From the womb of recession - Class of 2009

The one thing that is really crucial while selecting a b-school for any aspiring management student is its placement record. But for the children of recession, it hardly mattered. They all joined a premier institute at a time (2007) when the economy of the world was doing really well and they hoped it would be in an even better position when they graduate or at least remain the same worst come worst, but no way could it get go down. ‘How could that happen to me’ would have been the thought on any average wannabe MBA’s mind while he/she had joined the course.

And then the so called recession did not hit the bschool located at Nungambakkam alone, nor did it hit the city of Chennai alone, how about the state of Tamilnadu, no? India? We are not yet done my friend! It hit placements of graduates all over the world and no one was spared. Though some of them must have got jobs, decent profiles, so-so pay packages but then thousands of them hardly had a job for a long time while the next batch was slowly getting placed. And if at all they got placed it was may be at a lower band than they usually would have got, and at a pay scale that in no way was comparable to the preceding batches, but no one could help it, we were not the destiny’s children, we were specially chosen to be the recession’s children.

We were the batch that was tested the most for its patience, skill sets, competitive spirit and above all our faith. Luckily, at least at my bschool everyone was placed, if not on day zero, at least in the months after it. But there were thousands of graduates across the globe, who either dint get a job, lot of whom had quit a job to graduate, others gave promotion a slip and so on. But what made this batch born from the womb of recession special was the fact that, they joined a bschool when the markets were at its best and they graduated right when the markets tanked to an all time low, unemployment rates soared like the sun would in the noon and the number of opportunities available were as high as the number of stars you could count on a sunny day.

One instance that stands out on my mind with regard to the placements during the recessionary period was the episode of a top investment bank that was supposed to visit our campus for recruitment on September 18^th and all my batch mates were excited and were preparing really hard to be able to ace the selection process of one of the best investment banks of the world. They prepared so much so that, it felt as if it was the only thing they ever wanted in life. I would have hardly seen them prepare for any other thing the year or so before that. But how could they have known, the company they were aspiring to work for went bust just a day before it was supposed to visit our campus. Yea, you read it right, September 17^th was the day when the Business Line newspaper that we had started reading for quite sometime then to keep ourselves abreast of the business world read, “Lehman Bros files for bankruptcy” as its top headline on its front page. Lots of dreams were shattered, lots of them more or less lost hope, but then some of us who were still out of the trap of the fantasy world of big brand ‘dream company’ realized that what had happened to us, was may be in our best interest. If Lehman would have filed its chapter 11 on a day after it recruited some of us, it would have been a much much bigger shock, cos then it would have been a case of having a job in a company that had ceased to exist. It was far better that we ‘did not have a job’ rather than ‘have a job but not have it’. In fact this was the case with a dozen or more students from a couple of other premier institutes of the country who were recruited by Lehman before it was supposed to come to our campus, I know how difficult it would have been for those children of bankruptcy.

A lot has been discussed, argued and felt about this class of 2009, but what is it that has transpired with respect to these children of recession should be of further interest to the world, as these are the people who had seen both boom and bust at a very young age, in fact even before the start of their career. And I thought this was the best thing to have happened to us, we learnt some of the lessons we would have learnt much later in life, much earlier than a lot of others do. Though its been a painful period of 20 months since we have started working, but we’ve grown up with a lot of learning’s that would take us a long way in the future when may be such a catastrophe hits the world again, we would be prepared far better than the rest of the crowd.

Though at a psychological level we might have had a few advantages and disadvantages over the rest of the management crowd, we have definitely lost out on the monetary quantum and the sense of security standpoint. Lot of us had got job’s on contractual basis and our fates will be decided really soon, we would stand again on the same point as we did 2 years ago, if these companies don’t make us permanent employees. It would again be a period of anxiety & patience, again trying to get a good job and getting settled down with what we would like to do, but boy! its not going to be easy. Though the markets now are doing far better, destiny isn’t always with the lot that in some sense has been rejected (if I am allowed to use that word) by some other corporate.

When we graduated I used to think that the jobs we got are the jobs that were really crucial, as companies wont really recruit in such times unless they really want people to fill certain vacancies, but for certain companies it was just an easy way out to hire cheap than in years of boom may be, though not true in all the cases. The pie chart below would give you an idea about how the class of 2009 has been doing over the course of 20 months since they started working.

It’s clear that close to 70% of them are still with the same company  they started out with, but the fact is, at least a quarter of them are seriously looking out for other opportunities mostly because they aren’t really fond of what they are doing, as a process of which some of them have already changed one job (20%). The remaining 13% who are not working are the ones who have either quit their jobs as they want to pursue something else, including starting some business of their own or a completely different career or may be got married and settled ( you know what that means). Now the question is, is the story similar with other batches who either passed out before or after, I would say more or less YES, but still there are things that this particular batch is going through which others might not have gone through, things that cant really be expressed, but can only be felt.

One thing I firmly believe in and have understood through this whole experience is, destiny’s child or recessions child, as long as things are good make hay, but remember things won’t remain good or bad for ever. The markets have gotten back on track and companies are recruiting astounding number of people this year, breaking all kinds of previous records. Just be patient and give your best, recession or no recession, there is a billion plus population in the country that has to be fed, transported, taken care of and a lot of other services to be provided to. Someone has to do each of these things, so just stay active and you’ll definitely find something that you really deserve. Last thought (or piece of advice you might call it) for all management’s children would be – Stop measuring your success in life based on your CTC, it hardly matters as long as you find something that you would love to do for a large fraction of your life and a management degree is not just a gateway to a seven digit pay check always, it is a great deal more than that, if all of us realize that, it wont matter even if you were from the womb of recession. Let’s stop looking at management education as a platform ticket for the employment station, it’s rather a first class ticket to some of the best learning’s and experiences in life.

