The new couple...
Monday, January 30, 2006
As everyone on campus was counting down for placements, there was one man who was having a countdown for his wedding that was planned to this date even before he got his admit letter from ISB!! He never behaved like a soon-to-be bridegroom until one week before the d-day when all of a sudden I got a sms in CRSC class “I am tensed”!!! I haven’t seen too many weddings… but this was one among the few where the couple were smiling all through :-)
Prabha & Kamalesh at the wedding
The bride and the bridegroom are back on campus and we managed to throw a surprise party for them yesterday… More snaps can be found in Ram’s blog.
The Couple at the surprise party
Flash News: IDEA's revenues down by 50% because of the wedding!!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Smile Please :-)
Sunday, January 29, 2006
One hellava experience!!! A dead campus... didnt want to be among the dead... suddenly booked my tickets to chennai inspite of technical problems... lunch at malgudis... cancelled air deccan flight... one hour queue at go air counter... another one hour at the boarding pass queue... reached home pretty late... was happy to see everyone again... heard about JP morgan test... dawn, a long journey to Kamalesh's wedding... good lunch but not so great guys ;-)... cancelled the next day return ticket... booked spicejet for same evening... had just 3 hours left at home... waited for my sisters to come back... rushed to the airport... another long queue at the boarding pass counter... flight delayed by 2.5 hours!! bad headache at the airport... reached ISB at 10.30 pm... self-made dinner and a good night's sleep... jp morgan ppt and test.
All this within 48 hours... couldn't stay at home even for 24 hours... but am smiling more than I was smiling 2 days back... can't find many who would return smiles... ISB please smile :-)
Author: Raghini » Comments:
ISB Young Leaders & Torchbearers
ISB has instituted the ISB Young Leaders Award and ISB Torchbearer Award from this year which is considered to be in line with the Dean’s List (academic top 10% of the class).
The student group below has put in thousands of volunteer hours helping with ISB placements, admissions, clubs, ISB blogs, events, communications, winning b-school competitions and a host of other activities.
ISB YOUNG LEADERS AWARD
Ankur Warikoo
Krishna Gopal Depura
R Ramkumar
Rohit Kapoor
ISB TORCHBEARERS AWARD
Aakash Shah
Akshay Sonthalia
Anand Vishwanathan
Ankur Warikoo
Asish Mohapatra
Bharanidharan Vishwanathan
Bhaskar Medhi
Bhishm Chugani
Caunteya Parekh
Debarshi Bhattacharya
Dr. Harsh Vardhan Sharma
Gautam Gadgil
Girish Krishnan A
Kapil Bansal
Kedar Gavane
Krishna Gopal Depura
Nikhil Chandak
Pavit Singh Sistani
Prameet Kamat
Pranjal Gambhir
R Ramkumar
Ramakrishnan V
Ravi Desai
Rohit Kapoor
Ruchir Jhunjhunwala
Shameek Chakravarty
Shruti Sharma
Sridhar Sankararaman
Vijay Mulbagal
Vikas Sinha
Vikram Raman
Yashraj Erande
Author: Raghini » Comments:
BITS' Global 30 Under 30 Awards
Thursday, January 26, 2006
BITS’ First Ever 2005 Global 30 Under 30 Awards (to be presented every three years) have been announced recently!
This award is dedicated to all those young BITSians who thought and acted differently, who challenged the status quo, rewrote the rules, and created their own paths. To the Leaders, Innovators, Researchers, Students, Entertainers, Entrepreneurs, Winners, Engineers, Scientists and concerned Samaritans who came from every corner of India. To the best examples of what it means to be a BITSian.
