Back2Blogging

Well, it’s been a long long time since I last wrote a blog. Not that a lot of people follow it, but I suddenly had this strong urge to test my office firewall. As it has turned out blogspot is one site that my office internet allows me to visit.

With personal emails and social networking sites blocked, I have decided to review my lost interest in blogging. Add to that the fact that the financial crisis has had its toll on the amount of work that gets done in office. For some it has gone up, for some it has gone down. I belong to the latter category-atleast as of today. So not a bad day to get back to blogging :-)

For the lack of a better topic, I have decided to write about some of the happenings in my life since the last time. Well my last blog has been on 1st November 2006. Phew!!! Since then I have seen 3 Diwalis and 2 Christmas seasons pass by and loads of other things that have happened around me!!!

Apart from the many festivals, I have moved from getting done with my management degree at IIM Ahmedabad to a job in the financial sector. Yeah, yeah I know in this situation it has turned out to be a really bad choice, but really can’t help it now. Well enough of the recession talks. One of the reasons that has driven me to blogging is these bloody recession discussions.

So some other news….hmm, another major development has been my engagement to Nidhi, Dr. Nidhi actually, (For people who know me well, they’ll be pretty used to seeing “Dr Nidhi Calling” /"Calling Dr Nidhi” on my cell phone screen) on 25th May 2008.

After being together for a little over 34 months our parents forced us into getting engaged. Actually they had insisted that we get married. I had an opportunity to use my new found negotiation skills (The one’s that I picked up during my b-school days) to push my wedding to 2009. Engagement was the only way out. Not that I am sad about it. In fact I am pretty happy with my love life (Now I better say this, else I stand to lose my only reader ;-)). The engagement was a gala affair and I danced to my hearts content. For some I appeared to be celebrating my engagement, to others it was more a gesture of having lost my senses on account of having taken the penultimate step towards complete loss of freedom. Any which ways, I definitely had a ball.

It was not too long before talks of my marriage were set ablaze. After a few meetings of families with “Bapat Bhadji” the historic date ko lock kar diya gaya. For the uninformed, the historic day is going to be the 5th of March 2009 (That is about how far I could push the date).

The past few weekends have been lost in shopping and wedding preparations. Add to that the fact that I am working on Saturdays. No wonder I have started developing dark circles. First my receding hairline and now these dark circles, I guess I should be happy that the date is not pushed beyond 5th March, least I be left without marriage.

Anyways more on the wedding preps in the other blogs. From when I started this blog to now, I have actually managed to dish out some work, alongside trying to type out this short blog. It’s now time for me to head home and bid adios.

Signing out
-Tejas
(I must say, it was fun writing after a long time)

Fooled by the nsl-school virus

Today I was fooled by a virus...
I got an offline msg from one of my friends saying "have you ever seen such a silly man like this ? h**p:// nsl-school.org/ ?id=stories"
I happened to click this link and voila, before I could know my machine was infected
Possible symptoms
1) The internet explorer home page changes to h**p:// nsl - school. org/
2) Your yahoo messenger displays a stupid status messsage and sends out similar messages to all your friends
3) Your regedit is disabled
4) Your task manager is disabled
.....
Incase you happen to be one of the unlucky ones who got a similar message from me or any other source and happened to have clicked the link here are steps to clean the virus from your machine (courtesy online search)

So how to remove this manually from your computer ?
1: Close the IE browser. Log out messenger / Remove Internet Cable.

2: To enable RegeditClick Start, Run and type this command exactly as given below: (better - Copy and paste)

REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableRegistryTools /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

3: To enable task manager : (To kill the process we need to enable task manager)Click Start, Run and type this command exactly as given below: (better - Copy and paste)

REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

4: Now we need to change the default page of IE though regedit.Start>Run>RegeditFrom the below locations in Regedit chage your default home page to google.com or other.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
HKEY_USERS\Default\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MainJust

replace the attacker site with google.com or set it to blank page.

5: Now we need to kill the process from back end. Press Ctrl + Alt + DelKill the process svhost32.exe . ( may be more than one process is running.. check properly)

6: Delete svhost32.exe , svhost.exe files from Windows/ & temp/ directories. Or just search for svhost in your comp.. delete those files.

7: Go to regedit search for svhost and delete all the results you get.Start menu > Run > Regedit

8: Restart the computer. That’s it now you are virus free.

I hope this serves the purpose

Sorry for the trouble guys

Till the next blog
adios
-Tejas

Life in the fast lane !!!

