me naturally to devote myself to the Hindu Sanghtanist ideology and programme, which alone, I came to believe, could win and preserve the national independence of Hindustan, my Motherland, and enable her to render true service to humanity as well.

Since the year 1920, that is, after the demise of Lokamanya Tilak, Gandhiji's influence in the Congress first increased and then became supreme. His activities for public awakening were phenomenal in their intensity and were reinforced by the slogan of truth and non-violence, which he paraded ostentatiously before the country. No sensible or enlightened person could object to those slogans. In fact there is nothing new or original in them. They are implicit in every constitutional public movement. But it is nothing but a mere dream if you imagine that the bulk of mankind is, or can ever become, capable of scrupulous adherence to these lofty principles in its normal life from day to day. In fact, honour, duty and love of one's own kith and kin and country might often compel us to disregard non-violence and to use force. I could never conceive that an armed resistance to an aggression is unjust. I would consider it a religious and moral duty to resist and, if possible, to overpower such an enemy by use of force. [In the Ramayana] Rama killed Ravana in a tumultuous fight and relieved Sita. [In the Mahabharata], Krishna killed Kansa to end his wickedness; and Arjuna had to fight and slay quite a number of his friends and relations including the revered Bhishma because the latter was on the side of the aggressor. It is my firm belief that in dubbing Rama, Krishna and Arjuna as guilty of violence, the Mahatma betrayed a total ignorance of the springs of human action.

In more recent history, it was the heroic fight put up by Chhatrapati Shivaji that first checked and eventually destroyed the Muslim tyranny in India. It was absolutely essentially for Shivaji to overpower and kill an aggressive Afzal Khan, failing which he would have lost his own life. In condemning history's towering warriors like Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Gobind Singh as misguided patriots, Gandhiji has merely exposed his self-conceit. He was, paradoxical, as it may appear, a violent pacifist who brought untold calamities on the country in the name of truth and non-violence, while Rana Pratap, Shivaji and the Guru will remain enshrined in the hearts of their countrymen forever for the freedom they brought to them.

The accumulating provocation of thirty-two years, culminating in his last pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of Gandhi should be brought to an end immediately. Gandhi had done very well in South Africa to uphold the rights and well being of the Indian community there. But when he finally returned to India he developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was to be the final judge of what was right or wrong. If the country wanted his leadership, it had to accept his infallibility; if it did not, he would stand aloof from the Congress and carry on his own way. Against such an attitude there can be no halfway house. Either Congress had to surrender its will to his and had to be content with playing second fiddle to all his eccentricity, whimsicality, metaphysics and primitive vision, or it had to carry on without him. He alone was the Judge of everyone and everything; he was the master brain guiding the civil disobedience movement; no other could know the technique of that movement. He alone knew when to begin and when to withdraw it. The movement might succeed or fail, it might bring untold disaster and political reverses but that could make no difference to the Mahatma's infallibility. 'A Satyagrahi can never fail' was his formula for declaring his own infallibility and nobody except himself knew what a Satyagrahi is.

Thus, the Mahatma became the judge and jury in his own cause. These childish insanities and obstinacies, coupled with a most severe austerity of life, ceaseless work and lofty character made Gandhi formidable and irresistible. Many people thought that his politics were irrational but they had either to withdraw from the Congress or place their intelligence at his feet to do with, as he liked. In a position of such absolute irresponsibility Gandhi was guilty of blunder after blunder, failure after failure, disaster after disaster.

Gandhi's pro-Muslim policy is blatantly in his perverse attitude on the question of the national language of India. It is quite obvious that Hindi has the most prior claim to be accepted as the premier language. In the beginning of his career in India, Gandhi gave a great impetus to Hindi but as he found that the Muslims did not like it, he became a champion of what is called Hindustani. Everybody in India knows that there is no language called Hindustani; it has no grammar; it has no vocabulary. It is a mere dialect; it is spoken, but not written. It is a bastard tongue and crossbreed between Hindi and Urdu, and not even the Mahatma's sophistry could make it popular. But in his desire to please the Muslims he insisted that Hindustani alone should be the national language of India. His blind followers, of course, supported him and the so-called hybrid language began to be used. The charm and purity of the Hindi language was to be prostituted to please the Muslims. All his experiments were at the expense of the Hindus.

From August 1946 onwards the private armies of the Muslim League began a massacre of the Hindus. The then Viceroy, Lord Wavell, though distressed at what was happening, would not use his powers under the Government of India Act of 1935 to prevent the rape, murder and arson. The Hindu blood began to flow from Bengal to Karachi with some retaliation by the Hindus. The Interim Government formed in September was sabotaged by its Muslim League members right from its inception, but the more they became disloyal and treasonable to the government of which they were a part, the greater was Gandhi's infatuation for them. Lord Wavell had to resign as he could not bring about a settlement and he was succeeded by Lord Mountbatten. King Log was followed by King Stork.

The Congress, which had boasted of its nationalism and socialism, secretly accepted Pakistan literally at the point of the bayonet and abjectly surrendered to Jinnah. India was vivisected and one-third of the Indian territory became foreign land to us from August 15, 1947. Lord Mountbatten came to be described in Congress circles as the greatest Viceroy and Governor-General this country ever had. The official date for handing over power was fixed for June 30, 1948, but Mountbatten with his ruthless surgery gave us a gift of vivisected India ten months in advance. This is what Gandhi had achieved after thirty years of undisputed dictatorship and this is what Congress party calls 'freedom' and 'peaceful transfer of power'. The Hindu-Muslim unity bubble was finally burst and a theocratic state was established with the consent of Nehru and his crowd and they have called 'freedom won by them with sacrifice' - whose sacrifice? When top leaders of Congress, with the consent of Gandhi, divided and tore the country - which we consider a deity of worship - my mind was filled with direful anger.

One of the conditions imposed by Gandhi for his breaking of the fast unto death related to the mosques in Delhi occupied by the Hindu refugees. But when Hindus in Pakistan were subjected to violent attacks he did not so much as utter a single word to protest and censure the Pakistan Government or the Muslims concerned. Gandhi was shrewd enough to know that while undertaking a fast unto death, had he imposed for its break some condition on the Muslims in Pakistan, there would have been found hardly any Muslims who could have shown some grief if the fast had ended in his death. It was for this reason that he purposely avoided imposing any condition on the Muslims. He was fully aware of from the experience that Jinnah was not at all perturbed or influenced by his fast and the Muslim League hardly attached any value to the inner voice of Gandhi.

Gandhi is being referred to as the Father of the Nation. But if that is so, he had failed his paternal duty inasmuch as he has acted very treacherously to the nation by his consenting to the partitioning of it. I stoutly maintain that Gandhi has failed in his duty. He has proved to be the Father of Pakistan. His inner-voice, his spiritual power and his doctrine of non-violence of which so much is made of, all crumbled before Jinnah's iron will and proved to be powerless.

Briefly speaking, I thought to myself and foresaw I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from the people would be nothing but hatred and that I shall have lost all my honour, even more valuable than my life, if I were to kill Gandhiji. But at the same time I felt that the Indian politics in the absence of Gandhiji would surely be proved practical, able to retaliate, and would be powerful with armed forces. No doubt, my own future would be totally ruined, but the nation would be saved from the inroads of Pakistan. People may even call me and dub me as devoid of any sense or foolish, but the nation would be free to follow the course founded on the reason which I consider to be necessary for sound nation-building. After having fully considered the question, I took the final decision in the matter, but I did not speak about it to anyone whatsoever. I took courage in both my hands and I did fire the shots at Gandhiji on 30th January 1948, on the prayer-grounds of Birla House.

I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus. There was no legal machinery by which such an offender could be brought to book and for this reason I fired those fatal shots.

I bear no ill will towards anyone individually but I do say that I had no respect for the present government owing to their policy, which was unfairly favourable towards the Muslims. But at the same time I could clearly see that the policy was entirely due to the presence of Gandhi. I have to say with great regret that Prime Minister Nehru quite forgets that his preachings and deeds are at times at variances with each other when he talks about India as a secular state in season and out of season, because it is significant to note that Nehru has played a leading role in the establishment of the theocratic state of Pakistan, and his job was made easier by Gandhi's persistent policy of appeasement towards the Muslims.

I now stand before the court to accept the full share of my responsibility for what I have done and the judge would, of course, pass against me such orders of sentence as may be considered proper. But I would like to add that I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me, nor do I wish that anyone else should beg for mercy on my behalf. My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled against it on all sides. I have no doubt that honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future.

-NATHURAM GODSE

Perfect evening

2010-02-20T23:31:00.004+05:30

Me in a blanket, working on my laptop with classical music in the background in a dark room.

Mumbai

2010-02-11T15:33:00.003+05:30

Suvendu Roy, of Titan Industries shares his inspirational encounter with a rickshaw driver in Mumbai:

Last Sunday, my wife, kid, and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra.
When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be any different...

As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines (kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver's back rest.

I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel.

My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. In front of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, dettol and some medicines.

This was enough for me to realise that I was in a special vehicle.

Then I looked round again, and discovered more - there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths
- from Islam and Christianity to Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism.

There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11- Kamte, Salaskar, Karkare and Unnikrishnan.

I realised that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was special.

I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished.

I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when hisemployer's plastic company was shut down.

He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night.

No break unless he was unwell. "Sahab, ghar mein baith ke T.V dekh kar kya faida? Do paisa income karega toh future mein kaam aayega."

We realised that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai - the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life.
I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time.

He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth brushes, toothpastes, soap, hair oil, and other items of daily use.

He pointed out to a painted message below the meter that read: "25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped.

Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs. 50.

My wife and I were struck with awe. The man was a HERO!

A hero who deserves all our respect!!!

Our journey came to an end;

45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness, and of a hero-worshipping Mumbai, my temporary home.

We disembarked, and all I could do was to pay him a tipthat would hardly cover a free ride for a blind man.

I hope, one day, you too have a chance to meet Mr Sandeep Bachhe in his auto rickshaw: MH-02-Z-8508.

The above was a mail forward.

LKP, Rambhai, Mess...

2009-06-04T03:00:00.002+05:30

...D-20, 6064, Underpass, RJM, Harvard Steps....

Some words, once a prominent part of my vocabulary. And now just memories.

Damn, I miss you IIMA!

Cinematic LSD

2009-02-08T11:04:00.003+05:30

Once upon a time

2008-12-05T01:11:00.002+05:30

The bright side is we're halfway through. Waiting to turn a full circle now.

26/11

2008-12-02T15:48:00.008+05:30

This day made me realise what India is made of. It took a terrorist tragedy of such gigantic proportions to finally make me understand the hypocrisy and double standards that we live amidst today. I probably sound like a cynic but here's the thing - all these protests, 'candlelight vigils' (God only knows what they're supposed to achieve), statements made by wannabe celebrities on TV news channels; is any of this going to cause even the slightest bit of change in Indian polity? For that matter Indian society?

In a summary, this is what I want to say - Don't pretend to care if you don't. Don't pretend to be concerned when all you can do is talk about it.

What gets on my nerves is not the attitudes and double standards of the politicians, but the attitude of the people, the citizens. What will you get out of drawing room discussions? Why all this wastage of time and effort criticising politicians and their policies. This person has Z plus security while citizens are dying | That person was calling the slain ATS chief a traitor yesterday, now he's calling him a martyr - Agreed, it is all wrong. So what are you doing anything about it besides talking? Have you filed a PIL against anything or anyone you felt is wrong? Ever thought of initiating a real movement with real issues? For that matter, will you even remember all this 6 months from now? How long will you keep talking and forgetting about things? If you yourself are not serious enough in wanting something, why should you get it?

If you want something you 'Indian', then you better learn to fight for it. It requires some real work, real sweat and real sacrifices. And if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Don't pretend to be concerned about what is happening around you. Because you know what? 6 months from now you'll have forgotten all this. Like you did when you forgot the martyrs of Kargil War, the money the Defence Minister made off the coffins of the martyrs, the Anti Sikh riots of 1984, the innumerable scams that have littered our socio-political history. You are an Indian, you want crap and you get it. Its time you admitted it.

I might be termed a cynic or even unpatriotic. All I am is someone intelligent enough to see and understand things, who has seen this charade a thousand times before and is too disillusioned now to do or say anything, with India and it's people. Not the politicians, but the people. This country is going down and in my little capacity, I will not do anything to about it. But unlike most others, I will not pretend to care too.

All my sympathies with the victims of the attack, my sincere compliments to the NSG and other security agencies, who I admire the most. It's our bad luck that we're born here, in India, because of which you'll never get the rewards you deserve and unlike you, no one will ever fight for you. I have lost hope in this country, which I will probably leave as soon as I can, but at times like these, it's people like you who tell me that maybe it's not as bad as it seems.

