The MDI Story continues......

Wassupp people,

With CAT servers failing everywhere, I think its my moral duty to tell all the guys and gals taking CAT this year how it actually is in a top-notch B-school.

I joined MDI in June 2009 and now its December 2009. 6 months is more than enough to decipher the mystery of a b-school. But first some definitions:

1. FAFF: anything which has nothing to do whatsoever you want to talk/write about but you talk/write about it anyway because you don't know the actual stuff. This definition may vary from person to person.

2. RAFF: acronym for Random Arbit Faff !!! ;)

3. NPA: Non-performing asset. Someone who does nothing whatsoever for you group projects/presentations except taking the marks (and sometimes credit too!)

4. Ghissu: That person who wishes to be buried with their books and will probably learn how to have sex from them.

Now that the basics of a b-school are given, let us proceed to the details.

TERM-I

Firstly, the guys from a Commerce background are Gods and the engineering/science grads are relative idiots. Please accept that. Only then can you have enough gumption to ask their help in MANAC-I and MICROECONOMICS. And if you don't then you will probably end up like me. MANAC - I a B and MICROECONOMICS a C-.

The only place where engineering grads may have a slight advantage is Stats, but B-school stats are nothing like engineering stats. You will probably scratch all your dandruff off solving even one question (although that more credit to Prof. Joydip's papers). HBO and MP-I are the two subjects that you can (rather have to) faff your way through. Also you can afford to be a NPA if you are lucky enough to have a commerce grad in your project group. The best subject is OCPS where you just have give speeches and learn how to use Powerpoint to make presentations and answer std. VII english papers all over again. But the subject that takes the cake is LAB, where you are required to know stuff like the entire Indian Contract Law of some year and the Indian Companies Act 1956 and stuff like that (SFITians can equate it to IEM :P).

Term-I is the time when the toppers will be seen. Most of them will be ghissus but there will be one or two genuinely nice ones (eg: Priyata Modi, Calcutta University, Eco topper). You will also see the really intelligent people who will also do reasonably well (eg: Sumeet Mitra, SPCE, 74%) and then the people who are intelligent but lazy (yours truly) and the really really lazy ones! You will also find a completely different species called the PLACECOMERS (eg: Suraj Nambiar, Nadi and Divya), next post for them.

Term-I is also when you'll make all your friends. And trust me these will be friends for life, it cannot be any other way. Finally, please do not screw up your CG like me (5.43). Its hell trying to make it up later. Minimum 6. My reasons including a grade dock for bunking too much and not being able to attend term presentations due to being sick.

SUMMERS:

According to me summers are the greatest levellers. They really give an ego boost to people like me who get placed on slot zero and a battering to the true ghissus. But this is more of a biased statement. I got just one shortlist on day zero, which I converted! I didn't get shortlists from any of the dream companies of mine :( So the point is be prepared. You will NOT get shortlists. Convert what you get. But there are instances of people getting amazingly high number of shortlists and not converting a single one (one had about 30 shorlists!!!) So it works either way. What do companies look for? Doesn't matter! You need to be confident and more importantly lucky. A close friend of mine was rejected in the final round of each company she was shortlisted (including the top 3 marketing firms on campus) and then finally made it through the last company of the day zero.

Please be clear as to what kind of job you want to do in the future. 3 months is enough for you to know that. If you are still confused, you are fucked! Royally! Aniruddha Ghoshal wanted to do Ops so he applied only to ops profiles and finally got through an Ops profile. That's clarity of thought. Now he is off to Europe for an exchange tour in term V.

Btw, Godrej Sara Lee picked me up for summers.

About me:

Well I am a idiot as of now, with a CG of 5.43 (m screwed) and nothing else. Though I have a really good summers ahead. Hoping to turn things around in Term-II (doesn't look like it with a 14/60 in my MACROECONOMICS mid-term). Hopefully, I'll become better as time progresses.

