Life Senses

Sodhe Visit Pics

2007-11-20T09:55:00.000+05:30

In line with a comment on the Sodhe Visit post, here are some pics:

TriVikrama Temple

Tapovana - Sri Vadhiraja's place of Penance

Sri Vadhiraja Brindavana

Sodhe Mutt

Sonde(Sodhe) Trip

2007-03-12T09:50:00.000+05:30

Had been to a place called Sonde (Sodhe) near Sirsi over the weekend. It is about 450km from Bangalore. Must say that this was one pilgrimage I liked a lot. Sonde is the abode of Sri Vadhiraja, one of the highly acclaimed sages of the 15th century. There is a RamaaTrivikrama temple established by Sri Vadhiraja himself. Another temple hosts the Brindavana of Sri Vadhiraja and a small temple of Sri Bhootharaja.

There are other places of interest nearby like the Tapovana (on the course of the Shalmala river, where Sri Vadhiraja used to perform penance/prayers), Sri Venkataramana temple, Sri Lakshmi-Narayana temple (which is said to have established by Sri Vyasaraya, one of the contemporaries of Sri Vadhiraja; there’s also a laghu Brindavana of Sri Vyasaraya in the temple premises. It is also known for ‘thorana Ganapathi’), Sri Swarnawalli Mutt (this is a temple of Lord Lakshmi Narasimha, Goddess Rajarajeshwari and Lord Shiva) and SahasraLinga (it is believed that there are a 1000 lingas inscribed/installed on the rocks resting on the flowing river).

The best part about Sonde is that the place is quite calm and peaceful and has not been commercialized like most of the other pilgrim centres. I just hope it stays that way.

I just found this other blog, HariVaayu, which gives a host of other information on some sages, their teachings and philosophy, and other devotional stuff. Seems to be an interesting read!

Update

2007-02-28T10:33:00.000+05:30

Its been quite a while since I last wrote;just been busy settling into my new job:). Its been really good so far and am doing things that I definitely was looking forward to post-MBA. Its been a month since I came back home and have just managed to meet some good old pals and some new ones too. Watched a movie last night after a looong time - "HoneyMoon Travels Pvt Ltd".It was just abt OK. I am not gonna write a review on it 'coz I just couldn't figure out what the film was actually trying to convey; it was just one juke box kinda thing.

I have a confession folks. It was not that I was so busy settling into my new job that I could not write. Actually, I don't seem to know what to write...I am too early in my career to write about some great Management stuff and who would be interested in reading what's happening in my life? So I am just lost midway and am trying to think about what to write. Will be glad incase any of you can help me, while I do some soul-searching. So until next time, take care and stay in touch!!

Cheers...

What should the small retailers do?

2007-02-10T16:29:00.000+05:30

Came across this article by Sanjay Sharma in Economic Times on Friday, the 9th of Feb. This gives a sense of continuity to my previous post and stresses on STP - Segmentation,Targeting & Positioning for the small retailers. Read on...

Little details could keep the petty retails going

Kirana shop owners would do well to identify niches and focus their efforts rather than diffuse their energies across a range of products as the biggies come calling.

IF ANYONE can lay claim to the mantle of being the oldest entrepreneurs in the nation then it is perhaps the ubiquitous kirana shop owner. However, in today’s changing landscape, this segment, finds itself at crossroads. The rapid growth of organised retail is worrying the 13 million retail entrepreneurs and they are now wondering if they can survive what is called the Wal-Mart phenomenon — the death of small retailers when a large retail giant enters the area, mom-and-pop shops operate in. This happens largely because small retailers can’t match up to the lower prices, greater convenience and the vast product range offered by large retailers.
The issue is a cause of concern to policy makers as well, who are worried about the economic and political consequences of small retailers being forced to shut shop. Which brings us to the question: Can small retailers reinvent themselves and co-exist with organised large retail?
The answer to that question, according to many experts that Starting Up spoke to, is a resounding ‘Yes’. However, for that many of these retailers will need to reconfigure their business model to keep up with the dynamics of a changed landscape. Retail, it is said, is about details. And, the first task for small retailers is to take a closer look at the finer details of their product mix, distribution, sourcing, pricing and services and make choices. Small retail stores that stock everything and do not have a differentiated product mix are unlikely to survive.
Says Dharmesh Jain, owner of the Mumbai based mall, Nirmal Lifestyle, “Retail entrepreneurs with small formats need to reinvent themselves if they want to succeed. They can look at collective or bulk buying or look at a product mix which large malls can’t source or stock.”
Geoffrey Heard and Gordon Woolf have written a book on the subject called ‘Success in Store’. And they say, small retailers are closer to the customer, and big businesses like large retailers are not. They can adapt and change their products, service much quicker to adapt to consumer preferences, while big retail chain takes time to change the mix.
Many of these retailers would also do well to try and identify niches and focus their efforts on the niche rather than diffuse their energies across a range of products. Malls, thanks to their policy of bulk buying and single supplier sourcing, are often unable to cater to specific niche segments. Which means that a local saree shop in Chennai that is focused on a particular type of sarees is far more successful than the mall across the road that has half a floor dedicated to all kinds of sarees.
According to Ajeet Singh Karan, partner, Baring Private Equity, the key for small retailers is to forge closer ties with their customer and use the superior understanding to their advantage. Says Mr Karan, “They need to understand the needs of the captive customers better. Instead of trying to compete with the same products that the large stores have, they should be looking at products which are not sold by large stores.” The product offering could be a small but specialised. For example, rather than continue as a general purpose retailer, the retailer could focus on a specific segment and become a shop that sells only Chinese goods or antique furniture or vernacular books. Says Mr Jain, “If the small retailers define their consumer clearly, it will be possible for them to target it. Then a community of consumer can be built by product segment, geographical location or by the service offering.”

Nothing is more critical in retailing than detail and therefore small retailers need to take cognizance of the neighbourhood they operate in and use it to their advantage. If the shop is located in an area that is dominated by a particular race or class then the retailer needs to configure the product mix and service in a manner so as to cash in on this uniqueness.
At present, large retail stores have a ‘wow’ factor attached to them. Consumers in metros sometimes go to malls not for buying but for a weekend outing. Which is why the ratio of footfalls to purchase is slightly distorted in India. This might change and if community activism against large retail formats happens then the situation may tip in favour of small retailers.
One of the big advantages that small retailers have besides convenience of their location is the fact that they offer credit and services like home delivery. Most consumers have to travel to a big mall. There is a cost associated to this travel, and older consumer travel less for buying, while the younger consumer will travel more. This means that a small retailer is more likely to retain customers who are old and will find it difficult to attract younger customer. Some industry observers believe that all these factors will help small retailers survive the onslaught of big retail and it is medium-tier retailers who are likely to be more affected. Retailers who had invested in large shops or supermarket but do not have the efficiency of sourcing or scale are likely to be hit first.
Says NV Sivakumar, head, consumer and retail practice at consulting firm PWC, “I do not see large scale replacement of the small stores. Consumers will tend to focus their large scale monthly shopping in the large chains but for other need-based daily shopping will still flock to the neighbourhood stores.” Sivakumar believes that it is the mid-size retailers who are likely to lose their consumer base to the large chains.
It is likely that after all this many small retailers will hope that as with everything in India the government will bail them out. They, however, would do well to remember that Japan faced a similar kind of problem in the 90’s when the government eased laws relating large retail stores, and changed its rules for urban location. And in spite of the Japanese government’s efforts to try and protect small retailers and local players the structure of Japanese retail industry changed completely with only the most inventive of the smaller set surviving and thriving.
So, whatever be the model, it’s perhaps time for the small retail entrepreneur to reinvent himself.

FDI In Retail: Is this in India's Best Interests?

2007-02-10T16:00:00.000+05:30

On Thursday(8th Feb) night, there was an interesting debate in CNBC’s ‘India Tonight’ show on the topic “FDI In Retail: Is this in India’s Best Interest?” Well-known Economist- Mr. Sujith Ballal, the Chairman of the Maharastra Foreign Trade Committee- Mr. Shanghvi and member of the NCP- Mr. Abhishek Singhvi tried to battle their wits out. Some of the issues discussed were:
“Would Wal-Mart’s entry into India throw life out of gear for the middle-class retailers?”
“Are there any safeguards that the Government has to protect the interests of the domestic retailers?”
And finally, “Would the common man benefit from the entry of retail giants such as Wal-Mart into India?”

I have been studying the Retail sector in some detail since a few months as part of a project work and find it quite intriguing. When I heard about Reliance’s bombastic plans to tackle giants like Wal-Mart, I was totally zapped! Whether Reliance will be a mega hit or a pauper is yet to be seen. As a developing and much-talked about economy, I think we need to grow up and accept the challenge of being pushed to compete in the global arena rather than introducing all sorts of caps on FDI and shy away from competition.

One point made by Mr. Ballal yesterday was a clincher – If prices of commodities get cheaper due to the entry of the Retail giants, then it’s the common man who would benefit from this.
I totally agree with Mr. Ballal. We cannot afford to stop the nation’s growth and hide in our backyards. Well, what if the US tomorrow says ‘No more Indians for IT in the country?’ What’s your take on this?

Joker's Laughters

2007-02-03T18:10:00.000+05:30

Hey PPL,
I read a forwarded string of jokes after a long time today and did have a good laugh; thought of sharing 'em with you too. I especially liked the 'love to do' one. Thanks to Divya for sending these to me...

Husband & Wife - Why divorce?
In a divorce court a woman requested the judge: "Your honor, I want to divorce my husband." "But why ?" asked the judge. She replied, "Because he is not faithful to me." The judge asked, "How do you know ?" She replied, "My lord, not a single child resembles him."

Husband & Wife - Love Your Enemy
From his death bed, the husband called his wife and said, "One month after I die I want you to marry Samy." "Samy! But he is your enemy !" "Yes, I know that ! I've suffered all these years so let him suffer now."

Husband & Wife - Wedding Ring
At the cocktail party, one woman said to another, "Aren't you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger? " The other replied, "Yes I am, I married the wrong man."

Husband & Wife - Why?
" Dad, I was away for a week. Yesterday I sent a fax to my wife I'd be home that night, and when I got into my room I found my wife in another man's arms. " Why, Dad ? Tell me why!" Dad kept silent for a few minutes, then coolly said, "Maybe, Son, she didn't get the fax."

Husband & Wife - Same Service
A husband visited a marriage counselor and said, "When we were first married, I would come home from the office, my wife would bring my slippers and our cute little dog would run around barking. Now after ten years it's all different, I come home, the dog brings the slippers and my wife runs around barking." "Why complain?" said the counselor. "You're still getting the same service!"

Husband & Wife - Talk About Husband
One woman told another : "My neighbour is always speaking ill of her husband, but look at me, my husband is foolish, lazy and a coward; but have I ever said anything bad about him?"

Husband & Wife - Love To Do
A wife, one evening, drew her husband's attention to the couple next door and said, "Do you see that couple? How devoted they are? He kisses her every time they meet. Why don't you do that?" "I would love to." Replied the husband. "But I don't know her well enough."

Husband & Wife - No Answer Back
A man was telling his friends, "When my wife is infuriated, she starts shouting at me, my children and even at our dogs and nobody dares answer her." One of his friends asked."And when you are angry, what do you do?" The man replied, "I also shout angrily at the windows and doors of the house and none of them dares to answer back.

