Mid Terms....

The mid term fever is finally over … yes just had the first mid term exams yesterday. The mood on campus had suddenly changed since Monday . People could be seen pouring over books every where , the LRC was completely occupied all the time and the security had to drag people out at the closing time ie. 2am. , reference books on economics suddenly disappeared from the shelves, I even heard people lining up at 7am waiting for the LRC to open at 8 so that they could be the first once to grab the reference books in short supply. The gym, squash courts or the pool all wore a deserted look for a few days.

We had two exams on stats and economics on Friday . The stats exam was a closed book one however we were allowed to carry a single page of notes to the exam, that’s a cheat sheet in ISB parlance.. Eco on the other hand was an open book exam and we were allowed to carry any amount of books notes etc to the exam centre. Well honestly none could help. While stats appeared the more difficult of the two it turned out to be economics which stumped almost everyone. Each question had a new surprise and the mood after the exam was just that… surprise or shock. But honestly the eco exam was very intelligently designed, each question required absolute clarity of concepts and the ability to apply them. Guess this being our first brush with this pattern of exams that emphesise and test application rather then plain learning of concepts , we would get better as time progresses. It was also interesting to note that although it was an open book exam very few actually opened the books and even those who did found little help in doing so.


The evening saw a party organised by the spouses association. Time to let your hair down, enjoy , relax and get ready for the next battle....

The rising middle class ...

The middle class in India was so far perceived as pretty apathetic to any political movement, well not any more. The fight against the reservation policy is no more being fought on the streets alone, but like millions of others you too can contribute to it through sms and email campaigns, blogs etc. and help build a social opinion. What started with a handful of students from AIIMS at Delhi has now taken shape of a national movement in no time. The so far silent Indian middle class has been on the forefront of the anti reservation stir , people have found unique ways to express their concerns without disrupting their normal lives. Like the employees of many tech companies choose to wear black on Friday as a mark of their protest against the policy, people are becoming more aware of the importance of their opinion in a democracy. However some do question if all this really works, well it does, the widespread movement has forced the govt. to do a rethink and go slow on the new policy. May sanity prevail….

NO TO RESERVATIONS...

The reservation ghost has come to haunt us again. The government’s proposal to increase reservations in educational institutions is causing widespread rage across the country. We have had the policy of reservations for certain castes and communities, considered to be backward , ever since we won our independence 59 yrs ago. Simple logic says that if the targeted beneficiaries are still no better off the policy is due for an overhaul. But imagine what do our lawmakers do , instead of scrapping the policy of reservations they chose to increase them. The concerned minister represents a region which is the most backward in India, and has continued to remain so. So much for his credentials.

Nothing could be more painful then a deserving case not getting admission to premier institutes all because of his caste .I admire the US society because it accepted the idea of merit to the core. People from every religion and nationality were accepted with open arms as long as they could contribute to the society. Success stories of numerous NRIs bear enough testimony to the fact. Equal opportunity and merit are the fundamental tenets for any society to grow and prosper. Unfortunately India has some distance to travel on this count, and people like Arjun Singh are making sure they lay as many hurdles as possible on this path of growth.

PS : In the next move the government plans to bring unaided institutions like the ISB too within the purview of the reservation guidelines. Isn’t it time for us to stand for meritocracy??

The First Assignment .....

All first's in life have a particular significance and become part of cherished memories. Ask anyone what he did on the first day at school or who all he met the first day at office and chances are you would get a complete recollection of all events. ... but try asking the same about say the 132nd day at school or the 56th day at office.

The first group assignment in marketing was submitted yesterday, group could be seen completing the final draft of the case analysis for the better part of the day, however come evening the relief was evident on all faces. So much so that during dinner I kept guessing from the expressions whether the person walking into the dining hall had completed the assignment, and guess what 18 on 20 times my estimation was correct. For the remaining two .... well you cant really blame me since some people wear the same expression whether happy or sad...

Thats my group submitting the assignment..........

after a merathon final meeting lasting over five hrs.......you can read the joy and relief on our faces.

Adventure or opportunity .....

The accounting course in Term-1 pretty basic in nature. But considering the fact that almost 70% of the batch is totally new to accounting the course does serve a purpose in the program.

The professors for the course offered all CA’s an alternative whereby we have been given an option to opt out of the regular accounting course. Instead we would be required to undertake a research assignment requiring us to present at the end of the term and also submit a term paper. The course would also be supplemented by a few meetings wherein the professors have agreed to talk to us on emerging issues under accounting and their research work. Prof Kallapur presented last week on Esops and their accounting, while Prof. Finn would talk to us this week on Variable Interest Entities (Would be able to write about what this means after I attend the talk). So the bottom line is no regular classes, no routine assignments and no exams. Our course grades would be based upon the evaluation of the term paper. The project needs to be undertaken in groups of three. Although this route would require us to perhaps put in more effort and risking the near certain “A” on the grades, not sure if risking is the right word since one should still end up with a good grade if he puts in enough effort in the project.

The module is however optional so while a few of up opted in, many others choose to stick to the regular course. Groups are working on issues ranging from Corporate Governance to Carbon Trading and HR accounting etall. My group would be presenting the term paper on the issue of “Accounting for Intellectual Property Rights”. The topic is pretty interesting but would certainly require lot of work since the area of accounting for intangibles if still far from being fully explored. Watch this space for much more on the issue.

The whole decision to opt for the scheme or not was centered around the possible implication on the grades, or the notion having to work hard for a possibly certain grade. Well as for me the reasons for choosing the research module over regular class were quite simple…. Its not all about grades and grades alone, although grades are important but concern over them should not deter us from a good learning opportunity. A bschool education is as much about exploring new frontiers , the way to make the best use of the internationally reputed faculty available here is to be able to interact with them on a variety of contemporary issues. As for the risk, well at times taking no risk at all is the biggest risk in itself. So while some call it needless adventure I call it opportunity.

Life in Term-1

Term-1 is gathering steam fast, some of the most colourful characters have suddenly turned bookworms..... they now prefer the company of books to ordinary mortals....... ( thats Ritesh)












..... and spend most of the day in the LRC (Learning Resource Centre..)
















while some others prefer to use the LRC for a sweet nap .....














Finally... thats my study group getting "Fadexed" ( first case analysis for the marketing class) {the one on extreme right is me}

Random Snippets- II .....

• Term-1 began today, Prof. Aseem Ansari from Columbia kicked off the Marketing Course with the Fadex Case discussion. More on him in the days to come. The other class of the day was Accounting , Prof. Sanjay Kalapur is taking our section while some of the sections are covered by Prof Mark Finn. Having been through the rigors of the CA course I found the first class material pretty basic, however a large majority is absolutely new to accounts so cant say the same for them. I am told both the professors are planning a special program for the Chartered Accountants in the batch, they would be announcing the details pretty soon. All in all it was a good first day in office.

• Round of introductions still continue, each time I feel I now know all the people in my batch I come across a new face. While some of us are still pretty enthusiastic about knowing more people for some it’s a real pain to respond if you greet them on the way.

• Squash continues as well, infact I am pretty happy with myself on this front. I have built in an hour each day into my routine and have adhered to it for more then two weeks now. It’s nice to be back on the courts after almost three years, I did struggle for stamina in the beginning (well I still do…) but slowly getting back the old touch. More on this soon.......