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its a tough job…and now i realize why…

when companies come on campus…motherhood statements are made by the dozen..

…”we are ranked first in the north delhi pin code 110004 IT shops based off the DDA market”
…”our employee satisfaction is amongst the highest in the world…says our VP, who is no more with us”
…”revenues hv grown by 12%…which is indicative of the times to come…(yah right…the industry grew by 30%…so we can foresee the times!!)”

but then…some are genuine…which is what makes their job that much tougher. i mean…amidst the pleathora of companies that come and do a belly dance at ISB…its not easy for the students to distinguish the good frm the fibbers…! when everyone is talking about the same thing…how the hell does one decide the pecking order.

and this…ultimately…and unfortunately…results in a simple criteria. more the money…better the company…or atleast…if not better…thats where i am gonna go…

was just reading an interview of Anne Deering (http://www.filefactory.com/?dad350), a partner at A.T. Kearney…and she describes ATK as an 80 yr old start-up firm. which is so true. i can see it for myself…everywhere the mood is that of ‘oh we hv to bring this child up…and gotta do it soon’…!

and when asked as to what kind of people do we look for, she names stuff such as curiosity, passion for learning…etc etc..! oh for god sake…we hear this from everyone…so whats different…

its only when you start working in the firmdo you realize that all these things are the only one that shall hold you good…! you have to be curious about what you do…when given a job you have to ask…”tell me whats this for…why am i supposed to do it..”…cause as an SBA you will be at times required to do stuff that doesnt quite excite you…! crunch numbers…make presentations…google like for 3-4 hours…for stupid data..!

but then in the long run…and i can so totally see it already…the ones who do well…are the ones who know what they are doing…and why they are doing it…! cause thats when you develop an appreciation for the kind of work you do…


so yeah…back to what the main theme was…its really tough to know when is a company simply lying…or when is it being truly genuine. unfortunately…unless you hvnt experienced a similar firm…its very tough to juxtapose 2 firms and see which one is better..


the best way…i can guess…is to ask the alums. cause we r experiencing what you guys shall experience…! and believe me…this feedback about the company shall be extremely crucial…

~a

PS: needless to say…ATK is not the only consulting firm which talks genuinely about what they want and how they function. every other consulting firm i can think of (well almost…surely the top ones)…would be very true when they tell you what kind of people they look for…and how they go about looking for them..!

my biggest fear…right here…infront of your eyes…

i was tagged…! and i didnt even know what that means…till i saw my name in the Big B’g blog…

so here..!

I am thinking
how many years will it take mumbai to realize that not having a proper drainage system hits their bloody GDP by some 26763 basis points…!

I said
to myself…wud i ever wanna stay in dubai if given a chance…
no…and this was even before i asked the question…

I want
to have a house big enough fot my parents and wife…in the next 2-3 years…and i want to name it “warikoos”

I wish
to travel all across the world…and visit atleast 300 countried before i die…! precisely why i wish this…not want this…!

I miss
the days when i used to go to the temple…and pray to god…”please make me superman…i promise i will help others and not misuse the powers”. this was early 90s…right after i had watched superman II…! watching superman returns this weekend…brought back some reall sweet memories…!

I hear
myself…all the time. i question muself all the time…and i answer myself all the time.

I wonder
what would life have been like if i hadnt met R…! if i hadnt come back frm the US…if i had continued with tennis…if i didnt anchor tht stage show in school…if i had got thru the IITs…if i didnt join ISB but the other schools…if i hadnt got thru ATK…if life wasnt what it is today…

I regret
nothing…absolutely nothing. i just wonder…!

I am
just another guy…

I dance
like crazy when i have to. precisely the time when medical sciene cannot explain how a certain human can have more than 2 left feet…!

I sing
a lot…more than people think i do…and i feel i dont do a bad job. R is probably the only one infront of whom i have sung…else…its the car and me…!

I cry
a lot lesser than i used to. but i am proud of the fact that i can cry infront of people..its not a sign of weakness for me…! and yah…the sight of a lost child…always makes me cry…!

I am not
right all the time…

I write
a lot…! and with my new sexy fountain pen…i sure do write a lot..!

I confuse
myself whenever there is a sound coming in my car….have a horrible sense of direction in tht sense…! i surely wasnt a dog ever…this is my 1st time as one…!

