Another beginning to a new end...

Earlier, every time a new year approached, I would be excited what all I wanted to do in the coming year. But this time, when I started looking at the new year, I saw myself looking beyond the next 365 days..I guess this time, the point of reference had changed and I could easily just turn back and see my life as a map laid down on the table. Only that it had more zigzag lines than any complicated map would have !! But this view of 27 years of life actually helped me formulate some postulates about me and help me decide what I want to do next.

And I guess the only way to make things better, is to make life simple. Once you remove the complications, everything becomes crystal clear and you start functioning as an open loop system. Though isolated, but very efficient. And at this phase of life, this looks to be an optimum solution.

This year ended with a low and a high. The low not because I still could not get to my dream destination, but due to the inability to bring myself to a level wherein I could not be easily dismissed. But that low has brought in a high in the form of rejuvenated vigor to extract the maximum of what I have. I guess most of the times, we do not make the most of what we presently have and try to mix future with the present.

Well,this new year seems to have a lot in store for me to achieve :

-Get back into shape.
-Start playing racket ball.
-Realized that I am devoting too much time on MBA studies. I need to keep myself updated or else things will just crash.
-Get my wife here so that we start living our married life together. Its been four years since we have not lived with each other. Kudos to her for maintaining this long distance relationship.
-Start testing the concept of Gandhigiri. After seeing Lage Raho, I am gonna give one serious try to it. I still dont know whether I have the patience of being hit once and still allowing the other person to hit me again. But I am gonna give my best shot.
-Make life simple. Am not gonna distract myself and for once, allow myself to pursue my career in a field which excites me.
-Be a good son to an ailing father. We sometimes are so engrossed with our own lives that we tend to forget the very reason we are here.
-Treat the past as a sunk cost. Just stop worrying about it..

Things which I expect :

-US and Indian economy dont crash. I am due to graduate by the end of this year.
-Neetu (My wife) gets her visa.
-Yogesh and Nadkar have an amazing married life.
-Life becomes simple for Nitesh.
-My dad recovers.
-Amitoj gets his dream job.
-Arjun Singh becomes sane.
-Bharani starts blogging more regularly.

I just hope that Murphy's law is not applicable this year !!

Enjoy..Zindagi Rocks..

Yaaron !!

Once down !! Twice down !! It took me a long time to let the feeling sink down. There are times when you just wish that time rolls back and you make amends to things which can determine your future. But then eventually reality strikes. But then as Bharani said "I have come to realise that many things in our life happen for a reason...and we just need to take the positive thing out of the event."

Well it may be a generic advice, to always extract the positives from whatever happens to us. But frankly it works. There are so many things happening in our life that if we look back and analyze each situation..then it strikes that if that incident would'nt have happened, we would not be able to enjoy the present situation we are in. But again, however good the present situation is, we always anticipate that future is brighter than the present. And thats when we stop living life.

I guess we should stop living life for a reason. We should start living it for the sake of replenishment. Replenishing our faith in happiness. We need to extract the maximum of whatever we get. So many times we just let go of things which we think have no meaning. But when we look back, we regret not holding to them.

When i walk down memory lane, the moments spent with friends and family make me nostalgic. Those moments spent with Yogesh, Nadu and Nitesh are invaluable..I still remember those lengthy talks with Yogesh when we spent half the time discussing how and why some things should happen..and I am so happy that they happened.. Nadu pursued whatever he wanted to do.. And both Yogesh and Nadu are gonna be marrying their sweethearts nearly in the same time frame. I feel so secure to be around with Nitesh. He has a solution for every problem and has been a life support system. I dont know what I would have done without these guys.

Was just reading Bharani's blog a little while ago. I just adore this person !! Sometimes I just place him as a role model !! His thought process is so clear and his cravings so special.. There are so many times I can relate to whatever he writes. There have been times I would like to do certain things. But eventually I dont. God bless this master of thoughts !!

Well..I have just started with the winter break. It should be an exciting as well as a relaxing one though !! Gonna catch up with old friends in California and then head to Houston to be with family. There are change of plans and I have to now redirect myself to the new way of expectations.

