Chili Grenades

Yes you heard it right. Chili grenades are the latest weapon addition to Indian military. Made from Made from thumb sized “bhut jolokia” or “ghost chili”- the spiciest chili pepper in the world, according to the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records -- the grenades are expected to immobilize suspects. Trials are on for this weapon and they are intended to be used by women against attackers and for the police to control and disperse mobs.

Last day in Office

Yesterday was my last day in organization. I had to say Goodbye to this great workplace after spending seven and half years of some fantastic time with very creative and supportive Colleagues. I got to learn lots of things professionally during this time. Lots of people provided me with much needed encouragement and support whenever required. It was lots of fun getting opportunity to work with such a great bunch of passionate technologists.

Whenever I left any organization in the past I used to maintain a stoic self and be as un-emotional as possible. This time it was something different. I could sense all the affection of my workplace team and friends. Though I maintained an outer calm, but could sense waves of emotions running high. I will always remember this bunch of enthusiastic and friendly individuals. I would like to say only one thing. You Guys Rock!!!!

Second Degree

I just finished reading “Second degree” by Prashant John. Before I say something on this book let me describe how I chanced upon this book. After putting my papers I have been doing nothing worthwhile for last couple of weeks. I was forced by my family to accompany my Father to Jayanagar 4th block to get our travel bags repaired. While my Father was busy with the repair shop, I went to near by Sapana book house to glance through some of the new arrivals.

In the display section of new arrivals I could see this book “Second Degree” displayed very prominently. Seeing IIM-A on the cover page caught my attention instantly. I must confess that the book got me hooked immediately.

PGPX program from IIMA is a relatively new one. Having started in 2006 it’s still in its nascent stage. Prashant john was member of the first batch of PGPX. He comes out as someone with a very unassuming personality and a chilled out attitude. His main motto is to be out of rat race when everyone is there to be in the same rat race. This provides for a strong narration and objectivity of the book.

“Second degree” can be treated as Bible for any PGPX aspirant. It provides chronological description of all the PGPX modules and the very interesting student life at IIM-A campus. This book is very different from books such as ‘Five Point Someone’ written on campus life. Even though there is some fiction interlaced in the writing, it’s basically to make the reading more interesting. Fiction never overtakes the factual description in whole of the book. One gets to know small details like classroom seating position of students as well as difficulty level encountered in some specific subjects like cost accounting. Reader becomes completely familiar with assignments, quizzes, CPs and end term tests effortlessly while navigating through the book.

Prashant has a strong hold on humor and this comes out very beautifully all throughout the book. All his characters like Sweety, Subbu, Berrywala, Prasad, Bongo, Jignesh and Daddu add the humor quotient to the book in their unique ways. They also provide insight into student life at campus and everyday struggle of a typical business school student.

Prashant develops the plot of the book quite nicely by introducing all his characters elaborately and describing the induction session in detail. This provides for some engrossing reading. He seems to be in somewhat hurry during the later part of the book. Sometimes he comes out as a very bored soul and tries to rush through in the end chapters. He could have provided more substance and retained his magic as in initial chapters. Nevertheless by this time reader is fully immersed and so doesn’t mind these blips.

PGPX is relatively unknown entity in corporate World. A very fascinating reading like “Second degree” is sure to make it very visible. Prashant has done a great service to his Alma matter by coming up with something like this. I recommend this book to anybody looking out for some fast paced instant fun with lots of insider stuff on IIM-A PGP

Why to do a one year MBA?

1. First and foremost it provides you with an opportunity to get more skills required for higher management roles. It certainly helps you cope better with everyday issues that you face in your workplace. It invigorates your learning cells and you are ready to take a deep plunge!!

2. Quite often than not you can reboot your career through one year MBA program like PGPX from IIMA. You have already spent significant amount of time in your job. By this time you are very clear on your likes and dislikes. You would have also created some new taste in finance or marketing or any other subject. MBA enables you to give a fresh boost to your career by making you choose right job post your MBA stint.

3. The one year MBA program makes you come out of your lethargy zone. This makes you believe that you can slug it out for many days non stop without little or any sleep. You suddenly feel that you are much more capable to slog than you actually thought about your kind self. In the nutshell it makes you much more confident to face the corporate world.

4. If you do your MBA from a premier institute like IIMA or ISB, it adds lots of value to your profile. It also increases the networking opportunities with very accomplished Alumni and batch mates who go on to make a mark for themselves.

5. Everybody has his or her own style of management. You would have tried some of your beliefs and theories while doing everyday management job. When you go to an MBA School you get an opportunity to validate your ideas and theories. It provides you opportunity to thin k much more and deeper on your favorite management topic and come out with your interpretation of the same. This whole process can be very fulfilling and rewarding in the long run.

Richest Lord of Earth!!!!

Day before I made the trip to Tirupathi with my parents. This trip was long overdue and I am happy that we could make it this time. It’s needless to say that it was a divine experience. Even though it was relatively less crowded day, then also we encountered long queues of devotees. It was a sea of humanity immersed in devotion to Lord Srivari waiting patiently for its turn to have a glimpse of Lord Almighty.

I am happy that I could accomplish this journey and have darshan of the richest and most benevolent Lord of Tirumala.

Placement Buzz from IIM's

Recently we have seen lots of news on IIM placements. All major newspapers are full of IIM placement stories. Basic underline theme is the substantial improvement in placements compared to last year. I feel placement statistics reflect the general optimism seen in economy. I also feel that placement statistics should not be over hyped. What eventually matters is the wisdom and knowledge gained by any student from his/her Alma matter.

One-year full time MBA is still in its nascent stage in India. ISB started it in 2000 followed by IIM Ahmedabad in 2006. One can still see clearly that Industry awareness on the value derived from One year MBA is still very low. There has been lots of media coverage on IIMA’s two year PGP program but It’s PGPX placement has got very little coverage. Almost all the IIM’s have one-year MBA courses running with them. Still we can see Industry and media is mostly focused on two year MBA by all the IIM’s.

I sincerely feel this scenario will change very fast in coming years. Industry will see the value and depth in one-year MBA programs like PGPX from IIMA. The candidates coming out from these programs bring invaluable experience and learning from the Industry. Their learning also from the program is also very high. Faculty in all the IIM’s has repeatedly vouched for superlative value from one-year MBA participants. Some Industries have already taken the lead in recruiting from programs like PGPX. They have returned to campus repeatedly to repose their faith in these one-year MBA programs. I am personally quite optimistic on the value derived from one year MBA programs like PGPX from IIMA.