It's been two months

Yes it has been two months. We are nearing our first term. The finals (6 left) are just around the corener. Two a day , it'll be an experince for me to give two exams a day, each of which is 3 hours long. :-)

Not many things to write. On acadmics front please see pattus log on JIT. I wanted to write about it, but could not have written any better than that.

The other learning that i'm inventing india in terms of busiess and management. When i had left about 9 years ago, i was a programmer and my perspective was narrow in terms of position and industry (software).

The cases from india like Adanis, M&M etc and the folks from indisutry as my batch mate are breaking my sterotypes on how legit business is being done besides the red-tape (my sterotype).

One of the friend mentioned about FMCG that how the company has saftey standards for employees(almost same as world), how ethics are followed and persued (specially for a FMCG -- who has to deal with govt on day to day basis). Just by the sheer weight the company carries. For me this is whole new world, shattering my sterotypes.

Anyway we have an emimenet quiz tomorrow on FRA so get back to studying on ratios, lease, tearing apart balance sheets and P&LS (i have a long way to go though).

Very very interesting case

We had Microsoft case for our group discussion today (FRA). Our focus was on accounting policy details of MS during 1999-2000. The time they were being investigated for it's revenue recognition policy as well as expense/cost recognition policy.

Some of the interstice points that were raised
1. Is google doing something similar
2. Microsoft was caught by SEC in 1999-2000 while Enron was cooking/starting to cook the book --- no one caught them. A mice was trapped but the cat got out
3. How to see thro' the earnings, P&L and Cashflows (using accounting practices) to find a lemon (My FAM class)

A class to remember for a long long time :-)

It's getting better

The stock market is down, providing me a fresh opportunity to invest.
the FAM exam was good, the temperature has been better (though a bit muggy).

What more ? .. I have been to few more restaurants and some of them were so good I should revise my ratings system to get them better ranking.

went to a place called Zodiac on Wednesday (in midst of finals fever). Food was good, service was good, we were too early about 7 p.m. that we were only customers. This mad me think about the hotels no of waiters per table. Anyway I would recommend this returned for a casual dinner.

The other one we went to was -- Vishala - yesterday eve we went to Vishala and I was just spell bound .. The restaurant is a small village in itself. No doubt a bit on expensive side for only food (225/pp for a thali), the experience was worth. All star for certain special occasion trips.

Next stop was Mocha for a cup of coffee, another surprise, it was deceiving from out side. But this is a hukka bar/coffee shop. A fun place to be, except I thought it was too much of smoke around.

Enough of restaurants hoping (last time I used this word was 4/5 years ago.. When we were bar hoping in Village (NYC)).

I have another finals this Saturday . This time it's marketing. The prof got almost a standing ovation when the course completed last week, so one can imagine how the quality learning was.

On the lighter side

I have written a lot about my busy schedules, 18 hours studies, quizzes (tornados), lets write something about some fun stuff in A'bad.

Drinks are banned here in the state (Gandhiji's State) officially. Thus it's a hazard to beat the heat but A'badis (Natives of A'bad ) are fun loving people. They have found various ways to have fun.

The Disco scene is big here. I just hear about it. One of the major attractions here is Hukka's (The old big cigarette of Kings). I'm not sure if these hukka's are toxic (not yet tried) but every where I hear it's hukka's in the restaurants.

Speaking of restaurants, we have been exploring restaurants avg a week (All I get is sunday/Friday -- no more cribbing). So we have explored about a restaurant a week.

The places we have tried are

Pakwaan - Gujarati thali restaurant -- good food - okay ambiance - on the cheaper side 80 rs a thali ( an unlimited meal ) -- *** out of *****
Gowardhan - another Gujarati Thali restaurant -- good food again -- very nice ambiance - a bit expensive than pakwaan (100+ rs a day) -- **** out of *****
Sankalp - a south indian restaurant - very good south indian food -- alright ambiance -- expensive --- **** out of *****
Dhuaan (some kind of fog) -- a bit expensive roof top vergiterian restaurant -- middle Eastern influenced mughali/punjabi food -- a bit expensive -- ****.5 out of *****

I'm collecting more names to go this week after FAM-Economics Finals.

Alright get back to counout, NASH and prisoner's dilemma-- theories of economics:-)

The heat continues

The mercury has reached 46 degree cent. I believe about 115 F. A friend told me today it's few more weeks and the temperature will go down. I hope so.

I wish the case was same at Studies front. We had our first final. The next one is this Saturday and than next and so on .. 10 courses in 9 weeks .. It's beeen a one heated ride.

