December 26 - 24 hours of non-stop entertainment..

Nothing happened in the history on this date, it was very special day for me.. To tell what was special, i will have to tell you the itinerary..

I all started the previous day when we (those who went for 3 idiots) decided to go to Dahanu and then for a midnight buffet.. The set out time was decided to be 10.30..

Too excited i got up at 9 am.. as usual I was ready very early because i hate getting late.. But then apne Sid bhaisab late ho gaye.. then he was caught up in some urgent work.. So the start up time delayed to 12 pm.. :)

But after reaching malad east (my pick up point) I got a call that others were still in khar.. So I and Karan met up at kandivali CCD and decided to do time pass.. But then I realized that they had gone home again to pick up Sid's sister (not complaining, but the fund doubled because of her)..

Finally 3 hours later we all met up at kandivali and started our journey to dahanu.. But bhagwan ko kuch aur hi manzoor tha.. We were stuck in a heavy traffic at Dahisar which took around 2 hours to clear.. Finally we took a halt at Kamat's hotel (some 50 kms left for Dahanu).. Neha wont forget the schezwan Pav Bhaji out there.. :)

Finally at 5.15 we reached Mahalaxmi temple.. We prayed and spent some moment out there.. Then we set out for the dahanu beach (still 25 kms from the temple but in the village).. I actually went with them only hearing that we are going to dahanu, not knowing the exact location.. By the time we reached dahaun beach it was 6.40 pm.. it was dark as expected.. Spent about 45 minutes out there and then we started our return journey..

Return journey was exciting with some games by Rishi.. We reached kandivali by 10.30.. It was late for me to go home and come back so decided to go to Sid's house directly.. Karan got down and brought his car later along with 3 clothes for me to change (that was so kind of him).. Saroj and Rumi (Rishi's brother) joined us for the midnight buffet and we left Sid's place at around 12.15 am..

The venue decided was "Le Meridien".. Its on the airport road.. 5-star hotel and its default that the ambiance is ought be the world class... But we had gone there for food and specially deserts..

For non-veg the special dishes were Chicken 65, Chicken biryani, some dish in beef and starters in all possible variety.. Not to mention the free beer with the menu.. :) I also ordered a Dry Martini, tried it for the first time.. Was worth the 600 bucks (plus taxes).. There were 15 different varieties of desserts.. everything was just awesome and mouth watering.. :)

Then was the time to play cards at sid's place.. It was 4.15 am by the time we reached there.. Played cards till 7 am and then was the time to say alvida..

So it was 24 hours of non-stop fun, entertainment, joy, no sleep and yet exciting.. Not even for one moment i felt sleepy.. Thats the benefit when you are with your friends.. :)

Cia soon with some new adventure.. :)

31st is coming soon.. so buckle up.. :)

Christmas, Anniversary and 3 idiots...

Last post mentioned about the double treat.. Well its triple treat, not double..

First of all MERRY CHRISTMAS to the readers.. Hope you all had a gala time.. :)

Next it was my mom-dad's wedding anniversary.. Their 31st.. Had a private moment with them with lunch in their favorite restaurant in Malad, Landmark.. It was good..

Then the real party time for me.. We 4 idiots going for an evening 6.15 show of "3 Idiots".. :) What to say about the movie, you must have seen it by now and mind it the critics must have found a fault even in this master piece.. :)

So keeping aside the critics, the best moments of the film:

1] Rancho's famous comment on the pen invented by american for space in front of ViruS..

2] Not to forget the hindi speech of silencer (chatur)

3] Virus asking him to teach engg subject and invents 2 words.. Farhanitrate' and 'Prerajulisation'

4] The hair roti prepared by Raju's mom whilc farhan and rancho were enjoying their mutter paneer.. ;)

5] All izz well song..

6] The definition of book by Rancho..

7] Presentation of Raju's house in black and white scene induces some comedy..

8] The climax is ultimate jab "Fhunshok Wangdoo" Chatur pe bomb daalta hai.. :)

There are many more scenes.. I found a nice review of the movie.. Check this link -> http://www.salmanmania.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&p=27158#p27158

A must must watch.. Don't miss even a single minute.. :)

Exams over... yipeeeeeeeee...

Today was another relief day after a series of filling up jargon and wasting trees (filling papers) .. The past 8 days were hell, but never the less got over very quickly..

But still today its still hard work for me.. have to submit an assignment by 9 am tom.. haven't even started by the time this post is up on the page.. Wish me luck for this one.. :)

Tomorrow its a good day for me.. I know its Christmas.. MERRY CHRISTMAS..

But its also my mom-dad's wedding anniversary.. :)

and going to watch "3 idiots" with my friends.. :)

double treat, isn't it.. Watch this space for the review of the movie.. :)

back after a longgggggg time..

Firstly, I must apologize for being away for such a long time.. there are many reasons behind that.. I will list down as and when u see my posts.. :)

So what was exactly happening in my life.. well most of the time I used to be online searching for Harvard case reviews.. ;) ;)

Then later on I disappeared for my CFA exams.. U must have seen that counter on my home page.. well that was for u all not for me.. I was very well having goose bumps, so counter se bhi jyada bada time bomb mere body mein tha..

Forget about that.. Don't ask how was it.. I also don't know.. u will come to know on 27th of January.. :)

Next was a series of assignments (Harvard cases) till the very last before the exams.. Even now i have to complete one assignment to submit it by tom morning.. Sad life hai, not the one in the college but the one where you complete the assignments.. :)

Keep watching this space for more news.. :P

Fire in the Mountain! Run! Run! Run!

NMIMS college students started to play this game in the middle of Monday morning exam.. Now you must be wondering what the hell is he talking about.. Well here the mountain signifies the tall UPG building.. Fire was in the pharmacy lab while the first year's were busy writing their HR paper (2nd trim mid-terms)..

Not a major one though but it was better to evacuate rather then facing any consequence.. Some chemical burst in the refrigerator in the pharmacy lab because of malfunctioned compressor..
But this do highlighted some major flaws in the new building..
1] We took 10 mins to actually get down the building from the 8th floor.
2] No fire exits
3] No fire staircases..
This is how they design a building and still win awards for their design..

There were some fault from our side also.. Students were taking a casual walk, some talking on phone as if we just got out from a movie theater and we were discussing the movie review with our friends..

Aur apne firangi bhai log bhi kam nahi hai.. Standing on the divider of the road they were busy taking photos and videos.. So that when they return back they could show "poor hungry people on the streets"..

Don't ask me about the mid-terms.. They were as usual, pathetic and irrelevant.. But quite relieved that it got over within 2 days (with the rescheduled exam being held today itself)..

Most awaited film for 2009 - 3 Idiots

Diwali Vacation..

Happy Diwali..!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for the delay in wishing you all.. You know diwali vacation mein apart from using your brain you will do all type of things.. So blogging was last option to me.. Now you must be saying what about studies.. isn't that a last option.. Well not for me, this diwali it was time to study for CFA.. Hardly 45 days left (as I am writing this post)..

So how was my diwali??.. Apart from the studies and the trek (read the previous posts) I practically din't do anything.. The next best things was watching TV, eating sweets and surfing..

Hope you guys enjoyed you week long diwali vacation and ready to kick arse again in the campus.. ;) ;)

Paragana.. Flagship event of NMIMS..

