Sunday, June 29, 2008

A case study on Human behaviour

Its amazing how people can influence one's thinking. I decided to write some mad philosophy or so called crap theory after a conversation with an engineering batch mate of mine. She is working with an MNC in Chennai.
The whole point of conversation was "People from Tamilnadu speaks the perfect English (Specifically British English)" or in simple words they speak like the British.
(Disclaimer: This is not written to hurt anyone nor to prove anything, its all about opinions)

How to pronounce few words
1. Hall n Mall are to be pronounced as Haall n Maall
2. Auto (her view 'aato')-- referring to the auto rickshaws...
my question do you pronounce automatic "aatomatic"
and so on...


and to add to this mallus don't know how to pronounce words.. That was enough to wake up the killer spirit in me...Rest of the conversation is history

But coming back to the human behaviour stuff..
what if this colour so called blue by me is what you see as the so called green by me. And your are taught to believe it is blue, and you call it blue even though thats the green i see.
There can't be a proof to substantiate this nor to disprove it, how can you prove the colours we see in the same thing are the same. Its a manipulation done by brain. It interprets the colour not your eyes. Its taught to believe its blue!!!The colours white and black has to be perceived as the same by all, as black is the combination of colours and white the same with visible rays.
When you tend to believe what mass believes, you become a part and makes others believe the same, n thus human beings civilized.

Similarly what if she is made to believe so. what if they are made to believe so. There is no point in arguing with life...

Powered by Google...


Even if u have accounts with best email providers, its fascinating to get one that gives you an unique identity. I still remember how happy i was when i could mail to external world from my siemens id. Today i have another unique identity

sudeepk@iimahd.ernet.in

What makes it more unique is, where ever you are, when ever it is..thats my id. What so special? confused?? This will my id even after the college days. I have access to this mailbox for a life time. Google provides all its gmail feature to this id except for "New user signup".

The home page...




The mail box...



Whenever the system tends to be so perfect, unknowingly you too try to achieve the same...

When you never let one of your legs lag behind the other, you are running the right way

Saturday, June 28, 2008

The IIMA-Jargons

Here is a list of some common jargons used here in WIMWI.
Disclaimer: This is not my original work
(Special thanks to all batch mates n tucchas for the valuable contributions)

Arbit (adj.: origin:: local): short for arbitrary .meaning nothing in particular and everything in general.

Assignment (n: origin:: James Bond Movies): groups have to meet; the Profs have to give something in order to take something; hence ass-ignments; gives rise to Newton's nth law - "thickness of the report shall be directly proportional to the weightage of the assignment".

Blackbooks (n: origin:: IIM A): collectors' items; consists of old question papers which are the saviours during quizzes, and slot exams(used to be terms till last year); question-able methods of cracking the scene.

Bumps (n: origin:: A'bad Municipal Corporation): if it's your birthday or in case you crack the scene , then you have had it - no ifs and butts.

Case mat (n: origin:: Case Unit); In Case you are found without it in the class, your case is gonna b very weak.

CCCF (n: origin:: IIM A);: acronym for 'Conceptual Clarity and Contextual Familiarity'; for cccf on what that means see cccf.

Chai (n: origin:: obscure):the underlying philosophy of WIMWIans; the forum for countless discussions over countless cups; the non-alcoholic spirit of IIM-A life. Has strong associations with mess , CT & Rambhai's

CHAOS (n: origin:: Biblical (almost), IIM-A):describes the state of an WIMWIian two hours prior to any submission or presentation. Also IIM-A's organised (???) annual extravaganza.

Cogging (n: origin:: Arthur Hailey): Collaborative Operations on Getting Good Insights for Necessary Grades; on-line teaching aids for turning the wheels of one's life. Strictly prohibited in WIMWI.

Combo (n: origin:: Phantom Comics): IIM-A equivalent of Jungle Olympics; never ending source of fun, entertainment and activity in the second term(now onwards which slot i donno), when battles are fought on an mental and physical plane; an outlet for action and interaction.

