The Results 2!!!

My mid term scores were below average in all the papers. all though i started off thinking i will shoot for the deans list, i soon settled for all A-s but now it appears that the max I can get is 2Bs and 2A-s(A, B, A- are grades) and some how i am finding ways to console myself. The talk i mentioned in "The Result"(the previous post) has a line that came to my rescue

success and failure are the results of prarabdha and not of
will-power. A man may be doing only good and noble actions and
yet prove a failure. Another may do otherwise and yet be uniformly
successful.

I know this is but an excuse by a drowning man needs something to hold on to ;-)

The Results!!!

The elections are to be held tomorrow morning and the results announced morrow evening. I came back from class today and slept for 4 long hrs. In bliss from the sleep, I decided to do Vichara for sometime. Once done with my Vichara I picked up Talks with Sri Ramana Maharishi and as if hinting at something I hit on the below talk. (Talk 422)

Will-power should be
understood to be the strength of mind which makes it capable for
meeting success or failure with equanimity. It is not synonymous
with certain success. Why should one’s attempts be always attended
with success? Success develops arrogance and the man’s spiritual
progress is thus arrested. Failure on the other hand is benefcial,
inasmuch as it opens the eyes of the man to his limitations and
prepares him to surrender himself.

Cheers,
--Badri--

Too lazy to blog!!!

What happened from may 19th to may 27th:

Mid terms got over and we blinked and its term exams in another couple of days. As if this wasnt enough pressure, we were gifted with a few assignments to keep us 'busy'. The weekend was spent preparing for the elections which in a way was a not so efficient use of time, since most of the batch dint turn up for the soapbox. But then democracy has its own disadvantages, and the person who is campaigning has to devote time for the same.

One efficient use of time was the blood donation camp that was organized here by "Team Net Impact" it attracted 263 donors and was very well managed Kudos to the team. But for my participation in the event most of the time period from may 19(my last blog) till now may 27th has been spent on not so important items. The results of mid term came out and I managed to stay below average in all exams.

Now I have an excuse for not studying, I have been practicing lines such as "man mid terms killed my enthu", "exams are not indicative of ones wisdom", "grades are not important" etc.

The campaigning for the elections along with itself brought the side effects - mud slinging, kicking some dirt and I am so much in a quagmire now that if not rescued i might drown ;-). Ok PJs apart - the campaigning has been a great experience, I got to know several things about myself, went thru a round of ego bashing, there were highs and lows and one gets to figure out who his friends are.

I have been fighting to get enough sleep and the last few days have missed my breakfast , the sad part is i have already paid for the same. And finally the subject of this blog, all the happenings and the lack of sleep have kinda drained me out, I have been running slight temperature the last two days too. All this makes me too weak and too lazy to blog.

The top 3!!!

I love analyzing website traffic data, so since I am awake and got nothing better to do checked out my blogs traffic data and these came out to be the top 3 articles or pages w.r.t "entry page" criterion

http://badrinath.blogspot.com/
http://badrinath.blogspot.com/2006/09/jaane-kya-janee-mann-pyar-ka-side.html
http://badrinath.blogspot.com/2007/05/why-do-people-marry.html

Do checkout the last one.

And yes while u are reading the stats pls put up with some more unashamed boasting :

stats for the last 5 months.
i) 7200 folks have visited my blog since dec31st 2007
ii) the avg users per day is 42 and highest is 103 (2 days ago)
iii) Most folks spend at least 2.5 minutes on my blog :-)


--Badri--

The Feeling!!!

How you ever been through this feeling where you know for sure your choice A is wrong and the other choice B u havent taken is right but yet end up choosing the wrong one. What is it that forces the mind to chose A or better yet what prevents it from choosing B.

I am not talking about scenarios where one makes a deliberate , conscious decision, I am talking of scenarios where u just cant allocate thought time to choice B , times when the subconscious dominates the conscious.

Cheers,
--Badri--

Now Playing -Ennavalae !!!

Movie Name: Kaadhalan
Singer: Unni Krishnan
Music Director: Rahman AR
Year: 1994

ennavalae adi ennavalae
endhan idhayaththai tholaiththu vittaen
endha idam adhu tholaindha idam
andha idaththaiyum marandhu vittaen - undhan
kaalgolusil adhu tholaindhadhenru undhan
kaaladi thaedi vandhaen
kaadhalenraal perum avasthaiyenru unaik
kandadhum kandu kondaen - inru
kazhuththu varai endhan kaadhal vandhu iru
kanvizhi pidhungi ninraen

(ennavallae)

vaaymozhiyum endhan thaaymozhiyum inru vasappadavillaiyadi
vayitrukkum thondaikkum uruvamillaadhoru urundayum uruludhadi
kaaththirundhaal edhir paarththirundhaal oru nimishamum varushamadi
kanngalellaam enaip paarppadhupoal oru kalakkamum thoanrudhadi - idhu
sorggamaa naragamaa solladi ullapadi - naan
vaazhvadhum vidaikondu poavadhum undhan
vaarththaiyil ulladhadi...