The list of Names, Year of entry into BITS and Category follows:
Ishan Shukla (2003) – Professional Excellence
Kavikrut (2002) – Entrepreneurship
Aditi Pany (2000) – All-round Leadership
Durga Mitra Prabhu (1999) – Sports
Divya (Kanika) (1999) – Arts & Culture
Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy (1998) – All-round Leadership
Amit Thakral (1997) – Community
Suhail Kassim (1997) – All-round Leadership
Shameek Chakravarthy (1997) – All-round leadership
Shilpa Sambashivan (1997) – Academia & Research
Prasanna V. Krishnan (1996) – All-round Leadership
Jagadeesh Krishnan (1996) – Innovation
Krishna Hegde (1996) – Community Leadership
Garima Kochhar (1995) – Academia & Research
Nikhil Kumar Srivastava (1995) – All-round leadership
Manik Reddy Pullagurla (1995) – Academia & Research
VT Bharadwaj (1995) – All-round Leadership
Sreekhar Cheboyina (1995) – Innovation
Rahul Gopal (1994) – Arts & Culture
Minakshi Krishnan (1995) – Community Leadership
Kartik Hosanagar (1994) – Academia & Research
Shivakumar Swaminathan (1994) – Innovation
Swati Satpathy (1994) – All-round Leadership
Sridhar Nagarajan (1994) – Community Leadership
Ranjani Varadhan (1994) – Academia & Research
Amol B. Bakshi (1993) – Academia & Research
Girish Venkataramani (1993) – Academia & Research
Kranthi Kiran Tumma (1993) – Arts & Culture
Mahesh Ramasubramanian (1993) – Arts & Culture
Sriram Kumar (1992) – Community Leadership
Congratulations!!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Placement Update
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
As the BCG application deadline expired yesterday, the 35 shortlists for Mckinsey popped out!! Again, some happy faces and some disappointed ones… again different view points – nothing right – nothing wrong! My dear quadie is there in the list and I really wish she cracks it outta shape as she does everywhere!
Virtusa has put up job postings for Analyst Marketing & BD, Project Manager, Business Analyst and Finance Manager… One of the firms I would be applying to.
PPT list after my last placement update – Microsoft, Ernst & Young, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Inductis, British Petroleum, ITC Infotech, Wipro, Diamond Cluster, Tavant, Lehman Brothers, Agilent Technologies & Computer Associates.
There is a lot of talk about the compensation numbers quoted by the firms… First, it is difficult for firms to quote one number because of the different profiles available here with respect to number and kind of work experience. So they quote a minimum salary and the campus has to evaluate it in and out!! When the number is high, it becomes the dream company for quite a few!! Second, just an observation, many think that since the average salary is 10 lakhs, they should get above 10!! If everyone gets above 10, how would the average be 10? Hope people have more realistic expectations of what one year of education can do to their individual capabilities!
This year would be the first time when bulk of placements is going to happen in one week during the term break in between 7th and 8th term… again, there are advantages and disadvantages to this… This has been done so that at least during this time, we wouldn't have classes happening at the same time… also to make sure that the preferred companies finish their interviews before other firms come in… we have a tiering process (bidding with 2500 points for 25 companies) for students to indicate their preferences… Hope all this is in the right direction.
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Addictive games!
Monday, January 23, 2006
Our sports secretary has found the wrong time to get ‘foosball’ to the campus… though the table is placed in another student village, it is no disincentive for me to spend time playing… the excuse is always a break in between studies, but it is so addictive that it might become studies in the break in between foosball !!! Used to love playing this when I was in INSEAD… was an excuse for extended lunch breaks!... the guys (ravi, bajji n pavan) used to be so good at it... learnt from them and outplayed them a few times ;-) (okie… whoever knows the truth, keep quiet) and using it to my advantage here… can’t beat the feeling when I win 10 - 0 :-)
Other things I am addicted to - Bubble Trouble & Sudoku!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
How to wake up an ISBian… the story of ‘the real M’!
Friday, January 20, 2006
As narrated by the plotter M2 :-)
************************
Time 4 am
As per real M’s request, R1 woke him up before he went to sleep. Real M informed R1 that he needs to wake me and R2 up before he starts his work.
Time 4:15 am
I reach real M’s room. He's fast asleep, doesn't seem to be the guy who called me at my room once to wake me up and one more time to check if I had woken up and if I was coming to his place.
When I reached his place, he called R2 to wake him up. R2 had not slept still. After informing R2 that I had woken up he replaced his phone and asked me to wake him up in 15 minutes.
