Saturday, June 17, 2006

Back to the Grind

Time’s been flying. First Term is over, and the second one is already giving us all sleepless nights, and even more importantly, beer-less weekends. The frenetic pace and the nervous energy with which people have adapted to the new, improved, extra-stress term is truly remarkable. That includes me too. Not only did I manage to meet up a few thousand people in my 2 short days at Bangalore, but also drove all the way from Bangalore to Hyderabad, and then spent a couple of hours in the night reading the material for the first class. If there ever were any doubts about my new found geek-hood, I have laid them all to rest.

The first week in the new term has been rather disappointing. After sitting through some truly inspiring lectures from the likes of Stine, Finn, Waterman, Vohra etc last term, the new term is , plainly put, disappointing. Competitive Strategy, which is a key course in all MBA programs, is turning out to be a disaster. While it is understandable that Prof. GV is new to this school, and probably to the profession as well, it still doesn’t do justice to the exorbitant amount of fees that I have paid. While my sympathies are surely with her, I’d definitely not want to sit through a rookie lecturer’s class where valid arguments are brushed under the carpet with a disappointing “I know more than you” attitude.

Decision Models and Optimization is the other subject that I am very disappointed with. Another key subject and another disastrous choice of faculty. The high expectations that were built up after such an amazing faculty for the first term have come crashing down just one week into the second term.

The saving grace, however, has been this brand new world to which we have been given access. A make-believe world where we all start off as tycoons, and can shape our futures with our own actions. No, I haven’t been reading too many of those Harry Potter novels. I’m referring to the MarkStrat World. We submitted our very first decision in the MarkStrat World last night. A decision that, we hope, will hold us in good stead in the times to come.

Moving on to some news from the non-ISB world, the biggest event that the whole world is currently watching is the FIFA World Cup. Despite the rigorous schedules, I continue to catch the soccer action everyday at least for a couple of hours. I’m rooting for the Dutch and the English.

In other news, Mika Singh and Rakhee Sawant went smack at each other, before Rakhee experienced a cultural epiphany, and decided to take Mika to court for violating her Indian-ness.
Yawn.
Signing off.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

The End is Here!

Redemption, at last!
Finally, the term exams are done and dusted. A mixed bag of sorts, but nevertheless, something that all of us were waiting to end. For all the sleepless nights, it’s redemption time tonight. There’s a party, of course. And for all those unfortunate souls who have to stay back in Hyderabad, it’s an open invitation to drown all your frustrations.

Rejoice, I will. But a little bit of pondering, in retrospect, over the exams.
Financial Accounting, despite the huge volumes, was a good paper, and I think (hope?) I didn’t bungle too much. But what followed was a disaster.
The economics exam was such a mystery that the moment I saw the paper, all I could do was smile. I am blessed with the ability to see humor in tragedy. And this was tragedy at its best. After 2 hours of incessant guessing, I finally walked out without knowing if I had got even one question right. A mystery it was. And remains.
Today, luckily, was a much better performance. Business Statistics was smooth sailing, despite the random guesses for a few questions. Marketing Management was not so smooth sailing, but after weathering the storm yesterday, this didn’t seem like rough weather at all.

Since most people that I know are leaving for their hometowns tonight, I am stranded here for the next two days, thanks to the Leadership Development Program. But come Thursday night, I am going to be off to Bangalore.
Home is where the heart is. And sweetheart too.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Poor Economy

Please tell me zero is not a bad score in today's economics paper!

P.S: This is an appeal for empathy, not sympathy.