Old buddhist saying....
Never believed it as much as I do today - for today a person I had believed to be the most golden ever - showed that he too was capable of snobishness... sad.
My project's headed the vella way :P - sad too - kinda worked pretty hard at it - but what do i do - time dilation sucks.
Am changing staying location tomorrow morn. - moving in to a Citi guy's flat - from Deccan to Mundhwa - two ends of the Citi - impermanence at work too :)
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
New Google Groups
Google is testing out its new google groups - have a look at it at http://groups-beta.google.com
Sunday, May 23, 2004
On foreigner origins
There's been so much talk about being ruled by a foreigner, that I think I should put in my opinion too. Personally, I feel that a person's place of birth or background should have no bearing on his capability - what does it matter where I am born, how good I am is all that matters. And now that she's been in India for so long, I don't know what makes her a 'foreigner'. Come to think of it - the issue raises some interesting questions - I for one, have now been outside my home state - Tamilnadu - for half my life now - am I a tamil or not ? I really do not know - in fact something that strikes me when i interact with guys from my homestate - i hardly understand their lingo. Now tomorrow if I were to stand for election, could I do it in TN - after being so long away ? Am I a Tamil or not ? Tomorrow, just like our fathers' wandering jobs made us travel all over the country, our jobs might make the next generation wander all over the world - the Sonia Gandhi issue might just be the start to a cultural change. As our society evolves, it is also necessary that our viewpoints evolve to match the change.
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Fresher's Gettogetther
Had a freshers get togetther yesterday - must call it more a gettogetther of our batch - since it was 4 of us vs 2 of them - doesn't reflect too well on the juniors though - could have atleast informed us - still had a great time
Monday, May 17, 2004
Exposure with Control ?
Wired has this article on this interview with author Jeffrey Rosen about his book called the 'Naked Crowd'. He seems to argue that people do not mind surveilence getting more intrusive as long as they have a greater sense of security. In the interview, he says that people do not care about privacy per se, but about whether they can control the conditions of their privacy. He puts up an interesting observation about people not minding putting up personal stuff in blogs but resisting surveillance cameras. I agree with one another of his observations - he says that people only care about privacy when they are themselves affected by it - very true indeed - I would say that goes for almost anything - we give a damn till it affects us.
On travel in crowded buses
One interesting learning I've got as a result of my past one month of summer internship is about formal shirts - never wear plain shirts (particularly white). My white formals are all dirty now - pale brown. Even the dhobhi doesn't seem to wash them properly. I'll never forget these days - it's really interesting travelling to-and-fro for half an hour sitting between a beggar on one side and fat woman on the other wearing white vanheusen formals :P
The excitement of a market crash
Today was worth being in office today, especially before lunch. It was an interesting view of the market bloodbath - the sensex fell 800 points - the biggest intra-day fall in its history. The excitement was palpable - within an hour of my reaching office, there were gasps all round the office - first 300, then 500, then 800 points - everyone was shocked. The RMs ran around attending calls from clients - everyone was pleading with their clients to not panic and to take a 'long term' view. There were teleconferences going on all round the office with headquarters in BKC debating the reasons for the crash and the strategy to be followed. With the markets being forced to shutdown at 11.30 for 2 hours, everyone was waiting with bated breath the outcome of the start of trading.
There was quite a bit of relief as the markets recovered at the start of trading once to resume the swing till the came to rest 500 points down - quite an interesting start to the congress regime...
There was quite a bit of relief as the markets recovered at the start of trading once to resume the swing till the came to rest 500 points down - quite an interesting start to the congress regime...
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Google's Official Blog
Google has launched its own official blog. Check it out at
http://www.google.com/googleblog/
http://www.google.com/googleblog/
XLRI Alumni Party
The XL Alumni Party, Mumbai is scheduled on the 29th of May at Leela (Andheri, near the International Airport). All Xlers welcome.
For further details contact
Irwin Preet Singh Anand
(irwin.preet@unilever.com)
09870208006
Nimit Khare
09870165260
For further details contact
Irwin Preet Singh Anand
(irwin.preet@unilever.com)
09870208006
Nimit Khare
09870165260
Mumbai calls
Me in mumbai now. Have come over for the weekend for some talks at Citi as part of our summer programme. Had the talks yesterday. It was really great - got a lot of insight about i-banking and credit cards. Moreover this weekend is a real welcome break from the monotony of going to work 6 days a week. Will leave for Pune today evening. Mumbai is real damn hot and sweaty. It has the Chennai swelter :(. Syko's got a PPO from NSE-IT. Must be a record - his guide is real impressed with him. It's the earliest i think anyone must have been offered a PPO. He's been with the company only for a month now. Such a great news.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
CBN's defeat
Rather shocking to know of the shock defeat of Chandrababu Naidu. Can never think of that state without him.
