"I Think Therefore I Exist"

Belief system & identity crisis

2006-05-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

Recently, I read somewhere that "we are designed to belief and not to seek truth". After pondering over it for sometime, I agree to a great extant.

In the process of learning we create some fundamentals for ourselves that gives us some identity - approved by others, such as xyz are my parents, my name is abc, I am a boy/girl etc. These fundamentals are important building blocks...and once someone has found firm belief in it, he/she will not agree to facts which does not gel with these fundamentals. A child's response to some questions can reveal his/her fundamental belief system at that age. Thus, we create a network of building blocks - which reinforces/improves itself thru experience.

Now taking a departure, I believe that the concept of religion started to provide some of these fundamentals for society or a group that would approve of and respect each other's belief system and hence help enhance faith in each other. I sincerely believe that it would be almost impossible for a majority of us to think in similar way unless forced thru a system, such as common education or religion.

Now, if some of the fundamentals are threatened by any event, we face a identity crises! This identity crises can lead us to display crazy behaviour - the only explanation to which according to me is that the root fundamental is to defend one's identity in most of the cases.

Perhaps, every coin has two sides - a system which is probably designed to create a common platform for all - in order to reduce noises - can face identity crisis when faced with another system made to achieve similar goals and finally a system would prevail or at best each will co-exist. A good example would be - Allopath, Homeopath, Ayurved, Accupuncture. These system existed continue to exist probably because they were not linked to one's identity. I may use Ayurved sometimes, seek Allopath at other times, or Homeopath at some other time. I do not face an identity crises and hence I'm ok with it.

I can recognise a system which doesn't question my identity. I can even use it and accept it.

How about a system which questions my identity? First, I will ignore it. If forced, I will repel it. Have you experienced such a system?

Some systems are designed in such a way that we may attach our identity to it - such as one may believe in God beacuse God made everything and in turn him. It is very tough to reject some of the fundamentals which explain what is unexplained, because later one creates other beliefs based on this belief. It is easy to reject a belief if it is in isolation - but not the ones which are building blocks for other beliefs.

If the identity crises occurs for a group of people (mostly thru a common system in which they believe or are forced to believe), they repel.

Today, people associate themselves to success. Success gives them identity! People acknowledge us if we achieve something.

How about it, if one is denied means to success which he believes to deserve? or Worse, a group of people are denied which they believe to deserve? One faces identity crises. An identity which one seeks.

If we sincerely think that a system should be removed for some reason, we need to dilute / exterminate the belief on which the system was made.

Random thoughts...

2006-04-03T04:56:00.000-07:00

What am I supposed to do?
Should I think over it?
Recently, I got exposed to advaita and some other philosophies - during discussions with friends. Specifically, the hypothetical link of one with energy and wave theory was striking. However, at this moment, I am stuck with the concept of time itself.

Nostalgia strikes!

2006-03-28T17:20:00.000-08:00

After a long time (more than 7 years), eagerly waiting to contact my old friends, I have given up on Batchmates.com or Alumni.net. I am writing this post in a faith that at least a few of my classmates (12th grade or below) would recognize me. Others would find the following stuff irrelevant.

I spent my childhood at a small place on India-Nepal Border - Birpur (Bihar). I think this place would be far from today's high-tech world, even today. (And I hope it would be as beautiful as it was during my childhood). I did my primary & secondary studies at rather unknown schools - Koshi Bal Vidyalaya (1984-1990) & Koshi high school (1991-1994). After spending about 13 years at Birpur, I had more than 130 friends (10 per year ;)). So, it is impossible for me to name all of them, but I will name a few anyway.
High School: Amaresh, Amit, Sujit, Pranav, Prashant, Raghvendra, Neha, Pallavi
Primary school: Jagannath, Komal, Rimjhim
Home: Suman, Roshan, Raja, Rajesh, Pappu, Bharath, Dharma (if it helps, my nick is Anku)

I left Birpur when I was in 10th grade and joined Railway high school at Chakradharpur in 1994. My stint at Chakradharpur was rather short (one year) and I could make only a few friends - Neeraj Sinha, Neeraj Gupta, Sanjay Jha, Sanjay Srivastava, Prabhakar and Rinki (who used to live on the ground floor).

Then, I left chakradharpur to do my 12th grade at Ram Mohun Roy Seminary, Patna. Unfortunately, this period (1995-1997) was not so good for me due to poor health conditions (I survived my exam on medical grant) and I could not make many friends. I remember only Ashish Gopalika, Chandan and Jyoti. In addition, at my hostel I got some good friends - Ranvir and Payal.

I had a crush on Payal (teen-age!) and so had she (OK! she never admitted) and before our friendship could mature to any other relationship - I finished 12th (Yeah!) and left for Delhi.

Some time later, I lost my diary which had some contact details - and as a consequece, I lost touch with everyone! All of a sudden, I had no friends!

I joined IIT Guwahati in 1998 - and after that, thanks to the evolution of internet & other communication systems in India, I am not lost anymore.

Why this blog? Because, even if my friends visit this page - they might not recognize my face. Of course, I have changed a lot!

Financial Mathematics - I love it!

2006-03-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

It is just intriguing to find that mathematics is appied so much in the field of finance! Yeah... I am spending these days studying stochastic calculus and econometrics :) Why? I think I just love it!

I really like the different (chaotic) ways in which mathematics is applied in the field of finance - with each security and company having its own (many) model(s), which can easily lead to arbitrage opportunities. And the best part of it - many models are developed to ensure non-existance of arbitrage! Can such a world of no-arbitrage exist when people are applying different models to beat the market?

What more? we have a huge following for both stochastic calculus and time series based models, and they may not agree! Especially, time series based models try to predict the future and thus beat the basis of no-arbitrage models (albeit in a risky way).

Further, to complete some of the trasaction you need to have people who have opposite perspective of the market (yeah speculators)!!

Isn't it really chaotic? and a war of models. (it reminds me of Darvin's theory of "survival of the fittest")

Networking = n^2 ?

2006-03-24T19:25:00.000-08:00

I went nuts when I found out that I was connected to most of the people (whom I did not know) thru some path in orkut! That begs the question - does it really follow n^2 rule? I think not!

In memory of Vikram Gulia

2005-09-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

Gulls...mere dost! kya haal hai?

This is how I used to start whenever I called him up or met him. And he would say...
"Jha...mere dost! Main sahi hoon. Tu kaisa hai?"

I would never hear that lively voice again.

