GOD.....REVISITED

In Term VI, God is back.

He reads out a line from the Gospel projected on the screen. And then He looks at the class for eternity. With the same pout of His lower lip. What might God be thinking at those times? He runs His eyes across the class of MBAs-to-graduate-in-March and MBAs-already-placed-and-not-placed-yet-in-these-early-(preplacement)-days. All of them opted for this Gospel for the same reason- to chill out; placements to be done soon and last term; no mood to study; only one place to go- God's sharan mein.

As the sermon progresses, everyone is waiting for those ten minutes. Those ten minutes. When God would go outside the class. Most say He goes for a smoke. To the bathroom. Maybe. Or maybe He goes to rejuvenate His powers.

Yes, He is concerned whether we are getting a 'feel' for what the Gospel is all about. He sometimes closes His eyes for some brief moments when He looks at us. Like being in the peace of Sleep. Irrespective of God's sermon, MBAs-to-be are busy making the least noise while they turn the newspaper's page. Some are closing their eyes- sitting sleeping MBAs-to-be. Some are reading other Gospels. And some are awed by God's presence- they look at Him, not the Gospel on screen; inspite of being at their sleepiest best. Or they alternate between sleep and consciousness. Like God alternates between reading His Gospel and watching the class for an eternity with the symbolic pout on His lower lip.

God runs His eyes over the class again.

Sermon delivered. Benevolence showered.

What would we ever do without God??

I love JLTs

I love JLTs. U find all sorts of ppl there. One who is there solely for the music. One who is there solely for the free beer. One who is there for the music and dance. One for the music and drinks. One for the music, drinks and dance. (Left out a few combinations that dont make sense....duh!)

Yet, ALL are there for having FUN- their version of it!

One who thinks that it's impossible to start shaking a leg without a few drinks warming the belly. Anoder who is a natural- not a drop of the flowing beer to dance till morning. One who closes her eyes and dances- in a trance. One wid eyes wide open to watch other people dance. One who watches other ppl who are watching other ppl dance..(confused huh? But that's how it is!). One who is head banging at every possible chance. One who wants clicks with the chicks on the dance floor. Anoder who simply enjoys being there from the sidelines with a drink in hand. One who announces for the dancing circle to become bigger and make space for him- unconscious reaction due to the drinks making him slightly lose control. Anoder who has completely lost control- is soon carried back to room. And anoder who knows he is fast losing control- he holds the walls and slides away from the nite.

One who talks by going close to anoder's ears on the pretext of loud volume. And one who shouts above the music to talk to anoder. One who makes his love proposal heard with the DJ's mike. Anoder who sings loudly as well while dancing- gets a sore throat the next day. And anoder who lip-syncs the songs while dancing to save the sore-throat torture. One who dances with every group. One who is limited to just a single group. One who begs for a chance to dance with a chick and the chick flees coz of the intensity of drunken smell. One whom many dudettes want to dance with inspite of him being intensely drunk. One who lights a cigarette and multi-shares it and leaves out puffs like a mini-chimney. One who stays away from the chimney yet dances in the fire of exhileration with the awesome beats.

One who is simply a dancing mirror image of another all through-out. And one who originates the next funky step for the dancing circle. There's yet anoder originator- who starts the train chain which travels through and around the dance floor.

One who dances but still is busy watching other ppl's dance. One who forgets about other ppl dancing and simply dances in the elixir of the moment. One who looks at the time and then leaves- brush karne ka time, (max) soney ka time, khaney ka time, padhney ka time vagera vagera maybe fixed for this person...or maybe simply to avoid sleep deprivation for the next day's activities. One who goes off for a drunken date- perfect time. One who goes on dancing till the wee morning hours till the 'Gemini' & 'Sutta' songs come on. One who joins in the mornin after coupla hours of sleep.

One who holds a glass of punch just to be seen as 'in'. One who has not even tasted punch since inception and does not feel 'not in'. One who raises the steam with the moves. One who raises the energy level with the sheer choreographic and energetic grooves. One who needs to be pulled to the floor by friends. One who can't stop the body from dancing when the music begins. One who is taken to heaven by the drinks. One who is grounded even when drunk.

