Surfacing back....
Its been sometime that I have posted anything on this blog. Primarily because I created another blog to post personal stuff with lots of personal stuff happening in life. But then there has been lot of change lately that has happened in a month or so.So let me just update a little bit today.
For one, I no longer have a job . I resigned from job after five years on July 4th.
Second, I am back to school as a student and the classes have started now. Besides I have moved in to St Louis now and joined Olin School of business. The transition went smootly and now I am almost settled here in college . Also got a small group of friends and in the process of creating a bigger circle of friends here with the object of networking.
Third , Life has become very fast...Its moving at the speed of light and I love it. Its different and everyday brings something new into it. The uncertainity brings with it a little bit of nervous energy and to be true it has subsided a little bit after two weeks here in US.
Need to go back to studying .Will remember to post more regularly into this.
By the way ...we had a indian party yday night and below is the link to that.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sabatg/PartyBalaji
Also , some pics of college photos below.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560349666AVOgiF
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Adieu Bangalore
Adieu Bangalore!!
My last trip to bangalore for atleast few years now and definitely the last time that I was meeting some of my old college friends at bangalore this year.We reached there around 8 in the evening and rushed to a small but cozy restaurant "Jukebox" nearby and started gulping down draught beer and all kinds of starters. Slowly other friends gathered by and the place was rocking with 9 guys pulling each other's legs at the top of their voices. I generally don't like beer but since drought beer was the only option there,I was also soon into my 4th glass and the group finishing 6 large pitchers in no time.Then it was the time to sizzle with sizzlers as the place is known for its sizzlers.And the evening ended with large scoops of ice-cream and walking down to home at 12 in the night with puffs of smoke.If you thought the night would end soon,you were wrong.It was only the start.With guys like sujeet,tarini around who wait to spice up the things, the gossip just started with one group playing cards.We kept on chatting till 3 in the morning when we decided that it was time to sleep becoz the next day was going to be long with plans of going to some resort.
The place was decided and it was to be the sanjay khan's "Golden Palm resort and Spa" - the attraction - Hrithik roshan got married there .Stupid but that's what was decided and off we went on a 50KM bike ride to off city limits and reached the resort around 12:00 in the morning.The place definitely holds a luxurious look and since we were to shell out 1500 bucks for a day,so breakfast had to be at the resort.Hungry like hell,we jumped into the resort straight towards the 7 course exotic lunch after the welcome drinks. It was definitely a lunch worth the money with 20 different types of salads,breads, host of main course menus and ofcourse my fav - the 8 different types of desserts. We feasted on them for 2 hours as if we were hungry for 1 week and then came out to check what else the resort had to offer.
Off we went to the sports section, and each of us tried our hands at the different sports facilities available.It was good to try my hand for the first time on Lawn Tennis and Squash. Lawn Tennis came to an end as the ball landed more frequently outside the stadium rather then in the court.But by that time ,we were drained out and it was time to jump into the pool and relax. A little bit of beer by the pool side and a little bit of stretching out in the cool bangalore weather summed the mood.
After a couple of hours inside the pool ,it was time for some executive games and then off we went to play pool. Again everyone tried their hand and soon we were getting good at the game but rain came knocking and by 8 we were ready to leave and drive our way back to home.We reached home by 10 and after couple of more hours of chit-chatting we hit the bed and called it a early dayout.
The next day started with Bacardi with Chandrasekhar with cheers to his marriage and my college.We sat there a couple of hours just chit - chatting and gossipping and sharing information. I was feeling bad that I would not be able to attend his marriage and neither of any of my other friends who would be getting married in a year or so.After a couple of hours it was time to say good bye to him and soon good-bye to all the rest of the friends ....me very much aware that maybe I would not meet the group like that anytime in future anymore.
My last trip to bangalore for atleast few years now and definitely the last time that I was meeting some of my old college friends at bangalore this year.We reached there around 8 in the evening and rushed to a small but cozy restaurant "Jukebox" nearby and started gulping down draught beer and all kinds of starters. Slowly other friends gathered by and the place was rocking with 9 guys pulling each other's legs at the top of their voices. I generally don't like beer but since drought beer was the only option there,I was also soon into my 4th glass and the group finishing 6 large pitchers in no time.Then it was the time to sizzle with sizzlers as the place is known for its sizzlers.And the evening ended with large scoops of ice-cream and walking down to home at 12 in the night with puffs of smoke.If you thought the night would end soon,you were wrong.It was only the start.With guys like sujeet,tarini around who wait to spice up the things, the gossip just started with one group playing cards.We kept on chatting till 3 in the morning when we decided that it was time to sleep becoz the next day was going to be long with plans of going to some resort.
The place was decided and it was to be the sanjay khan's "Golden Palm resort and Spa" - the attraction - Hrithik roshan got married there .Stupid but that's what was decided and off we went on a 50KM bike ride to off city limits and reached the resort around 12:00 in the morning.The place definitely holds a luxurious look and since we were to shell out 1500 bucks for a day,so breakfast had to be at the resort.Hungry like hell,we jumped into the resort straight towards the 7 course exotic lunch after the welcome drinks. It was definitely a lunch worth the money with 20 different types of salads,breads, host of main course menus and ofcourse my fav - the 8 different types of desserts. We feasted on them for 2 hours as if we were hungry for 1 week and then came out to check what else the resort had to offer.
Off we went to the sports section, and each of us tried our hands at the different sports facilities available.It was good to try my hand for the first time on Lawn Tennis and Squash. Lawn Tennis came to an end as the ball landed more frequently outside the stadium rather then in the court.But by that time ,we were drained out and it was time to jump into the pool and relax. A little bit of beer by the pool side and a little bit of stretching out in the cool bangalore weather summed the mood.
