Rakesh has a point...but

Rakesh, i don't deny your comment. We have our differences and biases which will cast a shadow of doubt, even with my previous post. I am not saying that people will sacrifice themselves for the class... never!! but all that bull that a fragmented class cannot achieve a common goal is not true n i don't agree. All that matters is that we stick to together (well... almost all of us without taking names) when it matters the most. For it is only in times of distress that you find friends and some of, including myself, saw that people can be trustworthy; more so because i found that some of us did put a bit of faith in me also. A comment like this from probably the most cynical guy in class does count for something and i hope to believe in that...

Thoughts on Placements

We became the 2nd batch in the history of this college to host a placement week on 3rd of December. Not only did we raise the level of expectation but came through with most of them. companies and profiles were new and varied which overall met our expectations of job and pay. Yet in the midst of all the good times we had a few set backs also. Although placement week is over officially, we still have some friends who are trying to find the right start for themselves. What i think stood out in this placements was the level of commitment of "almost" all the students towards each other. Most of us didn't think twice about not appearing in an interview if it meant giving another friend a chance which he or she needed more than i did. For that i applaud my classmates and i think it's a clear message about unity and trust when it matters the most. fingers were pointed at us on this issue but i think we have sent the right message across. No. of offers, packages are mere statistics which will unfortunately never capture the undying spirit in us as a class.... as a team!!!

I am no Specialist- part 2

this is a continuation of my earlier post on the course given to us for finance... earlier we were all rejected because we didn't have the necessary background required to handle this course even after we did well in the test and then the interview was pretty shoddy...ok.. no problem...we moved on...but for term 5 when we say our electives in finance we got surprised...all that was gonna be taught in the advance finance course has been offered to a bunch of generalists with most of us having little or no inclination towards it...
if u think about the level of stupidity in course design u would mock how a management institute is being run...first u say that we r not good enough for the course then u offer the entire course to the whole class who have no choice but to take it if they are gonna major in finance... what s the justification???...none. second, if a prof leaves the course is also packed with him and sent out of college...sounds bizarre doesn't it?? n that not just for one paper but for others...third, all claims of being a b school gets lost if the student don't have choice on the no. of papers in their specialisation is too few.. i know the problem is that we don't have the numbers but what about the student's area of interest?? doesn't that count for anything??
i have said enough n i feel sick..

Discovering Disc in Chennai...Pasha!!

after 1 year in chennai we found a disco...Eureka! Eureka! Eureka!...no i am not naked running on the streets of chennai but its such a relief...Pasha is in the Park and rajat n i decided to give it a shot today...with some friends of rajat's we landed in the so called heppest place in the city.. first impressions...too small n for 1 k only .5 k was worth drinks...that kind of put us off...but the crowd just blew our minds away!!! definitely not the typical type but too hip and happening by chennai standards...the dance floor was soo small that we were rubbing against each other shamelessly( not against rajat!!!) that we forgot we were in chennai..the girls were mind blowing...not seen any like this in chennai before...the crowd was wild and it had practically no level of decency if one could say...but to me it's the answer to breaking away from the conservative outlook of the city and accepting more open culture... it was fantastic...we had decided that given our expectations of chennai we were at rock bottom so anything else is just upside...the barmen put up a show with the bottles and the girls were lovely... first time since back at home did i see short skirts on girls and well rest is left to imagination... all i am gonna say is this was definitely not that last time for us... cheers to that

Use & Throw...

i have often wondered whether people we meet will remaining being friends or just move on once there is no mutual benefit. Sorry for sounding so insolent and utterly rude but sometimes i just get the feeling...i just wish i am wrong...how often have u realised that d people who u call friends r just there because they can benefit and u don't seem to get their act?...it has happened to me before and i wouldn't b surprised if it happens again...so what happens to all the love and respect and moments of happiness n joy?? is it all a waste ... u become a strong shoulder to cry on but once u need a shoulder there seems to b a dirth of it.. sometimes i really don't know.... all i can say is that there r friends for life...this true as even if i haven't spoken to some of them i know deep inside something which keeps us alive and some with whom u have the hope will be part of your inner circle...i am just hoping it doesn't shrink anymore

Life like that - Picture perfect!

i haven't posted for quite sometime now...u see i was busy writing my autobiography so i couldn't come up with some interesting things to write about... but i just finished writing my life plan ( it is an assignment..but i lived it in my heart while i wrote it).. so i thought it would be appropriate to share my plan with all those who read. all i can say is that i could really feel it and touch it as it was just beside me...u can give it a shot.