Convocation (n: origin:: Nalanda); the day when IIM-A life turns full circle; around 300 degrees will be handed over on this day.

Corpo Dinner (n: origin:: IIM-A), one more resultant)of mess grub: around 25 Indians go out in English suits to an American place, have Mexican and Chinese food and go Dutch; a truly global affair.

CP (n: origin:: Harvard): Acronym for 'Class Participation'; IIM's vocal support to the cause of socialism, often accompanied by its offshoots like Arbit CP, Challenge CP, RCP, ACP etc.

CR (n: origin:: Sholay): acronym for 'Class Representative'; generally jobless except for rescheduling classes, making farewell speeches, postponing assignments and making a fool of him(her)self in the Talent Nite.

Cribbing (n:: Oliver Twist): Continuous Ranting and Industrious Brow Beating Inevitably for Necessary Grades.

D-l, D-2 & D-ll (origin:: Louis Kahn): short for Dorm-1, Dorm-2 and Dorm-11; residences for non-males and non- resident males.

Day Zero (n: origin:: Algeber-wai mulublai): the day of reckoning for the best; genesis for some ;armageddon for any.

Diro (n: origin:: English): Big Chief of IIM-A; a figurehead who can't figure out where we are heading.

Dorm (n: origin:: Louis Kahn);: they exist from 1 to 25; the epicentre of all activities in IIM-A; also residences for WIMWIans.

Dorm Baap(rep) (n: origin:: IIM-A): Chief of the dorm; arranges for dinners, dunkings, T-shirts and other common dorm inventory

Dunking (origin:: Niagara fa!!s): IIMA's answer to the patriot missiles ; long range aqueous projectiles aimed at an unsuspecting passerby providing source of immense gratification; this ritual for no perceivable reason, has a distinctive sexual bias.

Endterm (origin :'The Crusaders'}; the magnum opus of the coterie of professors, an epic battle fought by valiant students to stay afloat, which puts other occurrences like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana to shame; used in conjunction with other torture instruments like midterms and quizzes.

Exhibit (origin:: showbiz): Unnecessary, but necessary portion of anything attached to its end; an integral part of WAC reports and PPTs.

'F'(origin:: ancient Greek): the most dreaded grade in non-academic circles; also happens to be the sixth letter of the alphabet.

Fachchas ( origin: obfciirc): all new entrants to the realms of Louis Kahn, Vastrapur, the case method, corpodom and MANAC quizzes.

FPM ( origin: IIM A); fully paid mazaa; a four year transform which involves a fully subsidized vacation with a universal pastime called research; fine fellows they(i should tell we) become.

Fraud (origin: RaviC, mind u, only the word, not what it stands for): to beautifully elaborate and then succinctly encapsulate first grade BS, applies to many assignments, and unfortunately, some courses as well

Garba ( origin: Gujjuland): a rollicking local dance form; an occasion for honing one'? skills in tertiary activities like dancing, bird-watching; a time when IIM A comes to NID, NIFT and CEPT.

Group Meeting (origin: Harvard): necessary part of the curriculum; when WIMWIans sit, stand or lie down and discuss solutions tor unstructured problems and dilemmas in life; in other words , the day's juice is collated, arranged and prepared ready for dispatch to community at large the next day.

Harvard Dinner (origin: IIM A): the soup that we land ourselves in on Friday nights; a solemn acknowledgment of where we derive our 'bread and butter' from;

IIM-B (origin: Indian Govt.): never heard of such a place, cccf invited. Also called Not So Well Known Institute of Management In Southern India.

IIM-C (origin: Indian Govt.): never heard of such a place, cccf invited. Also called Not So Well Known Institute of Management In Eastern India.

IIM-X (I dont even know whether the jargon exists)

Juice (n: origin: IIM-A): WIMWI's own edition of the British, Hindi and vernacular tabloids put together in torture chambers called classrooms for public consumption and reprieve; no wonder Hitler didn't like the 'juice'.