After a couple of hours inside the pool ,it was time for some executive games and then off we went to play pool. Again everyone tried their hand and soon we were getting good at the game but rain came knocking and by 8 we were ready to leave and drive our way back to home.We reached home by 10 and after couple of more hours of chit-chatting we hit the bed and called it a early dayout.
The next day started with Bacardi with Chandrasekhar with cheers to his marriage and my college.We sat there a couple of hours just chit - chatting and gossipping and sharing information. I was feeling bad that I would not be able to attend his marriage and neither of any of my other friends who would be getting married in a year or so.After a couple of hours it was time to say good bye to him and soon good-bye to all the rest of the friends ....me very much aware that maybe I would not meet the group like that anytime in future anymore.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Level 5 Leadership
Level 5 Leadership
I came across this interesting article in jim collins website and below are some of it from there.....
Level 5 leadership: The antithesis of egocentric celebrity If you want to grasp the essence of the type of leader who turns good into great, just keep in mind Darwin Smith. It turns out that every good-to-great company in our study had a leader from the Darwin Smith school of management at the helm during the pivotal years.
We eventually came to call these remarkable people “Level 5 leaders.” The term “Level 5” refers to a five-level hierarchy. Level 1 relates to individual capability, Level 2 to team skills, Level 3 to managerial competence, and Level 4 to leadership as traditionally conceived. Level 5 leaders possess the skills of levels 1 to 4 but also have an “extra dimension”: a paradoxical blend of personal humility (“I never stopped trying to become qualified for the job”) and professional will (“sell the mills”). They are somewhat self-effacing individuals who deflect adulation, yet who have an almost stoic resolve to do absolutely whatever it takes to make the company great, channeling their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. It’s not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest. Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious—but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution and its greatness, not for themselves.
Two sides of the Level 5 leader
On the one hand… Creates—and is a clear catalyst in creating—superb results. Yet on the other hand… Demonstrates a compelling modesty, shunning public adulation and never boastful.
On the one hand… Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long-term results, no matter how difficult. Yet on the other hand… Acts with quiet, calm determination and relies principally on inspired standards—not an inspiring personality—to motivate.
On the one hand… Sets the standard of building an enduring great organization and will settle for nothing less. Yet on the other hand… Channels ambition into the organization and its work, not the self, setting up successors for even greater success in the next generation.
On the one hand… Looks in the mirror, not out the window, to apportion responsibility for poor results, never blaming other people, external factors, or bad luck. Yet on the other hand… Looks out the window, not in the mirror, to apportion credit for the success of the company—to other people, external factors, and good luck
I came across this interesting article in jim collins website and below are some of it from there.....
Level 5 leadership: The antithesis of egocentric celebrity If you want to grasp the essence of the type of leader who turns good into great, just keep in mind Darwin Smith. It turns out that every good-to-great company in our study had a leader from the Darwin Smith school of management at the helm during the pivotal years.
We eventually came to call these remarkable people “Level 5 leaders.” The term “Level 5” refers to a five-level hierarchy. Level 1 relates to individual capability, Level 2 to team skills, Level 3 to managerial competence, and Level 4 to leadership as traditionally conceived. Level 5 leaders possess the skills of levels 1 to 4 but also have an “extra dimension”: a paradoxical blend of personal humility (“I never stopped trying to become qualified for the job”) and professional will (“sell the mills”). They are somewhat self-effacing individuals who deflect adulation, yet who have an almost stoic resolve to do absolutely whatever it takes to make the company great, channeling their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. It’s not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest. Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious—but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution and its greatness, not for themselves.
Two sides of the Level 5 leader
On the one hand… Creates—and is a clear catalyst in creating—superb results. Yet on the other hand… Demonstrates a compelling modesty, shunning public adulation and never boastful.
On the one hand… Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long-term results, no matter how difficult. Yet on the other hand… Acts with quiet, calm determination and relies principally on inspired standards—not an inspiring personality—to motivate.
On the one hand… Sets the standard of building an enduring great organization and will settle for nothing less. Yet on the other hand… Channels ambition into the organization and its work, not the self, setting up successors for even greater success in the next generation.
On the one hand… Looks in the mirror, not out the window, to apportion responsibility for poor results, never blaming other people, external factors, or bad luck. Yet on the other hand… Looks out the window, not in the mirror, to apportion credit for the success of the company—to other people, external factors, and good luck
Sharing my GMAT experiences
Sharing my GMAT & MBA appliaction experience
I thought it would be a good thought to put down my experiences so far on preparing for GMAT and then the subsequent processes after that.
To start with ,the most important thing about going for an international MBA is planning. The whole process takes around 12 to 15 months - starting with GMAT,TOEFL, Applications, Interview and finally culminating with visa. So the planning becomes critical on when to give GMAT so that you have sufficient time for the other steps. On the other hand , a wrong timing can mean loosing one year or atleast one semester(fall or spring).
Also based on when you start ,you need to decide whether you want to go for fall semester or autumn. Most of the good schools have a fall intake and scholarship options are higher for fall.Once you decide on this ,you can calculate and book a date for GMAT.
GMAT & TOEFL
Well, let me make it clear from the outset that GMAT is the easiest step in the whole process of application for the Indians. So considering that , it is worthwhile to use that as a advantage and make the most of it by getting a good score - anything above 700 is considered good but the higher the better because in India 700 is a below average GMAT score. You well realize this when you apply for ISB ,hyderabad. And once u start interacting with other Indians , you will realize that a 750,780 is not very uncommon. So a good score at GMAT is critical for a number of reasons
1) To be compeititive with other indians with similar profile.
2) To get shortlisted initially for interview and then for scholarship.
