11000 people!

11000 people at a "He is risen" rally.
Too much time to waste.
Like me ... blogging away to glory.



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What we learnt in class today

Mergers and Acquisitions are the result of three theories
Theory X
Theory Y
Theory Z

Theory X

is all about money. If you have money, buy companies. If you don't, sell yours

Theory Y

talks about the motivational factors. Maslow's motivational theories (?). If you feel motivated enough ... buy a company or several. If you are feeling blue sell out.

Theory Z

Is about contingency. Buy and sell as you feel the need.

You can see a combination of these theories at work, when you research mergers and acquisitions.

People in HBR (Harvard Business Review) write nice stories which are good to read. You can read them and feel good. Sometimes they feel the need to use bombastic words, but generally they are easy to read and understand.

People of the level of IAS (Indian Administrative Service) also copy ... word for word.

The West Bengal government is not a nice government

Lakshmi Mittal stayed in some building in Calcutta where a lot of other famous Marwaris also stayed.

"I" want numbers, I dont have any.

"I" love to spell words on the board.
===========================================

Learnings:
If you are hearing words for the first time, its high time you invested in a dictionary.
You came alone, you will go alone, so work alone.

In one word: Intreshting.

The land of Free and the Bigoted...

US government rejects Virgin America

Well that is what FT reported. Some snippets:

The US Department of Transportation ruled that the latest airline venture backed by Sir Richard Branson, the UK entrepreneur, was effectively controlled by overseas investors, failing its crucial test for granting an operating certificate.

and

“Virgin America would have to revise its ownership, corporate structure and associated agreements to be 75 per cent owned and actually controlled by US citizens before it can receive an operating certificate,” said the DoT ruling.

For a country that prides itself in its free market economy, this stinks of protectionism. Well 9/11 did happen didn't it?

Obviously there was Congressional interference.

What's the point I got to make?

I am a smart alec who reads international news.
:P

Question and answer

Well one fine morning this is what I found in my googletalk window
Well answered.
And toothpaste counts too. And I'd let you steal mine for a just cause
;)

clutching my head

I've taken so many pictures that i dont feel like sorting them anymore.
My computer is a mess.
HELP!!!

Butterfly Effect

See the link for more details ...

According to U.S. Mint Director Edmund Moy, the U.S. vending machine industry stands to save $1 billion if consumers ditch their flimsy paper bills for $1 coins. The switch would eliminate maintenance on bill acceptance slots.

Talk about interconnectedness.
The comments board is open.

Upto no Good

There was a little boy
Who just sat in class
Gave no answers
Just let them pass
They thought he never understood.
His teachers they glared at him
And said, "this boy is upto no good"

There was a little boy
Who wanted to see
The whole world
As far as could be
They always said he never would
The people around looked
And said, "this boy is upto no good"

There was a little boy
Who went to France
He said he wanted to
Enjoy the wine, song and dance
They say what got him was the food
The people around shook their heads
And said, "this boy is upto no good"

There was a little boy
Who travelled far and wide
He climbed every church spire
His joy he couldn't hide
So he hollered as loud as he could
People below just looked up
And said, "this boy is upto no good"

I met the little boy
One cold winter's day
As I looked into the mirror
What could I say?
I was in a pretty good mood
So i just shook my head
And said, "that boy is upto no good"
.

Apple ... the next generation

Apple is getting ahead ... the most interesting announcement among all the new iPods, iTunes 7 etc. is the launch of the iTV.

Convergence is the name of the game and Apple has thrown its hat in the ring.
Due to be out in early 2007, its a box the size of a small DVD player that 'you can just hook directly to your big flat-screen TV, or more likely, hook it to your set-top box.' It can wirelessly send the movies and music you download from the Internet to your television. Of course the content comes from the iTunes website which you buy. Apple is already offering DVD quality highights of NFL games on iTunes.
Lets see what MS does next.

Travelogue ... Travel Blog

Well I'm in Aix-en-Provence now... and I'll blog my experiences here ...
euro-diaries.blogspot.com

So some times i'll blog here ... mostly on the other one :)

Enjoy ... and keep the comments coming in ...

Dating can get you a PhD!

What do get when you cross absolutely jobless doctoral students with a top notch School and finding love?
Well ... a PhD in dating.
So? Its the business of love.
This work carried out @ MIT Media Labs by a doctoral student and profs at MIT and HBS tries to optimise dating sites... and apparently its working
Read on

Online Match-Making with Virtual Dates

More on peace...

This one is from the Vietnam conflict.
Amnesty got it modified slightly and this is what we have...

Peace!

For all my admiration for Israel ...
I think we need some peace in the world for now.



This man seems to agree to some extent

Floyd's different music

Floyd Landis wins the Tour De France.
Would have been unremarkable at the start of the tour. But after the 16th?
Lance won it after being cured of his cancer. Floyd won it with a rapidly degenerating hip. On the 16th stage he crashed from 1st to 11th place, a stunning 8 minutes, 8 seconds behind the leader.
And this is what people said
And then he crafted a miracle on the 17th. The same author had no words to describe it.
Some statistics here.
And a behind the scenes view here.
With a third place on the 19th, he took the yellow back.

