You are the choices you make.

 I chose therefore I am.

 If presented with  options which lead you to 2 different careers, standing at the cross-roads, always ask yourself one simple question: " Will I want to change the decision I made today 5 years down the line ?" If the answer is a clear yes or no then presto and you have your career path. But what if there is a maybe involved, aha , then just increase the period of contention from 5 to 10 and repeat the assessment. It worked for me. I am 24 today, and have been gifted with some great opportunities that a mid career professional could wish for. I can crib about it and wish for more comfortable circumstances to make the critical decision or think of it as a chance to go out there and feel the heat first hand.

If I fail then it is I who fall alone, and get a chance to rise again. And what more, the experience is just life changing be it failure or success. 

Yes, to put it in simple terms life is all about the choices you make. 

Road to Class of MMX

 As many of my colleagues and bosses do not know about my moving out, although they do have a hint of it, I would refer to my destination as MMX for this post. I thought about writing a hilarious post on my journey but then stopped short and decided to write what actually  I went through before landing up in one of the most prestigious and ever growing community of go-getters that India is witnessing. I am no great at words, so let me tell you that people who wanna see a masterpiece may stop reading right at about this point ! For the others, here it goes:

 After having tried to bell the feline on about two previous (2005 & 2007) attempts and missing it by a whisker or 6, I decided to have a go at the other cat in the hat. It was a decision which definitely evolved over time as is obvious. All this was possible only because I had my mind dead set on my career as a general manager and MMX emerged out as a possiblity with its excellent faculty and reach. The location did not matter much, as I had also decided to try my hand at some ivy league stuff. It all started with the "OG" from Pearson in March 2008. The D day was June 25th. Work and academics picked up pace at the same time, and I had too many balls to juggle. It was one of the best learning experiences through those few months, and I started getting a taste of things that were in store, the deadlines, the pressure of expectations etc. etc.

  To be honest, I am on the relatively younger side on the work-ex front and did not value my chances a lot when I applied to MMX. But I knew that I had the healthy mix ( acads, scores, sector et al) and hence pressed the submit button on Sept 10th 2008 with my fingers crossed.

 The interview was on Nov 1 and the interviewer was Mr. Menon along with a faculty and an alumni. It was like "eternity in an hour", and by the time I was done with the estimate questions and the why now and what next, I felt a shiver down my spine on how well these guys assessed me. It took me 23 years and a few B-school essays to do that, for God's sake ! And the rest as they say is history ( I always wanted to write that :-))

That's all there is to this road. I am sure that the journey to this destination is no comparison to the journey from it, but it's worth a start.

 

Taare Zameen Par

 I have been a movie buff since my college days and have tried to catch an odd good movie here and there, often ending up going through some breathtaking disasters like Vivah and yes, Ek Vibah aisa bhi ! Anyone for Ek Vivah waisa bhi ?

 

 But then there are times when a movie comes along which tingles every inch of your body and leaves you with those little goose bumps that you get when your emotions know no bounds. Taare Zameen Par did all that and more for me. It showed me the pain through which some of my near and dear ones must have gone through, before finding a foot hold in the society. Every child is special and there is no other better way that Amir could have put it. 

Competition is good when you want to sell apples or iphones, but when you have the neighbour's lad in mind, the last guy to win will be your own kid. Let every child find their footing. Being different is far different from being unique. Let him/her be unique. India is a land where we often live our lives under immense pressure always constrained for resources be it for getting a square meal a day or for good college education and hence the competition will always get the better off many.

Creativity resides in seamless minds not bound by the burden of  grades and pay packages and this needs ot be imbibed in the very grass root level Indian education system. I have a dream which will ensure that such an education will one day exist on my motherland. Follow and let follow dreams. Only then can the stars come down from the heavens.

Will the Big 3 collapse !

 Legacy, Legacy, and then come the legacy costs (read insurance, retirement funds etc.). Resting on the laurels simply does not get you anywhere. You are as good as your last performace. I guess we would have expected the republicans to oppose the bailout plan unless the worker unions shared the pain, and now  only a piece of the  700 billion USD package can help the Fords and the GMs.

For India, our great success story of the post reform era - the auto component industry may struggle to meet their estimated 40 billion USD turnover for this fiscal by a far bigger margin than expected as exports to the US account for about 30% of our exports revenue.

