jaane nahin denge tujhe !!!!

First morning of new year, there are lots of reasons to be happy, but this blog is being written because i am not finding any other medium to release my grief and frustration. The front page of the news paper is covered by the news of ruchika girhotra's case. Though, i was following this case for around 10 days, but when i was reading it during the breakfast today, when i read it, food refused to go down my throat.....

Though all of us know the details of the case, i was really moved ( on the verge of tears..) reading the statements of her brother and her friend aradhna. Last night, when the songs were played at their loudest volume combined by beautiful fireworks, that we entered 2010.. proclaimed to be the decade of india , huh !!! , its a nation, where it's still a crime to be a girl and her to be her family members. The torture and mental agony under which her brother underwent, is the story of almost every sexually assaulted girl's family. India is perhaps the only nation in the world , where an assaulted gal and her family is victimised rather than provided protection, lest forget about justice.
But, i was really moved by one person in the whole episode, Aradhna her friend. When i was returning back after watching 3 idiots i was asked " does this type of friendship happens in real world", this one is for you , prakhar. Their friendship has transcended the realms of life and death. At these sort of times even the family members do not support but she fought the case for 19 years among all the adversaries. We always talk about jai and veeru, aradhna and ruchika would be the new epitome of friendship.
Now the most important player in the whole episode, the celebrated indian media. We may make a lot of fun of them, often accuse them of making a lot of hue and cry... but with all their shortcomings , they are the only option left for the "aam aadmi" of india to raise their voice. As we have seen again and again , the cases where all have lost the hope , media ensured the justice for the victims be it jessica lall or priyadarshini mattoo. Once again a striking feature, all the cases are pertaining to girls. To shameful for a nation, priding on its culture...huh...
Also, in hindsight, as i mentioned in the one of my previous blog 'u, me and us', i think that technology has played a major part in ameliorating the situation. If she could have written a mail to president, could have made a blog entry against all the atrocities or could connect with her friends , a life could have been saved ,and various others would have been in a much better condition. Although, excess is harmful, but this can play a important part in helping the youth population of india.
In the land of rani laxmibai and indira gandhi, the girls are still compelled to live a fearful life, i really feel grief and shame .... lets hope that new year bring justice to ruchika and all other victims and their families.

P.S. Reading this case, i felt watching a 90's movie, with ajay devgan as protagonist . The only difference was that at that time there was a belief that all would be settled by the hero, and it would be a happy ending. In the real world, bhaiyya all is not well !!!

Picks of the year !!!!

Amidst the chilling cold and freezing winds , finally the last night of the year arrives. On the eve of new year their would be lots of celebrations, news channel will roll the reel back, entertainment channels will arrange the circus of Bollywood stars. So, making hay while the sun shines ( although it rarely do now a days !!!) , i also try to dirty my hands in picking some moments of mine throughout the year.
Disclaimer : All comments are personal by me, and any resemblence with alive or dead would be considered co-incidental !!! ...

So, lets start now :
1. Loosing "Virginity"
No... No... No, its not what you all are thinking. Its about loosing my virginity regarding alcohol. After 23 years of resistance, i finally sucuumbed to the pressure of alocohol when i first drank a peg on 1st Jan 2009. Well, about expirience, 1 peg seemed very normal, 2nd peg... some thing started shaking and 3rd peg.. i puked !!!.... After that, i had some further misadventures with it, but now i am sure that me and alcohol are not a happy couple.
2. Group Sangraam
Well, meanwhile i got first of my mba call from IMT Ghaziabad ( Which is where i ended). I had practiced GD/PI rigorously in my coachings, so i was confident of doing well. So when we were seated in a group we were 16 in number ( or was it a crowd !!) and then the moderator announced the time limit "8" minutes , like a ration quota in a famine stricken area. So, as soon as the signal is given, all the loaded missiles shot at once. No body was listening to any body, some were speaking to fan and some were to floor. The best part , though, was " stop pointing your finger towards me " :) :)
3. Bharat Darshan
Due to my desperation of fleeing from my job, i applied to all the MBA colleges , i had heard the names of !!!. so, march was the month where i started the exploration of "incredible" india !.. My first destination was Manipal ( TAPMI).. and to all of my horrors, the train didnt stopped at the station. It stopped 90 kms away and then i have to came back, and i reached the institute, just before the gates were being closed. Then i had a "jab we met" journey from mangalore to Chennai. BIM profs screwed me hard . But the trip ended very well , with my seat upgraded to 2nd AC from the 3rd AC on return journey.
4. Jahapanah ....Tohfa Kabool ho !!!
Although it was not exactly the "tohfas" as depicted in the new amir's flick "3 idiots", the most popular 'PDP' program of IMT Ghaziabad was very much same in the spirit. To non-imtians.. this is an softer version and euphemism for 'R" word in the boarding schools. Newly arrived bacchas, almost forget what sleeping means.... but its lot of fun doing some bizzare things that you would not have done in a sane mood. The best part is "shav-asan" in the morning yoga ....
u dont know why ??? just lie down in the same pose on a clean sheet for 2 mins !!!
5. "Gravity of Situation "
The chances are that you must have felt it some times in your life, but it is very common in IMTian Life. If you are not feeling it, you would be constantly reminded by some Zombie committee people time and time again. If you want to have the expirience of "Nazi Concentration camps" just attend their open houses. Any ways jokes apart, i really salute the efforts they put in and i really appreciate their hard work and spirit. Kudos to u guys !!!!
6. Sir... Actually.... We are coming to that...
A MBA life is synonumous to presentations.At the end of every day, you will find yourself making one presentation or another. So, when i was standing in front of class, with some muscles of my leg vibrating, equipped with a shabby presentation prepared last night , last thing i wanted is the prof interjecting in between. And to every questions of his, the standard answer was " Sir .. actually.. we are coming to that point.. we have covered in further slides... " and it continued till the " Thank You" Slide !!!
7. "Immediately "
During the much awaited weeks.. a cherubic female voice, announces this as a signature word. Although , the important words precede this "immediately". If you happen to hear your name, then it sounds nothing less than honey to your ears.

So, these are some of the picks of the year for me... although some are classical but not to mention here like " dont touch me i have a boy friend ( after boozing !!!)..." to " i got the imt blues !!!! "....

Wishing all of you ( The patient readers , thats why i kept this part last :) ), a very happy and prpsperous 2010. May god bless you all...

Adieu for the last tym in 2009.....
Yours truly

About actors

Amir Khan was my favorite actor. Yes, 'was' till I watched 3 idiots. The process started with Lagaan. Then DCH, Fanna, TZP, Ghajini and finally 3i followed. These films were among the biggest blockbusters of the year they were released. They lived up to the hype created by the media and promoters. All were so different, depicted different storylines with good camera work and music. Then why so unusual ?

There lies the reason. In all these films, amir's character was so powerful. It had a larger than life image. In Fanna, he was an impostor, a terrorist on a mission and a passionate lover at the same time. In Lagaan, he had the courage and talent to take on the Englishmen. He was the best player of all; a leader, a good bowler and batsman too. In Ghajini he prepared a masculine structure to support his macho and confused character. Again, in TZP he was an artist, a model teacher and by chance suffered from dyslexia in his childhood. The limit crossed in 3i. Mr. Rancho was intelligent, extrovert, naughty and a topper too. He ended up becoming a scientist.

It's not that I am envious of these unique characters potrayed by him. AK has been my favorite so much that he adorns my mobile screen in his Ghajiini look till date. Today, I know not why, my mind reminded me of actors like SRK and Amitabh Bachchan. I remembered their classic performances and yes, I found them better than AK. Their characters are not so powerful, they are like u and me. That is the true test of potrayal. Without any support of external appearances, extraordinary talent; they have lived their roles pretty well. Amir Sir was always looking for a larger than life script (read role) for himself.

How to change ?

We are fault ridden beings. Claimed one of the best philosophers of all times. We all know our weaknesses. ( or do we not ?) But what is it that we are unable to break the shackles, come out of it. Emotions, the word commonly countered in such situations! It simply does not allow us to change, change for the better. Thus, we are stereotyped by our personality types, which keep reminding us of our traits.

Is it tough to change ? Our childhood memories, some of which has formed deep imprints on our psyche refuse to die down. Maybe, obviously, we dread a particular behaviour because of the "horrifying" experiences in the past. The past encumbers our childhood, when we were nascent enough to take certain things seriously. The reactions of elders to our childishness might have prompted such behaviour.

World has so many extroverts and so few introverts! People who talk less and think more are introverts. As I anticipate, introverts are people who think ahead of their age. Right from the kindergarten days, they do not find activities of their fellow beings exciting enough. They are bored of it. They want to do what their immediate elders do. But they are not supposed to do that. Result, if they approach out of curiosity to 'higher' people, they are unacceptable. People usually take them with a pinch of a salt, until they persist to prove themselves. Sadly, not all can hold that courage, some need help from others. They hesitate to express their intentions, knowing that they will not be understood.