(ennavallae)

goakilamae nee kural koduththaal unaik kumbittuk kannadippaen
goapuramae unaich chaayththukkondu undhan koondhalil meen pidippaen
vennilavae unaith thoongavaikka undhan viralukku sodukkeduppaen
varudavarum poongaatraiyellaam konjam vadikatti anuppivaippaen - en
kaadhalin thaevaiyai kaadukkul oadhivaippaen - un
kaaladi ezhudhiya koalangal pudhuk
kavidhaigal enruraippaen...

(ennavalle)

Cheers,
--Badri--

And thus goes badri to school!!!

Nope its not a fancy dress contest


cheers,
--Badri--

Can you believe it?

Its 7 days since i last blogged, a full week. I was under the impression that my hiatus was only 2-3 days strong. Well we had our midterms the weekend and some preps for the midterm last week so was kinda busy. Also dint have much to blog about hence the hiatus.

The midterms revealed the creative side of the folks and several 100 spams were sent across the mailing lists. We lost a lot of sleep to score a few marks. The first part of the first term concluded with a farewell the 4 profs who handled the classes. Cant complain about teaching when you have two profs from wharton, one from duke and a Stanford phd teaching you. We had a pre midterm party and a post mid term party to shake off the exam and scoring fears respectively.

The GSB(graduate student board) elections are in a couple of days and I heard some 80 odd folks have filed their nomination to become president of the GSB. ;-)

My parents and a few well wishers were upset that I dint put in the required effort and dint strive enough to top the class. They were also upset that I stay awake till 5am (like today) and yet achieve nothing productive. In my defence

"The feeling ‘I work’ is the hindrance. Ask yourself ‘Who works?’ Remember who you are. Then the work will not bind you; it will go on automatically. Make no effort either to work or to renounce; your effort is the bondage. What is destined to happen will happen. If you are destined not to work, work cannot be had even if you hunt for it; if you are destined to work, you will not be able to avoid it; you will be forced to engage yourself in it. So, leave it to the higher power; you cannot renounce or retain as you choose. (Maharshi’s Gospel, page 5)" ;-) ;-) ;-)

--Badri--

Its been a month!!!

April 12th 2008, we set foot at ISB and then commenced our PGP in Management. Its May 12th 2008 today and at the risk of quoting a cliche "time just flew" , It was hectic, It was demanding, It was fun, It was puzzling, it was interesting but whatever it was we have conquered this last one month and its now behind us. I hope the remaining 11 months fly this way too.

Cheers,
--Badri--

FriendConnect from Google!!!

Its another product offering from google, and it targets the social networking domain (a domain gaining control of which is expected to give the controller access to tonnes of data in the years to come)so obviously everyone who is remotely connected with google and web2.0 savvy is already aware of its coming. But if you are one of the few who by some stroke of bad luck or lack of info missed it, here we go

Google FriendConnect

Launches today, As of now the site throws a 404 but hopefully it will be up and running within 24hrs

The tool aims at adding social networking features to any website out there, thats right friendconnect is not social networking site , but a tool that will add social networking features into other websites.

More info on the same http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/annc/20080512_friend_connect.html

Depression Dancing!!!

disclaimer : gripe

"Red carpet" thats the theme of the party thats currently rocking ISB. gentlemen and ladies from the class of 2009 dressed in their finery, shaking a leg along with the faculty.

But somehow the party made me feel depressed. I went around the dance floor a couple of times and walked back to my room, Its been a long long time since i went into a state of depression so in an ironic way i am enjoying this depression. But what is it that has been preventing me from dancing in the last 3 parties , what is it that has lead to a severe loss of confidence, what is it that is affecting my focus and performance, what is it that is bringing down my energy levels? Several questions but one answer. ;-) Anyways partying dint seem to be the right thing to do when one has so many questions to hunt answer(s) for.

Something else happened today for the first time in a few months, someone walked up to me and said be humble man , you are outgrowing your boots. I have made a conscious effort to stay humble the last couple of years after i received a similar comment a few years back. I was surprised that i have still not succeeded after so much practice and of course i felt very upset. But yes this incident lead to the depression although it was the tipping point.

Our mid terms are scheduled this week, in about 4 -5 days from now , so the folks partying out there are making sure they unwind as much as possible, sad though that i am not able to loosen up :-( :-(

--Badri--

Are you running for the president?

The GSB(Graduate Student Board) elections are in 3 weeks and folks are all geared up for the same, thanks to the several mails i have sent to the junta at least 20 people (I am not kidding) have walked up to(ran into me) in the last 24hrs and asked me the question "Are you running for the president?" when i reply in the negative their reaction is "Dude you must run for something, from all your mails i thought you will."