For now, I know as a nation we've reached our lowest point. News channels exploiting the tragedy, politicians exploiting the tragedy and the citizens once again befooling themselves. This country has made me lose faith in it. Today, I hate to be an Indian.

You call it resilient spirit? I think it's more to do with not having the balls to do anything. Admit your impotency Indians. Admit the fact that we have been and will keep on taking shit from everyone - the politicians, the press, the bureaucrats, everything. We shall still pretend to give it fancy names and phrases e.g. bounce back, resilience, ability to adjust, adaptability.

We are Indians and we are pathetic. Period.

Postscript - Funniest part is people actually had the time to create and join Orkut and Facebook communities on the Mumbai tragedy!

This is going to be a long and tough ride!

2008-09-16T13:19:00.001+05:30

R.I.P. - Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch

I was thinking about how a prominent executive from J.P. Morgan described to us the situation on Wall Street last year during the sub-prime crisis, during out summers ppt - "There was blood on the streets...!", he said.

Compared to what's happening now, that must now seem like an ice-cream truck passing through Wall Street.

I Love WIMWI

2008-08-21T17:35:00.002+05:30

Sitting in mah room, sipping tea,
I wonder about the place called WIMWI,
About its little quirks and strange ways,
The laughs, the cries and the fun filled days.

I will miss these red bricks,
Paining poor facchas with our silly tricks,
Oh, those euphoric tempo shouts,
And the all-night CS bouts.

Damn, exchange program is about to start,
Why do I feel a tug in my heart?
Germany, Paris, Sweden, Rome,
All that is crap, this IS home!

These lines were written by Gagandeep Singh, a batchmate at IIMA, about to go on exchange to Europe for 3 months.

Even though I am not going on exchange anywhere and will stay put on campus for the next 3 months, my feelings are much the same.

I have been home for the past 2 days and most unexpectedly, I miss my campus and I miss my life there. I am going to go back there on the 31st, but I have begun to dread March 2009, when home becomes just another place where I studied once.

Here's to the best damn institute ever - I truly love WIMWI!!

A weird little story

2008-08-18T21:52:00.003+05:30

"So what is it that you most want?", he asked the young man.

The young man took 2 milliseconds, the time it takes for you to process what the other person has asked you.

He closed his eyes, he knew he didn't need to say anything else. The Giver would understand what he wanted.

Death, the sweet end he had waiting for, would now come to him. At last, he got what he had been waiting for.

And as the final moments of his existence neared, he opened his eyes. "Ha ha ha!", his laughter rang sonorously on The Giver's ears.

"You still didn't give me, you still didn't know me!", he jeered at him ruthlessly. "The Giver, Oh! The Giver!", he sang in derision.

And then he closed his eyes. Forever.

IIMA - The First Placement

2008-06-24T23:05:00.000+05:30

Here's a very interesting article on IIMA's first placement season.

From the Archives

THE FIRST PLACEMENT

Prof. S. K. Bhattacharya

One of the major concerns of the Institute in early 1966 was the question of placement of the first group of IIMA graduates. However, at that time there was no placement office and nobody in the Institute had any inkling about the manner and process of finding placement for business school graduates. It was clear that the kind of placement that our graduates obtained would affect the future activities of the Institute in two different ways. If the companies recruiting our graduates were not of the kind which represented the upper crust of the corporate world and if the compensation packages offered were not attractive enough, the Institute would not be able to attract the right quality of applicants for its post-graduate programme. Also a ripple effect of an unsuccessful track record in placement would be that leading companies would not look to the Institute for recruiting its future entry level managers. While we were generally aware of the process of placement and campus recruitment in the US business schools, since no corresponding experiences were available in the Indian context, we were not sure what would be the appropriate steps to follow in our placement effort.

Campus recruitment by leading companies was very much the desired thing, but the manner of organising this activity was not very clear. This concern and anxiety was explicitly brought out in the faculty meeting. After a somewhat desultory discussion, I found one of my colleagues proposing that I must take up the responsibility of placement and organising this activity. Before I could protest and convey my view that at no point of time was it made clear that I would have to take up such administrative responsibilities when I joined the Institute, my colleagues strongly favoured the proposal. It was unanimously decided that I should take on the responsibility for placement. The faculty meeting resolved that all possible help should be provided to me in carrying out this responsibility. When I enquired from some of my colleagues after the meeting "Why me?" I was provided the most simplistic answer that since I had come from the business world (before I joined the government), I would naturally be the best equipped person to undertake this task since I would have many "contacts" in the business world. To add substance to their argument, many of my colleagues mentioned that since I had served in the Department of Company Affairs and as Registrar of Companies, I would no doubt be able to derive considerable support for placement given my past association with many senior industry people. It was, therefore, the consensus amongst the faculty that it should not prove to be such a difficult task.

The "Travelling Salesman"

I was without a clue as to how to go about this task except that I felt that four things had to be done right away: Firstly, we must send brief bio-data of the graduating group to a select group of companies who were likely to be aware of the contribution that could be made by management school graduates in their operations. Secondly, we must write individual letters to the Chief Executives of large industrial organizations in the public and private sector inviting them to come over to Ahmedabad for campus recruitment, with the further request that they might like to let us know in advance the kind of management level positions they had in mind so that these job descriptions could be circulated to the students in advance.

Thirdly, senior members of the faculty and members of the Board of Governors should write to their counterparts in the world of industry and government requesting them to support our placement activity.

Fourthly and lastly, we should identify the likely kind of personnel some of the companies would like to employ as managers in terms of their prior professional background in addition to their management education. For example, we felt that people with engineering qualifications or chartered accountancy degree would be of interest to engineering (and manufacturing
companies) and banks and financial institutions respectively. On this basis, we could quickly scan the background of the graduating batch of students and selectively write to the companies, particularly heads of personnel function, to consider the appointment of a particular student in the light of his curriculum vitae.

Having decided on this strategy, there was only one anxiety. How would the corporate world react to our scheme? We put together the format of a letter to be addressed which was issued under the Director's signature. Similarly, we identified the companies which could be addressed by the members of the faculty and members of the Board of Governors. I personally compiled a list of 150 prospective companies and set forth on a eight-week tour of industrial cities carrying with me detailed curriculum vitae of the graduate students. I was promptly dubbed as the "travelling salesman of the Institute's products". The first few replies I received in response to my letter saying that I would like to call on the Managing Director and Chief of Personnel were polite but tentative. The general tenor of reply was that while they would be interested in considering the Institute's graduates for appointment at the entry level in the managerial cadre, they were not sure in which field they would best contribute to the operations of the company. It was quite interesting to note that only one area which evoked considerable interest was marketing. There were several enquiries as to whether any of the students we would like to place had any previous background in marketing. Some companies enquired about the kind
of exposure our graduating students had in consumer goods and industrial products marketing.

"Ahmedabad had arrived"

One of the things that was done to help me carry out the task of organizing the placement activity was the provision of a secretary specifically for the purpose of this new activity. The person who was assigned was singularly innocent of all knowledge regarding filing, drafting or taking any action on his own. To add to all this, his capabilities in secretarial terms – just to
keep the correspondence activities on an ongoing basis – was less than heartening. When I left on the right-week tour, I was quite apprehensive as to what would happen to enquiries in my absence, since my placement secretary was in that habit of disappearing from time to time, particularly when the workload increased, on French leave. I came back from Ahmedabad to find loads of correspondence and letters unanswered and unfilled. I tried to imagine the effect this would have on the enquiring companies. When I compare that state of things with the current sophistication level of placement activities, I sometimes wonder how we actually got through the first placement programme body and soul together! To everybody's surprise, the first placement programme was a great success. The graduating students represented some of the best products
from the Universities, Institutes of Technology and the professions because of the very rigorous admission tests administered. At the time of the interview, employers could discern right away that they represented an elite group of students with fine intellect, and excellent academic and professional qualifications.

Also, because of the interfunctional exposure to the various business disciplines and the case method of instruction they were able to respond to the various issues raised at the time of placement interviews with considerable depth of understanding, articulation, and, most importantly, insight in the business planning and decision making process. Leading multinational and international companies participated in the placement programme and many of them came to Ahmedabad for placement interviews. Notwithstanding the near-chaotic state of the placement office, they were greatly impressed with what they heard and saw. Most graduating students had at least two, and several had three or more offers. Two other distinctive characteristics of the placement programme were that the salaries and compensation packages offered were extremely attractive compared even with the IIT graduates and professionals. At another level, the jobs offered were managerial in their content rather than functional (i.e. a specific position in manufacturing or accounting or purchase with no particular potential for moving up in the general management ladder).

At the end of the programme, we knew that Ahmedabad had arrived in the professional education scene. The achievement was of course built up on the part of the students' intrinsic merit, but credit has also to be given to Vikram Sarabhai, senior faculty members and several members of the Board of Governors who contributed their generous support to the placement programme. The immediate fallout of the success of the placement programme was the quality
of students we attracted in the succeeding academic programmes because of the perception that "you had to have merit to qualify for Ahmedabad in the keenly competitive admission test, but if you did so – and pursued your studies rigorously and purposively – the placement opportunities at the end of the programme were the most attractive in the country."

(Source: Institution Building, The IIMA Experience; Vol. I: The Early Years)

Another thing in the list

2008-05-30T14:52:00.000+05:30

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Yuvraj Singh (vice-capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Pragyan Ojha, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, S. Sreesanth

This is the squad for the upcoming ODI series India will play. I haven't followed cricket like some of my more devoted friends, hence this isn't a view on what the team composition should have been. I just wanted to say that it sure feels odd to see a team without Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly.

Even the cricket team's changed, looks like I really have grown up (or older at least).

The Muck is Shining

2008-05-30T12:04:00.000+05:30

'...A whirlwind road yatra by a Rahul Gandhi here, four days of campaigning by Sonia there, are no longer enough. Instead, each constituency has to be micro-managed, with an astute mix of caste calculations, local alliances, money power, rebel management and targeted campaign themes. In Karnataka, there were as many as 20 constituencies where the margin of defeat was less than 2,000 votes, sixteen of which the Congress lost. Four Congress rebels won their seats, while another ten got more than 10,000 votes. In a tightly fought election, these statistics suggest that the Congress was unable to handle the constituency level management which often makes all the difference between victory and defeat...'

These are the words of Rajdeep Sardesai on his blog here. It's an analysis on the whys and hows of the battle Congress lost in the recent Karnataka elections.

What surprises me is that nowhere in the whole article have good governance, welfare of the people, and in today’s scenario, other such archaic ideas been presented as the premise for winning an election. Instead all that has been talked about is how the calculations went wrong, how the management was better in the BJP camp, campaign themes etc. Sure these things matter as much, but to try and dissect a party’s electoral loss and another party’s win purely on the basis of what strategy they used and not once talk about how the incumbent fared while in power; how many roads were built, villages electrified and other such macro indicators, is to me a rude reminder of the reality of the muck that is Indian politics. Leave alone the macro indicators, not even a mention of whether one can hope for realization of the electoral manifestoes, or what kind of performance can one hope for from the candidates/ party in Congress’ case, is there.

Of course, the article is about Congress and its impending downfall, but surely governance, performance parameters of its leaders must also count for something when discussing a party’s future?

India shining I guess!

2008-05-07T15:32:00.000+05:30

On Orkut -
Today's fortune: You will be unusually successful in business

Now you're talking! ;-)

Iraqi Water!

2008-04-28T05:49:00.000+05:30

Written on the oil tank of a truck here in Bombay -

Thoda kam pee meri rani,
bada mehenga hai,
ye irag ka paani!

Translation -

Drink a little less my darling,
It's very expensive,
This water from Iraq!

Things an MBA does to you -

2008-04-26T01:26:00.000+05:30

Never thought I'd read about the Japanese bond market to pass my time!

Taare Zameen Par

2008-02-04T18:52:00.000+05:30

Just saw this movie. This is not a review.

I am just happy about 3 things.

1) People would have become aware of not just Dyslexia but also the problems a child might face
2) Aamir Khan made Taare Zameen Par
3) India has an actor and now director, called Aamir Khan

Wall Street and Cricket

2008-01-31T21:21:00.000+05:30

There was a very good article by Lord Meghnad Desai about market ups and downs and capitalism in Times Of India's editorial today. It talked about how humans have a tendency to blow things which can be explained through simple explanations, totally out of proportion. An example being the death of Lady Diana. Conspiracy theories involving the royal family, MI5, MI6 have been floated. Its just hard for people to understand that a young and beautiful princess could have died in a clear case of drunk driving by her driver.

