Random...

Randomness springs from a relatively structured root, whose parent ought to be even less random. I reached this conclusion after analyzing my own thought process. Behind all the random thoughts that I (or anybody) seem to have all the time, none of which lasts long or I can carry much ahead, I feel there must be a more structured framework of opinions, thoughts, ideas and instincts. Perhaps I skipped a few layers of randomness in between. But the point is that thoughts, like the universe, decrease in randomness as we move upwards towards their origin - the law of entropy as applied to thoughts. The external structure that we assign to what we speak or write is not really the structure of our thoughts. Nor do our thoughts emerge at such a slow rate. The spoken structure is a conscious alignment of desired thoughts which are retrieved in appropriate intervals and arranged in the right sequence so as to make sense as a whole, and with a specific direction.

The concept of energy was taught to me in the middle-school. It was introduced as capacity to do work, and the definition stayed at that even later. I always viewed the concepts of work and energy with skepticism (and I still do). I first expressed it when I was in the 11th standard, to some of my friends, but they didn't seem to bother. Just this morning, as I was jogging, I realized that defining energy as capacity to do work reflects how science and its perspectives emerge from our very human nature. (Are you wondering how?) It seems natural, of course, because we are human beings, and we have to think like humans. (What does it mean to not think like a human? Are there other ways of thinking? Are there limits to how or what we can think? If yes, is it possible to breach such limits by conscious effort?) And science, above all, is expected to solve human problems, explain phenomena in ways useful to us, create stuff to make human life easy. (Discover the truth, How & What God Thinketh... but think why we want to know that.) If there are bounds to who or what we work for, then are we not selfish? (Self here is an enhanced image of oneself, seen in association with all the entitites one relates himself/herself with, and to the extent he/she chooses to.) If yes, and I think the answer is yes, what does it mean to be not selfish?

Being selfish is not really considered bad by most people. Yet poeple are confused between the conflicting axioms of life taught to them, and the ones which drive their instincts. For example, the whole world thinks capitalism, each working for his/her own self-interest, would serve the interests of society the best. But then we are also taught tenets of team-work, cooperation etc., which, probably, are necessary to get things done in the first place - strong means for a great end, which has its importance and motivating ability only if one is selfish enough, which the concept of capitalism on top ensures. And the society sees progress, since both the means and ends achieve the best form within this framework. But such frameworks are for people devoid of feelings, emotions and desires. In real world, people are capable of, need to, want to and crave for love. But our institutions are designed for machines. Our formulas can't incorporate human power struggles - the strong, the weak and the shades of gray, the limits placed by cultural differences and natural (hate to use resources) endowments working together.

Furthermore, is society bigger than a human being? Is a country bigger than a human being? Is a culture more important than human life? Why should one be patriotic? why should there be inner (coz one is selfish beyond) bounds to selfishness? Love is certainly not the opposite of selfishness. But can someone truly Love and be Selfish at the same time?

PVR Cinemans, Lucknow

PVR Cinemans in the Sahara Ganj Mall at Lucknow has a serious serious problem. You cannot carry bags inside. Nor do they have any arrangement for keeping bags at any place in the mall, even outside the multiplex. I can't think of a more stupid way a multiplex can screw its sales, inspite of being located in the busiest shopping mall of a big city like Lucknow. The irony with this PVR is, that though it wants to attract the mall goers by offering them a movie experience along with shopping, nobody who does any shopping in the mall can watch a movie there, coz he won't be allowed to go inside with whatever he has purchased and he won't be allowed to keep anything anywhere in the mall either. Women are sometimes allowed to go inside with their handbags. I guess the definition of handbag is quite flexible, and who can argue with women about their bags! Men are not allowed to keep handbags. Men have pockets. Men have smaller things to keep. Men have fewer things to keep.

Me and my friend got pissed off last night when we were told we couldn't watch a movie there coz we had a small bag with us, which would have qualified as a handbag if my friend were a woman, and unfortunately, he was not. The bag had 2 cameras, and this was even more scary for the security guards at the entrance of PVR. They said taking a bag inside was out of question. And taking that with cameras even worse. Isn't that weird? X is not allowed. Y is more not allowed!

I got frustrated after trying to negotiate with the guards for some time, and gave up. Then went to the food court there and enjoyed my favorite Cheeze-Burst Pizza at 20% IIM discount at Dominos! I am really addicted to this Cheeze-Burst thing. I never liked pizza until I came to know you can do Cheeze-Burst and make it one of the tastist things on earth. I eat so much of it these days that Dominos people take my order with reluctance, mainly when I tell them I am IIM and ask them to give me the 20% discount that they offer to the others of my kind in Lucknow.

I have a history of interesting addictions like these. More on those some other time. Right now, I've got to rush for my Business Environment Class.

Movies

Today am going to talk about movies. Why do we watch movies? And what do we like to watch in movies? Please note that all views and thoughts here are mine. And all generalizations done here about people and mankind are either extrapolations of what I think/believe or are my assumptions/guesses, based on my fundas of the world. (It's funny, one declaration and you have licence to talk any crap!)

There are two schools of thought (there ought to be) on what movies are meant for. None of them exist as far as I know, and I don't know much anyway, more so in this area. But there must be 2 schools, coz they make sense to me. Here they are - (i)People watch movies to see their dreams, fantasies & nightmares in action. Now dreams, fantasies & nightmares can be good, bad, ugly, dirty, scary and whatnot. That's why we have myriad varieties of movies. (ii) People want to see reality in movies.

