Ready 2 Rock!!

Time flies when you are having fun..It is hard to imagine that two weeks have passed by since we arrived at ISB.. Orientation and Pre-terms are completed, helping us in getting acquainted with facilities and making friends..!! We had several parties, quite a few get-togethers, gyaan sessions (Career and academic centric), and some time for introspection and SWOT analysis.
I am at a school after a gap of six years, and these two weeks have really helped me in getting back on track for the final sprint!!

Now, the time for real action - Core term courses are starting from May 1, and we've amazing set of professors coming in to teach us. Of course, the most important thing is to reflect on our learnings - to see how we can apply what we learn in the classrooms to our past experiences and visualize what we could've done differently. Everyone says that Term 1 would be the most difficult term - i guess it is purely because of inertia and lack of education in the recent past. Other terms are relativey easier not because of their content but because we are creatures of habit..:)

Nevertheless, I guess the whole batch is ready to rock..!!

tata..Satish

Time...Pruning.!!

Time is the single most valuable thing for simply one reason - you can't buy it! You can't get more of it and you won't be able to retrieve it once you lost it. And, the only noble chance given to us to achieve, to enjoy& to accomplish is by effectively utilising the time. All this might sound as a cliche and there is lotta stuff on time-management, and I've watched few of those videos myself before. Unfortunately, they didn't work for me because I didn't make those tips work.

I believe anything you read you should first personalize the learnings and then use those. Along these lines, I devised my own way to manage my time. The first important thing is to know your goals, and to write them down. Naturally, they should be measurable. Don't have a laundry list of goals, instead choose 3 to 5 of your aspirations (Short-term goals) and prioritize those.

Second, identify how you spend your time on a typical day. It goes without saying that you can correct only those which you can track and measure. Record all the activities that you do during the day and the time spent on those. I know this is time-consuming effort, but you've to do it only once or twice to get an idea where you spend most of your time.

Third, classify all your activities into four categories - A, B, C, D. How?
'A' activities directly contribute towards your goal.
'B' activities include your mandatory/daily activities.
'C' activities include the things which you do for fun/balance
'D' activities are those unnecessary things which neither contribute to your goals nor provide the fun/balance part.
These activities and their corresponding categories vary from individual to individual, and the onus is on them to get those right.

Last step is the most crucial one - Discipine yourself to spend 80% of your time on 'A' activities, 15% on 'B', 5% on 'C', and completely avoid D activities. (These percentages to an extent also depend on how immediately you want to achieve your goals. And you must not skip any of these steps)

tata...Satish.

P.S: I will let you know how i am doing 'this way' in a month's time..!!

Wow..what a week !!

It's been a exactly a week since I have landed on this beautiful campus with lots of hope and little anxiety. Anxiety has been taken care of by an awesome orientation week..& I am sure hopes and dreams will be taken care of by this year-end, ofcourse, giving birth to new dreams!!

If last week is any indication of how life at ISB will be in coming months, then I am probably the most luckiest person on the planet along with my other 426 batchmates :) Because:

Where else can you find three night bashes in less than five days, incessant gyaan sessions on multitude of career profiles (consulting, marketing, finance, VC etc, etc...& etc), amazing team building games, effective community/social service assignments, innumerable pranks, Career perspective session by five CEOs, Art & Creativity session, sports & talent night competition, future leadership lessons..etc, etc.. (I use 'etc' as a substitute for my ignorance of the other activities).......All these activities in less than a week!! Thanks to the 'great 2006 alums' who made most of these events memorable for us....!!

tata...Satish

P.S: the only not so good news is my girl-friend is getting married on May 11th.. :)

Char..Actor..

One of my favorite sayings goes like -" There is nothing like education that builds character" - and, here education is referred in a broader perspective. Most of the character traits that are universally thought of as 'unified' and 'fundamental' are indeed influenced by situation and context...However, I believe, education affects your behavior in such a way that you respond to different situations with an upbeat and right attitude. Good Institutions' Honor code policies also serve the same purpose.

What is generally written in such Honor Code policies is nothing but common sense (no copying, no cheating, no manipulating etc, etc) - and every normal human follows those in conducive circumstances. But, when situations and contexts are tempting, following any 'unwritten commonsense' becomes uncommon, and good humans fall prey to those temptations. That's when the written policies/honor code and their constant repetition/preaching serves as a deterrent.


tata..Satish.

Real action...yet to start..!!

...meeting new people...knowing few things about them...and within two mins forgetting even their names... :) Things will change pretty soon..though!! Few of the current batch along with the recent alums visited a school at serilingampally as a part of ISB's Net impact club activities. We couldn't do much with the kids except distributing candies, because there is a school foundation function going on...I am fortunate to have done few such things as part of 'We Kare' initiatives in Kanbay...probably, will get involved in this club as well....