About the new blogger
Wow! the new blogger really rocks. Am happy they got the comments feature in - this was one thing blogger really lacked. And the new templates are real cool. Changed mine too :D
Monday, May 10, 2004
New additions
Found an interesting blog: http://ajaysthots.blogspot.com/ - an xler! - how I wish I knew more of the Exec-PGP guys.
An a cool website http://www.valuemanagement.net - courtesy dhunta
An a cool website http://www.valuemanagement.net - courtesy dhunta
Saturday, May 08, 2004
IIM vs ISB
I found some very interesting writing in Ramki's blog (archives- which make interesting reading incidentally :D).
Quoteth
IIMs vs ISB
If the heading made you sit up, I am not surprised. I was just going thru the forums at coolavenues.com and was amazed at the carnage. There seem to be a big crowd from other bschools who are extremely sensitive to ISB and its hype, to some extent justifiably so. Some amazing messages, mudslinging that does no good to anyone...
IIMs are the premier bschools in India. No doubt. ISB is not yet there. ISB aims not only to be there but to be among the best in the world. But it needs to tread that path for sometime to come before it can reach the target. There has to be a difference between a bschool that has an established reputation for decades and one that is just 3 years old. I simply dont see why people want to compare apples and oranges.
ISB has big plans. It has great backing from industry and academia. Spirited sincere students who want to make it big in life. All the essentials for a new school wanting to make it big in the world. But when you start a school saying that, "we aim to be the best in the world in a few years", you are indeed creating hype. That hype has been interpreted by many as readymade international placements, a great course that is going to beat the blues out of IIMs in the rankings and fantabulous salaries. Lets get practical. Building an institution takes time. Rome was not built in a day. But to make it big, we need to dream big first. Then back is up with inspiration, perspiration and sincere honest effort.
IIMs are the place to be if you will not be satisfied by anything but that high flying IB job in the US. Contrast that with the opportunity to build an institution. Example: This year, ISB will host the first ISB leadership summit. From the first step of conceptualization to drawing up budgets to roping in sponsors, media partners, travel partners to even co ordination to website creation to logistics management to convincing some of the best minds in the world to take time off their schedules to come to ISB during those 3 days, everything has been done just by the students. Mind you, even the idea came from one of us. No extra money was awarded for this effort. We had to manage by pooling available money for the different clubs. We had to bridge the deficit with sponsorships. We had to negotiate the rates for everything from advertising to publishing to every little detail. All this has been managed by numerous teams of student volunteers who have been working for the past 3 months, day and night. In fact, it is only now that we are in some shape and we have tonnes of work ahead. All this in the middle of arguably one of the toughest schedules in a bschool. Now, being a student of ISB, i know I do not stand the same probability of getting an international placement as say an IIM grad, but is that first placement everything. What matters to me more is the experience I have got by participating in this massive effort to create something big from scratch. And we did not have a legacy to learn from.
Going to a bschool is a personal decision. One has to weigh everything from costs to what is important for oneself before taking a decision. Clearing CAT or GMAT does not make anyone great. It is being able to keep ones cool when the situation demands, knowing what you want and the ability to work relentlessly towards that goal that differentiates. I care a damn if you are from ISB or IIMs or any bschool. If you are honest, hard working, sincere towards your goals and smart enough to recognize opportunity when it knocks, you will go places.
Quoteth
IIMs vs ISB
If the heading made you sit up, I am not surprised. I was just going thru the forums at coolavenues.com and was amazed at the carnage. There seem to be a big crowd from other bschools who are extremely sensitive to ISB and its hype, to some extent justifiably so. Some amazing messages, mudslinging that does no good to anyone...
IIMs are the premier bschools in India. No doubt. ISB is not yet there. ISB aims not only to be there but to be among the best in the world. But it needs to tread that path for sometime to come before it can reach the target. There has to be a difference between a bschool that has an established reputation for decades and one that is just 3 years old. I simply dont see why people want to compare apples and oranges.
