Why MBA - A Question to Remember!

June 21 2010. My first official class at IIM Lucknow, induction to the post graduate program in Management. We sat there waiting for the session to begin, unaware that the best two years of my life is all set to begin. Mr. Vinit Chauhan, Global Business Manager - JP Morgan Chase and President - Alumni Asso IIM Lucknow, flew down all the way from London to deliver his welcome address. All through his speech he shared the stories of several alumni in the business world - CEOs of companies, partners of firms and so on. Fat paychecks, fancy cars, glamorous lifestyles - students in the room got what they want from an IIM. The undertone for his speech was to get equipped and take on the business world.

The next session on that day was by Prof. Ashwani Kumar, the chairman of the post graduate program. He had quite a charismatic aura and caught the attention of a 400 strong batch in the first few minutes of his speech. His conveyed that the campus is a temple of knowledge, and the main job of the students there is to learn, as much as they can. I still remember his words, that campus recruitment gives students their first job, but the learning there stays through out their lives. We all somehow liked his speech, and were impressed by the commitment of the faculty toward the students.

The next session for the day was by Prof R K Srivastava. He is famous as Rocky across the student fraternity and is often called the best professor on campus. The theme for his speech was responsibility, ethical life. He took several examples of alumni involved in social causes. He narrated the life story of Manunath Shanmugam, an alumni of 2003 batch of IIM Lucknow, who was killed in 2005 after his attempt to take on the oil infiltration mafia in UP. He did his best to convey his topic, especially after the two earlier talks with different points of view. The sincerity in his speech and in the thought he conveyed was  astounding.

Jan 22, 2011. Mr. H K Dua, Member of parliament and one of the senior most journalists of India, was addressing a host of VIPs, faculty and students at IIM Lucknow's annual business conclave, Manfest. I still remember the first line of his speech which goes something like "I am glad to come from a place of cynicism (which he meant was Delhi) to a place where people are talking about hope (The theme of the summit being Renaissance)". In the course of his thought provoking speech, he mentioned about the vision that our erstwhile leaders had about India and the current path which India is on. He raised a few questions like when we have started projects like Space research, nuclear plants, IT revolution in 1970s and 80s, against all odds, there have not been any futuristic projects in the current times. Through out his speech, he expressed his belief that the younger generation (us) should lead India forward. He mentioned that people of the country are looking at the elite institutions in the country for leaders.

I had the idea to write his post immediately after Mr Dua's talk in Jan 2011. Moved by Mr Dua's speech, I wanted to write this in a sarcastic undertone towards the happenings at B Schools. Now when I look back at the two years at Lucknow, I understand that the curriculum and the faculty have done their best job to educate students on all fronts. Though CG and CV were the two most heard words, thoughts like above expose the students to realities, which in some cases may influence a few students to make right choices in life.


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Oh Calcutta!

June 15^th: I landed in Calcutta. Thanks to Airtel for sending me to the east, the only part of India I did not live. Four out of the ten guys with whom I arrived in Calcutta are localities; who helped me with some statutory warnings. The luggage at the airport took longer than usual to arrive, that was when I heard the phrase “Its Calcutta man!”, for the first time. Calcutta is one of the most humid places in India; and seeing that I was sweating profusely, one of my local friends advised me to carry more than one hand kerchiefs at all times. The weather here is almost the same throughout the year, except when it rains, and you would need an AC except in December and January.

When you Google Calcutta, there many images showing crowded streets, dense places etc. It is true, Calcutta is very crowded, as the case with many cities in India. Calcutta is world’s second most dense city, after Mumbai, with almost 24000 people per sq. KM. Calcutta includes the main Calcutta, Howrah and some parts of the surrounding district 24 Paraganas. With the influx of traffic from all sides of the city, I feel that the job of the traffic police is the toughest in Kolkata. Also, the yellow cab of Kolkata is still the most seen vehicle on the roads. 

Calcutta is green. I feel it’s the greenest among all major cities of India. Calcutta is very rich in terms of water. There are many lakes in Calcutta, and the water stays throughout the year. Unlike Mumbai or Delhi, which have erased hundreds of lakes from their maps, and have become true concrete jungles, few areas of Calcutta offer a pleasant sight with its lakes and greenery. On a lighter note, the demand for fish here could also be one of the reasons for people here to take good care of the lakes. 

People here are very relaxed. The first thing we noticed in the area we were put was that all the shops open after 9AM and then are again closed by 1PM for lunch; which are again opened after 4PM and are closed by 8PM. People are laid back and relaxed, and going the extra mile for business is still unknown in Calcutta. This is heavily reflected in the state of roads, traffic etc.; but as every other city you need to bear with it. And again, "its Calcutta man!".