Husband & Wife - Come Home Late
A woman was complaining to the neighbour that her husband always came home late, no matter how she tried to stop him. "Take my advice," said the neighbour, "and do what I did. Once my husband came home at three o'clock in the morning, and from my bed I called out: "Is that you, Jim?" And that cured him. "Cured him !" asked the woman, "but how?" The neighbour said, "You see, his name is Bill."

Husband & Wife - Problem Father
"You looked troubled," I told my friend, "what's your problem?" He replied, "I'm going to be a father." "But that's wonderful," I said. "What's wonderful? My wife doesn't know about it yet.

Bangalored:)

2007-02-02T22:06:00.000+05:30

Hey folks,
I just got Bangalored on 31st Jan '07 @ 22.15 IST. The 'INDIAN' flight was on time too:). I am already missing Mumbai and SP, but yeah, am enjoying the home food, the comfort of my cosy room, and ofcourse the cool weather here. You know what I miss the most? - 24*7 Broadband:((. Unfortunately I dont have a broadband at home. However will try to get connected soon, so will miss my Blogger Dashboard for sometime too.

Will catch up with you soon...Until then(in BIG B ishtyle->) Shabba Khyr, Shubh Raathri and Take Very Very Good Care of Yourself!!:)

Salaam-E-Ishq: Review

2007-01-26T23:44:00.000+05:30

Behold; here comes the much-awaited, much painted, much hyped up multi-starcast; launched under a much-famed production house. Wish I could say something really good about the film too. To be frank, it was one long-drawn, disemboweling, nettlesome experience to watch the meaning of ‘love’ and ‘relationships’ being fouled over and over again for about three and a half hours. Having said that, the film does take you around some of the actions and reactions, and the brain-and-heart chemistry that occurs through different stages of wanting, sensing, giving, receiving, living and relinquishing love (or sort of love). But the conundrum isn’t worth gracing the silver screen! You could probably while away your time on it at your own pace in the comfort of your living room and that too if you have nothing else to do.

The script constantly loses the audience's mindshare and fails to strike the right chord. The background score, a couple of songs, a couple of dialogues and a few purrs now and then, and the only sane couple, John Abraham and Vidya Balan, help keep the titanic from getting ‘frozen’!

Catch this movie on the big screen at your own risk!

My rating: * *

Satisfising Concept

2007-01-26T01:21:00.000+05:30

Most dictionaries will snub you if you search for the word ‘satisfising’. The WordWeb pops out the following meaning for this term:

Decide on and pursue a course of action satisfying the minimum requirements to achieve a goal

This precisely has been a big takeaway for me from one of Dr. Lakshmi Mohan’s lectures.

I have always been a person who does a lot of due diligence before making a major decision and tries working out umpteen possibilities in an earnest motive to get to that ‘perfect’ decision. It has benefited me, but I should admit that I have often been left behind or have missed out on some opportunities or have got worked up.

Thinking back, over the last 10 months or so, I have knowingly or unknowingly made decisions that have done me good using the satisfising concept, although I first heard this term and understood its importance in Dr. Lakshmi Mohan’s lectures.

The single most important virtue of someone in the management cadre is the ability to make decisions that have got to be ‘good enough’ to drive the business. Many a time, things may not work out the way you want them to be. You just can’t help it – I believe Life teaches you some important lessons and you just have to move on! Ofcourse, take care not to repeat the same mistakes:).

If you look at Mc Donald’s, its CEO Jack Greenberg, in 1998 took the decision of going in for a major overhaul of all of Mc Donald’s kitchen systems in the ‘Made For You’ project that would help Mc Donald’s custom-prepare sandwiches to order. Unfortunately, the ‘Made For You’ systems crippled the service times. In the fast-paced, low-margin fast-food business; the world’s largest fast-food restaurant chain Mc Donald’s lost out to competition in terms of customer service time, satisfaction and lost a lot of market share.

Next, in 2001, Mr. Greenberg conceived ‘Innovate’, a $1 billion 5-year Information Technology project, as a means to return to the company's roots – the speediest, most consistent service in the fast-food industry. In his zeal to be ‘scud-precise’, he had an esoteric vision for ‘Innovate’ such as:

• To check if potato was being baked to the right temperature
• To check if carbon dioxide in a soda tower in any store had fizzled out

Well, little wonder that the plug was pulled on Innovate – but not before blowing up $170 million. Greenberg was replaced with Jim Cantalupo.

So what did Mr. Cantalupo do? He did a whole lot of things in terms of removing initiatives going on within the company that didn't focus on restaurants or customers. He got the organization back to focus and discipline -- speed at the drive-through, friendly service, marketing leadership, product innovation (improving food, adding more to the menu, introduction of healthy food, etc). And yes, Mc Donald’s came back strong and started peaking again!

Do you think Mr. Cantalupo’s decisions were esoteric? I think they were just more logical, and more importantly ‘satisficing’. To summarize, Mr. Cantalupo stuck to the basic principle of business – ‘Customer is the King; give him what he wants and stick to your DNA’.

Coming to the bottom line, I urge you to try out the ‘satisfising’ concept in your daily life and see if it makes a difference! If it does, then dont forget to write back :).

Starting Up - Post3 - What Do Venture Capitalists Want?

2007-01-26T00:00:00.000+05:30

Seven Tricks To Sweep Mr Moneybags Off His Feet

• Value proposition: Highlight the key differentiators in end-user benefits, not technical superiority. Tell Mr VC why would consumers choose you over others.

• Business model: Talk about how you will make money from this business opportunity. Just showing an excel sheet with 5-year detailed projections is not going to help

• Customer: Study and understand the target customer thoroughly. Address the customer’s problem precisely. This reflects your clarity about the business opportunity

• Team: Articulate why your team is the best suited to implement a particular business opportunity

• Market opportunity: Investors like big ideas with big markets. Be clear about who is going to buy your product/service and how much they would pay for it

• Risk factors: Know the market, financial, business model and execution risks to your plans

•Competitive landscape: Remember that competition is not just those providing a similar solution to yours, but all those addressing the same customer need through variety of approaches

Starting Up - An Economic Times Special (post 2)

2007-01-20T00:35:00.000+05:30

Life’s a pitch, and you’ve got to roll

Two minutes. Often that’s all a high-flying VC can afford to spare for an aspiring entrepreneur. A short, snappy sales pitch is, therefore, a key weapon.

What is common between a good venture capitalist (VC) pitch and stand-up comedy? In both the cases, a perfectly timed and delivered spiel can make or break your career. A comedian begins with a killer opening and keeps rolling to peak a couple of minutes later. He makes a graceful exit with a customary greeting, leaving the audience yelling, whistling and clapping. ET tries to get the low-down on what it takes to get a similar response from a VC.
The urban legend regarding start-ups is that you get a two-minute shot to reveal your plan and what it is good for. All this is done in such a way that the venture capitalist, with whom you’ve jumped into a cab or elevator, will write you a cheque one day. You want to win over your audience so that it supports your idea with its heart, soul, mind — and money.
Winning these, in a start-up business, means you have to construct a short and snappy sales pitch of your idea. In Mumbai, like in the Silicon Valley, face-time with a VC is limited. So, be prepared to make your only shot your best shot. The time window is small, hence the idea has to be crisp and clear.
“The entrepreneur has to be very clear about the market situation for his product. Investors , generally, tend to avoid funding those, who lack the knowledge about key differentiators which their company has to offer and project the potential of their business without actually having the details about the execution of their business plan,” says Alok Mittal, managing director, Canaan Partners. In case of angel investors, they tend look for a good quality of management team along with the entrepreneur’s operational background and professional experience in the chosen field of business.
Apart from knowing their own business, knowledge about their respective VCs is also a must. to do. Says Rajesh Jog, co-founder and CEO, vJive, which recently got a Rs 20 crore VC investment, “Before actually approaching a VC, one should be thorough about the focus areas and investment portfolios of the chosen VC fund.” When deciding on a VC it makes sense in not putting all the eggs in one basket, in other words, pitch to as many VCs as possible. In addition, it helps to approach a VC who already has the experience of investing in similar fields.
External factors and cliches aside, it is what’s inside that counts. Says Srikanth Iyer, CEO and co-founder, Edurite Technologies, an educational content producer, “Unless and until you truly believe and have a passion for what you do, no one is going to buy into it (your idea). And even if they do buy in, then it’s not going to be on the scale that you would like it to be.”
Besides knowing the business aspect for a successful pitch, entrepreneurs who have ‘been there, done that’ say that the personality and presentation skills also dictate the outcome. They all agree that while pitching his/her ‘billion dollar idea’, the entrepreneur should exercise control on timing of words and pace of the meeting. This is his opportunity to shine. Spending too much time in introductions, small talk and dropping names detracts from the opportunity to convey the primary message. But entrepreneurs should proactively balance the time spent on less-relevant topics with others that are essential in communicating their full agenda. A VC’s mind is likely to wander, and it is the entrepreneur’s job to try and refocus the conversation when it drifts.
While these are all the must dos for any entrepreneur, there are certain things that all of them should avoid at all costs. According to Tim Guleri, MD, Sierra Ventures, “You should not seem promotional or ‘over pitch’ your business idea. VCs like CEOs that have a heavy dose of realism in their thought process.” It is therefore important to present facts about the company as they stand rather than embellish them. Any attempt to pad up their own individual backgrounds or the current company situation will be either immediately recognised or discovered later during the due diligence process conducted by the VC.
“You should not try to bullshit your way through this (due diligence). You do not want to build an expectation in the other party that you cannot meet. The VC-entrepreneur relationship is built on trust. If you violate that trust at any stage it comes back to haunt you. The reality is that we all are working for one common course and that is to make the organisation a success. You have to be honest to that cause from day one,”points out Gaurav Misra, COO and cofounder, Guruji.com, a search engine for Indian content, that recently raised $7million from Sequoia India and angel investor Suvir Sujan.
Lastly after after pitching the idea to a potential investor, entrepreneurs must never forget to follow-up with the VCs. Adds Mr Iyer,“Set a deadline for the VC to get back to you for no VC will say ‘no’ to you. The catch is that they won’t say ‘yes’ to you either. They usually leave you hanging. What you need to do is set a deadline.” So what if nothing transpires by the deadline? You just have to start all over again. Remember the entrepreneur must try and control the pitching process, regardless of his dependency on the VC.

Starting Up - An Economic Times Special (post 1)

2007-01-20T00:22:00.000+05:30

The Economic Times has introduced Starting Up, a special page every Friday for those of you who want to strike out on your own. It will bring you up close and personal with the smartest entrepreneurs. Special reports will give you a whiff of the most exciting start-up opportunities. Where’s the killer app? Where’s the money that can support your big idea?

For people who missed the Jan 19th Edition, do read the 'Starting Up' posts.

