You get it!
And here's a feel-good story for a Sunday evening that tells you how you can make it happen. This example is of a guy - let's call him G - who cracked the CAT exam but it could apply to anything in life.
I am sharing the letter he wrote to me, after being accepted at four IIMs ( reproduced as is, punctuated by my comments in italics).
Dear Rashmi,
I hope you remember me. I was one of the 9 or 10 CAT aspirants who took part in the survey you conducted on your blog, sometime last year.
I scored 99.86 percentile in CAT 2008. I got GDPI calls from IIM Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode, and managed to convert all four of them. I'll obviously be going to IIM Calcutta.
Yes, I was a victim of IIM A's policy of looking at the 10th and 12th standard scores: I had a comparatively lower score in my tenth standard. (IIMA's loss, I am sure! :)
This is the time when I pause and look back at my CAT preparation. And one thing that instantly flashes to my mind is your Kung-fu Panda post written sometime last year.
"Lesson # 1: If you want something badly enough, you get it somehow."
Believe me, I wanted it badly enough. I shifted to a lower paying job in an IT firm, from a high-paying "core" firm, so that I'd get time to study for CAT. I was assigned to a project, and the timelines were tight- we had to work on weekends also.
Initially I whined a bit because I had shifted here to study in peace, but later I managed to 'beat' the system. On Saturdays, I juggled with CAT classes(4 hours) and office work(8 hours). I was determined not to come to office on Sundays(others in my team did come) by working harder on Saturdays. On Sundays I took two mock-CATs: one from IMS and the other from TIME.
(Many others would have given up - but you found a way to juggle both work and study. I do think this is a better strategy than quitting your job and only focussing on preparation - a question I am commonly asked!)
I did not score high consistently in the mock-CATs. Yet, I had a vague inner feeling that I'll hit a sixer on the last ball, and do extremely well in CAT. I just meditated on the last day before CAT, and repeated 15-15-25 in my mind. The numbers referred to the number of questions I would solve in Quant, DI and Verbal sections respectively. It ended up being 13-12-40.
(Meditation is a *must* no matter who you are and what you do. We brush our teeth everyday, but what about all the cobwebs in our minds?)
Frankly I find it very tough to determine causality, i.e. I did 'X' and scored well in CAT. All I can say is that if you are not convinced that an IIM is the only place for you, then it is impossible to succeed in CAT. One more thing: many people take CAT to escape from their IT jobs.
I quote from that post of yours:
"Clearing these super tough exams is like running a lawnmower through your own mental garden. It crushes the weeds of self doubt and self pity which we've allowed to grow. Exam or no exam, you can choose to yank out those weeds. Then look the guys who think they know better in the eye and declare,"My soup is as kick-ass as yours."
I couldn't agree more with you on this. The whole process of cracking CAT, clearing the interviews has changed me a lot. It is not that I have become cocky, or that I have acquired a "Bring 'em on" attitude after getting an admission into IIM-C. It is simply that I don't care about anything else.
I have become less self-conscious about my appearance. I am less anxious about what others will say. I know I can stretch myself to do bigger things after cracking CAT- after all if I could manage a tough office schedule and crack CAT(and eventually the interviews), I can face most (if not all) of the challenges that come in front of me.
And now I realize that those were the weeds of self-doubt and self-pity which CAT yanked out. The whole experience gave me confidence, yet it was humbling too.
(True confidence is really about humility. You know you are capable of anything, and that 'others' do not matter. You are really only competing with yourself... But, no matter how much you 'achieve' you accept that there will always more to seek, to experience, and understand.)
Well, that's all I have to say. Let me take this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful blog that you write. It has inspired me on more than one occasion. Believe me, I view self-help stuff with suspicion, contempt and even derision, but your words work for me.
Cheers,
G
Thank you, G, for sharing your experience. Wish you all the very best in the journey of life. May the panda in you continue to kung fu, even in that suit and tie.
More 'kung fu panda' experiences shared by readers here.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Mochamojo - the art of reinventing yourself
I was passing by Hill Road last evening when I was ambushed by something big, pink and psychedelic. It's 'Mochamojo' - or good old Mocha@Hill Road - back with a bang.
When did it reopen? April 15.
Why is it a big deal? Because Mocha Hill Road was a hangout place with a difference. While all Mochas are cool and interesting, the Hill Road one was something else.
Has it changed for the better? Surprisingly, yes!
Gone is the old, grungy look
Gone are the hookahs
Gone are the waiters with fez caps
Mochamojo is inspired by 70s pop-art. The theme is 'bright, shiny and happy' - which is a great idea, in these slightly depressing times. You enter and immediately your mood is uplifted. Which is not something you can say about a Barista :)
So what about the menu?
Well, it is much the same but a little different. The menu card is now designed like a vinyl record (complete with the hole). Inside are most of the old favourites - the paninis, poutine, desserts and coffees.
But there's more healthy stuff now. Like fresh fruit juices (complete with calorie count), a salad bar and 'raw food' spaghetti (raw food being a big thing in the US).
Again, I think this reflects the changing times, the health consciousness among people. Not that they will necessarily order it every time but it's good to take a 'leadership' position in that area for a brand like Mocha.
What did I have? Belgian waffles - although it was four in the afternoon. Because they said 'we serve 'em all day'. And I find them on the menu so rarely!
The staff is also rather nice (right now). Apart from the fact that they've got a makeover in terms of uniform (bright pink aprons!) - they are quite 'concerned' about your wellbring. The guy serving me apologised profusely, for taking 20 minutes to get my order.
Theek hai bhai - maaf kiya. As I was happily occupying a whole comfortable white sofa and enjoying the ambience I did not really care.
And by the way, it may be a 70s theme but they play 80s and 90s music :)
The only silly part was that the manager did not allow me to take pics. Officially. He said:"You will have to contact our PR manager XYZ."
But he didn't stop me from taking pics from my cellphone. Or videos from my (brand new) Kodak Zi6 HD camera (that too looks like a phone.. so I guess no one notices :)
It's not that I want to 'not follow the rules'.
But I love this place and want to share what I saw.
And I don't have the patience to deal with bureaucracy.
So more power to Mochamojo. Check it out on a dreary afternoon when you want to get away from it all.
And for marketing types flogging thakela brands, as well as each one of us feeling stuck in a rut - here is a lesson to be learnt.
On the power of reinvention!
When did it reopen? April 15.
Why is it a big deal? Because Mocha Hill Road was a hangout place with a difference. While all Mochas are cool and interesting, the Hill Road one was something else.
Has it changed for the better? Surprisingly, yes!
Gone is the old, grungy look
Gone are the hookahs
Gone are the waiters with fez caps
Mochamojo is inspired by 70s pop-art. The theme is 'bright, shiny and happy' - which is a great idea, in these slightly depressing times. You enter and immediately your mood is uplifted. Which is not something you can say about a Barista :)
So what about the menu?
Well, it is much the same but a little different. The menu card is now designed like a vinyl record (complete with the hole). Inside are most of the old favourites - the paninis, poutine, desserts and coffees.
But there's more healthy stuff now. Like fresh fruit juices (complete with calorie count), a salad bar and 'raw food' spaghetti (raw food being a big thing in the US).
Again, I think this reflects the changing times, the health consciousness among people. Not that they will necessarily order it every time but it's good to take a 'leadership' position in that area for a brand like Mocha.
What did I have? Belgian waffles - although it was four in the afternoon. Because they said 'we serve 'em all day'. And I find them on the menu so rarely!