Now inorder to prepare for GMAT , there are the standard set of books - the Official Guide to GMAT, Kaplan,Princeton and then 1000 question sets at score top.Most Indians are weak in english and so there is a book from OG specifically for english. And there is no substitute to reading novels and newspaper editorials if you are planning for a international MBA. It will not only help for your GMAT but later on for your application.So start reading and contemplating what you read because that will help you for your RC's also.You can also refer to CAT mathematics for basics and simillarly other CAT material for english also.But beware of not wasting time on things that are not required for GMAT.
Besides there are the online tests and site material for kaplan and princeton.There are two essays in GMAT which are also important. MBA.com lists all the topics and it is good if you just browse through each topic and have few points in mind for them. There are also websites which have sample essays for each topic. The actual topic you would get in GMAT would be either same or pretty close to one of them in the list.
The average preparation time varies from person to person.A good way to judge where you stand is to appear at some free tests conducted at IMS or Princeton review.That will also give you a idea of whether you need to join a coaching center or prepare on your own. My suggestion is prepare on your own as there is no substitute to time that you need to invest for practice.
Take lot of practice tests and chill out during the actual exam.Its much easier then CAT or XAT. So you can do well if you relax.
Before the GMAT, it is good if you have the list of colleges you want to apply. This will save you a few bucks later on.
Once GMAT is through, TOEFL should be a cakewalk . Take it as soon as possible and send the scores to the schools you have decided to apply.Again a college list is handy.
Application
This is the most critical and difficult part of the whole process. This starts with the first step of selecting which school you want to be in.Ofcourse there are number of ways to select the school of your choice based on GMAT Score, Location(US,Europe,Asia,Australia), Fit with your profile, Scholarship options, Private vs Public and your choice of specialization to name some.USA.com,forbes,business week come up with a list of schools which is a good place to start your research.Princeton website also provides lot of information and comparism for the school.But there is no substitute to going through the school website to identify whether the school culture fits your profile.This is a time taking process and will decide your future.So spend time and effort on this.
Also there are world MBA tour fairs which are good first hand source of information for each school.This is something that should not be missed and which can also be used for information and to demonstrate your interest during interviews.
Once the list of school is ready, browse the website of each school for detailed information and old or current year applications. The process starts around July or August and the first deadline is generally around November ,with second around Febuary and third around April.As a international student it is important to apply by the second round so that you have time for visa .
Making a successful application is a long process which requires a lot of patience,perseverence and self discovery. Each application consists of a setof questions whose sole purpose is to try to know the applicant through these answers.All the answers have to be true, honest and that is the key.The most important thing is to spend time discovering the true self - trying to find answers to questions like "Goals,Why MBA,Why this college,What are your strengths and weaknesses?" .But the key is to allign these answers to the requirements of the college and trying to fit your answers to the college requirements.
It is good to draft answers to these questions and do a lot of self-introspection to understand who you are. Also it is critical to talk with your friends, mentors, peers so that they can highlight your strengths and weaknesses. Also identify friends who have gone through this process and have them read your application.
Also avoid copying material from anywhere on the web.It is very critical that it is unique and differentiates yourself from the thousands of other applications.
Try to script a story in your application which will interest the admission committee and strike a chord with him. If you are able to do that , then Bingo!!
Transcripts
You would need transcripts for every college you would be applying to. So start this process early and apply for the transcripts to your undergrad college.This may take few weeks and so it is helpful if you have the transcripts with you by the time you start applying.
Interview:
The interview is the last 30% of the full process. At this stage the college is trying to gauge whether what ever you have written in your essays is true or not.They have reached some conclusion and they want to gauge if they are correct. So it is important that you are thourough with your application and highlight the points in a clear and concise way. A little bit of interview preparation is good and always helps.
It is good if you put down the points briefly in excel or word.That ensures that it does not seem like you have remembered the answers but also makes sure that you do not miss any point.
It is very important that you prepare questions to ask in the interview.This always gives a positive edge to you.
To be continued...
I20
Visa
Tickets
Friday, June 1, 2007
Visa Experiences
Visa Experience!!
I am writing it now sitting at the hotel after my visa has been approved – and myself pretty much relaxed and after receiving all the congratulations from near and dear ones. It was pretty simple and the questions were pretty normal like why you are leaving the job or what was the purpose of your earlier visit and how would you finance your education…So the interview went in a very normal way – very different then how my previous day had gone.
To summarize my yesterday’s experience in short – If there was anything that could go wrong, it simply went wrong. To start with , I took the visa forms for Xerox and the stupid lady did a Xerox in the back side of one original form and misplaced another copy of the DS158 form. Then I came back home and took copies again of those file ( luckily internet was there) , and started searching for a internet café for printing them out. It was as if I was staying in a jungle – one shop did not have power and the other had a problem with printer and then finally got lucky the third time.
Then came back home, papers are ready but just thought that let me confirm my hotel booking once. I called the hotel up and they said that the room was not reserved by mistake and somehow it had slipped and all the rooms are full and they are extremely sorry for the mistake. The easiest way out for anyone after committing a blunder. I really hate those words – regret, sorry.
Anyway, good that I called up and checked out or would have roamed around Chennai which would have been a icing over the cake with people really very understanding here.
Well then located a hotel through internet around 1 km radius of US consulate and booked it. It makes me wonder sometime what people did when there was no internet. Did people do such kind of stupidity at that time also???
As if that was not enough, then I got ready and went out to get some cash for the trip and then got a call from Indian Airlines that the flight was delayed – not by 1 or 2 but by 4 hours. And that is all the information that they have. Wow!! And to add salt to injury she says generally the Chennai flight is on time and I can say it is bad luck that the flight is delayed today – As if I did not know that.
