Ramblings of a humble soul

Bloggin'

2009-06-30T22:47:00.001+06:00

This is something that I wrote for the SPJCM student blog.

"Trying to assimilate with all our might,

The loads of information bombarded on us as we hold on tight,

In this single year roller-coaster ride where we bravely fight,

To hold our spirits high even though we wanna sigh

Blog we must to help us smile,

For it must shine our inner light,

Enlighten the world, make it bright,

Spread thy knowledge, for darkness should die"

Life at SPJCM, SIngapore

2009-06-29T19:59:00.002+06:00

I'm back. Its been sometime (2 years to be precise) since I've been away from the blogger community. Its good to blogging again. The only difference this time around is that I'm not working for an IT company but have taken to studies. I am doing my MBA from S. P. Jain Center of Management, Singapore, Dubai.
The first leg of the program is at Singapore. Switching between the group and individual assignments, a couple of research projects, a case presentation in a single day, life has become banal !!! Have turned to blogging once again to rescue me from the clutches of insanity. Hope I can portray a true picture of the life of an MBA at SPJCMvia these ramblings of mine.

Chao!!!

This is so damn hilarious..U've gotta see this.

2007-07-05T00:12:00.000+06:00

This is a very very hilarious Fed Ex advertisement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcoDV0dhWPA

Renamed Indian states and union territories, Indian cities and renamed places in Indian cities

2007-02-05T17:03:00.000+06:00

Madras to Tamil Nadu (change effective from January 14, 1969)
Mysore to Karnataka (change effective from November 1, 1973)
Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands to Lakshadweep (change effective from November 1, 1973)
Pondicherry to Puducherry (change effective from October 1, 2006)
Uttaranchal to Uttarakhand (change effective from January 1, 2007)
West Bengal to Bangla (not yet effective)
Assam to Asom (not yet effective)

Renamed Indian cities

In Andhra Pradesh

Ellore to Eluru (change effective 1949)
Waltair to Vizagapatam
Vizagapatam to Vishakapatnam

In Assam

Nowgong to Nagaon
Gauhati to Guwahati (change effective 1983)
Sibsagar to Sivasagar

In Gujarat

Baroda to Vadodara (change effective 1974)
Cambay to Khambhat

In Himachal Pradesh

Simla to Shimla

In Karnataka

Bangalore to Bengaluru (change effective from November 1, 2006)
Mysore to Mysuru (change effective from November 1, 2006)
Mangalore to Mangaluru (change effective from November 1, 2006)
Belgaum to Belagavi (change effective from November 1, 2006)
Hubli to Hubballi (change effective from November 1, 2006)
Shimoga to Shivamogga (change effective from November 1, 2006)
Hospet to Hosapete (change effective from November 1, 2006)
Gulbarga to Kalburgi (change effective from November 1, 2006)
Tumkur to Tumakuru (change effective from November 1, 2006)
Chikmagalur to Chikmagaluru (change effective from November 1, 2006)

In Kerala

Calicut to Kozhikode
Cranganore to Kodungallur
Trichur to Thrissur
Tellicherry to Thalassery
Palghat to Palakkad
Alleppey to Alappuzha (change effective from 1990)
Trivandrum to Thiruvananthapuram (change effective from 1991)
Cochin to Kochi (change effective from 1996)
Cannanore to Kannur
Quilon to Kollam
Alwaye to Aluva
Verapoly to Varapuzha

In Maharashtra

Poona to Pune
Kirkee to Khadki
Thana to Thane
Bombay to Mumbai (change effective 1995)
New Bombay to Navi Mumbai (change effective 1995)

In Puducherry

Pondicherry to Puducherry (change effective from October 1, 2006)
Yanaon to Yanam (change effective from merger with Indian Union)

In Punjab

Jullunder to Jalandhar

In Tamil Nadu

Madura to Madurai (change effective 1949)
Tinnevelly to Tirunelveli
Tranquebar to Tharangambadi
Trichinopoly to Tiruchirapalli
Madras to Chennai (change effective August 1996)
Tanjore to Thanjavur
Tuticorin to Thoothukudi
Cape Comorin to Kanyakumari
Coimbatore to Koyamuthhur (change effective 1997)
Ootacamund to Udhagamandalam
Conjeevaram to Kancheepuram

