Dec 25, 2008

Moments of Term 2 :-)




   This wasnt as exciting as Term-1.. An exceptionally hectic term with summer placement activities and some really hectic subjects...But still, some of the really nice moments..Some in my class..some in other sections..

1.   " Millions of years ago there was a giant continent called Pangea..Australia separated from that and moved to .....  "..Thats how an economics presentation of Australian economy started :-) ... Indeed when you have to give a presentation for 35 min, these things might happen :-) 

2.  "This restaurant was not functioning optimally...because..because..it wasnt functioning optimally" 

3.  "These are extremely impotent issues"


Some Realizations
-------------------

1. There are two kinds of people when it comes to night-life @ IIMK..Those who play Counter-Strike & those who do not ..And I belong to the second category :-)

2. Most time in B-school is spent not on case studies,projects or assignments..But in highly intellectually simulating discussions on global issues...or better known as "bakaar" . 

3. When it comes to accounting,you feel like why u did engineering and not C.A :-) 

4. Main objective for second year - See all the good movies in LAN :-) .


Dec 13, 2008

Random Thoughts of an Insomniac MBA mind :)




    In a not - so - usual pensive mood today..Some random thoughts sparked by a few incidents arbitrarily put under different headings..

Idealism 
----------
      Its easy to advocate idealism... but not at all easy when you are at the receiving end..Being ideal might bring you nothing much but frustruation..And especially tempting when the alternate path to to idealism might be something thats not much of a compromise...Its easy to ask 'why ?' ..But its easy to ask back 'why not ?' 

System
------- 
    To reform a system, you have to be a part of the system..But at times, why  bother reforming it ? ...or if you can find a better system why not be a part of it rather than this ? 

Pragmatism
------------
          When to be pragmatic ...when to fight ?  Being a B-school student, I'm tempted to give an answer in terms of NPV :-) ..  But this decision is something thats very judgemental..And it cannot be brought down to numbers.. This is an art actually ..An art that might affect the aspirations of many people... I wish I could perfect that.


People & processes
-------------------
       In my life I've mostly performed well in situations where you can drive the purpose through a personal rapport.. Or rather even in professional aspects, I've many times achieved good results by working on a personal rapport basis..Back during my work life, I wondered why dont companies invest in people much? Corporates try to make their business more and more independent of people..Or rater replaceability is something that they usually strive for...  Now i think I realize the importance of that..For, there is nothing wrong in investing in some people..But whatever happens, the show must go on..thats most important ... Or the paradigms / processes /ground rules of the game or whatever you call it should be consistent... Damn! it took this incident ( can't quote which one :)  )to realize the true importance of setting up true frameworks..

 The question of image.
-----------------------
         There is something that life in NITC taught me -- If you keep worrying about what others would think about your actions , you wont be able to do much..Or rather you would end up with lot of regrets & frustruations.. At-least in personal matters, I rarely think about what others would think about my actions.. And some of my actions might seem to be really stupid..But really, I dont bother much..For, regret is something that I dont want. 

       But actually this equation goes the opposite way when you look at professional / organizational matters.. Your image,credibility,ethics ....all matter a lot... And the catch is that its often very difficult to keep professional & personal life as totally separate... To illustrate this, I've met some extremely brilliant individuals in my life..But I haven't really liked some of their personal traits... Few years down the lane, if I come across a situation in which I have to make a decision on hiring one among these for a job, I would be heavily biased against hiring that individual because of his undesirable personal traits..Because , professionally you can't succeed just by analytic skills..your personal aspectswill be a great factor in your assimilation into a team.. But ultimately, its a very subjective call.
       

Ah!...Enough !.. Time is 2 AM..I've some 4 assignments/projects to submit in coming week :-(.....But letme see a movie from LAN first :-) ...Sleep ? Forget that in B-school :-) 
  
 

Nov 27, 2008

Media,Politicians & Terror..




The Mayhem in Mumbai has ended apparently...I'm not going to do a post-mortem of this..There are enough articles in almost all news sites over this..But couple of incidents that happened over this terrorist siege..

-----------------------------------
1 .  Media has a habit of reporting statements selectively..Not sure if thats the case here..But if this guy really said this, no wonder he is often quoted as 'crown among clowns' .. What a practical joke. 
..  
Jai Soniaji !!!

( PS:- Check the comments section of the news link )

-----------------------------------
2.  Media's live war commentary --  The ATS chief is shown live on TV wearing bullet proof jacket & helmet as he enters the hotel... Later on, he is dead by a few bullet shots at his neck --Did the terrorists see the live broadcast so as to shoot at his neck ? Apparently it cannot be ruled out as media themselves reported that terrorists had setup command & control rooms in Taj & Oberoi.. 
     NSG commandos were airdropped at Nariman house..This footage is shown as a deffered telecast or something ' a short while ago'.. Also, quite a few live telecast taken from some nearby buildings which clearly showed the NSG commandos stationed on top of Nariman house were also shown..Did these broadcasts alert the terrorists so that they got enough information to prolong the siege ? Forget all that..plenty of sniper shooting positions which NSG took were shown live..
      
     These reminded me of a documentary movie that I had seen sometime back over the Munich Massacre in 1972
The live telecast shown by almost all channels about the police sniper positions & airborne dropping of commandos was cited as a major reason that aborted the initial rescue attempt .. 

   -- Nothing can be conclusively established from these....But the point is that there is something called common sense..Atleast that should have told the media people that this 'fancy war reporting' is actually ridiculous..

----------------------------------

Current Mood:- Speechless & Sad :|

Nov 16, 2008

B School Life - Part III




Observations, learnings and quite more .. Now, in the midst of term II

1 -  Key skill enhancements/learnings during summer placement season 

        - How to dress up in business formals in 5 minutes .
        - How to gas about virtually anything unknown. 
        - How to ask 'intelligent questions' 
        - How to change your  career preferences betwee marketing/finance/operations/consulting
           as you hop between different company procedures.
        - No matter what you prepare, your selection/rejection is mostly determined by your
           communication skills rather than technical knowledge.         
        
2. As time becomes something of premium value , the usage of deodorants increases exponentially & that of bathing soap decreases in the same rate. 

3. When you don't have time, why clean your room :) ..There is no value addition in that :)

4. If google stops working for one week, MBA courses would come to a screeching hault :-) 

5. Initially people were reluctant to attend quizzes without preparations..Now we ( atleast I ) dont bother attending midterms without much preps..In the next year, I'm hoping that for end term too, we won't bother.