Don't know how far it's true but it does make a lot of sense. In our bid to make sure we know the truth, we over-complicate matters. In the current context, the current market recession or the impending recession (atleast in the US) is also part and parcel of a similar cycle of recession and boom of capitalist markets. Unfortunately, I haven't spent a lot of time reading up the exact reasons due to why, whatever is happening is happening, but the current events which I think can be safely traced back to last year's sub-prime crisis teach us one thing for sure.

The markets and for that matter, the world is not run by a single very strong force or a few very strong forces such as governments or rich institutions. We all ultimately perform actions and the sum of such infinite actions lead to whatever happens, outside the realm of control of a single or a finite number of strong forces. As often suspected, it is not the American government or a few American multinational banks which 'run' the world, instead it is a self-organising system bigger than a single or a group of such institutions. Biggest proof of this is the sub-prime crisis which caught Wall Street unawares and created the problems it did for the American government.

Today, we see the biggest and the best American multinational banks going to the Asian (Middle-eastern actually) funded Sovereign Funds to get them out of the hole they have dug themselves into. In simple language, middle eastern governments will now have stakes and control in some of the biggest symbols of American power and wealth. And an irony it is. The very same people who the Americans drive out of their country, after 9/11, are now the ones bailing them out of this crisis that they now face. An end to white hegemony? Too early to say, another conspiracy theory maybe, but to some extent, I am sure the poles of power have shifted. The coming few years though should be interesting in the sense that where the US economy now go to.

Maybe I should have a read up a little more on the various articles about the current crisis, to be able to answer this question. Would request some of the more knowledgeable readers in this regard to educate me.

Call it a coincidence but the recent controversy in Sydney, regarding Harbhajan Singh has led to the Indian press agog with reports of how this is the end of white hegemony and how the shift of power is taking place, to where it rightfully belongs. After almost half a century of playing 'soft' cricket, of being 'gentlemen', our players have now learnt to respond back when sledged at, our Board has now learnt to raise its voice when needed. In the current case though, that of Bhajji, arm twisting Cricket Australia into the decision the Indians wanted was wrong according to me.

The debate is not however, whether BCCI was wrong or right. In two entirely different worlds, the world economy and Cricket, we see a shift of power; the focus is on whether the dynamics of the world as a whole are actually changing. Or is it just another conspiracy theory?

Ricky Ponting Kicked in His Balls!

2008-01-19T19:43:00.000+05:30

Bliss!!

And while India was doing that at WACA, I was getting WACked!

Whats that you ask?

Thats WAC - Written Analysis and Communication.

The perfect way too ruin a Friday evening and a sleepy Saturday.

Another Lecture I Slept Through

2008-01-19T02:10:00.000+05:30

At WIMWI, my classes are held in CR-7, Section A that is. The misery of having a name that starts with 'A' is one that never seems to end. Over here, my seat is in the 'well', dead center, right in the line of sight of the professor, and right in the front of the class. Although, the biggest advantage has been that I am forced to listen to the lectures, there are still some of them which would make the most energetic man go to sleep.

Today however, I slept through another lecture.

This man's -

H.H. The Dalai Lama.

He had come down to the campus to deliver a talk on Business and Ethics.

There were a few things about him which struck me. His personality - Confident and simple, which was reflected in the way he started his talk - he asked his aide to tell him the topic; on being told that it was Business and ethics, the first thing he said was - 'I don't know anything about business! If I start one, it'll probably fail in a week!'

The talk he gave subsequently was related to ethics with a touch of philosophy and spirituality. To some extent it was on expected lines, which for me made the talk uninteresting. Having said that, on attending the event, I did come to realize the immense amount of strength and courage that soft spoken human had. To have been the symbol of hope and a bright future for a people who have lost their country, in the face of hostilities from the Chinese government is no kid's play.

What was more interesting was the Q&A round at the end of the talk. Some people asked interesting questions such as Sino-Indian relations and the Indian policies with regard to Tibet. Dalai Lama's response to some of the such awkward questions asked just reflected the deep intelligence that this outwardly simple looking person had. Some people asked him downright philosophical and spiritual questions. For some reason I haven't been able to figure if such questions are actually genuine or whether those people were just putting their CP*. Some questions were downright funny, one mathematics professor asked him whether the concept of karma and destiny could be integrated with the concept of probability to come up with a mathematical model to scientifically analyse the whole thing. Personally speaking, the idea was interesting, but the time and setting it was asked in was, as i said, funny. I mean here was a Buddhist Monk and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, on a mission of peace, giving a lecture on ethics, thanks to the unknown mathematics prof., trying to understand the concepts of Probability!

I went to the auditorium to see him for two reasons -
1) To see an actual Nobel laureate
2) To see what was so great about this personality that people right from Heads of States to common people all over the world flock to see and hear him wherever he goes.

I guess one of the perks of being at IIMA is that one gets access to such personalities, which is why I went to the talk, even though the topic of ethics is not the most interesting in the world for me.

All said and done, atleast there's one more person whose lecture I can claim to have slept through. And this time its a Nobel Laureate!

*CP - Adapted from the concept of Class Participation - An event where students speak in a class discussion just for the sake of it, because the measure of your CP has a bearing on your final grade.

Goodbye 2007!

2007-12-31T11:04:00.000+05:30

Its gonna be LEGEN.....

.....wait for it.....

....DARY!!

There are times in a person's life when there he is abound with just too many questions, that is when a man realises what he must now do.

Suit up and spread some awesomeness! (Thank you Mr. Stinson!)

Looking forward to the much talked about 3rd term at IIMA and life in general, with a mix of anticipation and apprehension. I heard this somewhere - 98% excitement and 2% nervousness or 2% excitement and 98% nervousness....I don't know

A very very Happy New Year to all of you and I really hope this year and the years ahead bring you all that you want!...;)

Updates

2007-11-23T14:58:00.000+05:30

Well, haven't got an opportunity to write something here in a long long time. Life has been really hectic. One of the major developments though, has been the summer placement process getting over last week.

Before going for the term break after 1st term, most people were just aware of the fact that summers (as in summer placements) were approaching. A few had already begun preparations in real earnest but some like me are habituated to leave things for the last moment. Well, not exactly the last moment, but having started way too late, I definitely would have been a lot more satisfied with my preparations had I started early. Just to give you an idea of what I am talking about, I did spend around 25-30 hours preparing my CV, which is the average around here.

But as they say, all's well that ends well. I got the job I wanted. The crib I now have from life is whether or not I'll get the much vaunted PPO (Pre-Placement Offer). I'll be interning at General Atlantic Partners in Mumbai. It's a private equity firm and for someone interested in finance, I think I can safely say its one of the happening sectors today. More so since it was a day 0 offer I got the rest of the placement days to relax. A mini vacation if you will. At IIMA, trust me that is a luxury!

I wanted to put up photos of the day 0 placement process. Thanks to the lack of a camera phone, I wouldn't be. I still might though, if the placement committee here would be kind enough to share a few photos with the batch. I did see a photographer hanging around the place on all placement days. Why I am talking about the photos is because they are interesting!

One thing that really strikes one and makes one proud to be associated with IIMA is the extreme degree of professionalism reflected in any and everything. Be it in the placement of pens on the table, while setting up the interview rooms at night for the recruiters for the next day or be it something like interacting with the top firms worldwide, the way it has been conducted by the placement committee and the student body in general here has been exemplary. It is things like these I guess, which creates the bond between oneself and WIMWI.

On the same note, it is really amusing to read articles on the placement process in other reputed B-schools in the country. I wouldn't name any school but having read an article or two, its great fun to realize that such behaviour is ultimately driven from the insecurity created by brand IIMA. I probably sound like I am boasting, but whatever I say has a substantiative backing. Ultimately, the biggest parameter to measure our brand value is just a simple observation - IIMA never compares itself with anyone, whether directly or indirectly. And the others do it, again and again. Please read press reports on placement processes in other well known B-schools in the country and you'll realize what I am talking about. Those schools are good, no two ways about it, but when you come down to showing yourself to be better by simply showing others down and talking about what makes you happy, I believe there couldn't be a bigger sign of your inferiority complex.

Anyhow, I was a little amused as I said, and just wanted to use this medium to talk about this phenomena. It's 1-30 AM and I'll hit the sack now.

Greed

2007-11-12T01:41:00.000+05:30

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is
good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures
the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for
life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind

~ Wall Street

And I agree.

What Was the CEO of Merrill Lynch Doing While ML Was Writing off $8.4 Billion?

2007-11-11T15:32:00.000+05:30

On a golf course. Golfing. By himself.

His golf scores revealed something more interesting about him. Read further on here.

Missing Something. Don't Know What.

2007-11-05T21:58:00.000+05:30

I-Banking; Money

2007-11-01T02:40:00.000+05:30

Words of wisdom from a 'rockstar' trader, whose talk I attended today.

"With higher salaries, we might get a bigger TV, a bigger house......but not everything gets bigger in life"

One of the most amazing company PPTs I attended so far. I sure am glad, I belong to this place!

Rightly said - Branded for Life

Gujarat - Holocaust

2007-10-28T13:51:00.000+05:30

Hard to believe these people live a few kilometers from where I live. Words do not come to my mind. See this video.

For when constraints seem insurmountable, you get more energy

2007-10-21T18:50:00.001+05:30

I Was Reborn Today

2007-10-13T09:21:00.000+05:30

If There Was A God...

2007-10-02T23:03:00.000+05:30

...Here's his chance to prove his existence

I am really hungry and have nothing to eat. Please o God, give me something to eat! and a little more time to blog in higher detail...!

What I thought was a relatively better day...

2007-09-25T21:04:00.000+05:30

...in terms of time, has left me more squeezed for it than ever!

Man I hate it!!!

Real Pleasure

2007-09-15T21:15:00.000+05:30

At a Dorm 20 meet -

The chimp: I always thought the pleasure you have when you finally pee after holding on to it for a long time is equal to orgasm. I was wrong, peeing is better, since you have to work harder to hold it...!

And I....have no words...

I've Fallen off the Cliff...

2007-09-05T23:35:00.000+05:30

...And I hope to God he makes me fly

One Thing You Didn't Know About IIMA

2007-09-03T13:37:00.000+05:30

Something for that matter which even I didn't know.

IIMA is one HELL of a dating joint! I mean at the parking or the LKP or some other secluded corner of the campus, you see the local Amdavadi couples together. I am pretty sure they tell their folks that they're going for CAT coaching classes and come here instead. For 'inspiration' I guess!

Infact I see this one couple at the parking stand, near the ever-present Rambhai (more on him later, he deserves a full post), every evening. And I mean, every evening. The guy is sitting on his motorbike and the girl is sitting on a chair nearby or the reverse arrangement. Boring but definitely cost-effective and also hats off to the guy's patience for being able to chat with the girl everyday for atleast 2-3 hours. I always wonder where that couple finds the topics to talk on everyday.

From the IIMA perspective, I guess its a contribution to the society, saving those young lovelorn couples their pocket money...;)

That's LKP (Louis Kahn Plaza) by the way

Beautiful, isn't it? Don't blame those couples for coming here! Sometimes when things aren't going good, which is most of the times for me, sitting here at night makes it all worth it. Makes you feel like a WIMWIan, an ossum and a godly feeling indeed!

India Today

2007-08-19T18:56:00.000+05:30

Source: CNN-IBN

15 August, 2007

2007-08-16T15:15:00.000+05:30

A habit, developed over the past twenty-two years has now been ingrained deeply into my system. I am late again.

I'm a day late but on Independence Day, when I am old enough to understand a lot of things, here's a humble dedication from me to our nation and to the brave men and women who fought for my freedom to abuse/make proud my nation. I don't know what adjectives I should use to describe it. To some its a nation worth dying for, to some its just a place they were born in and where they pass their time before they get the US/UK/Canadian visa. Personally speaking I don't know if I'll ever face a situation when I need to die for it, even if I do, I don't know if I'll do it. Neither do I know if I'll ever leave this land permanently.

I do however like, even love this country. The reasons for the same though, might or might not exist.

Moving on, a few lines from a man who according to BBC made the sun set on the empire.

I believe that the civilisation into which India has evolved is not to be beaten in the world. Nothing can equal the seeds sown by our ancestry.

Rome went; Greece

shared the same fate;
the might of the Pharaohs was broken;
Japan has become westernised; of China nothing can be said;
but India is still,somehow or other, sound at the foundation
~ Mahatma Gandhi

In the words of Mohammed Iqbal -
Yunan Mishra Roma, sab mit gaye jahan se,
Ab tak magar hai baaki, naam-o-nishan hamara

Kuch baat hai ki hasti, mitti nahi hamari,
Sadio raha hai dushman daur-e-jahan hamara

Happy Independence Day

The Notice Everyone Dreads

2007-08-10T22:22:00.000+05:30

IIMA

August 10, 2007

To : PGPI, MANAC I Students

From : MANAC I Instructors

Please note that there will be a short MANAC I Quiz today (Friday, 10.8.2007) at 2.30 p.m. in respective classrooms.

