Bye bye 2005!

With a herculean effort I could sustain my interest levels for a week and complete the second module exams. Am sure this was better off than the first module exams for most of us at NITIE. The reason being, all of us studied more after the debacle of module 1.

Year 2006 beckons as we say adios to year 2005. It brings with it new hope, new resolutions, and newer surprises. The year gone by has been one of unexpected turns and twists for me. It all started with me getting settled down in SAP Labs as a Development Specialist....was really thinking of settling down in the job probably for a year or two and rethink my options later. CAT scores were pretty good, felt a little unlucky to miss out on the IIMs and really did'nt have any great interest in joining NITIE either.

After speaking to a few people about career prospects and a few more people about moolah aspects, finally settled down on taking up an MBA at NITIE. Leaving SAP was never too easy though, with my manager none too happy with my decision(as he put it.......why are u going to NIIT?.....oops sorry NITIE), I had to give a months notice and say quits.

NITIE beckoned and everything seemed rosy and a little too cosy( check my blog on Life in a B-School??!! ). In the meanwhile lots of stuff have happened- mandi, summers, prerana, mastishk and more recently laterals. Yeah with all that to add some twist, there was the nature's fury to reckon with, what with Mumbai flooded for a couple of days and creating much havoc and bringing untold miseries to the common man.

Meanwhile India has been emerging as a stronger location for MNCs to set base(Agriculture and Industry have maintained the Gandhian growth rate though). The BPO industry has moved again at 63% CAGR, and estimates are rife that it will continue to do so. IT companies continue to set up shop in India inspite of crumbling infrastructure. The year saw more than 200 companies set base in Bangalore alone(talking of the saturated infrastructure in the god*** city!). The forex reserves stand at a all time high of 143.8 bn$, relations between Pakistan has been more sweet than sour and UN Security seat to India seems a mirage once again.

The world has moved too, what with Bush weeding out Saddam(yeah, finally after spending 30 bn$; for heaven's sake that man would have voluntarily walked in for half that money!), terrorism remains as rooted as ever with Laden bringing his bag of tricks here and there, with a smattereing of sarcasm at the hallowed powers of the western world. Disaster has been the second name of the year and 'Tsunami' seems to be the second most searched word on the net(none can beat that first word though).

Finally to sum it up, rich have grown richer, the poor more poorer. Common man has again withstood everything and still hopes to become rich as in the desi bollywood films(by the way, film industry has done decently too...). Me too thinking of doing better than the soon forgettable year 05.

Will finish this off with one of my favourite poems by Oliver Goldsmith:

Hope, like the gleaming taper's light,
Adorns and cheers our way;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Lats ka 'funda'.....and the looming test mein 'anda'

The 'laterals' happened at NITIE a few days back......boy, was it a roaring success!! Well with salaries zooming up up and above, it does sprain one's neck to keep a glimse of the salary figures.

For the uninitiated, non-B School junta, lemme explain wats this Lats....the people with a minimum of 20 months work experience have a chance of entering into lateral positions in the organisation in this phase of placements. The funda behind is very simple. Some companies coming down to campus have a minimum work experience criteria for recruiting people....so, such companies were bundled into the 'laterals' placements day. Well, the obvious result of such a scenario is that salaries just crashed the roof and flew over the top of everyone's expectations....with salaries repeatedly crossing the 7 digit mark.

Yeah, just came back from Chennai after taking part in 'Latitude', the fest of Great lakes Institute of Management. We were accomadated in a beach side resort....nice stay for 2 days....won some prizes and at the end of it.....a feeling of 'ye dil maange more'...still lingering!

Exams looming in the sights, but have'nt started my preps......gotta sit and slog, else will surely be topping in the reverse direction this time too.....so will be signing off with this trademark calvin clip just for u all!




Ciao till next time...Harsha

Why is the court soo small??

Tried my luck at playing tennis today.....well, it was really a spectacle to watch me play. Seeing Roger Federer or Andy Roddicck on the TV makes one feel that its all too easy. All one needs to do is to give the ball a good hiding....well, found out that its not soo easy to do that!(after almost losing the ball on a couple of occasions.. trying to whack the ball). Trying to find the corners of the court, i managed to hit it right out of the fence into the dense undergrowth surrounding the tennis court. Finally realisation dawned on me that all one needs to do is to try hitting it back onto the playing area(yeah, the court seems too small at times when trying to do this..).

Trying to hit the ball onto the court is one thing and trying to 'serve' is all together a different 'ball' game... Here one needs to try and hit the ball as hard as possible giving it the right trajectory, right direction and also the right altitude. Now, if any one out of these 3 go awry, u are in for another gruelling mental contest to get it right the next time. At the end of my first service game, i finally won the mental battle though i lost the physical one....after serving 8 times continuously(some at the net, some outside, and some on the wrong side of the court) learned to keep the ball within the court. This cycle went on for quite some time...with each new game bringing new hope. Tactically wanted to try too many things, but somehow things were entirely out of my hand. Finally after more than an hour, lost the best of 5 games match..... Have made a mental note to play tennis more often and learn to play this wonderful game better.

