Few days of my journey...

Different Shades of Life

2009-03-27T13:07:00.001-07:00

"Life"

It is such a powerful word or a phrase.... It has so many feelings, moods, expressions, memories, emotions, shades, colors attached to it .. It means so much to those who care and appreciate what it has to offer .. and it means nothing to those who don't..

Strangely, everyone on this earth goes through the same life story 'birth - growth - twilight zone - death'.. and the cycle repeats itself.. again and again every second every minute.. it is THE CONSTANT in everybody's life.. birth places can be different.. birth dates can be different but we can't stop ourselves from being getting elder.. can we?? Can we stop ourselves from getting into twilight zone of our life? Can we stop ourselves in that cycle even for a minute ?? NO

What we can do however is make every minute of that cycle count? We can make a difference to other's life.. we can make difference to our own life.. to the society.. and we always do.. sometimes consciously and sometimes un-consciously.. but we do..all the time..each autobiography spreads the same messages.. hits and misses..

And to make things easy we have a wonderful weapon at our hand .. CHOICE .. Choice of our actions.. choice of our emotions.. choice of our feelings.. choice of best vs better ..

Let us use that weapon and make our life better.. why?
That is the only way to live.. Live not just breath..

Think about it..

Back In Action

2009-03-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

I was out of action for last year or so. It was a refreshing break. Settled down in life both on professional as well as personal front. Now lot has happened in past one year of my flight that it would take me a while to download everything onto this blog page. Will start with one step at a time and lets see how far I go..

Keep an eye on this page as a lot of action is promised in coming days..

Keep enjoying life.. It is tooooo short.

Two Questions

2008-05-24T22:03:00.000-07:00

As per the Egyption myth, Gods ask two questions before they allow any soul to enter into heaven.

a) Did you find joy in your life ? If Yes
b) Did your actions give joy to the ones around you ?

Thats in nutshell summarizes everything - the mantra of life. Things which we think matters to us are no longer important and which seems irrelevant suddenly are very important..

These two questions are very powerful.. think about it..

My First Flight to Victoria

2008-03-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

So I started my new assignment post MBA

All geared up.. I get a call from my manager that my first project is out of Victoria - little known paradise in this part of the world..I am totally excited. They say consulting is about traveling so here I am all set to travel for my consulting assignment. Flight to Victoria from Vancouver is 35 min harbor to harbor in one of those float planes I had watched till this time only from the window on 24th floor of my summer internship firm. I make the reservations both for travel and hotel, pack my bags and hop on the next cab from my home with dreams of making it big in consulting.

Once I get out of the cab, I see one of those float planes land in water making big waves while landing.. I am totally excited. I rush to check in counter, get my photo Id keep my luggage on scale and take the boarding pass. I realize the pass is reusable and the only identification on the pass is the color of the pass. Announcement is made and I pick my bag, all smiles to be on my first float plane. I guess everybody in the room can sense that I am on my first float plane trip. I pace myself to get the window seat without realizing that out of 10 passengers 6 get window seat.. so the plane starts making big splashes and noise which is almost unbearable..but then what happens is what I was waiting for..

plane slowly rises over water and rises over the buildings/bridges / ships / tankers etc .. I see what I had always dreamt of ... aerial view of Vancouver.. now I know from where those amazing shots of Vancouver downtown were taken.. it is an amazing view.. one has to be part of it to experience it.. good stuff..

same is repeated in victoria.. aerial trip of bunch of islands ..as if those are diamonds nicely placed in a flat blue carpet to showcase those diamonds.. plane lands and I am off the plane.. I am excited.. looking forward to the next float plane ride.. I get in the cab to join the team..

Now having done this for seven weeks (both ways) over past couple of months, I still have the same excitement every time I board the plane.. let the kid in me have the same feeling as if it is the first ride to Victoria....

For True Happiness search with in yourself..

2008-03-28T15:56:00.001-07:00

Twilight zone of MBA

2007-10-30T09:34:00.001-07:00

It is probably the most interesting time of my MBA journey so far.. Just a month left before I will be out in the corporate jungle with the newly learnt skills.. ready to face the world.. with dreams and ambitions of bringing radical changes the way people do business. Believe me every MBAite goes through this phase in life and sometimes this one month or two month phase just before completion of MBA defines the future road map for some of us.. As we start looking at a bigger picture.. start connecting the dots .. things become more clearer and suddenly we see light at the end of the tunnel (hahaha all MBA jargon.. can't help it.. now I am an MBA).. perspectives change radically..

I try to recapture the moments when I came to the college last year with dreams n ambitions..and compare them with what I want to do today... how different I am today as a person.. as a professional .. last one year or so has changed me to some extent.. I would be wrong if I'd claim I am a totally new person.. but yes to some extent I am a changed person.. more on the professional side than on the personal side.. though I have been through a very demanding schedule, changes have been more on the external layers of my personality than internal..

This rings in bell somewhere that whether this a signal that I have missed the objective of MBA?
Was I successful in achieving what I wanted to from an MBA? Am I really closer to my dreams than I was an year before? How much value addition has this course done to me? In the end was it all worth it? Is the price I paid for it justified.. both tangible costs in $ and intangible costs in terms of losing the job, staying away from family, sleepless nights and reducing hair line.. :)

These are the questions which only future will tell but at the moment I just want to sit back, relax and look at all the interesting things I have been part of in last one year.
..

Hoping things will shape up the way I want them to.. or in a way they are good for me..