I need
to make people happy arnd me…thats my battery..!

I should
make sure i never hurt anyone…cause it sucks when i do…! it really sucks…

I finish
every task given to me…as if there isnt anything else left to do in this world.

I tag
Pratik Patankar
Arun Dhar
Girish ‘IT’ Krishnan
DHIONLYONE

~a

which is what is the good part about consulting…

my 1st project…absolute quant based. heavy modelling…excel files running into 120 spreadsheets and 28MB..! 5 nights spent at office beyond midnight…just missing the morning sun…! (ok exxagerated…but then u get the point!)…a requirement of 24/7 eyes open view…on numbers…where they come from…where they go..and what they do to the results.

my 2nd project…(and ISB’s fav word)…’strategy’. getting free from office (actually…to be precise…literally being thrown away from office) at 6.30 everyday so far…! but a lot of thought…a lot of qualitative analysis. underatanding the market…and providing solutions.

stark contrast…!

but great fun..nevertheless….

this weekend was the delhi meet for 2006 batch. was awesome fun. some 30 odd people turned up…and lasted till midnight. the venue was laid back waters at the Qutub hotel. sweet place…! and we got a separate corner for ourselves..! was really nice to meet up with everyone…catch up on lives…where people talk about their work…and the lack of it…!

might get a chance to go to hyd…for a client meeting. which would mean spending the night at ISB..for sure..! was reading S’s blog and the entry jst made my heart go ‘pain’…! would love to spend time…jst the way it used to be…jst a few months back…! sleeping on the LRC couch during the exam prep time…! the chit chat…rarely stepping upwards of an 23 IQ level…post dinner…! the ‘warikooooo’ shout…right outside my window…! E’s room/junkyard/rubbish can/bacteria incubator/awesomest hangout place at ISB…! G’s ‘ohh u shut up’…and S’s ‘thats an ugly fat ass potato’…!

godd…its work…and i am wasting client money on isb sob stories…!

:(

wanna be back…wanna be back…

~a

Those were R’s last words when we last talked. I wanted to listen to him…I genuinely did…! And its scary that I haven’t kept the word.

Anyways…won’t even attempt to go into the whys and the wherefores…! Lets look at life lately…

Work has been awesome…! The project is nearing its end…it was a short 4-week strategy project…but then a lot of work. Specifically excel modeling. In the past 3 weeks I have already spent some 5 days coming home at 11.30…12ish…! But then the good part is that the weekends are free. And I do remember the experienced set of consultants back at ISB always telling me so…”work like an ass on weekdays…and then enjoy the weekends”.

Its not stressful…not if you enjoy what you do. And as a consultant…you got to love what you do…and be quick at doing so as well. So…while I knew shit about natural gas…leave alone its status in India…I can now identify each and every natural gas plant in any Indian district…atleast in essence! And I know what simulates its demand…and I know what the scenario shall be 5 years from now…10 years from now…even 25 years from now…!

That’s interesting for me. In just a month…I have met the CEO of one of the world’s most powerful power company…have understood the Indian scenario in and out…and have established a working model that helps the client solve his problem. Just a month…!

On the other front…good news. I am kind of engaged…in the sense…our parents met up and stamped the relationship (finally!)…! So now planning for the big event shall start…which wont be anytime this year though…but probably early next year or so. Lets see…!

Saw the DaVinci Code last night. Wonderfully done…though definitely not as descriptive as the book. But then…that’s always a struggle right…! When you have to shrink 650 odd pages in 2.5 hours…there is bound to be some miss. Overall though…I loved the movie. At some level believe in it too…actually always believed so…even before the book (Read: Chariots of the Gods by Erik Von Daniken)

Quite a few current ISB students have been calling me up regarding how to study for the exams…(HAH!) and about ELPs. Just incase someone needs free advice…here you go…

Here is my general take on good grades…!

1. Stay awake in class. that’s half the battle won. and believe me…its not an easy task. if u concentrate all 2 hrs…u need to catch up that much less.
2. Do your assignments and cases seriously. think beyond the obvious. mostly for cases. when u read a case…take your time and think about what you want to share with the class…your perspective. that will give u practice for the final exams.
3. Ask the profs for a sample exam. Insist on it. Will always help.
4. Get comfy with numbers. ISB is largely quant driven…so this will help
5. Pray..!