Thus, they keep concentrating on areas where they are supposed to do well. In the meantime, they feel that they are not enjoying life. Their unhappiness in completing those expected chores is highlighted when they distance themselves from people. The search for loneliness where they can 'invent' something is always there. If they are unable to accomplish so, they get angry at hindrances. Again, people find this unnatural. Unnatural it is, because they were not allowed to do things which they could have done. Their mind process tells them things which they are unable to explain to their friends. Often, introverts result in excelling in arts, music and literature. These fields provide a platform to invent, to keep growing and not reaching the end.

When I happened to pursue PGDM (accidently, I must say), I was told a manager must have an extroverted personality to leverage maximum benefits. Well, it sounds reasonable. So what if I am not an extrovert ? I do not talk to people spontaneously. I need a reason to be a first mover. What to do ? Am I in the wrong place ?

State(s) of Nation

If anyone get a chance to look at the globes of the era before 1990s, he is bound to be perplexed by what he would say. The world and thus nations look completely different from what they was 2 decades ago. The present fiasco in the telugu land is the latest bead in the necklace. Once again the political map of India is bound to change.
As a north indian, to be frank i am relatively naive to comment on the issue of a separate telangana state. So, at lunch i caught hole two of my andhra friends. So, for the benefits of the readers (like me :) ) , andhra is broadly divided into 3 parts viz telangana, coastal andhra & rayalseema. While the coastal andhra is most propesperous owing to the agricultural prowess, telangana has lot of heritage, with the jewel "Hyderabad" , one of the heriatge city of the world. People of telangana feel that they are inequitably treated and hence are demanding for a new state or it seems so. Telangana is like a proverbial phoenix which rises again and again at the time of elections or some other political activity. It is the bread and meat for the politicians of andhra pradesh.

Before dwelling on pros and cons, i want to understand the dynamics behind it. Are big states destined to be partitioned ?? , well the answer is not very easy. At the time of the independence, India was a confederation of 9 British provinces and 500 princely states. With the help of 'iron man' vallabh bahi patel , the federal system in India was conceived with dual system of centre and states. Initially, established geographically, the later states are conceptualized on the linguistic basis. According to me, this is the root cause of the conflict. If a state is considerably big, then there is bound to be regions with different culture, languages and dialects. Certainly there would be place which will become the economic hub and other places which will left behind in the race. So, in the long run, the clash of the humanity in these states are inevitable. To strengthen the point, we can see that parallel governance system of Maoists started from the states which are struggling to handle their diversity.

So, are the smaller states answer to the problem? Well, the tempting answer wouls be yes !!. Smaller the states, lesser the diversity, lesser the conflict and the utilization of funds would be more effective, common sense huh !!!. Well, sometimes the common sense is very uncommon. To, examine these points, we can always look at the fate of the 3 states viz uttarakhand, jharkhand and chattisgarh. The first one was separated due to the geographical terrain, other 2 due to their tribal base. But the situations is far away from what envisaged. Jharkhand , a state rich in natural resources, still remains the poorest state of the nation, Maoist insurgency is almost uncontrollable in chattisgarh, and uttarakhand although faring a little well , is still under debt of crores of rupees from the centre. These new states , to an large extent , were unable to serve the purpose for what they were created.

we as a country, celebrates our uniqueness of 'unity in diversity'. This is the foundation of our very culture. But by giving into the demands of the creation or more aptly the partition of states, are we not jeopardizing our basic tenet. Did we become so intolerable of the diversity, or whether we always were. Today, it is telangana, tomorrow the voices would be raised for gorkhaland, Coorg, bundelkhand, and god know how many states... We know that, history repeats itself , are we going to see 500 states in India again. Jawahar lal nehru , in his book 'discovery of india' , says that if you see a pathan and a south indian, you will hardly believe that they are part of same country, but if you spend some time with them, you will find a intangible string of indianness which would be binding both.

Is that string is breaking, do our differences have become big enough which can overpower our felling of unity and belongingness, well the future holds the answer... who knows our knowledge may become obsolete when we would teach geography to our kids !!!!

On the finishing note, fasts as a way of protest , was attributed to mahatma gandhi as an unassailable tool of non-violence... in those times, they were for uniting india, now they are done for dividing it, life definitely comes the full circle !!!

Geo Marketing : Relevance in today's world!

I have a problem. I want to create a furniture shop in Delhi. Delhi is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest metropolis by population in India. It has more than 12.25 million inhabitants and 15.9 million residents in the National Capital Region.

Where should I choose the location of my shop ? Which location will be least distance from the supplier's office ? Where could I get enough customers to buy furnitures from me ? Do they have the purchasing power to buy expensive furniture ? Are people willing to travel large distance for buying furniture ? Are the surrounding shops selling same stuff ? Will it be better if I plan my shop near newly constructed societies/homes ?

Answering these questions will involve lots of research work. Collection of customer related data involving demographic and socio-economic details is required. Maybe, it can involve going door-to-door to survey residents and hope they answer correctly. It will involve time and hence will be an expensive proposition. Suppose, I get the results with me. Now what ? I have the analysis in the tabular format. What if, I change it into visual expression. Yes, I create a digital map of Delhi and superimpose the customer data. I get the type of purchasing patterns, the region-wise distribution of customers over the map. Hence, I can easily make out the regions in Delhi where customers are spending most on furniture over the years. Of course, use of software and important details like location of customer drives the results. Over the digital map, I can approximate the street location which can be the most 'valueable' for me.

This was a case of application of Geo-Marketing to the catchment area identification, proper demographic analysis and socio-economic analysis. As a general term, Geomarketing is the integration of Geographical intelligence into all marketing aspects including sales and distribution. See telecom industry, where players are constantly reducing their margins to retain customers. How can they earn profits with decreasing ARPUs (Average Revenue per User)? Certainly, they bank on Value Added Services which can be different for each circles of their operations. Players present in the South, need to analyze customer data accordingly and relate to the local connect to increase belongingness. They can use Geo-marketing methods to filter their customers, create optimized promotional campaigns and save redundant costs.

Cycle again; with a difference

Sach is Life !!!!

Indian media is now a days flooded with the endless memoirs on sachin and his journey through the 20 Yrs in the international cricket. So, much has been written, that people are now struggling to find words to write about him. But in the millions of words printed and read, the phenomena called Sachin Tendulkar is yet to be covered holistically.
Growing up in an era which fortunately coincided with the evolution of sachin from a child prodigy to the player carrying hopes of billions of people. Never a single human has carried so much expectations on his shoulders. Although a very mediocre player, i was a cricket enthusiast from beginning ( Helped form the fact that my dad is also a big fan..). Childhood memories are still fresh with the moments where sachin . almost unknowingly entered in our lives

Here i want to share some of such moments in my life related to the “God of Cricket”
1. Burgulars in House : It was one of my very fond moment of sachin tendulkar. Being a middle class family we used to live in a rented house. It was India’s Tour to New-Zealand, new cable connection and match start at 2:30 Am in morning. So, one fine night me and dad was watching a match in a clod north Indian morning, when the guy called sachin tendulkar start smashing bowlers all around the park as he might be swatting away mosquitoes. Me, being a child cant help my emotions but the surprising part was that dad was also shouting at the top of his voice. Mummy, as accustomed, put pillow over ears and tried to sleep. Next morning the landlord aunty ask my mom “ Bhabhijee kal aapke ghar mein chor aa gaye the kya.. subah subah bahut halla ho raha tha.... hearing this mummy laughed and laughed because now
she knows who were the burgulars !!!

2. Speech in the school: We have some crazy house systems in my school. So, it was my turn to conduct the assembly in the coming week. I have to give an opening speech and i was woefully nervous !!.. A day before assembly , sachin blasted an Australian attack for back to back hundreds in desert , and the next day i produced the story by including the elements of determination and talent. That was my best assembly ever , with people clapping at the end of the speech, and i was silently thanking to sachin to save my soul.

3. Boy goes missing : 137 made in the second test in Chennai against Pakistan, was one of the most painful moment in my life. I was following the match from the beginning. Lost hopes about india winning during the stary of the day, got dumstruck by the batting prowess of a genius and felt helpless as hell, to see 3 lower order players wasting a gem of the innings. I was so frustrated, that i took my bicycle and went to a nearby park, and started crying. I cried for about 2hours ( albeit in breaks..). When i reached back in my colony, 2-3 boys told that my parents are worries and looking for me, where the boy had gone missing. Aah ! those were not the days of mobile phones and internets ....

4. “sachin hai kya” : This is the most repeated line i have heard in all these years watching cricket. Everytime when india is batting and you tell someone score , this is the inevitable question. Even if india are 8 wickets down still people will ask this question. As they are assured by jawans protecting the border, they tend to feel comfortable while sachin is guarding crease. In a country of so dissimilarities, he keeps all of us unite in happiness, grief and prayers. With all the vagaries of caste, religion, regionalism, i think a crtical review is required how he has kept this country united as one.

5. First Time i lost bet: There are some characters in ramayan, who were famous only because lord rama had given them nirvana. Henry olonga, is not a demon by any way, but he was definitely slaughtered in the desterts of sharjah by a little genius , we all know as sachin tendulkar. A match prior he dismissed sachin tendulkar with a freaky short ball, and celebrated a lot, doing war-like dance. I was watching the match with my friend, and he told me that this bowler’s career would be ruined by sachin. He was proved right a couple of days later when he thrashed him all over the park. May be the career was not ruined in the literal sense, but by then i had lost my first bet.