Paragana is the flagship festival of the School of Business Management, NMiMS. 2009 would mark the 7th version of Paragana. And thus, the theme Zeta. Zeta is the greek letter with a value of 7. This year along, Paragana looks to discover that bit of 7 which is a part of each of our lives.

The event promises to be one of the biggest among the premier MBA colleges.. Do check out the site given below for more updates and participate in the events enthusiastically.. :)

I wont boast without sufficient proof.. check out the site and go to events section.. You will come to know what I'm telling about.. Of course the main page will catch your eye.. :)

Paragana

Rajmachi Trek..

This was a fun fille, tiring trek that we 6 guys enjoyed some 8 kms from Karjat.
Place: Rajmachi
Date: 14-15 Oct 2009

Let me tell you something about the place.. Rajmachi is a small mountain with two hill forts "Shrivardhan and Manaranjan" with magnificent scenic views. There are two routes that lead to Rajmachi, one is from Lonavala(roughly 20km flat walk) and the other is from Karjat(Gradual climb of around 4km). We choose the gradual climb. Along the route you will find rich variety of plants and herbs..

We started our journey by catching the last Karjat local from dadar.. There were 4 to climb from dadar.. Me, ashish (CA), karthik and juna (oops sorry his name is anuj).. Sachin climbed from Kurla and finally tejas (the lucky one, because he got ample time to sleep at home) from dombivali..

The journey was long and we were expecting to catch up some sleep in the train, but the reverse did happen. We played UNO and did a lot of chit chat.. U now know why ashish has started becoming a champ in UNO.. Later on once we reached karjat (at 3.30 am) we decided to have a 2 hr nap at the nearby ST stand because the first bus was at 5.45 am.. Somehow we reached the ST stand only to find some 50 odd people already sleeping in the ST stand.. Somehow dejected we found a lamp post and sat on the stairs of the shop nearby the lamp post..

Now guess what did we do out there??.. Of course we did not sleep.. We spoke about ghost stories.. bhoooooootttttttt.. Guess what each of them had an interesting story to tell, always better then the previous one.. Wonder who of us is going to be the new script writer for RGV.. Under the company of the all the future script writers we spent our 2 houras and then caught the first bus the Rajmachi..

Reached the spot at around 6.45, the time we started out ascent.. It was a long and steep ascent of about 3000 feet from sea level (the point where we started).. So we started slowly and steadly towards our goal enjoying the awesome dew on the grass along the route.. You can notice all this description in the pictures on my facebook profile (will give u the link at the end of the post).. The mountai is awesome with all the bushes and the trees.. There was a small temple just before the fort at the height of approximately 2500 feet.. The fort is huge and considered to be a startegic fort by Shivaji maharaj.. More info can be found here -> http://deepabhi.tripod.com/rajmachi.html

I cannot describe the entire journey. you ahve to experinece on your own to get a sense of it.. Might plan another event in the future.. For now enjoy the pics of our trek out here.. Of course you will have to become my friend (if you r not) to watch the photos.. A necessary ans sufficient condition. :)

Facebook Profile

Typical cycle of Summer placements for Engineer's

I am sure all the engineer's would have guessed what the cycle contains.. I will try to make it as interesting as possible..

Life of an engineer is like a joke in the MBA college, specially during summer placements (i don't know whether it is the same for finals also) and specifically if u have work-ex.. Below I have described a set of events in a particular day (also just before and after the process) that an engg faces while he is preparing for a summer process.. There are 2 cases, when he/she is kept in dark whether that person is shortlisted or not.. and the other extremely rare case is when he/she is shortlisted..

Scenario 1: No idea whether shortlisted or not
Day before
1] Go all out and bang your head to try and find out the history and recent news about the company coming on campus the next day, even if u don't know whether u r going to shortlisted or not.
2] Googling is a common thing. also open up gmail and chat around the world asking others, "tera kidhar aur hua kya"?
3] Another response from all of them to you: "all d best" "dont worry tera shortlist ho jayega".. :) :)
The day
4] Go all dressed up, catch the earliest train so that u r not strangled later on.
5] Collect ur blazer from the locker and wait in the waiting room. The feeling at this moment is "Suit boot mein aaya kanahaiya band bajane ko"
6] 2 ghante wait karne ke baad, the person comes and announces that u r not selected.. koi different cheez to bola kar.
The feeling at that moment: "Suit boot mein aaya tha kanahaiya band bajane ko, lekin saala khud ka band baj gaya"
After the day
7] Saala ham engg's ki galti kya hai.. They don't even give a chance to prove our worth.. Saala apna kuch nahi hoga..

Scenario 2: You know that you are one among the few engg's shortlisted for the company
Day before
1] Go all out and bang your head to try and find out the history and recent news about the company coming on campus the next day.
2] Googling is a common thing. also open up gmail and chat around the world asking others, "tera kya hua"?
3] Another response from all of them to you: "all d best, phod ke aa ja" "Kal tera din hai yaar, ho jayega dont worry".. :) :)
The day
4] Go all dressed up, catch the earliest train so that u r not strangled later on.
5] Collect ur blazer from the locker and wait in the waiting room. The feeling at this moment is "Suit boot mein aaya kanahaiya band bajane ko"
6] U go all out to prepare, ask other about the firm, some sample GD topics, read economic times and get to know the news of the day.. Also ask the prev batch (if any) about the GD topic and their inputs.
7] Go throuhg the Gd and say about 2-3 points, many a times its like fish market..
8] Wait for the result just to announce that u r not selected for interview.. Damn.. On doing further research u find out that the selected person's are all from finance backgroup (of course for finance profile) or have less then 2 yrs work-ex.. U again think WTH, hamne kya gunha kiya hai.. :(
After the Day
9] Reach home and think Saala ham engg's ki galti kya hai.. They don't even give a chance to prove our worth.. Saala apna kuch nahi hoga..
Chance dete hai to sirf GD mein, uske baad saala work-ex hai bolke bhaga dete hai..

P.S: The above examples are only based on person who is an engg and has 2 or more yrs of work-ex
P.P.S: Most of the incidents are experienced by the writer.

Tip tip barsa paani.. But aag lagaya..

Finally after a long wait during the monsoon season, mumbai experienced rain just at the winter was about to set in.. Well it was a kinda relief with temperatures reaching 34 Celsius and it was never looking as the pleasant weather just before the winter.

But today's showers provided some relief and I hope most of the lakes in Mumbai are filled to the required level.. It was not a brief shower but continuously rained since yesterday.. so the climate is chilled out right now..

Now the part reason behind the unexpected showers is the typhoon Ketsana. Read here
This storm has hit the states of Andra pradesh and karnataka severely.. Take a look at some of the links from timesofindia.com.. Here and here

I hope this mayhem is short lived. and Pray for those are affected.. God be with them..

I don't know what I will be doing this SUMMER

I know what you must be thinking, is there a spelling mistake?? I am not talking about the movie "I know what you did last summer". For those movie crazy guys/gurlz, here is the link for the review of that movie. IMDB

For some of the poor souls like me, they would have guessed what I am trying to say. I am talking about my summer placements, which is far from over.

Looking back for the last 3 days (since the summer placement started) I wonder why did I take an admission in an engg school.. Even if one mistake was committed, then why the hell did I join an IT company.. Even if that was not sufficient, why did I opt Finance as my specialization.. Have I committed a crime by doing all this..