The second school of thought, I believe, is not true. It is actually an illusion people have in their minds, and comes from the (i) itself. People want to see their ideas and perceptions of reality live on screen. (Could have included this in (i) along with dreams, fantasies & nightmares. But chalta hai :P.) It gives them immense satisfaction and self-assurance. Works a great deal in boosting the self-esteem of any individual.

I think I have somehow answered both questions we started with - Why do we watch movies? And what do we like to watch in movies? Please comment to express your views on this topic. (I'll reply/respond with mine.) There is a lot of shit we can talk on this topic. I have not even scratched the surface properly.

the 'me' paradox

The population of Tigers in India has been dwindling very rapidly over the past few years. There are appriximately 1300 tigers in India right now. In 2009 alone, 72 tigers died according to the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), an NGO; and 54 died according to National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a government body, which is meant for conservation and is hence conservative!

I often wonder whether we are right or wrong in dominating the earth the way we do, and in screwing the lives of most other animals of sizes comparable to ours. As we are also animals, and part of the same nature, perhaps we are also a force operating in taking the nature to a different configuration or a stage of evolution. As we gradually end most animals our size, through reluctant selfishness inspite of attempts (that are even more reluctant and compromised in their seriousness) to save these endangered animals from us, the earth is gradually moving to a place majorly inhabited by smaller species. At the micro level, they have been beyond our control and imagination anyways. And it is natural for us to want to be all powerful and dominating, if we can, in the ranges in which we thrive. So we ruthlessly cage animals, kill them, fake wanting to save them. May be we don't fake. It's genuine. But the rationale behind it is probably still selfish - perhaps many of us fear the death of these animals may somehow lead to our own death. Why? May be because - (a)we don't think we are responsible for their death. So somehow their dying signals to us that something's wrong and we might also die because of it; or (b)we know that we are responsible for their death, and it scares us big time that we committed a sin of ending life, of which we are also a kind. I am not sure what's the actual reason. May be it's a mix of both. May be it's something else. It's weird, we are not sure what goes on inside our minds when we do things, and what really makes us do them. The brain, if at all it takes all decisions, has various ways of doing that, some of which it does not reveal to the part of the brain which 'we' seem to be conscious of (are 'we' not our brains? minds?), the thoughts, beliefs, etc. that we are aware of. It's fairly complicated how something that is helping 'me' think ('me' is again defined by that something itself) hides a part of itself from that something, which it can't, so may be it hides itself from 'me', which it seems to me is that something itself. It's terribly complicated. God must be crazy!

Have sex, Indian cricket team told

The Indian cricket team players has been asked to have more sex to increase their testosterone levels, and through that, increase their strength, aggressiveness and competitiveness. Click Here to read about it.

I am wondering whether this is good news for cricketers' wives or is something that scares them big time. Can't say how sex-deprived they are, but if they really are, then it's dream-come-true for them. But if they are not, and there could be various reasons why they may not be, then they will now have to bear some crazy fucking (ahm ahm, sorry, it's f*king). God have mercy on them!

But I don't think it is logical to assume that the cricketers will go and have sex only with their wives. Their testosterone is dedicated to the nation, and they shouldn't compromise on that if it takes unreasonably enormous amount of time and effort, because of various reasons, to reach and woo their wives. More so lately, because of the economic recession which must have rendered them unable to buy costly gifts and stuff. I am sure the wives would understand. But there's another angle to it. If any cricketer does not have sex in plenty with his wife now, she can charge him for one or both of the following 2 offences - (i)cheating on her, (ii)cheating the nation.

I must say that I intend no offence to cricketers' wives. I respect them, like I respect all women. I don't respect the cricketers though. They earn too much money and appreciation for doing nothing worthwhile. When I did more important nothings in TCS, GSSL and Satyam, I didn't earn even a measurable fraction of what the cricketers do. That's so unfair.

I've realized I occasionally write very long sentences these days. It's due to Amartya Sen. He's spoiling my english. Hey Amartya dada, I hope you read my blog. See what you have done.

I am sure my female readers (there are quite a few who say they read my blog occasionally) must be frowning like crazy reading my post about sex. It's a bad thing, ain't it? No. And it's not bad to talk about it either. The more openly we talk about it, the better. We Indians were all fine in our fundas on these matters before (say 1000 yrs back). The Britishers came, taught us all bull-shit stuff, Catholic fundas of sex is sin, weird English - which Amartya Sen is still not able to get rid of, killed our self-esteem and left us all screwed. Now the west has abandoned all that crap, is open, speaks simple English and chills out. And we are all confused ki bhai chal kya raha hai. Now imitating the west also isn't going to help, coz they picked up all the gyaan from us and adapted it to their cultures, and in the process messed it up. So we need an unlearning of everything they taught us and everything we learnt thereafter by aping them, and then apply our minds and do what's best for us. Each one of us needs to do this at an individual level and collectively it will take the shape of a culture. So the basic change has to come at the level of the attitude and perspective of every individual.

Cost-Cutting...

The UPA leaders are now obsessed with Economy Class Air Travel. Even cancelled some timepass trips, like the goodwill trip to greece. Also cut down on the the size of teams which accompany ministers in their forgein trips.