He passed away on 14th of September 2005.

I spent about 7 years with him. First 4 years were at IIT Guwahati. He was such a sweet and friendly personality that I liked him from the first day I met him. He was passionate about exercising.

Then, he was with me at L&T for next 3 years. We were together for about one year in Mumbai in the same flat. Those were the best days of my life. I, Gulia, Tandon and Shami used to stay together. Many a times we'd argue, pull each others leg or go to beach and have fun. We'd order for a drink at 2 am in night. Then, I and tandon would listen to Anup Jalota - which he never liked or pretended as such - in his stereo.

He often would sing a song - whenever he was in a good mood - and keep us awake. I remember that for breakfast, we'd always order 4 tea cups and 5 wada/samosa pav: 2 tea cups and 2 wada/samosa pav for him. And then he'd pull my leg about this girl and we'd retreat about another girl whom he'd a crush on. Tandon would always escape this - he never let us know about his affairs - or he never had one (I doubt it).

I can never forget these small incidents. These were the real gists of life.

May his soul rest in peace!

Gulls...mere dost! I miss you!

What would you prefer - Special or General skills?

2005-07-05T15:30:00.000-07:00

This morning in economics class, there was a mild discussion on this topic. It is kind of a dichotomy - Srategy recommends specialization and macroeconomics prefers generalized skills. Both have equally compelling argument to support their view.

Core competency is an advantage that companies enjoy in a competitive environment. Some good examples could be scale economies, low cost technology, technology leadership, patents etc. This sometimes helps create barriers to entry in an industry. However, in case of human capital - the core competency could be the knowledge that they have. If you have highly specialized knowledge - such as after an MS or PhD, your productivity goes up substantially. Hence, one should focus on developing special skills.

On the other hand, macroeconomics suggests that countries should focus on the firms where they have competitive advantage over other countries and get away from businesses where they lack the same. It can be proved theoretically that doing so would increase the benefits accrued to each country. Because competetive advantage may not be sustainable, closing down such a business would result in unemployment. To avoid this unemployment, people should posses general skills so that they can easily shift from an industry to another.

Even in colleges, educational materials are prepared in favor of general skill building. For example, you are taught how a general operating system works (and not a specific operating system).

This economic view; however, warrants that people are immovable. In my opinion, in today's world this assumption may not be valid, atleast for some industries. People in high tech industries do go to other countries and work.

Commanding Heights!

2005-07-02T23:48:00.000-07:00

I am referring to an excellent movie on Global economics I saw today. The ideas conveyed are just awesome and this movie keeps you interested all the time. It brings to you the saga of economics as it has evolved over time. How did macroeconomics came into picture and how it brought back many nations from a traumatic situation to a prospering one? The extreme case I remember is Poland where about 20 million entrepreneurs revived the country from extreme inflation.

I cannot imagine what people in Bolivia would have felt with 23000% inflation. Even Strong economies such as US went through extreme difficult situations on Black monday and other ocassions.

It also talks about Hayek who ardently fought for a free market economy and had almost predicted a second world war.

The movie also talks about the successes and failures of both Keynesian and Classical economics in last century. How difficult it was for Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan to knowingly let the countries go under trauma transform with more stagflation.

Finally, I am not able enough to even properly comment on such a great work. See it for it's worth every second spent on it.

I am planning to buy the CDs.

Inequilibrium - II

2005-06-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't resist myself from jotting down some ideas that crept in. Just read a little bit about macroeconomics and income disparity. Two major reasons are educational disparity and higher marginal product of labor of a technically skilled people. In some countries where the educational disparity is not high, the income disparity is low.

Thus, if everyone is almost equally educated (may be in different fields), the problem of income disparity can be solved. It also solves the problem of inequilibrium in our educational system. Probably, in the long run everyone will pass through this hurdle and the system will reach an equilibrium.

This is terrific! Set a small hurdle (non-linearity) and let everyone pass through it. The system will be marginally stable in between. And Gocha! We'd have evolved a little more!

However, the idea of people having education in different fields gives rise to a different interesting problem. The system can be viewed as having many small closed loop inside, and a big closed loop outside. This kind of system can be stable only if all internal smaller closed loops are stable.

...to be continued.

Inequilibrium

2005-06-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

I can see clouds moving very fast in a specific direction, and suddenly the concept of potential gradient and equilibrium comes to my mind.

The nature is probably shifting towards equilibrium (my assumption) or at least tries to move back to equilibrium after any shock. However, our educational system uses exams as barriers to entry and thus gives rise to Inequilibrium. My knowledge says that Inequilibrium is not sustainable. Therefore, is our educational system unsustainable?

However, Darwinism asserts the idea of survival of fittest. Naturally or unnaturally many species have become extinct as they were not able to suvive (could not cross the barrier!). Is this theory opposite to the theory of natural equilibrium?

At the same time, I remember that natural events are oscillatory, so it cannot be an equilibrium. I think, oscillation is the best way to create agile but controlled systems. Yeah, I remember that even clouds are a part of beautiful natural cycle.

I am a bit confused. All I can say is "Oscillation Rocks!". Any system that doesn't oscillate is either unstable or stable. Stable systems are in equilibrium.

How can our educatonal system oscillate or be stable? Well, first of all we need a closed loop system to control it. First, assume that the educational system does have a feedback. The exam can be treated like a relay (a nonlinear device). Any non-linearity in a closed loop system gives rise to oscillations. But ir doesn't guarantee stability...

...to be continued.

I've a mid term exam tomorrow.

Life of a product manager

2005-06-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

Life is nothing but MarkStrat these days. I think of strategy during lunch, dinner, chit chat. MarkStrat has become the topic of dicsussion! Even in our finance club meeting today, we discussed about MarkStrat for a brief period of time.

In our company, we've decided to work as individual product managers and we'll a CEO as well for our MarkStrat Company "9U Inc.". First period results have been encouraging and we are at rank 3 in terms of market share. The bad news - we couldn't execute all our strategies in entirety. So, the good news - we can definately do far better.

I can partially experience what might happen if there were 3 days in a year!

Unconsciousness and Patterns!

2005-06-25T19:28:00.000-07:00

Today Prof. Jagmohan Raju is throwing a party for all the students. And this reminds me the previous party which led to some chaos in my life. It's amazing to think that when you are too drunk, you lose touch with the current world.

In the last party, I spoke arbitrarily to a few people after I was totally drunk (thanks to the easy availability of mobile). Apparently, I spoke about something abstract! So, this time onwards, I've decided not to take my mobile with me.