Man complaining about lack of time is not organized

Career Camp

2007-09-22T00:41:00.001-07:00

Hi.. I am an MBA student at UBC with 9999 years of experience in strategy.. consulting ... technology... marketing .. operations.. etc.. I have led teams at times.. worked in teams some other times.. etc etc.. after repeating this same story for five minutes.. you expect atleast one line of appreciation.. but what comes out is ...'Sorry We are not hiring MBAs anymore.. . We are looking for undergraduates ONLY'. Would you like to take one of these gifts....

Welcome to Career Camp.. number XVIII. Its always the same.. sometimes I feel why companies are not looking for MBAs .. We have the work experience and a professional degree to prove that we are capable of doing much more but .. .there is definitely something missing.. there is a piece of puzzle which I am not looking at currently.. can anybody help me in identifying that..?

On an average, an MBA spends more than 100 hours on such events..it can be either a campus presentation.. or career camp in downtown or company premises.. things never change.. year after year.. few companies.. and tons of candidates..

Now after a while, I start observing people in this mad rush.. the way they behave.. artificial smiles.. n pretending to hear very keenly.. n trying to hide the actual purpose of the conversation which is free gift.. its amazing how people do it.. companies despite knowing all that send their best resources on such camps to interact with people.. candidates spend atleast 1-2 hour to prepare for these events.. Sometimes I wonder... is it all worth something..? Why this mad rush..?

Do you believe in any of these

2007-09-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

Famous quotes from some guys..

Integrity
"Integrity is one of several paths.
It distinguishes itself from the others
because it is the right path...
and the only one
upon which you will never get lost." - M.H. McKee

Kindness
"Kindness is the language
which the deaf can hear
and the blind can see." - Mark Twain

Faith
"Faith is the strength
by which a shattered world
shall emerge into the light." - Helen Keller

Hope
"Hope is faith
holding out its hands in the dark." - George Lles

Charity
"We must not only
give what we have;
we must also give
what we are." - Desire - Joseph Mercier

Love
"I have found the paradox
that if I love untill it hurts,
then there is no hurt,
but only more love." - Mother Teresa

Determination
"The great thing in this world
is not so much where we are,
but in what direction
we are moving." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Humility
"Pride is concerned with
who is right.
Humility is concerned with
what is right." - Ezra Taft Benson

Forgiveness
"Forgiveness is the answer to
the child's dream of a miracle
by which what is broken
is made whole again,
what is soiled is again made clean." - Dag Hammarskjod

First week @ college after internship

2007-09-08T21:20:00.000-07:00

Ever heard of a phrase .. "like a kid in an adults bar.."... That would be apt for my first week at college after internship .. I had absolutely no idea what was going on.. where am I .. what am I suppose to do .. and why were things happening so fast..

Believe me.. it was total craziness for me.. change in schedule.. no more early morning 7.15 bus .. no more laid back afternoons.. n scheduled meals.. nothing was planned .. but at the same time everything was defined.. change of college building.. no idea of lecture rooms... now I realize how messy it can be if you do not plan it out in advance.. so much of action..

Just like in any MBAite's life, my first week post summer had all the ingredients .. lectures.. cases.. submissions.. companies presentations.. company postings.. deadines .. late night group discussions.. class room sessions.. workshops.. all in course of one week n tht too the first week itself.. wow.. I love it.. so much of energy.. so much to do.. n still u feel u cud hv done much better..

so the first week already been a history n finally after deciding about my courses for this semester.. I feel confident that things will not be as bumpy as first week... need to take care of my assignments for the next week... but having a timetable which is known to me in advance (for a change..hehehe) I think I am in good shape.. but as we all know MBA always keep you guessing .. so I am waiting for my next surprise and piece of action which will squeeze in my already packed schedule..

Let the game began...

Internship or Paid Vacation

2007-09-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Still not able to figure out what to say... Was it my internship where people expect to slog for 18 hours a day and 7 days a week .. or was it a paid vacation where in one gets paid to enjoy.. :))
I guess you got it.. it is about my internship.. it was one of the best times.. excellent team.. best of the people.. kewl environment.. n awesome location.. I was lucky in the last bit.. as my seat happen to be one of the best locations on the floor.. even better than some of the big shots... we use to call it 'Million dollar real estate'.. n I was sitting on that location.. for three months.. oh .. time flies so fast.. the
very reason of not writing any post was that I was enjoying the summer of Vancouver.. it was a bit rainy but overall great.. having some liquidity always helps.. so lot of partying.. kewl food.. n fun.. masti.. all packaged into my internship..

check out the pics.. yes all these pics are from my office seat.. awesome views.. isn't it..?

I will miss my office seat.. as there were couple of my office colleagues eying for that seat.. so I am sure someone must have occupied that by now....

Now coming back to school.. the real grind.. the real action.. have to look for a job.. on west coast.. hmmm that will be some fun.. specially with not many firms on this side..... along with studies.. this time I am planning to take some marketing and HR courses.. no more finance .. no more numbers or models.. pure discussions..n experience... that will be some fun.. hmm also working in a team to organize a golf tournament for the school and local charities.. lot of time will go into that so next 6 weeks are totally action packed.. I dont think I can squeeze any other activity in between.. but yes I have saying that since last one year.. n still doing things which initially never seems realistic.. that is the beauty of MBA .. it makes you do things which you have never thought about.. so many things to do.. so many dreams to achieve.. so many milestones to go.. before saying.. Yes.. I did it.. keep looking for more action.. n pics.. this will be fun...