Life has a lot to give you !! How many days do we remember when we actually lived our life the way we want to.. I guess hardly 10 or 15. In 27 years of age i.e. 9855 days..Gosh that means only 0.0015 % of my life I have lived it to the fullest. There is something seriously wrong !! I guess I have to find a new way to live life kingsize !!

MBA...Change of Perceptions !!

Friday Night --> The only night when owls are left alone...Why ? Cos MBA students are sleeping !!

Generally, whenever I am standing in a queue at a Take away joint, I would generally let some vague thoughts cross my mind and pass my time away. But yesterday, things changed. I was standing in a queue at Chipotle and I saw myself calculating serve time,arrival rate etc etc. I was trying to gauge the "fat rabbits a.k.a bottlenecks" and trying to figure out how much time would it would take me to pick up my burrito Thats what a good class of operations does to you !!! But all credits to Dr. Rogelio Oliva for making operations so natural to you. The guy is awesome !! He is an former Harvard professor, has amazing stamina (runs close to 3 miles in a lecture) and makes you think, think and think.

In the end, I guess, MBA changes perceptions. It allows you to take liberty with your thought process and give one opportunity to think the way you want. And once you start ticking, that opportunity becomes your routine activity. There was a time when I used to fret about the work load. But I guess, the program was simply asking us to evaluate our time management skills and improve them for judgement day !!

Similar things are happening with the Finance course. Each rational thought ends at NPV. If its a negative NPV, forget it !! And the mother of all truths...Forget the sunk cost. Its gone. Think about future cash flows and compare them only....Gosh..Only if I could understand this early in life..Would have quit Reliance long back !!!

Anyways...For anyone thinking of doing an MBA !! Do it..Not for money, not for education !! But for change of perception !!!

Expectations...and loss...

Ram lay still on the bed. A couple of nurses checking his pulse and confirming whether there is any bleeding. A doctor just went by trying to figure out who is inside the dearranged body. But Ram lay still with his parents at his side, praying for the life of their son.

Just three hours ago, Ram had much against his parents wishes, taken the bike of his uncle to ride to the board center. The moment he came out of the center with pride that he has excelled in his examination, Ram with his friend Anuj started the bike and rode away to glory. He didnt realise what hit him next and only gained senses in the hospital.

All this time as he lay on the bed, his father would stay by his side ready to serve any need he had. Infact his father was so desparate to tend to his need, that anytime the eye blinked , he was ready for action.

Ram recovered. He entered high school and his father would try to extract maximum time of his schedule to see him through. Everytime he faltered, his father though tough, would give him a second chance. Ram would recover and then fall. At every fall, his father stood there and tried to get him back on his legs.

Ram did his bachelors. At around the same time, his father went through a ordeal and was trying to get out of it. Ram fell in love with a girl he would eventually marry.Though his parents had earlier denied the pair a chance, but they eventually gave in. Ram married his beloved. Marrying at such a young age gave the young couple a lot of reasons to fight. Ram's father would always try to make things better.

Ram's father would always ping him for his future plans. He would write him letters to keep him focussed. Ram wanted to do his MBA. Ram's father left no stone unturned to pave way for his son to pursue his goal. Ram and his wife started with this goal. Ram's wife went on to do her MBA. One down. Ram gave his first gmat under difficult conditions at work. He didnt do well. But his father would always call him and motivate him. Ram's wife and his father was his biggest support at that trial of destiny.

Ram's goal was to get into his dream college. He didnt get in. But instead he got an admit into a United States school. Ram had no savings by this time. Ram's father though into semi-retirement brought his spirits back and complemented his scholarship to cover the initial burst of expenses. At every stage he was ready to help him out, be it his tickets, insurance or anything else.. His son has to study. That was his goal.

Two weeks to go. Ram could realise something wrong with his father. But he didnt disclose. Ram's father arranged a party for his son's departure and his grandson's arrival. He did everything under the sun to make it a success and give his son every oppurtunity to cry when he would depart from his motherland.

Ram reached his overseas abode. Started on with the grind. Ram's father was diagnoized with cancer. Ram's father got his tryst with destiny. His lifeline was now defined.