At 07:00 PM, we got a glimpse of our batch statistics...& it is mind-blogging to say the least...& there are lotta interesting accomplishments in the batch.. the statistics will probably be updated on the website soon....it rained heavily during our welcome dinner, and we' are having a party in few more minutes by our immediate seniors..., which will probably go on till the wee hours...:)

tata...Satish.

Music Starts...:)

...bit anxious...bit lazy..bit scary...bit moody..bit exciting - all these bits culminated into an inexpressible feeling today morning before I landed up at ISB today. I arrived at campus along with my parents and one of my friends...He was excited looking at the buildings, people, facilities etc, etc...(obviously, bcoz he isn't missing anyone and studying here for next one year :)) I am put up at the student village 3 (just near the lake !!)

I am amazed by the VIP treatment rendered to the students here.. (we don't even have to make our bed!!) I hope we aren't pampered so much that it becomes difficult when we leave ISB into the real world...:) Started slowly getting into the groove, and we have a pretty tight schedule tomorrow...., starting with Dean's address and an interesting orientation week upfront...

I had a terrific year last year, and left my firm on a very high note. I am hoping that magic repeats at ISB in even larger magnitude....:)

tata...Satish.

Emotional Entanglement....

"Don't Cry because it is over - Smile, because it happened"

Easy to say - but, difficult to practice when you are missing something. Life happens to everyone, and such separations are common. Being aware of it is the first thing, and handling it is the second thing. Time heals everything!!

I am writing this senti and philosiphical stuff not because I intend to dwell in Himalayas, but because I am already missing my team :(

I have been lucky all along, meeting interesting and friendly people thru out my life. Most of them are in touch - though we are now physically separated by miles, countries, and continents..

I am sure the same continues...

Stuff Happens....Keep Going..:)

Tata...Satish.

The art & science of success...!!

Success means different things to different people...However, the process that is underlying to get to any goal is consistently constant - Few gems from Edward De Bono on that process:

- If you want something hard enough, you will get it.

-Be ready for luck – but do not sit around waiting for it.

- Knowing what you want to do, determination and persisitence are important –you may have these qualities by temperament or strategy.

- Choose not only an opportunity field, but preferably a growing one

- It is comforting to know that there are many styles of success. – Try to find your style.- build up the strong points of your style

- You should much rather climb into the head of someone who has lost and see what made the person come back as victor, than to climb the head of a winner.

- Use failure as the shadow that gives dimension to the picture.

- Self-image is all important

- The value of challenge is that it wonderfully focuses energies and thinking

- The most important single thing is having an idea and putting it into practice and seeing it bear fruit. You just can’t let ideas be ideas

- There can’t be a general purpose motivation – convert it to something specific and particular.

Gems are always good to look, read, and taste !! But, the most important thing is to live those..:)

Tata..Satish.

Money...Honey !!

After ISB placements' results are out, it is not uncommon to relate everything to the magical highest-salary figure, forgetting everything else that took the student to get there! In such instances, the school's contribution, I must say, is over-estimated. (the weightage of contribution by even the best school on the planet will not exceed 30%). Any school can utmost be a vehicle, but one has to drive the vehicle to reach his goal. Most of the credit must therefore go to the person who achieved the feat.

I have been bombarded with the calls after the news is out, putting undue pressure. I struggled hard to explain my above reasoning and there are more things than money that one can look for in a top-class B-school. The present batch at ISB has set top-class bench marks for us, and hopefully we'll meet those and with lil luck can surpass those..:)

Success can never be completely measured by dollar bill - Ever!! However, money is a good guage for one's success. But, beyond a point it adds lil value..

Tata..Satish.

GMAT Resources - II

Like many of my fellow countrymen, my area of improvement isverbal and I invested 80-90% of my preparation time in masteringverbal concepts. Kaplan verbal guide and Kaplan 800 really helpedme in that direction. The following are the links I used occasionallyto brush up my basics and prevent myself from going nuts..:) Hopefully,they can help my fellow friends as well..