I think in addition to this, they should also look for other avenues of earning money, besides the government salary, so that they can pay more taxes and contribute positively. For example, in their spare time, they can each write a book criticizing some historical figure and hurt the sentiments of someone who can make enough noise when he cries. The book will sell like crazy. They can also work in movies, coz all of them are great actors already. There have been politicians who have acted in movies while being in office. So it's very much doable. Travel can be cut down by using technology. Afterall, it was cost-cutting that made private companies use video conferencing etc. So the government can do that as well. It's time our politicians got a bit entrepreneurial, and also made entrepreneurship easier and safe for those willing and daring.

One suggestion I have is to abandon projects like the Moon Mission and ask ISRO to focus on things which can add to our economic and social well-being. For example, an artifical satellite that does weather forecasting, remote sensing, spying, etc. is a useful investment. But a thing that goes away to Moon or Mars, rotates around it, and sends back images and videos of rocks and crap from there is a terrible waste of (taxpayer) money and talent for a poor country like India, and should hence be pursued through private investments.

I can think of some logical reasons for still doing them, however. Like, if we don't, we may miss out in terms of our capabilities and the learning curve in the long run. If we start our space program after becoming prosperous, when we will have nothing to worry about except the possibilities of life on Moon or Mars, we will then not be in a position strong enough to do anything significant, having lagged behind everyone in this race. But I am sure we can have innovative ways right now of continuing our research in the area, through simulation etc., while advancing more widely and more rapidly in other areas which make better sense, and drawing learnings through them and other means to enhance our knowledge about travelling into outer space. It's a matter of having the right will. Anyway we should be ashamed to give this justification for continuing with the space program, coz we never give the same importance and seriousness to education, health care, livelihood, safe drinking water, sanitation, skills, technology, infrastructure, etc., where we are already lagging behind most of the world. These things should be topmost in our priority list, rather than setting foot on moon. Later when we have time and money, we can launch ourselves into the dead parts of the universe, and search for life. Till then, I think we must value our own lives and those of the millions who are not getting enough or anything to eat. It's important to align the enthusiasm of our sceintists, politicians and intelligentia towards what the nation needs at the moment, particularly when it comes to policy decisions and ways of spending the taxpayer money. Anything that does not cause any positive impact on our well-being should not be funded by the taxpayer money. For all such activities, even if they are of high intellectual or scientific worth, seek private funding.

Economic Indicators

There is no positive news on the front page of Business Standard today. There is immense confusion right now about whether the economy is really recovering. Just like there was confusion for long in early 2008 about whether there was really a recession or the economy was just acting weird.

As all hopes are pinned on China to drive the recovery, India continues to feel great about its positive GDP growth figure, which, by the way, is a highly arbit figure, given the way it is calculated in India, and everywhere for that matter. The actual figure could be much higher. Similar is the case in India with WPI, the indicator for Inflation. The basket of goods it comprises includes stuff which nobody uses nowadays and excludes stuff that grab the major spending today. And we end up having a negative Inflation value. That's pretty silly. On top of that, the new WPI under consideration chooses to exclude mobile phones, coz it is based on some upgraded basket of goods at some point a few years back when mobile boom had not picked up. When everyone knows it's bogus, why not fix it? It would have been great if we had more accurate measures to judge the economy. That would have helped us take better policy decisions. Economies are not supposed to be run by trial and error. It's no better if the tools you use are visibly erroneous.

Three

I have an essay-writing competition today in some time... Perhaps my last chance in life to participate in such a thing. MBA has given me a chance to do a lot of things whose skope I thought had ended in 2004. And interestingly, it has not put a pause on any of the fun that I had as a salaried person. Am having more of all that fun, and with a more relaxed mood. But it's going to end soon. I am gonna graduate on 13th April 2010, unless I flunk in a few of the 10 credits remaining to pass (i.e., out of the 36.5 credits + Summer Internship that together make the kickass PGDM from IIML).

I have 2 main worries now. The first - of getting back to doing jobs after MBA. Well, the very reason I came to do MBA was that I hated my job. The 4 years of work-ex that I proudly show on my CV are 4 years of frustration, job-hopping, hating my work, gazillion lines of instant-messaging, blogging, reading TOI and ET online, and barely a hundred lines of java code (well, perhaps a little more than that... I have a habit of understating my achievements ;-)). It's the same for most people who go on adding number-of-years to their work-ex hoping to get into ISB or some IIM which now gives weightage to work-ex too (and forgives your low CAT scores which keep getting more and more pathetic as you grow older and older), or some of the executive MBA programs which teach old and hence slower minds what's what in less time and more cost.

NB - if you are a recruiter and reading all this stuff trying to investigate about me, lemme tell you that I am just trying to be funny here. I have really done all that you can see listed on my CV under "Professional Experience". Stuff like "Led a Team", "Client Impressed", "Conceptualized", "Pioneered", "Spearheaded" etc. etc., and everything in bold or italics, and even my hobbies and interests - all that is true. This blog is about my personal life, don't poke your nose into it. It is meant to impress girls ;-). So you don't worry about it and rest assured about the truth of the CV (It has been verified 100 times by IIM people; so it's all genuine stuff!). Go check my linked in profile, which has my CV copy-pasted. Some points are under different headings, but you will find all the points over there for sure. Also a few people have recommended me there, very honestly. (I did return the favor to some of them by writing honest recommendations for them also).