Ram is broken. Ram could remember each phase of life when his father was behind him. Support him at the drop of the hat. Be a shield at worst of times. Would be a sincere advisor. A lot of times, Ram took him wrong. But he could never take Ram wrong.

I hate to be Ram.

IN SEARCH OF INDIANNESS ABROAD

A very good blog post by Saurabh Saksena on Indian's attitude about India and the image they reflect of the motherland.

Watan...

The movie was Omkara...I could see plates of samosas, kachori's and some amazing katti rolls being traded. Occasional guju chats (decibel a bit higher--as always) and some real well-dressed punjabi's turning some eyeballs in seemingly opposite directions (again - as always).. And all the pre-movie noise and excitement...But the only difference was..that the movie theater was owned by a Paki in the city of Houston !! The whole environment was just so Indian that for a moment I forgot I am away from desh.

Anyways..the whole crux of describing this theater was the discussion I had with one fellow-Indan out there. And it was actually a 2 min discussion in the men's toilet.

He was an Indian who had been in the US for a major portion of his life. I was an Indian who had been in this place for hardly two weeks. The moment he came to know that I had just come, he started being nostalgic about India and the beauty of staying there. But on being asked why he hadn’t gone back, the whole nostalgic tempo went for a toss. He didn’t have any definite answer and nor could I think of any. The generic ones - standard of living, work culture and corruption free life were pretty much the same. But then there had to be more.

I guess.. It’s the sheer perennial loss of adaptability which is the reason most of the Indians don’t go back. We just intend to.. When we were back there in India..We intended to study further..And we did everything under the sun to achieve that. Wrote GRE's / GMAT's.. Wrote some real good stuff..Went through the Visa ordeal.. Once we were here...We did things which we never did in our life..cleaned our toilets..cooked our own food..washed our utensils.. Can’t list all of them.. At that point of time we were adaptable.. We adapted to virtually everything.. Be it the ascent, eating habits, study formats..everything..

But where does that adaptability go when we ponder about going back. I am sick of seeing people crying over the phone and saying the "missing" etc on the phone. Cmon..if u are actually missing.. Go back and live that life which u want to...

I may sound paranoid..But I have been thinking about adaptability is such micro forms these days.. Somehow I feel the whole world revolves around it.. If one is ready to adapt to a particular situation, he will do it... I have seen people wanting to quit jobs but wouldn’t for the fear of living a lower standard of living. If they could only adapt to it. I am no better. Even I didn’t adapt to a lot of situations in life. But I see a wide scope of improvement on that front.

Sometimes I don’t realize where these postings lead to.. For me..Its just a vent.. maybe a pain to many !!!

During this whole blog posting I might have listened to Jana Gana Mana innumerable times..Gosh..Now I am getting nostalgic.. And I seriously hope that twenty years hence I dont end up meeting an indian newbie at an american theater..

End of the beginning.. Classes start..

Its been a long time since I last updated my blog. But I guess its was my own laziness which tempted me to sleep around most of the time.

Two weeks in houston pre-college gave me an oppurtunity to unwind myself. After working 14 hours a day at Reliance and then an immediate lull made me realise how well one can manage his time.

Orientation started on 10 August with a welcome desert dinner. It was one hell of a ice breaker. Post that it was more like a pre-term than an orientation with a statistics camp and some initial case solving sessions. But the awakener was the Beer Game. It is a classic game to be played if one wants to get a gist of Supply Chain Managment.

The assignments and homework has just started to prowl in me and I guess I should be adapting to it pretty fast. We got our classes divided evenly. 37 each and a team of 4/5 in each. Ours is beta4.

Classes begin on Monday and a lot of pre-reading down the aisle.

I came to Mays with least expectations.. I hope to be proved wrong in the long run.

Last week happenings : Swapnil finally got engaged..Really happy for them... They make an amazing couple. Yogesh quit Wipro and all set for a marriage in Feb... Neetu is gearing up to come here here. Gosh..I miss her so much.. Some problems back home. I really hope to seem them resolved... These are things which prompt me to come back to India as soon as possible.