Thanks.

On His Wedding Night

2007-07-29T22:15:00.000+05:30

Prof RaviC is writing the case solution on the blackboard and looks at a guy who's studying his casemat (case material) instead of looking at the blackboard for the solution.

Prof. RaviC: You're like the idiot who wants to watch a blue movie on his wedding night!

I don't think I need to describe the class reaction now!

I haven't had the privilege to be taught by this amazing guy but he's well known in IIMA circles for his witty remarks. I hope I too get to sit in his class next year!

WIMWI - Decoded

2007-07-29T21:12:00.000+05:30

What 2T a.k.a. Vamsee, a friend and my dorm-mate (is that a word?) had to say on WIMWI, an introduction to life in WIMWI.

"I am really tempted to write a full fledged blog here, considering that this will be my first post since entering the hallowed portals of IIM A. But alas, with the mid-terms around the corner, it would be too much of a risk. But since I have managed the miracle of completing my WAC assignment before time (three hours to go!!!), I will take the liberty to put up a post.

Here is a list of some common jargons used here in WIMWI. Disclaimers, since it is not an original work. None the less, it makes a pretty interesting read. I promise there is a lot to follow, for which this will work as a reference guide. Take them at the face value now, explanations will follow in due course of time. I am off to enjoy the famous WAC run(See below) now...

Arbit (adj.: origin:: local); short for arbitrary .meaning nothing in particular and everything in general.

Assignment (n: origin:: James Bond Movies); PC lab has computer paper; groups have to meet; the Profs have to give something in order to take something; hence ass-ignments; gives rise to Newton's nth law - "thickness of the report shall be directly proportional to the weightage of the assignment".

Blackbooks (n: origin:: IIM A); collectors' items; consists of old question papers which are the saviours during quizzes, midterms and endterms; question-able methods of cracking the scene. "

Bumps (n: origin:: A'bad Municipal Corporation); if it's your birthday or in case you crack the scene , then you have had it - no ifs and butts.

Case mat (n: origin:: Case Unit); IN CASE YOU ARE FOUND WITHOUT IT IN CLASS , THEN YOUR CASE IS VERY WEAK. BT THE WAY THE UPPER CASE IS INCIDENTAL

CCCF (n: origin:: IIM A); acronym for 'Conceptual Clarity and Contextual Familiarity'; for cccf on what that means see cccf.

Chai (n: origin:: obscure); the underlying fillosophy of WIMWIans; the forum for countless discussions over countless cups; the non-alcoholic spirit of IIM-A life. Has strong associations with mess , NR and Rambhai's

CHAOS (n: origin:: Biblical (almost), IIM-A); describes the state of an WIMWIian two hours prior to any submission or presentation. Also IIM-A's organised (???) annual extravaganza.

Cogging (n: origin:: Arthur Hailey); Collaborative Operations on Getting Good Insights for Necessary Grades; on-line teaching aids for turning the wheels of one's life . Strictly prohibited in WIMWI.

Combo (n: origin:: Phantom Comics); IIM-A equivalent of Jungle Olympics; never ending source of fun, entertainment and activity in the second term, when battles are fought on an mental and physical plane; an outlet for action and interaction.

Convocation (n: origin:: Nalanda); the day when IIM-A life turns full circle; 180 degrees are handed over on this day.

Corpo Dinner (n: origin:: IIM-A), one more resultant)of mess grub; around 25 Indians go out in English suits to an American place, have Mexican and Chinese food and go Dutch; a truly global affair.

CP (n: origin:: Harvard); Acronym for 'Class Participation'; IIM's vocal support to the cause of socialism, often accompanied by its offshoots like Arbit CP, Challenge CP, RCP, ACP etc.

CR (n: origin:: Sholay); acronym for 'Class Representative'; generally jobless except for rescheduling classes, making farewell speeches, postponing assignments and making a fool of him(her)self in the Talent Nite.

Cribbing (n:: Oliver Twist); Continuous Ranting and Industrious Brow Beating Inevitably for Necessary Grades.

D-l, D-2 & D-ll (origin:: Louis Kahn); short for Dorm-1, Dorm-2 and Dorm-11; residences for non-males and non- resident males.

Day Zero (n: origin:: Algeber-wai mulublai); the day of reckoning for the best; genesis for some ;armageddon for any.

Diro (n: origin:: English); Big Chief of IIM-A; a figurehead who can't figure out where we are heading.

Dorm (n: origin:: Louis Kahn); they exist from 1 to 23; the epicentre of all activity in IIM-A; also residences for WIMWIans.

Dorm Rep (n: origin:: IIM-A); Chief of the dorm; arranges for dinners, dunkings, T-shirts and other common dorm inventory

Dunking (origin:: Niagara fn!!s) ; IIMA's answer to the patriot missiles ; long range aqueous projectiles aimed at an unsuspecting passerby providing source of immense gratification; this ritual for no perceivable reason, has a distinctive sexual bias.

Endterm (origin :'The Crusaders'}; the magnum opus of the coterie of professors, an epic battle fought by valiant students to stay afloat, which puts other occurrences like the Mahahharata and the Ramayana to shame; used in conjunction with other torture instruments like midterms and quizzes.

Exhibit (origin:: showbiz); Unnecessary, but necessary portion of anything attached to its end; an integral part of WAC reports and PPTs.

'F'(origin:: ancient Greek); the most dreaded grade in non-academic circles; also happens to be the sixth letter of the alphabet.

Fachchas ( origin: obfciirc); all new entrants to the realms of Louis Kahn, Vastrapur, the case method, corpodom and MANAC quizzes.

FPM ( origin: 11M A); fully paid mazaa; a four year transform which involves a fully subsidized vacation with a universal pastime called research; fine fellows they become.

Fraud (origin: RaviC, mind u, only the word, not what it stands for) to beautifully elaborate and then succinctly encapsulate first grade BS, applies to many assignments, and unfortunately, some courses as well

Garba ( origin: Gujjuland); a rollicking local dance form; an occasion for honing one'? skills in tertiary activities like dancing, bird-watching; a time when IIM A comes to NID, NIFT and CEPT.

Group Meeting (origin: Harvard); necessary part of the curriculum; when WIMWIans sit or stand or lie down and discuss solutions tor unstructured problems and dilemmas in life; in other words , the day's juice is collated, arranged and prepared ready for dispatch to community at large the next day.

Harvard Dinner (origin: IIM A); the soup that we land ourselves in on Friday nights; a solemn acknowledgment of where we derive our 'bread and butter' from;

IIM-B (origin: Indian Govt.); never heard of such a place, cccf invited. Also called Not So Well Known Institute of Management In Southern India.

IIM-C (origin: Indian Govt.); never heard of such a place, cccf invited. Also called Not So Well Known Institute of Management In Eastern India.

Juice (n: origin: IIM-A): WIMWI's own edition of the British, Hindi and vernacular tabloids put together in torture chambers called classrooms for public consumption and reprieve; no wonder Hitler didn't like the 'juice'.

Junta (origin: 1930s, Spain); we, the people, the mob, any number of guys and gals from one to infinity generally present anywhere.

KLMDC (origin:Gujjuland); Kinda' Lodge for Misled Delegations from Companies, a paid vacation for middle level managers in an amiable ambiance; for those who can't afford golf courses, crash courses are the in-thing; a classic case of mutual value addition.

Leli (origin IIM-A); ancient war cry of the masses; occurs when unwitting individual(s) have been taken (in) by a revenge seeking mob. (see tempo shout and zigzag).

LKP (origin: Louis Kahn); IIM-A equivalent of the red square; venue for convo, afternoon snoozes, photograph sessions, inaugs, rock-nites .....

LSD (origin: 'TheBeatles); stands originally for' Literary and Symposium Desk' but literally the symposium part is non-existent.

MAD Club (origin: IIM-A); stands for Movie A Day; but often Xceeds one's XXpectations.

Management (origin: Gujjuland); what one tells the auto driver when you want to get to IIM-A; not to be confused with anything else.

Marketing (origin: Indus Valley Civilisation); if it's not finance it must be; governed by four P's, especially during placement - Please Pardon Poor Percentages; also the name of torture instrument used by PO, Vyas and Jain Baba.

MF (origin: IIM-A); stands for Marketing Fair christened 'Insight'; where the companies use WIMWIans as guinea pigs for trying out new ideas and the WIMWIans use local junta as guinea pigs to try out their fledging skills and all the junta not doing serious work enjoy themselves immensely.

Midterms (origin: 'The Crusades'); See endterms.

NID (origin: 'Govt. Of India'); Place forming a mutual admiration society with WIMWI. They admire the , way our campus is built and we admire the way they are.

CT (origin: local); Where WIMWIans mortally wounded in the mess, retreat in the night to assuage grumbling tummies.

Nightout (origin: 'The Owl and the Pussy Cat'); doing something you should have done earlier, at a time when you should be doing what you did earlier, (see WAC).

Open Book (origin: smug Profs); Kind of exam in which cogging from a book is allowed, but in which you can't figure out which chapter. Or if you know the chapter you must have brought the wrong book. If nothing else you've come to the wrong classroom. See cogging.

Operations (origin:World War II); nothing medical There is a rumour that it used to be a substitute for Finance and Marketing, but you shouldn't believe everything you hear.

Pantry (origin: Louis Kahn); A. small room in every dorm. Some of these actually contain Ossum food.

PGP (origin: PGP office); Presently Grilled Prisoners. (See endterms, midterms, quiz, assignments).

Postpone (origin: Mojo); Something that is done to assignments, classes, quizzes on pretexts like Talent Nite, LAN crashes and a general attack of lethargy.

PPO (origin: P&G); Stands for 'Placement Panic Over' or 'Persistence Pays, OK?'.

PPT (origin: Placement Office); Stands for 'Please Pay "Ttention'. Sadly, very few comply and the rest pay up 250 bucks each.

Quiz (origin: Charles Daley); Like any other you have seen. Puzzling questions, limited time, makes you wish you knew more and of course the quizmaster's decisions final.

R.As (n: origin: 'The Mahabharta'; Lord Ganesha being the first one); People holding the key to a good GPA and must hence be kept in good humour. Attendance, CP and exam marks are in their hands. Behold them in awe and handle them with care (see GPA, CP, cribbing).

Rambhai (origin: Gujjuland); One man institution outside WIMWI who could teach a course or Wo if he had time (see marketing, chai).

Rem (origin: 'the Bible', 'The Second Coming'); Replay in slow motion for those who missed action the first time round.

RG (origin: The autobiography of Daintier Benz); I know what it means but why should I tell you ?

SAC-C (origin: The Chancellor of Exchequer); WIMWIan equivalent of President, Pope and CEO rolled into one. In short a position in which you can sac, see?(see WIMWI).

Soapbox (origin: Hyde Park, London); Place where some people go to speak and rest go to have fun.

Tucchas (Origin: Paradise Regained by Milton); the Gods in WIMWI

Ramp (origin: Stanford Univ. USA); Architectural marvel for foreigners and NID-ians to gawk at and for WIMWIans to climb, (see NID). Now notorious for parties

Summers (origin: Revolution of the earth round She sun);Hot season in preparation for which people wear blazers and ties .

Systems (origin: Mckinsey's 7 S model); Like Operations a rumoured alternative to Finance and Marketing. Most WIMWIans don't believe this to be true. (see operations, marketing, finance).

Talent Nite (origin: local); High point of the first term. An elaborate exercise to get to know almost everyone in your section and to see your CR make a fool of himself, (see CR).

Tempo Shout (origin: The Paleolithic Age; origin: of spoken tongue); tribal war whoop emitted by groups of WIMWIans, apparently without any provocation, rhyme or reason (see Leli, zigzag-zigzag).

Tower Lawns (origin: Louis Kahn); used by WIMWIans for playing football and hockey, general junta for lazing on and cows for grazing on.

Vastrapur (origin: unknown); Small unimportant village in a small unimportant town in Western India.

Vet (origin: Blue Cross); The medical man about town. Short for 'veteran doctor' - contrary to popular opinion. Met when you report a stomach upset , the main symptoms of which are over-sleeping and inability to attend classes.

WAC run (origin: local); strange ritual held nine times a year in which WIMWIans remain awake all Friday night and start running madly at 04:25 PM on the next day. (see Nightout).

Welcome Night (origin: local); Traditional event to see how well a PGP 1 can sing when two hundred PGP 2s are yelling.

WIMWI (origin: the professors used this to signify IIMA without using the name IIMA in case studies in the 1970s); Well known Institute of Management in Western India.

Wing (origin: Louis Kahn); View of the campus from the wrong side of the LKP.

Work-ex (origin: Newton's Third Lam); After which some people come here for a two year break.

