Of Biggest Problem...

You know P, what's your biggest problem is? Your heart stops your brain from believing in yourself.


I totally agree :-\

If you can avoid peer pressure on campus..

Here is what I found on the Internet..We all know these points already but still worth a read.. I totally agree with 42, 43 and 44. If you can avoid peer pressure, then truly you are on path to becoming great!

1)      If you think an IIM admit is your ticket to happiness, you’re already bracing yourself up for a lot of misery. Think ‘experience’ and you’ll just about get by

2)      Unless you are dropping the idea of doing an Indian MBA or are going abroad (to a ‘better’ place) it is foolish to reject an offer from any of the IIMs(at least the top 6) for something better next year. Selection criteria of IIMs are as unpredictable as Sreesanth’s form with the ball. CAT has become a little like shooting in the dark and hoping for the best.

3)      There is not necessarily any correlation between efforts and (at least short term) rewards… In fact more often than not it does not exist

4)      It’s all about doing the right things rather than doing everything

5)      Most people in an ‘Indian’ Institute of Management still  feel they are representing their state here

6)      No one likes attending guest talks. Somehow most speakers are made to believe that they are really wanted. Most young speakers promise not to bore by being short and ‘interactive’ and they do exactly the opposite

7)      It is all still ‘Sarkari’. Very Sarkari

8)      Fresher girls get placed fast and easily so. A boring engineer with IT work ex of over 3 years is a pain for the placement committee

9)      Bigger the batch size, higher the free riding

10)   Everyone ‘globes’. Even those who call others globers.

11)   Facebook stalking of girls who could join your IIM is rampant. That guys in most IIMs are desperate is an understatement.  Professors, Students and Recruiters – all are.

12)   It is still ABC and the rest.  But the good news is that L is almost there and I,K are catching up fast

13)   Directors of all IIMs always want more girls in their incoming batch. Very few succeed

14)   There are a lot of professors who are there just to make up the numbers. There is a severe crunch of quality faculty across IIMs

15)   Everyone has a view on reservations but is too uncomfortable a topic to talk about openly

16)   Everyone complains about mess food. No matter how many times you change the contractor, no matter which IIM you go to. Someone will always complain

17)   Participate in B-school events. They are fun and an excellent opportunity to meet new people.  About 50% of the batch goes/plans to go home or on a trip when their institute’s fest is on. Quite a shame

18)   IIMs and ethics don’t really go hand in hand

19)   Alumni play a bigger role than you can imagine. Follow them, network with them and make them happy.

20)   Read cases. There are no rules to solve them and it is one place where you can combine creativity with intelligent analysis. If nothing they are nice stories to read.

21)   Never miss a good professor’s class. They are a rarity and you may take back life’s lessons

22)   Plagiarism is rampant and often excused. Good professors will make you pay for it

23)   Teaching associates check your exam papers. With burgeoning batch sizes that’s the way ahead. There is always a question on how qualified they are.

24)   Student exchange in Europe is really cool. 5^th terms can get extremely boring, especially if you have a PPO or/and you are not part of the B-School festivals in your institute nor are you participating in some.

25)   It takes courage to be different in a B-School. Being courageous also means sacrifice

26)   Higher the degree of honesty, greater the chances of you being in trouble

27)   100% placements of QUALITY is a relic of the past.  That concept doesn’t even make headlines anymore. It’s all about the big names, big money.

28)   Big money can make a mockery of all your loyalty towards a particular profile or domain during placements. In desperate times, placement policies force such an effect.

29)   Batches of 2009 and 2010 are 2 of the unluckiest batches since liberalization across IIMs but more specifically at L,I,K

30)   There is little value addition in most classes. That time can be used so much better. However, it is professor dependent. A good professor can make attending lectures a delight. Even the laziest bums on campus will work when a good professor is around.

31)   PPT styles and videos of a lot of professors are of an era gone by long ago.

32)   Communication lectures are the most abused but no other course is as important as written and oral communication. Ask people who have just been placed.

33)   Microsoft Office is more important than any other software in the life of an IIM grad. Mastery over MS-Excel and MS-PowerPoint can take you places.

34)   The probability of you getting into Mckinsey and Co. when you’re taking the CAT is less than 0.02%.