Now thats tricky ;-) what are trying to convey here. Anyways I am seriously considering running for the Academic Affairs Council ,Hope they meant what they said.!!! ;-)

--Badri--

Time Management!!!

Wake up at 7.15PM
Get ready and breakfast by 8.30 PM
Class in the morning till 1.15 PM
Lunch and Chit chat till 2.30 PM
Post Lunch Chit Chat till 4.30 PM
Sleep till 6.30 PM
Pooja(prayer) till 7.15PM
Dinner till 8 PM
Shopping till 10.30 PM
Section party till 12.30 AM
Dunkings till 1 AM
SV1 Party till 2.30 AM

And mid term exams in 5 days, stuff that I haven't touched and am yet to cover - everything

I am sure I am going to make it to the dean's list ;-)

--Badri--

And yes I blog and have been sharing gyan on ISB at Pagalguy ;-)

So I slept!!!

I dont know what has taken possesion of me the last two days but i have been feeling very sleepy, I slept a record 14hrs yday which is really something at ISB and today too i have slept quite a while.

So this sleepiness of mine oozed into the Economics class yday and I dozed off. From what my section mates have to say abt it , it seems I had gone into a very blissful state, the prof had walked by me a couple of times yet i dint wake up. I missed 1 hr of the 2 hrs class. And boy o boy did i attract some flakes this morning

Section Mates : - Man its 5000 rupees per hour how can you waste rs.2500

Me : Sorry dude

SM : Dude its an insult to the prof if you sleep that way

Me : Man across schools, across all prof classes , folks sleep dont they

SM : Thats not the deal I still feel you insulted the prof

Me : Sorry pal

SM: Man how can you sleep like that

Me: Well I dont know, mebbe some rare skill

SM : Dude i am serious , yday class was so interesting and still you slept

Me : Was it???

SM: Man did you do the cost benefit analysis of sleeping you have paid 17 lacs in fee and your marginal cost keeps increasing if you sleep.

Me : But i thot the fee we pay is sunk cost ;-)

SM: :Frowning: dont sleep man

Well one thing sleeping in the class doesnt seem to be a good idea irrespective of whether or not you have good reasons for why you did what you did.

--Badri--

Now Playing!!!

"Aa Ante" - Sung by Malathi(of manmadha rasa fame) from the move "Arya ". This song is kinda like the anthem at ISB - at least for my batch.

The song's dedicated to SV , who felt sad that the last few days there has been no song playing in my blog.

Cheers,
--Badri--

Max fun!!!

The Stats Quiz got over this morning and then it was immediately weekend. I slept thru the economics class, came home and slept till 8 and now am chatting and blogging. There is this huge sigh of relief.

I have never been a topper and wanted to be a deans lister when i joined isb. Its been only weeks here and i have already given up on that goal. The new moto "read what u can, write what u remember, make peace with the score u get, the objective is max fun". 3 quaddies who stay locked up and read, read, read are a bit scary and dont help much in my have max fun moto but then jinka dimag hei woh tho padengey hee, but true to the new moto i have created, i have been contributing several spams to the isb students mailing list and sleeping a lot. :-)

How i wish all days at ISB stay as light as this one.

--Badri--

Of study group and assignments!!!

The study group is a very important part of one's ISB curriculum. A good amount of what you score and how successful you are here at ISB depends to a great extent on what is called study group dynamics, damn i dont know what it means.

Anyways my group submitted our first assignment last week.

Several hours of hard work, 2-3 bitter fights, long unnecessary emotional mails, 100 rupees worth of phone calls to gather folks for work and some real brain storming later we managed the assignment.



Of course there were those who did the brain storming


and then those who did the hard manual work :-)


Pic 1 : my study grp. Me,V,P,R,S respectively
Pic 2: P
Pic 3 :Yours truly

--Badri--

The D Company, Assignments and the Study group!!!

Dont let your thoughts run wild, i am not going to write abt terrorism. This D company is different. They hang out together, have fun, drink beer(s), watch movies, sing songs, laugh a lot, eat maggi, play games and so on . And all this at ISB. So whats the big deal. The big deal is even when the air around here is as still as a graveyard and folks are immersed into assignments the D company does party and i am happy to be an add-on to the company for all the fun I get.

I am thinking the profs went easy on us since this is the first week of core 1 . Only 4 assignments(some teams had 3 depending on whether or not they had LDP sessions this week), Even before I could blink its the last day of the weekend and I have achieved nothing. So much time wasted. I slept like crazy today. Nevertheless I got no regrets. Some miracle happened and my Study Group got real close today. I guess the aftermath of the secret sharing that happened in the LDP session. I am told by optimistic seniors that very soon I wouldnt want to look at the faces of my study group members. I dont know about that but todays 3-4 hrs of group interaction was fun.