In Uttar Pradesh

Cawnpore to Kanpur (change effective 1948)
Benares to Varanasi (change effective 1956)

In West Bengal

Calcutta to Kolkata (change effective from January 1, 2001)
Burdwan to Bardhaman

Renamed places in Indian cities

In Delhi

Connaught Place to Rajiv Chowk
Connaught Circus to Indira Chowk
King's Way to Rajpath
Queen's Way to Janpath
Curzon Road to Kasturba Gandhi Marg
Willingdon Hospital to Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital
Irwin Hospital to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital
Palam Airport to Indira Gandhi International Airport

In Calcutta/Kolkata

Brabourne Road to Biplabi Trailokya Maharaj (BTM) Sarani
Theatre Road to Shakespeare Sarani
Camac Street to Abanindranath Thakur Sarani
Park Street to Mother Teresa Sarani
Red Road to Indira Gandhi Sarani
Hungerford Street to Picasso Bithi
Albert Street to Uttam Kumar Sarani
Dharmatolla Street to Lenin Sarani
Lower Circular Road to Acharya Jagadis Chandra (AJC) Bose Road
Dum Dum Airport to Netaji Subhash Chandra International Airport
Middleton Row to Ho Chi Minh Sarani

In Madras/Chennai

Mount Road to Anna Salai
Poonamallee High Road to Periyar E.V.R. Salai
Edward Elliot Road to Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai
Elliot's Beach Road to Sardar Patel Road
Mowbray's Road to T.T.K Road
Commander-in-chief Road to Ethiraj Salai
Nungambakkam High Road to Mahatma Gandhi Salai
Chepauk Stadium or MCC (Madras Cricket Club) ground to M.A. Chidambaram Stadium
Warren Road to Bhaktavatsalam Salai
Lloyds Road to Avvai Shanmugam Salai
Oliver Road to Musiri Subramaniam Salai
Montieth Road to Red Cross Road
Lattice Bridge Road to Dr. Muthulakshmi Salai and Kalki Krishnamoorthy Salai
Chamier Road to Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar Road
Griffith Road to Maharajapuram Santhanam Road
Triplicane to Tiruvallikeni
Mylapore to Mayilapur

In Bombay/Mumbai

Victoria Terminus to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
Sahar International Airport to Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport

In Bangalore/Bengaluru

South Parade to Mahatma Gandhi Road

Is management affecting technology?

2007-01-16T17:07:00.000+06:00

CONGRATULATIONS TO the IIM graduates getting the gigantic start-up salary package! This attractive package and benefits have fascinated people so much in India that a management storm has started. Now undergraduates from various fields want to pursue their post graduation only in management. Not only commerce undergraduates but engineers, science graduates also seem to be eager to flow with the management stream.

I myself am an engineer. The placement record of the college is excellent with various multinationals as well as PSUs visiting the college. But in spite of having more than one job in top global companies the students are still inclined towards management.

The increasing deviation of engineers towards management is affecting the level of technology and research in the country. The records show that most of the students getting through the premier management institutes are engineers because of their good aptitude and mathematics.
Although they may argue that by acquiring the knowledge of both technology and management they can function in a much better way, in reality their technological knowledge is hardly utilised.

Knowledge hardly utilised

It is ironical to know that these students are also amongst the top students of their respective technical streams. They not only have good aptitude but good technical knowledge also.
This is evident from the fact that during interviews of the MBA entrance exams the technical knowledge of the applicants is also taken into account. But this knowledge is not utilised in a proper fashion and is not explored for carrying out any research work during their technical course.

The MBA aspiring students start their preparation one or two years before the exams. Many even join the various coaching classes. After that starts the time of bunking classes and devoting most of their time for the preparation for CAT and other MBA exams. The engineering course is studied only during the exam time. As a result no extra technical work or project is carried out. The ubiquitous reach of Internet has further solved their problem for the compulsory project work. The projects can be easily copied from the Internet.

The growing craze for management has led to the decline of the value of engineering. The engineering degree is becoming just an undergraduate course for the students so that they can have a good base for the postgraduate management course.

Only students who are not considered good enough for industry or B-Schools (although there are a few exceptions) opt for M. Tech. or M Sc. As a result not only engineering but also the quality of teaching has declined to a large extent. This is because teaching as a profession is considered the last option now.