6. Business attitudes creep into day-to-day life a bit too much... 

7. Lose touch with atleast some friends & acquaintances  from your pre-MBA life unknowingly

8. The academic subjects are awesome...but unless you chose the life of a bookworm, you won't study all that to its proper level.

9. But there's lot of fun !!!!!

10. And yeah, I'll be interning with Cognizant in their consulting division :-)

Earlier parts in this series

Nov 7, 2008

Belling The CAT ..An Insider's Perspective :-)



 
      For a change, third sunday of November this year will be a day when I'll be able to relax..For the last 5 years (Yes, FIVE ) , always this day used to be a crucial one for me.. Five CAT attempts..Or rather 2 non-serious attempts ( CAT - 2003, 2004 ) ..followed by two serious CAT attempts (2005   -- B call and kicks from waiting list , 2006 - better scores..no calls )... And in 2007, an unprepared attempt -- and I'm here in IIMK :-) ...Now that I'm on the other side , let me reflect a bit on this often crazy selection procedure and this much hyped exam.
 
Btw, all opinions listed below are extremely personal opinions.

1)  I know people who made it into ivy league schools like Kellog, Wharton and all, but couldn't crack CAT.. Just because of the fact that you cracked this exam does not mean that you are the most suitable candidate..and vice versa too.. Infact, the difference between 98 %ile ( no - IIM calls ) and 99.5%ile ( 5-6 IIM calls ) is often  2- 3 questions..  And seriously, there is no big difference between a person scoring 97 / 98  & another one scoring 99.5 odd %ile... These 2 -3 questions might go you way on some day..and might not go you way on another day... So, then why are IIMs so adamant on these so called cutoffs ? Its because of the sheer number of applicants.. Because of this huge number ( it think about 2.7 Lakh people are testing their luck on Nov-16 ) ,IIMs are forced to do an elimination procedure rather than selection..  Western MBA schools base their admission on lot of factors like your past experience, CV , SOP  etc..GMAT score is just one of their inputs..Infact, ppl with even 680 in GMAT might get interview calls from ivy leagues, but ppl with may be even 760 might miss out...And the differentiating factor there in profile..IIMs too weighs in the CV,experience etc in their selection procedure..but they are usually adamant on CAT cutoffs.

2) So, just because of the fact that you failed to make it through does not mean that you are not good enough..it might be plain unluck..And I've faced this unluck many times and missed out making it through couple of times.

3) Now over to the exam, CAT usually throws lot of surprises..so, be prepared for that in exam hall..maybe it will come in different number of sections, maybe differential negatives, maybe progressive negative..or may be no surprise at all.. Keep your compsure whatever the situation be . Because quite lot of candidates lose out because of inability to handle these surprises

4) Be flexible enough to address your strategy in between..If a section is turning out to be easy,realize that everyone else too will find it easy..Hence cutoffs will go up. And you will have to attempt more questions to clear the cutoff.. And vice versa too..if a section is too tough, cutoffs will come down. 

5) Realize that CAT paper might have erroneous questions.. Such an erroneous question ensured that my DI score last time was below the IIMA cutoff.. So, if you feel that there is something wrong in some question, dont waste time... leave it and proceed to the next.

6) Dont make it an ego issue to solve any question that you attempt. If it is tough, dont waste time ..just leave it..there would be plenty of questions in the section

7) Over QA - tackle questions that match your strength..I used to be good in geometry & trigonometry..so, used to pick those questions selectively. ..after that,attempt other questions

8) DI - your judgement in picking the right caselet is crucial.. And check all the answers that you have got in a caselet once again before marking them..because if you go wrong in a caselet, you may get all negatives :)

9) VA - If the pattern is like last two years, attempt the maximum.. The answers would be pretty ambiguous and coaching institutes too might go wrong in bringing out the verbal key..So, even if you are VA - stud, expect only 50% accuracy..and if your attempts are sufficiently high, this accuracy will ensure that you cross cutoff.. Last CAT, I attempted 22 out of 25 verbal questions...accuracy of half ..but still got 96.4 %ile in verbal. 

10)CAT is just the first step...Realize that your profile matters a lot in your final selection..If you are a versatile personality with all round achievements , you will have better chance than some analytic geek who scored 100%ile...So, work on your profile after the exam.

11)Once you are into IIMs, its a mad rush for CV- building.. A person having an exceptional CV with lots of achievements will be valued more than someone having just high grades during placements..So, the profile, CV ..all that matters a lot for an MBA aspirant..

12) For any urgent queries about the exam , use http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/35312-cat-2008-helpline-ask-iim.html  -- thats a Pagalguy thread run by IIMK students..Someone among us will answer your queries about the exam.


So, good luck for CAT..Bell it :-)

Oct 18, 2008

The Google Phone - What Next ?




    About an year back, I blogged about Google Phone.. Quite a few developments have happened in this area after that..And a few days before, Google came up with its first Android based phone , manufactured by HTC.. 
      Quite a few of the applications in this G-phone or G1 happens to be similar to what I thought about last year.. quoting Larry Magid's article,
"there is already an application called iSkoop that lets you make free or inexpensive international and domestic calls using Skype".. -- This is a key point to Google's overall strategy..10  years later ( or maybe even before that ),  G-phone will be a device just to connect to internet..No SIM card as such..U'll talk to people using G-talk ..Just take the g-talk in your phone, tap the person's user ID, and make a call.. No complicated maths like STD/ISD rates or anything like that..Infact, the much hyped about number portability will come into existance this way..i.e, as long as u have ur gmail ID, u'll be accesible from anywhere..

Quoting another point in the same article... "Warning to merchants - my favorite application lets you use the phone's camera to "scan" a product's bar code to look up reviews and comparative prices"
-- I never thought John Battelle's fantasy ( check my earlier post ) would get converted into an application so soon :) .. 

  But Google had a major setback to this overall strategy last year  - They lost the bidding for the US Wireless spectrum 
     Consequentially, these concepts of No-SIM + mobile Ad based phone business model will take some time to come up. Maybe soon, Google might strike an alliance with Verizon(the winner of wireless spectrum bidding) ..Afterall, the AT&T - iphone combination is proving to be too good in US..
  Quite a few analysts are speculating whether this G-phone is going to be an iphone killer . The interesting thing about iphone is that, if you analyse its every feature, u'll find better offerings in market ( camera phones from Sony is better, Nokia's robustness is great ... etc )..Maybe in an aesthetic sense & battery backup , iphone is really great. But what makes iphone tick is that it brings to you a 'great' combination of 'good' ( not the best ) features and a strong tie-up with AT&T..  And Apple's itunes based music + phone + carrier tie-up business model is really great.. Atleast in the short run, no, i dont see any possibility of G-phone dethroning iphone.. For that matter, Nokia too has realized the importance of bringing in a multitude of features to its phones and is investing heavily in music & GPRS based maps..But in the long run, I'd bet that Google's strategy will succeed..
  So, what next to expect from Google ? 
My take

1) More efforts on wireless spectrum front-- maybe a tieup with Verizon or some other prominent player.