 But let's spare a though on why none of the Big 3 saw it coming and will a bailout package help any of them. In retrospect, harping on the facts that the product line must have been revamped and better terms should have been sorted out with the union workers on pay scales etc. just will not solve the purpose. Letting the big 3 crumble may result in major ramifications which even the best analysts may come cropper at. The interconnections of the industry and the millions employed by them will only result in heating up the world economy. 

I would suggest consolidation. Why can't the best come together to become better. Chrysler with its premium brands, Ford with its mid range pick ups which still have a huge market in Australia and US and GM with its futuristic portfolio can form an excellent strategic alliance. The operationl brilliance of these companies will be put to test once again, and the stones thrown at them can can be made into milestones. It is only a matter of time or the lack of it, but the White House must act fast.

How to make a ***** curry

 

This blog is for those starved bachelors, who have the gift but yet to discover it. It is a  6 step guide on how to make a good ***** curry.

Step 1: Ask the cooks to set a time target to make the  curry

Step 2: Ask a friend to get the groceries (Be kind enough to invite him though!)

Step 3: Browse the recipe on the net. 

Step 4: Ask the kind hearted friend to cut, peel, wash, marinate, dance, strip...etc..

Step 5: Reset the time target, and achieve it.

Step 6: Ahem ! Try and eat it. Voila, did we learn something today ( clap clap)

The cooks: Philip and Mono

The friend: Do I need to tell ya

The death of Test Cricket

 As a member of the mid-80s gang ( my birth decade) I have grown up on a healthy dose of test and one day cricket. It has been a time when I saw people inventing reverse and paddle sweeps to pacers and even saw some down-under guys score at 5 runs per over in Tests. 

  Whatever said, I am a firm believer that achievements in test cricket define the pinnacle of sporting glory as it involves a test of patience, stamina, fitness et al. And all was well till the time 20-20 arrived. It is not that 20-20 is bad for cricket as such, rather, it adds a new dimension to cricket. The adrenalin-surge just got better and the crowds just got more wilder, all good for the game.

  But when the amounts involved run in millions, the best is often sacrificed. A case in point would be ICL - the rogue league. Many good players who signed the ICL contracts were thrown out of their national and state sides as the big boss of world cricket - BCCI did not fancy it all because they would lose on the crucial sponsorships and TV rights and so IPL - the approved league was born which mirrored ICL in terms of passion but was a notch higher on the crowdd capacity and entertainment front. It is just shameful to see that BCCI can arm-wrestle their way even around ICC and get things done, the reason being the deep pockets of the BCCI members. And it is just the beginning. When you let someone get so powerful, sad things happen ( read Hitler's rise and fall). Things get defined by the whims and fancies of a chosen few. Moreover, 20-20 can rake in moolah like no other form of cricket as is evident from the player auctioning and prize money at offer. On the other hand the old-fashioned test cricket is treading a difficult path. The game still has its own charm and oomph, as people still throng to watch a Ponting pull a flintoff for six and a Tendulkar come 2 down and resurrect the Indian innnings with a classy half century or for that matter see a Murali rip through the entire batting line-up.

I hope that the passion stays put, but for  some smart people in the room, it does not make business sense if the dough does not flow in. We are not far away from the time when a test match is converted to 1 odi and 3 20-20s spread over 5 days just to ensure a sell-out crowd. 

Airtel's 3G...Going, Going Gone.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, kindly activate my post paid outgoing service immediately. It has been barred for the past 3 days due to non payment of dues which are apparently Rs. Zero as per your system. I am in a Catch 22 situation here and definitely your 24X7 service for the post paid customers is not helping.

I am being directed to a person going by the name +919840012345, and he does not exist !!! Why o why are you bothered about the 3G services of your international fruit sellers, when the national fruit basket is rotting due to the closure or overcrowding of routes. Please be aware that what we (I) need is a simple chat with our (my) near and dear ones once during the day. And if that is a little too overwhelming for you, then I guess we (I) need to inform you that swinging from left to right and vice versa will not take time. Apples were always preferable but oranges are as sweet too especially when they come with a lifelong validity of "Indianess".

Why all this communal violence just for the sake of an outgoing call ? Airtel wake up, or India going going gone.