I argue that its all false
and something bigger and better in life calls
but who am I trying to fool
after all I am in a management school
I am as much here for fame and the loot
as anyone with no spirtual root
so all these talks of morality and sainthood
are i guess cow skin to cover the fox under the hood
Hence when so many say I am wrong
and for a friend a confidant here i long
Its obvious I am making a few big mistakes
Since I am not a saint the others aren't flakes
But still the blame I try and cast on them
Even after analyzing where from their opinion stems
Oh god how self involved am I
For the mistakes I do i have no eye
My silence, and ignorance makes them smile
pretence and a pat and they like my style
I speak out their mistakes and what I opine
In their ego wounds I drop a few drops of brine
So the solution is simple - be diplomatic
it doesnt matter if some think its hypocratic
For thats what they seem to like
To your abysmal popularity it will give a spike
Alas if you are in rome be a roman
Else everything you do in here u will see a bad omen
Admit that since others see wrong it exists
stay assured that greatness and goodness in others eternally persists
for there exist only two solutions to the situation
and neither one is going to cos joy and elation
but if you choose to be you, more pain is for sure
but if you admit mistake and see greatness in others at least some fake friendship you will lure
--Badri--
While I go around telling everyone that I havent really learnt much from ISB, the truth is I have learnt a whole bunch of stuff like valuation techniques, market risks, managerial accounting, EVA etc that I really dont know how and where I will use in life. Going by the 4 years of engineering which dint really teach me anything that i couldn't have learnt myself from books and the internet (as and when i needed that skill in life) I am afraid MBA is going to end up in the same bucket too. But perhaps then its too early to predict the outcome since there are 5 more terms to go.
That said it is not like I haven't learnt anything from MBA
i) I have learnt that even at MBA level some folks feel very attached to the section, to the class, form cliques and that the song "Time of your Life " is going to push several of my batch mates into tears in about 5 more terms.
ii) Things that seem absolutely trivial to most folks, could be hyped up, become things of political interest and become things that must be done to uphold the dignity and honor of the folks, something through which team spirit is displayed even if you cant really understand how.
iii) Its ok to blast a person, shoot them down, as long as u finish your sentence with a smile, give them a light pat and say something that praises the batch or glorifies his/her team skills etc
iv) Irrespective of what people tell you they are working towards higher grades and those whom you expect least to have scored high are generally among the class toppers. ;-)
v) Apple Polishing(Networking) is still the most efficient way to get a job.
Will stick to just 5 points for now , will add a sequel to this learnings list later. its 3.30 am and too much surfing, movie watching and blog reading has driven me into the borders of insanity, making it hard for me to recollect the learnings. And ya if you think I am incorrect, I am generalizing blah blah, nope I am not generalizing, I am definitely to an extent right ;-) and these are well what I have learnt with my limited observing capabilities.
--Badri--
Clearly my "blog only if you have something sensible to say" moto is not working well for the blog post count of my blog, I haven't posted in the past one month since I dint have anything sensible to say. Well what sense could
i) The ending of third term and the excitement of going home
ii)Explosion of activities like companies visiting ISB
iii)Resume building and thus soul searching
iv) Starting of term 4 , the last of the core terms
possible make to you if you are a non-isb reader. Now having said that most of the activities that take place here, even the ones I participate in, dont make any sense to me, so obviously they wont make any sense to you too. That being the case I would never get to blog if I decide to blog sense. (deep though eh!!!) so here I go a small senseless rant after a month long hiatus.
--Badri--
Not sure if its me, or if its something that happens to every ISBian. But with the commencement of 3rd term , attending classes has become a routine display of the art of sitting through the 2hours. Its as if someone is inflicting severe pain on me and I am being patient enough to ignore it for 2hrs.
The profs are great and the subject content is good too, just that i have gotten bored of school. Cant wait for the course to complete , if ISB were to charge Rs.2 lacs and give the certificate today with a 3+GPA i wud gladly take it.