Time 4:40 am
M2: real M, 15 mins over, wake up.
Real M: See dude, it takes 2 hours for me to wake up and get steady. I already woke up at 3 am. I'll be up and running in another 15 mins.
M2: Ok, cool. (thinking: This guy's awesome, he even plans exactly at what time he'll be up.) After sometime he gets up, goes to his living room where his quadies are discussing something. Looking at his state, they ask him what happened. He repeats the same dialogue above and comes back to sleep and asks me to wake him up in another 15 mins.
Time 4:55 am
M2: real M, 15 mins over, wake up.
Real M: Reality is actually between the two.
M2: What !!!
Real M: No, what did my quadmates tell you?
M2: Tell me? They didn't tell me a thing.
Real M: Ok, I was referring to that only.
M2: (Shocked).
Time 5:15 am
M2: real M, 15 mins over, wake up.
Real M: Personal interview, very important. I'm thinking about the possible questions. This is very important.
M2: !!?!!
Time 5:30 am
M2: real M, 15 mins over, wake up.
Real M: Do you think I am sleeping, I am fully awake. I'm thinking about the interview questions.
M2: (Trying unsuccessfully to suppress laughter) Ok. Do you have anything to submit today?
Real M: I had, but my group mate has completed it.
Time 5:45 am
M2: real M, 15 mins over, wake up.
Real M: (As if he's in full conciousness) Machi, don't worry about me da. Take care of yourself. I'll get up. I know I will.
M2: (Laughing uncontrollably) Ok.
Time 7:30 am
I'm in real M’s room. Real M is in deep sleep and heavily snoring, completely ignoring the fact that he had planned to get up some 4 hours ago. Without disturbing him, I take my things and get back to my room.
************************
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Women n Wardrobes
Thursday, January 19, 2006
I don’t know if it is true with all women... I thought it was only me before I asked a few and confirmed it to my surprise!!
Things I love … my sleep, my wardrobe and my books :-) (in the same order)... & the thing I am talking about all women is the wardrobe part... my roommate in B’lore used to say however late I got back from work, before going to sleep, I spent the same time deciding what to wear the next day!! & I realized it only after she told me!!
One other observation I made about myself... I give it my best shot to get into the details of what I wear when I am stressed out or unhappy about something,,, looking bright does make me feel brighter!... & this is exactly what I confirmed with a few other women near by!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Dispersion... ?
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Nothing new... but nothing I have got used to…
Should be difficult says one side... numbness is felt at the other side!
Life moves on says one side... it still hasn’t sunk in says the other side!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Reality update
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Its becoming more n more difficult to find time to write… its not like I am sitting with my books or my preps all the time… but jus seems like important things in life always crowd up at the same time… lots of complicated questions to think about… lots of unanswered questions!
After my last post – Cognizant, BCG, ExlService, MBT, Subex Systems, Intel, Trilogy, Infosys, HT Media & Apollo Hospitals – are the companies which have come for the pre-placement talks. McKinsey had their application deadline a couple of days back which saw a good number of deserving candidates put up their hands!! … I didn’t waste my time or their time…
Infosys has put up 29(!) job postings in the CAS website!!! Business Analyst positions (this is the first time Infy has introduced this role – especially for MBA grads) for each of the IBUs! With more than 10% of the class from this company, it would be interesting to see the other side numbers :-)
IT firms have managed record-breaking turnouts for the ppts @ ISB… seems like reality is around the corner again! Hope CAS takes note of the numbers and at least allocates the bigger rooms for these sessions than for companies which complain of not filling the bigger room!!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
No end to a long day... 36 to go
Friday, January 13, 2006
Long days and short nights are not a surprise anyways, so jus taking a break… Placement temperature is soaring new heights this week as EDS made its unofficial offers for positions at Dallas & Mumbai… some happy faces around the campus and some sad... it’s just the first few ones... people should not lose heart!