Have fun with your difficulties; but overcome them
Laugh at your mistakes; but learn from them
Joke over your troubles; but gather strength from them

20 sec exposure Vs 27 years of exposure

2007-07-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes they say it takes a moment to change a person's life. I am not sure about that BUT there is one thing I saw which works again and again .. each time.. without fail.. no six sigma needed since it works always.. ALWAYS...

couple of weeks was Canada Day and somebody told me that they have fireworks in the evening when its dark.. which meant it will start at 10.30 pm or late depending on the weather..it was Sunday and I knew if I am at in for the show then I would be late for the next day early morning adventure to office. I decided to give it a shot and wished that this time I will not mess it up and like a 'acha bacha' will go to bed by 0000 hrs if everything goes as per the plan. So I tipped-off my photographer friend and we did a bit of planning of how we can be there.. watch the show and be back within 2 hours.. it was flawless..

We started off 10 min late against planned time..reached there on time but due to last minute rush my friend did not bring his attachment of camera for tripod. So we were there with 10kg of equipment (tripod, SLR digital, SLR manual and lot of extra lenses) but could not take shots as cameras wont fit on tripod without that missing attachment. Why we need that..? because to get good pictures from camera we need 20 sec or more exposure.. and human hand can not be stable for that long... we tried every thing.. gum packs, backpack lace, shoe lace.. etc but nothing worked.. in the end we showed some creativity and he was able to take some shots.. Shots you see in this blog are all 20 sec exposure shots taken without tripod by my friend on that night.. it works.. always.. every time.. flawlessly provided you have a stable base..

20 sec exposure is beautiful.. isn't it.. I hv been exposed to life for close to 27 years.. still I am not near any of those pics on the canvas of my life.. is that too less or too much exposure.. Kid are like a fresh camera film.. ready to be exposed to get stronger impressions exposure has to be for more time.. but how do we control the quality of exposure.. ? any thoughts.. it takes 20 secs for a photo film.. how much do we need for our own life..? hehehe.. wow .. I am improving..isn't it..? ;)

While I was breathing

2007-07-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

I did not realize precious few seconds go and an opportunity to utilize those few seconds to make a difference in somebody's life. That somebody can be my family, my friends, my colleagues or somebody I met once or somebody whom I have never met and will never ever meet.. but we never realize that unless its too late.. Man has always been reactive.. I wish I can be more proactive.

Getting up early in the morning is a proactive action for me which can set up the tone for the whole day BUT it never happens.. I keep on wishing the entire day.. I wish I had set my alarm for 10 min early..

Exams.. how often we have heard students saying.. I wish I had read that chapter before.. or attended that class before.. or done that assignment before.. etc etc.. this all is reactive.. what will it take to be more proactive.. I thought about it.. real hard.. for long time.. and then I realized it.. after one such reactive activity.. DISCIPLINE..

What one needs in the life is DISCIPLINE.. all it takes to do all those things one has always wanted to... to make those dreams a reality.. it is the master key to all the things.. but is it easy to find or master.. I have been trying since I found the answer.. it is tough.. believe me.. one day.. two days.. one week.. one month.. two months.. thats it.. after that.. its back to the point I started with.. this has forced me to ask myself the Q.. is there something on top of DISCIPLINE.. some sort of meta data which will help me master the art of being disciplined.. ..
any suggestions..?

DO NOT WORRY ABOUT FAILURES... WORRY ABOUT CHANCES YOU MISS WHEN YOU DO NOT TRY....

Day I

2007-06-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

I look like going on a hottest date of my life till date. Best fit suit . .. crisp n clean white shirt .. polished shoes .. trimmed nails and nicely cropped hair .. feeling as fresh as I can .. ..where am I going..? really on a date..? ..NO.. I am on my way to first interview round of my dream company. Have already checked the bus routes. I am on time. Had a good breakfast. Feeling positive.. confident.. have to change three buses and as per my calculations will be there at the company well within time. BUT a minor hiccup. Due to construction work, route of second bus has been changed for two days .. aahh.. couple of words of appreciation for the guys who manage the website for missing out on updating this little piece of information .. nyways.. I evaluate my options..decide to go via alternate route.. .. after changing couple of more buses n bit of anxiety, reach the place 10 min ahead of the interview. Job well done. Check with receptionist of the firm. I really wonder if she is the receptionist.. she looks much more capable then handling the job of a receptionist;) .. nyways.. I try to recollect my thoughts .. all the hard work I hv done for interview preparation.. to get into this dream company.. stick to the basics.. 5-8 rules to make it past this interview.. recall them n remember them.. alrite.. 2 min before interview.. this is it.. now or never.. Senior consultant appears from a hidden door and greets me with the warmth I never expected. I try to keep upto him with energy and at the same time try to remain calm. But I fail miserably.. We go to a conf. room. 3 min walk ..in those 3 min we had already discussed mine 90 min bus travel, his morning 60 min work and lovely weather..

Enter the room. Have a seat opposite to the Robert, ease a bit . .. try to relax.. (oo.. rule #1 keep smiling).. settle down.. some more chit chat.. about school n firm in general.. some market stuff.. alrite let us start the interview.. he says.. n I wish can we talk in general for a bit more.. nyways I said sure..

he glances over my resume.. lot of stuff professionally and on other fronts .. can I briefly tell him something in general about myself? he asks.. the std Q.. ... well I start off with a nice smile.. n spit out a nicely prepared answer to this one.. but I missed out on couple of things which I should have mentioned to direct the interview in that direction BUT.. anyways.. keep going.. 90 sec.. thts it try to finish it off.. 105 sec.. I have given him every relevant detail of my 27 years..wow.. talk about elevator pitch.. Ok.. thts good .. nothing impresses him in that... bad signal..

