Section A memories------------------

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words. As section A is coming to an end precisely 5 days from now, i thought of posting some of my favorite Sec A pictures to start of this series.

Here we go:


We Rock



in section colours



and other colours--


also in "Indian" colours


We are the leaders of tomorrow


in the pool



and out of it



The best in class we are



Even though we have an insane CR --------

Section A Rocks ---really !

Last two weeks

Just came back after writing the Investment analysis mid term exam. Most problems were similar to those we tackled in assignments and hence we are going to have another paper where every 0.5 mark will make a difference.

Last two weeks with Section A. I am bound to get senti and i have decided to dedicate the next few posts to Section A, the best section in class of 2007 :) Lets see what all i can put. Suggestions invited.

Our CR, Mr. Herbie has planned a section farewell today at a plush city hangout. Good job Herbie--Hope it will be a good evening.

ATK and cross cultural perspectives

Yesterday it was the turn of A.T.Kearney. After McKinsey and BCG have given us tons of gyan about Consulting as a career, it was ATK’s turn to talk about cross cultural perspectives. Interestingly, a similar topic was also discussed in the MGTO class yesterday.

This event brought back the memories of my good old days. I have been fortunate enough to have worked in 3 regions of the world and so I could really appreciate what they were talking about. I remember my first rendezvous with diverse cultures during my early days in Oman. I had gone to attend a seminar on IAS 39 hosted by E&Y and we had this round dinner table type of setting(whatever it is called!). On my table there were 2 Indians, a couple of Arabs, one Englishman and American and a Japanese guy. It was kind of interesting for me to interact with so many different nationalities all at the same time.

Over the course of my tenure in Dubai, Muscat and Chicago I could recall many instances of interacting with many people of different nationalities, where I could develop a cross cultural understanding and a sense of respect for cultures other than my own, which is perhaps hard to envisage if one has worked only in India.

I am not sure how this helps an individual professionally (on an IQ side), but personally on an EQ level I did learn a few things.

Overall the ATK session was quite interesting as all the people spoke very freely without creating any hype about the firm but at the same time saying whatever they wanted to say. Ankur from class of 2006 is conducting a session on consulting resumes today. Another example of how ISB alums take time out from their precious weekends to help the current students.

TiE ISB

The TiE ISB connect is going on these days at ISB. It’s a special event which gives an opportunity to budding entrepreneurs to come share their ideas. They also have access to VC and other investors at the conferences. Many people are making the “elevator pitch” of their ideas to seek funding.

Apart from this there are discussion seminars going on for different tracks viz. IT and ITES, Internet technology, Infrastructure and Real estate, Bio and pharma, new media and entertainment etc. These sessions provide a good industry perspective to all those looking to start or have already started a venture in any of these areas with some of very eminent industry leaders sharing their views. Details can be found at : http://www.isb.edu/TiE-ISB_Connect_2006/Jumpstart.html

Frisbee and Munnabhai

Went to watch "Lage Raho Munna Bhai" yesterday. It was a Section A outing and we went by a hired bus. Awesome fun. Our Carnatic musician Man-Jerry pitched in with some nice hindi tunes on public demand. I decided to pitch in too to cause some public torture. Now my choice of song is being used to tease me, but nonetheless, it was great fun.

The movie was kind of good. Arshad Warsi rocks in the movie. I couldnt stop laughing throughout the movie.

There was yet another shot in the arm for Section A. We defeated Sec E in the frisbee tourney. Since we were the defending champions, and we won yet again we are going to graduate as frisbee champs of class of 2007. Though i was not playing i went to cheer. After all the shouting yesterday in the bus and today, my throat is begging me to stop the torture.

There are multiple tasks on hand and its becoming hard to concentrate on one thing for long. So now the challenge is to do things well and do them fast and right at the same time --Huh--Plus the mind keeps wandering in different unwarrented directions and just when i dont want to think about certain things, they keep bothering me--or my friends keep reminding me--hah these friends

Here are the rulers of frisbee sport at ISB ( cheering squad and supporters included) Well done folks

They came, They saw, They conquered

The McKinsey session was hosted a few days back by the consulting club. I must say I was really impressed with the McKinsey people. Contrary to my expectations, they were open, friendly and extremely down to earth. When they spoke we heard—absolutely amazing people. By the end of the session it was everyone’s dream company already. It is amazing to see, how a good orator can leave lasting impact on the audience.

All said and done, they added a lot of fire to the consulting hoopla at ISB. What I liked best about the session was that they were very open about sharing even the minutest detail of the recruitment process. And so everything was very clear. Hope it gives some sense to people about applying to McKinsey or otherwise .

