Connecting People...

"At the end of the day. the biggest takeaway for you from a business school would not be the academic gyaan from classrooms. Rather, it would be the network you build across three batches; the immediate (senior + junior) batches along with your own."

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Thus spoke a senior during one of the facchha interaction/gyaan session when I joined IIM Bangalore. Makes sense, and have seen some examples too during the summer internship.

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However, some of the junta around here has taken it in a slightly more serious colour - desperately trying to connect to all of their batchmates despite having absolutely no commmon ground for interaction with many of them - no common classes/friends/hostel/club activities - nothing. It started off with mass-friendship requests on orkut (My orkut friend list inflated by over a 100 on joining IIMB while I am on talking terms with barely a 50-odd junta). Then came the gtalk add-requests from people I have just seen faces of a couple of times on the campus, which I find fairly intrusive. And finally, the seemingly innocent queries / comments on bracket (IIMB messenger) regarding next day classes/exam syllabi, which could have been answered by someone in their own friends' circle as well.

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Not many do the last bit, only a handful of people come down to that level. Slightly ironical though; the same network might work against you if, in the process of building it, you tarnish your image :)

Me Sai Baba Boltoy

Desi News Channels have long been serving as your friendly neighbourhood laughter clubs. Lately, however, it seems that these channels have taken up this (corporate) social responsbility in a much more serious manner.

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Aaj tak has been screaming for past 3 days how the fake video of Sai Baba is fake (the irony of the poor grammar construct, surprisingly, completely misses the production team). Star News is busy telling how it has been issued a Thank You note by the Sai Baba ashram for bringing it to their notice. "Bhakton ki bhavnaon ke saath Khilwaad" was the tagline on another news channel, not to mention the "Breaking News" caption being used for past 72 hours. Sure breaks something, though doesn't break in.

Of course, one gets such jewels all the time. I remember the time when Star News used to give regular updates on the happenings in its two popular serials - Kyunki... and Kahaani... during the news bulletins. Aaz Tak recently gave what seemed to be a day long telecast of a cellphone recording of strange lightening in the sky with no official version to support the same. Every news channel gave a 24 hour live coverage of the Prince case, while none tried to give a perspective to the viewers on the real reasons behind the accident, and what's the extent of risk of such an incident recurring. (A newspaper reported a similar incident few days after Prince, completely ignored by the TV media). Hike in fares in Vaishno Devi Temple was dished for 2 days with captions as "Ma, ye kya hua". And of course, Arushi episode has been hanged, drawn and quartered. Further examples from two leading news channels -

I remember the days when Aaztak was launched - wealth of relevant information presented in a neutral tone in a flawless and articulate manner. Why has the national TV news media of today completely converted to some page 3 tabloid, hanging on to every catchy news bit, squeezing out the last drop, beating the neighbourhood-ganne-ka-joos-wala in the process. Leave it for the local print media, for crying out loud.

The Hall-of-the-Fame moment however would have to be the one where an AazTak field reporter yelled in that characteristic fake terrorised tone, while in the vicinity of a murder scene - "Dekhiye, Dekhiye, yahi hai wo dukaan jahan Kaatil ne katal karne se pehle chai pee thi......Ye vehshi darinda katal jaisi ghinanuni vaardaat anjaam dene se pehle takalluf ke saath chai pee sakta hai to Sochiye, Sochiye aur kya ker sakta hai......Ye kahin bhi ho sakta hai, yahan, wahan, aapke ghar ke peechhe gali me..."

I sure am loving it...

Musings

Moonlight bathes the road ahead
Stars shining their glory bright
Little blades of grass pave the way
As one sets the next foot in the night.

Breezy air brushes against the skin
A touch so sublime; One wonders,
This journey seems so alive
And the past just flashes by

Those days in school, kids around you,
Dreamy eyes; Slurping away the candy bars
The bell goes, it's time to trek back
Alone, as we have different paths

The birthdays and the cakes
Oft landed kisses on the cheek
The candles just keep gaining numbers
Blazing together; a whiff to bow them apart.

And one keeps walking; making friends
Whiling away time through the nights
Smoking the first drag, (remember)
Things start making sense sometimes

Here comes the graduation day
Lost in tides of orange and blue
Years of slog gets you the paper
Destined again, for a lonely stride

The rosy dew, the sweet scent
Someone's been hanging to your right
One tries hold on, but it fades away;
Grains of sand slip through the hands

And life goes on, as you walk
Right down the road, till the end
Dawn is breaking on the horizon
And the air starts moving again.

