ISB Orientation week...

Hey guys, This is the first time I am writing a blog entry from inside ISB itself. Words cannot describe how excited I am at the moment.. I have this whole long story as to what has been happening in the last few weeks that I've been here at Hyderabad....

But since pictures speak a thousand words by themselves, I'd just like to choose 10 pics that describe best the last few weeks!! Hopefully they convey the message successfully... =D.

As you can see it was a beautiful view flying on a sunny 2nd of April from Malaysia to India.

Of course nothing I did had prepared me for the 'meet'. The Dhabbha Meet of Hyderabad ISB-ians. This was a place filled with such handsome and interesting chaps it put the view out of the plane earlier to shame.

Of course, we cannot miss the spouses and the beautiful children that had already started bonding; bringing cheer into our lives. It came to a point where people seemed to think one of the single gals in the team was in fact, the mother of one child.

Things can get pretty confusing when you are having fun with a full stomach in the middle of summer at Hyderabad. But, this meet was sorta the point at which I got formally adopted by the Hyderabadi chapter of ISB! =) Thanks for making me feel so welcome guys!!

Lol!~ Finally, i got here on the 14th of April. Above is my room prior to unpacking time. Trust me. It looks a hell lot worse now.

And then, I met the rest of them. People that I had met on Orkut. People that I have never met anywhere online. People that were totally different from their pictures, so much that I walked past them a few times looking for THEM!!

In the true tradition of being leaders anywhere in the world. Class of 2008 took the lead on a fellow student's birthday and creamed her face with cake on the first night of Orientations at a party on the lawns.

Our thanks to the beautiful, young lady who tried her best to keep the fact that it was her birthday secret, but failed.

The following 2 days were great fun. We had a treasure hunt and team building activities. Those team building activities were really interesting and unfortunately, in one of the slightly tougher games, I got a bad muscle spasm. It was due to lack of proper amount of water in my system. Mr. Khairoz was the one who helped me. (I am very grateful to you and all the other concerned people in the group man. That's why I am mentioning this even though there aren't any photos of the specific incident.)

ISB, Hyderabad, 18th April (Wednesday) - We witnessed two great events. One was the "fantabulous" come back that the Section D Frisbee team did against Section F. Eventually, it was a loss but the way each and every one of them put in a 200% effort to give Section F a run for their money was awe-inspiring in the second half.

And after dinner, Section D won the Tug-o-War competition. (Personal note: I am happy that I contributed my part there.) It was tough against all the teams. Interestingly, the muscle spasm that I had during the team building which hadn't gone away and had been troubling me the whole day, got 100% cured after I totally exerted myself during the Tug-o-War in the evening. Talk about irony!

Finally, there was the talent nite! Results were to be announced as to which team won. Due to me suffering a natural lack in talent which could only be cured by lotsa practice, I decided to not pursue the acting or dancing side of things.

Instead, I cheered at the top of my lungs for Section D complete with the props that PG and a few dedicated others had bought and prepared. I loved the exploding confetti part!!

And the, winner of the Orientation week was? Section...F! But we got Second place!!! by beating Group A with only 20 points. All that cheering was worth it, Man!!

Well one thing is for sure. I am feeling very welcome here at the moment. Very enthusiastic about classes that are about to start next week.

May our dedication, hardwork and focus reward us by being the best batch that ever graduated from ISB!!

Peace Guys!

Fidelity

Now that we have brought up the topic of infidelity, and I hope everyone read the complete article, for obvious reasons, maybe its also time to talk about the fidelity that we are expected to maintain in sections and study groups.

ISB has divided us into sections, sections you have to live with for all the 4 core terms, whether you like it or not. And it seems the competitive spirit that this division had generated during the orientation week, where all team/individual activities had section points, is being carried forward for the days to come. We have section workshops, to section parties, to study group meetings. People apprehensive of working in teams they did not even know a week back, are going out of their way to gel, to form that indefinable bond, which will last for life, or hopefully, at the very least, for the 4 core terms. The section chants reign supreme even now, as much a part of our vocabulary and everyday life, as “Hail Hitler” must have been in its own time.

Diversity, is the hallmark of the division, and we see groups with people from as varied backgrounds as architecture, media, hospitality, CA, engineering, entrepreneurial ventures, mining, shipping, and the list goes on. And to cater to every different interest, we have professional and social clubs. There is a mad rush to organize meetings, meet like minded people, and make all the varied opinions flow in some semblance. An uphill task with 400+ leaders, but lets see how good a job we all do on this one.

Back to studies now, as I debate where my loyalties should lie, to my old mates, the study group, the section…or to the dinner table…….

Infidelity at the dinner table

The phrase on my mind today is "Infidelity at the dinner table". And before your crooked mind conjures up an even more crooked plot about a decent bloke like me getting into trouble of the wrong kind, just think. Do I look like that kind of guy? Ok Ok I may look like one. but let me assure you. I love my wife 1000%.

I am actually quoting an alumnus, who mentioned in one of the speeches about the concept of infidelity, at the dinner table. It basically means, dont stick to any one group while having your food in the canteen. Instead, try having every meal with a new face. Chances are that the new face would be from a professional background you never knew about.

In the past one week, I have had the luxury of having lunches/dinners with people of such diverse backgrounds; that I could easily make a Yellow pages with their details.. I mean it.. There is this guy for whom rocket science is actually not rocket science. Before coming to ISB he actually made rockets at ISRO. Then there is the good lad who hails from HAL. The lad used to make helicopters. People planning to create their own venture, People who used to move containers from port to ships, people who used to move ships..lawyers, I could bloody go on and on. Another favourite is a doctor turned trainer.