Now is the time to decide whether specialization is better or generalization (general MBA).. Woh kehte hai na, ki ek jagah muhh maare ya sab jagah muhh marte fire..

One wise man has said:
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

According to me Henry ford was not a specialist. Sure, he knew a lot about automobile, but what his greatness is that he gathered people (specialists) and made a modern assembly line style manufacturing company. He is well known for what he said in the trial (!) '‘I don’t know the answer for that, but I can get someone who does.’

Some words to consider, isn't it. So do you still think specialization is better than generalization?? your comments are welcome..

Pappilon party.. To celebrate one milestone..

After the horrible exam week (well actually immediately after the stats exam) we went to Pappilon to enjoy (or u can also say that we went to remove our frustration :) ).. either ways it was a nice time enjoying some 1.5 hours in that restaurant.

We enjoyed our time with some nice PJ's from sachin (ohh he is too good at that which is evident from the smile in the first pic). some movie discussion from everyone in which i also contributed :)

I must say anytime better than one of the class discussions on a particular case. The best part in the discussion was there was no reference of the 7 exams which we wrote in the past 6 days.

Then some discussion on the individual body weight, in which Anuj scored the first rank, followed by mihir and I was the last one (considering lightest to heaviest) :)

The pics are attached herewith (of course I'm missing :( ).
The people in the pics are:
(first pic) Anil, sachin, Tom [left to right]
(second one) Om, mihir, karthik, anuj [left to right]

The week that went by...

Terrible week for me that just went by. There are many reason for that bu the the main one being for the end term exams..
To start with following are some of the reasons:

1] Mondays were the day the exams were about to start. Being accustomed to Engg style studies, i at least need 2 weeks off for studies. But as they say MBA mein pehle saal khoon chuste hai, waise hi on preceding friday I just finished my poster presentation. So effectively stuies had to start from Saturday onwards.

2] Saturday: You must have thought as this day of studies. Nahi baba, ethics ka lecture tha na. I actually wanted to ask the NMIMS exam dept how ethical is this that u start the exams from Monday and keep 5 hours lect on sat.. :(

3] Sunday: the day I actually started studying and immediately had to study for Monday's exam. I had only dreamt of touching the 2 worst subjects, IDL and CAR. Which never became a reality.

4] Monday onwards: Nightmare started. hardly 4-5 hours of sleep per day (which is abnormal for a kumbakaran like me, who sleeps at least 7 hours a day). I wonder how the professors will react to after looking at my paper, specially IDL (HR subject) and CAR (marketing subject).
Some of the silver lining in the nightmare were FAA (accounts) and SAB (Stats). Somewhat OK types was ME (economics).

I wonder why do they keep subjects like IDL (HR). Do they actually except all those motivation theories and maslows needs hierarchy and other s**t being followed in organizations. this is kaliyug yaar, idhar sirf pasia chalta hai..
Same thing with CSR (corporate social responsibility), i mean koi sense nahi yeh subject rakhne ka.. Also if they have to keep, they keep it in first sem, so by the time u end ur 2 yrs term u wud have already forgotten that subject.. :D
What an irony.. :) :) :)

This does not end with the exam, the next term is about to start from Tuesday (thank god Monday is holiday due to dusshera) and still there are 3 project submission left for term 1.
But the good news (by the time i was writing this post) is that most of the date have been extended to 5th oct. Alas some relief. :)

Exam Time..

Sorry guys was busy throughout the week due to the poster presentation. So will be in the coming week due to end term exams. Will give you updates regarding the past week and the coming week after my exams are over.

For now I'm attaching the poster. Hope u like it.

Let me know our comments on the same.. Cis.. Don't forget to wish me luck.. ;)

Eco-Echoes - Day 2 - The day of Finals

After a exciting competition on day 1, it was the time for the finals on day 2.

We started with Ecosummit - The debate competition from 11 am to 1 pm
There were 4 rounds which comprised of 4 different issues. There were 4 candidates and each were given a definite role as a speaker for the concerned issues. The interesting part was in round 3 where the candidates were stopped in between and asked to change the roles to judge their "ease of changing roles". The final round was question and answer round where the 4 finalist had to answer judge's questions.

Then we had 3 finals in parallel

Freakoutnomics - A trading game
Exciting game as I would term it. Testing the skills of geometry, finance, bartering and negotiating. A complete package so to say. Will surely post the details of the game once I get hold of the complete script. :)

EcoPrashna - The quiz game
Could attend only last 3 rounds of this quiz. I liked the last 3 because it was audio round and the second last one was Joining the dots rounds. The last one rapid fire round and the contestants were to answer 10 questions in 90 seconds.

EcoPrachar - The ad making competition
Couldn't attend this one as I was coordinating for Freakoutnomics. But heard it was a good one.

Bot to forget, on 5th an important part of Eco-echoes was launched in the inaugural session. Ecoshastra - the economics magazine. It was the third edition and I was part of the Editorial and Design team. I really liked the magazine. I will upload thi on my blog once its officially released to all the colleges. :)

Will upload the pics soon.

Time to say cia. Will surely let u know about the updates as an when I proceed with my stay in NMIMS. I am yet to update about the Fahrenheit event on my blog. Once iget hold of the pics I will surely write about this event.

Take Care. :)

Eco-Echoes 2009- Day 1 Snapshot

First of all sorry guys for not posting since very long.. Had caught up with various assignments, which are far from being complete. Also Sat and Sun was the main event for me.


Let me talk something about the event Eco-Echoes 2009, from Ecolibria, The economics cell of NMIMS.
The theme of the event was: Indian Resurgence: Uncertainties Abound
The inaugural event was on 5th September, where there were eminent speakers from the industry. Speaking on the theme were some industry stalwarts like:
Guest of honor
Dr. DM Nachane,
Director,
IGIDR (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development & Research)

Chief Guest
Mr M.N. Chaini,
Chairman: Industry Education Partnership cell
Member: Maharashtra State Board of Technical Association.

Key Note Speaker
Dr. Shubhada Rao,
Chief Economist,
Yes Bank

It was a fruitful one. They spoke about various issues and it lasted for about 2 hours.

After that was the beginning of all the events. The events lined up for the day were:

The first event for the day (after the inaugural ceremony) was EcoPrastuti - The paper presentation competition. The prelims were in the form of online paper submission. After which 5 teams were selected to show case their talent in front of our eminent panel about the knowledge and analysis they have done with respect to the topic they have selected. It was a nice one, particularly by the team from TISS.

The prelims of Ecoprachar- The Ad making contest was held between 4-6 pm for which the shortlisted teams was told to come to campus & perform the Ad live!!!
They were given a product based on which they had to prepare and perform it between 4-6 pm

Treasure Hunt - Evening 4.30 to 6 pm. The boundaries mentioned were from J W Mariott to Amitabh's Bungalow. The clues were fairly simple for those who have at least spent 2 months in Vile parle area. But the trick was that in a team of 4, 2 were told to track the clues and 2 were told to solve the crossword puzzle. Yup u heard it right. 2 tam were to sit in a classroom and solve the puzzle, on finding the answer they had to communicate that word to the team member who is roaming around the area, when he/she reaches that place she has to speak the password (the answer from the crossword) first and then get the next clue. Interesting isn't it. Well after all its Eco-echoes and had to be something different.