Marvellous.

Or so I thought. But apparently I was proved wrong. Sport today isn't all about winning. Its about stretching the limit. Legally and illegally. Now the burden of proof is on the accused. And it has taught me not to jump to conclusions, as far as sport is concerned.

The Sailor

I'm a random wayfarer
Looking for the next wave
Trolling the deep sea
Resolute and grave

There is no respite
It demands too much
For a slow learner
No beginners luck as such

I take the tiller with hesitation
There is no guide
Trial and error
Its a rough ride

Storms there are many
But the sails seem to hold
But the rain its too much
And it makes me cold

Denizens of the deep
They just wait to pounce
You are just a tasty morsel
To be devoured to the last ounce

And when I've seen it all
And survived with scars intact
I begin a another journey
For that is a fact

If I do better
I get a new set of tools
And to pilot yet again
Another ship of fools

Term 4 is here ... and I am back.

Some posts in a long time.

Class A

Its apparently a beautiful morning
Whose beauty is lost on me
Instead of sleeping it out
This lecture I've come to see

Pickled brains and confused minds
They present ideas so crazy
They make you pull out your hair
For most its all too hazy

Having borne the torture
All through the night
I try hard not to listen
To stay awake, I put up a fight

I've missed some good matches
On twerps having spent my time
To throttle them for their deeds
My mind, it turns to crime

But finally realisation dawns
The halo of light shines on me
The path to eternal wisdom
Is just to be


Class B

'Twas early morning
When we came to class
To have a peek at investments
Through the looking glass

A roller coaster ride
Along the yield curve
There was oncoming traffic
And I had to swerve

There were bonds coming my way
And some capital gains
There were coupons in the baggage too
I faced learning pains

My sleepy brain is drugged with caffeine
Trying to make sense of the mess
And as I looked on
The interest rate became less

Those shapely curves yet
I must learn to admire
Bonds they say are risky
My fate seems dire


Music for my mood: "Somewhere over the rainbow"
I just feel like going to some dreamland.

Fuel to the fire

A few days ago
It was all quiet and calm
Just a few stray bullets
Causing no harm

Then this fat old man
He threw his hat in the ring
This he thought
To him would fame bring

So he went to the people
And spoke with passion
To inflame and excite
The heart of the nation

They need it he said
No they don't said we
He went red in the face
As if stung by a bee

And slowly from the smoke
The fire emerged
To protest and march
The people converged

Yet there were some
Who "believed" in him
And the cause they "fought" for
Their cup filled to the brim

They too marched
To places random
For the man in charge
They had a memorandum

Where their train was headed
No one knew
It was a matter of faith
The coming of "hope" anew

Politics of vote-banks
And people in misery
We're talking of reservations
To control the treasury

Lining their pockets
From the first round of doles
The beneficiaries few
Sitting cozy like moles

Having dug their holes
In the soul of the land
Now they stick in their heads
Like ostriches in the sand

Fifty years past
They couldn't throw off the yoke
to bring about "change"
They wait for one man's "masterstroke"
.

It will end soon, won't it?

Something I wrote to while away the time as I was waiting for breakfast.

Just a mundane life
and lots of work to do
Odd hours at work
And no socialisation too

I feel like a fish out of water
To use the cliched old phrase
But this has to be the summer of content
If I have to get out of the maze

Mornings are for sleeping
No time to get inspired
Work the evening out
And come back home tired

Then trying to wake up
Just in time to eat
The merry morning breakfast
That's a mean feat

My body clock is adjusting
It makes me throw tantrums
Freed of my company
Glad must be my chums

And all those mails keep coming
Promising parties wild
Just like mirages in the desert
You feel like a deprived child

And what to talk of the sun
All of us its going to roast
I feel burnt to a crisp
Just like my morning toast

So I'm counting the days
Till college begins again
Now come to think of it
A month ago 'twas our bane
.

The Man of Many Talents

This post is inspired by the many people asking me about this man.

One of the most influential people in the music industry ... Ambient pioneer, glam rocker, hit producer, multimedia artist, technological innovator, worldbeat proponent, and self-described non-musician, a man who wears many hats with elan, Brian Eno has seen many phases in his life.

Rising to fame with the garish glam rock band, Roxy Music, which he left after conflict with Bryan Ferry, the frontman. Then he began his long journey into electronica beginning with the Frippertronic system, a tape delay system for Robert Fripp, of the seminal prog. rock band King Crimson. Here Come the Warm Jets, with some guesting by Fripp was his first solo effort. I recommend Baby's on Fire for the Fripp guitar solo.

Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) was the next, a freeform collection of abstract pop. The most significant turn in his life occured in 1975 when he was hospitalised after a car accident. As the liner notes on Discreet Music (1975) say:

In January this year I had an accident. I was not seriously hurt, but I was confined to bed in a stiff and static position. My friend Judy Nylon visited me and brought me a record of 18th century harp music. After she had gone, and with some considerable difficulty, I put on the record. Having laid down, I realized that the amplifier was set at an extremely low level, and that one channel of the stereo had failed completely. Since I hadn't the energy to get up and improve matters, the record played on almost inaudibly. This presented what was for me a new way of hearing music - as part of the ambience of the environment just as the colour of the light and the sound of the rain were parts of that ambience.