Welcome Mr. Anderson....
This is the Matrix. Your mission should you chose to accept it would be to get out of the Matrix within 2 years with a good placement.
.......
.....
...
..
.
By now you must have guessed I am talking about the most coveted institute of India. Guys this the INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT-AHMEDABAD.
First let me apologise for having mixed 2 movies, but this is how life has been in the past 5 months. A pot pourri of competition, emotions, successes, failures, uncertainties and confusions.
Well for the uninformed I am indeed talking of my experience at IIM A.
Its been an intense 5 months and as I head to Mumbai tomorrow for diwali, I decided to spare a few minutes on updating my blog. Well this blog was long over due. Nevertheless better late then never.
So here it goes, life at IIM A.
To start with, it took a lot of emotional settling, since I had left Mumbai with heavy steps bidding farewell to friends and family. The first few days did take its emotional toll on me. Missed people like crazy. However once the rigour of this place took over, it left no room for emotions. You either shape up or ship out. I tried to choose the former and till date have been struggling to keep up with the "shape up".
Anyways I think I wouldnt be doing any value add if I talk about the tougher side of life at IIM A. Anyone who has even remotely heard about IIM A, would know that it is its academic rigour that sets it apart from the others.
Then what do I write. Well let me think......
The first learning (if you may call it so) is the art of enjoying life inspite of all the pressures. Secondly I have had the chance to meet the most talented people on the face of this earth. And mind you, they arent simply nerds (some of them actually are :p), they are the true all rounders. Be it singing, dancing, playing or studying they have done it all and have gone on to excel at all of them.
Having been an above average student I am really awed by this plethora of talent. And this is where the uncertainty part comes in. You tend to doubt as to whether you really belong here? But as luck might have it you too have your small moments of glory. And by small I really mean small, since they are dwarfed by the stupendous performances of the I-schols (the top 15 of IIM A).
Nevertheless the essence to success is realising your strengths and continuously striving to give your best. Smart work remains the mantra here.
Know why you are here (for me it is career growth, followed by the learnings that I would take with me) and work towards it. And ofcourse have a blast alongside struggling with trying to internalise new concepts and fundas.
There has been a flood of information in these 5 months and the sooner you make them a part of you, the better it is for you. That is another thing this place has taught me, to internalise things within lesser time.

Cutting the long story short, life had suddenly moved into the fast lane 5 months back. Today on the eve of diwali I feel I have caught hold of the steering wheel. Whether or not I manage to control the car and bring it to a smooth halt remains to be seen.
However the experience has been simply rocking to say the least. It was painful at times, fun at other times, scary, mentally draining but at the end of it you come out stronger and a more refined person.
Finally let me clear the doubts, well it is not just about placements at IIMA. My mission, now that I have chosen to accept it, is to derive the maximum out of this course, put failures at the back of the mind and keep striving for higher grounds. All other things will follow.....
Touchwood to that....
Well 4 in the night/morning now, time to get back to studies....:)
Signing out
-Tejas
Marketing, finance or systems......
That is my current confusion....
More on it in my next blog ( Wonder who apart from me even reads them :p)

Confessions of a devoted Mumbaikar !!!

It seems that I have been riding my luck for quite some time now....touchwood. But the trend continued yesterday when my ex-project leader called me and handed me a Buffet dinner voucher for two @ Frangipani, Hilton Towers Mumbai.
The catch, however, was that I had to visit the place yesterday itself. But heck, who cares...The way they say in Mumbai..."Fukat te paustik" (What is free, is always nutritious). So I called up Hilton Towers to book a table for 2. Surprise Surprise !!! I am greeted by a dame, named YASHODA. I was expecting some Sandra to greet me with a top notch English accent. But she spoke just about normal English (sounded like a fresher, coming right out of one of those Hotel Management institutes) referring to a cab as a TAXI. Well didnt expect this @ Frangipani. Anyway if anything, this only made me feel at home :D.