6. Bunking my School : After a historic Test series , india and austraila was playing a ODI in Kanpur , and i just cant resist myself from going out there, being living in Kanpur. So, in lunch time , me and my friend made a plan, talked about some emergency in home and bunked school and head straight towards the greenpark. And boy, sachin made it worth the effort. Sixes of Warne, Bevan and Lehman keep hitting the stands on a regular basics. All in all he hit 11 sixes as we keep the count by breaking a cold drink bottle each time ... In the evening i told dad about it, and he said why hadn’t you told me i would have taken a break from office.

7. India-Pakistan Matches: India –Pakistan matches were used to be a demo-war for all of us. It was 2003 World cup, India’s Last League game against the arch rivals Pakistan. Dad was ready from the morning, doing all sort of prayers and tricks. Agarbatti in front of television and devotional songs may sound a bit weird but believe me it was the case. Pakistan on back of saeed anwar had put a stiff target of 272. There was a silent nervousness in the house. Mummy who relatively doesn’t show much of the interest was also watching the match very interestingly. Shoaib akhtar came charging up, banged a short one, and it disappeared over the point boundary. The rest is history !!! , and one more thing i could remember is the wonderful food cooked by mummy that time.

8. IMT Public Going Crazy: This is one of the most recent moment in my life. Australia amassed a total of 349, virtually impossible to chase. By chance, my parents also came to visit that day. So, i and dad was watching match in Mess. Sehwag and yuvraj were gone , but still sachin was looking in a good nick. But since, there is little hope, i came back to room with mummy ans started chatting with her. Meanwhile i had opened live scores on cricinfo in the Laptop. Suddenly sachin went berserk, a Six... another one...a boundary.... i said to mummy you rest and i rushed towards the mess. Well the scene was completely changed in mess. There was a considerable crowd now in mess, watching very anxiously . Sachin was on for something special and he started to bamboozle all of us by his master class batting. Suddenly some people started banging table.. some dishes with spoon and the ambience changed in a moment. Everybody started shouting “sachin, sachin...” and the breathtaking strokeplay matched up to every cry. Ironically, it was another heartbreaking loss, but when my father came out , he said that i never expected MBA Students to be so cricket crazy. This is what Sachin can do mere mortals.

Decade of You , me and us !!

Yesterday, i found one of my very old friend online on Gmail. We were used to study together during my school days ( till class 10th). During the conversation, she suddenly said , do you remember how little we used to talk. I replied back that , we do not have mobiles that time. otherwise we could have played SMS-SMS, missed calls and other stupid games. At that moment i realised the giant leap which India has taken in last 10 years. I bet if we rewind the clocks down the years you will almost feel that it was altogether a different world 10 years ago in India.
Although, i am not old enough to write a memoir, but this decade has been a real fast forward. 1999-2000 was a different ball game altogether. Although , a new millennium was round the corner, cell phones were still a luxury ( now every rickshaw wala has one in the pocket..), bikes started to dominate the scooter market, dot com bubble was still inflating and India had started to shine..So, then what does this decade stand for !!

This decade in my view stands for the expression. The expression of youths , their wish to announce them on the world's stage has completely change the face of the nation. Their energy has propelled india from the category of developing country to the emerging nations. Increasing employment opportunities , good quality of education led by IITs and IIMs , and an liberalising culture had made the youth confident to take on the world. Now they do not doubt their capabilities, neither they consider themselves inferior to anyone.

Apart from that, this was the decade of me , you and all of us. Independent and yet interconnected!!.. we have facebooks to share our emotions, orkut to be interconnected and last but the most powerful tool in the pocket, the ubiquitous cell phone. I got my first cell phone in my 2nd year of college, joined orkut in 2006 and ventured into facebook few months ago, and i feel that how come i was alive without them. Malls and PVR's are the talk of the town and if i will tell my mom that i spent 200 bucks for a movie that it would be a nice 3o minutes "Gyan Session". This power of youth and interconnectivity was even saluted by Time magazine while declaring the personality of year in 2006 ( It was "You" ). The independent and ambitious girls had finally started to rub their shoulders against the males ( and some beating them also !!!..).

But there is also fillip side of it also. Life has become easy and relations had become very complex. Now relations start on mail, flourish on mobile and end on facebook. The human touch is so missing !!!. We as a generation is so busy in calculations ... what is my career growth, how much i should earn, which job i should switch too.. . so, the relationships always take the back seat. We are so afraid of responsibilities. Everyone will champion the case of live-in but very handful will be willing to commit and be responsible. We could be chatting online for hours but doesn’t even care to move to the next room to have some chat. Every thing is so 'e' in nature but still human beings start from "h". We still have the same organs as we have earlier , the same heart not a microchip.

We are fortunate to be in a country ,which despite all its deficiencies , practice democracy and freedom of speech. The power of expression had propelled us in a new era, but as the old cliché goes "with great power comes the great responsibilities". Today’s youth have to be responsible so that they can help india getting its judicious picture in the world scene !!

I knew it!

Guys, can't help it! I knew today was the all important cricket match between India and Australia. But, driven by my past experiences I had stopped taking cricket matches seriously. Umpteenth time I have witnessed India losing from a winning position. The heartache has been that the margin of runs were in single digits. The heart attack has been that Australia has the feat of defeating India in close encounters most number of times. Do you know that they defeated us by 1 run in WC 1987 and WC 1992 ?

Today's match was a cult classic. 351 to chase, no motivation to watch second innings for me. Previous memories still afresh! I have hardly missed a match from 1993 till 2006. It was then that a phenomenon called Dhoni gripped the nervous strings all by himself and began to steer us to victory all by himself. He was instrumental in instilling that 'go for kill' attitude in the team. He took burden from Sachin's shoulders and soon we could see a transformation in the side.

The Dhoni bubble burst aided by the non-stop play schedule. Fantastic players like Yuvraj and Raina hogged the limelight. But still, none of them had the spark to carry the team to victory single-handedly. I know many will object, but I have seen these players perishing on the doorsteps of victory when the onus was exclusively on them. The master blaster Sachin has always asserted the vintage class supremacy time and again. Dhoni though, has come close to matching the tag of 'One Man Army'.

It was one such day, when Tendulkar again, decided to make this match his own. He played straight drive, pull, chip, square-cut, flick and that 'running down the crease inside out' shot. Everything was going right. The God had revisited. He completed the century and pursued for another. It was time for dinner.

The Mess, a packed house accommodating 300 people at once. Two 29 inch flat TVs on two sides. Hardly a spare seat to sit. The crowd howling "Sachin... Sachin...." at every ball. The old phenomena was back. Spectacular shots delivering boundaries at astoundingly quick intervals is no mean task. Ricky Ponting could be seen crouching on his knees, helpless in front of 'God'. We know God helps those who helps themselves. Yes, the team was required to steer itself towards the target. Sachin left the 22 yards, may be a rush of blood instigated by the power play enforced him. By then, he had scored 175 odd runs. What more do one expect ?

There were 4 wickets left and 19 runs to score off 17 balls. But the old disease grappled our batsmen and we lost it by 3 runs. The match was memorable because it livened up memories of the 'old' Tendulkar though the unchanging habit of losing close matches did hurt.

USP of IMT - Hats off to Students!

As expected, Students came out on top. A strangely mischievous strength of 420 X 2. Add to them the Executive students, and you get a thousand plus managers waiting to explode and drive the world.

This year, around 85% students have at least 12 months of prior work experience. Most of them are from IT background. The fact that they have risked their job to study for 2 years in this serene environment, surely raises motivation levels. Students make it obvious to follow all subjects closely, actively participating in class discussions and events. Many of them enter clubs and communities to get a taste of the power bestowed on them. They learn how to manage logistics, approach corporates, make their work count. The fact that all of them can't be accommodated, leaves room for innovative adventures.

Many would be astound to hear such glorious words about themselves. I wanted to take it optimistically, but there are always two sides of a coin. A general perception rules that having tasted the work culture, a U turn to college life is tedious. Add to it cash crunch and you visit a novel situation. But IMT culture expedites the familiarity process.

A new view of Management is to chill out during two years. Learn something you missed out on all previous years. See how you can manage stress and be happy. Understand and pick the right opportunities and follow your heart closely, in whatever you do.

Passion 2009

The theme of Passion - 2009 was 'Phoenix - rising from the ashes'. It was aimed at influencing motivation in the minds which had been captured by the recessionary times. It was a serendipitous accident that America reported growth in GDP just at the right time. Two days before Passion.

Passion -an annual fest of my college which is better known for Marketing programme, aims to entertain audience by its innovative contests and out-of-the-box on site inventions in games.

There are events in different verticals - namely Finance, Marketing, Consultancy, Systems, Cultural, HR, International Business et al. Apart from the standard contests, we have certain events drawing large participation like Eat-o-holic, Masala Cricket etc. The unique offering is the stress on standing up to support social causes and spreading the word through social advertising. There will be an event conducted by the Social Responsibility cell in this regard.

