Blog
Words. Wisdom. Winners.
The post…or the individual…
I would say that the person in the post is incidental. It was simply the President of the US who had visited us…not an individual. This can be validated by the sheer fact that the placard displaying his identity also said Prez and not bushes and hedges…!
The experience was amazing. The setting was perfect. The atrium had never looked prettier! And the school never as excited.
He was scheduled for 1225 hours. We had to start assembling at 1000 hours…which we did. The security was tight…the frisking was equivalent to the US port of entry…! These ‘manual scanners’ must have the weirdest feelings within…about their job. I mean…how cool…or the opposite of it…is it to feel 300 guys in under an hour. And I mean…feel…believe me…if you are thinking on ‘those’ lines…you are actually not very far from the truth…!
So we take our seats and it’s a wait for the next 2 hours. We had good fun though…cracking monkey jokes…general arbit CP…trying to second guess his jokes…and very soon it was 1210. at that precise moment we heard the copter fly over us…the pre had arrived.
The next 15 mins were very similar to the pre-interview experience. The butterflies in your stomach suddenly realize that there is more room for them to dance than they ever thought…! And my stomach…oh u bet…there is an entire airfield…!
In comes Condaleeza Rice with Rajat Gupta (Chairman ISB Board and what not…check the link…!!!) I don’t know if you felt this…but it’s a pretty weird feeling when the person whom you have seen so much on TV…read so much about…is suddenly in front of you. its not a feeling of “oh my god…she will feel I am nothing as compared to her…”…but more like… “oh my god…she is actually real…and lo behold…looks the way she always does…!!!”
And then…
“Ladies and Gentleman…please welcome the ambassador Mulford…and the president of the United States”
And in come the 2 gentleman. It was pure basic instinct for everyone to get up. For all that he is worth…no one can deny the gravity of his post…
What followed was a 1.45 hour session with a select panel…and us as the audience. Some observations:
- He was definitely wittier than I though he would be…very impressive…
- He is totally bullish on India…!
- And he was repeating this so much that he didn’t quite end up answering the exact questions that were asked…!
- He has made some bad decisions in life…and we won’t ever…come to know why. But I do accept that his is not the best position in the world…I mean…I don’t for one envy his position…because everything that he does shall always have opposition. But then he has to take a stand…
- “American is a nice country…and Americans are decent people. They are nice. You probably don’t like America because of me…”. Now that’s a humble statement according to me. I didn’t think this guy was capable of saying something like this…
Overall…great experience. Wonderful opportunity for ISB especially to put itself on the world map…which has started in a tremendous way with the kind of publicity this visit has provided. Phenomenal to say the least.
After his departure…students were interviewed…I was too…! By TV9…that’s the world famous Hyderabad channel…watched by close to 23 people…22 of whom work for the channel…! But what the heck…atleast someone watched…! :)
The 1st 10 mins of his time at ISB:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060303-3.html
~a
waiting for tuesday…
Today…I want to write so much about something that I can’t…! I am feeling helpless…at some level amazed at the image people actually have of me…and the difference between that image and the one projected to me. I then wonder if someone actually knows me…the real me…does someone really understand what I stand for…and why I say the things I say…and do the things I do…
Suddenly all that you have done…is not worth it…anymore…
Chuck…
So the big news…Bush is tentatively scheduled to visit ISB on Friday. It is not confirmed as yet…but then I don’t think it will be confirmed till the last minute. So the preparations are on full swing. The security is tight…we had a briefing this afternoon on the same…and its all very exciting. It is surely a matter of great honor to host the president of the US…and the person in that position is merely incidental. The visit will surely add a lot of value to ISB…in terms of recognition. Yah…this also makes us a possible terrorist target…! :)
Just came back after spending some awesome time at the amphitheater. I just love the cool night breeze on campus…it’s the best thing in the world. I simply lay on the grass…closed my eyes…and felt myself being lifted up…towards the sky…! There are times when I really miss astrophysics…! Sigh…!
Life is chilled out during term 8. Have taken 4 courses…
Negotiation: Awesome start to the course. The prof is very nice…and the sheer thrill of learning something such as negotiation is pretty strong. Looking forward to an exciting time in this course…
Retailing: Simply an add-on. Am not a marketing guy…and this was just one of the few marketing courses that I could have taken. The prof seems decent…definitely very knowledgeable.
World Literature: Rajeshwar returns. This guy rocks…if I could be even half as read as him…I would kiss my own feet. I mean…he is astounding…his oratory skills…his depth of subject…and the way he holds his audience is awesome. Rocking…!!!
