Pics Ahoy!

My first sunset at ISB



My first rains at ISB (Click n enlarge this one to get a great feel of the rains)


One morning, view from my room

Strange how my blogging frequency increases everytime exams beckon! Anyhoo, inspired by a friend's last post here are a few pics.

Of a rational man

At ISB, Thursday is the last day of classes for the week. Our section (which is section C, or as its better known Sec -C) had planned a trip to Golconda fort. A bus full of us embarked at about 5 p.m. from campus. The weather was perfect since it was raining. Since the sound and light show at the fort got cancelled due to the rains, we headed out to a place called 'Eat Street' adjacent to Husainsagar lake. This place is awesome - a full line of eating joints just on the side of a huge lake with a spectacular view. The rains made the lake look even more beautiful. We ate, sang, played, clicked tons of snaps, generally screwed up the happiness of couples who were sitting there & finally got back at about 10 p.m. All in all, a whale of a time. S had his b'day (he was not too happy about turning 30 though) & we celebrated it in the bus with a superb cake & hot samosas.

Thursday also brought with it the most arbit CP in the term so far. This is an extremely strong contender for the 'Arbit CP of the year'. Picture this - Eco prof is discussing firms in a competitive market in the context of differentiation, their pricing & which product the customer would buy & why. He asks a question to the class "As a rational buyer, would I buy product A or product B?" AA puts up his hand indicating a desire to share his (hopefully) valuable & perceptive insights into this discussion. Prof gives him a chance to do so. AA - "Love is not rational." The entire class is speechless, most of all the prof. He just cannot stop smiling. He is looking for words but in vain. The class is now laughing like crazy & no one has a clue as to why this comment was made & what was its relevance to the current discussion. Finally, after about a minute, the prof says "I cannot respond to an opening line like that". It was absolutely hilarious. This has been the most arbit CP so far at ISB!

Term 1 has shot past by us at a speed somewhere around Mach4. Last week of classes coming up next week, a couple of assignment submissions, end term exams on 5th & 6th June & Term 1 is done. Boy, is this fast or what! Enough for now. Need to get back to my assignment. Hopefully, my next post will be a little more meaningful & a lot less arbit.

P.S. - Check this out for a testimonial of the quality of ISB students. Truly a class apart!

Wake up call!

Received the first set of marks (not overall grade) at ISB, that for the Eco mid term. Scored in the top quartile of the class. Albeit, this is one part of one half of one course out of 33 courses. Hmmm...My reaction? Satisfied. Now I can focus on the other things that I was planning on at ISB - other key readings, sports, music. Results/efforts ratio needs to be as high as possible. Hence, the numerator needs to be maximized & the denominator minimized. Overall, relieved. The system did not screw me badly (Of course, this CANNOT be extrapolated to mean that I won't get screwed in the coming terms) Can live with this. Life's good!

Sunsets & memories

Another awesome sunset at ISB. Met an alum over the weekend. He was talking about an ISB hangover; it has been less than 2 months since he's been out. I remembered my school & how I still love it. The hangover has lasted long - over 9 years & will continue to last till I do...some feelings will never change.

It's gonna be a bright, bright sun-shiny day!

All apologies for not having posted for a week. Loads of things have been happening.

Yesterday, we finished our first set of exams at ISB - the Stats & Eco mid terms. Since these were the first exams here, they had been hyped beyond limit with junta studying more than they must have for almost all others exams in a prior life. Even though these exams were open book/open notes type, there was hardly an opportunity to use the books/notes. In the evening, the atrium was full of junta, all elated at having finished the ordeal. The night brought with it the mandatory party. We had a kebab/biryani counter set up here by a local restaurant specializing in the same. Booze flowed freely (& so did emotions!). For all the shit that Himesh Reshammiya gets, his songs are probably some of the few that can get spirits soaring & backsides moving almost instantly. I for one have always been an ardent fan - Himesh rocks!

We had a change of profs in the past week.(At ISB, usually 2 profs teach one course, so after 2 weeks, profs change). We cut cakes & captured snaps with them. Special mention for Bob Stine (Wharton). This guy transformed a complex & otherwise dull subject like Stats into something which we felt we understood so easily. As one of my fellow ISBians had mentioned on his blog - its like watching Tendulkar bat ; he makes you feel that its so easy! I for one have been tremendously impressed by Prof Stine. I remember leaving out almost all the Stats I had to study during my CFA course because it was too boring. But in just 2 weeks time, I have started to like (& understand to some extent) the beauty of this subject.