And thus was born ambient music.

This is what he says on the notes to Music for Airports / Ambient 1

An ambience is defined as an atmosphere, or a surrounding influence: a tint. My intention is to produce original pieces ostensibly (but not exclusively) for particular times and situations with a view to building up a small but versatile catalogue of environmental music suited to a wide variety of moods and atmospheres.
Whereas the extant canned music companies proceed from the basis of regularizing environments by blanketing their acoustic and atmospheric idiosyncracies, Ambient Music is intended to enhance these. Whereas conventional background music is produced by stripping away all sense of doubt and uncertainty (and thus all genuine interest) from the music, Ambient Music retains these qualities. And whereas their intention is to `brighten' the environment by adding stimulus to it (thus supposedly alleviating the tedium of routine tasks and levelling out the natural ups and downs of the body rhythms) Ambient Music is intended to induce calm and a space to think.
Ambient Music must be able to accomodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.

Discreet Music was the first in the series of a ten volume work in similar experimental music. The above mentioned 1978's Music for Airports was a record designed to calm air passengers against fears of flying and the threat of crashes.

Then he reinvented hinself as a successful producer working on David Bowie's landmark trilogy, Low, Heroes and Lodger. Then came the Talking Heads with whom he worked on African Polyrhythms which peaked with 1980's Remain in Light. Teaming up with Daniel Lanois producing the super successful albums, among others, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby for U2.

In 1983 came Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks, a collection of space-themed work, which included the song Deep Blue Day, which also appeared on the soundtrack of the cult hit
Trainspotting. I recommend that song and another, Weightless from this album.

In 1990, Eno collaborated with John Cale on Wrong Way Up where he also featured on vocals. Several solo efforts followed: The Shutov Assembly (1992), Nerve Net (1992), Neroli (1993) and Glitterbug (1994).

Eno also frequently ventured into other realms of media, beginning in 1980 with the vertical-format video Mistaken Memories of Medieval Manhattan; along with designing a 1989 art installation to help inaugurate a Shinto shrine in Japan and 1995's Self-Storage, a multimedia work created with Laurie Anderson, he also published a diary, 1996's A Year with Swollen Appendices, and formulated Generative Music I, a series of audio screen savers for home computer software. In August of 1999, Sonora Portraits, a collection of Eno's previous ambient tracks and a 93-page companion booklet, was published. Around 1998, Eno was working heavily in the world of art installations and a series of his installation soundtracks started to appear, most in extremely limited editions (making them instant collectors items). In 2000 he teamed with German DJ Jan Peter Schwalm for the Japanese-only release Music for Onmyo-Ji.

His last release was in 2005 with Another Day on Earth, with Eno vocals after 15 years. This
is more of ambient music album, with elements of pop/electronica notably in the tracks This, Just Another Day, Under and Bone Bomb. A good listen. Recommended tracks: And Then So Clear, This, Bottomliners.

Currently listening to Another Day on Earth. Had to be inspired

Of Exams and Men

There goes the last exam for the academic year ...

Oh these exams they're so boring
All there is to it is some scoring
To be done for god knows what
To this i've never applied any thought

There they come closer and closer
Why we worry, to me its a poser
Two a day and pop they go
And in passing they lay you low

Corridors deserted, no music playing
'Tis time to pull out the books decaying
Trying hard to recall what the prof said
And making sure that everything's read

Of midnight sessions in the mess
Each hoping the crowd'd be a little less
All gathered round the focal point
Just like addicts waiting for their joint

At night no time to sleep
In the mornings like owls they peep
and tumble into the exam hall
And that is where they stall

'Coz the questions have them befuddled
And the path to the answers looks so muddled
Left and right they all look around
To see if someone is gaining ground

The question is who'll be the ace
Among all us little rats in a race
Running around in a golden cage
Just a line on somebody's page

MML period.

Its a philosophy in itself. And today I "saw"how profound it is.
Thank you Times of India.
We shall discuss it some day. Or maybe we could get the founder to say a few lines on it.
Do read the fine print in the picture :)

A new discovery.

If you have been in a Mumbai local train you may have noticed those ubiquitious posters advertising the miraculous services of those great saints also known as Baba Bangalis.

And I thought that up here in the north we never needed them. But like cockroaches, they are everywhere. Only a different name.

Genus: Baba
Species: Sufi Shah.




He even specialises in some arcane art.
Nice business model. Anyone for setting up a metaphysical treatment chain?

Rang or Bhang?

At morning break the sky is clear
A day to enjoy, of rain no fear
A sleepy hostel gradually wakes
As them the 'dhol', out of sleep shakes

Breakfast it is and thandai then
The Bhang effect materialises later when
You feel the highs and lows
But right now the enthusiasm grows

To paint everyone in various hues
Then naturally a water-fight ensues
On to high places to have sweets
With renewd vigour the battle heats

More colours now to go around
And new victims have to be found
Then they start dropping one by one
Seems they are tired of having fun

Full of colour, there come messy baths
Try as hard, you're still painted in swathes
For a few days yet, they will last
A reminder of this colourful day past


And here are some pictures.

