Sunday, January 30, 2005

Would you come over for lunch???....

Its been a quiet weekend visiting some unfortunate friends in Delhi who made what can only be described as social harakiri by inviting me over for lunch and then watch in mute horror as they bore witness to the grand spectacle that my apetetite proved to be. I didn't utter a single word of appreciation to the saintly soul who cooked the food nor did I speak during my hour long marathon when my hands were strugglingto keep pace with my digestive systems. But I guess they would understand - I stay in a hostel...the perenial excuse for boorish behavior, absence of table manners (or for that matter, manners) and the extra levels of testestrone(if you r in an all guys dorm).
What do you do if you want a girl to run naked through a boys hostel safely?
SPREAD OUT HOME FOOD IN THE MESS.

The only other significant event was a bunch of newbies at ICICI trying out a pilot project at FMS of payment through mobile phones at all shops in North Campus.I was stunned that so many guys had turned up when I realized they were doling out 1000+ bucks toeveryone just try out the experiment.There is an near orgasmic pleasure in getting things for free and I think its an Indian disease...:)
God works in strange ways they say. Well, good work, sir and thank you.
That covers my expenses for the Nike Cap and MR book I needed to buy.



Saturday, January 29, 2005

Y not CAT-ISHTYLE?

Today must rank as one of the most academically nerve racking days here. This is the first time this prof for operations is taking a course for us and he is a complete physcho(if he's reading this, i can be guaranteed i will not complete my MBA in 6 years). The guy gives CAT type quizzes where there is +1 for the right answer and -4 for the wrong one!!!! Thats not the only catch. You get progressive bonus points as you submit earlier or negative if you submit late. Which means

Time
62 minutes Minus 2
61 miniutes Minus 1
1 hr 0
59 minutes Plus 1
58 minutes Plus 2
57 minutes Plus 3
56 minutes Plus 4
55 minutes Plus 5

Of course 5 is the maximium bonus you would get.
There is more. Last year the average scores of our seniors was somewhere in the range of 5- 10 out of 100!!!!!
Most ended up getting negative marks!!!
Wait....here's the real deal..Your marks are carried over to the end sem even if they are negative!!!!!!
Which means that some of us would be going into an end sem exam with negative marks!!!!
Imagine going into an exam requiring 50 to pass when 45 is the actual pass mark!!!!
The tests are more of strategy than knowledge.....and guess what ?..I love it...reminds me of my CAT days where it was soooo exciting to give a test. Infdact I wouldn't mind if ten more strange rules were also added to make the test more exciting.
It makes me wonder whether B-schools should consider this as a viable alternative. After all the rationale for CAT, FMS, and other entrance tests is that they test you on strategy, decision making skills, etc which are supposed to be vital to be successful as a manager.So why does that stop with CAT. Why doesn't it continue through B-schools. Atleast a portion of the tests can be strategy oriented to keep us all as sharp as were during the prep stage.
Food for thought, whatsay

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

IVolunteer

There was this great presentation at D-School (Delhi School of Economics, who share a compound wall with us) by these group of guys from IIM-A. They had started this organisation called Ivolunteer which basically offers summer internships to college students in various NGO''s.They pay a sum of Rs. 3500 /month to cover expenses plus travel reimbursements. They have tied with a chain of diverse NGO's to basically act as a facilitator between NGO's and students. I think it is an awesome concept. Primarily because a lot of us want to do something, but really do not know how to go about it. I think some B-schools in the country like SPJain have initiated this as a aprt of the curriculum and I am sure others should follow suit.Otherwise it becomes tough to commit 6 weeks from B-school life. I think one of the most important things we lack in India are systems to facilitate the vast middle and upper class from giving back to society.As income disparity increases in India, I think systems have to be put in place to make it easy to serve the nation.
I am a misanthrope myself, but would love to work for environment conservation. I do think establishing sustainable and profitable models for environment protection is the way to go about it and the same can be extended to any cause you are passionate about. The National Kidney Foundation of Singapore is one of the highest paying on campuses and it is a model for future NGO's to follow. There is no dearth of funds as the Tsunami has made us realise, but a lack of efficient and trustworthy systems to channel that money. I hope that in the future my kid can come up to me and say " Dad, I am passionate about saving the Tigers and want to make a career out of it" and I can say "Cool..." instead of jumping out of my chair and having have a stroke which I am sure will be any well-meaning parent's reaction today.Profitability and sustainable models is the only way NGO's can survive and prosper
The world cannot afford to wait for martyrs to save it. People like me should be able to.

