To sink or to clear, that is the question

Hello Sir, We are from the Doobti Nayya boat company and would like to present a revolutionary product to you

Eh...ummm..We are from the Aapki Nayya Paar Laga De boat company and have come to you with a once in a lifetime opportunity

Duh...no...we have just repositioned our name from Doobti Nayya to Aapki Nayya Paar Laga De (the earlier name doesn't look nice, you know!)...we are coming out from a merger/acquisition right this moment

Hi, I had an appointment with you, how can you talk to him...it is already 8:30, come on, talk to me

We can give you any customisation at an extra cost of Rs.0.25 per customisation
We can give you the customisation at Rs.0.15 per customisation
no, Rs.0.25...no, Rs.0.15

I have this boat that is priced at Rs.2.5 and another for Rs.1.5...what, give you both of them for Re.1...umm...Rs.2???...oh...1.5?...ok fine, take it and give me the damn money

This is the prototype that we have developed after working on it for one and a half hours...and yes, we can give you three such finished products in another five minutes!!!

Yes, I did tell you that I will buy the stuff at Rs.4.5 but I can only give you Rs.2.5 for it now...you did not make me sign any contracts, did you?

I am willing to give you 3 boats for a paisa

The only thing that I can say with certainty about the marketing game organized by Dr. Panda in last night's extra class is that it was fun. I am not too sure about the learning, however. I know that I and many others in the class will still behave in the same way, given an opportunity (or rather, the lack of it) to sell something to tough customers with the competitors outnumbering the customers 6:1. It was certainly great to try to sell things by taking down customer expectations, showing prototypes, asking for orders, fulfilling them, and earning money. However, all the greatness vanished in thin air as the time started running out and the sellers literally started to strangle the oh-so-important customers with their products.

Some people did operate professionally but the problem is that when you are in Rome, you have to do as Romans do...and that is where the professionalism and the entire purpose of the exercise lost out. No body was there for the learning...not many teams were actually trying to go by the book (in my opinion, that is how things are in real life, too). Every team was trying to out do the others, out bid the others, do something...anything (giving a warranty of 25 years on a boat...for heaven's sake) to get the money and at least break even.

In Dr. Panda's words, we were also allowed to deviate a little from the pure marketing situation by being able to earn tradesperson's profit...we could rent out the raw materials for building boats. It was really funny listening to people quoting a higher rental for the raw material than its actual listed price. Yes, the night was certainly that...fun...with so many things going on in such a short span of time...sealed bids, open auctions, premium buyers, bankrupt buyers (and that too when I was almost through with my deal...grr), prototype buyers, Central Bank of India (:-)) and so much more.

I just hope that the next exercise that Dr. Panda (or any other faculty, for that matter) conducts for us, gives us some learning about the real stuff so that next time we are in such a game, we can and do learn from our mistakes.

A movie review of Dhoom is over due (as Aditya keeps reminding me every now and then). Life at the beautiful resort has come to a head yet again, with about five submissions due in the next three days. The quizzes are not yet over and the end-terms have arrived...Campus Monitor 24x7 did not adhere to its time line for the first time (out of three :-))...I want to watch another movie...still have to remove the wrapper off the Accounting book and study the damn thing for the end terms, at least...so many episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. on the server, I am becoming a fan (an addict???)...

A story of contradictions

Ronald of senior placecom says that no one should do anything that harms the reputation of the college at this juncture, keeping in mind the placements. There might be frustrations but to take it out on a public forum or outside the college community really does not serve any purpose...it can only be a negative and is not really going to change anything because things don't happen that way.

Allwyn of PagalGuy fame says that all those people who had been regulars at PagalGuy (a forum for MBA aspirants) have changed drastically since they joined their respective business schools. The loyalty towards their school often overshadows their own character and as such, these people tend to over glorify/under present the facts to keep their school in good stead.

Does Ronald's request to the batch of 2006 on the eve of their vacations, a case in point from Allwyn's perspective? Can his statement be (mis)construed to believe that he wants us to change our basic character and behave as per the character of the community? Is he asking us to put community before self? Even if he is (for argument's sake), is he wrong in expecting us to do this? Does Allwyn's remark that people lose their individuality once they go to a business school hold any salt? Even if it does (for argument's sake), is it any better to put self before community in all cases.

Ronald recently wrote a blog post about how it has become fashionable to treat business schools as only entry and exit portals and nothing else. All that goes in between is not learning but just means to achieve an end...an end that they call the placements. I gathered from the tone of the post that he does not really like the way things are going on (I may have been wrong). Most of us, like him, believe that there should be more to an MBA than it just being a medium to increase your salary (or as in the case of freshers, get a good salary to start with). But then again, like him, most of us know that this is not the way things happen and actually, whatever any surveys may say, the basic, one and only criterion used to evaluate a business school is its placements statistics...how many job offers per student...how much is the highest salary offered...how many foreign offers...how many offers from the areas like consultancy, finance and so on...how many big names on the recruiters' list...how many days does it take to get a batch placed...

So many questions and who know the answers to all these...no, not the BW-Cosmode people, not even the AIMA people...it is the people in the top positions in the market who make or break B-schools in India. Let's go to this campus...let's take these many students...let's only take people suiting this profile...let's look at the institute first...let's look at the faculty first...let's look at the batch profile first...so many factors go into their decisions that even a minor spark is enough to start the fire. What can this minor spark be is open to subjective evaluation by these decision makers. They may decide to come or not come to a campus based on not only objective parameters, but can also consider a lot of other factors that really go into the making of an institute (especially a B-school).