The staff is also rather nice (right now). Apart from the fact that they've got a makeover in terms of uniform (bright pink aprons!) - they are quite 'concerned' about your wellbring. The guy serving me apologised profusely, for taking 20 minutes to get my order.
Theek hai bhai - maaf kiya. As I was happily occupying a whole comfortable white sofa and enjoying the ambience I did not really care.
And by the way, it may be a 70s theme but they play 80s and 90s music :)
The only silly part was that the manager did not allow me to take pics. Officially. He said:"You will have to contact our PR manager XYZ."
But he didn't stop me from taking pics from my cellphone. Or videos from my (brand new) Kodak Zi6 HD camera (that too looks like a phone.. so I guess no one notices :)
It's not that I want to 'not follow the rules'.
But I love this place and want to share what I saw.
And I don't have the patience to deal with bureaucracy.
So more power to Mochamojo. Check it out on a dreary afternoon when you want to get away from it all.
And for marketing types flogging thakela brands, as well as each one of us feeling stuck in a rut - here is a lesson to be learnt.
On the power of reinvention!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Of star studded skies
Whats wrong in being mediocre if you are satisfied with your life...
asks Sirius Black in response to my post Software roulette
Well, nothing, I guess. You can go through life like a 20 W bulb, dim and feeble. Or you can find purpose, glow from inside and be like a 100 w bulb, lighting up the world you live in.
I came across this beautiful (very short) story by Novoneel Chakraborty. A conversation between an MBA and a 'struggling actor'. The MBA advises the struggler to first get a job and this is what the actor replies:
"Have you ever seen a star studded sky?”
“Why, yes.”
“You may like the star just above your head or the one in the right or to the left perhaps but you got no right to question why the star to the left is in the left.
I believe the point of our living is to find the coordinates where we know we belong and respect it irrespective of whatever difficulties or humiliation we encounter.”
Beautifully said. Where to start looking for these co-ordinates.. well, we'll keep discussing that on this blog!
asks Sirius Black in response to my post Software roulette
Well, nothing, I guess. You can go through life like a 20 W bulb, dim and feeble. Or you can find purpose, glow from inside and be like a 100 w bulb, lighting up the world you live in.
I came across this beautiful (very short) story by Novoneel Chakraborty. A conversation between an MBA and a 'struggling actor'. The MBA advises the struggler to first get a job and this is what the actor replies:
"Have you ever seen a star studded sky?”
“Why, yes.”
“You may like the star just above your head or the one in the right or to the left perhaps but you got no right to question why the star to the left is in the left.
I believe the point of our living is to find the coordinates where we know we belong and respect it irrespective of whatever difficulties or humiliation we encounter.”
Beautifully said. Where to start looking for these co-ordinates.. well, we'll keep discussing that on this blog!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Book review: Don't lose your mind, lose your weight
I am not the kind of person who buys books on dieting, or tries out those famous 'crash diets'. Yet, I picked up this book. Because Rujuta is someone I am intrigued by. She is a dietician and fitness expert with a difference.
Rujuta was Anil Ambani's personal trainer at one time, and then of course went on to become even more famous. As the nutritionist who helped Kareena Kapoor her 'size zero figure'.
The intriguing bit is not Kareena losing weight (after all, she in an actress. Actresses will go to any length and on any diet to do such things :)
No, the interesting bit was the many interviews Kareena gave proclaiming that she did not go on a 30 day diet of lettuce leaves and lauki juice. This babe claimed she was eating... And could we be hearing right? Eating parathas!
So yes, the book heavily leans on the 'Kareena Kapoor' connection with both a foreword and a blurb on the cover which reads:
"Rujuta has changed not just my body but my mind and soul. She is the best thing to have happened to my life."
But the truth is, once you read the first five pages you know this book packs its own punch.You forget about Kareena (she is a character who appears now and then but so do many other clients).
Page by page, chapter by chapter Rujuta explains how practically everything we have accepted as the gospel truth when it comes to dieting is wrong. Let's start with this simple thought:
"There is no such thing as going 'on or 'off' your diet. Eating correctly is a lifelong commitment, and the diet should be a reflection of this."
And what works is the way Rujuta gets her point across. Totally candid, down to earth, bindaas. Sample this (pg 25):
"Where is the bravery in losing weight? People with diarrhoea lose weight. So do people with jaundice, malaria, TB, not to mention cancer and AIDS."
Or this:
"Why do we pay so little attention to our stomachs? Is it because it never attacks us?"
She goes on to discuss the ad on TV where the son-in-law dabaos everything that is cooked for him and the clients whose burp gives away everything they have lying undigested in there. And she tops it up with the comment: "Some wise person rightly said why fart and waste, when you can burp and taste?"
Hmm. Some readers may find that disgusting. But the thing is, in the context of the subject she is writing about it all makes perfect sense. And although her style may be very conversational at no point will you doubt the wealth of knowledge and insight she has on everything she is talking about.
There is just enough 'technical stuff' - on carbs, proteins, vitamins and transfats - to make a serious point. But everything she advises is easy to understand and implement.
"Love and respect your body"
"Everything is ok in moderation"
"Think of nutrients, not calories"
This is a book grounded in a philosophy of life. A confluence as it were of all that Rujuta has learned (and is still learning) from her study of yoga, ayurveda, sports science and nutrition.Well, I could go on and on but I will leave it to you to pick up the book and find out for yourself. Incidentally, 'Don't lose your mind, lose your weight' is currently a # 1 bestseller @ Crossword.
Accha hai, it is a book that will shape so many minds, so many bodies... Spread so much love and happiness!
Don't lose your mind, lose your weight is published by Random House India.
Rs 199/-
IIM Calcutta admissions goof up
After issuing admission offers to 700 students on Friday 10th April, the next morning IIM Calcutta pruned its admission list by 100 leaving these students in the lurch. They have been put 'on hold' indefinitely.
This is the first time an IIM has made such an error and it is causing quite a bit of heartburn among students. This morning The Telegraph reported:
Euphoria turned into despair for MBA aspirant Vijay Joshi (name changed) in the span of 12 hours this weekend, with IIM Calcutta suddenly pruning a list of 700 selected students by almost 100.
Vijay, a Mumbai boy, sensed something was amiss the moment he heard about the “first list” being revised. He went online immediately to check the IIM Calcutta website, only to discover that he was among the unlucky few whose selection had been put “on
hold”.
The same website had flashed the message “Congratulations, you have been selected” across the 22-year-old’s computer screen when he keyed in his registration number and date of birth less than 12 hours earlier on Friday.
Not getting in is sad.
Getting in and then being put to pasture is worse.
But if it is a genuine mistake, it's better corrected in the first 24 hours - isn't it?
Saibal Chattopadhyay, the dean of programme initiatives on the Joka campus, is quoted in The Telegraph as follows:
“The original list was drawn up taking into account the likelihood of some students with multiple offers from IIMs opting out, apart from the usual dropouts. But as it turned out, there are very few students with multiple offers this time and the dropout rate could be lower than previous years. We were compelled to revise the list,” he said.
This could well be true. Each IIM has created its a very distinct criteria in terms of the importance accorded to CAT score, work experience and past academics. Which is a great thing but then, it needs to be managed efficiently.
Question 1: Can all IIMs please share information pertaining to overlap prior to releasing final offers and avoid such errors?
IIM Calcutta has increased seats in the PGDM program from 318 to 408 this year. But 700 admit letter for 408 seats seems excessive in any case.
Question 2: Wouldn't it be safer to issue only 10 or 20% more offer letters than the number of seats and then take in people on the waiting list? Well, each institute has its own estimation of what is 'safe' and therein lies the challenge.
