Hot and Happening-Chennai

The sun has set and offices in New York Downtown are beginning to empty out. Robert, a consultant with a head-hunting firm, is checking his email. He looks at the clock on his cellphone: 6.30 pm. He logs off, shuts down his PC and goes to the men’s room. Looking into the mirror, he combs his hair, practises a smile and goes down to the parking lot to get into his car.

You can’t be sure what’s on Rob’s mind as he is driving home, but one thought is most likely to escape him: that most things he can’t do without today come from Chennai. His car, an Elantra, is made in Chennai. The Nokia handset, which told him the time is made in Chennai. The Dell desktop, which he just shut down, is also made in Chennai. So is the Saint-Gobain mirror he looked into moments ago. And the Samsung TV he is going to switch on once he is home — that is also made in Chennai.

Rob isn’t real. He could be a Mike in London or a Peter in Paris. What is real is that he represents the young global Indian who aspires for a good life. He could be someone who never set foot in Chennai and has no links with the city — not even a distant relative — and yet, he has a strong ‘Chennai connection’. Even the lingerie his girlfriend or wife dreams of buying someday, thanks to Fashion TV, is most likely to be made-in-Chennai: one-sixth of the bras sold by Victoria’s Secret are currently manufactured in a factory on the outskirts of the city.

The ‘Chennai connection’ is going to get even stronger as more and more multinational companies descend on the city to set up their plants and back offices. Most of them are already here now: Nokia, Flextronics, Motorola, Hyundai, Samsung, Dell, Caparo, Saint-Gobain, Foxconn, Perlos, Jabil, Salcomp, Laird, Wintek, Ford, Moser Baer, Accenture, IBM, Delphi… The list is as mind-boggling as the line-up of musicians who descend on the city during margazhi, the music season in December.

Consider this: If you are a brand addict or the one who use any of those famous brand (be it any!!), chances are more than 90% that it is or atleast has one of its critical compenents from Chennai.

Welcome to my Chennai!!

Expectations..

I am writing this post 60mins after by Birthday celebrations are over. And if you had guessed I would post something “senti”, you get full marks.

I began noticing this trend/feeling that occured to me for the past few years. And I am sure that every one of us would have this. You accept it or deny it, but the fact is you begin to expect calls/wishes from some persons, someone you consider very special, someone whom you consider had made an impact on you, someone whom you want to share your everything. And this feeling of expectancy comes from the inner unconscious mind. Your brain begins to pump in that extra blood and your heart beats faster as the moment gets closer. And when the wish gets fulfilled the feeling of ecstasy you get cannot be defined by words.

This year's birthday has been particularly special for me and thanks to that special person for making it happen!!

Rotman NetImpact Leadership Conference 2008

Finally we were done with the Rotman NetImpact Leadership Conference yesterday. For those of you who don't know what NetImpact is- Net Impact is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to make a positive impact on society by growing and strengthening a community of new leaders who use business to improve the world. I was in the organizing committee leading the external communications for the schools for this year's conference.

This year we had the CEO of Microsoft Canada, Phil Sorgen delivering the Key Note address. Phil threw some important aspects regarding the how CSR has changed over the years-from monetary part to the service part- from donating money to giving services such as computers, windows softwares and access to MSN webpage for advertisements. At the other end was the beneficiary, Tom McAllister, CEO, KidsHelp Phone, an organization which receives large funding from Microsoft. Tom talked about KidsHelp Phone's help to children and how Microsoft's funding has helped them to reach out more children.

On a side note, one thing what I learnt from Phil was how to speak. He was so dynamic and convincing that after hearing his speech, your impression about Microsoft would increase. Hope to be a part of such good events in future also.

What is happening inside your head?

