The first day of the PGP Program

Blogging in the unearthly hours is real fun, especially when some fizzy drink and some cookies are there to provide you with some company. The first day of the PGP program started in the morning and I am just 2 hrs from being awake for 24hrs. The day took me across many interesting facets of life. To hear some of eminent speakers here and to try and understand their perspective of looking forward to our economy and socio economic development is something I have longed for these many years. The awesome performance came from Shashank Subramaniam, a reknowned flautist, who almost swept us completely with his mellifluous and soul stirring percussionist flair. Well, for us the day started at night. Meeting up with the seniors here at IIMB was an amazing experience. It surely tells you the standards that have been set by the seniors here and the expectations from us to live up to it.

Welcome !!

Isn't it Ironical?

It's been a few days since I have been bitten by this so called Facebook bug. Not so long ago, when I didn't have a call from IIM B, I was too reluctant to log into FB and check the happennings there. Was there a way I could have escaped the clutches of modern day social networking contagion? No, I believe, but you don't want to be left behind either. So it has been my sincere, reluctant yet dedicated effort to at least give my profile page a visit daily. And now I have started enjoying some of the links and messages being posted there. One such status that I read was, "We live in a country where pizza gets delivered before the police." Later on I found that it has been picked up from some online source with due credit to the original author, I believe. I then had this eagerness to write more on this State of Affairs of our nation.

Isn't it ironical ?
I read the news about children dying of hunger and politicians blaming the monsoon for lack of food
When millions of tons of foodgrains are getting wasted in our granaries.

Isn't it ironical ?
I see the street dweller divide his only bread amongst his children and go hungry himself
When the glass pane of the luxury car's window is rolled down and food is disposed away in the dustbin for the dogs to eat.

Isn't it ironical ?
I and my friends talk big things about poverty alleviation and the importance of food
When we order our food and without any remorse throw away the extra food that we ordered.

Isn't it ironical ?
I read about the ultra luxurious wards in private hospital where people book a place for medical excuses
When a government hospital is in complete shambles without anyone to attend to the dying patients.

Isn't it ironical ?
I read aplenty about the entrepreneurs who have shaped our country and their achievements
When I find only a few of the youngsters even willing to go that way

Isn't it ironical ?
I go on a shopping spree and spend 10k on a set of clothes
When I find a person happily telling his fellow commuter how he plans to manage a family of six with his 4k income

Isn't it ironical ?
I see my food home delievered any time of the day
When the guy who delivers my food waits till the night to have the food by the street side for a few bucks.

Isn't it ironical ?
I see and read about hundreds of children dying for they cannot afford food for even a single time a day
When I see thousands of obese people wasting another thousands on the gym to bring down their weight

Isn't it ironical ?
I sit in the air conditioned confines of my car and discuss how fast my city is developing
When I see hundreds hanging out in the bus, holding on their breath and stampeding to get to their destination

Isn't it ironical ?
I blame each and every political outfit just before elections for the shoddy performance they put up
When I, for myself, don't bother what I do for the society

Isn't it ironical ?
I read each day about the property rates shooting up
When the value of human lives are falling at a much faster rate

Isn't it ironical ?
I speak about creating millions of dollars from a new business plan
When I do not understand the value of a single rupee

I don't think this world is too complicated to live in. If there is any complexity in this world and the way it runs it has been introduced by us. At times I wonder, can't we make our living a bit simpler so that at least no one sleeps without food, a roof under the head or a blanket to protect from cold weather. I am not an advocate of socialism because my belief in capitalism is far deep entrenched. I am a firm believer in entrepreneurial skills and I think that is the only way to take our country forward.

Instead of hunting a million dollar job, I shall rather create an avenue for hundred others to earn and make a living.