LIFE PLAN
25- 28 years: working for an MNC bank as a dealer in derivatives on their treasury. Also complete my FRM by then. Work towards building a portfolio in securities which should be about a crore of rupees by 30.

28- 30 years: get married (?) and invest in a house. Wish to have 2 kids, a boy and a girl. I should also be looking to become a consultant or work towards it. Pursue adventure sports and hope to see the All Blacks play the Wallabies or Springboks in the Tri Nations tournament.

30- 35 yrs: look to getting a degree in advance finance/financial engineering from a foreign university. I should become desk head for an MNC bank in their treasury. Buy my first Harley Davidson or Triumph motorbike.

35- 40 yrs: should have built a portfolio of about 5 crores in securities and through investments. Plan my retirement home in the mountains (not sure if it will be the Himalayas or Alps). Must be a name of repute in the field of finance and financial risk and become a successful consultant.

40- 50 yrs: turn my attention to academics by teaching students and corporates in different countries and universities. Must have done full India tour by that time. Also should have seen most places in the world by then.

50- 55 yrs: should be on the board of directors of various Fortune 500 companies. Should devote more time to living the good life by then and simultaneously be into academics and corporate consultancy.

55- 60 yrs: go into teaching and consultancy independently. Go for world tour with wife and spoil my grand children. Start living in my retirement home from then on. Start writing for personal pleasure (not autobiography)

Above 60 yr: continue doing things as mentioned and die among friends and family.

to someone special: if u r there, then a particular question mark is not going to be there...i am still looking...if u find me first, i am the fortunate one...

Grow some spine!!!

Counting days to finishing my time here...so far its been a mixed bag feeling about the place, people and in general how things are here...but today i would like to make some observations about this place...from the very first day that all of us came to an alien environment, we tried to make our lives more comfortable by being extra nice to each other... its expected to b like that but i didn't imagine in my wildest dreams that this nicety would come down on us like a hammer from above...soon it turned that people were more interested in upholding "democratic feeling" in class than doing the right thing which meant to thinking through on any issue..and funny thing was this turned into the benefit of many who manipulated some of this absolute idiots for their benefits and continue to do so..of course these idiots get a feeling of being included in activities not knowing that a mirror of idiocy is being held to their faces which they can't see...when i joined this B school i thought there would be hurdles which will make me a better manager expecting that everyone would be addressing issues in challenging manner...only thing i have seen is everyone wants to keep each other happy and never be able to take a decision without 10 meetings...i am also to blame because initially when i did question, people thought that i was disrupting that harmony of the class, so i moved away..did my own thing n not bother about others. I think its tome i change because by causing disruptions if some of these people can see the big picture, then i have succeeded in my objective...ultimately you do need nerves of steel with titanium reinforcement to be a manager..too much of a feel good must be questioned as its the first sign of something going very wrong...lets hope these disruptions make us better managers...or else most of us are screwed!!

creative juices???....from my nuts

i take this opportunity to quote a dear friend;
"When God decided to account for all idiots, i was too slow to raise my hand".. now that is creativity..juices are flowing..got a bright idea to take on the "rest of the world" or those who raised their hands..since i joined this class every individual has had some "spark" moment to show the rest of us..today i witnessed "yet another one"...to self proclaim creativity n b at its helm is unarguably the dumbest thing possible...just bcuz some people have their faculties in the right places doesn't mean everyone has it..and not everyone goes arnd telling others; "worship me!worship me!"..use ur brains n incase of doubt refer to someone who has shown its correct application..when most activity centres have failed to perform why have yet another one?? and if u think that singing n dancing is something new, then think again..u don't need a club or organisation to do it...infact u just do it!!...we are ready to b a "captive audience"...n theres no better to kill creativity than make it regular..or for that matter yet another event...
please, for crying out loud, don't make us cry...
to end i would like to share a thought which Edward De Bono said.."Its always difficult to implement"... i.e. u just sell the same thing with different labels..now if u think i have given u a "creative" idea, think again...

