First few weeks of Classes and Few weeks from Q1 Exams..

It was rough. It was exciting. It was hectic. It was fun.

The first few weeks have flown by super fast and my Q1 exams are around the corner!! My two quiz exams are over and many more (!!) are in the pipe line. These weeks have kept me busy, super busy and made me understand what real pressure is and what really 24/7 means. I had to attend many info sessions, prepare my resume, attend the club meetings, prepare for the next classes, prepare for my quiz exams and also do the team work.

You need to have that extra bit of talent and put that extra bit of effort to be in the best ranks of an already best class. Now I understand why MBA's from Rotman stand out in the crowd and are able to prove themselves. They get used to the pressure situations here itself and hence the corporate pressure situations become lighter for them!!

And, my Q1 exams are slated to start from Oct 22nd. That is exactly 3 weeks from now. I am sure that the following weeks are going to be more hectic, more exciting and more fun!!

Visit to Cirque De Soleil..

For those of you who don’t know what that is or whom they are..Cirque de Soleil (Circus of the Sun) is one of the most famous circus companies in the world. They are the pioneers in modern circus art and are the people who redefined the way circus was being performed.

Their shows are not for children and hence you don’t get to see clowns running here and there cracking jokes you will not laugh at. The best part that differentiates Cirque from the others is that it is a “part theatre” and “part cinema” performance. The show moves on as a story with fantastic performances in between- that too without the lions, tigers, elephants and parrots.

Our project team (me, Jas, George and Shaun) decided to go to Cirque de Soleil, as our minor project in one of our core subjects was on Cirque de Soleil. Day before yesterday, before I went to the show, I was also thinking that it would be one of the regular shows and they became famous just by luck. And now I take back my words.

We went to a story line called “Kooza” a performance inspired by the middle eastern culture . It is a story of a small boy who wants possession of magic wand. It combines two circus traditions – acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. The show highlights the physical demands of human performance in all its splendor and fragility, presented in a colorful mélange that emphasizes bold slapstick humor. The Innocent's journey brings him into contact with panoply of comic characters such as the King, the Trickster, the Pickpocket, and the Obnoxious Tourist and his Bad Dog. The major difference I found between the Indian circus and Cirque de Soleil is the insistence on safety. All the artists here at the Cirque performed with their safety belts and other equipments, while in India if the artist mis-dives, then God save him.

Be it though. The show was amazing and given a chance I would love to go and watch the show again. Thanks Cirque for making my day memorable!!

Thrill to a Trillion!!

Mukesh Ambani's new distinction puts the world in his pocket and the moon within his grasp.

Who wants to be a millionaire' is so last season. And who wants to be a billionaire is close to being pass. A sharp surge in share prices of his group companies has earned Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani the rare distinction of being the only trillionaire in the country with over Rs 1,00,000 crore (Rs 10000000000000!!!!!!!) of wealth through his shareholdings. And that's now upped the ante for wannabe bullion-barons, propelling fortunes into figures that jam up calculators and stymie anyone trying to zero in on how many digits a trillion has! Yet, making this number meaningful to ordinary people is a major challenge. So, what does a trillion look like?

To help you along this flight of fancy money, TGIS came up with a ready reckoner of sorts, a comparative study in a lighthearted vein that disregards currency conversions, to give you an idea of what it actually means to stack up a 'trill' and break the bank in the process.

Ronald Reagan's Star Wars defence programme of the 1980s didn't come cheap. And the US government put a cap on that programme when the greenbacks were nudging a trillion in the spending mark. That’s when costs raised a few eyebrows. But it's also clear that a trillion can fund its very own Star Wars programme, albeit of a different kind. In fact, a trillionaire could probably reach for the stars, in every sense of the term. There’s a saying which goes something like 'No man is an island' and the world's most costly man-made islands, Dubai's Palm Islands ($180,000- $2,000,000 a pop) are within easy reach of a trillion. To rephrase that, a trillion could put all the properties that comprise Palm Islands within your reach, and still leave you enough to get you some property on the moon for good measure!

And, while we're talking airborne, the Airbus 380 is now the most luxurious thing in the air. And, at $296-300 million per plane, a trillion could probably buy you as many of these planes as there are days in the month.

