A Crusade called Life !

God save the King (Dhoni)!

2011-09-05T03:25:00.000-07:00

Another topic that is very close to my heart is Cricket. I’ve been a passionate follower of team India since India beat Pakistan in the 1996 World Cup QFs. That bludgeoning by Jadeja of one certain Waqar Younis, and the subsequent dismissal of the pompous Aamir Sohail by Venky Prasad turned me from indifferent to crazy about Cricket. I’ve seen team India perform badly time after time and I’ve seen the highs. But never have I seen, read or heard any international team (excluding B’Desh or Zim) humiliated in a manner England humiliated India. Maybe they did worse to Australia in the 2010-2011 Ashes in Oz, but Australia still won a game then whereas we were completely routed. That Oz suffered an innings drubbing thrice in their own backyard makes me feel better. Much better.

However, from our own recent history I don’t think anyone could’ve imagined what transpired. India had been on the top for about two years. We had the best middle order and a captain on a career high. Surely, we could’ve given England a fair competition given that this team was the same one that drew with Aus in Aus, SA in SA and beat every other team in the interim. Importantly, we lost to none since Dhoni took over about 2 years ago. With that in mind, it is simply astounding how we looked worse than schoolkids playing against professionals.

What basically happened was we ran into an England team which has lots of quality (think Cook, Petersen, Bell, Swann) and is in the form of their life (think Broad, Bresnan, Prior) all at the same time. What was worse was this Indian team for several reasons was low on quality and form. Other than Dravid, everyone else struggled. As in, seriously struggled including Sachin. It made the contest a no-contest all the way through. Now, why were we in the worst of form and did our bad form make England look good? Let’s talk about that.

I think it’s a no brainer to imagine that team India was tired. Dead tired after endless hours of test and one-day cricket with the World Cup being the last and the most exhausting event of the season. When the season ended, it didn’t really end. There was the IPL to play for another 3 months. This essentially meant all players were not resting, not recuperating, not working on their fitness etc. Another reason that often gets ignored is the impact the IPL has on the skillsets and motivations of players. Test cricket is a completely different kettle of fish. Bowlers need skills, perseverance, aggression and above all the strength to succeed. Batsman need the skills, practice and guts. You don’t need all of that in the IPL. So the skills you’re working on for 3 months day-in day-out is something that’s a total waste as far as test cricket is concerned. It tires you out, but gives you no benefit whatsoever. Then there is the motivation question. Think about this. If I was Suresh Raina and I really wanted to make it big in test cricket, wouldn’t I promptly go prepare for the English tour by playing county cricket there for 2 months after the world cup? But when the IPL pays millions more, why would I do that? Why would I spend the time working on a more gruelling, less paying sport when I could get all the money I’ll ever need from a lighter and easier sport. That is what the IPL does. It makes small time cricketers richer but also drives people like Raina away from the real deal cause that’s the easy and more profitable way out. The point is even more obvious for fast bowlers. Everyone realises how much hard work fast bowling is. From a skill/fitness point of view, I don’t think there should be any doubt the IPL is an evil our already overworked fast bowlers can live without. From a motivation point of view, why would anyone in their sane mind want to endure a test match and all the pre-work that goes with it when they have an option of playing the IPL and not only earning more money but also getting the satisfaction of playing the game.

So we see where all the blame lies? But is that all? If that is indeed the case, why wasn’t India a world class team when there was no IPL. After all, India was never a world class test team ever. It only became slightly better than the others with Ganguly and then with Dhoni. The team wasn’t exactly ruling the charts when there was no IPL – so is eliminating/rescheduling the IPL the answer? Well not really. What we need is for most of the money the BCCI makes to go back to the game. That means improving the playing and coaching facilities at grass-roots i.e. at a school then University then First Class level. It also means setting up procedures to spot talent early, having more money in the first class level so more people play the game and the first class competition improves in quality. The BCCI made a profit of INR 1,600 Crores in 2010-11. A good question would be how much of this is going back to the game for its development. And how much of it ends up with Mr. Pawar et al. At present, the BCCI seems to be using and abusing the hen that lays the golden egg. They’re using all of cricket’s popularity to earn zillions but are putting little back into the game. Given that it’s a private body and not acccountable to anyone, technically there’s nothing anyone can do about their desires and drives.

Finally, whether all is so gloomy is debatable. Agreed India has been hopelessly pathetic against England, but isnt this the same team that became no.1 by beating Aus, SA etc. and then becoming ODI World champs? Isn’t this also the one country where cricket remains a religion? So I’d say lets wait before we make drastic judgements and hasty decisions. A pretty interesting next few months for Indian cricket then..

The Union of India vs. the People of India

2011-09-05T02:17:00.000-07:00

I wrote this post on the tenth day of Anna's fast so with the benefit of hindsight now, I think some issues I've raised have been addressed. However, I still think I must publish my thoughts as they were when things weren't so certain and clear.

*************

Over the last few weeks, Anna Hazare’s name is all across every single Indian news website I land on. He is everywhere. News websites can’t have enough of him, and people are going crazy all over Facebook and twitter in supporting him. It is hard to imagine how successful the movement would’ve been without Facebook/twitter. This however also makes me wonder whether most of his supporters are the type of people who would use Facebook – educated and urban. Is this lack of broader appeal something that the Congress is banking on..that’s surely food for thought.