An unconfirmed estimate posted on a pagalguy discussion thread estimates last year's wait list scenario as such:
1. IIM-A - 0 buffer calls....waitlist moved till 45.
Total no dropping out=45
2. IIM-B - about 50 buffer calls....waitlist moved till 47.
Total no dropping out=97
3. IIM-C - Secretive abt no of buffer calls. But there are abt a 100 ppl in IIM-A who also had C converts, and guess atleast 25 odd in B had C also....waitlist of 20 cleared out. Total no dropping out= 145+
Given that this year the employment scene for freshers is bleak, one would expect more students to accept the admission offered at any IIM. Thus even 600 calls for 408 seats seems to be on the higher side.
The 100 'on hold' students will apparently be given preference over 'wait listed' candidates. Which means wait list waalon ko to koi chance hi nahin hai.
12 hours is a pretty short period of time and I hope these 100 'on hold' candidates were too busy celebrating to dash off a 'sorry I cannot join you' letter to any other bschools they were accepted by! You know, sometimes it does pay to be a late-lateef.
And if it's any consolation at all, last year Kelloggs had made a similar mistake with 50 odd students. (Thank you Ankit for this link)
In that case 'the school's automated mail-merge process mistakenly attached acceptance letters to candidates who had been declined'.
Ouch! We are only human and fallible... so is technology and so are the profs who decide who gets into a bschool.
Which, in the larger scheme of things means this. Even if you were rejected outright - their loss!
Unko kya pata tumhari capabilities kya hain.
You didn't fit their formula - that is all.
This is the first time an IIM has made such an error and it is causing quite a bit of heartburn among students. This morning The Telegraph reported:
Euphoria turned into despair for MBA aspirant Vijay Joshi (name changed) in the span of 12 hours this weekend, with IIM Calcutta suddenly pruning a list of 700 selected students by almost 100.
Vijay, a Mumbai boy, sensed something was amiss the moment he heard about the “first list” being revised. He went online immediately to check the IIM Calcutta website, only to discover that he was among the unlucky few whose selection had been put “on
hold”.
The same website had flashed the message “Congratulations, you have been selected” across the 22-year-old’s computer screen when he keyed in his registration number and date of birth less than 12 hours earlier on Friday.
Not getting in is sad.
Getting in and then being put to pasture is worse.
But if it is a genuine mistake, it's better corrected in the first 24 hours - isn't it?
Saibal Chattopadhyay, the dean of programme initiatives on the Joka campus, is quoted in The Telegraph as follows:
“The original list was drawn up taking into account the likelihood of some students with multiple offers from IIMs opting out, apart from the usual dropouts. But as it turned out, there are very few students with multiple offers this time and the dropout rate could be lower than previous years. We were compelled to revise the list,” he said.
This could well be true. Each IIM has created its a very distinct criteria in terms of the importance accorded to CAT score, work experience and past academics. Which is a great thing but then, it needs to be managed efficiently.
Question 1: Can all IIMs please share information pertaining to overlap prior to releasing final offers and avoid such errors?
IIM Calcutta has increased seats in the PGDM program from 318 to 408 this year. But 700 admit letter for 408 seats seems excessive in any case.
Question 2: Wouldn't it be safer to issue only 10 or 20% more offer letters than the number of seats and then take in people on the waiting list? Well, each institute has its own estimation of what is 'safe' and therein lies the challenge.
An unconfirmed estimate posted on a pagalguy discussion thread estimates last year's wait list scenario as such:
1. IIM-A - 0 buffer calls....waitlist moved till 45.
Total no dropping out=45
2. IIM-B - about 50 buffer calls....waitlist moved till 47.
Total no dropping out=97
3. IIM-C - Secretive abt no of buffer calls. But there are abt a 100 ppl in IIM-A who also had C converts, and guess atleast 25 odd in B had C also....waitlist of 20 cleared out. Total no dropping out= 145+
Given that this year the employment scene for freshers is bleak, one would expect more students to accept the admission offered at any IIM. Thus even 600 calls for 408 seats seems to be on the higher side.
The 100 'on hold' students will apparently be given preference over 'wait listed' candidates. Which means wait list waalon ko to koi chance hi nahin hai.
12 hours is a pretty short period of time and I hope these 100 'on hold' candidates were too busy celebrating to dash off a 'sorry I cannot join you' letter to any other bschools they were accepted by! You know, sometimes it does pay to be a late-lateef.
And if it's any consolation at all, last year Kelloggs had made a similar mistake with 50 odd students. (Thank you Ankit for this link)
In that case 'the school's automated mail-merge process mistakenly attached acceptance letters to candidates who had been declined'.
Ouch! We are only human and fallible... so is technology and so are the profs who decide who gets into a bschool.
Which, in the larger scheme of things means this. Even if you were rejected outright - their loss!
Unko kya pata tumhari capabilities kya hain.
You didn't fit their formula - that is all.
Software roulette
A tiny news item on pg 7 of Economic Times * today declares 'Wipro Tech to honour job offers'.
The gist of it is that Wipro will honour all offers made to all 6000 graduates during 2007-8. These grads would join the company between May and December 2009 and undergo training for 2 months.
Thereafter, 'if they are not engaged in any billable project, they would only be paid a stipend of Rs 6000 per month'. The report adds that Wipro had made offers to 14,000 graduates with 2008-9 joining dates at a salary of Rs 2.75-3.25 lakhs per annum. 40% of this lot is still waiting to be inducted.
I am wondering, if I were this young engineering graduate how would I look at the situation:
a) Option A: Hope and pray for the best - maybe I'll be one of those on a billable project.
If that hope is belied, I will still be grateful for a chance to be in a software company (because that was my dream job). And I'll use this time to learn all that I can - from my seniors, from books, from the internet.
Kabhi to mera number aayega!
b) Option B : Take the Rs 6000 per month and use the time to prepare for CAT. Better than sitting at home and preparing for CAT
... earning nothing.
And well, in any case I joined Wipro only to pass time while I look for something better. Preferably a million miles away from software!
c) Option C: Not join Wipro at all. Because you know... I know this is not the job for me, whether I get billable projects or not.
Sadly I don't really KNOW what I want but one has to start somewhere. And better today, than ten years from now!
Now I have not done a scientific survey but I bet 90% of you would choose option 'b'. In fact this is what the average software employee was thinking anyways, even when the company was paying full salary.
I know many of us think,"One has to be selfish in this world. I've got to put *me* first."
The only trouble is this strategy doesn't necessarily solve anything. You slog it out, make it to a bschool and at the end of it are still left wondering,"Is this it?"
There are no fireworks when you hold your new offer letter in hand.
Heck, it doesn't even have as many zeros as you thought an 'MBA salary' should.
Ab kya?
Kuch nahin. This is the life you have chosen - accept it with all your heart and be the best you can be!
Or, refuse to 'play it safe' and figure out where you would rather be.
There is no third path - except mediocrity.
The gist of it is that Wipro will honour all offers made to all 6000 graduates during 2007-8. These grads would join the company between May and December 2009 and undergo training for 2 months.
Thereafter, 'if they are not engaged in any billable project, they would only be paid a stipend of Rs 6000 per month'. The report adds that Wipro had made offers to 14,000 graduates with 2008-9 joining dates at a salary of Rs 2.75-3.25 lakhs per annum. 40% of this lot is still waiting to be inducted.
I am wondering, if I were this young engineering graduate how would I look at the situation:
a) Option A: Hope and pray for the best - maybe I'll be one of those on a billable project.