The point is, that if you stick to one group, you probably will miss out on making a lot more friends.

After the orientation week, now we are having the pre-term classes. It is an interesting thing to be in. The class participation (CP as we call it) especially is the interesting bit. CP exists in a continuum of its own. At it's lowest extremes, you have the "moron" style CP. Completely non-common-sensical class participation. And at the other extreme you have the "insightful" CP. Every now and then, you also have the common-sensical CP. The ISB term for it is "arbit CP".

Strangely enough, the moron style CP actually comes from people looking for depth in their knowledge base. By asking seemingly stupid questions, they actually help build depth in the classroom discussion. Because, it is only the "moron" style CP that challenges the fundamentals. And in the process, we start thinking deeper into the subject. The insightful CP is a rare commodity. But it does surface from time to time..

But arbit CP; when people say something knowing the answer and knowing that everybody else knows the answer, that is a perfect waste of airtime. I hope, common sense prevails. And people dont forget that common sense is common after all.

And by the way, please dont feel shy to give comments against posts in this blog. Any bullshit would qualify as a comment. I cannot imagine any reason why you should not do so. Can you?

If you do post comments, then I promise an extravaganza of snaps from our talent nite.. Trust me. You want to see those snaps :-)

C

Great Start at a Great Place

The orientation has been a mad mad rush. Loads of information and loads of activities, both mental and physical, to cope with. We still have two days to go.

Before coming to ISB I was in training and used to conduct lot of team building programs. As a facilitator the role is totally different and after a long time I got the opportunity to experience everything as a participant. The experience is excellent. The task of getting all the 425+ students to know each other is not that simple. But I think it has been very well organized and kudos to the batch of 2007 for volunteering and organizing everything. I can confidently say that I can now recall at least 100 faces and their names without mistake.

The effort spent on orientation is very very useful and I'm sure it would benefit all of us as we go into the academic grill.

Overall it has been a very encouraging experience and yes, it met all my realistic expectations.

The Perfect Storm

The meteorological department at Hyderabad has bungled again. How could they not see it coming? After all, it was one of the biggest storms of the decade.

What the heck am I rambling about? Well, Gachibowli, Hyderabad witnessed a storm front on Saturday the 14th April 2007. 420+ charged men and women stormed the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad starting from the wee hours of the morning. Each of them a hurricane in his/her own right! Yeah Yeah, I know. Meteorology is for storms in the sky. But this one was no different. Trust me. I survived the Super Cyclone in Orissa in 1999. This was a storm all right. The Orientation Week for the Class of 2008, a perfect Storm! Like any other self respecting wannabe consultant, I will explain myself in three (the magic number) bullet points.

A perfect storm has an "eye". This part is very calm. Like a perfect morning. Just like the 420 odd faces, each with an omnipresent smile. For some strange reason, the smile just does not go. Every face greeted with a "Hi", followed by some utterly and completely useless small talk! The perfect image of bliss. And Calm. So much peace. Nirvana. Smelling like a million dollar worth of perfumes. Neat perfectly ironed smart casuals. Like I said, the eye of the storm.

But if you look closely enough, you will see that the faces do betray the turbulence going on behind; the turbulence of a million thoughts. Of prejudices. Of self doubt. Panic. Will I bloody make it? After all, the guy on my right is from IIT. The chick on my left is a beauty queen. Somebody in the row behind has 3 bloody patents from Sun Microsystems! Not to mention the guy who served in Kargil. HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO COMPETE? THEY WILL EAT ME FOR BREAKFAST! Each of the 420 faces betray the storm going on in their minds. Now you understand why people have to yak bullshit all the time. Just to smother the feeling of panic. You see, you just cannot be left alone.

Interestingly, as the storm progressed through the week, through the team building exercises, the club presentations, the informal gyan sessions till the middle of the night, the booze parties, the sports, the pranks, the treasure hunt; it sculpted a landscape of its own. It created groups that did not exist before. Or maybe it was the hormones that did it :-) Of course there was some collateral damage. A huge sleep debt!

The storm started with 420 strangers. They are still strangers all right. Don’t know how, but after “Orientation week” they will be my 420 strangers! Somehow they belong to me now; just like I belong to them. The storm has left behind a family.

Chandan
Your friendly neighbourhood reporter. And by the way, I like being crazy. So please dont send me to the Psychiatrist!

Kay Sera Sera

One more day to go before the roller coaster that everyone has promised us starts off. I guess everyone's feeling this strange cocktail of nervous excitement causing palpitations in their gastric regions. Friends, families, near and dear ones must also have their share of worries.

So today I am doing what I usually do at times like this, close my eyes and say to myself-

Whatever will be, will be...

To all my to be batchmates - May the force be with you !

Cya tomorrow and lets have one heck of a year!

Much awaited beach bash..

For all those who couldn't be there...

A few snaps...





To see all Visit...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7518865@N03/sets/72157600040673699/detail/

A Flight to Adventure...

21 and a half hours to go....

I'll be stepping on a flight. Connecting at Madras and ultimately arriving at Hyderabad. I gotta say. I have a lot of unfinished business here in Malaysia. Sigh. Too many people to meet. Too many words left unsaid.

I am not who i was in 1999 when i left the country for the first time. I have grown since then. I have realised the sorrows around me and the hardships around me. Yet, I've also seen the love that surrounds my life protecting me, nurturing me; and i am excited to take this step in my life now.

I want that love to reach all others around me. I want to be able to GIVE. These were resolutions that I did not have the first time. The first time it was all for ME. =) I left a boy; and i returned a man.

This time it is for everybody that i partake in this Great Adventure. I leave a man, to return a LEADER.