Friday, July 18, 2008

New Lappie!!!

Buying anything new always brings joy to oneself, especially if it’s a laptop! I got my new ThinkPad R 61 with 3 GB RAM - a GAMING machine.

This is the first time I am using Vista and I must say that it’s a beauty. People have been complaining about it being slow and hanging a lot. Thankfully, I have not till now encountered such issues. The graphics are really superb. I thought XP was beautiful, till i used Vista. Driven by Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz processor and NVIDIA enhanced graphics card makes it work like rocket. One can feel the difference while playing games ;) ;)

But, as always, a ThinkPad loses out on the looks but I think what could have been better for Rs. 47,000 – Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz, Enhanced Graphics Card, 160 GB HDD 7200 rpm, Vista Business Edition, 3 GB RAM, DVD Writer and a back pack!

It’s a steal!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Settled

Right, I know a post was long overdue from my side. Today is THE first free evening wherein nothing is lined up for tonight or tomorrow and I have a net connection and lotsa time at my disposal
Hey, this in no way means that IIMC is chill or something! It’s all relative ;) When one has no deadline to meet in the next 12 hours, then it is considered to be a gala time.
Umm…from where to start!!! Fine, I reached the hallowed portals of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
1. Campus - Its just breathtaking. And scenic too. The moment one enters, one cannot stop admiring the scene in front of the eyes. The very famous lakes, the jetti, the Howrah Bridge and many more things make the campus so special.
2. Faculty – A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Not even a single class has happened where I thought of looking at watch and wonder, when is this gonna get over??!! The faculty is so gripping, involved, knowledgeable, approachable and yeah strict too ;) The focus on quant is seen from the first class. What more proof one needs if I tell that stats used in HR
3. Peer group – This is one thing which is an integral part of any B-School. You think you have achieved enough; there are 100s to prove you wrong. I have met JEE double digit rank holders (yet very humble), people having their patents, interned in NASA, National level players in chess, hockey, volleyball, cricket…think of any sport people. Quizzing level is at another level all together; amount of reading some folks have done just amazes me!
4. Weather – Upon reaching here, it was very humid and discomforting. But some heavy rains in the past few days have brought down the humidity levels but apparently a lot of rain is still need to be seen.
5. Hostels – 3 hostels are just enough to accommodate all of us but though construction is on big time for the future expansion plans. Lotsa inter-hostel activities are there and then one can the unity a hostel as a unit displays
6. Seniors – The PGP2s. They are just WOW. The amount of help they offer is just….dont know what to say. Any, I repeat any senior is approachable any time of the day. And yes, they will NEVER refuse.
7. Extra-currics – There are more than 20 clubs on campus and ALL are really active. With so many activities, going on at the same time; it becomes difficult to prioritize. I think this is one thing that really sets IIMC apart from other institutes. One can do so much when on campus that 24 hours seem to be less
8. Academics – This is what is MOST IMPORTANT. One just cannot afford to lose focus on acads. 2Fs and you are standing outside the institute gate. But it is not that hard also to manage so much going around, faculty ensures that one studies a bit too – by giving assignments and quizzes and surprise quizzes. Every 5 weeks, we have exams, so one has to be regular.
Well, I think that’s enough for first 3 weeks on campus; a lots in store for everyone here in the coming weeks/months/2 years and will try to keep giving an update of the same!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Irony!!!

Most of the B-School aspirants want to make it to a consulting firm or investment banking. Let's leave the consults outside this post as I will come back to them later.

Now, these days with salaries touching new peaks, thanks to I-Banks, people are big time interested in making it to an I-Bank. Now here's lie the catch. Most of these banks come for summers and GENERALLY give PPOs (Pre-Placement Offers) and hence the number of such firms coming for finals is really less.

As for the summers, one gets a shortlist on the basis on what (s)he has achieved/done/accomplished till now in life!!! Here's lies the irony....If I want to get into an I-Bank, then I should have been quite an achiever and then make it to a B-School and then hope to get a shortlist in Summers, convert it and fight to make it a PPO :) :)

So, basically my M.B.A. course per se is not helping me to make it to an I-Bank. Ya ya people can argue that one can move to an I-Bank once you are out in the market; but everyone also knows how easy/difficult it is to switch once you are out there ;) ;)

This is not so true for a consulting firm as most of them generally come for summers and for finals too, so an option still remains to crack them!!!

Some things in life are left better not explained ;) ;)

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Auto Ride

This should have been posted long back but it’s never too late.
Around a month back, I had to go FMS to cancel my admission. I took an auto from Dhaula Kuan for the North Campus. The auto driver agreed to go by meter (a rarity in Delhi) and I set out for my journey.
All the conversation took place in Hindi though. A = Auto Driver, M = Me
A - You a student in DU?
M - Yes
A - Which course?
M - MBA
A - Ok, so you in FMS?
M – (Utterly surprised!!!!) Yes, I am
A – So, it is IIM A better than u?
M – (Completely zapped) Yes, it is!
A – So, where does FMS featue?
M – ‘Explained the rankings’ (Auto is being continuously driven) How do know about MBA and all?
A – I read the newspaper, these B-Schools are all over the place now. Placements, 1 crore salary etc.
M –‘Explained the “real” salary scene’
A – Tell me one thing, what does MBA teach coz according to me, its one capabilities which shapes a person. Like Ambani, Tatas and all are not MBAs but have such huge corporations
M – Yes, its about capabilities but MBA teaches about business as a whole etc etc.
Some more discussion followed and somehow topic shifted to cars. Meanwhile, I must say this guy was informed.
A – Do you know the origin of name Mercedes Benz logo?
M – I only know the reason of its name, it was name of its daughter.
A – Ya, that’s right! But the daughter had this design in her ear-rings and that’s how it became logo of this car company.
M – How do you know all this?
A – I watch Discovery channel.
M – What else you do?
A – I watch Nat Geo too and invest in stocks!
M – (Flabbergasted) Stocks? How?
A – Online accounts, 2 of them, 1 in ICICIDirect and another in HDFC. I have PAN, so not a problem. Also, I just play long term in the stck market as short term does not give good returns.
M – That’s really good. ‘Some more exchange of stock market talks’
A – I followed what once “Warren Buffett” said.
M – (Man, this guy is informed) What did he say?
A –Always buy stock of sick companies. I followed it once and made a killing. Took 15,000 shares for Rs.4 of a company, it reached Rs. 104 and I made cool Rs. 15 lakh. Bought a 10 lakh house and reinvested 5 lakh in stocks.
M – (Already floored)
A – Do you invest in stocks?
M – No
A – You should, you are MBA :D
M – Yes, will do in some time. By the way, stock markets are driven by MBAs only in the backend.
A – I know, its all the job of ‘analysts’.
M – (WOW!!!!, in complete awe of this guy)

There were other many discussions which I don’t remember now. How I wish I had a recorder at that time! It was really an awesome experience meeting that guy. It was hot June afternoon and the journey time was around 45 minutes but I was so engaged with him that it did not feel a bit. It was great meeting that person.

Wishing him all the best in life! I hope to meet him again when I go back in Delhi or maybe sometimes in future when he makes some headlines :) :) I am not joking people; he had the potential.