Chaos apart, it's really interesting to think why people do what they do when they are drunk! I enjoy music more when I'm drunk. And we like music because it has some pattern. So, do we try to find more pattern when we're drunk and unconscious?

Prof. Stine suggested once that if you start to decifer some pattern in data and you are not sure, just don't see anything (of course, you need to be conscious to be able to think :)).

My day!

2005-06-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

Yeah! I got dunked at midnight in the pool continuing ISB tradition (quite different treatment than getting bumps at IIT that'd put you on bed for next 2 days :D).

But for the first time I couldn't celebrate my birthday...You guessed it right - MarkStrat decision and another assignment due on next morning. The best part of it - I didn't have time to even think that I turned older (felt good), till my sister-in-law told me. Why?

Surprisingly, I've not met any other guy/girl till date who was born on June 24.

IIT Guwahati - Setting new milestones

2005-06-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

It is heartening to see my Alma Mater IIT Guwahati setting new benchmarks for itself. This year the placements have been very good with 44 companies visiting IITG campus in first two months headhunting for 265 students. An article that covers that:
http://www.iitg.ac.in/placement/iitg_placement_news/newsimg/statesman.jpg
In addition, two new departments biotechnology and chemical engineering have been included. By the way, IITG is now 10 years old.

Strategy and MarkStrat

2005-06-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

Today I attended the second lecture by Prof. Jagmohan Raju and now I know why he is among the best profs in the world. His approach to teach strategy is unique! Very aptly, he taught us the key take aways of business research findings in last 50 years and made us aware of common caveats.

A very long day, lectures will go on till dinner. More so, the most awaited EYE in the MarkStrat will start following us from tonight. We have already been assigned our groups. I should start building up inventories for snacks and cigarates to increase my perceived efficiency.

Apparently, MarkStrat demands for an integrated strategic approach (including marketing, R&D, production and peer dynamics) to excel in an oligopolic industry.

The best part of it - learn by first hand experience. Experiment (you have to) with the knowledge you have and get rewarded for the same.

MarkStrat - Not a Video Game!!

2005-06-21T19:37:00.000-07:00

As I gradually read through the MarkStrat manual, it became calerer to me that it is no more a video game. When I first heard of MarkStrat, it reminded me of Age of Emperors that I used to play for hours daily during my IIT days (of course final year).

So, how is MarkStrat different from AOE? I think, I should rephrase the question - how is MarkStrat similar to AOE? And as it seems, both are simulations, both have N numbers of competing teams and Game theory can be used in both. The major difference - you can use cheat codes in AOE if nothing works! But, in MarkStrat you have no panacea!

My goal - learn as much as I can about the market dynamics from the actions of these simulated 60 firms (I'll be a member of one of the firms). And because statistics reminds me: "extrapolate the results at your own risk!", I'll be a bit cautious about extrapolating the take aways.

Strategy or Path Dependency?

2005-06-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

During discussions with Raj (my colleague at ISB) about Intel's strategy to establish a proprietary standard for Microprocessor chips, a very interesting possibility cropped up!! How do we make sure that what seems like a strategy in case studies is not a sheer luck or coincidence or path dependency? If it were so, case studies can be slightly misleading. Nevertheless, I raise no doubt about the quality of learning we get from case studies, even if it were from a hindsight.

What famous leader are you?

2005-06-18T23:58:00.000-07:00

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

What classic movie are you?

2005-06-18T23:55:00.000-07:00

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

2005-06-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

Tulleeho Certificate

Pre-term or Tip of the Iceberg?

2005-04-27T01:01:00.000-07:00

Last 10 days were full of events and it seems to be just the tip of the iceberg. We had sessions on the PGP course, Ethics, Leadership development program (it will continue till 4th term), various clubs, activities, career, and lot more.

A huge number of Alumni turned up to direct and help us and they delivered many Gyan sessions. These Gyan sessions will continue for this week. Alums are very friendly and keen to share all the pertinent information. They know it very well after spending a year at ISB what to do and what not to do. Indeed the best mentor for people like us are the alums. Thank you Alums!

Our pre-term courses are over and after this we all are supposed to be at the same level of information required for the term courses!

Finally, we had moments of fun, humour, party, dance, beer, alcohol and lot more during this period. Life could not have been more eventful and enjoyable than this!

@ISB

2005-04-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

Finally, after a long period of silence (because of a series of visits at places all around India), I'm back on Blog. I reached ISB today and I must say that the place and the hospitality is too good! Went to meet my cousin Chandan before arriving at ISB.

The loan procedure is under process and I am almost done with that, and so are others. For the time being I am a bit lost as I do not have a good sense of direction (Anirudh is great at that). In addition, I am finding it difficult to remember the names. I'll take some time as usual. Please excuse me my friends!

I met with so many batchmates including Bharani. He seems to be a very soft spoken and matured guy. The diversity here rocks more than as was evident from microsite where many of us didn't show their face. There are people from all sort of crazy backgrounds!! Now, lemme see for an year how does diversity helps?

For the time being, just trying to figure things out such as what to buy and what else have I left at home.

Deja Vu!

2005-03-31T10:51:00.000-08:00

This morning I felt like deja vu! I had a similar feeling on my last day at IIT Guwahati. I woke up late at about 8.30 am and got a bit nostalgic about everything I have at Mysore. It was same some 3 years back, actually it was even more emotional at IIT, because the bond that we develop in four years with everything is unmathced! I know it will last forever.

Last night, I had a blast with my friends. After the bash, to my great surprise, my friends Sonal and Sucheta gave me a parting gift! The best part of it was three Caps (with F3 written on it) for three roommates. We all signed on the cap, and will keep it as a mememnto! Thanks Sonal for the great idea and gift!

I'm looking for a white marker so that we can sign on the top of the Cap as well.

I have almost settled my account with L&T and it should be over by today evening. Anyway, I'll come tomorrow for a few hours. I've already handed over my responsibilities to a colleague. So, with this my stint at L&T has come to an end.

We've settled our long due trilateral account, and I'm plus by about six grands!

MBA or Engineering

2005-03-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

A long raised issue before the engineers (in India?) is whether to continue in the field of engineering or go for an MBA. More so, if the person has just passed out of the IIT and gets into a top MBA school like IIM. The dilemma generally breaks out in favour of IIM.

I have read many blogs on this issue - yeah, they all are IIT graduates doing MBA at IIMs.