Anyways, as I write, he has been on a fast for over ten days and the government is negotiating with his representatives. What I like about this whole movement is that its not something random. We’ve all been affected by corruption for quite some time and we all think it is seriously about time things changed. Plus, enough opportunities were given to the government to take in the feedback on their version of the bill – something they arrogantly and quite stupidly brushed off. And it’s now blowing up in their faces making everyone from the very wise Mr. Prime Minister look politically foolish.

The other thing I appreciate about Anna’s strategy is that it is not just a one-man approach. He has a good team working for him. The three key members on his team have a great public image, are known to be clean, and are not entirely naive. Having this kind of a team approach is beneficial from a succession planning perspective. It also gives the movement credibility and the panache to survive if key members leave. A thought that crossed my mind is maybe the govt thinks that if Anna dies, people will protest for some time, but without a leader, they will eventually get back to their lives and everything will be ‘normal’ again as it so often happens in India. However, given the presence of a strong support group in Anna’s camp, this is not likely to happen. If anything were to happen to Anna, am reasonably certain one of the three (Bhushan, Bedi, Kejriwal) will take up the cause. What’ll also happen is his ultimate sacrifice will pull in all the millions sitting on the border now straight into the battle. That is surely not something that Mr. PM wants. In any case, I think the govt is smart enough to recognise this. I think their strategy now is more of creating a stalemate where people lose interest, Anna is put in a hospital at some point, and the matter basically dies its own natural death. It will take a lot of resolve from Anna et al to preempt and avoid this quagmire. Without any direct involvement in the negotiations process I do believe the govt is succeeding in creating a stalemate. However, it does walk quite a tight rope what with Anna’s health failing each passing day. Politically, this makes for a most interesting situation.

Another thing that I often ask myself is whether the whole thing is stretching a good idea a bit too far. Agreed we all need a strong lokpal, but is that an end unto itself? Is it really necessary to force the govt into submission over certain issues which the standing committee doesn’t agree on? Essentially, should Anna and his team, rightly or wrongly be allowed to bypass the constitutional process? I don’t think so. I think we’ve made a point and the govt. gets it. The larger point is that we’re fed up with corruption and that things need to happen to clean up the system. Then again, if we end up with a nominal lokpal that fails to address the very issues it was drafted for, haven’t we ended up wasting the whole effort we took to protest and bring forth our opinion on the govt.? These factors again make the matter very interesting. There are certain demands that AZ is making that can’t be accomodated given our current constitution. There are some that can be accommodated but the Standing Committee is not willing to concede, either because of plain and simple ego or because they sense they’re digging their own grave by doing so. All in all, in general I am with AZ and his demands. However, when it comes to making statements such as ‘govt will have to take our Jal Lokpal or go’, I am a bit unsure. Mr. AZ you’re not an elected representative of the people, so I really don’t know if you can, or should imply that you can, bring a govt. down. As criminal and immoral as it may be, the govt represents the Indian populace. It is in power because we put them there. We put them there probably because there was no one better around, rather than because we liked them. But We put them there. We meaning the 1 billion plus people of India. That is why we must continue to be humble and think of working with rather than against the govt. Our demands are justified but till we don’t put ourselves IN the system, we need to work with its limitations from the outside.

All in all, I think this is a bloody good start by a bloody smart and honest person! Let's hope this is the beginning of the end of corruption in India :). Do I think that will happen by passing a good Lokpal bill? No, but you've gotta start somewhere!

Vibrant, Diverse Melbourne !

2010-02-14T03:54:00.000-08:00

The incidents of the last few weeks have forced me to return to my blog. I have something to say. A few weeks ago, an Indian student was fatally stabbed on a dark evening, in a desolate public park. This followed several allegedly curry-bashing incidents over the last year or so. Then, just last week, an Indian man was set alight by a group of ruffians. Such incidents have caused considerable anxiety to friends and family back home.

What do I think ? Well, it is really difficult to conclude given that the investigators are not sure either. Sure, there are some questions that point towards a not so subtle racist motivation. However, there are an equal number of counter-points in my mind.

An unanswered question is why are Indians finding themselves in the middle of most attacks when there are an astounding number of non-white races in Australia ? Doubtless, a majority of racist actions go unreported, but of those that do get reported after reaching an unfortunate outcome, most victims are Indian. Or at least that is what the papers would have us believe.

From personal experience I know that most Australians are too nice to be racist. I have met some wonderful people and I have probably met only one or two rogues. But you’d find nut-cases in every society, so why are these things getting out of hand here? Then again, there are at least over 500,000 Indians living in Australia. Relative to the number of racist attacks we’ve heard about in the recent past, the chances of such an attack turn out to be very, very low per person.

Having said that, we don’t want to wait to become a statistic. Melbourne is a safe place in absolute terms, but as compared to a few years ago, it has turned a bit risky. Statistically, the chances of dying of unnatural causes is still way too high in India than it is in Melbourne, but the bloody hell with statistics. I believe it is time for Indians to be careful and try not to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The cops can’t be at all the seedy places at all times; it’s time we took our responsibility towards our own safety more seriously. Heard of pepper sprays anyone…? Surely, that’s not illegal…

FAQ on Melbourne Business School

2009-09-22T04:14:00.000-07:00

Here is the second of three FAQs I decided to publish to address commonly asked questions about MBA, MBS, and the like..read on...!

Q) How good is the school ?

Very, very good. Melbourne Business School is very well regarded in Australia (AFR BOSS ranked it #1 in 2009), and increasingly overseas as well. Financial Times ranked the school 52 in 2009 whereas the Economist ranked it 26 in the same year. The school will operate under the Faculty of Economics and commerce, University of Melbourne shortly.