Q: I am a founder of a mid-sized, recently funded, six-year-old company. We are planning to recruit a CEO. As you know it’s difficult to get good people. The people we like are mostly senior to me and sometimes even better qualified to run the business. Should I hire a person more qualified than me ? Should I pay him higher than what the founders are currently paid?
— Name withheld on request
Subroto Bagchi(COO, MindTree Consulting) replies: For a founder such as yourself , there is a shining example of Azim Premji. He hired people like Ashok Narasimhan, Ashok Soota and, more recently, Vivek Paul. All three were better qualified than him and he let them run his information technology business. Looking at him, you realise that the smart thing is not in being the smarter than others. The smart thing is to be able to hire someone smarter than you. That way, the CEO can manage your business better than you can. It’s OK even if you have to pay them higher than what you pay yourself, provided they can build bigger value for the organisation. That comes back to you many times over as return on your investment. However, you must have the ability to question them and create porous boundaries for them. You must also develop an ability to let go and the mindset to tolerate dissent. I remember one of Premji’s presidents used be often unnecessarily critical of him and used to make uncharitable remarks. He knew it and ignored it as a routine. Once I asked him, how he tolerated the man. He told me that it was simple: the professional had the unmatched quality that enabled him to turn around loss making businesses. To Premji, that and not the man’s idiosyncrasies mattered. Coming to compensation, please do not fix people’s compensation with you as the benchmark. Compensation needs to be decided based on the following criteria: the role, the competence, the market rate and the ability of the business to pay. It has absolutely nothing to do with what you pay yourself. The much bigger issue that you must settle is the post appointment role for the individual. Any professional will have a lot of anxiety about your ability to let go. You would do well to settle that with the incumbent upfront. Openly discuss the issues surrounding the business, outline clear expectations and goals. Have measurable, time bound deliverables, state where and how much help the individual may expect from you and the manner in which you would hold performance reviews. Ask the person to outline his space requirements. Make sure you understand his or her style of working, do reference checks to determine these. Once the person is on board, have a well planned assimilation and then, let her work in an atmosphere of transparency and trust. If the individual makes a few mistakes, do not breathe down the neck. And finally, do not second guess the person. Seek a business plan upfront and spend a lot of time in collaboratively fine tune the same. Thereafter, let the system know that there is a new boss and a new game plan. In short, set her up for success. Remember, your job is to get the best person to run the business and for heaven’s sake, do not compete with the individual. Good luck!

Vinaya's Coffee Revelry:)

2007-01-20T00:12:00.000+05:30

As promised, here comes Vinaya's delightful coffee revelry:)

The Matunga Effect

2007-01-17T13:58:00.000+05:30

Vinaya, Darshan, Vatsa and I had been to ‘Matunga’, the hub of South-Indians in Mumbai last Sunday. This was our first visit to Matunga, although many of our friends had suggested visiting this place for its popular South-Indian delicacies. To be frank, we were lazy to go all the way till there, hehe.

As soon as we reached King’s circle, the aroma of South-Indian Filter Coffee just beckoned us like a mother calling out to her child! Vinaya, tried his best in the beginning not to give in to the temptation of having coffee as he had made a New Year Resolution not to have coffee for 30-days( I don’t see any sense in this one though). While he was walking away, I quickly made an Elevator Pitch to him:

‘Dude, you are running away from the all-famous, tasty South-Indian Filter Coffee. This is the first time we have come here and with just 17 days left to leave Mumbai, we may not even get a chance to come here again. The thought of having not tasted an authentic South-Indian Filter Coffee in Mumbai will haunt you forever!!’.

That was it – Vinaya just did a U turn and so did all of us; we followed the tantalizing fragrance just like sniffer dogs till we reached ‘Café Mysore’--- the name itself was so inviting, and yes, I had made a successful sales pitch( other than the ones I made in my placement interviews :) ).

Our next pit stop was Mani’s Lunch Home which is near Shankar Mutt. We had a scrumptious South-Indian meal – the hapla(papad), uppinkaayi(pickle), chapathi, kosu playa (cabbage sabzi),huli(sambar), saaru(rasam), sajjige(a sweet dish), mosaru (curd) majjige(butter milk) and everything that was served was just so yuuuummmmy that it made us go into 'retro' mode – Vinaya and I, recalled our childhood days and described to Vatsa and Darshan the ‘kayyi-thutthu’ times – an activity in which children are made to sit in a circle and the mother/grandmother makes undey(round shape) of the food and gives it to each of the children turn by turn.

Even after such a heavy meal, Vinaya and I were bent upon having Sakkre Pongal(Sweet Pongal) and another round of Filter Coffee. So we went back to Café Mysore and ordered our stuff and relished it. However, the Sakkre Pongal wasn’t all that great. We then bought some thenglu and kodbale (I don’t know how to describe these – these can be served as entremets as well as with tea/coffee or can be just munched away).

Well, we had just had a great evening out and didn’t feel like going back to the hostel. But yeah, we had to go back. Somehow, I am sure, we will hit upon Matunga atleast twice again before we go back home for good!

PS: Proof of Vinaya breaking his resolution will follow:)

How do you remember Names?

2007-01-14T17:14:00.000+05:30

Well, not everyone is gifted with a solid memory. Here’s an easy tip to help your cognitive process to remember names in a meeting:

As you are introduced to people, draw a quick and simple map (as in the picture above) with their names and any identifying characteristics you think will help you recall their names later; i.e., Bob/Beard/Good with Numbers, etc.

It seems my friend Vishu who initially had a tough time figuring the who’s who while on an assignment in South Korea, later started writing down some striking features of the person or something that he/she had said in the meeting on their business cards. This helped him not only to recognize the 'resembling' Koreans, but also to relate better with them.

What should you eat before a workout?

2007-01-14T14:38:00.000+05:30

For all those who have resolved to tone themselves up in this new BOND year, here’s something you would want to know:

What should you include in a workout session?
Ideally, exercises should be instrumental in building up your stamina and toning your body.
And what should you eat before and after a workout session?
To begin with, always remember this thumb rule -- exercising on an empty stomach is detrimental. However, eating too much just before a workout session isn't good either. Don't eat anything at least 30-40 minutes before you decide to exercise.
Yoga experts believe people should avoid drinking or eating anything at least for an hour before a session. Always have water an hour before an exercise session. And yes, sipping water in small quantities throughout the workout is permissible.
What should you eat before a workout? Ideally, a simple fruit should do the trick. You don't want to feel too heavy but you don't want to feel too hungry either.
However, if you find it difficult to start your day without tea or coffee, don't stop yourself. But wait for at least 40 minutes after your tea/ coffee before you start exercising.
On the other hand, all those corporate executives who prefer to hit the office gym after a hearty breakfast -- say one comprising of bread, eggs and fruit -- need to wait for at least two hours before they can work out. In fact, an ideal pre-workout meal is a combination of carbohydrates, fibre and protein.

An ideal pre-workout Indian breakfast can comprise of a bowl of poha or upma, fresh fruit and a glass of milk topped with almonds. Those of you who are allergic to milk can consume a cup of tea or coffee.
Alternatively, you can opt for a bowl of milk and cornflakes, eggs on lightly buttered toast too.
A post-workout meal should be light. Ideally, this meal should be consumed within two hours of the exercise. Don't remain hungry for too long after an exercise session.
This meal should contain protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats too. A vegetable sandwich or a fish sandwich (use wholegrain bread) with fruit or fresh fruit juice should do you just fine.

And yes, before you start your exercise schedule, don't forget to consult your doctor.
Source: Article by Abhilasha Ojha, www.rediff.com

Guru – Review

2007-01-12T15:47:00.000+05:30

Been there, done that – Just back from the First Day First Show of Guru @ PVR, Juhu, Mumbai. (For those of you who live around Andheri, Juhu and Versova; here’s a tidbit – The day shows on weekdays cost you just Rs 50/- :) )

If there has been any proof needed to show that the Indian Film Industry has come of age and has portrayed a variety of themes over the last two years, then GURU is another arrow in the armour! The film is excellent in all aspects – the ‘theme’, the picturesque cinematography, the sequencing, the character mix, the engaging dialogues, the snuggest background score, the soothing songs and just about everything!

Coming to the performances, I would give a standing applaud to Abhishek Bachchan – I just haven’t seen such an impeccable performance from him before! Aishwarya Rai has another feather in the cap to be proud of; while Mithunda, Madhavan and Vidya Balan have proved their merit once more.

Just to give a feel of the movie- if you have liked reading Paulo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist’, you will definitely appreciate this movie. To conclude, hats off to Mani Ratnam, the director, who always seems to do something different and step up the curve. I noticed that the credits were doled out in a way out of the ordinary. Well, this was no doubt just an appetizer:)

My rating: * * * *

Business-Smart IT Applications - will cherish this course for years to come!!

2007-01-11T01:38:00.000+05:30

I could not resist writing this post at this odd hour. Today(rather y'day), the 18-hour ‘classroom’ course of the ‘Business-Smart IT Applications’ subject came to a close. I have to admit that Dr. Lakshmi Mohan has left a lasting impression on me. Although by chance I happened to sit in the first seat in her classes, I loved every bit of it! – have gained an amazing sense of business over the last week. The best aspects of Dr. Mohan’s classes were:

the short and sweet contemporary cases (not the age-old dusty ones)

the modulation and constant ‘stress and pause’ on the most crucial bits and pieces(hammering the nail into our heads)

the usage of words (will stay etched in memory)

the presentation style ( real quotes, no jazzy slides, color codes)

the emphasis on ‘precision’ and ‘detail’

the connection of all the dots to give the big picture

and last but not the least

the sense of humor

I would like to remember the last one week as the ‘best of classroom learning’ @ SPJIMR; and to quote in Vinaya’s words –

“Dr.Lakshmi Mohan’s words are like the sayings in the Bible!”

VIE LOUNGE & DECK

2007-01-08T00:18:00.000+05:30

Shacha (my good friend Sharath Chandra) and I had been to Vie – a pub in Juhu last night. We had good fun, drank a lot and made merry; we talked of our lives in engineering, work, and B-school. The reason why I like pubbing is not because I am a toper, but because a pub is one roof under which people shed their inhibitions, talk of anything and everything under the Sun and just get ‘high’ and ‘over’ their cark. You get to realize the lighter side of people and know them better. For instance, I never knew that a geek like Shacha who holds a patent and has now taken a career shift to Corporate Finance could let his hair down too! You might even bump into and make friends with the ‘rich and famous’ and influential class too. For a matter of fact, it seems that the Citibank World-Wide Head won his job in a pub! (Thank You Shacha for that bit).

Vie is quite an impressive pub with a decently spaced bar (deck) and an open-air lounge that overlooks the sea! There’s even an attached restaurant, but I didn’t have a look at the menu there. The crowd is hep and sophisticated. The ambience is chik and the menu gives you a good choice for all kinds of drinks and light food. The music is funky, tic-tac and hip-hop, the lady-DJ does mix the music well; but in general, I feel Bangalore outscores Mumbai in this area (It’s probably because I like hard rock than hip-hop). The deck does get morphed into a mini dance floor once the crowd is ready to shake a leg. A word of caution though – go to Vie with a deep pocket! Yes, the place is expensive, but you will have fun for sure!

The Vie Coordinates:
102, Juhu Tara Road, Santacruz (W),
Mumbai – 400049
Ph: 26603003

Cornell-SPJIMR Handshake

2007-01-04T23:05:00.000+05:30

A delegation led by Cornell University president David J Skorton, is in India for a two-week long visit to gain a better understanding of the increasingly important role it plays in the world, and to explore opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration.