But still thinking.. if only the court was a little bigger and the net a little lower, things could have been easier!

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Mid mBa life crisis..!

The lack of posts from my side can be squarely blamed on what one can call as 'Mid mBa life crisis'....yeah, been pretty retrospective about how things have been unfolding here. Its been more like riding a car without brakes.

Last few weeks have been a period of soul searching and sleeping types....what with all the marks for our first module pouring in one by one and giving me a clear indication of where i stand in my class.. I was somehow hoping against hope to salvage pride atleast in some subjects, but alas...that was not to be. Finally i find my rank hover somewhere in the lower middle half of the class. Yeah, a nose dive from my engineering days.....(this i think is the reason i have been listening to 'tose were the best days of my life' nowadays..). Well....hopin for some luk tis time atleast:)

Well....other than acads everythin's been rockin...been makin some money from winning in B-school fests(yeah...its the season for many fests...). I hav sort of decided to enjoi life and participate in as many fests as possible....after ICFAI, IIM A and SP Jain lookin at the othr fest frm Great Lakes, IIM C, FMS....etc. More abt these in future posts......

Lemme tell ya a funny incident at IIM A's Confluence(yup...tats the name of their fest).... The ppl at A generally hav a wee bit of wat i may call as 'head weight'....most of their games are usually won by teams frm IIM A only( well, well....i don't think its gotta do much with superior standards, lol). Found an interesting mention in their comments book from someone, here it is...

'First prize-IIM A
Second Prize-IIM A
Third prize-IIM A
.
.
.
the saga continues'...

well, interesting really.

Seriously, other than this...it was a pretty gud learnin experience, no other fest would attract such large participation from foreign B-Schools. Also worth noting was the fabulous list of speakers...which included the who's who of corporate world from Mukesh Ambani to Sunil Mittal. With more importance to 'interaction based' events and 'workshops', it was gud to be part of it.....

Some of these incidents hav made me think abt common perceptions ppl have. One thing that rankles me is the mental glass wall that people usually have about the differences in various B-Schools. Afterall the difference between say, a guy from IIM A and NITIE for example would be '2 marks in CAT'......so, practicaly speaking the intellectual standards are not vastly different(rather i would say there's no difference at all..). Still the percieved difference is vast....which is both incorrect and based on wrong assumptions. I strongly believe that the most important value add anyone gets in a B-school is the interactions one has among his/her peers in the institute.....which according to me is not much different among the top 10 B-Schools of the country.

Ciao till next time...Harsha

PS: Well.....crossed 1000 mark... yo...thnx to all readers of my blog.

Bac to 'amchi mumbai' from 'namma bangalooru'

Nearly 10 days in Bangalore and it still feels as if its yesterday i came here...... yeah, time sure flies and im jus findin that i need to catch the flight bac to mumbai today not knowing where i just lost all the time i wanted to utilise and enjoi in bangalore!!

Too bad to figure tat now....anyways...as i came here,
1. I could see that the famed pot holes hav jus started takin dangerous sizes with surface of road resembling more and more like craters of moon
2. Traveling from koramangala to banashankari(about 12 kms) took me nearly 2hrs.....yeah, last time i could cover the same in an hour;)
3. Rains followed me everywhere, wen this time of the yr is supposed to be just the startin of spring here!!
4. The city authorities have started another demolition drive, razing illegal buildings while new ones are comin up in a frenzied pace...
5. There seems to be more people speaking other languages(than kannada) from the last time i came here..
yeah....the list can go on.....

A few days bac, i was watching a program on NDTV......heard Deve Gowda(a former PM, who has come right bac to state politics after futile attempts to make any progress at the national level) speaking abt resignation of Narayan Murthy as Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) head. Here's a funny answer to one question posed to Mr. Gowda:

Q: Did you feel sad that Mr. Murthy resigned as head of BIAL?
A: No no....i only felt bad when Sir M Visvesvarayya resigned as Diwan of Mysore....( funny that Sir MV resigned as diwan in 1918, when Gowda was not even born!!)

Well.....with such ppl around no doubt all changes in bangalore hav been for the worse than gud!

Hope that there's a miracle frm somewhere to change things around........i'm just hoping, yup may be hoping against hope;)

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Bored....

I was feeling very bored today......not much to do, feeling somewhat low and quite edgy....i am counting the no. of days before i go back to bangalore for diwali!

So, was randomly searching the net....came across a chap called 'Edgar Allen Poe", yeah...the same chap who had written most of the poems which used to be there in our high school text books. Just started reading about him....was a very unhappy man, full of sorrow and melancholy.