So the bookings are done - A table for 2 at 20:30 IST, 24April2006.
I couldn't have possibly gone there in my shabby office wear. So I headed home, had a bath, dressed up in neat casuals and took my 100 wheeler (the famous Mumbai local train) to Churchgate. The train had its usual share of fights amongst passengers, singing of paupers, etc. But a small incident left me mesmerised for the whole evening. It was the sight of a middle-aged couple, seated right across me, relishing VADA-PAVS...Mumbai's own version of burger/hotdogs!!!
The bread tantalisingly soaked in hot and tangy chutneys (sauces) and the sumptuous vada, held my attention till the very last bite went down. With hunger at its peak (and the food freak that I am) it took a lot on my part to control myself from asking for a bite (pun intended)!!! I pacified my thirsty taste buds by reminding myself of the buffet at Hilton.
Soon I was at the coveted Hilton Towers, hogging away to glory. But I still couldn't stop reminding myself of the oh-so-desirable vada pav. The food as expected was on the bland side, with lots of grilled and baked stuff (good for the heart you see). Also the chicken had a touch of UK in it!!! The chicken and other main course dishes reminded me of my days in UK, eating anglo-indian chicken curry. The only good part of the dinner was I got to spend 2 hours with a dear friend;-) and experience the plush ambience of the restaurant. Ohh yeah!! Also the delightful desserts:-)
I would rate the food as pretty good (considering the health part), but mind you I have had better food (eg. The Buffet at Renaissance is far better, do try it once if you have the budget). But for some unkown reason, yesterday, I would have proabably traded the food that they served for a vada pav. Perhaps its my love for Mumbai and Indian food that lies at the foundation of such a brave statement.
I know I am throwing comparision to the utmost level of mediocrity, but wouldnt it be a wonderful idea if you can have the yummy vada-pav sitting in a lucullan restaurant like Frangipani. What can you say, this is an ardent Bombayite speaking !!!
I would end with 2 lines, any Bambaiwalla would vouch for...
aaee dil hai mushkil, jeena yahan..
zara hat ke, zara bach ke yeh hai MUMBAI- meri jaan !!!

IIMs calling or WHAT???

The Day: 12thApril2006
The Time: 00:00...
So whats up on just another day of the year, or rather just another midnight of the year...Nothing much, just waiting for my IIM result...Hahaha...Things werent that casual for sure!!!


My heart skips a beat as I key in my number on the IIM C website.
The most anxious 5 seconds of my life....!!! But after they are done I am jumping with joy. Phone calls flow over my cell (without bothering about the call rates)...Yes the moment I had awaited for 3 years has finally arrived. I am going to be at IIM C. I couldnt sleep that night. I Get out from my bed at around 2:45 am to check the other IIM websites. No results...Anyway the reason for not sleeping was joy rather than anxiety of other results. Finally at 4:00 in the morning I manage to catch up with some sleep.
I wake up at 7:00 and try the websites again, no luck again. But hell who cares, I am very happy about making it thru to IIM C. My boss calls me to know my results at 8:00 and he is pretty elated to know that I had made it through. I had decided on the previous day itself, If I make it thru to A,B or C I will carry sweets to office.
And so I do!!! I rush early in the morning to pick up 2 kg pedas and then I am on my way to office. On the way there are lots of phone calls as the news of me getting into IIM C spreads.

I reach office and another moment of nervousness...While I am walking towards my cubicle someone tells me that IIM A results are out . Whats more 2 guys from my office have already made it thru to IIM A. I walk pensively to my computer and tell my boss that IIM A results are out. He is more excited than me. He asks me to check the result on his computer while my system boots up. I decide to lay back, take a deep breath and wait for my PC to start. I get onto IIM A website, but dont find the link to the results. After a short messaging over the LAN messenger, I finally manage to get the link. Soon I am waiting for my results to load
.....
....
...
..
.
It says " You have been selected for admission to PGP (2006-2008 batch), IIMA "
I read it over and over again before I shout a loud YESSS.....as I am still shaking with disbelief. My boss and other friends come and congratulate me..I am in seventh heaven as I open the box of sweets. My hands are still shaking while I call up mom, dad and sis to inform them about my biggest achievement till date. I then call up Nidhi, who is equally euphoric and then Amrish who almost drops the cell in disbelief. After a flurry of phone calls I again sit in my chair and let the feeling sink in. Swapna calls soon and while I talk to her and surf the IIM B website I hit jackpot....
Admits from the 3 best management institutes in INDIA....IIM A, B and C.
I then decide to share my moment of joy with my office friends as I draft a mail to them. I run through the entire Mumbai mailing list to ensure that I dont miss out anyone (I chose to keep the HR out though;)). Whilst doing all this I attend a project meeting (with half my attention outside the meeting room). Soon friends start to flow along with mails that leave me overwhelmed.
So many people happy for me, proud of me and some even looked upto me as a source of inspiration. Work got a day off even while I was in office.
Soon the 3 junior IIMs came out with their results. After some confusion about the date format on the Indore website, the records were set clear. A person who 3 years back was not wanted even by a single IIM was today called up by all the 6 IIMs.
I am speechless.