Everyday we have 2-3 companies making their pre-placement talks... started with Satyam, Mckinsey & Motorola on Monday. This has been followed by Amazon, NIIT, Infotech, Virtusa, BT One IT and Convergys till today. Lots of companies lined up for ppts till the end of this month.
I seem to have lost track of who are my groupmates in some of the courses this term and in some I have no track of the assignments to submit... that’s unlike me!! Seems like the fever is not far from me! The consulting club has been conducting ‘perspective building sessions’ on various sectors and topics... students with varied experience have come up to share their knowledge... a good initiative that has made us understand at least the ABCDs of many practical things in the day-to-day business world!
Opinions are the rulers of humankind… everyone loves to have their share... there is no dearth to what can be talked about every company that makes a ppt, every company that shortlists students, kinda of students shortlisted, the interview process, the interview offers... anything n everything under the sun should have 350 opinions in the campus... okie, if not 350, atleast 35!! My pick of this week would be the story of men getting the kicks by blaming their sex for their loss in the interview ;-) (Wise people need to think wiser)
There is something called the Recruiter Handbook which we wrote sometime in the initial terms (don’t remember exactly when, but just remember that it was long long time ago!)... We were asked to write about our previous work experience in 25 words... some people were allowed to exceed this limit, but some weren’t!!! the important part was this book was supposed to be used to sell ISB (& not individual students) to the recruiters... we were specifically told not to project our post-mba interests in this... many didn’t bother to concentrate too much on what went into this book... now some companies have short listed students based on these profiles!! (even the ones who didn’t bother to apply to the company… this I find the weirdest!)… now who is to blame for this and what can be done about this are frequently asked questions with unexplored answers!!
The placement fever would be seeing even higher peaks in the coming weeks... shall update this space as much as I can with my perspectives!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Two Extremes of India
Sunday, January 08, 2006
India is a land of diverse cultures… in MBA language “Diversity is India’s competitive advantage!” But not many homes in this country appreciate this diversity… In a land in which arranged marriage is still the rule of the day for many 25+ year olds and “a cross-sub-caste wedding is considered to be a sin”, my friend’s family has welcomed an American daughter-in-law as one among them.
Both the families...
The wedding...
Read the experiences in the bride’s own words to see how much every person in the family has enjoyed this experience.
I don’t know how many more years it would take for many families to appreciate the diversity inside this country, let alone the diversity in the world!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
I had a Hearty laugh!
An actual incident involving three people… two male friends, let me call them M1 and M2… one female friend, let me call her F1. Now M1 is interested in F1 which the whole friends circle knows about, except F1! Everyone urges M1 to take a step ahead but M1 doesn’t oblige (only he knows the reason)…
In this scenario, M2 decides to send a mail to the group addressed to F1, subtly yet effectively conveying M1’s interest in F1!!!
Everyone in the group is shocked seeing this explicit mail!!
M1’s heart skips many a beat before he decides to reply saying he won’t accept any more jokes like this… he is just trying to stay cool and shows a good man’s face ;-) and within a minute he gets an undeliverable mail receipt from F1’s id!!!
After a second, he realizes the prank played by M2 to change F1’s id in the ‘To list’ before sending the initial mail!!! Some one should have captured M1’s emotions for these minutes in a video… I would always remember him for this :-) Hope he takes a step ahead at least after this!!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Food for thought!
The economist in me says
“Anything that comes free is not worth it!!”
But today I saw a comment on someone’s blog which says
“The best things in life are free”
Different perspectives… and food for thought!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Ignorance or Dumbness
Saturday, January 07, 2006
I thought Ignorance was bliss until I came to b-school!! :-)
Author: Raghini » Comments:
The awakening...
After the applications for Deutche bank, Macquire and Mittal Steel which awakened many, EDS was my first wake up call for the year. Worked on my resume again yesterday night and another review session with friends and CAS… guess it is in pretty good shape for now, though there is always scope for improvement… personally, I think I should cut down on a few points, which I am going to decide based on the company I am applying to. Spent tonight writing the Expression of Interest for EDS… that was my first attempt at EOI.. should have got it done earlier for a review, but its too late for now… so this review gets postponed to the next deadline!