I had booked IA while I was getting Deccan tickets for half the cost to avoid this and I was sitting in the airport for my long wait of 6 hours while the deccan flight went of with a 20 min delay and the flight was full.
Then after a 3 hours wait, I decided to hop into Indigo – as their flight was on time (and payed a premium for that) and I cancelled the IA ticket and then reached Chennai and rest is history. I would be on my way back to Hyderabad in a couple of hours.
I am writing it now sitting at the hotel after my visa has been approved – and myself pretty much relaxed and after receiving all the congratulations from near and dear ones. It was pretty simple and the questions were pretty normal like why you are leaving the job or what was the purpose of your earlier visit and how would you finance your education…So the interview went in a very normal way – very different then how my previous day had gone.
To summarize my yesterday’s experience in short – If there was anything that could go wrong, it simply went wrong. To start with , I took the visa forms for Xerox and the stupid lady did a Xerox in the back side of one original form and misplaced another copy of the DS158 form. Then I came back home and took copies again of those file ( luckily internet was there) , and started searching for a internet café for printing them out. It was as if I was staying in a jungle – one shop did not have power and the other had a problem with printer and then finally got lucky the third time.
Then came back home, papers are ready but just thought that let me confirm my hotel booking once. I called the hotel up and they said that the room was not reserved by mistake and somehow it had slipped and all the rooms are full and they are extremely sorry for the mistake. The easiest way out for anyone after committing a blunder. I really hate those words – regret, sorry.
Anyway, good that I called up and checked out or would have roamed around Chennai which would have been a icing over the cake with people really very understanding here.
Well then located a hotel through internet around 1 km radius of US consulate and booked it. It makes me wonder sometime what people did when there was no internet. Did people do such kind of stupidity at that time also???
As if that was not enough, then I got ready and went out to get some cash for the trip and then got a call from Indian Airlines that the flight was delayed – not by 1 or 2 but by 4 hours. And that is all the information that they have. Wow!! And to add salt to injury she says generally the Chennai flight is on time and I can say it is bad luck that the flight is delayed today – As if I did not know that.
I had booked IA while I was getting Deccan tickets for half the cost to avoid this and I was sitting in the airport for my long wait of 6 hours while the deccan flight went of with a 20 min delay and the flight was full.
Then after a 3 hours wait, I decided to hop into Indigo – as their flight was on time (and payed a premium for that) and I cancelled the IA ticket and then reached Chennai and rest is history. I would be on my way back to Hyderabad in a couple of hours.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Advertisements
Advertisements
Its been quite sometime that I have been thinking about starting a coloumn on advertisement reviews.The plan is to critically analyze the pros and cons of each advertisement, the central theme, how catchy is the ad and what is the public group that it plans to attract and then my thoughts on what they can target on.
As I spend majority of my time watching ads , it would be interesting to see how this builds up.
1) Nokia N95 - "There is a thing in my pocket........but its not one thing,its many....". The advertisement is really impressive and very strong and definitely able to hold the attention of its viewers. What the advertisement plays upon is the curiosity instinct of all people. It creates that by slowly highlighting the various aspects of the phone and how all this aspects have been merged into one phone.And nicely ends by saying its not one thing but many things - highlighting the multifunctionality of the phone - a 5MP camera,GPS, touchscreen, MP3/Media player, streaming video etc.
One of the most unique things about this advertisement is that it does not show a face during the whole advertisement. That clearly ensures that the viewer is focussed only about the thing in his pocket and is not diverted to anything else. In short the advertisement gets you to think what is this thing in his pocket for first timers. And the minute you make people think about it, you have scored well as it is going to leave a mark in the mind.
Everybody have been waiting for this phone from the Nokia stable - a phone that is being placed in the same range and launched in the market around the same time as the apple iPhone and expecting it to challenge the iPhone.So the advertisement hits the nail on the head by playing upon that and I would say its the perfect advertisement for launching a product.
Personally from a product point of view iPhone has a compeitition now but I would still put my money on iPhone.But definiely I am going to check both before purchasing.
N9 ads on net:
http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/340/C11084/
http://n95blog.com/there-is-a-thing-in-my-pocket/
Enjoy!!
Its been quite sometime that I have been thinking about starting a coloumn on advertisement reviews.The plan is to critically analyze the pros and cons of each advertisement, the central theme, how catchy is the ad and what is the public group that it plans to attract and then my thoughts on what they can target on.
As I spend majority of my time watching ads , it would be interesting to see how this builds up.
1) Nokia N95 - "There is a thing in my pocket........but its not one thing,its many....". The advertisement is really impressive and very strong and definitely able to hold the attention of its viewers. What the advertisement plays upon is the curiosity instinct of all people. It creates that by slowly highlighting the various aspects of the phone and how all this aspects have been merged into one phone.And nicely ends by saying its not one thing but many things - highlighting the multifunctionality of the phone - a 5MP camera,GPS, touchscreen, MP3/Media player, streaming video etc.
One of the most unique things about this advertisement is that it does not show a face during the whole advertisement. That clearly ensures that the viewer is focussed only about the thing in his pocket and is not diverted to anything else. In short the advertisement gets you to think what is this thing in his pocket for first timers. And the minute you make people think about it, you have scored well as it is going to leave a mark in the mind.
Everybody have been waiting for this phone from the Nokia stable - a phone that is being placed in the same range and launched in the market around the same time as the apple iPhone and expecting it to challenge the iPhone.So the advertisement hits the nail on the head by playing upon that and I would say its the perfect advertisement for launching a product.
Personally from a product point of view iPhone has a compeitition now but I would still put my money on iPhone.But definiely I am going to check both before purchasing.