ISB has big plans. It has great backing from industry and academia. Spirited sincere students who want to make it big in life. All the essentials for a new school wanting to make it big in the world. But when you start a school saying that, "we aim to be the best in the world in a few years", you are indeed creating hype. That hype has been interpreted by many as readymade international placements, a great course that is going to beat the blues out of IIMs in the rankings and fantabulous salaries. Lets get practical. Building an institution takes time. Rome was not built in a day. But to make it big, we need to dream big first. Then back is up with inspiration, perspiration and sincere honest effort.
IIMs are the place to be if you will not be satisfied by anything but that high flying IB job in the US. Contrast that with the opportunity to build an institution. Example: This year, ISB will host the first ISB leadership summit. From the first step of conceptualization to drawing up budgets to roping in sponsors, media partners, travel partners to even co ordination to website creation to logistics management to convincing some of the best minds in the world to take time off their schedules to come to ISB during those 3 days, everything has been done just by the students. Mind you, even the idea came from one of us. No extra money was awarded for this effort. We had to manage by pooling available money for the different clubs. We had to bridge the deficit with sponsorships. We had to negotiate the rates for everything from advertising to publishing to every little detail. All this has been managed by numerous teams of student volunteers who have been working for the past 3 months, day and night. In fact, it is only now that we are in some shape and we have tonnes of work ahead. All this in the middle of arguably one of the toughest schedules in a bschool. Now, being a student of ISB, i know I do not stand the same probability of getting an international placement as say an IIM grad, but is that first placement everything. What matters to me more is the experience I have got by participating in this massive effort to create something big from scratch. And we did not have a legacy to learn from.
Going to a bschool is a personal decision. One has to weigh everything from costs to what is important for oneself before taking a decision. Clearing CAT or GMAT does not make anyone great. It is being able to keep ones cool when the situation demands, knowing what you want and the ability to work relentlessly towards that goal that differentiates. I care a damn if you are from ISB or IIMs or any bschool. If you are honest, hard working, sincere towards your goals and smart enough to recognize opportunity when it knocks, you will go places.
Blog additions
Me on a blog-visiting trip - i seem to find the blogs much more interesting than the websites i used to frequent. Moreover, the exponential increase in bloggers seems to me giving me enuf grub to read :D
Today's additions:
Liju's blog - http://indyan.rediffblogs.com/ - am pretty impressed - a very nice blog.
S-Anand - http://www.s-anand.net/ - well it's wrong to add it this late since this was one of the first blogs i ever visited, have been frequenting his site well before i wrote my MBA entrances.
Maverick - http://maverick.pagalguy.com/ - a real 'neat' blog :P
Ramki (ISB class of 2004) - http://gyaan.blogspot.com/ - real nice to find a blog on life at ISB.
Today's additions:
Liju's blog - http://indyan.rediffblogs.com/ - am pretty impressed - a very nice blog.
S-Anand - http://www.s-anand.net/ - well it's wrong to add it this late since this was one of the first blogs i ever visited, have been frequenting his site well before i wrote my MBA entrances.
Maverick - http://maverick.pagalguy.com/ - a real 'neat' blog :P
Ramki (ISB class of 2004) - http://gyaan.blogspot.com/ - real nice to find a blog on life at ISB.
On Placements from S. Anand
Found an interesting link from Anand's blog - http://www.geocities.com/root_node/articles/placement.html
Saturday
Saturday, saturday, what a boring day !!! - people should think I'm crazy, but what the heck - i'm damn bored - work seems more interesting :P - atleast i'd have something to do. It's particularly boring living in a huge city when you do not have friends and you have seen most of the city. I'm staying real late in office these days - even behera is surprised - but i'm bored. Moreover, there are so many interesting things to read on Citi's intranet that office seems more interesting than out :P
Friday, May 07, 2004
Saturday, May 01, 2004
May Day
Today's a holiday in Maharashtra - had the day off ! yahoo - behera left today morning to thane to visit a friend. Hence got up late and went visiting to Saras Bagh around 11 am. The place is pretty close from here at Deccan. Went to the Ganesha temple there. The place is very beautiful. As the name implies, it is a garden at the center of which is this beautiful Ganesh temple. The moorthy is really beautiful and set in white marble. I was pretty impressed by the temple. The remaining part of the day I spent at my periappa's place. Had such good food after a long time :D
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