This is where Ron and Allwyn come...both of them are saying almost the same thing but in entirely opposing ways. Allwyn talks about the character of students and it obviously follows that cowardly sissies who have to think twice before standing by their opinion hold as much a chance of building an institute as Kishan Kumar did of becoming a super hero (now don't ask me who Kishan Kumar is). But then again, how can you expect companies to avoid watching the dirty linen being washed in public and assuming that they do watch, how can you expect them to ignore the dirt completely when they make their subjective evaluation of the institute?

What is the answer, then? Should we or should we not? It is a question that can not really be answered for others...or so I feel. As far as I go, I earnestly believe that it is not what is communicated that matters but the way it is communicated, which is more important. If the intent of a communication is to malign the institute or its spirit, even a carefully worded, two line hint may spoil the efforts of so many others who have worked hard for the institute. However, if the intention is right, I am sure that even a full page letter to the editor in the Times of India's gossip section (if at all letters to the editor are published there) will not do any harm. But the next question comes...who decides what the intent is...isn't that again a subjective parameter open to misinterpretation? It certainly is...and that is why all the brouhaha about the entire secrecy thing.

But the point goes deeper...it is not just about not communicating even when you want to...it is more about creating boundaries around you and not letting one hand know what the other is up to. This is what defeats the pupose because despite the security that we enjoy within the walls of our respective institutes, it is ultimately the person within each one of us that we have to be answerable to. This is where the words of a Ronald may not pay as well as the apparently solid idea of an Allwyn. If we neglect that person within in order to attain our ends (the exit point from a B-school, with a good pay package in hand and a rosy career in mind), we are certainly taking a step backward.

Realistically speaking, however, there will be a zillion other ocassions in personal and professional life where we will be forced to do even worse. Perhaps, the argument of an Allwyn might not be able to surpass the practical judgement of a Ronald. It all depends, therefore, on what stage you are in and how much are you willing to give up and how...a decision that differs from person to person...from situation to situation.

In my case, I have been writing stuff about things that go on in this institute without too may inhibitions. Not that I have been reckless and irresponsible towards the community, but I have also tried to be true to myself and record a balanced picture for me to view when I pass along this moment of my history some years down the line. More than that, I have hardly found anything so drastically wrong in IIMK that demands a sensational disclosure, in the real sense of the term. Most of the things that I have been writing about have mostly been related to people and their reactions to situations and the community has still not had an offering from my frustrated pen...or better still, my pen has not been frustrated enough to build up smoke where there's not been much fire. However, I am sure that if and when it happens, I am going to record my frustrations in all faith and objectivity and whether that makes any difference to anything or anyone else or not, I believe that I will, at least, continue to have no qualms in looking at the mirror.

Can there be a living without a life?

An HIV postive person is not the same as an AIDS patient

A disease can take away a person's life, but why are we taking away the person's living?

What is the sense in fighting, knowing fully well that someday, it's all going to end?

There is not even a single law in India related to discrimination in work place against an AIDS patient

At the very outset, I must say that Phir Milenge has impressed me quite a lot. Before I write anything else however, let me warn all readers that the movie is not meant to entertain you. It is one of those different movies that come, but rarely, and are so often lost in the maze that is the Indian movie market. Directed by Revathy, one of those southern once-I-am-here-once-I-am-not actresses who feel the need to prove themselves in Hindi movies to believe themselves worthy of their salt. I am not too sure about her acting, but Revathy has certainly proved her mettle, as far as direction goes.

Phir Milenge is the story of a happy, hard-working, lively girl, Tamanna who, true to her name, is ambitious and wants to make something big out of her life. Driven by the dream to appear on the cover page of Business Today, she lives in Bangalore with her younger sister, Tanya, who is a RJ on the local FM channel. She has her own circle of friends, her own professional life in which she, as a young achiever, is totally involved. She is the co-founder and creative head at TJ Associates, an advertising and publicity firm.

Tamanna has an old gurukul flame in Rohit, who has not been heard of for the past ten years and has suddenly come back to India. Tamanna takes leave from a very tight-schedule project she has been working on to go and visit her old arts school, where she hopes to meet Rohit. Tamanna gets her leave, goes back to meet Rohit, and there are expressions of mutual love and all is fine till the next time.

All is going great guns in Tamanna's life till the day when Tanya, her sister, has an accident and Tamanna is called upon to donate blood for the blood bank. Some days later, she is called back from her final presentation to a very important client by the doctor who tells her that she is HIV positive. This is where the movie gets into top gear in so many aspects...acting, direction...you name it.

Tamanna goes into depression for some days till she realizes that she is not helping anyone, least of all her sister, by escaping from life. She decides to make a comeback but is prevented from doing that by her mentor and boss, who has already hired a replacement for her and even credited him with all the work that Tamanna had done. He believes that her being HIV positive speaks of her character and competent or not, he is not going to let an AIDS patient work in his company. Tamanna's pleas about her not being affected from AIDS but being only HIV positive and still competent enough to work in her old capacity go to deaf ears and that is when she decides to take up arms and fight it out in the court.

Despite several attempts, Tamanna is not able to find a lawyer to fight her case till she meets Tarun, who after refusing her the first time, is impressed by her fighting spirit and decides to help Tamanna. Taru's teacher and mentor, Lal, also gets in the act as he guides both Tamanna and Tarun towards the case that may get Tamanna's rights back.

