THE CURTAIN UNFOLDS

Not many days in one single life can be as informative as the day turned out to be..... the day which turned out to be the formal beginning for term1. Suddenly I realised so many things.... realised that being an ISB student demands much more efforts and energy than what I had been prepared for..... realised that I have to cut down my gym timings by atleast an hr (oops what is left, then)...... realised that spending more time with the powerpoint presentation of the class lectures can be more beneficial than spending time with ...you know what I mean. Yeah.....in spite of all this, I believe that just spending time with books and assignments might not be the best idea..... All the activities of life should move on, only that the budget on time needs a better allocation.

Well, thats about studies. But one thing that I should have mentioned earlier is the party that was thrown to cebrate N's wedding. It was simply fabulous and even the most serious of people were in a different frame of mind on SV2 mirror pool. I really hope all the unmarried people in ISB complete the good work within their stay in ISB, such that we get to live such great parties more frequently.

THE "REAL" THING

I wanted to write something about "Real Estate" earlier, but somehow didnot find the opportune time. However, as I just return from the informal meeting that was put up by some real "real estate" enthusiasts, I must say that I am quite impressed by these people, their past career till date and their ability to discover new oppurtunities. For instance, there was this guy named P. P did his schooling from Doon School....got his undergraduation degree from Delhi University in Economics.... moved to London to get his masters in Economics from London School of Economics.... returned back to India to start his own venture.......selected to lead the Indian office of a leading real estate firm before joining ISB. Then there was U, who worked for quite some time with a leading consultancy firm in tourism, hotel business, and similar domains, mostly outside India, before relocating to ISB. S (There will be so many Ss in the class of 2007), who has worked for a top real estate firm took the challenge to enlighten lesser mortals like me with an wonderful presentation that covered the complete industry scenario.

Now, coming back to the formal acads.... Term 1 starts tomorrow. And yes... life in ISB is really hectic.... I have got to cover around 90 pages of reading materials in statistics(tonight) before I face the statistics class tomorrow.

TODAY BELONGS TO SV1 BUT WHERE IS MANDAKINI

Guys, This is SV1 entrance.... The student village where I stay in ISB...

Four years ago, I said goodbye to Mandakini. The very name "Mandakini" takes me to the golden period of my life... the place where I met those people whom I can never forget.... where I made those friendship which I can only dream to create again....where I learnt how to dream.... where I learnt what it means to win in life... But alas.... I am no more in our sweet "Mandak",my undergrad hostel......

And I heard that they are going to demolish Mandak..... It has been in the agenda for quite sometime. Come rainy season and Mandak is in the mercy of rain God..... And since the last two years, Mandak has been suffering terribly in the rainy season....perhaps thats why they plan to demolish the current structure and shift it to a new location.... I know it is all for the good... But kya karen... yeh dil hai ke manta nahin. Is it possible for me to visit my undergrad college and not say hi to Room No. 211,215,207,226 and 364. No choice buddy... thats life.

FIRST BDAY DUNKING OF SECTION F

Hey.. hey.. today is not my birthday

Guess the number of people in the pool

Can you find the bday gal

Not long ago, the ISB campus belonged to the Class of 2006. They added on to the various traditions of ISB, and the Class of 2007 successfully inherited all the great stuff that the earlier batch did. One of such events is the birthday celebration in ISB. I will not write much about how we celebrate the birthday….. have a look at the snaps and you get to know all the fun. Section F celebrated the first birthday dunking of the year…. And the birthday girl is none other than my quad neighbor D. Cheers D…. Wish you all the best and hope this year turns out to be amongst the most memorable years of your life….

Alums.. if you are reading this, do thank me for bringing back the nostalgic memories of ISB.

CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

Center for Global Logistics and Manufacturing Strategies (GLAMS) is one of the centers of excellence started in ISB (in fact the newest), the other two being Center of Analytical finance (CAF) and Wadhwani Center of Entrepreneurship Development (WCED). Plans of new centers of excellence are in the agenda.

In a brief presentation hosted today, the director of Global Logistics and Manufacturing Strategies Prof. Viswanadham presented quite an ambitious picture of industry concepts like supply chain management and manufacturing. He also covered the retail industry and food processing industry, indicating the kind of potential that lies hidden in such sectors, especially in a country like India.

One thing interesting about these centers of excellence is that they are brand new centers and this offers them the freedom and opportunity to tap the most happening things around. And from what I understand, students play a quite a decent role in the brand enhancement of these centers. For instance, when asked about the maritime supply chain management industry, Prof. Viswanadham informed that the center plans to work with various port authorities and maritime sector soon.

So far things are going great for these infant “research powerhouses” of ISB. And as a part of the ISB fraternity, it will be great pleasure to see these centers scaling new peaks with time.

KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND ISB LIFE

There is one thing about this year’s batch of ISB that I like very much. It started even before the students met each other in ISB, when P send a primer on “investment banking” months ago, and that was just the beginning. Yes, I am talking about “Knowledge Sharing” which is so typical of ISB students.
Articles on “level 5 leadership”…..case studies of Mckinsey…… VAT analysis and its impact on general economy….manufacturing and India…. and a whole lot of such articles, which keep floating around, genuinely reflects the diversity of the batch.

Lots of interesting things happening in the campus….. N is likely to come back in couple of days with the most special person of his life (He was the first one in the batch to get married as an ISB student)……SS celebrated her first birthday and S is the happiest mother in the campus…...executive housing is hosting a party today…..pre-terms have reached mid-way…….and the list never seems to end. I can really feel the charm and sweetness of this kind of life.

ISB PACE...

Slowly and steadily, the ISB pace is catching up. People are busy following the pre term courses and bracing themselves for the term beginning early next week. Evenings are often reserved for planning the agenda for the professional clubs. Looks like, the class of 2007 has got serious from day one itself.
Well, as far as brilliance is considered, I feel the students of ISB will not stay behind those of the best in global business. However, one department, which I feel, we are slightly lacking is the application of soft skills. People should be more patient especially while planning various club activities. Sometimes people override each other to prove their individual points and at times it becomes slightly difficult, or rather time-consuming to reach a consensus. (In spite of that, I must admit that the progress in various club activities is in fairly good shape).
However, as I look back to the orientation week, I can recollect the maturity and the soft skills that the alums possessed. And I am sure the one year experience in ISB will infuse such maturity into the class of 2007 as well. After all, management education is all about it.
As for myself, I am trying to learn the basics of accounting…. It has been quite sometime since I last read a curriculum related book. Somehow, I managed to complete a chapter with intermittent doses of sweet afternoon naps. I can really understand, how difficult it can be, to transit back into classroom life, after four years of professional career.

PS: When I say "people", it reflects the average ISB junta. There are quite a number of people whose maturity levels are way above the average, especially those from the Indian Civil Services and from the Indian Defence Forces.

ONE MORE INTRO...

It began like just another intro......
For brevity let me refer myself as M and the other gentleman as G

M: Hi, Did we meet before?
G (with a smile on his face and with extra ordinary modesty): Did we?
M: Anyway… This is Sabyasachi Mohanty…You can call me Sabya.
G: That’s nice. Sabya is short and easy.
M: I am sorry. Can I get your name?
G(with even more modesty): I am X
M: It’s a pleasure meeting with you X
G: Same here too. What is your professional background like?
M (impatiently): Blah blah……And what yours?
G: I belong to the faculty.
M (with a sudden reaction): Faculty. Faculty at ISB?
G (with enough friendliness): Yes.
M (What more can I say…): Great meeting you, Sir…..
G: Same here too.

It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between professors and students at ISB. And to add to the trauma, the professors are so modest that you don’t know how to react after you realize that the person with whom you were so casually talking is a professor.

WHY

Why is it sometimes not possible to look into somebody’s eyes and let that person know your feelings?
Why is it sometimes not possible to keep walking, walking and walking without looking back?
Why do memories have life…Why don’t they die with the moment…Why do they sometimes recreate the whole episode again?
Why is that life never gives a second chance?
Why is that it’s always the mind which rules… and not the heart?
Why am I thinking all this in the middle of the night?

WHERE DO I STAND IN THE RACE?

All the alums have left… and before leaving, they passed on the legacy of all their experience to the new batch. The new batch is determined to work on the experience of the last batch, cross all barriers and break all the records created this year. The consultancy club, energy/manufacturing club, marketing club, technology club, EVC (Entrepreneurship and Venture Capitalist) club, finance club and all the existing clubs have discovered a plethora of new members in the Class of 2007. The enthusiasm doesn’t seem to end there. Efforts are being diverted to the formation of new clubs too.
So many smart people around…. so many clubs…..so many ideas to put into effect…..but where do I stand in this race?
As I relax and analyze all the knowledge sessions (imparted by the alums) and as I take a look at my past work experience and associations, I realize that it makes sense to involve myself in two clubs…….The first one being the energy/manufacturing club…… I strongly feel that I can be a very active member of this group and can contribute substantially.
Now let me visit the consultancy club, which is most likely to host the largest chunk of the current ISB population. At the moment, I really have no great idea on what consultancy is. Although, I cannot contribute substantially to this club (at least, in the beginning), I do feel that I can learn a lot about what consultancy is, by joining this club.