SPJIMR had the privilege of hosting this delegation for half-a-day and some of us from the 1 year fulltime PGDM programme were assigned as 'buddies' to the Cornell students. I was a buddy for Justin Charise, who has been a Captain in the U.S. Army in the Field Artillery division for 5 years and is set to join one of the top-notch Investment Banks as early as July2007.

Before coming to our campus, the delegation had visited the Infosys and MindTree campuses in Bangalore. The conversation started off on a high note as soon as I said I have worked with MindTree before:) We discussed a lot about the Indian IT sector boom, the urban-rural divide, the infrastructure, the education system here and and in the U.S., the culture, the food, Bangalore, Mumbai, Goa, our previous work experience, our families, etc. Most of the delegation liked the 'spicy' Indian food! Justin especially liked the 'Dal Khichdi'.

The Cornell University president Mr Skorton said that their main purpose of the visit was to foster more exchanges with the Indian universities, to further expand research and education services in India, and to work out new areas of mutual benefit for greater partnership.

Well, am sure our interaction went off well and hope that this results in a fruitful partnership between Cornell and SPJIMR. Amen!

MBA in 18 sessions? well, quite possible...

2007-01-03T18:59:00.000+05:30

We perhaps had one of the ‘best’ lectures today on a course called ‘Business-Smart IT Applications’ by Dr. Lakshmi Mohan, who is a member of the Information Technology Management faculty of the School of Business, State University of New York. Before SUNY, Dr Lakshmi has taught at the Sloan School of Management, M.I.T. and the IIMC.

The central theme of this course is to understand the underlying principles and methodologies for getting value from IT investments through business-smart IT applications; and the data and organizational issues that have to be addressed for successful implementation. There would be real-world contemporary cases illustrating best practices of what works, and failures to highlight what does not work, and why, that would provide a balance of theory and practice.

In today’s class, we had a case discussion in which Dr Lakshmi touched upon a host of management principles. I am so impressed about today’s sessions, that if all the sessions of this course were to happen the way they happened today, I think this course could be renamed as ‘MBA in 18 sessions’.

Resolutions for the BOND year – ‘007

2007-01-03T18:17:00.000+05:30

I had never before thought of following a new year resolution with the fear of not keeping up to it. But this time round, I have made a conscious decision to religiously follow my resolutions for my own good and thats the very reason am sharing them here. So here goes my list for 2007:

Personal
1) Follow a strict fitness regime
2) Help my wife in cooking atleast twice a week (I am only saying ‘help’ – my wife caught this caveat, anyways let me make a start first)
3) Track expenses and reorganize my finances
4) Become more patient and diplomatic (I have never been good at diplomacy, but to succeed in a ‘prehensile’ world, I guess I’ve to change)

Professional
1) Read atleast 4 magazines a month – Business, Finance, Tech, Travel
2) Develop in-depth knowledge of atleast 1 domain and 1 technology (will decide on the domain and tech when am back into the corporate world)

Thought of on 31st Dec 2006 at 3PM IST @ my hostel room, SPJIMR.

So have you made your resolutions yet?

Welcome 2007!!

2007-01-01T12:59:00.000+05:30

I bid adieu to 2006 for all the good things and lessons that it has taught me and also welcomed the New Year 2007 in my own style.

Gautam, Vatsa and I had some good food+drinks and spent some time together discussing our life at SPJIMR, our resolutions and our future plans. We later went to the college bash around 11pm and danced to our heart’s content. It was just too good! Just before the stroke of midnight, my wife Shilpa called up to wish me from the US. It was perfect timing as the phone lines were jammed within a few minutes after entering 2007.

Later around 1am, Vatsa and I went on a long drive to Marine Drive, while Gautam preferred to go back to the hostel. The streets of Mumbai were packed with taxis, autos, bikes and people moving around as though its 7pm. It was a truly refreshing drive as the weather was pleasant too. Ofcourse the sight of pretty women spiced up our conversations now and then, hehe.

It was a bright night with the moon being big enough to cast its reflections on the quiet waters. We had a nice time gazing at the sea which looked very inviting and scary at the same time. We could see some water boats doing rounds, perhaps taking people enjoying the cruise party on a joy ride or something. We walked nearly 2 km all the way back to a Coffee Day in the Charni Road area. It was around 3am then. There was a special New Year’s eve menu at Coffee Day. We enjoyed our hot cuppa with a couple of chocolate cookies and left for the Churchgate station around 3.45am.

The Churchgate station was packed as we had expected - all the party-goers were returning home. We took the first train back to Andheri at 4.15am and reached our hostel around 5.15am! Will truly remember this celebration for a lifetime I guess. If not anything, I will definitely miss the sea and night-life of Mumbai back home in Bangalore.

Throughout the celebrations, I missed my wife-Shilpa and one of my best friends here-Vinaya. Vinaya could not join us as his friend had come down for an H1B appointment and so had to give him company.

Happy New Year 2007 :)

2007-01-01T05:56:00.000+05:30

Hey folks,

Just returned after a great night out. Thought of wishing u all before I hit the sack. Will detail out whatever I did after I wake up.

Wish you all a very Happy, Healthy, Prosperous and Scintillating 2007!!

BTW with this post, I have scored half-a-century on this blog :)
Cheerio!!

Babel - review

2006-12-31T09:03:00.000+05:30

Babel is a saga with a single incident connecting different individuals in different parts of the world. Its like bringing to life the characters of a good storybook. The movie is intense; bundled with moments of pain, anxiety, fear, desire and happiness. There is an amazing sense of ‘connect’ between the chain of events throughout. I liked the way events are mapped to their respective timezones.

Just to give you a feel of what is this timezone stuff am talking of, the landscapes include the Moroccan desert, the Mexican – American border and the buzzing streets of Tokyo.
The background score is too good; you will love the base guitar snippets.
Brad Pitt has proved his merit again. Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal and
Koji Yakusho have all acted wonderfully.

I never give away the story in my reviews as I feel it spoils all the fun, will follow suit here too :) But believe me, ‘Babel’ will keep you engrossed from start to finish!!

My rating: * * * *

Kabul Express - take a ride!

2006-12-28T01:00:00.000+05:30

Decided to watch this despite many friends telling me that this film isn’t worth a silver screen ticket. Well, I liked ‘Kabul Express’. It is a short and straight movie without the usual running around trees stuff and conveys a subtle sensation of the life of an abandoned soldier in a god-forsaken, war-plundered place. In a way, it depicts the softer side of the harshly branded ‘talib’.

John, Arshad, Linda Arsenio (Jessica – a US war reporter), Hanif Hum Ghum ( Khyber – an Afghan) and Salman Shahid (Imran Khan Afridi – an abandoned Pak Talib) have done their bit to make the movie interesting. I personally liked Salman Shahid….wonder where was this chap all these years?

The background score is neat and the dialogues are good. However, the landscapes tend to repeat and the scenes seem to be amiss now and then, but still its worth taking a ride on the Kabul Express!

My rating: * * *

Bhagam Bhag – a quick review

2006-12-23T00:48:00.000+05:30

If you want to beat the blues, laugh your lungs out and still bite your nails, then Bhagam Bhag is a film etched for you. For the first time, I watched a Hindi movie that’s got a good story churning out rib tickling comedy amidst high drama with some twists and turns (Munnabhai ofcourse had a story line too).
It was fun to see good old ‘Chi Chi’ aka Govinda do what he is best at (although, I didn’t see a high pitched role for him). Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal have mastered the act of making people laugh over the years ever since ‘Hera Pheri’. Lara Dutta, Asrani, Rajpal, Jackie Shroff, Shakthi Kapoor and others too add sweeteners to the already sweet ‘laughter cake’!

My rating: * * * *

Who says there's no night-life in Bangalore?

2006-12-22T17:43:00.000+05:30

Just back from a short trip to Bangalore :) Met some of my close friends and relatives. Went out with friends on Wednesday night.'13th Floor' in Barton Center kept us ‘high’ upto the Zero hour. Then, we walked all along MG Road and Brigade Road in the middle of the cold winter night. It was good fun – we found some ‘chai’ and ‘chaat’ stalls on the pavements. There were quite a few motorists standing by; smoking and chatting. Brigade road too had some couples roaming. After the long walk, we were very hungry. But where could we find a place to eat at 1.30 am in Bangalore? - We went to the KSRTC Bus Station and had lemon rice (chitranna) at some fast-food restaurant! We were still hungry and could not find anything good to eat at that place. So we hit the Railway Station. We had some roti+mixed veg+dal makhani at a restaurant called 'ComeSun' there. By the time we were done, it was 3 am! Then I dropped my friends and reached home around 3.45 am. Never have I loafed around Bangalore so late in the night. It was a good experience, but no way close to Mumbai’s night buzz. However, now I (and you)know how to manage a bit of night-life even in Bangalore :)

Some cool pix

2006-12-16T11:55:00.000+05:30

Shivaji

Swamy Vivekananda

Gateway Of India

The TAJ Palace

The Lounge @ Taj

Taj Palace, Taj Tower and Gateway of India

A view from the sea

The black and beautiful Cannon:)

2006-12-16T11:44:00.000+05:30

Cannon Mouth - BOOM

Cannon - Feed End

Steps leading Underground

Cannon Rooted

Cannon - Full View

Passage Leading Out

Refinery and a couple of ships

2006-12-16T11:09:00.000+05:30

Some of the sculptures/carvings @ Elephanta Caves

2006-12-16T10:30:00.000+05:30

Elephanta Caves and the Taj!

2006-12-16T10:25:00.000+05:30

Vinaya and I had been on a trip to Elephanta Caves on Thursday, the 14th of Dec. We took one of those fast trains from Andheri to Churchgate and then a taxi to Gateway of India. From there, we had to take a ferry to Elephanta Caves. The ferry journey was really good. I met a friendly retired German sailor on board who told me a lot of things about tankers, containers, their tonnage, power, etc. In about an hour, we reached the Elephanta Caves. These caves look like they are man-made and have some great carvings, but almost every second carving has been plundered.

We still had about 2 hours left before the return journey. So we decided to trek up the Cannon Hill. We never knew what we would find up there, but we wanted to explore.
In about 15minutes, we could see a wall with holes in between….yes, you are right – these holes were of the size of the mouth of a cannon. We quickly went up and found that from the other side of this wall, we could directly see the foothills of the Elephanta Caves. In just about 100 metres from this wall, we found a black beauty; yuppie –an old cannon! It really felt good that the decision to trek the unknown route showed us something fantastic. The cannon was locked onto a metal shaft and routed to the ground below. There were steps next to this cannon that went underground. We went down and found two rooms, one of which had some old rusty machinery. It looked like these rooms were used to store ammunition. There was a passage that led straight out to the far end outside – something like an underground escape route! All this was beautifully camouflaged by land and grass. The experience was like flipping through an adventure novel!

Later, on ferrying back to Gateway of India, we were very hungry. So we decided to dine at the Taj! We freshened up and decided to go for the buffet. The food was excellent – we tried out almost everything that looked new and inviting. We just enjoyed every bite, every gulp, every slurp! I really am not sure if I can call it an 8-course meal as I lost count of the number of desserts I had. The ambience was also classy!

All in All, a fabulous weekend!

