Back on campus....

Back on campus and final term starting tomorrow. This will the term where yours truly takes fraud and nothing but fraud courses.
Exchange and IBP junta coming in, and it is great to have the blokes back on campus. Of course, the apna bloke from H Mezz - Gaaaaypeeee is descending only on friday.
Moving on to other things, Hil came up with a strong game - "Chair F1" today. I think it is gonna become quite the rage within campus if only we could come up with a better name. The current name is slisha lame to say the least. Hope to have the video uploaded on Youtube soon.

Google account hijacked...

Arrived back on campus for term 6 today and had the rather unpleasant experience of discovering that -
1) All mails in my gmail account had been deleted along with most of my chat transcripts
2) Vulgar messages had been sent to couple of my friends on GTalk
3) My orkut scrap book was also wiped clean to a large extent

I still dont know the full extent of the damage inflicted.

Was sorta shaken up and tried to retrace my "online" steps. I have been using this browsing center couple of blocks away from my house in Chennai. I usually make it a point to ensure that all sessions and IRC messengers are closed before I sign out. The only explanation is that I possibly forgot to do so the last time I visited and some sadistic fucking son of a bloody fucking bitch (yep, thats how angry I am) had a ball of a time. Either that or someone had installed a keystroke recorder. What really shook me up is the fact that I come across innumerable open messenger windows in public net browsing centers and I always make it a point to log them out. Why is it so wrong to expect the same courtesy to be extended to me? And why this perverse need to dabble around in someone's private life ... what kind of depraved sick mind would do such a thing?

Miracle are there....

Been waking up at 6 am and actually having breakfast for the past 3 days. Nothing short of a miracle, given that I have been averaging 10 am for the past 2 terms. Still not been able to figure out what I have been doing different over the past 3 days, but it sure does feel good. Lets see how far this lasts.

p.s. - Bangalore at 6 am looks beautiful.

Facebook...

Got on to this new web networking thingie called Facebook. Resembles a vastly improved version of Orkut with hajaar bells and whistles added on to it. Was lost in it for about an hour trying to familiarise myself. Apart from the usual privacy issues, it seems to be a pretty fun thing.

Campus Speak ....

Decided to list down words that form the lingua franca on campus. Definitely not exhaustive...

Arbit - Something of a institution, nay religion in B. Defies definition. Furthermore, it is known to be the primal source of campus lingo - yayo, TIN__OTM, ATF, WOWCTB and the infamous "K" are examples that spring to mind.

Are - Death "are there"... Treat "are there"... got the meaning?

BRacket it - To send some file over BRacket... the life blood that sustains the students (apart from DC, of course)

Bullet Point - What fills up your resume. For some, the two years in IIMB is a never ending quest for bullet points. For many others, it is a swear word.

CG - Cumulative Grade Point Average. Technically speaking it is the index of one's academic performance reflecting the student's performance throughout his studies in B. In other words, it is the stuff really bad nightmares are made up of.

CP - Babbling away incessantly in the class in the blind, fervent hope of getting that extra grade. Stands for Class Participation and has variants like - DCP (Desperate CP), ACP (Afterclass CP). CP putters as a rule go on to become the most hated specimens on campus.

Da - a sentence sufffix that owes its origin to the sizeable tam population (aka Sambar Mafia) on campus. Tam equivalent of "yaar". Sounds rather funny when bongs and biharis use it.

Faccha/Facchi - First year students

Fighter - Refers to anyone who slogs for anything and everything. Usually used with reference to acads. Started off initially as a derogatory term but has now become more a term of respect.

Footage - Unadulterated compulsive attention seeking reaching ridiculous proportions.

Globe - Spouting long, never ending bullshit with no purpose or end in mind. Some profs are known to be particularly nasty when faced with globe CP while some others actually encourage it

Hagga - You know what it means in Hindi. Just that we use it as a term of endearment.

K - Suffice to say that K with it variants of K level and K Max represent the verbal equivalent of flipping the bird. Just that it is a lot more classy

L^2 - The fornightly party that starts at 12 am and goes on till 6 am making campus life a bit more bearable. Why the name L^2? Come to B, you will figure it out.

Machan - a term of endearment that again is the contribution of the Sambar Mafia. Tam equivalent of "Saale".