As far as I know, I am not exactly interested in venture capitalist/ investment banking/or IT at the moment. So let me remain away from these clubs and if situation demands later, I can always change my decisions then….however this is very unlikely.

One interesting trend that is visible in this batch is a nascent interest in “real estate”. Although I am not exactly into what real estate is, but with whatever little knowledge and information I have on this topic I feel that it is worth spending some time to explore the opportunities in real estate. Individual efforts have joined hands in this area of concentration and if things go well, the next club will be the Real Estate Club.

That is all about the professional clubs for the moment. Pre terms start from tomorrow…Since I have not registered for any of the pre-term courses, I am free for the next week, as far as classes are considered. At the same time I have to make sure that things don’t go out of my hand when Term1 starts.

BOOKS, BOOKS AND BOOKS.....

As I was walking in the atrium of ISB, I saw people coming out of the book store with whole bunch of books….
I have always hated big, fat text books, yet I decided to buy those books. When did I last buy a text book before this? Definitely not during my under-graduate career. I remember how I photocopied a book on “Ship Design and Construction” which is considered a bible in ship construction. I preserved this book…. and really respected it as bible until I was involved in real practical projects, where I realized that the concepts of design and manufacturing as prescribed by this book are already outdated and no more used in the industry. Yet for four long years, I valued this book only to realize the futility at the end. I decided to use that big, fat book as an additional pillow and it served a good purpose.

I hope things are different in management education. I hope that management books as prescribed by ISB will have relevant real life experience in the industry. I hope the books which I bought today will be used to solve practical problems and will not alter their roles into pillows or something else.

Marketing management( Kotler and Keller)….Statistics for management(Levin and Rubin)…Financial accounting(Narayanaswamy)… This is only the beginning. I am sure more books will be in my book rack as the first term begins.

MANAGING ONE'S IGNORANCE

“Managing one’s ignorance”……This is a completely new term which I came across during the “Leadership Development Programme” in ISB. Sounds slightly unusual but has tremendous depth hidden within. This phrase introduced me to the concept of those leaders who lead “from middle” or “from back”. Now how is this possible and what has ignorance got to do with leadership?

One can lead from middle or from back if he really knows what his weaknesses are, and what he is ignorant of. Once he knows this, he knows exactly when he can act as a follower and hand over the charge to the person, who is good at the particular activity. And in this process, he also learns the skills which are required for the successful completion of that particular activity.

Thus, a person who can “manage his ignorance” develops the ability to learn from others, knows exactly when it is the time to pave way for others, and turns out to be an excellent team member with no ego problems.

I hope my team members in ISB are good at managing their ignorance.

PEARLS OF WISDOM

Five gentlemen….. all industry heavyweights and extremely renowned faces of Indian industry found some time out of their busy schedules to visit ISB and advise the class of 2007. The list includes a famous brand management consultant, an entrepreneur, one of most famous dropouts of IIM A and two other top industry people….. all of them in the category of CXOs.
Each of these people carried the whole batch through an insightful journey of career in particular and life in general. Let me put down some of the pearls of wisdom that these top people shared….

Not necessarily a person who takes risk will succeed in life….. A normal person with a steady career path can be more successful than a person who believes in a more adventurous career path. The whole concept is something like a road with lots of traffic posts. One guy travels full speed and then waits in the traffic, where a guy with a steady pace catches up.

Its extremely important to balance personal life with professional life….Not all people who have done great in their professional career are happy in life.

It is important to develop an insightful approach to all aspects of life including career.

While focus is important…. one should be ready to change as the situation demands.

LUCK…is very important…."To be in the right place at the right time” requires much more than individual caliber. There is somebody sitting on the top and controlling us.

A person who sticks to one company and tries to prosper within one company is normally more successful than a frequent job hopper.

Modesty is very important. Normally we remember instances when people were rude to us. The same holds good for others also if we are rude to them.

If one is interested in entrepreneurship, then it is wise to start as early as possible.

FIRST WEEK

Apart from the scheduled stuff, the highlights of the first week of my stay in ISB….

(1) “Did I meet you before”… this is the statement which I have been using very lavishly since the last week…"This is the 5th time we are introducing ourselves…ha-ha”-comes the reply. Getting to know 400+ people in a span of a week is a tough job but I do feel I have done a fairly good job at the end of the week.

(2) Liked my section T-shirt so much that I decided to wash it only after R informed me that she is yet to see me in a different attire. May be I will collect a couple of T-shirts before the stock is over.

(3) Took a fairly decent number of snaps which I am sure will be in great demand once ISB life draws towards an end.

(4) Realized that the senors and senoritas of this batch are smarter than what I expected them to be… especially the senoritas.

(5) Met almost all the active bloggers of the class of 2007.

(6) Decided to prioritize my activities in ISB before it gets late.

(7) Enjoyed the orientation week so much that I want to relive that experience again and again….thanks to the alums.

(8) Have to verify with P (the student from Italy) if I have an Italian accent….(based on the observation of D, who stays in the opposite quad.)

EARLY ASSOCIATIONS

Section F, F-6, SV-1, and L Block and L-18 are some of the tags with which I will be associated with in ISB. The superstitious person that lies within me tempts me to believe that all these tags will bring all the luck and force along with them.

One thing that I have noted here is that ISB offers an unlimited scope of activities. I feel one of the first things which I should learn to do in ISB is to prioritize my activities. Academic success is extremely important and it is an extremely dangerous idea to mess with it. Extracurricular activities are always important and the individual should have a clear idea how to balance studies with extracurricular activities such that a healthy mix can be obtained. The difficult part in ISB is that it is a one year course and this factor never allows rectifying one’s mistakes.

I am lucky considering the fact that my quad-mates and core-group team mates are fabulous people with whom it will be always a pleasure to work with. Core group members include an IITB graduate who has been involved with oil rigs for some time, a girl with economics background who was working with National Geographic channel/History channel and a couple of IT guys. A fairly good mix ….. I should say.
Quad-mates include a couple of CAs. One of them has worked for American Express and other for a host of consultancies including KPMG. So they will help me to cross the barriers in accountancy…..at least so they say.

HELLO FROM ISB

Well….. quite sometime since I posted my last mail. However last one week or so has been amongst the busiest schedules of my life so far. With all the registration and introduction related stuff drawing towards a close, I can almost feel the ISB heat.

Alums (Class of 2006) have really done a great job to help out the present batch in its transition into ISB life. Lots and lots of stuff have been happening since the last couple of days and many more are scheduled for the next couple of days. And after that it will be time for us to say good bye to our alums and transit to the real ISB flavor.

One mention about ISB campus…Its simply awesome and the only factor that slightly diluted my perception of this amazing campus is the experience of my stay in IIT Madras. If IIT Madras belongs to those innocent deer and mystical forests, ISB belongs to the peacocks, gigantic rocks and ultramodern ways of life. But I can well imagine the similarity that is common to both IIT and ISB. Exceptional people, high ambitions, tremendous work pressure, high standard of moral and ethics are amongst the things which are common to both these institutes.

Will be back soon....

LAST POST BEFORE I REACH ISB

This is the last mail I am writing before I reach Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. As I write this post, I experience a variety of emotions at the same time. Not just related to ISB, but to life in general. The excitement, emotion, frustration…..all at the same time.

Excited to join the ISB Class of 2007…… In another couple of days I will be in Hyderabad.

Emotional to leave home……. yet I feel so happy because for the first time in eight years, I am staying so close to home.

Frustrated with the ways of a few Indian politicians……….. whose dirty games will always be an impediment to Indian industry and educational institutes. Yet optimistic….as the prime minister and president are amazing individuals who I trust are away from the cheap vote bank politics. More ever, Indian industry and the top educational institutes are headed by amazing people who can find out an amicable solution to the “quota-raj” problem.

Inspired by the way Greg and Dravid are trying to shape the Indian cricket team…….Reminds me of the “Lion and Fox” theory of leadership where both the lion and fox co-operate for the betterment of one common goal. Next year, this time we can realize how effective this combination will turn out to be.

Nostalgic about my past job……. This job has helped me learn so much in life and presented me some of my best friends…. And I miss all the fun-filled actions.

Got to do a lot of stuff now. Will be back to capture the moments from ISB.

ARE U REALISTIC ENOUGH?

The music has stopped and the TV channels are back to normalcy again. As all the hype is over let me sit down and analyze the complete scenario.

The so-called “1-crore” salary proved to be the biggest B-school news ever in the Indian B-school history. People suddenly started talking about ISB with a new aura. The number of aspirants must have increased manifold. And parents and relatives of the would-be “ISBians” have already started expecting a lot. Even a fresher, just fresh out of college wants to give a try for ISB.

Well, not bad to be ambitious but it is far important to be realistic. Did anyone sit down for a while and give a thought on what made an organization pay such a salary (let me write down the salary as 234,000 USD) to one individual. What goes to the making of such an individual? What traits such individuals possess to command such a premium?

Well, things like leadership and management are extremely subjective affairs. No single theory can precisely define such concepts. The definition of leadership and management varies from people to people and from one organization to another. Different companies have different requirements and these requirements can be filled by certain individuals with certain traits apart from the job-related skills. I will try to articulate my understanding of these traits (till date) with the following examples. ISB will help me realize how correct I am.

