I have been selected for the Indian School of Business - Class of Twenty Ten. Yippie , Yippie !!
Congratulations! We are delighted to inform you that on the basis of a comprehensive and careful evaluation process, you have been offered admission into the ISB’s one year Post Graduate Programme in Management which commences on April 11, 2009.
We believe that your profile will add significant value to the diversity of backgrounds, outstanding talent and significant achievements represented by the students in our new class and also bring in a valuable perspective to our classroom discussions and international community.
After countless dings last year , this is indeed HUGE for me. I am thrilled and humbled at the same time by this news. The feeling is slowly sinking in. I have been flying since the last 9 days . And i will continue to fly for some more time . Well, why should I not ? :P
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Sir, Earth revolves around Pluto.
.... Oh I see. Very good. Go ahead.
It’s very difficult to read the minds of the recruiters. How I wish they would always tell you upfront if you are making a fool of yourselves. They always seem to agree to whatever you say. You actually don't know you did well till you get to hear the sacred "Admit" word. This is like one of those days when you would wait to hear the phone ring (old days, young kid, and new telephone at home). This is how I am feeling right now.
I am a sort of a perfectionist. I am not saying that I didn't do well after the interview. I like to think that I did well, but still, I feel that I could have been more coercive and could have added more details in my answers. But again, this is the advantage hindsight gives you *wink*.
Then there is also some sane advice "True indicator of the interview is how you felt just the moment when you are leaving the room". Having said that , I am also equally prepared to hear the damned word "Ding", just because there are lots of unknowns and variables in the equation (fellow competitors, requirements for the class etc).
Enough of the ranting, I'll get back to my book and silently wait for the phone to ring and deliever me some angelic news.
HTH!
~GNR
It’s very difficult to read the minds of the recruiters. How I wish they would always tell you upfront if you are making a fool of yourselves. They always seem to agree to whatever you say. You actually don't know you did well till you get to hear the sacred "Admit" word. This is like one of those days when you would wait to hear the phone ring (old days, young kid, and new telephone at home). This is how I am feeling right now.
I am a sort of a perfectionist. I am not saying that I didn't do well after the interview. I like to think that I did well, but still, I feel that I could have been more coercive and could have added more details in my answers. But again, this is the advantage hindsight gives you *wink*.
Then there is also some sane advice "True indicator of the interview is how you felt just the moment when you are leaving the room". Having said that , I am also equally prepared to hear the damned word "Ding", just because there are lots of unknowns and variables in the equation (fellow competitors, requirements for the class etc).
Enough of the ranting, I'll get back to my book and silently wait for the phone to ring and deliever me some angelic news.
HTH!
~GNR
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Few things I yearn for
1. Gain admission into a top b-school. Learn how to structure my thoughts better.
2. Not depend too much on people. I am working on it and I think I am getting better.
3. Read lots and lots of books. I used to be an avid reader centuries back. Want to get back to that again.
4. Guitar.Need to find a teacher with a non-commercial attitude. I was disappointed twice on this front.
5. Dance. Have taken the first step in this direction :)
6. Earn one crore through investing in the stock market. Very ambitious,huh ?
7. Get a CFA degree.I am not pro-fin;neither am I anti-fin. But, this exam seems challenging, hence fun.
8. Teaching. Don't have any plans of how to achieve this, but I know , someday I will.
9. Revisit this list continuously and keep checking the progress!
2. Not depend too much on people. I am working on it and I think I am getting better.
3. Read lots and lots of books. I used to be an avid reader centuries back. Want to get back to that again.
4. Guitar.Need to find a teacher with a non-commercial attitude. I was disappointed twice on this front.
5. Dance. Have taken the first step in this direction :)
6. Earn one crore through investing in the stock market. Very ambitious,huh ?
7. Get a CFA degree.I am not pro-fin;neither am I anti-fin. But, this exam seems challenging, hence fun.
8. Teaching. Don't have any plans of how to achieve this, but I know , someday I will.
9. Revisit this list continuously and keep checking the progress!
Bold Moves in Tough Times
Talk by Willie Walsh, CEO, British Airways.
Date: 23rd Jan,2009.
Venue: ISB,Hyderabad.
Boy, Has the talk got me completely involved, and let me put the interview in the backdrop?
Boy, Did I just realize that becoming a CEO takes more than just a MBA degree?