Behavioral Finance: Quite contrary to what I thought this would be. Was really looking forward to this…but then the 1st class is perhaps not the best measure of its worth. Lets hope for a better time ahead…
Waiting for Tuesday…
~a
making me feel numb…
Term 8 started…and with it the last leg of this year…
Had the fortune of catching up with my ex-boss at ISB yesterday (Tuls, Ki, Su…if you are reading this…I am talking about Viji!). It was amazing to go back to the time when she was trying to convince me that I needed another year of work before I could think of an MBA. And how I though otherwise…at times without any sound logic backing up the argument.
Needless to say…she was thrilled to hear about ATK and where I shall be headed with it. it was funny though how she went… “I always knew you could achieve this…that’s why I supported you in your decision…” :)
Over the past year…there are a lot of lessons I have learnt. Most of which have not come through the courses…or texts…! My version of some of them…
· 1st day of Term 1: “Holy shit…I have got the worst study group in the world…I mean…wtf…this is worse luck than a blind guy stepping on cow shit…!”
Last day of Term 4: “Holy shit…what will I do without you guys…I mean…shit…this sucks…can we please form groups in the electives…can I come over to sleep on your sofa…shit man…this sucks…sucks…sucks…sucks…sucks…”
· Breakup of your grade:
o Hard work: 20%
o The people you hang out with and their grades: 20%
o Your study group: 20%
o The course TA: 30%-40%
o Miscellaneous: 10%
· At the end of the year:
o Non IT Guy: I know IT…what do you know…???
o IT Guy: I know IT…and finance…and marketing…and operations…and HR…and entrepreneurship…and I am applying to all these jobs…! HAH…!
Damn…!!!
Has you ever lost your train of thought while blogging because of some jackass call…!! Well…it happened right now…! So will continue with this series…
Also have to post my interview experience and learnings…shall do that as well…soon…!
Listening to Tanha Dil…! This song never stops making me feel numb…love it…
~a
good ending…
Yesterday was a pretty crappy day…except for the closure…(which btw happened only today…). Read on to decipher the cryptic statement…!
It all started in the morning…all was good…till…never mind…! So anyways…I was really really hoping to close my books yesterday…wrt my friends and their placements. Unfortunately things didn’t work out as expected…which was pretty sad. I was feeling low the entire day…actually tense…
Add to that the bloody movie…page 3…depressing shit. I hated the movie for its truth…one of those rare moments when I wish I never knew the truth.
But then…it was awesome spending time with myself. Everyone had gone out…and I am glad I didn’t go. Watched the movie…went for a walk…and it was breezy and cold…came back…wrote some stuff…and basically just had a good time with myself…!
The girls came back from dinner…so went to catch up on S and E. Spend some good time with E…she is cute when she is high…! :)
Then P called up and asked to come over. Went there…and the entire FOGP was there…and U as well. started chatting…absolutely every shit under the sun…ate maggi…drank…tea…started playing games…decent ones…had an awesome time…
Time: 5.45am…
“ab too sunrise dekhke hi soyenge…”
All of us go to the roof garden…awesome breeze…the moon almost fading out…sitting there doing nothing…absolutely still…looking at the campus top down…and how small things r from such a perspective…
Good ending…!
~a
PS:
1st leg of the placements is over. However, the work is far from over. Companies are lined up for this week as well…
The next one month…system sudhaar andolan. Will make sure that all the loopholes in the system are fixed to the best possible manner. No padhai this term…only social service…! :)
its not my usual…
Only 2 more to go…and I am sure they shall convert very soon as well. I realize that its not the best position to be in…when people all around you are getting jobs and celebrating…but then I respect them for holding on to their nerves and not giving up. that’s what makes me so proud of them…and I know that this very trait of theirs shall take them far ahead in life.
Records are being broken left right and center. Record for the highest domestic and international package ever in Indian B-school history has already been established. And it doesn’t stop here. The number of people who have got placed in the 1st 6 days itself is phenomenal.
A very disturbing email was sent by an R2 applicant about the ISB placements this year. What makes the entire situation worse was that the ‘details’ had come from a current ISB student itself…who ofcourse was no where close to senses when he spoke. Things written in that email make you wonder if that last strand of intelligence had also died an unfortunate death in that ass****’s mind when he gave off the ‘real scene’…!
All this makes you disillusioned. And I hate to be writing all this here. But I need an outlet. If there is one thing I could wish for right now…its to catch hold of that guy…shake him up…so hard that he realizes the difference between ignorance and reality.
People…and this is especially for students coming in…need to understand a few things about ISB. And I shall act as the preacher today…
- This is the basic…and if you get this…you will get whatever you want. ISB is not…repeat…IS NOT…a magic wand that shall get you to where you want to be. YOU WILL TAKE YOURSELF THERE…AND ISB SHALL MERELY FACILLITATE.
- Which means that if you are looking for a career shift…from say IT to finance…you shall have to do that much more. It won’t happen just cause you are a fin major.
- ISB is a lateral school. We are not in the business of closing our placements within 3 days. We have…and will always have…month long placements…wherein people shall negotiate on roles, compensation and the toilet paper brand used in the office…for eternity.