To be very frank, even I encountered a similar problem. Well, I had to make a choice between engineering career and managerial career. I got the opportunity to work with L&T as a management trainee - L&T had come up with such a program for the first time - I think on recommendations from BCG. Now, some of my batchmates (to name a few, Rakesh, Nikhil, Ketan and Amit) and professors (especially Prof. Dandapat) were not so happy with this decision. In their opinion, I was game for engineering. But then I chose L&T.

Now, there was not a very compelling reason to do so, All I wanted to know were the reasons for the hype about an MBA/management career. I had had some experience of an engineering career during my summer trainings. So, I decided to work with L&T for an year to get a flavour of management career. However, I encountered a week of frustration in my life during this period. Yeah, the transition was not so easy for me. But then, one week of introspection and discussions with friends (thanks to my friends at Bangalore - Vijay, passing out of IIMA and Deba, passing out of IIML, Sethi, Saket and others) helped me decide in favour of a management career.

And now, if I reassess my decision, I must say that I chose the right path. The conclusion is based on my experience with many projects including some product development projects. However, this is only my viewpoint.

Progresa

2005-03-29T09:36:00.000-08:00

I came to know about Progresa in the book "Making services better for poor people". The book contains details of many exemplary programs that should be replicated to alleviate the malaise of the poor.

Prograsa is a socio-economic program in Mexico with the objective to enhance social welfare by redistributing income. The idea is to alleviate poverty in the long run through investment in Human Capital such as education, health and nutrition. In the short run, it is trying to help the poor through cash transfers. Now, that sounds like a very promising strategy.

The cash transfer is contingent upon the attendence of the student and visits of the family to the health center. This has helped in better targeting the poor and increased efficiency of the system.

Progresa had a positive effect on the school attendence of both boys (8% increase) and girls (14% increase). The visits to health center increased by 8% and illness in children between age 0-5 decreased by 12%. This program rocks! I wish we had a similar program in India.

I read that once it was tried in India to evaluate the teachers by the community people (indeed an excellent idea to improve our education system). However, the teacher's association went on strike and finally the program went for a spin. How does that sound? Democracy? you heard it right!

Finally, there are many programs around the world similar to Progresa such as PETI in Brazil, Famillas en Accion in columbia, PATH in Jamaica, RPS in nicaragua and Food for education in Bangladesh.

Holi Hai!

2005-03-26T10:48:00.000-08:00

Wish you all a very Happy & Colorful Holi!

Holi reminds me of this beautiful song:
"Rang Barase...Bhige...Chunarwali...Rang Barase...Holi Hai"

Googling on Holi took me to this webpage, where I found an interesting article Holi - Legends and Myths

An excerpt from the page is as follows:
"Interesting legends of Holi that are most commonly cited revolve around the soul bond of Lord Krishna and Radha, Prahlad, the child-devotee of Lord Vishnu, Kamdeva, the Indian Cupid-God and Dhundhi, the immortal ogress. All these legends focus on different aspects of Holi that can be attributed to them. The romantic fervor of Holi festival is derived from the love pranks of Radha and Krishna while the story of Kamdeva gives a clue to celebrate this festival to welcome the Spring. The story of Prahlad encompasses the religious nature of the festival and the origin of Holi while the tale of Dhundhi gives a reason to use rude words and play pranks to the young boys of the village."

I think that our Vedic books have such cohesive and knitted stories about the relationship between Gods and Human that people feel the existance of another heavenly world!

Kudos to all those writers!

Lost in Translation

2005-03-25T13:20:00.000-08:00

Listening to this melodious Ghazal - by Ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali
"Andaaj apne dekhte hain aaine mein wo...
aur ye bhi dekhte hain ki koi dekhta na ho"

An approximate translation:
She notices her gestures in the mirror, and also makes sure that no one notices her.

After this translation, I recon that we lose a lot of information during translation. More so, if it is a literary stuff.

Ok. The title song goes like this -
"Ye dil ye pagal dil mera..kyon bhujh gaya...awaragi"

I cannot translate this, however hard I try. Possibly, my dictionary is not so good. Can anyone help me out?

Watched this movie called "lost in translation" - a similar story about problems with translation.

Statistics Vs Psychology

2005-03-25T02:03:00.000-08:00

Let me make it clear that I'm not an authority in statistics and so do not claim that whatever I'm going to write is true. (I've to brush up my skills).

I was just thinking about usage of statistics in areas such as advertisement. Mostly, general /commodity advertisements are supposed to attract general people. So, if we assume a normal curve, the advertisement should address about 68% -95% of people, for a commodity product.

However, somewhere I read that one cannot remember more than 7-10 things about a subject. In this case, not more than 7-10 advertisements! I assume that there'd be about 1000 ads on show. In such a case, I can remember only 1% of the ads I see!!! I'm not being addressed by 99% of the advertisements.

Can we possibly design an advertisement that can address upto 68% of the population? If yes, then how many such advertisement will be successful?

MBA - ISB / Duke / Insead

2005-03-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

I was going through details of some of the MBA courses at other schools such as Duke and Insead. It seems that even at these schools the contact hour is not more than that at ISB. Most likely, ISB MBA is a min holiday version of a 2-year US MBA. Insead has lesser contact hours. Now, that sounds great about ISB Course!

Game Theory

2005-03-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening, a friend mentioned that the girls he liked (till date) didn't like him. He wishes for a girl, who is very intelligent and very beautiful. A rather rare species! That reminds me of the moive "The beautiful mind". Following is an excerpt from the movie narrated on a website:

"In a bar scene, Nash explains to his fellow graduate students that they should not all focus their attention on the same beautiful blond—that's a zero-sum game, with only one winner—but should each pair up with one of her friends—a positive-sum game, with potential gains all around"

I came across this excellent theory first during my Final year project at IITG.

Just a thought: With about 1.5 L aspirants appearing for IIT / IIM exams, and with about 3000/1000 seats in respective colleges - it's a kinda zero sum game. How can we make this a positive-sum game?

Oops...Missed the deadline!

2005-03-21T22:56:00.000-08:00

Finally, missed the deadline for loan application form by 1 day, thanks to Blue Dart. (Crazy people). They promised me to deliver it to ISB on Saturday, and when I spoke with them today morning...I realized the truth! I hope I'll still be able to manage the loan. (Anyway, I'm paying for the 1st term myself, so it's a partial loan) Huh! I'm still not sure whether I should have gone for maximum loan or minimum loan! you speak to different people...and will get different opinion (diversity...yeah :)). However, I relied on my limited financial knowledge.