If that hope is belied, I will still be grateful for a chance to be in a software company (because that was my dream job). And I'll use this time to learn all that I can - from my seniors, from books, from the internet.
Kabhi to mera number aayega!
b) Option B : Take the Rs 6000 per month and use the time to prepare for CAT. Better than sitting at home and preparing for CAT
... earning nothing.
And well, in any case I joined Wipro only to pass time while I look for something better. Preferably a million miles away from software!
c) Option C: Not join Wipro at all. Because you know... I know this is not the job for me, whether I get billable projects or not.
Sadly I don't really KNOW what I want but one has to start somewhere. And better today, than ten years from now!
Now I have not done a scientific survey but I bet 90% of you would choose option 'b'. In fact this is what the average software employee was thinking anyways, even when the company was paying full salary.
I know many of us think,"One has to be selfish in this world. I've got to put *me* first."
The only trouble is this strategy doesn't necessarily solve anything. You slog it out, make it to a bschool and at the end of it are still left wondering,"Is this it?"
There are no fireworks when you hold your new offer letter in hand.
Heck, it doesn't even have as many zeros as you thought an 'MBA salary' should.
Ab kya?
Kuch nahin. This is the life you have chosen - accept it with all your heart and be the best you can be!
Or, refuse to 'play it safe' and figure out where you would rather be.
There is no third path - except mediocrity.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Rahul Gandhi and his dubious Cambridge degree
UPDATE: This post stands stands WITHDRAWN in light of the clarification issued by Cambridge University that Rahul's MPhil degree is valid and was indeed issued in 1994-95.
The New Indian Express which I had quoted continues to stand by its report. But I am satisfied by the clarification and no longer find the points raised in the post to be relevant.
Accordingly I see no point in retaining the post online. However, I have left the comments untouched :)
The New Indian Express which I had quoted continues to stand by its report. But I am satisfied by the clarification and no longer find the points raised in the post to be relevant.
Accordingly I see no point in retaining the post online. However, I have left the comments untouched :)
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Friends, Romans, greedy MBAs...
Elite business schools in the US are facing a backlash. What did you teach those stuffed shirts, anyway... Russian roulette??
Bloomberg's Oliver Staley reports: Harvard Business School, stung by criticism that it hasn’t prepared alumni to cope with the economic meltdown, will dissect its performance using a practice it employs to examine corporations in crisis.
A task force, created in November at the direction of the dean, is writing a case study to scrutinize whether the school is failing to teach students to understand and manage risk in the current environment, according to Paul Healy, co-chair of the panel. The case study method is the technique Harvard uses to analyze decision making by executives during times of duress.
The idea is to put professors in the students' seats and ultimately use the discussion to promote curriculum changes.
Harvard's less than illustrious alumni at the moment include the likes of Stanley O’Neal and John Thain (ex Merrill Lynch), Rick Wagoner, (ex General Motors Corp) and Christopher Cox, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The article goes on to add that "many of the graduates involved in failures attended the school 20 or 30 years ago, before classes on risk management, macroeconomics and leadership were required". But another Bloomberg columnist, Kevin Hassett, points out it's not so much what they studied but their attitude which resulted in the downfall.
And he makes such a good case that this is one of those rare instances where I am compelled to reproduce a large chunk of the article.
For two centuries, Wall Street survived wars, depressions, bank panics and terrorist attacks. Now Wall Street as we know it is dead. Gone.
When a healthy and thriving person dies suddenly, a medical examiner may talk to family and friends to see if the deceased had recently changed behavior in some way.
Wall Street did change radically in recent years in one notable way. Twenty or 30 years ago, it was common for the best and the brightest to be doctors or engineers. By the 2000s, they wanted to be investment bankers.
When Wall Street was run by people randomly selected from the population, it was able to survive everything. After the best and brightest took over, it died the first time real-estate prices dropped 20 percent.
Are the two facts related? In other words, did Harvard kill Wall Street?
Hassett goes on to argue that Wall Street is gone because its firms did a terrible job assessing the risks of the positions they took.
The models these firms used to evaluate risks failed. But having a failed model brings a firm down only if the firm collectively buys into the model. To do that, the firm must be run by people who have a great deal of faith in their models, and a great deal of faith in themselves.
So basically, MBAs believe they know everything, that they can do no wrong. This narcissism has a real career impact...
The consequences of Wall Street’s reckless brilliance in many ways parallel modern-day engineering disasters. If you travel through Italy, you can’t help but notice the many Roman bridges that still stretch across that nation’s waterways. How is it that the Romans could build bridges that would last thousands of years, while the ones we build today collapse after a few decades?
The answer is simple. Back then, they did not have the fancy computers required to calculate exactly how strong a bridge must be. So an architect made a bridge very, very strong. Today, engineers can calculate exactly how much steel they need to incorporate into a bridge to bear the expected load. The result is, they are free to make them weaker...
The same is true of the financial sector. Back when Wall Street was run by individuals without fancy degrees, they had a proper skepticism toward fancy models and managed their risks with a great deal more humility and caution. Only when failed models became canon did catastrophe strike.
He concludes: Wall Street didn’t die in spite of being run by our best and brightest. It died because of that fact.
Ahem. I don't agree with this entirely - the regulators who turned a blind eye and allowed the is good' brigade to take over are also to blame. But yes, there is much in what he says that rings true.
Every catastrophe has its lessons (one hopes!). Here is some more food for thought for bschools and their students from columnist Matthew Lynn (also from Bloomberg!)
A sum up: Business schools legitimized a pseudo-scientific approach, promoted a mechanistic management style and formed a managerial elite more interested in rewards than producing lasting wealth for the economies they operate in.
(An attitude which manifests right from the time of placement, I would add!)
But the details are more interesting, so here goes:
If a flight-training school produced this number of crashes, we would be asking some questions. There is no reason that business studies should be exempt from the same kind of scrutiny.The schools should be called to account for several things.
First, they encouraged a quasi-scientific approach to business, sermonizing that everything could be nailed down in a textbook. By preaching a set series of formulas they encouraged students to believe that running a company could be mastered by anyone. The entire private-equity industry is founded on that principle. So are mergers and acquisitions.
In reality, management is a skill that is acquired through experience, judgment and flair. Billions are about to be wasted relearning a simple fact that should never have been forgotten.
Second, the intellectual tools that led us into the financial meltdown were largely invented within academia. Complex models for pricing risk created the market for the options and derivatives contracts that have caused so much trouble in the past year.
The business schools took something that was mysterious and unknowable -- risk -- and tried to make it as easy to count as peas in a pod. By doing so, they encouraged a whole generation of young men and women to go into investment banking armed with the belief that they had mastered risk, that it had been tamed and brought under control.
The truth, of course, turned out to be different. Bankers can no more tame risk than sailors can tame the oceans. All they can hope to do is steer a safe course through it.
Third, the schools created a managerial elite that acted like a caste apart. One reason the bonus culture ran out of control was that many of the people involved were trapped in a bubble. They thought “guaranteed” bonuses, private jets and multimillion-dollar payoffs were normal. That process started in business schools.
Citing examples from history such as Henry VIII and Fidel Castro, Lynn makes a rather drastic proposal: Shut down business schools. They are beyond redemption.
Not that yeh honewala hai. Just arbit emotional CP. But for a moment, if we were to say that an ordinance was passed to shut down bschools across the world. What would happen?
Nothing. They would just spring up in another form. They might teach anything, anywhere, but ultimately we would find a new way to create elites, who believe they are the brighest and best, and can do no wrong.
