Its been a month…

Wow!!! Time really flies……its been a month since I came to ISB and it seems sometimes like I have bitten off more than I can chew.

We just finished are mid terms just 3 weeks into the core term and it feels great to have got past the first hurdle albeit beaten and bruised by the exams. So our first set of professors are done with their stuff and the new ones have taken over.

Stats has Prof Waterman coming in for Prof Stine, it was great having Prof Stine over here. Then of course there is Prof Mohan from Duke who was great in class and Accounting was quite a bit of fun thanks to him. The second half of the 1st term will start of on Monday. Hope to enjoy it as much as I did the previous 3 weeks.

Need to get regular at the gym and play some squash and tennis. Hmm…looking what has gone by that seems like a tough ask. But whats the fun if you don’t challenge yourself to have more fun

The real deal has begun ..

So after 2 weeks of fun, more fun and a little more fun the core terms have begun. Today was the first day of Term1 and if the start is anything to go by….learning and understanding is going to take on a whole new meaning. The class on Managerial Economics was lively and the approach taken by Amit Bubna was refreshing and thought provoking.

We were really pumped up and the next class on Statistics was taken by Prof. Robert Stine from Wharton and though I was not sure how hard it was going to be. I can safely say that the first class laid this to rest. Sampling, Control Limits, Central Limit Theorem, Normal Distribution was all fun to view from a different perspective.

I hope that the rest of the year will live up to the levels that day 1 has brought me to expect ……

Orientation Week – Day3

The day was about mixing the serious stuff with the lighter stuff. The day began with the with an overview of the course structure by the Academic Services and Administration(ASA) Director and was followed by a talk on Entreprenuership by Sarmaji. This is an area of huge interest for me and I hope I can get my ideas going while I am ISB.

One of the most important aspects of ISB has to be the emphasis on originality and this is could not be more clear than from the short presentation that followed on ISB ethics. The Honour Code at ISB takes copying and plagiarism very seriously and I hope no one at ISB has to explain themselves in front of the Honour Code committee.

ISB’s research direction has been based on the various centres of excellence here. These centres of excellence lead the various areas of research and independent studies at ISB and include Finance, Entreprenuership, Logistics, Networked Economies , Leadership etc. The heads of each of these centres of excellence presented the work and flagship events of their respective centres to provide an understanding to the students about how they could leverage this vast pool of knowledge during their course at ISB.

Once we finished our lunch it was going to be tiring afternoon in the blazing Hyderabad sun….it was time for a Treasure Hunt. The aim of the game was to give the students a tour of ISB while competing against one another. Our team did not really aim to finish at the top and but we enjoyed ourselves during the run around the campus and now know where the various ISB landmarks are located. We finished in a slow 2 hrs 10 mins I think and that should comfortably put us in bottom half of the competition.

The evening was a chance to relax and we had a get-to-know-get-together at SV1 step lawns …met a few people and had interesting conversations….of course the beer guzzling session that followed was great fun…Sec D was a close to beating the eventual winners…just a second in the damn thing.

Orientation Week – Day 2

Before going ahead it must be said that the effort that the alums and CCA office have put into organizing this week is simply phenomenal. I cannot imagine the levels of enthusiasm and commitment on the part of the alums and I hope that next year around we can put together such a wonderful welcome for the Class of 2010.

There were about 60 alums on campus during this week and made us feel part of the ISB family. It proves beyond doubt that the students play an incredible role in building the character of the institution and the Class of ’08 has certainly shown us the way.

Day 2

It started off with a welcome address by Prof. Ramachandran. This was followed by a talk by Prof. Ajit Rangnekar (Deputy Dean) on “Myths of Students entering ISB”. It was a beautiful view of the way things work at ISB and what the students think when they enter the institute. He has a great sense of humour and all the students really enjoyed it.

Sanjay Singh from the Adcom then presented the profile of the Students of the Class of ’09. What I saw truly made me feel like a tiny spec of dust….there were 6 -7 people from the Armed Forces and some of them quite highly decorated. Then national level sportsmen, doctors and achievers from various disciplines. This was not just diversity but very rich diversity.

Next up on stage was Manik Gupta, President of the Graduate Student Board the most coveted (and tough goes without saying) post in the Student Board. He welcomed our batch and spoke about the week that was planned for us. Post lunch there presentation on the GSB activities and the various posts. It was very clear that the GSB has very significant role to play in student affairs and ensuring that the institute has a funnel through which it can hear the student voices. The GSB does then assume significant importance for all of us and I hope we elect a GSB president who has the vision, the maturity and the character to handle this vital role.