Last week I happened to watch a fantastic presentation by Jill Taylor regarding Human Brain-thanks to TED. TED has become one of my favorite hangout sites. Thanks to our strategy Prof. Anita McGahan, through whom I got introduced into this exciting world of TED.As a Neuroanatomist who suffered explosion of her brain blood vessel, Jill took me into a new world of brains. Through out her 16mins video presentation, I was agape. Never before I knew that our right part of the brain is the one which is responsible for our present actions and the left hemisphere is the one which coordinates the past and future actions. And the right hemisphere is about pictures, left hemisphere is about details. So guys protect your left part of your during exams.

(PS: All the 3 links in this are MUST watch - my personal favorites)

So what further?

With MS trying to acquire Yahoo and Yahoo's board rejecting it as of now, here's what could happen:

(Thanks to Professor Davidoff, a former corporate attorney at Shearman & Sterling and a professor at Wayne State University Law School.)

1. Fight it out in the Proxy Contest. Yahoo will argue that Microsoft’s bid undervalues it; that the cultures will not match; that Microsoft has an uncertain future; and that its offered stock is an inappropriate investment. The dispute will be an ad-man’s dream, as Microsoft and Yahoo will daily fight out this contest in ads placed in national newspapers, mailings to shareholders and in the media generally. However, given the significant arbitrage position in Yahoo and the premium Microsoft is offering, Yahoo’s chances with this strategy appear to be less than certain.

2. Third-Party Buy-out. For this defense, Yahoo has to find a third party willing to buy. Then, if Yahoo decided to sell to a third party, the board would trigger its “Revlon” duties. The Yahoo board would now be required to accept the highest price reasonably available. It is hard to see Microsoft being outbid by many companies, except perhaps Google. But a pure acquisition bid by Google is unlikely given the regulatory issues that would surround it.

3. Alliance or Acquisition. This could be one of Yahoo’s best options, if it can find a good partner or acquisition. A third-party alliance with or acquisition of AOL, for example, would make Yahoo less attractive to Microsoft. If Yahoo wants to play hardball, it can attempt a transaction that would create regulatory problems for any acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft. Of course, the problem with this technique is that if it succeeds, Yahoo will be stuck making the alliance or acquisition work. And if Microsoft finds the transaction unattractive enough to refuse to buy, then, well…

4. Crown Jewel Sale. Yahoo could sell its stake in AliBaba or another of its key assets in an attempt to make it less attractive to Microsoft. Again, though, Yahoo would be deprived of this asset if Microsoft simply went away. 5. Leveraged Recapitalization. Yahoo could play the old 1980s standard by levering up its balance sheet with debt and using the debt to buy back its shares at a premium. I suppose this may be possible for a technology company nowadays, though I’m not sure given the state of the credit markets. Still, this maneuver only makes Yahoo more expensive to buy — it does not forestall a bid by Microsoft if Microsoft is willing to pay to refinance the debt post-acquisition.

Thats too impressive..

Last week, I happened to see two videos which I would recommend "must watch" for all.

The first video is from TED, an annual conference held in California. This speaker is Mr. Hans Rosling, a Professor of global health at Karolinska Institute, Sweden. He talks about the macro economics and proves that how facts can break pre conceived notions.

The second video is more fun, also from TED, this one by by Anand Agarwala, the creator of BumpTop, a new GUI for destop. Watch for the applause when he calls the MAC and Windows desktop looks as "crap".

No Good…only the Bad and the ugly..

This is my first post in the New Year, exactly after 33 days.

I have been putting off writing about internship hunting because in my particular case, there hasn't been much action. Lemme say that again, there hasn't been any action. Except for some early disappointments. While the Internship interviews are in full fledge and the coveted Investment banking, finance and the “biggies” consulting interviews are on. While finance was never my cup of tea, the bad news is that I got rejected from the consulting biggies. Similar is the case with many of my friends who have gone through the process and have been unsuccessful. And I (we) have already begun feeling the pressure of the feared recession in North America. The daily newspaper contains reports of job cuts in US and Canada by major companies.

While I am confident of landing in a good summer internship, I would have been much happier, had I got into the BCG or the McKinsey. I am waiting for some miracle to happen, so that I can be there atleast for my full time. I am hoping that the market would also recover by that time and history proves that whenever the economy has recovered from the down cycle, the consulting and marketing jobs would boom.