Q) How good are the placements at Melbourne Business School ?

In 2008, Melbourne Business School was able to place 98% of the students within three months of graduation. Although the same can’t be said about the 2009 batch, a big reason for that was the financial crisis affecting the worldwide hiring trends adversely.

Now a little more about the placement methodology at MBS and in Australia. In Australia, things work very differently from say India or US where most students are offered jobs while they’re still studying. Here, one is expected to have to look for a job after graduation. I’ve heard a few people who’ve been here for a long time tell me that positions, though formally advertised, are actually filled up either internally or through referrals in most cases. This makes networking a very, very important activity in Australia. The same applies to MBS, where a significant number of placements tend to happen through students networking with alumni (who’re very helpful). However, this is not to say that you can’t get a job before you graduate. A lot of good companies do turn up at MBS to hire on-campus regularly, but the general trend is in favor of referred hiring.

Moral of the story ? MBS is a well regarded and known school in Australia amongst employers, but don’t expect to get a job easily. Getting an MBA from here is only half the battle won, you’ll still probably have to work pretty hard at getting hired.

Q) Where can I find more information about Melbourne Business School ?

Apart from the corporate website (www.mbs.edu), there are several blogs (such as this one) which are maintained by student, alumni and faculty at the school. Here is a link to the list of MBS bloggers maintained by Ameel.
http://insanityworks.org/acme/mbs-bloggers/

Q) What does the full time MBA course look like at Melbourne Business School ?

The sixteen month course is divided into four terms of about three months each. The remaining time includes breaks, summer vacations, orientation etc. You have to pass 20 subjects over these four terms, and if you’re an international student without an Australian PR, most likely you can’t take longer than this to complete the course. If you’re a resident of Australia though, you can play around with your course in a lot of ways; we won’t go into those at this point.

Each term you pick a list of subjects. Most students pick five each term but some also pick 4 or 6. It really depends on you alone to reduce the load by picking fewer subjects, but you need the approval of the academic dean if you want to take more subjects than five in any one term.

The course offers 10 core subjects which must be completed by all students (except those who get credit/substitution) and 10 electives. To do these electives, you need to have completed a combination of one or more core subjects. That’s why a majority of the students try to complete the core subjects by the second term, so that the third and fourth terms can be devoted to electives. But things are very flexible. You can plan your MBA as per your aspirations and objectives.

Q) What are the key strengths of Melbourne Business School ?

I’ll try to present my personal opinion. What sets MBS apart is it’s excellent brand equity in Australia, affiliation with the excellent University of Melbourne, and an emphasis on creating a highly diverse class. I’ve been advised by a few good sources that MBS happens to be better at Marketing than Finance, but I did not find any such thing. You might have to rely on some ranking websites such as Financial Times to get the general opinion on this, if there is any.

Employers need a PR !

2009-09-19T01:20:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days, I’ve seen a few job advertisements coming up through the MBS career services, local newspapers/magazines, and the internet. I’ve observed from those that most companies in Australia want you to have a permanent residency when you apply for their advertised job. I find it surprising that a company which turns up at Melbourne Business School for hiring has this type of a policy. Here is why.

Melbourne Business School happens to be the premier business school in Australia, and amongst the best in the world. One of the defining features of the MBA here is the diversity of the class. In my batch, nearly 70% students were non-australian residents, and I am certain that’s also the case with many other batches though the exact number might be slightly different. Now given that seven of ten potential candidates for the advertised job do not reside in Australia, a company which makes permanent residency compulsory is being a bit unfair to these students as well as itself, to say the least. For one, you are denying a deserving student a chance to work with you. Second, you are only choosing from a reduced pool of candidates thereby leaving out a lot of talent.

My discussions with the career services have helped me understand the motivations of such firms. It is understood that these companies are looking for people that are likely to stay in Australia long enough, and that the companies do not want any hassles regarding the student’s working permits etc. This allows the companies to focus on their core competancy rather than spend lots of time and resources on visa processing etc.

However, I feel that this should not stop companies from hiring students who have already applied for a permanent residency. Sure, for a minority of students, the PR application does not garuntee a PR approval, but students at MBS are well qualified, experienced, and have a stable financial and character record. Therefore, I feel that the chances of an applicant from MBS being rejected a visa are fairly low. In fact, the Australian government allows ‘eligible’ students from MBS to obtain the 18-month temporary work permit after they graduate. This being true, I find it massively dissapointing that companies still have the rule that they do about the PR.

Be that as it may, I plan to take this issue up with individual companies and I hope something positive comes out of my raising this issue. Look out for more on this front soon…

FAQ on MBA Admissions

2009-09-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

Today happens to be the last day of the term break. I am not sure whether I am disappointed the break is over or whether I am eager for the mayhem to resume. Anyway, I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome the new batch of students into this fantastic school. At the same time, I thought to publish a set of frequently asked questions for those who’re either starting out the admission process or are in the middle of it. I’ll publish a set of 3-4 FAQs covering the different aspects of the MBA admission, and the post-admission planning process. Hope it helps!

FAQ on MBA Admissions

Q) What’s a good GMAT score for admission to a good school ?
Believe it or not, there is no such thing. You get evaluated on your essays, your academic and professional experience, and your GMAT among other things. One could say that a weakness in one of these areas may be made up by a strength in another, but that’s not always true. I know people who’ve a sub-600 GMAT score but a lot of invaluable work experience make it through to top schools. Therefore, work as hard as you can for the test, but don’t lose heart if you don’t go above 700, because only 7% people who write the GMAT do. For those still obsessed with a number, I’d say anything above 650 looks good for average to above-average resumes, but obviously there aren’t any guarantees. Ever.