Still waiting for clearance / relieving letter from my company with last 10 days to go. I should be getting it today or tomorrow. I've heard that clearance certificate will take 3-4 days. So, I'm gonna be busy for some more time here. No free lunch :D Atleast one more job is over...I've filled up PF withdrawl form.

Spent the weekend at Bangalore...relishing good days with my best friend before I depart for one year. Hey! did I say, 100 feet road coffee day is the best coffee day I've ever visited :)

Food for thought: Read somewhere that rich is getting richer and poor is getting poorer. Reminds me of control systems, which, according to me, can justify that such a system is unstable.

Days at IIT Guwahati

2005-03-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

IIT Guwahati Logo

Hostel Dihing - My Room No - 261

Guest House - I stayed here during Alumni meet / Alcheringa

Old Academic Building - Our Workplace

New Academic Block

Administrative Block

This is my first attempt to write a little bit about my experience at IIT Guwahati. I am from the fourth batch of IIT Guwahati. So, with our batch, for the first time in IITG history, She was complete (Ist yr to 4th year).

When I joined, it was still under construction and we used to have our classes at Institute of Engineers building. It was definately not the IIT campus I was looking for! However, the professors and labs were second to none.

We shifted to IIT campus when I was in Second year, and then the IITG campus started taking some shape. By fourth year, we had 3 hostels with about 300 singles accomodation facility and LAN connection in each room. Indeed, from academic perspective we never felt any deficiencies. All labs were new with state of the art equipments (I was in electronics dept). Lately, I came to know that IITG supposedly has most extensive laboratory /projects (at least in ECE) than any other IIT at UG level course. I passed out in May 2002, with lots of memories, never ending stories, and indeed the best friend circle I ever had!

Recently, I visited IIT in Jan 2005 during alumni meet / Alcheringa (IITG cultural festival). It was terrific to see our new academic building, library, many new hostels incluing one girls hostel! Moreover, stadium construction is on the way. Our batch had 98 students, and now I think the strength is more than 250 at bachelor level. I hope that in next 2 years, it'll become full fledged in all way. Yeah, in terms of jobs, it's always been at an advantage with smallest batch size among all IITs.

IITG - at Night

Lights...Camera...Action !

2005-03-19T10:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a day of action!

Finally, I sent out the loan application form (yesterday). It should reach ISB today. I hope that the form is complete (pretty simple form...I didn't know many terms). Thankfully, I talked to the Bank in-charge (Mr. Nagaraja Rao, Andhra Bank) while I was filling up the form :) The form ended up as a bunch of papers not less heavier than my final year engineering project report :D

My elder brother has transferred the money he had promised. So, now I'm almost free till 31st March. Then, I've planned for a series of visits till I reach Hyderabad.

Just heard from a fellow ISBian that ISB is asking for some details from candidates to prepare the Welcome Kit. Probably it includes a Kurti (Traditional Indian Dress made of silk) as they are asking for size. I've to hurry and check my mails (have not checked for last two days).

I do not want to miss the deadlines :D and a Kurta with an ISB logo hopefully (the logo is pretty exciting)

A not so usual day!

2005-03-16T10:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was pretty happening! My cousin CK accepted new job offer (shall be leaving Infy on monday...reminds me of one weeks notice ;)).

I got rid of my old Samsung N500, and bought Nokia 6600. Well, the mobile has so many features that I won't use 50% of them (like we don't use 80% features of computer. Hey! just a blind guess. don't take these numbers for granted).

My roommate and ISB admit Anirudh accepted the seat. Moreover, he has also joined bloggers club.

Watched Finding Neverland...a slow but good movie. Kinda art movie...with lots of symbolism.

My dad mailed me the bunch of files that I require to apply for a Bank loan. Great to know that Blue Dart is available at my Native place - Madhubani.

Career Shift and ISB

2005-03-15T09:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I had a discussion with my roommates (yeah! IITians don't accept anything on face value...so we discuss till everything either converges or diverges) about career shift opportunities at ISB. Frankly, we started off with minimal information at hand. so to say assumptions were prevailing. The analytical part of it follows...

ISB is looking for lateral placements and it wants to stick with its USP, generally. 221 out of 273 offers are laterals...that means 52 jobs for entry level. We assumed that these jobs would have been offered to people with upto 3 years of experience or people going for a career shift. 4% of the students have less than 2 years of experience - so 10-12 such people. That leaves us with 40 offers...If we assume that 50-60 people would have got two offers each (193 people participated)...a good number of people going for a career shift would be 20-30 or almost 10% of class.

OK, enough of market sizing! If the conclusion is true - ISB is not primarily looking for career shifts. I think that probably Indian industry is not ready to offer such jobs or even candidates might not be willing to join different industry at a entry level. If we assume that about 10-15 % of class might be willing for a career shift - then the numbers are justified. But, if a good deal of people hope to go for a career shift (>25%)...? I think ISB must be taking care of this during admission process.

I would be happy to get any insider information. The assumptions may be wrong and so may be the conclusion.

Personal Accounting

2005-03-14T16:41:00.000-08:00

Let me admit the fact that I'm very poor in personal finance. I'm working on settling all my bills, so that I can get the relieving letter from my company. Slowly, some unaccountable outstanding are cropping up.

First, the telephone bills - not paid since August 2004. That would amount to Rs 6000 approx. Second, my mobile bill - not paid since January; another Rs. 9000 (yeah, in addition to landline bills). Third, electricity bills - would be about 2800 for last two months. That amounts to about Rs. 12000 on my account!

In addition, we flatmates have a trilateral account that has not been settled for last one year or maybe more. Well, there I'd be positive - possibly Rs 2000 plus. Anyway, I should be ready to pay about Rs. 12000, in worst case.

Now, I've decided to change my mobile - considering some good mobile that would cost another Rs 12000. So, The costs are piling up. Then, I have to pay about Rs 6000 for travel settlements.

That adds upto Rs 30000! a whopping 2% increase in my MBA education :D March salary should help me reduce this burden!

I assume that my outstanding will remain an outstanding for some time - If I get it back then I'd be relieved by almost Rs 40000. Thats some good news!

OK. After all this accounting, now I'm in a position to work out a more realistic picture of my expenses for next one year (+/- 2%)

Meet the Alum

2005-03-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

I attended the Bangalore meet at Taj, yesterday evening. As usual, I was among the last 10% to reach the venue. We were about 30-35 including about 10-12 alums.