Zigzag-zigzag (origin: Tempo Shout); Description of the path to success and future glory from here. Part of tempo shout, no doubt for that reason, (see Leli, tempo shout)."

Dorm 20

2007-07-26T00:41:00.000+05:30

The fucchas of D20, rechristened.

4pLay

2007-07-25T01:31:00.000+05:30

That, ladies and gentlemen is my name from now on. In other words, I've been rechristened as

4pLay - The Sex God

This is another WIMWI tradition, one of the famous ones I guess - Dorm Naming. An example - the Vindi you hear in M.S. Vindi Banga (a well known alumnus of IIMA), is his dorm name. The first thing people do when talking to IIMA students or alumni is ask their dorm name. So it is quite well known. There are 26 dorms in all over here and every dorm has secret rituals and traditions for dorm naming. No one outside the dorm is aware of these.

Here are all the dorm names in Dorm 20 - Dorm of Sex Gods...

This board though, hardly tells you the story. There have been worse names than these. A few examples are - Sussu Singh, Potty Singh, Landesh Singh, Blojo, Blomie, Brasak etc. Then we have some nice ones too, but then nice is boring!...;)

Panna Marathala Vavaala!!! Section A Ku Savaala!!!

2007-07-22T05:48:00.000+05:30

Thats the tamil tempo shout (there's been a tradition of tamil tempo shouts you see) for my section, Section A, for the upcoming T-nite (Talent night). Full credit to Karthik, our tempo manager for this...;)

T-nite is the annual inter-section competition between the four PGP 1 sections (A, B, C, D) in IIMA. Its supposed to be ultra competitive with intense rivalries between sections. With the event scgheduled right after the mid-term exams, there is hardly any time to practice or prepare, but that simply adds to the fun. Along with full support from the tucchas, even IIMA alumni working in various locations come to the campus to support their former sections. Thats the scale of it.

And lastly, if you're wondering what this particular tempo shout meant, I have no idea and if you're wondering what a tempo shout is, its a cheer, to keep the tempo high!...;)

- Section A ka tempo....high hai!!!
.
.
.
.
Baaki sab ki le li....zig zag zig zag!!!

-Section A ka naara hai....T Nite hamara hai!!!

Feeling Guilty is sleep >= 6 hours

2007-07-19T14:16:00.000+05:30

And that is the way I felt the whole day, thanks to the princely 6 hours I slept last night.

Quantitative Methods, Hand Grenades and Cafe TANSTAAFL

2007-07-12T16:35:00.001+05:30

An interesting application of QM was related by my Quant Methods professor in class, his Belgian friend in the NATO forces told him this about hand grenades.

The grenades that they use have to have an optimum composition of chemicals. When you throw them at the enemy during war, if the chemical composition is more than the optimum level then it kills the enemy soldier and you can't get any information out of him or if he's alive then you need 1-2 of your own men to carry him. This reduces your force, hence efficiency.

If the composition is less than the optimum level and it doesn't do much harm, then its not of much use anyways. Therefore the composition has to be just right, where you incapacitate the soldier but to the extent where he is alive and can walk by himself but can't do any harm or run away.

The graph would be something like this.

Ignore the numbers and look at the trend. Imagine the efficiency on Y-axis and grenade chemical composition on the X-axis. Just the right composition at the single point or near about its vicinity where you see the curve at its highest point, would ensure maximum efficiency.

As for me, its 4 in the morning and I got to study QM. Feel thirsty but too lazy to go and get water in my bottle. Feel hungry too but no choice, CT (Cafe TANSTAAFL - There Aint No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, the cafe on my campus) has closed for the night/day/morning whatever, can't order anything.

Thinking about the days when I slept peacefully and why I am writing this post at this hour, when I should be studying. Tomorrow is going to be a hard night's day.

In simple language, I'll sleep in class. Hopefully.

An OK Start

2007-07-06T13:20:00.000+05:30

So I got the results of the quiz, I did ok, not too bad as I expected. So, the MBA begins on not such a bad note. With the kind of work pressure there is, I do wish the following 2 years would just fast forward. No actually, just 1 year. Tucchadom is fun.

Oh I didn't tell you about this did I? 1st year students are called fucchas, 2nd year students are called tucchas. And being a tuccha is about the next best thing to being Hugh Hefner. So its just one year of some real struggle ahead. And I hope I do well.

The First MANAC Quiz

2007-07-04T03:50:00.000+05:30

Today.

Woke up at 8-24 AM, was in class at 8-40 AM (and I did take a bath), had the first 'surprise' MANAC (Managerial Accounting) quiz and inspite of preparing for it in advance, am not sure of how it went.

Weird day. I hope for better days in this place.

Welcome to Dorm of the Sex Gods!

2007-07-03T05:26:00.000+05:30

Dorm 20 - My home for the next 2 years. Dorm of The Sex Gods is what it is called.

The WIMWI Way of Life

2007-06-30T14:26:00.000+05:30

There's only one thing about IIMA, that I can/want to tell you right now - It needs to be experienced. Words will never do justice to this place.

P.s. - I am just waiting for the net connection in my room to be setup, once that happens, you'll see a lot more pictures and read about a lot more things, that make this place the place it is. All that, hopefully that is....;)

I am bad at deciding titles; Just read the post!...;)

2007-06-22T19:48:00.001+05:30

This is something I'll never be able to say to them directly - I love you mom and dad and my bro Abhinav. Thanks for everything. You guys are truly amazing. Words will never suffice but just want to tell you that I love you guys the most and am sorry for being a stupid jerk of a son...;)

Direct posts like these are something I want to avoid but I wrote this hoping they'll read this soon and know this.

On the other front, I have joined IIMA. Lots of stuff to tell. Will do that with pics in subsequent posts. Hopefully that is.

A sampler - The attendance requirement here is 100%. A professor said, "if you are ill, then you are not fit to be at IIMA"

Keep dropping...:)

Airports

2007-06-18T00:28:00.000+05:30

Someone has rightly said that whenever one feels there is too much hatred around, go to an airport.

The amount of love one witnesses there, between parents and children, brothers and sisters, lovers, husbands and wives, should certainly fill you with a little hope, for a little while at least, if not too long.

Umm...History...Anyone?

2007-06-15T08:58:00.000+05:30

A corporate presentation class in IIMA. Too many points on history of the company.

Instructor - Guys, You overshot your time and had a number of repetitions…couple of points in the History of the company were repeated and were redundant…

Chimp(with his typical accent) - Ma'am, “History repeats itself!!”

I have still to join the class at Ahmedabad, picked this bit from here.

Is this my future class? Sounds like fun!

Politically In...Never-correct

2007-06-04T02:51:00.000+05:30

Why am I the most politically incorrect person you'll ever meet???

I hate those social occasions where you need to speak with people you barely know. I speak my mind most of the times. That is if I speak. Most times, I don't speak, because I guess I am a little shy/reticent/introvert. And people mistake that for arrogance.

Essentially, I hate thinking so much, but I do and I can't help it. And at social occasions, am always thinking about what should I say, whether I should talk to XYZ person or not. Maybe, it's not that complicated, but in my mind, it is.

I'd rather hang out with my college buddies, eat, drink and enjoy life. Sigh!...when will I stop missing college?...:p

Men, Women and an Academic Paper

2007-05-28T19:07:00.000+05:30

According to this study, men and women (in the US atleast) have the following preferences when it comes to the opposite sex -

For men, the only thing that matters is how hot the girl is.

Wicked I know, but that's the ultimate truth.

Coming to women...ahhh...women! They on the other hand are a bit more flexible with their choices. They don't mind a shorter or a not very good looking guy, but they do have a common benchmark against which they measure these parameters. Any guesses on what that benchmark is?

Its Money.

A guy only 5 feet tall will need to earn $325,000 more than the 6 feet tall guy, to be as successful in the online dating market.

Coming to looks, if you are somewhere in the middle of the pile, you need to earn $143,000 more than the guy at the top (whose there simply on the basis of his looks)

If you're at the very bottom of the pile (again solely because of your looks), to get the girls the top guys get, you'll need to earn $186,000 more than the top guys.

Wickeder right? But it's true.

By the way, just for the record - I have nothing against women in general, I love you all...;)... but this was too interesting an article too ignore. You can also read the original blogpost I got it from, here.

All these are results from a scientific study in the US, so now we know 2 things for sure.

People in the US conduct research on almost anything

Nothing like true love. Money does matter, in the end. And if to any of the female readers it doesn't (Read: those who don't mind supporting a stay-at-home husband/boyfriend, who drinks beer and watches TV the whole day), send me your photo!...;)

Nostalgia Again

2007-05-27T19:01:00.000+05:30

It is that time of the year again, when engineering colleges throughout the country are getting over with the 2nd semester of the current session. And across Orkut, you find headlines such as "Leaving xxxx", "Bye-bye xxxx" and the likes of these. All this just reminds me of my engineering college and the time I left it, which was the same time as now last year. Even otherwise, at various times of the day I think about what I would have been doing at that time, had I still been a student at TIET. It sounds funny. TIET, short for Thapar Institute of Engg and Tech. I guess the college also realised that and now its called TU or Thapar University, which I guess ranks higher up in the cool quotient.

As you might have seen from the numerous number of posts on TIET, I really miss my college and Patiala and in a strange, weird, slap-me-and-wash-my-mouth-with-soap-for-saying-this way Punjab too.

Coming to think of it, all the incidents, all the people, every small thing that took place, it all seems so unnatural now, as if it was all just a dream and suddenly I woke up one day, back in my room in Delhi. With only memories of some strange and weird people, of some stranger and weirder incidents, in a place that refuses to be erased from my memory.

I usually get so pensive only during the evenings or when I see the profile of somebody still in engineering college and look through his scraps to realize, that's what my scrapbook looked like not a very long time ago but it'll never look that way again. A stupid line I know, but just a thought.

This line fits in well right now - Those were the best days of my life...

This is what I hate about life. I hate changes and moving on. Both of which I will have to deal with and keep dealing with.

If you've come this far folks, then do let me know you address. You definitely deserve a bravery award!

The Sordid Saga of a W710i, Gurgaon Weather and Yours Truly

2007-05-26T20:09:00.000+05:30

With all due respect to those who work there, all the call center executives I have talked with so far, seem to be the biggest losers on this planet. Basic IQ and intelligence is what is missing, why can't everybody have it? Now, I am not generalizing it but most executives I talked to so far were highly successful in irritating the crap out of me.

Anyways, so my W710i story has today taken a new turn with the old set getting replaced by a new one and I HOPE this one works fine. Usually when I buy new stuff, there is a tendency for it to go bad within 24-48 hours of buying it. Happened when I bought my first computer, video-game and now this. If this set doesn't work fine then I am reselling this one, I'll have to suffer quite a heavy monetary loss but I don't care. I can't go through the head-ache I have gone through once to get this set replaced.

Today the weather in Gurgaon is simply amazing. And I don't know why, I felt lonely, not in the romantic sense you dirty mind. I just felt like sitting down somewhere, with some good friends and drinking down a few beers. Even now, there's an awesome breeze blowing. Makes me think why I am not going to IIM Kozhikode/honeymoon destination!...lol. Man...Chetan Bhagat rightly said...who Chetan Bhagat you asked??..This guy. So as I was saying, he said - A guy bonds with his hostel and college buddies more than even his spouse.

I second that. Now after that comment I don't really expect any of the female readers to show even the slightest bit of interest in me, if there was any initial scope. Add to that, I have been called boring, serious and over-mature. So there goes my already barren love-life further down the drain!

Anyways, mommy calling me for dinner and a younger brother getting really impatient and irritated because I'm hogging the PC. Reminds me of the time in 1970's when people paid money to use PC time for their programming purposes, much like the cyber-cafes of today. Here I go on a tangent again.

Shall take your leave for now.

Bank Loans and IIMA

2007-05-24T23:32:00.001+05:30

1) There should be a separate loan from banks to finance all the parties that are suddenly due after the call. There are so many people I want to treat, but my finances...:(...sigh!!...they tell a different story.

2) The loans that banks offer to students should also cover phone bills. That's going to be my only major expense in Ahmedabad...:(

Hutch Buggers

2007-05-24T23:23:00.000+05:30

I just paid an obscene amount of money as my telephone bill at the Hutch Kiosk. At the end of the payment, I kept on pressing buttons and unfortunately, when it asked me if I need the transaction slip, I pressed 'No'.

Now the money I paid was huge and I don't even have proof of it. Its happened once before that the stupid Hutch Computer didn't register my payment and if that happens now....I am doomed!!

22 May 2007, 2:35 AM...This is What I Was Thinking

2007-05-22T02:06:00.001+05:30

1. Pick out a scar you have, and explain how you got it
There was a small one on my leg. Got it while jumping off a chair at granny's house. It's almost faded away now.