Q) What’s the best way to find good schools ?
A good place to start looking is www.mba.com. Another way of looking up schools is through various ranking websites such as Financial Times, The Economist etc. Obviously rankings do play a role in school selection but you must look beneath the numbers here. For example, if you want to do finance you want to chose the school with best ranking in finance programs rather than its overall rank. Another couple of aspects to consider are the school’s location and program duration. Most top ranked schools happen to be in the US where programs run for two years mostly. You obviously should not compare these programs with say 1 year programs in UK, so be careful with the rankings.

Use the information about the school from its website to see how best it fits your career plans, how well it is known by employers you plan to work with, how many scholarships are available, what are the school’s strengths and weaknesses with respect to academic streams such as Marketing, Finance, Strategy etc.

Q) How important is the University affiliation ?
I personally think it's very important. Not in terms of placement, but in terms of educational infrastructure, facilities, programs, depth of teaching and research experience etc. Ideally, you want your school to be backed by solid credentials. Having an affiliation with a good university also means the school can offer a wider range of electives, have better professors to teach you etc. As for you, you get to use the facilities of the university itself such as the libraries, career events, cultural societies etc. Having said that, I do know a couple of schools which are super-cool without being affiliated to any university (case in point – Indian School of Business). However, by and large most good schools are also with really good universities. For e.g., Said Business School (Oxford), Judge Business School (Cambridge) etc.

Q) What are the key criteria for admission to a good business school ?
Essays, professional work experience, letters of reference, Academics, and GMAT score among others, though not necessarily in that order. Your essays should convey your exact aspirations, career plans, your reasoning for the MBA, etc. Try to be as specific and as honest as possible in the essays since this is the first time the reader gets to know anything about you. It’s always advisable to present your thoughts in a clear and concise manner. Use simple language, short sentences, good grammar etc.

The remaining points should be self-explanatory I presume. The MBA selection committee is looking for people who’ve done well in their career, have a solid academic background. Weaknesses in any of these areas can potentially be offset by strength in another. For e.g., if you have only average work experience and academics, it would appear that the GMAT and Essays are going to be more important than otherwise.

Q) What do I need to know about the admission procedure ?
Timing! I strongly believe that timing is one of the most important things to get right in the admission strategy. You just have to apply as early as possible (unless the school does not have rolling admissions), so that your chances of being selected are highest. Most schools have rolling admissions which begin almost an year before the actual term commences. Therefore, it’s critically important that you have all documents (GMAT score, essays, references etc.) ready at least one year before you wish to start studying. Of course, if either you’re a genius or plain lucky you can still apply on the last day and get in, but weigh the odds before you go down that path.

At this point, I must say this. If inspite of all your earnest efforts, you’re not able to apply early, apply anyway; for a small amount (application fee), it’s not that bad a risk.

Watch this space for more common questions answered...:)

The Great Indian Circus !

2009-05-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

Before I become lazy again, I must start writing. I must, because there is so much to say. There's the great Indian General Elections to talk about, our road trip to the Great Ocean Road and finally a tribute to my grandfather Major S. R. Kulkarni. Read on..

The great circus called the Indian General Election ended last week with a good final outcome. No, I am not saying the better party won - I am implying rather that some party won, which means we will have a stable government for the next five years. Not that it matters though, but it's better than horse-trading and hung parliaments; it's cheaper, to say as much. Though I am convinced about Manmohan Singh the Economist, I have my doubts about him as a statesman or a leader. As maligned as the word politics is, it has distinct importance in running a nation. Just as you dont want a military general running a country or a politician running a planning commission, you don't want to see a true blue economist running a country. I would much rather that a career politician do that job and so would've preferred Pranab Mukherjee or Sharad Pawar anyday over MS. That said, it's a good overall result in the end with the people who thought they could use the hindu sentiment to their political advantage religated to the sidelines, and rightly so.

Away from politics, we went out for a road trip to the Great Ocean Road last week. Must say, it's my best drive ever. I cant claim to have seen better landscapes, prettier countryside or a more maginificient Ocean ever before. I would've liked to see more, or rather feel more of the atmosphere by living at say the Apollo Bay for a coupla days, but there's always next time. The trip once again was made memorable by the company I had. All in all, a truly delightful experience.

To end the post, I'd like to pay a tribute to my late maternal grandfather Major S.R. Kulkarni, IOM. The words IOM mean "Indian Order of Merit" - a gallantry award conferred by the British, for his 'par excellence' performance in World War II. A remarkable soldier and a most humble pesonality. Here's to him, all due respect and honor!

Life so far

2009-04-04T20:49:00.000-07:00

Life has been awesome !!! The first line says it all, doesn't it ? It's been about 3 months since I landed in Melbourne to study at Melbourne BSchool, and it's hard to express how surprised I am that it's been over 8 weeks ! It's true, doing a two year course in just sixteen months is a real hard ask, but the good part is, you're out in the market before ya know it - so money saved :-). The MBS MBA does change your life. I can already say that my life's got two parts, one before my MBA and the one after (not that my wife will aprove though, but that's another story). This part of my life, is called fun !