And the second worry - of getting married. Am not sure whether that's the right thing to do. No one who is married seems very upbeat about it. Besides it is very hard to find a beautiful, gult, brahmin, veginaatlu, 5'3"-5'8", well-qualified, homely girl from a good (middle-class) family who also likes a guy who is bald (the hair is probably coming back, I swear; I may get a transplant too if I get a decent job somehow), pot-bellied-but-getting-thin-coz-he-jogs, confused, 6-pointer-approaching-5 (ok, CG is not important, I know :P), etc. etc. (you don't need more details here... can't trust those recruiters... anyway it's girls' problem, let them figure out on their own).

It's almost time for the essay competition. It's about love being the hope and hatred being hopeless... something like that. I have to write about how love is the ultimate reconcilliation to all the world's problems and blunders. It's something the United Nations is promoting for fixing the world. The essay competition is being conducted jointly by the UN and Swami Ramchandra Mission, that is adjacent to IIML. They say they will judge our essays based on our 'spiritual quotient'. Wonder what that is. Frankly, I don't think just love can solve world's problems, because we cannot have such ultimate all-pervading love in this world, which has place for other feelings as well. Love cannot be there without hatred. But I guess I am still gonna go and write that love is the answer to everything. Need to win this one, my last essay competition. Will fake some "spiritual quotient". See ya soon!

Gone Behosh

About 8 months back, I fell down unconscious a couple of hours after donating blood, and skipping lunch thereafter. I thought the banana, the apple and the muffin along with coffee, that were given to me after the donation would suffice for lunch, but I was wrong.

It was an interesting experience nonetheless. I was in the men's room when everything went dark and I fell. The last thing I remember of what happened before I was lost, is that my head hit against the wall. My eyes opened again about 5 minutes later. Not sure of this duration, coz I didn't check times before and after. Was too confused over whatever was happening, coz my alerness, mental state, brain responsiveness were far from their best.

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. Realized in a few seconds that I was down in the toilet. Started wondering for a while as to how I could fall asleep on the floor of such a place. Then tried to recall what had happened, felt a slight pain at the back of my head, and I got scared with the realization that I had fallen unconscious. I immediately got up, though with difficulty. My vision was still blurred. I walked to my room about 30 metres away. Immediately called up Fauji Dhaba and ordered 2 Aaloo Parathas and continued with the movie I had been watching before I went to the toilet - Kungfu Panda (a great movie, I do remember quite a bit of it). I was feeling incredibly great at having had such an experience. I then went ahead and broadcasted through my instant messenger status that I had gone behosh, claimed after some time of having had a Near Death Experience, just to gain some publicity and sympathy. But the world was too busy to show sympathy of any kind :-(. I also went on and got busy doing something.

Back...

Back to Blogging after 4 months! But I have to start on a sad note. Fatima Arunkumar Marneni, a batchmate of mine, passed away yesterday. I don't know the exact details of how it happened. I am shocked and sad. He was such a nice guy. I have been thinking hard about life and death lately. I am unable to comprehend either of them.

I am back in IIM after a 5-day log vacation at my hometown in Bilaspur. All I did during the holidays was to eat and sleep. Need to start working out to get into some decent shape. Jogging, which I did a lot the past 4 months, has not helped much. Or may be I didnn't stress myself enough.

Bought a book, which I had planned to finish reading during the vacation, but barely managed to start. It's The Idea of Justice by Amartya Sen. The topic is quite interesting, but Amartya Sen's style of writing sucks big time. Each of his sentences runs 5-6 lines of printed text - so long that when you end the sentence you forget the beginning, and almost 80% of it in my case. Many times, when I finish a sentence and try to think what is being said, I go blank for a while, a long one at times. I wish Amartya Sen wrote in English that is more contemporary and simple, one almost like the spoken form of the Language. But I am sure he takes pride in his ability to write in such English, of whatever style that is (Victorian?) and hates the current simple style. Can guess that from his hatred for the reply "Good" for "How are you?", rather than "Fine". Incidentally, and interestingly, I too at times find "Good" quite weird, having been taught by Anglo-Indian ma'ams and sirs. But have now understood well that "Good" is the contemporary, American way and you better use it if you want to sound normal. I do sometimes use it now, though with noticeable reluctance. I still prefer "Fine" though. That's why I don't blame Amartya Sen for sticking to his old 6-line-long-sentences-wala English.

I've read 75 pages so far, of the 400-odd pages. Will finish it, no matter how painful it is to read it, and how little of it really gets into my head. Coz starting a book and not finishing it is very very frustrating (for a book-lover). Can you notice analogies with something else? ;-)

Chat with Amit on the future of the Internet... (Y is me)

Y - abey how is a matrimonial site that ensures dowry free shadi

amit.vatsa - no site ensures that

Y - ya, will start one
i am gradually becoming a serial entrepreneur...

amit.vatsa - if dowry will be demanded...anyone among us will go and marry instead:)

Y - yeah
incentives for employees
we offer 100% shadi guaranteed services to our clients... we will keep stock of guys who will marry in short notice
good IIM/IIT guys

amit.vatsa - yup

Y - oh

amit.vatsa - nice b plan

Y - mannn
TV is also based on ad-model right?
internet was started fitting it into the TV wala model
TV channels earn only from ads

amit.vatsa - yes

Y - what cud be a better model to earn money for any media company?

amit.vatsa - ads, we will give address of NGOs and will take money from them

Y - didn't get it

amit.vatsa - we will change our model...NGOs will be our clients...all the women welfare organisations :)