2. What is on the walls in your room?
Plain and boring.

3. What does your phone look like?
w710i...Gone for repairs....:(

4. What music do you listen to?
Anything that sounds good.

5. What is your current desktop picture?
A photograph of my hostel room in Patiala

6. What do you want more than anything right now?
Satisfaction and peace of mind

7. Do you believe in gay marriage?
No problems if two people want to do it. It's biological man!...even if it wasn't, how does it bother straight people? Don't think about it if you don't want to!

8. What time were you born?
Approx 12:30 AM

9. Are your parents still together?
Yep

10. What are you listening to?
Fan blades cutting through the air

11. Do you get scared of the dark?
Nope

12. The last person who made you cry?
Himesh Reshammiya.

13. What is your favourite perfume/cologne?
Whichever I can get my hands on at that moment!

14. What kind of hair/eye colour do you like on the opposite sex?
Blue eyes....with blonde hair...;)

15. Do you like pain killers?
I'd like to make a sad statement here....I like to enjoy the pain...;)

16. Are you too shy to ask someone out?
Not in a million years!

17. Fave pizza topping?
Anything that moved before it was cooked = non vegetarian

18. If you could eat anything right now, what would it be?
Chicken burger, fries and pepsi

19. Who was the last person you made mad?
Rohit

20. Is anyone in love with you?
Loads of 'em...;)...but seriously speaking, no idea

This template is from another blog, so whoever it was, thank you!

Life in a Metro???...Naah!!

2007-05-21T11:32:00.000+05:30

Life in a Metro was a good movie. A wee bit over the top but a good one time watch, nevertheless. The best actor had to be Irfann Khan. And I love the hapless state Konkona Sen is in when she is with him. This guy reminds me of myself at times...:p

Anyhow, my learnings from the movie -
1) Everyone falls in love after they get married, and no...not with their husband or wife.

2) Everyone gets married to the wrong person in the first place.

3) Getting laid is never a problem.

Don't know to what extent these are true, but a good timepass movie definitely.

The Bearded guy

2007-05-16T15:21:00.000+05:30

What did Quentin Tarantino say when he saw Kaante???

"...I think it was one of the best remakes of Reservoir Dogs, I specially liked the bearded guy in it..."

Ha ha ha...all hail the bearded guy!!!

A Short Conversation

2007-05-16T11:28:00.000+05:30

Me - when is your birthday?

Her - it's on the 1st...

Me - of what?

Her - it's approaching...so guess it!

Me - ummm...1st of june?

Her - no!!...1st August!

Me - but you said it was approaching soon!

Her - there are lots of months approaching...!

Me - huh?!!

And in a weird way, she's right too

The Worst 5 Minutes of My Life

2007-05-14T12:44:00.000+05:30

It was last week. The worst 5 minutes of my life.

Ever wondered what were yours? Is something or someone so important and precious to you?

I discovered it through last week's incident. It's too personal so I am not blogging it but let me tell you, I realise now, how important that thing is to me.

There are a few posts I have on it, unpublished. I may publish them sometime or maybe never, but it's the one thing in my life I am blatantly emotional about, what I otherwise hate being.

I call it the real IIM Ahmedabad.

Hope I get that too someday!

Finally a New Phone

2007-05-14T11:50:00.000+05:30

Bought myself a new phone over the weekend.

The whole process of conducting the research and finally selecting a phone I liked began 6 months ago but couldn't buy it then due to certain problems. And on Sunday, after trying out various cost permutations and combinations from around 6 different shops, I zeroed in on the Sony Ericsson w710i.

11k bucks later, thanks to the indecisive shopper that I am, I am regretting my choice. I think I should have bought the w700i. Could have saved around 2000-3000 bucks. Damn...I hate shopping!

The Sweetest Email I've Ever Received!

2007-05-06T02:13:00.000+05:30

The bestest friggin' mail ever!!!

"Further to our letter dated April 27, 2007, placing you on waiting list, I am glad to inform you that your turn has now come for admission to IIM Ahmedabad’s Post-Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) for the session beginning June 21, 2007. We will be sending you our detailed offer letter on Monday by Courier.

In the meanwhile, can you please indicate to us by email (admission@iimahd.ernet.in) your decision on this admission offer? This will help us in planning the admission process better.

Thank you.

Admissions Officer"

A Billion

2007-05-04T11:15:00.001+05:30

A billion seconds ago, it was 1976
A billion minutes ago, Jesus was alive,
A billion years ago, our ancestors were living in the stone age,
A billion dollars ago was only 7 hours 20 minutes ago at the rate Washington spends it.

Being Backstage

2007-05-04T00:40:00.000+05:30

For 4 years in Thapar, I saw most stage events from backstage (because I had a hand in organizing them in some way) and I must say I loved it.

Just hope that if I ever make it to IIM Ahmedabad, then there too, I watch all events from the place where I can see everything in profile view.

Would feel just like home.

The Kind of Heroes Society Will Never Wake Up To

2007-05-01T18:03:00.000+05:30

How would it feel if you lose vision in both of your eyes at an early age or for that matter have your right arm get amputated when you are the lone bread-winner of a struggling family? It’s very easy to get dispirited, lose hope and blame God for all the sufferings. But there are men who struggle and strive hard to lead a dignified life even when the odds are stacked heavily against them. This post is about the story of two men who for me are the epitome of courage, perseverance, determination and self respect.It was sweltering hot inside the packed compartment of New Delhi – Sri Ganganagar Express. Suddenly I hear a familiar voice of “Moongfalia le lo, daal te badam le lo”. I look up and it was the same face of an old man strutting past me whom I have seen since childhood in my most of the journeys in the Bathinda – New Delhi section. I ask him to stop and out of habit buy groundnuts worth 5 bucks from him. I always used to purchase from him not because his groundnuts are the best in the world but because I thought this is my way of helping a person live a dignified life. The man in question is special because he sells in the train in spite of being totally blind in both eyes!! Just imagine for two seconds life without your eyes. It’s not pretty and definitely it’s not easy.Ram Jeet Singh was born to a poor peasant family in 1950. He is a resident of village Khokarkala near Mansa in Punjab. At a very early age he contracted eye infection and in absence of proper medical care started losing his vision in both his eyes. By the time he was 15 he was totally blind. He says with voice choking that those were the tough times. He was rendered unemployable in field and if being blind wasn’t enough he had to hear taunts for being a liability from his near and dear ones.In many such cases people turn to begging but he was determined to live a dignified life. He started selling stuffs like groundnuts, peanuts, moong daals, lozenges etc in the trains. Initially it was tough but gradually he got accustomed to it. Today he has a family of 5 of which his elder daughter is married and now his wish is to marry his second daughter. His son is 10 years old and his dream is to see his son become an afsar after padhai – likhai.To give you a peek in his daily life he gets up early in the morning and catches the 8:15 bus from his village to reach Mansa railway station. From there he catches the 2482 Intercity Express and sells his stuffs in the train till Rohtak approx 200kms away. He has his lunch there and after a break catches the 2481 up train to return to Mansa by 5:30 in the evening. And after all this toil in grime n dirt he manages to earn Rs 50-60/- daily. Just imagine in most of the parties we don’t mind spending hundreds of bucks on one meal whereas he has to run a family of 4 in this meager sum. Suddenly I felt guilty conscious and tried to tuck in a hundred rupee note to him. He suddenly sensed that it wasn’t the natural 10 rupee note he is used to handle and asked how much is it worth. On being told he said “Saab main bheekh nahin leta. Aap se baat karke accha laga. Aap jaise bade aadmi ka mujhse tameez se baat karma hi bahut hai mere liye. Aap paise wapis le lo.” I was stunned but I managed to convince him that it wasn’t an alm but my token of appreciation for his grit and determination. After a while he relented and accepted it shyly. Mansa station had arrived and he had to get down before leaving a waived at me cheerfully and said “Agli baar aana to bas awaz dena, main pehchan jaaonga. Main chhota aadmi hoon pas agar main aapke kabhi bhi kaam aa paaya to bas ek baar bolke dekhna.” It was a humbling experience and perhaps for the first time words were failing me.On reaching Bathinda I was looking for a rickshaw. I was haggling on the price when one of the rickshaw-wallahs came, lifted my luggage and motioned to me to follow him. I didn’t notice initially but midway I realized that the rickshaw puller has his right arm amputated from his elbow. Curious I wanted to hear his story.Vijay Pal was born in a village in Fatehpur in UP and came to bathinda in 1976 to work as a labourer. After few struggles he was forced to pull a rickshaw for survival. Calamity struck him when 15 years ago he lost his arm while working in a mill. Like Ram Jeet Singh he too refused to give up under adversity and continued pulling rickshaw for his living. He says proudly “Hamnein kisi ke saamne haath nahin failaye sahib”. He has two sons and he is very particular about their studies. He says “ Mera baap mawali tha jiske liye mujhe bachpan se kaam karma padha aur padh nahin paaya. Main apne bacchon ke sath aisa nahin karoonga. Pata hai sahib kai kai baar jab himmat jawab de jati hai rickshaw kheenchte waqt tab main unka chehra yaad karta hoon aur sochta hoon kabhi wo rickshaw ke doosre side baithe balki mere side.”
When I look back I see two very different persons with one thing in common and that is courage. Most of us can’t even imagine the life these people live. For us everything is rosy and we don’t even know such a world could exist. They are proud people and are heroes in real life in true sense of the word. If at anytime I feel down and need to look for inspiration I don’t need to look beyond I just have to remember Ram Jeet Singh and Vijay Pal.

This post is courtesy Anirban's blog. I am putting this here because someday when I feel down, I'll read this.

Innocent and Stupid

2007-05-01T00:10:00.001+05:30

Kids at the Mall, Shimla. Wish I had shot this.

Hot and Loving It!

2007-04-28T14:44:00.000+05:30

Ever tried jogging at 2PM in the afternoon with the temperature at 45 degree Celsius?

I do exactly that sometimes and trust me it's fun. Makes you enjoy the heat. The hotter the better!

An Interesting Theory

2007-04-26T18:56:00.000+05:30

If you took snapshots of the world as it is. Every trillionth of a second. And suppose you had sufficient computing power to obtain 100 such snapshots.

According to a theory, you would then be able to calculate the 101st snapshot and then the 102nd and so on. In other words predict the future.

Sounds good, I wonder if it could work.

I got this from an interesting site. Click here. For science-fiction fans.

I hate using this term (science fiction) because technology is one thing I am really passionate about and the stuff we consider to be 'fictional' as of now, I'd like to call it reality. Someday within my lifetime. And I do have a feeling that someday we will travel at speeds greater or atleast equal to the speed of light, meet intelligent beings from other planets, explore the universe and so on.

As always, there would be skeptics. To them all I'd say is that 500 years back, no human could have even dreamt of flying in air.

Now we have these

Birds of steel, weighing hundreds of tons, transporting thousands of humans across the planet. Sounds like a miracle, doesn't it?

All I want to say is - Never dismiss an idea!

Bengali: The Economist

2007-04-22T16:47:00.000+05:30

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Here is Kingshuk Das a.k.a. Bengali. He was called so because he was the only bengali fellow in the hostel. Add to that, he looks like a typical bengali too.

In our hostel, we had something called a 'night canteen'. It was an arrangement in the mess where we could get eats like maggie, biscuits, milk, tea etc. at night after dinner. It started around 10-30 PM till around 12 AM. That was the time most people got hungry and most of the time, like always, no one had anything to eat.

A typical scene at night.

In my room-
Bengali: chal, contri(contribution) mei maggie khaa ke aate hain!
Me (happy that bengali is actually talking about spending his money): chal!

Maggie costed 15 bucks in the night canteen.

After this

Me: paise nikaal...

Bengali gives me a two rupee coin, saying: ye meri contri!

Me---> standing their bewildered! Deciding whether to kick his ass or simply laugh.

And yes, I almost always had to pay the rest of the 13 bucks.

Bengali is now doing an MBA in HR from TISS, Mumbai and having the time of his life. Miss you bro!

Weekends at Hostel A - Part 1

2007-04-20T02:30:00.000+05:30

I was just reading Jitin's blog on his Sunday ritual and I was reminded of my weekends in the hostel at TIET(Thapar Institute, my alma mater...feels weird saying that!). So I thought of writing a post on it.

Since I didn't have a girlfriend in there, which in retrospect seems to have been a good thing, I had more or less nothing substantial to do on weekends. Needless to say, we slept really late on Friday nights. Even if we didn't, waking up before 11 AM on Saturday was a crime for me. By the time I woke up around this time, breakfast had ended in the mess. Not that I really looked forward to it, but compared to the other meals, it was quite tolerable. So on most, rather, every morning including weekdays, I missed breakfast as waking up in time is something I can just dream of. Its become a habit now, not having breakfast, much to my mom's chagrin!

