The career of an MBA

I will start will a disclaimer first, the post is not applicable to the true-blood CEOs in the making that some b-schools produce.

In India as education by rote ensures your academic mobility (look at the percentage scores required to get admission into any stream of education and with only the academics as a barometer). Of course the entrance tests for engineering and medical ( medical is probably again a seperate case, because well... its a life saving profession, even though mistakes in other feilds are the one of the main causes for doctors to come in) could be shown as proof against 'rote', but a look at any of these exams (except to some extent IIT-which people who have got through think was way simple, for the rest its particle physics) will show that 'rote' rules. And you have a lot of engineering seats, not to mention the management quota, so that you never have a problem finding a seat.

Ok, to cut back, after your mundane degree you can then study further or pick a job. With IT jobs in plenty the adventurous or 'i dont know jack shit' kinds will go that way. Anyways after 2 yrs of cribbing about IT jobs, our guys are back at the doors of the b-school. I have met quite a few b-school aspirants and grads, and there are very few who know why they are there.hmm...dont ask me why i did it either. But through the rigours of the b-school everyone does become a survivor 'a bring it on mentality' which is partly developed already by an average indian s struggle to exist and this skill is just honed further. So all this finally culminates in the 'placement process' where the HR does not know anything about who they want, candidates have some vague idea of what they want with even vague ideas of what companies do the pay in the end becomes some sort of a differentiator.

The question is, is this system bad? Not necessarily, in the Indian context that refinement of the survival skills is just enough because people tend to figure out what they want in a few years time and hence you end up with excellent managers. Whats the downside? Management education does not produce enough quality research, you do not have best minds making a bee line to become professors and a distinctly unprofessional approach during the first 1-2 yrs of work.

Will this change? It has got to, simply because the 'knowledge' class competes with every one from the world. To put it in perspective, for a lot of present generation urban indians graduation and post graduation are a given. Not the same for western nations. The people who survive in the west are fiercely motivated. The chinese et all are are aliens :) they just work anyway ( for social mobility) and they can work hard. So if hasty career decision is made, it will just take that much time to unravel that mistake.

Tricks to derail Fed-ex

Who or what will stop roger federer? he is actually an alien masquerading as a tennis player. It is a deception of monstrous proportion, made to decrease the morale of normal human tennis players who make a mistake or two. You should look at the evil gleam in his eyes as he plays those amazing shots, the devil is creating an empire. The food he consumes is an alien vitamin, how does he not tire after the game? I tell you, its an alien. So, how do we defeat him:

1) Get him ot play will smith, that will zap him ( with help from tommy lee)
2) Get him to play serena williams. she will show him the daylights.. err in tennis only please
3) shilpa shetty??? those long racially abused legs could hold a surprise or two
4) bush: he would start speaking, confuse and confound fed and win
5) dharam paaji: those blood curling screams from paaji "kameene mein there khoon...." will scare the shit out of any alien
6) last but not the least: our own Rajni, he hits the ball once, it s been hit hundred times.

but best strategy, get him coached by greg chappell.

The Black Swan Problem

Logic is the fundemental basis of science. Is logic something hard and fast? Can it be brought down to its lowest common denominator? I really dont understand logic to that level. But in a simple framework you tend to use logic itself as a set of rules. The whole number A > whole number B > whole number C => A>C. That is mathematical logic. The Sun has been rising the on the east always, it is almost certain that it will rise in the east t'row.

Philosphically, the Black Swan(seemingly the theory was first put forward by Karl Popper) problem is considered a true blood. If all your life and in science if you only see white swans does mean that Black Swans' do not exist? (Actually they apparetnly were found in Australia). Even more interesting, inductive logic is true only again by induction. That is some logic isnt it?

PS: None of the thoughts above are mine, they belong to a book on infinity.

When does logic fail? Is the application of logic merely a reflection of the amount of information known about a particular subject. Lets say that we suddenly solve the mysteries about the seemingly expanding universe, would logic then apply? I would think so. You cannot really apply logic to things you have no information about.(If aliens have existed all this while, why have not contacted us-Fermi Paradox types, the damn thing being we know a vast little about aliens). That is the problem many of us face with behavioral analysis too, we dont really know the motivations of others so we cant really apply our logic to it. Logic could possibly be the infinite number line, but only when the space is defined. Till then we can even have a colored swan i.e. if the chinese want a colored swan.

Competition

This is the era of competition. "May the best man win" is an axiom that is played across geographies. What happens to the people who are not good enough? They will have to settle at a place in the value chain which is in-line with their skill level. The ultimate 'Ayn Randes'que celebration of capitalist instincts.

Will people be able to do this easily? After all we all passed through academics and have played sports where you end up or losing. It should not really matter as long as each individual feels he is giving his best. But it does not end up being so simple. It is one thing to lose your job, its something beyond to live with the fact that your job has been taken over by someone you consider'racially' inferior. Or someone who does not belong to your group. That is protectionism comes into place, that is the reason you have anti-outsourcing protests.

Of course, what needs to be understood is the fact that the 'best man' is a generic term for a total package. Someone in Europe can be very talented, but when compared to someone in India with somewhat lesser talent but coming in at atleast 40% cheaper, the companies will take call. Right now the trend is for 'cheaper' quality but this if may change in the future. Even more frightening is the prospect that someone who has been the best in his field for years ( a steel technician in US) will find that he has to increase his skill sets, take a pay cut, move to a more cost effective location, change his field(with age learning new skills to change fields becomes that much more difficult) or find himself out of a job. This is where governments of the land come in. They provide the back up in terms of financial incentives for salaries or facilities for retraining. This is where India could find itself hammered for some time. US and Europe have for long had a social security net, but India could find itself hardpressed for financial resources if a large portion of our work force becomes redundant because of alternative cost-effective locations. A large number of educated youth entering the work force means that new skills will easily be learnt(Indians know the art of survival) but re-skilling remains an underlying problem.