And, when you're a trillionaire, the word 'budget' takes on a new meaning. Speaking of budget, you might have made your trillion by smart budgeting, but a trillion can put a country's defence budget within your reach. But why stop at a mere budget when you can use that money for something altogether more peaceful? Ever heard of the Savage Garden song To The Moon And Back? While lead singer Darren Hayes might never rake in that kind of moolah for a lifetime of hit singles, to a trillionaire , a flight to the Moon and back - literally - would be as commonplace, in money terms, as a long-haul flight to another continent for the regular folk.

That's right, when you're thinking in trillions, you're in another zone. A calculation on a website states that you can illustrate the scale of this number by comparing the fact that a million seconds equals 11.5 days, a billion seconds is 32 years and a trillion is 32,000 years.

So what comes after a trillion? A quadrillionaire! And that's a thousand times trillion.
Is anyone listening?

(Source:TNN)

Facts at a Glance...

Check out the Latest statistics of the Class of 2009 (entering Spetember'2007) at Rotman...

http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/mba/factsglance.htm

Change in Co-ordinates

It has been exactly 1 month and 1 day I left India.

And suddenly I began to think why I wanted to do an MBA? From leaving a job where I was earning good money to being a student- I began to wonder what this MBA brings to my life.?? Though I had definite plans in my minds and had answered a lot of “Why MBA” questions to various recruiters across the globe, I wanted to re-confirm whether my priorities have changed within this span of 30 days.

Now, I feel that, I am here to do an MBA because:

1. I want to make my career shift to Consulting.
2. My career growth would be faster if I do my MBA
3. To be a leader you need to develop additional skills and MBA will help you in learning those skills

4. And the big $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

When I compare these with my Pre-MBA mind, Little have my priorities changed. But the way my life was has changed completely. From an office goer to a Student, from eating dosas to eating pizzas, from travelling in TVS-Victor to travelling in Tubes, from Chennai average temperatures of 40deg C to Torontonian Average of 9 deg C..Everything has changed.

I have finished my First quiz exam at Rotman. And to my surprise I have fared well in the exam. The race against time to catch up with my class subjects, team deliverables and Individual asssignments is on. The Co-ordinates are changing. Changing at rapid pace than I expected!!

Live and Let Live..

Last week there was a seminar on Carbon Offsets at Rotman by Mr. Ron Dembo, the Founder of Zero Footprint, a company that is engaged in helping the world a better place to live, by helping to reducing the amount of Carbon emissions. Having come across the term "Carbon Offset" and "Carbon trading" many, many, many times in my earlier job, I thought the lecture would primarily focus on how to make money out of the current opportunity in Cabon trading. So, I didn't attend the talk. And, I was wrong. But thanks to Rotman Corporate Citizenship Institute, we were sent a video link of the talk.

With the world becoming more flatter, the awareness for making the world more livable for the future generation has also become more visible. I came across some important points, some through the lecture and some thru some further googling:

1. Just if 660 million people across the world who have computers change their Computer Screensavers to black, we can shut down 100 Nuclear Power plants or 350 Coal Plants

2. Contrary to the general perception that India and China are major Carbon (read atmosphere) pollutants, the North American Countries are the major pollutants. (Leaders in this also!!)

3. Still they insist that India and China reduce their pollution levels. (Remember "Kyoto Protocol"..But accepted when considered from a broader view)

4. Poverty is also a important factor in adding to Carbon Emissions. For example, in Congo the head of a family is left with no other option than to destroy the trees and animals in his nearby area. Why because with no work and no money to spend what else he would do when his entire family is starving for food.

5.Recycling just one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a 60W light bulb for six hours (Source: Recoup)

6. On average for every minute an air passenger is airbourne he is responsible for the emission of enough CO2 to fill 167 party balloons. (Source: The Daily Telegraph)

7. An area the size of Ireland would need to be planted every year to offset the emissions generated by the world’s aircraft. (Source: The Daily Telegraph)

8. One return flight from the UK to Australia is the equivalent to the climate change impacts of heating, cooking and lighting in an average house for nearly three years. (Source: The Daily Telegraph)

Interested in knowing how much carbon each of you emitting??.. Visit the webpage http://www.zerofootprint.net/ and use the Carbon Emission calculator. Set yourself some goals for Carbon Emission reduction...Lets make the Earth a better place to live.