P.S. – This post was inspired by views posted in an article on Times of India recently.

Today’s Favorite Line - A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing. - Oscar Wilde

Today’s Favorite Song – Pray for me brother (A.R. Rehman)

Love Life to Live a Life is My Way

(Beware! Extremely lengthy Post, one of the lengthiest so far!)

After a short stint in the Corporate world it was time to get back to the student life and what better way to start that off than interacting with 83 fresh minds (few of them straight from the corporate world and others still fresh enough). Before the academic session began, it was indeed fun to have the (Official) Ice Breaker session with the new entrants into the campus. Ice breaker session was a success and flop in itself, success in the sense that it broke some ice among the juniors or at least among the seniors around and the juniors (few of us at least) and a flop because it was not that well planned due to lack of time and spontaneity, but I strongly believe it was fun and everyone enjoyed a lot minus my jokes. Then it was summer internship presentations which spanned across for 5 days, it felt even hectic and tiring than having a faculty speak for hours... Jokes apart all my friends had done really nice projects and had put in a lot of effort to bring out the best reports but listening to so many people continuously on different issues ranging from renewable energy to stock market to weather insurance would get any one sleep in the speed of thought. But overall it was an extraordinary learning experience for most of us, especially for the once who entered the corporate world for the first time.

While things were settling down again in the campus a lot of activities and interactions were happening and being planned with the juniors in the Campus including introducing them with the norms of the institute, giving them an overview of the activities and events that happen in the institute and much more. But two most interesting things happening were the innumerable ice breaker sessions that were being conducted at anyone’s discretion and convenience and the hi-drama Book Review presentation (I was unavailable for which Sigh!). The Book review thing was indeed something which changed life in the campus and its aftermaths can still be felt day in and day out without any doubt. Lots of things spoken off and lots of them ignored; faces, names and thoughts seen and understood. Still I would just say whatever that happened was not good and things could have been dealt with a bit more carefully if at all there was no “I” factor which without any doubt was existent. All said and done, life moves on!

Amidst all this drama and experience there was other important stuff happening which was choosing electives for the term and the puzzle of why this and why not that. At the end of all the speculation in the mind I had selected 5 of them which everyone had to and I think those were the best 5 I could have had from the options available. Let’s see how I faired in each of them or how much justice did they do to me.

International Finance – It was indeed an international experience, almost a world tour from a single place. And no, I can’t ever forget the group with which I had to do the Project. The process and approach followed to choose the project topic, the methodology of doing it, the ways of reasoning things, it was quite an experience and all of us did realize and understand it. Overall it was No Pain, No Gain.

Project Finance – High expectations I had of this elective but dint put the required effort so dint gain to the extent I wished to. Things got a little boring beyond a point of time and most of it must be attributed to the laid back attitude towards the elective. But overall a really important one and it did make sense.

Financial Derivatives – Started off in a great way, infact this was the elective I was looking forward to in the term, but dint actually get a hang of various things, quite a few reasons behind it including more questions than answers, dint have the fundas at place when most required i.e. during exams (still fear that I may be screwed). Over all not a huge value add as expected but surely did make various things clear and improved understanding of certain things.

Asset Pricing – The expectations from this elective was quite unclear when it took off and still remains the same way. But the elective surely did teach about the trade off between incentive and work (the incentive to attend the last class was, there was a quiz + an assignment to be submitted + an article to be read when there was FD exam in the same morning). The course covered certain aspects some of which made sense and the rest seemed to be just another model. Overall a good paper in terms of theoretical application, I dint find much practical orientation but was a nice experience.

Product Management – This is the one elective where I was a unique fellow in the batch, no other Finance majoring student dared or wished to take this elective for reasons known to all. But I infact took it more as a challenge and dint want to miss on the learning opportunity of such an important paper. To my mind it definitely made sense apart from all the GAS and it did add value and at the end of the course I was and am Glad I chose this elective. The most important aspect of this elective with regard to me was, I spent most of my time on this elective than the total time I spent on the other 4 electives, that shows the level of interest it generated in me, but there were hiccups in this paper as well including the re-do mania. Overall I felt this was the best elective I had taken in this term.

Overall all the electives were thought provoking and did add value some way or the other minus the lack of effort from my side.

During Freshers Party '08

Beyond all the academic activities, there was much more that I was involved in both in terms of organizing and participating. And these activities consumed most of my time in the past few months. To begin with was the Fresher’s Party ’08 “Rang De India”, which I was completely involved in organizing as well as Hosting, yes I was back in the hosting arena and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was fun hosting the event with Rashmi, though most of our preparation had to go for a toss because the juniors turned up just 2 hours late and there was so much on the platter that we had to cut down on a lot of fun filled stuff! But over all it was a wonderful experience minus the lack of participation from the juniors in a few games which took a lot of time for us to make sure that at least the required number of people participate in every game. I still can’t forget the final meeting we had in my class to decide about the fresher’s party and after so many long and short discussions and plans we got this one finalized and hosted.

While all this was being planned there was another thing we were involved in which was something new at IFMR, the interviews to select representatives for Clubs was a new way our batch opted for to get the best people for the job. It was even a learning experience for us being on the other side of the table, just made us realize how difficult at times it could be even to be on the other side(as interviewer) of the same table. With all the speculation and hype around it I assume we did a decent job without any prejudice or bias what so ever.