We had our midterm today and it was an eye opener, i realized how much i have gotten into the sitting through 2hrs syndrome. I was constantly looking at the clock and counting how much more time was left before i cud run away from the hall , reach my room and hit the bad - GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME :-) :-)
--Badri--
p.s: Spoke to a couple of guys in my village, guess what they are suffering from the syndrome too
Before even i start reviewing the movie , let me remind you "Idhu rajni padam alla"(this is not a rajni movie), its a pasupathy movie in which rajni has a role. In the game of cricket(Rajnis movie career) where the balls bowled are Rajni movies, this one clearly is a wide, a no ball , a ball that doesn't count.
Hence this wouldnt, shouldnt count as a dot ball(flop), in the lines of pandyan, nattuku oru nallavan and Baba.
Ok "AV" was kind enough to book tickets for a few members of the tamizh gang at ISB, and since most of us presumed it was a thalaivar(aka Rajni) movie we were more than happy to leave our chores at school at run to the cinema.
But then Vasu managed to make life (the 2hrs 40min we were in the theatre) miserable for us, while at the end of the movie some emotional(tele serial loving types) ended up crying due to the strong emotional touch in the movie, the rest of us ended up crying too for having decided to watch the movie. It was miserable.
Here is what made it miserable and what made it watchable.
i) Meena(the heroine) has always been a horrible actress, while paid re.1 to act she acts for rs.5 this movie she has acted for rs.10. Watching meena overact and her constipated dialogue delivery was a kodumai (torture)
ii) Pasupathy(the hero) is a good actor, in fact some of his performances are wonderful , but in this movie, he decided to match meena and has acted for re.5 when paid only re.1
iii) Vasu(the director) cant create anything good, so perhaps he should just stick to taking malayalam hits and remaking them in tamizh. His attempt at making the movie a rajni film(in spite of rajnis requesting him not to do so) is nothing short of pathetic. He loses track of what he is trying to convey to the audience several times, and stretches the movie far more than required to over glorify rajni. Dude vasu u dont have to do that , Thalaivar has already been deified by us.
iv) Editor Sarvana must go back to the basics of editing , apparently he doesnt seem to know when to cut or perhaps he sleeps on his job.
v) The music by G.V.Prakash Kumar although not catchy is tolerable.
vi) The art by Thotta Dharini especially in the egyptian themed song was good. Although the song by itself wasnt required(so were all the other songs in the movie)
vii) Nayantara since she dint have any acting to do, decided to show skin for re.5 while paid re.1(or perhaps now a days she exposes more for lesser pay). What was the director thinking while taking the camera aand focusing it on her thighs. And what was she thinking, she apparently is the numero uno among tamizh actresses and she seems to be trying hard to cash in on the position. But all that said she does look cute :-) And its becos of her that I could recover some of my cost on the ticket :-)
viii) Thalaivar does a cameo. Thalaivar rocks, thalaivar is the superstar(am i stating the obvious)
Vadivelu was good, Santhanam was good, Livingston was ok. Meena wearing starched new sarees while her husband dint earn enough to afford sugar or milk , while the house was in wretched poverty was as absurd as dolphins swimming in some river in tamilnadu(i am glad they stopped with dolphins and dint show the titanic). Pathetic usage of graphic, much elongated story line, horrible direction, over acting actors and too much misplaced emotion all that should summarize kuselan to about 90% , the only thing good about the movie is Thalaivar.
If you are extremely bored, got nothing better to do with your life, have free tickets, loads of time to kill , are a thalaivars fan and dont care what the story is as long as there is thalaivar in the movie , then and then alone watch kuselan else it aint worth it.