Agreed, the weekly assignments and homeworks are so hectic that I am playing catch-up 70% of the time (dont ask me how I calculated that figure). Agreed, the fifteen hundred bucks a month budget cuts out what I just love, eating out and partying etc. Agreed, I hardly get any time to experience Mesmerising Melbourne. All said, doing an MBA is still very enjoyable. For one, the people are all smart and mostly (?) good fun to be with. Then there are enough opportunities to hang out (without cutting a hole in your wallet), play sports, attend events etc.

And then there's the excitement of the assessment. It's chaotic, it's brainless (duh !) and it's infair for the most part - but what the hell - I love the madness ! Having written a totally junky blog this week, I plan to write a better one next time, one that will be more informative to the average reader :-). So long for now...and take care !

First week in Melbourne..

2009-01-30T20:47:00.001-08:00

Well, I am in the bus back home and this is practically the only time I get to write blog posts :). So I think there's a lot of truth in the generally accepted principle that the first term of an MBA is usually the hardest one, both on your body and on your mind.

Ergo, the first academic week at MBS was quite a warm one - no a HOT one ! Well I am obviously neither referring to the birds around nor the workload. I guess anyone and everyone who's been anywhere close to Melbourne over the last week knows I am talking about the weather. Well it's 45 degree right now and this was actually the hottest ever week in the history of the city of Melbourne! Not that I am complaining though cause my body somehow prefers warmer climes to cooler ones.

Having digressed already, I think I'll come to the point right away :). Well, the first day of the week was a holiday and it did a lot to ease the pressure that had built up over the previous week. We made our ways to St.Kilda beach but I have to admit it was pretty cold out there and we couldn't do much except enjoy the scenery :). Day two to five were primarly spent at the school covering the principles that govern the 'world of management'. Day two being the most hectic one in terms of the reading we had to take care of, we had tons of material as pre & post reading. It was way past midnight before we could sleep. Add to this schedule the fact that we're living quite far at the moment (takes over an hour to travel one way) and the mix is HECTIC ! Day three and four turned out to be more interesting in that there was more role plays and team activities. Plus there was lesser stuff to read.

All in all though, a very hectic week and am sure one of many more to come. Lots of learnings on the way though, with the best coming from easily the most enjoyable lecture from Richard Speed. Amongst the many other important things he said, he emphasised that this was our time to be able to b stupid and still not lose the race cause it's school and we're officially out of the race (at least for now :) ). I think that's a really well made point.

Plans for the weekend ? Well we need to look for a house AND do our assignments AND cook AND take care of our health AND remember to ENJOY !!! Cya later mate !

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

2009-01-01T07:54:00.000-08:00

All..have a great new year. Wish all your dreams come true this year, and you have the best year you've ever had in more ways than one...

2008-12-05T11:13:00.000-08:00

Courtesy Ameel, I have some great news for all my readers. Melbourne Business School (MBS) has been ranked the number one full-time MBA program in Australia and 26th world-wide in the Economist Intelligence Unit 2008 MBA rankings, released in September 2008. That's the highest world ranking ever for any Australian school. Ain't this SOME news !!!

Anyways, here's the full story :- http://www.mbs.edu/go/news/mbs-ranking-highest-ever-for-an-australian-business-school

Towards real peace

2008-12-03T08:46:00.000-08:00

The shocking, unfortunate and moving events of the last week have brought back into public focus, the total, or in some cases partial, failure of the various national security setup including the Police, the Intelligence and the polity. Like all other fellow human beings (I refrained from saying 'Indians' because this act would, for obvious reasons appear equally dastardly for all 'humans' regardless of their race, religion, cast or nationality), I am appalled at the amount of destruction. This in a country which is amongst the elite group of 20 nations economically, demographically and militarily. What a shame!

Having said that, everyone (more so, every Indian) is seething with rage and wants answers from the government, action from Pakistan and moral support from the International community to pursue and punish the perpetrators of this act. Every self-respecting Indian wants vengeance. I endorse this view completely. There are endless debates on Indian TV on who's responsible and how we can fight the terrorists better. However, the one point everyone seems to have missed completely, is 'prevention' or 'Root Cause Analysis'. Without doubt, we must answer an act of war such as this, with determination and sincerity; but not only in fighting the terrorists but also battling terrorism. What I am trying to bring to public attention is nothing new. It’s pretty much an undisputed and accepted ideology that effective and long lasting peace can be brought about not by simply addressing the symptoms of terrorism but also by simultaneously investigating and then assuaging the terrorist mentality – the hatred within. Let me reiterate, no efforts must be spared to punish or eliminate those who’ve done and/or planned such activities – I am an advocate of Capital Punishment and I also support the so called un-civilized punishment methodology of the Arabs, Taliban etc. A punishment is no good if it doesn’t evoke the ‘fear of god’ in the most hardened criminals (leave alone you and me); it’s objective is to deter further crimes and therefore I do endorse a measure of barbarism as far as that goes. Once we’re done punishing those responsible though, we need an equal amount of dedication and commitment to find out what’s causing all this hatred.