And today, after 5 days I feel that the" GOING TO IIM A" feeling has half sunk. A few parties are over, I have splashed a lot of cash and will splash some more as I now stop pinching myself. I realise that I am not dreaming and yes I am indeed heading for IIM A. I decided to write this post only after my mind and heart have accepted this fact. While I relived the moment of joy writing this post I know that this is just the start of two rigorous years.

Just thanking God for having brought me this far, and also asking him for his blessings to help me move from strength to strength.
Would like to end with two lines from Sonu Nigam's song
"Aayi hai khushiyon ka paigam leke bahare,
yeh pal hai apna, is pal mein aao takdir apni sware"
With the blessing of my friends and family I feel confident of facing the challenges lying ahead. Thanks you all for your wishes...Luv you all and again, thank you Almighty...!!!

R E S E R V A T I O N S - 2B or Not 2B !!!

So its D Day tomorrow...

Yeah its going to be India playing England in the 6th ODI...Finally some cricket !!! And for the actual cricket fans(mind you not just Indian cricket fans) there is this nicely poised Aus vs Bangladesh test match too....yeah you read it right Bangladesh is giving Australia (The world champs) more than just run for their money...

Well but is tomorrow just all about cricket....Well cricket happens day in and day out....So what is so special about tomorrow???
Hmm without any further ado, let me rephrase my self...Its D DAY tomorrow for all CAT 2005 aspirants.
Yeah, the IIMs have announced that the final results of CAT 2005 are to be announced tomorrow....Even as I type I feel the fear chill run from my head to toe....
For most of you who would read this post, this would have been bygone news. But as I reflect back and dwell on the present, one can't help but say that IIMs are right now in news for the wrong reason.
Yeah you guessed it right. R E S E R V A T I O N S

However one good thing that this whole issue has done is that, it has definitely cleared a few myths on reservations, for me to say the least.

1) I was one of the guys who would had said that if there has be reservation it should be only for the EBCs(Economically Backward Class). However thanks to NDTV (read media) I now know that being economically deprived might not mean being socially backward.
Hold on!! Before you decide to react, let me complete.
I for one found some rationale in this argument. Having read some history at school I am surely aware of the kind of trauma faced by the so called untouchables. So today if we enjoy freedom thanks to efforts of our freedom fighters, why can't the so called backward classes enjoy some liberty for the hardships that they (have) face(d) in society.
BUT is reservation serving this motive?

2) That brings me to point number 2 and a foregone conclusion: "Kutte ki dum kabhi seedhi nahi hoti"
Yeah I meant the politicians. I can see nothing more than mere vote bank politics in this move to increase reservations. With elections in the states like UP soon to take place, what better way to woe the OBC vote bank than coming out with these ostensible perks.
My point here is if the government is really looking at the welfare of the backward classes, then give them more facilities, give them extra coaching, waiver their fees, give them scholarships, etc. making them as potent as the other students, rather than hurling them into a sense of ease, where they dont feel the pinch of today's cut-throat competition.
Today the reservation is not reaching the actual backward community, the socially challenged, ones who reside in rural India, the ones who still bear the brunt of untouchability and other social evils. The government needs to address issues like these first. Provide basic education along with instilling a sense of self belief in these people, so that they can feel confident of facing competition not just in India but across the globe (where reservation is not recognised;)).
The most simple question to ask the politicians is: Why dont they have 27% seats in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for OBCs?
Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to answering this question...Kissa Kursi Ka....!!!

Having said all this I dont think anything is going to stop this reservations spree. So what should be done by the government in this case?
Well for starters an attempt should be made to phase out the reservation with time. A strict deadline should be aimed at to this effect.
Also there should be a minimum cut off, below which even a reserved category student will not get admit.
Eg: If CAT admits closed on 98%tile for general category, then say a 93-95%tile cut off for the reserve category can be set. (P.S. These figures are just arbitrary).
Again steps should be taken to ensure that the reservation reaches the right students.

Another million dollar suggestion is that reservation shouldnt be passed on to the next generation. Eg: If a student gets into IIM on basis of reservation his kids shouldnt be allowed to use the same facility. It is more than fair to assume that an IIM graduate should be able to provide his kids with the required facilities as that enjoyed by the general category students. Also reserve category students who have reaped the benefits should take the onus on themselves in such cases. Having benefited from the reservation policies they should try to do something for the societies they represent and ensure that reservations is steadily phased out.