I don't JLT (just like that) love JLTs- I love them coz it's human xtasy at its peak. it's xperiencing the whole gamut of high-spirited humanity. It's the elixir of life @ XIMB...:)

Tata Crucible Quiz 2010 :: Campus Edition at Bhubaneswar

170 teams. 6 finalists. Nail biting finish. The Crown Hotel was the venue for a grand round of Tata Crucible Campus Round quiz. DRIEMS (an engg collg) came 1^st and a team from Utkal University came 2^nd. Excellent answers cracked by the teams. The 20-20 match started with the prelims round and the 20 prelims qns were:

1. Which international food company in India uses the original Coat of Arms of its founding family as its company logo which consists of a bird feeding its children in a nest?

2. Calvin Klein is owned by which international company?

3. Pic shown of founder of Biocon. Identify.

4. Which famous businessman has been ranked as the Businessman of the Century by Fortune magazine?

5. Which is the only railway station to be named after a business group?

6. Logo of company showing a red cheetah.

7. Carol Davidson designed the logo for $35. Which company’s logo?

8. Which city is known as the diamond capital of India?

9. Showed pic of the book ‘The Monk who sold his Ferrari’. Who wrote it?

10. Showed pic of the ‘Walk while you talk’ campaign. Which company?

11. Showed pic of a number of products together- Revive, Parachute Jasmine etc. Which company makes these products?

12. What’s the name of business newspaper from Hindustan Times Group?

13. Which company was known as Racal Telecom in 1984? (Clu: UK based company)

14. Pic shown of Yahoo’s CEO. Identify.

15. The movie ‘Howdy Chicago’ achieved what unique first in 1921? (Clu: It was the first to be screened at a particular place)

16. Visual shown of ‘the lady in sparkling white’. Which brand?

17. Which gadget is made by the Canadian company, Research in Motion?

18. It was called ‘Pinwheel’ when it was introduced in Dec 1, 1977 and owned by QUBE channel. What’s this kids channel now known as?

19. Which is the largest prescribed drug in India which comes in flavours of mint, mix fruit and orange? (Clu: Choices given: Saradon, Digene, Hajmola)

20. Played music- Dhan te nan. Who was the producer?

Answers:

1. Nestle

2. Van Heusen ( We got this wrong- wrote Tomy Hilfiger.:( )

3. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

4. Henry Ford

5. Tatanagar

6. Puma

7. Nike

8. Surat

9. Robin Sharma

10. Idea Cellular

11. Marico

12. Mint (Got this wrong. We wrote Business Standard, which is actually by the Telegraph group)

13. Vodafone (Could it be so obvious?! So we wrote Ericsson- wrong agen!)

14. Carol Bartz (Oops! We knew she’s CEO of Yahoo bt didn’t kno her name!)

15. 1^st movie to be screened on an aircraft ( Got this wrong too!)

16. Nirma. J

17. Blackberry

18. Nickelodeon

19. Digene (Whoops! We had written Saradon!)

20. Ronie Screwvala (UTV)

With 14/20, we qualified for the Wildcard Round. +1 for 3 teams in our Wildcard Round, so we had a tie breaker & couldn’t make it. However, we got amazing goody bags!! Thanks Tata Crucible & Pickbrain! For an amazing round of quiz at Bhubaneswar.

A Poetic Career Journey

Note: This was an individual assignment given to us - to reflect on our career paths and submit our career story in our own original style. Gave me another chance to unleash my creativity. Here it goes...................................

On the first day of office I was introduced to colleagues and managers,
I was given a desk, a computer and asked to take KT from colleagues- knowledge transfer.
As I started picking up the tricks of the trade and my work far exceeded expectations,
My managers summoned me between appraisals, to know my career ambitions.
When I expressed, in not as many words, that higher study was an option on my mind,
The thorough corporates didn’t let it show, but within themselves were in turmoil….