I am sure the reader realizes that to do what an Asad Kasav did or what other ‘Fidayeen’ do, takes an infinite amount of hatred. We need to sit down, do some retrospection and introspection to find out what must have caused some people to hate us so much that they’re willing to sacrifice their future, their career, their ‘just-about-everything’ so they can go around killing innocent men, women and children in the name of ‘Jihad’. And we need to address it if we want lasting peace and brotherhood. Think about it, you and me are seething with anger over the incidents of the last few decades, but are we willing to do what the Fidayeen do? No, because we’re not angry enough or rather our hatred hasn’t reached a stage where we’d be willing to give up everything and get on the path of guilt, destruction and misery. Of course, some ‘experts’ might argue that the terror factories do what they do to not out of hatred alone but out of a sick addiction to the feeling of power. And they’ll say there are no issues to resolve – the terror masterminds just want to kill people for the heck of it and no amount of peace-building measures would motivate them to give up arms. And these ‘experts’ may be right – albeit in some cases, not all. I believe we can establish trust, love and brotherhood in most cases. Let’s take an example, that of the Kashmir issue. This issue highlights both points of view very well. On the one hand, one might say that the militancy in Kashmir is nothing but an imported problem. It’s been proven more often than not, that the battle of the Kashmiris is being fought by the people outside it. So no amount of peace-process in the valley will bring the elusive peace as long as Pakistan’s involvement is not out of the equation. On the other hand however, have we, in the last 60 years of India’s Independence, been able to being about growth and prosperity in Kashmir the way we have in say Maharashtra or Punjab ? The answer is a firm ‘No’. Through our shameless governance that stinks of inefficiency and ‘kut-niti’ in place of ‘raj-niti’, we’ve created enough reasons for the peace loving Kashmiri to get totally disgruntled. Pakistan has simply exploited this opportunity to hit us, and hit us hard. Not once but on several occasions. I say let’s set-up a hundred schools, a hundred hospitals, a few industries; let’s just really spend (not on-the-paper spending) on Kashmir even half of it’s allocated yearly budget. I find it hard to believe there still will be disgruntlement and hatred. Once that happens, peace will very much be on it’s merry way. I might be totally wrong, but there is certainly no other option left to try.

To conclude, I will repeat what’s usually said – Prevention is better than cure. While it is critically important at this juncture to provide symptomatic relief to this nemesis of mankind, it’s also necessary to remember (after all the trials and punishments and improvements in the terror-fighting mechanism) to look for a way to stop people from hating us so much. It’s not really that hard to spread the language of love, it takes an effort and it needs a first-step.

Australian Student Visa for an MBA

2008-08-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

Getting an Australian student visa can be quite a complicated thing. Here's some information on what is required from the student's side. I'll update this as I get more information as I am still in the process of applying for one :).

1) Financial ability :- The Austrlian govt. wants to see proof that you will be able to fund your entire study, air-fare and living expenditure. In case of a dependent you would need to show funds for her/his/their expenses too. The most important thing is..whatever money (cash or FD or PF etc.) you are planning to show as your personal wealth OR your sponsor's wealth needs to be there since the last six months.

2) Confirmation of Enrollment :- This is a letter you get from your college once you pay the first installment of the fees and your health insurance. If you've taken out a loan, the first installment of fees needs to come out of this loan.

3) IELTS :- Unfortunate, Unfair but true. You need the IELTS regardless of your current English Skills to apply for an Austrlian VISA. The IELTS is presently held twice a month in a pen & paper mode, so you get your results about three weeks after you write your exam so plan accordingly.

Note : It's best to get professional help. I am going through IDP India. They help you through the details really well in such a complicated process and you can bank on their experience.

Disclaimer :- I just wanted to provide some basic information which you should know about six months BEFORE you apply to a B-School and subsequently a visa. For the ever changing specifics..please visit :-http://www.immi.gov.au/students/students/573-4/eligibility-student.htm

Melbourne Ahoy !

2008-08-22T00:57:00.000-07:00

Like I said in my previous blog, I've made it to the very prestigious Melbourne Business School. It's rated #75 globally by Financial Times and #1 in Australia. Here's a timeline of my journey right from the time I gave my GMAT to the day I received an offer.
April-2008 - I gave my GMAT (score - 680) and sent in my application for the September intake to Melbourne Business School.
May-2008 - I was rejected for the September intake but was asked whether I'd like to be considered for the January intake, which I affirmed.
May through July 2008 - I just kept waiting and writing to them about the final status of my application. I must say I was really irritiated it took so long given they had already taken an initial look at my application in April. Anyways, time crawled in this period.
31-July-2008 - It's a day I will never forget. The day i was waiting for since a long long time. I received a letter of offer from MBS and i knew in that moment, my life had changed.

To Melbourne then...

And I am back !

2008-08-22T00:16:00.000-07:00

Hmm..admittedly it's been a long while since I picked up the pen (ok! keyboard.). Well I am out of my shell now and for good. Life's taken a few turns of it's own and I have a lot to write about and a lot to share. For starters, after a relative period of no events, me & Tania got a great opportunity to work in Panama. About the same time I also received an offer from Melbourne Business School for an MBA. Since nothing had really materialized on the Panama front, we decided to go in for the Melbourne offer. Needless to say it's a dream come true to be offered a place on one of the most prestigious MBA programs on the planet.

Given that I am moving to Melbourne in January'09 there're plenty of things that are happening now. I have applied for the student's loan, am about to give my IELTS and am also talking to the IDP folks regarding my VISA to Oz. True, life's been pretty boring up until now but now I have plenty to write about. Right from my inflammed sinuses to my crusade for quality education and other interesting and dis-interesting stuff! Watch this space for more soon !

Of Valleys & Beasts !