Keeping my fingers tightly crossed for now and waiting for the D-Day when I could declare of my internship success.

The Inheritances of Granny 2007....

In another’s few hours time, the new baby would have been born. 2007 has been a good year with lesser natural calamities than 2006, bad year for the medical sector with major medical breakthroughs, worse year for the business sector biggies like Citigroup and Merrill Lynch. Here are the top 10 events that I consider to be significant in 2007.

1. IPhone Mania- Iphone captures the hearts of millions and redefines the mobile market. Gets credited with TIME Invention of the year award. Kudos Steve Job!!

2. Toyota overtakes GM as the largest car maker in the world – Toyota overtook GM as the largest car maker with reported sales of 2.348 billion cars. Add to that the strong growth predictions of Toyota for 2008.

3. Bye bye People’s Prez- Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam demits Rashtrapati Bhavan as a common man with just 2 suitcases. He will be remembered as the People’s President of India, the missile man who inspired millions of Children and motivated them for a better India in year 2020 and the hi-tech President whom even the Brits were agape seeing his presentation and motivational skills.

4. TATA completes acquisition of Corus- With the completion of Corus acquisition, TATA group becomes a true IMMC (Indian Made Multinational Companies). It also moved up as the 3rd world’s most transparent group.

5. The Juggernaut- Mukesh Ambani. How else can I describe him? He has tripled the mammoth Reliance in size and increased the market capitalization by 10 times ater Dhirubhai Ambani’s death. Unquestionably the best business leader of India and well deserved to be named the richest Indian with an annual package of 240 million INR!!

6. Citigroup gets it first Indian CEO- The troubled US bank major has this time turned to an Indian for help. Vikram Pandit has been appointed as the Chairman and CEO. Pandit, who is 50, is the first person of Indian origin to scale such stratospheric heights in the financial world, which has many well-regarded Indian executives.

7. Stem Cell Break through - In November, two groups of scientists in Japan and Wisconsin announced that they had found a way to reprogram human skin cells to behave like embryonic stem cells — without having to make or destroy any embryos. Embryonic stem cells are capable of turning into any of the 220 types of cell in the human body, so scientists have long touted them as a potential medicinal cure-all, from facilitating organ transplants to curing Alzheimer's. It's hoped that the new discovery could appease both sides of the stem cell war, paving the way for medical breakthroughs that do not require killing embryos.

8. Microsoft and Facebook- Here we go again in technology land. Microsoft invests $240 million for a 1.6% stake in Facebook, plus the right to broker the social networking site's international ads. The deal gives Facebook an implied value of $15 billion, for a company expected to earn just $30 million in 2007 but is nonetheless considered the model website of the future. All this just to make sure that Google doesn’t get a stake in Facebook and strengthens its social networking site presence.

9. Google and Doubleclick- When Microsoft can do it Google will definitely do it. Google Buys DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion. A huge price for a company worth just more than $1 billion a couple of years ago. But Google craved DoubleClick's capabilities: The company's specialty is placing advertisements on websites, known in the trade as "serving." Buying DoubleClick also kept it out of the hands of Microsoft. The combo makes Google a more potent player in Web advertising against rivals Microsoft and Yahoo. The European Union isn't happy, though, and is giving the deal extra scrutiny.

10. Bhutto- A Saga ends- The former and future Prime Minister of Pakistan, the Oxford and Harvard Graduate, was assassinated after departing a PPP rally in Rawalpindi in Pakistan. What is more stunning is the chain of assassinations associated with her family. Her son, Bilawal Bhutto, just 19, another Oxford student, has already named as the leader of PPP.

The journey towards my goal...

I was supposed to have started it long ago. But better now than never.