N9 ads on net:
http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/340/C11084/
http://n95blog.com/there-is-a-thing-in-my-pocket/
Enjoy!!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Novels
Considering the kind of memory I have, where I tend to forget the names almost the next day, I thought I should put down a list somewhere of all the books I have read or will read in future.So hopefully I will get the time to update this regularly .
By the way,I finally had some time after a long time to go through some books in the last few weeks.
Love Story by Eric Sehgal(8/10)
Arraignment by Steve Martini(4/10)
The face of deception by Iris Johansen(5/10)
Monday Morning Leadership by David Cottrell(7/10)
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller(8/10)
Some of my old favs:
Fountainhead by Aynn Rand
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Godfather by Mario Puzo
To kill a mocking bird by Harper Lee
All of Jeffery Archer(My fav author)
All of John Grisham
Need to update the list.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Hyderabad revisted!!
I will call this weekend as Hyderabad revisted. Had around 5 friends here for the weekend. So while showing them around in hyderabad ended up visting whole of the old hyderabad - doing things which I have not done in the last five years.
Well to start with went over to salarjung museum again,but as usual I am not a great fan of visiting museums and lost interest very quickly.....ofcourse there are couple of things I always liked the nizam jewellery show (which was not there this time) and the arms museum . After I went thru the arms part, I was virtually roaming around. Salarjung museum is pretty close to charminar and that was the next place that we headed onto.
Charminar is very photogenic but not so when you see it infront of your eyes.But we did go to the top of charminar and spent some time on top.Its nice on top and raw mango slices with chillie powder and salt made up our stay at charminar.With the temperature soaring and touching 40 C, it was mad to roam around, but we continued doing so and headed to mecca masjid.
Mecca Masjid ,is the second largest masjid in India.This was my first visit inside a masjid and one of my friend being muslim explained us the details of what they do and it was kind of interesting to know those details. Well besides it was my first trip inside any other place of worship apart from a temple. Thats kind of ironic considering the fact I studied for 10years in a christian school. How can a trip of hyderabad get over for my friends without hyderabad biryani.
And so we headed next to Shahdab....hotel famous for biryani and had a sumptuos lunch. By the time lunch was over,it was four in the evening...the heat had taken a toll and with a full stomach...my eyelids resisted any efforts to keep them open.With great difficulty we planned our next place and headed towards falaknuma palace which was the other tourist place around the area.We reached there after a 20 min ride in a auto - all 5 of us packed into one .And to utter disgust reached there to realize that it has been taken over by Taj and is a private property now and is closed. This is something ridiculous on the part of AP government as they are still putting it as a tourist destination.Its surprising and I am sure that we were not the only guys to be fooled because of this mistake by the tourism department.
We headed back straight to Golconda fort - a 45 min ride in a auto - six of us packed inside.Something I felt was a stupid thing to do to save few bucks.Well we did it though.We reached golconda and the lawns were too tempting and we headed straight for that and I had a short nap in open air. Its not bad actually.Golconda fort is huge and we climbed the 360 odd steps to reach the top.But the view on top is worth the effort .Besides it was sunset time and being a lover of nature...the views were simply lovely.But the icing on the cake was the sound and light show which is just awesome. With some wonderful light effects illuminating different sections of the fort and the heavy voice of Big B giving the details , it is worth the effort.Once done with the brilliant show, we headed for home and their trip ended with dinner at chutneys.
Well as usual , like everybody who has come to hyderabad - they liked the city for its cleanliness, wonderful roads and lots and lots of gardens and greenery compared to mumbai,bangalore or chennai.But they did give a name to the city -Tip-Top . Tip because everybody they interacted with asked them for tips...specifically the autowallahs who took them around the city and top because the city is very well maintained.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Another weekend gone by....
Another weekend gone by
Another weekend gone by….
Finally another hectic week came to an end with the NAMESAKE movie. Before I proceed to the movie review, first on first things first. Had been to Mumbai to attend the scholarship interview for JN Tata fund.
Basically I wanted to attend the interview more personally. The reason was to see where I stand and how I fare. The interview went exceptionally well although I was lucky to browse through few healthcare innovations recently which they happened to ask. So I can say it was a copybook interview where I was controlling the rudder of the whole interview. So irrespective of whether I get the scholarship or not, it has helped me boost my confidence a lot considering the fact that preparation was just a couple of ours.
Then it was party time first with a college friend Biswajit where we hung out at Inorbit mall checking Mumbai chics and then with my sis, bro-in-law and a cousin. Went to a cool place “Soul fry” and it was fun. The next day lunch was at another happening place of Mumbai “Hard rock Cafe”( Couple of places to go to in Mumbai) …. Me not a big hard rock fan but definitely the setup was stylish and extremely comfortable …. ambience,food…so were the prices with a burger costing 400 bucks only. And then I was back in Hyderabad…tired of traveling by bus,train and air….I want to stay at one place ---but that does’nt seem to work out…and I will be traveling again very soon…maybe it will continue till I get the visa.
Well then tried our luck for Namesake and boy – the movie is good and extremely well directed (of course as expected) . Liked the movie and would be reading the book soon .Of course another book that I am interested to read now is Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol. I would rate the movie as worth watching .
Another weekend gone by….
Finally another hectic week came to an end with the NAMESAKE movie. Before I proceed to the movie review, first on first things first. Had been to Mumbai to attend the scholarship interview for JN Tata fund.
Basically I wanted to attend the interview more personally. The reason was to see where I stand and how I fare. The interview went exceptionally well although I was lucky to browse through few healthcare innovations recently which they happened to ask. So I can say it was a copybook interview where I was controlling the rudder of the whole interview. So irrespective of whether I get the scholarship or not, it has helped me boost my confidence a lot considering the fact that preparation was just a couple of ours.