It was a thrilling experience to be sitting along with vibrant ISB class of 2009 and few professors from ISB. Even more thrilling and inspiring was to listen to Willie talk about British Airways,current economic scenario,staff-cuts,alternate fuel options,and how he sees technology as a friend than a folly(especially internet and Teleconferencing which initially threatened to reduce the travel numbers). He expressed his irony on the fact that an industry such as airlines which has facilitated globalization is not being able to participate in it completely, given the strict regulations in countries(esp India). But I am sure that the govt has the required expertise and data to take the call and ensure appropriate action on this front.
And what is more interesting to see was Willie's clarity of thought and the subtle use of humour to put his thoughts across in a public forum.
I sincerely hope that I get more doses like these in the future.
~ GNR
Date: 23rd Jan,2009.
Venue: ISB,Hyderabad.
Boy, Has the talk got me completely involved, and let me put the interview in the backdrop?
Boy, Did I just realize that becoming a CEO takes more than just a MBA degree?
It was a thrilling experience to be sitting along with vibrant ISB class of 2009 and few professors from ISB. Even more thrilling and inspiring was to listen to Willie talk about British Airways,current economic scenario,staff-cuts,alternate fuel options,and how he sees technology as a friend than a folly(especially internet and Teleconferencing which initially threatened to reduce the travel numbers). He expressed his irony on the fact that an industry such as airlines which has facilitated globalization is not being able to participate in it completely, given the strict regulations in countries(esp India). But I am sure that the govt has the required expertise and data to take the call and ensure appropriate action on this front.
And what is more interesting to see was Willie's clarity of thought and the subtle use of humour to put his thoughts across in a public forum.
I sincerely hope that I get more doses like these in the future.
~ GNR
Monday, January 26, 2009
ISB interview experience
Date: January 23rd,2009
My interview was scheduled at 4:00 PM, but I was present in the campus by 2:40 PM and I promptly visited my friend at ISB and spent some time chatting with him. I was suited-up and was feeling totally confident and tensed at the same time. The butterfly effect :)
Then went to the admissions cell at 3:30 PM and was given the word "moment" and was asked to write an essay of 100 words on it.
Then I was called inside the interview room. I was interviewed by Ms. Hema and Mr. Vikram from the ISB admissions committee.
Hema(H) , Vikram (V) and Yours Truly (ME).
I enter the room, handshakes and formal introductions.
V: Are you from Andhra ?
Me: Yes sir, my parents live in hyderabad, not so far from the ISB campus :) . But i have been making a living in Bangalore since 5 years.
V gives out a smile.
V: So Nagi, Do you think Saina will win the next olympics ?
ME: Sir, I have seen her play in the last olympics. She no doubt is mighty talented, but she also has to improve on her weakness. I could see that by the 2nd game she was tired and was giving away points rather than the opponent winning them. So, if she is able to work on it, which i am sure she is , she stands a good chance to win the next olympics.
Nods by V and H.
V: Do you use a samsung phone ?
Me: Yes sir.
V: Is it because you work for samsung, you are using this phone?
Me: Slight smile. Sir, I have been using samsung phone since a long time.
At this point, Hema takes over.
H: Who has the highest share of phones in indian market?
Me: Maam, its Nokia.
H: Can you tell us why Nokia is #1 today?
Me: I was prepared for this one. Spoke about Nokia's tie ups with distribution partners(and Nokia priority dealer shops), focus on low-cost mobiles(like 1100,3310,3315) and india's mobile kick-off in 2003(introduction of CDMA and CPP regime,incoming call made free).
Lots of cross-questioning. I think i have fielded them well. Somewhere in between, I mentioned that a new music player or a new camera is not the next thing in mobile business. Its going to be "social connectedness". Also, discussion came to samsung's Omnia phone and the aamir khan ad in the TV.
Nods from both V and H.
H: So, what was samsung doing all this while?
Me: Spoke about samsung's strategic focus on high-end mobiles in the early 2000's and giving the initial lead to Nokia. Now, samsung has realized this and entered the low-cost mobile game.
H: So Nagi. Imagine you are the head of samsung, wat would u do to attack the indian market ?
Initially I didn't understand the question properly. Politely asked her to repeat the question again, for which she took an anology of badminton. She told her to imagine it like a badminton game, where you know you are already one game down, and u know the competitor's strengths, advantages. What is your go-ahead strategy.
I mildly smiled at the anology. But internally I was stumped at this one. I didn't expect this.
Me: Its a tough situation and unfortunately there's no one-size-fits-all solution for this.
I would look at it in a more segmented fashion. I would divide the market into rural and non-rural.