For people who are 'wondering' about Finance, get a taste of how stocks trade at the Trading Floor. If you have heard enough of G-8 or G-20, see how you can change the world by taking the baton of developed nations in F-8 Summit. Know more about the college in Treasure Hunt. People vying to nourish their own brain child, get a taste of challenges faced by Entrepreneurs at Entrepreneurship events.

All in all, get a crash course on all the aspects of management at Passion 2009.

Cricketing gapshap !!

In a shocking mix-up that's sure to have major implications on cricket, the ICC has totally misunderstood Ricky Ponting's views on dead-rubber ODIs and have introduced the world's first dead-rubber international world cup.
According to the new tournament rules, eight of the world's top cricketing nations will play each other in a league stage consisting entirely of meaningless dead-rubber matches. The four best teams will then play the two semi-finals and the final, which will also be dead rubbers. The tournament winner will then be decided by a draw of lots.
In another exciting development, India, which recently fired Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh as bowling and fielding coach respectively, has given Singh back his job, albeit in a different role. Singh and former India team-mate Ajay Jadeja will be the new "futile 50-partnership in a losing cause" coaches for the Indian team.
"When your team is down four wickets for 25, chasing a 300-plus total, you need batsmen who can buckle down and put on a dull, pointless 50-run partnership, raise false hope, and then trigger a collapse by needlessly getting run out or holing out to long-on. Robin and I were past masters at this crucial skill, and we're extremely excited to have an opportunity to pass on our knowledge to youngsters," said Jadeja, with Singh nodding his approval.
"It's a skill that has pretty much disappeared from the Indian side, though Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan Singh showed some glimpses of promise in that game against Australia. Still, it was far too exciting to be a true classic in the Jadeja-Robin Singh tradition," said BCCI President Shashank Manohar. "By hiring the former greats as coaches, we hope to bring this aspect of the team back to where it once was," he added, causing a sharp rise in the blood-pressure levels of Indian cricket fans worldwide.
And finally, to save enormous amounts of time and money, New Zealand Cricket has decided to consolidate all their national cricketing awards for bowling, batting, fielding and coaching into a single award called the "Daniel Vettori of the Year".

Ulter Bakwaas : By Ravi

Prior to taking admission at B.Tech., I was languishing at my home. I had had two operations in as many years. None was life threatening but they percolated through my psyche. That free spirit was a thing of the past. I had already wasted one year after XIIth. For this year pre-engineering preparations, my focus was divided. I had altered my lifestyle, modified my eating habits. I did a lot of thinking to gather self-confidence, took decisions on my own. I had to desert my friends, because they were driving my decisions till then. In my efforts to become the best in all aspects, I suffered in competitive exams. My mother had started taunting me. She ideated a business proposition for me, which was a nightmare in my wildest dreams. Somehow, I got admission into an average college.

Taking this chance as the only option to redeem pride, I silently pledged to push myself despite any circumstances. I devised a disciplined study plan for myself. With a caring and competitive room partner like Varun, I had a convenient atmosphere for studies. In the initial days, seniors indulged in mild ragging. Having good relations with one of the seniors certainly helped. But guys in the adjacent rooms were boozers and chain-smokers. Living in the open lobby subjected us to inhale diffusing smoke from cigarettes. We witnessed some extra-ordinary drama by our flat mates in the influence of alcohol. I enjoyed it, though my roomie mustered courage ( rather foolishness ) to instigate the guys and offer doses of laughter induced by conversations.

I mingled with my flat mates well. They considered me as an easy going fellow. I used to avoid chaotic situations, often compromising with others. I had the ultimate goal in my mind and I considered confrontations as hindrances on my path. My lone efforts earned me admirers but no friends. Some of them approached when they required help to complete assignments. I offered them to guide, but they needed my work. I felt insecure as I had to involve in analysis, search and implementation of every task. They could now do it with copy & paste only. Initially refusing them outright, I backtracked to offer my help later. I had realized that I could prepare some sizeable support for coming years in graduation.

Her name was Mahek. I liked her, not because she was beautiful, but she was so different. She used to compete in Athletics Meet, talk loudly to guys. She had more boy friends than girl friends. She used to conquer the class, answering defiantly to the teachers’ questions. Even if she was wrong, the teacher used to feel complex, subsided by her authoritative voice.

I was trying hard to be recognized as a topper in my class, but my ingenuous nature swayed me from realizations of such desires. I stressed on improving my concepts and buildling up the knowledge, disseminating it to my friends with intentions on clarifying my own understandings. My friends were too happy to receive such a help. They would do anything to escape reading text books. Getting an idea initially on the topic would speedup the things. All students in the class knew that I could be consulted to clarify any technical doubts. But more than that, pupils were interested to know whether a person is measurably beneficial to them. I used to complete assignments before time and it was up for distribution among friends. A chain reaction would confirm that the work is finished by all and sundry. Citing the consequences of any wrong answers, it was imperative for me to adequately research for the correct answers. I did it gladly.

Somehow unable to transform my exceptional performance in the class to the mediocre results in the exams, I used to wonder everytime what went wrong. I had a habit of writing concise answers, which the evaluators treated with disdain. My friends used to laugh on me, I would laugh it off. I had an inherent confidence that my understanding of the subjects was better than the most of them. But, as the world demands figures to showcase the claim, I was unable to convince. I had an alternative in taking competitive exams like GATE ( Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering ), in which I scored good marks. They came to know and congratulated me. But the score was a mere spectatory stunt as it has no significance for my future. Being already offered a job, I was inclined to earn money. Only a chance to study in prestigious institution like an IIT or an IIM could have altered my decision.

Mahek was also offered a good IT job. Rarely she noticed me, never without a formal reason. On the whole, she wasn’t my friend. But her friend, Esha, became an admirer of our group. By our group, I mean - Ankush, Gurinder, Naveen and me. We were proactively working on our final year project. The task was innovative and intriguing. Our methodical approach and Ankush’s laptop had all anxious to know about our work. But, being the leader of the team, I asked them not to divulge any details prematurely.

My avid interest in electronics forced me to spend my leisure time in libraries. Self-study was required as the teachers were meting out the tonic like material to successfully pass the exams. They did a lot of retrospection and analysis to predict the question papers. It’s a good thing to do but not, if it’s the only thing to do. Majority including almost all toppers, used to like this deplorable ‘teaching’ method. Aware of the ‘unity’ in class, I did not express my mind. In the first year, I had witnessed the after effects of doing things my way. Majority of the students were on the verge of boycotting me. In time, I relented, thinking to make my stay easier.

I had an unusual surrounding around myself. I spoke very limited, often to boys. Some girls tried to befriend me, but I was more bothered about the lesson notes and lab practicals. I tried to focus on my studies unyieldingly, but could not help occasional deviations of mind. One day, after returning from the Lab practicals towards the staircase, I stared at Mahek. The look wasn’t furtive and it wasn’t eye contact either. I thought it might have given her wrong impressions about me. But, that chancy encounter instead made her believe that I was in love with her. Next day, due to non-availability of spare seats, I had to sit adjacent to her bench. Her close friend(he was a boy) observed my reactions and judgmentally told her, “Ravi loves you”. This sentence was loud enough for me to hear. I didn’t react, thinking it would be disadvantageous. I wasn’t convinced that my attraction for her was devoid of lust. She expected me to say something. But everytime we met, I talked about studies. At times, she came too close to me. I think she might have some feelings for me.

Her attitude invited frowns from many guys. I was also somewhat influenced by them. But deep inside, I knew that I like her. I transformed myself into a proactive participant in the class, to get her attention. But she, like some fellow toppers, started bunking the college to study at home. I tried not to fall in love and diversified my interests. My roomie, Nitin, was an IAS aspirant. He would study the ‘THE HINDU’ newspaper like textbooks and vice-versa. Still, he was adept at scoring good marks. He inspired me not to get complacent and prepare for my better future prospects. Although he coaxed me to shun the job and join coaching for the IAS, I did not have the courage to risk more years in the oblivion. Moreover, I never had that zealous feeling.

Note: All characters are fictitious. Any relation to any person living or dead is coincidence.

Lean Production

It aims to combine the flexibility and quality of craftsmanship with the low costs of mass production .Lean production is the name given to a group of highly efficient manufacturing techniques developed (mainly by large Japanese companies) in the 1980s and early 1990s. Lean production was seen as the third step in an historical progression, which took industry from the age of the craftsman through the methods of mass production and into an era that combined the best of both. It has been described as “the most fundamental change to occur since mass production was brought to full development by Henry Ford early in the 20th century”.