Then it was party time first with a college friend Biswajit where we hung out at Inorbit mall checking Mumbai chics and then with my sis, bro-in-law and a cousin. Went to a cool place “Soul fry” and it was fun. The next day lunch was at another happening place of Mumbai “Hard rock Cafe”( Couple of places to go to in Mumbai) …. Me not a big hard rock fan but definitely the setup was stylish and extremely comfortable …. ambience,food…so were the prices with a burger costing 400 bucks only. And then I was back in Hyderabad…tired of traveling by bus,train and air….I want to stay at one place ---but that does’nt seem to work out…and I will be traveling again very soon…maybe it will continue till I get the visa.
Well then tried our luck for Namesake and boy – the movie is good and extremely well directed (of course as expected) . Liked the movie and would be reading the book soon .Of course another book that I am interested to read now is Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol. I would rate the movie as worth watching .
Friday, April 20, 2007
Another weekend gone by….
Finally another hectic week came to an end with the NAMESAKE movie. Before I proceed to the movie review, first on first things first. Had been to Mumbai to attend the scholarship interview for JN Tata fund.
Basically I wanted to attend the interview more personally. The reason was to see where I stand and how I fare. The interview went exceptionally well although I was lucky to browse through few healthcare innovations recently which they happened to ask. So I can say it was a copybook interview where I was controlling the rudder of the whole interview. So irrespective of whether I get the scholarship or not, it has helped me boost my confidence a lot considering the fact that preparation was just a couple of ours.
Then it was party time first with a college friend Biswajit where we hung out at Inorbit mall checking Mumbai chics and then with my sis, bro-in-law and a cousin. Went to a cool place “Soul fry” and it was fun. The next day lunch was at another happening place of Mumbai “Hard rock Cafe”( Couple of places to go to in Mumbai) …. Me not a big hard rock fan but definitely the setup was stylish and extremely comfortable …. ambience,food…so were the prices with a burger costing 400 bucks only. And then I was back in Hyderabad…tired of traveling by bus,train and air….I want to stay at one place ---but that does’nt seem to work out…and I will be traveling again very soon…maybe it will continue till I get the visa.
Well then tried our luck for Namesake and boy – the movie is good and extremely well directed (of course as expected) . Liked the movie and would be reading the book soon .Of course another book that I am interested to read now is Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol. I would rate the movie as worth watching .
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Monday Morning Leadership
Monday Morning Leadership
I am currently reading Monday morning leadership by David Cottrell . Its a thin 100 page book but the book is a must read for everyone.It has something to learn for to be and current leaders . Lot of things mentioned in the book - most of us would be knowing or doing but when it is written somewhere and you read it in a book - you start thinking.
Besides , I will start trying and putting up some of my practical experiences to it so that I can relate it to in a better way.
Session I:
Be a driver - As a leader we need to understand the difference between a driver and passenger . This is very true in all situations. Just like the driver looses some of the freedom , a leader should understand that he does not have all those freedom as other employees have . And just like a driver he must understand that the whole team is his responsibility.
Personal Exp:This reminds me of a friend who just moved into our team recently.With this move he was expected to gradually grow into a leadership role. Besides his experience was much more than his team members which makes it obvious for others to accept him to take this role.But personally I felt he never realized this himself and never changed from the passenger to driver role. As a team member, he continued to get into chit chats which always involved scolding the management for everything that happened to him.In this new role,he continued to do so which definitely undermined the way the team looked at him and was demotivating factor for the team.In a short time ,it was realized that he was not ready to be a driver yet.
These transitions are very tricky from an employee to a leadership role.The leadership looks at you a prospective leader but you are still part of the team as a employee.Every employee gradually growing in a organization grows through this.In such a case, you walk a very thin line between a employee and a leader.You need to always remember that although you are part of the team,you have lost some of the freedom they have as a prospective leader.
Take Responsibility -Personally and also as a leader we need to learn to take responsibility of anything that happens around us. There is no point blaming anyone for anything but its more important to take responsibility of it and then look towards the future how to deal with it.As Jeff puts it by taking responsibility we look to the future but by blaming someone we are looking at the past.
This is something that is generally pushed or should be pushed in all organization. If someone commits a mistake , never look at who committed but but try looking at how the same mistake can be prevented in future.
Talking of responsibility , it is worth mentioning here - while we take responsibility of the event ,it is also very important how we react to the event. That would decide the outcome of the event and many other events that get tied up to it.
Personal Exp:
Session II:
a) Know your main things:
It is very important that the whole team knows the main things that they want to achieve. That provides focus to the team and a sense of direction to what they are doing. And a focused team often provides better results.
So as a leader it is very important that the leader knows what the main things are and communicates them clearly to the team that these are he priorities that he wants the team to focus on.
Never assume that the team knows what the main things are. So it is worthwhile to ask the whole team what they think the main things are. Don’t be surprised if you get answers different from what you thought.
b) Setting up the main things:
These are typically my thoughts on how these should be set.
a) They should be drilled from the top business level.
b) They should not be things that can be achieved in a fortnight or a couple of months in a process oriented business. Once achieved that leaves the team distraught on what should be their next focus area. Besides if the leader does not communicate what next pretty quickly, the team slowly losses focus and just drift without purpose.
c) The main things should be aligned to every individual’s goals and objectives against which they are appraised at the end of the year. So every individual knows what he is doing will benefit his growth in the organization.
c) People quit people before they quit the company
This is something I really liked and the more I think, the more I think that it is true.
Most employees look at their manager to meet their needs and if the manager is not able to do so, then gradually they become frustrated about it and start scolding the manager and link everything happening in his office life to that frustration. So even very small things add to that frustration and with frustration, everything seems to look bad and immediately the other side of the garden looks much greener. One of the things that every manager should do is to get in touch unofficially with people who have left and try to understand what made him to leave. What went wrong which made him to look outside.