2) Music/Entertainment - This remains a strong point of Apple.. And I really wonder how Google is going to tackle this front..Maybe some innovation/business model based on youtube ? 
I dont know.. 

3) Gpay integration :- This would come soon 

Ajith 

Oct 3, 2008

Age, Marriage & a Tag




Aging is a reality . On sep-29, I completed 26 years of existence in this planet.. Now when someone gets into this so called 'wrong side' of 20s, the pressure towards marriage starts building from all the sides... I notice a definite change in the way my elder friends & relatives tease me..

4 years back: Hey, how many girl-friends do you have ?

3 years back: Hey, do u have a girl-friend ?
2 years back: Hey.. time to find a girl for you.. Any good looking Nair girls in your office ?
( yes, there were..but they were married :( )

1 year back : Hey, all of us thought you'll find a girl on your own..u have disappointed us..Shall we find one girl for you ? There is this girl, who is my second cousin's grand mothers's uncle's daughters' son's neice... ( damn..why are relations so complicated )

Now : Hey.. heard ur Amma has started looking for suitable matches for you ?

-- I see that over the years, the girl-friend factor in queries has come down and 'arranged marriage' factor has been going up.. Can't help it..

GWBE has tagged me over a similar subject..Can't refuse the tag from college & IIMK senior :P Now lets go to the tag..

1. If your lover betrayed you what would your reaction be?
I think I'll move on.. I've come past the age of brooding over spilled milk.

2. If you have a dream come true, what would it be?
That I'm free from all constraints and get to do what I like at my own pace.

3. If you could, whose butt would you like to kick?
I hate this..Thats why I removed b'day alert from orkut :P

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Travel around the world ..Acquire landmark / crosswords :-)

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?
Ah..well, possible.. Long back a friend of mine remarked to me "There is a thin line between friendship & love "

6. Which is more blessed: loving someone or being loved by someone?
Being loved by someone.

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you love?
I dont know..It depends.

8. If the person you secretly like is attached, what will you do?
Look for another girl :-)

9. If you could root for one social cause, what would it be?
I've not come to an appropriate answer to that.. There was an NGO, Asha which I was associated with sometime back..Liked their motive..But still, I dont think its a final answer to our ills.

10. Do you lie?
Very rarely..Usually its done either accidentally or to follow some rules / decorums.

11. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
I firmly believe that you can't plan your life more than a span of 2 years realistically..So, not sure :-)..Would take it as it comes.

12. What’s your fear?
I dont know..Can't imagine anything right now.

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
She travels a lot..I think after I graduate I'll ask her to give a job in her company..Where all she travels..Scotland, Swiss, ...I forgot the list.

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married and poor?
Married & poor..And buy a sub-prime mortgage based house..There are enough ways to live in this world if you know finance :-) ..
PS:- Check that subprime link..Awesome slides..Link given by emperor prometheus

15. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously who will you pick?
I've had simultaneous crushes towards Vidya Balan & Katrina Kaif..But unfortunately, got chance to pick none :-(

16. Would you give all in a relationship?
Yes.

17. Would you forgive and forget someone no matter how horrible a thing he has done?
Yes for most..but not for all.. Shawshank Redemption influence :)

18. Do you prefer being single or in a relationship?
Both have its own advantages/disadvantages..Having said that, I think my bachelor days are numbered with increasing pressure from all sides... So,lets wait and see :-)

19. Your all time favourite song. Only ONE. And why?
Sooryakireedam veenudanju
.... From my favorite malayalam movie Devasuram..
Very few songs picturise the transformation that happens in a person this much beautifully..There is one song in Kireedom too..But I like this better.And over the movie, check the link..and lot of videos in youtube too :-)

Ajith

Sep 20, 2008

Moments of Term-1 :-)




       Phew..Just gave my end term exam and now a 10 day break.. Lot of interesting incidents, a great batch and awesome campus..Quite lot of incidents..Below are a few quotable quotes which I came across in this term.. 
 
  1. "Sir, When are you conducting the next surprise quiz ? " :-) 
  
  2. Company XYZ1, in the PPT .. "Sometimes work is 24x7..But it is satisfying" - WTF ??? 

  3. A group giving a presentation - "Our presentation has 3 parts - Introduction, body & conclusion :-) "

  4. Company XYZ2, in the PPT .. "Sometimes its a dog's life..But it is rewarding " :-)

  5. "Guys..you have indulged in maal-practice :-) " 

  6. Prof( Asking a group which was doing a case analysis on Mountain Dew, with reference to the famous Cheetah Ad) : " How does the Ad signify the taste of Mountain Dew ? "
       Presentor: " That, you'll have to ask to the Cheetah" :-)

   ----------------------
  Mathewisms - Taken from prof. A.F Mathew's classes.. Seldom have I come across such an impactful personality. He taught us a course - Social transformation of India .. I'm not sure if I agree to all his arguments..But certainly he taught us many impactful stuff like the concept of caste and how entangled it in in polity & economy of India, how society evolved like this, Indian constitution and its formation..and many more stuff.. Around 10 movie screenings in the audi..some of them , quite impactful.. 
   Above all that, he has given us two booklets with lot of articles..Of course, none of us read those before exams completely..But this would be an integral part in my personal library..Sometime when I'm free,I plan to read many of these again .. 

  Some of the quotable quotes from his class....
  