Really looking forward to the MBA program. It is exciting and I have a gut feeling that I will enjoy the tenure here. Guess the 80 hour/week home study schedule shouldnt be that bad.

Next blog shouldnt take as many months as this one. Hope to trim the period down to a week.

The big journey to US

I was contemplating hosting a FAQ for the same cos I needed it too.

The whole MBA application process takes more than a year. If i gauge each phase on a minimum basis, two months for GMAT prep, Four months in applications, 2 months awaiting interviews, 1 month giving interviews, 1 month waiting for admits, 1 month negotiating with adcom,1 month renewing passport (worst case scenario), visa application, making travel arrangements and miscellanous stuff.

Well anyways. The TAMU Indian Association was kind enough to make an amazing document which has helped us a lot.

The Accounting prof has asked us to download a software called Aleks which will help her gauge our accounting knowledge at the start of the class. Lets see how i perform cos I have no accounting background whatsoever..

Yogesh is coming to Mumbai this weekend. So I hope to share a drink with him.

Swapnil has got busy again and R has got a job. Really happy for her.

Read Bharani's blog. He is an amazing person with a very clear thought process.

Good Morning ISB

This was one trip I had been contemplating for a long time. All credits to Nadu (T2) to pull me through to ISB (My second love...) . T2’s term 1 had just ended and he was in midst of a much deserved break. The night longbus trip hadnt worked wonders on me and somehow my spirits had gone to an alltime low. But the very sight of "Indian School of Business” flushed all thoughts and generated all the excitement to enjoy the very beauty of this awesome institution.

The security guard brought a smile on my face by referring that my name is identical to that of the Chairman’s and the very thought of being “The Rajat Gupta” made me nervous.
As I rode towards the student village I was amazed to go through the signboard. It read “Drive Slowly, Peacock Crossing”. Gosh it sounded as if I am in midst of an sanctuary.

And then I get to meet Freddie aka T2 in true bohemian style. I could see the very excitement in him to show me across ISB as he knew the crush/love I had for it.

One thing I realized about ISB, is that it will take a lot of a student’s commitment to remain fat cos u need to walk amazing distances to reach from one point to another. But on the whole it was fun cos I got an opportunity to talk about a host of things with T2. We talked about professors, carbon trading, artium and squash. Infact, I got to meet his squash partner at lunch and we talked all about ISB. How it is positioned, how it needs to grow and how more global finance companies need to be seduced..

And then I get to meet someone who actually complements T2, his would to be other half. I didn’t know that T2 could have made such a good choice knowing his earlier bent of mind. R is a true person at heart, very down-to-earth and has a distinct simplicity. The next two days passed off in a jiffy with T2 treating me at some great places. I was in awe with his hospitality and bored of his “I will take ur dollar treat later”.

The final day at Hyderabad was made memorable by our visit to the Golconda Fort. It was one rare example of spectacular architecture and unforeseen engineering. I couldn’t believe that medivial architects were so advanced. The sound and the light show with Mr. Amitabh Bacchan’s voice relived the history of Golconda.

After coming back to ISB we stayed awake all night talking about anything under the sun. Calling long distance and talking to our old friend and discussing some untouched areas of life made this visit a memorable one. I had come to visit ISB. But in the space of two days, I not only graced ISB but I got to know T2 and R much better and became emotionally attached to them.

T2 and ISB Rocks…

Getting Ready...

It has been an hectic month. Getting passport re-issued (=heroic task), getting my I-20 done and following up with the admissions office for a better deal to study at Mays.

Swapnil is at ISB now and is very excited about being there. Check his blog for a realistic view on ISB. Prospective students should be in touch with him for the simple reason that he can give a very holistic view about the whole process.

Neetu has completed her MBA and her convocation is scheduled on 8th May.. Her family and I shall be present there. She is going to join TCS in June.

Yogesh is in Pune and shall be joining WIPRO in May. God everyone is getting settled and I am going the study way at 27. But then.. I have to..

Am really excited to meet Amitoj at Mays.. He has been an inspiring force for me towards this journey for my MBA. Frankly I hadnt even given a thought to attend Mays when I was writing my GMAT. But when I put every piece together, I feel its a good option and gives me an opportunity to come back to India..