Of-course there are lot of other reasons why people leave but the above reason definitely would rank very high on the list and other reasons would drill down from the top one.
Session-III
a) Get in touch with people:
This is very true for everyone managing any team. The manager should coach or mentor all his employees.He should provide feedback to both his superstars,middlestarts and underperformers.Gennerally it so happens that we do not provide feedback to superstars assuming that they are doing good and they don't need any feedback . What it gradually happens is that the superstars start feeling that there manager does not care about them and does not meet their needs.
And since they are his responsibility , so they have full rights over part of his time . So a leader should always listen to them and be open and flexible enough so that they are ready to talk with him.
b) Hire the best and dehire the underperformers
All the management gurus have stuck to this and no one would deny it.Never lower the bar to hire someone just for the sake of hiring.Set a standard and then stick to that . When we lower the standard during hiring, we are basically lowering the standard of the team.A less competent person , obviously puts extra load on the rest of the team as the team balance gets disturbed.So what it ends up in is that the good competent employees end up doing more where to make up for the less competent employee.
Now if we do not dehire the less competent employee for affecting the balance and for doing less, by giving them decent performance appraisals, we are basically awarding them for doing less work.So this in short is doing unjustice to others who have put extra effort. So gradually more and more people enter this band where people are rewarded for doing less work and it destroys the team.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Trip to bhubaneswar
Trip to Bhubaneswar
Right now I am waiting for my first trip on Air Deccan And to be frank, I am more apprehensive traveling on Air Deccan then I was while traveling to US . I attribute this to the wonderful reputation that air deccan has created for itself. Its ironical though that in the last two years, I don’t remember of any accidents that Deccan has encountered during this period. Hopefully this holds true for 1 more day.
Well this trip, like any other trips had its share of the good and the bad. No point putting down the bad on paper as I rarely like to remember them again. And the good part was after a long time papa, mummy, nani and myself were together at home in Bhubaneswar. And then mamu landed up in Bhubaneswar for a surprise trip for a couple of days. That really cheered up aee and aja. And the center of attention as always was my nephew who came up with new activities every other day. Ikshu is keeping everyone on their toes and he is real fun to be with.
His mama leaving him to alone in Bhubaneswar and going to Mumbai was a emotional one for everyone in the house and nani was really sad. Hopefully ikshu will get used to it and it will not affect his growth in anyways. And then me leaving again just a day after his mama, he was again hurt and was crying terribly.
As most of my trips to home, this trip also I completely stayed at home. I think when you stay out for so long ,you like to spend all the time at home whenever you are back. And also I don’t have much friends left in Bhubaneswar to roam around .
The deccan flight from delhi has just arrived and wish me a happy and safe trip back to Hyderabad.
Right now I am waiting for my first trip on Air Deccan And to be frank, I am more apprehensive traveling on Air Deccan then I was while traveling to US . I attribute this to the wonderful reputation that air deccan has created for itself. Its ironical though that in the last two years, I don’t remember of any accidents that Deccan has encountered during this period. Hopefully this holds true for 1 more day.
Well this trip, like any other trips had its share of the good and the bad. No point putting down the bad on paper as I rarely like to remember them again. And the good part was after a long time papa, mummy, nani and myself were together at home in Bhubaneswar. And then mamu landed up in Bhubaneswar for a surprise trip for a couple of days. That really cheered up aee and aja. And the center of attention as always was my nephew who came up with new activities every other day. Ikshu is keeping everyone on their toes and he is real fun to be with.
His mama leaving him to alone in Bhubaneswar and going to Mumbai was a emotional one for everyone in the house and nani was really sad. Hopefully ikshu will get used to it and it will not affect his growth in anyways. And then me leaving again just a day after his mama, he was again hurt and was crying terribly.
As most of my trips to home, this trip also I completely stayed at home. I think when you stay out for so long ,you like to spend all the time at home whenever you are back. And also I don’t have much friends left in Bhubaneswar to roam around .
The deccan flight from delhi has just arrived and wish me a happy and safe trip back to Hyderabad.
Deccan Airlines
I travelled on Air Deccan for the first time last week . The price being almost same as 3rd AC train and the significant time saving changed my decision towards travelling on deccan even if I was apprehensive about flying on deccan. I would attribute it to the word of mouth advertisements about deccan like the flight maintainance is very bad, the flights are really dirty, the flights are overbooked ,the worst thing is the flights are never on time and above all that you would never be sure about your check in baggage which can be very easily misplaced.
I am not sure if I was lucky because you cannot arrive at a conclusion on all the above things by just travelling once.But my experience was quite different.
To start with the flights were on time , although there was no seats reserved(which I still think is not a good idea) but there was no confusion in terms of getting seats . The flight was almost full as it was coming from Delhi. The good part is you can find a good girl and go and sit beside her. And there were some good delhi girls ofcourse on the flight.
The flight was over all clean and the maintainance if not too good but was ok - may be because the flight has just started in this sector.
But what caught my attention is the effort to get advertisements inside the plane for example the ICICI advertisement on the head rest, the NDTV advertisement on the baggage area .Well its a goodway to get some money from other means and pass the benefits of low cost flights to the customer. Deccan can look for more such options as this is a good means to get the attention of customers for a full period of 2 hours.
Besides there was some selling of consumer goods on flights which I believe should be done more intensively.The airlines should try and gauge what a consumer might buy in such a short period.One thought is lot of people would be travelling to meet their dear ones and they can have some nice gifts which people can buy for their dear ones. I believe the airlines is already involved in selling water and food material but they should not charge a premium on that.