The methods of lean production aim to combine the flexibility and quality of craftsmanship with the low costs of mass production. In lean-production systems a manufacturer’s employees are organised in teams. Within each team a worker is expected to be able to do all the tasks required of the team. These tasks are less narrowly specialised than those demanded of the worker in a mass-production system, and this variety enables the worker to escape from the soul-destroying repetition of the pure assembly line.
With lean production, components are delivered to each team’s work station just-in-time, and every worker is encouraged to stop production when a fault is discovered. This is a critical distinction from the classic assembly-line process, where stoppages are expensive and to be avoided at all costs. Faulty products are put to one side to be dealt with later, and a large stock of spares is kept on hand so faulty components can be replaced immediately without causing hold-ups. With such a system, workers on the assembly line learn nothing and the faults persist.
When a lean-production system is first introduced, stoppages generally increase while problems are ironed out. Gradually, however, there are fewer stoppages and fewer problems. In the end, a mature lean-production line stops much less frequently than a mature mass-production assembly line.
Lean production gains in another way too. In typical assembly-line operations, design is farmed out to specialist outsiders or to a separate team of insiders. Gaining feedback from both the production-line workers and the component suppliers is a long and awkward process. With lean production, designers work hand-in-hand with production workers and suppliers. There is a continuous two-way interchange. Snags can be ironed out immediately and machine tools adapted on the hoof. With the assembly-line model, the communication is linear.
Lean-production methods have been introduced by many companies without sacrificing economies of scale. Japanese car manufacturers have achieved unit costs of production well below those of more traditionally organised European and American manufacturers with twice their volume. These same Japanese companies have also been leaders in the speed and efficiency of new product design, a crucial skill in a world where time to market is an important competitive lever.
According to Michael Cusumano, who wrote a book on the Japanese car industry, the high productivity achieved by the lean-production methods of Japan’s car manufacturers depends not as some have maintained on a peculiarity of Japanese culture or of Japanese workers, but on technology and management. He wrote:
The methods challenged fundamental assumptions about mass production. These consisted of revisions in American and European equipment, production techniques, and labour and supplier policies introduced primarily in the 1950s and 1960s when total Japanese manufacturing volumes and volumes per model were extremely low by US or European standards.
Criticism of the idea has centred on the feeling that it is possible to be too lean. Beyond a certain point, a sort of corporate anorexia sets in. The total absence of surplus stock or labour can become a serious liability when there is even the slightest disturbance in normal processes or procedures.

Business This Week

JPMorgan Chase, America’s second-biggest bank, announced profits of $3.59 billion in the third quarter of this year, helped by earnings from its investment-banking activities. The bank has set aside $8.79 billion to cover pay, bonuses and other benefits for its employees in the first nine months of this year. This is about 38% of its revenue over the three quarters. The bank set aside 52% of its revenues for this purpose during the same period last year.
On October 13th AIG, an insurer, announced the sale of its Taiwanese life-insurance business to Hong Kong-based buyers for $2.15bn. But there was trouble over past bonus payments at the firm. A report from the head of America’s Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP) has condemned the American Treasury for failing to monitor bonuses paid by AIG before giving it $30 billion in bail-out funds in March. In March AIG executives promised to return $45m in bonuses. But less than half that amount has been repaid, according to the report.


After months of stalling, Bank of America (BofA) agreed to hand over documents detailing legal advice it received during its purchase of Merrill Lynch in January. Andrew Cuomo, attorney-general of New York, is investigating whether BofA executives should face charges over their failure to disclose Merrill’s mounting losses to shareholders ahead of the purchase.
General Motors, Magna International and Sberbank were expected to sign binding agreements for the sale of Opel/Vauxhall. Separately, Magna secured British backing for the deal after giving assurances of continued vehicle production at Ellesmere Port and Luton. Final closure of the deal on November 30th is still conditional on EU approval.
Helped by lower costs, Philips, a Dutch electronics company, announced a third-quarter net profit of €174m ($249m), three times the figure for the same period last year.
Xstrata, a mining company, dropped a proposed $48 billion bid for Anglo American, a rival, five days before a deadline to make an offer was due to expire.
A rising tide
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a widely followed price-weighted average of 30 shares of American industry leaders, crossed 10,000 for the first time in over a year on October 14th, ending the day at 10015.86. It was aided by better-than-expected profits at giants like JPMorgan Chase and Intel. But a dismal set of figures on retail sales, which fell by 1.5% in September, sent the dollar reeling to new lows. It ended October 14th at $0.671 to the euro, its lowest level since August 12th last year.
Feeling chipper
Intel, an American firm that is the world’s biggest chipmaker, reported profits of $1.9 billion for the third quarter. This was $2.3 billion more than the previous quarter, but still $158m lower than the third quarter of 2008. Revenues were $9.4 billion. Sales of microprocessors and chipsets did particularly well.
McGraw-Hill, a publisher, has agreed to sell BusinessWeek, a magazine founded in 1929, to Bloomberg, a provider of financial data and news. The price, as yet undisclosed, is rumoured to be in the region of $5m, with $10m in liabilities attached. BusinessWeek is estimated to be losing around $40m a year.
Jeffrey Peek, the chairman and chief executive officer of CIT Group, a struggling American commercial lender, announced that he would resign on December 31st this year. The 101-year-old company received bail-out funds under the American government’s TARP scheme, and is in the process of restructuring its liabilities to avoid bankruptcy.
On October 13th America’s Supreme Court agreed to allow Jeffrey Skilling, the former chief executive of Enron, the disgraced energy company, to appeal against his conviction for his role in the company’s collapse. Mr Skilling is three years into a 24-year jail sentence. See article
Code black
Profits at Infosys, one of India’s largest outsourcing companies, rose by 15% to 19.4 billion rupees ($403m), in the three months to the end of September, from 16.8 billion rupees for the corresponding period last year.
Nokia, a Finnish mobile-phone company, posted a third-quarter loss of €426m on sales of €9.8 billion, which were nearly 20% lower than a year earlier, and 1% lower than in the previous three-month period.
Bruce Wasserstein, the head of Lazard, an investment bank which he took public in 2005, died on October 15th. Mr Wasserstein brokered many big deals, like the merger between AOL and Time Warner, during a legendary Wall Street career.

Life These Days

Rainfall in the month of october is a bit uncommon in the northern areas of the country. Surprisingly, last 3 days had been quite wet in NCR. Today morning, as i stepped out from my hostel for jogging , i was greeted by light drizzle which eventually forced me to come back to hostel earlier than the usual time. One thing which it did beautifully is to bring down the temprature considerably. After the scorching higher 30's , in past couple of days , mercury hovered around 23-24 degrees, providing the much wanted relief to people. Light sheets are out , and with diwali round the corner , this may mark the onset of winters in northern india.

2nd term in IMT is arguably the most hectic of all. 9 subjects within 2.5 months is tough proposition for one and all. Add the vagaries of summer placements and the situation becomes a perfect chaos. Adding spice to it, all the teachers are hell bent on projects from the first day. So, lectures, projects, placements .... phew !! the seasons definitely sounds tough!! but wait a min! , we people can never be away from fun. I sneaked out to watch "wake-up sid" , although in end it proved to be "wake-up rahul" as i was sleeping most of times ind 2nd half of the movie.

In college, as soon as the intimation regarding inter branch cricket tournament came, rain gods have opened there gates. But even this does not proved to be dampner for the cricket enthusiasts in IMT. 24*7 ,in every possible playing area, you can find people playing cricket. Where to pitch the ball, where to put extra fielder , what total should be safe are the points of discussion now a days in canteen and mess. Thats why the adage , IMT never sleeps !!!!

As the festive season arrives, i am looking forward for a blast in diwali and then explosions in the mid terms examinations. One way or another, coming days are bound to be eventful. You cant afford to blink, as you may miss some action !!.. So, taking life as it comes, humming the great rafi sahab's song Mein Zindagi ka sath nibhata chala gaya!!!!

Why so serious ?

We were counselled by 'wise' people to shun any shortcuts to graduation and insist on engineering/medical. Commerce/Arts were regarded as liabilities on our career path, with a sole purpose to qualify us as graduates. Never had I thought that blind pursuit of common judgement will make me see such a day. A day, when engineers are unwanted. A day, where any association with A(Arts), B(Business) or C(Commerce) word will make you a preferred choice.

The summer of Twenty10 is a witness of such mishaps(perhaps). The subprime crisis will change the world so drastically was unexpected. Time is a great leveller I think. Every stream must get its due importance and it was high time when the mirage of Engineering was discovered. Theoretical knowledge, myriad of students and shortage of practical skills sum up the inadequacies and hence, the increasing unpopularity of engineering courses. At many private colleges, students do not get enough exposure and are literally studying there to buy a degree.

What more, the unstructured and least interactive teaching methodology ensures dearth of sound communication skills. Students are engaged in conceptual understanding most of the time, so the brain thinks most of the time before they speak. The aahs and umms prevail over smooth speech delivery. Hardly anybody address a sizeable audience. In future, if any such opportunity arises the mind is confused.

Infact, faculties do discourage students from interacting and gaining insights into the interpersonal dimensions. They feel that they are helping the students by encouraging self-monitoring and discipline. Students develop a peculiar work habit during the four years and in turn, become opaque to the new experiences. They feel odd when confronted by any deviations from the perceived correct approaches. They are not receptive to the idea and potential of a group discussion. How can a person, who has formed a tiring and difficult approach, search for an agreed upon solution in 10 minutes.