The day ended in a fun event. But there was more in the pot for the second day. Read on in the next post. :)

Ecolibria presents Eco-Echoes 2009

Hello fellas, 5th and 6th of september are the biggest days in this year for Ecolibria cell. Becuase they present the flagship event Eco-echoes 2009 in association with Bhel, Bank of Baroda, PCRA, esselworld and Economics & Political weekely magazine.

There are many events scheduled on these 2 days (mostly finals) which are Ecoshastra launch (ecolibria magazine of which I am in the editorial), Ecoprachar (AD event), EcoSummit (role play cum debate), EcoPrashna (quiz), Freak(out)nomics (battle of resources) and Treasure Hunt.

The theme of the event is Indian Resurgence: Uncertainties Abound
The chief dignitaries present at the location will be:
Guest of honor
Dr. DM Nachane,
Director,
IGIDR (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development & Research)

Chief Guest
Mr M.N. Chaini,
Chairman: Industry Education Partnership cell
Member: Maharashtra State Board of Technical Association.

Key Note Speaker
Dr. Shubhada Rao,
Chief Economist,
Yes Bank

Looking fwd for this event. Hope everbody enjoy a gr8 time out here.

I forgot to update about the inter division event that happened on 1st and 2nd september. Watch out this space for more info in my next post.

Free from IDL torture.. Just a moment of silence before the next avalanche..

Woh late night college mein rukna to reach the target of submission of assignment, Continuously starring at your laptops trying to understand the reason behind that assignment. Even if you get hold of the reason, then there is another challenge of decoding the actual contents required. Phir apna fav website pe search karne ke, to find out the actual meaning of the terminologies used. Then catch hold of any senior for a copy of the assignment, when you are about to copy something from that assignment you get to hear that NMIMS has a s/w to detect plagiarism. U start to think WTF. Aur phir sad mood banake phir se laptop ke taraf dekhne ka and start typing some shit.

Then comes another shocker, that you have to read journals. Arre yeh text book kya kam hai ki usne journals bhi padne bol diya, Professor sathiyaa gaya hai. ;)
Then comes the most important part, ANALYSIS. Arre yeh theory kam tha ki anlaysis bhi karo. Pehle pata hota toh question hi nahi puchte.

Then you start compiling the report, somehow you manage to complete the report, phir se usme ek constraint aa jata hai. Limit to max of 15 pages. Saala likho bhi aur sirf 15 page hi likho. Jyada likha to kya problem hai.
You complete all the fomalities and go to a zerox center for printing (NMIMS printers are the worst possible) Phir yaar udhar ek aur shock lagta hai, when you have to pay to beautify the report which in utter sense is absolutely bull shit..

Then you submit the report and feel as if you have won a India-Pak war. But this doesn't end here. The subject under consideration was IDL. There are 2 more to go after this one. ME and CSR. Man when will this term end.

In this course I completed an achievement, to travel on the last possible train on the western line. Following is a picture which is rarely a scenario during the day time or before 2am.



Welcome to reality of MBA college. After about two months I felt as if i was in a MBA college. But this is what I used to do in Engineering college.
Time to re-think about the difference between MBA and Engg college??

Inside a dark tunnel.. Where is the end :(

"Dene wala jab bhi deta, deta chaphad phad ke" This is what exactly happening from the past week and surely will continue for the next 10 days.

Flurry of assignment was always a part of NMIMS studies. But when some 50-60 marks are allocated for all the assignments then the situation becomes a bit more complicated. IDL (I don't know why this subject is part of MBA curriculum for those guys who hate HR) assignment deadline on 31st. Have to conduct a study of 2 companies for their Hr practices (for which I will be the last person on this earth who will be interested)
Anyways the next one is on 6th Sept, deadline for submission of Microeconomics assignment. Hopefully this shouldn't be of much problem as its my interest area. :)
Another one is CSR poster presentation for American Express. Well this seems interesting because of the word poster. Diagram and some creativity is what everybody will like. This will end on 18th of Sept. Then from 21st to 26th is the trimester exams. Ufff, Sept seems to be so close.

That's not all. In between there are 2 major events for my cells. The first one is Eco-Echoes of the Ecolibria cell on 5th and 5th Sept(my fav cell) and on 12th there is a coffee meet of NMIMS Alumni (as part of Alumni cell).. This is just 2 cells of NMIMS.
There is Nepathya coming up with Fahrenheit 09-11 (an inter divisional clutural war) on sep 01-02.. There there are many more activities of other ell like E-cell, Mantavya, Adverb, NJM, Finomenon and lots more..

Our plates are flooded with all delicious events, the only problems seems to the limitation of 24 hrs in a day. Another limitation is the amount of sleep I need :D ;)

This is the main reason why the blog was not updated from the past one week. I promise you that I will update all the events happening in NMIMS in this next 1-2 weeks. But promise me to show lots of patience as I am neck deep in work..
Thanks for understanding me.. Take Care..

Ganpati Bappa Morya..

Its the best time of the year, not because its raining but its becuase the favorite deity is back in mumbai. Its Ganesh Chaturthi and all over mumbai you must have noticed some big pandals being set up. Today they will be filled with long queue of devotees eagerky waiting to cath a glimpse of Ganpati Bappa.

There are many famous Ganpati mandals all over mumbai. Some of which are listed below, I have also tried to gather some snaps of each mandal..

Keshavji Naik Ganpati at Girgaum is the oldest Sarvajanik Ganesh Mandal in Mumbai Located at Tilak Times Keshavji Naik Chawl, Girgaum, the history of the mandal dates back to the first Sarvajanik Ganesh festival in Maharashtra in 1893. The 2.5 feet idol here is noted for its simplicity. There is no much fanfare but mandal still keeps the tradition of Sarvajanik Ganesh festival call given by Lokmanya Tilak.

Huge Clay idol at 1st Khattar Gully in Thakurdwar – This mandal is a classic example of eco-friendly Ganesh celebrations in Mumbai. The 12-feet idol is made of Shadu matti or clay and is colored with watercolor. The pandal has been following this tradition for two decades.

Parliament House at Mahakali Mandal in Andheri: A replica of Indian Parliament (80x60 ft) is the theme used by Mahakali Mandal in Andheri. It is designed by Manoj Govekar. Lord Ganesha sits on the Speaker’s chair here and visitors can sit in the Viewers gallery and offer prayers to Ganesha.

Six-armed Shubhdrishti Ganesha in Tulsiwadi, Tardeo – The Ganesh idols of this mandal has won several best idols awards. Last year the Ganesh idol was based on the Shubhdrishti Ganesha in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. It is also one of the richest mandals in Mumbai and the idols are studded with ornaments.

Ganesha Stands on Hibiscus Flower: This unique 24-foot idol is made by Balagopal mandal in Chira Bazar. The main theme here is a local redevelopment issue.

Ram Avatar Idol in Khetwadi 11th Lane: This huge 27-foot-tall idol is a major attraction in this area which has numerous Ganesh idols. It is the children who are the majority of the visitors here due to theme - Lord Hanuman fighting Gabbar Singh of Sholay.

Dabbawallah Tiffin Theme at Mahalaxmi: Famous sculptor Manoj Govekar has designed this mandal and it is drawing huge crowds. The mandal is modeled on the Dabbawallah Tiffin.