We will bring down other walls on other streets. But keep building more... to separate Purebloods and Mudbloods, Brahmins and non-Brahmins, Thinkers and Followers, ... 'Us' and 'Them'.
Bloomberg's Oliver Staley reports: Harvard Business School, stung by criticism that it hasn’t prepared alumni to cope with the economic meltdown, will dissect its performance using a practice it employs to examine corporations in crisis.
A task force, created in November at the direction of the dean, is writing a case study to scrutinize whether the school is failing to teach students to understand and manage risk in the current environment, according to Paul Healy, co-chair of the panel. The case study method is the technique Harvard uses to analyze decision making by executives during times of duress.
The idea is to put professors in the students' seats and ultimately use the discussion to promote curriculum changes.
Harvard's less than illustrious alumni at the moment include the likes of Stanley O’Neal and John Thain (ex Merrill Lynch), Rick Wagoner, (ex General Motors Corp) and Christopher Cox, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The article goes on to add that "many of the graduates involved in failures attended the school 20 or 30 years ago, before classes on risk management, macroeconomics and leadership were required". But another Bloomberg columnist, Kevin Hassett, points out it's not so much what they studied but their attitude which resulted in the downfall.
And he makes such a good case that this is one of those rare instances where I am compelled to reproduce a large chunk of the article.
For two centuries, Wall Street survived wars, depressions, bank panics and terrorist attacks. Now Wall Street as we know it is dead. Gone.
When a healthy and thriving person dies suddenly, a medical examiner may talk to family and friends to see if the deceased had recently changed behavior in some way.
Wall Street did change radically in recent years in one notable way. Twenty or 30 years ago, it was common for the best and the brightest to be doctors or engineers. By the 2000s, they wanted to be investment bankers.
When Wall Street was run by people randomly selected from the population, it was able to survive everything. After the best and brightest took over, it died the first time real-estate prices dropped 20 percent.
Are the two facts related? In other words, did Harvard kill Wall Street?
Hassett goes on to argue that Wall Street is gone because its firms did a terrible job assessing the risks of the positions they took.
The models these firms used to evaluate risks failed. But having a failed model brings a firm down only if the firm collectively buys into the model. To do that, the firm must be run by people who have a great deal of faith in their models, and a great deal of faith in themselves.
So basically, MBAs believe they know everything, that they can do no wrong. This narcissism has a real career impact...
The consequences of Wall Street’s reckless brilliance in many ways parallel modern-day engineering disasters. If you travel through Italy, you can’t help but notice the many Roman bridges that still stretch across that nation’s waterways. How is it that the Romans could build bridges that would last thousands of years, while the ones we build today collapse after a few decades?
The answer is simple. Back then, they did not have the fancy computers required to calculate exactly how strong a bridge must be. So an architect made a bridge very, very strong. Today, engineers can calculate exactly how much steel they need to incorporate into a bridge to bear the expected load. The result is, they are free to make them weaker...
The same is true of the financial sector. Back when Wall Street was run by individuals without fancy degrees, they had a proper skepticism toward fancy models and managed their risks with a great deal more humility and caution. Only when failed models became canon did catastrophe strike.
He concludes: Wall Street didn’t die in spite of being run by our best and brightest. It died because of that fact.
Ahem. I don't agree with this entirely - the regulators who turned a blind eye and allowed the is good' brigade to take over are also to blame. But yes, there is much in what he says that rings true.
Every catastrophe has its lessons (one hopes!). Here is some more food for thought for bschools and their students from columnist Matthew Lynn (also from Bloomberg!)
A sum up: Business schools legitimized a pseudo-scientific approach, promoted a mechanistic management style and formed a managerial elite more interested in rewards than producing lasting wealth for the economies they operate in.
(An attitude which manifests right from the time of placement, I would add!)
But the details are more interesting, so here goes:
If a flight-training school produced this number of crashes, we would be asking some questions. There is no reason that business studies should be exempt from the same kind of scrutiny.The schools should be called to account for several things.
First, they encouraged a quasi-scientific approach to business, sermonizing that everything could be nailed down in a textbook. By preaching a set series of formulas they encouraged students to believe that running a company could be mastered by anyone. The entire private-equity industry is founded on that principle. So are mergers and acquisitions.
In reality, management is a skill that is acquired through experience, judgment and flair. Billions are about to be wasted relearning a simple fact that should never have been forgotten.
Second, the intellectual tools that led us into the financial meltdown were largely invented within academia. Complex models for pricing risk created the market for the options and derivatives contracts that have caused so much trouble in the past year.
The business schools took something that was mysterious and unknowable -- risk -- and tried to make it as easy to count as peas in a pod. By doing so, they encouraged a whole generation of young men and women to go into investment banking armed with the belief that they had mastered risk, that it had been tamed and brought under control.
The truth, of course, turned out to be different. Bankers can no more tame risk than sailors can tame the oceans. All they can hope to do is steer a safe course through it.
Third, the schools created a managerial elite that acted like a caste apart. One reason the bonus culture ran out of control was that many of the people involved were trapped in a bubble. They thought “guaranteed” bonuses, private jets and multimillion-dollar payoffs were normal. That process started in business schools.
Citing examples from history such as Henry VIII and Fidel Castro, Lynn makes a rather drastic proposal: Shut down business schools. They are beyond redemption.
Not that yeh honewala hai. Just arbit emotional CP. But for a moment, if we were to say that an ordinance was passed to shut down bschools across the world. What would happen?
Nothing. They would just spring up in another form. They might teach anything, anywhere, but ultimately we would find a new way to create elites, who believe they are the brighest and best, and can do no wrong.
We will bring down other walls on other streets. But keep building more... to separate Purebloods and Mudbloods, Brahmins and non-Brahmins, Thinkers and Followers, ... 'Us' and 'Them'.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Autumn-Winter correction
There are two kinds of newspapers - those which make you think and those which make you laugh.
You can guess which category Bombay Times belongs to. Long years of exposure to the paper have made readers immune but still. There are days like today, when one is compelled to stand up and salute this feather in the cap of frou frou.
Smell the smugness, dahlings, with every carefully selected Oxford English dictionary assisted word. Ergo.
"Somebody once told me that in fashion there is a persistent dichotomy between linear, architectonic design and design with a much stronger narrative element."
Wonder how many BT readers get it - at all. Even the sub editor didn't, coz the strapline to the article is 'What's linear and what's architectonic?' (Well I don't really know but anyone who can read would at least figure the two are one and the same!)
Ms Queenie, who's written the article, obviously believes that fashion - which is generally considered frivolous - will be taken more seriously if she can dress it up with oh so intelligent adjectives. Alas.
Fashion is interesting.
Fashion is fun.
But Fashion Week is mostly irrelevant to our lives.
The 'architechtonic' aspect of fashion is to indicate the kinds of silhouettes, fabrics and colours we should be wearing in the next few months. The latest Bollywood hit/ Hindi soap will decide what's in as far as 'Indianwear' goes. And the stock from Bangkok/ Hong Kong which our hip stores live and die on, will determine the rest.
So yeh fashion week ki zaroorat kya hai?
"You won't understand, my dear, it is an 'art form'".
Theek kaha aapne.
It's the art of making us believe that awfully constructed, impractical to wear clothes constitute fashion.
That models with unrealistic looks, expressions and proportions constitute womanhood.
That hacks like Ms Queenie who wreak havoc on the English language and leave you wondering 'what-was-that-I-just-read', constitute journalism. Even in its low, BT form. And I quote:
Besides a sip of champagne and a quite afternoon to see a friend in the city Naomi appeared 'perfect'.