Best of luck to all my friends taking the CAT,

cheers,

Moksha

Notes:

MANAC- Management Accounting

HBO - Human Behaviour in Organizations

MP - Market Planning

STM- Statistics for Management

OCPS - Oral Communication and Presentation Skills

LAB - Legal Aspects of Business

Winters and Extra Classes amongst other things

I write this post from the most amazingly comfortable position of having my feet in a warm blanket and right after a dinner of palak paneer and chicken! So please pardon me if you find this post incomplete..... it means that I slept off.

The winters have finally begun, average temperatures hovering around 13 C. It is quite an experience for someone who hasn't been in a winter before (I have, since I spent 7 years in Delhi). There are quite a few people on campus who are having a fit trying to stay warm. And speaking of fits, my class is about to have one as we have class everyday at 8:30 am. And that means getting up at the God foresaken hour of 8:00 am and seeing your roomies sleeping in a foetal position under their blankets. Then comes the struggle of finding your slippers because invariably someone comes and takes them while you were sleeping and putting them away somewhere you just cannot fathom. Following that you struggle to touch the tap to get water to brush your teeth and once the water flows out you jump up a mile because the water is friggin' cold! You have barely brushed and its already 8:25.

So you rush out of the washroom, take your bag and run....... only to reach the class at 8:32 am (kindly remember the class is supposed to start at 8:30 am). Now here comes the twist in the tale. If the class is a MPI (Marketing Planning and Implementation) class then out Prof locks the door at 8:30 sharp and we loose attendance! So you wake up at 8 am and dont even get attendance. Life is so fair! On top of that we have had a MPI class almost every day (we are supposed to have only 2 lectures per subject every week). And we get a new case for every class, a negative marking quiz which is quite unfathomable!!!!

If that is not enough I have an extra MPI class tomorrow morning AGAIN at 8:30 am and I have no clue as to whether I will make it or not. And if I dont then I will have missed 4, which means an automatic grade dock for MPI at the end of the semester!!!! So I cannot say I haven't had uneventful term so far. Did my first MR project at Illumina, opened for Indian Ocean \m/ and have not been attending half my classes.

Also suddenly I have started developing a feeling that I just might sign out of placements next year and do something on my own..... Lets see how that goes.......

Till the next time you read my blog,

cheers

moksha

PS: I still pray for all the troubles to be over for all my friends!!!!

The MDI Saga begins.....

Its like one of those Star Wars movie's beginnings, Long Long Ago in a Galaxy...... or something to that effect. I mean I feel like writing in that frame of thought but what the hell, I'll just be my usual self.

So here I am, @ MDI Gurgaon one of the premier colleges.... ooops B-Schools in India right now. And frankly, I am loving every moment of it. This despite the fact that some things will never ever change including the fact that I slept through my Micro-economics class yesterday (1.5 hrs to be precise). So what is it that makes MDI tick? Well as we managers would say (lolzzz I know!), MDI has many core competencies. I guess I have fallen in love with the red brick campus here. There are very few campuses in India that are completely red brick ones. At 40 acres, MDI isn't exactly gigantic but its quite big. The best part is that it is very well maintained, it has to be the cleanest campus in India. There is a football ground WITH GRASS :) and a six hole golf-course to boot. Its really so green here, you have to see it to beliveve it.

The mess food is, well frankly its quite good and by far the best mess food you'll get at any management campus across India. Also there is Sharmaji's if you need garam garam Aloo or Gobi Paranthas, Samosas and Ice-cream. But the crowning glory is the all night canteen called Arcus. It starts around 6 pm and shuts shop at 6 am. And it spoils you for choice, all kinds of rolls you want, all types of kulchas and curries, soft drinks, sutta, everything. I have eaten chole kulcha at 4:30 am at Arcus and nothing tastes better after a good game of volleyball! Sports, name it and you have it, including a full fledged gym and yoga centre.

As far as the acads go, initially it is quite hectic and you require a lot of effort to pull through your induction week. But after a week, 4 hours of sleep becomes a luxury. Not that there's so much studies to do but there's too much stuff to do here. As an example, today, i'll go to my basement and Jam @ about 10:00pm and then go play badminton @ 12:30 am. Go to arcus after that, have something to eat, come back to the room do time pass, study a bit and go to bed by 3:30 - 4:00 am. I have a lecture @ 10:15 am tomorrow so I can lie in.