But the decision to fly on deccan for all the people would be driven by the same philosophy - cheap tickets. But can money alone be the only driving factor as compeition hots up.So its hould start looking at improving if it has to stay fit as a business.What deccan should do is to try and fix the small issues such as luggage displacement, over booking which are more of setting setting up a system rather then short term fixes like writing the destination by chalk which is a manual process and can lead to errors.Besides it can try keeping the plane clean and inside maintained by using part of the money from advertisers to do so.And then it should try to do some advertisement for itself on these fixes and not rely only on prices as a differentiator. And leave the word of mouth to spread right or wrong information about the airlines which might affect it in the long term as compeitition hots up.
I am not sure if I was lucky because you cannot arrive at a conclusion on all the above things by just travelling once.But my experience was quite different.
To start with the flights were on time , although there was no seats reserved(which I still think is not a good idea) but there was no confusion in terms of getting seats . The flight was almost full as it was coming from Delhi. The good part is you can find a good girl and go and sit beside her. And there were some good delhi girls ofcourse on the flight.
The flight was over all clean and the maintainance if not too good but was ok - may be because the flight has just started in this sector.
But what caught my attention is the effort to get advertisements inside the plane for example the ICICI advertisement on the head rest, the NDTV advertisement on the baggage area .Well its a goodway to get some money from other means and pass the benefits of low cost flights to the customer. Deccan can look for more such options as this is a good means to get the attention of customers for a full period of 2 hours.
Besides there was some selling of consumer goods on flights which I believe should be done more intensively.The airlines should try and gauge what a consumer might buy in such a short period.One thought is lot of people would be travelling to meet their dear ones and they can have some nice gifts which people can buy for their dear ones. I believe the airlines is already involved in selling water and food material but they should not charge a premium on that.
But the decision to fly on deccan for all the people would be driven by the same philosophy - cheap tickets. But can money alone be the only driving factor as compeition hots up.So its hould start looking at improving if it has to stay fit as a business.What deccan should do is to try and fix the small issues such as luggage displacement, over booking which are more of setting setting up a system rather then short term fixes like writing the destination by chalk which is a manual process and can lead to errors.Besides it can try keeping the plane clean and inside maintained by using part of the money from advertisers to do so.And then it should try to do some advertisement for itself on these fixes and not rely only on prices as a differentiator. And leave the word of mouth to spread right or wrong information about the airlines which might affect it in the long term as compeitition hots up.
Learning from leaders: Management tips
a) Walk the talk - Everybody needs to do what they speak . All their actions should demonstrate what they have been telling. This creates respect and trust among people which is most critical while leading a group. It is like when you are going on a war , the soldiers should have full trust on the decisions taken by the general and walking the talk creates that.
b) Remember Names – The best way to bridge the bond between two persons is to remember the person’s name and always address by the name. Jon Schlemmer had talked with me once in a round table conference – I was not even in his business – and then after two years we have a get-together. I enter into the party and people are already there . Somebody comes and taps me in the back and says “Hi Abhishek,This is Jon Schlemmer…How are you doing?”. Of course I knew him but that one line had me as his fan for the rest of the time.
c) Same side of table – One thing ,I have learned is that while you are trying to discuss or convince someone…and there is a clear differentiation of role, then the best way to make him feel comfortable and cut the gap of a leader and subordinate is to sit beside him and not across the table. This is a small thing but goes a long way but makes one comfortable if you communicate the right way.
d) Communicate – There is no substitute to this. Everybody knows how critical this is , but most of the leaders fail to do this. Your vision, goal, values have to be hit upon the employees again, again and again – till everyone speaks your language and this is shortlived. So it is critical to understand that its not over after once or twice. I have seen few companies but GE does it best. There are a 1001 ways where the GE brand, its values , vision hits you everyday…..This is again a Jon Schlemmer message where he was the only leader sending business updates globally every month and believe me its effective.
e) Never take exceptions – This is from Vinayak. It could be a matter of 50Rs or 100 Rs but if some expense is not to be reimbursed as per company policy then it should not be approved. You approve for one person and such cases never stay isolated and the reason would be sighted down the line sometime. You can tell the person, if he wants he can do it personally for him but not through company.
f) Language – As a leader , always speak the language everyone understands.
Learning from mistakes
b) Remember Names – The best way to bridge the bond between two persons is to remember the person’s name and always address by the name. Jon Schlemmer had talked with me once in a round table conference – I was not even in his business – and then after two years we have a get-together. I enter into the party and people are already there . Somebody comes and taps me in the back and says “Hi Abhishek,This is Jon Schlemmer…How are you doing?”. Of course I knew him but that one line had me as his fan for the rest of the time.
c) Same side of table – One thing ,I have learned is that while you are trying to discuss or convince someone…and there is a clear differentiation of role, then the best way to make him feel comfortable and cut the gap of a leader and subordinate is to sit beside him and not across the table. This is a small thing but goes a long way but makes one comfortable if you communicate the right way.
d) Communicate – There is no substitute to this. Everybody knows how critical this is , but most of the leaders fail to do this. Your vision, goal, values have to be hit upon the employees again, again and again – till everyone speaks your language and this is shortlived. So it is critical to understand that its not over after once or twice. I have seen few companies but GE does it best. There are a 1001 ways where the GE brand, its values , vision hits you everyday…..This is again a Jon Schlemmer message where he was the only leader sending business updates globally every month and believe me its effective.
e) Never take exceptions – This is from Vinayak. It could be a matter of 50Rs or 100 Rs but if some expense is not to be reimbursed as per company policy then it should not be approved. You approve for one person and such cases never stay isolated and the reason would be sighted down the line sometime. You can tell the person, if he wants he can do it personally for him but not through company.
f) Language – As a leader , always speak the language everyone understands.
Learning from mistakes
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