48 Hours into MBA..

It has been only 48 hours my MBA main course has begun. And already lots of activities have happened and we got into some serious business directly!!

My classes have begun at their full swing and assignment deadlines have been splelt out!! (Yes. You guys read it right!!!). The profs were very clear in defining what is expected from us and what we can expect from them.

My Project team has already been formed and we would be working together as a Team over the next two quarters. The profile of the team members are quiet interesting. One has completed 3 levels of CFA examination (an on-line finance course), another has a psychology major and work experience while the other is a lawyer by profession. The average work experience of our group is approx 5 years and I think we must be able to contribute and add value to our works with this diverse experiences.

A lot of Pre-class reading materials were given through our internal web portal. Frankly speaking, this was the first time I went to the class “prepared” (??). Wow. The results of this are amazing. You discuss in the class regarding the topic, relate your personal experiences with the topic and within span of few minutes the entire class room becomes lively. A sharp contrast from the Under Grad education, where the poor Prof was made to stand for an hour and talk monotonously. All the profs insisted on Class participation and timely submission of team assignments. They also spelt out the grading methods for each subject, gave the assignment deadlines and asked us to study/deliver.

On the other hand, lots of activities have begun to happen to mould us professionally. A number of Case study Competitions, Asset Management competitions, Info sessions by biggies like (BCG, Merrill Lynch, P&G, Bain, Accenture…), International Study tours (This year to China and Africa) are being arranged at a fast pace.

A basket full of apples has been provided and it is now up to me to make the best use of apples.

The MBA wheel has started rolling and I think I must make my brain wheel faster to cope up with it!!

Cards, Cards and Cards...

It has been only 21 days I landed in Toronto and already my wallet in full with bunch of plastics.

Be it buying a Subway Pass, Be it accessing the college locker, be it getting inside the college during the weekends or getting into the house- without this damn plastic you are done. Consider this- even the cafeteria inside the school has pre-paid Cards which can be recharged. You pay the bucks, get the card, and swipe the card whenever you want to have a drink, recharge it once you are done. It has become more of a plastic life here. (Hehehe..Literally!!) So simple it is you think, right? Not really. You get so many cards, that you either forget which card to use where or you forget your passwords for the card.

Back home in India, try giving a credit card to the shop keeper near you. Chances are higher that he will come back to you saying that their shop accepts only cash. Or try giving your credit card to your “Chaiwala chotu”. I am sure that he will take back the chai with the glass from you and make some really nasty coments at you or he will take the card and run away (If he is an informed chotu). The vague instances I remember using my credit card are when I used to pay my utility bills, book my rail tickets and when I shop at high end places or eat at high end restaurants. We Indians love to see the cash in our hands immediately and we don’t believe in the biggies of “Visas” and “MasterCards”.

As a person who had six credit cards in India, I thought that getting a credit card would be easier abroad. But I found that to be a daunting task. And without this plastic, you cannot survive here. I had ended up asking my friend’s to pay for me (Thanks Guys!!) for getting me a Subway Ticket and to register in the College Associations. I thought I would be never having a credit card here in Toronto at least for the next few months. But thanks to our School’s excellent relationship and the efforts by our seniors, Bank of Montreal (3 Cheers to BMO) has agreed to give us students a credit card, that too with out an annual fee (3 More!!). I hope they really stick to their promise and give me a credit card.

Janmashtami and Jungle Fire

Two important events worth mentioning happened yesterday:

1. We had our MBA orientation program followed by a team exercise called “Jungle Fire”

2. We went to ISKON temple at midnight to celebrate Janmashtami .

The MBA Orientation program that kicked off the 2009 Full time MBA Program was held yesterday. The program was presided by the Dean and Assistant Dean of Rotman who gave us an insight into the current incoming class. Then we were given a brief introduction about the different cultures across the world so that we could get along with our team members with ease. There was also an introduction about the “Integrative Thinking” – a concept that Rotman specializes in. We were then divided into team members and we played the game of “Jungle Fire”.

Jungle Fire is a team experimental learning concept developed by “Eagle’s Flight”. The objective of the game is to win the maximum amount off Diamonds under the given set of rules. Given the constraints on the number of moves and time duration, surviving in the Jungle itself was deemed difficult. But we performed exceptionally well and our team came out within Top 5 teams out of the 56 teams. More than winning, the lessons learnt from Jungle Fire are important. We were told where we failed to plan, where we must have performed better and where we missed out. This was then translated into important corporate lessons. We really enjoyed the day.