Here's about him:

'Drug addict, alcoholic, suicidal, and insane; none of these are the words that come to mind when you think of great minds of our time. However, one poet fits all of these categories. The author of hailed literary works such as "The Raven," and the short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher," Edgar Allan Poe had many mental and personal problems throughout his life. His poems reflect his emotions toward the events of his life. For example, his feelings of isolation from family and peers appear in the poem "Alone," and many of his poems, such as "To Helen," and "Annabel Lee," are about the women he loved. One poem stands out, as a tribute to the melancholy that accompanied him throughout his days; the poem "A Dream" speaks of lost love, forgotten happiness, hope, and a cruel awakening to the real world. Poe’s writing exemplifies his brilliant imagination through metaphors that describe his life.

Edgar Allan Poe made many contributions to the world of literature and poetry. The academy of American poets says, "Poe's work as an editor, a poet, and a critic had a profound impact on American and international literature" (http://www.poets.org/poets/). He was the first true writer of thriller and horror stories, with tales such as "The Cask of Amontillado." His clever mind dramatically altered detective stories, he took the writing of short stories from a mere profession to an art, and he was a brilliant poet. His fame was known through America, England, and France, with renowned works such as "The Raven," "The Bells," "The Purloined Letter," and countless others. Though a troubled individual, Poe’s effect on literature and poetry was mind-blowing. It is impossible to read a poem or story written by Edgar Allan Poe without being terrified, feeling great remorse for the characters, and noticing the breathtaking power with which Poe wields his words'.

Here's one of his works:

How often we forget all time, when lone
Admiring Nature's universal throne;
Her woods- her wilds- her mountains- the intense
Reply of HERS to OUR intelligence!

Yeah.....just a stanza from one of his poems, donno if it makes sense;) though!

Mumbai sucks man.....just waiting to get back to bangalore!!!!!..........Happy Diwali to u all!!

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Some photos of BT-Acumen with Harsha

Harsha Bhogle during the Quiz

Achoring the debates

Well, some snaps from the debate......it was a nice experience being face to face with Harsha Bhogle, who was anchoring the debate and quizzes.


Ciao till next time...Harsha

BT-Acumen debates

With life leading towards outwardly monotonous and singular pointlessness, was looking at some reprieve from daily routine(yah....i know u wold'nt have understood), BT-Acumen happened. Me and Vidyashankar(he's one dude u would want in a debate...) got selected to represent debate from our college...nice experience going to SPJIMR for two days because of this.. ;)

One thing that constantly bugs me(everyone else.....also) is the distance that seperates NITIE and rest of Mumbai......yeah, we talk about NITIE being the only place in Mumbai not connected with the local trains. Yeah, its really a pain to travel without the locals...

Yeah, comin back to the debate itself, the initial rounds were pretty commonplace...with not many institutes showing good talent. The later rounds were tough though. The sad part is we lost in the semifinals to SP (i think marginally, though... tats how one would feel like!!). The gud part is the gift vouchers for 5k tat came along......

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Mumbai- the 'Beauty' and the 'Beast'

As I was telling you all in some of my previous posts, Mastishk this time was a huge...huge hit. The website garnered more than 35,000 hits and over 4,200 registrations......that too in a matter of 12 days!! I have been pretty busy with the site in general.....So, if u ppl have missed the fun, have a look at the site- http://mastishk.nitie.net/.

Other than that.....have been travelling around Mumbai for last 2 weeks, and am really charmed at the 'Old-beauty' of the city.....but aghast at some of the 'New-beastlies' mushrooming up now.

Well, had gone down to South Mumbai.......am still floored by the architectural wonder called the 'Victoria Terminus(now, Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus)'. So I am generally quoting the history and background of profound architectural structures, and places of general interest.....in the following paragraphs.....

"Modeled on the lines of the St Pancras Station in London, Victoria Terminus is undoubtedly the Raj's piece de resistance, Complete with carved stone friezes, stained glass windows and flying buttresses. It is Gothic architecture at its best, an awesome edifice that most citizens view with deep pride. At the top of the central dome stands the triumphant figure of Progress. The station was christened to commemorate Victoria Jubilee Day in 1887 when India's first steam engine puffed out to neighboring Thane, about 45 kms away. Today it has been rechristened Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus after the Maratha warrior. And the old steam engines have been replaced by electric ones. But to the 2.5 million commuters who push past its massive portals everyday, this is still VT, the pulse of a throbbing city".

The sea which stretches along Mumbai is a wonderful sight in itself. Though most beeches are thronged by people....yup, lotsa people, people everywhere;) , its still lovely to spend an evening on the beech.

"Over two thousand years ago, Mumbai was an archipelago of seven islands, inhabited by the kolis. These tribal fisherfolk still live here in tightly knit communities that the passing centuries have scarcely touched. The best place to see them is in the 600-year-old Worli Fishing Village that stands on a sliver of land jutting into the sea. Plunge into one of its winding gullies and you will instantly be assailed by the smell of drying fish, and colourful koli women, their dark skins offset by chunky tribal jewellery. At the end of the village is a small Portuguese fort with remnants of an old armoury, soldiers' barracks and thick ramparts. Before the Raj, when Portugal ruled Mumbai, this was a strategic vantage point to counter attacks from the sea".

Tats, enough for the day i suppose......will get back to reading the book- "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson.......pretty interesting book, this one.

So, ciao till next time....Harsha

'MastishK'- the brain game and the 'Ranking'- rat race..

Had lotsa things to post but very less time to organise and actually post all these days......was quite busy suddenly after my first module exams. Have recently been involved with too many things that leave increasingly too little time for myself...!

'MastishK' has been on the minds of too many people nowadays........just what is this thing 'MastishK'??? yup, lemme explain-
1. Its the first online gaming event launched by any B-school in India!
2. Last year, being the inception year......we had close to 20,000 hits in just 15 days....
3. This year in just 2 days have more than 5,000 hits and more than 800 registrations.....

Boy, isn't that gooood.....so, if you have'nt registered yet, do it NOW!

Have been involved in the Informalz section here, do try out all the quizzes.., some cool prizes to be won....all the different strategy games will go live on 2 Oct, 05. Take care not to miss any of those.....;)

Also, as part of the media relations, have been majorly involved with rankings(BW, AIMA, CFORE surveys....). Most of these rankings have come up with some surprises(as always.....). Most of the rankings have given quite favourable ratings to NITIE.
1. AIMA has given the niche A+ rating....if one adds up the points for all the B-schools, NITIE tops with respect to overall scores!.....tat sounds real cool, after all the trouble reaching out to these rankings its good to find us right on top.
2. BW gives a top 10 rating again....they have not given rankings to those within the top 10 though...
3. CFORE gives a 6th position to NITIE in terms of score, but just screws up some parts with the launch of new sectoral B-schools funda(whoever thought that IIFT gives a general management degree!!)

That quite sums up my activity for the past week.......life is moving pretty fast these days.

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Have I gone into hibernation....

This has probably been one of the few time i have not posted on my blog for a week.....since i became a regular blogger. Yeah....having major module exams going on....hoping to clear with decent scores(the way its going, seriously startin to doubt tat!).

It reminds me of my engineering days at RVCE, not soo long ago(lol....its just been a year i'm outta engineering....though it somehow seems like eternity).......anand, arun, kiran, chetan, ganesh, deva, pradeep......how we used to do some serious last minute reading(read kramming)!! Where the hell have most of these ppl gone?? Strange, i have lost touch with some of these ppl now.

Its strange, how fast we lose touch of gud frienz and move along as if nothing has happened at all.... Is this wat's usually expected of us?? well, donno......well, if by chance any of u guyz are readin this stuff(tut tut....) plz respond!

Yeah now, i'm going back to my world.....have a marketing test today. The cycle continues.....but can i be a little different this time?

Well time will tell..
Ciao till next time...Harsha

PS: Oh....my my....noticed just recently, am constantly getting regular hitz on my blog(atleast 7-10 a day!)......but sadly no comments. Is it just passing interest?, or no interest at all!!.... in what i write tat does not motivate or should i say encourage the reader to leave any comments;)

Ganguly- "A paper tiger?"

Was just watching the first test match between India and Zimbabwe at Bulawayo. Ganguly laboured away to his 16th century from 262 balls. It was a pain to see him score his runs in an 'un-gangulish' fashion. One really felt if it is the same Ganguly who scored back-to-back test hundreds in his test debut, one who created the record for getting the most number of back-to-back 'Man of match' awards(5).....
The once feared Ganguly is no longer feared by most of the teams, except for Zimbabwe and Bangladesh! His only centuries have been against teams like Kenya and Zimbabwe in the recent past... The only notable aberation being the one against Australia, and that too 2 years back.

It seems a pain to watch him trudge back towards the pavilion every so often getting out to silly shots which even our "galli" cricketers are averse to play.......

So, all that people like me can do is... hope the man retires early enough to maintain some sort of credibility and remain in our memories as a daring captain and a very good batsman in the One-day format.

PS: For stats about Ganguly please visit these sites:
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Stadium/6820/ganguly.html
http://www.yehhaicricket.com/india/Sganguly/sganguly.html
http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/28779.html

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Yeh NCFM kya hai??

There's this craze among some of our ppl at NITIE to take up certifications in finance to add to the CV's. To get into a finance job, some certifications might help.....generally since that is the view, i followed too...

Yeah, promptly went to NSE applied for one of the basic modules.......(yeah, had to shell out 1000 bucks too). The initial enthusiasm somehow did not translate into hardwork or real interest in finance! Somehow, may be because of summers and other pressures had no time to prepare for side events like certifications....

So, started preparin for the NCFM test yesterday night(yeah, today was the test...) did get a lot of insight into finance from the nice booklet the NSE people handover during registration, but i guess studying for one night is not enough to pass the exams........oh yeah, flunked...by a whisker! Pass marks was 60, and i got 59.25....was hoping against hope that i would somehow get through! well, as fate would have it somethings are bound to happen....

But the stranger thing is, went out to have a party with IMPRESS teammates...(lemme give u the background--i am part of a committee called as IMPRESS, which does media management work at NITIE....we had a successful event called 'Media Samiksha', a panel discussion organised today, with some big shots from media coming down to our campus...).... No, doubt the party was to celebrate the success!

So, the moral of the whole episode is: "In a B-school, you can flunk in some things and still have parties", or....... am i wrong??

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Take my quiz.....better call me if you are flunking in this!

For all you quiz buffs(no no...no big quiz this one)....have made one for u all, better score well in this:

I made a Quiz for you!

Am waiting for all your scores!

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Summer placements.....blow hot, blow cold...

Summers as we call it, is a 5 week project carried out in Module 4 of the MBA course at NITIE(starts usually around April...) Usually all B-schools have this concept, so wats great or special about it?? Lemme give a peek into what it means for a first yr B-school student and my general funda.....

Summer placements in a B-school are mixed with a lot of feelings- anxiety, frustration, desperation, hope, anger, happiness, relief, satisfaction...... All these are faced for the entire period of day or two during which the placements take place...it comes all over again and again couple them with GD's and interviews. One has a feeling that after coming to a B-school its a full stop to GD's, Interviews, etc. But the problem is it only gets worse and worse...

I faced the same set of emotions for the last few days....its frustrating to see some things just not going right and some other things simply clicking even without trying. I find these placements just as a game of cards. The connoisseur at the game will always win. All that matters is how you position yourself....how you sell youself to the companies, donno if its good or bad...

Well coming back, summers are always an opportunity for ppl to try out different fields....say a guy with experience in manufacturing will want to do his summers in an IT firm or vice versa....they also are an opportunity to get into the company through the PPO route....so guys are damn serious when it comes to competing for the best jobs....

I had some very bitter-sweet experiences for past few days, will be a good reading if i write down my experiences......but again, where's the time? and why bore everyone with funny and frustrating experiences......

Yeah the main thing is, i made it to Wipro-Marketing.....lets see wat's in store....!

Ciao till nest time...Harsha

Some general info about 'Insurance' :)

Was reading some stuff on insurance....finance is a very booky(well....did'nt get a better word!) subject. If i could sum it up in short, this is what it would be:










Ciao till nest time...Harsha

Poetic sense....

Well....donno, generally was feeling low today, so will bore u all with a stupid poem taken from William Wordsworth's poem : 'Daffodils'


I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.


Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils!

Why are we always so much caught up in the future!....we always visualise that in future i need to do this, be like this, want to make so much money, reach the top....the list goes on.

In the midst of all this are we not losing out something?... Well sure we are! losing out our present, may be i'm in an argumentive mood today (what with all the heady discussions and summers tension for the past few days!), but still somehow got the thought- ' Lets enjoi today, its a beautiful day!'

Think i'll catch up some sleep today...Ciao till next time...Harsha

Summers placements!!

Well attended the first summers presentation today. P&G was the first one....though the presentation was for over an hour......still managed to stay awake for the simple reason that it was the first ppt for summers this time!

What with being in full formals for the ppt( blazers and all..) it was a difficult task to sit for 2 hours in stuffy clothing. It was also funny doing a trips on the bike(Shreyas, Puneet and me) all the the way up to the placement office.....still wondering how a photo of that would have looked like!!!

All said about that, the test that followed for the selection was pretty commonplace, an aptitude test for an hour(thought CAT would be the last aptitude test I would be writin...). Any person with patience should ideally make through..

Atlast....I have really entered a B-School.....tie, blazer and me!!

Ciao till next time....Harsha

Well cricket is the world's best game!

Yeah...i seriously think that cricket is the world's best game...it uses the complete body and mind in every sense....well was having an argument with a friend of mine just now, thought i will jot that down.

1. Football is a rough game, Criket is a gentlemen sport: I totally disagree on 2 counts- 1. Criket is played for atleast 8 hours(equivalent to 1 days play..) whereas football is played for 2 hours only.... more entertainment to the viewer and more value for time and money!. 2. It demands more of a player than any other game...a bowler not only bowls, but also fields and bats! do you see that in any other sport??

2. It is a mind game too....not for fun do we see the field changes and bowling changes every so often in the game....all planned right from what tactics one employs to what would be the venue selected by home team to suit its players best!!

Well.....gotta run now..hav some urgent stuff to omplete....but the argument continues.

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Mumbai rains

Mumbai faced one of the worst rains in recorded history. Floods, landslides and building collapsed killing at least 786 people(in Maharashtra as on today) and brought the financial capital Mumbai to a near-standstill.

Weather officials are predicting more heavy rain for the city of 15 million, where schools, banks and stock markets were closed and public transport barely operating... The city's weather bureau said Mumbai received 944.2 millimeters (37.1 inches) of rainfall in a 24-hour period ending mid-morning Wednesday, the most rainfall ever recorded in a single day in India and beating a record which has stood since July 1910.



About 76,000 animals have been killed, and 700,000 hectares (1.72 million acres) of land and 283,000 houses have been damaged.....

What I found to be sad was that, in some of the dairy farms the animals drowned because their legs were tied. The owners had not bothered to untie the animals which could have saved them easily....

What can one year do to you?

It feels as if yesterday i took up my first job! Well, a year has flown by since then.....donno how fast things have changed.

July 26, 2004: I still remember taking my bike out to IT park in bangalore. I was happy about everything, felt very good about myself...afterall this was the first time i was going for a job, yeah was a software engineer at HCL-Perot now. I still remember taking the wrong route and ending up going late for the induction program!

Since then, i have got some very good job offers, changed job, also left that....and now in Mumbai doing an MBA! Quite remarkably, it all has happened in a span of 1 year!

But the first company i worked in is something i would never forget... made some of my best friends there. We were nearly 100 odd people from different colleges undergoing the induction and training program together for nearly 3 months. How can i forget the good times all of us had there...the birthday bumps, first salary treats, ethnic day, weekend treats...etc etc. Twas mostly like an extended college, only difference being - i was being paid for having fun and learning new things...!

Nov 21, 2004: Well, this was the day of CAT.....how i almost missed writing CAT!. Was struck up with a nasty fever for a few days and had almost made up my mind not to write CAT that year. But somehow got better enough to write it..

During tat time changed jobs, had quite a few offers in hand...finally chose SAP. Well....the most process oriented and professional company i have been in.. Was involved in a very good project there, had bindaas time and thought - lemme settle down!

But as things would finally turn up...NITIE happened, landed in Mumbai and again having helluva lota gud time here...! Hope the saga continues....

Ciao till next time, Harsha..

My marketing lessons -;)

It's all about marketing.......

Stage1. Mandi about to start on Sunday, 10:00.

We got Asian Age to cover "Mandi"(which has been the topic of some discussion in a previous article of mine)!!!!!! that too in the front page of Mumbai edition on a Sunday!!

Awesome, I have to say. For me it really was. Because, it was an experience interacting with journos, reminding them, actually doing the donkey work(read paper work+innovating branding of the event as such). Well, this is a good start for the day...

Stage2. Selling, 14:30 - 17:00.

Well...the direct selling of the various products like toys, etc in different parts of Mumbai was something all of us would cherish lifelong. Let me list some of my takeaways from the exerise -

1. Selling is all about getting the right people to see the right things at the right time(a bit Kotlerish I suppose).

2. Pricing is a huge issue...selling a 20Rs. article in a posh mall is difficult, but selling a 200Rs. gadget is simpler, faster and easier. The reverse applies too.

3. Strategise.. Target the right people, know what they are looking for. Why should a 60 yr old man buy a jigsaw puzzle? Incidently we( myself and my friend Shreyas) sold 2 toys worth 500Rs. to an old man. We sold him those as stress-buster toys...he was happy, we were too.

4. Understand the art of attracting people. The funda is to keep ppl interested. Ex. We had asked ppl to try solving the IQ based puzzles....if they got it right, we sold them the toy at 10% discount. It was surprising that only 2 ppl solved the puzzle and also so many ppl got attracted because those 2 ppl solved the puzzle. This inturn led many more to buy these items!

Cool...its over now. Had gone to Phoenix Mall, Lower Parel(a posh mall). Sold 1300Rs worth articles at 2100Rs. A nice profit...isn't it?

If something can go wrong, it will!!

Strange ol' things happen to you when you least expect them....this is a famous line in one of Somerset Maugham's best short stories, 'The Verger'.

Yup....today found out that they really do happen. Today was one fine sunny day, relaxed and chilled for the better part of the day. 'Denovo'(Yeah..another cultural event at NITIE) was scheduled at 5PM. i found myself with nearly 3-4 hours to kill... So, what else could I do other than moving around the city.....well thought of going to NSE(had some work around there and also...just curiosity...for a first timer in Mumbai). I find the bus to Kurla pretty crowded.....from there to Bhandra-Kurla complex which is some 15 mins from there was pretty pleasant. I had already wasted 1.30 hrs travelling..




So, when the thought of going back came to my mind......the weather gods bowled a googly, sunny weather turned to cloudy, started raining heavily.....being a genius at predicting weather hadn't taken an umbrella...with nowhere to go around caught a bus in the wrong direction, and found that out only after I was sufficiently far away from returning to that place. Had to catch 2 more busses.....back to home sweet home.....NITIE.

Meantime with the Dinovo also over....remembered Murphy's law - if anything has to go wrong, it sure will.

Only silver lining was the refreshing snacks waiting just for me!

Ciao....Harsha

IMPRESSive

I just found out that journaism is a BIG fart.....should have known it much before...anyways, late but not lost.....

Have this Mandi thingy comin up.....bloody called up something like 20 odd journos.....asked them to cover the event and stumbled upon the truth - mediamen suck man....they really do.

Talked with one chap(read a journo) about the event to be covered...i missed recording his response, regret it now. Was surprised to find how much the ego can burst out from the phone...phew.

It's 12.00PM, sleeping early today...GN

Ciao, Harsha

Well....where's the time?

TIME is the most elusive thing on the planet....i am sure not one person is happy about the way 'time' is spent.... I feel there has to be a mechnism to elongate the day and shorten it as one pleases....of all the inventions one can conjure up if someone can come up with a 'time adjuster', he would become the greatest scientist ever!!

Everything is sooo cramped up. Day starts at 8 O'Clock in mornin...usual stuff(read classes) till evening, lunch and tea cramped in between....some or the other events scheduled to keep busy for rest of the day..(Mandi starting on this weekend, so contact the media ppl...get some articles written, MastishK quizz...also there, etc etc....) Sleep sound sleep earliest at 1.30PM.

What the hell is happening......tats one question which keeps comin to my mind? Is this all one needs to do.....learn, earn and yearn?? Is that all.....there has to be something missing in between all these, there surely is something missing.

The other day was reading some poems mostly ordinary ones. And lo...found one tat possibly touched me the most. Thought I will introduce the reader to my favourite poet William Davis(this poem of his gave an indication to what most of us are missing):

What is life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare!

How true, isn't it?

Ciao till next time...harsha

Do you know what is MANDI??

How is the courses thought in an MBA institute?? What is it that is done that differentiates the Good B-Schools from the Excellent?

Is it just the teaching methodology adopted in the classrooms that make a difference or is there any other method of learning? Are there no practical learning methods which can drive concepts better than mundane theory and 'Global Gyan' given in the classrooms.....

These and many more are common questions in everyone's mind, be it an aspiring MBA student or just a layman knowing what is "MBA" all about....I thought atleast with NITIE as an example let me provide some info about practical learning methods.... The challenge for management education currently is to bring students closer to real world situations. This has been met with some success in NITIE where a unique learning method has been implemented for the first year management students. "MANDI" is a teaching method where ‘Learning becomes Self Discovered’.


Students with MANDI toys ready to sell!

“When you find a bunch of young enthusiastic students on the roads of Mumbai selling innovative gadgets and toys, don’t mistake them for a group of innovative salesmen, or just creative geeks. They are some of the best minds in the country, students of NITIE, carrying out some project work that is part of the curriculum”. This was what a leading business magazine had to say about Mandi.

Mandi is an exercise where students engage in selling some toy products in the market whereby they learn the art of management. Each and every student is expected to participate in Mandi to understand and discover management wisdom. Students’ performance in the field is taken as one of the criterion for arriving at the academic excellence of a student.

One interesting thing is, last year 70,000 Rs was collected through selling the toys on a single day in MANDI, and what more all proceedings went to an NGO(Navnirmiti), to educate less fortunate children.....

Well, i think I have bored most people with seemingly "academic" looking articles.....the next article is gonna be one on a lighter topic and not sooo boringly long!!

So, till next time ciao, Harsha...

Tha aura of Hiranandani!!!

If you have visited Mumbai and not come to Hiranandani's you have missed something. This buzzing place is like a lifeline to all the inhabitants of NITIE and IIT Powai. The place always seems to bring us back to the commercial buzz of Mumbai.....well am i sounding somewhat psychic when i say "commercial buzz of Mumbai"? as Mumbai is the most commercial of all commercial places in India??

Well, if one has visited NITIE's pristine campus, then the comment i made just now would make sense. NITIE is located in the scenic north Mumbai, flanked by the Powai and Vihar lakes amidst the lush green environs....it resembles more of "God's own country"...yeah Kerala, than the crowded metropole, Mumbai.

The Hiranandani gardens thus becomes a very important place for all NITIEans to hang out and chill.....thinkin of Hiranandani's made me to do some research on the place as such. Found out that the place before construction of the township was a hilly region with thick green cover which was a dreaded place for the lay man to pass by as robberies was rampant in the area. Though now with the fine construction no such incidents are known to happen :)

"The Goal"

Lemme share some thoughts about the latest book I read....read on..

Was reading the book "The Goal" by Eliyahu Goldratt. The story is captivating and interesting and offers food for thought for managers in any field. Although it is a novel, this title is more appropriate for business collections. In this intriguing, readable business novel based on up to date economic thinking, Alex Rogo manages a failing manufacturing plant. He is facing losses in his manufacturing plant and needs urgent help to increase profits. In comes the elusive business guru, Jonah who teaches him how to cut costs and reduce inventory, thus in overall sense how to make "profits". A very key feature in the book was the stress given on the "Goal", i.e., aim of manufacturing plant....to make money. Cutting costs on individual basis or increasing the efficiencies on individual basis may not add up to the bottomline. A more holistic approach needs to be taken to achieve the "Goal".

An assembly line

Plant Layout

Well, all ppl interested in taking up SCM as their bread and butter have to read this book to know what is "Supply Chain", "inventory", "efficiencies", etc.... May be after reading this book, I myself have cleared some doubts regarding the processes and techicalities involved in the manufacturing industry....atleast on the basic level.

So till next time ciao...harsha

Life in a B-school??!!

Well....its been quite some time i posted here.....donno, sort of kept postponing posting.. As u may already be knowing from my last post, i joined NITIE. So hows the place?, whats the atmosphere like?, what about the junta - will i be outshone in everything i do?, can i cope with the pressure?, etc etc......yeah, these were some of the questions which had come to my mind before coming here.


The POND in NITIE campus, the hostel block also seen.


Have spent nearly 2 weeks here. So, whatz my first impression about this place? it's "heaven", beautiful and comforting. Yes, comforting beause i am away from home for the first time( tat too for 2 years...chill).

The first few days have been really hectic. Average time to hit the bedz somewhere around 2 'o clock ( talk about early to bed and early to rise funda!!).

There have been a lot of activities going on. There was the induction program from the seniors for the first few days...( man was that fun, u bet! ).Then came the "Parichay nights- TOPA"....well tats what they are called. Wondering wats it? yup coming right to that point. The freshers are divided into groups of 7-8 , and each group is given a topic to make a skit (mine was something like "Coffee with Mallika Sherawat"). Yeah we had TOPA spread over 3 days(oops...sorry nights, as it used to start at 9PM at continue till 1AM).....and all the skits are made to be lively and chirpy as this sure can act like an ice breaker among the batchmates when the creative juices start flowing. The whole exercise was one big success, the room filled with laughter each time a new joke came up and was really a good way to kick off......

By the way, our skit was the best and we won the best skit award( though my role was quite small, that of Jackie Chan!!)...

Now about the acads......the classes have been quite full surprisingly(a pleasant surprise compared to engineering days). Most of my batchmates as i found can be grouped into what is usually termed as the "cream", as most of them are CAT toppers......recently found that the lowest percentile in the class is around 97!! ( well.....talk about intellectual ability). The lectures have been lectures, how else can i describe them. They have been pretty informative and interesting. The most interesting thing was the amount of discussions and arguments we had in each session. Other than this there have been lots and lots of assignments to be completed, deadlines have been pretty sharp( i mean.....not enough time to complete!!).

Yeah overall its been pretty good.

And yes, before i signoff there's some important thing i missed out. Yes the "seniors"....they have been anything short of amazing. I don't know from where they get the energy, but they really are serious about the commitiee activities and the student initiatives. This brings in the other topic i had missed out : commitiees. Yes, these are student bodies that involve the students and are carried out for the welfare of the students and NITIE as a whole. We have a lot of commitiees like - Prerana : which looks after the inter B-school events, IMpress : which handles the media related activities( yeah...this is the face of NITIE), IMPACT : which handles induction programs for the new students, Placecom : for the placement activities and let me name the rest and not bore you with details... Cybercom, Alumni, BGyan, Samiksha, Mastishk( this is an online strategy game by the way....designed completely by the students). Hope to make it to one of them...the interviews are taken by seniors, got over yesterday( yeah...slept at 4.30 yesterday!!).

Its been a long post....for further posts just check out my blog.....now ciao!!!

Namasthe...

I am just giving an indian heading to give a heady feeling to anyone reading this... Anyways let me introduce myself to the reader. I am at present the most bored person on earth....i am Harsha, presently having free internet access in my present company, which i would shortly be leaving to go to NITIE to do my MBA. It has been a lazy monday morning, sitting in a cubicle in front of the comp trying to get some work done...I know that i would have to stay back late today to complete the days work..(so kinda figured that i can utilize my time to give u a peek into my life)

I am spending time in office working odd hours to complete some stabilization work....which i am sure is of no use. I passed out of RVCE (I did top our batch), Blore with a BE in electronics&Comm., with high hopes of doing fundoo work in microelectronics or semiconductors or vlsi...etc etc only to end up a software development work.... I was surely elated initially to work in a top notch MNC, thinkin that i will reach the top level management in couple of years by dint of hardwork(kidding!)... but have now settled to the idea of leaving that idea and join NITIE to spend 2 more years in college.

I now know that...college is where i had my best days, so have been lookin forward to joinin NITIE...

Will shortly update u on my profile and life....4 now, have to get back to work.