Problems in management do not involve formulas only. They also involve resources, constraints and time. This becomes an unprecedented scenario for our Engineering guys. They struggle to collaborate and synergise with others. Moreover, they are not sure whether others will reciprocate to their thought processes, which are rather different.

I did study about 'Change Management'. Certainly, we can follow certain practices to bring about a change in ourselves. Reading articles profusely, interacting with people meaningfully will help. Creating a good base of diversified knowledge and nurturing the same will enhance our chances in GD.

Engineering guys, known to be hard workers and good analysts, can accomplish any challenge. It's only time which has to give some chance so that we can prove ourselves.

Celebration of Divine Mother

Autumn is usually marked with nip in the air in mornings. It also marks the beginning of "shubh navratri " ( Sanskrit of Nine Nights). Also Popular as Sharad Navratri or Maha Navratri, these are the 9 days of paying tribute to the divine feminine power . After a long impasse in summers, navratri starts the Festive season in india, follwed by dussehera and Diwali.

Although there are many ancedote in hindu mythology, the most popular is the "mahishahur-mardini " incarnation of Goddess Shakti. Mahishasur was a powerful demon and had taken control of whole world. After caputuring earth , he went on to capture "swarg". All gods led by their king "indra" approached Lord Vishnu and prayed for their lives. Hearing their plight, lord vishnu , lord shiva and lord brahma combined their power to incarnate the divine "shakti " , creator, nourisher and protector of whole universe. They blessed her with their special powers and weapons. After that goddess durga , took the battlefield against mahishasur riding on lion. A fierce battle commenced , and finally mahishasur was given salvation by devi durga.

Even today, people keep the idols of mahishaur mardini in pandals for 9 days. Every day, aarti and yagnas are performed, and with devotional songs and dances , the complete atmosphere becomes " Bhakitmay ". The event is , particlaurly, popular in Bengali community, who perform "pujo" in the last 3 days. In fact Durga pooja is their biggest festival. In other parts of country also , the festival is celebrated with devotion and enthusiasm. People keep fast , children relish on good food and festive atmosphere. Garba and Dandiya are the flavour of gujrat during this period. In north , morning yagna and aarti is a common phenomenon.

The 9 days of navratri are clubbed into 3 groups . First 3 days are dedicated to Goddess Durga (Shakti ) which symbolises destruction. It is believed that in these 3 days, we destroy our bad qualities and vices and purify ourselves. Next 3 days are dedicated to "lakshmi". goddess of wealth and prosperity. Wealth is a vital ingredient bestowed upon us for maintenance and for progress in our life. It is much more that just having money. It means abundance in skills and talents also.Lakshmi is a energy that manifests as the complete spritual and material well-being of a person. The Final 3 days are dedicated to "saraswati" ,the goddess of Knowledge.She gives the essence of self realization. After the purification and wealth , it signifies the importance of knowledge which is essential to maximize the benefits of other 2 virtues.

Navaratri is the time to appreciate inner and outer beauty. It is a time when we show our grattitude to divine mother for all her love and care. These days are considered to be very auspicious and are recommended for starting any new work. May goddess durga bring happiness and prosperity in your lives. Happy Navaratri to all.

Rishabh -> Lehman -> Prashant

Cut to the year 2006. Rishabh was preparing for the CAT-2006 aggressively. He had enrolled for coaching classes where he went to imbibe 'gyan' in weekends. During weekdays, he would attend B.Tech. classes and surreptitiously solve AIMCAT questions hiding them in the textbook. After reaching his hostel room, he would waste no time in quickly resuming his English improvement strategy implementation. He would read novels, ET etc. till he finish his quota for the day.

Prashant, Rishabh's neighbour, had a habit of observing his friends. Both of them were offered a decent job, going by the standards of the institute. The fact that 85 students were offered the same job didn't make him feel special. Prashant had started to appear lethargic and listless. In search of a new goal, he thought it would be good idea to try for better prospects. He went to Rishabh and asked him about the future after CAT.

Rishabh was upbeat about it and estimated a 10-15 lakhs job if he gets into any of the top 20 B-schools. It was a realistic assumption, citing the past placement records. What extraordinary has Prashant achieved if he joins the company doling out a meagre 2.5 lakhs annually. He deserves more, he has the ability. He thinks so, and evidently starts preparing.

Two years pass and Prashant is busy pruning verbal ability. Its September 16, 2008. Prashant wakes up early morning and collects newspaper to peruse the headlines. He reads about a legend, a behemoth, going bankrupt. He rubs his eyes and drinks a glass of water. Given that he had opted to live in a single accomodation and was vacillating between job and study, this was a miserable news. Suddenly, his efforts to crack CAT look futile. Days passed and i-banks were falling like a pack of cards.

Prashant called Rishabh, who was in the second year of PGDM(Finance) at (guess!). Rishabh confirmed that situation wasn't well for Finance guys. But, there was a hope....hope of a change....the change we can believe in (borrowed from B.O.). But the change was not imminent too soon. Rishabh struggled to get himself any job offer. Prashant was audacious enough to leave the work and join the same college; same stream where his idol, Rishabh studied.

Facets of Human Beings

There are many things in a b-school , which you do at a time, which may seem abnormal to most of the people ,and they often tend to bring unusual results. One of them , is going to canteen for having tea at 3:00 AM. But, this tea is special, because along with it, you usually find one or another of your friend roaming around and while you came for tea , you end up doing lot many things.

Similar story is followed today , when i went to canteen with a friend and find 2-3 more roaming there. Since, tomorrow is sunday , a holiday, people were very relaxed , the most i have seen them after coming to IMT. Soon, we found ourselves discussing over plethora of topics. Started from summers ( the buzz word around the campus!! ) our discusson ventured into various areas.

One thing on which most of us agreed was the level of artificiality in the college. Most of us encounter people who tend to behave in a very artificial manner. The style of talking , the body language , infact you can instinctively identify this phenomena. Then , we tried to find out the cause for it. The primary reason we found out is "competetion" ( The most cliched word in the B-School Lexicon ). The blind comptetion, increases the opaqueness between people, because they do not trust each other. Nobody wants to speak his heart out, nobody wants to discuss about their plans. In conversation , people let their brain dominate their heart. Everybody wants to be politically correct, although internal feelings may be exact opposite to that.

Some argued that this is common among all B-Schools.People here are professionals. There is little, if any place, for emotional attachment. Everybody looks for his/her benefit and other things come after that. They laid stress on again a "cliched word" Networking. They argued that talk to people , incerase your network, so that you can use for your advantage in future.

Some how, i do not subscribe to their view. If human beings were computer , then we could have simply connected wires to make networks. But we are much more complex than computers . As our HR prof use to say, science has taken all the easy problems leaving the complex ones for the behavioral studies. According to me , a person should be genuine in whatever he/she do. Faking can give you the initial edge, but in the long run you would be whatever you are. The key for this is to accept the imperfectness in us. We should never try to become perfect, because its the imperfectness which teaches us lot in our life. We may loose a few things in being genuine, but we do not have to carry the burden of 2 or may be 3 facets of our life.

Being a CR , i am lucky to interact with almost everyone in the class. There are all types of people. Some are your close friends , some you know, some which gives you smile and acknolwedge you when the see you ,and also some who behave in a way such that you did not existed at all. The catch is that this is not what they are from beginning. They started in some category and ended in another. Some people who talked with you normally in the beginning , suddenly changed their behaviour after being a member of some "elite" groups. They give an impression that they do not care about other people in their class only.

Once i was sitting at the first desk, and a group was giving presentation, suddenly a girl quipped, who is he ?? is he in our class?? May be the lack of knowledge may be overlooked , but the attitude cant be. Even if she does not know, what's the point of shouting. Thing is that, people take pride in it , showing themselves elite.

There are some people, which hardly says 'hi' when seeing . You will almost remain unnoticed. Yet , at 2:30's and 3:30's in night, you would be aksed syllabus, class timings, quiz timings and all. May be this is the way the things are supposed to be ,may be i am too naive to understand it, but this is not what i was brought up with. Somebody told me , very early in my life, the cheapest thing which you can give to someone is smile, somehow it seems to be the most costly in the contemporary times.

I do not want to point out some one , or say something malicious about someone. The only thing which i want to say is that life is simple, respect its simplicity. We are in habit of complicationg our lives. Listen to your brain, but also give a thought to what your heart says. Competetion may be high, stakes may be high , but its people which matter and not things . Just remember , happiness does not come with achieving it comes with helping other people achieve it.

Can implementing an idea change our life ?

I believe that Global warming is not a farce. There is research involved in what I think. I have observed this year’s maximum and minimum temperatures till date based on their deviation from normal. They were commonly 3-4 degrees above normal most of the days for major number of cities. Rainy season beckoned and so the expectation of rains arose. But to dismay of many farmers the rain gods refuse to shower their blessings. Farming has been affected and it may tighten the supply of food grains. Winter last season was hardly a case for pullovers. The minimum temperature at Delhi was 8 deg. Celsius, which is quite high as compared with earlier climate trends.