There seems to be too many things to do at all times now… would have been good if it was just term break and placement preparations happening… but term breaks don’t last long @ ISB… so back to classes n preparations too from Monday. This has been my longest term break for the year as I finished my exams on Monday. And my only step outside the gates was to the mela that’s happening near cyber towers… don’t remember when was the last time I visited this kinda one… but couldn’t resist my love for long skirts :-)
One thing that amazed me at b-school (amazed me more at b-school) is the networking that happens with interior motives… is it selfish to interact with people just because they are going to give you some information at some time? I don’t know, but this seems to be the trend for many, especially during placements!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Focal Point
Thursday, January 05, 2006
“Change is the only thing that remains constant”… To me, meeting and parting is one of the most difficult things to get accustomed to!
Term break after Term 6… other than trying to spend some time with the departing gal, doing my placement preparations also (in times when I don’t sleep!)… I have at last got the signature from the professor for my Independent study proposal, most of the work for which I want to finish before placements. So this would be my fourth course for Term 7. I need to meet the professor again on Friday, so I better do some quality reading today.
Have got tons of inputs about my resume… I want to finalize it this term break… one evening of work left… need to find the motivation to look at it again!! Seems to me that there are loads to do in the next 44 days… academics is going to take the hit in this term… We have been discussing current affairs, sector overview, business articles, core courses etc in the focus group…also have been watching some of these videos of interview preparation guides and ppts left by our alumni!... planning to start mock interviews this term break, at least with the personal questions. I definitely need good preparations with the mock interviews as I have the inherent capability of losing my intellectual capacity(!) when I am questioned by a panel within 4 closed walls!!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Miss ya Shrutkeerti Khurana
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
“You have reached Shruti’s mailbox... A for Academics B for Beer... One of these is the reason I am not here”
There was this gal whom I met in a café shop in Bangalore @ the ISB Admits meet… they told me she was a RJ and she was known to everyone except me!! And by the end of the two hours, I knew why she was so popular :-) She made me comfortable as I was one of the few R2 admits out there getting to know the other R1 admits who had already met.
One month later, I met her again on the first day at ISB and was glad to know she is gonna live in my quad… she had forgotten me but I recognized her instantly and was happy I knew someone here!
Its been 9 months since and there is no one around whom I am more comfortable @ ISB. She has been beside me in my worst times here and she has also made me laugh more in times of good. She is the one who has given life to the quad with her nonsensical pranks ;-) I don’t think I would have ever known what runs on TV all the time, if not for this gal living in my quad! I have learnt more about music, movies and TV shows from her than from anyone else in my life!! Would miss watching FRIENDS, Desperate Housewives and Tru calling and wouldn’t miss watching all those horror movies with this gal ;-)
Other than the horror movies that she loves to watch, this pink gal just doesn’t behave her age even by the choice of games she plays… at midnight or sometimes even before the sun rises, I can hear her playing computer games, mad like a kid :-) and she has definitely fooled many a guy by her looks which hides at least 5 to 6 years of her age ;-)
The dudette is leaving to Darden to rock the parties out there too… there is some scarcity of DJs there and so they have decided to send someone else on an exchange for her!! But who could be as special as her?
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Life is beautiful
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Has earth come to a standstill or have I become numb?
A new year begins… Two exams on the second day… End of Term 6… Would have preferred to party… but exams still around me!
‘Life is Beautiful’ was my savior… gave me good company to light up my spirits!
Now the countdown on my desktop beckons!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
Welcome 2006!
Sunday, January 01, 2006
A year that was… A year that brought back the smile! It could not have been better than what it was!
A year that is… A year to look forward as ‘inevitable changes in life’ seem to be looming around the corner!!! ;-)
Where was I last New Year? To be forgotten!
Where was I this New Year? Dancing in the ISB party, forgetting all the exams that are due soon!
Where would I be next New Year? No Idea! But something tells me it is not in this country! So lemme keep this wild guess for now!
I wish everyone a very Happy New Year! May everyone conquer more steps in the walk of life!
Author: Raghini » Comments:
