Soul Tree Wine

Oxford Sub fusc

2009-10-09T22:31:00.002+01:00

I ventured a little bit into Google Webmaster tools as well as into Google analytics...and I found that most people who stumble upon my blog are people who have been googling for the Oxford Sub fusc!

The sub fusc really is one of Oxford's quaintest traditions. For those that are wondering what it is I'm talking about, here's a link to one of my older posts.

Worth Contemplating...

2009-10-09T22:29:00.001+01:00

The people who succeed the most are the people who have failed the most, because they are people who have tried the most.

Amazing Talent : Sand Animation

2009-10-09T11:31:00.002+01:00

India Wine Show 2009, Nasik, 26-30 Nov 09

2009-10-08T15:05:00.001+01:00

From www.delhiwineclub.com

The third biennial edition of India Wine Show 2009 taking place in Nashik from 26-30 November aims to provide a business platform to the grape growers and wine producers from India and overseas as well as wine lovers who wish to learn more about winemaking, with tasting and vineyard visits thrown in as an added attraction.

The show emphasizes on the technical know how to the processing, packaging, actual marketing of the product in the domestic and foreign market , with an opportunity to network with the international dealers, and generate business, says the Show’s website

There are a number of conferences to be held over two days (27-28 Nov.) and which will be addressed by the industry experts, leading exporters / importers, dignitaries and the professionals. The speakers will highlight on the various aspects of the agriculture industry and the wine industry. The discussions will throw light on the subjects like marketing strategies, business developments and growth in the Indian wine industry and spirit market. Seminars will deliberate on the topics ranging from viticulture to export opportunities.

There will be a Panel Discussion on the benefits of wine, new trends in wine making procedures, development steps and marketing strategies. The discussion will also encompass the growth and fate of the Indian wine industry. It will also include a technical session where the producers and technical people will share their wine industry vision with the participants.

Buyer Seller Meet is the highlight at Krishi 2009 which was first organised in 1996 and has completed 5 editions- apparently it has been now merged with the Wine Show. The organisers hope it will promote the market linkages between the Indian and foreign buyers and the local producers directly. This would give the producers in the food processing industry a direct access to the global market at the best prices.

The Show is organised by Media Exhibitors in conjunction with Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture.

For more details and registration/invitation visit their website, www.indiawineshow.com

Navigating the blogosphere and twitterfield...

2009-10-08T14:50:00.000+01:00

...and learning how much there is to learn

Never Underestimate the Power of a Great Story

2009-10-08T12:22:00.003+01:00

Facebook Integration - part deux

2009-09-23T14:55:00.003+01:00

Here's an update about my little attempt at posting something from Facebook using an app called BlogIt.

I was expecting something to go wrong, and it did. The post did appear on my blog as promised. The only problem is that it appeared not once, but six times! Why it would do that is anyone's guess, but I'm sure not going to be using this app again without ensuring the bugs have been ironed out.

It was also supposed to have left a little message on my Facebook wall about the post - that didn't happen either. Guess I'm calling it quits.

Facebook integration

2009-09-22T14:22:00.001+01:00

I am trying to post to my blog from Facebook using the application called Blog It. Reviews haven't been that great so I;m not expecting too much. Let's see how it works.

I'll surely post the results of this little experiment.

Apologies to those readers that couldn't care less!

Special Delivery

2009-02-18T10:31:00.003Z

Here's an article from The Mumbai Mirror about Dhruv Lakra's amazing courier-service-that-employs-the-deaf venture:

Mumbai’s ‘service’ industry hasn’t changed a great deal in the decades gone by; only the gurkha has become the suave guard; the milkman now delivers smart packages, the multi-tasking bai has remained the same. However, one of these services, the courier boy, is undergoing a radical change, thanks to a little-known Kashmiri entrepreneur. Twenty-eight year old Dhruv Lakra, an MBA graduate from Oxford University, recently flagged off operations of Mirakle Couriers, and all his employees are deaf.

When we catch up with this ‘social entrepreneur’ in his South Mumbai office, he’s having an animated chat with his team. “When was the last time you interacted with a deaf person?” he asks us. Can’t recall? Well, chances are that you may not remember even seeing them. “They are ‘invisible’ in India!” he asserts, “While you can help a visually impaired person to catch a train or help someone on crutches to cross a road, deaf people are overlooked.” No wonder it’s one of the most underfunded disabilities in our country, despite it being home to an estimated 60 million of them.

It was this realisation and a personal tragedy - Lakra’s father met with an accident last year and can’t walk anymore - which inspired him to quit his Merrill Lynch job to find his calling. His research indicated that the hearing imparied only found jobs in fields like candle or file-making. His Eureka moment occurred while receiving a courier delivery. “Here was a job made-to-order for these people. Reaching destinations and taking signatures does not require communication at all,” he says. And Mirakle Couriers came into being.

However, Dhruv had to face and overcome, several challenges. The biggest being the attitude of his employees’ families. “While some are proud, most are over-protective about their children, especially girls,” he says. Also, he has to constantly up their self-esteem. The logistics of this business too was extraordinary. “I spent many weeks on-the-job with them, fine-tuning the process. I realised they wouldn’t hear the lift door musically crying if it’s unclosed, and what a misleading address can do to their confidence,” he says.

Lakra attaches the ‘ISL’ sheet with each delivery

His 15-member strong team then devised signs to communicate possibly everything we deem mundane. Such as names of places: wavy hands indicate Chowpatty or Charni Road, Vile Parle is indicated by a biscuit-bite gesture. Care is taken that each packet has a prominent landmark, and their boss is in touch with every boy on-field. “SMS is our lifeline at times,” he says.

We start gesticulating more to know how the employees’ lives have changed. Ivan tells us of his run-ins with insensitive watchmen, Ravinder gestures how this job is better than carrying cement sacks. The company has three ladies too - Jyoti handles the administration while Reshma and Neena are responsible for the sorting. Be it the reticent Rakesh or Suraj, who went to Sachin Tendulkar’s home, we sense in them a common desire to be counted as equals.

Alongwith fulfilling these, Lakra is spiritedly trying to expand the business. “I expect empathetic support from my clients; I am not running a charity,” he says. He also wants awareness about the deaf and the little-known Indian Sign Language (ISL). For his newly created Mirakle, his patient vision is the biggest asset. “I’m planning to go pan-India in the long run, be the next Fedex… with a difference.”

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Diwali...and snow!

2008-11-04T00:04:00.002Z

Diwali was good...and unusual...this year. We got together with some friends for some good food, booze, fireworks, and snow! Even Sebastian came over from London and Melvin from Oxford. Ah, a great evening!

London apparently saw October snow for the first time in 70 years. Other parts of the country have seen October snow more recently. I for sure, have never seen snow in October - and certainly not on Diwali. And not just a sprinkling - there was probably over an inch on my car, and even more on the lawn - enough for us to bury the roman candles deep enough to stabilise them. Thankfully it stopped snowing well in time for us - and for the kids - to enjoy the fireworks. It was bitterly cold outside, though, and while I continued freezing my fingertips off in the snow with the kids, most people retired inside into the warmth long before we'd got half-way through the fireworks.

Pictures soon.

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Enduring friendship...

2008-10-30T13:32:00.007Z

As we move through life we meet new people - at work, in the neighbourhood, at the gym, or through friends. Some acquaintances stay exactly that, some we lose touch with; others turn into friends. And some turn into friends we just know we'll be friends with for a very, very, long time.

The best friends are usually made during student life or very early into our career, when we tend to spend a lot of time with them. As we move on in life and get busy with family and work we still make new friends, but it is more difficult to forge the kind of friendships we took for granted in the yesteryears. It can (and does) still happen, but consider yourself fortunate if it does. I guess we never really spend enough time with these new friends or go through life's challenges together with them; we don't experience the emotional highs and lows together any more, nor face the exhilaration of overcoming obstacles together. Emotional bonding most likely doesn't get a chance.

The electronic age has certainly made things easier. Cheap phone calls, email, instant messaging, and a shrinking world, all help friends stay in touch. I have old friends I have not met in over 10 years - still I feel like I know them as well as I used to, and I know that reconnecting emotionally when we do meet, even after so long, will be easy.

And now I've had this opportunity - of being a student for the first time in 14 long years, and of being a fellow student with 220 classmates, spending one full year with them - studying and working hard through many nights, and then spending some other nights partying and drinking the stress away. I have valued this a lot more because like many others I'd never thought I would have this opportunity ever again. It had been way too long since my undergraduate degree.

Of course, 220 is too large a number of people to become friends with. Indeed, I hardly know a very large proportion of them. But I have certainly made a significant number of friends, friends that I know, like, and trust. Time will tell how many of these turn out to be enduring, or with how many of them I'll still be in touch with in, say, 10 years time. An enduring friendship, after all, is a two-way street. It requires effort, patience, trust, and in today's world, the ability to transcend time and distance.

One thing is for sure, though: I am a much richer person, relationship-wise, than I was going into the MBA programme, and I consider myself lucky to have had another chance so late in life.

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A courier company with a difference

2008-10-30T12:42:00.009Z

Oxford classmate and friend Dhruv Lakra has decided to fore go a high-flying post-MBA corporate career and has just set up Mirakle Couriers, a courier company with a difference. Mirakle Couriers has been set up to provide employment to the disabled - only deaf people will be hired for pick-ups, drops, and back-office operations, providing them with hard-to-get employment, and perhaps more importantly, dignity in life. Operations are initially planned for the city of Mumbai. The idea is innovative but unproven. I, however, cannot see why the deaf cannot perform these tasks as efficiently as the more 'able', or why the business model should not take off. Look closely at the company's logo below and the depiction of sign language for the letter 'I', and you'll see how effectively it conveys the message.

The idea will attract customers who wish to do their bit for society, even though it may put off those who may see this as a risky business to hand over personal or valuable documents or parcels to, at least until Mirakle Couriers establishes a reputation for efficiency. As someone who believes in the innate 'goodness' of the common man, I suspect that there are enough people in the world who fall in the former category and therefore will contribute towards making the venture a success.

I would love to see the idea take flight and extend to the creation of opportunities for people with disabilities of other kinds. I hope Dhruv and Mirakle Couriers are establishing a trend here that sees the birth of many such ventures in the future. I urge all readers to spread the word, and Mumbai residents to use the services of Mirakle Couriers.

You can follow Dhruv's journey here.

A laudable effort, Dhruv. Kudos!

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The Oxford MBA Summer Options

2008-08-29T14:25:00.010+01:00

As part of the Oxford MBA programme you have three options to spend the summer months - and to gain the two credits required for the programme. People contemplating the Oxford MBA read on. Others, pardon the detail.

The first of these is the Summer Consulting Project (SCP). This involves doing a short 6-8 week consulting project (pretty obvious!) for a company, building on and consolidating the academic learning from the course and combining it with past experience and general skills to present a solution for a real-life problem faced by the company. The SCP, which is worth two credits, involves working at the client site or remotely, presenting a practical solution for them, and writing a more academic 15,000 word piece for the formal assessment. The projects are typically sourced by the school (though you can source your own, subject to certain criteria being met), and students are often compensated for their work.

The second option is to take two 'summer elective' courses, each worth one credit. Each course consists of eight three-and-a-half-hour lectures condensed into one week, often accompanied by individual and group assignments. Some courses run concurrently (i.e., in the same week), and so depending on your choice of electives you could be attending 16 lectures in one week and working on the related assignments and practical work. Or you could choose one in the first week of the summer, and one in the last.

The third option is to write an Individual Academic Thesis on a subject of your choice. This is the most academically oriented option of the three, and therefore the least preferred option for most MBAs.

So, what did I do this summer, and what would I recommend to future students of the Oxford MBA? I elected to do the summer electives, and took both my electives in the first week of the summer. Of course this meant an extremely hectic first week - 50 hours of lectures in the week accompanied by several assignments. But it also meant that once I had ridden through that week, I was more or less done for the summer! There were still a couple of assignments left, but I could do them at relative leisure. And why would you want to do this? If you want an easy-going summer, wish to travel, spend time with family, or just utilise the time to look for a job. This option works particularly well for those opting to do internships over the summer, which are not academically assessed and therefore do not count towards the course. For such students, the practical option is to take the two electives and to then spend the rest of the summer completing the internship.

And who should do the SCP? Students who wish to build on what they have learnt in class during the year, those who wish to work for the company they are doing the project with, or those who wish to travel to different countries at the expense of that company (trips this year included those to India, China, Gambia, and Hungary). The report or presentation for the company, and the 15,000 word academic submission can make this pretty demanding in terms of time, though, and people may find they have little time left for anything else. Long term benefits depend on individual motivations, and I have found people in my class to have benefited in varying ways and to different degrees. There are some who are glad they took that option, others are more ambivalent about it and are unable to come up with concrete reasons for why they would recommend it. The process used to award the school-sourced projects is complex, however, and it involves bidding for the project(s) of your choice. The project that is right for you, therefore, is not guaranteed, but you commit to any other project you bid for, and are awarded. It is hard to come up with a process that is fair to everyone, and I'm sure the school and the projects office are working hard t improve on it all the time. Self-sourced projects, however, are not bid for and are therefore guaranteed.

The academic thesis is almost definitely for the more academically minded student - for someone who wishes to dig deep into a subject with a view to entering the world of academia or continuing academic / research work in the future. If you wish to work in the traditional avenues of industry, consulting, or finance, this may not be for you.

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Chef Alok

2008-08-29T13:18:00.008+01:00

Tall claim, surely. Bordering on the atrocious, even.

Still, if it were a relative evaluation, I might just about qualify. For someone who has never really cooked in the 36 years of his life (my activities in the kitchen always limited to doing the dishes, cleaning up, and occasionally, very occasionally, cutting up the veggies), living away from family in Oxford has resulted in me becoming a little adventurous in the kitchen.

It started too late, perhaps in the last quarter of my year here. And it started with one disastrous attempt, followed by slightly more successful ones. Edible food, and gradually, reasonably tasty stuff. Often made with the help of ready-made sauces and gravies topped up with onions, tomatoes, and additional spices! And my repertoire depended on the type of gravy I could buy. My flatmate Varun often turned out to be the catalyst, suggesting we cook in rather than eat out. Incidentally Sebastian, my other flatmate, has never been around when I've cooked. Sheer coincidence though, each time, Seb. Honest

Antonio recently cooked an Italian meal for a bunch of friends at my place. I helped, but my help was limited to cutting the meat, peeling the potatoes, and the like. On another day I cooked some chicken together with another guy at Pranav's house - used some ready sauce to prepare some pretty decent stuff.

One is certainly more tolerant of one's own cooking, and so I persisted - for a while. Until the limited taste and range prompted further experimentation. For the first time, recently, I cooked butter chicken - from scratch. Yes, I took the help of a recipe I found on a random website, but the chicken turned out to finger-lickingly good. Ask Varun, Pranav, or Jitin for testimonials! Last night's chicken was pretty good, too!

For all those cooks sniggering away, trust me when I tell you it is a big deal for me! So who knows, for someone who has never really understood the point of cooking for several hours only for the food to be eaten up in 15 mins, this might just be the turning point. I might just turn chef - one day!

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Punting

2008-08-27T17:55:00.004+01:00

One thing you've got to do when in Oxford, is go Punting. A couple of months ago I had written about my experience with punting (see here) when I'd gone with friends from Mansfield College. This time it was with friends from SBS. And thankfully, the conditions were absolutely perfect for punting, and we had a blast of a time! Here's proof.

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Capstone, and the Beginning of the End

2008-08-27T17:20:00.005+01:00

In one of my previous posts I had promised to let you know about the final course of the Oxford MBA - the Capstone Course. Don't ask why it is called that, but it involves the development of scenarios for a client who is facing challenges presented by climate change. Working in small groups, we will identify key changes in the client's strategic environment likely to arise from developments relating to energy security and climate change, and develop a set of scenarios that will help them confront those changes. Should be pretty exciting!

It is a relatively short course, starting on the 8th of September and finishing on the 12th. Our MBA culminates in a black-tie 'farewell' dinner on the 12th and an 'end of course' ceremony on the 13th.

It has been an absolutely fantastic year for me! There's just over two weeks left, but I'm expecting the remaining days to be very eventful and memorable.

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Foila Car

2008-08-14T17:42:00.003+01:00

Literally Foil-a-car, here's something interesting for car enthusiasts: foil from a company called Foila Car that can be applied onto a car's panels, thereby instantly adding a removable additional layer. The foil can be transparent and therefore only protective, or coloured to completely transform the appearance of the car. Apparently this is catching on in Dubai (where else?). Here's a few pictures of a car being, well, foil wrapped!! Click on play to view.

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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

2008-08-14T14:45:00.004+01:00

I'm sorry, but I'll conveniently use this cliche to post another set of pictures...even though I am months late and the night in question was in late May. Some 'real' posts will follow. I promise!

The night in question was Pranav Garga's birthday, which started with dinner and a few drinks at Las Iguanas, and ended after many hours and a few (ahem!) more drinks at Anuba. The party, after we were kicked out of Anuba, moved on to Cranham Terrace where it continued until the small hours of the morning.

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The Oxford MBA 2008 Photo-book

2008-08-14T12:59:00.004+01:00

For the last few weeks a group of volunteers has been working on creating a photo-book for the Oxford MBA class of 2007-08. It was hard work, but equally, a lot of fun. The photo-book is ready to be printed now, and should be available for us by Capstone week (what is that? I'll get to it - in time), that is, around the middle of September.

Here are some pictures of the team.

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Oxford in Pictures

2008-08-14T12:31:00.005+01:00

Some pictures of Oxford, taken on a delightfully sunny day, not too long ago...

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Back...

2008-08-14T11:15:00.004+01:00

...after a rather long, and unexpected, hiatus. My last post was just over two months ago, and though the 4-5 weeks after that were pretty much taken up in assignments and exams, there really is no reason why I shouldn't have posted anything for the last month or so.

Well, I'm back now, and hopefully will remain more consistent hereon.

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Croquet and Punting

2008-06-05T22:50:00.005+01:00

Isn't it wonderful that the world is so full of obscure, intriguing things, many of which we have never heard about before? In my previous posts I have referred to Real Tennis, and more recently, Petanque. Well, now here are Croquet and Punting. I'd just about heard these words before I came to Oxford, but didn't quite know what they were about.

Last Saturday saw me learn about, and indulge in, both - courtesy the Mansfield College MCR. We played a bit of croquet on the college lawn. The game involves hitting balls through hoops using a big, wooden mallet, the objective being to pass your ball through a number of hoops in a particular sequence, and to end by hitting the ball onto a wooden post. It is not a game that requires a lot of skill, but tactics can play a big role in how you fare. Here are some pictures.

Why am I not in the pictures if I was playing, you ask? Well, as usual I am behind the camera!

Croquet was followed by punting on the river Cherwell. For those who are unaware of what punting is (like me, until a few months ago), it involves, well, punting a boat along a river - using a long metal pole (or a wooden one, if you are in Cambridge) to push yourself against the river bed. The pole is also used to steer the boat, along with a little paddle used at the front end of the boat.

The current on Saturday was strong, owing to a few weirs that had been opened upstream. And that meant that while we merrily punted our way downstream, turning around and making progress upstream was difficult. In fact, we went a little too far downstream, close to where the Cherwell joins the bigger (and faster) river Isis. Too close, one might say, for we found it difficult to turn around, and were being swept towards the Isis. At one point, I think, we were less than 10 ft. from the main Isis current!

So, heading back upstream proved to be a challenge. We often found ourselves at the same spot for over 10 mins, furiously trying to make progress. I was a passenger in the boat most of the time, and let more experienced punters (is that the right word?) do the job. When I did try, I realised how important it was to use the pole to steer the boat - to keep the front end of the boat pointing straight ahead. And, how difficult it is when the current is strong and skill levels are low.

Well, it turned out not to be the picnic we'd imagined it would be, and we got back to the boathouse a difficult two-and-a half hours later. What great fun, though! Would love to do it again, but after only after a quick check on the strength of the current!

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Petanque

2008-06-05T22:19:00.012+01:00

I have mentioned Petanque, which I've never played before the Oxbridge a couple of weeks ago, in my previous post. I had never even heard of the game, and I expect most others never have, either. So, for those intrigued, here's how the game is played (taken from www.britishpetanque.org)

THE PLAY

You play with a metal ball called a “boule” and a jack made from wood. The boules have a diameter from 7.05 to 8.00 cm and a weight from 650 to 800 gram. At first sight they look identical but they differ greatly by being made from different metals with a wide range of markings or engravings

THE AIM OF THE GAME

To place your boules nearer to the jack than those of your opponents.

COMPOSITION OF TEAMS
Pétanque is a sport in which

	3 players play against 3 players (triples), each player uses 2 boules.
	2 players against 2 players (doubles), each player uses 3 boules
	1 player against 1 player (singles), each player uses 3 boules.

START OF THE GAME

To start a game the teams toss a coin to see which team will throw the jack (a small wooden ball of 25-35 mm in diameter). In the following example the Blue team has won the toss.

BEGINNING OF PLAY

A player of the Blue team draws a circle on the ground (35-50 cm diameters) from which the jack is thrown to a distance of 6-10 metres from the circle. When throwing the jack and boules both feet of the player must be within the circle and on the ground, until the played boule has touched the ground.

THE FIRST BALL

The Blue team now play their first ball by trying to get it as close to the jack as possible.

Then the first player of the Red team steps into the circle to play their first boule and it tries to beat the Blue team’s boule.

This can happen in one of two ways either by

POINTING

When the team pitches or rolls their boule, judging the distance so that it stops closer than the opponents boule

or by

SHOOTING

With a purposeful throw the thrown boule removes the opponent’s boule.

IF SUCCESSFUL

It is a player of the Blue team that must now play.

IF NOT SUCCESSFUL

The players of the Red team must continue to play, until either they place a boule closer to the jack than the opponent’s boule or they have no boules left to play.

If a team has no more boules, the other team now plays until they have played all their remaining boules.

THE POINTS

A team receives as many points as it has boules closest to the jack than those of their opponents (at least 1 point to a maximum of 6 points).

In our example Blue made 3 points.

The team winning the end draws the circle and throws the jack to start the next end.

THE END OF A PLAY

The team, which first reaches 13 points, is the winner.

SO VERY SIMPLE – SO WHY SHOULD IT BE SO FASCINATING?

The simple principle of this game leaves plenty of room for tactics and the imagination, with the result that every round looks different.

A tactical mistake is usually more serious than a badly played boule.

With every boule that is to be played, there are so many different ways of playing the game:

- shoot away your opponent’s boule

- obstruct the path to the jack

- change the position of the jack with the boule etc.

PLAYING TECHNIQUE AND TACTICS

In principle, there are two ways of playing a boule - in that you either point or shoot.

When pointing and when shooting, you should keep an eye on the correct hand position: you throw with the palm of the hand turned downwards.

This imparts a certain backspin to the boule, and when you get the hang of the idea, you can manipulate the boule as the nature of the ground and the situation of the game demands.

The tactics however are equally as important as mastering the technique, which is what makes the game so intriguing.

When playing with experienced players you will quickly learn the tactics, you have to make your mind up quickly to choose if a solution is too dangerous or maybe too late nd the only choice is to try and save the game by playing a defensive boule.

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Oxbridge 2008

2008-06-05T19:05:00.013+01:00

The Oxbridge games, the annual sporting event between Oxford's Said Business School and Cambridge's Judge Business School, are hosted by the b-schools alternatively each year; this year they were held on 24 May, and were hosted by Judge. So that meant some 150 of packing into three buses and heading off, quite early in the morning, for Cambridge. Luckily, this was one of the better days of May, and we were set for a fantastic day of sporting events.

Cambridge did a great job of hosting us, and of organising the games. We won 8 of the 15 events, and the Oxbridge games for the fifth consecutive year. So I guess it did not matter that we had forgotten to take the Oxbridge cup with us from Oxford. It would have been rather embarrassing if Cambridge had won the games! I played ultimate frisbee and Petanque(a game I'd never even heard of until a few weeks ago - but more about that later). We won the frisbee, but I lost my game of Petanque (though we still won the team event).

The evening involved heading back to Judge for drinks, and then to St. John's College for dinner. Our hosts again did well by showing us around Cambridge and by generally taking good care of us. Well done, guys! Cambridge is very pretty. The colleges have great architecture, but unlike Oxford, they are visible and not hidden behind great big walls. The Judge Business School itself is very quirky - you'd love it or hate it.

Most of us were pretty worn out by the time we got back on the bus for Oxford - some of us after one drink too many (but hey what the heck, this is a once-in-a-year event for the schools, and a once-only event for us).

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Defining Poverty

2008-05-28T19:06:00.007+01:00

So how does one define poverty? Is poverty absolute or relative? Is someone who does not have access to basic health care and education poor? Or is someone who is financially well off but is not allowed to become a part of society poor? What about someone living below the breadline? Or someone who does not have access to basic shelter and clothing?

I guess this is a debate that can go on for a long, long time. However one thing is clear, though I'm no expert, that the definition of poverty is a matter of perspective. In the developing world, where billions of people struggle to make ends meet, where the next meal is in question, where disease and malnutrition are the scourge of society, poverty is defined as not having access to the very basic of human needs - food, clothing, and shelter. The developed world, on the other hand, largely believes in relative poverty. So anyone in the US who cannot afford a car is considered poor. One in five children in the UK think not owning a mobile phone is a sign of poverty.

The Oxford dictionary rather unhelpfully defines poverty as "the state of being poor", though it defines the word poor as "having very little money; not having enough money for basic needs". Merriam Webster defines it as "a: the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions b: renunciation as a member of a religious order of the right as an individual to own property". The World Bank currently uses a figure of $US 1 per day (in 1985 purchasing power dollars) for absolute poverty. Under this measure, roughly half the world's population lives in abject poverty.

The alternative has been to define poverty as relative deprivation, for example as half mean income (or as 60% of the median income, as in the UK), or as exclusion from participation in society. Thus the European Union has decided that ‘the poor shall be taken to mean persons, families and groups of persons whose resources (material, cultural, social) are so limited as to exclude them from the minimum acceptable way of life in the member state in which they live’.

Growing up in India I have always seen people struggling to scratch together the next meal. In such circumstances, someone living in their own house - however decrepit it may be, someone with assured basic resources, someone not literally starving, is not considered to be living in abject poverty. In some senses this is unfortunate, for just being surrounded by people who are simply struggling to survive denies these 'also poor' the attention they need.

So, is there a right definition of poverty? The answer, almost certainly, is 'no'. Poverty means different things to different people, and to different societies and nations. The true definition of poverty for any individual, however, and the only definition relevant to him or her, is how it is defined in the society he or she lives in. Any other definition is academic, and any other understanding is meaningless.

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Crazy dance

2008-05-25T02:03:00.003+01:00

I came across this video and couldn't resist posting it here. Weird? Whacky? Jaw dropping? You choose the adjective.

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Lost in Paris

2008-05-19T00:02:00.013+01:00

On our way to the MBAT at HEC School of Management in Paris a few days ago, we got lost in Paris. I wasn't surprised. First, we were driving on the wrong side of the road. Second, we were driving on the right in a right-hand-drive car. Third, the signs were for inexplicably long French place names - and very difficult to read while driving along even at normal speed. And finally, I was completely foxed by the complex road numbering system in France (and a very bad map).

How do you read these signs? Or this map?

In fact we got lost almost immediately on driving into France. We were to take the A16 to Paris from Calais, and followed signs diligently. Yet how we landed onto the A26 and then on to the A1 I have no idea. What we did right was follow signs to Paris and that meant that though we took a rather circuitous route we eventually did get to Paris. However that also meant deviating from the planned route through Paris. And that's where it all went wrong.

In France motorways bear the prefix 'A' and National roads 'N' (what's the difference?). Local roads are 'D'. But then, there are also 'E' roads (what are they?). And if the map we had was to be trusted, some roads were both 'A' and 'E' on the same stretch. Or 'A' roads become 'E' roads. Or 'N' roads. Confused? Not as confused as I was while we were driving through Paris and I was trying to navigate in vain. I still am (confused - not trying to navigate in vain!). And for someone who believes in his sense of direction, it was a cruel, belittling, blow. Strangely, signs often prompted us to take the innermost lane - until we suddenly found we had to exit the busy motorway - changing 3 or 4 lanes in about a hundred metres or so. Bad enough for Seb, who was driving my car, but even worse for the driver of the second car, Joby, who had no idea where we were going and was blindly following us.

Are we on the A26? Or on the E15?

We drove around Paris, trying to decipher what road we were on, what direction we were moving in, and what road we were supposed to be taking next. The map didn't help either. Certain roads disappeared suddenly...and certain others had no numbers associated with them (well, they did, but not on our map). We found ourselves going round in circles, and rediscovering roads and landmarks we had seen only a few minutes before. I think we finally found our way through Seb's sense of direction (I console myself by thinking, 'I wasn't driving...I'd be more in control of my sense of direction if I was') and Vinita's map reading and backseat navigation skills.

Is our car likely to explode on this road? No, as it it turns out, it is the suggested route for vehicles carrying flammable materials.

On the way back from HEC three days later, we rather easily managed to get on to the main Paris ring road, the A86 - but did not realise for about 30 minutes and about 25-odd kilometres that we were in fact driving in the wrong direction! Then to compound matters all signs for the A86 suddenly disappeared and signs for the N86 (or was it E86?) appeared, and we thought we were lost again - until signs for the A86 magically appeared again (and signs for the N86 / E86 stopped!). Thankfully the nature of a ring road dictates that as long as you stay on it you cannot get lost - and though it probably meant about an extra 20-25 kilometres and about half an hour of lost time, we could find our way out of Paris and onto the A16 to Calais with relative ease.

Yet in some ways I found French roads absolutely fantastic. Contradiction? You bet. I suppose once you understand the city layout, the way roads are numbered, and what the major signs say, driving in Paris is a pleasure. On one of our nights there, we took a taxi from HEC, which I guess - judging from how long it took us - is about 30 kms from Paris centre, to Concorde Plaza in the heart of the city. I was surprised that right from leaving the HEC campus to Concorde Plaza we only had to stop twice - there were practically no traffic lights or roundabouts on the way. Almost every single junction was negotiated through a tunnel or over a bridge. A similar journey in London, and you can expect numerous sets of traffic lights slowing down traffic and increasing travel times substantially.

I guess I need to spend some time deciphering the French road system. It can't be that complicated. Or is it?

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MBAT and Road Trip

2008-05-15T21:34:00.011+01:00

May 8-11 saw the 18th MBA Tournament in Paris with 1500 participants from 15 European business schools participating. The tournament, hosted by HEC, includes sports from rugby, football and cricket to sailing, poker and salsa.

Oxford came in overall fourth in the tournament, with notable wins in rugby, sailing, squash, Petanque (how many of you have heard of this? I hadn't, before the MBAT), and poker. We also came in second in ultimate frisbee (which I played), badminton, duathlon relay, and rowing.

All in all it was a fabulous experience. HEC hosted a party each night after the sporting events, so there was a lot of drinking involved (a deliberate ploy?). I drove to Paris with a bunch of friends, and that meant we could avoid the painful 14 hour bus journey endured by all the others. It also meant we could get to the hotel early and check in ahead of the 130 others who descended in one go...the last person to check in had to wait for over an hour to do so.

The highlights of the trip? A great road trip; getting lost in Paris and spending over an hour trying to find our way back (more on Paris roads later); staying up until 6 in the morning before heading off to HEC at 8 for further sporting events; spending the night drinking at a pavement restaurant on Champs Elysees - and by 'spending the night' I mean until 6.30 in the morning; cheering our teams until our throats gave way; playing 3 near-consecutive frisbee games; a fabulous game of cricket where we fielded first-timer Chinese Jenny who turned out to be the star of the game.

I guess I could go on and on...but I'll try and cover individual areas in separate, future posts. For now, here are a few pictures that give some idea of what the trip was like.

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Parteeee!!

2008-05-04T15:48:00.009+01:00

Ah, finally! Seb, Varun and I were able to host the party we had been planning for months now, on Friday. It was good fun. To all those who came over - a big thank you. I hope you enjoyed yourselves. To those who could not make it, the party would've been better with you around. To the neighbours who couldn't sleep until 5 in the morning - a big sorry. Surprisingly, I was able to not only attend next morning's class and the subsequent two study group meetings, I was also able to function normally.

Check out Seb's dress!

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Snowfall

2008-05-04T14:38:00.007+01:00

We woke up on the 7th of April to find a covering of snow. I know, I know...this was nearly a month ago...but here are some pictures now.

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Distinguished Speakers

2008-04-30T01:32:00.006+01:00

One great thing about studying in Oxford is the very large number of illustrious speakers who visit the business school. A short list of the speakers who have visited the business school so far this year include: Sir John Rose, Chief Executive, Rolls Royce; Tony Tyler, COO, Cathay Pacific; Sir Lyndsay Owen-Jones, Chairman, L'Oreal; ex-US president Jimmy Carter, ex-US Vice President Al Gore; Neville Isdell, CEO, Coca Cola Group; Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist and member of the Financial Times editorial board; and George David, CEO, United Technologies Corporation, to name just a few.

It would be pointless to try and extol the virtues of listening to the experiences of men who have achieved so much. The opportunity to hear such a large number of distinguished speakers and the chance to actually have a one-on-one conversation with them during the post-talk drinks reception makes it one more reason to choose Oxford.

A few days ago the school had its annual public lecture, delivered by Oxford Graduate Nicky Oppenheimer, the billionaire chairman of the De Beers group. The lecture delivered was an informative discourse on the company's business and perspectives in the extremely complex mix of diamonds, development, and democracy.

Indeed there have been (and I suspect there will continue to be) questions about the ethics of the diamond business in Africa: issues relating to conflict diamonds, development of communities and countries in some of the poorest parts of the world, and to De Beers' role in influencing matters (including politics) in these areas. Regardless of the merits (or indeed lack of) of such arguments, it was refreshing to hear the company's perspective, and to Mr. Oppenheimer's candid submission that a lot more could be done, and needed to be done, in these areas. It was also amusing to hear, when he was introduced as an Oxford graduate who started as the chairman's assistant, that Mr. Oppenheimer was quick to explain that the only reason he could do that was because the chairman whose assistant he started out as was his father.

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Invisible

2008-04-19T21:51:00.003+01:00

It's amazing how a good comic can amuse people without words - or props. And some comics are better than most others. Check out these videos of Rowan Atkinson that rather vividly demonstrate the point.

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The Blues Book: SBS Unplugged

2008-04-17T23:16:00.004+01:00

Many students coming to the Said Business School and to Oxford, especially those coming from very different parts of the world with very different systems and cultures, need all the help they can get to fit in and to make the transition as smooth and as hassle-free as possible. Those researching the school with a view to applying often do not get to know enough - after all, official sources, like the fabulous SBS and Oxford University websites, can only give you so much information. Some students search the internet for any information, anywhere, while others trawl the various internet MBA groups and forums hoping to find someone with the knowledge they seek. But most prospective students often miss out on the most valuable perspective - that of current and past students, and on little nuggets of information too mundane to be included in official websites .

Therefore, some enterprising students in the current class have set up this Wiki site to help all Said Business School prospective students, applicants, and aspirants to gain a better understanding of what life is like in Oxford, what the business school and studying here is like, what to expect, and what to prepare for. The site is still in its infancy and contains limited information at the moment, but as current and past students share their experiences and opinions it should evolve into something really useful.

It is important, however, to note that the Wiki site contains the opinions of the writers - the school's students, and has no official standing whatsoever. Also, as a Wiki site it can be edited by absolutely anyone, and therefore prospective students should use their own judgment in evaluating all information, opinions, and experiences detailed on the site.

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Trinity begins

2008-04-17T22:33:00.003+01:00

Trinity term started for me today with my first class of the term - Business in China. It was a fascinating class to begin the term with. International business in this rapidly evolving and shrinking world is dynamic and challenging as it is; business with a country like China, even more so. The country's politics, culture, markets, and legal systems are perhaps as different as they can get from the capitalistic west. Yet, more or less every company in the western world wants to do business there. So much so that it has become a cliche to say that one really cannot afford not to be in China. This paradox of evident attraction versus apparent risks makes the study of business in China even more interesting.

Incidentally, many classes, including this one, have started this term in what is still Week zero. This is partly because of complex scheduling and the availability of the lecturers, and partly because of the MBA tournament (more on that later) in the second week of May. The term promises to be the most difficult one yet. Like Hilary, we have electives and different study groups for different modules. However, unlike Hilary six different electives mean more assignments and six different study groups. Though the exact number of assignments during the term depends on the exact electives opted for, I suspect most people would have close to 15 different assignments during the term. I have 14.

I have some very interesting electives lined up for the term, in addition to 'Business in China': 'Branding and Communication', 'Marketing Innovation', 'CSR and Ethical Marketing', 'Retailing', and, 'Strategic Decision Making in Dynamic Environments'. If nothing else, this great mix of subjects should result in fantastic learning opportunities.

We are technically half-way through the year and into our last academic term (the final, summer, term is for projects, internships, theses, etc.), and the rest of the year should really fly by from here.

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Trinity - the start of a new term

2008-04-08T13:17:00.003+01:00

Well, here we are - half way through the one-year MBA programme, and what a six-month period it has been! After the first term - Michaelmas, and the second - Hilary, the third term - Trinity, starts on Monday.

Michaelmas was characterised by getting used to being a student, to attending classes, to learning new stuff, and to making new friends. Hilary, with us now settled in, was about capitalising on the learning opportunities in terms of academics, social networking, career planning, and life in general. This was capped by the first real sense that we've learned an awful lot in six short months - by way of the Entrepreneurship Project. A lot happened during the term, however, and it whizzed past in a blur. Looking back it is hard to identify landmark events that help bring a sense of scale to time - maybe it is just me, but I have a feeling a lot of my friends will agree.

Trinity, I have been reliably told, will be even more of a blur. It's like being on a roller coaster - we're moving along at incredible speed; yet we have no idea when we're going to reach the top (or even if we have already passed it).

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Tata Motors and Blu-ray

2008-04-08T12:57:00.004+01:00

No, they're not connected in any way. Except that I wrote about both shortly before conclusion of affairs in each case. Therefore, an update is called for.

First, almost immediately after the last post on Blu-ray, Toshiba conceded defeat and that proclaimed Blu-ray as the undisputable technology leader. So, we can now go out and buy Blu-ray players and recorders, certain that we are not buying obsolete technology - though with the cheapest Blu-ray players currently selling for £200 in the UK it may be a while before they become ubiquitous.

Second, shortly after Easter the finalisation of the $2.3bn Jaguar-Land Rover deal between Tata and Ford was announced. Ford will also contribute up to $600m to the pension plans of the two brands. The sale is expected to close by mid-year.

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Death Knell for HD-DVD?

2008-02-18T11:56:00.006Z

WalMart's decision to stop selling Toshiba's HD-DVD format may well be the sounding of the death knell for the technology.

This just goes on to show that there is so much more to making a business success of a technology than the technology itself. When one buys a product, one buys more than just that - one buys the whole constellation of capabilities and services that surround the product. One buys intangibles like service support, available accessories, and reliability. One buys expansion capabilities and potential for future development. And often one buys a product that is recognizable by all.

Network effects (the phenomenon whereby a product or a service becomes more valuable the more people use it - think of mobile phone services and same-network call rates, which encourages friends and associates to stay on the same network) are also often vastly more important than the product itself. Just look at one of the most hotly contested battles in recent times - that of Microsoft Vs Apple. It isn't that Microsoft's products are superior to Apple's. If anything, it is the other way round. Yet Apple has never succeeded in threatening Microsoft to any significant extent.

Sony had learned this the hard way when its Betamax video players lost out to VHS in the late Seventies and early Eighties. Sony missed a trick by sharing some details of the format with Matsushita (Panasonic) and JVC, expecting all other players to accept Betamax as the industry standard 'for the good of all'. However Matsushita and JVC had plans of their own and developed the VHS format (some say with some help from their newly gained knowledge of the Betamax format). This started the format wars.

Though Betamax was arguably the better format (from a purely technological viewpoint), there were other reasons for its demise. The recording duration on Betamax was only 60 minutes, while VHS could record up to 3 hrs on one tape. This meant that initially Betamax could not be used to record movies. Two, Betamax lost out on the rental market - even after recording duration was enhanced, a much larger number of movies were available on VHS than on Betamax. By the time Betamax became aggressive on this front, it was too late to recover. So, VHS offered a greater and cheaper range of hardware, the tapes were cheaper and more easily available, and there were a much larger number of movies to rent. How much of this true and how much urban legend is actually irrelevant.What matters is that what probably killed Betamax were network and external effects.

Now, the situation with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is not very dissimilar. Blu-Ray has recently gone on to become the preferred format of most major Hollywood studios. And with the largest DVD seller in the world - WalMart - also opting out of HD-DVD, it won't be long before Toshiba and the HD-DVD format concede defeat.

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Tata closer to closing the deal?

2008-02-12T22:26:00.002Z

The FT reported recently that there are signs that the talks for the sale of the Jaguar and Land Rover marques is nearing completion.

Land Rover and Jaguar are believed to have made a joint profit of $1.2bn in 2007, though Jaguar is believed to have made a loss. Incidentally, Ford does not release individual financial results for these brands.

Jaguar's new XF has been well received in the market, prompting thoughts of a change in the company's fortunes (it has been a perennial loss-maker for Ford). The XF is a great-looking car. What Car and Auto Express magazines both give it 5 stars. Check out these pics.

Photos from www.jaguar.co.uk

Surely does float my boat, it does!

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GM announces third consecutive year of losses

2008-02-12T21:57:00.000Z

General Motors today announced its third consecutive year of losses in 2007. Compared to 2006 losses of $2bn, 2007 losses amount to $38.7bn! In the year 2007 there were only 161 companies worldwide with revenues higher than that figure. The entire Tata Group had revenues to the tune of $29bn in 2006-07. Kind of puts things into perspective, doesn't it?

The figure, however, is inflated by a special charge related to the valuation of deferred tax assets and therefore cannot be taken at face value.

The company only expects a real push for earnings in around 2010-2011. Earlier, GM just about pipped Toyota to the post in terms of total number of vehicles sold in the year, maintaining its position as the largest vehicle manufacturer in the world by volumes sold. GM claims to have sold 9.367m cars in 2007. While Toyota first announced sales of 9.37m cars, the figure was later revised to 9.366m. Too close to call, really!