Finally I have begun my Consulting case analysis discussions for getting into my target industry-Consulting. Apart from keeping me busy for most of the time, the case analysis has served some useful purposes:

1. I have got used to the frameworks of the likes of Accenture, BCG and McKinsey-7S Matrix, BCG 2*2 matrix, GE/Mckinsey 3*3 matrix....ufffff........

2. I have got to know about differnet industries, the typical problems they would be facing and how to tide over them

I am sure that I would not have even bothered to know about these frameworks and the industrial issues-thanks to the tighter MBA schedule and my laziness. The cases have ranged from simple (??? definitely not!!) profitability analysis cases to complex cases such as decision making as the Dean of MBA school if I receive a grant of 100Million $.

All these case analysis has also helped me personally to analyse issues in a more structured way-to such an extent that I have begun framing a structure in mind even if takling/chatting with some one. :-)

Let me see where this takes me-whether this is a start of a new beginning or beginning of end!!

( And to all the beginers of case studies, I would sincerely recommend to visit this link..
http://www.bcg.com/careers/practice_revenue_growth.html

This is supposed to be a simple, straight case.. :-))

Ratatouille

Another day..Another good movie..Difference this time: my taste has been towards animated movies..

This movie is about Remy (our rat hero) who departs from the regular customs of the rats-stealing and eating food from the garbage and wants to leave his benchmark in the world. He has his interests in cooking and could make good dishes that humans can eat. Separated from his family accidentally, he lands in the Gusteau's restaurant, once known for its great food and was rated one of the best restaurants in the world.

As Rémy looks into the kitchen from a skylight a young man with no culinary talent, Linguini, arrives with a letter of introduction from his recently deceased mother, and is hired to do janitorial duties. While cleaning, Linguini spills a pot of soup and attempts to cover up his mistake by adding nearby ingredients. Horrified, Rémy drops into the kitchen and attempts to fix the ruined soup rather than trying to escape. Linguini catches Rémy in the act, just as Skinner catches Linguini. In the confusion some of the soup has been served. To everyone's surprise, the soup is a success.

Linguini notices that Remy is more human than a rat and could understand him. They both become friends and our little rat hero helps Linguini in making the best dishes. The story takes new turn when the will of Gusteau says that Linguini is his son and would be owner of the hotel. The current head chef turns into villain and how Remy rescues Linguini and the hotel back as the best restaurant is the rest of the story.

One fact is to be accepted-As the quality of acting of our real heroes worsen day by day, the animated heroes are getting better day by day. No call sheet problems, no salary to be given and above all they will do whatever you want them to do. What else do you need?

Another must watch from the portal of Walt Disney!!

The Road to Guantanamo..

The Road to Guantanamo is one of the movies which impressed me recently.

Directed by Michael Winterbottom, this docudrama is the story about 4 Pakistani Britons (Ruhal Ahmed, Asif Iqbal and Shafiq Rasul and Monir), who travel to Pakistan for a wedding and in a urge of idealism decide to see the situation of war torn Afghanistan which is being bombed by the American forces in retaliation for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Sensing the situation in Afghan they decide to return back to Pakistan, when the situation worsens. None of them are ready to help them return to Pakistan as the entire area is getting occupied by United Front soldiers. Finally they manage to sneak into a truck, whose driver agrees them to get transported to Pakistan. During night time, their rest place gets attacked by the Northern Alliance soldiers and they get caught along with all the Talibans and militants. Monir dies in the bombing attack and the rest three are transported to prison camps.

What follows is a series of tortures, where all the army officers force them to agree that they are part of the Al-Qaeda. They are then transported to Guantanamo bay base in Cuba. What follows is three years of relentless imprisonment, interrogations and torture to make them submit to blatantly wrong confessions to being terrorists. In the midst In the midst of this abuse, the three struggle to keep their spirits up. Finally to their surprise the US/Brit Govt decides to release them. (which I think has never happened!!)The film will penetrate deep into your mind. The tortures they face, the way they are treated and the way the Army officers frame them of their charges, the camera, the pace at which the movie moves..every second of the movie impresses you.