- And hence…companies that comes during the 1st 7 days…are not the only companies that come. There is almost a 50% increment on that base…if not more.
- With 279 students…and the average comp as 10.1 lacs (last yrs stats)…everyone does not get more than 10 lacs. That’s precisely why the average…the sum of all salaries divided by the number of students…get it…is 10.1 lacs. Hence…there are people less than this number as well…
- The reason for this is the fact that not everyone pays the way the consults and the I-banks pay. Their business model is different. If an entire industry is surviving because of cost arbitrage then please don’t expect them to pay the equivalent of Bill Gates’ salary…! Please be realistic.
- …don’t think that anyone in ISB doesn’t want you to get a good job. Everyone at ISB is working towards the same. So please trust the system…and support it. and even if you wish to criticize it…do so by entering into it and suggesting improvements…
- And lastly…it is not that the top rankers get the best job. I wish I could share the stats of this yrs…but if we do a ‘CGPA adjusted compensation’…some guys will shock the toppers…! The entire thing is to simply stay focused…work towards your aim…network…leverage upon the batch strength in terms of its experience…and…pray…!
Today was a sweet day for the marketing group. ABP and Reliance gave off some real sweet offers. Almost everyone in the marketing domain got placed within hours…and the roles and compensations are sexy. People are bloody leading radio stations…and entire west regions…and what nots…! Awesome…
If everything goes fine…then I shall be closing my books tomorrow and can plan for a nice party and a delhi trip. Lets see how it works…
Apart from that…nothing else…! Yah…the Jessica lal case was quite shattering. Was feeling horrible for hours because of it…and almost broke down this afternoon while watching her sister’s interview. The system sucks…and what sucks more is that I don’t want to do a thing about it knowing very well that I should. I just don’t have the balls…bastard me…!
Sorry for the post…its not my usual…
~a
11 more to go…
Work work work…that’s been the mode for the past 3 days. The numbers r looking good…though there is still a lot of work to be done.
1. Sleep still remains an elusive dream…not more than 4 hours of it…!
2. I am running out of formal shirt…am passing off checks as formals now..!
3. Ties are even worse…wearing a blue tie…with a blue shirt…same shade…! :)
4. Legs are worse hit…who the f was the inventor of formal shoes…and at what point of time exactly was he planning to think on the lines of comfort…!!!!!!!
But largely its all good…is fun going through recruitment data…looking at loopholes and areas of concern…interacting with recruiters…convincing them of stuff…living off juice and sandwich…hanging out at the CAS office at SV1 (I just realized I haven’t been to the academic block for 4 days now!!!)…and what not…!
Things are shaping up…plz keep praying
~a
PS:
Friends Update
1. P got Castrol yesterday…he rocked it…!
2. A didn’t make it to the Castrol list. She has bharti today…so does banno and S
3. E has Hewitt and J&J. hope she makes it to Hewitt…plzzzzzzz
4. B got Irevna at 4 in the morning…! :)
5. S got TCG…and she might take it…!
6. 11 more to go…cmon guys…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
placements…and me…
So…I finally manage the 1st enter post the initial placement days.
The placement period at any campus is truly the most challenging one…at each and every individual level. And it actually goes for even the ones getting placed on the 1st day. ISB wasn’t any different…
The big 2 of consulting…(Mc-Donalds and BombayCG) started their tryst with the students on Friday. Mc was lookin at impressive numbers…and BCG was going strong on the sheer marketing efforts they had plugged in throughout the year. And the shortlist was essentially the who’s who of ISB. All the dean listers…the top extracurricular performers and the uniquely diverse candidates (a doctor turned detective…and a PhD Army Guy…and the likes).
I was part of the BCG shortlist…and was quite prepared. However, the other side didn’t seem to agree and I wasn’t part of the 2nd shortlist, that came about after the initial 2 rounds of interview. But then…I am to blame myself…I really wasn’t my best…!
Nevertheless, Saturday came and both the firms were into their 3rd rounds…! And with the day…came the remaining big consults…and the big FMCGs.
I was interviewing with ATK and Citi. Finally got in through ATK and closed the process by accepting their offer. And am really happy with it. Shall be posted most probably off Delhi…and the work is truly world class and almost similar, if not higher, when compared to the Donalds and the Bombays…! :)
It is such a relief of sorts…u hv been working towards something all this while…and then it finally happens. Forget the fact tht my mom knows shit abt the company…my dad tolds his friends tht I have got through some AT Carnage firm…and R after all my explanations regarding the compensation, role, location etc asks me “so…tell me…would you be now called an investment banker…???”
“ummmm…ATK is one of the world’s largest management consulting firm…so what part of this statement DIDN’T YOU UNDERSTAND…???????”