Life has meanings locked up deep
Solitude holds the key.

You f*** with us, We f*** with you...

I was going over my macroeconomics book while preparing for an exam, and something caught my eye - "Disadvantages of using GDP growth rate as a yardstick to measure economic welfare of the residents of a country" - one of them being GDP not being able to measure income disparity. 'Aah', I said to myself, 'some frank admission!'

My mind went into a flash back - last year, there was a huge uproar on national scale against the new reservation policy stipulating higher quotas for SC/ST/OBC categories. Merit was the new buzzword - students protesting with banners held high was a common scene outside AIIMS and some DU colleges in Delhi. The IIT Delhi guys too woke up from their slumber and decided to stage a protest outside the main gate of the institute. I was there, and watched them do that, protest that is - a few of them were cleaning windshields of the parked cars, a couple of them opened up fake cobbler shops and were cleaning shoes of the bystanders. Another group held banners, stating that this is all what they, the best minds of the country, were destined to do due to increased reservation quotas, since merit won't be the criteria to get admission to IITs, the incompetent ones getting the ticket riding on the wave of reservation. There was a roaring applause from the amused audience, and the media covered it alrite.

Personally, I felt disgusted as an IIT alumnus, as a person born to "high-caste" parents, and as a fellow human being. After all this pomp and show, the only argument I could see being made was that cleaning cars and shining shoes is the only job fit for the so-called lower caste guys, the premise being that these guys were quintessentially low on their IQ. To me, these bright IIT minds were doing exactly the same thing what the current reservation policy is doing, widening the social divide. You f*** with us, We f*** with you...

My objective of writing this post is not to argue in favor of reservation. Or against it, for that matter. For, I do not support the blanket x% quota for SC/ST/OBC. But then, I am also against the idea of doing away with the concept of reservation, or the alternative being suggested i.e. to provide reservation on the basis of economic condition and not caste. And my arguments against each of these are based on one simple fact - the Indian history. (And no, it is not that garbage of you-screwed-my-grand-grand-grandfather-and-hence-I-demand-reservation-to-screw-you, the same old You f*** with us, We f*** with you).

But more on that some other day. One thing I would like to mention though, we cannot shy away from the fact that social status and economic welfare go hand in hand, there is plethora of empirical data available to support it. Which one's the cause and which one's the effect, I really don't know, it's the same thing as who came first, chicken or the egg - doesn't matter.

To that end, India's position is unique - the complex social hierarchy as defined by caste system is found only here. A much-celebrated paper even cited caste system as the underlying reason why India didn't witness the economic cycle of feudalism->socialism->capitalism and the associated (government-aided) civil atrocities observed in whole of the Europe, US, Russia, China, Japan etc. What can be other, not-so-visible, consequences of caste system? What can be the toll of keeping a section of society deprived of education for several centuries? Add to that the literal ban on inter-caste marriage which confined some things that can be passed on only through genetic means, and the picture doesn't look good any more. A vicious circle is in place - you are born poor in your doomed caste, you don't inherit anything - material or abstract - from your parents, you don't get good education due to your poverty, you don't get a decent job and hence a living due to your dismal education, and then you marry someone from a similar socio-economic class and proceed to have children to follow exactly in your footsteps.

The current reservation policy is not a solution to it, as it bestows its benefits upon the already well-off creamy layer of the lower caste population. But instead of crying hoarse against it in the name of merit, we should first think of some other means to bridge this caste-borne income disparity. Merit isn’t something you earned completely through your own efforts, most of it is the IQ you were born with. So why do the kids born in the Indian ghettos not up to the IQ levels of an average kid born to a brahmin/baniya family? Why is that the low-caste students from the creamy layer who get into IITs/IIMs based on reservation perform poorly in academics in general, despite having received decent primary/secondary education? The last question, incidentally, also serves as an argument as to why an economic status based reservation system would not work.

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The need of the hour is to find answers to these questions through in-depth research and analysis, and take steps to correct for the same. But until then, the Arjun Singhs of this world would continue playing vote-bank politics through ever-new reservation announcements, the benefits of the quota-system would keep on accumulating in the laps of the undeserving creamy layer of low caste section, the high-caste guys would continue hating those from low-caste due to the adverse impact of reservation on the former, while the real oppressed ones would remain confined to the lowest rung of socio-economic ladder as they had always been. Then, some day, a couple of them will take up guns and raise the same old slogan, "You f*** with us, We f*** with you".

P.S. The title of this post is inspired from a tee-shirt I just bought. I can't seem to remember the manufacturer's name for acknowledgement - it's not viral marketing anyways.

Groupies...Rookies...

What is up with this world, seriously? I thought it can no longer surprise me, but no - here comes one more treat, after another...it's like an out-of-control bullet train or something.

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A group of friends go out on a trip, apparently enjoy themselves and then come back openly bitching about each other. Another group furiously defends its "group image" in front of others (Yo, we are a team, alrite!) and then indulges in brickbats and mental tortures in its own team huddle. Yet another group tries to "bond" itself with another group, failing which directs its energy in defaming the same group (reminds me the political tactics used in "First among Equals", but that's a story for another day). The remaining "free-radicals", which belong to no particular group, the left-outs, eventually form their own group out of no choice and are instantly branded opportunistic types, grouping together with sinister ulterior motives.

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A human mind is the most complex machine, of course. Put a couple of them together to form a group, and you exponentially increase the complexity. Put few of these groups together and whoa, it is a mayhem. You can either go into the thick and try straighten out the inter-group issues (burning your hands in the process) or just sit back and relax, maybe grab a beer or two, microwave the popcorn and enjoy the show.

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Or maybe portray an overly-intellectual image through blogs and stuff, like yours truly. Life's good.

History as we read it...

I was talking to a friend today. Her dad is into real estate business bigtime and conversation somehow turned towards it. She told me how her dad's partner has observed some really profitable real estate opportunities in J&K, but their firm can't invest in that state owing to regulations imposed under Article 370. "That article is another specimen of minority appeasement and cowardice of Indian governemnt who would never learn to walk straight when under international pressure". Of course, she was quoting her dad verbatim.

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This is not some personal opinion - the sentiment is shared by millions of other Indians (including our right wing political outfits). Why, in God's name, should J&K be given a unique status? How can one even think of recognizing LoC as the International border. What is Pakistan doing over there anyways? Isn't it our land, right back from times immemorial?

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The issue is too broad to be discussed on a blog - that's not my intention anyways. Difference of opinions would exist on such a sentimental issue, after all the two nations didn't engage into four military conflicts over it for nothing, making it perhaps the most controversial territory issue after West Bank/Gaza Strip. But, why are the citizens of these two nations totally unaware of the context of the whole situation, and form opinions based purely on emotional content (a sense of patriotism in case of Indians, and a feeling of Islamic-nationalism in case of brothers from across the border). And I am not talking about the illiterate population, this is about the educated youth.

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How many of the Indians know that J&K was not a state of India before 1948, or that it was a separate nation ruled by a Hindu king with majority of the subjects being Muslims. Or that it became a part of India only when the King didn't have any other alternative at his disposal to save himself from the Paki onslaught? Or that it was the Indian premier who approached UN first on the issue (perhaps, hoping for a Nobel Peace prize) which resulted into the ceasefire around LoC and the string of regulations in form of Article 370 to ensure "status-quo" until normalcy is restored for a plebiscite to be held. Or that there was indeed a genuine aspiration for "Independence" in Kashmiris throughout the latter half of 20th century which, badly handled by Indian government and taken full advantage by Pakistan, turned violent only in 1989. The valley was peaceful before that, but how many of us know it? Or that there might be some grain of truth in the reports of large no. of rapes and civilian murders by Indian army in J&K, published by leading human rights organizations.

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Pakistanis don't need to gloat either. They would always have this view that all muslim majority regions were to be "given" away to Pakistan under the Independence Act (when few of them have actually read it) and India cheated Paksitan in the latter's infancy stage by "holding" back Kashmir. Many suggest that Pakistan whipped Indian asses everytime the two met on the battlefield and that Indians were the first movers/aggressors in each case. Mukti Bahini was a "terrorist" organization, and "Hindus" live in "dark, small houses". They would always cry about 90,000 muslim "freedom fighters" who sacrificed their lives while fighting Indian Army, but do not know iota about the 1,00,000 Kashmiri pandits forced to flee their homeland and living life as refugees all over India. Or how miserable a failue the Two Nations theory proved to be when Bangladeshis fought for liberation. Or that wars always started when a military leader assumed power in Pakistan, as the nation's premier in a coup or through an out-of-control army.

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But why such ignorance on both sides of the border? Why do people of these two nations remain oblivious to such basic facts which are well-known to rest of the world? One peep back into my school history book, and I seem to get my answer. History text books stop at 1947, and reveal nothing what happened after. So the youth forms their own image of post-independence history - aided by a biased media, opportunistic government and a pseudo-nationalistic feeling.

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Why don't the governments try and educate people on the burning issue of kashmir? GoI would rather nuke itself than admit its blunder in Kashmir and GoP won't have any other issue to milk in the next general elections or to keep the attention of Pakistanis diverted from the real issues of military dictatorship and failure of democracy. Meanwhile, the youngsters in India and Pakistan would continue reading their school history books on how Muslim League (Congress for the latter) was adamant on partition, and how their nation has been cheated (and being cheated) on the issue of Kashmir. The Kashmiris, meanwhile, would continue getting crushed between the egos of the two governments, with all the (mis-placed) sympathy of Indian and Paki populace but little translating into action.

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I just hope for some enlightenment...

You have been shortlisted!

Under the authority vested in me by The Firm, I place you under shortlist.

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You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you during the interview. You have the right to speak to your PGP-II mentor, but cannot have him present during any questioning in the interview. If you do not have a PGP-II mentor, one will be provided to you at The Fim's expense.

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In due course, you shall be produced in front of the aforementioned interview panel and sentenced as per laws of The Firm after the panel evaluates the relevant evidence and hears the case of defense.

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P.S. You are advised to gather all documents supporting your case for imprisonment and prepare the "HR" questions well. Be ready to be grilled by the prosecution on "Case" and "Fit".

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P.P.S. Circumstantial evidence - thats all what we care about.

The ten commandments

I feel like a prophet these days...

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MBA education uses levers as class participation (CP) and relative grading (RG) for effective classroom experience. Both mediums are powerfully effective when used (by students!) in the true spirit of learning, but have quite distasteful outcomes when the same students indulge in what they call RG-giri, i.e. trying to portray each other in negative light to score some brownie points in front of the instructor; and indeed, often these brownie points do translate into grades :)

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Anyways, after one such session in a marketing course where the group presenting the case was massacered left, right and centre by an over-enthusiastic (Read: in the RG-giri mood) audience, yours truly too contributing with one question, we came out of the class laughing at ourselves...and then in the same lighter mood, postulated the Ten Commandments of CP.

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Only if Moses was alive, he would not have complained of hearing just the Voice of the Divine.

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(Some terms carry additional explanation in italics).

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1) Thou shalt not CP in the last 2 minutes of a lecture; especially if the prof himself is overshooting the class timings

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2) Thou shall not CP in XYZ course at all, the instructor already himself is a living CP specimen

(not mentioning the course to be, ah, politically correct)

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3) Thou shall not CP if thou art Rajamundry

(an over-enthusiastic chap who CPs, I guess, without any RG intention)

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4) The time between two consecutive CPs shalt atleast be 3 classes

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5) Thou shalt treat the whole class if thou CP more than once in a single day

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6) Thou shalt seek all CP-overdoer infidels and slay them in the name of God

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7) Thou shalt NEVER EVER put in a follow-up CP

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8) If thou art the last person to CP, thou get to be hooshed

(a popular physical torture over here in IIMB)

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9) All case-presenters are thy brothers and sisters, thou shalt love them

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10) Remember, thou shalt be CPed against the way thou CPed unto others

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Credits: CB, Sudhakar and yours truly

Walking down the same lane...

While reading and muggofying reams of photostated material and books for my final examinations, I couldn't help but think - would I ever apply this in practical life? Reframing the question, would I ever get a chance to apply this theory in practice? Is real life a simple intersection of the demand and supply curve, so neatly drawn with no single data point violating the elasticity slopes?

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A seemingly very good explanation (at least it seemed to work till now) given to me by a senior who, btw, I whole-heartedly admire is that tough academics is another way to measure your IQ level - after all, ain't that what the companies, which come hovering down here for recruitment, look for.