The profs here are killer! We have a marketing prof who has actually handled the recent South African Presidential elections. He is also one of the highest paid consultants in India. Our stats prof is an ISI, Kolkatta graduate and he is mad as a coot, but also a genius! His style of teaching is kickass! The thing is that all profs here are PhDs so they are basically knowledgable and very experienced. One prof teaches all management concepts by writing poems on the board. There is a huge amount of flexibility, students can change the syllabus if they wish to. Students can give bad feedback about a prof and he/she will be removed after the mid-term exams.

As far as what I have been upto, well I drank so much on freshers, I passed out after puking a bucketfull! Have been thoroughly enjoying, making loads of new friends, sleeping in class, reading chapters before going for a lecture, discussing cases till dawn, eating north-indian food, starting a small band as well! So you see, life is quite eventful as of now.

Before I sign off, few notices

@Raj: congrats for your selection dude, but wish you were here

@Chillar: Stick to it brother, I know some shit in life is hard!! and soon you'll be getting the first tapes from Gurgaon

@Opium: fuckah, if you ever read this please courier me GUNDA and SHAPATH man! please!

@Everyone in Francis who thought my jokes sucked: This one is from Shubhayan my roomie, from BITS Pilani

There are n people standing in a queue, the first waits for a minute and tells a story, the second for 2 mins and the nth person for n minutes! Now all the stories are different but to a person listening to them they all sound same why??

Answer: Since the stories are not continuous, they cannot be differentiated!!! :P

PS: If you need more, call me.

PPS: My new no should be out in a day or two... watch out for it.

ciao guys, me off to have chicken curry in the mess..... yummy!

cheers,

moksha

The Top 10 series....

Okay, this is something different. I got sick of writing routine posts so what I am gonna do now is put up lists of the top 10 in different spheres, with a little bit of info about each. So to start off, what could be better than the Top 10 Cricket Stadia in the world. Okay a note: The list is purely my opinion and if anyone feels differently please feel free to comment. Without any further ado.......

10.) The Gaddafi Stadium - Lahore, Pakistan

As of today, this is probably best known for the recent terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team. Built in 1959, it was originally called the Lahore Stadium and then renamed to the Gaddafi in 1974 in honour of Libyan President Colonel Gaddafi.Three hat-tricks have been taken at the stadium, by Peter Petherick of New Zealand against Pakistan, October 9, 1976, Wasim Akram of Pakistan against Sri Lanka, March 6, 1999 and Mohammad Sami of Pakistan against Sri Lanka, March 8, 2002.

9.) Super Sports park - Centurion, South Africa

 

This stadium hosted its first match on 16 November 1995 and its my favourite ground in South Africa, not in the least because the Mumbai Indians franchise is thinking of setting up shop here. It was remaned from Centurion Park when the television channel SuperSports brought shares in it. 

8.) The WACA - Perth, Australia

The ground with the most feared pitch, the Western Australian Cricket Association ground at Perth is one of the most famous cricket grounds in the world.  The first Test match was played at the ground in 1970. Throughout its history, the ground has also been used for a range of activities other than cricket, including Australian rules football, Soccer, Rugby League, International Rules, athletic carnivals and music concerts. The ground has seen many spectacular performances including Matthew Hayden's 380 against Zimbabwe and Glenn McGrath's 8-34 against Pakistan. On January 12, 2005, the WACA hosted Australia's first Twenty20 match, played between the Western Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers.

7.) Kensington Oval(The Mecca) -  Bridgetown, Barbados

 

Boasting a 120 year old history, 'The Mecca' has been the home to two of the greatest West Indian bowlers, Malcom Marshall and Joel Garner. Cricket at the Oval began in 1882 when the Pickwick Cricket Club assumed ownership of the ground. The first international match held was in 1895 when Slade Lucas' side visited the island. The first Test match was held in January 1930, when the West Indies and England played to a draw. Since the genesis there have been a total of 43 Test matches played on the Kensington Oval grounds, 21 of those matches won by the West Indian cricket team.