Before I go any further I couldn’t resist sharing the dream which a few of us saw but weren’t able to realize before this term, it was about the CEO Summit which we planned about for more than 2 months, lot of ideas, too many meetings, innumerous obstacles and obviously speculation, the result we weren’t able to organize the so called “Varchaswa” (not sure if the spelling is right). There are few of them who worked damn hard for it and also got screwed at places but the lack of certain essentials had lead us to drop the idea completely and I was one of them who suggested to call it off looking at the situation we were in, but still it remained a dream, something we thought we could pull off some how!

What if we weren’t able to pull the CEO summit off, we still have Abhyudaya to show all our charisma and zeal. So the juniors rightly started off work on Abhyudaya early this time, at least earlier than we did. The work has been going on at some pace which I feel is a bit slower; work is going on well though. There have been a few ups and downs with Abhyudaya even by now and things look quite complicated at the moment looking at the condition of the world economy and financial markets. But I can tell you, as ever Abhyudaya is coming up with newer and nicer events and I hope we make it lot better this year too. Will surely come up with more on Abhyudaya soon! This must have made it clear to an extent that I am game for Abhyudaya even this year, without any doubt.

I haven’t ever mentioned about TEC earlier, I think I can do that now; it’s the entrepreneurship club at IFMR, started a few months back by some 20 of us. It has been on my mind for quite some time and I have been trying to get something productive and new out of this initiative, though we haven’t done anything special so far apart from a couple of events, never ending number of meetings which only quite a few attend and a couple of issues of the magazine which was ought to be issued every month. It has given quite a few learning’s to me personally as well, I initiated the idea with a lot of passion and commitment which I think I have at the same level even now. But without contribution and collaboration nothing succeeds is a major learning in the last 8 months of my endeavor for TEC as its representative. I would not blame anyone for not being active or so, but it’s true that something of my interest and passion might not be of someone else even if they have committed to do things. So I had to slow down my pace and am trying now to somehow keep it as active as possible and there are at least few whom I can name in a moment who are quite active and supportive and I am sure they will take it ahead and not let it die once I am out.

There’s another thing which I and a few others have been driving hard in the campus, which faced a set back early this year and since then even after various attempts the few of us haven’t been able to set it back due to lack of effort (I wont say lack of time). I feel bad that for the past 2 months or so we haven’t been able to do much about it, but still are trying to get it back while something else has caught up in the campus. Am not naming what I am talking about since its still a conspicuous thing for most of them in the campus that I am involved in, and am not being a coward by not disclosing it, I am just trying to maintain the level of privacy involved so that it does not become that easy for people to actually know, though most of them know who and what, and can also say by reading this what I am talking about. I still remember the days when I heard left and right about this particular thing but did not mention a word that I was a party to it, but again I wasn’t being a coward, was just trying to maintain the professionalism we had decided as a Team (the few of us), but yea I will surely talk about it some time soon, though it doesn’t make a difference even if I do that now, but I don’t want to spoil the fun.

Between all this how can I forget the high profile meeting that we had which spelt out a set of new rules in the campus, I couldn’t resist my laugh for rules like going home before 9pm and taking permission if one wanted to stay back beyond that. I couldn’t even compare this with my school days where I used to go home only beyond 6 after all the sports and activities while classes used to get over by 3 or 4. While here the amount of group work and activities involved at least don’t give me an opportunity to go home before 9 most of the times (for those of u who think I don’t do either of it, we can talk about it later)

And when we talk about meetings, my favorite and all time best meeting in the last 3 months without any doubt has been the one on the Clubs issue, I know the outcome of the meeting has been interpreted in a different way than I would subscribe to, but that’s part of the system and am game to take all that comes up. But as I have been making clear time and again to different people, my intentions and agenda were clear and I put forward what the right thing was so that people don’t confuse things. But I also know quite clearly that if things don’t work out the way they are expected to, I am the one who’ll be looked for just because I was the one who drove the issue forward and I still stick to my point, as I had just put across the facts and never initiated the talk on vitamin M or the quantum of it to be precise. But as known it was and is being seen as my victory and not of the issue in hand something which I don’t subscribe to, but yes I agree that I played a major role in the overall dialogue but never bothered about the quantum of vitamin M, I just stressed on the need and the why part. May seem like I am defending myself or what so ever which I don’t need to anyway, but still it makes me relaxed if I make my point clear.

After Convocation with Seniors and Friends

Leaving aside all the controversial stories there were few other important occasions that happened in due course including the Convocation of my seniors which saw the presence of biggies like Mr. Vaghul (Chairman ICICI Bank and IFMR) and Mr. Sundaram (Director, Hindustan Level). The seniors were all merry after getting their graduation certificates and just gave me a feeling of how close I was to this moment in my life (assuming I would clear all, ha ha). The alumni meet was another joyous day with a new record set of the maximum attendance so far at IFMR, it again required a lot of thought and effort to pull it off well and the few of them involved did it really well apart from the issues they had to face till the end. I would still like to mention here that, the plans for it were initiated long ago than the actual plans began by the authorized team, but again due to some lack of action and response it lead to the death of all those ideas and plans. But yes the one that was conducted received a lot of praise and acclaim which it absolutely deserved and I am hoping next year when I am supposedly an alumni it would be even better and bigger.

In a Jolly Mood after the Alumni Meet

Issues of placements have been on a high all through and will be the same way till all of us get placed, but so far things have been quite complicated and this is something which everyone is bothered about unlike other things and strangely this is something I am (at least so far) least worried about unlike other things. So hoping for the best, don’t want to put salt on what ever has happened and take names and issues from the past. So I am just wishing things to be smooth and easy, and not as hyper tensive as they have got.

