Ganguly

its sad that ganguly has not understood that his time under the sun is over. It would have been brilliant fo him just to majestically hand over the baton to dravid and leave. but then the indian selectors ( with a lil bit of help from chappell) of course have sent him home. but the test recall is maybe a last dance for him or more likely will be another embarassment for him. this is what is really unfortunate, he has led india commendably and the fact that poeple even consider india as a force ( in spite of our inconcsisitent performacnes) is due to him. But then true leaders know when to leave. Even if Ganguly manages to do well in the series, he will always be sorted out on the bouncier pitches and his presence would only make the job of Dravid all the more difficult. Leadership transition? you bet. But at what cost? a nation bereft of any sporting glory looks only at cricket for salvation. Ego clashes are the last things you need in such a scenario.
thats that

death

an IIM grad was killed on duty in one of the districts of UP. Does this make any difference to the scores fo people who go about their jobs daily? As one of the blogs mention, does this story even warratn a mention? It is the same old problem It is not just enough fro an individual to be efficient, it required the entire system to be efficient. The problem wiht our generaiton, the so caleld free market generation is that we beleive that everything will eb taken care of the free markets. Truth is, there is no such thing as a free market. If you dont take pro active steps to change the soceity of which you are a part of, dont be surprised if you or someone close to you faces unpleasant situations. In what ever context Friedman said the truth is
" There aint no such thign as a free lunch"

There is an interesting turn to the whole sequence of events and that is the media coverage that has been given to the event. Now in a geographically diverse country like ours what the media covers would give the normal audience a chance to understand what goes on in the wider world. But then again, the mass media of English dominated dailies targets only the SEC A and SEC B segments. Now these segmetns are either so busy in their work or so cynical or both, they do not care. The regional language dailies could carry such news bulletins but for them agricultural and grass-root level issues are much more important because they represnet the sustenance for them.

For the rest of us who care about what happens, the best we could do is pray for the souls of those who give their life for this nation. A thankless job, but that makes them the true patriots that they are.

that is that

catch the stars!!

Went all the way along the choral road again to the sunset point and along and then followed a vague road. Kept thinking for a long time abt sartre. have to think thru it. the road itself is brilliant. wud take about 30-40 min from campus

'India was our friend'

That is precisely what the top brass of the Iranian govt must be feeling at present. Even though India did not achieve much through the leadership of the Non-alignment Movement (NAM) it did act as a mature country, a country which understood the compulsions of international politics, but still maintained an identity of its own. But now, first through the 'historical' alliance between the US and India under teh BJP regime and the conitnued 'partnership among equals' under the congress regime, India seems to be acting like a country without a spine. Take any sphere of international polictics and India has come out in the dumps. The negotiations on WTO where India failed ot convince the African countreis that the best foot forward would have been to stick together. Instead the smaller Afrcian nations moved to cut deals with the US. India needs to understand that the best in its position as a developing nation wiht wide demographic characteristics, it is a natural leader of the developing countries. In this aspect our detonation of nuclear bombs and continuing development inspite of the sanctions only reinforced the trust that was imposed in us. We might have taken to the US because it is the only superpower right now, but the gains that accrue could be at huge costs. As a nation what are our major requirements? Energy, Security, Markets for our exports and a few particular imports. Each of these needs except possibly security ( which could still be met by France, Germany etc) would be better served by going together with the world rather than USA. Our people have made significant progerss in US as a nation and might be influential there but it will take time before they become influencers in policay making with a lot of anti-india hawks still doing their homework. That India has asked Iran's programme to be referred to the IAEA can at best be seen as a sell off by a Shiite nation whose support could be crucial to us over a period of time. Asia is rising and we need supporters here as much as we need the US for our nuclear capabilities. Seen in light of the fact that chances of an armed conflict are minimum in the near future it is imperative to get the support of all the countries in Asia. Dont sell out India.
that is that

dreamcatcher

the legend of the dreamcatcher in the indian lore is related to choice one must make between good and evil the dream catcher holds the destiny of the future.

iam intrigued by the fact taht most of the civilizations have some sort of superstition or the other. it has just not been possible even for the msot advanced of soceities to escape some sort of symbols or the otehr. are the symbols just the result of complex thought process, too difficult to be documented or just a manifestation of simple rules which people would find difficult to obey otherwise?

But by that definition most of the concepts that are known would fit in. the symbols are as i see it a tribute to the stupidity and slavishness of the normal population. superstitions are created by the movers and shakers as a means of enforcing some rules ( good in some cases, bad in others and pure propaganda in many others).

i like the dreamcatcher legend tho :D

Albet Camus-Outsider

The book is a thin volume which describes a particular phase of Meursault. The author takes us through the protagonist's mother death, his relationships ( both romantic and with the people around him) and his trial.

The book is a statement about existentialism, about everything being perfect in its place and the feeling of regret etc being not necessary. Above all it is a damnation of the soceity which cannot accept individuals who do no conform. That Meursalt does not feel bad at his mother's death, neither does he regret the killing of the arab makes him a sadistic criminal in the eyes of soceity. Meursalt is waiting for death.......