Junta (origin: 1930s, Spain): we, the people, the mob, any number of guys and gals from one to infinity generally present anywhere.

KLMDC (origin:Gujjuland); Kinda' Lodge for Misled Delegations from Companies, a paid vacation for middle level managers in an amiable ambiance; for those who can't afford golf courses, crash courses are the in-thing; a classic case of mutual value addition.

Leli (origin IIM-A); ancient war cry of the masses; occurs when unwitting individual(s) have been taken (in) by a revenge seeking mob. (see tempo shout and zigzag).

LKP (origin: Louis Kahn); IIM-A equivalent of the red square; venue for convo, afternoon snoozes, photograph sessions, inaugs, pro-nites, n .....

LSD (origin: 'TheBeatles): stands originally for' Literary and Symposium Desk' but literally the symposium part is non-existent.

MAD Club (origin: IIM-A): stands for Movie All Day; but often Xceeds one's XXpectations.

Management (origin: Gujjuland): what one tells the auto driver when you want to get to IIM-A; not to be confused with anything else.

Marketing (origin: Indus Valley Civilisation): if it's not finance it must be; governed by four P's, especially during placement - Please Pardon Poor Percentages; also the name of torture instrument used by PO, Vyas and Jain Baba.

MF (origin: IIM-A): stands for Marketing Fair christened 'Insight'; where the companies use WIMWIans as guinea pigs for trying out new ideas and the WIMWIans use local junta as guinea pigs to try out their fledging skills and all the junta not doing serious work enjoy themselves immensely.

Midterms (origin: 'The Crusades'); See endterms. But no more a part of WIMWI

NID (origin: 'Govt. Of India'): Place forming a mutual admiration society with WIMWI. They admire the , way our campus is built and we admire the way they are.

CT (origin: local): Where WIMWIans mortally wounded in the mess, retreat in the night to assuage grumbling tummies.

Nightout (origin: 'The Owl and the Pussy Cat'): doing something you should have done earlier, at a time when you should be doing what you did earlier, (see WAC).

Open Book (origin: smug Profs): Kind of exam in which cogging from a book is allowed, but in which you can't figure out which chapter. Or if you know the chapter you must have brought the wrong book. If nothing else you've come to the wrong classroom. See cogging.

Operations (origin:World War II): nothing medical There is a rumour that it used to be a substitute for Finance and Marketing, but you shouldn't believe everything you hear.

Pantry (origin: Louis Kahn): A small room in every dorm. Some of m actually contain Ossum food.

PGP (origin: PGP office): Presently Grilled Prisoners. (See endterms, midterms, quiz, assignments).

Postpone (origin: Mojo): Something that is done to assignments, classes, quizzes on pretexts like Talent Nite, LAN crashes and a general attack of lethargy.

PPO (origin: P&G): Stands for 'Placement Panic Over' or 'Persistence Pays, OK?'.

PPT (origin: Placement Office): Stands for 'Please Pay "Ttention'. Sadly, very few comply and the rest pay up 250 bucks each.

Quiz (origin: Charles Daley): Like any other you have seen. Puzzling questions, limited time, makes you wish you knew more and of course the quizmaster's decisions final.

R.As (n: origin: 'The Mahabharta'; Lord Ganesha being the first one): People holding the key to a good GPA and must hence be kept in good humour. Attendance, CP and exam marks are in their hands. Behold them in awe and handle them with care (see GPA, CP, cribbing).

Rambhai (origin: Gujjuland): One man institution outside WIMWI who could teach a course or Wo if he had time (see marketing, chai).

Rem (origin: 'the Bible', 'The Second Coming'): Replay in slow motion for those who missed action the first time round.

RG (origin: The autobiography of Daintier Benz): I know what it means but why should I tell you ?

SAC-C (origin: The Chancellor of Exchequer): WIMWIan equivalent of President, Pope and CEO rolled into one. In short a position in which you can sac, see?(see WIMWI).

Soapbox (origin: Hyde Park, London): Place where some people go to speak and rest go to have fun.