Linearly architectonic, what say! I rest my case.
A previous article of mine on this subject: India Fashion Weak (Businessworld, May 2005).
You can guess which category Bombay Times belongs to. Long years of exposure to the paper have made readers immune but still. There are days like today, when one is compelled to stand up and salute this feather in the cap of frou frou.
Smell the smugness, dahlings, with every carefully selected Oxford English dictionary assisted word. Ergo.
"Somebody once told me that in fashion there is a persistent dichotomy between linear, architectonic design and design with a much stronger narrative element."Wonder how many BT readers get it - at all. Even the sub editor didn't, coz the strapline to the article is 'What's linear and what's architectonic?' (Well I don't really know but anyone who can read would at least figure the two are one and the same!)
Ms Queenie, who's written the article, obviously believes that fashion - which is generally considered frivolous - will be taken more seriously if she can dress it up with oh so intelligent adjectives. Alas.
Fashion is interesting.
Fashion is fun.
But Fashion Week is mostly irrelevant to our lives.
The 'architechtonic' aspect of fashion is to indicate the kinds of silhouettes, fabrics and colours we should be wearing in the next few months. The latest Bollywood hit/ Hindi soap will decide what's in as far as 'Indianwear' goes. And the stock from Bangkok/ Hong Kong which our hip stores live and die on, will determine the rest.
So yeh fashion week ki zaroorat kya hai?
"You won't understand, my dear, it is an 'art form'".
Theek kaha aapne.
It's the art of making us believe that awfully constructed, impractical to wear clothes constitute fashion.
That models with unrealistic looks, expressions and proportions constitute womanhood.
That hacks like Ms Queenie who wreak havoc on the English language and leave you wondering 'what-was-that-I-just-read', constitute journalism. Even in its low, BT form. And I quote:
Besides a sip of champagne and a quite afternoon to see a friend in the city Naomi appeared 'perfect'.
Linearly architectonic, what say! I rest my case.
A previous article of mine on this subject: India Fashion Weak (Businessworld, May 2005).
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Adventure in Ri Hynniewtrep
It is my first evening in Shillong. I've just had dinner at a restaurant called 'Bombay Bites' (would you believe it!) and decide to take a stroll in the famous Police Bazaar area. It's close to 9 pm and the place does look a tad deserted. But to my Mumbai mind the night seems young.
Then I get a call from the only person in Shillong who has my cell number. A person I have never met but am hoping to interview the next day. "What? You are in Police Bazaar at this time?? Wait right there.. I will drop you back!"
And true to his word, Z lands up a few minutes later and I sheepishly get into a well-worn Maruti. "Is it really unsafe?" I ask my new found friend. "Well... probably not", he says."But just in case. Why take a chance?"
And sure enough Mahesh - the one man receptionist/ caretaker/ cashier who holds the fort at the Bonnie Guest House - is relieved to see me. "I was going to call and find out where you are..." he grins.
Okay! So lesson # 1 in Shillong. Early to bed and early to rise - in the North east consider that wise!
And quickly, I learnt a whole lot more.
Like Shillong is a small town but small is truly beautiful. I have been to many 'hill stations' and they are generally over run by tourists, touts and terribly unplanned new developments.
Shillong still has that untouched feel to it. Beautiful wooden bungalows, old-style churches, wider-than-expected roads! And oh, it is SO clean everywhere.
Old timers complain that Shillong is now crowded and even experiences traffic jams. Mujhe to bhai kaafi khaali aur khula khula laga. But then my point of reference is you know which crazy city!
And the air - it is so heavenly that I wish you could bottle it and take it home! Cool and crisp but without the chill factor, because there are no icy mountains anywhere near the place.
So what did I do? Well. Since I had only 2 days to spend in the city I decided to skip the various 'peaks and points' which tourists visit and just get to know the city. I walked around. Met some interesting people. Tried out stuff!
Like red tea. Sounds intriguing but it's really only lightly brewed black tea with lemon. Tastes better than it sounds, up there :)
Things that struck me
Shillong is far more cosmopolitan than I would have thought. The area I stayed in - Laban - had a fair mix of people from different communities. The shop signage is interesting to say the least!
Another thing you notice is the long shadow of the Indian government. All over the place! From rozgar yojanas...
... to public sector banks (the Khasi language which uses English script adds an exotic touch to their names!).
And of course, at every turn, there is the Army.
There is no local bus system in Shillong (or perhaps I failed to notice it!) but there is a very efficient share a cab facility. Black and yellow Maruti Altos and 800s criss cross the city, constantly picking up passengers and dropping them off. They charge you ten bucks wonly unless your destination is out of the way or you want to 'reserve' the entire cab.
I wonder if the base model nano might eventually replace them. You really don't need an air-conditioner here!
IIM Shillong
Any batch which enters a newly set up institute - even an IIM! - generally has a tough time. Ask the folks in 'IIT Rajasthan'and so on who are operating from existing IIT campuses.
But IIM Shillong is different. The first batch of 64 students who joined last June actually have a lovely campus! Located in the Nongthymmai area of Shillong this complex earlier housed NEHU (the North Eastern Hill University, which has relocated).
You walk up a winding driveway, past fir trees gently swaying in the breeze. Green lawns and pure air - ah! this could be a holiday resort. Actually it was the summer palace of the erstwhile Mayurbhanj kings. No wonder! There's solid wood flooring and even gazebos which remind you of the 'I am sixteen' song from Sound of Music :)
However it's all quite functional - classrooms, faculty offices, dormitory, auditorium, guest house and what have you. The blackboard I was told is 'the most hi tech' across all IIMs.
And hey, they serve Maggi noodles here... for breakfast!
On the flip side, location is a constraint in attracting quality faculty. When profs visit, they like to cram in the course into as short a duration as possible which means longer hours of classes.
There are some unique aspects to IIM Shillong. Instead of a summer internship, students go on a winter internship program in January and February. That way they not only beat the weather but avoid the maara maari for good roles and profiles in the summer.
IIM Shillong hopes to differentiate itself by positioning itself as a bschool which focuses on sustainable development. That sounds great on paper... but I doubt most companies in Indiacare. Right now at least, it's all about sustaining profits!
The logo of IIM Shillong (designed by NID) is rather nice and has a local flavour. But will IIM be able to impact Shillong in any other way?
The institute is running some short duration programs for locals and soon-to-retire defence services officers. But judging from the numbers taking CAT, overall interest in getting into a management career is low in this part of India (which may not be such a bad thing :)
People are what you may call 'chilled'.
Memorable encounters
* A taxi driver with an MA in Political Science. He also runs a hatchery - this is just his spare time job. He related the story of how a friend landed in Mumbai and was robbed off everything but the shirt on his back, that very day.
"I told him it's not Shillong... things are different in India." Which begs the question: Is Shillong not part of India...??
* I visited the office of Chillibreeze, a content outsourcing company which runs a 20 strong office in Shillong. Chillibreeze is one of the two occupants of a 'Software Technology Park' set up by the government a couple of years ago.
"It is a new thing here," says Teddy, the amiable manager at Chillibreeze who shows me around. To be able to find employment of this kind - in Shillong - is rare.
I traipsed around the place shooting pictures, taking video, asking Teddy questions and none - but none of them! - looked up from their screens. Extreme dedication or phobia of strangers? A little of both methinks.
"We Khasis are shy.. we don't speak so much," explains Teddy. Ask a question, you get a concise answer - not a conversation. English speaking, hardworking staff at a reasonable price. So why can't there be more such companies in this part of the country? 24 hour electricity and net connectivity used to be an issue - the software park takes care of it now. The facility is set to expand soon - it should attract more such ventures.