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Things you must never do when drunk

2008-02-12T09:09:00.000Z

Now here's an addition to the list of things you must never do when drunk: never lock your bike to the main door of a bank in such a way that it prevents the door from opening. And if, by any chance you do, be absolutely certain that you don't break or lose your key!

A few days ago as we were walking out of a certain college after an exchange dinner, we stopped at the porter's lodge to ask to be let out (it is secure, so no one but students can get in late in the evening, but it appears that non-students can't leave the college either, unless someone lets them out. But more on that some other time). So, as we found out, we had to wait for more than a few minutes as the porter was busy talking to a young lady, trying to resolve her problem. Her problem? She stood there with a broken key in her hand - the key to her bicycle lock - the lock that she had used to lock her bike with - to the main door of the nearby Barclays branch!

Apparently the girl had wrapped her cable lock along both bar handles of the main door at Barclays and left her bike there. Finally, when she went back to retrieve the bike, the key snapped in the lock. She was now worried that she would not be able to remove her bike that night, and as a consequence the bank would not be able to open shop the next morning - until they went round and got a cable cutter or a locksmith to do the job for them. Just imagine the chaos that would ensue the next morning, with all employees and tens of early morning customers waiting outside for the bank to be able to open its doors for business, because there was a bicycle in the way! (The bank does have a shuttered door, but the shutter only opens from inside, which cannot be got at until the main door is opened).

The porter was trying to do his best to offer possible solutions, which variably were an old wire cutter ("...but the cable lock is this thick...", said with the thumb and forefinger about half an inch apart), and a hammer ("...I don't think the lock is going to break with that!...", notwithstanding the fact that the police would take a dim view of someone trying to break into Barclays with a hammer at midnight). Finally, the solution that was arrived at was a note scrawled on a small piece of paper that began, "Dear Barclays..."

It was time to leave.

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Real tennis, anyone?

2008-02-10T01:45:00.000Z

Okay. So how many people have heard of Real Tennis? I certainly hadn't, until about three months ago. It turns out my mate Seb plays it - and I had the rare opportunity to watch a match played between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge today. Seb, naturally, was playing.

But what is real tennis?

Well, Real Tennis is the original 'Regal' tennis (Real, as in Real Madrid) from which the modern game of lawn tennis originated. It is also called Court Tennis in the US and Royal Tennis in Australia (for those that may be familiar with these terms).There is some debate about when the sport was first played - different opinions range from the 16th century to the 19th century. It may have evolved from a ball game that was played using a gloved hand from as early as the 12th century. There apparently are only about 35 Real Tennis courts left worldwide!

The sport is played in an asymmetrical court, with sloping roofs, various openings and a buttress, and has a rather intricate point scoring system. Racquets are asymmetrical too, and balls are hand-sewn - often by the players themselves. While in principle it is similar to lawn tennis there are several nuances that are difficult to follow without some understanding of the game. You can read about the sport here and here. The University of Oxford Real Tennis Club is here. I recommend a look - when so few people are even aware of the existence of the sport, having a greater knowledge of it is fantastic.

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Great expectations

2008-01-08T20:50:00.000Z

The Hilary term started today (well not quite, we're still in week 0) with a session on this term's Entrepreneurship Project (the EP). It was great meeting all the new friends we've made after a gap of about 3 weeks, catching up, discussing Christmas break activities, etc.

Activity has already started, needless to say on the EP, but also on the term's timetable, course packs, electives, and study groups. This term promises to be even more exciting than the last one: on the one hand the strange classmates we had are now friends; on the other hand the EP, the electives (with different study groups for each), and the intensifying career preparations will make sure we have an extremely dynamic 10 weeks of Hilary.

Our experiences from Michaelmas term should help us handle the pressures of Hilary better; yet the unknown - the EP - will make it more interesting and challenging. For sure, though, the EP will give us more satisfaction than the rest of the academic learning put together, as we consolidate all that we've learnt in these two terms and see it come to fruition as a coherent whole. And that is incentive enough for all the hard hours of work I know we'll need to put in.

Now, the question is, will I be writing a similar post at the beginning of Trinity term as I am writing here? I guess time will tell. I'll be keeping my fingers tightly crossed!

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Oxford in pictures

2008-01-06T17:42:00.001Z

Here are some images of Oxford (taken not in the best weather conditions, I am afraid), which highlight just how beautiful it is.

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Hilary - the beginning

2008-01-06T17:22:00.000Z

Here we are, at the start of the 2nd term - Hilary (the first was called Michaelmas, the third, Trinity). Week 0 starts tomorrow. Actually week 0 is just designed to ease us into the academic term, which, because it is all of 10 weeks long, picks up and maintains momentum from day 1. Another 10 weeks, then, of new subjects and courses: Marketing and Operations Management, which are mandatory modules, and Financial Management, Global Strategy and Technology & Innovation Strategy, which are my electives.

Week 0, then, starts with a free Monday, followed by 'Entrepreneurship Project' presentations on Tuesday, and Elective presentations for Trinity term on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday we have a careers fair in the business school, with about 12-15 companies attending.

Week 1 then begins with a bang on the following Monday, and I'm sure will leave us with no breathing space for the next ten weeks.

New class sections this term, which along with the electives means four different study groups, too. It should be fun mingling with a new set of people, many of whom will now share similar interests (true for the electives). And then we have the EP - the Entrepreneurship Project which is in a fifth group. Group work, therefore, will take on a completely new meaning this term, with our having to adjust, and readjust, to different group dynamics for different modules.

Exciting stuff!

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Oxford MBA - Studying at Oxford

2007-12-21T18:15:00.000Z

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Oxford MBA - Studying at the Said Business School

2007-12-21T18:13:00.000Z

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Of missing bikes and drunk mates...

2007-12-18T17:00:00.000Z

As I moved into Oxford and bought a bicycle, the one advice I was repeatedly given was, "Secure it! Do not leave it in suspect areas overnight, secure or not. Use at least two locks to secure it..." Cycle theft in Oxford is rampant, and accordingly I invested in two locks, and make sure I use both whenever (and wherever) I leave my bike. The locks cost about half as much as the bike did, but then the insurance and peace of mind was perhaps necessary. I know of at least a couple of my classmates whose bikes have been stolen in the last couple of months.

This morning Seb and I decided to cycle into town to take care of a couple of things, and as we walked down into the basement to collect our bicycles, we found Seb's was missing. He couldn't recollect where his bike was, and thought it may be at school, though he couldn't remember putting it there. After some thought about when he had cycled last, he realised it may have been Thursday.

Now Thursday was a wild day (and night - see this)...though I indulged myself for sixteen straight hours, Seb had to leave for London the next morning and so headed home at about six. He cycled home, but stopped at a nearby Pizzeria on the way. He was apparently too drunk to remember he had cycled in and not walked, left his bike locked to a lamp post, and walked the rest of the way home.

Nearly five days later, we were not optimistic at all about finding his bike. We walked towards the Pizzeria anyway, and surprise surprise, his bike was still there - falling over and on one wheel, but very much there. Still secure on one lock, it had not been vandalised, either.

I guess stranger things have happened...

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Sixteen straight hours...

2007-12-18T16:44:00.000Z

Ah, first term exams end - and we head off to The Turf Tavern, an MBA favourite (apparently it is several hundred years old, with the foundations of the building dating to the 14th century). It's 11 AM and still early, so I start with a couple of glasses of mulled wine. Some lunch at The King's Arms later, we head back to the Turf for some afternoon whisky, until they kick us out for a private party at 4.

Back to The King's Arms, then, and some more whisky. And then some more. And more. Anyways, before we know it, it's 9 PM, so we all head out towards The Jericho Tavern for some more whisky (to be honest, I was perhaps the only one downing whisky). Finally, at around midnight, we say goodbye to the Jericho Tavern and head off towards High Street and Escape, a bar/nightclub. Some 40-50 of us (who the heck was sober enough for a head count?) descend on the dance floor, prompting access to an entire floor for us. Whisky again, and then switch-over to Vodka-Red Bulls. We dance (well, some did - I just shook my body) until 3 AM, before deciding to call it a night. By the time I get home it is 3.30 AM. A full sixteen hours of drinking, which, when you're not sixteen any more, can be a lot.

Wild day? You can say that again.

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The disappearing car door...

2007-12-15T11:03:00.000Z

Neat! Check out www.disappearing-car-door.com.

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Done with Michaelmas

2007-12-15T10:55:00.000Z

Finally, we've finished with our first term - Michaelmas. The last few weeks were intense to say the least, with at least two papers - Financial reporting and Finance I - that were difficult enough to make loads of people start think resits.

Anyways, it's done now, and it's time to relax and take it easy for a while before the madness starts again in Hilary. With 2 core subjects, 3 electives and an Entrepreneurship Project (and the intensifying job search process), it sure is going to be a busy term. We'll potentially have a different study group for each subject, and though we can choose our groups, juggling time between the various groups is likely to be a challenge. On the upside, we'll be doing subjects we like, rather than ones we don't understand.

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Brrr...

2007-12-11T23:18:00.000Z

...it's getting colder now. Walked in this evening to a freezing apartment - the heating wasn't on, for some reason. And as I understand it, it is 2 degrees below zero outside, as I write this.

Anyway, four down...and two to go. Developing Effective Managers tomorrow - a three hour paper. My hand had started hurting 10 mins into today's Decision Science paper. How am I going to write the long essay expected tomorrow?

And why am I blogging the night before the exam, you may wonder. Well, I am wondering too , since I'm not too sure I'm on top of DEM yet. Well, perhaps another hour or so of studying and then off to bed.

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Through the first one...

2007-12-10T11:55:00.000Z

Finished with the first paper - Managerial Economics. The paper was of just one hour duration, but long enough considering how long it's been since I've written continuously for an hour. Ten minutes into the paper and into just my second answer, my hand had begun to ache.

Now onto the second paper - Financial Reporting, which starts in approx two and a half hours. This one is longer (an hour and a half), but I think we will not have to write as much. I am dreading the Strategy and Developing Effective Managers papers - they are essay-type exams!

Tomorrow we've got Strategy and Decision Science - and there's still some preparation to do. It's going to be a long night tonight...

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Sub fusc!

2007-12-09T20:49:00.000Z

Ah, just a reminder that we're going to be sitting for exams tomorrow in sub fusc. For those that may not know or remember what a sub fusc is, look here, and here for photographs...

...should be interesting, if nothing else.

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The night before Michaelmas exams

2007-12-09T20:37:00.000Z

Well, here we are - the night before term-1 exams begin. It's been 14 years since I last appeared in an exam of any kind (GMAT excepting, of course), and by jove, have I felt it! Anyway, 12 hrs before the first paper and I feel like I've done all I could. Any more and it is going to be counter productive. What doesn't help is that we have two papers tomorrow - Managerial Economics at 9.00 AM, followed by Financial reporting at 2.30 PM.