The calm before the storm

This is how we rouse the rabble

Nooo... I don't wanna wake up.

Its Holi day is it?

Hello, where am I?

This is what I think of the wake up alarm

All oiled up and ready to go

Too busy to take pics

So I took somebody else's pictures

All's well that ends well

It rained or what reminds me of home

April showers bring Mayflowers
March showers bring me joy
The grey sky above the campus towers
I feel again like a little boy.

The rains remind me so much of home and of Goa. So I went around with a cam (thanks Jai) and took some pics.

Feel free to comment on the pics and the unseasonal rains.

Raindrops keep falling on my head.

The washed roads glistened.

The sky was grey and calm and the trees swayed in the breeze.

This rose giggled.

The flowers were happy

This one was shy.

The Little Boy and the Magic Flute

I love woodwinds. And I love flute music. So here was one of the greatest flute players, how could I miss it.
Thanks to SPIC MACAY and P.G. for getting him here and to Jai for the cam. As it is I never thank him enough :D. Reminds me I gotta buy a cam.
Here is a pic of the performance.

THE MAN HIMSELF

THE VOLUNTEERS AND SOME FREDDIES*

So that was a good time had by all. Just waiting for the next one.

*For Freddies, please refer to Miles Davis

The Feel Good Factor or why I love Harvard Business School

High expectation
Its like a balloon
Sometimes there's no sense
In looking at the moon

The moon has spots
And balloons burst
To avoid getting hurt
Do your research first

And all the castles I had built about Harvard students came tumbling down like a pack of cards. And just like all the spam floating around: MDI Rocks.

Our strategy professor showed us a video of a case discussion in Michael Porter's class and I came away impressed.
At the level of my fellow students.

The only other differences between us and them are:
1) probably that their class is quiet
2) they have greater work experience

And I don't think that they really prepared the case as much as our prof. tells us they do. But all said and done they produce more reputed people. Why?

1) Harvard has a "brand" name
2) They have a huge roster of alumni and consequently very dense alumni network
3) Well if they admit a batch of 900, atleast 10 have to make it big!

Thinkvast would probably have asked them to look at the "numbers". Then he would send out an evaluation mail saying,

Dear students,

Today's discussion shows that the rigour in ur(sic!) analysis was missing. You need to understand this from the gestaldt (sic) view. The requisite skills in number crunching are sorely lacking. I expect u to perform to better standards. I have attached a matrix on which your performance can be evaluated

Rigour of research and analysis (including number crunching): 3
Application of strategic thought: 3
Presentation Dynamics: 4

Regards

Thinkvast
COO
Get Next Job

Why my existence is complete or The Great Porno(b) show

I had heard a lot about the "man" well and I am happy to say that he stands shorter off the ground than I do.
So we went to the IMI bizquiz on Saturday which was also convocation day for the students passing out from MDI.
And when we got there we learnt that the quiz master was good ole Pornob (I kinda like that spelling, it seems to convey something sleazy about that man).
I'll remember the next thing that Ramesh said, "Now lets have fun in the quiz". Not win, have fun.
Interesting. The eliminations were decent enough and I thought as Rabi had said that he had "improved". I should have known another Bong saying that. Pardon my naïveté.
We got to sit on stage. And then it dawned upon me. Wow! what a man. Pulling off questions off the top of his head like a magician pulling a rabbit out of the hat. And to complete the magician analogy, he is a master illusionist too. A few samples

1. Jagson airlines is supposed to have Pathankot airport as its hub which I think is just functional or yet to be functional
2. Peter Arnett was behind the branding of CNN, whereas he is the Pulitzer Winner, former CNN correspondant, accused by the former Bush administration of feeding viewers Iraqi propaganda
3. Village Roadshow Entertainment of Australia owns 51% of Fox Searchlight Pictures (well then how can it be a News Corp. company?)
4. The congress "hand" symbol was conceived by Arun Nanda at the behest of Rajiv Gandhi. It was actually the idea of Indira Gandhi. Nanda only came in after Rajiv Gandhi asked him to make ad-campaigns for the election campaign of 1989

Then we had some weird movies including one chinese movie made by a guy whose name sounded like "Wang Cor Wai" and is supposedly a master filmmaker.
Then the arbit scoring. Initially it was 10 direct - 5 pass. Then in the 5th round it became 10 pass-10 direct. Then in the 6th and last, he made it 10 direct - 11 pass. Huh??

I loved it when the "any topic under the sun" round came up.

Ramesh: Linux Kernel Device Drivers. (I am already
Porno: Lets make it the free software industry
Ramesh: We insist
Porno: I can't let that.
Ramesh: Then, how about 3D FPS Games?
Porno: I'll make it the gaming industry

But now he was quite pissed off and we were giggling like schoolgirls. Then came some obscure question about GTA San Andreas in which the character Carl Johnson is inspired by a movie character. Answer? Pat Garrett. Lets leave it at that.

At the end of it we were spilling our guts out laughing laughing all the way on the long ride back. All in all an experience. And I am sorry to say that his "disciples" did not win the quiz. Even with the eleven point scoring. And he did not read out our scores.