High volumes of toxic gases are pervading throughout the atmosphere. These gases are effused by automobiles and factories. The gases react with ozone layer higher up in the atmosphere and cause it to deplete. The ozone layer performs an important function of absorbing Sun’s harmful U-V rays. So the depletion causes more heat to reach the surface of the earth. Thus the observations can be concluded.

Automobiles cannot be decimated, neither can the factories producing equipments by using electricity. Transportation is a business enabler for efficient trade and tariff. Also it is an unavoidable means for people now. We are dependent on electricity just like heartbeat.

How to tackle the impending doom? Its surely a case to research and implement new less polluting technologies, but that’s already in process and may take some time. Think of replacing old systems in India and you will realize how difficult it is! The safety measures have to be prohibitive.

Plants. We all love them. We want to have them near us. Whenever we stroll for a morning walk or a casual conversation with our friend(s), we are fascinated by the divine environment surrounding us. What’s so special about them?

Plants emit oxygen. They absorb Carbon dioxide. Thus we need more plants. Trees are a larger sink for Carbon dioxide, but they cannot be afforded by public in general.

model:

As an indispensable measure to counter global warming, the government must force plantation of more trees. Green belt area should be increased and afforestation should be the focus. But, its easier said than done. With a huge population to suffice, there is huge pressure to utilize scarce resources. The globalization is waiting to sweep forests in some areas and convert them into land of factories and industries.

Thus the onus lies on WE, THE PEOPLE. My mind twinkles to exclude lower strata of society. But, going by their dominant number, they need to be approached. Buying plants is not a feasible proposition to them. If the rates are subsidized, they can think twice. Middle income group hopefully has some plants around their home. They need to show more enthusiasm. Suppose a firm sell plants. It has a distribution network across India. You call them and ask which plant is a highest absorber of Carbon dioxide! They reply and then you place the order for five such plants and within one day, the plant is in your garden.

B-plan ?

Where is the business in it ? Who will buy plants ? Who will sell plants to earn profits ? These questions can be answered positively by each one of us. We have to be prescient, proactive and precocious. We all know the concept of insurance. Its purpose is to provide benefits at later stages of life. What I am trying to portray here is the earth is increasingly becoming incapable of sustaining pollution. We need to heal it. We can’t stop the processes festering the environment, but we can medicate to prolong the resistance. More the plants, quicker will be the healing.

It’s all about keeping your mind open and realizing the inevitable future. This B-plan is entirely dependent on people’s propensity to buy future for themselves and their children. I know, people will say this is a killing of marketing. Don’t jump to conclusions. This idea is hinged on the efficacy of social marketing.

People must be imparted knowledge about the environment and the urgency of an action. Various NGOs are already there but they don’t cover a sizable audience. A better path will be government intervention and formulation of policy assisting people buying plants. For example, a tax rebate if the person has bought 25 plants/year. As explained earlier, there can be subsidy on buying plants for lower income group.

Ideas breed action. Lets think and discuss if we can take forward this idea and bring about a change. The change we want, the change which will ensure Earth a 'cool' life!

A LONG WAIT (Third In Line Of My Originals....)

It had been a long day and at the end of it Rishi was sitting on the sea beach with a bottle of vodka and a Pink Floyd number playing on his I-Pod, his Armani jacket carelessly flung beside him. He felt a mix of emotions, probably due to the vodka, sweeping him as he sat on the beach with the moon and a couple of stars looking down at him from a sky filled with clouds. He had a nice education behind him, a nice job that paid well, a nice set of wheels and good looks. In short, everything a man could possible hope for by the time he was 26. But Rishi felt hollow, a sense of despair creeping inside him as if something somehow was not right. After the last couple of swigs, Rishi got up, threw the bottle into the blue sea and searched for his car-keys. Something told him to walk home tonight although it was not typical of Rishi to commute walking. He lit a Marlboro and started walking on the sand. The dim glow of his watch showed the time to be five minutes to midnight. He had walked no more than a couple of hundred meters when he saw what appeared to be the silhouette of a woman’s figure sitting on the beach. Long hair locks dancing to the rhythm of the cool sea breeze and the soft glow of moonlight on the woman’s face stopped Rishi in his tracks. Somehow he felt attracted to the woman. He felt as if he knew her since a long time. Rishi stepped on the stub of the Marlboro and lit it out, searched his pockets for a mint lozenge, found one, popped it into his mouth and slowly walked towards the woman. The woman was facing the sea and appeared to be lost in her own thoughts. Rishi went up to her and said “Hi, Myself Rishi. I am sorry but I don’t think it is safe to be sitting here on the sea beach so late in the night. May I help you in any way if you are in some trouble by any chance?” The woman looked up. She was beautiful with almost angelic facial features. She smiled. Rishi smiled back. She said, “Hi Rohan.” Rishi replied, “I am sorry, I am Rishi. Would you like any sort of help from me?” The woman said again, “Hi Rohan. Don’t you recognise me? I am Radha. I wonder how you could forget me.” Rishi did not know what to say. He just stood staring. Radha got up and hugged Rishi. Rishi still did not know how to react. Radha went on “I love you Rohan. Thank God I found you. I am never going to let you leave me again.” Saying this she took his hand and kissed it. “Let’s go dear. I had been waiting for this day since ages.” Rishi said, “Madam, now you are starting to freak me out. Can I please ask for an explanation?” He could almost instantly feel the sorrow in Radha’s eyes. Radha said, “Sit down Rohan and let me explain” and started with her story.” Rishi sat listening rapt in attention. Radha continued. “I was a teen when I met you Rohan. We were in love. Madly in love. I had just completed high school and you were in college. After both of us graduated, you went on for a masters’ degree while I waited for you to complete your education. We married after you completed your studies. We had a happy life. We were contented. Two years after our marriage, we also had a son, Rohit by name. We had everything we could expect from life. But God probably had something else in store for both of us. Maybe God tests the patience of people who He thinks can pass His stringent tests. You were killed in a car accident when Rohit was just a toddler. I was inconsolable. I was broken, almost on the verge of committing suicide. But I could not do so only because Rohit was a toddler then and he would have been orphaned had I taken such a drastic step. I had to make a man out of him. Raising him was “our” dream and I could not have let go of any dream that was dear to you. I had to live for you. For us. For our dream. My parents forced me to marry a number of times since I was only twenty five summers old when you left me. But I could not marry anyone else Rohan. I was all yours in heart, soul and body. I could not have married someone else and ruined his life. I decided to raise Rohit on my own. Without any support. Without any help. . I took a job and arranged for all the care I could provide Rohit. I sent him to the best school in town, gave him the best of facilities. I never let him feel your absence and I worked really hard for it. Rohit was a bright student. He graduated and then went on for a masters’ degree. But all the while, your absence hurt me. It killed me from the inside. I was lonely without you. I missed your support, your tenderness, your care and your love. The only thing that kept me going was our dream. A dream that both of us had seen together. I had to fulfil that. It became the sole purpose of my life. I waited for the day Rohit would settle down in his life. I had missed you in all the important occasions, the day Rohit had won his first award for topping his class in the school, the day Rohit won a national level Olympiad, the day Rohit graduated, the day Rohit he got admitted into the masters’ degree in the best college of the country. He looked very handsome in his graduation robe Rohan. He looked just like you did when you had graduated. I was very glad that I could make him the man we had always dreamt of making him. I had missed you on all the important occasions of life. Every moment of my existence had become a pain, a slow death. But I had to go on for us. I could not quit mid way. I cried in front of your photo for hours the day Rohit brought his lady-love home to see me. I missed you a lot that day. Rohit settled down in a good job after his studies. I was happy that I had finally succeeded. I made all the arrangements for his marriage, saw to it that the proceedings went on smoothly, saw the happiness in his eyes when he was getting married, blessed the newly married couple and then peacefully waited for meeting the love of my life. I was ecstatic with joy. I had finally been able to successfully fulfil our dream. The only thing that I could do now was to be together with you. I had missed you and your love for 26 years and I had decided not waste any more time without you. I needed you. I wanted the togetherness I had missed for so many years. I wanted to be happy after all these years of patience. I ended my life Rohan. Sleeping pills, lots of them and they worked. I died peacefully in my sleep. It did not hurt at all. I was 51 and had made Rohit a successful young man. I was sitting here waiting for you, my love, in the same state of my life that you had left me in. I love you Rohan.” Rishi sat quietly, lit another Marlboro and kept on smoking.

Swine Flu...some more dimensions

Swine flu. I feel it is the best example of globalization in the recent memory. It has its footprints all over the world aka true MNC. While going through the newspaper i was wondering whether it is not a leveller of sorts. In Disunited states of India, it infects people irrespective of the caste, religion, region (a new fad of our dear politicians) and on many others parameters (according to one’s whims and fancies). Raj Thakrey and his bunch of supporters must be incensed with swine flu. How did it dare not to differentiate Maratha manoos from the north Indians in Maharashtra?
The news channel must be thanking swine flu in their hindsight. Their kitty was getting depleted and they were not finding a topic to scaremonger people (an innovative method to increase the TRP). The TV news channels should be recommended for an award for their perseverance to telecast the same message again and again. Even swine flu would be wondering whether it’s ‘capability’ matches the sudden shower of stardom on it.
This news coverage has also benefitted another personality. Guess who? Arrey, it’s our very own Ramu. No it’s not Satyam’s erstwhile Ramu (last heard he was busy playing badminton in jail) but our Ram Gopal Verma. He can easily select one of the news readers for his new horror (?) flicks. Did you ever notice the expression on the newsreaders while delivering key news (?) about swine flu.
Thanks to swine flu, the world is now going green. Nowadays you see green masks on so many people. India has got an advantage here. It can leverage its human resources (no pun intended) and can distribute green masks to the whole of population and trade for the carbon reduction. Jairam Ramesh burdens would decrease on hearing this idea.

