The day after

If you think you are here to do strategy only... think again...

The day after my first board meeting was way more hectic than I imagined it to be .... After sleeping eating work for a month, I expected personal life and normalcy to return ... But it seems the board got other plans for us... It was looking as if my 3 years, plan is put into 6 month time line ....The best part however was to get support of a PE guy.... whose ability to handle people and problems came into light today only. Though he being an MBA ...has definitely learned to gas but... being through managing many sinking businesses, he has got an ability to simultaneously handle nuisances and yet motivate them with top quality gas. ... Something that is definitely there to learn from him....

It seems the world of top level strategy is over for me. Its time to go back to drawing board to put on implementation timelines... However the best part of implementation is to see your ideas being converted into revenue figures and your improving experience curve in terms of people and problem management .... Hope the world of implementation remains as exciting as strategy was......

first board meeting

Finally the day went by, where 8 innocent incubated souls were supposed to show their understanding of businesses and growth plans to the board; which comprises PE head and directors who were almost three times of ours age.... The idea was to strip our plan, basically us, in front of operating heads and board members... and get everyone's approval on the final thing...
so as to make it undeniable in next quarter meeting....

All said and done, I believe a friendly board understood our pain and gave us credit for the work we put in. Independent directors got more words to appreciate and motivate incubated souls like us.

The meeting venue was perfect to hold such an event. The meeting was at Taj, situated on a leased island at the shore of Arabian sea. The place got an aura in terms of location , decor and not to miss on price :P .

The meeting had more things to talk than only presentations. Like our interaction with an advertising agency on rebranding the company. The kind souls like ours got the power to talk openly about the names we like and dislike, and Well we did our part to make sure that we get the best name to talk about in future.

I believe the meeting was great not only in terms of exposure but also in terms of enjoying the power that we were sharing, at the moment, with other board members.

The fun didnt get over in those 7 hours of meeting. It just got started with drinks at the corner of Taj which opens into arabian sea. What amazed was that drunken bakars which followed after dinner, where we were involved with directors to rough up a HR head.

The day became an experience which cant be put on paper ....It just seem running 10 years ahead of my time....

IIMK campus versus IIMB campus

I hate it my friend but I can't hold it further, especially when I am suffocated enough to wake up at 3AM in night. Lying here, I only wonders , what happened to Bangalore fresh air and from where does it gets huge stocks of mosquitoes.
Few months back, I got in awe with this campus while I was here for the sports meet . It was as great as mentioned by my friend i.e. amount of sports facilities and proximity to malls, pubs and discs.
My stay in Bangalore over last 2 weeks turned to be an eye openers. With all due respect to its students and almamater, I just ask whether sports facilities and pubs replace the bare minimum necessities of our day to day life. Rather in K we can hang out at better places at half the price, ex a buffet at Taj cost us half the price here.
I ponder over what I miss the most; and finds the following points to write about....
a) Nature: Even if I do not account for IIM-Kcampus natural beauty, the fresh air and greener campus stands over rocky, suffocating, mosquitoes filled campus of Bangalore
b) Nature of people: I salute the spirit of the people of Bangalore for their fucking attitude toward work and people from other states. Be it auto wallah or staff worker in IIMB, you just kept wondering you are in brink of being duped of money or service. In Kerala people are far more trustworthy and the staff workers perform more than what their duty calls for. The rooms and bathroom provided in IIMB remain uncleaned room and the admin give shit about the same.
c) Natural resource: Water and pollution remains a big problem. My fight for saving my body and hair from hard water and polluted atmosphere of Bangalore will be accounted as hardest ever battle I have fought over the year, which will be followed by my stay in Noida,UP.
d) Snacks canteen: Man I love what they serve in IIMB, be it hand made tea or great sandwiches, but this is all they have. The menu was so short that I heard every college grad crib about the same while having their snacks.
Well IIMK canteen is not only to boast about menu but also its position over the hill that provides mosquito free happier times during snacks time.
e) POLLUTION and TRAFFIC : Reaching discs, mall or office isn’t easy. If you are able to avoid autowallahs, travelling in Bangalore remains HELL. Even with an experience of Delhi of 2000 (highest pollution levels), I am having run for my health in these challenging situation.
Probably it isn’t remain only about IIMB and could have been worse have I been staying somewhere else in Bangalore. It could have been worst here if students of IIMB haven’t provided us access to sports facilities and internet. But when I talk about IIM’s expectation rises and everything boils down to comparison esp when you miss taken for granted things that were the part of your one year stay in other campus

PS: I know some of Bangalore guys wont agree to content above, but then the blog is not to prove it. Rather share it people going through same pain :)

New record of movies and wakeup time

Today will be remembered as laziest day of my life. I watched movies to an extent of loosing its count. I had to go to my recent items list to find out what movies I saw. Adding to it was my long sleep...which made me wake up at 1600hrs.
It isnt that this kind of appetitie was build over the day. Working all over night (watching movies in day) and waking up at odd hours has become a part of life. IIMs seems to gift you life that helps you live over jetlags, untimely meals and sleepless nights. Whatever be the case ...its always a better experience to break old records especially when they give you content to blog about :)

In reminiscence...

There are times you never forget, some for the craziest acts, some for good times and some for chemistry that won’t be recreated. My 3rd term break saw wonderful time and decisions procrastinated over the years. I met friends after long time and found that few things and few people remain unchanged, and that remains the best part when rest is under continual change. Talks were nostalgic so do the moments that were created. Everything seemed fine yet was not. This was substantiated by the other friend who sometimes seems to understands me more than what I believe he can. His improved understanding might be a reflection of his efforts to counsel other sex. During that time there were some revelations that should have come from the right source. But they did help in atleast one thing. i.e. taking the long awaited decision and bidding the adieu. As they say change is inevitable.... still wondering Why So ...

Power and politics

Power and Politics, are used in highly negative context in India. This has created an environment where people avoid exercising power to avoid being associated with either of P&P. We restrict ouselves to such an extent that when need arises it becomes hard to exercise control. Todays' class was eye opener in lot of ways. Power and politics are not always negative. They form two sided sword which usually falls on its owner. Its not easy to exercise power especially in environmnt where someone is building relationships to achieve social security. Though people unknowingly use politics in day to day activities to attain power over the group of people. This may come from one's skills, perception, and communication with rest of group. You can see visible politics more often in companies where people manipulate others to walk up the ladder.

So what all is required in order to achieve success. As per one professor, you should say yes to politics, and if you cant then atleast be politically aware. Only after being atleast politically aware one can know what their peers are upto. Its difficult to control without power, which is a byproduct of one's concious efforts, and achieve success in Indian management scenario.

Towards a better state

Reservation is an ideology with two faces, the head and the heart, which are contradicting themselves since the inception of the mankind. The head believes in logic; logic to have equality among people; logic of not dividing the society whereas the heart believes in touching the chords of human emotions. Heart talks about pain given by the emperors wearing SHAHI suits with only contrast to heartless politicians who wear KHADI. We have witnessed the struggle between the two faces over reservation for over a decade now and see it changing its face from battles on the streets to the battle in courts and hospitals. It is an admirable change towards a prudent and matured society. India's future looks much brighter with people who are not only questioning the intentions of bureaucrats but also are sympathetic towards those who findi it difficult to afford education. It is not a battle, as portrayed by politicians; it's a dream that youth have seen for the country. The dream that can be fulfilled only by moving beyond the dark cloud of ignorance by making people aware of false moves of upliftment like reservation and making them aware of their rights, their expectation from the state, their need for quality primary and secondary education and their right to vote. It is time to move towards better state by enlightening people to reduce barriers between the heart and the head.