To wind this up I would say we need to approach this situation with open minds. Lets try to understand the reason for having reservation and move towards sorting out those issues, rather than just crying foul.
As an aspiring manager, I would reactively say, NO reservation(I signed the online petition too :D), but on second thoughts I would ask WHY reservations? and How do we move from RESERVATIONS to NO RESERVATIONS in optimum time?

Hmm....I bet that would fetch me a lot of marks in a GD on this topic ;)

Come on India !!!

I chose to write this post after my first post, wherein I criticised our Indian cricket team for their poor show in the first ODI against England.
As I write England are 164/9, with the last wicket having added a good 22 runs. The question that beckons most Indian fans right now is will India be able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?
However first things first, let me take my words back about the Indian total being a meager one. The way the match has gone so far, it is far from being a meager total. However the last wicket partnership is still keeping the Indian fans on the edge of their seats.
The big old critic that I am (and to cool down the nervousness of the game) I would like to enlist a few things that I felt India could have done for this match

1) WHERE IS ANIL KUMBLE: Agreed the old horse is not a long term bet, however dropping a player who is in prime (As India have won the game......yipppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) form having picked up 500 wickets makes no real sense to me. More so when Harbhajan, who thankfully has rocked back to form, took five wickets on a spinner friendly wicket. I might sound highly critical but I do feel that given the form of Kumble and the way he tormented the English batsmen in the test series, he surely deserved a place in the one day squad

2) MUNAF PATEL: With India winning the match one wouldn't want to be highly critical of the team selection. However I do feel Munaf Patel should had played in place of Sreesanth. Sreesanth to me is a paltry medium pacer who doesn't have the ability to clean up the tail, an ability long awaited by the Indian side. With the kind of pace and accuracy that Munaf has shown he surely deserved a place in the eleven ahead of Sreesanth.
Sreesanth's wicket, if one observes, are more of bad shots played by batsmen, as against Munaf's, who more often than not has been able to get through the batsmen's defences.

3) SAURAV GANGULY: Well am I opening a can of worms here?? Whatever said and done I do feel Ganguly should be playing in the ODI team, more so when the God (Sachin Tendulkar) is not in the squad. Agreed that there have been fingers raised against his attitude. However I do feel this has been taken care of by keeping him away from the game and captaincy. With the kind of record that Ganguly has and his vast experience this was a perfect chance for him to make a comeback. What has been most disappointing has been the attitude of the selectors (talking of attitude) towards Ganguly. As a selector one needs to open to any player who is performing well in the domestic circuit. The rigidity displayed by the Board of selectors has truely been distasteful to say the least.

However all said and done I am more than elated to see India win, what at one point seemed, an impossible vitory. The scariest moment was when Freddie smashed Sreesanth for 2 sixes in one over making the match seem pretty one sided.
Kudos to Rahul and his boys...Well played India.
That was definitely sweet revenge of Mumbai....Next stop is Faridabad !!!

My First Post

Well my first post....:))

They say its never too late to start, and as I check updates of India vs England first ODI, I find this a very good platform to vent out my frustration, more so after India's dismal performance at Mumbai. To add to this frustration is the anticipation of IIM results...With a BLACKI up my sleeves (as Dhoni, the so called new talent in world cricket, holes out) and over 2.5 years of work ex I should breathe easy. How I wish I could do that?
Sometimes I envy Rushikesh (http://myfinaldest.blogspot.com/) for the kinda confidence he emanates.

The most pertinent question on my mind is should I pay the wooping 1.36 lakhs at NITIE to secure my first admit into an MBA college after 3 years of desperate contest with CAT.
Well lets chuck those questions out till the 12th of April to say the least. Let me get my mind geared for IIM B GD-PI scheduled on 1-April, yeah Fool's day...
Have given up reading the news papers since my IIM I interview on 19thMarch (As India are folded up for a meagre 203). So in these coming 3-4 days I have to do a lot of catching when it comes to general awareness.
Just drawing some confidence from Rubba Ru from Rang de Basanti...
The lyrics go...
Jo gum shuda sa khwab tha, woh mil gaya, woh khil gaya...
woh loha tha pighal gaya, khicha khica machal gaya, sitar mein badal gaya......
Will my gum shuda khwab of IIMs be a reality, only time will tell...
Right now give your best is all I can say to my self....as Rubba Ru goes on...
dhuaan chhataa khula gagan mera
nayi dagar naya safar mera
jo ban sake tu hamsafar mera
nazar mila zara