People here enjoy food. "Mishiti khaben? (Want to have a sweet?)”, the most heard sentence after a meal or in snacks time. People love sweets, as much as fish. There are more road side sweet counters than chat counters in Hyderabad; and they are all good. I heard someone saying that the street food of Calcutta is very hygienic compared to other cities. Phuchka (called pani puri or gol gappa) is the most taken street food item, and it indeed is different and very tasty. Chat and dosa counters are also a common sight.

Amidst the chaos, there is lot of warmth among the people. Though the people here are loud, they are very friendly and helpful. Cost of living in Calcutta is lower than Bangalore or Hyderabad, and there is almost no language problem. Have a little patience, and Calcutta is a good city to live in.


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Dudes and Dudettes!

The recent Olympics ended with India winning 6 medals. There were some terrific performances by many players, who unfortunately did not make it to the podium. Then there was Karan Thapar who interviewed the sports minister on the Devils advocate. As always, Mr. Thapar had done it in his own way.. why this, why not that and so on. The poor minister did not have answers to most of the questions. for a question like why only six medals for a 1.2 billion population country, I think we all know the answer. There would be no medals with this sports infrastructure. When there are only 3 or 4 synthetic hockey fields in the entire country, how can the Indian hockey team perform on the International stage. So is it right to blame the minister, which had been done enough at all levels

I remember a speech by Shri H.K. Dua, a very respected journalist and Member of parliament, at Manfest (the Management festival of IIM L) in Jan 2011. The theme for that edition of Manfest was Vision 2030, hence there were some extravagant speeches on the vision for future. Shri H.K. Dua started his speech by this sentence which I still remember "I am happy to come from a place of cynicism to a place where there is hope". He was referring to Delhi as a place of cynicism, and that forum as a place of hope, as the discussions were on future. He raised some startling points like the lack of future strategy in the government. When Baba Atomic research was started by Rajiv Gandhi or when the space program was started by Dr. Satish Dhavan with such strong vision for the future, the current politicians are busy saving their governments and showing some numbers for the current year.

Today being the independence day and I being in Calcutta, IIM Calcutta seemed the best place to go for the flag hoisting. I was disappointed, to say the least, by the indifference shown by the batch. Before I say anything else, I would say that this is the case with any other institution and I do not have any personal grudge on IIM Calcutta or its members. Coming back to the flag hoisting, people saw us with their eyebrows raised when we told them that we came for flag hoisting. The cultural events post the flag hoisting did get the same treatment, Attending the flag hoisting has become so uncool that my friend preferred to act as if we have come for something else. Its not the dude thing.

The book "Imagining India" by Nandan Nilekani, though starts with a flowery picture of India, about how the world cannot afford to leave India behind. But towards the end, it also points out that we are running fast towards future, without a vision. This could be in infrastructure, education, healthcare etc. Mr Dua in his talk talked on the same point that we are looking forward to our generation. He was optimistic that institutions like the IIMs or the IITs would not fail the country. But by virtue of being in an institution in the same cadre, I sometimes feel that the students of these institutions are being molded in a way, which is no where near the expectations of people like Mr. Dua. I neither blame the faculty nor the academic curriculum of these institutions for the same.

I do not blame the politicians, who generally do some temporary things and try not to loose their vote bank. I do not blame them because, we are not so different. The indifference shown by the batch today morning, can be seen everywhere, in every campus. With "whats in it for me" being the trend, the indifference has reached the peak levels. Society, environment and country are not even on the radar. The days when greats like Rajiv Gandhi, bringing the IT into India against opposition, or the setting up of Bhaba atomic research institute, where a strong vision is required, are gone. People are stuck onto the current results or short term returns. This is the same at every level, starting from students to politicians.

After few weeks in the glamorous corporate world, I realized the above case is truly applicable here also. Numbers are the only quintessential indicator of any job. When the managers from the top are bugging the employees for numbers, we can't expect employees to draw strategies for the future. Students like us, who are already used to the MY thing get into the groove easily. And once in the corporate world, the peer pressure and also the task of impressing the bosses would add to the reasons to make the numbers of the current week/month/quarter attractive.

I do not understand how different is this indifference shown to being selfish. My life, my job, my parties.. The "whats in it for me?" has become the trend. I am not blaming the students and I can also say that I am in the same pool. I do not know if this kind of thinking is wrong but somehow it did not seem right to me. Keeping the big things aside, we loose the sensitivity to small joys of life like appreciating classical music or dance, arts, social service, joy of singing the national anthem at a flag hoisting, joy of talking to a teacher for a long time etc. We stop respecting and listening to people who have learned so much in their lives like the professors, politicians etc.