(1) For ages, people from defense sector are known for their leadership qualities while Indian civil servants are well known for their diplomacy. Now, ISB is a place where both these varieties of people who harbor corporate dreams can be easily traced by various companies for leadership roles.
(2) Coming to the financial sector, let’s say a person has worked in pharmaceutical and healthcare industry before joining the MBA program and aspires to enter the hard core finance and i-banking sectors in lateral roles. Now how practical is this? In ISB, there is a long line of quality CAs who have already hold lateral roles in top i-banking and consulting firms before MBA and their mission in ISB is to tune their ambitions further. Apart from CAs, there are top class economics grads who have honed their economics skills in universities of the stature of London School of Economics before spending a year in ISB. In such case, it might be slightly disappointing for the pharma guy to land up in lateral finance related job without any serious efforts.
(3) Similarly people with tons of international experience are valued for certain roles which can involve international operations while people from media have skills which match some other roles. Not to forget that profiles such as flight stewardess and air hostess are highly valued in a wide range of marketing roles, thanks to their abilities to get with people so well.
(4) The innovative nature of merchant navy people is always appreciated by the corporate world. These people, by the very nature of their profession are innovative as they normally face difficult situations in the mid sea where there are completely left to themselves.
(5) Academically brilliant people are the favorites of the consultant biggies (although other traits are also required).

This list can be really long and certain traits are appreciated more by one particular organization than another. The salary which these organizations offer depends a lot on their trust in the abilities of the person they are hiring. Sometimes the person’s past experience is a perfect fit, while in most cases organizations believe that they can groom the person in their required direction.

ISB is a place where talent is abundant. And this talent is of such diversity that almost all ranges of companies can find somebody or other who they trust can make a difference to their organizations. “How big a difference can one person bring” is perhaps the best question whose answer should be a response to “how much one should be paid”.

So, before thinking about all the big pay packs, I believe that it is time to concentrate within, to realize how big a difference one can make in an organization. Or rather, what it takes to build the set of skills which can make a person bring about positive change within an organization. And while doing this, one needs to be practical and realistic.

GIVE ME A BREAK

Well, I have not updated my blog for sometime. The reason being I am involved in some traveling at the moment. I will get back with my experience, once I find myself in ISB.
Life is busy now, but busier times are scheduled ahead.
Most of the formalities related to my workplace are done. Just a week left for the roller coaster ride.

AN UNIQUE SWEET STALL

Today, I realized something which can have great practical significance in future.
As I was walking down the busy market area (in Bhubaneswar) today, I saw a sweet stall with a very unusual name. Normally sweet stalls in this area are always the branded ones selling popular sweets of the likes of “kaju ka barfi”. But here is a shop with the name of a very remote village of Orissa. At the first instant I was wondering if this shop invited any customers. But a closer look into the shop suggested otherwise. In fact the people in charge of this shop were really having a busy time. Also this shop specialized only on a few varieties of sweets- typical to that remote village. And yet, this shop is giving all the branded stalls a fairly good competition.
The interesting thing was that only two people handled the complete affairs of this stall. As I enquired further into the details of this stall, I realized that both the people who are running this shop are joint owners of this stall. And both belong to the same remote village.
One of them used to make these same sweets to cater to the needs of the village. But he was never satisfied with his life as the amount of money he was earning was barely enough. The other person was more adventurous and was exploring the opportunities available in the town. He had started his living as a road side “panipuri cum dosa” vendor.
But fortune has better things stored for both this people, who decided to come up with a plan to start a sweet stall specializing in sweets which were typical to their village. Only difference was that, the stall is now located at the one of the busiest market places of the capital city of the state. Over the last couple of years this stall has turned out to be one of the most popular sweet stalls of the town. And here the owners are......... earning more than what a top MBA school grad will end up earning.
Sometimes such real life success stories provide great lessons and inspirations. Sometimes we can learn so many things just by taking a closer look at the world around us.

FOR SOME VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE- 2

Let me reserve this post for my family and my childhood friends.

Not many people will disagree with me on the fact that one’s family and relatives are the biggest treasures that any human being can possess. It is great to play various roles within a family – as a son, as a brother, as a cousin, as a nephew, as a husband (I am yet to play this role….so not much idea of the complexity of this role) and a plethora of others role at the same time. Perhaps family is the only place where an individual can be “just himself/herself”. And like most of you, I can safely go on to say that “I am the luckiest guy on this planet” as far as family is considered. No wonder, the moments I get to spend in my home are the greatest moments of my life.

As I look deeper into the lost moments of my life into my school days I can easily recollect the great moments I spent with my childhood friends. Unfortunately, most of them are completely out of touch now. However, I will like to thank Sovan, Tapas, Piyush, Prashanth, Sarthak, Rudra, Deepti and all the DAVites, who were so much a part of my life a decade ago and so much a part of my memories today,…………. for all those fun-filled memorable moments of childhood. And a special mention of Tapas whose life story is so similar to the story line of “Lakshya”. Kudos to you, Captain Tapas.

FOR SOME VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE - 1

It is so difficult to forget those undergraduate days. Every time I think about those days, I feel as if those days existed a couple of days back. Four years of ones life is no small period and if these four years includes two teenaged years and two more after that, I wonder if the sweetness of the period can be replicated. Those friends (so difficult to make such friends later in life…..), frolic (definition is so wide that …), night outs (for obvious reasons….), movies (I wonder if I spared any …….), crushes (IIT Madras is definitely not the best place to have many crushes, but still I had my share...) and mugging sessions (the last thing I was really interested in….) will always remain very clear in memories.
This place would not have been such a great place without my batch mates and hostel mates. It is really difficult to mention out all the names but a special thanks to the following people (profs not included), whose names are synonymous with my experience of IITM. As I type down your designations, I can realise how much life has changed for all of us.

Apurva (Presently Offshore designer, Keppel’s, Singapore)
Sameer (PhD Student, Simons Rochester)
Kanu (PhD Student, MIT)
Deb (Civil Engineer, Florida)
Vyom (Surveyor, ABS)
Priya (Second year MBA IIM Cal)
Harish (Phd Student, MIT)
Ayush (PhD Student, Purdue)
Anup (PhD Student, Virginia Tech.)
Kishore (PhD Student, OSU)
Vishal (PhD Student, Idaho)

Well, the list is really long…. And I better restrict them to my memory.
However, my sincere wishes to all those people who took the same path from hostel to the departments, who appreciated all those great movies at OAT, who enjoyed the same Saarang, and yet, look so different now. But one thing can never change - "the spirit of IITM".

NERVOUS OR EXCITED

So finally the ISB welcome kit is in my hands. And the alarm clock also. With just a couple of weeks left before I enter the corridors of ISB, I find myself a bit excited as well as a bit nervous. “Excited” because ISB is really great place to live for a year and “nervous” because I am not in touch with formal studies for quite some time.

The profiles of the incoming students are simply amazing. Most of them have amazing work experience, and in many cases this work experience is backed up with master’s degrees from the top universities of the world. Most of the people have great GMAT scores and have decided to choose ISB over other good universities. The profile details will soon be in the website of ISB and I need not go through them now. The diversity that their experience will bring in will definitely have a great impact during the class discussions and group studies. I was under the impression that there are not many people from the maritime sector but the admission committee and the rising number of aspirants from this sector has proved me wrong. There are quite a number of people from ship manufacturing, ship operations and merchant navy.

With the courses list already declared, I am proud to say that I am going to learn from the people who are the best in business education. For years to come, I can boast of being a student of some of the most respected business minds of the globe. I just hope that I can play the role of a worthy student. Anyway, that is for time to answer.

WHAT SAY YOU

We, as Indians are not unaware of the kind of hype the western world has created to guard and glorify their History. They go on to say that Kautilya is the “Machiavelli of India” or Kalidas is the “Shakespeare of India”. Western tourists often refer to Kashmir as the “Switzerland of India” and Kerela as the "Venice of the east"
But people who have really read both the “Arthashastra” and “The prince” have good reasons to believe that comparing Machiavelli with Kautilya is as vague as comparing the king elephant of the medieval period with the mighty dinosaur of the past (the order being maintained). Machiavelli is great, no doubt, and “The prince” is one of the greatest treatises on politics and diplomacy, yet it can never be compared to the depth and vastness of Arthashastra. The depth of the topics that Kautilya has covered in Arthashastra ranges from economics to biological warfare with an immaculate mix of psychology and ruthlessness. Such is the practicality of Arthashastra that great Indian dynasties of all eras have always referred Arthashastra as a guiding light not only to politics and economics, but also to warfare and judiciary.
Some instances of biological warfare described in Arthashastra are as follows
- A powder made from fireflies and the eyes of wild boar can endow soldiers with night vision.
- Shoes made of camel skin smeared with a serum made from the flesh of owls and vultures can help soldiers walk hundreds of miles during a war without feeling tired.
- Complete formula for gonorrhea producing smoke and four different recipes for leprosy spreading.
- The powder of several herbs, mixed with clarified butter is a recipe against hunger….effective for a month.
- Methods to develop night vision for soldiers.

Infact DRDO is studying these things in detail to employ the theories of Arthashastra into modern day warfare
History is written by winners and maintained by hype. Indian people in general and historians in particular terribly lack in their skills to diplomatic hype. And this has resulted in our acceptance of the inferiority of the Indian greats. So next time when you hear statements like “Kautilya is the Machiavelli of India” make sure you correct the speaker. I don’t urge anyone to refer to Machiavelli as the “Kautilya of Europe”. Just that each of the names should have their own distinct respect and identity.