Wish fulfilling Andhericha Raja at Azad Nagar mandal at Veera Desai Road – This is a unique mandal as the Ganesh idol here is sponsored by devotees. In fact most decorative in the mandal are contributed the devotees from around the world. The immersion or Visarjan ceremony of this mandal is extended beyond the usual date and is performed on Sankashti day. There is a widespread belief that one’s wishes are fulfilled by praying here.
Lalbaug Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal, Ganesh Galli – This popular mandal in heart of Mumbai has a history of more than 75 years and is noted for unique idols based on Hindu Puranas and Epics. Last year a standing giant Ganesh idol was seen stopping a demon lifting the Shivling.

But there are 2 more Ganpati mandals which stand apart from all the above listed ones. They are:

Lalbaugcha Raja in Parel is undoubtedly the most popular Ganesh mandal in Mumbai and attracts around 1.5 million devotees during the 10-day festival. It is believed that by praying to the Lalbaugcha Raja one’s wishes will be fulfilled. The main attraction here is a simple idol but with a golden crown, golden bracelets and other gold ornaments. visit its site for more details: http://www.lalbaugcharaja.com/

GSB Seva Mandal Wadala is the richest mandal in Mumbai and is noted for eco-friendly celebrations. The huge clay idol is richly adorned with 60 kilograms of gold and 175 kilograms of silver. The golden crown on the idol weighs around 22 kg. There are several different pujas that take place during the 10-day festival.

Some of the snaps are as attached in order are (from left to right) Ganesh Galli Ganpati, Andhericha Raja Ganpati, Khetwadi Ganpati, Tulsiwadi Ganpati, Keshavaji Ganpati, Lalbaugcha Raja and GSB seva mandal Ganpati

New found superstar in div E..

For the ones who are reading and already a part of Div E, they already know who is the famous personality I am talking about. For the non div E members the famous personality is T J (name hidden due to online issues), the perfectionist, a serious soul, a member of the rightist community in Div E.

Well in Div E, leftist is the community who are always sitting in the left side of the class. I don't have a word for the one sitting in the middle, so 2 columns in the left are leftist and 2 columns in the right are rightist. Also in politics, rightist always keep an open view and do not oppose to any ideas [ leftist please ignore this statement :) ]. I am just mentioning this statement to signify the importance of our star.

Why T J was the selected star? You must have heard about the competition happening in b-schools. Arre I am not talking about technical or financial events. The event where we try to find out the first committed soul after coming to the campus. Well T J is the unlucky one ( oops i mean fortunate one) who is in the race for the first prize from div E (I don't know about other divisions, and can't assume).

The next question hovering in your mind will be who is that girl?. Well that's a secret, and only the rightist know about this secret. There will be an official press release once its confirmed.

Now for the news related to NMIMS, we have a event called Fahrenheit 09-11, which is a series of competition between the various divisions of first year MBA students. Looking forward to this one.

Watch out this blog for further updates on our superstar.

Sunsaan College.. one week of boredom..

Just to give you guys a glimpse of how sunsaan my college was, have a look at these pictures.. The lane is considered to be the most happening lane in Mumbai college life.. Thanks to swine flu there are very few roaming around in that lane.. College quad used to filled up with at least 100 people, and in these pics u can see hardly 20 of them, and most of them do not belong to our college..

Surprisingly the whole college was closed (except the only place i hardly visit, the library).. Imagine even our course coordinator was sitting outside..

This is a sample of what has happened to Mumbai college life thanks to swine flu and to all the grace of our government to shut down our colleges..

Coming back to my routine, what I have accomplished in these 7 days.. The routine I followed for all of the seven days is listed below..

1. After 10 alarms I finally get up at 11 in morning.
2. Straight away switch on the TV and press 44 to watch CNBC TV18 (of course if its a weekday) or else my favorite movie channels.
3. Stay glued to the TV unless mom comes and starts shouting at least to have my breakfast..
4. I have all the time on this earth to have a shower. After that back to the couch with a remote in my hand..
5. After some TV, and some awesome lunch (i hope i don't get use to this, else it will be difficult when I m back in college), time to take another nap.. ;) (yeah, u heard it right, sleeping was the best activity I have done the past week)
6. Time to go out for a walk in evening.. or enjoy with friends if its a weekend..
7. Back to my den.. Normally by 9 on weekdays and by 11 on weekends..
8. Again food and some movies on star or HBO..
9. Sleeping time at around 1 am..


PS: This schedule is being designed only when you have nothing to do and have a weeks off. Of course external entertainments are out of option.

PPS: Holidays are subject to boredom risks. Please read the script carefully before making your decision.

PPPS: This portfolio is designed only for residents of Mumbai. Outsiders can post their different versions.

The day that went by.. India's historic day..

Have u realized yesterday was the most important day in India's history.. Still there was hardly any reaction on the faces of Indians.. Ask those freedom fighters and soldiers who stand at the border and they will tell the exact meaning of independence..

Consider this, you will still be under the rule of Britishers, you will be a slave in their hands, No Indian flag, You wont have the freedom to do anything.. Can you understand the important word out here, "FREEDOM"..

Yet even if there is a flag hoisting at 10 am (considered very late, the official timing is 7 am) there are people sleeping in their beds just because its a national holiday.. Some going outside for a lunch/dinner, some enjoying with their girlfriends/boyfriends.. Can't you spare one day to enjoy with those who gave their lives for this country, can't you spend one day to think about them (and forget about spending time).. I'm saying just to think.. Imagine 100 crore people thinking for a common cause, then India will be a much better place to live..

Jai Hind...

Swine flu effect.. Time for Boredom..

Thanks to the deadly virus which has affected thousands of people worldwide and claimed 4 cases in Mumbai, SVKM has decided to close down its colleges for the entire week. Of course NMIMS is no different, even if its an MBA college.
This has brought cheer in the entire college but time to think what should we do for the rest of the week (5 whole days).. This leads to boredom, my greatest fear..

Something to tell about swine flu..
Swine influenza (also called H1N1 flu, swine flu, hog flu, and pig flu) is an infection by any one of several types of swine influenza virus. Swine influenza virus (SIV) is any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs.
The H1N1 viral strain implicated in the 2009 flu pandemic among humans often is called "swine flu" because initial testing showed many of the genes in the virus were similar to influenza viruses normally occurring in North American swine.[43] But further research has shown that the outbreak is due to a new strain of H1N1 not previously reported in pigs.

Till date 10 people have died in India because of swine flu and 1870 worldwide.. (source: wikipedia).
959 confirmed cases in India and 218337 case worldwide..

I hope this situation improves and the government does everything necessary to stop this pandemic and not just release press statements.

Hysteria before the midterms.. And the situation after that..

The scene which was happening on Thursday and Friday (6th and 7th) reminded me of my engg days.
People were running mad after CA's and Bcom grad for queries in Accounts, including me.. ;)
Taking even the minute doubts with utmost seriousness as if some is going to beat the bushes out of them. Anyways I enjoyed every bit of that fun.

What happened during the weekend was surprising for me also.. I started to study.. :O
I don't know whether it was the fear of mid terms or because others were doing it.. But something unusual happened and I was deep inside the pages of Economics and Accounts books..

What happened on the exam days was where I was very disappointed. Even if someone has not studied for all the 4 subject would have cleared the exam easily just by some unfair means..
Stats paper was too easy. the subject worth attempting was Economics.. Accounts was also easy even for an engineer. CSR was completed within 5 mins..
A studios one would be very frustrated with the things happening in NMIMS. Then what is the use of doing MBA if you are going to clear just on the basis of copying.. this applies to me also..