Tucchas (Origin: Paradise Regained by Milton):the Gods in WIMWI

Ramp (origin: Stanford Univ. USA): Architectural marvel for foreigners and NID-ians to gawk at and for WIMWIans to climb, (see NID). Now notorious for parties

Slots (origin: Terms,PGP office): Making a lot of terms . Nothing but 3 terms made to 6 sLots

Summers (origin: Revolution of the earth round She sun): Hot season in preparation for which people wear blazers and ties .

Systems (origin: Mckinsey's 7 S model): Like Operations a rumoured alternative to Finance and Marketing. Most WIMWIans don't believe this to be true. (see operations, marketing, finance).

Talent Nite (origin: local): High point of the first term. An elaborate exercise to get to know almost everyone in your section and to see your CR make a fool of himself, (see CR).

Tempo Shout (origin: The Paleolithic Age; origin: of spoken tongue); tribal war whoop emitted by groups of WIMWIans, apparently without any provocation, rhyme or reason (see Leli, zigzag-zigzag).

Tower Lawns (origin: Louis Kahn): used by WIMWIans for playing football and hockey, general junta for lazing on and cows for grazing on.

Vastrapur (origin: unknown): Small unimportant village in a small unimportant town in Western India.

Vet (origin: Blue Cross): The medical man about town. Short for 'veteran doctor' - contrary to popular opinion. Met when you report a stomach upset , the main symptoms of which are over-sleeping and inability to attend classes.

WAC run (origin: local): strange ritual held nine times a year in which WIMWIans remain awake all Friday night and start running madly at 04:25 PM on the next day. (see Nightout).

Welcome Night (origin: local): Traditional event to see how well a PGP 1 can sing when two hundred PGP 2s are yelling.

WIMWI (origin: the professors used this to signify IIMA without using the name IIMA in case studies in the 1970s): Well known Institute of Management in Western India.

Wing (origin: Louis Kahn): View of the campus from the wrong side of the LKP.

Work-ex (origin: Newton's Third Lam): After which some people come here for a two year break.

Zigzag-zigzag (origin: Tempo Shout): Description of the path to success and future glory from here. Part of tempo shout, no doubt for that reason, (see Leli, tempo shout)."

Monday, June 23, 2008

Making of an MBA - Feeling a part of something


In this narration too, the protagonist is none other than my self who is sitting alone in the harvard stairways n smiling as always :)
Its something serious, when i try to pick the odd one out from here, its no one else rather me. Today we had a short informal kind of meet in a group of around 10 fachchas and a tucchaa (what they call freshers and seniors). We were sitting in a circle n things went off with each of our intro, me being the last. Actually it was just intro nothing more. To be clear there was no time for more actually. Things started of with Sumant, the senior; a 2002 passout from IITK, MS arizona univ,US n now PGP-2. Did summers with some europoint in Singapore. Then i guy Sadnam, IITD 2006 passout did a briefing about himself. Till now it was okie with me. Then there was a realization that a pool of talents were around me. Sharan who worked with Fidelity, she had read everything i knew n she mentioned half a dozen authors who i have never heard n i was thinking i was a good reader!!! She had done lots to make herself proud. There were guys who had been to US from IITB just to experience adventure sports; a guy from IIIT Hyderabad who had been to Manchester to watch MANU playing. But they all had excelled in studies too. There was a Tamil poet who translated gems to English. N with them i was sitting with no achievements, a mediocre degree from a normal college in Kerala. 22months of work ex in Siemens. Only thing to mention was some reading which was nothing compared to these guys n i wasted all time watching Chelsea losing through out the season.
But after all this is my life; i am here just because i am as good as them. I am on a mission, to prove i am not just here. Let time be ready for my arrival.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

"Its a new day; Its a new office"- sometimes luck knocks ur door!!!!