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Why don't they just take another IQ test than, and get over with? Oh, but then it again would be the same old thing - the engineering entrance exam, the MBA entrance exam - we are different, and the variety need to come out of our actions. If IQ measurement is indeed the objective, I have my previous scores, thank you very much.

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I am utterly confused - and cannot articulate it in a better (or at least comprehensible ) way. I guess it's not the case of not knowing the answer; I am yet to understand the problem.

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I gonna get back to my books.

Let's exchange...

Yesterday, I came to know about something interesting. My university has an exchange program in management discipline with LUMS (Lahore University of Managment Studies)!

These four guys were cheering the Pakistani team in their 20-20 match with India last night in the hostel mess cum TV room, and that's when the entire audience over here in the campus came to know about them, or rather, their nationality. Till that point, not many were aware of them. At least the first year students had no idea.

A little more enquiry and I came to know that none from IIM Bangalore had opted for LUMS in this exchange program while all the four seats available in IIMB were taken up by LUMS students.

So much for talks of Indians being more tolerant and broad-minded than the neighbours. Or maybe, we are not analyzing things from a proper perspective (?)

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In a league of their own...

While working on a report in one of my course assignments, I came across an interesting observation made by a celebrated personality in corporate circles. I am unable to dig out the exact words, but the gist went something like this - Almost all the successful people whom we generally hear about all the time were really subdued personalities in their early life. Majority of them received quality education no doubt (maybe apart from our revered politicians), but really few of them were regarded as the campus studs back in their student life!

Having myself had the fortunate opportunity of having studied from some of the best institutes in this country, this observation sparked an uneasy conflict in my mind.

Back from my IITD days, I can easily recall some faces who were the most popular on the campus. They were the ones you could see playing a central roles in almost every other campus activity - be it sports or performing arts or the general hostel poltu. Some of them even managed to combine all these with really decent grades and were usually the ones who walked away with the prized jobs IITs have to offer.

Here in IIMB, I am witness to a similar scenario - a handful of students, better known as the studs. Terrific academic performance with proven track record of being a winner in their pre-MBA days, be it the good old graduation time or the couple of years they spent in a firm working before they decided to oblige IIMB with their benign presence. The ones from these in their final year already have job offers from companies most of people out here might kill to work for.

And I, for the life of me, cannot imagine any of these demi-gods being overtaken by some random peer of theirs whom I have never heard of. Someone who is not placed in the same league.

Someone, who is out here in the same campus, a fellow student, with a humble personality and few past achievements to talk about, and is yet destined to surpass all of these demi-gods! The mere thought of such a creature existing in the midst of us sounds unreasonable, plainly void of any rationale and logic. And yet, data proves it to be true!

Perceptive Impressions

My fellow human beings bring a smile to my face everyday. Without them, what would I be. Every other day, I wake up, thinking this would be the day when I won't witness another unseen aspect of Homo Sapiens in its prime. And I am proved wrong, yet again..

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And I keep smiling...

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So whats funny these days? I recently indulged in a small, harmless sport: to observe people's reactions to different faces I put up to them whenever I relocate and meet new people. The results were amazing, of course on expected lines. For some, I am an adorable guy when I showed interest in their personal woes; for others, I am a horrible git for resorting to sarcastic comments on their own inadequacies (Give me a break, we are mortals); some find me really amusing, others tag me a bore. For quite a few, I can safely claim to have become the centre of their years of unvented hatred. Majority thinks I am a pushover, and yet a couple of them are still healing the wounds my verbal projectiles caused. And while reading this blog, some will carry home the image of arrogant, mean me. Amusing how people would judge me on the faces I showed them in the first place, instead of my true self which not a single one of them knows about.

As for me, I adore them all...

A learned teacher of mine once told me, they study the impact of first impression and perceptions people form on the basis of it in heavily funded research programs in the West. The world around me is my own little laboratory.

This game is now having unforseen consequences - some of my dear subjects have been (unintentionally) exposed to conflicting faces, and left utterly confused. Not long before one of them actually corners me. So I am stopping this game.

Does that mean I would reveal my true face? I think I will wear a mask resembling closest to it; exposing one's true self is not recommended in this world.

I am glad I have this choice, some of us do not know their own true face and thus, in an effort to hide it, end up exposing it.

Ah, I forgot I had decided to stop this game.