35)   Entrepreneurship is cool. Being an entrepreneur while being on campus is cooler.

36)   Pagalguy.com is part of B-school folklore now. It’s already a case study in IIM Bangalore and IIM Indore. It’s a lot of fun to see real life personalities of people whom you have made an image about while interacting on pagalguy. Double thumbs up to pagalguy.

37)   It is a Post Graduate Programme in Management with a degree called PGDM and not a MBA.

38)   Sports meets are awesome fun.

39)   No one has a clue what they want to do with their life. Most just pretend that they know

40)   Sometimes almost everyone seems better than you.

41)   You will never get time for yourself.  Trust me; it’s a good state to be in.

42)   Do as many activities as possible on campus. It may be the last chance before you get back into the real world.

43)   If you can avoid peer pressure on campus, you’re already on your way to becoming great.

44)   No matter where you are, you will always feel something else is better.

45)   It is not very easy to win B-school competitions. Respect the ones who do.

46)   Generally it is clear from class participation/desperate class participation who has substance and who has the faff. Quality interactions between faculty and students are rare.

47)   Never miss out on a rural stint. It can be life changing.

48)   Never grudge anyone their success. Just know that if you’re working hard, your time too shall come.

49)   Nothing is more important than networking. If you fail to know at least 70% of your batch and 50% of junior batch, then you have missed out on a golden opportunity. ( You can make adjustments to the stats if batch sizes are huge or/and if you’ve gone on an exchange programme  )

50)   Over 99% of the people in your age group in this country will happily swap places with you. No matter what the B-school communities say, you’re lucky to be in an IIM.

- Ankit Doshi'

Of Salim Bhaiya's Shaadi and Luck By Chance

Long time no see :) Seriously, I have nothing to write in this post. Life has been a bit monotonous for the last few days. There is nobody at home also. I am alone as all have gone to cousin's wedding in Karnal. 

And I don't feel like writing the review of Rockstar..forgot some of the points I was supposed to write on. I am now waiting for The Ditry Picture and then Don 2. This is one of those very rare years in which the number of movies I have watched in a hall is very less. Not more than 10 I guess. And those I watched turned out to be big disappointments.

And today is November 20. Our ex-cab driver Salim Bhaiya's wedding today! Ek dum filmi kahani hai..4 times engaged to the same girl and now finally getting married. He is very funny. He used to tell how he met his girl friend chupke chupke. I am very happy for him :) But he is a very nice person. Bilkul tension nahi lete..I wish him a very happy married life.

And now winters coming. I don't feel like waking up in the mornings :(

Again, my cosmic connection theory came to work this week. You know the movie quiz in office I talked about before called 'Cinema Paradiso'. So on Friday morning, I asked this question that in Luck By Chance, for which item did Sona and Vikram win a slogan writing competition. And can you believe that CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand asked a similar question in his quiz on his Friday night show Now Showing! He had asked "In 'Luck By Chance', what slogan does Farhan Akhtar come up with when he enters a contest at a supermarket, that wins him a refrigerator as a prize? I mean it is such a funny co-incidence that on the same day, a question is asked on the same movie about the same scene! It is really very funny. And the movie's name fits perfectly  to the situation -  Luck By Chance! Seriously me luck by chance ho gaya! Cosmic Connections.

Meanwhile, I read another fascinating piece regarding the refrigerator in Luck By Chance. Here is what one brilliant author says about it.

To me, the fridge was Vikram himself: resource-gobbling; too big for the space it has reasonably been allotted; deliberately tough, shiny exterior; very cool on the inside. Its whole point is to be cool. It isn't even absolutely necessary, but everybody wants one, is supposed to want one - so much so that it's endorsed by Vikram's predecessor Zaffar.

It is awesome!! How beautifully she has analysed a fridge as a metaphor for the characters. 

I absolutely love love love Luck By Chance, so I have downloaded it and will watch it again soon! Ya, I want to write like this..As I have said before, analysis of characters and hidden references. Anyways, more later, 

Of Moms..