This is when Rohit makes another entry into Tamanna's life. After being incommunicado for so long, Rohit is now suffering from AIDS and has come back with a hope against hope that Tamanna has not been affected with the virus due to him. Rohit is dying, and so is Tamanna's will to fight. She knows that even if she gets back all her rights, her job, her prestige, her social standing...all she is destined for is being a vegetable like Rohit and dying a horrible, lonely and prolonged death.

As Tamanna spends most of her time caring for Rohit, Tarun takes up the matter from here and despite losing the case in the lower court, goes on to appeal in the high court, impressing the judges with his arguments and probably even winning the case for Tamanna (the movie ends without telling us the exact outcome of the case).

The movie touches you, if not anything else. It is based on a very different theme and one which is very much a reality...so much so that it is very easy to relate to it's characters and the way things are going on in the movie. The movie also makes you wonder if all the media attention that AIDS has got, has not actually gone against the interests of the people most affected by the disease and its carrying virus. The movie has more to do with people, relations, and what keeps one going, than anything else.

Not only is Phir Milenge a question mark on the contemporary Indian society that talks about openness and logic, but it also focuses on how things are changing in the modern India. The movie goes on to show that the modern face of India is actually more of a hypocrite than the one reflecting the basic traditions that are ingrained within us...regardless, the hope exists...we are still able to juggle between the two and at times, raise our conscience enough to actually care.

The direction, as I already mentioned, is nothing less than superb. Right from giving each character its due, to maintaining the correct lighting, hues, etc. in the set design, Revathy has done everything just right. The actors are not too far behind in proving their mettle. Shilpa Shetty has gone beyond her role in the movie Dhadkan and has actually surpassed expectations in portraying Tamanna with a lot of conviction. She has not only played the lively Tamanna to the hilt but has also looked vulnerable in the scenes with Rohit. The best part of her talent comes through as she realizes that she has no point left in going on with the fight because she will, one day, end up like Rohit. The way she breaks down has been very well enacted.

Abhishek Bachchan as Tarun, the lawyer, is as good as ever. This actor does deserve more credit than he gets. He is one of the few people in the Indian film industry who can really get away with dry humor, and that too in a big way. No one else...well, apart from the Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti Amitabh...has been even clsoe to him. He is that and much more in this movie, as he plays the suave and yet caring lawyer with a panache.

Salman Khan is just adequate and fortunately for the viewers, controlled, in his performance. He plays Rohit, the AIDS patient who dies after having affected Tamanna with the HIV virus.

The only negative with the movie is one that is true with any southern product mish-mashed and presented for the northern market. All the support cast, including Tamanna's sister have a distinct southern accent and despite the past three years that I have spent in South India and all respect I have for South Indians, I simply can not digest a hindi movie with central characters speaking Tamanna with an hach (read h). With the lead cast doing an exceptional job, the others do lend a jarring note that really takes away the feel of the movie. Apart from Mita Vashisht, who plays the role of the attorney representing TJ Associates, Tamanna's erstwhile employers, rest of the cast is, in one word, ordinary.

The movie does have some good music but unfortunate that it is, there is no scope for songs in the movie. There is only one song, which is more like the theme song of the movie...keeps going in and out of the scenes.

All in all, the movie is worth watching if you are in one of those moods when you have just recovered from a bad headache...when you are still feeling a little down with the cold that has been blocking your nose for long...when you don't really want to play loud music...when you think that a sea beach is the ideal place to be...when you want to see something really worth the time and effort...

Surveying the watery Kerala market

As I get up from my forced afternoon nap post a throbbing headache that threatened to split my head inch to inch, I cannot do much but reflect on all that happened yesterday and resulted in my present condition. I am sure that after going through this spine chilling story of my adventures, Dr. Panda's heart will melt and he will give straight As to me and my team.

Since Dr. Panda's name has been mentioned, it follows that the reason for my going out on a very clear and sunny evening was nothing else but marketing. Having chosen Wills Lifestyle as the subject for our marketing project, I and the team (Ravi, Madhu, Surabhi, Vishak, and Pavithra) were out on the streets to figure out what the customers feel about the brand that we are studying. We had divided ourselves into three small teams of two and had decided to cover different parts of the city. Ravi and Surabhi were supposed to go to the railway station, Vishak and Madhu to Wills Lifestyle outlet and other showrooms in the area, I and Pavithra were going to start from ICICI Bank.

We reached ICICI bank with the dusk approaching in the distance. Pavithra got into the act as soon as she got off the bike and went in the search of a bakra. I had this little matter of getting a draft made for my sister, which was what I set my priority on. All the time I sat on the chair in front of a decent-looking lady waiting for my draft to be serviced, I was looking out for future prospects for the survey. I could see Pavithra, through the glass-paneled window, going great guns with the survey...one after the other, she was catching bakras of all hues, sizes and shapes. It just got me thinking about her experience in banking sector and how at-home she might be finding herself here. I am sure that were it a software industry, I would have happily jumped from cubicle to cubicle, taking survey responses from the SEs, PLs, PMs alike.

As the draft got ready and I came out of the bank, still wondering why Pavithra doesn't make a rush for the nearest bank counter with the survey, I saw her doing exactly that. Yes, she did go inside the bank and instead of targeting the bank's customers, she started jumping (rather gleefully too, I thought) from one counter to another, adding many more bakras and bakris in her kitty.