Pappu - Stands for PPO (Pre-placement Offer). There are others who insist it refers to male genetalia

Placu - Member of the Placement Comittee. There are some who insist it is a swear word :)

Puts - essentially means to do something - "Lets put food da", "Lets put tsepak da"

RG - Everything academic in B revolves around the normal curve and relative grading. It means your performance is not determined by your absolute score but how well or bad you have performed with regards to the rest of the batch. When a person is accused of RGing someone else, it usually means he/she has done something sneaky to get an edge over the other person academically. Welcome to IIM-B.

Senti - Go all emotional and sentimental usually over the opposite sex... often happens when one has had one too many in L^2

SIGMA - Embodiment of pure evil aka the guys who take care of the computing requirements of the students

Tsepak - Another religion in B. This time it is a sport.

WOWCTB - When Others Were Carrying Their Books - refers to any presumptious and pompous statement made by junta. The story behind this is something of a legend within campus.

11 - To laugh on Bracket. Adopted from its shortcut in Age of Empires

Vista is on...

Vista started today. Junta from all over the country have started pouring into campus. Not much of eye candy, though. I was looking forward to participate in this PE game, but had to put fight to complete this submission. Was sorta consoled when pabbo and sk unanimously called the event and it's organisers unprintable names. Think I might participate in this strat event being organised tomorrow and then there is Bizarre (the quiz). Ciao.

zzzzz....

Yester all of my wingies had to put a night out on assorted assignments/submissions while yours truly snoozed away to God’s glory. What is life without such small pleasures? Term 5 truly rocks.

1447 and going strong...

It never ceases to amaze me that there exist people on this planet who actually read my blog. The rare combination of poor writing skills and pedestrian creativity that is me, was supposed to ensure that no one dared to trespass this part of cyberspace. But guess what? 1447 unsuspecting innocents actually have gone through my blog as of date. That translates to approximately 1.1 readers per day. Phew! ... JK Rowling, here I come.
What intrigued me was why did they visit my blog in the first place? I mean sometimes, even I cannot bear to read some of my ramblings. So, what was it that drove that these poor moths to beacon light that is my blog...
Findings are as follows -

1. Arbit junta who happen to visit my Orkut page
2. People pursuing their yem bee yay dreams and browsing PG. My blog address is part of my signature. Me however thinks, the hits are more a result of me having Asin as my avatar pic than any genuine academic interest
3. People who happen to visit kviv's blog. The kid living couple of rooms down actually maintains a blog and had put up my link on his page. People visiting his blog usually end up visiting mine for no good reason
4. Now comes the interesting bit. People who googled for the following landed up on my blog -

"proud to be a beancounter" - Australia

"bangalore flat kata blog" - India

"BT Acumen questions" - India

"people visiting chennai once never return" - India

"definition of sambar sadam" - United States

"beanstalk,chennai" - australia

"crowded bus chennai" - India

"opiate pagalguy" - USA

Pretty interesting mix, I must say. The "bangalore flat kata blog" bit beats me though. Ciao, for now

What you should never do in a hostel...

Play a shitty piece of music on infinite loop in full blast and skip town. Unless of course, you have this uncontrollable urge to create blood enemies by the dozen. Why the post, you ask me? Well, some &*%$ing b!@#$%d has been doing precisely that in my block. Why else would i awake in this ungodly hour....

The circus, that we call "summers" ....

The annual circus that we in B-Schools call "summers" is well and truly in progress. Companies have started visiting campus for pre-placement talks. In the great Yem Bee Yay tradition of reducing everything to an abbreviation, we call them "ppt"s. "Why summers?"you ask?... the reasons are given below in no particular order ....

1. Decide what the student wants to do for a career. The two months in the organisation helps one to get a idea of whether one wants to pursue a career in the given line/ given company.
2. Gives the fresher fachhas a taste of what it is to work in an organisation. The internship experience is their first taste of corporate life. People (both recruiters and students) often desire that the internship period be extended to 3 months. In my opinion, it is about time we extended the internship period to 3 months, at least for the fresher fachhas. The more experience they have of working, the better it is for them.
3. Summers often result in the making of a preplacement offer (PPO) if the recruiter has a PPO policy. There have been cases where companies with no PPO policy have gone ahead and made offers due to the quality of work seen.

So, why did I call the process a "circus"? .... Keep watching this space ....