We discussed each other, cracked jokes, laughed together(that really helps), spilled coffee and even managed some reading. The fun was hampered a bit by the irritating erratic nature of the ISB wireless network. Anyways more on that later for its 4 am now and i still got 2 assignments to complete so its zzzzzzzzzzz time .


--Badri--
--Badri--

Assignments!!!

4 working days a week - Sounds exciting , well then you have taken the bait. I had been told how the 3 day weekend is loaded with assignments and tasks to do but i underestimated the same.

Woke up at 1.30pm (missed my breakfast for which i had paid 45 rupees in advance :-( ) and from then on it was run, catch up, run , catch up all day long (i slept again from 6 to 8 pm but that was the effect of referring to kotler). There are several assignments to do and some studious folks are scaring me further by discussing stuff like revising the week's lessons, pre read next week etc.

As if this wasn't enough at around 8.30 pm I find that I am weak and tired and put my palm on my forehead and voila I am hot (I am never hot ;-) ) . Fever - thanks to partying in the dew till 7.30 in the morning. Boy ISB is going to be on hell of a ride ....

My study group worked together on an assignment for the first time today , We met at 10pm and it took us only close to 3 hrs to solve 6 problems, the problems weren't tough but convincing everyone and escaping the vetos was. There were loads of ideology clashes and fights. It was fun and it would have been lot more enjoyable had it not been for the fever and bad headache.

--Badri--

Lost my dancing shoes!!!

Rather must say misplaced Its 4 AM I am still awake the party is on at SV2 mirror pool. About 100 odd dancing but somehow I have lost the enthu and the interest , I love dancing but the last 2-3 parties the enthu to shake a leg was something I cudnt find. might be cos of complex there are so many stags who can give prabhudeva a run for his money , or may be because the movements so replicate a cockroach which has been sprayed with hit and that I hate cockroaches ;-)

Anyways thats abt the dancing shoes, The first untoward incident at ISB happened to me abt 30 min back, One guy in high "spirit" punched me in my stomach twice, wasnt sure whether to hit him back or excuse him for his "spirits". Why did he hit me , cos i wasnt dancing, and yes he did shower some expletives too. Wonder how educated, high IQ folks in some wonderful professions can get very high "spirited".

--Badri--

The Weak-End!!!

One week of core terms is over, the first week, loads of misconceptions, loads of fear , loads of anxiety got removed only to be replace with new loads ;-). I am weak have been loitering around the campus with no mood to hit the books. We have a party in our village today to celebrate completing the one week. A new week starts morrow morning with this weeks assignments ;-)

First class of Leadership development programme happened today , I dont subscribe to much of what was told but I need the grades so will follow whatever order that is made. I was very pleased to see the feedback people had given about me one of my colleagues had written "Badri should continue to be badri" in reply to a question "What is your advice for the person" I was touched. Of course a couple also mentioned that I was arrogant (yes they will get touched ;-) ). Will write sometime in detail about LDP. For now me heading towards the dance floor. Wheres the party tonight in SV2 Wheres the party tonight at ISB Wheres the party tonight.....


--Badri--

Dean's List - The Parody!!!

Did i mention that most folks at ISB, their parents, their spouse, children, uncle , aunty, chacha , chachi and et al have only 3 goals here at ISB

i) 1 crore salary
ii) Dean's List
iii)McKinsey or BCG

Weird though cos BCG or McK really dont pay 1 crore. Anyways we will discuss that later. The Deans List is a big thing out here.Located this video on youtube(thanks to intra ISB spams) that spoofs the deans list at INSEAD.





Cheers,
--Badri--

Read Read Read and Read!!!

No more parties, no more hanging out, no more loitering in the lawns, no songs , no gala, no cafe coffee day. Everyone is locked up in their rooms or in the LRC doing one thing - reading. Its strange the kind of change the atmosphere here has had, scary too for those who were all gala till like 3 days back are at their tables reading 8-9 hrs a day . And its only day 3 of core term 1.

I understand the one crore salary pressure part and the requirement of the so called 'spike' in academics that a Mckinsey or BCG job needs but then aren't we missing something critical here by being all studies, aren't there other things to take from a MBA.

Had my first quiz today , it is supposed to contribute 5 marks towards the overall grade , i managed to score 4 and guess what i am at least one standard deviation away from the top mark ;-)(yes it was a stats quiz)

Have been reading the blogs of several alums and its surprising how they have gone thru the exact same thing we are going thru, 3 years from their batch ISB life still is the same.

waiting for morrows class to end so that I can earn a well deserved weekend(hopefully). I am in a dilemma now should i go to sleep or read (when in rome be roman)

--Badri--