6.) Queen's park oval - Port of Spain ,Trinidad and Tobago

Queen's Park Oval, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, is currently the largest capacity cricket ground in the West Indies and has hosted more Test matches than any other ground in the Caribbean. It also hosted a number of matches in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. It is privately owned by the Queen's Park Cricket Club and has seating for about 25,000. The Trinidad and Tobago cricket team play most of their home matches at the ground. The cricket field has also been used to host several domestic and international football matches. But this is not what it is actually very much famous for. The Queen's park Oval plays home to the second-greatest Batsman of the Modern era (this argument will crop up in later posts too!), the King himself, Brian Charles Lara.

5.) Old Trafford - Manchester, England

The Old Trafford Cricket Ground, usually known as simply Old Trafford, is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, an area of Stretford in Greater Manchester, England that has been the home of Manchester Cricket Club since 1856 and of the Lancashire County Cricket Club since it was founded in 1864. International Test matches have been played there since 1884. This stadium will always remain steeped in cricket folklore, be it for Jim Laker's astonishing 19-90, or Sachin Tendulkar's first test 100 or for Shane Warne's 'Ball of the Century' to Mike Gatting.  

4.) Sydney Cricket Ground - Sydney , Australia

The Sydney Cricket Ground, simply called the SCG  is a sports stadium in Sydney. It is used for Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches, and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian Football League. It is owned and operated by the SCG Trust that also manages the Sydney Football Stadium located next door. Why have I put it up so high in the list? well the answer is 231.33, that figure being Sachin Tendulkar's average here, giving it the moniker of SCG - Sachin's Cricket Ground.

3.) Lord's - London, England

Lord's Cricket Ground (generally known as Lord's) is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the European Cricket Council (ECC); and until August 2005, the International Cricket Council (ICC). This is the home of cricket. The place where all traditions and memories of cricket are preserved. Where the white 'pukka' sahib can wear his white flannels and play the gentleman's game. 

2.) Eden Gardens - Kolkatta, India

I thought of putting up a pic like the ones before but then decided that for the Eden Gardens, its the crowd that really makes it so special. The present Eden Gardens Cricket Club came in existence some time in the year 1864. It has been called the Lord's of Asia.The stadium is the one of the largest cricketing facilities in the world, along with the MCG.The first Test match was played in January 1934. Since then the ground has hosted 35 Test matches, more than any other venue in India, the last match to date being India vs Pakistan on 30 November 2007, where the match was a draw on a flat pitch.

Having a capacity of 90,000 its the biggest cricket stadium and more often that not it is full to the brim. The crowd at Eden Gardens is probably the most provocative in the entire world, often being harsh on the home team itself. One remembers Vinod Kambli crying during the 1996 World Cup semi-final when crowd trouble did not allow the match to continue. Reason? India were 108-8 and the crowd had had enough. It is also the site of one of the greatest turnarounds in Test cricket history, when Laxman's 281 and Harbhajan's 8 wickets beat Australia after we were following on.

1.) The Wankhede Stadium - Mumbai, India

The Wankhede (*sighs*)......  This ground was built after disputes between the Cricket Club of India which own the Brabourne Stadium, and the Mumbai Cricket Association over the allocation of tickets for cricket matches. This became severe after the Test between India and England in 1973. At the initiative of S. K. Wankhede, a politician and the secretary of the Mumbai Cricket Association, MCA built the new stadium in South Mumbai near the Churchgate station. It was built in six months and opened in time for the final Test between India and the West Indies in 1975. Since then the Wankhade stadium has taken over from Brabourne Stadium as the main cricketing venue in the city. The stadium has a capacity of 40,000 and is always in contention to host an international match in India.