That's my bed in the hostel. With lots of other stuff also on it usually. It was quite a task to actually make space for myself and sleep on it. I guess that's what hostel life is about...adjusting...lol

Anyways, with breakfast over and with nothing else to fill my stomach with, I went back to sleep or go to other people's rooms to scrounge up something to eat. Mostly with little success. And neither did I have the energy to bathe or even brush my teeth. So there was no way I could go out too, looking the way I did, not that I had the energy for that either. So, lounging around in the hostel, passing time in the cyber-room, playing cricket in the corridors maybe or go back to sleep was what I did to pass my time till evening, when someone would go out and get me something to eat because dinner was still too far away.

That's Rajgariah posing for the camera. He doesn't play that well actually.

And that's the great man himself - Pappu. Playing the shot from behind the wickets. Ishneet and Sahil standing in silent applause.

Lunch was something I deliberately missed on weekends. Most times, I'd go to the mess, have a look at the food and come back. The way I am, I'd rather not eat food than eat bad food. So, I had to remain hungry.

That was the story till 5 PM, when someone would go out and hopefully remember to buy what I asked him to, for me to finally eat. And then, if there was a plan, then we would go out to eat, which was most of the times, as the mess food was intolerable. By final year though, if nothing else, we would simply crash weddings. That was fun.

Later on in the night, there was Rahul Sareen's room to watch movies. Almost miraculously, the haraami had a new movie almost every night. He was also the TV Room secretary. A post he had been born for, I guess.

If not Sareen then you had to look for someone whose a friend and planning to watch a movie. Because unfortunately, yours truly did not have a computer...:( But watching movies was important. At times, almost the whole weekend was spent watching movies except when it became really important to sleep or when you had to go for other really important stuff...;) A few times, there was this 'Hostel Film Festival' (which I am sure every hostel has had) where anyone you saw had a film DVD in his hands and was running excitedly towards a computer, followed by a few more equally excited morons.

After the movie, it was back to sleeping or bakchodi sessions. Those are what I really miss now. Films, cricket, gossip, politics (both hostel and the real world), current affairs, philosophy, who was a loser and who was not, bitching, making plans to play pranks, scheming up of ways to make Jagga throw parties, Jagga sessions where anyone and everyone ganged up on Jagga, serious and important issues and loads of things I don't even remember now were what we talked about.

That's Jagga, by the way. I love the look on his face. Like a lamb before its slaughter...:p

Since most of the C block had gone home, it was mostly me, thudda and bengali for the weekend.

That's us, starting from left, me, thudda (Harsh) and bengali(Kingshuk) at Red Dragon in Patiala. A frequent haunt, thanks to cheap prices, decent food and bengali's undying loyalty and insistence to eat at RD.

Sunday morning, again I woke up at 11-12 in the afternoon, with the rest of the day much the same as Saturday, except this time we would go to a cheaper restaurant like the one below.

Bengali Hotel, cheap and very good food. It was quite far from the college, so we went by rickshaw and came back walking all the way to the hostel. Keeping healthy and saving on money.

By the time we came back, it was another movie or going to sleep thinking about the rigmarole of studies in the coming week.

Weekends at Hostel A - Part 2 coming up soon. On C-block.

Me: Boring but Intelligent

2007-04-18T12:00:00.000+05:30

This is the conclusion I have reached.

Either I am too boring or the world is too loud. Either I have a high IQ and the world in general is dumb or I think a lot or maybe too less

Based on my experiences in the recent past.

"BREAKING NEWS - Shilpa Shetty broke a toenail"

2007-04-16T14:36:00.000+05:30

That's what I expect to see on the Hindi news channels soon, with their quality of journalistic aspirations.

Just the other day, I saw an interview on Aaj-tak or some other hindi news channel. Any guesses on who was being interviewed?

The 'mehendi vyavasthi' (the person in-charge of henna/mehendi) for the abhi-ash (corniest phrase I have ever heard) wedding. I mean is this the level of journalism we'll have to now put up with? And not just him. Everyone from the tent-house guy to the saree seller to the jewellery guy got his/her 15 seconds of fame.

Another time I saw the demented Zee people showing a very angry sadhu predicting people's future. Viewers had to call up and tell him their problems and this smart-ass would tell them some weird solution. All on live air. Forget about covering serious issues. The least these so called news channels can do is not to promote superstition. The rot seems to be mostly in the Hindi news - channels, the english ones are doing relatively better and I hope people like Prannoy Roy and others of his clan look at things from the right perspective.

I understand that for Hindi news channels, their core audience would be from north India and the UP-Bihar belt. But instead of pandering to their superstitious beliefs etc., to just increase their TRP ratings, I wish to see a slightly more responsible brand of journalism.

I mean there have to be slightly more important issues than the examples I just gave. And mind you, these are just examples, from a library of such cases. In the name of Breaking News, news channels cover anything, from what Shilpa Shetty's maid thinks about Big Brother to what the pandit for the abhi-ash wedding has to say about their wedding dates. Now that's important isn't it? so all those losers who watch these news can fit in The Wedding into their schedules.

Frustrating and disgusting.

4 Years

2007-04-15T00:07:00.000+05:30

When I was in 1st year, in the 1st semester when I had just started out in Patiala, I didn't unpack my clothes from my suitcase, I hadn't set my almirah and more or less still 'lived out of a suitcase'. Why I did that was because I wanted to pretend to myself that I was in Patiala on a very short and temporary basis. Such was my homesickness. The fact that I was going to be there for 4 more years still hadn't registered.

And at the end of those 4 years, I felt the same way. Except that I didn't want to leave college and come back home.

Now, at times I even watch Etc Punjabi on TV.

As I wrote the last line, I almost died of laughter!...the way things change.

Anyhow, one thing I understood after meeting up with old college buddies, after college got over was that things will never be the way they were in college. As someone rightly said - times change, people change. It was a different time then.

And I for sure miss it.

Bored in office

2007-04-13T12:01:00.000+05:30

Well, so here I am sitting in my office, no work to do so I thought I'd update my blog. It's been a long time since I last wrote something.

The IIMA interview wasn't all that great, case study was good I think, but not too happy with the interview, so didn't really feel like writing about it. Life goes on though and I have prepared myself mentally for spending another year working. And I've found ways to keep myself busy and another year of work-ex would only add to my profile so no harm in going for an MBA next year I guess.

Why is it that as soon as you sit down to write, the mental notes you had made about the things you would write, simply vanish?

I guess I'll come back later.

Happy Womens's Day!

2007-03-08T10:58:00.000+05:30

Now when is Men's Day?

IIMK - GD and PI

2007-03-07T23:21:00.000+05:30

6th March, 2 PM, IMI New Delhi

Loads of trepidation as I entered the IMI building for the first IIM experience of my life. Slept at 3 AM the night before and the nights before that were a series of night outs in a bid to prepare on everything I could think of. That included engg acads, general awareness and the usual HR bullshit such as - Why MBA etc. So needless to say, it had been one exhausting experience but made me look forward to the whole GD/PI experience all that much more.

One more thing which I'd like to add is that the whole experience of having prepared for the interview has been tiring, yet in a way a, its been a very exhilarating one too. Something which I really enjoyed and through which I also learnt a lot. Only the Ahmedabad interview left but now I wish there were more calls! So at least I could repeat this experience a few more times!...:p

Anyway, so there were around 25-30 people, divided into 3 groups, I was in panel 1. There were a couple of people from my CL Gurgaon center and we'd been in GDs before so I should add that I felt a little comfortable because of that.

As we entered the room, I could hear my own heart bang against my chest. I have usually been quite good at GDs so I had enough reasons to be confident but I guess it was just the sense of occasion that got to me. Plus the FMS rejection last year didn't exactly make me feel better. Stupid, in retrospect but what the heck...:p

So, there were 10 people in my group, a chit of paper was given to each with a small paragraph

'Indian bureaucracy and procedures are hampering growth of Indian industry. L.N. Mittal and Ratan Tata had to go out of the country to establish industries of a true global scale. Why doesn't the Indian environment provide the kind of support the industry needs? This question needs deep introspection.'
Something like this. Not sure of the exact lines we were given.

I started off by saying how we could discuss this topic on various parameters such as - political, societal, economic, financial etc. Saying this though didn't really prove useful I guess because people started discussing discussing random topics anyways. I came in a few times with some good data such as Budget '07, SEZs, comparison of India and China etc. On the whole I was very satisfied with the GD. Felt my apprehension going, confidence returning and was now looking forward to the interview

I was the fourth person to be interviewed and was expecting a barrage of technical questions since I have only an 8 month experience and a few questions on Budget '07 too because I had brought in a few points from it in the GD.

There were two panelists - an old male prof(M) and a youngish lady prof (F).

M - Tell us something about yourself
Me - blah blah
F - so u work in the consumer goods vertical, what is CPI?
me - half right answer
F - WPI?
me - told her I was not sure but was still going to give a definition as I understood it then.
F - What are Consumer Goods?
me - told her something, but missed out on a few items in that class of goods
F - whats your Rh factor?
me - huh?
F- you have organised a blood donation camp and you don't know that?
I remembered I had done that in college. Told her I didn't find out Rh factor, instead organized the camp

F - How do you organize a blood donation camp?
me - blah

F - you have done a course on human values and ethics. what did you learn?
me - (it was a non credit subject, didn't remember shit!) said a few things, couldnt answer beyond that.

F - a few more questions on usefulness of ethics in business, how the film Guru could be relevant by showing the required business ethics or rather the lack of them.
me - blah

G - questions on my company - profit margin, locations, employee strength, market share, why my salary is low (its not and I still don't know why he said that), my work in my vertical, competitor companies.
me - answered all of them

G - another expected question on academic marks(marks could have been better).
me - I had prepared for that and I had some good non academic achievements to talk about, my campus job was one of the better ones, but somehow just didn't handle this one as well as I could have. Only thing I said was that I realize my mistake by not having focussed more on marks instead of extra-curriculars and will rectify this in future and that I am conceptually strong, nothing else. I still don't know why.

That was the interview. NOTHING TECHNICAL!!! And I was waiting for something technical!!

My interviews too go well usually but just don't know what happened then! Besides the marks question, I am not satisfied with a few other areas too but most regrettable was the marks question which I should/could have handled a LOT better, but not worried about it now. I guess whatever has to happen will happen...:)

Overall - a good to really good GD and average PI.
Your comments if any would be welcome...:)

Really pepped up about preparing for the IIM A interview now. Hoping to give it my best shot.

A Blueline, a female and a little vanity

2007-03-05T06:15:00.002+05:30

An incident which happened in one of the Blueline buses (Delhi's buses; famous for killing people). My friend Rohit was travelling in a Blueline when he overheard three females talking. Two were good-looking (F1 and F2), third one(F3) was average.

F1: aaj kal to in ladko ko koi tameez hi nahi
F2: aur kya, koi acchi ladki dekhi nahi ki chedna shuru
F3(the average looker, who was probably feeling left out): nahi nahi, aisi baat nahi hai! Desaaent ladkiyon ko bhi chedte hain! (desaaent = decent)

F1:Boys these days have no decency!
F2:exactly, they see a good-looking girl and they start hitting on her/eve-teasing her...
F3(the average looker, who was probably feeling left out):No, no...even the desaaent looking ones are eve-teased! (desaaent = decent)

Wow!!!...thats all i can say.

Now, Delhi is famous for the lack of safety for women, but what do you say to someone like this?

I'd like to end this post with a law of nature as revealed to me by one of my friends.

'Behind every girl, no matter how she looks/talks etc., and it really doesn't matter, there would always be atleast one guy (if not more) who'd be crazy about her and would be pursuing her'

Touché

My personal take on females? I love them all!....;)

Holi = Another reason to get high

2007-03-05T00:56:00.001+05:30

Hope you had a fun filled Holi!

I never knew that a simple beer could get you high too. Agreed I did have something like 2.5+ litres of it, with 1.5 litres in one go, as in 'ek ghoont mei!', thanks to the Bong, I loved it!! A beer is definitely the most cost effective way to get high.

I planned to study the whole day, for the IIM K interview on Tuesday but then Anosh (my good friend who has had a huge hand in corrupting me) convinced me to come to Malik's house for a holi get together. My learning from the day is- no matter whose party it is or where a party is, daaru (alcohol) is the real life of the party. Write that down.

I had fun but what about the interview? At times, I wish the IIM calls weren't there. Imagine a life without the calls -
1) One more guaranteed year of FUN
2) No anxiety about the damned interview preparations. Although, this is thinking really short term.
3) Right now, I feel like the sacrificial lamb, which is going under the knife, for the next two years atleast. I am talking about the horror stories i've heard of people not doing anything but making presentations, studying reports, case studies etc. etc during MBA. And if you look at it, even after that. I mean, I think that it is going to be serious work after MBA and not the bullshit that I do now.