BALL GAME THEORY

Brian Dyson (CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises from 1959-1994) once said-

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends, and spirit - and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.

THE INDIAN B-SCHOOL SALARY RACE

Getting an admission into a top b-school (I will restrict my decision to Indian b-school scenario) is associated with immense satisfaction and self confidence. Aspirants have always visualized b-schools as a ticket to the amazing world of 7-digit salaries. But, as I take a closer look into the life of my friends who have completed or pursuing their MBA, I find the not-so-rosy picture of life. I am not talking about an amazingly smart finance whiz-kid who lands up with a jackpot in a top investment banking job. But my analysis is more into the average students of the top schools. Well, the word “average” is perhaps not correct, as each of these students was amongst the best in all his/her endeavors till date. Yet, most of these people are not satisfied enough to remain happy and content in life. Personally, I feel that the society is responsible for this –

(1) From the day a student lands up in his school, he is exposed to the monetary mindset of the b-school culture. The moment the student lands up in the b-school, he/she tries to follow the footstep of the senior who landed up with the so-called “86 Lakh” job in London.He decides to choose his courses and direction without realizing what his real aspirations are. In this process he loses his originality and develops a vague sense of narrow minded competitive spirit. The concept of peer-learning turns into cut throat competition towards the big job at the cost of much-important soft skills. The modern day Indian b-school student feels that I-banking or a consultant big-shot is the end of the world and the rest of the jobs are only the leftovers meant for the not-so-smart people. And in this assumption, they make a big mistake. They carry this tendency to their job and cannot find the contentment in spite of frequent job changes.

(2) Secondly, the Indian press has the bad habit of exaggerating the B-School salaries in the mind of the public. The CTCs are portrayed as salaries and the dollars are converted to rupees. The real definition of CTC never reaches the public and in this process the complete picture looks completely skewed. Friends, peoples and relatives pressurize a student to target the highest pay without having any idea of what the real nature of the job is?
But what really aggravates the sorry state of affairs is when these schools compete against each other to grasp the highest paid CTC. As if it is a salary race and winning the highest salary is like winning the gold medal.
When will the Indian B-schools grow up? When will they help the students to realize their real aspirations and achieve their true potential instead of competing with each other for the highest CTC? When will they help the students to realize that I-Banking and consultancy is just a part of the real life industry scenario?
As a great supporter of the Indian b-schools I really hope that our schools find global reputation. But in this journey, they need to work in close co-operation with each other instead of running the salary race. They should also encourage students to follow their interests instead of joining the bandwagon. As far as money is considered, it is there in every field and in every industry. Just depends on the individual how much he can grasp depending on his passion and aspirations.

THE NIGHT SKY

Whenever I look up towards the cloudless night sky, my eyes reflexively try to locate the visible constellations. Although I am not an avid star gazer, yet I derive immeasurable satisfaction from these constellations. Indefinite vastness has always been a source of inspiration for me and when I look at the night sky I can feel a sense of mystical appreciation for the beauty of Gods creation. Years move ahead, life gets new dimensions, relationships get redefined, prospectives get refined, priorities get modified.....yet when I look up I am amazed to find the same set of constellations......these constellations never agree to relocate their positions. And at times, these constellations bring back memories which have long erased from recent memory and take us through the corridors of the past. Those sweet moments will never come again.....but as long as these constellations dont change their position, I can always relive the past.

LETS SEE THE WORLD TOGETHER- 9

Let me wrap up the rest of the items of this "Lets see the world together" series.

1) Consultants- The vastness of this industry ensures that consultants are also very much into the game. All the organisations I have mentioned in my earlier posts hire consultants not only from the branded consultancies (I mean the likes of Mckinsey, BCG, AT kearney, KPMG etc) but also individual consultants who have carved a brand out of their names. The range of these consultants is simply too diversified... ranging from technical consultancy for a ultra modern vessel to financial consultancy deciding merger between two shipping companies.

2) Financial organisations- The kind of monetary involvement of this sector demands close links with all the major banks of the world. Often these banks hire people who have a combined knowledge of shipping and finance..... people who can understand both these trends.
Apart from banks there are insurance clubs (normally refered to as P&I clubs, for ex. North of England) . Just as we insure our vehicles, all the maritime structures are insured too. And in the unfortunate incident of any maritime accidents, organisations look to recover back the loss through these insurance organisations. However this is not as easy as it looks as it can sometimes involve serious legal battles. Maritime lawyers are hence highly valued.

3) Government organisations and legal bodies - We have organisations like USCG(US Coast guard) and similar bodies who have the resposibility to contr0l the waters of respective nations. We can also find maritime police or navy protecting the coastline of a country.
IMO is an international body which is supposed to regulate and control all the maritime related activities. How does it sound to be termed as "IMO consultant"? They deal with numerous issues including SOLAS (safety of life at sea) and MARPOL (marine pollution).
Respective countries have their own regulatory bodies. Ministry of shipping, DG shipping, Merchantile Marine Department(MMD) are top regulatory bodies in India.

4) Port authorities- Ports are the places where the cargo loading or discharging takes place. There are some remarkable ports like Singapore, Amsterdam, Antwerp etc. I was really amazed to see the number of ships that can be accommodated in ports like Antwerp and Amsterdam....the count will not be less than a thousand ships at a time. The last thing which one will like to experience in life is to find oneself lost in any of these ports and I was one of those unfortunate persons. It took a real hard day's work to locate the ship which I was supposed to board.

5) Research Organisations-There are numerous R&D institutes to aid all the organisations. For instance we have WoodsHole Oceanographic Insitute (MIT), KRISO (Korean Oceanographic insitute), NIOT (National institute of Ocean Technology) etc. Number of universities like University of Michigan also have quite remarkable maritime research institutes.

I think I have tried my best to cover most of the aspects of the maritime sector (although to very minor extent).

LETS SEE THE WORLD TOGETHER- 8

Most of the things which I have described earlier are more or less linked with ships. So let me take the discussion towards offshore companies. Technip, Keppel offshores, Mcdermott, Halliburton, Hyundai offshores, Schlumberger etc are some of the biggest names in this segment. Some of these companies restrict themselves to the construction segment while others are very much into offshore oil and gas production. Thus they share a natural bond with the oil companies. Some leading oil majors also have their own offshore segment just like they have their own ships.

Such companies offer a wide range of products and technologies in the subsea area like subsea pipelines, umbilicals, riser systems, and remotely operated vehicles. They carry out subsea constructions, fabricate platforms etc. Some of these companies have their own yards like Hundai offshores in S.Korea while Technip has such yards in US and Finland.

One should have a very sound understanding of the theories of structural engineering as well as ocean engineering to understand the technical aspects of offshore structures. And the business nexus of the offshore giants with oil majors and shipping companies has got to be really interesting.

It is really nice to see the number of bloggers on such a rise.

LETS SEE THE WORLD TOGETHER- 7

Let me discuss something about the "classification societies" today.
So shipyard makes the ships.....fine. Ship owners run ships...fine. Manufacturing companies provide all the machineries to the shipyard during construction process...fine. But then, there has to be some guidelines to ensure that all the technical details of the ship are safe enough to endure the severest of conditions. Rough seas, freezing environments, pirates, fire,unpredictable machinery failures..... are very few examples of the problems which these maritime structures face regularly.

Here in comes the role of classification societies. Such organisations are entrusted the complete power to regulate the technical requirements of the ships. The very steel from which the ship is constructed from, the machineries, life saving equipment like lifeboats and rescue boats, fire fighting systems, cargo loading and discharge equipment..... almost every part of a ship or a maritime structure is approved by these organisations.

The leading classification societies have offices through out the world and people who work for such organisations are technically very qualified and are designated surveyors. Thus a surveyor is a very powerful postion insofar as technical aspect of maritime sector is considered.

Some of the leading classification societies are
1) American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).... USA
2) Lloyds Register of Shipping (LRS).....UK
3) Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (NK).......Japan
4) Germanischers Lloyd (GL).....Germany
5) Bureau Veritas (BV)..... France
6) Korean Register of Shipping....Korea

Most of these classification societies have their presence in India also. In fact, India also has a classification society named Indian Register of Shipping (IRS). Although it is not a top classification society, yet its surveyors are quite respected within the country. I really hope IRS develops a global approach to challenge the big names.

LETS SEE THE WORLD TOGETHER- 6

Manufacturing and shipping share a very strong nexus. Shipbuilding and technical ship management is heavily dependent on numerous manufacturing companies for the successful completion of a ship, or an offshore platform or any other floating structure. Manufacturing industries also find a very niche market in the maritime sector.

Can you guess the number of manufacturing companies that are involved in the construction of a ship? I never made an exact count but my idea of approximation suggests that the number will not be less than a thousand (if we take into picture all the details).I will not go into the intricate details of the ship machineries and will restrict myself to a few examples.