Celebrations Galore

2006-12-13T13:19:00.000+05:30

After the stunning placements here; Vinaya, Vatsa and I feasted at the JW Marriott – We were in Marriott between 00.30 am and 3.30 am on Friday, the 8th of Dec. JWM is a place where you can find all the rich and famous people of Mumbai. It really felt good to see ‘namma bengaluru boy’ Nikhil Chinappa in about 2 metres distance :). The food was great and the ambience – just world-class!

The next morning, the PGDM class of 2007 felicitated everybody who helped us in our placements. Vatsa, Vinaya and I went to the Gold Class show of Baabul (a social film with a strong and meaningful message) at Cinemax, Infiniti Mall. The best part was that we watched the movie on a full and comfy recliner – all for just Rs 150/- Later in the night, some 8 of us went to Shirdi and came back on Sunday night. We had a good darshan of Shri Shirdi Sai Baba.

The weather is great here and some of us are planning to go on a short trip to the Elephanta Caves tomorrow (Thursday – our weekend)

Hey, the classes of the last term before internship have also started in full swing from Monday, so we are not done yet!

Ways and Means to FUN around SPJIMR

2006-12-12T19:52:00.000+05:30

Spread over 40 acres, our institute is located in Andheri (W) which happens to be one of the most happening suburbs in Mumbai. There are quite a few places to hang-out around the college.

Shopping: You can go shopping for daily stuff @ Apna Bazaar, you can shop till you drop @ Lokhandwala or Infiniti Mall (2.5km) or InOrbit Mall (the biggest mall in Mumbai - 8km),

Food and Party: You can have healthy South-Indian food @ Navaratna or Sri Krishna Bhavan, you can try some great Mexican and Lebanese food @ Bombay Blues (Shoppers Stop building – 2.5km), you can throw a party @ JW Marriott (4km) , you can hit the dance floor @ Club Escape (2.5km),

Movie: You can catch a movie @ Cinemax (Infiniti), Fame Adlabs or Fun Republic (all 1.5km)

Sports: You can indulge in sports like Badminton, Tennis, Squash, TT, Swimming, etc @ Andheri Sports Complex (stone’s throw from Boys Hostel), you can go bowling @ Fun Republic (1.5km)

Nature: You can laze around on the Juhu beach (4km), you can even trek up the 65million year old Gilbert Hill (1km).

Transport: Autos ply all over Andheri. The local station is just about 1.5km and the airport is around 8km.

If you are a connoisseur of food, you should check out these: Sasuraal, Poush, Yoko, SreeJees, Chawlas, Mc Donalds’, Rajdhani, Moti Mahal, Radhakrishna, Balle Balle, Some Place Else, Patio, Woodlands, Utsav, Tian…..can remember only these many at the moment :) Let me know incase you need directions for any of these restaurants.

Forgive my spelling errors if any in this post :)

SPJIMR - 1 Year PGDM ROCKS--OFFERS DELUGE BABY:))

2006-12-08T19:04:00.000+05:30

PLACEMENTS – PGDM CLASS OF 2007
(One Year Full Time MBA)

December 9th, 2006

The one year PGDM program of the SP Jain Institute of Management & Research scripted a fantastic success story with placements touching dizzying heights for the Class of 2007. The placement for the participants was conducted from 6th – 8th Dec 2006 and has been a resounding success with 33 companies giving a total of 151 offers to 57 participants.

The highlight of the placements was the first offer of the first day being the highest salary offer of Rs 24.35 Lakhs. The booming and the fast growing economy saw an unprecedented number of companies vying to recruit the experienced professionals of the one year program.

The Class of 2007 has 58 students, of which 57 participated in the Placements Process. 55 companies showed initial interest in participating in the placement process and finally 41 companies participated in the placement process with 33 companies making a total of 151 offers. The average salary offered to the participants was INR 11.35 Lakhs. A significant number of the participants saw phenomenal rise in their salaries from their previous professional portfolios. The average increase in salaries for the participants was 70%, which translates into an average salary increase of Rs 5.15 Lakhs, a little less than the program fee of Rs 5.53 Lakhs. The four women participants of the program also saw a roaring success with more than 15 confirmed offers to choose from.

Several of the blue chip companies like Infosys, Satyam, Reliance Retail, Mphasis, ICICI and Covansys offered more than 10 offers each to the participants. Some of the conglomerates participating in the placement process were IBM, McKinsey KC, SAP, Cognizant Technologies, L & T and TCS.

The participant with the highest salary offer and more than a decade of experience in the process industry had this to say, “After having worked in the industry for so many years, I had a feeling that my career was progressing at a slower pace than I would have liked to and this drove me to join SPJIMR. My one year at the institute has been one of intense academic rigour and I am specially impressed by the innovative program architecture and the structured approach of SPJIMR to the One Year PGDM program. I am especially enthralled by the fact that my decision to join SPJIMR over other foreign B Schools has been proved so correct. I am excited about the forthcoming challenge and the responsibility and looking forward to use my learning.”

The participant with the highest quantum jump in salary package of 342% over the last package, says, “Working for a leading industrial house in the field of Manufacturing was a pleasant experience, but I strongly felt the need for a Business Management education for an accelerated growth of my professional track. Today I am thrilled & excited to have received an offer from one of the leading global consultancy firms, where I would be able to leverage my previous experience and contribute effectively on a global platform.”

Professor Sunil Rai, Chairperson of the PGDM program, had this to say, “A number of participants had chosen to join SPJIMR’s PGDM program looking for value addition at a critical juncture of their professional careers. The PGDM program architecture was designed on the SPJIMR ethos of value based and dynamically innovative pedagogy. This is the only one year program in the country to offer specialisations in Information Management and Operations & Manufacturing. This makes the SPJIMR PGDM program a sought after program to help professionals to explore advancements and career shifts successfully. Some of the dramatic career shifts made by participants of the program include: A lady participant from the Merchant Navy joining one of the retail giant”.

The lady participant from the Merchant Navy, Sonika Joshi, the first woman Officer Cadet from India, had this to say, “I feel that this dramatic career shift from the Merchant Navy to high growing Retail Business area would not had been possible without the extremely valuable inputs and training I received at SP Jain. I feel that my people and project management skills from my professional experience and the business knowledge from SPJIMR will propel me to great heights.”

Prof. Abbasali Gabula, Chairperson, External Relations and Placements said, “SPJIMR plans to drive the one year program to a greater milieu of professionals by adding diverse but relevant courses as elective from Jan 2008. The institute strongly feels that the huge growth of economy and the rapid industrialisation will need an unprecedented number of managers empowered with the learning of a management education and endeavours to meet a significant number of these requirements of the industry.”

The PGDM program at SPJIMR has received the appreciation of the industry and has lived up to its promise of providing the corporate with highly experienced and focused mid-level managers with modern outlook.

Wisdom from the Wise

2006-12-03T09:08:00.000+05:30

Over the last 8 months @ SPJIMR, I have had many opportunities to listen to people who have been transformational in their field of work. Some of the distinguished speakers so far:
Ajay Piramal (Chairman – Piramal Enterprises), Mahesh Murthy (Venture Capitalist and also a CEO), Rashmi Bansal (JAM Editor), Pascal Alan Nazareth (Managing Trustee, Sarvodaya International Trust)

All of them told us the way they have excelled in life and in whatever they did. They also shared with us their ups and downs. I sense two common attributes in all of them:
They all are deeply passionate about whatever they are doing.
They all have taken risks with a strong conviction.

We have also had guest lectures from many of the Industry experts which has been a good part of our learning.

I wish management graduates and laterals are recruited for roles that not only suit business requirements, but also ignite our passion.

ITA Awards - another pic

2006-11-29T16:11:00.000+05:30

ITA Awards - 3
Originally uploaded by VinayakR.

This was one of the dance sequences for the song - Piya Tu Ab To Aaja

ITA Awards - another pic

2006-11-29T15:56:00.000+05:30

One more pic - the changing background colors looked cool :)

ITA Awards - Nov 25th 2006

2006-11-29T15:16:00.000+05:30

I managed to get an entry to the ITA Awards 2006 event that took place in our college grounds on Nov 25th. I did get to see a number of soap stars, Asha Parekh, Jeetendra, Rakesh Roshan, Smriti Irani and Shilpa Shetty. Also saw Mr Vineet Jain ( MD, Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd)take the prize for the 'Times Now' channel.

FYI, the stage set-up started exactly two weeks before the event.

View of SP Jain from Gilbert Hill

2006-11-28T17:22:00.000+05:30

View of SP Jain from Gilbert Hill
Originally uploaded by VinayakR.

The light brown color building right in the middle of this pic is SP Jain Institute of Management & Research. My hostel is seen right opposite SPJIMR and is of the same color. SPJIMR is in a 40-acre Bhavan's Campus right in the heart of Andheri West!! Amazing locale I say:)

Gilbert Hill

2006-11-28T17:16:00.000+05:30

Gilbert Hill
Originally uploaded by VinayakR.

Gilbert Hill - The 65million year old monolithic rock right in the heart of Andheri Suburb, Mumbai. Its been declared 'protected' and the Govt has promised(at last) to keep it from perishing due to the heavy construction around this rock(TOI dated 27th Nov ’06). U can see a tall apartment building hiding next to this brown beauty.

(photography - Vinaya)

Even if you dont like the party, U shud wear the make-up!

2006-11-27T18:20:00.000+05:30

I just happened to say this(without realising it could be a quote:)) to my wife abt a week back when she said she wasnt too interested in filling up some official form. I think this quote applies to every instance when someone doesnt personally prefer doing something, but they do it just to avoid fingers pointing at them or being left out.As far as i see it,almost all dipomats live by this. In the much larger scheme of things, all people who do not like the system they are in, but live by it just 'coz they do not want the 'rebel' tag come under the message this quote implies!

Gateway of India close-up

2006-11-27T18:08:00.000+05:30

DSCN1067
Originally uploaded by VinayakR.

Another Close-up of the GoI:)

Gateway of India

2006-11-27T18:02:00.000+05:30

DSCN1070
Originally uploaded by VinayakR.

The Gateway of India, Mumbai - in all its glory:)

DHOOM - 2 Review

2006-11-26T20:51:00.000+05:30

Dhoom-2 is a super-duper style show! This time round, the famous cop-thief story continues with scintillating stunts coupled with sizzling hot babes like Bipasha and Aishwarya Rai. However, Dhoom-2 lacks the smooth sequence and seems way too unbelievable at times. Its definitely a thin-miss from the standards of Dhoom-1 which looked believable inspite of all the amazing stunts. All the stars have delivered their best, but i still cant find a good reason for the role Bips played. There's not too much to talk abt her role in the film. Abhishek and Hrithik just ROCK! Uday has all the reason to keep smiling :). For the rest of the action, catch Dhoom-2 LIVE on the big screen!

My rating: ***

The SUN up close

2006-11-26T20:40:00.000+05:30

Sunrise in Nov - 3
Originally uploaded by VinayakR.

The close-up view of the BIG Orange:)

Full View of the Sunrise

2006-11-26T20:36:00.000+05:30

Sunrise in Nov - 2
Originally uploaded by VinayakR.

This is another full view of the rising SUN:)

Sunrise in November

2006-11-26T20:22:00.000+05:30

Sunrise in November
Originally uploaded by VinayakR.

This is the view of the beautiful 'November Sunrise' from my room @ SPJIMR hostel

What was my first take-home?