Wisdom Pangs

The inclination was nearly 145 degrees and the temperature was steady at 23 degree centigrade. My heartbeat had crossed the normal limit of 100 and was hovering around somewhere 125-130. There was a sense of slight anxiety in the air surrounding me. It was then a bright light flashed through my face and moved sideways. Just then, my dentist appeared in his usual demeanor and took a quick glance over my wisdom tooth. He pitied but nevertheless gave a helpless askance. In a time where nations hegemonise their economically weak neighbors, the third set of molar was dominated by its not so friendly neighbor, denying it any space for growth. "It needs to be extracted". My heartbeat jumped by another good 20 beats. This is one thing I couldn't bear for the psychological stress that comes along supersedes any relief that is caused by the anesthesia.

Today, he began the much anticipated extraction process. I tried to put a brave smile but my anxiety oozed out like sugarcane between cogs. Then came the localized anesthesia which deadened one side of my jaw completely.

The dentist had to struggle for good 30 minutes to get rid of that tooth completely. Now I understand why people say that I have a deep rooted wisdom. The anesthetic effect lasted for good 5 hours and now when I am blogging, the effect still remains, albeit at a much subdued level. I had to give bhajias a miss today as the dentist prevented me from having anything hot and solid till tomorrow noon. It seems I will have to do with the usual mango juice and bread.

Till then, Bon appétit to me!!

Why I believe in curves not straight lines !!

I have been thinking of speaking my mind on this topic for quite some time but till now my ingenuity at procrastinating things weighed on the vestigial rationality prevalent in me. Having unfettered myself from the so called writer's block, I have finally decided to put up a rational explanation at why I believe in curves not straight lines.

Till not so long ago, I was a firm believer in planning things ahead in my life. I always thought that our lives should be carried on as per planned. This axiom held true till a certain time in my life and it was only thereafter that I was exposed to the non linearity in my life. I had umpteen events and experiences that I went through in the past 5 years that strengthened my belief that nothing works as per plans. If we believe in plans A, B and C, we might encounter X, Y and Z instead. As of now, I have learnt to deal with this strange but true concept and so far have been successful to step out of myself and enjoy how different facets evolve in my life. I just do what is best for me at any given point in time. There can be no better way to emphasize the axiom that "Sum of parts is greater than the whole". I am just enjoying this non linearity in my life. So it is no more straight line for me, I have generalized it to curves. After all, even straight lines are curves with zero curvature.

Stepping out a bit, from stock market indices to our GDPs, we cannot find a perfect extrapolation from historical data that would lead us to say for sure that things would work out in an expected manner.

As one of my professional mentors said, "Just stand out and watch your life unfold. Don't just remain a mute spectator, live it." We cannot find a better analogy to the theory of evolution than this.

AIWTSAC

My entry at AIWTSAC..

Dream Turns True !!

It was around 9:40 AM and was caught up in the daily rigmarole that I have to go through before leaving for office. This time, I had the added pressure of my IIM interview results. It has been 5 long years, since I have been nurturing this dream to get into IIMs. Even after 4 attempts, sincere attempts, I couldn't clear any of the IIMs. This time around, as I had taken my GMAT beforehand, I had planned to apply to schools outside India believing that CAT game is almost over for me. It was my Mom who forced me to take CAT just as another passing attempt as the stake was too less this time. I took it. Around two months ago, I got a score of 99.22 percentile. Was unbelievable, but it gave me a glimpse of hope. I almost had become a subject of ridicule in most of the conversations whenever the topic of CAT and MBA sprang up. Most of them took me to a point of endless frustration. But this time around it was different. It is 9:45. Even after repeated attempts, the IIMB site seems to be down and my patience is deserting me now. I called up IIMB's office and they told me that the results are up. I thanked that person and logged in again. This time around the site was up. I didn't have the courage though to check on my results. With great conviction and courage, I decided to check my reg number. The list opened and I was there. Couldn't believe it. Not that I didn't have faith in me or my abilities, just that I couldn't believe it. I yelled and danced all over my place. With no one around to share the news with, I was all into myself. I then called my parents and sister and shared the news and then shared them with my friends. It was different today. One of the best days of my life. Will write about the days post call and post job in the coming days. Bangalore, here I come !