Can every action of an individual be reasoned out? If not anything can actions be called as impulse? Or is there a cause-effect type of reason for every action. Can actions be explained easily? Is it important for the individual, being a part of soceity, to give an explanation for his actions? Or is it jsut the arrogance or ever fear of the soceity that it wants to understand.

For people who are busy living life, enjoying the existential bliss, their fate is tied to Meursalt. Soceity will veiw them as not being part of the larger whole and hence they are condemned. Death will catch up eventually.

PS: Albert Camus is an Algerian born French Philospher who won the nobel prize for literature at the young age of 44. His famous works include outsider, stranger etc.

survive

Is sport played on the physical plane or the mental plane? So many times it happens, pretenders fight against the champions, get to the brink of victory and then manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It does not matter if its is individuals or teams. It would be interesting to note taht we call sportsmen champions precisely because of this reason, to bring on that additional extra when the odd's are stacked against them. Think Sampras's 3rd service ace. But I would really doubt whether there is really a difference in talent/skill in many of the also rans. It is the mind. For the winners the game has already been won, they seem to knwo that the opponent is only their mind, the level of the opponent determined by only what their mind is willing to concede. For the rest of us mortals , we are there to fight, the fight is what the glory is for us becuase we are taught to fight, not to win. To see only victory is difficult because what then fo the defeats that would definitely be there. ( I might even argue that the consideration of teh possibility of defeat is acknowledgemetn of weakness ). If you see victory, play like a champion and still have been beaten, understand that you have met your match and go out with the head held high. Next time, out perform yourself. The loser's always seem to say, the pressure is on them, iam going ot play my shots. Its not about the shots, its playing each shot as if that is the last shot that you are ever going to play. Sport is one realm where the proponents have reached levels of performance that we can call 'perfect'. For these people the competition is only against themselves, the parameter of judgemetn is what they can achieve, perfection exists. My salute to the champions that I have seen:
Valentino Rossi
Micheal Schumacher
Lance Armstrong
Micheal Johnson
Lennox Lewis
Pete Sampras
Roger Federer
Gustavo Kuerten
Haile Gabrasselaisse
Paula Radcliffe
Steve Waugh
Brian Lara
Zenedine Zidane
Frank Lampard
Arjuna Ranatunga
Glenn Mcgrath
Shane Warne
Andrew Flintoff
Hansie Cronje
Wasim Akram
Allan Iverson
Shaquille O Neill
Tim Duncan
and many many more.

strategy

Today was the end term examination in strategy where we were supposed to analyze HBR cases using conceptual framework in a clear concise format. I really dont know what the entire purpose of analyzing HBR cases is. For one the teaching notes that are provided along with the cases always seem to be so out of sync with reality. HBR really does not inspire any associations in the indian management student i think. we just use the cases coz we are very lazy to wrtie something on our own. We all got to know what Schaefer did with Caterpillar but what the fuck is that supposed to mean? Indian cases have not been written is a point that i can understand , but for how long? Management education has been in India for close ot 50 yrs and with all the famed IIM's has it been so difficult to churn out 200-250 cases? All the cases of Indian companies are also written by HBR. The only other entrant seems to ICFAI business school which has put in some decent work.

For a course such as strategy it is imperative that practical experience be made compulsory. Most of the students in India come in with little of management experience, so directly starting on strategy is not the best thing to do in such a scenario.

excitement!!!

will leave for leh in 2 days. cant keep my feet on the ground. its never been liek this for a long long time. i feel as if there is going to be a spectacular experience awaiting me in leh. one that will chagne my life forever. prabhu kept saying that i will find my calling in the himalayas. maybe i would, maybe i wont but it sure is going to be fun. nature has always tempted me. it is not as if i feel that only nature can create beauty, man is nature's most beautiful creature and hence his creations are also as much of nature as man is. but mountains .. hmm.. they are of a different class. no two of them look alike, they are gigantic when compared to us but are still eroded by small streams some of them that dont even flow througout the season. mountains stay on, men come and go. listen closely and they will say: " we are watching. guns boom, emotions run high but we will keep watching. and its quite a solo watch. we are the guardians, we are aging but still hold the keys t0 the gateways that you seek." i have not even got anywhere close to the mountains but i think i understand what gives the mountain climbers the kicks. mountains represent that ultimate conquest, nature's monoliths, its your ultimate triumph to be able to carve out a path over or around them. the power of the human mind unleased. i think this will be the first of many trips of mine, k2 , hindukush and so on. the valleys will give you the feeling of open space, but all my life i have been in awe of mountains, lets see how it will turn out this time around. leh!!! here i come.
expected route:
6 4 pm intercity to delhi
7 delhi
7th night jammu
8 th evening to srinagar . bus
sringar-kargil-dras-leh. taxi
leh
return via manali
16th campus.

point well taken boss

Its been that kind of sem. classes been going on and over the tiem i am having doubts over doing a course in management . now we even have a class called business ethics, it would be interestign to do a study on how many fo the ceo's and other decision makers have done a course in ethics and above all whether it would make any difference ot them. as far as i see it all decision making comes from a set of moral principles that is instileld in you. now if taht is all screwed up , make christ take classes and it would make no difference unless the person concerned wants to make a positive change.