Lets say, the "main engine" of a ship. The shipyard has to buy main engines (this is the engine which provides the propulsion power to the ship) from the maufacturing company which specialises on building main engines. Man B&W is one company which is seriously involved in the main engine business and has collaborated with the leading yards of the world for the win-win aspirations. For instance, Man B&W works closely with Hyundai Heavy Industries to form "Hyundai Man B&W" which is a big success in S.Korean shipbuilding industry. Similarly we can find "Mitsui Man B&W" in Japan and similarly in other countries.

Similarly, ABB turbochargers; Cummins, Hyundai, STX auxiliary engines; RWO oily water separators;Electrolux appliances like washing machines;Tanktech incinerators; Frank Mohn and Shinko pumps etc. are quite popular in the shipbuilding sector. It is really difficult to provide a comprehensive report on all the machineries through this post. However, I am trying to compile all the details into some kind of book.(Although the compilation might take some time).

What makes the complete scenario such an interesting affair is the depth of business that is associated with the whole process. However, both sociology and human experience have always worked together to create a feasible work ambience that makes such a complex thing possible. Also some credit to modern day MBA grads that try to get in more efficiency to the system.

LETS SEE THE WORLD TOGETHER -5

In my previous posts of this series, I have so far dicussed three kind of organisations... namely the oil majors, ship owners and the shipyards. In short, shipyards either make, repair or break ships, shipowners buy these ships and oil majors either hire these ships or directly buy from the yards to transfer their products from one place to another.

But I have not discussed how these ships run. I mean who are the people who are involved in the day to day sailing of the ships. The people who run these ships (micro level) are termed mechant navy officers. Normally, in a sailing ship, there are two departments... the deck department and the engine room department. The deck department is led by the chief officer and the engine room top guy is the chief engineer.The chief officer is responsible for all kinds of cargo operations like cargo loading and discharge. The chief engineer is resposible for the engine side of the ship. Both these people are assisted by a series of other officers who are well aware of the heirarchy level.( Democracy is not a good idea in a ship. thats what I feel at the moment). Now both the people report to the captain of the ship who is the master of the ship.In other words the ship is under the command of the captain, who is responsible for the safety of the ship. The captain reports to the technical service team of the shipping company presenting all the details of the happenings of the ship.In case the ship faces any problem (lets say her rudder failed, or the main engine is not in good shape), the captain informs this to the shore based technical team and the members of the technical team (often designated as superintendents) bear the responsibilty to get back the things into shape by dealing with the respective technicians and helping them to reach the ship.
There are various manning companies whom the shipping companies provide the responsibility to find suitable officers for the fleet. It is really nice that most of these manning companies are India centric considering the professionalism and worth of the Indian officers. Two of the best known examples are Executive ship management doing the manning for British Petroleum ships while OMCI doing the same thing for the US tanker major OMI.
Thus with this post I complete the discussion on merchant navy and day to day technical management of ships.

LETS SEE THE WORLD TOGETHER -4

Ever wondered why a ship is called "she". Well, once you have a feel of those curvaceous bodies, you just cannot resist giving a feminine image to these ships. They are strikingly beautiful and creating such objects of beauty from plates of steel has got to be a very precious art - the art which we call "shipbuilding". There are some really great shipyards in this world and I am lucky to get a chance to spend some time in some of these places. I hope you must have got an idea why I am writing all this now. Yup.. I am just trying my part to provide a brief description about shipyards.
There are three kind of shipyards...
(1) New building shipyards (Ex. Daewoo, Hyundai, Samsung, COSCO, Mitsubishi, Onomichi......). These yards mostly concentrate on new ship constructions.
(2) Ship repair yards (Ex. Hyundai Vinashin, Izar Fene, Keppels, COSCO, Cochin.....).These yards normally deal with drydockings and repair of ships. Ever heard of collision between two ships... I have seen ships having collisions and it is normal in shipping environment... And this is one of those eventualities where in comes the role of the repair yards.
(3) Ship breaking yards (Ex. Alang) This yard in Gujarat is perhaps the biggest ship breaking yard in the country. Such yards specialise in breaking the ship to renew the steel and the various machineries that the ship was fitted with.

Each of these yards have their own speciality and capability. For instance, Korean and Japanese yards are now the leaders in tanker,container,LNG and bulk carrier constructions while European yards are more or less concentrated on passenger liners and cruise liner constructions. Yards like Hyundai build more than 100 ultra sophisticated ships per year.

The very concept of building a ship from scratch demands huge manpower and tremendous man management skills (which I doubt if any mangement schools can teach). As they say such skills has to be in the genes. Ofcourse such shipyards employ very experienced consultants who have a great idea and foresight of the maritime future. It is interesting to note that the ship building trends are highly influenced by the steel and oil market, apart from the rules and regulations that regulate the technical requirements of safe shipping.

There exists a close relationship between ship owners and yards. After all, these yards make these ships while the ship owners run these ships. The very process of negotiations between the shipyards and the ship owners is a great skill which only experience can teach.

LETS SEE THE WORLD TOGETHER -3

Now that shipping majors are done with, I think I can come to the exclusive zone of the oil majors. Almost all the oil majors hold respectable positions in the Fortune 500 list. Starting from oil exploration to international trade, nothing is spared by these giant organisations.

Be it independent governments or nations, be it shipping companies and financers, or be it environmental regulatory bodies...oil majors deal with almost the complete range of maritime extent. No wonders, almost all possible job profiles can be explored within these companies.

While companies like BP, Shell, Totalfinalelf have headquarters in UK and Europe, those like Chevron Texaco are US based. Not to forget our very own Reliance energy, ONGC and IOCL.
Quite a bit of travelling is reserved for the employees of such organisations and rising within the heirarchy level of an oil major can be one of the most satisfying experiences of one's career.

I will close this post now....not because I feel the discussion on oil majors is over, but because no amount of article can be successful in providing an complete analysis of the domain of oil majors.

LETS SEE THE WORLD TOGETHER -2

Before I start todays post, a few words for all the lovely ladies - Wish all of you a very very happy Womens Day

So now lets get back to the first question of my previous post.
When I was in IIT, I never had a very clear picture of the maritime world. I was under the impression that ship design and ship building was the all-in-all for a naval architect. But the reality turned out to be very different. The vastness of this industry is simply amazing. Just to name the major players.
(1) Oil Majors (like BP, Exxonmobil, Shell, Reliance, ONGC, IOCL etc.)
(2) Shipping Majors (like OMI, Teekay, Worldwide, Transatlantic, Interorient etc.)
(3) Classification societies (like American Bureau of Shipping, Det Norske Veritus, Lloyds Reister of Shipping etc.)
(4) Offshore companies (like Mcdermott, Technip etc.)
(5) Makers (Almost all fortune 500 manufacturing industries like ABB, Electrolux etc. have a coomplete section devoted to the maritime segment)
(6) Consultancy(Most of the consultancy biggies have a devoted maritime sector to cater to the needs of this segment)
(7) Merchant navy or manning companies (OMCI, Executive Ship Management etc.)
(8)Shipyards (Hyundai, Daewoo, Samsung, Mitsubishi, Keppels, Cochin Shipyard etc.)
(9) Government agencies, P&I insurance groups, banking and finance, IMO related organisations and bodies like SOLAS(Safety of Life at Sea) and MARPOL(Marine Pollution).
(10) Private consultants.
(11) Research organisations.
All the players play the game with strong symbiotic relationship with each other.

Presently I work for a shipping major (ship-owners, who own ships) . So I will begin the list of the major players with the ship owners ( who the ship owners are, what they do, with whom they do business, what is the extent of their business......)

As the name suggests, shipping companies own vessels. The cost of some of these vessels can easily cross the 500 million USD mark and often crosses 50 million USD for a mid sized ship.The fleet can be as small as one ship and can extend to scores of ships (of different sizes and shapes) for the shipping majors . Well, now that they own ships, what do they do with these ships. Here comes the concept of international shipping trade and operations which in itself a very big area of concentration. The financial deals associated with shipping is beyond the imagination of many.

(1) Tankers are more linked with oil and other liquid cargo dealings (lets say jet-fuel, naptha, various petroleum products....list is really long). Shipping companies doing business with tankers share an inseparable bond with oil majors. I will discuss my understanding of oil majors in my next post and will limit to shipping companies for the moment.
The cargo analysis of the tankers is another hot topic in shipping and involves almost all aspects of management from supply chain analysis to high level financial deals. Running these tankers (any ship, in fact) on a day to day basis introduces the concept of merchant navy and technical management.
(2) Other kinds of ships include RORO Car carriers, bulk carriers, container vessels, LNG Ships, passenger liners and ferries. But since I am not very much into these ships, I donot have a very clear picture of the non-tanker vessels. But the names of the ships are a clear indication of the type of the cargo they are associated with.

The shipping majors either build (buy) their ships in (from) the leading yards of the world. Shipbuilding is one of the most intricate arts of mankind and the technical and management skills associated with it must deserve a complete independent section.

Will bring the next player into picture in my next post...