(A word of advice to whoever manages the park: please also take care of the loos! They are the only dirty place I have seen in Shillong - a disgrace!).
* While most tourists hang around Police Bazaar Laitumkhrah is actually more buzzing as far as the local youth are concerned. My friend Z took me to two happening joints - 'The Little Chef' started by 'Oz', a Shillong native who trained with the likes of Oberoi hotels before returning home to floor everyone with divine desserts.
I vouch - the cheesecakes are to die for.
Then there is 'A Matter of taste' - a delightful hangout which brews much more than coffee. AMOT is a place where creative types congregate. The walls and display units showcase paintings and CDs by local artists, as well as handicrafts. On Sunday evenings there are live performances.
The show is managed by Sharon, who studied in Delhi and worked as Jet Airways cabin crew before returning home because... get this. As per Khasi tradition the youngest daughter is responsible for looking after her parents.
It looks like she is having her cake and selling it too :) But seriously, since Sharon's family owns the building and her brother is the architect I can't say if it is a hugely profitable business in its own right. But surely, it is about doing something new, making a difference.
Sightseeing
Ah, despite my best laid plans of not getting touristy, it happened otherwise. Divine intervention extended my stay in Shillong by a day. Gauhati airport was hit by a dust storm which reduced visibility to such a low that planes did not take off for almost two days.
Not that I was complaining. I set off for Cherrapunji - the name imprinted in my brain by geography textbooks as as the 'wettest place on earth'. Alas - no more. It still rains, of course, but the quantity is said to be falling with each passing year.
In any case it has not rained for a while in these parts (abhi season nahin hai) hence there was absolutely NO water at any of the famed waterfalls in and around Cherrapunji. More brown and yellow everywhere than green!
Among other attractions, the Mawsmai cave is pretty cool - my daughter would have loved it coz you enter from one side and exit from the other after negotiating some rather spatially challenged rock formations. It was more of an adventure I am told when the cave earlier - now it's nicely lit up so you don't get spooked or need to carry a torch.
And yes, the drive is nice although I can't say if this really looks like the 'Scotland of the east'. Scotland of the West hi abhi tak dekha nahin hai.
I also spent a bit of time at Ward's lake (pretty but hardly spectacular!).
The next morning I called Gauhati to confirm flights were leaving. A part of me was hoping the answer was "no".
There's a lot more to see and do in Shillong - and in the rest of the Northeast - but at least I got a glimpse of Ri Hynniewtrep - land of the seven huts.
I will be back - sometime soon!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Visiting Guwahati & Shillong
Starting tomorrow. Am speaking at an entrepreneurship event organised by IIT Guwahati and then going to Shillong (just! this is my first ever trip to the North east).
The exciting bit is I don't know anyone in this part of the world.. but would love to meet some interesting people. Entrepreneurs, artists, musicians - whatever. Would also love to visit a couple of local colleges and of course IIM Shillong.
And if anyone has suggestions on what to do/ where to eat/ hang out etc please feel free to share... I will be checking my mail on gprs (God willing) so drop me a line at rashmi_b at yahoo.com
The exciting bit is I don't know anyone in this part of the world.. but would love to meet some interesting people. Entrepreneurs, artists, musicians - whatever. Would also love to visit a couple of local colleges and of course IIM Shillong.
And if anyone has suggestions on what to do/ where to eat/ hang out etc please feel free to share... I will be checking my mail on gprs (God willing) so drop me a line at rashmi_b at yahoo.com
Interview subjects wanted
Am looking for folks with the following profiles to do a short interview on UTVi 'Cracking Careers':
* Any MBA/ engineer from a reputed school who has worked with a PSU (or is still working for one). This is in the context of so many current graduates joining PSUs.
* Anyone who's done SAP certification and can talk about who should go in for it, does it make sense in the current environment and so on
* Anyone who'd completed the international CFA. Again, is it something you would recommend to others? Has it boosted your career?
As always drop me a line at rashmi_b at yahoo.com. Would prefer people based in Mumbai as it is easier logistically but if you are based in any major metro it should be ok.
EOA (End of Appeal)
* Any MBA/ engineer from a reputed school who has worked with a PSU (or is still working for one). This is in the context of so many current graduates joining PSUs.
* Anyone who's done SAP certification and can talk about who should go in for it, does it make sense in the current environment and so on
* Anyone who'd completed the international CFA. Again, is it something you would recommend to others? Has it boosted your career?
As always drop me a line at rashmi_b at yahoo.com. Would prefer people based in Mumbai as it is easier logistically but if you are based in any major metro it should be ok.
EOA (End of Appeal)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Love thy neighbour
My nose is a little pink. My fingernails purple. Yes, I played Holi today!
I know many of you didn't. Kuch log kehte hain, "I'm allergic to colour". Others feel "Gosh... too old for this". Many, including me, long for the good old days when we played Holi with our chaddi-buddies. What's the fun in chasing a neighbour you barely know with water balloons?
More of us need to find out - like I did. I think Holi is the one festival which gives us all an excuse to be kids again. And I might be imagining it, but I think the few adults who came out to play Holi this year in my building had a lot more enthusiasm than previous years.
And this might be stretching it but perhaps it is a sign of the times. As a cousin who is an investment banker with not too much work at hand these days observed over dinner last night,"Facebook is exploding... Everyone has so much free time!"
Even the gosh-do-I-really-need-to-connect-with-KG-classmate types are getting onto the bandwagon and discovering they're lovin' it.
The long and short of it is, recession is not a nice thing. Most people I know are worried... "Foreign banks will soon start downsizing", says one batchmate. "Wish I had never taken such a big home loan," mutters another.
From manufacturing to media, we're slowly seeing not just a freeze on pay but salary cuts.
And yet, I think there is a valuable lesson in it for all of us. Too much of our happiness had got hinged to the ability to spend money. Too little came from spending time with the folks we love and live with.
As Suze Orman would say,"People first, then money, then things." If takes a crisis to understand the truth in that simple statement - so be it!
I know many of you didn't. Kuch log kehte hain, "I'm allergic to colour". Others feel "Gosh... too old for this". Many, including me, long for the good old days when we played Holi with our chaddi-buddies. What's the fun in chasing a neighbour you barely know with water balloons?
More of us need to find out - like I did. I think Holi is the one festival which gives us all an excuse to be kids again. And I might be imagining it, but I think the few adults who came out to play Holi this year in my building had a lot more enthusiasm than previous years.
And this might be stretching it but perhaps it is a sign of the times. As a cousin who is an investment banker with not too much work at hand these days observed over dinner last night,"Facebook is exploding... Everyone has so much free time!"
Even the gosh-do-I-really-need-to-connect-with-KG-classmate types are getting onto the bandwagon and discovering they're lovin' it.
The long and short of it is, recession is not a nice thing. Most people I know are worried... "Foreign banks will soon start downsizing", says one batchmate. "Wish I had never taken such a big home loan," mutters another.
From manufacturing to media, we're slowly seeing not just a freeze on pay but salary cuts.
And yet, I think there is a valuable lesson in it for all of us. Too much of our happiness had got hinged to the ability to spend money. Too little came from spending time with the folks we love and live with.
As Suze Orman would say,"People first, then money, then things." If takes a crisis to understand the truth in that simple statement - so be it!
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Make your own road
What goes up, must come down. But just how much - we finally have some idea!