Till next time…and promise it to be soon…

~a

the one thing that i realize…work wont really be ISB…and hence…posts wont be that frequent..! nevertheless…this time around…it shall be the quality wins over quantity scenario….

so…work started may 01. thats labor day…and in the words of my boss…”we arent laborers…so we dont get a day off!”. alright…accepted…!

the office is plush. in one of the best office complexes in delhi. the 14th floor allows u to measure the dust particles per microcentimeter…in the atmosphere…standing beyond a 12 inch thick glass that doesnt allow even the smallest ‘particle’ of airconditioned air escape the office. on the house tea/coffee/juices…u ask for water and they fetch an unopened kinley….and u go…”no..i want water that doesnt taste…the one that my grandad used to have for his morning gargle..!”

the day was pretty much spent on logistics…bank account opening…credit card opening…forms that allow your family to make money if u die…or r hospitalized…! and that was pretyt much it. the new joinees r pretty smart people. 2 frm IIMA, 1 from IIIB, 1 frm IIMC and 2 frm ISB. thats delhi. mumbai has a slightly different ratio…with no one frm isb in there.

come tuesday and we left for gos for our orientation. stayed at the taj village resort…pretty decent place…and had it not been for the humid weather, i wud hv largely appreciated the greenary arnd as well. anyhow…so we took the kingfisher flight…which has a stopover at bangalore. the entire flight took us 4 hrs…which btw is 2 hrs less than what it takes one to fly half the world..! what was best was the flight back…5 hrs…!!!!! and it got delayed by 1…which basically meant that we spent the time it cud hv taken to reach london…in simply sitting in an aircraft…watching the indian laughter challenge…! sic!

and then…we hv to give to mr mallaya. i mean…u get balls of steel to get yana gupta to speak hindi…let alone show how to unbuckle a seatbelt. the words tht she used were last used in 2000 BC…when the aryans were taking their first bullock cart ride…! i mean…who in gods name…uses “sunishchit…!!!” nowadays. i am sure in some part of the plane…a lady wud hv gone….”there…thats the name of my 1st kid…!!!”

and the funniest part was blowing the lifejacket. it looked like a lipstick ad…! guys who travel kingfisher…watch out for this…! funny…

so anyways…moving on…! the 1st day was awesome…the taj guys had planned a treasure hunt for us..to bond and all…! and with 11 guys and 1 girl…bonding was meant to take whole new different heights…! :) but it was awesome…we did mountain climbing…rapelling…some tree climbing…and rope jumping…and weird shit. wonderfully organized…and loads of fun. in the end we did manage to ‘bond’ well..

and then the next day we had a raft building session. which was mind-blowing. we mad a raft using tyre tubes and bamboo sticks…and the entire operation was to reach the other side of the backwater and fetch a flag. we did manage to travel 20% of the distance when the currennt took over…and we realized we had covered the distance that we were supposed to….horizontally…!!!

the classroom sessions started…meant to sensitize us to the consulting process and the A.T. Kearney way of doing things. V and D did a terrific job…they held us together…and thats a difficult task when u r sitting in a conference room…next to the pool…in goa…wearing formals…(typically the people outside wudnt be wearing as many clothes combined…as wud be one of us sitting inside…!!!)…

and then the exercises…and the feel good factor created around what we shall be doing in the time to come…etc. it was great fun…and along the way we realized…and this is a frank opinion…that Kearney didnt do that great a job selling themselves on campus. i mean…as of today…set aside the fact that i am now part of the organization…i can say that Kearney is surely up there. one of the best consulting firms in the country…and a leader in quite a few verticals. our position in auto and energy is quite widely accepted as being the best…and it reflected frm the kind of work we have done…and the feedback we have received.

overall…i felt proud being part of this team. even the people who have worked here for sometime say…that the best part about the organization is that everyone is happy. which is so very important…and at the same time so tough to achieve as an organization.

we all left saturday…and it was an amazing 5 days spent. totally worth it. have to thank V for organizing the entire thing and putting in..what was clearly…a lot of hardwork and time. atleast from my side..it paid off wonderfully…

monday today…looking for the real work to start.

life’s good…

~a