Anyways what happened should be forgotten and I hope this doesn't happen in the end term exams.
Hope everyone else was happy with this format. Take care.

Freshers ver.2.. I missed it..

I call it version 2 and not actually what was mentioned in the mail (version 1.1)..
Venue: **SUTRA**, The Lalit Intercontinental. Airport Road.
Date: 6th August'09, Thursday

Well nothing special about this one except the venue. There was no dinner.. Strange na!!!
And only one drink, that was either a beer or a soft drink.. :(
The extra one costs Rs. 250 and Rs 200 respectively.. Good na i missed it.. But feeling sad that I was not with my friends..

Now back to the reason of why I missed it ..
I had gone to C off my good friend (Siddhesh) to the Airport.. He was leaving for US to study MBA and MS combine (3 years course).. Was there at the airport till 2 am, by which time most of them had already left.

In spite of being so near to the venue and still missing it makes me even more sad.. Maybe next time..

Events before the freshers version 2...

On August 3, I had my Editorial meeting for Ecolibria cell. Very small team (only 4 members) but lot to do with 110 articles in pipeline.
Today we also got the schedule for our mid term's. Only 4 exams for 2 days but the paper to fear is Accounts. U will read in my next posts how the experience actually went. :)

Rest 2 days went with lots of cell interviews lined up. Of course I dint go for any.. 2 cells are enough for me. :D

Read on the next posts.

Happy Friendship Day.....

HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY to all from you very own friend.
I know most of you might be knowing but still t inform, Friendship day is always celebrated on first Sunday of August every year.

Friendship day for me:
1] Got up pretty late, but day to start with.
2] Reached college at 11.30, not before buying some chocolates for my new friends.
3] Wished everyone whom I met in college personally and gave the chocolates. For others SMS is always an option. :)
4] Continued my CAR presentation work (which started on Saturday)
5] Left for Sid's house at around 5pm. He had invited us for dinner and kept a Satyanarayan Puja in the morning at his house. Had a good laugh, lots of chit chat, played "Sach ka saamna", short drive in Mahindra Bolero, and then returned home by 11.40 pm.

I hope I have such wonderful times with frnds in the coming days, weeks, months and even years.

Survey Time...

This is the line you might have frequently heard from a MBA student. Yes now its my time. If you are reading this then you can also take some time to fill out my survey. Please I require it by Sunday. Here is the link: http://freeonlinesurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=kjzhq6wkbagn0h9626234

Thanks :)

Will also post the survey results and the stats which we might be covering by Big Bazaar visits and other survey methods. I hope you all will surely wait for that.

Ecolibria Interviews and application of E-cell...

I was really impressed the way E-cell applications were invited. They had a well defined concept to judge you before-hand in the form of 4 specific questions pertaining to entrepreneurship. The 4 questions were all about self opinions in the field of entrepreneurship.

Today was also the day of Ecolibria Interviews and Nepathya (cultural cell of NMIMS) auditions. I participated in Ecolibria and turned out to be a smooth single process interview. They asked all basics of Economics and finance. Chilled out in the end. Hope to get selected in this one.

Nothing else to update for today, except that I will be preparing an online survey for my Marketing assignment and post it in my post tomorrow. Please do co-operate with me the fill up this survey.
For more details watch out for this space in tomorrows edition. ;)

Days After Parampara...

Sorry guys for posting so late, the real reason will come in the later part of this post.
The next day after the event was marked by prolonged amount of sleeping. It had to be the case for me after you have read the previous post. :)

Monday was another funday for us, with lots of events lined up. The prominent ones for me were "Corporate Mandi by E-Cell - A game of trading", "Its not a Big Deal - Quiz and crossword by Finomenon - Finance cell's initiative", "Casino Royale by Ecolibria - A quiz + cards game".
The other events were "Ab'use' me by NJM (not just marketing) - Marketing cell of NMIMS", "PYLON OF ISIS - Online treasure hunt - by summIT" and "THE OTHER SIDE by HRUday - HR cell of NMIMS" to name a few.

It was a fun day after 2 pm on Monday with all the quizes and games and fun events. The Finomenon quiz was very well organized so was the Casino royale game. Did not a chance to look at the Corporate Mandi, but I heard that it was a galla event.

The later part of the evening proved to be a nightmare to me as I started feeling ill and on Tuesday morning this feeling converted into a reality and I was caught in a viral fever trap. For 2 days I was out of action with heavy fever, body ache and all sorts of problems. Now you can understand why I wasn't able to update the blog.

Hope you have forgiven me. Thanks. Take care :)

Parampara, Freshers & Midnight Buffet at Orchid

Yesterday was a busy day for me. Paramapara and Fresehers plus the midnight buffet.
As usual the "Halla Bol" team met early, but very few turned up. The SCR wanted us to practice once more, but the participants decision was proved correct in the end not to practice again.

We reached Bhaidas hall, after some refreshments, exactly at 1.00 pm.. Hoping for the show to start at 1.30 pm as scheduled. But as usual we are never on time. The show eventually started at 3.30 pm.

The hall was quite empty, not many senior turned up. So was the case with juniors. Anyways the show started and the seniors showed their true colors, they had come just for bird watching. No skit no play, only dance and fashion show was their motto. Pathetic freshers shows, thanks to the seniors.
They even made some of the girls to walk the ramp just to show their faces. The most cheap behavior I expected from the seniors.

Thereafter was the fun part for us, Freshers party at Santokba hall and dinner at NMIMS quad. The party was good thanks to us, but the DJ was pathetic. All the time he played only hindi/punjabi songs and that too till the end. Something which was not expected from the DJ. Anwyas we guys did the needful by dancing like crazy bunch of people. Fun till the end.

I along with 5 other friends had dinner at Shiv Sagar, the famous pav bhaji in vile parle. Then was the most fun events of the night, the Midnight Buffet. We 4 TCSers gathered at Mithibhai and left for Orchid, Vile Parle east at around 12.30 am. Not to mention the place is awesome and the ambiance along with the food is mind blowing. 10 different types of desserts, plus shev puri and other charts made my day (oops night). Do visit this place and it costs only 460 bucks. We enjoyed our dinner (mine second one) till 3.45 pm. Later we drove from Parle to Bandra and back to Kandivali to drop everyone safely and finally reached home at 4.30 am.

In the end a hectic but a very memorable day to spend. Of course the next day (today) was spent in sleeping and roaming out of town.

Hope you enjoyed the description. Byee.. Take Care..

Tomorrow - The Day...

Tomorrow is the day of PARAMPARA. Today were our final auditions and today was the first time we ran the complete script end to end. And mind it it was very good. The seniors responded very well.

Tomorrow is the day when we are going to present our skit "Halla Bol" at Bhaidas Hall, Vile Parle West. Surprisingly they have kept the freshers party at B J Hall (the same place where we had our first day of Orientation). Its not a good place for party, but something is better then nothing.

Some Stats for you all:
1] Last year the party was at Rockbottom and this year at B J hall. Compare the differences!!
2] Management says that the reason is recession. Last year the core MBA fees was 2.1 lakhs, this yr this is 3.75 lakh. Still they are complaining of recession.
3] There were only 240 students in core mba, this yr we are 300 students. I think rockbottom can accommodate 60 more students.
4] AFAIK last year there were 2 parties for the seniors. What happened this year??