LETS SEE THE WORLD TOGETHER -1

Four years back, around this time of the year, I was one of the most confused beings on the planet. It was the final semester of my B.Tech and the usual problems...Which career path to chose...Shall I go for an MS.....Or shall I accept the software job and try for CAT the next year.....Or shall I look for a branch job in shipping... But is it possible to get a decent branch job?.. When did the last alumnus from the department go for one?....Hell lot of questions...... The only branch jobs which I could have got were those of some Indian yards... But when did these Indian yards last build a ship?... And of course the moolah part was always there to haunt..........Can I throw away one of the most lucrative software offers to join one of the Indian yards..... These questions continued until something of a kind of miracle happened and I got through one of the dream offers in international shipping.
Now that I am a part of this extremely passionate maritime industry, I feel it is a good idea to share my thoughts and experience. So the next series of posts will be devoted to two of the very basic questions that enter into the mind of a person who aspires to work in the elusive maritime sector.
1) Who are the major players in the maritime sector?
2) What career options are available in the maritime sector?

Will be back to provide an indepth analysis of the first question.

BACK IN HOME

So finally... I am back in home after 8 months. In these eight months,I found myself working in S.Korea, China, Spain, Belgium and Netherlands. Great countries, great places. And I suddenly miss all the action and fun. But there is a different charm of being in home.

Life in home is so different.Unlike the busy mornings in office, a typical morning at home begins at the conventional mid day with a lovely breakfast( may be "lunch" is the right word) followed by discussions on usual topics like marriage, girls etc. And I have to really work hard to present the correct specification. I have this uncanny ability to confuse people ( or so they say) and its really interesting to apply this principle in home.....And now that I have confused all the people who "were" interested to see me taking 7 pheres, I feel a strong sense of accomplishment.

I read about President Bush's visit to ISB, and it was really inspiring. "Bush-haters" please forgive me as I am a big admirer of this man and his views on India. And I really envy the class of 2006 to have the honour to host Bush.

Time to go out....Will get back with some detail post tomorrow.

(PS: I am reachable on 9937223692)

THATS LIFE

Jan 14th 2003... More than a thousand days ago... I landed up in an alien land with strange speculations....Never in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined that I would ever land up in S.Korea. In fact I was a bit disappointed as I was supposed to be deputed to Europe to begin with.
March 2006.....I am in the process of packing my items and saying goodbye to this country. But the memories which I will carry with me will always be amongst the most cherised ones. Although, I visited other countries as a part of my job profile, yet the charm of this lovely country was no where. I still cannot believe that in a couple of days I will bid adieu to all those familiar faces, with whom I have spent three of the best years of my life. I know, it is really difficult to imagine my life without all these people. But when I look back I realise that this is not the first time I face such a situation. The emotions were very much the same when I left home for the first time. They were no different when I waved my hands to those lovely friends in IIT for the last time. And now once again...

I am going to miss so many things in life. But this is life. We always have to look ahead.

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

The ISB R2 results are flowing in now. Looks like the people in ISB too like to follow the dictum "expect the unexpected".
I still remember the 1st week of January, to be precise Jan 6. This was the date when everyone(except the ISB selection committee) expected the result to be out, based on the experience of the previous year. However ISB had other plans in mind and they decided to give the R1 aspirants a really tough time. The results were not declared until the next day evening.
And now, when R2 aspirants were preparing themselves for a tough day tomorrow, ISB decided to present them a surprise. The results are out well in advance. I really feel pity for the R2 admits. They really missed the day long roller coaster ride which we R1 admits enjoyed.

Congrats all the admits.. to begin with Rehan, Alok, Yash, Vibhor, Priya, Disha(2nd Disha in ISB Co07).....

And for those who didnot make it... remember that..." Sometimes if you dont get something which you think you deserved, dont lose heart, because soon you will realise that it was a wonderful stroke of luck"

IF SHIP HAD LIFE....

Can you imagine the kind of similarity that exists between a ship and human being? Here are some of them.....

(1) All the major machineries- Human mind.
All the machineries of a ship should be in good working condition for the successful operation of the ship. So should be human mind. If mind fails, the story ends. Mind defines the innate characteristics (in other words, nature) of a human being.
(2) Major pipelines- The emotions linked with various thought process.
Each of the pipelines has its own distinct role to play in the ships operation. Similarly there exists the minds role to allocate the correct emotion to the particular thought process. This provides the broad definition of human personality.
(3) Small, connecting pipelines that connect the major pipelines - Minds efforts to link distinct thoughts and conclude the effects.
These small pipelines which connect the major ones are no less important than the major pipelines. Similarly the connection our mind creates between two distinct emotions reflects the depth of human personality to a great extent. Imagine correlating two things which happened today and try to go deep into the process. Extend this approach as broad as you can.
(4) Valves - The mind's control device which decides what and when to blurt out the internal happenings to the exterior world.
Valves, when malfunction lead to disastrous results. Similarly the mind should have a good knowledge on what should be allowed to flow to the exterior world and when to close its valve. This reflects the effectiveness of the human personality.

THE BABY'S DAY OUT

It is so nice to meet old friends. And if this friend is the first one from your batch to present you a "bhabiji" and a "bhatiji", then the charm of the visit really enhances to the extent that you really start thinking of sweet things like marriage, family, kids and what not.
Akshita is one of those lovely babies who like to make friends, yet she decided to give some time before joining the senior members (papa, mama and the new uncles) in the fun. But once a friend, always a friend. This eleven-month old baby enjoyed almost everything- from the lunch to the beach. She also made some new Korean friends of her age group.
And as for Rohit and Vasudha, I really admire their patience in the process of raising the baby.I really wonder if I can make a dad as caring and dedicated as Rohit. Anyway, lots and lots of time for that and I really need not worry about all these things. This is indeed the charm of bachelor life...no responsibilities and no tension, only fun.

THE BEAUTY IN ACTION

1) During her sea trials.

2) Turning to find her direction.






3) Found her direction.
4) Cruising towards the high seas.

ONE MORE DELIVERY

They talked about their future career plans. They talked about stock market and bank interest rates. They talked about the difficulties they faced during the complete delivery process of the ship. They talked about the quality of the booz. They talked about their families. They talked about football tournaments and spring festivals. They talked about President Bush and his policies......The list was simply endless. Finally the party came to an end, and with it came to end all the colorful discussions. And all the people left for their respective abodes after a lovely evening that followed a hectic day. The party was thrown to celebrate the successful delivery of the ship R.

However, I am almost dead now and nothing can help me better than a good night's sleep.

JUST IN TIME

The line of demarcation between "doing the thing just in time" and "not doing the thing at all" is so thin. But people in this part of the world have just perfected this approach (Just in Time). Everything is done at the last possible moment and yet done with such immaculate perfection.

Tomorrow (no, today) ship R will be officially handed over to us by the yard and the yard is really determined to apply this "just in time" approach in the most intense way possible. And in this process they really drive us crazy. Just a few hours left for the delivery of the ship, yet countless things to do. Anyway, thats their way of doing things and thats why they are so successful.

THE RETURN OF INNOCENCE

Ever wondered what is the best way to live your life. "The return of innocence" from Enigma can provide an answer.

The return of innocence (From Enigma)

Love - Devotion
Feeling - Emotion
Don't be afraid to be weak
Don't be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence.
If you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself don't hide
Just believe in destiny.
Don't care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don't give up and use the chance
To return to innocence.
That's not the beginning of the end
That's the return to yourself
The return to innocence.

SOME DAY I WILL BE "EFFECTIVE"

This weekend has been one of my most productive weekends. If the Satuday belonged to Mark's "What they dont teach you at HBS", Sunday was dedicated for Stephen R.Covey's "The 7 habits of highly effective people".Amazing books... I must say.

Although Mark is more towards corporate world and diplomacy, Stephen stresses on personal development, inner discipline and soft skills. Mark says "what to do to succeed in the corporate world". Stephen elucidates "what qualities go into the making of an effective person".

But the sad thing is that tips given by guys of the stature of Mark and Stephen are never that easy to follow. But then, "a journey of thousand miles start from a single step". Some day, I will be effective too.

BUSINESS AND PSYCHOLOGY

Just now I completed reading the book "What they dont teach at HBS" by Marck H. McCormack. Mark has done a wonderful job in intertwining Business and Psychology. I really liked most of his ideas and will like to put some of them in this post.

(1) His fear of failure was so strong because his desire of success was so great.
(2) I believe you can learn almost everything you need to know - and more than other people would like you to know - simply by watching and listening, keeping your eyes peeled, your ears open. And your mouth closed.
(3) Nothing blocks insights into other people more than your own ego.
(4) The people who work with someone can provide revealing information about that person.
(5) Though "The Godfather" is fictional, its psychology is real.
(6) If you let them know what you know, you will blow any chance of using your own insight effectively.
(7) If you dont react you will never overreact. You will be the controller than the controllee.
(8) One of the life's biggest frustrations is that people dont do what you want them to do.
(9) Consider doing the opposite of what someone expects. Often, it is remarkably effective.
(10) If you cant do it or dont want to do it, then dont say you will. Dont even say "I will try".
(11) And if you are not going to keep friends, you had better be miles ahead of the competition.
(12) Bad news is seldom as bad as it first sounds.
(13) If you alienate your peers, you wont need any other corporate enemies.
(14) Dont go one on one with the boss. If you win the battle you are probably going to lose the war.
(15) I will often pretend not to know the specifics of a situation just to get the other guy talking.
(16) Find the stars in other companies and make them friends. Ten years from now, they will become your biggest assets.
(17) Sell directly to the key person, and if he likes what you are proposing, he will know best how to sell it in.
(18) In several instances I have fired people without their even knowing. Instead I have found jobs for them and let another company "steal them away".
(19) Learn to say "No" even though it hurts.
(20) The cliche is, " Dont work hard, work smart". The truth is "Work hard, work long, and work smart".