And about Guantanamo:

Guantánamo Bay Naval Base is located at the southeastern end of Cuba and has been used by the United States Navy for more than a century. It is the oldest overseas U.S. Navy Base and the only one in a country with which the United States does not have diplomatic relations.

Since 2002, the naval base has contained a military prison, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, for persons alleged to be militant combatants captured in Afghanistan and later in Iraq. Prior to July 11, 2006, the Bush Administration maintained that these detainees are not protected under the Geneva Convention.

Beginning in 2002, a small portion of the base was used to imprison several hundred individuals — some of whom were captured by US forces in Afghanistan, though the majority were 'bought' for a substantial bounty (generally in the region of $US 5000) from various warlords and mercenaries both in Afghanistan and elsewhere — at Camp Delta, Camp Echo, Camp Iguana, and the now-closed Camp X-Ray. The US military has asserted that some, but not all, of these captives are linked to Al-Qaida or the Taliban. The military has withheld the evidence against captives asserted to be linked to terrorist organizations or enemy states. In litigation regarding the availability of fundamental rights to those imprisoned at the base, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that the captives "have been imprisoned in territory over which the United States exercises exclusive jurisdiction and control." Therefore, the captives have the fundamental right to due process of law under the Fifth Amendment. A district court has since held that the "Geneva Conventions applied to the Taliban captives, but not to members of al Qaeda terrorist organization."

The closing-down of the Guantánamo Prison has been requested by Amnesty International, the United Nations and the European Union.On 6 September 2006, President Bush announced that enemy combatants held by the CIA will be transferred to the custody of DOD, and held at Guantánamo Prison. Among approximately 500 prisoners in Guantánamo Bay, only 10 have been tried by the Guantanamo military commission, but all cases have been stayed pending the adjustments being made to comply with the Hamdi decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The so called "much deserved holidays.."

It has been not yet 24 hours yet..But I have already begun feeling “what the fcuk is happening”..

Let us rewind back 24 hours when I was expecting when my Q2 exams would get over..I was having plans to catch up with my left over sleep, see some long pending movies and catch up with the latest gossips in my friends circle..I was desperate..I was happy and elated, jumped back home..

What actually happened was different....I came back home ,called up all my friends in the evening, saw 3 movies in the night and slept till 11AM today morning..What else..all my so called long-pending wishes were satisfied in matter of hours..I was not knowing what would I be doing for the rest of the day..I desperately needed some deadlines to be met, some pressures to be encountered..all of a sudden day seemed to move slower..

I have got addicted to the fast pace in MBA and all of a sudden I realised that I need not do anything, Life began to suck..No exaggeration but truth!!

Thank God..I have some work later in the week..My case analysis discussions, negotiation skills classes, team building exercises would be beginning soon and would keep me busy..How relieved I am..First time in my life, I cud see myself happier when I get more work..

So near..Yet so far...

This is a long over due post..I was (infact we all were!! )getting screwed royally by all the Profs in the exam..While the strategy subject was a marketing case, the marketing subject had a strategic case..business finance and accounting subjects stripped everyone naked..Anyways just one more exam to go for me to finally say that I am done with my Q2 and have become a 25% MBA..

The strategy case competition is beginning tomorrow and I need to slog in entire tomorrow night..new team..new faces..new ideas..no time for settling down formally..get into the groove and start delivering immediately...the entire 1st year has been divided into 49 teams with each team comprising of 5-6 students..we would be put into 7 rooms and given 24 hours to come out with a recommendation for the case..we would then have to make a presentation to the panel of judges..one team from every room would be selected and would go to the next round when we would be given a final twist to the case..the biggies from the Bay street ( bay street is 2nd wall street of North America) are expected to be judges in the final round..the winning team would get to manage the Impact Consulting Group (the internal consulting company of Rotman) for the next one year..this is a prestigious role which means a lot in MBA world and I look forward to the competition eagerly...

the winter vacations are due to begin from wednesday and we will be having the much awaited break for 15 days..though the college would be officially closed during this period, the schedule is already filled up..negotiation lessons, case discussions, business plans, meetings and not to forget the planned Toronto tours (yup..the road Romeos and Juliets are back to rock Toronto again..;-))..I also plan to make (better to say "try" to be on the safer side) some new dishes
..above all these stuffs i need to polish my resume and cover letter and start applying to companies and start networking...the countdown has already begun..the clock has begun ticking..let me hope God bestows his blessings on me...:-)

Cerebration and Exam Celebration !!!