Compassion for others, caring for the poor etc are virtues across all religions precisely because if every individual were to become a cut-throat capitalist then people who have no skill have no hope of survival. The governments are the only hope then and that is dangerous.

Unguard, fight to survive.

Religion as a basis for hate

Religion at its root is the best of all propaganda. Since, the propaganda is about something(God) that cannot be seen or shown, basically everything works. The need for meaning is real, so I do not attempt to make a case of existense of God or otherwise. What I am interested in is the 'propaganda' part of religion. Non-believers must be brought ot line, your life in propagation of religion will take you to god, you are a messenger of god...all this plays to a persons ego. The problem is not when this ego is used individually, but when it becomes a collective manifestation. (of course the problem will be corrected only if approached at the individual level). When combined with the nascent urge in people to hide under the 'face' of the mob, what you have is violence. And it can go to any extreme. The religious riots in different part of the world are a testament to this. Of course my argument is a gross simplification. There are factors like religious and political leaders, persecution, race, caste, economic conditions etc. Can religion be fought at the mass level?
Not until a person who can prove divine qualities across religions and says that he has met all god and they are equal ( ya right). But for the problem ot decrease in magnitude:
1) Make everyone play sports. Most of games tend to detriorate into wars anwyays. The pent up energy will go out. While this is seemingly stupid the argument has some merits. We rarely take out some of our emotions out and mob violence is a kind of response ot it. Maybe games.
2) Make people go after money like there is no t'row. Group violence tends to have economic under currents to it. In an equal society will that be the case?
3) Abolish religion, make it go underground. The extreme case.

The art of 'jhol'

'Jhol' it sounds like a drinkable, but given the fact that i am callin it an art you might be thinking it is a dance form. Well err. .. maybe it is . But essentially 'Jhol" refers to the Gujju clans' ability to resort to extra-legal means to solve all problems. This could include simple things like tax evasion and comples things..again tax evasion. Also, getting around licenses, bribes for open gates...you get the idea... basically any sort of ghapla.

The best part about jhol is that everybody does it and it increases munafa by giving you more taka :). So if everybody must be doing it and it has tangible benefits, then it must be right. That s the logic generations after generations of Gujju's are brought up on. They will not have any qualms to break or bend any rule as long as the munafa is clearly seen. It did come as a surprise for the us poor souls to understand what exactly was going on. To learn how to do it is another matter.

The ability to do jhol is probably what the differentiator is after the choice of a good biz proposition. After all as guru would say, its abt munafa

Racism

Are we all inherently racist? Probably not, biased? mostly yes. It is how evolution has come through. Why do animals move in groups? Because a group automatically shares responsiblity and increases possibilities. Even similar plants grow together (wierd logic, got to be verified). So we have an inherent bias to identify ourselves with a group. The group could be anything, religion, technology, professional, afflicition(alchoholism) etc. But the thread is the same, the need to connect to someone who is similar to you. Are internet based groups any different, no? The need is always similar. The manifestation might be virtual, but still an outsider there would remain one.

The present storm over Shilpa Shetty being abused(breaking news-courtesy IBN) in a reality show is hilarious at times, raises questions and becomes pathetic at worst. She was called names and made to feel like an outsider. C'mon mate, the show is reality T.V. In the Australian version you had a woman held down and a man rub his crotch against her face (by mutual agreement of contestants), you could have them acting ( ala WWF) or saying things that would grab eyeballs. The channel could of course have edited what they said ( it runs 24/7 and only a part is telecast) but they need the publicity. Thats why its run in the first place and the contestants are paid big money (and the final prize). Of course our news guys need space too, so her 'gandhigiri'(thats becoming an abuse) is played up and our 'poor beti' gets loads of sympathetic comments.

The government of India takes notice and says: "Racism and discrimination have been long eliminated in India and we cannot tolerate this" (What about the atrocities on dalits?) . Prince Charles once remarked on a seeing an improper light fitting- "was that changed by an Indian?"
Racism is always going to be there somewhere underneath and will find its way of expression sooner or later and when people are put in a prison it would get nasty (put your family in a room for just 10 days and lets see how well your nerves hold out, these guys are competing).

In the larger context, racist violence is something which needs to be taken care off. The kind of racials slurs ("Asians" etc) will be gone in sometime because of economic reasons(or reverse could lead to further xenophobia...loss of jobs/threat of national integrity-France) . Understanding of cultures is important, anyone who is in business would know that, but most others will not spend the time and they will see the presence of someone different as a infringement of personal space. There are instances of a positive bias too, gora in India, tam-bram group(not for style of course :) ) gujju-madu (again not always). But these instances are rare. Most of the time it is just a response to the loss of a certain way of life. Racism is always a sign of systemic weakness. A lack of firmness in dealing with it would lead to long term fissures in the way a society is framed.

The African American categorization and perception in America is a racism of class and color. The Dalit subjugation is a kind of persecution to maintain power structures. Asian groups, Muslim groups in western world face culture issues. The west wants globalization, but they are not yet ready for it at the people level.