At night we decided to go to ISKON temple to celebrate Janmashtami (the B’day of Lord Krishna). The Indian crowd was huge at ISKON and there was a play about circumstances under which Lord Krishna was born.

The bhajans started around 10PM with high energy levels among people and ended around 12PM with higher energy levels. When the doors were opened at midnight to signal the birth of Lord Krishna, everyone was dancing to the tune of the Bhajans. Having celebrated Janmashtami in India all these years, for me, seeing the plays in English, hearing the instructions in English was a different experience.

Kaadhal Niagara. (Love Niagara)

A day that started with anxiety, peaked into excitement and ended with satisfaction.

I was lucky enough to view the Niagara from the Canadian side, for I was told that the view from the US is not that great and it gives u only the rear view.

View of the Horseshoe falls and the American Falls from the Canadian Side, boat ride to the Maid of the Mist, Visit to the Guiness book of World records museum, Wax museum, Ripley's believe it or not-We made ourselves a tight schedule sothat we could enjoy each and every minute.

Before heading to the Maid of the Mist (where u are taken right to the middle of Horseshoe falls), we went for some shopping (Lemme rather call it ass sightseeing) in the shops surrounding the Niagara Area, grabbed some pizzas for lunch and then waited patiently for 1/2 hour in queue heading to see the beautiful maid.

The view of the falls from the Maid of the Mist was amazing. Believe me, you could feel the granduer of Niagara only if you see it right from the middle of the Horseshoe falls. What an view it was. You must see it to feel the experience.

Another major attraction at the Niagara is the Casino. We decided to try our luck at the Casino. But Alas!. The security at the entrance refused to accept our Indian Driving License as our proof of age. Simple reason being as per his records there are only 9 states in India and they are: Andaman and Nicobar (??), Mizoram, Manipur, Gujarat, Punjab, Delhi (hey!!!!), J&K, Goa and Rajasthan. And neither of us were from these states!!

After that futile attempt at the Casino, we decided to pack our bags back to Toronto after seeing the Niagara in the night. It was almost 10:30 when we left Niagara and we reached Toronto in flat 90 minutes. Distance: 117 miles!!.

Overall it was a memorable journey and I definitely enjoyed every bit of it.

I just had one wish that was not satisfied this time though- I wanted all my close friends back in India to accompany me to Niagara. Let me hope that wish gets fulfilled soon!!

Welcome to the CN Tower view @ MidNight

It was all a decision of a minute..And we decided to go to the Downtown to experience the night life of Toronto..We were 4 and it was almost 10:30 in the night when we started from our home..We went to Lake Shore, the western end point of the city of Toronto...The area is called as the Harbor Front area and the world famous CN Towers is near this area..

In the 1960s, Toronto’s growing skyline created problems for radio and television transmission because the pre-skyscraper transmission towers were simply not high enough to broadcast over the buildings.

The CN Tower was built in 1976 by Canadian National (CN) who wanted to demonstrate the strength of Canadian industry by building a tower taller than any other in the world. It was an ambitious project that involved 1,537 workers who worked 24 hours a day, five days a week for 40 months to completion.

The prime function of the Tower is a telecommunications hub and several Canadian radio and television channels broadcast from there. And over the years it has better come to be known as a tourist spot than a broadcasting spot. There is a 360Degree (The name of the restaurant) food court at the top..You can have a view of the entire Toronto while you relish your food. It takes 72 minutes for the 360 Degree restaurant to revolve once..

The view of the CN Tower from the Lake Shore area was mind blowing..The entire building was illuminated with lights and we could see high speed elevators moving up and down carrying people. But of course the main attraction started at the stroke of the midnight. There was a light show and the entire Tower wore different shades of lights..What an view it was..So tempting and attractive that I made up my mind to get into the Tower and have a view of the city of Toronto, very soon..

While at the back of my mind I was calculating the amount of energy spent on this World’s Tallest Stand Alone structure, I later came to know that the lighting system for the entire system is done thru Microprocessor controlled LEDs that are energy efficient, cost efficient and do not require maintenance for the next 10 years atleast.

Once again Welcome to the world of CN Tower at night!!