The Indian economy is now growing at a rate of around 8 per cent in which industrial growth is playing a vital role. But the facts are that this growth is mainly in the service sector. The core sectors of manufacturing, electronics, R&D, etc., are not growing on a par with the IT sector. A large part of this problem stems from the management mania.

India is producing world-class managers but our engineers are not globally competitive in the core sectors. That is why we do not have even a single chip manufacturing company in the country. If India were to become a developed country this sectional imbalance has to be corrected which is possible by improving the quality of technical education and making engineering and teaching more attractive.

If a question arose "what will happen when all the engineers will become managers," the answer would be "managers will lose their value."

Real depiction of working people appearing for CAT

2007-01-16T16:59:00.001+06:00

You have to read this. It’s a real depiction of working people appearing for CAT.

Preface

Dale Carnegie once said “If life hands you a lemon, make lemonade out of it”. Disastrous CAT exams have become an annual ritual for me. This time was no better. Rummaging through the debris for something good, all I could come up with is this narrative that brings out the lighter side of this insanely competitive exam.
So here goes the lemonade……

Act I : 15 happy days

As I opened my eyes on Saturday morning, I stole a glance at the wall clock. It showed half past seven. A moment later I realized that my 15 day leave for CAT had begun. I had vowed the previous night to be up at 7:30 every morning and study. My Saturday morning habits will have to change, I told myself. No getting up at ten and lazing around till noon. Unfortunately, I could never sit with a book all day long and study. I felt a sense of déjà vu as I reminisced the torturous PLs during Engineering days. So what started as “trying to study”, soon became “pretending to study” and before I knew it, “to hell with study”. Within a week of the “study leave”, I had packed up – all done and dusted. I felt a burden lifting from my shoulders and a sense of peace… akin to what Buddha must have felt when he attained Nirvana. I then proceeded to lead a blissful existence. I watched TV, caught up with old friends, read a few novels and slept a lot. I reveled in Lara`s and Mohd. Yousouf`s stunning stroke play. The bliss was occasionally marred by programs like “CAT Scan” ( on NDTV ). But it wouldn’t be long before I changed to Channel [v] for something more pleasurable. Days sped by.

Act II : The build up

A day prior to the CAT exam, the peace and bliss was shattered. A deluge of SMSes came forth. “Bell the CAT. Crack the CAT” they proclaimed. Some innocent souls even went on to say that I would get into IIM. I agreed with them as long as IIM meant “Indira Institute of Management”. I also felt a tinge of regret at the colossal waste of 15 days.
But a little later I was back to my shameless self. I imparted finishing touches to my “study leave” by watching Dhoni`s interview, followed by a couple of item numbers. Not a bad way to sign off, I thought. I dreamt of cats that night. But strangely, the bell was nowhere to be seen….

Act III : The MBA reality show

As I arrived at the test venue, I found myself in the midst of an assortment of characters. There were anxious faces, tense and nervous, a few pretty faces , and lo behold !! – a score of carefree and merry faces. I was in the majority !!
As you all know, ten minutes prior to any exam, toilets become the most valuable pieces of real estate. It so happened that the gents toilet was a bit “out of sight” , at the far end of the campus while the ladies toilet was at the ground floor of the building. Not sighting the gents toilet, some of “future MBA guys” trooped into the ladies toilet which was empty at that time. What started out as a small group, turned into a crowd of guys morbidly luxuriating in the ladies toilet. The girls dared not go anywhere near, and just looked on disgustedly and helplessly. I happened to spot a college official and told him about all the drama. Understandably, he was furious. He yelled at the guys and cleared them out in no time. The guys complained that the toilet was “too far away” and “out of sight” etc etc. They would make good MBAs, I reflected. If you can’t find your own toilet, use somebody else’s , and when it’s all over, blame the architect, the civil engineer and every damn thing under the sun except themselves.

Act IV : The exam

One of the worst things about this exam is the grueling “wait” . You have to be seated by 9:45. The OMR answer sheet is given out at 10:00. You then fill up your personal details. Then the question paper is given at 10:15. The actual exam then begins at 10:30. All through this 45 minute wait, all kinds of thoughts swirl inside your head. Will the paper be easy? Will it be sly and tricky ? or will it be disastrously outlandish that will leave me high and dry ? I hoped it would be the first, suspected it would be the second and prayed that it wouldn’t be the third . As I opened the seal on the question paper, I discovered it to be the second, but with my kind of preparation, it went far beyond the third.