-the story behind an imate K-Jam

sometimes a moment which makes u do something will b worth remembering for a life time.
something similar happened last year.. I never felt the promotions made by companies are true till last September. D the early part of 2007, while carrying with the lots of nothings i do at office , i had to attend a presentation made by Microsoft of their two new products, Office 07 and visual studio(i don't remember the product version). I had been using office 07 beta version for the last one year. Its nice to have these pirated versions even before they enter actual market. Nyways, i had to attend the meeting in another 15mins and i was just going through their sites. Suddenly i saw a competition. Office 2007 contest. It had three simple questions like which among the following is our new feature a)label b)ribbon c)carbon...followed by something similar to

why would you prefer office 2007 for your office(describe in less than 25 words).
i never knew the sentence i am gone write at that moment would be the punch line which i was going to see after few months on everything related to office 2007
"Its a new day, Its a new office"

September-07
I never bother to look gmail spams, which dealt only with Viagra discounts and ..forget it...
But somehow i was browsing through the 100ought spams when i saw the office 2007 contest result mail to which i never bothered to reply as it was from some quasar.com

Its humane to think what if and why nots? he had just asked me to mail my address to send a windows mobile. What can he do with the address of mine. But strategically i did something, gave my home address to that quasar guy,called up my parents telling not to pay for any couriers/ posts that come for me. Job done!!!

Very next day my dad calls up n tells he got a courier from Gurgaon, an imate k-jam which indeed was the prize for the promotional event done by microsoft ...Even though the MRP listed was around 34grands, it still had a market value of around 20grands.. Mr.Punchliner was so happy n i gifted it to my bro....

Even now browsing through the office site makes me happy, because "its a new day, n its a new office"

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Making of an MBA- The Game

Clearly your first year s just a game.
The rules are simple. Its no counter-strike; but a game of mario. the good old pc/video game.
You start a level n u r supposed to finish it with the lives you have. Here the lives corresponds to D's.. what are D's doing here in the game. Its just grades. U can afford a maximum of upto 4 D's. or 2 F's which corresponds to 4 D.
Now the rules are not yet over, if u r a doctoral student things are worse, u r suppose to get a cumulative score of atleast B- in your area specific courses and the normal 4D rules is applicable to other courses.
Still things are even better for a CISG doctoral student, CISG is the Computer and Information Systems Group. You have to get B- in all your area specific courses and which by the by includes few of the hardest subjects. And the other rules are in tact too...
Unlike Mario there is no life hiding anywhere.. so all u can do is to work hard to clear the levels.

Who all are playing the game?
The normal guys..around 330 PGP's.. then around 30 PGP-ABM's
Then the next set doctoral students or FPM's-13
and finally CISG guys.. no just a guy.. n that's me...

Let the game begin!!!!!!!!

Sunday, June 8, 2008

At last i figures what WIMWI is...yeah!!!

it took me two days to figure out what MANAC was; its nothing but "managerial accounting", people still have nightmares just thinking bout it seems, forget it i don't even know in which term i have to learn this. Like i managed to find it out on my own.

but its now more than a week and i am yet to figure out what WIMWI is???? In IIMA Group 2008-2010 everything is related with WIMWI.. i have no clue what it is.. all group mails WIMWI comes in to action. I am still left help less.. Google no help. Two days back i decided, its time to find this out.reluctantly i asked Shawn n Thahir after dinner what this thing is. by d way these guys have joined with me from Kerala only; n u can expect how they will be... as usual, mallus. I felt bad like asking something everyone knows n all.. but its obviously better to understand what this is.. To my surprise these guys were also trying to figure out what this is, just like me...Now what to do!!

Still two more days, i actually forgot the fact that i was searching the meaning or what ever this word is... PGP II classes are starting in two days time.. so most of the guys are coming back after their summer internship n all.. Two of my neighbours r just in. "Samosa" n "Pumpy"..(I am yet to get one for me.. i will be known with in these walls by something similar ). The usual hi-byes n everything was over. I was taking a nap after the heavy biriyani n it struck me all of a sudden "WIMWI",no waste of time ..straight from dreams to Pumpy's room...