Participation in the event of NITIE on MAK lubricants was really fun; the overall experience was really exciting as it made us (Bharat & me) think in real terms for the first time and not getting selected was not that disheartening because I did expect that and the meeting with the BPCL official couldn’t be forgotten.
The visit to New Life Charity also was a refreshing experience, the time spent with the kids was really special.

Outside New Life with Kids and Friends

To sum things up I have got a new name in the campus which most of them address me with, all this is the result of the amount of interaction I am involved in and I know the importance of all that as most of u know too. And thanks for the new nick folks! But trust me you may not call me that way soon! Over all the first few months of the final journey at IFMR have been fabulous, days are just passing like hours and I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey so far and hope to keep it the same way! Adios till next time.

P.S – This write up was not to highlight any particular issue, it’s just a usual practice which I have been following of summarizing all that I have been involved in and share the same, so if anything in the above has hurt you or made u happy or something, please leave a comment LoL, am expecting a few at least to this article.

Competition – Facing the heat

Routine instances in our life exhibit to us various complex issues in a very straight forward way. The issues just stare at you and you come to know, oh this is what it is! Taking one such example which is, like a fresh dikashun of coffee (am sorry for the people who don’t know what the coffee dikashun is) to me. It’s about the plethora of events coming up at IFMR in the upcoming week.

All the clubs at IFMR have been planning to hold an event or the other of theirs since some time now including the TEC club, but none of them was able to launch an event for so long when there were no events being conducted at all. I could only see one reason for this mass dumping of events apart from the natural reason for which it is being conducted. The reason which I am speaking about is Competition; I think you would agree with me when I make this statement. All clubs have been planning for quiet some time now and it’s almost high time for each of them to actually launch their event and conduct it as soon as possible that too in a grand manner as it is going to be the first for each of them for this academic year.

I ascertain the reason to be competition just because of the fact that, once a club member comes to know that X club has launched its event or is looking forward to conduct its event on x date, there is a sense of ego or feeling of loss (loss of opportunity of being first, or for being slow/late). Now the above reason brings in a spirit of competition that, hey even I need to launch my event soon, its high time, X club who started after us is already ready with their event, why do I remain behind, let me fix a slot one day before club X. This sense of competition is good at times but at times it may just be due to the ego. But whatever it is competition is very important in the world, it helps in various ways and results in great creations at times if dealt with appropriately.

The above stuff is written following the incident which I faced today when I saw the marketing club members working on their event, finance club members preparing the poster/invite for their event and most importantly after seeing the mail from the HR club who have already launched their event (but not disclosed the date yet :D). All this made me even more geared up to finally launch the event by TEC, as the event was already ready but due to some reason or the other which was getting delayed from being launched. But after seeing these plethora of events coming up we have booked a slot for the TEC even before few others just to ensure that we don’t end up being in the zone of the late latifs. And the sense of competition has reinforced in us the spirit to do well.

So do you think we have learnt what competition does to one? Its kicks at your back and then you get only 2 options Do or Die!!!

By the way TEC’s event is on 1st September 2008 at 17.00, be there and face the competition!!! And then you’ll know what’s facing the heat!!

(This article is some how also in connection to me trying to keep the blog as active as possible and updating it regularly, would soon try to do something interactive. Keep watching)

Live to Love Life My Way!!!!

Every thing has to stop or come to an end some day, but why I am talking about end. I am just half way my journey. By end I mean an end of the first academic year of my MBA life. A year full of hard work, fun, learning’s, mistakes, enthusiasm, and lot more such adjectives (I am sorry I know only these many adjectives, in short only this much English).

I started this journey with lots of hope and desires, wanted to do everything possible under the sun, as far as possible in this first year, but being a human, a typical human I was just able to do only quite a few things which I planned. But also did quite a few things which I never planned. I took life as it came in this one year, it does not mean I was careless or easy going, I had targets set for myself, but nothing happens as someone plans it’s always the opposite of what u desire happens. I would not say everything went against my desires. It was just that I was not hard enough to myself to do a lot of things I actually wanted to do. Spent a lot of time gazing, talking crap, nonsense, networking, and all such related stuff and I am not sure whether all that is good or bad, all that was required or not. I just kept doing what ever my heart asked me to do; I stopped listening to my mind. But its ok, in the journey called life, you never end up doing things u planned.

But why I am talking about all this, what do I feel, do I feel happy for the past 9 months, or do I feel sad and dejected. I am not sad for sure and I am neither too happy, but I would say I am just satisfied to an extent that, yes the past 9 months have added some value to me, to my life. Even now I have a lots of plans in my mind for the short term and I am very sure I would be able to achieve only 20% of what ever I have planned, but I feel it’s necessary for me to plan this 100% to at least reach to the 20% level. I would try and work to the best of my abilities, but I know at times I would get diverted, then I need some one to ask me “Boss, hello, where r u, what r u doing”, and then I will be back on track.
I thought I would share my overall experience of the past 9 months this time, but as I am typing it I am not able to think about my experience, but I am only able to think about what went wrong and what went right and so on.
The first year of MBA @ IFMR was a really good year, with lots of learning’s. I think I shall enlist here the things which instantaneously come to my mind as soon as I think of 1st year @ IFMR and I am sure these things will remain in my mind any day in my life as soon as I think of it. So let me begin with it, be it good or bad.

