“Time is apt for MBA”, the thought struck me a little while back, and I started preparing for GMAT. Hmm, no, it’s been a year, sorry, I think couple, ahhh, ok, I admit it was 2005 (Four years if you have some trouble counting this large phase) when I gave my first shot at the coveted CAT exam. Please don’t prejudice your views with the only little information that I have revealed. I am better, trust me, it’s only because of reasons listed later that I haven’t tasted success yet. Dear readers (if there are any), how I have fared is not what I want to focus today, in fact it’s some random stuff which will be the centre of attention. Stuff like, the struggles because of (yes, it’s not “of”, it’s “because of”) common regular educated youth of India, de “Aam Youth” and some other “Bekar fundas”. I am not going to be politically motivated rebellion kind, but of a soft spoken, ready to discuss and agreeable type.

3 years into the largely accepted “Life Saviour” - IT industry for de “Us” kind (de “Aam Youth”) and I cannot or don’t want to answer 2 elementary questions. “How are you doing in your job” and “Do you like it”. My reaction to this is quite similar to that of a young man from the USofA, if asked “Dude, you 25, are you a virgin?” Totally embarrassed, and don’t want to face the situation. Even if I want to get out of this syndrome, I can’t, simply can’t. The reason - I live in a country with a population of over a billion; a major chunk of it constitutes the youth. And the good part is, it’s Indian youth. Ya, de same with huge amounts of brain and dedication and perseverance and hard working capabilities and hell with these people. I know, am being illogical, having the above mentioned qualities is perhaps good for Indian future, but still, damn with it! I told you in de beginning, am going to be an understanding bloke.

I went through a book written for GMAT. It said, almost nonchalantly, “For this topic, the native English speakers have an edge as they just can listen to their ears. It’s an intuitive part of their society to get these questions correct. For non native speakers, ahhm, it’s difficult, you gotta memorize things”. If this were a reading comprehension, I would have concluded in these short and sweet words “Get lost you non native buggers, you don’t stand a chance”. It all started when the book explained how we do not use, for example “Range Between”, it’s “Range from” in English. It’s an idiom. Irritated, I shot back, “Wot de _”, how am I supposed to remember all these typical English rules.

Sorry, but I forgot to tell you why I have shifted my focus to GMAT from CAT. Look, first and foremost, the name CAT doesn’t sound chic, secondly - whereas GMAT exam is of an “Adaptive” nature, CAT is of an “Addictive” nature, you just want to sit for this exam year after year after year. And moreover, I have lots of money to spend and GMAT is on an average 5 times costlier. Simple, straight and simple. That’s precisely not the reason friends, the reason is CAT is one tricky exam which I can’t crack because of the large Indian population funda which I gave. And because I could not answer the 2 basic questions pointed out earlier about my current job, I want to move on and the only choice left is – Get away from this Indian youth.

A little more on this Indian youth, they are everywhere I go. They were there when I gave my Engineering entrance exams where Yours Truly got a rank of 104000 in IIT entrance exam, yes, you heard it right, just missed getting admission by a whisker (just had to better 1 Lakh people rite). After 4 bright years of college in Manipal where I studied Electrical & Electronics Engg with great vigour and determination, I thought I loved my branch. I learnt about circuits and transformers and became a Master in all subjects related to the word “Current”. Fortunately, logic prevailed and I quickly stepped out of this stream and joined an IT company. Now, the same youth was here as well. It’s not that I hadn’t expected it, but it was odd. Now, I wanted to give CAT and it was there too. It has launched itself to GMAT recently with vengeance and looking to infuse this exam with the same level of competitive spirit which dis “Aam Youth” is associated with.

On a serious note, it’s nothing of this sort, if you are good, you shall make it. Point is, it’s impossible to be good. ;)

Yours Truly,
De Frustrated One

You try for something for years and its just that fifteen minutes that decides how or what you are going to be for your next fifty years. So bloody unfair.. !! I cannot take defeats well. I suck at it. I behave like a complete nut case, totally lose it. But that's me.. I cannot help it. That dreaded interview, where I was sitting like a dumb idiot nodding my head at whatever was said to me.