For the rural market, since the users would use the mobile for mostly voice calls and hardly any SMS, I would remove the all the features from the phone(like player, camera etc) and would reduce on the cost. Also, looking at the geography of the villages (villages are interspersed and each village typically has some 500-600 families on average), I would also focus on the marketing and advertising,by employing people with local language skills.
For the non-rural market, told them that people would definitely buy a phone with good features when provided at a low cost. Told them about the "Android" platform about google. Also, referred to the "social connectedness" aspect of it. Also mentioned about the first mover advantage in such a market.
V: Is there any phone with "Android" platform?
Me : Yes sir, there's already a phone(G1) from HTC for T-Mobile. Told them that a million units have been sold in one month. This substantiated the early mover advantage in my previous answer.
Nods from H and V. Both look convinced.
H: So Nagi. Tell us about your Consultancy work?
Me: Told them that I do business development role for a PR company. Told them that i talk to clients, develop sales pitches for the clients.
H: What exactly do you do in the sales pitch?
Me: Told them about the nature of the diplomatic talk involved.
H looked convinced.
At this point, I thought of mentioning ITC e-choupal initiative for the rural market in india. Thought of mentioning this, but didn't . Didn't want to disturb the flow of the conversation. But this definitely would have added value to my answer. So, should I be rejected, I seriously hope that the answer for the CEO question doesn't contribute to that. Otherwise, I would be always be cursing for not getting this point into the discussion.
H: Post ISB?
Me: Told my well-rehearsed answer :)
H: Do you have any questions for us?
Me: Mentioned about the bidding process and expressed my concern of not being able to get an elective of my choice.
H and V: Explained about the rationale behind the process which is in place and told me that 95% of the people get the course of their choice.
H: There's a class going on in Max Lecture Hall. Please attend that if you don't have any other plans.
Me: Sure Maa'm. I would be delighted.
Handshakes and bye-bye's.
Just before leaving V asked me whether I still play badminton. I said Yessir, I do and left the room.
I don't know time flied(40 mins). I was left with a pleasant feeling after the interview.
Next post on the class experience :-)
My interview was scheduled at 4:00 PM, but I was present in the campus by 2:40 PM and I promptly visited my friend at ISB and spent some time chatting with him. I was suited-up and was feeling totally confident and tensed at the same time. The butterfly effect :)
Then went to the admissions cell at 3:30 PM and was given the word "moment" and was asked to write an essay of 100 words on it.
Then I was called inside the interview room. I was interviewed by Ms. Hema and Mr. Vikram from the ISB admissions committee.
Hema(H) , Vikram (V) and Yours Truly (ME).
I enter the room, handshakes and formal introductions.
V: Are you from Andhra ?
Me: Yes sir, my parents live in hyderabad, not so far from the ISB campus :) . But i have been making a living in Bangalore since 5 years.
V gives out a smile.
V: So Nagi, Do you think Saina will win the next olympics ?
ME: Sir, I have seen her play in the last olympics. She no doubt is mighty talented, but she also has to improve on her weakness. I could see that by the 2nd game she was tired and was giving away points rather than the opponent winning them. So, if she is able to work on it, which i am sure she is , she stands a good chance to win the next olympics.
Nods by V and H.
V: Do you use a samsung phone ?
Me: Yes sir.
V: Is it because you work for samsung, you are using this phone?
Me: Slight smile. Sir, I have been using samsung phone since a long time.
At this point, Hema takes over.
H: Who has the highest share of phones in indian market?
Me: Maam, its Nokia.
H: Can you tell us why Nokia is #1 today?
Me: I was prepared for this one. Spoke about Nokia's tie ups with distribution partners(and Nokia priority dealer shops), focus on low-cost mobiles(like 1100,3310,3315) and india's mobile kick-off in 2003(introduction of CDMA and CPP regime,incoming call made free).
Lots of cross-questioning. I think i have fielded them well. Somewhere in between, I mentioned that a new music player or a new camera is not the next thing in mobile business. Its going to be "social connectedness". Also, discussion came to samsung's Omnia phone and the aamir khan ad in the TV.
Nods from both V and H.
H: So, what was samsung doing all this while?
Me: Spoke about samsung's strategic focus on high-end mobiles in the early 2000's and giving the initial lead to Nokia. Now, samsung has realized this and entered the low-cost mobile game.
H: So Nagi. Imagine you are the head of samsung, wat would u do to attack the indian market ?