Y - mann, i will tell u how internet is going to change in future

amit.vatsa - we will provide branding services

Y - computers r gonna be wiped out.... the current model is too sick

amit.vatsa - so that these NGOs get maximum donations :)

Y - people the world over are sitting in front of these screens
this is gonna drive us nuts if it continues
so internet will move out of computers
u will find internet getting other devices into its loop

amit.vatsa - yes

Y - and gradually computers will go away

amit.vatsa - mobiles, banners on the road, railway stations

Y - yes
u will get information wherever u need
as u walk, without needing a huge device like a computer
or rather, computers r gonna change in the way they look feel and function

amit.vatsa - blackberry

Y - but they r not convenient for stuff like searching, browzing, blogging etc.
it will continue to be crappy until things r integrated with the human brain
and once that happens, the whole paradigm is turned upside down

amit.vatsa - leave it yaar....baa (baad) mai discuss karte hai :)

Y - upload wikipedia to your brain and u know virtually everything
spending all life putting stuff into memory isn't a sustainable model
one may argue that the slow process makes one capable of judging, forming opinions and taking decisions
i guess that makes sense
what do u think?

amit.vatsa - let vaibhav continue the discussion :)

Y - saale
am shaping the future and u r not interested in participating in the revolution

(some time later)

Y - oye
am gonna put this chat session on my blog
no problem na?

amit.vatsa - no prob

Y - ok
thanks
take care
bbye
say bbye

amit.vatsa - bbye

"few"

"After all, few foods improve in the refrigerator. They don’t improve in your freezer, either, but they degrade more slowly, especially if you keep the temperature at 0 degrees or below. Check it with a thermometer, and re-check every few months. Note that full freezers are more efficient than half-full ones, a further inducement to freeze more."

source: Freeze That Thought

- A good example of the usage of the word "few" without a preceding "a", where it actually means "none at all", rather than "small in number"... Prof. Sudha Shastry at IITB used to stress a lot on this... I think the one above is a good example becoz the second sentence is a negative sentence with an "either" as well, Indicating that the first one also has a similar negative implication, something like "no foods improve in the refrigerator."

CAT is now a CAT!

The Common Admission Test (CAT) will now be a Computer Adaptive Test (CAT). I totally support this move and am glad the IIMs did it. But in addition to it, I'd suggest, that they give more weightage to work-experience, and consider applications on all parameters instead of just the CAT score for the initial shortlist. They do assign weightages to various parameters and have complicated formulas to evaluate applications, but that is generally for the final offers, where your GD and PI scores also matter. But for the inital shortlist, i.e., for GD-PI, a high CAT score is generally a must. I believe that on the one hand, MBA does not make sense without having worked and experienced the real Business world. On the other hand, CAT scores and the sectional cut-offs, I think, are not the right criteria to judge people's capabilities to become good managers or leaders. IIM Lucknow is the only one among the IIMs to have taken steps in this direction. Right now, both the batches at IIML have a very high average work-ex by IIMs' standards - somewhere between 3 and 4 years, which is neither too high nor too low for a 2-year MBA, and almost perfect for the guys, and the few girls, to appreciate the course content of the program. Right now, IIML has arguably the best people in it (and I am one of them!) among all the IIMs and of course all the B-Schools of India, as far as the 2-year MBA programs are concerned.

Some Thoughts...

I was totally out of my mind when I discovered today that Pantaloon has already implemented all of my business ideas in the food & beverages space. It opened Brew Bar for selling beer, Cafe Bollywood for selling Indian street food, Chamosa for selling chai and samosas, Food Bazaar - the supermarket, and Sports Bar. Each one of these is a great concept in itself and is sure to make good money (if it's not already, because of the recession).

Came across this interesting concept called Reverse Mentoring, wherein those in the senior positions in an organization are mentored by those lower in the hierarchy. The funda is that those higher up usually belong to an older generation and can learn a lot about contemporary stuff, like latest technology, trends, fashion, preferences, thought processes, etc. from the youngsters. It's more important in markets like India where a majority of the consumers are young, while the CEO's and the decision makers are middle-aged. Reverse Mentoring helps you understand the consumer psyche by directly interacting with and learning from the youngsters in your own organization who belong to your target segment (for most products in a young country like India). The concept came from GE's Jack Welch and makes a lot of sense. So for best results, the organizational framework must facilitate and ensure both forward and reverse mentoring, so that the organizational thought process is aligned in the direction that serves all interests best.

I wish we had Reverse Mentoring in our political parties too. But the biggest hindrances to its success are - the inability of the senior person to suppress his/her ego, accept that there is a need to learn and it can be done best from a subordinate, and to develop a will to do it. Considering that and our current political scenario, Reverse Mentoring doesn't seem feasible in the near term. That's sad. I think if our 70-80-90 year old politicians understood today's India better, they'd never have assigned top priority in their manifestos to stuff like building a useless temple or protecting submerged rocks in the sea, stuff which any reasonably informed young Indian does not give a damn about. Nor would he/she vote, coz he/she sees no good options, nor does he/she have belief or hope. It's a vicious globe. Amir Khan's flying back to Mumbai from North America just for a day in the middle of his vacation and Shahrukh's taking one day off from IPL to cast their votes are not gonna help. I don't have solutions to suggest. Nor can I say 'go cast your vote', coz I am not convinced it helps.

Twitter!