Robert says he will now ask me one market sizing Q.. aaahh the dreaded one.. I hate these Qs.. n I say sure.. Give me a rough estimate of number of flower buds being sold/purchased in Vancouver in a year..? Wht.. My mind went blank for a sec. Cmon man.. its ur time.. I try to recover from the shock.. I ask him politely if I can take couple of moments to think about the problem. How will I do it.. think think.. fast.. 5 sec.. 10 sec alrite.. now start.. I start to explain ur methodology.. ask couple of Qs.. I move further.. n there I am.. in the end I have one number which looked pretty big but.. .. I recheck my calculations.. n logic.. ny outlier.. nopes.. I give my figure.. he asks couple of Qs related to that..I explain him the rationale of my assumptions etc... over.. ok move on move on..

Next he asks me a business case.. how will I help his client from shipping industry to improve the profitability ? .. went on for 20-25 min .. alrite its almost been 50 min since I entered into that room.. Robert finally says if I have some Qs for him.. I ask him couple of Qs... which I always wanted to ask guys working in the firm.. and the interview was over.. we walk out of the interview.. n thats it... I thank him for taking his time .. n before I leave the office I make it a point to thank the smart n good looking (thts n understatement) receptionist ..BUT surprise surprise.. there is somebody else sitting at the front desk.. equally smart n vibrant n good looking .. wow.. I want to work in this firm.. another incentive (I wish I could add tht to dozen of factors I have listed for my interview..)..

I take the longest route back to my home.. since I dont have to change the bus in this case.. n the moment I was boarding the bus.. beep beep.. beep beep.. its getting louder.. beeep beeeeeep.. more louder.. beeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppp wht is this.. I realize I am in my bed.. n wht happened was yet another dream.. I double check.. yes.. it is 8.10 am in the morning and I am again going to be late for my morning lecture.. ...Run run.. no suits.. no crisp shirts.. no nicely cropped hair.. u grab a quick bite.. freshen up.. n rush to make it in time ( within 10 min of the official time)..

Time does not wait for us ...
Its better for us to keep us pace with time..

Why ...

2007-06-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

In Vancouver it rains for almost the entire year (I was told it rains just for 9 months but I guess facts say something else)... In some other region on the same earth, mother nature keeps it dry and hot for most of the year. Rain is a luxury in some part and it is in excess in some other places. WHY ?

Isn't that same with our lives. Some guys have excess of one thing which others lack. But at the same time the same 'excess guys' lack something which the other guys have plenty off. Why don't they trade things to have a nice balance? Simple !!! For we need things which we do not have but at the same time most of the times we are not ready to part away with things which we have. We value things differently

when we have it VS
when somebody else has it VS
when no body has it...

classic example(s)..
Marriage.. consider relationship between two people when they start dating .. just before marriage .. post marriage.. long after marriage ..
[ in general.. but there are exceptions as well ] OR

when one starts losing hair, one starts taking more more care .. why not earlier..
[I have realized that now..:-) ]

Why.. same thing but different scenarios causes different opinions. Strange !!!
Of course it is understood when it is a competition or a game !!! A home run is good for a winning team but not good for losing team. But what about things which can be shared say learning, knowledge, happiness etc.

... A poem by PravsJ (inspirational note from pravsworld.com)

You are rich or poor in life by
Smiles around you
Friends you make
People you are with
Ideas you have
Dreams you chase
Love you spread

How rich are you ?

While I was sleeping

2007-06-09T14:25:00.001-07:00

Rather I should say while I was worrying about things in my life, three weeks went by pretty quickly. Finished off my exams and started my internship. Even results are out for the exams and I managed to sail through without a scar. TTG !!! Looking forward to summer but it is still raining and pretty cold in Vancouver. Does it ever stop raining in Vancouver? I doubt !!. It never stops.

Life is moving on at a scorching pace. It is always a mix of good news bad news.. but if you are awake it teaches you lot of things to improve on in life. I was reading some other blogs and there are so many things to ponder upon. :)).

Let me go a bit more philosophical this time. Probably time to delve into those depths where everyone is afraid of going... I will try to provide an objective view.. suggestions/comments are welcome..

A person's character is defined by his reactions in tough conditions or situations. Everybody is happy and doing great in good times. How does one react when an interview goes bad or a bad exam or lost game or fight with BF/GF .. These are really petty things in the large canvas of life but unfortunately most of us are occupied in these things and forget about the bigger and more meaningful things in life such as your family, friends, pets etc. It can be your first sketch or first home or first trophy or first job. Trying to recall the emotions when you did not have that 'first' how valuable that was ? But what happened now. Why is that no more as valuable as it was then ? Any thoughts.. It is strange that perspectives change so often about the same things. I am afraid with changed perspectives people also change. Some call it maturity but I think it is immaturity. Think about it !!! These changes are influenced by peers, colleagues, family members and even the persons who are not linked to you even remotely. Yes we get influenced by even those guys. You dont believe me!! Ok Try this..

When was the last time you saw an 'ABC' person riding a Mercedes and forced you to wish you had one.. OR
When was the last time you were influenced by somebody else's clothes OR
You wanted to be like somebody who is not even from your own country or society..

I can bet that was not long ago.. Strange !!! Isn't it. Some say it is natural and good to strive for good things in life. BUT is having a Mercedes or wearing good clothes or be somebody else is good..?

I am still searching for answers .. If you have one do let me know !!!