And it is here around the corner again. With more vigor this time. And I am preparing myself in the best possible way. But the opposition is so strong that it is very difficult to predict their strategies. Wonder what I am talking about. Yes. You guessed it right. My Q2 exams are starting in another 4 days. While the temperatures are dropping down, the exam temperatures are running high. Listening to lecture videos, going through the class notes, understanding the fundas..things are getting hectic as the benchmarks keep on raising.

Couple this with the Cerebration, the case competition @ NUS in which we (me, Kavitha and Manoj..Yes..again!!!!) are participating. The executive summary is due on Dec 8th, 2007 and we need to allocate sufficient time to this also. Desperately in need of a win, somewhere..somehow...!!

Two hot games worth waiting for the results!!

Something Statistically Technical!!

How long shall I be writing something only non-technical? MBA Grads are supposed to talk in business terms and hence this blog will be dedicated to satiate those requests/desires.

Anyone who had undergone higher Statistics course would have heard the term “Multiple regression Equations”. Simple put these equations are used to determine the weighted effect of a set of variables on our end desired variable. (Pardon me if I am wrong!!!). While the course talks about many real world examples where these regression equations are used, what came as surprise to me was that these equations are extensively used to determine the pricing strategies.

The recent issue of Harvard Business Review talks about the extensive usage of regression equation in by Motorola to determine the optimum price of MotoRAZR2. Motorola was under severe pressure to regain its lost market shares in the mobile market and set right its shrinking margins. It was a long time a Motorola phone became a big hit like Nokia’s or Samsung’s. The pressure intensified after the release of Apple’s super hit I-Phone.

Remember you cannot charge any price just like that for your new phone for it would affect your profitability. So what did Motorola do? The company plotted a regression equation between the various benefits perceived by the customers (a categorical variable) and the price charged (a quantitative variable). The regression equation thus plotted yields many interesting learning, including the strategies of competitors like Nokia, LG and Samsung. Nokia for example minimized its risk by spreading itself over the entire spectrum, while Samsung is present only in selective spectrums where competition is less.

A simple (???) example that illustrates how two courses at two different ends of the MBA spectrum come together to work wonders for the business-A very good example for “Integrative thinking” we are taught at Rotman!!

(My sincere apologies to all those who felt that this is a typical MBA boasting post :-), and the feeling if felt is definitely unintentional )

The week that was..Dodgeball and CSR Competition

Two events different from the regular studies and case analysis happened last week:

Rotman - United way week:

The Rotman - United way fund raising week kicked off with events such as Dodgeball and Silent Auctions. The proceedings from this games and auctions would go to United Way, a well known NGO helping the poor and needy children. Both Dodgeball and Auctions are worth mentioning for two reasons:

• It is a departure from the regular MBA routine and makes you feel that MBA is not only about studies. It is also about enjoyment of life.
  
• Where else would your Assistant dean and Vice Dean get to form strategies for winning a childish game?

For those of you who do not know what a Dodgeball game is? The game is for max 10 mins and comprises of two teams. Each team gets to hit the other team with a sponge ball below the waist. If you hit the opponent, you are out of the game. If the opponent catches the ball, you are out of the game. No head butts. No holding the ball for more than 10 secs. Thats dodgeball for you!!

First the game was held between the students and the winning team got a chance to play against the faculty. This year also the faculty won the Championship beating the students. Every year these profs come up with a new strategy. That is why they are profs and we are students.