-The first and the Happiest thing to be able recollect is Abhyudaya 2008, the dream event of my life, I would say again that it was my ultimate focus for 3-4 months and it was one major part of 1st year @ IFMR.
-Appeared on T.V twice and was live on Radio once, on TV for program related to budget and on radio to promote Abhyudaya.
-My first presentation at IFMR, on Dun and Bradstreet was appreciated by everyone present there and was one of the motivating factors for me to give away my shyness and stage fear, and the results are evident. Be it any presentation in class, any group or subject it be, the introduction i.e. the start of all the presentations used to be by me. Ironically this was because I never knew what the rest of the presentation was all about. LoL. But believe me I gained confidence and I still have it, just after my first presentation in life with a PPT.
-Winning a couple of prizes at LIBA in their b-school fest is another moment I recollect as it happened very recently, I registered for a lot of events at different b-schools, but took part only in a couple of them, due to a lot of factors including my team mates(3 cheers to u my CEO’s ). This one at LIBA was really special indeed.
-Organizing the Farewell for seniors is another event in which I was completely involved, and I enjoyed being a part of it, irrespective of the time I had to spend on it, while avoiding other important things.
-Mr. Ram Kumar’s (Head HR, ICICI Bank) lecture was another thing which I can never forget in my life, I don’t know why but I felt something about this lecture was too cool. We keep listening to a lot of people and often when ever someone speaks, he/she speaks about good things and that to in a very good way and appreciating way. But this person was some one who spoke badly about things, who criticized people, systems and raised his voice against a lot of things fearlessly amidst a good mix of people. I truly loved his perspective. I actually like to listen to and know different perspectives of people on certain issues.
-One more thing worth a mention here is the nature and the support of our senior Anand; truly he was one person who was a great inspiration to me and a few more at the campus. I truly started doing things seriously after seeing him. I used to contradict his views a lot of times, but I admire and respect his deeds and work which I saw in the past 9 months. He is a true champion for me.
-Learnt quite a few lessons after the 1st and 2nd term and tried to change my self appropriately, not fully but to some extent.

I believe the list for happy things has gone a long long way, lets see what are the things which I am not happy with, or concerned about and I need to try and analyze for myself.

-I lost focus on academics in the process of working on a lot of other things including Abhyudaya.
-Did not spend time on things which were crucial enough for me, to be done in the first year (I know what they r, so don’t feel like listing them here).
-Spent a lot of time in communicating with people, sometimes for important things and otherwise for some nonsense which proved to be a waste of time very often.
-Did not spend much time with family, which was possible, but I did not make too much effort on this front.
-My basics on many subjects learnt in the first year are not strong and which makes me worry now and then, and gives me a guilty feeling.
-The perception I have created for myself in the minds of my batch mates. I am not very much satisfied for the impression I created in their minds. Though I have not done anything wrong, but I have not made a mark, a really good mark in all aspects in people’s mind. (this is what I feel, I am not sure if I am right or wrong)
-There are various other things which upset me, things like not participating in a lot of events which I could have.
-One most important aspect of this review for myself is the concern for me not putting my efforts in the right direction, which could mean, me spending much time on some things less important and spending less time on some things which were more important.

I think the list can go on and on, but I need to stop some where and start working on these areas of concern. So that next time when I write a self review I would have a smaller list than this one. So till then keep watching…. JJ

You must be wondering why I titled this Blog as “Live to Love Life My Way”. You must see my review of the First Term @ IFMR I have titled it “Love to Live life My Way”. Then my review of second term was titled “What am I doing”. So after trying to live life my way, and after trying to figure out what I was doing, I thought experience and time has taught me a lot of things, which now makes me to live my life and love it as it comes and as I make it. I know what I have said doesn’t make much sense but trust me nothing in this world makes sense, normally.

So let me stop here and start working on both my strengths and weaknesses and yes most importantly I need to get set for the Summer Internship @ SIVA VENTURES, which is just a few days away from now. So till then have fun and yea stay tuned!!!!!!!!

What Am I Doing ???? What was I Supposed to do ????

TermII at IFMR !!!!!
Teenage of my B-school life is just over; I think I have become a bit matured, a bit focused and a totally confused soul. Or if you want me to explain my situation using a marketing jargon I would say I am in the growth stage of my B-School Life Cycle. While I have started writing this the major part of my brain has only one word revolving around ….. No prizes for the right guess, everyone knows it is …….. Abhyudaya ’08. Yes if I had to put in a brief summary of what have I done for the last 2 months I don’t remember a single event or day when Abhyudaya was not in my mind or in my deeds. I feel I live Abhyudaya, it’s my dream event and it’s my focus. One may think why so much time and focus on an event which is just another event in life and why so much botheration to me as an individual, what do I say it’s more than just an event for me, it has taught me various lessons which any book cannot teach. A few learning’s or occasions which I could share.
 Everyone knows and feels in their daily life that money is the most difficult thing in the world to get from anyone whether it’s your own money or whether you are trying to borrow some. I know I may face a situation in future when I want to venture out on my own and then I would need money, yes you have guessed it right Abhyudaya has taught me the lesson, it has clearly made me aware 1000 times saying boss its never gonna be that easy who ever you may be, where ever you are from, you are talking money so be ready to hear a big NO even before you make your point. I am still feeling oh god we need a lot of money what do I do. Let’s see we are trying our best. So this is the real life learning Abhyudaya has given me, what ever cash flows I predict and discount, in what ever ways I make the NPV positive, until I get the moolah in my hands it never can be mine.
 To be a successful individual in what ever set up you are, whether you are a student, an employee, or even a family member coordination and communication are the two major things you will require. And yes Abhyudaya being a student’s initiative requires both of them in every stage of it, in every instance of it. I was a very reserved and silent kind of a person for most part of my life, but as I have grown I have known the importance of communication. My communication skills are not really good, but the confidence I have gained in this period of working for Abhyudaya make me feel better and motivates me to communicate effectively, as the stakes are really high here
 I have never been a commanding or an authoritative person ever, I don’t like being one, you may think he might have never got a chance to be, or may be whose gonna listen to him, yes you are right. But that’s not the way I like to work, I like to take along people with me as I am not the be all and end all of the world, so this phase of my life has also taught me to get along with everyone when ever required and keep on moving when that seems to be unnecessary or a spoil sport situation.
There can be hundreds of instances of learning, of joy, of fear, of tension, but why all this – it adds value to me and if u want me to be academic, it’s my EVA and yes I mean it.
For more details on Abhyudaya log on to http://ifmr.ac.in/abhyudaya08