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Franchising

I just read the book – Fast Food Nation. On the face of it, it looks like another alarmist book outlining how fast food has ruined a civilization. But there is something more than fast food that I think the author was trying to write against. It was the concept of Franchising. Franchising is an awesome business concept. It reduces cost, improves efficiency, is a perfect solution to brand consistency, and has been a roaring success all over the world. But I think the time has come for all the giant retail outlets of the world to do a rethink on their strategy. Franchising homogenizes customer experience and that has been its strength. People instantly feel comfortable in a McDonalds because its familiar. That was fine as long as McDonalds was in America. Now they are on a major expansion spree all over the world. Therefore it is vital to model each unit along a theme unique to the location of the outlet. Better still, let’s take the examples of Coffee Day and Barista.In some ways pioneers in the franchising model of experiential marketing. All their outlets are boringly similar to each other all over the country. A Barista near Delhi University seems frightfully similar to the one in Chennai.And the two cities could not be more different in their cultures. Each of these outlets should reflect the culture of the city, the architecture should be symbolic of the kind of architecture in that town, and information about the history of the place and its customs should be prominently displayed.In fact some of these outlets at the central parts of the district or near airports/railway stations and places where the floating population come should definitely be given a local makeover. Otherwise, ten years down the line we will all be looking at eerily homogenized cities of a nation that once prided itself on its diversity. America has done that to itself already. Lets not follow suit.

Calcutta

Ever worry about how all our cities are becoming Americanized, or more importantly, homogenized? People don’t take you to the forts and museums anymore when you visit. They take you to the coolest pub or the latest mall. Cal is different. The last bastion of tradition. Where fun is not necessarily proportional to cash. Where you can still listen to a live band, or sit in a restaurant undisturbed for hours without ordering. The city has been left untouched after the British left…literally. Somebody has to tell these guys that paint and tar were invented a long time back. It provides a timelesness few cities can afford to anymore.
Cal is different..and hence enjoyable to visit.

IIM Cal has a nice campus. But after 3 days, the significance of having six lakes is quite lost on my legs because of the amount of walking to be done.

Holiday Diary Contd :You r growing old if.....

Just some observations about my holidays. I remember the days in school and even later in college when most of the hols were spent hanging around town or doing a ridiculous amount of traveling by bikes and maybe the odd holiday out of town. Now when I go back home most of the time is spent in meeting old friends…. not hanging out….just catching up. I have a theory. When you spend all your holidays catching up instead of the much-needed R&R, that’s the first sign of growing old. Welcome to old age. You now have more history than future in your life

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Holiday Diary - Part - 1

Back after a loooooooooooooooooooooong break

Had a blast in Bangalore, Chennai and Calcutta in the break.

Bangalore was home sweet home, Calcutta was the IIM Cal fest and Chennai was in transit.

Holiday Diary

23 Dec

Train reached Chennai 7 hours late!!!!!

One thing B-school has taught me is to value every second of time and use it constructively. To helplessly watch the Indian Railways to make fun of all our seemingly priceless time is quite a humbling experience. I force myself to believe the time was spent usefully in some soul searching.

Chennai hadn’t changed much. traffic’s taken a turn for the worse.

The next 2 days were spent at the movies and the beach..just a day before the fateful Dec 26!

25

Touchdown in Blore!!! Home, after 6 months!!!! Feels like heaven..

Immediately met up with the Infy gang at Haze!

Nothing has changed in B’lore!!!! Sat Nite at Purple Haze is still a sacrosanct tradition. Bumped into one million friends…this is lovely

Optimum size Funda - The Size Vs Warmth Matrix

Let me now go on to explain the concept of how big a city should be, not only in terms of area, but also population and diversity. And also let me go on to explain why B’lore is the best city in the world.

When a city is too big, it loses its character and warmth. Like Delhi or Bombay, lessay. If a bunch of friends wanted to meet up in Delhi, there is never a single place you could decide. Each area is decentralized into various hangouts and the crowd will get split according to location. A central character and spirit can never be formed. You can never go to a particular place and hope to bump into someone you know. The chances of that happening are very rare unless it’s the neighborhood pub and you bump into your neighbors

Now lets take the case of a small town. Like Chandigarh. There are probably one or two
Pubs/coffee places where the junta will chill. But the population is hardly dynamic. You meet the same people, bump into the same crowd and soon get bored and claustrophobic

Enter Bangalore to the rescue.

What’s so unique about the city of my birth?

Well for one, the big city problems don’t arise because the hang out spots in Bangalore follow a unique pattern There are a hundred pubs, a zillion eating joints, a billion coffee places, but they are all concentrated in 2 or 3 areas. MG, Brigade’s and Koramangala.

So you are never too far away from friends, you always keep bumping into old pals and it’s the city’s own way of keeping everyone together. Feeling lonely on weekend. Put on those denims and hit Mg, Brigade’s and you are bound to bump into old friends, colleagues, classmates…the works.

But the small towns feel does not permeate either because the crowd is so dynamic thanks to the huge floating student and IT crowd. Also, blessed with a brand equity as India’s Hippest city, there is no inferiority complex or trying to catch up with bigger towns Bombay and Delhi. B’lore sets its own rules, creates its own fashion, bellows its own lingo and captures India’s new free spirit in a wonderfully cosmopolitan nature symbolic of the new confidence the IT industry has bestowed upon India

And hence my optimum size funda stands explained.