The past week also kicked off the Silent Auction with items such as books autographed by our dean Roger Martin, Warren Buffet and Richard Florida, dinner with profs, game tickets etc. You name anything from cakes to students as personal assistants-u have that for auction. The highest bid was for the book autographed by our dean!!

Net Impact-CSR Competition:


5 people. 4 all nighters. A deep thought process on the role of pharma companies and patient groups. 1 solution. Win or lose. That was the CSR competition that we participated on Saturday in a jist.The judges were from RPO consulting, Ministry of Finance and Pfizer.

We lost by a narrow margin and we could not move to the next round. But the best part is that it has molded your thought process, making you aware of another industry that you might get associated in the future. I think this would help me in the case competition I am participating in NUS. It is about devising the market strategy for Brewerkz, a brewery company. I think with my past experience with the industry and having dealt with them for 4 years I am ready for this game and this is going to be interesting.

The pretty white world!!!

Imagine it was a sunny day yesterday and it was raining today and you hear a weather prediction that there would be snow tomorrow. Having experience only with the Indian weather forecast before, I was very sure that it would be a “Bright and Sunny Day”.

You go to bed at 3:30AM early morning. Things are fine and the streets look clean and tidy. Morning you wake up @ 8:30AM and the entire world looks white. Will not it be a shock for you? This was a double whammy for me for this was the first real experience with snow. Uffffff. I had a really tough time in commuting to college today. It was windy and it was snowing. You could feel the snow pricking your body.

Your winter jackets become wet, your hand gloves, your shoes are of no use, you shiver in your Jeans, ur bag become wet and you slip thru (not walk thru!!) the road. Welcome to the winter in Toronto. I am told that this is mild (@ minus 5 degC) and would go upto minus 30 degC. Compare this with the Chennai minimum climate of PLUS 20degC-my lowest temperature experience before coming here.

Two things have topped my agenda now after today’s experience:
1. To get a snow Jacket
2. To get a snow shoe

Looking forward to this Sunday for the completion of these purchases to get myself out of some big soups in future!!

News on the loose...!!

Here is the list of News I have been following this week:

1. "Merill gets its new CEO"-John Thain has formally taken over as the CEO of Merill Lynch with an astonishing package of $43.8 million dollars (I cud feel u gasping!!!!). He replaces Stanley O Neal who was asked to leave the firm after Merill Lynch reported the ever first quarterly loss in its history. A financial advisory firm like Merill cannot afford to!! Thain has a tough job ahead of him. Like other big financial firms that have also announced massive write downs, Merrill is saddled with asset-backed securities linked to troubled subprime mortgages. Determining how much these securities are worth has proved problematic, and experts say more big Wall Street writedowns are likely. All the best John!!
2. "Come on Google"-First let me make a confession. I am a Google fanatic. And I strongly believe that only Google can do it. Be it anything in technology. And they never let me down. And here they come to rock the world. Again. The much rumored “gphone” is well on track with Google announcing $10mn cash prize for developers who would make their open source software “Andriod” better. Gphone is pinned to work on Android. Google is also rumored to be in talk with AT&T and is considering foray into telecom business. This could very well signal the death bell for many existing telecom companies. Come on Google. You again did it!!
3. "You, again: Are we getting closer to cloning humans??"- Earlier this week a team in the U.S. led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon National Primate Research Center, announced they had created the first cloned monkey embryo and extracted stem cells from it. Extending this to humans, if successful, the following scenario could happen- Your clone can attend the class and get you the participation marks, while you can sit back and do your assignments or even date with your girl friend!!
4. "World’s 4th fastest Super Computer"- Weather forecasting, detecting tsunami, seismic analysis or even advanced financial modeling for the stock markets can now be performed by an Indian company. Computational Research Laboratory (CRL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons has built the fastest supercomputer in Asia (according to top 500.org, an industry body that ranks performance of supercomputers globally) in Pune. Christened EKA, derived from the word one in Sanskrit, the computer, which can also be used in the areas of Neural and molecular simulation and computational fluid dynamics, was built at a cost of $30 million. Another feather in the TATA group’s crown!!