As I mentioned earlier, have leant a lot and unlearnt a lot ..

Oh yeas some of the notable news today

Mumbai market down 400+ points
Gold down about $30
Crude below 70
Us markets below 11500
US $ down
Indian rupee down


What is going on? Is it that the whole world is feeling the heat?

the heat is on ..

The heat is on.. The comparison for today's temprature

Iselin , San Diego and A'bad. Need i say anything more :-)

Three days with out Quiz.

Is that not a good feeling? It seems we may not have quiz this week. Finals for few subjects have been announced.

Gosh… when will I get time to breathe?
I guess August, may be or may be not. Let’s not be too optimist.

Writing with tablet is fun. It’s got high character recognition capability. Though, I’m still evolving in to a tablet pc user.

I see US market behaving nicely into a slow and steady upstream and Indian market like a kid who wants to fly. Just a few days ago I was thinking that markets have same number (around 11K) and today BSE sensex is at 12K+. How do I interpret this? I’m not familiar with Indian markets that much but one thing I know the one that goes up should come down. Question Is when?

# 13

No thirteen is not my luck no. or something. Though I used to believe that. Growing up during my school times, I used to get Roll call 13. I got so used to it; I started saying my lucky # was 13.

Anyway 13 is the blog no I’m writing today. So what brings me here...
Gold at 660, oil at 75... May be. More importantly Bhairavi and Drishti have gone to Bombay; I feel a part of me is missing. I had mentally prepared myself that I will not miss them, I guess some place preparation hurts.

Oh yeas finally I broke the jinx. I got good grades in DOMD. I would like to think I’m natural at the subject, but I guess the case was easy and SM has been good. One thing is for sure; here I’m not learning major formulae or anything. This was more of something I like to do analyze and put things into perspective.

I still remember the day I gave the quiz, it was kind a fun writing after all those quizzes.

Enough of being happy, it does not last for ever. I’m sure there will be few more tornados coming our way soon. Looking at historical data, probability is high. It could be tomorrow or day after tomorrow. Let’s prepare well...

three days ...three more tornedos

I guess I’m getting used to these touchdowns.

Just like the folks in Midwest. Twisters are not new for them and Quiz is not for me (US). I heard some one saying if we don't have quiz tomorrow I’ll feel weird. I fully concur.

Anyway three quizzes (all surprise) were fun; I think I did well in two. Especially with the level of my preparedness.

Also I got results for the ones I gave a week ago. One result I'm handicap. Handicapped by the tools (Excel). I did not do the calculations right. Results are not worth sharing.

For some, time is not going too fast and for me it's just racing and I’m running out of fuel here and there. I guess working out may be a good idea. When and where? Is another question.

Oh yeas Pres. Bush announced he is opening up the reserves. I guess I can predict events too. I can't though predict which quiz is lined up for tomorrow.

Oil is at highest ever price and so is gold

Where is the economy going?

Oil prices have hit 75 mark, is it going to prove the Goldman report that came out last year true. The report that said the prices will reach 100+. Everyone threw it out of the window last year, when the report came out.

Mr. Bush controlled the prices by releasing some oil inventory and the prices had gone down last time. What’s happening this time? No one is correcting the prices by any counter action? Why? Is it psychologically less leap than last time (40 to 70) and now (60 to 75)? I would love to know what going on? No time to do data mining :-(

How can I forget gold! It’s 635 almost highest ever in 20+ years. Once again why? Is it demand driving the price or is it less supply? But wow the market is seeing some phenomenon that unexplainable for me. Gold from 260 to 650 in 4 to 5 years and oil from 21+ to 75 in 5 years . Is it not counted as inflation?

Anyway whets going on? Not writing about my b-school experience and I’m writing about economy. I guess I’m just a lil surprised that market is changing and I’m not keeping up with the news.

So finally 3 weeks at iima.
One thing learnt (not to be forgotten) is time is expensive here :-)

Looking forward to 4 th week - the starting day has
1. DOMD presentation - group
2. JLP - TLP in OB
3. Possible tornado touch down in AOD (Probabilities)

Looking forward to jam packed week 4 ahead... God give me strength, speed and courage, I'll be victorious.

I'm getting tobe a serious blogger

Yes, this is I guess my 5/6 th blog in last two weeks.

As I would say another tornado touch down. It was an understatement. We had to be in college till 5. That included a test (no money for guessing the subject). Yes costing was the subject. I guess 3rd one in three weeks.