And I am definitely going to the next Porno Show, probably at DSE-MHROD. How can I resist cheap entertainment?
See all you guys there.

How I was saved and the star of the evening

The seniors are leaving. Good or bad.
It doesn't really matter.
As clueless as usual I just amble around snapping photographs.
I was told that all the good stuff that they usually don't serve at festive dinners like this one would make an appearance. "Its the goods this time, mark my words". Thats what one guy told me.
Then the director invites us to dinner. A long queue. So I decide to take the matter in my hands. Just walk up to the counter where they dish out the plates.
And the food. Ugh... Off goes the plate



Then I see ice-cream. Real milk vanilla ice cream. And what makes my day is the little brown bottle that screams HERSHEYS. I am in heaven. And this is an image of my face.



And a satisfying sleep at the end of the day. Next morning is the convocation. Got work to do.

Is it necessary to get a "Job" or Should I drop out

More random surfing here.

This link links to the blog of a person named Martin Varsavsky. As someone says he is an absurdly successful serial entrepreneur.

"It was the roaring 1980s, and Martin Varsavsky was about to receive his MBA from Columbia University—and he still couldn't get a job." Thus begins the HBS article on him.

He's started 6 companies in 15 years. Two of them very successful. His latest venture is quite interesting. It is called FON.

FON is an international company based on the idea of sharing broadband connections through wireless routers. The basic theory - if you’re willing to share your own bandwidth, you can become part of a global network of people also willing to share their connections.

Foneros, the users of the service are known as either “Bill”, “Linus” or “Alien”.
Bill members – after Bill Gates – download secure software from Fon that turns their home wi-fi network into a hotspot anyone within its range can use to connect to the internet for a fee.
Linus members – after Linus Torvalds, creator of the free Linux software – allow their hotspots and bandwidth to be shared for free and can use any other members’ without charge.
Aliens pay to connect to the Fon network and do not share their own networks. Fon and Bills will share the revenues earned from Aliens and other Bills.

he spent €30 million in advertising on his last company, Jazztel, and hasn’t yet spent any money on advertising FON yet. Instead, he’s inviting bloggers to join his board of advisors and asking us to try the product and become evangelists for it.

Bottomline: Do we all need to crave for jobs when we can do sun fun things?

Song I am listening to now: La Bamba by Ritchie Valens, one of the 3 guys for whom Don McLean wrote American Pie.

Getting back your childhood or the best day in a long long time

To relieve ourselves of cares
Running away from professorial blares
Calming waters of the Ganges green
Just keep looking at the scene

Tired after a journey long
Full of food drink and song
In the heat of the midafternoon sun
Exertions boring to kill the fun

Then there was some amazing time
Amidst scenery undescribable by rhyme
In clean waters we dipped feet
Celebrating this rare treat

Swim around in the water cold
Till sinews numb refuse to hold
Then come and rest in the warm white sand
An earthly paradise, this silvery land

As light wanes, and falls the curtain of night
Stars come out, twinkling and bright
Sitting below and gazing far away
Insignificant as a needle in a stack of hay

By the soft warm sands time for the world
Weather nice enough to go to sleep curled
Round the bonfire a games they play
But I'd rather near the river stay

Then morning dawns clear and blue
Clouds from white to orange change hue
For the sun to rise, now its time
Leaving this place feels such a crime

Really refreshed and invigorated after breathing pure air

and dunking myself in nearly pure water.

I wish they didnt have the barbed wires there which makes the whole scene look so ugly.

Some absolutely random class poetry which meant a lot when we wrote it or how things get outdated very fast

Credit to Deepa for contributing some of the poetry here.

Marketing Research class

In the quest to find man's perch
Let's conduct market research
In this B-School rat-race
I'm the most hopeless case

When I was younger, they told me I'd go far
But here I am stuck in MR
So I sit, way back in the rear
Wondering if this is worth,
Eight lakhs a year

I sit in the mess eating a blackened toast
Aiming to reach the top of the flag post
The farther I go, the lesser I see
I wish that I'd be set free

Pre-Placement Talks

Oh! a boring PPT again
I'm convinced these people are insane
Making us wait for no reason
Welcome to the placement season

Dreaming of the rosy picture that awaits you?
That is the the destiny of the chosen few
The rest roam the streets looking for a client
Others end up becoming tools pliant

The lady tries to speak her way out
At every turn, looking for the choicest word
It's all above the heads of the manager-lout
The money's got the fancy of the herd

Guest Lecture on a Sunday

Its Sunday, the party's over
I can see that some've missed breakfast
Outside the door, I see the presenter hover
You can be sure this isn't the last

What a captive audience are we
Woken up in the early morn'
Dragged in to hear a 'talk' you see
Were we for this purpose born?