  Prof : "If a girl sleeps with 10 guys, she'll be called a slut..But if a guy sleeps with 10 girls, what will you call him?" 
 Class :  "Stud" :-) 

  Prof : " You havnt read Premchand ? My God...How can u call yourself an Indian ? Half your life is lost " 

  Prof: "The biggest problem that India is facing is........ Awasthi is sleeping :-)" ( Pointing to a guy dozing off in class ..This happened in another section..not my class..but this was a masterpiece )

  Prof: "You...you single celled protozoa.." ( pointing to a guy ) 
  
  Prof: "He is in a trance "( Pointing to me ,when I was dozing off :-) ) 

  Prof ( While explaining sexuality ) : "Read  -some purana story name - .. It is much better than surfing porn in internet " 
 
  Prof:  "look at Ajith...he's comes dressed up...probably put lacto calamine lotion..and ponds face powder "   
   
Ajith

Aug 31, 2008

The Question Of Ethics




"How ethical are you ?" ..This is a question which quite a few people have asked me after coming here..Infact almost every mock interview / committee interview at IIMK had this question..
Long back during my schooling and early college life, I considered smoking & drinking as totally wrong and unethical ... I no longer hold that perspective.. I still dont smoke( but I do take couple of pegs :) ) ... The way I look at people have undergone a sea change.. Similarly, I considered abstaining from seeing pornographic movies as an ethical way of life..but thankfully or otherwise, those myths got busted early in NITC life itself :-) ...similarly many more stuff...
If you have are caught in a situation where in you have to tell a lie to defend a promise,what would you do ? Most of us would tell the lie so that the promise holds... This might seem trivial, but few years back i was in such a situation which resulted in a big change in my life... Now when I look back to that episode, I think I would have handled it in a more mature way..Maybe declining to answer the question, or even managing my way out of the situation..

I still see pirated movies, I still use pirated software... So,that way, I'm not ethical. In IIMK, a significant ethical conflict that I've felt till now was over free-riding ( i.e, in a project group , you just relax, let others do the task ) .. No matter however talented you are, the pressures in a B-school makes you freeride in one project or the other regularly..

The values that an individual subscribes to undergoes lot of changes as he/she progresses in life..But then,there are some core values that remain more or less same... Its not easy to enumerate those core values... maybe a sense of equity,consideration for common good,being true to oneself etc... Over those, I still feel I'm the same .

Ajith

Aug 10, 2008

B-school Life - Part II



Certain observations/happenings/realizations/updates over Life @ IIMK .

* I get up a day and struggle to realize which day it is..i.e, whether it is a sunday or friday or any other weekday, all are more or less equal now with workload.

* I thought I'm decent in time management skills..Apparently, first month here has proved otherwise :-) ..I've missed quite a few things which I wouldn't have otherwise.

* I buy Business Line & The Hindu..But unable to read those on most days..And I'm running out of space to put all those newspapers.

* As a consequence of the above factor and my reluctance to clean, my room looks more or less like a dumping ground of newspapers, articles and books :-(

* My home is just 22 KM from here and I have a bike..But have gone there only for a few hours in last one month.

* I was caught sleeping in the class quite a few times..And the fact that my name begins with letter 'A' ensures that I'll have to sit in the front row..I'm eagerly awaiting for term 2 to start as my seat will be moved to the last row :-) ... And yeah, there is an MMS circulating in campus in which I was caught sleeping in class :-)

* B'coz of the above factor, I've decided that I'd not name my kid with a name starting with letter 'A'.. No matter however good the lecture is, you can't help sometimes ..

* 2 AM is the normal time to sleep now..And some days, it extends past 4 AM .

* There are quite a few opportunities in an IIM..But a day has only 24 hrs out of which you have to sleep for atleast 4 hrs .

* I see quite a few people getting too much upset over small reverses like bad exams, less marks, disproportionate rewards etc... But life is more than all these.

* A key learning - Even if you have nothing substantial to submit, its important to format it properly :-)

* And yeah, I won an election to get into Students' Council :-)

Part 1 of B-school life Linked here

Ajith

Jul 28, 2008

Time..Opportunities...Regrets ?



At certain points in life you feel you should have done something a tad earlier..I was almost certain that this feeling was to strike at me some point or other during this 2 year course...It did,though from an unexpected angle/source... Last week I came across 2 situations, wherein I would have had more freedom had I finished my education one/two years before.. And one of those did put me into a deep & prolonged thought..

Certain actions might seem illogical..But, not everything in life can be explained rationally/ logically..I'm thinking of resorting to an irrational action ... something that seems outrightly childish.. But, my heart asks me to try my luck :-) .

( PS:- This is not to discourage anyone having significant workexp from doing MBA..Infact, workexp makes you more mature and your takeaways from MBA would be much higher... All thoughts and actions contemplated are from a strict personal perspective )

Ajith

Jul 19, 2008

The Six-Degrees Principle



Orkutting is fun..Its even funnier with this thing called 'mutual friends'..I know that it is not recent, but still there are a couple of interesting stuff thats associated with this..

There is something called as 'Six-degrees of separation' .. What it means is not that every two guys in world would be connected by 'six hops'.. It just says that the average number of 'hops' would be six.. There have been experiments to verify this concept in facebook, where the average hop-length turned out to be 5.73 ( Strong validation , I should say )

In the last couple of months, my orkut friends list increased from sub-300 levels to 470+ ( and still growing ) owing to IIMK admission..I've started looking into the mutual friends list whenever I get a new connection..And there have been instances when I got literally startled like
" Oh..How does he know HER ? ".. OR .. "Oh..man, she knows that bugger? How come? "...This sense of strangeness is quadrupled when u do random orkuting clicking on someone's profile ( I used to do this when I had ample free time in Oracle..but thats not the case anymore :( ) ..then clicking on their 'interesting' friends..and so on.. And u end up at a chick's profile ..but invariably, there would be some guy who'd be there in the mutual friends list...

Had orkut given a feature in which u can enter two orkut profile URLs and check if they are connected or not , it would have been even more interesting.. Eitherway, owing to these social networks, I've started to look for these 'degrees of separation' more often.. And as MBA students, we are told to do more and more networking..Though that doesnt mean just expanding the linkedin / facebook / orkut networks, this has become an integral part of it..

This is actually creepy at times..Like, after 10 years, when the social networks somehow use a common underlying platform & open communication APIs, practically every two individuals in any corner of the world could be connected in 'six hops' .. And if you want to know how social networking thing can affect your marriage chances, check this entertaining post by Vinay :-) .. There are people who do evaluation of potential partner by extensive 'orkut-research' and even for that matter 'scrapbook-research'. These people have been severely affected since orkut came up that security features and all..But I'm sure that people would find alternate, if not better ways :-)

PS:- I've quite a few tasks whose deadlines are tomorrow 23.59 PM and quite a few subjects to prepare for monday... But I knew I just had to post this regardless of whatever stuff thats pending... because without constant updates on this blog, I wouldn't just be myself... And I dont want that to happen.

Ajith

Jul 5, 2008

The B-school Life



So, 3 weeks here @ IIMK and I finally get some time to blog... There is nothing very particular that I plan to blog..All are kind of arbitrary..