The last week also saw junta studying like crazy. I, to some extent was also involved in this activity to the exclusion of other things. This is what I'd come to dislike about myself. When I came to ISB, I came with a few intentions of what to gain from the year ahead. I wanted to get a good enough grip on subjects to be able to apply them in real life scenarios, to learn one new sport, to make a few really good friends & to have a healthy acads/other readings/extra currics/parties balance. I believe that grades are just a byproduct of an intention to understand the subject reasonably well - grades can never be the aim. To that extent, I can state with certitude that I have been successfull in understanding the subjects reasonably well enough to apply them in the outside world.

The last week also saw new profs come in. The Eco prof Rakesh Vohra (Kellogg) was spectacular in his very first lecture. He made us play a game on pricing our product akin to a real market & the learnings were awesome! The best thing was that people were applying their real life experiences they had had during the game. It is this practical perspective that really singles out ISB from other b schools. Elections for the GSB President (head of our student body here) also happened. The variety that we had to choose from was not very diverse. However, I believe that we have made the right choice given the alternatives.

I intend to change my focus completely in the days to come. The first 3 weeks were spent getting used to the schedule here. The rest of them shall be spent indulging in good readings, good learnings & a more balanced life.

A lazy weekend beckons. Some assignments to be submitted but those will have to wait till the week starts. For now - its time to recharge the system. Have a great weekend y'all!

A few good men

The magic in the songs of 'Maraasim' (Jagjit Singh, Gulzar) is indescribable. Its past 1 a.m. & am listening to soulful lines such as 'Jiski aankhon mein kati thi sadiyan, usne sadiyon ki judaai di hai' and 'Aaina dekh kar tasalli hui, humko is ghar mein jaanta hai koi'. I continue to be amazed by Gulzar's poetry right from the time of all those absolutely superb songs with R.D. Burman & Asha Bhosle. What a combo that trio had - 'Mera kuch saamaan tumhare paas pada hai' still creates the madness.

One thing I can say for sure - ISB junta knows how to balance life 100%. Work hard, party harder! To celebrate the end of week 2 classes, ,we had a 'mirror pool' party where we all danced in a 'mirror pool' with about 6 inches of water & thouroughly enjoyed getting completely wet. The dress code was shorts and skirts. What a party - started at about 11 p.m. & went on till 3.30 a.m. The best thing is that you could see a few guys who were at the party till 2.30 a.m. at the library at 8.30. a.m. the next morning to study! The previous night we had a public screening of the movie 'Saw' starting midnight on till about 2.15 a.m. Truly, ISB never sleeps. The mix of attitudes is amazing. You will hear people discussing the Eco assignment & other problems coming up in the mid term next weekend while simultaneously there is a conversation going on in another group about which movie to wach this weekend.

The feeling of mid terms coming up is palpable. The LRC is full at odd (& even) hours. Books are tough to find. Solution sets (ISBians, you know what I'm talking about here :) tougher. Junta is completely focussed. All and sundry are discussing marginal costs, all types of price discrimination & other concepts which were completely alien to most less than 2 weeks back.

Amidst all this, nothing much to say except the same ol' - Life's good!!

Of rains et al

The best thing about Hyderabad is that when it gets too hot, it rains. This happened yesterday evening & it was amazing. The ISB campus is so well spaced out & beautiful that it becomes an absolutely spectacular place when it rains. The batch of 2007 did varied stuff each one enjoying the rains in his/her own way. Water polo, bhajiyas & coffee combos, nice music, walks through the campus with peacocks dancing..........

We had to wear suits today since the CAS (placement cell) required to put our 'formal' pics into a handbook. The atmosphere was quite nice with everyone looking all dapper! Clicked a lot of pics around the campus with my group - all of us in suits. Awesome, all in all.

Our mid term exam schedule has been put up already & it promises to be an 'event'. We have one open book exam (Economics) & one where we're allowed one A4 size (both sides allowed) cheat sheet (Stats). Both sound quite ominous. But junta is still taking it easy overall. Either the 'psyched out' phase has not hit us yet or we're too chilled out a batch. I strongly suspect the former!