So dear dudes and dudettes, it is not un-cool to be sensitive to few things in life, which we long forgot.

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Rules..!!

Break the rules!!
OMG! So many rules!!
Make your own rules!!
Life is no fun without breaking rules!!

There are rules. Everywhere. There are rules to trade on the Newyork stock exchange. There are traffic rules. There are rules for a school kid, to polish his shoes. Again, there are rules, everywhere. We are now in a world where there is rule book for a school kid going to Kindergarten to a young adult buying his new vehicle, rules for walking, driving, flying and sometimes even standing. We are so used to rules that we make our own set of rules to our children - no TV after 9PM or no writing on the walls.

The four lines at the starting of the post are how most people react when they hear the word rules. One can understand that with so many rules, one is fed up to follow any more of them. So we have people riding bikes without helmets, people jumping the signals to get back home quickly, whining about the security checks at the mall, whining about the rules at work etc. Then there are also people who look for a way past rules, looking for a loop hole or twist the rules in our favor. When everyone is so upset with rules, there are new and new rules being added in the rule books everyday - starting from the constitutions of the nations to the set of rules at home. Why is this happening?

I was shocked to read that before 1990s, the pilots left the cockpit doors open during the flight. Till as recent as 2003-04, there were no metal detectors in the malls. There were fewer road rules till a few years back. The first anti-terrorist unit was started after the Munich Olympics disaster. There were no clear rules to investigate money laundering and financial fraud till the Satyam's fiasco. Its clear by the trend that we are bringing this on ourselves.The making of a rule is always  because of a person who has caused his fellow beings some pain. Hence the concerned governing bodies make rules to prevent the repetition of the event.

The financial melt down of the US economy, allegedly caused by the greed of the financial services industry of US, drove millions of people jobless around the world. The largest consumers of dirty fuel - the Telco's and the IT giants of the world, are causing irreparable damage to the environment. These instances show that sometimes, when we tweak the rules, we may not foresee the damage or the extent of the damage. A simple example could be a drunk person, driving a car. The car, which has now become a weapon in his hands, has the potential to cause immense pain not only to that person but also to innocent people on the road. A housewife demanding plastic carry bags from the shopkeeper would not understand that her small act may lead to so many environmental problems, which are fatal for her children's generation. Hence, we should understand that sometimes, the rules are made for greater good, which we may not understand at that point.

"You are remembered for the rules you break", as said by Douglas Mc Arthur, the chief of US Army during world war 2. The story of Rajat Gupta, who was indicted for insider trading, makes a perfect example for the quote. His life story has been a perfect fairy tale of fulfillment of an American dream: orphaned at 18, graduation from IIT Delhi, MBA from Harvard, first non-American managing director (worldwide) of McKinsey and Co, director of Goldman Sach's board, director of Procter & Gamble's board, adviser to the UN Secretary General, trustee of Rockefeller Foundation, adviser of several prestigious companies and NGOs, personally worth $84 million. He was the brain behind, and one of the founding fathers of, ISB Hyderabad; he contributed significantly to make it a world-class institution. When the government instituted the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, he was the first Indian-American to be honored. Gupta, at the peak of his career, could do no wrong; he was wining and dining with the likes of Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Kofi Annan. All it took was the greed to make $50-100 million of easy money. (Courtesy: The Economic Times, June 23rd 2012)

Albert Einstein said "You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else". The fact that the existence of rules are only for the betterment of us and also the people around us is somehow missing. Let us understand that a game is said to be played well, only when it is played within the rules.



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Conscience... My dear friend...

Rome, 27th Nov 2011. I'm standing in one of the greatest cathedrals of the world, St Peters. The holy place for over 30% of worlds population. I'm standing in the midst of some of most spectacular pieces of art by masters like Michelangelo, Bernini etc. Hundreds of statues of saints and holy men, all around me, glaring down at me. I should have been absorbed by the sanctity of the place. I should have been amazed at the masterpieces of art and architecture. I should have been carried away into a peaceful trance by the melodious music of the organ. Why am I not feeling anything of these.

I had been to few of the holiest places, most scenic places, darkest places of Europe, in the last 2-3 months of my exchange program. Darkest places like Sachsenhausen where the Nazis and Communists slaughtered hundreds of thousands of innocents. The indifference to pain, pleasure or joy of the place has been puzzling me over the past few weeks. It is more of the scruples from the inside that is taking over the emotions of the exterior senses.

In the recent few years of my life, after I started differentiating between the good and the bad of the world, I came across many people/institutions which are on both sides of the wall. Through movies, books and travel, I came to know about many Mahatmas of the world, who with their uncompromising determination have changes the world in a way or the other. On the other end of the spectrum are cruel and brutal crimes committed by people, corruption, scandals, riots etc etc. Amazingly, only few of those poor souls have ever confessed or repented. Why.

As said by Mahatma Gandhi, "In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place." Beginning from the Magna-carta, the first ever document of modern law, to the most recent laws, conscience is one thing, which every human has to face one day or the other. "There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other court"; an other master quote by the Mahatma. Our conscience could be the supreme power inside us which could work wonders by taking us to greater heights, and it can also lead us into lonely and depressed phases of our lives.

How wonderful it is to have a clean conscience through out our lives; the wonders it can make with our lives, the peace it can bring into our lives, the beauty it can add to our lives...

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Can we measure life?

Can we measure life? What is a good life or what is bad? Can we rate life by the number of years a person lived? Or by the money he/she made? Or the number of educational degrees? Or the number of companies he started or the job he was in? Or the number of people he helped and the donations made? Or by the faith he had? Or is life completely meaningless? (Except when you are a Hitler or a Gandhi). I liked the way Morgan Freeman said in some movie, "You measure your life by the people measure their lives by you".

This weird question has been lingering in my mind for the past few days. One of the reasons I can think of is the kind of movies I have been watching lately, like 'The bucket list'. The second reason was my visit to the Chateau of Versailles where the Kings of France lived until the French revolution in 1789. And also, I believe any post of mine reflects my current mood (however hard I try to hide!). I am still not sure of the things I want to convey with this blog, so kindly bear with me.

Coming back to the topic, any type of search with strings like 'good life' or 'measuring life' or 'life' always yield at least a few results on 'how to make life successful'. One of these searches popped out the following interpretation of success, which I think is never taught anymore. Ralph Waldo Emerson defined success with these words: "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded."

So what is a good life. One of the most common philosophies of life we observe these days is the 'life is a celebration' or 'the only chance to enjoy' philosophy. Work hard, party harder is the new mantra. A close friend of mine, who is absolutely happy with this philosophy, said that he is not going to change his lifestyle unless he is forced to. Yeah its true too. Why change if we are happy. I am not complaining but it still does not answer my question. Though these things are commonly seen these days, unfortunately, things like these are not taught in any schools. Few weeks back, a professor of ours had narrated a small story while ending his course. Though the story does not answer the question, it beautifully summarizes many issues in life.

"One day, an old professor of the School of Public Management in France, was invited to lecture on the topic of “Efficient Time Management” in front of a group of 15 executive managers representing the largest, most successful companies in America. The lecture was one in a series of 5 lectures conducted in one day, and the old professor was given 1 hour to lecture. Standing in front of this group of elite managers, who were willing to write down every word that would come out of the famous professor’s mouth, the professor slowly met eyes with each manager, one by one, and finally said, “we are going to conduct an experiment”.

From under the table that stood between the professor and the listeners, the professor pulled out a big glass jar and gently placed it in front of him. Next, he pulled out from under the table a bag of stones, each the size of a tennis ball, and placed the stones one by one in the jar. He did so until there was no room to add another stone in the jar. Lifting his gaze to the managers, the professor asked, “Is the jar full?” The managers replied, “Yes”. The professor paused for a moment, and replied, “Really?”

Once again, he reached under the table and pulled out a bag full of pebbles. Carefully, the professor poured the pebbles in and slightly rattled the jar, allowing the pebbles to slip through the larger stones, until they settled at the bottom. Again, the professor lifted his gaze to his audience and asked, “Is the jar full?” At this point, the managers began to understand his intentions. One replied, “Apparently not!”

“Correct”, replied the old professor, now pulling out a bag of sand from under the table. Cautiously, the professor poured the sand into the jar. The sand filled up the spaces between the stones and the pebbles. Yet again, the professor asked, “Is the jar full?” Without hesitation, the entire group of students replied in unison, “NO!”

“Correct”, replied the professor. And as was expected by the students, the professor reached for the pitcher of water that was on the table, and poured water in the jar until it was absolutely full. The professor now lifted his gaze once again and asked, “What great truth can we surmise from this experiment?”

With his thoughts on the lecture topic, one manager quickly replied, “We learn that as full as our schedules may appear, if we only increase our effort, it is always possible to add more meetings and tasks”. “No”, replied the professor. The great truth that we can conclude from this experiment is: If we don’t put all the larger stones in the jar first, we will never be able to fit all of them later.

The auditorium fell silent, as every manager processed the significance of the professor’s words in their entirety. The old professor continued, “What are the large stones in your life? Health? Family? Friends? Your goals? Doing what you love? Fighting for a Cause? Taking time for yourself?” What we must remember is that it is most important to include the lager stones in our lives, because if we don’t do so, we are likely to miss out on life altogether. If we give priority to the smaller things in life (pebbles & sand), our lives will be filled up with less important things, leaving little or no time for the things in our lives that are most important to us. Because of this, never forget to ask yourself, What are the Large Stones in your Life? And once you identify them, be sure to put them first in your “Jar of Life”. With a warm wave of his hand, the professor bid farewell to the managers, and slowly walked out of the room. Take care of the large stones first – the things that REALLY matter. Set your priorities. The rest are just pebbles and sand. If you put the sand or the pebbles into the jar first, there will be no room left for the stones. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff, you will never have room for things that are truly most important."

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The Quarter Life Crisis

Here you are, in your mid-20s - the best time of your life, at least that's what everyone says. Your 'I am independent' claim now has the legal stamp of economics; the college campus lingers in nostalgia; 'work hard, party harder' is the new mantra. But the euphoria is evaporating. The adrenaline rush leaves a hangover that seems impossible to shake off. Disillusionment looms large with a million-dollar question: What next? Welcome. You have just been hit by the quarter-life crisis. The transition from college to the real world sets the stage for the quarter-life crisis, hitting those in their early and mid-20s. Work, independence, new responsibilities, relationships hankering for "long-term commitment" and "meaningful" layers, all add to an anxiety not known until now. The phrase ‘quarter-life crisis’ gained currency in the West in 2001, when two twenty-somethings made a fortune writing on their peer’s crises in "Quarter life Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in your Twenties". This has become an unrecognized epidemic, sweeping an entire generation reared on an array of choices and rising expectations.

Oh yea! Everybody goes through this phase; some face this crisis for long and some for short phases. I recently read a post which goes like this, "At 27, Atul has the life dreams are made of: an MBA from a top management institute, out-of-turn raises every few months, whirlwind world tours on work and a stunner for his arm candy at corporate dos. Three job switches in the last nine months have landed this finance whiz in a top managerial position. But lately, he has been fighting gnawing self-doubts. “I make big bucks, but have no time to spend them. I don’t feel driven to achieve anything anymore… Should I have chosen another profession?” says the alpha achiever, who is also beginning to question his four-year-old relationship." Unfortunately the messages like these are increasing, its just that we don't always observe these in the bracket of quarter life crisis.

The statistics are startling. At any point of time, around one third of the population in the age group 18 - 28 suffer from this crisis. And though I could not get any statistics relevant to India, I definitely think that this number is much large, at least close to 60%. As part of international student exchange program, I am currently studying at a B School in France. When I talk to students here who are studying economics and come to B school, who leave engineering and come to B school; I could not stop myself from asking "whats the plan?", "what next?", may be owing to our system which mostly works on plans. I am amazed to find that no body here has a plan as such. They are studying here because they feel its good. The people here are not looking for easy money or good jobs and they are not afraid to live on little money and temporary jobs. People here are not scared of the future which sometimes pity the systems back home. Of course people here enjoy many privileges like small population, no or very less competition etc.; and in contrast the huge and ever increasing population in India, meagerly growing industrial opportunities, demanding education sector etc. might all become the reasons.

You are a software engineer, just out of college, living in a nice cool apartment with a peaceful white collar job. There is QLC here too, to switch jobs, not getting the deserved credit, give CAT or GMAT etc. In students, QLC is common in students of the best of B schools to students of a normal engineering college in a remote place. It is unfortunate that there is QLC in students as young as 7 - 8th standard which is being exploited by IIT coaching centres and intermediate colleges. QLC about relationships is more common too; some express it, some dont, but it is there.

“This crisis is a product of our times. Young people want to jump from one ladder to another, exhausting their goals very early on. They then begin to question everything about their lives.”, says Dr Amit Sen, a psychiatrist who sees children and young adults. The 20s are bringing with them a “nervous self-awareness,” says a 30-year-old lecturer at a leading DU college. “Students now indulge in a lot of self-questioning, which isn’t philosophical like -- ‘What’s my purpose in life’ — but, ‘Oh god, are my friends going to do better in life than me?’” Psychologist NK Chadha, head of DU’s department of adult, continuing education and extension, says, “Students choose careers depending on what pays more, and end up paying with their peace of mind.”

So my dear friends, you are not alone. Everyone around you is also going through the same confusion, anxiety and internal suffering. After all, there is no rule that there should be an answer to every "why"...

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