It took me just a few minutes, after I signed up, to transform from a non-believer in the twitter concept to an obsessed fool. I was trying to figure out why twitter works in the first place and went to the site to see for myself. I was astonished by the urge that surged within me to tell the world what I was thinking, doing and feeling each moment, as I initially saw others doing it, and as I increasingly grew impatient and anxious to stay ahead of them, to be all over, to let the world know, to be the one seen and talked about, to have as many people following me as possible. Never before did I witness this side of mine so explicitly. I was both enthused and scared about whatever was happening to me. I did a lot of twittering yesterday, though no one among my 11 followers seemed to be following me. It was crazy, and I fear it's going to get crazier. I hope it doesn't.

My Twitter Profile

Jobs and Layoffs

Layoffs are happening everywhere these days. There was a time when getting an IT job was so easy that you could quit your job, purely on impulse, on any day and find another, that paid at least 30% more, the very next day. It was fun! People were always looking for newer jobs in IT. Companies paid exorbitant salaries to people of no worth, just coz they were the best they could find in spite of having all the dollars from the clueless clients in the US.

And now, you never know when you'd be asked to leave. Losing a job is painful, and then, if you have a family to support, you are in a big mess. I am lucky to be spending two years of the recession doing my MBA! It's almost certain that the job opportunities a year from now, when I'd finish my MBA, would not be any good either - that being either the recovery phase or one of deeper recession. But I am not really bothered. I don't like jobs anyway. Whenever I do something for which I get money or grades or rewards in return, I don't feel interested in it. I would otherwise have done a similar activity just out of interest, fought hard to complete it to perfection and enjoyed each moment of being a part of it. So for me, no job is good job. But I have to make money to survive. And support a family too which will come out of nowhere a couple of years from now.

I need a perennial, hassle-free, huge and reliable source of money to support me forever and then, I will go on and do whatever interests me at any point in time. I guess everyone wants this, but...

21-04-2009 04-21-2009

 

Had an amazing day today. Highlights - my manager finalized the project that I'll work on during the summer internship, I watched a 4-D movie, had a ride on a Ricksha, came back a bit early from office and took a nap and have now found time & interest to write something for my hungry blog! The only thing which I am still missing is pani-puri, called as gol-gappe in Delhi. I did try for it twice, but on one occasion, I did not have change, and on another, I couldn't find a pani-puri-wala despite walking a kilometer. It gets so damn frustrating at times, when you don't get pani-puri when you want it.

Won't talk about my project coz a Non-Disclosure Agreement, which I am yet to sign, will soon bind me from talking anything about it. It does seem interesting. Particularly the part which has been newly assigned to me.

The 4D movie was great. If you are wondering what 4D is, it's 3D movie plus an added dimension of physical experience created by stuff happening in the movie hall - like your chairs shaking, moving up and down, air blowing from somewhere, water sprinkled on you as an elephant points its trunk on your face, things tickling you here and there... all based on what's going on in the movie, such that you become a part of it, experiencing what's happening in there. It's interesting. It's fun. It was a short 20 minute animated movie about a guy who discovered Tokla Temple built in ancient times. The guy had to fight the Aborigines. The Tokla Temple was inside a cave which collapsed soon after it was discovered. The hero somehow manages to escape. The name of the movie was The Lost Island. A must see!

We watched the movie at Spice Mall near office. The Ricksha ride to Spice mall from the office and back was joyful and short. The Rickshas in Delhi are relatively new, light-weight and more efficient than the ones in the rest of India.

While coming back, we had all had Cornettos. Amit Vatsa's b'day treat! All of us had the same flavour - Black Forrest Flirt!

Delhi-1

Coming to Delhi is a dream come true to me. It took too long, but finally I am in Delhi, and I feel great. I am here for an 8-weeks Summer Internship program with the Times Group. Like it usually happens, you experience a place more (by visiting popular spots and seeing people) when you go there for a short visit like for a few weeks, than when you go for a longer period, say a few years. This may not be totally correct, coz one who stays longer relegates places of tourist importance to a low priority and focusses more on issues which matter for a comfortable living, which is not an unimportant thing and can give deep insights into the cultural and social aspects of any place. But nothing happens to everyone in the same way, and perceptions differ, and so do our understandings.

I saw the Lal Quila (Red Fort) yesterday. It was beautiful. Something reminded me, as I was walking between its walls, that I am a Civil Engineer, by education. I don't remember much of what I must know because of having a Civil Engineering degree, but I do get drawn to my past for a few nostalgic moments whenever I see any architectural masterpiece. And Lal Quila is one of them.

Since it was the World Heritage Day yesterday, entrance to the fort was free. We were not allowed to carry our bag, which we had to keep in a nice locker-room adjacent to the ticket counter for Rs.5/-. We entered the fort through the Lahore Gate. I was surprised to find shops inside, selling jewelry, art works, handicrafts, perfumes, etc. There is also a small cafeteria inside. We went around, saw Diwan-e-aam, Diwan-e-khaas, overheard a tourist guide explaining their significance to his bakraas (giving analogies like high court and supreme court), then we rolled on grass in the huge lawns, took pictures, I thought about life and its problems for a few minutes, tried to convince myself that worrying is of no use, took more pictures and came out feeling proud of India, especially Dilli.