Weekend is going to be at Pune. Have a ceremony planned for the new born baby... (Yuvraj).. He is a very sweet child....

Guess.two months are gonna go away soon.. I am going to schedule my visa date as soon as possible..

Hope to see Swapnil in the coming week...

Also intend to blog more :)

MAYS..It is...

It was a tough decision. But then.. It had to be taken. All pro's and con's considered, I have finally decided on accepting the admit at Mays Business School in United States.

I was going through Swapnil's blog and was actually very impressed with his balanced perspective. In this whole application and acceptance saga, we forget the basic intention of doing an MBA. I strongly believe that in the end, it all boils down to the placements. Quality of education somehow gets tagged with the placements. Going through Ram's blog and reading about Prof. Nirmal Gupta's way of teaching, I feel that the Q of E should be a paramount factor of choosing one's b school.

Mays has some really good faculty and an amazing Alumni network. I know its tough comparing ISB to Mays. But then, its a trade off of gaining an year, a much debated international exposure, real diversity and virtually doing an MBA for free (read=scholarship + GA).

I am really looking forward to the course. But deep within, ISB will rule the heart.

Acknowledgements : Swapnil Nadkar, Amitoj Arya, Yogesh Garde, Smriti Gupta, Neetu Singh and Nitesh Batra.

Meeting T2... Part II

Met T2 again...

Its always a pleasure to meet T2. He is amazing individual and has such innovative and precise ideas and thoughts that one can listen to him for ages. It was an amazing evening at one of my favourite *resting* joints--> barista. I,T2 and N discussed anything under the sun. We had pics taken with our laptops and did some crazy things which brought me back to childhood. Well T2 is on the marriage way, so dont want to say anything else.

Well T2 will be joining ISB in April and I am going to miss him a lot. His confidence in me was unwarranted but it surely has brought me closer to ISB.

Hope T2 dosent disappear post- ISB. One panelist asked, you took a couple of gmat's. will you get so many retakes in life. And I guess the answer is, that each situation, meeting anything... is a retake... Its just that we dont realise it.

Meeting....T2

Yesterday I could finally get to meet my long time friend SN aka T2.. :) Well..according to him I am T1. FYI T stands for --> Taku.. SN was my classmate in Engineering college and post engineering took a complete different direction. I hardly know any one who had the guts to reject an IIM call during college. Speaks a lot about a person's belief in his capabilities. BTW he is ISB R1 amit and future star placement of ISB :) Amen...

His first glimpse brought a smile on my face. He rightfully looked like Andrew Flintoff and anybody could mistake him to be a monk dressed up in casuals :) Anyways.. Most of the time we were discussing ISB and my anxiety about the DDDDD day... Well.. I am actually very anxious now. I just want it.. Accept or Reject.. Whatever is the verdict..... Well anyways.. one of the panel members was already sending me crude vibrations signalling my reject.. But then..we live on hope.. and its hope which has brought me to this juncture. ...

Well..then... after the dinner we went to CCD.. And for the first time I had hot Irish Coffee... BTW I forgot to emphasize that T2 was on a treat spree..was treating me at Pizza Hut and paid for all the transits..

Anyways.. CCD was good.. I did get interrupted by some stupid phone call from office where the only speaking I had to do was to call a meeting tomorrow. Anyways.. We discussed about R, his financials and his vision post ISB.

His belief in me getting an admit from ISB boosted my lagging confidence. Though my gut feeling is roaring that "you got a chance" but my brain keeps on negating that.. But... well.. I can only pray,hope, eat,drink till Feb 28th.. If things go the other way I will start to pray,hope,eat,drink and WORK again towards the very goal (=dream) to be part of ISB.

T2 rocks....

Moment... long awaited......

Finally the moment has arrived... Am scheduled for an interview with ISB on Monday.. Just woke up today morning only to realise that this would be a make or break situation..

When I was graduating out, I had started dreaming about ISB. But during the last five years i could bring sense to that dream...

Well..Got to work on my interview and hope to see myself as a R2 admit..:)