How confident am I? I guess time will tell, but I feel confident I'll do reasonably well - by the standards I am setting myself! My aim is not distinction, but to pass comfortably, so it should be ok tomorrow. I have read selectiely, focusing on issues I think are important - my strategy will be tested tomorrow; hopefully I'll have no surprises. Fingers crossed!

I'm looking forward to a fairly relaxed night ahead - watch some TV, read a magazine or something...I'll try and post tomorrow with an update. And hopefully, I'll be reporting that all's well!

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The Said Business School, again..

2007-12-08T08:35:00.000Z

A beautiful, cloudless evening (something of a rarity), camera in hand...and some nice pictures is the result.

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Mansfield College Library

2007-12-08T08:20:00.000Z

For a small college by Oxford standards, Mansfield College has a beautiful library, one that's rather taken my fancy. It's a far cry from the really modern (and wonderfully equipped) Sainsburys Library in the Said Business School; it's a pity it doesn't really suit me to study there - I would really like to spend time in there. Here are some pictures...

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...approaching end of term

2007-12-08T07:52:00.000Z

Michaelmas term is nearly over...with just 6 days to go before our last exam this term. It is amazing how quickly time passes by. In one sense, it was only to be expected; yet, when it does actually pass by this quickly, one cannot help but wonder where all the time went.

I'm not really sure what I did this term other than go through proceedings a little mechanically. Classes, career sessions, company presentations, etc., took up a lot of time. Study group meetings took up a lot of time too. Spent quite some time in one pub or another - either in a small group, or in a larger, noisier one (The Turf Tavern has been popular!). Tried rowing (just once), played volleyball twice and table tennis an equal number of times. Have been to college a handful of times, and visited just one other college for dinner.

The first month was spent in the library - with no broadband connectivity at home I used to feel completely disconnected otherwise. Once we did get connected (though the experience with BT was not pleasant), I preferred working at home rather than in the library.

I haven't posted at all these last couple of months - it's not really a question of time; rather, of having the carefree, creative, mood one needs for activities like this. I hope to improve on my record, though, in the next term.

It has been thoroughly exhilarating, though. Getting to learn myriad new subjects (including ones I have had no exposure to before: Finance and Accounting), learning to cope with intense pressure (of a different kind than one is used to, at work), struggling with time management, working long hours in study groups...it has been exteremely interesting, in the very least.

Already I am looking forward to next term, with elective subjects chosen and the entrepreneurship project team formed. The Christmas break is going to be short, and hopefully intense, and then it's back to action...

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And some more pictures...

2007-11-01T19:49:00.001Z

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Pictures...

2007-10-23T22:10:00.000+01:00

Here are some pictures of my school...

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Matriculation

2007-10-23T20:53:00.001+01:00

Amongst all the quirks of the University of Oxford is the matriculation ceremony, which is essentially marks the formal induction of all students into the university. Some say that this is perhaps the single most important formal event here; getting into Oxford is a big deal for most people, and the matriculation ceremony is really a celebration of this. Once you are in, you will most likely pass and graduate, which almost becomes, in effect, a non-event.

Our matriculation ceremony happened on the 13th of October, a Saturday. The matriculation ceremony is a college event, and we congregated at Mansfield college at 11.00 AM for some photographs. Unfortunately the excesses of the previous night had left me hungover, and the evidence can be seen in my face and puffy eyes. I guess I am no longer of the age where such excesses can remain concealed.

We were dressed in what is called the sub fusc, which includes a specially made graduate gown and a mortarboard over a dark suit, white shirt, black socks and shoes, and a white bow-tie. Look at the pictures to see what I mean. Incidentally, we can only formally carry the mortarboard right now, and can only wear it after we have graduated (posing for photos is probably excepted).

Anyway, we marched in procession to the Sheldonian Theatre, the scene of all such major ceremonies, and which will be the venue of our graduation in about a year's time. The event was lasted about 20 mins, wherein the chancellor of the university Lord Patten gave a short Latin speech and a long English translation, and we were deemed 'matriculated'. The overall pomp and feel of the occasion was fantastic, something I'm going to remember all my life.

Fittingly, we spent the rest of the day celebrating; the finale was a graduate bop (an Oxford word for a theme party) with the theme 'sexy sub fusc' at Linacre college. We drank and danced the night away with a few hundred others like us.

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Initiation

2007-10-23T19:38:00.001+01:00

It's been a month since I last posted on the blog. In some ways, I had expected this to happen; however, before moving to Oxford I had been determined to find the time to keep updating the blog. Guess I was wrong. I knew the one-year programme would be extremely demanding - I just hadn't imagined the magnitude to which this would be true.

To let you all catch up, here's briefly what has transpired over the last 4 weeks:

I arrived at Oxford on the 24th of September, and spent the next full week making all necessary arrangements - ID cards; college registration; bank account and loan; moving in to my new flat; and meeting up with people I was going to be spending the next one year with. So far, so good.

Week 0 started with a bang - 2 full days of orientation, but then three days off to take care of any remaining formalities. Explanation: in Oxford, each term is divided into 'weeks', starting at week zero and finishing at week ten, when the exams for the term are conducted. Week 1 is when the term, and classes, start in real earnest.

Week 1 started on the 8th of October - and straight away we knew we were in the thick of it. Lectures, pre-lecture reading, post-lecture reading, homework, career and personality sessions, CV preparation...I was already having 18 hr days - with 15 hrs spent each day in school. The library became, indeed has become, my second home. Subjects I have never studied before - Finance, Financial Reporting, Decision Science...were being taught at an unbelievable pace. The one-year programme has its draw-backs, and one of them is the rapidity with which new topics are covered. We are supposedly covering in one week what 2-year programmes cover in three. There is relatively little time to grasp and internalise new fundamentals, and by the time you have mulled over and understood one, the lecturer has moved on, leaving you completely in the dark about the issue being discussed now. On top of all this, we are already having to complete group assignments - assignments that would take 2-3 hrs when done individually are taking 10-12 because of group dynamics. It is a part of the learning curve, though, and I am certain we will be able to optimise this soon enough.

Week 1 was chaotic, stressful, and extremely demanding. Gradually, I began to get used to the routine, and the beginning of week 2 was a lot more relaxed. Then towards the end of week 2 I began to realise that I couldn't possibly keep up with the pace of the teaching, and the stress closed down on me again.

We are now in the middle of week 3, and I am beginning to relax, just a little bit, again. Our next assignment is due in about 8 days, so we have a day or two before we need to get back into high gear. I guess these swings are going to become a part of life here.

Whatever happens, one this is for sure - it is going to be a very interesting year ahead. And I had thought we would be able to party as hard as we worked.....!

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Customer Service (and again!)

2007-09-19T23:33:00.000+01:00

You may have read a previous post on my experience with Currys - Customer service (here we go again!). Well, I decided to write to Peter Keenan, Currys' Managing Director (he is formally the next port of call, after the customer service centre), putting forth my experience in dealing with customer service in his organisation. I made it clear that the letter was not because of the fault in the product, nor to claim that Currys was wrong and I right. It was for the approach taken by customer service staff when complaints are reported, valid or otherwise. Listing down the issues I thought were handled badly (refer to the previous post), I concluded by saying I hoped that more credibility would be given to customers as a policy in the future. The default assumptions should be that the customer is telling the truth, even if a small minority of customers wilfully try to take advantage of this.

This afternoon I received a phone call from Mr. Keenan's office, appreciating my letter and informing me that they would be having an internal investigation into the matter. They also mentioned that they hoped that I would not be put off shopping with them again. I declined to mention names unless they insisted (they did not) but reassured them that I would indeed be shopping with them again. It was only proper, I think, after the call.

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The Oxford English Dictionary

2007-09-19T16:56:00.001+01:00

Oxford has a great collection of terms that outsiders may consider quaint, funny, or outrageous! Here are a few examples:

Battles - termly bills for rent, food, etc.
Blue - sporting accolade won when won when you play in the University first team against Cambridge.
Bod - the Bodleian Library, one of the oldest libraries in Europe and the second largest, after the British Library (more in another post).
Bop - the equivalent of a school disco in fancy dress, a true Oxford event.
Come-up - when you start at Oxford, you 'come up' (also used for returning from holidays). Leaving Oxford is termed as 'going down', and being 'sent down' is when they kick you out. Can't be good.
Cuppers - Intercollegiate competition in sports, dance and drama.
Essay crisis - when you have too much to do and not enough time to do it.
Hilary - spring term (7 January to 14 March) - spring term between January and March???
JCR - the Junior Common Room, the undergraduate student body and the physical room where the undergraduates hang out
Matriculation - the ceremony where one formally becomes a member of the University.
Pidge - the 'pigeonhole': the mail comes here.
Pimms - summer drink, often associated with punting and rowing.
MCR - the graduate student body and their sitting room.
Michaelmas - winter term (1 October to 7 December).
SCR - the Senior Common Room, for the teaching staff and fellows to sit in and be clever.
Sub Fusc - formally, the academic dress - the black gown and cap, dark suit, white shirt and bow tie, with black socks and shoes. Thankfully only worn during the exams.
Strawpeedo - a quick way to drown one's drink using a straw and a friend.
Torpids - a rowing competition held during Trinity terms in which the contestants and spectators both get cold and wet.
Trinity - summer term (14 April to 20 June) - everyone's favourite.
Tute - a tutorial.

Worth contemplating...

2007-09-18T17:39:00.000+01:00

'You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit.'
- Harry Truman

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To the Parents of Alok Mathur

2007-09-18T17:02:00.000+01:00

I was really amused to receive an envelope in the post this morning, addressed to - my parents! As I ripped open the envelope, I was thinking, "Think, think! Have I done something naughty at school?"...ha ha... I am more used to receiving letters addressed to 'The parents of Ayushi Mathur' (my 8 yr old daughter), or 'The parents of Arnav Mathur' (my 20 month old son).

The envelope turned out to be from Mansfield College, my college at Oxford, and this was a Parent Information Pack. Obviously a rather assiduous and efficient administration department at the college sends the parent information pack to the registered address of every student, regardless of age & background (for those who do not know me, or for those new to this blog, I am going to be 36 in a month!). The system is obviously designed for undergraduate students.

Actually parents apart, the fact that I am going back to 'school' does make me feel very young (not that, at 36, I am anything but young). In fact, Varun, my flatmate-to-be at Oxford, has promised to make me a 24 yr old again. Good luck to you, Varun! In any event, I'll surely need the energy of a 24 year old to do justice to the lectures, the studies, the new subjects (especially Finance and Accounting), the exams, the parties, the booze, and the late nights.

Perhaps Mansfield College knows what it's doing by sending out these packs to everyone. Maybe it's just a clever ploy to change one's mental outlook right at the outset.