So, Why MBA? "cos my parents want me to do it, all my friends are planning for it, and I have heard it gives you a nice job with a good pocket money"!!! ... This is absolute bull shit sir. The real reason is "sir actually I think after my stint in the IT industry, a formal MBA is imperative for me to achieve my long term goals. I think a MBA helps you develop a structured approach towards a problem and also develops your analytical skills to take a strategic decision. In a nut shell, I think a MBA will add tremendous value to me. " Wow, I can indeed crap.

OK, why specialise in marketing then? "Idiot you made us choose one option out of the four, and after rounds of inki pinki po.. my pen landed on the marketing bubble. " I wish I could say that.. but instead "Sir, I believe marketing is a blend of art and science. Art because you have to be creative enough to make a product work. Science because you have to do your homework on which the creativity will be based on. Marketing give you the power to be in a group of select few, which decides how and what the other larger group decides and chooses."

How did you develop an interest in marketing? "Interest.. You kidding me. I mean do you seriously think any of the i-want-to-be-a-visionary-leader has an interest in what you plan to teach them. Grrr... wake up morons.. Take a walk" .. but what came out was "Sir, from the time I have started working I have developed a keen interest in marketing. The reason behind this is that my mentor at work is from the portfolio team. And his job is basically to know the current technology trends, the customer needs and how to engineer the technology to cater to the customers needs and develop new solutions for them. " Am I good or not.

So, why not do a course designed for that? "Listen you old bugger. If I really wanted to do that, why would I be wasting a beautiful Sunday, sitting in front of you and answering you stupid questions".. He thinks he has delivered the knock out punch.. but wait.. "Sir, I just gave you the reason why I developed an interest in marketing. I never mentioned that I would return to the telecom domain. What I wanted to say was that I was fascinated by the whole idea and was more than willing to learn all the aspects of this very interesting field." Nods of appreciation all around.

But now the bad part starts. So, you have been doing good at your work. Tell me, do you like your work? "To be very honest I do like what I am doing. So for a change let me speak the truth." ... "hmmm.. yes sir, I am pretty much satisfied and am happy with my job profile!!"The old man replied.. The answer was pretty much expected. I think you should carry on with you technical job. Our country needs good technical people too. As it is, we are producing loads and loads of managers every year. "no no no.. I take back my answer. I hate my job. I seriously do. Please take me. Please take me" !! but alas, it was too little too late. I have to admit that there were serious counter questioning to my answers and I fumbled a bit too. So, I don't blame them for rejecting me straight away. Plus there were people who were president of five clubs in college, played carnatic music for decades, i-have-done-it-all in life, and I didn't stand a chance in front of them. But even after making my peace with it, the disappointment, the pain, the misery ceases to end. The last two weeks have been the most blood-sucking-mind-fucking time for a very long time now. I seriously am planning to take the old man's advice and continue with what I am doing. But then "life is unfair!!!"

March 9th!! Baby's birthday, but even after all these birthdays, he still is our Baby!! It seems like Joey, even Baby has this deal with God to be Baby forever. But this one is rather special. Special owing to the fact that we all realized that baby needs a hearing aid. We all realized why baby keeps on asking questions. Not because he is inquisitive or he is Mr-i-want-to-know-it-all, its because he didn't get what you were saying. And its absolutely not your problem. Now I realize that why even in movie theatres, baby keeps on asking me to repeat one fourth of the dialogues and the other one fourth to the guy sitting on the other side.

And this dude is a master in lip reading. He has excelled to this extent in this art that I guess he can lip read better than hear the actual thing being said. From yesterday whenever baby has said "Kya..", we have all been in fits of laughter. Lets see, how it goes from here. But from now on we are going to keep a close watch on him.

Bad Banks

Ever heard of this word “bad banks”? I have never even heard of a good bank, bad bank is way far off. With the world economy in recession/slow down a new word is coined “Bad Banks”. Frankly speaking when I read this word “Bad banks” and its definition I thought “damn what the hack is this” the definition is so economic.