fuck the left

where is the renowned left in India? The left as the communists would like to call themselves are probably the most hypocritical bastards that ever were there on planet earth. Maybe thats the whole idea, then they are doing a very good job of it. We may all like to think that a red world has ceased to exist and the idea killed itself with the collapse of the russian federation. But I think that the idea has becoem far stronger through far sublter ideas. Think of it, the ideas doing the rounds in various forums around the world: brotherhood to be found in religion? the govt as caretaker? differential taxes so that equitable distribution of wealth takes place? govt's with a social face? govt s playing 'mai-baap' to the populace? All these ideas are essentially different facets of the communist idea of 'sharing'. Creativity be damned, everything needs to be shared. The whole deal of team play comes to existense from this concept. Team, balls , the greatest discoveries have happened at the individual level. A team essentially serves to decrease your effficiecny in as much that most of the you spend thinking about possible reations to your positions.
You would actually think that relgion would be anit-communist. Hello! you are mistaken, religion does not need the sage who realizes god and then questions the methods that are advocated. Bad press for the vaticans etc of the world. You want unsuspecting public who would give up their rational thinking process to be part of something big. ( Like dogs got convinced to be our pets by our ancestors :) ).

i cant think of anything to criticize

What the fuck, so I will praise one of the most remarkable persons that I have ever met. Prof Ramkumar, Services marketing. The man is pure enthu, think of this-he takes 7.5 hrs of classes spanning 10 hrs and then lands up at the hostel football court. Snake charmer, chemist, traveller, academic, father, husband, crusader, teacher and probably many other things too. True, I really dont like his teaching style that much because for slow thinkers like me the class does not provide an opportunity to get to the bottom of any sort of thought process. But the enthusiasm of the guy is difficult to beat. I still cant figure out how a person can have such an amazing eye for details after a long gruelling day.

It would be interested if somebody decided to monitor our thought processes while we are in class. Are our thoughts influenced by what we hear? how much of our thought process actually changes over a period of time? does teaching have any sort of effect on what actions that you take or is the action determined by what you essentially believe in.

I have always thought that when the final question of decision making comes humans will alwayls decide on the basis of their core values. Since the core values are dependent on the environment ( as a function of upbringing), acceptable social positions actually become the dominant values in a populace. That is the reason that many of the fanatical movements have spread in the modern world. ( The debate still rages on, are we truly modern?).

Maybe our generation is in built with an enormous amount of cynicism ( I am a self-proclaimed cynic by the way) or we simply do not understand what the dynamics of the game are. The guy goes on about bringing passion into your life and defining your life to that one thing and here we are shaking our heads. You never need to agree, but each thought needs careful consideration. The hilarious part is that the same group of people when put under a similar situation will come up with the same ideas and think that they have done a remarkable job out of it. But maybe thats how its supposed to be.

As the co-creator of this blog sez : " you cant beat destiny mate"
I dont disagree. :)

the similarity between organizations and stock markets

almost at the end of my summer training and i begin to wonder " what the fuck i am i doing here?, this is chaos man...". but on second thoughts ... is it actually? from what i gather most of the organizations seem to be very haphhazard in their operations. this is the same irrespective of which vertical the organization belongs to or what model of the organaniation exists. disgruntled employees, no proper sytems, apathy towards trainees, politics, fire-fighting, deadline bound work ... seems to be everywhere. this is the all due to competition etc....
that si what appears tothe naked eye, but just as the stock market prices the stocks wiht respect to some long term 'image' ofthe company so do these companies findtheri niche for the long run. the volatility of the stock market represents the churning thathappens at the corporate. but over and above it only ensures that the best only survive. it means that the compnaies which cannot stand this kind of fluctuatiosn will not survive.
need a perspective onthis, 1 am is definitely not the time :D

What is the 'buzz' about management?

Was speaking to anshu about what is the big fuss about grading management students and then chucking them out of institutes. Considering the fact that many of those chucked out have handled immense responsiblities while having been in office in favour of us 'freshers' jsut because we can mug better is preposterous. Which brings me to the fundamental question?
What is management? Is it about gettting grades, or mastery over 'management theory' ( those 'enlightening theories ranging from my poor nerd Mintzberg to the epochal 'late' Ghoshal), or is it getting the trust of your c0-workers? or is it wizardry with numbers ? Or as we always like it is it a mixture of all these things? Who the fuck knows what it is , but every bodywants to do management from a prestigious institute. Not that any of the products of these insti's are not successful, even though the companies may have been created by entrepreneur's their running has mostly been left to professional managers and the world has not been a worse place beacause of that. Gettign back to my original point, the fact that people are branded good or bad managers is preposterous. The best that one can do say that " this guy is good with people", or this guy is " numerically inclined". On the actual job, unless your slogging your ass off in an investment bank (those gods with huge pay checks and look at that car guys ) for 18 hrs , chances are taht your average numerical skills will still ensure a pretty good career for you. And since you are able to execute perfectly people will still trust you.