Lass dich nicht unterkriegen !!!

Do not wait for somebody else to come and help you.. If you need it and want it..go and earn it... !!!!

Messed up first exam of Term III

2007-05-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

Well... I messed up the first exam of Term III big time..
BIG TIME... could have been a good one coz the exam was easy but due to my carelessness..
I dont know how to get over it.. it will take some time.. it is a terrible feeling..

anyways.. they say 'there are days when you score singles or duck'.. THIS WAS definitely one of those days..

Thats it for now..

Weather in Vancouver is warm but today its raining.. guess its not my day today..
BUT I got lot of stuff to do.. Move on.. cases presentations.. exams .. more to come..

There was a time when I was sad ...

2007-05-11T03:48:00.000-07:00

Then I read the following somewhere..

There will be good days.. And there will be bad days
There will be times when you want to turn around, pack it up, and call it quits.

Don't give up at that time. Don't quit.
Its an opportunity to prove your worth.

I know these are words and sometimes hard to follow.. but one can always give it a try..

Starting on this note, I would like to give you a snapshot of what is going on in my MBA..
Case presentations.. case evaluations.. lot of networking with industry guys to create some opportunities for job.. lot of fun..lot of masti.. living life in a better way.. We have had many guest speakers in past month or so sharing their experiences with us... things we should not do.. imagine somebody telling us proudly that how one mistake resulted in a loss of $4 billion..
I can now say one thing for sure.. MBA is not just about books or class room learning .. its much more than that.. one need to explore all the possible dimensions and options to maximize its learning from MBA program.. its a one time chance to do all those things in your life which you had one thought of..

On personal level still far away from a schedule which I would call a normal person's schedule.. its too chaotic I love that ways but I know I gotta change that.. I gotta try.. any suggestions ..?
Opps.. I just realized I gotta submit one assignment.. gotta go.. catch ya later..

'No matter what happens, Life is worth living anyways'

When time flies so fast....

2007-04-29T00:19:00.000-07:00

So far I would rate this week the most chaotic and hectic and happening week for me this year.. definitely among the top three ... speaker event for the club .. accounting courses .. submission in week one itself.. n in next three days submissions n presentations.. wow.. I like this atmosphere. .. its so full of energy.. so much to do.. then gotta attend other events as well to stay tuned to whats happening in MBA .. wow..

One of my cousins got married in India this week.. it was fun as was told to me.. lot of functions in two days .. ceremonies.. dance .. party .. great food .. I love Indian marriages.. Last week I went to a near by beach with one of friends - Mak.. who happens to be a photographer as well in his free time.. I am posting some of his pics .. the fact that I am in those pics is just a coincidence.... Hope you will like them...

While I am preparing myself for the next week you must be wondering if I am so busy why the hell I am wasting time by writing a blog.. well thats what I have learnt at MBA so far... things will happen no matter what you do.. keep those things in perspective which matters to you... take some time off and do the stuff which you like.. its about time management.. I am taking the first baby steps in this direction.. but still gotta lot to catch up.. ...

................Sometimes you can win by losing..........

In Pursuit of HappYness

2007-04-23T01:07:00.000-07:00

Having watched that movie I have realized how wrong I was. Amount of work put in by us is nothing - absolutely nothing as compared to Chris Gardener. That guy is awesome. I could not have imagined anyone pulling it off in such extreme conditions before watching the movie. And guess what its a real life time story. Hats off to that guy (in real life). Despite all the hardships he knew what he wanted .. he wanted to be with his son.. he believed he could do it.. n he did. He did it for his son... Impressive.. !!!!

I remember reading it somewhere..

How badly you want it
How hard are you willing to work for it
How far will you go to get that..

Answers to these three Qs will define or give you the idea about how passionate you are about something in life. Answer these Qs to yourself not to anybody else to realize what you need in life. You will know how important that thing is to you.. rest will follow accordingly..
Getting philosophical.. eehhh.. yeah.. but it is a hard fact..unless untill you are really passionate about something you would not get it.. even if you get it.. you would not enjoy it.

Still need time to get the character of that movie off the mind..

(Pic source: movies.go.com/.../768895/gallery/happyness_1.jpg)

So many things to do

2007-04-22T02:54:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder is it
- less time which is forcing me not to do all the things I have planned OR
- my lack of time management skills which forces me to not to do things the way I have planned..
I know the answer but do not want to answer that.. I am afraid to accept the fact that even the grueling 8 months of MBA has so far not taught me time management.. I wonder if I will ever be able to learn that.. its tough..for me atleast.. I want to have some uncertainty drive my life.. not to have control over things all the time.. though it adds some stress but it is more fun at the same time.. just to give you an glimpse of what I am saying..

"I have no fixed schedule of sleeping.. I may sleep for 20 hours in a day (believe me I can do that.. infact I did that yesterday when there was no power in my block for 24 hours .. yes.. its true ..it happens in Canada as well) or may sleep for as little as 4 hours when I am watching 4 movies back to back..

I sleep sometime as the normal human beings .. from 10 pm - 8 am in the morning..
Sometime my timings are 7 am - 4pm... sometime I break my sleep hours in 3-4 breaks of 2-3 hours each evenly distributed through out the day..:) "

this is what I like in my life.. randomness.. I love it.. but yes.. it forces me on backfoot (like a rising bouncer in a cricket match) since sometimes I am not able to achieve as much as I would like to.. but that is fine.. I accept that.. At the same time I am able to keep myself flexible enough to do things which otherwise are not possible.. like talking to all my friends across globe in a week.. having different time schedule.. ...