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Class profile

2007-09-14T16:18:00.000+01:00

The class profile of the MBA class of 2007-08 at the Said Business School has been made public. Here are the stats:

The class consists of students from over 40 countries
Male:Female ratio is 73:27
The average GMAT score is 685
The average age of the class is 29
The average number of years work experience is 6 years

European b-schools typically have a higher average age (and therefore higher number of years work experience) than b-schools in the USA or in Asia - this class seems to be no different. The average GMAT score is pretty high too, by any standard. In fact I think it is slightly higher than last year's average score, which I think was 680.

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Customer Service (here we go again!)

2007-09-08T16:03:00.000+01:00

Some of you may have read a previous post on customer service - 'Cricket and the quality of service'. Here is an experience that is proving to be the exact opposite of that one. I had said, in my previous post, that the experience I had had then could not have been had in India. well, I must say now that the experience I have have had now could not be had in India either.

The Managing Director of Currys, Peter Keenan has this as 'Our promise': "We are committed to providing you with great service both in our stores and once you get your purchase home."

Now consider this: Just under one year ago we'd bought a microwave oven from Currys. Now, we tend to buy a lot from Currys (major purchases from them include a personal computer, a laptop computer, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a dishwasher, a Satnav unit, a Sky TV connection, a mobile phone, and the microwave in question; we have also bought numerous smaller items, from webcams and batteries to photo paper), because I always believed that we would get peace of mind. And so far I have had no reason to think otherwise.

The microwave oven developed an intermittent fault. The details relating to the fault are not important, but far from adopting the adage that the customer is always right, the store and service centre staff unfortunately displayed a lack of empathy and a complete disregard for a customer’s word.

· They claimed there was no fault present in spite of my best efforts to explain that the problem was intermittent and may reappear in a few minutes or a few days (by when the warranty would have expired). I naturally objected and suggested that the fault was intermittent and just because the fault was not apparent at the time it did not mean that it did not exist. Delivered aggressively it was an insinuation that I was lying about the fault.

· It was actually repeated a number of times that as far as they are concerned I may be lying because many customers do so. This was also repeated a number of times by the member of the customer service helpline when I called them the next day, as an explanation for his inability to help me. The apparent courtesy displayed on phone (which was sadly missing at the store) did not mean much if the gentleman kept calling me a liar, even if he did it very politely.

· When I asked if Currys was happy to lose a loyal customer rather than make a constructive effort at solving the problem, I was told that every second customer who calls threatens to never shop with Currys again. This was either an insinuation that I was making an empty threat and that regardless of the outcome I would shop with them again, or a suggestion that they did not care whether or not I shopped with them again. Either way, this is not something I would say to any customer of mine.

· The gentleman on the phone, to his credit, checked with a superior, but said that the superior had said that they could not help me with my problem just on my say-so, and that his superior’s word was ‘law’. I thought this was a suggestion that I was wasting my time talking to them. Unfortunate, coming from a ‘service’ centre.

· It was suggested, both at the store and on the phone, that since no conclusion was being reached and because other customers may be waiting, they must close the conversation. This was done aggressively at the store, where I was practically asked to take the product away because there was nothing wrong with it, and a little sensitively on the phone. I respect the need to cater to other customers, but not at the expense of a customer who is already on the line and whose problems are yet unresolved. And I would certainly not say so to a customer, even after we have been on the line for a fair while!

· By the time the member of the service helpline offered a constructive suggestion that I take the product back to the store for more extensive testing there was a more fundamental issue at hand – I certainly did not want to deal any further with people who had no respect for me, gave absolutely no credence to my statements, and kept repeating that I may be lying. I was much happier to write off the product as a loss.

Will I ever shop with Currys again? Take wild a guess...

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Why MBA?

2007-09-04T14:44:00.001+01:00

A couple of days ago I had a discussion with someone I met for the first time, and got round to discussing why I am investing in an MBA at this stage of my life and career. I guess an MBA means different things to different people, depending on their background, ambitions, career-stage, industry, and family status. (Read my concerns on the subject, which I had briefly touched on, when I started writing this blog.)

Well, as much for my sanity and satisfaction as for anyone else curious enough to know, here's why. I will be happy to add to the list in time or if a suggestion is made.

In no particular order:

The MBA tag
The exposure to, and the opportunity to network with, some of the best in business - industry leaders, academic stalwarts, etc.
The opportunity to network with Oxford and Said Business School alumni, developing business contacts and making friends for life
The opportunity to change career streams (which is otherwise difficult at this stage of a career)
To diversify my business knowledge; to learn the basics of all major areas of business, especially in the areas of finance, accounting, business development and strategy.
Enhanced career opportunities
Increased credibility
To take a break and become a student after all these years
To have a great time
To be able to earn a bigger paycheck

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A humorous and a serious look at outsourcing

2007-09-04T12:34:00.000+01:00

This is hilarious, as is the recently released 'The Simpsons movie'.

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Four weeks to go...

2007-09-04T11:11:00.000+01:00

There are still nearly 4 weeks to go before I formally join the MBA programme at Oxford, but the already frenetic pace of activity is a sure indication of what things are going to be like for the rest of the year.

Now that some of the major activities with regard to first, securing a place at the school, and then organising the move to Oxford have been taken care of, I'd though I would be able to relax a bit until the 24th of the month, when I intend to make a move towards Oxford.

I'd thought wrong.

The school intranet and the incoming student portal is already red hot with activity. My diary for the week before I formally join already has a number of entries: a talk on emerging markets on the 24th, student induction programmes at the University on the 26th and 27th; a lecture by George David, CEO and Chairman of United Technologies Corporation on the 28th; The Oxford Pursuit, an exercise to familiarise us with Oxford and with our classmates, on the 29th; and a family event on the 30th. Between all this, I move into my flat on the 28th and resolve related paperwork; buy essentials for the flat; meet my prospective flatmates, classmates and school staff; meet with Barclays personnel to complete my loan application paperwork, open an account and make the final fee payment to the school; formally register with Mansfield college and collect my university and library cards, meet up with people in the MCR...you get the idea.

Evenings, hopefully, will be more relaxed (post the couple of lectures) and will be spent spending time with future classmates and establishing relationships over food and drink.

Meanwhile we have already been given a pre-course exercise on Financial Reporting, an exercise it has been suggested we do at least 5 times! Given my non-financial background I guess it will be very much needed.

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Flatmates

2007-08-28T13:32:00.000+01:00

Yet another issue relating to the move to Oxford has been closed - I finally know who I am going to be living with for a year, while at Oxford. Varun Seksaria (that's him on the right) and I had already teamed up a few weeks ago and had jointly located and finalised a flat in Jericho. Varun is 24, single and from Bombay. (Previously I had written of our concern about finding a suitable third flatmate and of having to eat noodles for the whole year!). Our third flatmate, Sebastian Stoddart is 32 (I think), also single, from London, and is a designer (of what, I guess I will learn soon enough!). I'll post his photograph as soon as I have one.

Jericho is supposedly one of the better areas in Central Oxford, with many shops, bars and restaurants that students frequent. As I've mentioned in a previous post, the flat is a 10 min walk from the business school and more importantly, a 10 min walk from the city centre, and a 3-4 walk from the social hub! Great! The pics below were taken when I viewed the flat - hopefully the state of the flat (in which three business school students currently live) is not indicative of what it is going to be like when we live there!

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Trying my hand at masonry

2007-08-28T10:32:00.000+01:00

Isn't it interesting how matters are viewed differently in different cultures?

Ever since I moved to the UK in the year 2000 I have heard various British friends and colleagues mention how they have been working on this major kitchen refurbishment project at home, or paving the garden, or even building a mini-extension single handedly. People find the time, mostly on weekends, to work on their homes and this could mean that one project might last several weeks or months. It used to fascinate me initially: the concept of people having the time, the inclination and the skill to undertake such major work at home, all alone. Gradually I began to realise that this was quite common. In fact, wallpapering the bedroom or repainting the interior was something most people did at some stage of their life, even if they did not undertake any major work. Ask me to cover one wall with wallpaper, and I am sure I will take days, and the result even then will be far from perfect!

This is probably because I was brought up in a different environment. A combination of the lack of time and skill, and the availability of cheap labour, means that one almost never indulges in such work in India. This is just not what one expects to have to do in one's entire lifetime. In fact some people might actually think it is beneath them to indulge in what is perceived to be menial work : "I've got better things to do...".

Further, with the emphasis on 'academic' learning in schools (I understand things are changing now, though gradually), children grow up without the basic skills required to undertake any such major work. At least I never saw a focus on the development of one's motor skills during my school years (and I studied in six different schools in four different Indian states). Of course there are exceptions, but I believe these are the people who either have a natural ability or a keen interest in this, or those that have studied in certain, rare, schools that actually give importance to these skills. Now since the retail requirement for building material does not exist, the market does not facilitate the availability of any such material for the consumer - nor do any guides exist to help laymen. One thus needs to know exactly what one needs, how much, and where to buy it from, if one is to even try their hand at any building work. As a result people with moderate interest find it nigh on impossible to try their hand at this. Vicious circle?

Well, coming to the point (finally!), my friend Ashish informed me on Sunday that he was working on modifying his garden. Without asking for any greater detail I volunteered to lend a hand (or two - or four, actually, since my nephew and friend - also Ashish, coincidentally - was visiting me from Birmingham and I asked him to come along), assuming I'll be either ripping off trees or bushes, or planting some (not that that is my forte). So we visited Ashish's house yesterday (it was a bank holiday), and ended up trying to lay a small brick wall (all of three bricks high) to support one end of a lawn he was planning to lay. Suffice it to say that the three of us worked for under two hours (that was the limit of the mental and physical effort we could put in, though a India-England cricket one-day match was also a major distraction), and finally succeeded in laying about one-third of the tiny wall - approx. 15 bricks in all! Not bad work, though.

However, I am sure I now know what to do (and how to do it), and on the next Saturday when I go and give Ashish a hand again, I will be able to lay at least 20 bricks in the same time it took me to lay 15 bricks yesterday...and who knows, if its my day, I may even go as high as 25 ;-)

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Another step taken

2007-08-20T10:31:00.000+01:00

Well, one more tick in the to-do list as regards preparation for the MBA and the move to Oxford. Classmate-to-be Varun and I have finalised a flat in Jericho, Oxford - 10 mins walk from the school and 10 mins from the city centre. Though the flat is going to blow a hole in my budget, the location and the quality of the flat are excellent - at least we will be able to live reasonably for the entire year.

The hunt is now on for a third person to share with us, so that, in Varun's words, we do not end up eating instant noodles for the entire year.