Squash continues every morning, stats class continue to be brilliant because of our prof. More later. Too sleepy for now!

Arbit CPs - Week One

Week 1 produced many superb arbit CPs (Class Participation). Here are a few samples -

Accounting class (1st day of core terms, 1st class, 1st 5 mins )

Prof: Japanese banks were told to suppress negative financial information. Is this advisable?

T : No, this is a short term view. You’re treating the symptom and not the disease.

Accounting class

M : Would the derivative markets accentuate the fall in stock market prices. ( this was said in the context of why companies release information to shareholders almost throughout the year)

Prof (after thinking for a while): Yes.

Marketing Class

Prof : On what basis would you segment the jewelry market ?

N : Metrosexual males would prefer to wear some kind of jewelry. So, gender would be a good basis for segmentation.

Prof (to N): What jewelry would you prefer to wear?

Marketing Class

Prof: Why is the price difference between these two brands of pregnancy detection kits?

SS: It’s likely that the lower-priced Rapid Vue would be used repeatedly. The ‘hopeful’ segment would be single usage & the ‘fearful’ segment would be multiple usage .

Prof: You really don’t understand this market, do you?

Economics class

Prof: This section of the graph represents the elastic area of demand, while this other region is the inelastic area. In which area would you like your company to operate?

S : When the elasticity moves from the elastic part to the inelastic part, you are no longer elastic. When your elasticity is in the elastic side of the graph… (class bursts out laughing)

Marketing class

Prof : What is market segmentation?

Guy puts up his hand animatedly.

Prof : Yes, you.

Guy : Sir, it is what it is. I mean…. it is.

General

Eco prof had explained that for the aggregate demand curve, there exists a kink in the curve since it is the addition of two curves.

N: At what point does the curve get kinky?

Accounting class

Prof: So if we pay by cash, the cash account reduces.

Guy: What if we pay by cheque?

Statistics pre term class

Prof: Suppose a person tosses a coin, there's an equal probability of either Heads or Tails turning up.

Guy: What is the probability that the person would actually toss the coin?

Talk to me, Hyderabad!

Every city has its own 'feel'. By its culture, people & way of life, it conjures up an image of its own. In the past year, I've lived in four cities - Bangalore, Mumbai, Ahmedabad & now Hyderabad. Each of them has had its own charm for me. Bangalore, I fell in love with. The weather seduced me initially & then everything else. Mumbai was a constant hub of activity - always on the move, never asleep. It gave me a feeling of being 'alive'. Ahmedabad being my home town will always be my first love & my final resting place. As for Hyderabad, my experience of this city has been limited mostly to ISB so far. I have yet to 'talk' to it - to explore & understand it.

Classes of week 1 of core terms got over on Thursday & the atmosphere was as if we had conquered the world. Thursday night was pure & unadulterated party time - each having a good time in his/her own way. About 75 people went to a local pub n disc to party. A few others chilled out with a dvd (We have an excellent collection here). Many (like me) spent the time with music and close friends. A couple of (newly 'formed') couples on campus caught up with each other to spend time they had missed through the week which classes, pre read material, assignments, study group meets & other stuff had snatched from them. Over Friday & Saturday, people slowly opened up to the fact that yes, there were assignments to be submitted the next week..... and the story continues.

Again, there is so much happening both on campus & within my mind that words are really not an adequate tool to express. By the way, I finally started playing squash yesterday. It was great except that every muscle of my body aches today. Also, Friday was R's birthday. We went to this nice open terrace garden place for dinner which offered us a superb view of Hyderabad under the open starry skies.

There are some really funny arbit CP (Class Participation) comments that have come out in the past week - will post them soon. On Thursday, we had an interactive session with Robert Morse - the CEO of Citigroup for the Apac region. We had a chance to ask his views from close quarters on the US deficit & its impact on the dollar, long term interest rate scenario especially in the Apac region, effect of oil prices on the world economy & hence on the capital markets, M & A activity in emerging markets, etc. It is such sessions that make ISB stand out from most other b-schools. It was a great opportunity & we made full use of it.

Contentment is a double edged sword. On the one hand, it can give you peace of mind while on the other hand it could kill ambition. The key again is balance - be contented yet challenge yourself to be go beyond your best everytime. Signing off for now. Will post more regularly now that I've somewhat gotten a hang of the schedule of things here.