Aaj na my maasi came to my place. There was no one at home except me. Mummy had gone to market. And aate hi my maasi started crying like anything. No hi..no hello..as soon as entered she started crying :(  I seriously didn't know what to do. I thought something had happened. Then I asked her kya hua? She said A chala gaya Singapore! My cousin A went to Singapore for his MBA. So she was feeling very lonely. And the thing is she wanted that he gets married as his younger brother has got married and he still hasn't, so she was a bit worried for him. I felt so sad. I then told her ki yeh sab to chalta rehta hai.. aa jayega ek saal me..tension mat lo..Kuch bhi kaho moms always get worried. Jitna bhi kaho end me mummy hi sab kuch karti hai..I then made tea for her, which was quite thakeli. And then she was ok..and then my mom comes and the first question she asks, yeh chai kisne banai hai..I said that I made and then my mom says, mere liye to aaj tak banayi nahi..aaj kaise bana di :| Ek din pura khana bana dunga bas!

Meanwhile, I saw Rockstar! The film has its flaws but still it is so so much better than these stupid films. I can watch the movie again just for one thing- Ranbir Kapoor...he is brilliant! Seriously, the next superstar. He is without any doubt a terrific actor..this guy will go places..and what music..it slowly grows on you..like the song Tum ho paas mere brilliant..and I am still humming O yeyeyeye in my head..I have a lot of issues with the film but still I loved it.. there are some stunning scenes in the movie..More detailed review later.. I am still thinking about it. There are some scenes which I am still not able to decipher their meaning..very layered such as when Jordan is sitting in the bathtub and the guitar is burning..it is a very deep movie..

Anyways, will continue in later posts..

.

Tipping point..mere se nahi ho raha itna sab kuch ek saath..so irritated and depressed..honestly, these past five months have been terrible -  personally, professionally..And things don't look good..

Waqt Se Pehle Aur Naseeb Se Jyada Kisiko Kuch Nahi Milta Zindgi Wo Nahi He Jo Hum Sochte He Zindgi Wo He Jo Hum Jeete He.

And it's back :(

Of Not Thinking and References..

Hmmm..Long time no see as always :) It's been really long..nothing much is happening..the same old cribs about work, work and more work! I have taken some steps in the past few days. Only time will tell how right or wrong they are..

For the last few days, I am feeling I have become emotionless.. I mean I am not feeling happy, neither sad..it's just something neutral..And the things that have been bothering me for some time, I am now slightly better with them..it is because I am not even thinking about them at all..just have put them in cold storage for some time..and since I have been overloaded with work for the last three weeks or so, I am not getting time to think about them..In a way, it's ok..as they the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference..so I am feeling indifferent to certain things..if you can't do something about it, then stop thinking about it..

I mean I have watched only one movie in the last 4 months! I am not feeling like watching Ra.One also..Rockstar, I will watch for sure.. And Cinema Paradiso - the movie quiz I started in office is back for Season 2. It so happenned that yesterday's question was somewhat cryptic but easily doable..So I got mail from 4 people that it is a brilliant question (as R said it is genius stuff :)) But then I replied I think people who got it right are more genius as they can think what I am thinking..It is very easy for me to make a question but difficult for people to connect on what lines I am thinking.. So this was the question I asked..

              

  

Identify which famous character are we talking about! I thought it is a very simple one!

Anyway, I just found a new reference in another movie..Today's question was about Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. I just remebered that scene in which during the wedding when Nisha and the other saalis are trying to distract Prem's attention from the shoes, so they pull a prank on him and say to him that he has a call. During the call, the girl who is calling is hiding under the table and when Prem says who is speaking, she says "Ji main Suman, aapke pichle janam ka pyar". Isn't it referring to Suman from Maine Pyar Kiya?? And then Prem says, "Ji is janam ke liye Nisha ji kaisi rahengi"..Hahaha!

Hum Aapke Hain Kaun was the first ever movie I watched in a hall..was in Class 3 at that time..The movie inspired the Chopras and the Johars and went on to become one of the highest grossing films ever. Suraj Barjatya did a very clever marketing strategy. There were no video cassettes released for the movie and the ticket rates were hiked for the movie..this worked in its favour grossing crores!..But if you see HAHK is an unintenionally funny movie..Just look at Tuffy's role!!

Talking about reference, here's another one  - Pooja and Nisha were the names of the leading actress in HAHK and Dil to Pagal Hai! 

I simply love finding references in movies!

More later..