So is that what life is about? work and work and work? I mean it is what we are supposed to do I know, but the whole idea of yout life totally revolving around work puts me off and frankly doesn't even motivate me to perform. The only thing I am scared of right now is of not ending up doing stuff I really want to do, being a photojournalist for example. On that note, I should say that my friend Saurabh Malik is definitely one of the few lucky ones I know of, who know what they want and are working towards their aims.

But then, my aim right now is to have only fun I guess, not too encouraging either...eh? I think I am a little lost and confused, as my orkut testimonials rightfully say!

Oh well, I'll just go and study for the interview on Tuesday. I am probably the first person in the country who regrets getting IIM calls! sorry God! this is a sin!...:p...and all the stuff I wrote doesn't imply I won't crack the interview. I definitely want to and working towards that...:)

MBA - Season 2 Begins

2007-01-05T01:48:00.000+05:30

was just reading my older posts. In fact the last to last post was on my FMS call last year. And this year its IIM Ahmedabad. Weird how time flies so fast. In spite of so much that happens in between. Anyways, I got an interview call not the final call. Lets see if I can convert it. After the FMS fiasco last year, I am playing it really cool and cautious.

I had planned to write lots more but its 2 in the night and i guess i'll sleep now. Will be back

And yes, though I find wishing on stuff like this highly stupid (Don't ask me why, it's a long story) but I'd like to wish you a Happy New Year...:) Hope things turn out well for you.

Bin Ticket ke Yatri!

2006-02-25T01:33:00.000+05:30

Home sweet home! Back in Delhi, really looking forward to the IMS workshop for call getters tomorrow in Connaught Place, which for me is the liveliest place in Delhi. Also hoping like crazy that there are some extremely hot looking females at the workshop, probability of which is less since hot looking females don't really go after IIM's and the likes of it because I guess beauty and brains don't seem to go together and when they do, I'll fall in love with whoever she is.

I came to delhi by train today. Ticketless. For the second time I guess, since joining Thapar. As I was leaving college, Sorab, a friend from first yr commented that since we are travelling ticketless today, we are sure to run into the TT. And sure enough, just as I had settled comfortably into an empty seat, Sunny, my co-traveller came running to inform me that Murphy's law had once again proven itself true- when something can go wrong, it will. There were two TT's standing right next to the seat next to ours. In my 2-1/2 years of travelling in a train I swear I have never ever met a TT and each time I bought a ticket. Just when this one time when I thought of being slightly adventurous, a man named Murphy spoils the party.

So finally, we ended up running towards the opposite end of the train, luggage in hands, away from the villains of the story, hoping fervently that the train doesn't start moving. But in the end we did find the seats, avoided the TT, did our nation a great disservice by saving ourselves 75 bucks each, so a little bit of running is a small price to pay.

Next post on my trip to my favourite place- Connaught Place

After the Massacre!

2006-02-23T14:44:00.000+05:30

Exams are finally over!!!! and boy am I relieved. In one plain simple tiny little word , exams were as I have already said- a MASSACRE!

I was just reading Aman's blog

....What is the most important factor that makes an engineer a good one? Knowledge? Being innovative? Revolutionary thinking? Inquisitive nature? Well, thats what it should be ideally. But at TIET, thats not the case. What is it that makes a topper at this institute? Not knowledge, not being innovative, not being inquisitive, but rather the ability to score marks. Marks, marks, marks and marks. That is what a Thaparian is all about....

What you read above is what he wrote. The very valid point he raised was about our institute-TIET and how bullshitty it can get get sometimes. But I read this somewhere, that how good or bad an organisation or institute (in our case) actually is , is decided by it's culture which in turn is decided by the kind of workers or students and faculty members(in our case) and their attitude. Now our faculty is a synonym for the word hopeless but looking at us students, I am sure theirs gotta be something going on in our minds and actions too which is not the way it should be, that the culture in TIET is the way it is. I am sure you know what I am talking about. Just wanted to put my thoughts across that it always takes TWO TO TANGO!...;)

Coming to the Saturnalia front. We've made the impossible possible. Our batch will go down in the annals of Tiet's history as THE BATCH who revived it. Having been in the forefront of the Resource Generation committee which raised the money, I can tell you with total conviction that it's no mean achievement to go to any company A and ask them for a lakh rupees in exchange for something as trivial as publicity in a college which many hadn't heard of, at a festival they had never heard about. But, things worked out fine and I guess our numerous visits to Chandigarh, Delhi and trips within Patiala have paid off.

Talking of money, there is a lot of resentment among the final yr students who have 'contributed' Rs.200 each for saturnalia to happen. I'd just like to make it clear that your money is not the only money we have raised, as according to some people. It forms about 30% of the total money we have confirmed for sat. We have worked hard to raise the rest of the 70%. In this final lap, we need everyone's willing co-operation to make sat happen. Many of you might not share my enthusiasm for sat but as Aman rightly said- Thapar is all about marks, marks, marks and did I mention marks? and here's your chance to do something which is different and you've never done before and something you know will help you because of the kind of exposure you'll be getting. After all, have all of us been to a Mood-I or Rendezvous?. Agreed we won't get something as good as that, but something is better than nothing and this something will be better than any mudra or acumen or izhaar(for which you give 150 bucks anyways). I promise you that.

For those who still don't agree with me- eat your hearts out!...you've 'contributed' 200 bucks and you can't do shit about it!!!ha ha ha....;-)

EXAMS!!!!

2006-02-15T18:26:00.000+05:30

Exams are on from this saturday and I swear I am going to get a royal bitchslap on my ass. For the past 1.5 months studies was a concept that existed on the outside fringes of my life and Now that its turning into the nucleaus, I am one scared man!...that sounded weird but you get the idea. Just a matter of one week though. Hope it gets over soon. Pray for this poor soul!

Professionalism: Don't expect it from professionals!

2006-02-08T23:17:00.000+05:30

Today, me, sahil, bengali and jassi went to Chandigarh. I missed a very important YKC lab to be in Chd by 5 pm. Reason? An appointment with Coke regarding sponsorship for Saturnalia(Sat). What do we see when we land there? No coke representative, inspite of having confirmed the appointment. I mean, however busy you are Mr. "professional", please take into account the fact that even though we are mere students, our time and resources are also important.

This is not a solitary experience. During the course of my work for Sat, I've encountered loads of such "professionals". This attitude of taking us complacently and giving us the short shrift, just because we are college students, really irritates me to no end. This isn't just about taking US setriously. It's about simple courtesies(hope the spelling is right) you need to extend towards your fellow humans. Had that idiotic coke fucker called us in advance to tell us about the change of plans, it could have saved us a lot of time.

Rest of the day was pretty good though. The best thing about life these days though is that I am not killing time doing nothing. There are loads of things to work for and look forward to. More on that next time!...:-)

Bull's Eye!!!

2006-02-08T00:46:00.000+05:30

Today was my first GD(group discussion) class at Bulls eye institute Chandigarh in preparation for the FMS interview call. Nice experience and without too sounding too boastful i think i can say that i was probably one of the best speakers in class. But this was just 10 odd people, how the real fms session goes is still making me jittery, though today's session does leave me quite confident. Life is now going to become one big busride from Patiala to Chandigarh and back. Very tiring and hectic but atleast I won't just while away my time now.

On the Saturnalia front, things are finally looking bright. Sat looks like a very real possibility now. Don't ask me the exact figures but I'd give it 90(sat happens)-10(sat doesnt happen) chances. One of the most important lessons I have learnt through this experience is the value of the homework that is required to be able to organise an event of this scale. You can say that currently we are working in fast forward mode, but again, we wouldn't have understood it, had we not even tried.

One more issue that could snowball into a big controversy is the fact that we are taking Rs.200 from each student of the college in order to help finance sat. Obviously, we don't expect everybody to agree with this decision. I was talking to a few people in the mess just now and they registered their opinions with me. I expect the Dean of Student Affairs to receive atleast 10 applications signed by 100 students each in opposition to this decision.

I just want everyone to know that just for once think of doing something for your college unselfishly. No, I am not in love with this place either. Not in a 1000 milleniums. We might not be able to change a lot of things we don't like in this place, but this is one thing we can and I believe we should change. Don't most people crib about the 'lack of exposure', 'too much stress on academics' etc. in patiala? Well, here is your chance to change things. I just want to improve this place, just a little bit because I believe that the opportunity to actually leave your impact and to change the system you don't like comes not very often. And we have that opportunity with us right now, to change Thapar Institute. So, instead of cribbing and criticising one more time, lets take the risk and see what happens with our 200 bucks. Hope my point gets through.

Latest news from my life!!

2006-02-05T23:41:00.000+05:30

2 new developments-

1-I crashed a wedding today. Awesome experience.
2-This is by far the best new in a looooooong loooooooooong time
I GOT A CALL FROM FMS!!!

I'll just end it here coz am too tired and I really don't have any words to tell you how bloody elated I am...Thank you god!!!

On a parting note.. there is a 3rd development too but its still not concluded yet. I'll tell you when it does conclude. It's about...

Why Am I Doing What I Am Doing?

2006-01-28T22:56:00.000+05:30

Well, its been a very long time since I felt like writing my second blog entry.

So as the title says- Why am I doing what I am doing?. This refers to the work i am doing in order to revive my college festival Saturnalia. Now to all those thaparians reading this, let me just tell you that sat still is not confirmed; it might or might not happen.

Today we went to Etc Punjabi's office in Delhi. There we learnt what event management actually is or to say the least, got a glimpse into what it is like. In one line- it's a logistical nightmare.
This is because sat(short for saturnalia) is just 1 month away and we learnt just today what the correct strategy to organise an event so big should be. This problem of the lack of experience was always going to be there, because when you try to do something on this big a scale for the first time, there will be unseen obstacles and hindrances. No matter how much you try and plan, like we did, you will miss out on something, because of your lack of experience. Since we learnt just today , of our shortcomings, it made me think, think really hard. Why am I spending so much money and time on a festival that might just get scrapped off once again. We haven't spent days and nights on planning sat, as I now think was required. We all knew right from the start, that there was a very strong possibility we might lose in this gamble,as ppl in college are saying now too,that sat won't happen and we're just wasting our resources.

All that might just come true and we'll have ppl talkin about us as one more batch who tried and failed.

But. A big fat BUT.

We tried. That's what matters to me atleast. Now this is not an obituary on sat because we will give it our best shot. And with the new ideas we have, it certainly seems like we can do it. Just a little more time is what we need. But looking at the bigger picture, beyond sat, there is a lot we have learnt. This sounds so bloody cliched but thats the truth and this whole experience of trying makes it worthwhile, even if Sat doesn't happen.

I'll shut up now coz one sentimental night= an embarassing morning the next day!!...;)

Inspiration strikes me!

2005-12-12T18:42:00.000+05:30

6 months after registering myself on this site, I am finally writing down something on my blog. The will to do this instead of comfortably reading a magazine under my quilt in my hostel room comes from a certain Mr. Ankur Malhotra in my college.

Less an engineer, this fellow looks more like a wandering dreamer. He should have been a poet or something, looks more that part. One of those 'devdas' kind of fellows. Why I am talking about him is that in a hostel full of loud, aggressive and at times senseless guys, this guy stands out.

Anyways, back to talking about my life. Since I am doing electrical engineering, machines has been a bane and a major one at that. Today the last of the machines subjects ended. The Asynchronous Machines endsem exam was today. And in one word, it was - PATHETIC!! That minor detail aside, I am just happy that this word-machines, has been erased forever and ever from my academic curriculum. Currently, nothing is more comforting than the thought of finally graduating from this salt mine without anymore hiccups and never ever coming back to this place. Though there's one full semester before that happens.

I have to say that inspite of all the hate and spite I have for this place, it's taught me lessons I would never have learnt, had I remained in my comfort zone in Delhi. I guess that's a fact most of us will have to begrudgingly accept. I guess it's got more to do with the lessons you learn living in a hostel away from your families, totally on your own. Living in extreme, ok not extreme but still quite cold without the simple luxury of a room heater(which is not allowed),eating some sticky paste supposed to be vaguely edible. These things are a given. The most important thing though is the politics and manipulations you deal with from your own batchmates. Be it extra-curricular events, studies it's everywhere. Stuff like this prepares you for the outside world though. Makes a man out of kids. You learn to be more accepting of others, you learn to compromise, adjust, most importantly, you learn to be independent. This place completely bitch-slaps the kid out of you.

I sound too pessimistic I guess. There's some really good things too about this hostel (NOT the college) which make living here worthwhile. More on that in the next blog. Got an exam to study for