I am no good a specialist!!

sometime back one bright mind had nothin much to offer so he decided to offer us advance finance, knowing fully well that most of don't have it in us to do it...but like a kid who is promised candy i took an "informed" decision and appeared for the test...didn't do that badly also but apparently v were not too good or too bad...ummm..motamoti..so lets call in these fellows for an interview and enjoy ourselves..it was obvious when v heard that there is an interview most of us will not clear it...but for them it was a way to justify our thought...n thats what happened exactly...regretfully we were told that we are a piece of crap...i just wonder that when did we feel we were capable of this course anyway.. afterall we are not specialists..only satisfaction that i have is that i can take it on if i want but not here, from a place where u can reap the benefits of the brand...
on this thought i raise my glass (figuratively) and prepare for another blissful 9 months

to kill boredom u have to....

i was stupid enough to book my tickets for home so late and now i pay the price of wasting my time in my hostel room on the 3rd floor without any A/C, right under the sun. Its been like this since Saturday when i actually could have been home but like a moron i booked my tickets for Thursday and be stuck in the most boring place on the face of the planet. Well saturday was not that bad considering that i went to a pub with friends and beat the heat with some king of good times. from sunday i started my movie marathon...its good to have 24/7 internet which is free and in the company of equally bored friends, Torrent is the answer...downloading 2 movies a day and watch all the new ones for free was thw best thing ever..plus u have the comfort of A/C in ur computer lab which also serves as bedroom( its been mine... on n off for the summer) so far Oceans 13, Cheeni kum, spiderman, last king..,and some more are over...saved me the trouble of spending all the money on Satyam Cinema...did see a lot of Hitchcock movies also this summer...u must be wondering how did i finish my project...ladies n gentlemen, its all abt time management..so 1 more day in my cozy little shithole and i am off to party...

Look Back with Joy!!

one more week left to finish summer internship at India's largest foreign bank...u look back with joy of completeing another major part of ur learning in ur MBA education..but what have i gained is something i ask...d first answer comes to mind is gr8 friends who have more understanding of the business for so many yrs of experience but still treated as 1 of them...the treatment i got from d entire GM team is unimagineable...apart from learning all practical things about derivative business and forex u were made to feel part of d elite team( no 1 is allowed into d dept. btw)...n not just that being part of team lunch n dinner on regular basis n d opportunity to meet some "real big gun" of the company was part of the learning...being invited to boss's daughter's birthday(don't get ideas...she is a kid) n farewell dinner at Zara's are things i dont think many of my classmates got to do...when they say open door policy they mean open door policy...v could walk into d boss' cabin netime n he will give u 1 hr in dicussing a lot of things even if it was not related to d project...no amount of gratitude can express my sense of respect n admiration for these guys...they r in d business of making money but never did u feel that thats d only thing they did...
i carry a lot of memories of this place and none are bitter...will say this was the best part of the MBA program for me...

Thing u did'nt know abt B school life...

Its nearly a year in Chennai and life couldn't have taken a worse nose dive..the heat is unbearable but most people are worried about setting "precedence" in hostel life than being concerned about our health...after all it was not part of the fees. So u get up early bcoz u want to avoid the heat to go for summer training...but today i could not go as there is no water in the hostel...so another productive day gone to waste because some idiot broke the water pipe and now i havent had a bath...so my only option is to go to the computer lab n do my project there..but my clothes are an issue as no one can bear to see in in my boxers and someone has to rub me the wrong way with so much shit happening already...i just had to restrain myself from giving back a mouthful by saying the following things in my mind;"don't bark back because ur not a dog" (repeat it 10 times with deep breathing)... The only time "MAD"ras makes sense to me is when i am sloshed so i am looking forward to such a sensible evening soon