2006-11-24T00:41:00.000+05:30

I was just pondering over something and I thought of blogging this – I have acted in a DoorDarshan Public Awareness Ad! Yes, this was in my 3rd standard, hehe. My dialogue was ‘Amma Hasivu’ ( meaning ‘Mama, am hungry’).

The Ad scene was like this: I had to tell my mom (screen mom) that am hungry. Immediately my mom would heat some milk and pour it into a cup to give it to me. Almost around the same time, my sis (screen sis) would come and say that she is hungry too. But unfortunately, my mom would discriminate between us and go on to explain my sis that as a boy, I needed more energy and better physique as I would later have to work harder. So my sis would have to starve. At the end, some kind soul would come and explain my parents that both a girl and a boy needed to be taken care well and neither should be neglected.

Sadly, even to this day in some parts of our country, we still find people neglecting the girl child; we still find several cases of female feticides. Hope all of us realize that afterall where would all of us be without our mothers?

Hey, by the way, I got a payment of Rs 75/- for about an hour of the acting effort :)

Some of my gyan for the MBA aspirants

2006-11-21T15:03:00.000+05:30

This is not a gospel to get a B-school admit. I just realized that the CAT is belled and hence thought of putting down some of my gyan here.

If any of you are considering joining a B-school, essays form an integral part of the selection process. Without being a cliché, let me just tell you what is it that the admission committees look at in your essays.

The folks in the Admission Committee (we call it AdCOM @ SPJIMR) normally design questions to know you as a person, as a professional and as a student. The questions will address your reason for getting into an MBA programme, your career goals, your experience, the challenges/adversities you faced and how you overcame those, your most satisfying achievements, your strengths and weakness, et al.

In general, the AdCOM wants to know whether you have done a good bit of soul-searching as to your present self, your future goals and how do you think an MBA can help you reach your goals. This brings us to my golden rule for essays – All your essays need to be in sync with 3 basic aspects:

What are you?

What you want to be/do?

How do you think the MBA can help you enroute the “answer to the 2nd aspect”?

This is what I call a ‘connect’!

So guys n gals, men n women; please think, introspect and retrospect as to why do u want to be an MBA? This is the most important question. The answer to this will solve half the problems right from whether or not to pursue an MBA programme to choosing the B-school and more importantly the specific programme you want to enroll for. Some of you might want to enroll for the 2 year fulltime MBA programme, some for the 1 year fulltime MBA programme and yet some more for the Distance Learning or Executive MBA programme.

Lets address the next topic – 2 yr MBA or 1 yr MBA?
To tell you the truth, there’s no thumb rule to this. I will highlight only abt the 1 year programme here as most people would know better than me abt the 2 yr programme.

The advantages of the 1 year programme are:

You are not too long away from the industry(your work I mean)

You are not too long away from your family (to be away for a year itself is difficult I know)

You get to interact and network with people with diverse experience and skills

You get to resonate better with the concepts under discussion due to your own experience (1 year MBA programmes are NOT for the ‘uninitiated’. I would deem any 1 year programme that defies this as only a ‘money-swindler’)

You will most definitely be able to switch roles laterally across business functions at the end of the programme

You get almost the same amount of gyan or even more than the 2 year programme in double quick time!

** For the right gyan, you need to join the right B-school**

So what’s the flip side?

You will have to face a very hectic, rigorous schedule

You will find it very difficult to make time to participate in B-school contests

You will find it indefinitely impossible to pursue your interests and hobbies

You will have to face/hear a disgruntled wife/gf /child most of the time

You will realize that falling ill is a crime

You will have to miss your weekend parties (you can work around this sometimes with ‘smart’ work though, hehe)

Hey, are you game for the 1 year programme? Well, believe me, it isn’t all that scary. The 8 months that I have already spent here at SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai have been enriching. The significant take-away for me has been ‘time management’. I really adore my mom for this – when I think back, I realize how difficult it might have been for her to manage her time between hectic work and home, but she never complained and was always on time to work and did most of the work at home.

For the moment, I just have to say this – Think well before you leap into an MBA programme. Don’t just follow the herd!

All The Best!

Mumbai gets cooler – yeaaaaah!

2006-11-20T12:18:00.000+05:30

Since the last one week, the weather God seems to have shown mercy. YES, ITS BECOME COOLER HERE:). The evenings are pleasant, there’s cool breeze during the nite and the morning sun shines bright only after about 8. However the afternoons are still humid. Nevertheless, it’s such a relief from the pinching heat that we faced before.

My room faces the East and I can clearly make out the shift in the Earth’s axis. From the time I came here (April) till November, the early Sun’s rays used to grace Anand’s (my roomy) bed first. I remember how he would hurriedly pull the curtains as he is used to feel uncomfortable while studying early in the morning. These days, the Sun’s rays have changed direction and help me wake up! – Amazing Nature, isn’t it? I remember my mother telling me stories from the Mahabharata (ancient Hindu epic) and one of the instances in which Bhishma (Ganga’s son and Uncle of the Pandavas) waited for the right time to breathe his last on a bed of arrows for the Uttarayana Punya Kala (starts in March-April) when the Sun’s rays change their direction (or should I say the Earth shifts in its axis?)

So what’s the forecast like? At 9.45AM today, the forecast was a High of 35 Deg C and a low of 21 Deg C (source: ndtv.com), very unlike of the usually Hot, Hotter, Hottest Mumbai right?

Casino Royale – the New Bond has arrived!

2006-11-17T15:01:00.001+05:30

Hi folks,

Had been to the Premier show of Casino Royale – the new 007 movie y’day nite <16-Nov-06, 10.45 pm show @ Fun Republic, Andheri>. It is the first premier that I have ever watched and I am really pleased to say that Casino Royale is worth every penny. The new agent 007 – Daniel Craig seems to have delivered his best, but lacks the Brosnan or Connery charisma. Although the title track ‘You know my name’ isn’t all that appealing, right from the thrilling opening scene, the script is fast paced, races with your pulse and grips you to the core! There are a lot of trips, twists and stunts from the Bond, James Bond. But unlike the usual Bond movies, Casino Royale doesn’t have the rush of concupiscence . All in all, another truly classic James Bond flick – U will love it!

Cheers

High Performance Entrepreneur

2006-11-04T14:00:00.000+05:30

Hey folks,

Returned in the middle of sunday nite [29th Oct]. Was pleased to meet a gud friend from PESIT at the Blore airport. I guess am having a home-hangover mode still - not been able to start serious studies yet. Have been reading a book "High Performance Entrepreneur" by Subroto Bagchi, COO MindTree Consulting [the company i worked with before SAP Labs]. The book is absolutely amazing. Its all about entrepreneurship - choosing ur start-up team, knowing when u r ready to start a business n all the nuances of business plan, raising money, growing the company, so on and so forth. The details are explained with the experience of the MindTree start-up team. Subroto, as usual, pours his heart out in this book. I would say its a must-read for all those interested in entrepreneurship.

Cheers!

Home in 2 days :) - Deepavali Greetings

2006-10-13T11:36:00.000+05:30

Our Deepavali vacation just around the corner – yes folks, SPJIMR is gonna be quiet without the usual hustle - bustle of students between 15th and 29th October. I will be off to my hometown ‘Namma Bengaluru’ – the best city known to me in India :) Hoping to spend quality time with family, meet a lot of friends, spread the awareness of PGDM programme to atleast some people who matter ;), celebrate Deepavali in grandiose and have home-cooked meals almost everyday!:)

BTW, am not really sure if I will be able to blog while in Bangalore, so you will mostly see/hear more from me in November. So wish u all a very Happy & Safe Deepavali :)

Woodlands Hotel in Juhu, Mumbai

2006-10-13T11:35:00.000+05:30

Y’day, Vinaya, Darshan n I decided to dine out after a heavy day. We thought of going to Utsav on Juhu road. The autowala just stopped abt 100m further away from where we asked him to stop. As soon as we got out, I was pleasantly surprised to read ‘Woodlands’ infront of me. I wondered if this belonged to the famous south-indian Woodlands chain. We decided to check out and were sure that it belonged to the same chain as we found a typical ‘south-indian brahmin’ drawing near the reception!

We had south-indian economical thali – 3 big pooris < or chapathis> two sabjis, a cup of hot thili saaru , sambar, plain rice, curd rice, hapla and gulab jamun!
It was yummmmy although it didn’t exactly taste like that you will find in the Woodlands, Bangalore. It was definitely a welcome-break from the usual north-indian style of food that we get to eat here.

For those who want to check this place out – it’s a lil further ahead from ‘On Toes’ pub towards the petrol bunk on the same side of Juhu road.

WWW and Flavors!

2006-10-13T11:32:00.000+05:30

Over the last few days, have watched ‘What Women Want’(WWW) and ‘Flavors’ on my lappy. Am sure most ppl wd have watched ‘What Women Want’. It’s a funny movie in which a guy can read women’s thoughts/mind n what he gains by it – obviously a quick fling with a hot chick, entry into a woman’s heart, his daughter starts liking him and he even rescues a loner gal.

‘Flavors’ is all about desis abroad – their behavior, typical pink-slip woes, few trying to ‘patao’ someone, etc all rolled into a hilarious comedy. I watched it in the middle of the nite <2 am – 3.30 am>, alone on my lappy n still found myself somewhat amused laughing aloud! This one's a must-watch.

Geeta Shibir - enriching eh?:)

2006-10-06T11:47:00.000+05:30

Writing after a long time…..life has been very hectic, caught up between project works, assignment submissions, end term and the dreaded comprehensive exam nicknamed ‘compre’! Its such a relief to be done with all this and now we are in the middle of the ‘specialisation’ module.

Have watched quite a few movies since the last time I blogged – Naksha < timepass, remake of ‘Welcome to the Jungle’>, Pyaar Ke Side Effects , Shiva .

We had been to something called ‘Geeta Shibir’ for a couple of days n returned y’day morning. Sadly, it was not a good experience. Leave alone the unkept guest rooms, toilets, the ghee-some food, and only-dhokla breakfast, the sessions were unimpressive too. After attending a couple of sessions, Vinaya n I were happy to stay off and instead relax – we slept n slept n slept for abt 9 hrs extra over the two days, something that was a luxury with our hectic schedules!

Some swamy gyan:
The swamy < I wd have used a capital S if I really appreciated him> spoke a lot abt ‘happiness, unhappiness’, ‘all of us are selfish’, ‘realistic n unrealistic expectations’,‘the tea was drinking the swamy, so he left drinking it’..< the gist of the tea stuff -> the swamy never used to drink tea in his childhood. When he started working, he fell into the habit of drinking tea 4 or 5 times a day. Once, while working on a weekend, he did not drink tea at the usual time…so he developed a bad headache, nausea, stomach ache n even vomited – u get that???? So after becoming a swamy, by chance he did not have tea at the usual time due to a logistics problem and it seems he did not get the much-awaited headache….so he realized that he had won over his habitual tea-drinking sickness! Lol> and some supposed joke of counting 1 thru 10!
It seems that the swamy doesn’t like the life in East – he said that its only here that we find a servile environment, In the West, ppl are independent. But I guess he forgets to correct this when his staff hold an umbrella everytime he walks out, show him the way by holding a torch at nite and even fan him while he happily lunches! The swamy doesn’t seem to understand animals too. He said that animals act on their basic instinct alone and never think….At another instance, when some of our folks were thoroughly bugged and were whispering something, the swamy lost his cool and told them not to ‘chit-chat’ atleast when he could see them….hmmmm, I agree that the boyz should not have done the supposed chit-chat, but the so-called swamy could have been calmer or maybe the ‘anger is still drinking him’. Reportedly < I was absent> at another instance, while explaining abt ‘satisfaction, dissatisfaction n related anger’, the swamy visibly was unimpressed with his diminishing audience and cleverly put the blame on the profs by saying ‘many chairs are empty, but I should not be dissatisfied. It was the duty of the faculty to take care of this’ Our profs would have felt bad for sure , but I hope they realize the reason for the diminishing audience.