As for me, I was not unlucky either. The very first person I approached (dressed finely in white shirt and blue denim) gave me a nice greeting smile as I told him that I was from IIMK. Having learnt to view nice smiles from the male population in Calicut with a pinch of salt, I was a little cautious (and less smiling than when I had introduced myself) as I gave him an outline of what I wanted him to do...and lo and behold, the very next thing he asks me is the subject for which I am doing this survey. Thinking that the poor chap won't even know the difference between S, T, and P of STP, I told him that it was for our marketing course. Out of the blue, he asks me if it is for the first term Marketing course or for the second term course. To say that I was shocked, would be an understatement. It was only then that he told me (smiling all the time) that he passed out from IIM Calcutta before he started working for ICICI.

Having a good and well completed survey down my belt, I looked around to find a potential target in some other age bracket (Dr. Panda had asked us for a cross section of people). I found one youngish smart-alec just waiting to get on his bike and making a getaway after having withdrawn some money from the ATM. Spoiling all his plans of making quick getaways, I went to him and started off with my introduction and that of the survey. He looked very enthusiastic about the survey and began really well...but as we reached the second or third question, he said that he does not understand English too well (failed in English, probably at school...very mean on my part, I know but yet :-)). Sooner than I had heard it, my sign language came out with a flourish and all that I had learnt as communication lessons in Chennai for a North Indian came to great use as I took the poor guy through from one question to another.

Next in line were a bunch of loafers sitting near the ATM on their bikes. They looked suspiciously similar to the neighbourhood gangs that I have been a part of, just loafing around any public place, waiting for some grace and beauty to come along and treat thier eyesores. Thinking that I just got what I wanted, one of the most fashion conscious segment of the market, I moved ahead confidently with the air of a person who knows what he wants and more than that, knows that what we wants is not too far away from him.

Excuse me...Hello, I am Nitai from Indian Institute of Management
Hello
I am conducting a small survey on cloth market. Can I have five minutes of your time?
English areilla
I said I am conducting a small...
Malayalam???
Malayalam areilla 
giggle...something in Malayalam...giggle
Survey...hand gestures...IIM...jump twice on my left foot...five minutes...point to my watch
Ok..wokei...five minutessaa...yokei
Phew...I like the latest trends and fashions, would you say that you agree to the statement?
smiling...waiting for the question...looking enquiringly
hmm..fashion...latest...huge questioning look
Yess..latest..fashion...yess
good, when you think of branded apparel, what brands come to your mind?
Apparelaa...appalam???
No no, not appalam, Apparel...clothes..brand..which???

So you get the picture, right? By the time I was through with the gang (which I had thought, resembled my own), Pavithra already had nine questionnaires done and I was still struggling with my fifth. This was when we decided to shift our base and move to the Sony showroom nearby to get the responses from the more upmarket segment. And this was when I found out that the bike keys were nowhere to be found...not in my front left pocket, not in my front left, not the back left, neither the back right...not even in my tee-shirt's pocket...suffice to say that the keys were well and truly lost.

More than the 40K bike, I was worried about the 1K room key that had gone with the ring. Half an hour of searching in and out the bank, one bank staff politely (oh, they are all so poilte, aren't they...grr) asks me if I am looking for something in particular. I wanted to say that I was not looking for anything in particular, and that I had just opened a new detective firm ala Karamchand and was just pacing the floor with my magnifying glass in order to impress the bank staff so that next time they have a bank robbery, the second number they dial after the police would be that of Karamchand jasoos. However, I just managed to say yes before my eyes popped out of their sockets and started staring at the bunch of keys he was dangling in the air. ICICI zindabad and all ICICI staff amar rahein.

Dropping Pavithra off at the Sony showroom, I went on to send the courier to my sister. Calicut is a great place but could have been better if there were more courier shops around...at least, that is what I felt yesterday as I roamed about for nearly half an hour before I found a small place (which I had already missed during my three earlier trips down the road in the past five minutes) that promised to send the stuff (the promise was not that believable, though!). Surabhi called up while I was there to ask when we are meeting for dinner. I told her that we can meet at Mezbaan at 8:30 because by that time, all six of us would have something to show for our efforts...wishful thinking...

Coming back to Sony showroom after driving across yet another of the one way streets of Calicut, I found Pavithra all bored and ready to wring my neck. As she was about to say something, a prolonged sorry from me stopped her for a while and when I made my next move, asking her if the number of surveys had already reached fifteen, the matter was amicably settled. At the mention of the survey, she lost track and went off to talk to another bakra as I spotted an elderly couple walking out of the showroom and going to their car.

They were really a sweet couple and answered all my questions with patience as I stood on the road, surveying a rather improbable set of subjects with the GentleMan dressed in a shirt and mundu and the lady wearing her gajra with a flourish. This was when I knew how true Dr. Panda was when he said that the women were the decision makers in the buying behavior of the Indian middle class. The lady, though keeping quiet for the most of it, pitched in between when she felt that her husband was forgetting something like their visit to the Wills Lifestyle outlet in Dehradun or when she thought that his answer was not complete like when she added that the ambience in the Wills outlet was not that good and it actually was suffocating. She was the one who knew and remembered all the brands that the GentleMan wore and more than her husband, she actually put in the effor to recall and recount all that I had been asking them for.