I think more than for other folks, I’m writing my blog for myself. To conserve my memories into a document form that I would not mind sharing with others. It's been three weeks at iima and I have not gotten the fast speed that I would have liked. Anyway there is always tomorrow to look forward to.

Oh yes, we went to a very nice Lebanese/north Indian cuisine serving veggie. restaurant. The experience and food was good. Though the waiter was a bit pushy. Over all it was fun being out of the cage for about 4/5 hours that included shopping, and a candle light terrace dinner with Bhairavi and Dri. :-)

Now I'm off to taking some pictures...

another tornedo touch down

You guessed it. the quiz .. not a surptize one was held today. The sibject was economics a.k.a FAM. I guess who ever had prepared for it were happy.

Some were though not happy either not prepared or over prepared. I guess i was in not prepared list. And some i know were in overly prepared list. But most of them were happy about their performances.

Also some of other notable events were
1. RPL IPO
2. chinese premier in Washington getting 21 cannon salute
3. Relaince buying yet another land in A'bad this time for retail
4. Temprature in A'bad reaching 107 F

it's sunday but just another day

Time is luxury here, intellect is commodity. That’s the thought that pops up in mind on completion of two weeks.

Why is it that every time I think of my experience both almost opposite words comes into mind? Fantastic but very very demanding is one of them. I guess I need to talk to a psych. to evaluate my mind.

Anyway I made it to double digits in the quiz, I don't know how. I feel lucky to be there. We also had quiz for same class (another surprise) this Friday and I did pretty well (that’s what I like to think till I get the result). I guess some of the lessons I had learnt and followed through.

The major one is still not implemented is to practice. I guess next week... a new beginning... a new hope :-)

Everyday I’m here I’m reinventing myself, my endurance.

My postmortem, it's going to get tougher tomorrow and day after... get in the fast lane now.

a 2nd day in row

Writing the blog was reliving experience.. i got out of my first shock .. the quiz.

The prof (Mr. Patel) did not give out the results today. Reading between the lines --- were the results too bad? i guess anything is possible.

Anyway today was another day.. another day gone. Did pretty okay. I was attentive in the class. For the most part.

In ACCV, We had a group presentation. L was to do the presentation. The presentation was on min-project work we did last week. We did study on buyer behavior in retail industry services. The objective was to study marketing implications.

My postmortem
I guess we did pretty good job in 1st half -- doing ground work, but could not capitalize on the work to make a strong presentation. This was the feedback from folks at the class. I think it was not L's fault for the presentation. The issue was the slides did not flow seamlessly.

Lessen learnt don't do important work on 11 th hour. Literally at 11 P.M :-)

I seem to have gotten hang of SCM variances. But again i have not practiced it on many examples yet.

Wow doing MBA is opening up my horizons by n fold. My view of the world was 20 degree – IT, Project management, Retail, Finance, Pharam. The whole new world of accounting, decision making, operations is exciting, challenging, demanding but above all eye opening.

Keep it coming. God give me the power ( remember HE-MAN) :-)

Finally At IIMA

It has been few months I wrote my last blog. I always promised my self that I’ll do it regularly and I guess I don't do it. I'm not going to do it this time (the promise) :-)

Anyway I'm at IIMA, it's been a week. I don't know the speed with which time is moving here. I guess IIMA has a different gravitational force than rest of the world.

Today is one of the sadest days. We had our first surprise quiz and I know I did very very very badly(this could be an understatement). Anyway, hope this is the end of me doing bad.

Doing postmortem
1. I knew fundas
2. I was calm
3. But I just did not read the question or quiz correctly. Got carried away by the words the instructor said (CROSSWORD). It was in no angle a crossword. It was more of a spreadsheet.
4. But anyway my fault I had one of those brain freeze.
5. Lesson learnt - be more prepared on every subject. Do more exercises and be ready for surprises any time of day :-)

Another thing I want to share is IIMA culture is a bit different, open though closed, fast and just fast, fun but serious. I'm loving it and hating it. 9 subjects in 2 months, I better be doing my home work. It ain't kid's play.

Gotta go back and do final touch to our marketing class report (ACCV).

IIMA results are out and I made it.

You all already know I made it to IIMA, but thought it may be a good idea to post my thoughts what went through my Mind when I heard the news on Sep 30 th.

This has been longest one month of my life. The wait is finally over. I’m selected. Now it’s on me to take it up or leave it. I’m 90% inclined to take up the offer. Though there is always chance for me to say no and explore ISB, Wharton, LBS, IMD, INSEAD singapore.