This phase in my life will always remain very special for me.. since after joining professional world, I realized there were so many things which I could have done as a student ... the freedom it gives you over your own life.. is amazing.. I am enjoying every moment of this aspect in MBA.. and at the same time learning so many great things.. its amazing..

still.. so many things to do.. which I am not finding time to do.. I am trying to figure out the ways to achieve more out of 24 hours.. meanwhile if you have any suggestions do post them as a comment.. wd appreciate that..:)

I was running against time to achieve all my dreams and ambitions..
so I kept moving without waiting for success........ ... ... ...

Term III

2007-04-20T15:56:00.000-07:00

This Morning

Life has begun again, Father
You have given me another day of grace,
Another day to live:
to speak to someone,
to touch someone,
to ask for something,
to take something,
to give something.
Whatever I make of this day,
Whatever I become this day
I put into Your hands

- ANNE SPRINGSTEEN

What a lovely way to start new day, new venture, new project, new assignment and of course new term. Yes we have the new term staring at us starting next week. How do I know.? I have started receiving mails from the profs for the submissions due next week. No more fun. No more dating. No more flirting. No more dreaming. No more chatting. .. it hurts.. I need somebody to wake me up from this dream break of two weeks which we luckily got this time.

It went by in a flash. I still have not finished even half the items on my list of 'To Do' during this break. I have not even finished watching a quarter of the movies I had planned to watch in this break.. ahh..

Looking fwd to this new term .. We will have new cases.. new faces in the class (since we get to chose our courses), new profs, new rooms (we are moving into a new building for this term. It will be more fun with late night submissions, groun discussions and internship hunt and project work. Wow.. so much to catch upon in next 6 weeks..

I was lucky in term II to get my internship. Having secured that I hope to concentrate (believe me its just a thought..) fully on studies. No distractions !!!! ;) But summer is here.. SUN is here .. no more rain.. only bright warm sunny days.. it will be tough to sit n study... its not an excuse.. Still I will try hard .. not to ..

Keep watching this space for more.. in near future.. I will be back with some more interesting stuff.. But before I leave here is another lovely poem

Hope for tomorrow

Hope thinks tomorrow will be brighter;
Faith knows,
And knowing, is the surer of the two,
And makes it true.

But when the morrow lengthens into night
And shadows throng,
Hope, like another dawn, transfuses faith
And makes it strong

- MINNIE KLEMME

Welcome to Term II

2007-02-26T04:18:00.000-08:00

So here we start again.. cases, group assignments, lectures .. nothing new or interesting in this.
But we do have something to add spice to this routine now.. INTERNSHIP HUNT. So while we are struggling to submit case ontime and to stay awake in classes, we also have to look in for internships - 3 month short job where we work in company and supposedly learn something new.

Wow isnt it wonderful. As if we were having loads of free time up our sleeves to take on this 'Extra responsibility'. I propose we should have one term just for internship hunt and nothing else. It will do loads of good to each one of us.

To make matters worse I have still not decided about my modules for the term. I am still doing flip-flop between strategy and finance modules. Hoping to sort that out in a day or two.

With winters getting milder with each passing day, I am relieved that atleast I have one less thing to take care of. Still will take precautions.

Keep looking for updates. Lot of action in this term. I am sure I will squeeze some time to post in stuff here n there..

One of my fav quotes is ....

Music is the pause between two notes..

Reading break .. almost over

2007-02-24T09:38:00.000-08:00

We had our exams .. we had our reading break
Its over now.. I slept a little more than I did in term 1 but not much. So many things to do. So many miles to go before I sleep...

Reading break was hectic partly due to our Career Development Program (CDP) activities which included sessions with industry experts on all sort of things like networking, presentations, internships etc. Sometimes it was fun. Besides this also applied for internships with couple of employers. Waiting for interview call. Next week we start with our next term. Still not decided about modules I am gonna take. With search for internships going on along with studies, this term will be busier.

Last week took one day off and went to hiking. It was fun. Enjoyed it. Will post the pics soon.
Keep looking for updates on this page. Lot of things happening ...

genius are right more often because they are wrong mor often too...

First Flashstorm almost over

2007-02-04T22:35:00.000-08:00

Some facts about the first flash-storm
- Lasted Six weeks
- Understood Financial modeling for Cash Budget/Evaluation of projects
- Learnt the basics of Investment including portfolio mgmt and various models
- Forced my way through the thick notes of statistics
- Managed to stay awake in all the lectures of world economy, demand & supply and pricing strategies
- Read the entire in depth saaga of ENRON..

This is just a snapshot of what I did in last six weeks. Guess what !!! I got my exams for this term in a week's time from now. I can't believe it. Its over. First term is over (almost). This prog is really fast. Last three weeks had been tough. No time to sleep. You have to manage between lectures and readings. Also we are suppose to try for our internships through our own initiatives. I mean.. gimme a break. We are humans.. We have to have food and proper rest. Also some weekend get aways. Not spend 40 hours out of 48 on a financial case. But this is what I did in these six weeks. There were some good things and some not so good things.

Welcome to the world of MBA student.
I can see my Blog turning into a 'SnapShots from Hell Version 2.0'.

Motto: Being defeated is often only temporary condition Giving up is what makes it permanent..