In my two visits to Oxford for the purpose of viewing rooms and flats, I hadn't realised just how difficult it was to find parking spots (even of the pay & display kind). Almost all street parking is for residents only, and one has to display the parking permit in the car. One could use the Park & Ride, which allows you to park in car parks just outside the city and to use free buses into the city. Very convenient, if one wasn't going around the city visiting multiple locations. But for my purpose, it was a no go. So I drove into the city on both occasions - and boy, did I struggle!

I was due to meet the property agent at Venneit Close, and drove there, thinking I should be okay parking for a few minutes. The agent, however, warned me against doing so - it would be risking a £100 fine and perhaps even another fee to remove any clamps. Just as I was wondering how to get around the problem a solution turned up in the guise of a future classmate at SBS. Mark was at Venneit to view the same property, and he very kindly offered to stand and guard the car while I was in the property, viewing it. Many thanks, Mark! I owe you a drink.

I was luckier at the other properties when one landlord gave me a temporary parking permit or when I could park at the agency's office and walk to the flat. At a third I was lucky to find a slot where I could park for 30 mins. The only other option was to park in one of the city centre's car parks and to leg it from there.

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Tragic

2007-08-15T23:31:00.000+01:00

I have just heard of the tragedy that has befallen an old engineering school friend who is currently in the US: over the last weekend his wife and two children (aged 4 yrs and 18 months) perished in a house fire. The news is shocking, and I can only imagine how devastated he himself must be.

The incident just brings into sharp focus the transient nature, and the inherent and utter unpredictability, of life. One wonders, in moments like these, whether it makes any real sense to live for the future. How many of us do exactly that and fail to live in the present. And before we know it, life's gone...poof...just like that. Every thing that you had looked forward to, everything that you had planned for, all dreams and aspirations, and for some, all reason to live - all gone.

I myself am guilty of living for the future far too often. While it is important that we keep the future in mind and to make all necessary investments in our family, our health, our financial well being, our social security, and our planet and environs, this should not be done at the cost of the present. We must remember that tomorrow never comes. Living only for tomorrow is not really living at all - it is existing in the vain hope that one will live tomorrow.

Unfortunately many people fail to draw a balance between living for the moment and living for the future - they either live too much in the present with the result that their future (and that of their near and dear ones) is devastated. Some others live too much for the future, and as a result they are never fully satisfied, and perhaps depart this earth still longing for more. Those who can find the optimal balance between the two often live the most fulfilling lives.

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Mansfield College

2007-08-13T18:51:00.000+01:00

I've finally received the offer for membership from Mansfield College today. It is accompanied by quite a few documents. There are more than a few formailities to be completed, not just for the formal registration of my membership, but for other welfare issues like the MCR (Middle Common Room), registration at a nearby surgery, academic tutoring, etc.

I am not sure yet how much involvement I am going to have at the college, since I am going to be spending almost all my time at the business school. However it is reassuring to know that the facilities are available, should I need them. I guess the involvement will depend on a number of factors, not least on how much I wish to get involved, the amount of time I have on hand, the activities at college and how relevant they are to me, the friends I make at college (as opposed to at the business school), and distance of the college from where I live and from the business school.

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Cricket and the quality of service

2007-08-13T10:57:00.000+01:00

An observation on the quality of service we expect and see in our dealings every day:
Saw day-3 of the current India-England cricket test match at the Brit Oval in London on Saturday. Excellent weather, great atmosphere, and lots of beer.

We had a 'big' man sitting next to us and that made things quite cramped. We couldn't imagine sitting like that for the whole day, and so we decided to go and talk to the ticketing authorities, though we were not expecting much. Lo and behold, they gave us complimentary seats that were a lot better - not just in terms of comfort, but in terms of the view we had. Meanwhile, the girl at the ticket counter knocked down one of our beer glasses accidentally, but immediately trumped up cash for a replacement glass of beer! We would have been very pleased with just the better seats, but the gesture with the beer was the icing on the cake.

Having lived the most of my life in India but having spent the last few years in the UK, I have heard many a comparison about the quality of service available in both countries. Usually I agree that the service industry in India is more responsive. However, I am equally sure that examples such as this are rarely to be seen in India, if ever. In fact, I think there are some very distinct differences in the levels and kinds of service available. At the basic level service in India is much superior. You visit a shop and the shop attendants fawn upon you; you can visit a garage and more or less dictate when you want your work done; doctors are available when you want them, even where you want them - and so are plumbers and electricians (the quality of the work they do is questionable, though). These cannot even be imagined in the UK.

However, at a different level, the service one receives in the UK cannot be expected in India. One example, of course, is the one above. A few years ago when we were in a large store my 3 year old daughter accidentally knocked down a display of crystal glasses. Now I imagine that the broken glasses would have cost a small fortune, but the shop manager would not hear of my offer to pay for the damage. In the UK, bus drivers wait for you, and politely give you any directions you may need; shops take back unwanted goods, no questions asked; you move home to a less risky area and the insurer will make a refund of part of the premium, without your having to ask for it. In the UK plumbers and electricians can take weeks to just turn up, but when they do turn up they usually do justice to the work.

Of course there are exceptions, just like there are in India. However the mindsets and social psyches are very different in the two countries, and this is reflected in the level and quality of service. It certainly makes for very interesting study. It is also extremely relevant, in this era of globalisation, to people in business, whether or not they are in the service industry. And certainly very relevant to anyone going in for an MBA!

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College membership (part 2)

2007-08-09T21:03:00.001+01:00

Interestingly, all four seats at Mansfield still appear as vacant on the College list...it seems I may be the first one at Mansfield! Unless the list has not been updated for a while...we'll see.

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College membership

2007-08-09T16:29:00.001+01:00

I've just heard from SBS that Mansfield will be offering me membership, and that I should be hearing from them soon.

Gotta start identifying others with Mansfield membership now...

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The Simpsons

2007-08-09T12:05:00.000+01:00

I'm not a big Simpsons fan, but recently took my daughter to see the movie. I must say I was pleasantly surprised, and can easily say I enjoyed the movie much more than Ayushi did. I've always thought that The Simpsons is designed for adults, with adult themes being common. It was no different in the movie, and there were a couple of occasions (at least) wherein I was conscious of a seven yr old (well, she's nearly eight) sitting beside me and watching!

Eminently enjoyable, though. The wit we are used to in the TV series is still there to see - in fact those like me who only watch the TV version of The Simpsons occasionally will enjoy and appreciate it more.

Recommended!

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College membership, accommodation

2007-08-09T11:46:00.000+01:00

Not long to go now, yet two important components of the coming year are still unresolved: my college membership and a place to stay.

Its now 4 weeks since a request would have been made for college membership to Mansfield, so I am expecting something real soon. Unfortunately by the time I could formally request for college membership, most colleges offering accommodation were full. Private rented accommodation it is, then. Things are moving along on this front too, so its only a matter of time before this is sorted. Am probably going to be making another visit to Oxford soon, to view a few properties.

I have already been to Oxford three times now (not counting the one visit I made a couple of years ago), and the city already feels like home. I have become quite familiar with the area around the business school and with the city center. During my last visit I drove and so could spend time driving around the other parts of the city. It certainly helps with the house hunting. The one negative is that the novelty is wearing out, fast!

Off peak it takes under an hour to drive from Coventry to Oxford, which is really great news - it will be really easy making impulsive visits home. Rush hours may prove different, but I don't expect to driving home then. Except, maybe, for the odd Friday afternoon.

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Visas, et al.

2007-07-16T16:38:00.000+01:00

I have been noting, with selfish relief, how the next difficult step for incoming students is obtaining visas, and how it is one less headache for me.

One would think that it is a mere formality and that the issuance of a visa can be taken for granted; yet the process can be full of uncertainties and be hostage to the whims of the issuing officer. Ironically, once the visa is obtained, one wonders what the fuss was all about. Good luck to all who are still in the process!

This is true for many seemingly complex issues in life; and definitely for the likes of us: deciding on taking a career break (and for some, even giving up the career so far); the big question about school selection; taking the GMAT; the application process; essays; interviews...and once admitted, loans; visas; travel plans; college selection and admission; accommodation, etc. And the it doesn't end there - choosing the next career step literally even before the programme begins; applications and interviews again; new jobs, careers, employers and colleagues; relocation, often to a completely new country...

However, beyond all this is a dream : of all past questions and problems taken care of, of new possibilities and scenarios, and of a new and better future.

Here's to the MBA, and to a wonderful year at SBS and at Oxford!

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Closure!

2007-07-10T17:24:00.000+01:00

Finally, the whole process of getting into SBS is coming to fruition, with the approval of my loan application. This has taken nearly six weeks to come through! The bank says they had written to me previously, but it was an email I never received. Well, such is life. The loan was approved - so no harm done, I guess.

Except that the delay means that my preferred colleges are full now, and those that have places do not have accommodation left. Private rented accommodation it is, then.

Meanwhile my parents, who were visiting us, have returned to India and to Gurgaon. Haven't spoken to them since then, though, since their home telephone ended up getting disconnected, as did their mobile.

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Some pictures...

2007-06-27T16:20:00.001+01:00

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The beginning

2007-06-27T16:10:00.000+01:00

It was, kind of, a big step when I suddenly decided to drop my job and go down MBA street. Out of the blue.

Well, the ground was probably being laid down for some time, with personal and family issues, and work matters - growth, the future, etc., battling through my mind for more time than I care to remember.

It's been a good life, starting work with one of India's best known companies in Pune and then going on to work and live in New Delhi until the year 2000. Great colleagues (well, some not-so-great ones too, but we'll ignore them here), great work, good friends...getting married to my engineering school sweetheart in 1996...the birth of our lovely daughter Ayushi in September 1999...

And then, the UK assignment offered to me in the middle of 2000. Some deliberation later, we moved to the UK in September 2000, and have been here since then. This proved to be a great move, because it offered great breadth of exposure and wonderful international experience, something I would have missed out had I stayed on in India.

Arnav, born in January 2006, brought further joy. He's nearly a year and a half as I start writing this, and will probably not even miss me while I am gone (yes, Archana and the kids are staying on in Coventry, in the interest of her work with the University of Warwick, and of keeping the finances going). Ayushi, fortunately is old enough to understand the concept of going to school, though I am not sure she understands why I need to go to school at my age.

Getting back to the subject of my career, I had my mind set on an MBA this year, and to save from having to relocate (first to South Africa, then, India), I decided to resign. The timing wasn't that great, unfortunately, there being just under a year before the start of the MBA year when I took the plunge. It also took a lot of careful thought: am I too old for this now? Will I be able to cope with the hard work required, nearly 14 years after I last took any exams? Is it worth the monetary risk at this stage? Am I being too hasty in sacrificing a good job for this, many months before it all actually starts?

On the upside, the situation gave me enough time to prepare well for the GMAT, and to focus on the MBA applications process. And here I am, looking forward to going to Oxford this September, confident that this is going to be the beginning of a great future, whatever happens!

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