Next stop was Mezbaan, the restaurant where we found many more subjects for the survey. The other four were already there, waiting for us to order. I thought that this was a very good opportunity to grab some prospects in a situation they couldn't easily wriggle out of. And so it turned out to be as our survey questionnaire found its way on almost all the tables and at times, even overshadowed the menu cards kept there...so much so that the waiters started looking askance at our table whenever one of us stood up with a pen in one hand and some pages in the other. I suggested to the others that we could probably offer them surveys to pacify them and their curiosity but the others rejected the idea outright...oh come on, if I could survey those gang guys, I could have surveyed any one...I was feeling it in my bones last night...and moreover, didn't Dr. Panda mention somewhere about the cross section? :-)

The best thing that came out of this survey was that it re-affirmed my thought that the elderly of this country are really a cultured, sincere and well meaning lot. Apart from the couple I met outside the Sony showroom, there was another elderly couple we surveyed in the restaurant. They were so good that they spent nearly an hour going through each and every question oh-so-meticulously. The Gentle Man was good enough to not just fill up his own questionnaire but also help out the lady with the questions that she was not clear about. They actually waited in the restaurant for about half an hour after having paid their bills, only to complete our questionnaire...that was so sweet, really.

Things were already getting heady and we were all very exhausted. When we couldn't even run up to the latest entrants to the restaurants, we knew that it was time to call it a day and leave. That's what we did and this is where the best part of the day's experience came in. I had been cursing my luck for the whole evening for a varety of reasons but I never knew what was in store for me. It was rain, and rain like nothing I had seen before. It not only seemed to flash all pictures of floods in my mind, but must also have increased the water percentage in my body from a mere 70% to about 170%.

It was not just raining but pouring like crazy. It was as if the rain gods had gone mad and were just venting all thier anguish and fury on us poor earthlings. The visibility was hardly ten centimetres, as we struggled on our bikes to see through the sheet of water that blocked all that was ahead. Already drenched beyond hope, we still had to stop every half a kilometre because it was literally impossible to go ahead all blind folded. We did stop at some very interesting places, though. The road, not very busy normally, was entirely deserted at that time of the night and stopping at weird places brought up weird topics. Ravi, Surabhi, Pavithra and I were having a whale of a time, all drenched...discussing the possibility of Bhoot taking the pains to come and haunt us, despite the rains...discussing how our bikes could be taken away by the flash floods which looked like a very real possibility...how there appeared to be a telephone booth everywhere we stopped and how all these telephone booths had no attendants, prompting us to break the lock and make calls to our hearts' satisfaction...how the girls could not leave us stranded and take a lift from some car, showing a bit of their charms (it is Calicut, remember...we guys stood a better chance)...how Ravi, in his white shirt should entertain us with the typical white sari/shirt rain song of Hindi movies (ala tip tip barsa pani)

Of wars and tired warriors

Contrary to popular belief (which, as is another matter, has taken a hit, given the recent B-school rankings, the less said about which the better), Sundays at IIMs are not all that hectic. In fact, if anybody has the patience and the drive to go through OCS, IIMK's internal mail system, he/she will realise just how much time all of us seem to have on our hands. And no, it is not limited to people who have taken OCS to be their battle ground and are sending in one mail after the other (with each mail saying that I did not want to mail/spam but I have been forced to do so by what others have done/written...sic!).

All this activity (resulting from a lack of activity) extends a broader reach. If you look carefully and try to pry into the conversations that are taking place in the IIMK mess hall this weekend, you will realise that almost everyone knows what has been happening. I believe that more than the patience of those who write the mails, we should admire the patience of those who actually go through the mails and use it as a time pass/conversation topic....

Much has been said about Kiran in the OCS wars and yet, I will say some more...for the uninitiated, Kiran is my batchmate here at IIMK. For all those who need more information, I quote from hearsay...he has 2+ years of experience in MNC(s)...he does not believe in participating in GDs since he thinks he is too good for others.

Anurag says that Kiran does not believe in the concept of 'batch'. I knew it would happen but didn't know that it will happen so soon...one day I say that Anurag did a good job explaining the difference between things that could have been done and things that should have done...and the very next thing you know is that he has outdone himself and written some crap about the batch concept and why his being younger to others gives him the opportunity to exhibit an external locus of control...ok, I overdid myself here but what can I do, it is in the air.

Aditya says that no body will want to give a VB CD to Kiran because he has antagonized the batch...Ashwarya says that Aditya is wrong...Amarpreet says that he is a bit crazy and so he can say that everyone is wrong (all that is fine but I didn't get the bit about the 'bit'...)

And what does Kiran say to all this? He says that he checks his mail every evening from 5 to 5:30 and that he finds all these mails a good pass time. Whenever he finds a good opportunity, he tries to stoke the fire further so that he will have another interesting session with his mails the next evening. And you know what, I tend to believe him...I have seen such people before...to be honest about it, I have been like this myself, at some other part of my life. The bad word to describe these people (there's always the bad word that can be used to mis-represent the facts in any situation) is 'megalomaniac'.

Personally, I don't believe this to be exactly true. More than being megalomaniacs, these people really know what they are doing and what effect is that going to elicit. If all my informed batchmates who have been flooding OCS with what they think about Kiran, actually look at him when he is doing all these things that everyone is so much against, they will get a different picture. The smile on his face...the twinkle in his eyes...the satisfaction on his countenance...all these will definitely tell the true story. He knows that what he is doing is going to get a negative reaction and he does it only because of that. It is not that he does not have experience in interacting with people...it seems to be the other way round actually...that he is more experienced than many others in understanding what can excite somebody and what can get the creative juices of the entire batch going in order to give Kiran his due...his daily evening show.

And due is what he and people like him always get...they are sure of themselves...perhaps too sure, I admit...they know that what others say or do is not going to affect them...not seriously enough anyways...they enjoy the limelight and more than anything else, they laugh at the futility at it all...at how they are the perpetrators of all that others think is actually their own creation.