My interview was over on sep 12th and after interview at informal lunch the faculty (interviewers) had mentioned that there was possibility of early results. This information had kept me awake late and wake up early for almost last week. Including my SFO trip. Anyway, after all speculations on dates, results finally came on 09/29/2005. I was amongst the first ones to have +ve results and that was a great relief.

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/iim_pgpx/message/546

GMAT was off on aug 3rd.
Application got submitted on August 10th.
I got invited on August 22nd.
Essays were complete by Sep 3rd
Interview got over by sep 12th
Results are in now Sep 29th

But it isn’t over yet
1. Sell/Rent house
2. Plan finances
3. Work out a situation with My employer
4. Work out a situation with my in laws
5. And plan the move

While I’ll be done with all..

I’ll have a new monkey waiting.. IIMA course 

It never ends .. and it is never over…….

IIMA It is

It's been a long discussion with few friends, few acquaintances, family members and most importantly myself. I decided to pursue IIMA out of following short listed schools

1. IIMA
2. ISB
3. Wharton
4. Kellogg
5. HBS
6. Columbia
7. LSB
8. IMD
9. INSEAD
   

The main reason i have mixed bag of schools from Europe, Asia and USA is, I want an international outlook and possibly a job that has international exposure.

Some of them were my backup plans while some of these schools were on my tier 1 list. After a lot of discussions I decided to give IIMA a shot, though reluctant about it's first year i probably did not give the best shot.

I started the application, gave GMAT , waited for my first round (one of the most killing time of my life), got invited for interview, wrote my essays in a week with Bhairavi, Sonu and Anurag helping me edit the essays, preparde presnetaion and finally interview. It was a long road and by sep 12 th i was done and waiting.

The thoughts that were racing my mind during Sep 12 th and Sep 30(date of results) were what if i get in and what if i don't. I prepared myself for both the situations. Outcome was to my happiness, IIMA accpted me.

I'm now prpearing our family move to IIMA from Iselin NJ. It's a lager effort for me to move that inludes selling house, furniture etc and move.

I'm all up for it ... :-) why not it's for IIMA........................ :-)

Now it's time to sell house

After all negotiations, I have chosen the realtor who is in the median of projected sell price that each realtor we interviewed gave us. The price seems right and hopefully I’ll have offers on house in first 21 days (that's her projection).

Once on market we have cleaned the house, no more dirshti's toys on the floor, no more my books and laptops in the way. The house looks different for good. A house that I don't ever want to sell.

Once in while I stand near the backyard door and feel sad. I'm probably not going to have this large backyard for a long time (at least a year). I'm not going to have the space a room for office, a room for temple, a room for library. I'm going to miss this house, my first (our first) house where we put in our heart and soul and a lot of money in making it our home. I'm sure Bhairavi's sadder than I am. But the support she is giving me is just can not be expressed by words.

I'm sad but I’m happy, an opportunity to try going back to India and that too IIMA is worth the sacrifice.

What schools to choose for?

The next logical step for me to continue on my path for growth is to choose which schools will suit me best?

Some of the key factors in mind at this time are

1. School's Ranking
2. It's Return on investment
3. School's sterngths and weaknesses
4. School's alignement to my career path
5. My ability to make it to the school
6. Location (Local, All USA, Europe, Asia)
7. Cost $$$$
8. Ability for my family to live in that place for next year or two

Again these factors are not any perticular order, it's mor of my thoughts typed as they come in.

To do MBA or not to do?

This is a question every one has when they plan MBA studies?

Ofcourse answer depends on one's goal. If a person has aspirations to grow their careers I believe MBA is an essential step-stone. MBA, I believe, can act as catalyst and fast-track one's career. But career in what technology, no -- than one's better off with out MBA. For me MBA will allow me to lead, manage and decide effectively to do the job positions like Manager, Analyst, strategy consultant, Functional leader, marketing and sales personal etc.

MBA's don't do anything but make things effective, they don't produce but the help make process to produce effectively, the help sell the produce effectively.

I'm at a career-path that MBA is an essential and only choice for me to grow my career quickly and with confidence. A project manager, with 5+ years of PM experience and about 11 years in IT has taught me one thing; life is all about learning and bettering myself. To grow in to program management positions or product manager positions and than on to run an enterprise, I need to do MBA. I need the toolset and some real-life like learning to grow my career and stay on my career-path.
I don't know if I will ever achieve experience and skills to do such a job at my current job. I absolutely doubt that I would get width and breadth of experience and skills.

FOR me Now it's MBA or Die ( From :- Do or die ... I believe Gandhiji told us Indians in 1942) :-)