2008-06-23T01:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time after which I am back to blogging. Long because there was pretty much nothing to write about all these days. Things weren't exactly moving about, and my life was waiting for something to happen. So it was another creaky, creepy weekend. We usually look forward to the weekends but hardly ever come out of one feeling fresh. And that's because we decide to put it to use to do all the chores we don't do during the week. So this time we decided to hit the road and get myself a break - not only from work but also from Pune. I, my wifey and another two friends (a cute couple) thought Mahabaleshwar, definitely one of the most popular hangouts in Maharashtra, would be obliged by our presence! Not much planning though, and we ended up having no place to stay..well almost because we really had nothing to live in till we'd searched almost 4-5 places.

Anyways. I've gotta say it's one of the most beautiful places I've seen in a long long time. The flora, the fauna and the weather were just plain delightful. We managed to get a couple of rooms at a nice little cottage for fifteen hundred bucks a room, and though we were pretty well looked after, I must say we need a better place the next time round. After checking in, we decided to check out some of the must-see spots near Old Mahabaleshwar and so we were back on the road. I can assure you it was a beautiful drive what with dense jungles covering both sides of the road, and the clouds practically in our faces - so much so that we couldn’t see anything beyond 4-5 meters ! So we reached what’s called Marjorie point after what seemed to be like a really long drive. To our disappointment we could hardly see anything there, thanks to the cloud cover. Another few points with the same thing happening and we were wondering whether Monsoon was after all the right time to visit this part of the world. I mean why visit a hill station if you can’t see anything ? But on our way back, we witnessed the most beautiful site you would see as one by one the winds took the clouds away revealing, in full filmy fashion a most fantastic site of the Ribbed Sahyadri Ranges.

There’s another experience I’ll never forget. It was dark and on our way back to the Hotel, I thought I saw a Bison ! And since it was indeed one, everyone was terrified when I halted my car some meters ahead and stepped out to check out the beast. I must admit that was about the most outrageous thing I’ve done in my life because it was dark, it was cloudy and I had no idea the 1.3 ton monster was just 2-3 meters away. Once I knew how close it was, I rushed inside the safety of my car but I wasn’t done. Over and above the shrieks of my wife and her pal, I backed my car far enough to be in the Bison’s face – and then rolled down my left window to reveal a magnificent site..the Great Indian Bison – in the wild – staring us down. I think that stare made the trip memorable. I am not sure it would’ve been worth remembering had it not been for the huge beast sighting.

The next day was equally well spent. We woke up to the chirping of birds and sound of raindrops hitting our rooftops hard. After a simple breakfast we headed out to visit the newer part of M’War. Here’s where we came across an astounding view of the Krishna River Valley at Kate’s point and at Needle point. This is a must-see according to me – and don’t forget to try the ‘Strawberries with Cream’ at Kate’s point – it’s expensive but worth every penny ! By noon, we decided we’d enjoyed to our heart’s content and were ready to head back to the city that gives us our daily bread – Pune.
And so it was over. One of the most memorable weekends I’ve spent. I owe this to mother nature, the friends who were with us and made it so special and definitely to the beast called the Indian Bison who was tolerant enough to let me live to write this :):):)

On a lighter plane.

2008-05-20T04:40:00.000-07:00

Well I just completed watching 'Lakshya' the zillionth time and getting inspired as many times. I guess for me it will go down as one of the finest movies ever made anywhere on the planet. It's inspiring, it's romantic, it's real and above all else, it's technically & thematically brilliant ! So I thought lemme create a list of my all time favourite movies and what I like about them (memorable dialogues, classic scenes..everything). Here goes.

1) Lakshya - Like I've said before, this one's gotta be just plain genius. It's got everything the movie-goer can ask for - cinematography, dialogues, music, direction etc...everything is special. Hrithik is awesome while Preity, Boman, Om Puri & the rest of the crew are at their best even though there's less to do quantitatively speaking. My choice of the most touching scene is one where Hrithik talks to his father Boman just hours before leaving for a near-impossible mission. Another superb scene is one where he meets Preity on the highway before leaving for the mission..the silence is just so beautiful and expresses such a great lot..the missing hug conveys emotions superbly etc etc..the list is endless.

2) Anand – A timeless classic, whichever way you want to put it. Rajesh Khanna’s best and most awe-inspiring performance merits many a credit but don’t forget Amitabh in his babu-moshai cameo. Most touching scene – the one where Johny Walker comes in to meet Rajesh Khanna and breaks down when he’s told about Rajesh’s illness.

3) Chak De! India – This one’s made it to the third position only because of Shahrukh. It’s Shahrukh all the way, even though the gals are superb in a supporting role. Sensational theme, slick direction and rock solid performance make it one of my all time favourites. Best Scene – the one where Vidya saves the goal in the final and India wins..you gotta see Shahrukh’s expression. He’s just outstanding in that scene. Another inspiring scene is the one where he talks to the gals right before the final – ‘Yeh Sattar (70) minute’… very well written indeed.

4) Independence Day – I’ve loved this movie, and watched it at least 10-15 times ever since I saw it first almost 12 years ago. The graphic effects and direction are simply awesome and so is the plot. Best scene is definitely the president’s final speech hours before the aerial combat begins, to save mankind. Here it is, just for keeps.. "Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. "Mankind." That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night!" We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day! "

5) The Pursuit of Happiness – Brilliant ! That says it all. Will Smith at his best and more than ably helped along by a great script and theme. I particularly like the line which he says about his life when he achieves his objective of becoming a broker. It goes, ‘This…small part of my life, is called Happiness !’. Whenever I’ve failed at something, I’ve reminded myself of Smith’s character and how giving up is never an option.