Resting heads on palms, I see
Seems a marathon session 'tis going to be
From transaction to relationship
A sane mind I don't think I can keep

He calls himself a storyteller
What I think, he's just a seller
Come here to give a talk
His goods, now he wants to hawk

'Let's change' he says, 'the para-dig-um'
Doesn't go well with people reeking of rum
Smirks, stares and yawns I see
Switching your brains off, that's the key

Arbit Lectures

A mess of circles on the board
Inventory systems of a single point
I say that its just a hoard
All this teaching is disjoint

Read a little, then read some more
Just skim through cases, its such a chore
The subjects such boredom bring
That even doggerels seem interesting

Dividends and equity all so breezy
The class ends, I'm left feeling queasy
Capital Assets and lending rates prime
All over my head, what a crime

In the waters of finance, I navigate my ship
The shore recedes at a fast clip
I fall asleep at the tiller
When I wake up I see Modigliani and Miller

Placements

We sit here giving feedback
To ensure there is no slack
So that smoothly goes tomorrow's dry run
I didn't know this was somebody's idea of fun

The scheduler blames the wing coordinator
This seems to be a game of passing the buck
It's a problem with the lowest common denominator
The entire process does suck

MRs and control desk exchange verbal blows
Its just another way that communication flows
Tired of making excuses lame
Finally on scheduling they put the blame

Questions are for asking
Lies are for masking
The truth, so that you may
Ensure jobs on placement day

Song for my mood: Wouldn't it be nice by the Beach Boys. Nice tune. Makes me feel very very happy and upbeat.

What do you do when you are caught between the Devil and the Deep Sea or the Easy Way Out

The night was dark, 'twas about time
To investigate and judge the crime
We gathered, one and all
In the stuffy, little meeting hall
Issues to be thrashed out there were many
Would we reach a conclusion on any?

Passions inflamed, everyone on fire
For them the situation looked dire
They had just come to present the case
And so they showed their made-up face
For them it was a question and answer session
Just like in parliament, its the current fashion

Neither side willing, an inch to give
Each one their goals to achieve
Then came the parties aggrieved
But there was no issue they believed
So back to square one we go
Its just another mockery show


And then they resigned. The mail came at 6am. And then I found them (half the lot) sitting in the mess. Cackling away to glory. A perfect case for Messrs. Freud and Jung.
You could call it Manic Hysteria.

Song for my mood: We don't need no education. Why? Because its time for classes

Radio Wars or how to start a fight without much ado

Ok. So you have a like 15 GBs of MP3s stored up on your hard disk. And you have listened to each song thrice and know all the lyrics by heart. So what do you do then? Start a hostel radio. Download and install the latest shoutcast plugins and server.Enqueue all the songs in winamp and push play.

There but who knows about it?

There is always MSExchange. Bill Gates' beauty cum spammers' dream come true. So you shoot off batch mails telling everybody what an awesome RJ you are and then wait for people to sign up. The names Radio K.A.O.S. What a wimp. All he can do is shamelessly rip off Roger Waters.

Oooh. Still no load? No problem. H. Shirouzu has just the thing for you. Its called IPMessenger. Every five minutes you ping the junta with messages like
For all the lovebirds: A Happy Valentine's Day
Coming up Rock Hour
Bryan adams..and BOn jovi...just for u all!!!

Ok. We know no one wants your radio when we can choose our own songs. No. The gentleman insists. Then all the hatred goes public. Everyone lets loose all pent up venom and some want to hang him too. Oooh.
This is what my good friends think about it.

This gets too much for me. I can no longer chat with my good friend sitting two rooms away over the same IPMessenger. So much for technology. Sigh! Bill Gates and his ilk rule my life.

Song for my mood: Move by Miles Davis.

Simple pleasures of life or what you all miss

It just occured to me.

Oh what fun it is to skip the class
View the world through a different looking glass
Lay on the grass under the shade of trees
Listen to the birds sing, the hum of bees

Boring subjects left behind
Away, away from the daily grind
Not a trouble, not a care
As life dishes out pedestrian fare

Just dreams to live by and nothing more
To the skies on flights of fancy soar
The world is for the taking, one day
And I'll be glad I did it my way.

Song for my mood: Take five by Dave Brubeck. Awesome song. It has been in my head for the past week and its on a continuous loop right now.

Random Fun or how to make your life enjoyable @ BSchool

Just Past Midnight, ground floor boys hostel

ME (Enter stage right, walk up beneath first floor railings look up and shout): Mansoooooooooooor. (Repeat thrice)

UNKNOWN FEMALE VOICE 1 (A tinny tone): Mannnnnnnnsooooooor
UNKNOWN FEMALE VOICE 2 (huskier): Mannnnnnnnsooooooor
RANDOM PERSON 1 (shouts): Mansoooooooooorrrr
RANDOM PERSON 2 (shouts): Mansoooooooooorrrr
PRANESH (looks up, shouts): Maaannnnnnnnsooooooooooorrrr.

MANSUR pops out like a beaver from his den. Looks dazed. Leans over the railing.

MANSUR: What is it?
ME: Which movie are you watching?
MANSUR: I'm doing work man, not watching any movie.

KARY (formerly unknown female voice 1): What about my write ups?
MANSUR: Huh!! (leans over a bit more.)

GORDON (in Mansur's ears): Mansooooooor.
ME: Mansur, don't jump. Pleeease.

A sizable crowd has collected. Unknown Female Voice 2(shrieks). Verghese comes down to the first floor. Everyone eggs him on to jump.