Back to Classes

2007-01-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

New year started on a good note but soon everything around came crashing down ofcourse due to my stupidity. On 3rd went out in a T and played badminton and came back all charged up in freezing temp of Vancouver, though it was bright n sunny outside. I got cold - fever - cough and what not. Next five days were probably the worst of mine in Vancouver so far. Totally on bed rest, couldnt do much but hoping to recover soon. Last week classes started off and it was total chaos. So many things to learn but can pick just four. umm.. finally after one week of detailed discussions and board room meeetings (hehehehe), I have decided about the modules I am gonna pick. I would say its an informed decision and hope that it turns out to be a good decision in the end.

One thing is clear. Coming days are not gonna be fun. Lot of work .. lot of study .. n very less sleep. I thought core (Sem 1) was toughest but .. .. .. . Also need to initiate things on internship. LEts see how it goes. My first exp of trying to get in I-Banking was a failure but a good learning lesson. hoping to build upon that and move on. Had a word with second year students. They all are saying just one thing. Have fun in MBA. These are your best days. I am still not able to figure out how in this good world is this fun? May be I need to redefine my definition of 'fun'. Ohh yes.. u see my last posts.. I promised that I will have fun.. I guess thats the way to go about it. Tweak your definition of fun a bit and enjoy your studies and voila.. m having fun while reading those big books of Investments and Corporate finance.

Winter in Vancouver has just started to set in. Temperatures are normally below zero deg but yes there is no rain. Also if we are lucky we get some sun shine. Thats what I like about it.
Lets see how long this continues.

Today we got some sunshine. Alrite now I m going out to have some fun.
Motto for coming times: 'Attitude is the key ...'

Dreams, Hopes and wishes

2007-01-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

YEar 2007 is here..
Wishing u all a great year ahead..
My motto for this year.. Work Hard .. play hard . .. while doing all this HAVE FUN.. it will add 'zing' to the life.. sometimes things are out of control .. sometimes we are lucky.. it is all part of life..
With this mantra I will try to live my year 2007. This is a pretty important year for me (as always) .. got so much of learning to do.. so much of action .. planning .. execution.. well I am really excited about all this.. Also some important decisions to make .. some pretty important ones.. I wish I could see future results of those decisions to make the correct decision :) but as we have been taught in MBA (will be reminded again n again during the rest of the course) there are no Bad decisions.. it is all about informed decisions.. so I will try to make more informed decisions.. rest is not in my hand.. I will work bit more harder and smarter... With so much going around it is natural that sometimes decisions will turn out to be the bad ones.. then I will try to have the positive attitude n move on..

my new year resolution.. ummmm not really.. thinking of one.. the moment I will have it .. it will be here.. help me guys..

its the last week of our vacation time before we start the grind again.. its gonna be tough.. after ths break time.. we have to hit the ground running.. some submissions in week 1 itself.. :( good days do not last for ever.. but there is something special about those tense hectic study days.. which I am sure each one of us missed in vacation.. its so much fun.. so many things to do.. sometimes you wonder is it all possible for a single man without clone to achieve so much.. NO WAYS.. well the truth is we have been proved wrong many times in the past.. so now I kind of believe that..
lets see how it goes..
with so many dreams .. hopes.. n wishes .. I prepare myself for the year 2007, at the moment the most important year ... wish me luck

.... Keep Learning and Working HARD

Merry X-Mas and New Year

2006-12-25T00:42:00.000-08:00

Time passes by so fast.. suddenly its been two weeks past our final presentations.. ..
I m still in sleep mode.. which means sleeping 10-12 hours a day (0600 - 1600 hrs).. specially during daytime .. very typical of an engineer be it from US or from India.. we cant sleep during night..
hmm on top of that u include movie time (4 *2 = 8 hours) .. chatting n food (in the remaining time).. n there u go . no time left for nything else.. I wish I had 30 hrs in a day.. but just wondering if that could have really helped..so as usual time is less n so many things to do.. one need to prioritize.. thts one of the 'guru matras' at MBA .. time management.. how to keep devoting time to the important things.. while working on least important ones at the back-end.. Before coming to Sauder I was bad at it.. but now may be I have improved 10%.. still a long way to go.. hoping that I will be good in it oneday.. Vancouver the best city to live in.... yet needs to be explored.. need to go to places.. downtown.. waterfront.. skiing .. snow boarding.... I wonder if its possible to do all this in next ten days.. wait n watch.. as of now.. got some time to clear the mess in my room .. my living room.. then some cooking.. n then aah.. movie time..
catch ya later.. till that time scionara.. whatever..

Merry X-Mas and great New Year..

... ... ... Its not important how long you lived BUT how u lived ...

Life without MBA CORE

2006-12-22T22:35:00.000-08:00

... is no life.. believe me.. .. feels like we have nothing left.. those 3 months were so hectic that now everything else looks so easy going.. nothing challenging.. i need my "core life" back.. hv been told my best days of life are over.. the realization is hard to accept.. but I guess they are right..

Spending time watching movies.. playing basketball with frndz... sleeping.. its all useless.. nothing is as great as MBA core.. now picked my subjects for next semester.. picking the toughest subjects.. just kidding.. hv picked the easiest subjects.... to enjoy my life during MBA.. got some plans..consulting club activities .. sports.. internship hunting.. later job hunting.. networking.. still lot of action left.. lot to learn.. lot to adapt..MBA really transforms a person..
as of now in vacations.. working on my cooking skills.. learning new dishes.. having 'pot luck' parties..its all fun.. trying out different dishes from Germany to Korea, Toronto to China, France to States.. its amazing.. I am lucky to be part of this amazing group.. we got so much to share and learn from each other. ..

Oops.. X-Mas is around the corner.. need to buy gifts for my frndz.. i will catch ya later..