The meet was very useful and I think it would help many people make up their mind (yeah! I met with a few who were even now unsure). Now, let me be frank, I thought that people would be clear about the basic questions such as why MBA? why ISB? They would have even answered these questions in their essays. But even then, I got a feeling that people, in general, were slightly confused (i'm sorry if you are one of them), and were asking alums these questions. Now, thats not going to work. It's we, the prospective students, who have to be clear about why MBA? why ISB?

If I were in their shoes, I would follow three simple steps -
1. See your options
2. Analyze the options
3. Take a decision

- if you've got calls from wharton, kellogs and similar colleges and are able to pay - go for it.
- If you've no calls but ISB or you cann't pay for wharton or kellogs, and you are clear about your career goals (yeah, if you've done a Gap analysis)... probably ISB is your only and best bet! with world class faculty and infrastructure.
- If you're stuck between IIMs(A, B and C) and ISB - man! lemme tell you, financially, it's a tough choice. If you've more than 3 years of experience and you want laterals - go for ISB - ISB's USP is lateral placement
For people, with less than 3 years of experience (generally they are financially weak and finance do come into picture in their decision), it appears tough to take a decision!
But, to make a decision, I, with my friends, did a 7-year cash flow analysis with some assumption as follows:
a. you'll get same salary at IIM or ISB (you may fetch a premium at ISB) - I assumed 8-9 L
b. your annual expenses after MBA will be same, whether you pass out from IIM or ISB
c. expenses for IIMs are 5.5 L for 2 years and 14.5 L for ISB and you take 100% loan in either case (well, the laptop is your asset, so I removed it)
d. you'll get campus placement (yeah, no delay in earnings)
e. salary and expenses each will increase by 15% annually

And to my surprise, the returns are almost equal! (within 2%). So, the headstart of 1 year in earnings justifies the additional 9 L paid at ISB. After, 7 years, you will see a steep jump of 2.3 L in your in hand salary because your loan would be over (1.5 L more than that in case of IIM)
So, now it's upto you to decide, whether you want IIM or ISB. In my opinion, barring financial constraints (yeah, now the returns are equal), it's pretty clear that I would definately pick up ISB. And you know why?

I hope that may help my fellow friends. If you wish, I can send you the excel sheet. Just send me a mail at sndpjha@yahoo.com

Man! I think, I sould join ISB's marketing team.

Finally, an interesting deviation. If the Banagalore admits represent the total ISB admits - there are 20-25% female admits. And take my words, the average is really good! Cheers!

What to blog?

2005-03-12T14:32:00.000-08:00

After browsing through a few weblogs, I noticed that my Blog doesn't have a theme. well, it's kinda a diary (and I am more comfortable with it). weblogs that I visited are either a place of intellectual discussions, or diary, or have a theme (such as ISB). Some blogs are representative of ideologies, music clubs etc. Some blogs are a good collection of poems etc. Where do I fit?

I'm neither a poet nor a musician. I do not have any serious hobby nor do I excel at something extra-curricular (Technical writings would be quite uninteresting). Lately, I fell in love with economics, but it'll take time before I can write something about my beloved!

OK. Let me go back a little in my childhood. Those days, we didn't have such great facilities as internet or cell. I feel so bad that I've lost all my childhood friends! Even, I've lost touch with my +2 friends. I wish, I could meet them..talk with them..and go back in time to relish all those moments..set in a rustic place.

I can write hundreds of pages about my childhood. I still remember my thought processes about friends, people, my first crush Aparna (she was a year senior and I was in fifth), gossips (yep! I hardly used to speak. I would get amazed when two people talked for more than 15 mins. I started speaking normal when I got into IIT). I was different...maybe good maybe not so good. I was definately not within the bell curve.

well, I fought only once in my lifetime for 5 mins (excluding fight with my younger brother). Suman was my best friend (always cheerful, male though :D) and I used to play many games with him for about 6 hours per day...chess, carom, Badminton, Table Tennis, Cricket (yeah, sometimes we 2 only) and lot many games in athletics (he was excellent and I was pathetic in athletics).

Anyway, I'll write more about it sometime later.

Life...or something like it!

2005-03-11T23:46:00.000-08:00

Suddenly, days have started passing slowly...I have practically no work (i.e. not more than 2 hours a day). I'm finding it difficult to kill the time. I think I need to think for some strategy. Especially, for my eight hours stint at office.

On top of that, my mobile is creating a nuisance..huh! it is behaving as if has lost sementic memory. Probably, it's time that it went to dustbin. Anyway, it has served its purpose - almost two years! I'd some kind of attachment with it, so I didn't change it. But, yesterday onwards it has made my life miserable. Could you believe it? Airtel works properly...but unfortunately I've a Hutch connection...and my cell has started a cold war with Hutch.

Today, I am supposed to attend a party organised by the builders of our building. But, I'm gonna miss that as I'm going to Bangalore.

Finally, I am missing sms communications with a stranger (yep! girl)...thanks to my mobile.

Movies n Masti

2005-03-11T16:34:00.000-08:00

I have been watching on average two movies per day for last one month (now you know why I sleep at 2-3 am). Lately, I have started appreciating Tom Hanks...Man! he's too good. Forrest Gump, Cast away, The terminal...I think, I watched about 10-12 movies by Tom Hanks in last two weeks.

Yesterday, I saw "A Passage to India", "The General's Daughter" and "Catch me if you can". All these movies are good. Waiting for "White Noise" by Rahul Bose, as the DVD has not come in the market yet! and I do not expect this movie to be played at Movie Halls at Mysore.

There is an ISB Alum meet with batch 2006 admits scheduled on Sunday at Bangalore. I'm planning to attend the same as I have not attended any. I hope it would be fun and I'd get to know more about ISB.

Fasten your seatbelt!

2005-03-11T01:11:00.000-08:00

These days I am trying to fit into a student life mode. I have started sleeping at 2-3 am, getting up at 8-9 am. I have also started jogging (Yeah! I have lost my fitness). So, in a sense my biological clock is getting tuned (atleast, I hope so). But, then there are many more things to do...and I think it would be very difficult for me to sustain 2 hour lectures (Hmm! IIT days...used to sleep atleast 25% of the time in 1 hour lectures). Can someone help me get rid of my sleeping disease?

I tried to start reading some books, but then my friends pursuaded me to enjoy the next one month. Anyway, I'm gonna get screwed! why worry now? So, the second phase of changes should occur when I join ISB for Pre-term courses.