Well, enough said about Kiran and the OCS wars...I am sure that the people of the other section will agree to that...and this too because they do not figure in the wars and are not able to get their Sunday really well spent...I have absolutely no misgivings about those people from my section who pretend that they are tired of the controversy and yet, shoot off yet another mail as soon as they get the chance. It is not human behavior, believe me...to be tired of controversies...oh come on, give me anything else any other day and I will take that but not this...

However, before I say adieu, must say that

I don't like people not throwing waste and storing it under the desks as treasures...courtesy Surabhi
What is said above has been said well...courtesy Pavithra
Hi to all and what has been said above has been said very well...courtesy Ankit
Hi to all and specifically to those who have said the above and said it very very well, in deed...courtesy Akshat

Who told people to go ahead with changing the sylllabus when I had so many points to give against the move...courtesy Tarun
The right channel should be followed while going to the teacher...courtesy Atul
The channel should be rightly understood to be the right channel by the teacher...courtesy Shounak
What I have written is my personal opinion...do not mind that little part about I and some of my friends...courtesy Kiran
How can we not mind that part...liar liar...courtesy Mayank
We will not only mind that part but will also not give you any VB Cds in the future, so watch out...courtesy Aditya
What is the meaning of a batch, or who is a batchmate (aka STI)...courtesy Anurag
I will do what I want to...STI (read who is a batchmate) get lost...courtesy Kiran
I will tell you meaning of the batch...eir bir phatte...come to my room for the full song...courtesy Deepak

Dare to think beyond the CBLs?? (current burnout levels)...courtesy Amarpreet

Getting out of the dumps...

Konica, are you still sileeping???
K naat, can you do this problem???
Aubheejeeet, haaaain, please tell the solution to the class, why are you shy???

All of us love him, all of us hate him. He is simple and cunning, absent-minded and a genius, stubborn and flexible, short-sighted and penetrative...he is Prof Gopal Chowdhry, easily one of the best brains in the institute, and easily one of the most hilarious teachers on campus.

After an entire half of the term, it was finally my turn today to be subjected to the oh-so-critical examination by Prof Gopal Chowdhry in the well of the class. Our group was the first and I was the first in the group (the second chosen one being Pavithra), on whom the lightning fell. And lightning it was, what with me not having read up anything at all about the case that was going to be discussed.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the first question he asked was put to me. The question was simple for a lot of people, he just wanted to know what the case was all about...but before you pass your judgement, try to be in the well answering questions when your answers are different from those Prof Chowdhry has in his own, well-hidden :-) answer sheet...or better still, try telling the facts about a five sentence case, even the first of which you have not read. People of my group who worked for the case, if you are reading this, I want to say to you that I am extremely sorry for being such a fool...honestly, I had thought the class to be at 2:30 and had left everything for the last moment, as I always do...I know that some of you might feel that I let their hard work down but believe me, this will not happen again...do I see some eyebrows going up??? Yeah, Ok, but the least I can do is try :-)

Hmm...while on the topic of the first question, as a part of my answer, I started reading from the slide that others in the group had prepared. All was going hunky-dory till I reached the point where I used one jargon (how could I resist that, the damn words were staring me right in the face!!!) and said that the sampling used was convenience sampling...haa haa, that did raise our beloved Prof's eyebrows and we had a full blown debate over the damn thing for about ten minutes which gave me enough time to go over not just the case, but our observations about the case, too. In the end, we actually managed to get a decent 4 out of 5 for the case...ok...ok, I know it's one mark less than the marks that two other groups got...please don't kill me for that, I have already promised...ah well, said...that I will do better the next time (not that he will call me again, but still, just in case...)

This entire episode actually turned out to be pretty good for my mood...somehow, I have been in the dumps for the past few days. I even missed the party on campus (first party I missed for a long long time...and that too, despite being one of the hosts) and spent the whole time sleeping in my room (a case of cough and cold alongwith a history of 3-4 nights with nominal sleep hours, did not help either). More than anything else, somehow, there has been a thought creeping in to my mind slowly but surely...too surely for my liking.

Why have I started feeling that I am becoming a major turn off for so many people? Out of such a large number of people that I have met in nearly two months here, I know very few people who would suffer me for a good amount of time. For most of the others, my company might be a necessary evil that they may endure for some time, but given a choice, they will definitely prefer to turn away from me and all that is mine.

I am not sure if what I am thinking is right and hence can not really analyse the reasons for that. However, still thinking...can't help it actually...is it the way I talk, do I appear to be a snob...is it, what I consider self-confidence, coming across as arrogance...is it, what I consider not being ridiculous, being seen as being excessively reserved...is my not raising my eyes and slapping the backs of everyone else, being understood to be my lack of willingness to mingle, my being distant???

How does it matter, some will say...yeah right, it does not matter...but is that the reason you write pages on the topic, speak hours on how you are different? If it is not important, what is the need to give the excuse...what is the need to justify your being different...isn't there something lacking that you seek to fill up through your silly statements like 'I am not like the others...I don't follow the herd mentality...I don't need a group to survive'?

On my part, I think that I can not make this mistake. I am pretty sure that on reflection, I will find...rather, I have found...that I do get into the dumps whenever these kind of things start getting in to my head...but then again, thank you, God that you made it possible for me to come out of those blues without much effort, and more than that, thank you God for making a Prof Gopal Chowdhry for actually putting that effort on my behalf and making me smile...