Changes R There

With 2 terms left in B, thought I'd put up a list of things that have changed in me since I joined the place....
1) Sleeping hours - From 11pm-5 pm to 3-4 am-7:30 am (in case there are classes) or 12 pm on other days
2) Vocabulary - have slipped completely into campus lingo. Fight are there.
3) Friends - Most important takeaway ... for a guy who had never been out of singara chennai, it has been quite a revelation. The "Indian" aspect of IIM-B does wonders to one's perspective.
4) Music - Taste has definitely undergone a sea change. No longer restricted to ARR and Ilayaraja. Greenday, Metallica, Clapton, Hindi Oldies and Remixes ... I luv 'em all
5) Values - Am no longer the person I was 2 years back. A lot less judgemental, a lot more cynical and most importantly I accept people for who/what they are. B does that to you.

Ciao for now...

Dummy's guide to the IIMs...

I have been getting calls from people who have made it to GD/PI stage of the IIMs seeking gyan. Felt the need to collate the FAQs in a single place and hence, this blog -
1) How do I start the preparation?
Get started on reading at least 2 newspapers (one business and the other normal) everyday. Attack the editorials with gusto. Develop atleast 2 view points on any and every topic of current interest. Reading of news magazines never hurt anyone. Develop good and well thought answers to the questions asked in the forms sent to you by the IIMs.
2) My undergrad insti is not known outside it. What can I do about it?
Honestly, nothing. It definitely is a disadvantage when your competition comprises the likes of the IITs, NITs and the BITS. But please note that at least 50% of the batch comprises of people from institutions such as yours. so, if they could shake off the disadvantage and get in, so can you.
3) My undergrad marks/acads suck. What do I do?
Nothing. Apart from coming up with a convincing answer that is. Work on it for the next few weeks and make it as convincing as possible. A few pointers - Let it not be defeatist / Dont ever blame it on the academic rigour, for remember you are trying to get into an institution that prides itself in its academic rigour. It helps to note that people with a not so great lustrous academic record do make it.
4) Extra-currics for me has been to date, a dirty 11 letter word never to be used in decent company.
While having extra currics never hurt anyone, the IIMs do have a fair number of people who do not have extra currics/hobbies worth the name. Question is how you present yourself, when faced with competition of the likes who have rockstar profiles. If you are able to come across as a person who is confident about oneself even faced with such competition, the battle is half won. On the other hand, if you do have decent extra currics or hobbies, be prepared to be grilled in it. Friend of mine who studied music for 8 years was asked to sing a song while a karate enthusiast was asked to demonstrate a kata.
5) What if the GD is a fish market and the PI is a stresser?
Well, first of all - best of luck. Having said that, a stresser and a fish market if used in the right manner could also turn out to be ur passport into the IIMs. The key is not losing ur cool in both situations. Please remember that the panel is more interested in reactions rather than your actual answers to the questions asked in a stresser.
6) My CAT score sucks or I have got only one call. What are my chances?
Would like to pass up this question for I have no idea. But what I can say is that, now that you have got a call, the best option is to give all you have to convert it. Similarly, the fact that you have got call(s) inspite of the CAT score means that profs have seen something in you and want to see whether you actually have what they want. Now go tiger.
6) Any other gyan?
Please remember that
a) The profs who come for the PI are extremely well read and are among the most accomplished in their respective fields. They possess razor sharp intellects and you would be better off treating them with deference and respect.
b) Avoid untruths completely. The IIMs and the faculty lay a lot of stress on integrity and even a perceived lack of integrity during PIs will ensure your non selection. If on the other hand you believe that you are better off lying about something in the PI, go prepared for it. Do not rely on your improvisation skills.
c) The most important thing is to convince the profs that you are equipped to handle the academic rigour and that you are genuinely interested in the course. Try to communicate these two aspects during the whole process.
c) The GD/PI stage is that of selection and not elimination. The panel would gladly select you, if you were to give it enough reasons to do so. So, just go ahead and give them what they need.
p.s. - this is my last blog from Chennai before I head back to B-School. Current visit turned to be very hectic with no time left for doing any of the stuff I had planned to do. Lets see what happen next time. Au revoir!
p.p.s. - hope to continue blogging even after I land in IIMB, but then if only good intentions could blog...

Mah new lappie rox ...

Second blog from Chennai and the first one from my new lappie which I won at BT Acumen. Its a Lenovo thinkpad and to use a much abused IIYumBee slang ... me thinks it is very pseud. Thanks to Pabbo for forcing me use the new lappie. It required him and Mausa to barge into the room and open the package to force me out of my sloth. Another thanks to GeeBee for installing some of the required software. Transferred the stuff I had on good ol' Dell to the new one. Appa will be using the Dell from now. Efforts on to make him and Amma computer literate in a space of 3 days. Fight are there. So long and thanks for all the dosas ....
p.s. -
1) Songs of Mani Ratnam's Guru rock. Vintage ARR stuff.
2) Statutory warning - do not watch Vallavan/Thimiru/Dhoom 2/Vivah, unless you get kicks out of self induced migraines.
3) Pls note that the last mentioned movie might also induce a pathological and irrational phobia against marriages. So if you are the marrying kind or even better newly married, this might just be the film for you.