As Bharani has pointed out, time management is going to be an issue. I liked his time schedule. actually, it's pretty close to what I worked out a few days ago, with my roommate Anirudh, who is also joining me at ISB. By the way, he has also got an admit from Krennert MBA. But, he is planning to join ISB finally.

Bidding for future

2005-03-10T00:16:00.000-08:00

In one of the weblogs http://isbpgp.blogspot.com (Days @ ISB by Raja Banerjee) I came to know about the process of alloting electives among students at ISB. You are given a total of 4000 points and are supposed to bid for 16 electives. That averages out to 250 points per elective. I came to know that for some courses the bid goes as high as 1000 points! Now, that's very intimidating. I know, it would be a great learning on prioritising things (yep! reminds me of capital rationing) and you can say pricing (yes, market driven pricing!). But, then I think why! why should I strive for the courses I want to take.

Life couldn't have been tougher! I think I am not that risk averse, but probably it's not true when it comes to studies! Man! Get ready for a real-life simulation for a year!

Courses @ ISB

2005-03-09T21:48:00.000-08:00

Last night, I thought to have a look on the ISB course curriculam. The core courses are indeed great! and the professors are awesome! I think, it would be very challenging to complete these courses in only six weeks. Yep! I'd bought some books such as Kotler, and Brealy & Myers (well, to facilitate my official work) and I can only guess how tough it would be to finish those Bibles in one term!

On the electives front, I am still wondering what to take. Frankly, it's tough to trade off one subject for another.

Anyway, gotta go...have my Exit Interview scheduled Now!

My last assignment @ L&T

2005-03-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was great! My last big assignment was to make seperate proposals to design, manufacture and field service a product for a fortune 500 company and I had worked almost 16 hours a day for about one month to draft the porposals. It was indeed a great learning. Fastest, should I say. Yesterday, we got a very positive feedback from our prospective client and we are in last two! Everyone, including Vice president and my boss, appreciated my work, and boy! I was so happy. I wish good luck to my company.

However, I will not be the project manager of this project anymore. Indeed, I'll miss this project.

ISB admissions

2005-03-08T00:38:00.000-08:00

Found a good link at http://way2top.blogsome.com/2005/03/01/isb-admissions/

Round 2 Admission results for ISB are announced. Some made it, some didn’t. Some of the candidates I bet on didn’t make it too. The competition this year was tougher than previous years, even more so in Round 2. The general opinion is that the profiles of R2 Applications were stronger than Round 1. I will have to wait for knowing the diversity in Round 2 as not many are registered in the yahoo groups.

There has been sharp criticisms about ISB giving enormous importance for GMAT and not evaluating the application as a whole. But I think ISB did a fair job in evaluating the candidates. When the applications are very strong, selection becomes very delicate. One cannot set a objective selection criteria. There has been some casualities in the form of some deserving candidates being left out, but I believe it is far less compared to the many who got in. I hope the selection process will be fine-tuned in future to satisfy as many people as possible.

From this years admissions, I sense that Academics, GMAT and Essays have played a major role more than anything else. Interviews were used only as a means to confirm the integrity of the application. Towards the later part of the admission process, some candidates reported about increasing stress-patterns in the interview. Some were interviewed through telephone and some were interviewed personally. Some had key people in the panel, some had alumni’s and non-key people in the panel. Going by this, I believe Interview was just given a lesser weightage.
In the coming years, ISB might increase the seats (may be 500+??). By then, I hope students from non-traditional backgrounds will have a fair size of quota to compete for.

So, the admission episode of the year 2005-06 is finally over. The spirit and feeling among admitted students is fantastic. The onus is now on us to take the legacy of ISB one step (or multiple steps!) forward. Hope we will be able to do justice to that while upgrading our skillsets personally and professionally…

Which Biological Molecule Are You?

2005-03-05T02:02:00.000-08:00

You are starch. You are rigid, opinionated,
hard-willed and not too friendly about it. You
keep people out of places, or you keep them in,
and without you a lot of things would collapse.
hopefully you'll never have the authority to
burn people at the stake. Sir. Ma'am.

Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by

What is your true element?

2005-03-05T01:51:00.000-08:00

Your element is Air: Carefree, lovable, fun and
childish. Arent you cute! Your just full of
childhood spunk and happiness! Hey who said
being young was a bad thing? You have a keen
understanding of whats good in life and choose
to remain happy rather than get too upset over
things. Life is fun, who wants to be troubled
by grown-up problems? Being as capable of love
as you are you will make a wonderful parent if
and when you choose to grow up. Love is a
mystery because you only want friends not love
interests, games are better than relationships
with the opposite sex. You have what everyone
is searching for, that so called 'fountain of
youth' deep inside. You can come across as
naive and childish at times. But who cares what
they think, lets go play tag!

.:-What is your true element?-:. -With Anime Pictures and detailed answers-
brought to you by

Gift Tax and Education

2005-03-03T22:47:00.000-08:00

Nowadays I'm involved in arranging for the tuition and living expenses at ISB (a staggering 15L). However, my cash flow analysis indicates that it would be a great investment. (I hope my assumptions are valid).

Yesterday I encountered a problem of gift tax. I am planning to finance a part of my education with the help of my elder brother and dad. Now, my elder brother can send me the money (he's an NRI) if it's in foreign currency. Hmm...great policy to increase foreign currency. However, I'm not clear whether my dad can finance me or not. The only info that I have is if the gift to a child towards education is reasonable, than it is tax exempted. (these vague terms like reasonable do panic me). In my case, I assume that upto 15L should be reasonable. So, I should not have any problems. However, Let me find out.

Last Days @ L&T

2005-03-01T22:33:00.000-08:00

It's been more than two and a half years that I've been working with L&T. Yeah, I learnt a lot about managerial finance, Investment analysis, Risk analysis, marketing strategy, manufacturing processes, product development, quality process and services. Probably the only function that I didn't touch is Quality control. So, in all, this period was extremely fruitful.

I put in my papers yesterday and shall be relieved from work on 31st March. Then, I'm planning to visit my parents for about 10 days. I hope to reach hyderabad by 12th April to spend a few days with my cousin Chandan.

I hope that the days at ISB will be challenging as is evident
from a few other weblogs.

MBA@ISB

2005-02-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

I’m so happy today and why shouldn’t I be. I got selected for the MBA course at ISB, Hyderabad. The classes are going to commence on 15th April 2005. More so, my flatmate Anirudh has also got admission to ISB. And my Second flatmate Sonal is waiting for his IIMA admission. Man! He’s got all 6 calls. And so our duplex apartment will soon be empty by next month.