Often many of us ( including me ) tend to think that our life has been tough and we didnt get what we deserved.. Here, I've met some individuals who have fought of ( or, are still fighting off ) lot of adversities. And compared to them, atleast my difficulties seemed to be trivial.. I tend to realise that the difficulties faced by each of us are kind of unique..And there is no point in benchmarking those..
So, what else are the changes that have come up in me ?

-- The total intake of tea & coffee ( Unlike quite a few people, I drink both ) has increased exponentially
-- I dont feel like sleeping till atleast 1AM ( excluding the time that I doze off in class :-) )
-- There are basically two choices here..Either insulate yourself and concentrate on studies or study a bit and enjoy the life here.. Though I had intentions of slogging when I came here, I quickly dropped off that idea and I'm enjoying my stay here.
-- I tend to find quite a lot of people who are better than me in each and every thing..
-- "Rewards are rarely proportional to the efforts " .. Thats something that one needs to get into his/her mind to survive here. Fortunately, I've accepted this as a fact long time before itself.
-- I think time management would be perhaps my most significant takeaway from this course.
-- Quite a few people are complaining that I'm out of touch with them..I accept it..Time has a high premium value in this system.
-- "Even if you win this rat race, you are still a rat" :-)
-- Every other week, you have a party... And yeah, I still stop at 2 or 3 pegs :-)

Ajith

Jun 12, 2008

The Last 4 Years



Totally random semi-philosophic post :-) .. Quite long too..Read if you have plenty of time and no other work to do .

There was a mail which I sent to a select group of friends four years back when I graduated..It was about what I learned about life during my graduation...Now , after another four years I'm again going back to college for my MBA . I think its time to have another writeup about my learnings during last four years of corporate life, both from a professional & personal perspective.. I'm putting those below.. This is all taken strictly from my perspective / learnings /conclusions.. I dont think many people might agree to all the points. Anyway, here it is..

1) Beyond a level, money would not bring you satisfaction..There is something called as concept of marginal utility in economics. ( You can google out the definitions )..The idea is something like this.. If you earn 3L , an increase in salary to 6L would bring you more satisfaction than what you will have if your salary increases from 1 Crore to 2 Crore. .. Basically, beyond a level, the power of cash to bring in additional satisfaction / completeness to your life drops drastically..But yes, you need a basic level of money ( which varies from person to person depending on his/her lifestyle ) ..beyond that, there is no point in chasing money..


2) 'Work Satisfaction' is often a myth / mirage :-) .. There should be some level of professional satisfaction, but people who jump from companies to companies in search of this 'work satisfaction' are not likely to find it anywhere in the long run.

3) This point might be of relevance to any fresher joining work -- In corporate life, its not enough that you work..You often have to advertise your work. If I look among my friends who have had fantastic career growth in last 4 years or so, one thing that I find among them distinctly is their ability to network , establish contacts in higher positions/various divisions etc.. Their career growth is not because of their fantastic coding skills or anything like that.. Be it any profession/industry , its your social skills that matter the most ... I'm sure that more than 90% of the people who have worked for about 3yrs or more would definitely agree to this.

4) The last four years has been a stretch wherein my faith/belief in God has been tested a lot..I've failed in that. Its not that I'm totally agnostic now..But I've more or less stopped praying to God for something to happen..( though involuntarily, I tend to pray sometimes because of my upbringing ) ..Infact, 4 years back whenever I face a problem, first thing that I used to do was to pray to God ..I no longer do that , though I often express my goodwill to God if something good happens :-) ... I dont know if this is good or bad..But certainly , at this point in life, I no longer have a blind faith that I've had 4 years before.. Infact, I feel that faith in something / someone can often lead to terrible disappointments.

5) Faith might not be a good thing to have, but 'hope' is a good thing to have ( Remember 'Shawshank Redemption' ) .. I do believe that life comes a full circle for some reason. If you have some good times now, its quite natural/certain that you will have bad times..And the reverse too. If you have had some bad times, certainly life would turnaround and you will have good times ( though this might not be perpetual ) .. And the key thing for this turnaround is 'hope' .. Hope or optimism has a strange power to motivate people to put in good effort.. If you keep up that hope, you can certainly cause good things to come in your life..

6) I've often asked myself what I should aim in life... I have not yet found out that..But I certainly feel that people would have a satisfied life if they engage themselves in quite a few things ( be it music / NGO / sports / community work /... ) and never 'retire' themselves .. A single minded focus on family + profession is quite likely to see you in a disappointed state sooner or later .. I know many people might disagree to this..I'm not saying you shouldnt care about these.. You should involve in other activities in addition to family & profession..

7) You can't plan your life realistically beyond a span of say, 2 years..In that sense, I've found all this MBA / MS 'statement of purpose' to be heights of nonsense..I think I myself tried different statement of purpose for different MBA interviews..And even after getting admission, I really dont think one should go in with a stereotyped mentality .. Its better to take decisions based on available options & situations rather than saying 'no' to all the possible chances (unless you are that precociously talented, wherein you can ace any test/interview that comes your way)

8) Its important to fail at some point(s) in life. Because,that itself is an experience.. That teaches you how to bounce back..how to correct yourself. And you should have the guts to admit a failure.

9) There is a statement in 'Dil Chahta Hai' that comes back to me again & again.. "Every action/decision by someone has a reason behind it" ( I forgot the Hindi wordings used in this scene..its when Amir Khan's father talks to him about why Preity Zinta doesnt want to marry him )
...Extending that, the reason behind an action by me might not be comprehensible to you..And a reason behind your action might not be comprehensible to me..Or rather, these buzzwords - rational , logical , common sensical -- all these vary from person to person to a great degree.. As an example when I say I've resigned from Oracle and am going to study, quite a few people think that I'm mad..quite a few people think that I'm right.. The point is, we too might be in a situation wherein we fail to appreciate the choice that another person is making.. But, we have to respect his/her choice because he/she will be having some reason behind that choice ( which, we might not be able to appreciate ) ..Arguments,debates ... all are fine..But once someone makes a decision, it is made.

10) Its important to enjoy the present, no matter however illustrious your past was / however promising your future is ... Certain things which your mind / conscience calls you to do, you just go ahead and do it..Dont bother about the expense / savings ( as long as you are not anywhere near bankruptcy :-) ) ..

11)I've come across many people who say "I've no regrets in life" ..If they really mean it, I envy them..I have plenty of regrets in life..I dont know if it is possible to be in a 'regret-less' state.. If it is, then i think I need to strive to reach that state.

12) This one is from public domain.. There is a common tendency among people to say that 'consensus should be achieved/majority opinion should be followed etc'.. But, be it in small teams or big nations, democracy might not result in good / correct things..As an example, I believe that Musharraf's rule is Pakistan is better for Indian security compared to a disjoint and weak democracy operating there..No matter however he manipulates the system to be at the helm, its often better to have a sensible man in control of the situation...The point to be kpet in mind is that, often we tend to think that somebody has taken a right solution, because it was the most democratic one..But democracy & correctness need not go together.


--- Ah enough nonsense..I guess I better stop.

( PS:- I'm not drunk :-) )

May 31, 2008

A Place That I'll Miss.



"Eda..Coming with you to Landmark is like accompanying a lady to a Saree shop" .. I don't deny that .. And because of this, I dont drag people to this place :-)

As I'm packing up my stuff to leave b'lore, I calculated an approximate sum of money that I had spent @ Landmark over the last two years..That would definitely come to about Rs.22,000+ i think ...People ask me why don't I go and buy second hand books that would come damn cheap ...Well, All I can say is, certain questions does not have logical answers.. the atmosphere @ Landmark is a factor..the awesome collection that they have is another.... maybe that 'freshness' in a book would be another...
But rather than all that I'd say, its not possible to rationally or logically substantiate all your actions in life.. Certain things you do because you just want to do those...And you shouldnt restrict yourself from doing those because, you might regret later in life..

( For the Unititiated, LandMark is an amazing books + vcd/dvd + electronic items + .... quite a few items ... showroom in Forum, B'lore )

May 22, 2008

System, Change , Efforts



I went there with a desire to set winds for a change in a system..A system in which I'm going to have very minimal or practically nil stake..Five minutes into the process, I realize that I'm banging my head against a brick wall...When the underlying realities are harsh, words cannot be music to ears... Essentially at some point, I felt its not going to be of much use... The atmosphere is no longer cordial.. I lost interest.. Left the effort..Played on through the process..And it got over.

When I think about it, I still ask myself... In such situations, should one persist and argue over things ? The downside of this being that the cordiality would be more broken than you can amend..And it goes against my 'God-father' principles .. What matters in life the most is your contacts & friends...And you shouldn't antagonize anyone for needless things... But then, it wasnt a needless thing..Its something that I really wanted to see happening, though I wouldn't gain much from it.... Either way, I think I need to improve in communicating certain things.

Ah..Enough philosophy..People are saying I'm a bit too philosophical nowadays. :-)

May 6, 2008

Another Twist In Life



A few posts through last few years in my life

Jan - 2 , 2006 :- IIMB PGP interview call
April - 11 , 2006 :- IIMB puts me in Waitlist - 47
May- 9 , 2006 :- Kicked out of Waiting list
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Nov-20, 2006 :- Better CAT papers..TIME,IMS predicts six calls based on a screwed verbal key
Jan - 8 ,2007 :- Kicks from all IIMs.. One of the most disappointing days in my life
April - 13, 2007 :- PGSEM interview
April - 30, 2007 :- Taking PGSEM but disappointment over PGP still persists
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Jan -10 , 2008 : CAT - 2007 results ( L,K calls )
-- People Dont believe that I got this without any major preps..
But thats the truth .
April 11- 30 , 2008 : OBC quota issues, results delayed .
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May - 1 : 2008


Congratulations Mr. AJITH PRASAD B !. You have been selected for admission to the Post Graduate Programme 2008-10 of IIM Kozhikode. Offer letter is being sent by speed post to your address.

The validity of the offer is subject to your Offer Acceptance Form (duly completed) with an amount of Rs. 65,000/- (Rupees Sixty five thousand only) towards advance for 1st Term fee and the course completion certificate (if you are yet to graduate) reaching the Admissions Office on or before May 19, 2008.

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A tail piece:- I know I wont be able justify many things that I did over this entire chase..But nevertheless, many actions in life cannot be explained fully... And I'm taking it. Its going to be IIMK for the next two years :-)


Ajith

Apr 30, 2008

The Beautiful Game Returns !!!



I know it is a bit early..but couldn’t help. My soccer craze is sort of biennial .. Whenever World cup or Euro is round the corner, I dig up enough soccer material from net to add to the already esoteric collection of interests.. Euro-08, the once in four year soccer championship among European Nations will kick off in Austria & Switzerland coming June. So, this post is about soccer :)

( My “Ideal match” column in orkut profile has been reflecting the Euro – 08 interest ever since the tournament draw has been published :))

After having lived in a soccer-crazy engineering college campus where television broadcasts of non-descript matches in EPL & Italian League draw more attendance than lecture sessions, I’d say, club soccer has failed to captivate my interest. My knowledge in club soccer is largely superficial. I give a miss to even the champions league matches where perhaps the best individual soccer talents in the planet are showcased.. But, I’ve rarely missed any significant matches in any of the World cup soccer tournaments from USA -94 ( I still have some memories of Italia – 90 ) & Euro tournaments from England-96…I don’t know whats the reason for my non-interest towards club soccer…Maybe the nationalistic fervor in Euro & World Cup is at a different level.. But whatever be it, I’m increasingly reading quite a few news items tracking Euro-08 and half-soccer crazy as of now :-)

Okay.. I’m not going to do any thread-bare analysis of strengths of different teams and all..but still a bit of analysis ..

My logical bet for this Euro - Italy

With their core World cup winning squad intact & with Alex Del Piero in blazing form in Italian league, I’d put my money on them , though I don’t really like their way of play.. But solid..really solid team, unfortunately in a very tough group with Netherlands , Romania & France.. Hope they clear the group stage :-)

The team which I want to win – Czech Republic

Caveat :- Only if they manage to get Pavel Nedved back into the team.

Reason – Nedved, one of the most gifted and accomplished players of his generation in club soccer deserves something better in international soccer..I still remember that amazing match in last world cup where an inspired Italian defence marshalled by Cannavaro kicked Czechs out of the world cup.. And last Euro, wherein his injury limped him off the field in that semi final against Greece..The current Czech captain , Tomas Rosicky ( another of my favorite players ) is nursing an injury and because of that , calls for Nedved to come back to the team has intensified .. Retired from international soccer , but playing in Italian league in a good way, I hope he does a ‘la Zidane act and carries Czechs all the way to glory :-).

( PS – Pavel Nedved is one of the very few soccer communities that I’m a member of in orkut )
(PPS - If Nedved & Rosicky are not there, my support goes to Netherlands :-) )


The Dark Horses

An unlikely pick, but my vote goes for Romania in this category.

Reason :- I just love their style of play.. Fast, classy,superb..Romania was one of the teams which really caught my attention way back in US-94 WC..The golden generation of George Hagi is gone..but new players , same style..capable of bringing in a few upsets, but unfortunately drawn into the toughest group for preliminary round..But they are in good form too :)

A Tail Piece

-- No matter who wins, the game is beautiful as a lovely lass :) ..Or in title words, "The Beautiful Game Returns" :-)

Ajith

Apr 24, 2008

Irritated :(



They say two weeks :( ... And chances of further slippings.. Things getting tight by every passing day... Hmmmm.... I wish I could give some satire links..but, then it would become a different ball game .

(PS:- Sorry..No explanations can be offered :( )


Ajith

Apr 4, 2008

Cafe Coffee Day & IT Professionals



These two snaps describe what happens when a group of IT pros , empowered with Sodexho coupons visit CCD :-) ..One glass of "iced eskimo ...." ( none knew what it was :-) ) shared using 4 straws. CCD people would have been accustomed to couples using two straws in one glass..But this would have been something new to them :-) ..




And yeah, post won't be complete without how we paid them...
Hail Sodexho :-)

Mar 28, 2008

History, Jodha Akbar & Movie Scripts



Given my penchant for historical movies, I couldnt miss Jodha-Akbar for too long..Finally saw that last weekend @ INOX . I'm not going to write a big review about that..There are plenty of funny reviews available on net like this one :-) ..

The movie is actually pretty average...like a semi-documentary.. The songs were good..especially I liked the 'Khwaja mere Kwaja...' one very much..And yeah, Aiswarya Rai still looks too good in some sequences :-) ..The camera work in battle sequences left a lot to be desired..Nothing much exceptional there..The last fight was a badly imitated one from Troy ( Hector - Achilles ) ..

An interesting thing which caught my attention in this movie is how the prince/princess type people get privacy.. Usually they'll be surrounded by many servants ..and when the possibility of romance comes, they just have to shout "Ekaant" .. Thats an interesting way :-)
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This is movie which has raked up many protests in Rajasthan because some believe 'Jodha' is the name of Akbar's mother, not wife.. Infact many historical movies released in India have been dogged by such controversies. Even if their arguments are true, this is actually a very silly controversy..The fact that Akbar had a Rajput wife has been documented beyond doubt, only her name is uncertain..If I remember the old Mughal-E-Aazam correctly, it shows Akbar's wife as a Rajput princess.

This took my thoughts to a malayalam movie - 'Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha' , by MT Vasudevan Nair. One of the most critically acclaimed , yet very much popular movie in Malayalam movie history.. This is a movie in which MT showed a Villain in folklore history in a positive light.. Infact, the impact of the movie has been such that if you quiz an average Keralite about this folklore story, he's quite likely to tell MT's version. The story runs from the anti-hero's ( played by Mammootty ) perspective and it gives various explanations to all the wrong deeds that the he's accused off in the folklore story... That is actually historical fiction at its best. And it created no controversy !!! ..

I'm just wondering , are there any good English movies in which this kind of "anti-hero in real life to hero in reel life" transformations have been attempted ?
The scale of historical fiction that I'm looking for is something akin to what would happen if someone portrays the 'Jackal' in the 'Day of the Jackal' as a hero..

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Off track Request :- Please help this mallu {fraud} to break his bachelor life by finding the girl he has mentioned :-)
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Mar 22, 2008

Numbers...More Numbers



There is a trivial part in 'A Beautiful Mind', the Oscar winning movie in which Russel Crowe plays the brilliant , but Schizophrenic mathematician John Nash...

The FBI/Pentagon intercepts some transmission containing lots of numbers, thrown over a large piece of paper/screen..Nobody is able to make out any sense out of it..They call John Nash..this guy stares at that for hours altogether..And finally shouts "Get me a map".. He then proceeds to interpret the numbers in the transmission as latitudes and longitudes of various places..

Now I didnt invent / discover anything like that...But in today's CorpFin class, my state was almost like those clueless FBI officials.. An excel spreadsheet with numbers and formula being displayed on the screen..prof making some calculations.. inflation, NPV, discount rate, IRR .. numbers throughout that excel .. 1.3231, 23.2435 , 343.211 , 1.321 ...... It made some sense to some people.. But it reaffirmed one of those old inferences that I made about myself.. I'm not good for Finance... I love maths , but not this type of number crunching.. Gimme geometry/trigonometry , I'll do..but not this type of raw number crunching..But unfortunately no one has discovered much applications for geometry in management i think.

On a different note, I've just started reading George Soros' 'The Crisis of Global Capitalism' ..I'd recommend it to anyone having even a fleeting interest in Economics

Ajith

Mar 13, 2008

A Sense Of Loss !!!!



I get nostalgic frequently.. Some people say it is a sign of aging :-).. Last time when I visited NITC, this feeling was at its peak.. Now, the spark is something totally different..Called up home yesterday..Amma told me that our ancestral home ( 'tharavadu' - in malayalam ) is going to be demolished and built again.. That is about 50+ years old and the building is literally crumbling..75 % of the area inside the home gets drenched during rainy season as the old roofing is slowly giving up to its 'wear-and-tear'.. And it is literally not possible to stay there during monsoon time.. And if it stays like this for 3 more seasons , it may collapse itself.. So , definitely from a logical perspective it makes sense to pull it down and build it again...

But even after all logical explanations, I dont know how to express the kind of emptiness that I feel when I hear that it is being demolished.. This place used to be the gathering point of a very large family...During my schooling , I used to frequent to this place on every vacation...Cousins and relatives spread throughout India, and some abroad used to come to this home during their vacations.... It used to be a sort of magnet if I can term it that way.. That place wont be the same again... Today I tried explaining the reasons to a cousin.. Though she expressed the very same kind of emptiness, I sort of tried to put up a logical perspective...I'd say, after a long time, I tried not to be true to myself in a conversation for some reason or other..

Whatever..

Change...The constant denominator of Life ..Sigh!!!
====================================================
It takes some courage to smile after tragedies..And people who do that are
really great.. A great tribute to a mother from a daughter .
I somehow admire this character.
====================================================
Ajith

Feb 26, 2008

Theyyam - A good video





This gives a good preview of a traditional art form in Kerala - Theyyam.
Its not just the visualization that makes it unique..Superb narration, background music ..All in all, a wonderful video if u know malayalam..This took me back to those wonderful school days when I really liked those malayalam poems/verses.

Ajith

Feb 17, 2008

In Search For an Aim



I've realized something over the last few days.. Unless I have a specific aim(s) , my life is kind of dull.. Infact, if I see no direct utility/purpose in what I'm studying , I tend to take it easy.. I tend to do well in subjects to which I can attach a certain personal/entrepreneurial interest ( not those which may help me in work ) .. During the last week's exam preps, I kept thinking again and again whether these type of complicated formulations would help me in anyway.. Even when I kept telling myself that these may help me at a later point, which I cannot forsee now, I somehow couldnt instil enough interest in myself..

It took back my thought process to a time when I was perhaps in a most inspired/motivated state ..That was during IIT-JEE preps.. Even though I couldnt get in , I still remember that entire period of 2 years during +2 was perhaps the happiest period in my life..And a major reason for that happiness was this motivated state.. or rather obsession with that IIT brand.

After that, further aims/goals/ all have come in my life..but none has motivated me as strong as that IIT dream had at that ripe young age.. Achieved some aims,missed some.. I won't put the cliched saying of 'no regrets' here..I have my own share of regrets :-), but the point is not that..its that for getting back that excitement, I need to set some aim / goal / vision...Again I might not be able to pull back that IIT level motivation..but need to set something thats good enough to motivate me to a decent level..

Current mood :- Highly Arbit & somewhat philosophic

Jan 26, 2008

Trouble with a name



I'm in an interesting situation... Few years back during my schooling , I came across a guy 'X' who played certain pranks on me..The pranks were not that serious , but sort of irritating enough for me to remember this guy even now... Much later I came across another guy 'Y', who really made some trouble in my life/career at-least indirectly.. And I was seriously irritated with him then.. Whether the changes that I made to get away from 'Y' was good or bad is another debatable thing.. But whatever, the connection between 'X' and 'Y' is that they share the same first name.

Now, I'm increasingly interacting with another guy 'Z' - who shares the same first name.. Rationally there is no reason why I should be hesitant in interacting with him..but as some people say, intuition or gut-feeling is telling me to be extremely careful while dealing with 'Z' ... I'm just wondering .. have any of you been in such a situation ? Isn't it wonderful seeing the way our brain picks up patterns and interprets it..I mean, there is nothing else common between X,Y & Z except for the name.. But still the warning signals come from deep inside ... Got to see how it goes. :)

Ajith

Jan 15, 2008

NITC Special ==> Lost Symbols ?



Alright , here’s the NITC special post. The usual disclaimers apply.. This might seem extremely irrelevant for all Non-NITC/CREC visitors to my blog.

Date of visit : Jan – 6, 2008

Quite a lot of things have changed since my last visit.. As I remarked in my last post, I was here for attending the wedding reception of my batch-mate, Ibrahim.. The first sight that kind of ignited the old memories…

(1) Mamachan’s Ruins è http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154167544479834402

They have moved a little bit ahead

(2) The New Mamachan’s location è http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154167565954670898

After this, I stepped into the campus through the rear gate
(3) This place hasn’t changed much..Isn’t it ?

http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154167596019441986

Buildings everywhere!.. I lost count of the number of hostels that the college has..There
a new PG hostel, old PG modified, F’ ( F-dash , in NITC lingo ) extended to three floors, G ( which was almost complete when I graduated , two new ones behind that ( almost on the verge of completion ) ..Seriously are there this much students in NITC? There is a block each for the CSC & Electronics dept that has come up behind the old dept locations.

(4) http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154167626084213074

(5) http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154167647559049570

(6) http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154167677623820658 – That’s the new CC ( almost behind the basket ball court ).. I peeked into it.. Most were orkutting :-)

I couldn’t go to valley..It seems that’s now off-bounds for students after some ‘incidents’ there :-) .. Basically to get into that entire walled area on the other side of road enclosing staff quarters, LH etc, u need to write ur name with security , take permission and stuff like that.. So, didn’t go there..

(7) http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154167699098657154 – That’s our gang who came for the reception

This sight pained me….No..not the basky court.. but behind that.. The FBG is lost !!! Some international library complex is coming up… Not that I was a football player.. but, this was one of the unique symbols in NITC.. The monsoon cup matches..Where do those take place nowadays ? In 12th mile ?

(8) The MB triangular notice board è http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154167780703035826

I don’t know much about the incident ..May his soul rest in peace..

(9) Ah.. Our department è http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154167815062774210

(10) ..Finally we sat on front bench è http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154167832242643410

(11) This I took from Civil dept notice board è http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154167896667152898

Basically talks about the list of projects done by some students under’Centre for value Education’ – I wonder if I can read those reports somehow..Sounds interesting ..

(12)In front of old CC è http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154168051285975698

That’s closed now..Once that new library complex comes up, I wonder whats going to happen to this building ..

(13) Any idea whats this è http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154168154365190882

That’s the new MC , opposite of C-hostel !!!.. And the old MC ?? Here is it è

http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/photo#5154168240264536866

-- I don’t have much to say. Change is good….but then..I feel the heart and soul of NITC night life is gone L

As I drove back to Calicut, all those memories came…friendships, rivalries, arguments, grief , laughter ..Ah..those 4 years.. Those 4 years from which I learned a lot.. Moments when I felt I had lost everything..Moments when I felt I had conquered everything…Illusions…Sigh!!!

The complete album at http://picasaweb.google.com/ajithprasadb/NITC/


Ajith

Jan 11, 2008

Economics,Girl Friends & Tata's Nano



I had to post this.. Or rather rediff gave me an opportunity ..See this news

-- Impressed by Tata's One Lakh car, Sanjay Dutt chose that to gift a Tata Nano to his girl friend Manyata.. It also reports that he chose Nano over a 4 Crore car :-).. I wonder what Manyata's reaction was when she heard this 4 Crore - 1 Lakh swap ..Or call it economics of love .. Assuming he had 4 Crore money for this purpose, he can split it and give it to 400 girl-friends, past present and future..

Makes sense..Isn't it ?

Jan 10, 2008

Time Value



No..I'm not cribbing about the time that I lose..But a different thing.... Something for which I yearned two years before didn't materialize then, but it did now..And now I'm in an entirely different situation...It the sense,it would have made me ecstatic two years back..but it is kind of making me indifferent now... Hmmm..Got to think .

On another note..Who said two wrongs doesnt make a right ? It does atleast in software..
"Wrong Code + Wrong Test Case = Expected Results " -- I got that yesterday..Fortunately was easy to fix..

And over the NITC trip that I was talking about in last post - We went..But I need a big post and more time to describe those..Would do in a week :-)

Ajith