Who sets the rules of the game?

Aditya thinks that I have mellowed down and uses the metric of the number of people named to measure the duress that my pen's sting has been facing. He wonders why I have not mentioned the rift between Rohit and Nilanjan during the seminar!!!

Yash tells me that the posts have become too much of the 'one size fits all' type and there is no ripping off of the people who won't be happy unless they are ripped off (sic!)

Mayank's comments (both by his own name as well as by the name of Gumnaam...oh yes, I have means of knowing all about it) seem to suggest that my blog is fast becoming a fighting forum for the batch.

Pavithra (through her unintentional-cum-intentional pseudonym, Name) has to say that my infamous blog is busy mis-conveying my intention by plotting me as the champion of the cause...the same as her mails on loos and meal-skipping contributions to OCS wars do to her intention.

Pavan got the impression from reading my earlier blog entries that I am a little too distant. He feels that this was contrary to the requirement in the election setting at the time.

Neeta says that she is not comfortable with others reading her blog (it is beside the point, though and yet, half of the regular readers of student blogs in IIMK know about her blog) as it contains her feelings and if she knows that there are others reading the blog, she may be forced to play to the audience. Incidentally, she says she has not read the famous IIMK blogger (read yours truly) even once.

All these people seem to have a lot of time on their hands, is the first observation that I can make. Reading and in cases, writing blogs requires a lot of time and patience, which I am sure that these people do not have a scarcity of. Another thing that they have in abundance is a way of looking at things that is certainly not on the same lines as mine.

Aditya is of the opinion that in order to be really honest to my feelings (which can be nothing else but blasting others off), I need to write another private journal. I can not be writing blogs that are anything more than slander aimed at people around me.

Yes, I admit that humans are prone to baser feelings but there is a certain limit to that. As soon as a person starts being subjective towards his feelings, he is biased, judgemental, and prejudiced either against or in favor of a particular situation or person. Regardless of the names that I have taken in this blog in past, I have always tried to be as objective with my recording as possible.

There is absolutely no question of playing to the audience being an absolute essential of a publicly read blog. It is for the author to decide who the blog is meant for. The very fact that the author has decided to maintain a journal on the net and not in the confines of his/her room means that he/she is prepared for others reading and commenting on the blog. It is a little odd to imagine the possibility of someone who is so naive as to think that there can be things written about private lives without people diving head long into it with quite a good amount of salt (to go with it).

There are two options for the (in)famous blogger...that he/she decides to play along and make the blog an overtly and at times unwarrantedly, sensational account of fictitious happenings...and thus, kills the blog and the entire purpose with which he/she started out in the first place. The other option is to be true to no one but his/her own self and write what comes to the mind...irrespective of the reaction to it, to the highs or lows of reader interest. After all, the blog is meant to be an outlet for the writer, and not an entertainment channel for the reader. The reader is just an incidental convenience...incidental because that is what the blogger should limit the reader's role to...convenience because the comments on the blog can tell the blogger how far he/she is from the general perception.

I and my Mode C belong to perhaps a third category...the one where the readers are not just incidental but at the same time, do not guide the process on account of their convenience. The very fabric of this blog is to understand the other perspective and align that with the Calvin way to take on life. The rules of the game have been clear to me from the very first day...I will write things that I believe are important to me...whether it sustains the interests of the readers or appears to them as the ravings of a lunatic is something with which I will not bother myself. I have written about my deepest fears, my greatest sorrows, and my biggest achievements in this blog and if I had actually been looking for an audience, all these would have found no part to play.

All the same, I don't care a damn if others read all that I write and make it a point of judgement when it comes to me...if they are so immature, I am better off without them and their patronage. If they achieve thrills from reading my reviews or my comments on events and people, good for them...if they think that my blog is a forum for ripping off people...championing the cause...poisonous journalism...discussion forum...a publicity mechanism...too bad.

Ladies and Gentle Men, give me a breather. Comment on my posts' content as much as you want, but not on the intent because that is something you are not going to affect by even one teeny little bit.

Incidentally, this is what the result of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Personality Assessment Test has to say about my personality type:

ENTPs are usually verbally as well as cerebrally quick, and generally love to argue--both for its own sake, and to show off their often-impressive skills. They tend to have a perverse sense of humor as well, and enjoy playing devil's advocate. They sometimes confuse, even inadvertently hurt, those who don't understand or accept the concept of argument as a sport.

Dahi vadai...garam samosa...masala dosai

I had promised...to serve masala in this post...and so be it. At the risk of sounding some people off and even making my reputation of being the official gossip even stronger (if at all that is possible), I am back with another story...nay, not a story but as true a representation of thoughts as possible. Well, it has hardly been a point of contention...my facts, that is. What has been worrying people is either my take on the facts and their portrayal as I do it, or the effect of that portrayal on things that are held sacred (the institute name, for example...however, I do not really think that IIMK is such a weak brand after all).

What's with the introduction and all, the reader would say and may be even shout at the bland screen in front of him/her to get on with it. Representing the poor sod that the screen is in such cases, I will make an appeal on its behalf and in the short of the long...let's begin from the beginning. The past weekend at IIMK is as apt a place to start as any because that was what gave all the fuel to the fire that I am planning to stoke.