Prof Ravi Bapna, one of the most suave professor’s on campus then spoke on the ISB Portfolio faculty model which gives a clear understanding of the idea behind this kind of a model and how students can benefit from the quality of the faculty at ISB either resident or visiting. The emphasis was clearly on the fact that research is basic premise on which this institution is based and the faculty need to spend a substantial amount of their effort in this direction. For an institution so young ISB has certainly built a strong platform for research which will stand it in great stead in the years to come.

I forgot to mention that the man on stage who MC’ed the event for this day and all others that followed was Savio, President of the Marketing and Communications council ….his stage presence is truly awesome.

Well if you thought that was it for day2…..you got to be kidding….what followed in the night was an amazing welcome party thrown by the alums for the Class of ’09. It goes without saying that it was all about booze and dance. The party was at the mirror pool next to my room and what a blast it was. All the dancing talent on display and ofcourse the girls that lend beauty to the ISB experience . Partied till about 2 AM and then crashed….the party went on till about 3-4 AM.

Registration & Orientation Week – 12April09- Day1

Loaded my bags(only the first installment ) into Manish’s Car and began our journey to ISB. At the gate greeted by the security and directed towards my Student Village(SV3). As expected it was well organized and I was given the keys to my Quad.

Dropped off my bags there and it was time to head to the Recreation Center for the actual process of registration. Alums were there and directed us to the appropriate desk. 1st Stop was the IT desk to drop my laptop for formatting and installations. Then I got back to the recreation center and began the rest of the steps. Luckily since we landed in Hyd the previous day and visited the SBI branch there was not much to do at the SBI desk. An hour or so later I was handed my section t-shirt, pre-term material and planner. That was the end of registration and time for lunch.

So went back to my room to drop off the new stuff and then mom, dad, manish and myself headed for lunch. Post lunch we headed back to Manish’s place to relax since Mom & Dad would be leaving by the evening flight. At 4 :30 PM the taxi guy came and mom and dad left for the Airport ….ofcourse emotions did get the better of everyone.

Then Manish dropped me off at ISB with part 2 of my luggage and there I was in this beauty of place where the year that followed would be spent. The campus was awesome and so was my SV3. Then time for Dean’s Address followed by a nice welcome dinner in the Atrium.

Livin a new life

After a long time sitting in a cushy office and working, its going to be a huge change going back to school. Leaving Motorola and all the people that I have spent the last 6 yrs with is definitely hard but to meet new people and challenge myself will be well worth the while.

Since quitting i have been so busy that I never realized that I was no longer in office and before I knew I had landed at the New Hyderabad Airport (which is really nice…thanks to GMR). Looking back at it now I think it was good to be busy so that I never missed going to Office
The challenge of the unknown has certainly spurred me on and a desire to explore new boundaries I have set foot at ISB. Thanks to all those who have supported me in this step and for sure before you know I’ll be back.

Mr. Munjal but why a 4-door Maserati…

Just saw the car’n'bike show where Pawan Munjal (CEO, Hero Honda) at the Geneva Motor show told Siddharth Patankar that he was there to order the very latest from the Maserati stable, the Gran Turismo S …..the car is absolutely stunning. But then again its a Maserati. Based on the Quattroporte platform with a 433 bhp engine….it will be power that Indian roads probably cannot handle.

But I think what really put me off was he was going to have it modified to be a 4-door….like a sedan. Come on Mr. Munjal, it just doesn’t cut it ….spend a fortune and change the nature of the beast. I hope there aren’t too many other changes to tame this new beast.

Here is a Top Gear article on the GTS… http://www.topgear.com/blogs/drives/083-maserati-gran-turismo/

Also here is the Maserati GTS page – Good video – http://www.maseratigranturismo-s.com/index.html?lang=en

And the Oscar should go to….

“Taare Zameen Par” !!!!

It was Brilliant….superb depiction and a very strong social message. Another Aamir special , above and beyond any film made in the recent past. The subject matter is presented in form that influences people of all ages and strata. One would think that dyslexia or any other neurological problem would make for a great art movie or documentary. But to bring it to the masses for one and all to appreciate is what makes this movie great.

I always felt that I could derive most of my inspiration from Sports, but for once I must say Cinema has shown us all how it can inspire. If you haven’t seen the movie, please do so…it may have its sad moments and might even take you on a roller-coaster ride but the positive energy is truly uplifting.

No dream too big…no challenge unsurmountable. May Aamir continue to bring more meaningful cinema to the people of India.

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