Then we went to Parathe wali gali in Chandni Chowk and enjoyed delicious aloo parathas with the best lassi I ever had. We walked some distance through the gali and were overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle. The shops were all brightly lit and were full of energy and business activity. I turned my eyes up and saw electric cables running here, there, everywhere. It's so intricate, I was surprised it worked at all. There certainly must be problems, but since it works, there clearly are ways to fix them efficiently.

We were so full after having the parathas and the lassi that there was no way we could eat the famous Chandni-Chowk-ki-Chaat. I found that very frustrating. Being a big lover of chaat items, this was too damn frustrating. I somehow managed to have a plate of gol-gappe so as to get the taste of it. They were different from any pani-puri I had ever eaten. Though good, they were not among the best. But it's chaat in that place that's famous. I will go there again to have chaat, before my internship gets over.

And ya, this was Dilli-6 - the area in and around Chandni Chowk. I found many Indian tourits singing songs from the movie as they were seeing the Lal Quila. Particularly - ye dilli hai mere yaar, bas ishq mohabbat pyar. The song was running through my mind too. It was spontaneous.

From there, we went to the India Gate. Didn't spend much time there, as it was getting late. It was pretty dark by that time. The structure looked exquisite in lights. There was virtually no security there. People were entering the area from all sides. There were no metal detectors, no frisking. We could not go beyond the chains a few meters from the gate, both in the front and the back. I touched the gate at the left side of it (just a moment before my friend showed me a board saying the gate should not be touched). Realized that the surface of the India Gate was just cement plaster. Got confused whether this was fine or I should re-evaluate my opinion about the greatness of the structure. I kept asking myself - what's wrong with cement? - but followed by  - cement??? That was weird. I sometimes find it so difficult to be sure of what I feel about something. Is it so with everybody?

I had a great day. I didn't mention earlier about how I spent the afternoon at Connaught Place known as CP by most Delhiites. Besides learning a lot about Delhi, its people and its cultural aspects, I did the usual roaming around in the Malls and sitting and chatting in CCD and Barista over coffee. I think it's too early to comment on the people and the culture of this city. I think I am liking the city. Will explore more and write more. Keep reading.

Guncha...

Turn your speakers on... and relaaaaaax!!!

Satyam

I was an employee for 6 months in Satyam Computers. I even saw Ramalinga Raju once. Everyone at Satyam said he was a nice man, humble and all that... but I never trusted the guy. He speaks like a dhongi baba... totally fake. 


How I landed up at Satyam is not a very long story. It was an accident, just like my coming to IIML, my joining GSSL, my shifting to Hyderabad from Pune, to Pune from Chennai, and most of my other significant achievements in life, including my life itself. People who say we choose our destinies, either don't understand anything about life, or have not lived enough to perceive how funny (some would say cruel, and are justified in doing that) life is at playing with our choices, and leaving us gaping at ourselves to understand how much we chose and how much was an outcome of a game of dice between confused gods, goddesses and all the genders that apply to gods, if at all they do.

Everyone starts finding faults with a company when it's not doing well. And Satyam, quite a few times now, has put all four of its tiger-feet in its mouth. So I also would like to take the pleasure of some bitching just to get some kaleje-ki-thhandak, though most of what I'd grumble about is true for almost all big IT companies in India.

I was recruited very easily by Satyam... without many questions. I had been jobless for a month at that time, and the job meant a lot to me. Not because I was dying to work or because it hurts when life doesn't have challenges. I don't think I want work or challenges of the kind these jobs offer. Wonder how they really motivate people. They make me sad, turn me off, to be honest (though I always did well in my jobs and was skillful at the work). Money was the only reason I wanted the job. Otherwise I was quite happy taking naps in the afternoons on grass at Vengala Rao Park after movie at PVR and lunch at Ohri's... I miss those days of joblessness. My lifestyle cost a lot of money though, which I was required to earn and keep on earning. 


I was sent back when I first went to join Satyam at its Masha-allah office adjacent to Paradise hotel in Secunderabad. I had not completed one of the before-you-turn-up-for-joining formalities. I was supposed to fill up all my details into a website, which I didn't coz I hadn't received the password. I went again 2 days later after finishing the stuff that I'd missed, and the joining process was smooth and quick thereafter. 

At that time (Nov 2007), they were recruiting like crazy. There were hundreds joining the company every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And everyone who joined was put on bench. Satyam is the only company in the world which has an office dedicated to people on bench. In Hyderabad, it was the office in Karkhana area. All benchers reported to the same guy and fell under a vertical called SSU Business Wait. (Don't know what SSU meant). There were structural changes in the company during the 6 months of my timepass there, and by the time I left, there was no 'Business Wait', but many Horizontal Competency Units, one for each technology, like Java, Mainframes, etc. etc. I could never understand those Horizontals and Verticals ka funda. Satyam was obsessed with them.

In many ways Satyam is unique in its sadism, that is somewhat different from those of other IT companies (I've worked in 3, and know people in 100). For example, I've met and spoken to people who had been on bench for more than a year (also came across quite a few cases of close to 2 years on bench). This happened mainly with freshers who were recruited straight out of college and were taken under a bond. (Funny that TCS likes to call it a Service Agreement, saying bond is for bonded laborers. They made me pay a hefty sum for quitting in 6 months. I screwed up, actually. Couldn't abscond like most of my friends did. That story, some other time...). And the nature of the bond was such that they couldn't abscond without paying the bond money, coz they had to pay the money in advance when joining the company and it was returned to them only after serving for 2 years. And of course, if you leave before 2 years of service, your money is gone. So most of those youngsters stayed, in spite of being totally work-less, for 2 years. It's not all that bad though. I must confess that out of my 44 months of work-ex - that I proudly flaunt in my CV with bullet points saying I did work worthy of 100 nobels and claim an edge over the fresh-out-of-college guys here at IIM - about a year of that was spent being on bench. And I think there is nothing better that can happen to you in an IT company, than being on bench. I had wonderful times on bench, had great experiences, met the best people and made the best friends. 