Such a disappointment from the NMIMS administration.

I will write in more detail about the fest on Sunday.

Parampara Auditions...

The day we were waiting before the final kill was today. After being busy for all sorts of assignments, we finally got time at 7 pm to start the final rehearsals for the auditions. The time allotted to us was at 7.15, but as they always say that for a b-school time is abundant when you are on campus. The same thing happened here, we were called last and the time by that time was 9pm. :(

Nevertheless it was worth it when we received some applause from the seniors after they were done with bashing the other four groups. That was the fruit for the hard work. We were quite happy and did some "Halla Bol" in the corridor.

The happiness was just for 2 mins when my group met again at 9.30 to start planning for the IDL assignment. By the time this post is displayed on the blog my assignment might have just started.

Chalo getting back to work. Byeee.. Take Care

Addition to yest's chronicles...

July 17th, 2009 Aanand Pandey
Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani will take charge as the chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UDAI) project next week. That is when he will move into his new office. (Currently, he is sitting in the Planning Commission office, a Business Standard report said today). One can’t help but think of an imaginary scenario of his first day in the new office. Here it goes.
Morning, 10 AM sharp. Nandan Nilekani enters his new cabin. There is not much in the room except a plush chair, a large wooden desk with a computer and a phone neatly placed on top. He picks up the phone and dials the switchboard operator’s number.

Nilekani: Good morning. This is Nandan Nilekani. Can you send in someone who can help me with some information, please?

Operator: Good Morning sir. Whom do you wish to call in? Do you have someone in particular in mind?

Nilekani: Umm. Have I been given an assistant or a secretary?

Operator: We don’t employ assistants here, sir. Too little outlay. Secretaries we have many. Chief secretary, under secretary, joint…

Nilekani: …No, no. Not that kind. I meant someone who could help me get things rolling.

Operator: Okay. Let me see. Well, I think I know just the right person for the task. I am sending in our secretary a-la-carte, Mr Pandeyji.

Several hours later, Pandeyji walks in.

Nilekani: [After exchanging the usual pleasantries] Pandeyji, one of our immediate big tasks would be to see how we could integrate our unique ID database with other relevant databases like those of passports, ration cards, job cards and PAN. Do we have an upgraded IT system here?

Pandeyji: Integration not possible. We need new licenses from Oracle, Microsoft. We don’t have much money with us. Too little outlay.

Nilekani: Alright. We will use Open Source.

Pandeyji: [Alarmed] Open source? Across all departments, we have banned everything that has anything “Open” in it.

Nilekani: When did that happen?

Pandeyji: Ever since the Open General Licence scheme came into force. It wreaked havoc on our personal, er, public finances.

Nilekani: Alright. I will talk to Paul. He is a good friend. I am sure he will be able to help. This is in the interest of the people, after all.

Pandeyji: But, sir, Paul was robbed two weeks ago.

Nilekani: [Shocked] Where? How?

Pandeyji: Shortly after the Union Budget speech. I heard an analyst say that the government is robbing Paul to pay Peter. Sirjee, when the government is done with Paul, he won’t be in a position to help.

Nilekani: [Relieved] No, no, I was talking about Paul Allen, Microsoft’s co-founder. By the way, “Robbing Paul to pay Peter” is not the correct expression. It is the other way round.

Pandeyji: Sir, you are duly advised not to lose sweat over improper forms of expression around here. Did you not hear the honourable finance minister read out the Budget?

Nilekani: [Ignoring the last comment] By the way, why do I see so few people in this building? Are we not sufficiently staffed yet? I think I gave my recommendations some time back.

Pandeyji: Actually, we were, but most officers have applied to other ministries or departments for transfers. Some have even moved out.

Nilekani: [Concerned] Why?

Pandeyji: Our project was allocated Rs 120 crore in the Budget. On the other hand, the Delhi Police got Rs 3,000 crore, the National Ganga Project got Rs 562 crore. You see sir, the greater the mess, the bigger the outlay. Officers feel there is a slim chance you will be messing things up around here, seeing your track record. So most officers want out.

Nilekani: [Animated] Forget the outlay. I have been given a free hand!! Nobody gets a free hand!

Pandeyji: [Smirking] Good you mentioned that term. In fact, “free hand” is among the first few terms of which I need to explain the official meanings to you, tomorrow.
Nilekani: Hmm. I think I know the meaning already, but why tomorrow? Why not today?

Pandeyji: It’s 2 minutes to 5:30 PM. When the clock strikes 5:30, I am going to turn into a pumpkin. Is there something else I can help you with?

Nilekani: Not really. Is there something else you want to help me with, before you turn into a pumpkin?

Pandeyji: Arrey haan. I have read your book, Imagining India. I like it a lot. Actually, I have thought of a nice title you can use for the book’s sequel.

Nilekani: [Intrigued] And what could that be?

Pandeyji: Keep Imagining, India.

Nilekani casts an impatient glance at his watch. The minute hand looks agonisingly sluggish.

Hope you enjoyed it.. :)

Something funny...

Nandan's brief of his first day in parliament!

From an INFOSCION to a POLITICION - Nandan's Chronicles - 2

Continuing my tryst with capturing the life and times of Nandan Nilekani in his new avatar as a Cabinet Minister, here is what he had penned after his first day in the Parliament. The last entry stopped when the House was just about to begin. Let’s see what happened thereafter….

The House was in pin drop silence. I was brimming with anticipation and excitement!!!! Manmohan had informed me that my introduction was one of the important points of the agenda. I hoped that I will be able to make my speech properly. After so many interviews and conferences, I was nervous today!!!!

After the Speaker indicated that the proceedings of the House could begin, Manmohan formally introduced me to the entire House. He mentioned that as the head of the Unique Identification Authority of India, I was responsible to ensure that each and every Indian had a digital smart card as a proof of his existence. Manmohan spoke about why I was selected and also some references to the various projects executed by me in Infosys were mentioned. The House listened with rapt attention. I was asked to say a few words and I did exactly the same!!!

I thanked the Government of India for having given me this opportunity and I assured the House that I would strive to successfully deliver this project. The Speaker then formally inducted me into the House and before the proceedings could move any forward, there was a small commotion on the other side of the hall.

It was Minister of Textiles who had a comment to make before the next point on the agenda. He made a request that I should be attired in a more austere way instead of a flashy suit. It did not go well with the image of a minister who should live to serve the common man and should be less ostentatious in his habits. I stood up to reply. I offered my apologies to the Honourable Minister and assured that I shall be in a more acceptable dress next time. I felt that he was right.
We also used to have corporate dress code in Infosys. So it's here as well!!!!

I sat down and felt somebody nudging me. I turned around and to my surprise; it was the former Indian skipper and one of my favourite batsman Mohd. Azharuddin. I remembered that he had recently won the elections. I smiled at him and mentioned to him that I used to like his game very much, shaking his hand. No Rolex, I noticed. Azhar told me that he would “fix” me an appointment with an Italian designer who had designed his dapper Kurta suit. An Italian designer in Milan doing Kurtas!!!!! I made a note of this and reminded myself to give this example to Friedman for his next book,” The World Markets are flattened”. Since there was no doubt about the “Fixational” capacities of Azhar, I told him to give me the details and I would consider.