THALIR

Today TAS handed me a copy of the book which he recently published. The name of the book is "Thalir" (a word in Malayalam, which literally means "budding leaves from a seedling"). The idea behind this book is to encourage budding writers to realise their potential. TAS has really worked hard on this project and I congratulate him on his success.

"Thalir"....The birth of a vision.
"Thalir".... The sweetness of innocence.
"Thalir".... The colors of imagination.
"Thalir".... The ambitions of passion.
"Thalir".... The glory of success.

Good luck "Thalir". Wish you all the best.

VICARIOUS NOSTALGIA

If I were asked to give the ISB interview again and the question of "whats your hobby" creeps in then guess what my answer is going to be? Reading blogs. I never used to read blogs until last year when I started thinking about b-schools. But now things are different.

I have almost lived the life of an ISBian minus the hardwork in this process. The excitement, the enthusiasm, the booz parties, the movies, ELP projects, exchange students, long lasting friendship, departing notes.... the list is endless. And I feel as if I were really a part of all this.

My four years in IIT Madras went fast, yet I could measure the speed of time. However time didnot allow me to keep a track on its speed for the last four years. I still cannot believe that I will soon be completing four years of job life, which is almost the same amount of time I spent in IIT. And when I think that next year this time, I will be graduating from ISB, I really feel something within my heart- something which creates a strange emotion within me. The year will be marked with new friends, fantastic people, novel ideas and great oppurtunities but like every other year, it too will come to an end. Hope 2006 turns out to be the year to cherish for all the admits.

A SMALL FORMULA

Do you get the best out of your gym? If no, here is a small foolproof formula. Involve in some skirmish in your office. And see the magical effect in the gym.
It was a rainy day today and I had decided to bunk the gym until I picked up a fight in the office, with this fellow who is designated as the CE (the highest "sailing" post in the engine room side for a vessel). I will not get into the details of the fight in this post but it did turn out ridiculous. I kept on wondering if it was really worth to create such a scene in the office but in the present maturity level I find no way to deal with such people who bask under the misconception that they are the best. May be ISB will teach me a couple of lessons on "conflict management". Anyway, that is for future and I will limit myself to the present. After the fight, I decided to drop in the gym for sometime. And trust me, I could run extra miles, could lift extra weights, could do more push ups and what not.
One of the best days in gym after one of the worst days in office....The deal is not that bad!!!!!!

PLATONIC LOVE.....A REAL CONCEPT?

Today is the perfect day to think about certain abstract nouns- those allpowerful nouns which dictate human emotions and actions. However, I limit my discussion only to the kind of emotion that exists between the adams and eves (man is a social being and let every adam choose only one eve and vice versa) of this world.
I was wondering if love, or rather "platonic" love is a real concept. The researchers on "love" have defined so many complex theories that I will just confuse my concepts if I go through those theories. Is "lust" a part of this love or another completely distinct entity. Is it possible for a couple to "just" love each other without any lust? If no, then what role does lust play in a successful relationship? If yes, then is it possible for the couple to abstain from carnial desires?
In either cases, what are the expectations from the relationship? What is "crush"? Is it "crush" that develops into so called "true love" (given the chance and oppurtunity). In such a case a milder version of lust (physical attraction) is the basis of love. Does this suggest that the lust is the harbinger of love? Or that lust gets transformed into love? In the modern day concept of "dating" where couples stress a lot on the "compatibility" factor as a precursor of the next stage of relationship, is love redefined as mere "adjustment"? Is love finite? Or is it infinite? Is it possible that the love between two persons die out with time? What is the unit of love? Is it a very complex function of all other human emotions?
Completely confused.....Can some wise being help me find a simple answer to all these complex questions.

BACK TO LAND

So finally I am back to land after spending two days and two nights in the sea. The ship is absolutely fantastic with no major problems. The weather was absolutely fabulous and very few things can match the pleasure of sailing on a ship when the sea is good.The reflection of the evening sky in the sea, the sea gulls escorting the ship, the enigmatic acoustic variations from the machineries as the ship keeps moving, the waveforms-all the things were so magical and enchanting.

However I had to sacrifice my weekend for this and I think it is a good idea to give my eyes some rest on this Monday afternoon. Nothing like taking a nap on a Monday afternoon.

A DATE

She is beautiful. She has a charm which very few can match. She has spent so many days in the yard with me and certainly I cannot let her leave this place without going outside for a date. So I have decided to give all of my time and energy to her this weekend. I am sure she will behave herself and will satisfy all the requirements. Time is so less and so much to do. Just not possible to avoid sleepless nights.But no choice.

So guys and gals, wish all the best to this lovely lady for her "sea trials". Just to mention something about "sea trials"....It is the first time the virgin beauty (a newly constructed ship) enters the high seas to ensure that everything is perfect with her. After sea trials, she will return back to the yard for a week for the final countdown. And then one fine day, she will say me goodbye to head for her real destination. And I will be there on the shore wishing her all the best.

WHY ISB?

Today, I will like to finish off the last of the series of questions, I have been discussing for the last few days. So, why did I go for Indian School of Business, Hyderabad?
The reasons are clear for me -
1) ISB is the school which offered me suitable answers to the questions (which I have already discussed in my earlier post).
2) ISB is a young school (although it has carved out a terrific brand for itself). And I feel I can learn a lot from the entrepreneurship ideas that goes into the building of such great projects. I feel I have learnt a lot just by following the day to day progress of this institute.
3) I strongly believe that I can pick up some really good contacts by being a part of this school. The awesome links this school has can be inspiration to any MBA applicant.
4) I trust that ISB is destined to be the top school of Asia- Pacific region. Just a matter of time before it turns out to be official. My long term interests are focussed in this region.
5) The cost of ISB MBA is very less compared to US MBA. This will provide me the freedom to choose my career with sufficient freedom without worrying much about the loan repayment.
6) And finally, few schools can match ISB, in terms of quality of faculty. And this can make learning look really easy and effective.

A DAY IN SNOW

I woke up to find one of the most beautiful mornings of my life.As I opened the windows, I felt as if I was in fairyland. The first snowfall of the season in the city! But the rest of the day refused to remain so beautiful. Normally I take 10 minutes to drive down to my office. Today, it took almost an hour. The schedule of the inspections (testing of ship machineries) was delayed. And some of the inspections were postponed. So extra work for tomorrow.The roads in the shipyard were too slippery and I had to walk with extra caution. Anyway, the day is over now and I hope tomorrow turns out to be a better day.
So friends, be aware of beautiful things. Beautiful things seldom make a beautiful life.

Have you ever seen snow in your dreams. If yes, then the following (based on the concepts of dream analysers including Freud) might be interesting for you -

1)Seeing snow in your dream: your inhibitions, repressed/unexpressed emotions and feelings of frigidity. You need to release and express these emotions and inhibitions. You may also be feeling indifferent, alone and neglected.
2)Seeing the snow melt: it suggests that you are acknowledging and releasing those emotions you have repressed. You are overcoming your fears and obstacles.
3)Seeing dirty snow in your dream: refers to a loss in innocence, impurity and uncleanness. Some aspect of yourself or situation has been tainted.
4)Dreaming that you are watching the snow fall: represents a clean start and a fresh, new perspective. It is indicative of spiritual peace and tranquility.
5)Dreaming that you are playing in the snow: indicates that you need to set some time for fun and relaxation.
6)Dreaming that you find something in the snow: suggests that you are exploring and accessing your unused potential, abilities, and talents. You have uncovered some hidden talent and ability within yourself.

KOSMIX VS GOOGLE

Finally, Google has competition. Kosmix is all set to challenge Google. The most interesting part is that Indian brains are behind this project. Good luck, Anand and Venky, wish you all the best for this ambitious project.

So guys, let me get back to our discussion on MBA. "Which school to choose?" - this is normally the most difficult question for an MBA aspirant. Well, the decision strictly depends on the individual.

Most of the information on B-Schools is available on the net. So, I will not go on to describe the strengths and weaknesses of universities. However the following questions may help you in your decision.

1) Where do you enjoy living - India or abroad? Before answering this question, you must have experienced both. Where do you want to be especially when you are down?
2) What are your strengths? Do they get the perfect "fitment" with the B-school curriculum and environment you have chosen?
3) If you have chosen a foreign B-school, then how long are you planning to stay abroad? If it happens that you need to stay more than what you have planned before joining the B-School, then will it affect your life in a major way?
4) What kind of contacts do you want to gain? How are these contacts going to help you in your choice of work environment? Can you maintain these contacts once you are out of B-School?
5) How ambitious you are? (Ask this question again and again. A really difficult question).
6) How is your family life getting affected if you join the particular B-school? Is the career of your spouse getting seriously affected by your decision?
7) What kind of back-up plans you have in case you are going for B-schools abroad? Have you done enough research on things like work permit and visa.
8) Is the B-school rated high in the place where you intend to spend the biggest chunk of your life?
9) How important is family for you? For instance if the choice is between a very high paying job which involves remaining away from family for weeks and an average paying job which gives you sufficient time to be with your family, then which one will you choose?
10) Where will you like your kids to grow up? (It is not that easy to migrate countries especially from western to eastern when kids are used to the western culture).
11) If you are more biased towards a foreign school-How amiable is the work culture of the domain you have chosen? If you have worked abroad for years, then there is a chance that your contacts are mostly in western countries. In such a case, if you want to relocate back to India, can you find a suitable job? In such a case your competitors will be mostly successful Indians who are used to Indianised way of business. In other words, is ur job domain really global enough to take you to any role in any country you choose to.