I remember that the swamy said that we should tell the truth in a pleasing manner, sadly I cant be diplomatic. Maybe there were a few good things the swamy talked of too like women should more economically independent. If anyone else has anything to share, plz feel free to comment. Geeta Shibir – wat an enriching experience:)

Another gud weekend;) ---read also my thoughts on KANK

2006-08-25T00:23:00.000+05:30

Had a gud weekend - ya i know its midweek for most. But we at SP Jain, have a holiday only on thursdays. Watched Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna at Cinemax, Infinity Mall on wednesday nite. Well, have heard most ppl saying its one bakwaas movie. But I somehow feel its a movie that conveys deep messages! < Infact, i believe u can learn something from every movie...directors, actors, writers arent stupid...there's gotto be a lotta thought b4 they come up with their creation> Although i do not appreciate the values that the film portrays, i think there are quite a few take-aways:

1) Relationships are built over time and with trust, transparency n care.

2) Treat your partner the way u wd like him/her to treat u.

3) When a relationship isnt working, its just not one person's fault. Both the ppl involved need to address the same. Never fight over who's fault it is....Understand the situation....Patch up...try making things work!

4) Listen, wait, think n then talk....instead of pouring out in a 'Verbal Diarrhea' kinda fashion! < I was short tempered before....can confidently say i have calmed down a lot over the last couple of years :)..it does take effort>

5) last, but not the least --- "Live Life to the FULL", enjoy every moment...u never know wats gonna happen next. < I always try to follow this one thing very strongly>.

Must say, am Blessed to have a Wonderful, Caring, Sweet Wife...very few ppl get to marry their gf :)

Well, i guess that was enuf of philosophy. I loved the acting talent of the BIG B, the smart, younger B, SRK, the ever lovely Preity, n the wide eyed Rani!! :) Its damn tuff displaying all those emotions. Although, some dialogues n situations < the balle scenes...aweful i say> are crazy, its worth a watch!

Last, but not the least, I loved the NY streets....i definitely wanna visit NY sometime b4 am too old.

My rating for KANK: ***

On thursday, 25th Aug, went with vinaya, vatsa n darshan to lokhandwala....we had the authentic Mc Donalds' Burger Combo Meal, then strolled around the Lokhandwala complex streets ogling < come on, am not a saint:)>, having fun, joking. The next pit stop was 'Maama Mia' ...had amazing gelato < Italian 96% fat free cone-icecream>. Next halt was at the Barista just around the corner...Had a nice hot cuppa Latte < the ever refreshing barista's hot cuppa>. Back to hostel arnd 11.30pm. Overall, two more gr8 evenings in my extended bachelorhood..hehe!

Cheers n Gnite...its 26th Aug, 1AM right now! Lemme hit-the-sack now:) Gnite n sweetdreamz to me...:)
~Vinayak

some frenz

2006-08-02T00:50:00.000+05:30

some frenz
Originally uploaded by VinayakR.

left to right -> yogesh, vivek, vinayak, vatsa, kapil

Photo session pic - Kannada speaking folks in class

2006-08-02T00:37:00.000+05:30

kannada speaking folks:)
Originally uploaded by VinayakR.

left to right, back to front: ramesh, keshav, sanjay, vinayak, vishwanath, marutheesh, sachin, vidyadhar,bharat,vinaya

My Birthday:) - will cherish forever!!

2006-07-31T17:35:00.000+05:30

Offlate, a new tradition has taken off to celebrate birthdays - the whole PGDM batch gets together at the strike of midnight and give bumps to the birthday boy, pour water on him and also break an egg on his head!

My earnest roomy, Anand, didn't want me to get hurt and made a plan. He asked me to hide under the cot, while he would tell people that i was at my relative's place!:)
I thought it was a gud idea and hid under the cot. It was fun watching/hearing so many friends come enthusiastically to beat me up only to find me missing. I was chuckling from under the cot..haha!

Meanwhile my parents called n wished. Then my wife, Shilpa called n when i told her abt what was happening, she burst into laughter n i just cudnt control my chuckling. At the same time, my friend Prashanth was enquiring my roomy abt me and he heard me laugh! He knelt down n saw me giggling under the cot. He informed all that jantha n locked me from outside. The jantha arrived, pulled me out of my room and literally held me captive against a pillar and started the bashing n bumping.....ooooh, Sachin invited some ppl from another batch to bash me...shhucks, there's one guy in that batch that all of us dread n he too joined the team to bash me:(( I went through the ordeal, which was indeed painfull than ever as ppl were irked by waiting for me.

Next was the waterfall treatment...3 buckets of water were poured from the top floor, although i dodged 2 of them, hehe:)

Ppl told me that the 'unda fodna' was given up from then on, so i was so happy. We went to the night canteen and sat for a hot cuppa n suddenly 'TUPP'...some hand lands on my already bald head:( ...yes, its an egg n it was such a messy affair as the yolk came trickling down <> That's how my birthday started - I turned 26 on 26th:)

Later in the day, i cut a vanilla cake in Bistro, our college cafeteria and as expected it was the usual smearing:) After the classes, some of us went to 'chawlas', a punjabi dhaba cum restaurant in Oshiwara(w). We tried hukka, had a few drinks, n had authentic punjabi food. The crowd was good, so it was fun watching them too:) We returned to the hostel around 11.30 pm n danced till abt 1am. Finally, i went to bed at around 1.30am, 27th july:)

This is one birthday, i will always cherish:)...thanks to all classmates, friends n family< n ofcourse GOD> for such a wonderful day!!

Omkara - a review

2006-07-31T16:10:00.000+05:30

Hey ppl,

Nice to get back to blogging after a brief break, thanks to the ban.

Y'day Vinaya n I decided to watch Omkara although we knew that there were meek chances of getting a ticket as it was a Sunday. We were lucky that there were exactly 2 ppl who hadnt turned up after booking n we got those seats!:)

Omkara, it seems is an adaptation of Shakesphere's 'Othello'. The story is all about Love, Mistrust, Hate and all the emotions that are associated with these. A lil of stereotype 'gang'ism is put forth too. To give u a trailer, Ajay Devgan, Saif n
Vive(i)k are all part of a gang n work as per orders from Naseeruddin Shah. Kareena Kapoor falls in love with Ajay Devgan and walks away with him against her dad's wishes. The real story begins now! I do not want to be cursed by telling the story as i know a lot of my friends wanna watch it.

I didn't like the script much, although Saif n Ajay Devgan's acting is impeccable! The scenic settings are good too. Kareena, Viveik and Bips dont really have much of a role.

My Rating: * *

Some jantha

2006-07-20T11:06:00.000+05:30

with a lady in class
Originally uploaded by VinayakR.

Photo Session pics

Order Dubbas ONLINE

2006-06-26T15:03:00.000+05:30

Mumbai Dabbawalas, as most of us know run the best managed supply-chain business without any major tech help. They make just one error in every 1.6 crore transactions. That gives them a Six Sigma performance tag of 99.999999 %. Now, they have gone 2 steps ahead with technology. U can order your dabba ONLINE on the Dabbawala website.

U can even book your Dabba through your cell phone by sending an SMS to 3636. This is how it is done: Send your name and home and office addresses to the short-code number. Suppose you are Satish and you live in Bandra, you can send message like this to 3636: “Dabba Satish Meghdoot 504 Linking Road Bandra Atlanta 2nd floor Nariman Point.”

Ain't this cool?? Wish the dabbawala association gives me a share of their profit for this publicity...LOL.

2 months of solid grind

2006-06-26T13:03:00.000+05:30

Hey ppl, I completed 2 months at SP Jain Institute of Management & Research y'day[:)] Its been a roller-coaster ride so far. Its been a lot of learning, fun and loafing. The faculty are very committed to make us learn and ensure that we get innumerable assignments, tests, quizzes, and exams apart from the high rated gyan in class. Sometimes, feel that so many tests are indeed not necessary...anyways thats the system here(guess in most Indian B-schools), so just need to live with it. There's no mobile signal in the college campus. This compounds the seriousness of the management to make us focus on our studies.

All of us wait for a Thursday - our only day off! Believe me, all of us think we have never been so busy in life ever. Sometimes we dont even realise what day it is.

Have the midterm exams scheduled this week for term 1(Functional Module - Financial Mgmt, Marketing Mgmt, Operations Mgmt, People & Performance and IT in Business)..THE GRIND CONTINUES...

Learnings from the Foundation module

2006-06-24T00:19:00.000+05:30

What did i learn during the foundation module ?

I learnt to read and comprehend financial statements, balance sheets and Profit & Loss statements of a company, some statistics stuff and a lot of Economics ( Micro Economics - pricing, costing, productivity, monopoly, oligopoly, perfect competition, consumer behavior, etc. Macro Economics - govt’s role in controlling money markets, sensex, forex, economic crisis in Japan, South-East Asia, current Chinese economy, etc)

I am comfortable in comprehending as to why the sensex sheds points because of FII pullout and the relationship between FII pullout in India due to a Federal rate hike in the US, y Americans don’t save, y is China a gr8 exporter and how is it that manufacturing sector so damn cheap in China, how does the value of a currency fluctuate, whats inflation, from where does money come from when Govt is in need…..all these are so very interesting!!

RFID

2006-06-12T15:06:00.000+05:30

IT in Business - a subject that emphasises the role and scope of IT in all kinds of businesses. Each group in class had to prepare a presentation on one of the technologies and its application in business and the approach towards implementation of these technologies. We had to concentrate more on the 'what' part than the 'how' part of the technology--the rationale is that as managers and thought leaders, its necessary to know the lingo of business and technology more than the implementation of the technology.

My group had to make a presentation on RFID - 'Radio Frequency Identification Device' which can play a great role in the Supply Chain. The benefits of RFID are cost reduction, easy tracking of items, inventory management, etc. RFID definitely is the next BIG thing in the Retail Sector. Take a look at the Presentation for more information.

My takeaways - Vatsa and I had worked majorly on this topic. Our hardwork paid off when we were applauded by one of the IBM General Managers who was judging us. We felt jittery to face a mature audience(58 classmates and 1 GM from IBM). Anyways we did a good show as we had the right content. Due credit to my senior Ranjan Rao who helped us with some very good material. Content and Ability to Handle Questions are the two most important things while making a presentation apart from Connecting to the Audience and Voice Modulation.

RFID Overview.ppt

Hosted by eSnips

Regression Analysis

2006-06-09T22:36:00.000+05:30

We had to give a presentation today on Regression Analysis of real-world data. Regression is all about comparing the relation between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. The higher the number of independent variables, the better is the correlation. There will be a Standard Error that will be factored in to reduce the impact of non-related variables on the correlation.( i hope i have understood these things correctly, lol:-) )

All the groups did well. Our group gave a presentation on the major factors that influence the B-school rankings. We pooled in data from Business World's cosmode rankings and Outlook's rankings for the year 2005. We found that Placements, Admissions and Networking were the 3 major factors that influenced the rankings upto about 83%!!