Apart from Abhyudaya the 2 months after the Diwali break were not as much as planned and thought by me, but life is like a casino what ever you win or what ever you lose, you never feel satisfied, you like to play a little more. The moments of joy in these two months were numerous. The treat at Mathsya hotel was a day when everyone was joyous and a few other occasions which made moments lighter. Over all these two months have been very hectic and very tense, tension of studying CF, of participating in Venu’s class, of completing the cases and blah blah blah.

Occasions which enhanced exposure and gave an idea of how the corporates really work, what do they actually do and so on was learnt or known thorough the umpteen number of PPT’s attended day in and day out. Summer placements was another thing running over my mind for most of this period and more so because of the process conducted by Darashaw, which again was an eye opener and as I am writing this I have started thinking of it again, where do I want to go, what profile am I looking at, what value do I want to add by it and so on.

Now coming to the values added and the key learning’s of part two of my B-school diary
 What ever additional activity you do, never leave your focus.
 What am I actually trying to do, ask this question to yourself everyday before sleep.
 Want to achieve a lot in this world, what is that lot, does it have a definition, if not sit back and decide what you want to do first.
 You want to be a perfectionist right, how do u know you will be one when you have almost always ended up doing Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V. think about it.
 Friends are a very important part of your life, but not at the stake of something else.
 Be very clear and objective with your personal and professional life.
 You want to do something, achieve some thing- start now; tomorrow you will have some other idea contrary to it.
 I need to do some value engineering on myself its terms of my activities.
 Practice makes a man perfect, some one said this but who is following, oh god I need to think about it, I remember the CF tests.
 No one is interested in your boring gyan, so please CTC and move on.(This is applicable to me.)

IFMR Rocks !!!!

I Love to Live Life My Way

I Love to Live Life My Way
Life is all about changes, improvement and development. To make this feel right and to make life the way I want to be, I started the new phase of my life at IFMR at 10 am on 2nd July 2007 at the Bhagirathi Hall in IFMR in the presence of one of the most eminent personality of India who brought the development in the Banking industry, none other than MR. N.Vaghul (Chairman, ICICI Bank). Day 1 at IFMR gave a feeling of what life is going to be like in the 2 years ahead here at Ifmr, as it started with an excellent talk by Mr. Vaghul, who shared his experiences with us and added great value to the 1st day of my new life. Day 1 was a very lively day as it also involved other sessions; one was the Ice Breaker session by the seniors which was aimed at making life simpler for us, by making us know each other well so that life becomes easier as days pass. And indeed I still cherish day 1 at Ifmr till date.

With so many expectations from this place and with a lot of enthusiasm after meeting the batch mates on day 1, right from day 2 Ifmr seemed to be home away from home, as I met people from almost all parts of the country with different backgrounds, different mindsets, I was very much looking forward to this kind of a journey in life. Day 2 started with a very good lecture by our Dean, which made him a star right from day 2 for me, coz of his simplicity, his ability to express things the way they should be etc.,. The day ended with a Math’s test aimed to shortlist students for Tutorials. But before the tutorials there was a very important happening for which I was waiting right from the time I planned my MBA, yes it was none other than receiving my personal LAPTOP. It gave a feeling that yes now I am doing an MBA.

After having 2 lighter days at Ifmr now it was time for some business, for which basically I was here, so day 3 had a few lectures on different subjects and was followed by a visit to Dun & Bradstreet (credit rating co.) located at Taramani, it was a great experience, did not understand or learn much but it just gave a taste of how actual businesses run (corporates), as the session was hosted by a young female who was the HR Head of D&B, it showed the potential for growth youngsters like me can expect. Day 4 also was just as hectic as day 3 with a few lectures and then visit to UTI Bank (now AXIS), it gave a rough idea about the functioning and the evolution of the banking industry and its potential.

So Far so Good. The next 3 days were a mix of fun and learning as we were at The Banyan (NGO). The trip to Banyan was a great initiative by both the Banyan and IFMR as it was an excellent learning opportunity about how NGO’s work etc. as I have always dreamed to be a part of the developmental sector this trip gave few insights about how difficult and challenging things can be in the sector and it also gave me a lot of inspiration to contribute and work for this sector in some way or the other. Thanks to Ifmr once again for creating such an opportunity, which other wise might have never happened on my own, as it worked as a starter for me to think and start working towards all my dreams and goals in life.

End of week one at Ifmr, it was as hectic as it was expected to be, I started to feel like a corporate already, reaching home almost on all the days after 8.30 as if I was coming back from Office after a day full of hard work. Yes I really did feel so as even my family looked at me with proud and they also felt this guy is doing great things, and that made me feel even motivated to make this Ifmr journey something to cherish about throughout my life. Week one was rocking, made me feel really high, On Top of the World!!!!!!!