Me: Sleeping???
Pumpy: No ..not all.. was practicing back hands for the match against federer..Grr!!!
Me: Sorry yaar.. ek doubt tha..
Pumpy: Hmm.. poocho??
Me: whats this WIMWI?
Pumpy: u got me up for this???... abhe yaar.. hey tho hamere IIM hi hye.. only for the case studies n all instead of using the actual name they use it.. so it is a sort of usage now a days n other institutes can also use the cases ....thats it
and it actually stands for "Well known Institute of Management in Western India"....
Me: Thanks yaa.. n sorry for disturbing u :)
Pumpy: Hmmm...

There ends the search.. I am a part of WIMWI.. n i know what WIMWI is.. will know more of real WIMWI soon...

good night pumpy



Saturday, June 7, 2008

The uncommonly common....me.

I am no poseur; but kinda successful till now.
it makes u happy, when people think they can do what all u did,in fact when they want to; i love this,

But when they ask me how to...
this is it...

When you fail you are nearing the moment of real learning. This moment fate will teach you kind of character you possess. Failure or fall; the starting place to rise is set. As you rise from the fall feelings of growth swell inside. Soon you see the lessons learned and the person you've become. Then you can say to others as they fall,
"Failed? Fabulous!"

Friday, June 6, 2008

Making of an MBA- Part 1.. the creamy part is getting over.

The weekend has arrived, next week onwards its from 9 to 7; three sessions a day till 21st when preparatory gets over. But the worst is yet come; prep is just like an induction in companies.

So its time to ask a few questions, quite a few serious questions
The first one being, whether you have made a right choice?
donno
whether you are in the right place?
i guess so.
what you can do?
No idea

Its simple to feel like there's nothing as such that i cant do. But when you dont know what you are supposed to do, things become a bit difficult.

Thinking what i to do once the course is over, i am left clueless!!!

yesterday i happen to see a PGP II wearing a Tee telling he managed to survive here.. But i used to wear what my bro had given me during engineering course which proudly read "Branded For Life", with that small logo in arms

Attitude does matter a lot. But still.............

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Making of an MBA- Prologue

this will be a series of posts, which will be updated in regular intervals about the life here at IIM-Ahmedabad..provided i get time for the same.

Now to start.. the preparatory classes are going on (this is just a back to college kinda stuff, like reminding u , u have to study to get good grades).

The place is awesome, if i had not been to my Siemens office; i would have rated this as heaven in terms of facilities. This has a huge difference in the sense that corporate giants are providing all the stuffs to make money n here its for our future only.

Back to the prep course, the guys joined with me n sharing the classroom r nuts!!!, two of them from TCS, no offense makku(my ex-roommate in Bangalore who used to work with TCS, so people do call him his actual name Dinil... Did i go wrong?? who cares..its makku)..ya TCS.. these guys are here just because they ran away from TCS. One had a client in Dhaka, he had to go onsite, he considered his life more precious.. fine the other guy had some govt office in kolkatta as his client centre..Bengali's considered his automations eventually would end up in demolishing their posts, rest is history...

Better stories were yet to come.. CTS fellows this is true.. A guy was working with CTS Bangalore..24*7.. he usually took breaks for around 1.5 hours a day.. for sleeping n other daily chores.. finally he resigned.. prepared one whole year for CAT n he got thru...

These guys n gals don't even believe that i used to work in Siemens from 9 to 4:15 n all @Siemens still managed to finish all stuffs on time. Thank God i was with a product based company..

Yet another reason to miss my company...

Its time to prepare for my quant session for tomorrow...

coming up..
Part I..

Monday, June 2, 2008

a visit to sabarmati...

a memorable visit...
beyond words to describe...

Return to college

A gap of two years, back to normal routine of classes, notebooks and even homeworks :)

A view from the classroom of d day

its simple over here, nothing like what i used to think about college.

100% professional life; thats what i'd like to call it.

oops, my assignment is getting delayed

signing of...

a student