According to Google, bad banks also known as collection bank are specially chartered banks, acting as self-liquidating trust. They hold all the non performing assets. Hmm!! I wonder how a bank holding all the non performing assets, is able to self liquidate. What do they do to generate liquidity?

As I am writing this posting my curiosity is increasing to know more about these bad banks.

Ahh! After much profound research, I finally found how these bad banks work. If the post sounds a little interesting go ahead and read to know more about the new word.

Bad banks are government financed banks and have tons of stinking assets. Bad banks repackage these stinking assets give them a good look and feel, and sell them to private sectors at a steep discount. Liquidity thus generated is again used by the banks for lending purpose.

The concept of bad banks looks so simple now but the fact is that bad banks haven’t really worked that way. God save us all!
The more I read about it, the more confusing it gets. Why these economists always land up with a gloomy picture and can’t predict a better solution like engineers.

I should get back to work. I also have a fire drill today at my company. Next post will most probably have all the stunts performed by my team mates during the fire drill. :)

Hole in my Shoe..

Waking up in the morning as
I set foot on the road,
which way to head, the road
less taken was one I chose,
yeah it did make a difference

Here I am, lost in the woods
nowhere to go, no one to talk

Since the day I was born
I knew what to ask for
I chose what was wanted
never got to know that life
is not always my choice

They say its a wound and it ll heal
say it hurts, just hang on.
How can I show them, the vacuum?
The face in my heart, the smile
in my eyes, the voice in my ears

Well, Here I am, lost in the woods
nowhere to go, no one to talk

Since the day I walked
I knew where to go
I chose where to go
never got to know that life
is not always my choice

Thought I was to be a free spirit
roaming and wandering, no cares
laughing and playing, no bonds
now I see am not, deep inside
I miss you, wish to see you

Here I am, lost in the woods
nowhere to go, no one to talk

I have walked long enough,
the holes in my shoes are
not bigger, like in my heart
gona wait here, and hope
that you’ll be here to heal

yeah, this is where am gona be.
dont wanna go, gona wait here.

Breaking Self Bound Shackles

Time and again I stare at the door
Hoping to sneak out through that back door
The vicious cycle never ends
And the misery still suspends!!!

And here I grow up unraveling the mire
Picking the ashes through the fire
The door stands tall and broad
I shall break it and feel proud!!!

A small talk never had such effect
Often I wonder how it was so deft
Away from the world’s far cries
Time was spent with self valuation tries!!!

The door has cracked
Hear the shriek
But don’t be complacent
It’s not its defeat!!!

I shall break it and feel proud
Time and again I sang that loud
Wavered I, time and again
Showed my resolve for those timely gains!!!

On my death bed I can feel
Of the fact that I never kneel
Blasted the door of the ground
Alas, I broke it and feel proud!!!

Ok.. 4:45, at office. Loads of work but absolutely no interest. Thought would write something. So here it goes.....

This is about the book "Tin Fish"!!! Based on the life of 4 students in Mayo College, Sid actually marked this as a must read book and after reading it I second that. This is a must read, because at some stages you can relate yourself with the story. Initially I thought it would be a book about four students and maybe a twist or two to spice it up. But I am glad I actually proved myself wrong after reading it.

Let me get the facts clear. I am no expert in reviewing books, so the comments given by me may seem a bit vague. But how does it matter. So the book begins with a boy being sent to Mayo, a boarding school. Completely away from home, with his new family, his new friends from different places and background. The book also amazes me because of the efficieny of the author to switch back and forth in time. The informal language used is another thing that will keep you engrossed in the book.

The story revolves around this boy's life. How he first adapts in this completely new life, makes friends and shares everything, how each one of them faces a different problem altogether and how they tackle it. Though its hard to resist, I am not giving any details here. Read it to know it.

Ok, enough gyan here and high time i get back to work. Contribute to this blog guys.