PRANESH (Opening his arms): I'll hold you.

Verghese climbs over the railing and jumps. Pranesh moves away. Jandhyala steps in, but puts a hand between Verghese's legs to catch him.

VERGHESE (screwing up his face): Dude, that's not the way to hold a person!

All hold their sides, laughing. One sleepy soul, woken up comes out to check the fun. All disperse. He makes a sad face and goes back to sleep.

I come back to my room.


Song for my mood: 'Round Midnight by Miles Davis.

Garota de Ipanema or the girl we all dream of : )

The mp3 player goes ting-dun-dun-bring-ung-ung... i know its my favourite bossa nova tune ...
Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes composed this little gem, and a guy no less than Frank Sinatra covered it.
And its also the song that set me off on the discovery of bossa nova.

Olha que coisa mais linda
mais cheia de graça
É ela menina que vem e que passa
nun doce balanço, caminho do mar...

Moça do corpo dourado, do sol de Ipanema
O seu balançado é mais que un poema
é a coisa mais linda
que eu já vi passar...

Ah! Porque estou tão sozinho
Ah! Porque tudo é tão triste
Ah! A beleza que existe

A beleza que não é só minha
que também passa sozinha

Ah! Se ela soubesse
que quando ela passa
o mundo sorrindo
se enche de graça
e fica mais lindo
por causa do amor
por causa do amor
por causa do amor

I'd trust the reader to google for the english translation.
Incidentally the lyrics are based on a real girl called Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto (yeah that's how she looked!), better known as Helô, who walked along the Rua Montenegro on the way to the beach (and to her school), and was the object of much admiration among patrons of the Veloso Bar which Jobim and Moraes also frequented. Interesting!

And then Stan Getz joined Jobim and the Gilberto couple on tour in the US which sparked off the bossa nova craze.

Had to write this. More on jazz and how I feel about it in some other post.

The "student's" lament

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"
Alexander Pope


And Frenchman Michel Gondry made a film. Quirky but good. Different from the mushy romances. Worth a watch because its different. And for once you don't have JimCarrey making funny faces.

And because there are no more papers to answer I watch the movie. And then trust good ole Mark Knopfler to put me to some much needed sleep. Really nice album that. Shangri-La. The mythical place of everlasting happiness. That's what we all need. Especially with an entire half term gone without having done anything satisfying.

Song for my mood: 5.15 A.M.

Academic Rigour

The academic rigour is really getting to people here.
Placement season and approaching exams combined with dry runs have made us quite susceptible to this disease. Usually it acquires epidemic proportions but generally vanishes after exams are over. This periodic disease has only one known cure, excision of the diseased individuals from their surroundings. It is also to some extent contagious.

Symptoms include but are not limited to:

• Asking stupendously idiotic questions in class (these generally qualify for the Sayal Saab Rolling Trophy)
• Sucking up to professors and asking for probable examination questions
• Camping out in the library
• Mailing professors and other arbit people with questions like, “how can one get an Excellent rating in evaluation of rigour of submission”
• Spamming people to ask doubts over the local mail exchange

And then there are people who claim to Think Vast and accentuate the academic rigour. These are the people who will send you detailed guidelines as to submission of assignments and the evaluation criteria, especially in response to above the mails.

Here is a sample

a few first level observations are:
- very original work with variation of language (How about French?) vis-à-vis the case study language
- beyond macro 1st level remarks
- having the Gestaldt view (or Gestalt psychology?)
- making observations that connect up with the academic concept of the case study

certain things are obvious:
- submission before deadline (if possible, make an early submission as this would kill any perceived impression ‘copying has been done’) (If you are so smart they why go by the perceptions?)
- a certain minimum length of analysis just as a certain maximum
- NOT sharing ur work with others (US has the academic culture of no one sharing his/her work as evaluations determine scholarships etc, in fact seniors also do not help; in India the smart students are actually dumb and act generous, though collaboration is absent in many Indian B-schools too…after all, the karmic experience of making a submission (aren’t we getting a bit too spiritual here?) on one’s OWN was the real learning, copying someone else’s work and submitting the same was sidestepping the true purpose of enrolling for a two year course)

I have just decided that I’m too bored to follow all these complex instructions. So I’ll just forget to submit all these assignments. And if you didn’t know, the purpose of all these assignments was just to prepare us for better class discussion.

Now if someone is so jobless as to sit and evaluate all these assignments and then give a grade like “VERY GOOD” with the comment “seem to have copied”

The ending comments on the message titled “Guidelines on Excellence in Submissions” are

- just as a chess player who can visualize 5-8 moves ahead without physically touching the pieces, or a sudoku player able to imagine multiple entries without actually penciling them in, same way a large RAM holding the entire case study generates quality analysis replete with insights

Which essentially means that we are big computers.

Song for the mood
Peter Gabriel: I Grieve.