--Badri--
P.S: I am die hard Rajni fan, but then i am a movie buff to , so got to be fair in my rating of a movie and cant skew it just cos there is thalaivar in it, that said i might have made the movie sound a little more better than what it is since i am biased towards thalaivar movies. :-)
So much happening in term 3, although i dont want to bore u with all the details, there are somethings i do want to blog about.
i) New Quad and Loads of sleep
Shifted from SV(students village)2 to SV1, my room is in the middle of a small jungle , very windy and loads of fresh air and hence I spent 90% of the free time last week sleeping(otherwise i do spend only 75%).
The movement to the new quad was tough, too many things to carry, rearrange and all that movement stuff. But the cricket and football with my quadmates made up for all the pains i tool to shift.
ii) Movies movies movies
Last 4 days have watched 5 movies, 5 episodes of "The wonder years", 4 of "Friends" and a few He-Man episodes. Who said ISB is very hectic and term 3 is the most hectic of all terms.
iii) Donation to ISB canteen.
I dont wake up before 10.30 these days(on an average) so miss the breakfast on most days since breakfast closes at 10am. at Rs.55 per breakfast since I have paid for the entire year by skipping at least 10 breakfasts this term i have added rs.550 to my donations to the canteen. Wait a minute am i donating or are they exploiting hmm....
iv) Grades - no grades
The debate over grade disclosure vs no grade disclosure opened up in my batch too. Its always been there and will continue to be there. The ones who have good chance of making it to the deans list and thus into mckinsey or bcg believe that grade disclosure gives them a competitive advantage and are in support for the same. Their argument shouldnt isb stop asking gmat scores if they arent supposed to disclose grades. Thats so lame does wharton not ask for gmat scores even though students dont disclose grades there. while interviewing for jobs at isb u are ISB + your previous experience , the fact that ur are ISB speaks something about urself hence grades dont matter. But while applying to ISB itself how else can ISB distinguish u from the remaining 15000 applications. And yes its 15000 applications into ISB vs 450 people fighting for a job.
Those not in chance of making to the deans list think grades shouldnt be disclosed since it spoils the spirit. well thats lame too people find some means to compete if not on grades. Come up with some novel argument folks (btw i am neutral i just have fun watching them fight)
v) Ethics
If you dont drink is it ok to listen to the gibberish of the drunk around you. Is it ok to gossip about their 'secrets' that they so loudly declared to you while they were 'spirit'ed
vi) Speed dating party
There was a speed dating party at ISB tonight, yup u read that right. Wear red means u are not interested in a date, green u are all set, yellow u are confused, any other color is equivalent to green (i dint get that either). Well all the unmarried gals turned up in red so the party rocked :-) so there was dance and music, booze and aerated drinks like in all isb parties and no dating(no dating as a consequence of the speed dating ;-) ) at the party.
--Badri--
Si is leaving ISB to join Babsons, coming from an entrepreneurial family she decided babsons was a better choice.
Now she wanted it to be different from all the other parties at ISB so this was thrown at a pub called Scarlet Pub. The party started at 9pm and went on till 12.30am. Some 50 of us attended the same. Here are some highlights of the party
i) When i reached the party it was 10.45pm so the folks present there were already 2 hrs into the party and had guzzled dozens of flaming lamborghinis and bazookas , beers and vodkas and whiskey.
ii) I was greeted with hugs from several of the party animals on the dance floor and i immediately knew they were far too drunk. (I dont remember the last time they said hi to me when they were sober ;-) )
iii) I found out who loves whom, who thinks what abt whom, folks where in a confessing mood. i heard everything from "Man i love her a lot but dont tell her too" --- "that guy is a A.hole ....."
iv) Some of the drunk folks took to the wheels and raced us back to school - god it was scary
v) of course there was puking, shouting, dancing, jumping etc etc etc
vi) some caring folk ensured everyone reached home safe - good job I must say
vii) Everyone who was rocking from excess -anols in them (ethanol, methanol ...) felt the party was rocking, sober folks like me who saw the guys who rocked felt it was fun.
Nevertheless its one of the best parties i have been too, all the best to Si, and to the drunk folks of the day -some of you told me secrets that you really dont want me to know ;-0
--Badri--