When one of my team-mates left, ‘Make hay while the resource shines (!)’- became their policy,
Now additional (paid-for) work on alternate weekends, became my extra responsibility…
After the first few mock-CATs I took, the rest started going for a toss,
Life in software is weekends off but ‘Hey! Life’s like that! Face it!’ said my boss!
Living with two other flat mates who gossiped all day on phone with boyfriends,
Our 1-BHK atmosphere was not tooooo conducive for a GMAT CAT XAT aspirant!
And so with mock CAT performance graphs going down and down,
I decided to fall ill for a month and headed to my home town!
It was a respite here to get my performance back on track,
‘Never mind the leave without pay’- I patted myself on the back!
Falling ill was not entirely false for I returned to my work city with severe pain in my neck,
I had brought all the antibiotics, ointments and prescriptions for my managers to check….!

While exams went on eventfully and I ensured that I delivered the best at work,
I knew that the next review appraisal would not get me the rating ‘exceeding expectation’.
Still it was perfectly fine and life had never been better for us,
We finally got promoted from a 1 BHK to a grand 3 BHK house!
Now there was a wait-and-watch for interview calls and results,
I had three such calls, and each of the interviews went really well.
When the time for final decision came, I chose XIM,
My parents were overjoyed to know my career preference.
I put in my papers and my office was more than willing to let me go,
Why not- after all, it was the recession time….!

A farewell party in which I cut pizzas and not cakes (!),
I had fun in office till the very last moment of my last day!
Thus, bringing my memories and work experience of 23 months,
I walked into the B-School I had chosen for myself.
Here, at XIM, I have been unlearning and learning ever since,
Nuances of a busy to-be-manager’s life…..
Getting back to classroom held its charm only for the first month,
Now I sometimes long to get back to work again!

My future resume is gonna boast of IT, wealth management, teaching rural children and more,
I am gonna run a self-help group, write books and will still call it my ‘career’ for sure.
Kartikey and Komisar have listened to their hearts,
They don’t live life as cowards and as slaves to their jobs.
I admire these men and even Subroto Bagchi’s thoughts,
On how job satisfaction is actually an elusive fact.
He says- Make the most of what position you got,
But what about the boy who ran away- what if he later set up a factory or a shop?
Did he earn more than the boy who retired as Foreman of Tata Steel?
These answers still remain incomplete….

Not getting a great working team and a good boss,
In terms of professional happiness- is a great loss.
Frustrations galore make some individuals leave the organisation,
But others stay on to manoeuvre their career and challenge the system.

Yes, in India friends and family have a great say,
Still, it is the individual’s life- he finally chooses his way.
Today’s organizations are so much focused on their bottomline,
That individuals’ career paths don’t so much matter;
They are quick to fire employees during a recession,
And quick to hire when the going gets better.
After I left, I saw my own friends getting fired from the same project,
On the performance front people had been forced to resign- is this corporate culture?
When all that drives you is only profit,
Then also it makes you a big time loser;
Such should not be the motto of organizations,
Though we can never disregard the functions of profit.

Think of the loss in credibility of these huge companies,
Think of the goodwill lost,
The fear psychosis only brings down productivity of existing employees,
Apart from bringing down cost.

I thank Professor Ganesh for letting us express and reflect on our career paths,
A hundred and eighty original styles and stories- what more diversity about life can one ask for?! J