6) Andaz Apna Apna – Well, this one’s come in last, but I’d put it above every other movie above in terms of sheer value for money. Every scene is a gem, Aamir & Salman are amazing and Paresh Rawal is good. But the one character that takes the crème is Crime-Master Gogo..Shakti Kapoor is simply a genius un-earthed ! Best Scene – Well I can’t decide..every scene is as good as the other but I think the last scene is very, very good.

The adventure of the GMAT !

2008-05-14T23:20:00.000-07:00

A lot of my pals have asked me about the best GMAT preparation around, so here goes. My strength is and has always been Verbal, and I am an average math bloke. For GMAT structure, I would trust the Official Guide OR the official GMAC Website. However, for preparation here is my list of books/material, in order of fondness (call it quality if you like :)).

1) Manhattan GMAT Online Tests - Cost me $40 but is by far the best/toughest material I have solved. It's strategies and study guides are simply amazing because they focus on content (what) rather than style/tips/tricks (how).
2) Official Guide Book - It's the official thing and pretty close to the real exam, but it's Math is way easier than the real exam.
3) Princetons Review Book - This is an excellent (rather, the best) book to get going. Math & Verbal tips are very useful.
4) Kaplan GMAT Book - I liked this book but found it a bit harder than the actual stuff.

Apart from this, you could use Kaplan 800 but personally I think it's not as hard as they say it is. The one thing I want everyone to go through is the Manhattan GMAT Strategy Annex, I'd give it 100/100 for it's content & theory. Also, there is a lot of free material on the Internet (search 'GMAT' at www.esnips.com), but I'd say the above material is more than sufficient.

A note - Like my PR instructor says, the GMAT is an erratic exam - anything can happen, so be mentally prepared to fail, while still being optimistic and positive about your chances.

Manchester MBA Interview

2008-05-13T23:25:00.000-07:00

Hellowwww All ! Just had my Manchester Business School telephone interview last afternoon. Here are some of the questions :-
1) Tell me about your onsite assignment.; what you did, what you learnt about yourself etc.
2) Whats the difference in working with Australian, Indian & US people ?
3) What qualities will your subordinates mention about you ?
4) What do you think are your strengths & weaknesses ?
5) If one team member is not doing well, how would you deal with him/her ?
6) Whats one challenge if you're to do an MBA at Manchester ?
7) How have you contributed to the process improvement ?
8) If there wasn't such a course as an MBA, how would you reach your goals or achieve your objectives ?
Like a lot of other people have mentioned, the interview is more like a conversation. However, it is important that we speak slowly and clearly. That allows us to chose what we want to say and how we want to say it. I've been told now that I'll be informed by the coming Friday about their decision on my application, so I am eagerly waiting for the news - good or bad. Hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst since it's so late in the application year that I have applied.

For a few dollars more

2008-05-13T23:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I decided I wanted to stop being one of the million odd IT professionals this country has produced, and step into the more challenging world of Management Consulting. How ? I plan to get enough knowledge about it through a course in business management, specifically MBA. I can't comment on the returns on that investment as I haven't even got started yet, but I can say from the past results that there is generally no dearth of jobs as long as you're talented. On the face of it, getting into the top b-school across the world can be really simple to plan, but extremely hard to execute. You need to have a thing for competitive exams (read GMAT) and also have great academic (BCom, BSc, BE etc.) results. As if that wasn't enough, you should have great writing skills ( to write those essays) and an experience of at least over 3 years (ideally 5-7 years). In a generic order of priority, here is what you should aim for when you're still in college or about 1-2 years before you plan to apply.

1) Work Experience (more unique, the better..but if you're like a lot of others..then go for quantity. About 5-7 years should do).
2) GMAT & Acads (again, more the merrier. But don't kill yourself if you've got over 670 in GMAT).
3) Essays (People usually say Essays decide your application..but realistically I think they're a bit below the two above).
4) Extra Curricular Activities (yes, it's important. Go for community service, sports, adventure etc.)

Towards better living

2008-05-12T23:28:00.000-07:00

Well today's post talks about a burning issue which I think does not get enough attention. It's about the enforcement of Law in India; be it traffic laws, municipal laws or whatever. I think you generally have the liberty to take the law for granted in India, at least as far as non-criminal activities are concerned, as long as no one objects. And no one usually does. For example, how many times have you lodged an official complaint against someone spitting on the roads, driving recklessly, playing the loudspeaker beyond the permissible time limit etc. Probably never. Because no one really wants to get involved in anything to do with the cops. But having said that, isn't is upon the cops to ENFORCE the laws ? I think it is. And I think it is time the cops started blaming all sorts of things from growing vehicles on roads, political pressure and the likes and started acting up. Legal punishment needs to serve as a credible deterrent to further acts of nuisance, and it's time we demand more discipline on the roads and in the society. It's time we demand that the cops do what they're expected to do. It's time to enforce - not our will..but our rights. Through my posts, I hope to bring people's attention on non-enforcement of laws in different spheres of life, both minor and major.

Welcome Aboard !

2008-05-08T22:32:00.000-07:00

Hello Netizens...Here goes my first post ! Welcome all to the Crusader's den..to share my experiences and experiments with life. Here I'll cover a variety of topics which I usually have an opinion on. Am pleased there's a good outlet to my expressions and opinions...but I'll be happier when they're appreciated by the readers - yes..that means YOU ! To get going, here is something worth reading...is tells me who I want to be..and how I want to get there..Happy reading..

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep. "
- Robert Frost