Yes..I am Enjoying!!

To All my friends in India and rest of the world

Belated Diwali wishes!!. Hope you had fun, ate lots of sweets and enjoyed with crackers (including my share!!)

I celebrated the Diwali with a party organized by the Rotman-South Asian Business Association on Friday night. It was organized in a party hall in a condo and we had games, music, dance, drinks and what not!! It is always nice to get to mingle with "your" creed. We must be thankful to the Diwalis and Eid's for this.

My schedule so far since Friday has been this:

Friday-SABA party, organized the party and came home at 1:45AM, Slept at 3:15AM

Saturday: Got up at 9:45 AM in the morning, finished my Business Finance Assignment which included questions about google, gold, oil and the professor (you analyse the personal finance for the prof!!!) who teaches us the subject!! Started my "Stats" project, edited the data (uff..Next time when you see statisticians, please fall in their legs!!), Slept at 3:45AM

Sunday: Got up at 8:30AM, finished off 90% the stats project except the final predictions, then started analysing the future of Boeing for the next 5 years on how much dividends they would be paying. Slept at 3:45AM

Yesterday: Woke up at 8:30AM, had a meeting with my team mentor, did a SWOT analysis of my team's performance in Q1, attended a seminar, came home at 9PM, analysed a case for today's class, discussed with my roomies for the case assignment to be submitted, slept at 3:15AM

Today: Woke up at 9AM, did a case analysis of Walmart Inc, attended the scholar tutorial session and returned home at 8:30PM. Decided that it has been quiet a while since I updated my blog and decided to spend at least 10 mins on my blog. Still I have to prepare for my stats quiz on Thursday, for the individual case summary due on thursday and also for the make the ground work for Net Impact CSR competition.

So why did I write this.

To all my friends in India and rest of world who tell often me that "MBA load is nothing and I am always enjoying"

My answer is-
Yes. I am Enjoying!!! And read this post again from the start!!

From being God to being Human..

Imagine you are only 48 months into this world and you have to undergo a 40 hour surgery by 30 highly skilled doctors. This is what happened to Lakshmi who was born with 4arms and 4 legs fused with the spinal cord!! Thanks to the team of doctors at Sparsh hospital in Bangalore who successfully removed the child's extra limbs, salvaged her organs, and rebuilt her pelvis area,

'Lakshmi was born joined to a ''parasitic twin'' that stopped developing in the mother's womb. The surviving foetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped fetus.

The doctors worked through the night to remove the extra limbs and organs, surgery that doctors say will give her a good chance to live past adolescence. The procedure included separating the fused spines along with removing the extra limbs and the rest of the ''parasite,'' said Patil, the orthopedic surgeon leading the operation.

Lakshmi is recovering at the hospital’s intensive care unit and will be under observation for a few days.

The journey from a remote village—where she was revered as a Goddess—near the Bihar-Nepal border to Bangalore was long and arduous but Lakshmi won in the challenge.

A team of paediatrics worked all night on Tuesday to separate organs from the twin body and before that neurosurgeons had separated the spinal chord. The complicated procedure involved separating the parasitic twin's tissues, giving Lakshmi one of the functional kidneys, shifting the genital system and bladder from the left side of the body to a more centred position, reconstructing the pelvic ring, plastic surgery to close her wounds and operations to correct her club feet.

Lakshmi’s parents are hopeful their daughter will be able to lead a normal life. “We are her parents and naturally get worried often. But we are praying and are hopeful,” says her father Shambhu.

It’s a medical complication seen in one among 50,000 cases and if this risky surgery is successful, it will not only be a first in India but will also be a landmark in the surgery of ischiophagus conjoined twins in India.

Planning for the surgery took a month and doctors say without it Lakshmi may not have survived beyond early adolescence.

Kudos Docs!! Where else can we see human Gods other than you people.!!