One of the groups gave a presentation on Google Adsense which could be useful to many of the bloggers.
Another group came up with a presentation on what makes people choose a particular brand of BEER in KERALA:-)...interesting eh? 'Availability' of the brand easily was the major factor that influenced the people who responded it seems. The top 3 brands were:

KingFisher - USP (Advertising, Availability, Price)
Fosters - USP (Brand Image, Stylish, Taste)
Haywards - USP (Alcohol Content)

But midst all these, the presenter wooed all of us by this extempore sher:

Woh gulab bhi kaisa gulab jo mehektha nahi,
Woh sharab bhi kaisa sharab jo behektha nahi!!

Well, thats some gyan i guess. U see, people have fun at B-schools too, Cheers :-)

Was Tipu a Freemason?

2006-06-08T09:36:00.000+05:30

The Code of Tipu Sultan

Was King Of Srirangapatna A Freemason?

Source: TOI, 7th June '06
By T S Sreenivasa Raghavan/TNN

The lights at the movie theatre dim and eventually die. The sole projector-generated image flickering on screen is a black-and-white disclaimer, looking out of place in a Hollywood production. It says the story about to unfold before the packed house is absolutely untrue. Without this disclaimer, the powerful forces of Christianity would not allow The Da Vinci Code, based on thriller-writer Dan Brown’s eponymous bestseller, to be released. After all, Brown spoke with authority on Jesus Christ’s bloodline. The Da Vinci Code was also littered with references to a highly secretive society other than Opus Dei. The society of Freemasons. His upcoming book, in fact, deals only with their world — a secretive fraternal order. Not a religious or a political organisation, it is an invitations-only society. Closer home and much closer in time than the beginnings of Christianity, Tipu Sultan, ruler of Srirangapatna of the 1700s, was rumoured to have been one. A Freemason. This, according to Robert Freke Gould, in his book Military Lodges: The Apron And The Sword Of Freemasonry Under Arms, published in the late 1890s. Freke himself was the founding member of London’s Quatuor Coronati Lodge and a lieutenant in the 31st Regiment of the English army. He is an early proponent of the authentic school of Masonic research and has written a three-volume book called the History Of Freemasonry. A Masonic lodge is the basic organisation of Freemasonry. Shrouded in secrecy, the beliefs, rituals and meetings of Freemasons are not widely known. It is thought this secret sect had their start as a group of male skilled professionals, highly experienced in architecture and masonry. To ensure that this knowledge remained among themselves, it is theorised, the secrecy began. There are secret handshakes, secret meetings and secret levels within freemasonry. Though formed on the basis of solidarity, the French Freemasons were not unified with the British Freemasons. In his fight against the British imperialism, Tipu Sultan found a natural ally in the French Freemasons. He was inspired by the French Revolution, rumoured to have been prepared at the lodges of Freemasons. Louis the 16th, though, had refused to enter into a military pact with Tipu, despite his repeated requests. However, at a later stage, it appears, Tipu’s Freemason status helped him win a staunch ally in Napoleon Bonaparte, who too is supposed to have dabbled with Freemasonry. While accepting the club membership, Tipu is said to have told France: Behold my acknowledgement of the standard of your country which is dear to me, and to which I am allied; it shall always be supported in my country as it has been in the Republic, my sister. The primary objective of the British Freemasons in Mysore to revive the Masonic lodges though was to initiate Tipu’s enemies into the fraternity; to enlist their political support in their efforts to overthrow Tipu. The contradiction doesn’t end there. The mystery deepens further when one learns Freemasons have always made a strange mix. For instance, eminent Indian freedom fighters, including Pandit Motilal Nehru, C Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad and S Radhakrishnan were said to be Freemasons. Added to this list is Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer, who propagated the theory of secession. These episodes might tempt one to believe that if Tipu indeed was a Freemason, he would have treated British Freemasons better during wartime. But the Anglo-Mysore wars resulted in the decline of Freemasonry in India, because many British army personnel, who were the fraternity’s pillars, became Tipu’s war prisoners. Here, we have a curious episode culled out from history. In 1782, a battalion under Captain (Sir David) Baird had gone to assist Col Baillie, who was in danger of being surrounded by the army led by Hyder Ali and Tipu. But the whole English force was cut to pieces by Hyder Ali and Tipu. Freke writes: Baird was severely wounded and left for dead, but managed to find his way into the French camp, from which however he soon passed with his companions into the power of Hyder Ali, who treated the captives with oriental brutality. After his death, when Lady Baird laid the foundation stone for erecting a monument in memory of her departed husband with Masonic honours in 1832, she consciously chose May 4 for the occasion. For, it was on that day Baird took Srirangapatna by storm and killed Tipu. But can Freemasons ever gang up against their own brethren? That is if one is to consider Tipu a Freemason. Going by the French handing over of Baird knowing fully well he was a Freemason to Hyder Ali, they certainly can. Freke says: Gen Horne had also been a prisoner of war, though his captivity was unattended by any similar hardships and indeed left very pleasing recollections behind it, as he experienced the most fraternal kindness from French lodges at Bourbon and the Isle of France, which is gracefully referred to at the close of a letter addressed by him to the officers of Grand Lodge of England on Jan 16, 1785. This statement is not without substance, considering that Marquis de Lafayette the man who played an important role in the French Revolutionary cause was actually initiated into Freemasonry by George Washington. In fact, it was the Freemasons who founded Jacobin Club that became the radical nucleus of French Revolution. The Jacobian Club in France, born out of an inspiration for liberty and republicanism, had its reverberations in the distant land of Mysore, too, where it came into existence with Tipu’s active blessings.

Banks at sea over credit card tax-implications on GEFC?

2006-06-07T00:44:00.000+05:30

Banks at sea over credit card tax

Service tax on the card transaction chain creates confusion

Source: Economic Times, 5th June '06
George Smith Alexander MUMBAI

THE date for payment of the first installment of service tax on card payments on Monday was marked by confusion among banks.
The confusion arose on account of the fees levied by banks on merchants or establishments where the electronic data capture (EDC) terminals are deployed by banks. Currently, banks which deploy these terminals, called acquiring banks in industry parlance, charge close to 1.5% to the merchants. Of this, around 1.1% goes to the issuing bank, or the bank that has issued the credit or debit card, a small sum is credited to card issuers such as Visa or MasterCard, while the rest is retained by the acquiring bank.
Service tax has been levied on these back-end card transactions with effect from May 1, '06. Generally, the invoice is the basis of service tax assessment, and the date of payment to the service vendor is crucial to determine the due date for tax payment. However, banks are wary as unlike other business deals, no invoice is issued to another person in the card payment chain.
Banks have other worries, too. The date of receipt of consideration for each person is different. Against this backdrop, banks feel that it would be better if
certain crucial aspects of this levy are clarified upfront to avoid litigation in future. This is because the amounts involved are huge. The first due date for tax payment was June 5.
Says Prasad Paranjape, director, RSM Advisory Services, "The government needs to intervene and issue clarifications after talks with industry players as to who the service provider is - the issuing bank, the acquiring bank or
both put together. Does a taxable event occurs when the merchant establishment is charged or an acquiring bank is paid by the issuing bank or when a issuing bank is paid by the card holder needs to be clarified." According to bankers, there is confusion on the transaction chain at which the service tax has to be charged. They feel that the service tax has to be paid on 1.5%, ie on the acquiring fees. However, the way the Finance Act has been worded, the issuing bank would also have to pay on the 1.5% and also again on 1.1%. This would amount to double taxation on the same fees, say bankers and tax experts. Banks have now decided that they would pay fees only on the whole 1.5%. Using this approach, the acquiring bank would pay tax on the 0.2%, while the issuing bank would pay for 1.1%.
Over the past few years, the merchant fees of banks have come down drastically from close to 2.5% to around 1.2-1.3%. Bigger retailers, hotels and others which record heavy transactions, pay lower fees, while smaller retailers and hoteliers pay higher fees of around 1.5-2%. The charges are also marginally higher in the non-metros. Though banks may not charge the service tax on bigger retailers, the impact of this move on smaller merchants remains to be seen.

Assignment - Need to superimpose the above economic dev's implications on to the GEFC cycle..working on it. Meanwhile if any1 hits upon this and has any thought on this, plz post it:-)

Well, I came up with the following:

Implications on GEFC:

The confusion regarding who is the service vendor - issuing bank, the acquiring bank or both put together should be cleared by the Govt.

Also, which is the taxable event - when the merchant establishment is charged or an acquiring bank is paid by the issuing bank or when a issuing bank is paid by the card holder?

Financial Intermediaries:

Given that the service tax is imposed on the banks, whether the issuing bank pays or the acquiring bank pays, there will be an implication on the GEFC. The banks will try to squeeze in this outflow by increasing the service charge to the merchants. Here, the financial intermediaries are affecting the production sector.

Household Sector:

Since the merchant has to pay a higher service charge to the banks, he will try to squeeze in this amount from the customer. Thus, the customer will have to cough up more for the same product which he would have bought at a lower price earlier.

Production Sector:

As the banks will increase the service charge/fee that the merchant has to pay, the merchant’s profits will go down. To maintain the previous level of profit, the merchant will tend to charge more from the customer. Since the merchant charges more from the customer, if the product is a commodity product, there will be no change in its demand/sales. But if the product is a life-style/luxury product, then its demand may go down. Thus, the company or the production sector is affected.

Government:

The Government in any case will benefit as it will get the extra income from the newly imposed service tax. The Government gains from the tax that the vendor pays for the sales done and from the new tax that the banks will now have to pay (for the same transactions that has been already taxed). This, in a way is double taxation benefit to the Government.

Forex:
This sector remains unaffected.

Fanaa - My review

2006-06-05T19:27:00.000+05:30

Movie: Fanaa
Rating: **

Tere dil mein mere saason ko panah miljaye,
Tere ishq mein meri jaan fanaa hojaye!!

Have watched Fanaa twice now-first time with family and second time with friends. Trust me, its not worth watching this movie more than once. The pace is slow, and the script isn’t appealing either. The story starts off with Kajol setting out to find her soulmate in the country’s capital – She’s part of a Kashmiri team that has to perform at the Rastrapathi Bhavan. Aamir gives a shaayari entry as a tour guide and charms everyone. Suddenly, there’s a flood of sher-shayari and for once, I felt good listening to shayari---all credits to Aamir, Kajol and the lyricist on this one. Then the usual story of boy-gal running around trees begins. All is well until a blast at the Rastrapathi Bhavan brings in the news of Aamir’s death. The story takes a wild turn from there on.

The cinematography is awesome (which reminded me of my honeymoon at manaliJ) and the background music is crisp. I liked only two songs though – Chand Sifarish and Mere haathon mein tera haath!

It’s a welcome comeback by Kajol who’s looks stunning (although am a die-hard Preity Zinta fan). She’s at her best and her expressions are amazing. Aamir as usual has given his more than 100% and sports three hairstyles in a span of 2.5 hrs. The movie would have been a disaster if not for these two great stars!