Miracle

Last weekend, amidst the hectic schedule of the B-School , i got a chance to sneak to my home.Going after 1.5 months ( Believe me It’s a long time for distance less that 200 Kms!! ) i was craving for food and all other luxuries of home ( Getting Tea on the Bed !! ). After Reaching home , greeting parents and sipping tea i headed direct to bed . Well !! its been long time sleeping on a clean and well made bed !!!.

Mummy wake me in afternoon for lunch , and though reluctantly, i relinquished my ordeal in the dreamworld. Rubbing eyes , i switched on the TV ( another luxury if you live in hostel). Still it was 1:30 , so good 2 hours before the last Ashes match to start . I was just sifting channels when i saw a ice hokey match somewhere. It was HBO and some movie on ice hockey was being aired at that time. Out of curiosity , i started watching the movie, The name of the movie was Miracle ( Usually Known as Miracle on ice ). The plot was nicely woven amidst the tensions of cold war in 1980’s and the reign of USSR in Ice Hockey.

Let us travel back in time. The year is 1980, winter Olympics being held at Lake Placid, USA. USSR the reigning champions , who had won gold medal every Olympic since 1956 barring 1960 ( USA won that year). The coach of USA is herb brookes , a player who was part of the squad in 1960 but was sent back ( Any Body Remembering Chak de India !!) . But Above all , USSR Team was all seasoned professionals and USA Team was picked from college, all young teenagers.

Add the spice of Cold war Tension , and this becomes one helluva match ( Parallels can be drawn to India-Pak Matches). This is the story about how a charismatic coach motivate his team of young budding players to take on might y soviets and defeating them in the medal Round. That was termed as Miracle on Ice, and is rated as the best sporting moment in the US history. It was not just a hockey match, it was a game of identity, hope and passion. This was the game where loosing was not a option.

Movie Really gave me goosebumps, and as soon as i returned to the campus, i googled all the possible links. saw many videos in Youtube and today downloaded the movie from DC++.

Meanwhile, England Reclaimed the Ashes , was not really a miracle , but still a famous and well deserved victory. It was the Andrew strauss tryst with glory , many english captains die with this dream !!. Also, liverpool is making a sinusoidal curve with its performance , recently being defeated by Aston Villa in Anfield. but miracles do happen.

Not very surprisingly, with the advent of science and technology , we are loosing our power of belief. Now we do not believe any thing which can’t be proved and justified. Miracles are one of them, yes they do happen , but then you have to believe that they happen. It does not mean that you stop working and wait for a miracle to happen. Work with best of your abilities, and then leave the rest to the almighty. What is a miracle ? a moment of luck , a unseen opportunity , something which gives us a thrust can termed as a miracle. Our body is the biggest miracle, with so many organs working in tandem , our DNA chains that are not replicated yet with the best of technologies, our brain which is still largely a black box. Our mere existence is a miracle, and who says miracles do not happen!!!. Just see the world holistically and you will see miracle every where.

So, from now onwards believe in miracles, but be in position to take the advantage of them. Also, try to get hold of the movie, can lift your spirits any time ( Guess Seen it before Football and basketball Debacle !!). And, for Liverpool, Yes i believe in miracle, this year create a miracle on grass !!

The Subprime Crisis

Prelude

In these trying times, one wonders where to spend to ensure profits in the short run and windfall profits in the long run. An average investor expects too much from his instruments. Contrary to the recessionary trend in the markets, its more about the psychological dent in the common man’s confidence that has prolonged the recovery. The falling of financial behemoths like a pack of cards was really a factor. It was of no help that automobile industries faced the music during the same time and oil prices see-sawed like a child’s play. These unwelcomed happenings encouraged the world wide speculations that recession has arrived and is here to stay.

Moving to the US and its perceptible role in giving birth to this crisis, arouses reflection of the past policies safeguarded by the Federal Reserve Bank. The chairman of the 80s, Alan Greenspan viewed spending as an indication of economy’s growth. He was of the view that one should save minimally since the government was taking care of the emergencies and nearly every expensive commodity was insured. He lowered the interest rates to assist the liquidity. Soon people began to realize their ambitions. The complex human nature can not be satiated. They began to spend multiple times of their income. The Housing bubble was a product of this tendency.

People, blinded by their ambitions baited onto the mortgage fish. The banks, on the other end, had already started trading the mortgage securities to investment banks like Lehman Brothers. Banks were pressurized from the top to increase their network of mortgage lending. Under a propensity to feed the cycle (will discuss later), they relaxed the criteria of granting the principal. Thus, the mortgages were sold out to all and sundry. It wasn’t imperative that customers did not have adequate bank balance, the collateral was deemed enough. Lending to such customers is known as Sub-prime lending.

How it worked out ?

Interest rates were further lowered to arrest the economy from receding into recession after the 2000 dot com bubble burst. Thus the money was flowing and people were willing to take loans. Situation was grim for those with bad credit records. They were not allotted the loans by the banks until then. Banks initiated another route for them. They started providing home loans to them at high interest rates, taking their homes as collateral. Since the property prices were rising uninhibitedly, banks assumed they will get good deals even if the sub- prime debtors were unable to pay the EMIs. The loans were offered in variety of formats. Most common of them was Adjustable Rate Mortgage, where the rate of interest could be increased depending on the economic trends. Debtors low on credibility, were undeterred. They were thinking of refinancing the loan at lower rate of interests when their property price would boom.

The situation does not end here. Banks realized they had taken too many risks. They had loan out ample money but were bound to oblige the bank account holders. To generate the money inflow, they decided to diversify the risk of sub-prime mortgage lending. The loans were divided into packages and securitized as Collaterized Debt Obligations to investment banks and other investors. Packages were accorded credit ratings like A, AA, AAA based on the relative credit records of the borrowers. As per the risk evaluation, CDOs were valued differently. Banks also approached insurers to get the sub-prime loan products insured. In case of defaults, the insurance agency could keep the collateral.

The investment banks created Credit Default Swaps (CDS) from these packages and sold it to other investors worldwide. CDS is a swap contract where investors make a series of payments for a particular loan derivative product and are paid off in case debtor defaults on loan linked to that CDS. Insurance companies too fell in for CDS and traded the derivatives vehemently. Going by the rising realty prices, they would have profited even in case of defaults.

The beginning of the end

These series of steps were really bringing in smiles to everybody’s face. The defaulters were few, but the overall situation was under control. A propensity was always there to continue this process. There was mounting pressure on the banks to offer more generous home loans to people and create more securitized instruments. Liquidity had decreased in the system considerably. A bout of inflation followed and there was whopping increase in rate of interest consequently. Customers were hard to find now. Many of the borrowers could not arrange the inflated EMIs. There was a substantial increase in the defaults. Insurers and investment bankers began to roll out money to pay the CDS investors. The condition worsened with a huge number of sub-prime borrowers refusing to pay EMIs and opting for foreclosures. Investment banks doled out huge sums as the part of their obligation to investors in CDS. In fact, they struggled to pay back and came in debts of billions of dollars.

The insurers were also feeling the heat. They tried to sell the collaterals. Few were willing to buy a property. The list of borrowers was longer than those of potential buyers. As a result, the realty prices plummeted and the insurers had to contend with selling at a subdued price. The result was same: billions of dollars in debt.

Banks which had propagated this crisis had many unsecuritized loans left with them. Moreover, the investors were approaching them to get their payment done. In spite of these facts they were in a relatively less cash-strapped position.

The impending crisis began to swallow one company after another. The widespread reach of the sub-prime related tradable components only aggravated the situation. Investors protested for their money which had disappeared. Investment banks had been cogitating filing bankruptcy. Insurance companies were aided by the government bailout packages. Onus was falling on the banks which initiated the toxic trading in the first place. Some acquisitions followed while some fell apart. Some of the companies went to their deathbed. The rest pleaded monetary assistance from the Federal Reserve and the US Govt.

An Epidemic ?

This crisis had percolated to the European and Asian markets. Many companies which had invested in the loan derivatives belonged to the same region. Individual investors were also left in the lurch. English banks suffered huge losses. They were acquired and saved by their better off peers. The vast after effects dented investors’ confidence. He/she had suffered losses or was lucky to survive the storm. For obvious reasons, it was imperative that every step is taken with caution. Thus came the bearish trend in markets. Investors were concerned about selling shares at some profit rather buying more and suffering from losses in future.

The share markets can regain their pre-crisis levels in times to come. It’s truly a matter of returning to safe measures and adequate regulations to ensure the proper functioning of financial sector in future.