Another impressive session was with the CAS. The workshop on resume writing was a very good one and gave valuable insights about how others view your resume. It is an early start for us and I am sure this will help us in preparing that perfect resume’.

Term 4 is tougher than I thought. The biggest problem is that there is absolutely no time and a ton of stuff to do. With PAEV and ELP deadlines staring at my face, I am as clueless as ever. But as they say at ISB "gimme a deadline and I ll meet it" . Banking on my newly accquired ability to meet any kind of deadline!

Macquarie bank wants students to do a project on REITs. This is topic very close to heart. But most probably I will not apply due to lack of time. God why do we have only 24 hours in a day--? Don’t know but that’s how it is.

The Tale of the Reptile

ISB has a rich fauna. You can spot all kinds of animals on campus. Examples include peacocks, snakes of varied variety, mongoose, squirrel and ISBians.

However, at times you tend to spot animals so exotic (apart from ISBians) that there is fear. Fear of the unknown that leads to chaos. Mostly chaos at ISB is expressed through a long chain of mails which are bombarded into your mailbox even if you care a shit about lizards and snakes or any such animals ( they call it spam but i dont agree. Spam can be counted. These mail chains contain more mails than the number of stars in the sky!)

So coming back to the point, some exotic looking lizard family reptile ( donno the exact name ) was spotted in SV 1. Heavens fell down. Chaos. Absolute Chaos. That meant mail chains. Atleast a trillion of them. ( i cant count more than trillion so i ll stop at that). So here are some pearls of wisdom hand picked from these chains. As exotic as the lizard itself--------

" Note its talons, size around 3 ft, it ran with jet speed climbed 3ft wall in a second, it was so fast that had it hit someone, one would have been hurt like anything"---( 3 ft in a second. He had a stopwatch and he was checking the time)

" It was dangerous…. Previously a cobra and now a dangerous reptile, isn’t it time to take a prompt action? Student body I suggest you come forward to get these shrubs cleared"
( Students, lets have a labor day bunk classes and lets clean the shrubs)

" And first things first, the security guard in the SV’s must have strong lathis. Last time a big snake came, their grand plans to kill it were using thin alumunium rods of the mops with which they wipe the floor. Today a guard was running with a 1 feet long rod. I wonder what he would have done to a 3 feet reptile with it." ( Yes sir, a 3 ft thing cant be killed with a 1 ft rod. Mathematically, the length of the rod has to be greater than or equal to the length of the reptile supposed to be killed with it)

"I saw these creatures twice around the rocks in SV1 Am phi theatre (just across the main road). I think they live some where between those rocks" ( How profound! If you could please give us the exact block, quad and room we can go get them)

"Till such time that we get a handle on this, XXX will be posting a trained gunman at SV1,late afternoon onwards." ( Wow a gunman for a lizard--Now thats the sign of prospering India!)

"Why kill?? The reptile is probably as scared as us.
Guess a good option would be to find out about reptile repellants and have them sprayed around the SVs." ( Hmm an animal rights activist was all we needed)

Here is a picture of this latest hero at ISB



And life continues. The reptile has managed to elude the guards till now. But the mail-chain continues---

50 up

Had to write this short note to mark my 50th post. Its special because i see it as a major milestone of sorts. I am not sure if i ll reach 100.

Personally, i feel i have made a decent effort at posting my experiences at ISB with some useful and mostly useless but memorable stuff.

Thanks to all the readers and--- pls from here till 100 (or wherever i reach) i need more hits :) Keep visiting--

Hiking Spree

Four out of five days of the term break after term 3 are over. First 3 days were spent roaming around Hyderabad. Did nothing special--no historic sight seeing or anything constructive or useful of that kind--just plain TP. Courtsey Herbie. I think if i calculate the cab fare payable had we not travelled by Herbie's car and taken a cab instead, it would work out to a very big number ( may be more than the tuition ) but then thats what friends are for ( to take advantage ; wink wink)

Today i decided to do something different. Some enthu junta from section A decided to go hiking. Not to some god forsaken place 200 kms away but inside our own campus. I can bet that we explored areas where not many ppl had been to ever. Even all those reptiles roaming around the campus could not deter us. Pure fun. Posting some pix here



Thats the stone quarry right behind ISB

Term 4 starts on monday. With the ELPs and PAEVs of the world, its not going to be very smooth. But kind of used to it now. Work pressure doesnt scare me anymore. Just that its ending too fast--3 up already-- just 5 more ( Just!!!!!)
Lots of work-- lots of fun