One fourth of an MBA

The exam fever is almost as good as over. Tomorrow is the last exam. It wasn't much of a fever anyway, more like a cold. It troubled me for a week, went away on its own. Of course the result is another fight altogether. With tomorrow's exam and a couple of other assignments, the first semester ends. Twenty five percent of my MBA degree done.

In this four months, I made many friends, learnt a 'huge big' number of things, mostly outside the classroom and by watching group interactions. Of course there was some classroom learning as well. Some of my beliefs got strengthened, some questioned and reversed. How would I rate this semester? 6/10.

Now a month long vacation back in sweet Vapi. Got things to do, got people to meet. And get ready for the next quarter as well. This probably will be my last post from IIT Madras in 2007. See you next year.

PS. I will probably fill in details in this post at home. I want it to be a comprehensive analysis of the first quarter of these two years.

The joys of being a consultant

Sigh... The real joy of being a consultant.











At this point, let me clarify a misconception that have plagued consultants from the advent of crore-plus salaries. There goes a one-liner saying 'Consultants are people who take your watch to tell you the time and charge you for it.'

Agreed. That's what consultants do, but the important thing here is that the watch (your business) is not the typical watch with a clear digital display. The watch (your business) here is an ancient sundial or (god forbid) it could even be a candlestick. Now tell me, will you be able to tell the correct time on this watch of yours or do you need a pistol packing consultant like the above depicted?

The practical side of MBA

Of what use is learning the derivation for the Simplex Method?
Of what use is analyzing the complexity, formalization and differentiation of an organization?
Of what use is drawing endless charts of supply and demand without being able to apply it to daily situations?

Why can't we have a more practical and commonsense approach to an MBA?
Why can't we have more Rajeev Karwals in the classroom?

How to make a whiteboard in $2

The second epidemic (here's the first one) that I was talking about is the 2$ white board I made to remind me of the countless project and ppts I have to submit in the course of getting an MBA. Here's how to go about it:-

1) A 1-metre plastic sheet (the kind used to cover books.
2) A whiteboard marker.
3) Transparent or brown cellotape.

I'm sure the rest is simple. Stick it onto a wall, preferably a white or a light coloured one. Scribble away.

Gunda - Movie Extraordinaire

There are two epidemics spreading rapidly in Pamba Hostel which yours truly is guilty of starting. The first is the under 2$ whiteboard and the second is the cult Mithun movie Gunda. I felt that both these deserve their own post. This post will talk about Gunda. This movie has a cult following in IITs and IIMs. I don't want to dilute the cultism of the movie by describing it here. GreatBong has written about it. If you're keen on watching the movie without letting a review spoilt it, some online shopping site sells this movie for around 8 Euros. That is 432 freaking Rupees. Is it worth buying the movie? With that amount, I could have eat about 7.1 Subway sandwiches. Still I have to say that it is a movie which has many USPs - Mithun (hereby referred to as Prabhuji), an assorted set of villains, a monkey which can rival Yuvraj Singh in catches, and a world record for the largest number of rickshaws ever used in a fight scene (The multi-starrer superhit 'Main hu mard rickshaw-wallah' doesn't count as it used special effects in many scenes).

Even the soundtrack is something to write about. Hummable and singable superhits like Nasha nasha karta hai, is nashe me dum nahi or Teri akhon ka jaadu chal gaya. I wish I could find mp3s of the soundtrack. Kanti Shah must have used some latesht state of the art technology to prevent duplication of the tracks. Another feather in his cap, I guess. I wonder if Himess can make a remix out of it.

Go watch the movie. But leave your brains behind.