But, I think, how much you enjoy being on bench also depends on which stage of career you are in. It is wonderful if you are in the initial stages, when you are single, ready to mingle, and don't have the conservative gulti instincts of saving and worrying about the doomsday, when it's least necessary. It is wonderful also because in the initial stages of your career, you tend to take things lightly for some time since you are just freshly out of college. You are not so bothered about career progression and stuff like that for quite a while if you get a good break (like Satyam) soon after college. So you want to enjoy for some time and bench offers everything to do that well - time, money and people. Bench is also a good way for people with no techy bent of mind, to sail through those initial years of coding, and get to the next levels like TL, PL, PM etc. which are even more timepass jobs, pay much better and give you power to screw people's lives - which is a great motivator to people who have plenty of food and sex, if Maslow is to be believed. (I have another theory, which contradicts Maslow's. Will write about it some other time). 

I was amazed by Satyam's propensity to amass enormous amounts of resources without having any use for them. For example, Satyam has tens of huge buildings in Hyderabad ranging from dilapidated structures to modern glass towers whose floors and walls are rubbed 24 hours to perfect sheen by smartly dressed workers. I, along with a few hundred guys on bench, was moved into one such building in Hitech City. It was very visibly a desperate attempt by the company to have some human activity in the newly constructed building. The building had many halls, each with 100-200 new and fast computers, arranged in rows and lying idle. I don't know if I should admire the company for building such excellent facilities or criticize it for wasting capital. It would have done much better if it had paid good salaries and also found work for its employees whose careers were ruthlessly screwed by the company's project allocation policies. I say this because out of all those who joined the company with me in November 2007, hardly anyone has been assigned any work; and a good percentage have been laid off after being kept idle for a year or so. This mess, certainly, cannot be attributed solely to the sub-prime crisis.
However, for me, those 6 months were great. My room-mate used to be jealous coz he had to work whole day, while I barely went to office for 2-3 hours. Satyam paid me well, misled like everyone by my IIT degree. And thanks to Maher, my room-mate, and Habib, my landlord, that I lived in a decent house in the very posh Banjara Hills, not very far from Ramalinga Raju's house, and I was told, not very far from Sania Mirza's house too.
There was once an attempt by the Satyam HR to move me to Bangalore saying there was nothing for me in Hyderabad. I resisted for some time, coz I didn't want the great times in Hyderabad to end. When I finally did agree to consider it, the Team Leader of that Project rejected me, without telling me any reason. I was ready to work in any damn project in any of the offices in Hyderabad, but those guys who called themselves CoRCC (they searched projects for idlers) never found a match between my profile and the available requirements. They used some crap profile-matching software that never found me good for any work.


There were some very smart people around me at Satyam. Some of them were capable of doing the best and the most complex of jobs. There were quite a few highly self-motivated individuals who constantly strived to upgrade their knowledge. And most of them were very frustrated at not getting any work to do. And that frustration often creeped into me too. It is hard to be principle centered when your principles are driven by instincts and thought rather than socially accepted norms. My principles have gained some resilience over time, but they are still looking for a clarity that can fix them firmly into my character.

Some other benefits I drew from Satyam included a lot of internet time to read news and articles that helped me in my preparation for IIML GD and Interview, great email-spamming with my Pune Siddharth Nagar friends, extra allowance of Rs.2400 for 8 night-shifts (300 a night), thousands of jokes and laughing moments with Rajneesh and Sidhu, 20 cups of ginger-tea every day, and an apparently stable job after the failed stint at an NGO.


Quitting Satyam was not a good experience. The HR Managers were all rude, the process was bureaucratic, and nobody asked me why I was leaving, nor did anyone try to stop me. Plus, there was one bad-termpered Manager who did not allow me to serve a 1-month notice and buy out the remaining 1 month (2 months notice was the company policy, and I did not have enough time to serve that long a notice). Interestingly, I told one HR Manager, who was handling my exit, about the other Manager who was asking me to leave immediately despite the fact that I could, would have liked to and had a right to stay for a month. And the HR guy even said 'uske baap ki company thodi hai! Mai idhar policies aur forms leke kya jhhak maar raha hoon?' But finally he had to give in to the kameena Manager who was both senior and powerful, and the rules and policies were compromised. I had to pay the money and leave immediately.

But on the whole, in spite of all the stupidity that I was a part of, it was a good experience being in Satyam. I got lots of time to pursue my personal interests, which also include just sitting and staring into thin air, sometimes thinking stuff that can make sense only to Einstein, and often not even to myself. It's sad that the company is in such a miserable state now, and thousands of its honest and hard-working employees are suffering for no fault of theirs. I wish them all the very best. To a great extent, life is as sad and disappointing as we want it to be. And my dear Satyamites have faith in the ability of the arbitgiri of this world to lead to outcomes which are best for us... be happy, keep working hard... life is a gift, it is great and will continue to be great!