Learning for the day: The most important aspect of life is 'To keep enjoying.. suddenly u may realize that the days u thought were ur worst were actually the best days of ur life..'

Core No More...

2006-12-21T20:05:00.000-08:00

Hurrayyyyyyy

Most of us are finally through with the core.. with grades out all of us did good n are now busy making plans for the vacations.. Suddenly after 15 weeks.. we have some time to think bout ourselves.. our lives.. n no work to do.. wow.. its amazing feeling BUT somehow somewhere I wish it should have been there for some more time...it was not as tough as it seems to be.. I checked my earlier blogs.. was it really that tough.. dont know.. good thing is we did it..experienced it.. n we are now a bit better person than before we started it..

It was tough.. intense and enriching experience.. we had fun.. we cried sometimes.. we were bruised .. hurt.. felt helpless sometimes.. but at the same time I felt strong sometimes.. sense of achievement .. contented.. after weeks of hard work.. believe me one has to experience it to understand it..

We had our 'Core No More' party.. everyone was relaxed.. recovering from the last four days of effort put in for presentations.. some nervous.. some never cared.. some really happy..
They all have some plans for coming vacations already.. some going back to meet their families.. some for Skiing .. some got long Shopping list (u know whom I m referring to...)
For me ...ummmmm..I am pretty clear on that front.. I have a long list of 'To DOs' for myself..
1. Sleep
2. Sleep
....

4. Finally some sleep..

Lesson learnt: No matter what happens in life.. The motto should be to move on..'Keep Walking'

End of Core is near...

2006-12-16T23:16:00.000-08:00

Alrite. .. we can see the summit now...we are almost there..
after sleepless nights.. anxious last minute submissions (0830 hrs in morning.. one min late is late..).. most of are now working on final project submission and final four hour BIG exam.. Its gonna be good.. some are tired.. some sans emotion.. n some are riding high on 'second wind'.. I dont know where to put myself.... umm.. lets see I can sense 'Second sense' coz I m hoping that end is gonna be good.. so giving my best to it..

Major exam.. Oops.. I have to moving out of current nest to my next dwelling on campus a day before the final exam.. the craziest thing I have done ( guess so) after coming to Vancouver.... that one single exam is worth one fifth (20%) of our total grades.. I hope its not that bad in the end..hoping.....

Project work.. we made the mistake of taking it like just another project.. and assuming that it will be a cake walk..BUT as they say.. 'the last mile' is always difficult n the most expensive.. and there we (my project team like other project teams ) were.. rather than celebrating after major exam we were slogging as if our life depends on this project.. team meetings stretching to more than six to seven hours.. appreciating the power of Word and Excel and Powerpoint.. tension was high .. it was intense.. very easy to break away but we kept our control

Thinking about MBA at this stage makes me wonder.. whats the purpose of all this.. is it all about learning.. or something bigger than that.... is it just the ends at this point which matters or is it still about means to achieve those ends..(my personal philosophy).. but whtever it is.. given the interesting ( I call this phase the most interesting phase) life every decent MBA grad goes through while dreaming about those magical six figure salary and comfy cushion power seats in board room..:) i feel there is a bigger purpose behind all this.. which I hvnt figured out yet..

No time to ponder about it at the moment.. at the moment its about execution.. "knocking off" things which are on my way.. one by one.. hour by hour.. in the best possible way.. making my way through group discussions.. research.. talking to VCs.. studying finance and economics.. net present values game theories.. thinking about marketing mix and value proposition.. pondering the sustainability of competitve advantages.. life goes on..

My personal motto in first three months 'Keep the damage to minimum.. ' has kept me afloat.. Hoping that all this hard work pays off some day.....

Days during MBA Core

2006-12-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

Profs say work on business plan projects..
Group mates say I need to complete my notes on IT and strategy and share it asap..
Planned to work on external business plan competitions.. which looks a distant dream now..
Have to submit two assignments tomorrow..
Also got a case study to take care of..
No reading done for past week.. my participation grades in the class are heading southwards..
Also need to work on something for the consulting club which I am President of..

Sounds things are under control.. except the fact that I havenot slept for more than eight hours (in total) in last two days..

This is a typical scenario when we at school are near a so called "Pressure Point" and there were many during the three month long famous "Integrated Core"...

Dont get into the fallacy that I am not good in time management and others in the class are better placed than me.. BUT the fact is I am a very fair representation of the class.. ofcourse one will always have some High fliers .. but overall situation was not good for most of the class ..

I thought that MBA would be a cakewalk after working for intense deadlines in my five years of professional life.. but 'boy' I was terribly wrong.. those deadlines now look like easy weekends.. n relaxing weekdays..
I couldnt help it but had to consult prof where so much of pressure is taking us all.. couple of pals actually left n couple more were thinking of following them.. I was told MBA is fun.. really ?.. not any more.. we were told this course is building us for pushing our capabilities (including a factor of safety of 10).. so that every deadline from now on.. will look easily achievable..
suddenly the realization that the deadlines and schedules in the my projects (at my firm) were indeed planned by the MBAs.. so there I was at crossroads.. wondering whether its for good of bad.. how will I manage these things.. is it ethically acceptable to have tougher deadlines for non MBAs.. lol....
Ooopsss... I got a buzz on my clock .. its 0200 hrs.. need to catch up on my pending list before morning before 0830 class.. of accounting in which I cant afford to be late even by 15 sec.. and cant even think of missing the class .. that would be the cardinal sin.. in first sem..

Catch ya later..
Wish for me..