Initially I didn't understand the question properly. Politely asked her to repeat the question again, for which she took an anology of badminton. She told her to imagine it like a badminton game, where you know you are already one game down, and u know the competitor's strengths, advantages. What is your go-ahead strategy.
I mildly smiled at the anology. But internally I was stumped at this one. I didn't expect this.
Me: Its a tough situation and unfortunately there's no one-size-fits-all solution for this.
I would look at it in a more segmented fashion. I would divide the market into rural and non-rural.
For the rural market, since the users would use the mobile for mostly voice calls and hardly any SMS, I would remove the all the features from the phone(like player, camera etc) and would reduce on the cost. Also, looking at the geography of the villages (villages are interspersed and each village typically has some 500-600 families on average), I would also focus on the marketing and advertising,by employing people with local language skills.
For the non-rural market, told them that people would definitely buy a phone with good features when provided at a low cost. Told them about the "Android" platform about google. Also, referred to the "social connectedness" aspect of it. Also mentioned about the first mover advantage in such a market.
V: Is there any phone with "Android" platform?
Me : Yes sir, there's already a phone(G1) from HTC for T-Mobile. Told them that a million units have been sold in one month. This substantiated the early mover advantage in my previous answer.
Nods from H and V. Both look convinced.
H: So Nagi. Tell us about your Consultancy work?
Me: Told them that I do business development role for a PR company. Told them that i talk to clients, develop sales pitches for the clients.
H: What exactly do you do in the sales pitch?
Me: Told them about the nature of the diplomatic talk involved.
H looked convinced.
At this point, I thought of mentioning ITC e-choupal initiative for the rural market in india. Thought of mentioning this, but didn't . Didn't want to disturb the flow of the conversation. But this definitely would have added value to my answer. So, should I be rejected, I seriously hope that the answer for the CEO question doesn't contribute to that. Otherwise, I would be always be cursing for not getting this point into the discussion.
H: Post ISB?
Me: Told my well-rehearsed answer :)
H: Do you have any questions for us?
Me: Mentioned about the bidding process and expressed my concern of not being able to get an elective of my choice.
H and V: Explained about the rationale behind the process which is in place and told me that 95% of the people get the course of their choice.
H: There's a class going on in Max Lecture Hall. Please attend that if you don't have any other plans.
Me: Sure Maa'm. I would be delighted.
Handshakes and bye-bye's.
Just before leaving V asked me whether I still play badminton. I said Yessir, I do and left the room.
I don't know time flied(40 mins). I was left with a pleasant feeling after the interview.
Next post on the class experience :-)
Monday, January 19, 2009
Dichotomies in life.
As I get older(if not wiser), my perspective of viewing life changes and it become increasingly clear to me that our lives are mere vapours and it solely depends on the purview of perception at that point of time.
So, the point here is how to take a step back and take a look at a situation in its entirety. I believe this would be absolutely essential to make sound and sane judgments. This point is also the underlying principle for many managers ( aka MBA's) in their decision making process. Given a problem, and a limited set of resources, take a path which seems more apt at that point of time. Even if it means, the same guy can criticize his own decisions later on. The advantage of hindsight :-)
Now coming back to the dichotomy thing.
The dichotomy that seems amusing to me is that I look at a photo in which I was a 16 year old boy and think that I looked cute when in fact I thought that I was looking like a pig back then.
Today,after putting on a lot of weight, I look at myself in the mirror and think "Hey! I am not looking bad!".
That's the dichotomy of my life right now.
Cheers,
Nagi
PS: After writing this post, I have come to the conclusion that I have not at all done justice for a topic which is an intrinsic element of human nature. I'll come back and rewrite this post. Promise.
So, the point here is how to take a step back and take a look at a situation in its entirety. I believe this would be absolutely essential to make sound and sane judgments. This point is also the underlying principle for many managers ( aka MBA's) in their decision making process. Given a problem, and a limited set of resources, take a path which seems more apt at that point of time. Even if it means, the same guy can criticize his own decisions later on. The advantage of hindsight :-)
Now coming back to the dichotomy thing.
The dichotomy that seems amusing to me is that I look at a photo in which I was a 16 year old boy and think that I looked cute when in fact I thought that I was looking like a pig back then.
Today,after putting on a lot of weight, I look at myself in the mirror and think "Hey! I am not looking bad!".
That's the dichotomy of my life right now.
Cheers,
Nagi
PS: After writing this post, I have come to the conclusion that I have not at all done justice for a topic which is an intrinsic element of human nature. I'll come back and rewrite this post. Promise.
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