After having a few inspiring sessions by both academicians and industry now it was time to show my own potential through a presentation on learning’s from Dun & Bradstreet in front of a faculty and a few batch mates on day 1 of week 2. This presentation gave me a lot of confidence as after my presentation quiet a few number of people appreciated it, which gave me a moral boost that yes even I can make good presentations. And yes even I myself felt that I was ready to become an effective manager and I was at the right place to get the skills required.

Week 2 laid the platform for an excellent future ahead as the actual course started from day 2 of week 2 and most importantly this week brought us in interaction with the most aspiring names in the Indian industry. A few of those eminent speakers are Mr. Nachiket Mor (Deputy MD, ICICI Bank), Mr. Sundarajan (CMD Indian Bank), Mr. Siva Raman (Head HR, Delloite Consulting), Mr. Murali (Head HR, CRISIL), Mr. Jaydev (CEO , Tinfo Mobile) and a few other inspiring individuals working in different organizations of importance to the country. The inspiring words from biggies like Mr. Nachiket Mor have left a great impression about the potential we as youth have to make changes in today’s competitive world. It was a great opportunity to be present in front of these individuals.

Along all these happenings there was a great amount of interaction and academics going on which was making me feel reassured that I was at the right place to mould my life perfectly.
Days passed on with each day teaching some or the other valuable learning, with the amount of pressure and learning life was getting acquainted with a lot of important things which I was unaware of. These things included a whole range of things from demand and supply to organizational behavior and many more. Even after having thought to be as professional and as attentive in the sessions, it was not that easy as there were various occasions where me and a lot of other individuals in the class would feel restless and sleepy during the lecture hours, so a lot of lecture hours were spent either in half sleep mode or in browsing on the laptop and chitchatting with the neighbor.

Week 2 ended with an extremely well planned and organized Fresher’s Party by the Seniors which was the most valuable gift they gave to us in those 2 weeks at Ifmr. The fresher's party was indeed a far better show than we ever thought it to be. It had a really good theme, good games which sought everyone’s participation from our batch. It was indeed a great way to celebrate the togetherness of both the batches and it actually brought both the batches a step closer than before. I even now remember my friends in different traditional villager’s costumes. The most important change this journey at Ifmr brought in my life came at the end of week 2, that is after the fresher's party, that was the first day in my life a stayed away from home in the night, there was no other incidence in my life when I ever stayed away from home for a night. But yes life was on the verge of a lot of changes and yes this was one of them, it can neither be qualified to be good or bad, but even that was one thing I had to experience in my life and it happened on this day.

Life went on with all those regular sessions, and with the start of me attending meetings of different clubs I was member of, organizing events, participating in events etc.,
Then came the day when we interacted with the Head HR of ICICI Bank Mr. Ramkumar, this lecture is till now the most thought provoking one, it is and for always will be the one in my mind which is just class apart from all other lectures. This person just made solid statements, justified them with good logical answers and brought a great new perspective in my life that life is not always just about being positive or being soft, life has a lot many other things, a lot many other perspectives. I truly felt that I was always looking forward to this kind of talks as it brought in a completely different line of thought. The man was very harsh but I completely agree that he had to be that way to get his point across and which I feel definitely got across every head in the hall.

One month got over of my journey at IFMR, the pace with which things happened never made me realize that one month was over it even at this point felt that we had just started a couple of days ago. Life went on smoothly. The routine was almost same everyday with classes till the evening and then some time pass and some work or study for the next day. Used to go home at around 8 everyday. We had our first outing of the whole batch as a treat from the individuals whose birthdays passed in the last one month at Pizza Hut, which was again a nice way for all of us to come together to enjoy our togetherness.

The month of august saw many more happenings such as the guest lecture by Mr. S. Gopal of the Sanmar Group, presentation to the Banyan people on our learning's and experience of our 3 day visit to Banyan, Visit to the NGO New life charity services etc.,.
The visit to this Ngo was a great experience as we spent half of the day there with the children and the old people there. We had organized a few games and events for the children there, and had interacted with them which gave both those children and us a very good feeling as we enjoyed each moment being there and even the children had become very friendly to us. Then we went to the Kancheepuram Temple from there, which again was a memorable experience. And august ended with a lot of mid term exams and other regular sessions to keep the academic part of the journey very active.

The month of September started of with regular sessions and end term exam of Micro Economics which was my major fear through out the 2 months before the exam, but it turned out to be the easiest exam I faced which made me very happy after so much tension and worry. And here came the opportunity to meet and interact with all my super seniors on their convocation ceremony at the GRT Convention Centre in the august presence of Mr. R. Seshasayee of Ashok Leyland along with Mr. Nachiket Mor. This was the opportunity to listen to the words of wisdom from Mr. Seshasayee, everyone was just bowled over by his excellent words and he was being regarded as one of the best speakers we all had ever heard. Second week of September also saw the start of Paryushan Parva, and yes this was a completely different experience for me, as all through my life I have had holidays in Paryushan Parva, and this was the first time I had to run home soon after the classes got over. Fortunately this week also had my birthday in store which went on really well but as always my birthday was a low key affair that is no celebrations, no cake cutting etc., yes you are getting it right, all cost cutting techniques.

The month went on with the end term presentations taking time away from the study time and yes I can never forget those nights, completely working on the FSA presentations, looking for the best technique to complete the assignment as soon as possible. But yes it gave a great learning opportunity which most of us till date think all that was worth it.