The IT Seminar was the topic of discussion in the meeting called by the Student Council some days back and the question being discussed was whether attendance to the seminar should be made compulsory. As I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts, the SCon members rode on a wave and got things round to their view. But there were some people who were not satisfied...no sir, not satisfied at all. Some like Shailendra made their displeasure felt then and there and there were others, too who are what I call the cribbers. Now, this is an interesting class of people and I hope I will be able to devote more time to them some day. As of today, let it suffice to mention that these people have the habit of reserving their comments for the time when they have stopped to matter. There are very few occassions where these people actually take a cue from Kotler's marketing fundas and be proactive.

There is another class of people worth mentioning...and these are the do-gooders who do not want themselves being questioned for what they do. These people are generally too full of themselves and the value of what they have been doing and they forget the fact that they have been doing things because it is of their own volition. They have the feeling that since they are doing something that others are not, they can get away with more than the others can.

What the do-gooders have been thinking of the cribbers

The reaction from the cribbers did come, but as expected, it came when it did not matter. It became a matter of general knowledge on campus (almost like...ye PSPO nahi jaanta) as to what Vinay felt about the way people have to be thanked or what Shailendra had to say about people talking on their mobile phones as they move (rename the mobiles, somebody :-))...or...this one takes the cake...what Kiran felt about rock shows. As was pointed out by the people who worked for the various committees, these people were those who had not bothered to put a foot forward when it mattered and were conspicuous by their absence when the others were running from pillar to post getting things done...cleaning guest rooms, for God's sake.

Did they have as much (or even anything, for that matter) to say about the inefficiency of those whose responsibility it is to keep the guest house clean and ready? Did they, for even the remotest moment, think about giving a suggestion as to what can be done to improve things (Anurag, in my opinion, gave a wonderful perspective to it...the difference between it 'should' have been better and it 'could' have been better)

The most absurd part of it was the fact that some people have really taken things for granted and if they feel that by exercising their right to comment on something, they can do away with their responsibilities...they are mistaken. To comment on what happened is one thing, to pass an observation is one...but to actually pass judgement and say things are not acceptable!!!...acceptable by whom? Who set the rules? Have you always done what is acceptable to others? For those who have been missing their meals and spending nights to make the event a success...what is acceptable for them? Is sitting in the room and when forced to attend the seminar, saying that their contribution was not less...acceptable?

What the cribbers think of the do-gooders

Yes, I know that the post has started sounding like a vendetta program and I have actually started doing something that I had been hitting at just a few lines earlier. However, I have tried not to be judgemental and just give the facts as they have appeared in the past few days. In trying to write the opinion of one class about the other, I have only mentioned what I, myself, could gather from the various mails that were exchanged in one of the notorious OCS wars of IIMK.

Let's get on then, if the cribbers are done cribbing about what I have written about them.

If the cribbers in our batch have shown their potential by trying to find out all that was wrong and point it out clearly and explicitly, the so called do-gooders did not do badly either. These were the poeple who were born with the gold spoon in their mouth. They take their responsibilities too seriously and have the tendency to rush in numbers to the places where even a single person would do. They also talk saintly and do the sins themselves. They do not care enough to do things that they preach and yet, when some one comments on it, they start listing down all that they have ever done for the common good.

It is thus that Pavithra lets us know about the daily routine of the volunteers...and Anirudh, after putting his foot squarely in his mouth during the vote of thanks, asks Vinay if he had volunteered for anything. What do these people think, for God's sake? Admitted that they did a wonderful job in organising the seminar but does that give them the right to silence others? They were the ones who asked for it by volunteering for the jobs...if the job is successful, they take the credit...why are they backing out in taking the blame if things go wrong?

What I think about the whole thing

I don't think that my opinion matters at all...at least not to the cribbers or the do-gooders I have been writing about...they will continue with their lives as they were (I will be surprised if they will not). However, I have promised to my blog that I won't pass any judgements on any body and whenever I start doing that, I will pull down my entire blog. It is only my perceptions that I am going to record here and if they do change at a later point of time, I hope that I will be faithfully able to record that, too.

So, what I actually do perceive out of the entire affair is that the issue is not about doing good or cribbing. More than that, it is the basic ego in all of us that is to be looked upon. For people who have not done the most of what needs to be done, something going wrong is perhaps a vindication of their deciding not to do anything in the first place. It is like an opportunity for them to raise the issue which makes their own stand amply clear...that it is not that they could not have done it...in fact, had they done it, it would have been better, and what went wrong would have been just right...perhaps the alpha male playing out his part, though in a slightly different way.

There are those who think from the other side, too. I have done this and I have seen that and I have worked on this and that...who is the one challenging my superiority...I am sure that what I did was the best anyone could have done...they can not really be serious when they say that there could have been anything done better than this!!!

And to top it all, there was some talk of inter-year rivalry too. With the goof-up by Anirudh (which was not a goof up from his standards since he knew the pulse of the people being addressed) and not many in the senior batch turning up for the seminar, there was another set of cribbers (mostly from the first year) who spared no time to start the blame game (which they call exercising their rights)...the case of I won't do it myself but if you do it and do it wrong, I sure as hell will get your neck.

The game continued with the first yearites being blamed for talking too much before they actually do anything...another case of I have done it, prove that you can do it better before you criticize me.

What is the point in all this...the lesson...the moral? The idealist would want the egos to be suppressed, and more people coming up from both the gangs and joining the community of those who do things and do not speak about it (oh how I wish I could be one of them but kya karein...control nahi hota). However, the things do not happen that way. Egos will always play a big role in a place like this where achieving is everything...where failure has very high costs and success very high rewards...look at the Gods...Rama...Krishna...has anyone ever been immune to it???