Why I wrote the last point is because I have seen the difficulties people face while relocating back to India.

Saying all this, I will not overestimate the role of an MBA in one's career. It again comes back to your workplace. Your B-school can only teach you but it cannot make you famous. Only when you become famous (using all your skills and abilities), they will say Mr.X is from XXX School. And this is how a XXX gains its reputation.

ONE MORE TITANIC?

Sometimes I feel really disturbed witnessing the cruel aspects of business. The recent example of an Egyptian ship sinking in the Red sea is a glaring example of this. How can the owners of this vessel think of making money out of the vessel, when they know that she is already 25 years old? How can the classification societies allow her to sail with 1400 passengers at a time when she should have been taken out of service and allowed to rest? I am sure SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) will redefine some of its clauses to create a safer maritime environment. And I hope that classification societies will learn something from this disaster. But the people who really suffered have no faults of their own.

Anyway,I will get back to my discussion on MBA and briefly go through the pre-requisites to get an MBA from good institute from either India(ISB, as admission process of other good colleges are different) or abroad.

1) Prior work experience - According to me, this is the most important single criterion. The advantages are numerous. Apart from the job related knowledge and experience, a person learns a lot about the subjective picture of the work environment. He tends to be more mature in his thoughts and decisions as compared to a fresh guy just out of his college. And when people from various backgrounds meet together at one place (lets say at B-School) , it definitely creates a great mutual learning center. Students also gain from the contacts they make with various professionals from diverse backgrounds. I know, a fresh guy just out of college may not appreciate what I wrote, but I am sure, some day he will.

2) Essays - Your marketing skills will be best exhibited here. Assume that these essays are the products you are selling to the B-school. It is a good idea to read good sample essays to help you realise the best way to pen down your skills and ambitions. Do enough soul searching which will help you bring you closer to your post MBA goals.This will help to write clear and lucid essays. Give sufficient time to the essays (they really deserve this time and energy) and if possible ask some of your best friends and well wishers to suggest modifications.

3) GMAT- This is perhaps the easiest way for the B-school to judge the present intellectual ability of an applicant. Although, schools are aware that a GMAT score depends a lot on a single- day-performance, yet the importance of this exam cannot be underestimated. I strongly urge applicants to give sufficient time and energy to this exam. The higher the score, the better it is.

4) Reputation of undergraduate college and performance during this time- I feel B-Schools place this factor quite high in their selection checklist. A reputed undergraduate school and a good undergraduate performance speaks a lot for an applicant. Good undergraduate performance includes both academic and extracurricular activities.

5) International Workexperience- This is a huge plus for any B-School applicant. International experience provides lot of skills which are extremely important to do business in different cultural set-ups. Different countries have different cultures and what may seem very polite in one culture can be the reflection of lack of confidence in another culture. Again, confidence in one culture can be potrayed as rude arrogance in another. For instance, Japanese and Korean (especially the older generation) normally donot like looking straight into the eyes while talking with each other. The same thing if done in America can tempt Americans to challenge your confidence level. Although a lot about cultures can be learnt from tourist books and guides, yet international work ex has no real life substitute. Knowledge of international languages (like Spanish/French/Chinese) adds an extra feather to the cap.

6) Extracurriculars- Extracurricular activites if correctly projected can be extremely strong positive factors in the selection process of an applicant. So all the applicants, make sure you do something out of your regular work/study life. It can be as easy as finding some time from your schedule to do some social service, play some sports or learn some musical instruments. Just start the process and it becomes a part of life.And once you get a B-school dont forget to continue all the good things you started doing before your MBA application.

7) Recommendations- Good recommendations show superior "superiors-management" skills on the part of the applicant. Know your recommenders well and give them sufficient time and information so that you get good recos.

I think this is enough for the pre-requisite section. Will be back tomorrow. Ciao.

Prendre Plaisir a Vendredi Nuit

Friday night..............Party time back again.......Not the best time to blog......All the people reading my blog, have a rocking Friday night and a lovely weekend.

STORM AFTER THE LULL

Finally the day ended. One of the rare days of my life, when I had to receive three phone calls at the same time. Normally I hate office days just after a set of holidays. But, now that I am going to do an MBA, I think I should start appreciating such days.

So I should like to close down the "Why MBA" topic with the following "whys".Let the "whys"be limited to the job environment only at this stage of discussion.

1. To make better decisions in the office.
2. And thus win the confidence of people (includes all the people who matter to you).
3. And thus increase your confidence level.
4. And thus accept bigger challenges with greater alacrity.
5.And thus gain better access to the higher levels of work and management.
6.To make better decisions again, this time in a completely different set up.
6.And thus earn more influence, power and money (depending on what your aspirations are).
7.And thus quote yourself "successful".

But all the "whys" (except point 1) are not so independent in nature. (The "And thus......" factor is always there to torment).

So lets hope that our MBA can provide us the ability to take better decisions (than what we could have done without an MBA). Otherwise this degree will be limited to our CV which is nothing more than a piece of paper.

Now that "Why MBA" discussion is over from my side, we can digress from this topic. Looks like "Rang de Basanti" is a great movie. A "must see" when I get back to India after a month.

Now I have to cook, eat, complete the pending office work, make calls back home, and finally get to the bed.

Bye for now. (oops, whats this sound.....)

Oh .......nooo. I had boiled eggs for my dinner. Looks like the water got dried, the egg got fried and the kettle is so angry with me that it will never agree to boil eggs for me. Poor me, have to get a new kettle now. I am such a bad cook........

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

No No.. I am not going to present my reviews on Roberto Benigni's classic "Life is Beautiful". But I decided to borrow this name for todays post. This movie has always remained amongst my all time favorites (after 1998, ofcourse). Any time, when I have strange emotions, the scenes of this movie flash before my eyes.

Ship R was launched today in yard H. I have attended so many lauchings, but I have never felt this kind of emotion before. There are so many things we do without realising that we are doing it for the last time. But today is a different story. By most likelihood, this is the last launching I will be witnessing. Now that I have mentiond the word "launching", I will write a couple of sentences about launching. In the lingo of a Naval Architect, launching is that stage of a ship's construction when she enters into the waters for the first time. No, not to sail. Construction work is still not over. But the hull is ready and ship neednot stay in the drydock. After the ship is fully launched, the machineries which are installed on the ships are tested. But she is strong enough to stay in the quay side, half of her body inside the water and wait for further co-operation and warmth from all the people who are involved in her birth.

Well, now let me get back to analyse the question "Why MBA". This is a very complex question mostly because we human beings are inherently different from one another. Have you ever thought why you dislike some particular food (lets say water melon) while your friend cannot live without that? Why is it that each of us have a distinctive choice of books, music, movies and more importantly people?There is no clear answer to this question. The inference is that we are all different from our neighbour in our ideas, aspirations, passions, profession and similar abstract nouns. So my idea of pursuing MBA is strictly based on my ideas, aspirations, passions, profession........

Now after spending time in some wonderful yards, why do I decide to pursue an MBA. There are people who say-" if you wanted to join an MBA program then why did you join IIT, and why did you join shipping and what not". I feel that there are lot of people who think that MBA and technical skills are mutually exclusive to each other. You can either possess one of the two skills. But is this really the situation? I guess not. I strongly feel that in the kind of profession in which I am in, technical background is a big plus. And I do feel that the same logic holds good for other professions also. If I donot understand how MEPC 107(49) (those who belong to different professions, read MEPC as the governing authority which dictates rules to prevent maritime pollution) is going to affect the fleet and hence the trading, then how do I decide to make the most logical budget planning for the marine environment protection department. Just to reiterate, a single instant of marine pollution by a single ship has the potential to create unprecendented economical and environmental disasters.

Now that I have mentioned the need of technical knowledge, I must admit that nowadays the decision making role is often assigned to an MBA who may or maynot have technical background. So here fits in my decision to knock the doors of an MBA school. If it involves pure financial decisions like bonds, equity etc. then technical knowledge doesnot matter. But if it involves decision making that can affect the safety of people, trade ambience, operations and the marine environment, then I feel the MBA must be backed with sufficient technical knowledge. Having said this I give due importance to all the hard core finance, marketing MBAs who are equally effective in creating the wealth of a company. Also MBAs develop decent soft skills and proactiveness (not that non MBAs dont have it) which is extremely important to remain competitive in the fast pace business world. Thus I feel MBA will be a great learning experience. Also one should not forget that going back to any school is the quickest and the most effective method to gain contacts.

Having said this, I must agree to the fact that there are amazing individuals around us who are in the peak of success without an MBA. After all it depends on one particular individual what way one chose to make one's life beautiful. Isn't it? With MBA, if required; without MBA if possible.

OK guys, I think enough of blogging today. Time for me to switch over to a different work (trying to practise the so called "time management").

byebye