We started our celebration with beer yesterday evening and then moved on to Irish coffee with Teachers Scotch (my favorite).

So, now I’ll have to pack up everything and start my student life once again. WOW!!!

Study and Music

2005-02-25T04:38:00.000-08:00

How does music affect one's study? I read somewhere that if a person has the habit of studying with musical background, he may not be able to perform at his best during examination!

Unfortunately, I am one among them. I find it very difficult to study without some music. The point is - it helps me to concentrate. I do not listen to the music during studies - I just do not care at all.

However, it was good to know that this style of study is not uncommon.

Social Responsibility

2005-02-25T02:52:00.000-08:00

Many a times I thought about my responsibilities for the community I live in. And almost never have I contributed anything! This year, while applying for MBA education, suddenly I realized that my credentials would be weak on that front and then I realized my mistake.

Although, I cannot blame it to the educational system where I studied, because many a poeple from the same system have contributed. But, I do want to say that I was never told to do so. Yeah, I should have realized my responsibilities. But, I think that these NGOs should involve schools and colleges to a greater extant, so that people like me are not left behind.

Its not that I did not want to do it, but when it comes to priorities among the options and no one is forcing you for some work, you tend to lower the priority for those work. (in my case it was social activities)

An event that shaped my academic life

2005-02-24T21:36:00.000-08:00

Some events you cannot forget - especially the ones that helped you take a decision for life.

I was in Sixth standard and I had a Sanskrit paper that day. We used to first get the questions in our class and then in next five minutes move on to our respective place for examination. In that peper, I did not know answer to a question. I asked one of my friend and he told me the answer that I wrote on the question paper itself. Then, while I was moving on to my place, one of the teachers (Mr. Verma) caught me red handed. He saw something written on the paper and asked me what was that supposed to be. I was taken aback but, I said that I wrote the answer because I was worried that I'd forget it. He replied, "I trust you and you better trust yourself". That day, I was so embarrassed about the cheating that I did not write that answer in the exam. Even afterwards, I've never ever cheated in any examination or asked someone else for any help.

I think that it was a pivotal event in my career.

Behavioral Paradox?

2005-02-24T05:32:00.000-08:00

I've witnessed a very paradoxical characteristic in some people - they'll not commit anything in the short time period, but they do not have much problem in commiting for the future. Probably, they do not care much about future commitments.

At the same time, I am unable to think why people do not give short term commitments. I've realized off late that I over rely on these commitments. I never appreciated the 'follow-up' stuff. For me, it was wasteful. My mentor always told me that nothing works without follow-up and I kept on denying.

Experience does count!

Wasting time?

2005-02-24T02:25:00.000-08:00

Why should I write something that I already know? Why do I need to appear in an exam? If I know something, there is no point in wasting time reproducing the same stuff; and if I do not know something, there is nothing I can write.

But then, "wasting time is no wasted time"

These are not my thoughts, but I feel that these questions deserve an answer.

Team Work

2005-02-23T00:28:00.000-08:00

He said, "So, you have not done this. It was the consultant who did it." and I replied, "No, his idea was different from mine and we merged the two." Then he asked, "Well, then who did it?" and I said, "The team."

Sometimes, it becomes difficult for me to explain my responsibilities in the projects I have done. Because I am young, and in general the youngest in my team in most of the projects, people don't seem to accept that I was the team leader in those projects.

In some cases, the average age of the other team members was more than 40 and they are all up the corporate ladder. Although it may seem strange, but I owe my position in the team to the financial knowledge that I have and that my other team mates seem to be uncomfortable with. Even more strange, I have learnt it all from them, in bits n pieces.

My Cousin - CK

2005-02-22T06:21:00.000-08:00

Just to start, it took me about 15 mins to find this page :D

Ok, while I was talking to my cousin this evening, the network mercilessly dropped my calls for about 10 times. Huh! what a world I'm livin in? The more I get, the more I crave for.

So, I was discussing with my cousin about starting a company sometime later in future. Well, the ideas kept coming in and we kept filtering out the ideas. (to be very frank, we both are lazy!)

Now, this page is about my cousin, Chandan (aka CK)...more than a cousin...more than a friend...He's from Sainik School and IIT Delhi. Hmm...suddenly, I've realized that my friends and relatives have a sound background!

So, he is elder than me by six months...and many a times has exploited his seniority to me. A great man, with lots of skills. He is excellent at caricature, sculpture and lot many things I dont know about. He has won many awards and has even attended classes by Maqbool Fida Hussain. Big man! Currently, he's struggling with Java at Infy, which he's soon planning to quit. Let's see who wins...he or Infy! His nick: CK - since 1929.

So, we've planned out this idea for the time being - he'll learn multimedia and I'll go for an MBA. Nowadays, he's busy with a secret work - yeah I cannot reveal, otherwise he would kill me. Just a hint - it could be our first product. So, he needs another 3 months before he can switch his job. Well planned!

Finally, I just recall that someone from IIM asked me if I want to start a business why the hell am I planning for an MBA? He mentioned that there is not even one person from IIM who has started his own company, but there are plenty from IITs. "MBA makes people risk averse".

For My Friend - Saket

2005-02-22T04:25:00.000-08:00

I am yet again on blogger. I tried to continue once, but could not succeed. let me see what happens this time. Anyway, two things came to my mind while creating this page.

First, my friend Saket - a diehard blogger. He was the one who first told me about 'weblogs'. Needless to say, he was a great writer and indeed very logical. He passed out from Netarhaat and Science college, with I think Rank 8 in both 10th and 12th. I stand no where before him, anytime. My only achievement was my rank at IIT guwahati - yeah he was just behind me! But he had more aces (10/10) and less sikkas (6/10) than I had. Anyway, we were very good friends. His room was just beside my room. You need not know his room number to find his room; just look out for the best room - clean and arranged with everything in place. My room - cannot explain. Yeah, we were different! In the four years at IIT, many events happened while we were together. Some good, some not so good. More about him later.

Second, my prof. Archana Barua, who used to take philosophy classes at IITG. Once in her class (yeah, this time I was in the class), I heard these words: 'I think therefore I exist'. She exaplained more about that, but somehow I was stuck at these words. So, here goes the name of my webpage - 'I think therefore I exist'. As long as I am able to think, this weblog will exist!