And then came the most important part of things happening at IFMR yes it was none other than the nerve wrecking End Term exams, those last minute tensions, we never realized that the term had come to an end and were not sure of what was actually accomplished in the whole term, but as the exams were going on there was just one feeling in all of us, when will these exams get over and when will we finally get a break, as these thoughts went on the end term exams ended and now was the time to enjoy .

All through the days of exams there was some planning going on regarding how to spend the short holidays after the exam. All these discussions involved a lot of confusion and chaos as ideas were coming from different perspectives, of where to go, how to go, who all are going blah blah blah blah….. And then after so many discussions and debates came the day when five of us went to Pondicherry in a luxury Ambassador car which was as comfortable as a Mercedes Benz (I have never traveled in one but the comfort level was good so I treat comfortable to Merc ). The planned two day trip lasted for three days as the holidays were extended by one more day due to the state called bandh on the highly controversial issue of the Ramsethu project. The trip involved a decent amount of expenditure, even after not being able to visit all the places thought of due to time and other restrictions, but the trip was really a great one as all five of us were having a blast, and it was actually a good trip as each one of us was very comfortable with each others company, lots of jokes cracked, hundreds of songs sang, a new music album(parady) was made on one of us, and that person never commented and enjoyed the album and never reacted, which was the best part of it and which was the way we killed time to the way back home, as the trip was about to get over.

October came with much more spirit and motivation as one important phase of life at IFMR was already over and it was time to again pull up my socks and to do things for which I was actually here. So this started by attending the quiz competition at IIT- Madras, yes we were chucked out in the first round itself but never mind, I never went there for winning, so no regrets. The holiday mood was still on so roamed around the city after the quiz competition.
The start of the new term was accompanied by health issues for me, as it was long since I took care of my health so finally reached the peak of things and finally had to visit the doctor, undergo testing’s and realized that while doing a lot of other things my health was also an important thing and which needs proper care and attention at times.

This month seemed to be much more hectic to me as apart from the regular sessions I had taken interest in a lot of other things and obviously which were important to me as an individual. These other things ranged from the Banyan project, the meetings for placement etc, and the most important and most time consuming thing was planning for Mission “Abhyudaya”. Most of the after class time was spent on meetings regarding Abhyudaya, talking to people discussing things, taking stand on an issue, being one in the team who can ask people to push things further, giving suggestions, spending sleepless nights to make things happen by brainstorming etc., all these with a lot of controversies surrounding most of the issues, I knew by the time things are planned and executed for Abhyudaya, all this is going to happen and there was much more in store for me and all of us to see and face. As Abhyudaya was not just a B-School fest for me, it was also an important exercise for me to learn, and to adapt to work in a team with different people with different mindsets etc. How can I forget to mention the talks by few other successful personalities during all this period. These personalities ranged from Mr. Sujai Tolani (Head Operations India), the HR head of HCL BPO, an important person from the Singapore exchange(she is no more working there), Mr. S.Swaminathan (Soft Skills Trainer), important adviser of Cognizant (forgot his name), and so on.

Things went on, life was on a roller coaster with ups and downs and here came the Diwali break, when all my friends at IFMR were very excited to go back to their homes after four complete months at this place with lots of drama happening just in filmy style. Every one was eager for this break, as everyone was missing their home, their family and everyone wanted to spend some time with their family, as these four months never gave us too much time to even talk properly to our families. Even I expected to spend most of the time with my family, at home, but the kind of person I am, never let me do that. Even in these holidays I spent most of the time at the college, and yes I was not whiling away time but was working very seriously on my beloved project “Abhyudaya”. I could have resisted myself from working on it at least in these holidays, but I was and I am very much worried because we are already behind the schedule and we are very late, so this fear and concern made me to take the plunge and work seriously for this dream event keeping besides all other plans and ideas, just so that I can utilize these holidays to compensate for the already wasted time.

And here I am trying to end this long summary of my life during these four important months of my new life, its already 3 in the night and yes today is Diwali, so just want to end it on a positive note and take a quick nap so that I am fresh on the new year day and praying to god that he keeps things cool in the coming months and years of life and keeps me on track now and forever and makes this journey of mine at IFMR an ever lasting one which I can cherish all through my life. And to end this for the time being I would just say “IFMR RBT”. And I know now you would be having just three letters in your mouth in case you read through this summary fully and those three letters are none other than ‘CTC’. Thank you for all your patience to go through all these thoughts and experiences of mine. Have a Blast!!!!!!!!

Lessons Learnt
> Things will never be serious unless and until you want them to be.
> If u like to be in a professional environment, its you who has to take the lead.
> Classrooms will always remain classrooms what if you are doing a very serious course, as they will always seem boring, what if you are learning the best lessons of your life there, so think of how to make them interesting, that’s the only way out.
> You want to be successful, you want to be effective, be yourself, forget the world, and do just what you need to do.
> You can earn a lot of name and fame by doing good, but all this not at the cost of your primary goals.
> Never forget at the end of all of it, one day you will have to sit back and take account and be accountable so act accordingly.
> If you want to make the money spent worth it, do what is required, than doing what you like to, as your likes may change as quickly as time passes, so stay focused.
> Don’t forget that there are many others having hundreds of expectations from you, so again stay focused as you are living for yourself as well as to make those expecting ones happy.
> You cannot be happy for more than certain amount of time, so just try to keep improving, that’s the only way to satisfy yourself.
> If you want to succeed in everything you do, first define your everything and prioritize, if not you will lose track even of the most important things.
> To end it all, never forget you are here to make a life and not to kill time!!!!!!!!!!