In Chennai ...

Back in Chennai for term 2 break. Bangalore may have its climate and all that jazz but undeniable fact is that Chennai rocks. If you were to ask me for any specific reason, I would be hard put to come up with a logical answer, but the simple fact is that the place grows on you, until it becomes an integral part of you as a person. One of the charges laid against us as a city is the fact that we as a species do not bother about the plight of the person next to us. In other words the concept of Vasudevya Kutumbam is sorta given the short shrift in the roller coaster that is life in Chennai. An instance was recently brought to my notice that helps dispel this notion. A lady and her husband (both senior citizens) happened to get into a rather crowded bus. Even as the lady was trying to buy a ticket, the next stop came and a ticket checking team boarded the bus. The lady promptly told the checker that she hadnt bought the ticket. Having said that, she requested the checker to permit her to travel (after buying the ticket, of course). She reasoned with the checker that it was very difficult to buy the ticket as the travel time between 2 stops is hardly 30-45 seconds and the bus was crowded. In fact the lady in question had already passed on the fare money to one of her co passengers for buying the ticket. The checker obstinately refused to believe the lady and asked her to cough up the fine (Rs.500) or get down from the bus, accusing her of travelling without ticket right from the beginning of the bus trip.The lady's husband noticing the commotion tired to reason it out with the checker only to be rudely put down by the latter. The lady, at this point had two options. Swallow her pride and pay up or fight for what seemed to her, a very just cause. Fortunately, for us, the lady chose the second option. The moment she refused to pay, albiet in a polite manner, the checker let loose a stream of abuse. Even as the lady and her husband kept appealing to his better senses, the unrelenting checker kept up his crude verbal tirade against the couple. Now, a curious thing happened. A girl (copassenger) who had been silent till then, turned to the lady and asked her not to pay the fine. This simple act released what seemed to be a flood gate of support in the bus. Every passenger on the bus started arguing with the ticket checker about the reasonableness of the woman's stand. Seeing the obstinacy of the checker, the passengers threatened to step off from the bus en masse if the lady and her husband were made to get down.The ticket checker, clearly taken aback by the public outcry, started to reduce the fine demanded, starting from Rs. 500 to Rs.400 to Rs.200 to Rs. 100 and finally to Rs.50. With the passengers not backing down, the ticket checker threw back (literally) the original fare money that had been tendered by the lady and got down from the bus.The rest of the journey proceeded uneventfully, with the lady thanking her co passengers for their support. The public outcry in favour of the lady who was "technically" on the wrong side of law, does go a long way in showing that we chennaites do care for others, as human beings. While the ticket checker was right to ask for the fine, he could have -
1) exercised his discretion
2) asked the conductor (who was incidentally was studiously silent throughout the entire episode) if the lady had indeed got into the bus only in the previous stop
3) asked the co passenger if the fare money had indeed been handed over to him by the lady and above all else
4) been polite to a senior citizen couple
What probably galvanised the crowd was the sight of an old couple being harrangued by a boorish government servant, when they were clearly not at fault. Once again, hats off to you, Chennai. And yes, thank you ... for that old couple were my parents. It feels nice to know that there is an entire city to take care of them when I am busy mugging in Bangalore.
p.s. -
1) I continue to believe that the public transport system in Madras is very efficient and rocks. In fact my exposure to Bangalore's (non existent) public transport system has only strengthened my belief.
2) Just travelled on the TIDEL Park road. Awesome is the word!
3) I am very much against ticketless travelling.
4) Happened to travel on the bus with plastic chassis running on 47D route. It was a delight to travel in and very comfortable. Hope it is replicated in more buses.
5) This is the last blog from my trusted Dell lappie. Goodbye HAL, its been great working on you. More about it later.

I am back!

Wokay, this is in response to the ever increasing number of people/fans (acshully 2) who have demanding that I start blogging again. The question I beg to ask - when did I ever stop? Now that I back in Chennai for my term break, I hope to come out with some profoundly disturbing ramblings before heading back to the loony bin/heaven that is IIMB. It sure feels great to play my small part in desecrating the web!

And oh yeah, wish ya all a very happy new year!!