The proceedings of the House went on with numerous bills being debated and passed as I sat as a passive audience waiting for my project’s turn to come up. After the lunch break, it was the moment for me!!!! MY PROJECT”S FIRST REVIEW CAME UP FOR PRESENTATION. I was at sea. My laptop did not have any reserve power. I went to Manmohan and apprised him of the situation. I was sweating. He calmly replied that this would not be a cause of concern. I was flummoxed!!!!

The Speaker asked me to explain to the House on what were my plans for the Unique Identity Project. I replied that I have a plan prepared for 30-60-90-120 days’ milestones and I have presentation to make for which I need a power socket, a projector and a screen. I had no idea what was going to happen after this. The next couple of minutes were a complete jolt for me. I was completely in a tizzy.

Let me just summarize what happened. A Joint Cabinet Secretary Committee was set up to judge the feasibility of my request. The Under Secretaries for the Ministries of Power, IT and Broadcasting will prepare a Viability Report after scrutinizing National Security threats to my request. This was because the power socket comes under Power, laptop comes under IT and projector comes under Broadcasting. I have also been told to reconsider my time lines of 30-60-90 days and start thinking in terms of years. Probably, they are right. I did not have the foresight in this matter.

The summary of the issue is that I need to come up with a more inclusive, democratic, comprehensive long term plan for this project to be executed over the next five years. I have also been given a presentation slot 3 months from now (by which the issues related to the power cord etc will also be resolved). I am filled with mixed reactions. I was planning for a quick resolution; the management wants a strategic solution. I come out of the House and text Murthy.

“You won’t believe it but these guys work just like us. I am on a NATIONAL BENCH for the next three months!!!!!!!!”

I got this article from some forum. I don't know the credibility of this information, but its worth a read. :D

Back to Square one...

This quote is from the point of view of the NMIMS management. Today we got a news that our classes will be in NMIMS building from tomorrow. Till now it was in UPG building.
The NMIMS building was about to demolish and they were planning to build a new one with 7 floors in it. Check out the news here
They still haven't communicated officially that the plan has been postponed, but its obvious from the developments in NMIMS campus. According to a faculty this will be the third time they are reverting back.
The good news for our part is no queues in front of the elevators, quad not getting demolished, access to wireless internet compared to no internet, and host of other features.
Hope this news bring cheer among the students.
Bye bye. Cia soon.

Harry Putter.....

This movie was a plan of NMIMS E division students but it did not materialize. Never mind I had my building friends to accompany me.

Movie: HP6 (Harry Potter & the half blood prince)
Show timing: 10.50 am
Date: 19 July 2009 (Sunday)

For a English movie I had to get up early on a beautiful Sunday. But kya kare I can sacrifice at least that much. Now lets move on to review part. The movie is not that great compared to the other 5 parts of HP. Not much action, except the first scene or kidnapping the wand maker at diagon alley and the finding of the Horcrux. The sad part is the death of Dumbeldore. I knew it before hand thanks to the internet and the books already being released (mind it I haven't read the book). The important events other the mentioned above are Drako turning into death eater, Ron becomes the successful Gryffindor's Quidditch goalie, Hermione-Ron and Harry-Ginny forming love pairs, etc.

The movie is more on the romantic side compared the action side. I think the director is trying to just lay a plan in this movie and then go for the kill with all the action in HP7. Then I already except it to be a blockbuster of l time.

The review can be checked out at wikipedia
HP fans will surely watch it. For those who haven't seen the earlier parts, I would recommend them to watch the previous 5 parts and then they will be able to make a good deal of understanding from this part.

Post budget analysis...

Image for representation purpose only

You must be wondering why have I attended post budget analysis 12 days after the actual budget. The reason is because this post budget analysis is by renowned economists and analyst from the industry who need time to analyze the entire fine print of the budget. The event was sponsored by Ecolibria, the Economics cell at NMIMS
The guest speakers were as follows:
1. Dr. Sunil Bhandare, Economic Advisor, Tata Strategic Management Group
2. Mr Chandrahas Deshpande, Executive Director, Maharashtra Economic development Council (MEDC)
3. Dr. Manjushree Ghodke, Chief Economist, L & T.
4. Mr. Shalin Divetia - Chartered Accountant & Taxation Expert.

Now you know why this session. All the speakers are extremely good in their domain. Dr Bhandare covered the overall economic perspective of the budget, its implications and IMF study of global economy. Dr Ghodke covered the budget implications on the Industry perspective, in particular Manufacturing. Mr Deshpande covered the economic reforms expected in the budget or in the overall economic scenario and Mr Divetia spoke about the Tax implications of this budget.

This is what the ideal post budget analysis should be according to a MBA perspective. They tried to explain each and every concern in a detailed way, which was the best part. Then there was some quiz sessions from the Ecolibria team for fun.

In all an extremely fruitful session. Its always good to know the various perspective of the economist and how they try to interpret a budget.

Hamari PARAMPARA....

First event of NMIMS is about to kick off. Its called PARAMPARA and the evnt is on 25th July at Bhaidas hall (If I'm not wrong). Its the annual welcome fest at NMIMS, where the senior full-time MBA students welcome the incoming batch. Last time it was a single day event, but this time they have alloted us 3 full days.

The group to which I belong has to prepare something on the theme "Halla Bol". Its something wacky and the play is based on .... Why should I leak the suspense out here. You will have to wait till 25th when I update this blog or actually come there and watch the fun event.

The other themes are Pink & Green, Lucy by chance, Footnotes of Life and Cutting chai. Today was our first meet within the group and the problem is the group size is too huge and just got 40 minutes to perform. Most of the time went into deciding upon an idea and then conceptualizing that idea. I hope something concrete plan was setup as I left early and couldn't complete the discussion.
Will update more about the event once we have completed the quota of fully enjoying it.

Raining movies in NMIMS..

Well another movie in NMIMS. You must all be wondering whether I am in NMIMS for studying or watching movies. Well actually both. :)

Movie: 12 Angry Men
Place and time: NMIMS room 805, 1 pm

Excellent piece of black and white cinematography dated back in 1957. Well its at 8th position on the IMDB all time top 250 list. Its a worth watching. Total play time is 1 hour 36 mins.

Its all about 12 men in a jury room meeting for discussion on the verdict of a capital murder case. The case is simple and the 18 year old has already been convicted for the murder because of lots of evidence against him. Eleven of the jurors immediately vote guilty; only Juror No. 8 (Mr. Davis) casts a not guilty vote. At first he voted against just for the sake of discussion. As the deliberations unfold, the story quickly becomes a study of the jurors' complex personalities, preconceptions, backgrounds and interactions. That provides the backdrop to Mr. Davis' attempts in convincing the other jurors that a "not guilty" verdict might be appropriate.

For more review and to get yourself acquainted with the movie visit here
Hope you have a gala time enjoying this movie. Well for me this doesn't end here, I have a discussion based on this movie tomorrow in the IDL. So wish me luck..

Cia for now. Byeee... Tc

Rainy Tuesday - almost a repeat of 26/7

Hale lu ya!!!! It happened again. The Mumbai rains surprised the Mumbaikars and the non ones in the NMIMS compound. :)

I wont say anything. Just look at the attached pics. :)
For the non-mumbaikars it was mixed reactions. It was nightmare for some and source of enjoyment for some others.