Argument Mini test analysis
http://www.west.net/~stewart/gmat/qmargum.htm
Grammar
http://aliscot.com/bigdog/index.htm

IVY essays
http://www.ivyessays.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1

Test Tutor
http://www.testutor.com/

http://www.ascenteducation.com/india-mba/iim/cat/questionbank/Archives/June2002/june2002.shtml

http://www.bartleby.com/64/

http://www.tpub.com/math2/77.htm

http://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=7228

http://www.crack-gmat.com/

http://www.downdowndown.net/index_gmat.htm

http://cyberprep.com/bschool/drills/drills.htm

http://www.microedu.com/

http://www.syvum.com/gmat/

http://www.800score.com/guidec2view3.html

http://www.sentencecorrection.com/

http://www.west.net/~stewart/gmat/

http://www.gmatquiz.com/gmat-prep/signup.php

http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/gmatplus/gmat.html

http://www.gmattutor.com/idioms.html

http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm

http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/vol6/conditional.html

http://www.mathforum.org/library/drmath/sets/select/

http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/gmat/test.asp

http://www.testmagic.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4203

http://education.kulichki.net/distant/gmaton.html

http://www.scholarstuff.com/netguide/test/gmat.htm

http://www.gmatbuster.org/gmat-questions.htm

http://www.scoretop.com

Obviously, you don't have to refer all of these to get a good score,
because I didn't. But, it should serve as a repository of material which
you can refer based on your judgement and required areas of improvement.

Tata....Satish

GMAT Resources - I

I am writing this post in response to several of my friends' requests of
how I went out about preparing for the inevitable - GMAT!
As most of us are aware, GMAT is one of the important criteria for any top B-school
admission, and this is probably the only one which is under our direct control.
Hopefully, this post would address my friends' request comprehensively....&
I am honored to share my secrets for getting a good score :)

OG...OG..OG - if you've to do just one thing for preparing GMAT,
it has to be OG (Official Guide). You've to master it, primarily focussing
on your responses. If you answered right, figure out why the particular
answer is right and why the other answers are wrong;
and by the sametoken, put all you effort to find out the reason for your
mistakes for those which you answered incorrectly. The key is to master the
basics that are repetitvely tested in GMAT.

I also believe short- concentrated (2-3 months, 5-6 hrs a day) effort is
more effective than long- diversified effort (6 months, 1-2 hrs a day).
And ofcourse ubiquitous mantra for any preparation holds good for
GMAT preparation as well - Practice, Practice, and Practice.

Tata...Satish

Born 2 3Ls

As Gita says, living and dying are the two sides of the same coin called 'Soul'. A man transforms in each birth and travels thru a path that leads to his salvation in 'n' number of births ( the value of n depends on what you do in those births b/w life and death) - So, goes the philosophy - but, I believe I am 'Born to 3 L's - Live, Love, Lead..!!'

Live: My idea of living is to live according to your values, goals, and dreams - ALWAYS!! My values are a significant portion of 'me'. My Physicality - height, weight, age, coloring, sense of style - is the wrapped package. Rip the ribbons and paper away, and open the box to find the real person inside, the reality will not change regardless of the how the package is wrapped. That inner core is defined by both nature and nurture. Ofcourse, the main essence of living is sharing (as portrayed by the below post...(poem))

Love: Love is the most commonly misused term - there are lotta connotations, but the predominant one is equivalent to 'attraction & affection'. However, I believe Love has to be selfless if it is a genuine one - but such self-less love is rare.( Atleast, I haven't fallen in such a love as yet!!). If I ask my mom she tells me that one can have True Love only towards the LORD (a.k.a devotion) and all the other forms of love are selfish and false. I kinda tend to agree with her...

Lead: 'Leading' is my favorite verb, and according to me it means 'influencing' and 'enabling' people to perform to their peak potential. You don't have to be a designated leader to lead - you can always influence people by your thoughts, actions, and character. I believe self-mastery, self-discipline, and self-awareness are the true prerequisites to become a good leader.

I hope to live by these 3 Ls...!!

Tata...Satish.

Living ..&..Living Well..

The following lyrics from George Strait are my favorite ones and close to my 'blood pumping instrument'...It beautifully exemplifies the difference b/w living and living well... (SHARING...&..CARING)


Had a nice little life
A little boat a little beach
A little routine I liked
A blue ocean view
Free to go with the flow
Anywhere that I wanted to
But the moment you set foot on my shore
That's when I knew

There's a difference inLiving and living well
You can't have it all
All by yourself
Something's always missing
'Til you share it with someone else
There's a difference in living and living well

'Til you smiled with me
Thought that I had it good
As good as it could be
From the back of my deck
Caught a fish caught a breeze
And a thousand red sunsets
But sitting here with you girl
I just sawThe best one yet
There's a difference inLiving and living well

You can't have it all
All by yourself
Something's always missing
'Til you share it with someone else
There's a difference in living and living well

My days are brighter
My sky a deeper blue
My nights are sweeter
When I'm with you

There's a difference inLiving and living well
You can't have it all
All by yourself
Something's always missing
'Til you share it with someone else
There's a difference in living and living well