The Aftermath

I returned home to a prolonged siesta and mulled over the reality of going back to office with the worst kind of Monday morning blues. It is said that cats have nine lives. I may need as many to crack it. I hope to be an MBA someday, if not a “Master in Business Administration” ,then at least “Married but Available”.

So ....... Was it close guys ????

Contrary Proverbs

2007-01-16T16:17:00.000+06:00

Contrary Proverbs

1) All good things come to those who wait BUT Time and tide wait for no man.

2) The pen is mightier than the sword BUT Actions speak louder than words.

3) Wise men think alike. BUT Fools seldom differ.

4) The best things in life are free . BUT There's no such thing as a free lunch .

5) Slow and steady wins the race . BUT Time waits for no man .

6) Look before you leap . BUT Strike while the iron is hot .

7) Do it well, or not at all. BUT Half a loaf is better than none.

8) Birds of a feather flock together. BUT Opposites attract.

9) Don't cross your bridges before BUT Forewarned is forearmed.

10) Doubt is the beginning of wisdom. BUT Faith will move mountains.

11) Great starts make great finishes. BUT It ain't over 'till it's over.

12) Practice makes perfect. BUT All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

13) Silence is golden. BUT The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

14) You're never too old to learn. BUT You can't teach an old dog new tricks

15) What's good for the goose is good for the gander. BUT One man's meat is another man's poison.

16) Absence makes the heart grow fonder. BUT Out of sight, out of mind.

17) Too many cooks spoil the broth. BUT Many hands make light work.

18) Hold fast to the words of your ancestors. BUT Wise men make proverbs and fools repeat them.

PG meet at their HQ!!!

2006-12-31T21:41:00.000+06:00

'Amazing' is the word i can use to describe the meet that took place yesterday (30th Dec-06) at the HQ of PagalGuy. The center of attraction was PG himself. He had come from Wharton. He was on a holiday. There were lots of Pg's who had some to the meet. The very reason i went there was to interact with al those like minded guys and gals. It was truly an inspiring meet and i look forward to frequent meets like that.

Few facts about Warren Buffet

2006-12-11T10:15:00.000+06:00

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity. Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

1) He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!

2) He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.

3) He still lives in the same small 3 bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.

4) He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.

5) He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.

6) His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis.

7) He has given his CEO's only two rules. Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

8) He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch television.

9) Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.

10) Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

11) His advice to young people: Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself.

“Realize that nothing is free if it costs you time”

God save me!!!!

2006-12-10T18:21:00.000+06:00

###$$$$$%%^@@##&$@*$$$)@#$*@_$@(%*^%@#(*#_)#*@*$^@^$%@#$^%#$*&#$*#&$

Didnt get it!!!!! Hurling abuses at my client. Just got a call now (yes....its sunday, supposed to be a funday...hello...) from the client that the deadline has been preponed by a week. Had a lot of work remaining .....gotta speed it up..or else im dead meat!!!!!!! Damn..i love this job......

Gmat Preparation

2006-12-10T17:54:00.000+06:00

Have come down to the office today. Had some work. (software engineers always have work on the weekends).. ;). As usual, the system has failed to respond. There's some problem with the connection. I cant connect to my client's (the devil) mainframe....So I am stuck....Next logical step......ummmm.........ofcourse......BLOGGING.......

What the hell, net connection's free of cost. There's a lot of time before this stupid system reconnects...So bloggin'. Of course went thru the recent posts of gurus in the pagalguy site (have to agree....its an amazing site). Got enuff gyan on how to go about prepping for the gmat, but when it comes down to putting those gyan to action, comes the trouble...

Have yet to decide on a date for taking the gmat. Will be deciding it over this month. Thats the first step towards glory. (actually only when one does this does one get a shock and start preparing)

Also have a dealine coming up this month end. Have that on my priority list. once I am done with that, then ill have all the time for this exam... till then....ciao

2006-10-11T15:23:00.000+06:00

English is the means of communication in today's fast and competitive world. People tend to overlook its importance. I really find it amazing, at the same time amusing, as to how the politicians of our country can actually 'ban' schools that have their medium of communication as english. No wonder india faces such a huge brain drain problem.