War On Infidels or Much Ado about nothing

They try imposing their will
As they maim and kill
The jihad on infidels waged
The world watched mutely
Like animals sedated and caged

Jyllands-Posten, Denmark's leading daily published 12 caricatures of Prophet Mohammed and this raised a furore in the whole world. The OIC lodged a formal complaint against Denmark with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Then the next thing you see is the world is scared. Shit scared. They are expecting Osama to send another one of his videotapes, which he truly believes will put the fear of God into the hearts of the unbelievers. Then there will be retribution all over Europe. The offices of the newspapers which sided with Jyllands Posten will be bombed. In fact on Feb 3, a fatwa was pronounced against Danish soldiers stationed in Iraq and the Jyllands-Posten offices in Arhus and Copenhagen had to be evacuated after a bomb threat.

The solution? Build a large mosque in Copenhagen, with prominent minarets as peace offerings. And who will fund it? The news papers and the public of course. Wow! Thats a really smart idea. This way they could themselves get something published, threaten, people and governments and get more mosques built. For the "fastest growing" religion on earth, its a brilliant agenda!

The full dope over here.
This is Tavleen Singh's take on it.
And this is another POV.

Orthodox religious leaders are some of the most stupid animals to inhabit this planet, EVER. They never question past follies, never ask why rules were made the way they were, nor ever try to change. They are the branch in the evolutionary chain that never grew! Amazingly Darwin's laws seem to break down for them.

"Management Education" or what you must unlearn after two years

After seven "wonderful" months and an uncountable number of PPTs and seminars forced down my throat it finally dawned on me that BSchool is about entertaining yourself. Most of what you learn doesn't work in the outside world, atleast what's taught here seems like pure gas.

This is Gordon's take on it. What he forgot to mention is that "Strategy" guys fool the rest of the world. If you didn't know, strategy is one of the most abused words in the world of business. And yeah, I'm going to "specialise" in "Strategy". Why? Because it "looks" good on that piece of paper , which at the end of the day, is going to be my Curriculum Vitae. CV incidentally stands for course of life in Latin.

So I decided to get myself a new hobby. Penning verses. Essentially nothing much but rhyming lines, and not of a very good quality. So I call then worses. The subject range from cribbing about life and times, to the topic being taught in the lectures, not to mention the dry runs which probably make you want to shed tears. My partner in crime is Deepa. Its a lot of fun especially trying to maintain a continuity of theme.

Here is what she wrote about the whole thing.

MIS, HRM, they're all the same to me
In every class all I want is to run away, just flee
If the profs are so smart (consultants!) how come they don't know?
That I'm sitting here writing 'poetry', the creative juices flow!

RFID's in ... and out ?

Breaking news

Dutch RFID e-Passport cracked
That's what has been reported at Endgadget.
RFID is an interesting concept, and there's some amount of hype too, what with Wal-Mart implementing it and dragging all its vendors along too.
And now the news is that US is going to go ahead with the faulty technology. More fun and games for the terror mongers.

While on the topic of RFIDs, I had this harebrained idea for implementing RFID for our placements. That way you could track which student was where at what time. But as Pradeep pointed out, the RFID chip might be floating down a sewer line and we would be frantically tracking the student at the treatment plant.

But I'm not giving up.

Song for me: Sympathy by Goo Goo Dolls

Piracy and Litigation

Song for my mood: Reflections of Passion by Yanni.

This sounds like a reversed version of the Stockholm Syndrome. With all music companies going behind illegal downloaders of music, Terry McBride's is actually sympathising with David Greubel. RIAA is out to fine him and Nettwerk Music Group, whose CEO is Terry McBride has stood behind him. Nettwerk Music Group has agreed to pay the total expense of all legal fees as well as any fines should the family lose the case against the RIAA. Funnily, one of the songs targetted is Sk8er Boi by Avril Lavigne, a Nettwerk management client. More on that here
Nettwerk is the largest privately owned music company in Canada. I agree with McBride when he says that, "suing music fans is not the solution, it's the problem".

Thanks to Deepa for bringing this to my notice!

Attaining Peace

I’m in a really dull mood right now
My spirits dampened by dry runs
So I pop in some Eno, and wow
I’m suddenly weightless
surrounded by a thousand suns

Song to uplift your spirits: Weightless by Brian Eno
From the album Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks

An overwhelming sense of peace descends on me as the strains of the synthesizer ooze gently from the headphones. I lose all worry, not even perturbed by tomorrow’s session with the monster. As the song is aptly named, you feel yourself floating, floating high up and you can see the big blue earth with the swirling clouds. Beautiful!

And then I curl up with this nice little book that Ramesh has lent me, "Zen in the art of Archery", by Eugene Herrigel

Rajasthan

Land of Kings! That's what it means.
This land is awe inpiring. Dreamy and gloomy at the same time.
Divided into two by the Aravallis one part is fertile and the other a desert.

More information here

Must see. Some images from my recent visit there.

A spiderweb at the Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur

The famed Brahma temple at Pushkar

Sunset at Jaisalmer

The Jaisalmer fort, a close up

The Jaisalmer Fort, from a distance

The entrance of the palace at Amer

Streetlight in the walled Pink City

Hawa Mahal, the cover of many a travel book

A welcome

This is an ode to the readers
Dreamers of big dreams
Don't become "thought leaders"
You'll come apart at the seams
Being "change masters" is all crap
In golden balloons, fart they wrap
Be never afraid to buck the trend
Remember to be yourself, my friend!