Many people consider this to be a small ground and capacity wise it is. But take this for some history. It is the home of some the greatest players ever to play the game including Ravi Shastri, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Vinod Kambli, Snajay Manjarekar and Sachin Tendulkar. It is the home of the 39 time Ranji Champions and the home ground of Mumbai Indians. The stadium has been witness to great innings like Gavaskar's 205 against the Windies and Kallicharran's 187 in the same game in the 1978-79 series and all round heroics like Ian Botham's century and thirteen wickets in the Jubilee Test in 1980. which England won by ten wickets. The highest score by an Indian at Wankhede remains Vinod Kambli's 224 against England in 1992-93 in only his third Test. Incidentally Ravi Shastri's six sixes in an over off Baroda's Tilak Raj en route to the fastest double-hundred in first-class cricket was on this ground in 1984-85.

And to say nothing of the intangible factors. If you have not sat in the Sachind Tendulkar pavilion and chanted "Sachin.... Sachin...." or booed any poor opposition fielder on the fence near you with the choiciest of swear words, you have not witnessed live cricket. The stadium embraces you and hence Shaun Pollock becomes Polly Kaka, a moniker given to the lgendary Polly Umrigar. That is the magic of the Wankhede.

Hope you guys liked the post.... stay tuned for the next one......

cheers! :D

Hawa ki Kokh mein

I wrote this poem quite some while ago. Its in hindi but since I could not get the font on blogger, I've put it up in english........

Hum hasaane ke liye aaye the, Hum hasaakar chal diye

Aap dekhne ke liye aaye the, Aap dekhkar chal diye

Aapne hume yaad rakha, Isliye hum shukraguzaar hein

Hum hawa ki kokh mein sokar aaye the

Hum usi ki kokh mein sokar chal diye.

Hamari hasi ne aapko khushi di, Is khushi ne hame hasi di

Yehi tammana thi ki thoda aapka dukh lele,

Pehle dil ne aapki aur ishaara kiya tha, 

Ab hum kisi doosri aur chal diye!

Jaane kis nukkad, kis gali mein phir mulakaat hogi

Shaayad us waqt hum thoda has denge, thoda ro denge

Jo hume pehchaan jaye, bas wohi ek muskaan kaafi hogi

Hum hawa ki kokh mein sokar aaye the

hum toh bas usi ki kokh mein sokar chal diye

Time for some new Gyaan, trash talk and blah-blahs

Wassupp everyone???

The Gyaan Man is back! Welcome to another post full of crap and bull****!!!

Its almost 8 months since I last posted (really???), so I guess I need to talk upfront about what exactly has been happening in that time. Apart from the world getting depressed economicaly, Ponzi and FD scams here and there, Mumbai being attacked(again!), etc. etc., I CLEARED THE CAT. Yes, you got that right, THE CAT. I scored a whopping 99.40%tile and got calls from IIM A and IIM C for the GD/PI rounds. Cool huh? I guess most you of must have read my earlier blogs (actually rants) about the CAT and moi. So it feels good to have overcome that particular monster. Since I have been mired in all that preperation, I really couldn't write a proper blog! (you guys can stop sniggering and start reading now!)

So, here I am, trying my best to get into either IIM A or IIM C. Hopefully I'll get both calls. Atleast that's what I aim for you see. 

Also in the last 8 months, I have started guitar lessons. Now I am no Hendrix, but yes I can play Floyd's "wish you were here". And I am getting better.  So life's been jogging along pretty nicely. Apart from the 12th fret F-chord positions, I can pretty much hold my own. lolzzzzz! I have also started playing badminton regularly you see. I really need to loose weight, not that I am exactly obese, but yet, I need to look human. :D
I guess this post was more of an ice-breaker. I need to give a definite direction to this blog, write about something substantial. But you know me, I'll probably give someone a sound dressing-down in my next post. And since old habits are hard to go by:

"Knowledge and timber shouldn't be much used till they are seasoned." -  Oliver Wendell Holmes

cheers, 

moksha

PS: I know the quote doesn't have any relation to the post, but I really liked it and since its my blog........