New Happenings

Disclaimer: This article is purely a work of entertainment, influenced by real life events in the author’s life. The author has no intention to hurt a single soul’s sensibilities. Any hurt that may occur is thus, purely coincidental and unintentional. The smiles/laughs/guffaws on your faces are intentional though.
PROF 1:
He is like a breathless parrot in a hurry to catch a flight. And he never seems tired speaking so fast. He should go in a speed talking competition where people talk about OS&D, Harvard and Wharton University, where he has an old friend called Prof ‘Dick’ who wrote our prescribed textbook. And yes, he has learnt lessons from the past. So he will not put up his PPTs on the intranet as he has assimilated, begged and borrowed some of the content from top companies’ executives whom he has trained and not trained, and from Profs around the world including Dick. Confidential and internal reports. That makes the slides pretty much sacred. The MBAs-to-be are gearing up to take vigorous notes. Most of them that is. I am too busy for that.:)
I, and most others for sure, were glad to know his views on evaluation. He does not believe much in the evaluation system. He says with gusto that when he was in the US, he had a grading system which graded his students in just 2 ways- ‘satisfactory’ or ‘unsatisfactory’. Had he had his way here, he would love to do the same here as well. But no, alas. I could sense a collective sigh.
He acknowledges Dick, IC and other Profs (including one from Japan) who helped him decide the course outline of 4-pages, which has been derived from the Wharton B-school’s Executive Education Program course outline of 36 pages. Hard work really, converting 36 pages to just 4- deciding which part to reject. At the outset, he clarifies that this course is meant for directors and senior level excecutives and not for entry-level, first-year students (aka idiots) like us. ‘Pedagogy’ is not what he believes in, so he calls it ‘Course Andragogy’. Wow, never before had we been acknowledged for being adult learners!
He is the first Prof ever who explained the reasons for his course study material being so thick. First, a Gold Medallist in Business Finance, then a PG in HR and then a PhD in advanced IS. That’s him. So, cutting across backgrounds, the articles and cases congregate for a grand academic get-together which looks healthily spiral-bound. The next thing he says is, ‘just get entertained by watching the slides’, like it was a screening of ‘3 idiots’. ‘And don’t take load for reading the material. If you have time from your busy schedule, then you read and come to class. It’ll make understanding much easier’. No, busy schedule never changes its ‘busy’ness. So, I mentally toss the spiral bound material in the top side rack of my room. ‘But’, he adds entertainingly, ’there is a wealth of info there. It starts from why OS&D to the end article which says ‘do we really need OS&D’ which brings the whole course to where it started.’ Wow. Had the poor fat material had a brain, it’d be in a serious identity crisis. ‘So where do I begin and end? Am I needed here?’ Poor fat material perched on the top side rack in my room....I feel pity for it already.
He fidgets with his half sweater as he rattles off with names and dates of publications of journals from which he had picked the articles and cases. Wow, this guy has a phenomenal memory. Finally, he removes his half sweater and puts it on the chair. He is tall and young by Prof standards. He is wearing a pink full shirt with black and purple stripes. He announces that every individual has a quota of asking one stupid question a day, which does not get carried forward. The MBAs-to-be laughed loudly, thinking matter-of-factly ‘Intelligence and us are inseparable. Whom are U kidding?’
Good. He knows he is a fast speaker. And he says, he always teaches in a relaxed manner. I add- with a talking speed of 150 words a minute. He admits that next class, he would speak double or triple times faster, and has high hopes for us to catch up. Woooooooo! Now that will be a roller coaster ride- words fly by U and U perch on them to have the ride of your life! But he down-to-earthly confesses that if we first year students (aka idiots) are able to catch up with at least 10% of what he would teach, it would be an achievement. And he didn’t say it to scare the MBAs-to-be. Anyway, they are idiots who are turning intelligent enough to never be scared of anything.
He really misses his US students who drank juice in class and makes a sign with his hands to show the size of the bottle. He makes us feel free to carry food into class but be like the ‘civilised’ US students who never made crunchy sounds with the snacks they got. Reminiscing Swami Vivekanand who said- “U cannot do religion with an empty stomach”, he does not chuckle when he alters it to- “U cannot study with an empty stomach”. A good physique is after all necessary to be a good leader, he proclaims.
“Any other questions?” he asks. Immediately he answers himself,” OK, no questions were asked in fact. So, any questions?” The MBAs-to-be who were making signs or managing to talk inspite of the roller coaster ride, sat signless and speechless. So, he opens his slides and starts teaching. On the third slide he says, "See, this is borrowed from a company representative". MBAs-to-be start taking notes madly. He won’t give his slides, remember? At one point, he cuts the air really deep to signal ‘in-depth’. He is generally happy with any answers students give- we are more responsive than the other sections, he excitedly observes. The class proceeds and towards the end we are to form project groups. He says- ‘Let U not blame me or your friends for your groups. So let’s blame destiny’. He makes us pick chits of numbers and tells a faff-Guru guy to write the group members’ names. The faff-Guru guy is tumultuously excited at the power suddenly unleashed upon him instead of the CR. While he busily unfolds destiny with MBAs-to-be surrounding him, the Prof adds- “Do put that in an excel and send it across to me.” Now that’s work. A little less than catching up with his breathless flight of words!!