Offers closing in…VM cracked the highest offer on campus so far…and some really neat offers were made left right and center. Donalds took 10 students…an Indian record…!
Some sad moments also happening…but its awesome fun as part of the PLACOM to be fighting such issues and still reach home at 2 in the morning after a hard day’s work…feeling good about the fact that another 50 odd people and their families shall sleep a very satisfied sleep tonight…!
Waiting for a lot more records to be broken…and a lot more smiles on campus…!
~a
PS: Even though people r after my life for a treat and all tht…i have a list of 19 people who have to get a job before i can even think of celebrating. the count as of today is 7…! hang in there guys…!
love that permeates much beyond a single day…
Never celebrated it…didn’t ever feel the need to…
Never bothered a heck about it…definitely didn’t buy someone a rose for 5K at an auction (and yes…this has happened in front of my own eyes…the very same with which I see…!)
Never thought it was even worth spending 5 microseconds on…there were better…far more important days to consider…
But what the heck…someone (and a marketing genius…would be my best guess)…has created the day…very smartly passed the entire buck onto some St. Valentine (who for all practical purposes was a divorcee…who cares…!)…however has managed (to near perfection) to move an entire generation towards the concept of the same. Impressive…
To this gentleman…and the feeling of love that permeates much beyond a single day…
Happy V Day…!
~a
PS:
- ISB has an awesome candlelight dinner scheduled for this evening. God damn it…I have my BCG dinner as well…! Career 1st…! :)
- Except for a few…many shortlists haven’t yet poured in. with placements starting Friday…I expect the new few days to experience a deluge of announcements. Damn my weak heart…!
god…i loved the…
Scene 1:
Jaliawala bagh… “aapka aagyakaari beta…Bhagat Singh…”
Scene 2:
The tricolor is folded and presented to the mom, at the funeral
Scene 3:
The door-bell rings…mom goes to open the door. 2 soldiers with the trunk of her son
Scene 4:
“itna sab ho gaya aur main sirf dekh raha hoon…saala humhaari kuch aukaad nahi hai…”…(cries inconsolably)
Scene 5:
“…sochta hoon ki humhaare bacche kale honge ki gore…”… “hahahahahaha”… (gun shots)…
5 scenes…5 characters…my eyes…my tears…my feelings…my helplessness…
Rang De Basanti…! Rocking…!
I saw it for the 2nd time today…and the emotions are just the same. Such movies are not really movies…they are an experience…an experience that leaves my mind disturbed. I wish I could do something…I want to do something…but feel bound by so many things. It’s so hard to let go…when there is so much attached to you. But then…that is precisely why sacrifice is so hard…!
Suddenly the placements…this MBA…this anxiety and this ‘survival’ seems so trivial…! And yet here I was…preparing bloody cases and taken personal interviews…at times questioning…why…?
At times…it takes a movie to make you realize your worth…or the lack of it…!
God I loved the movie…
Watch it…!
~a
…keep on moving on…anyway…
Placement prep on in full swing. There is so much to do…and everyday before I sleep I question myself on my ability to make it. It’s scary at times…exciting most often…but the god damn apprehension doesn’t seem to go away ever. Maybe that is what keeps me going on…!
Can’t believe that term 7 is coming to an end…and this is the last week of classes. This term literally flew by…! And surprisingly it wasn’t even half as hectic as I thought it would be. The prep did take its share of time…however academically the term was very chilled out. The courses were fun…and the amount of work needed wasn’t as much. Overall…a fun term. Let’s hope the next one starts with some good news…!
Everyday we get some 15 odd mails from the placement office…about the new postings. So everyday is like another adventure…trying to firstly figure whether you want to apply or not…and if yes…then how do you pitch. Its quite an art though…to customize resumes and EoIs according to the role and company…
Company X: Consulting
Senior Associate:
“…I see my skills sets best suited to a consulting environment. And my interactions with X on campus have given me a very positive vibe with respect to its culture and perspective. I must admit that the prospect of working for BCG is really exciting…”
Company Y: Finance
Associate:
“…I see my skills sets best suited to a financial research environment. And my interactions with Y on campus have given me a very positive vibe with respect to its culture and attitude towards work and ethics. I must admit that the prospect of working for Y is really exciting…”
Phew…! That was tough…!
Graduation day has been decided for the 8th of April. And we have been given a full 12 hours to ‘evacuate’…! By 9th April 1400 hours…everyone person on this campus should be seen with atleast 3 suitcases…and a box full of books…and probably a mouth full of not-so-good-to-hear words…!! Ma and papa r coming 7th night…and leaving on the 10th…! So we shall have to stay outside… (That’s if this evacuation business isn’t resolved) for a day…! Let’s see…!
It’s depressing to think of life after ISB…at times really depressing…!
…keep on moving on anyway…
~a
Subscribe to warikoo wanderings