Placement statistics from IIMA confirm the worst fears of the graduating MBA class. The average domestic salary is down 32%. Foreign offers have dried up. Big recruiters are missing or making just a token offer or two.
The placement process was officially closed after 8 days but rumour has it a few students are still looking for jobs. Or maybe they have jobs, but are still looking for something 'better'.
The same stories are coming in everywhere. Top bschools like XLRI, MDI and IIFT are reporting 70-90% of the batch has secured placement. The rest I am sure will eventually find jobs, although at salaries much lower than expected.
Naturally junta is not in the best of spirits. But you know something - I think good will eventually come out of all this.
For some years now the MBA had become not a stepping stone into a corporate career but a kind of express elevator.
Now it's back to basics. Start modestly, learn the business, figure out what really works outside of textbooks. It may not be out of choice but more MBAs are moving out of their comfort zone into new and uncharted sectors.
Stories like this one are especially heartening. The Economic Times reports:
Manishbhai Patel went shopping, and came back with an IIM graduate. Patel, who runs the Rs 3-crore Varun Radiators in Kalol, Gujarat, had been scouting for a chief executive to spearhead his ambitious expansion plans...
He made his pitch, convinced the 26-year-old IIM student of all the possibilities that a growth-hungry company had on offer, and bagged his new CEO for Rs 6 lakh per annum. “It’s a breakthrough. He will add value to our company, and we want to touch Rs 15 crore within a year,” says Patel, elated at his prize catch.
It's not going to be easy for the CEO. Or for Mr Patel. But if this 26 year old can adjust his attitude and apply his aptitude, he can work wonders. I say this with confidence because I've heard stories like this from a previous generation of MBAs. Among them, super successful people I interviewed for 'Stay Hungry Stay Foolish'.
In the 70s and 80s, many IIM grads joined organisations such as FAIR - Foundation to Aid Industrial Recovery. The concept of FAIR was to take a sick industrial unit from a bank, put a young MBA in charge as the chief executive and turn around the company in two years. Retaining all the existing employees.
Sunil Handa, who later set up Core Healthcare and Eklavya school (but is of course best known and loved as the professor who's inspired so many towards entrepreneurship) said of his stint at FAIR:
"To take a 23 year old fresher from IIM-A and throw him into Bhavnagar to revive a sick unit, required a lot of guts and the density of learning was very high. If I had spent 19 months in Hindustan Lever as a management trainee, I would not have learnt even one per cent of what I learnt in 19 months as a chief executive of a sick unit".
Others like Vinayak Chatterjee (founder of Feedback Ventures) worked as executive assistant to Raunaq Singh and became part of the team which turned around Apollo Tyres.
So to the graduating class of 2009 I have one simple advice. Wherever you work, whatever you do, and no matter how lousy your take home...
Treat the next 2 years as if enrolled for another degree. Awarded by the University of Life.
Strive to learn, to grow, to polish the rough edges. Make friends with the salesman, the doorman and the chairman. Good relationships can take you a long long way.
Be humble yet do not be subservient. Understand the ground reality, gain trust and you will definitely get a chance to challenge the status quo.
You, the graduating class of 2009, are brand ambassadors for the animal known as the 'MBA'. Prove the critics wrong. Show them that the education you receieved was more than a ticket to a fancy paycheque.
What goes down, must go up. When the economy recovers - as it definitely will - you will be a valuable and wise asset for any company. Until then, enjoy each day. Struggle is the sweetness we stir into our souls as we brew our own special brand of success.
A brand bigger than the bschool you graduate from. Or the very label 'MBA'.
Placement statistics from IIMA confirm the worst fears of the graduating MBA class. The average domestic salary is down 32%. Foreign offers have dried up. Big recruiters are missing or making just a token offer or two.
The placement process was officially closed after 8 days but rumour has it a few students are still looking for jobs. Or maybe they have jobs, but are still looking for something 'better'.
The same stories are coming in everywhere. Top bschools like XLRI, MDI and IIFT are reporting 70-90% of the batch has secured placement. The rest I am sure will eventually find jobs, although at salaries much lower than expected.
Naturally junta is not in the best of spirits. But you know something - I think good will eventually come out of all this.
For some years now the MBA had become not a stepping stone into a corporate career but a kind of express elevator.
Now it's back to basics. Start modestly, learn the business, figure out what really works outside of textbooks. It may not be out of choice but more MBAs are moving out of their comfort zone into new and uncharted sectors.
Stories like this one are especially heartening. The Economic Times reports:
Manishbhai Patel went shopping, and came back with an IIM graduate. Patel, who runs the Rs 3-crore Varun Radiators in Kalol, Gujarat, had been scouting for a chief executive to spearhead his ambitious expansion plans...
He made his pitch, convinced the 26-year-old IIM student of all the possibilities that a growth-hungry company had on offer, and bagged his new CEO for Rs 6 lakh per annum. “It’s a breakthrough. He will add value to our company, and we want to touch Rs 15 crore within a year,” says Patel, elated at his prize catch.
It's not going to be easy for the CEO. Or for Mr Patel. But if this 26 year old can adjust his attitude and apply his aptitude, he can work wonders. I say this with confidence because I've heard stories like this from a previous generation of MBAs. Among them, super successful people I interviewed for 'Stay Hungry Stay Foolish'.
In the 70s and 80s, many IIM grads joined organisations such as FAIR - Foundation to Aid Industrial Recovery. The concept of FAIR was to take a sick industrial unit from a bank, put a young MBA in charge as the chief executive and turn around the company in two years. Retaining all the existing employees.
Sunil Handa, who later set up Core Healthcare and Eklavya school (but is of course best known and loved as the professor who's inspired so many towards entrepreneurship) said of his stint at FAIR:
"To take a 23 year old fresher from IIM-A and throw him into Bhavnagar to revive a sick unit, required a lot of guts and the density of learning was very high. If I had spent 19 months in Hindustan Lever as a management trainee, I would not have learnt even one per cent of what I learnt in 19 months as a chief executive of a sick unit".
Others like Vinayak Chatterjee (founder of Feedback Ventures) worked as executive assistant to Raunaq Singh and became part of the team which turned around Apollo Tyres.
So to the graduating class of 2009 I have one simple advice. Wherever you work, whatever you do, and no matter how lousy your take home...
Treat the next 2 years as if enrolled for another degree. Awarded by the University of Life.
Strive to learn, to grow, to polish the rough edges. Make friends with the salesman, the doorman and the chairman. Good relationships can take you a long long way.
Be humble yet do not be subservient. Understand the ground reality, gain trust and you will definitely get a chance to challenge the status quo.
You, the graduating class of 2009, are brand ambassadors for the animal known as the 'MBA'. Prove the critics wrong. Show them that the education you receieved was more than a ticket to a fancy paycheque.
What goes down, must go up. When the economy recovers - as it definitely will - you will be a valuable and wise asset for any company. Until then, enjoy each day. Struggle is the sweetness we stir into our souls as we brew our own special brand of success.
A brand bigger than the bschool you graduate from. Or the very label 'MBA'.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
"Sorry, we goofed up!"
Those may not be the exact words used but two reputed Indian bschools have now acknowledged errors in their admissions procedure and made amends.
The Symbiosis group received a good deal of flak for lack of transparency in its SNAP exam. Most students complained of 'less marks' than expected and wanted to see the answer key to understand where they went wrong.
I wrote to Symbiosis asking for their side of the story and was promised a reply by Jan 21. But none ever came.
Well the latest development is that Symbiosis has come out with scorecards again after revaluation. Says Ankit Doshi, "A lot of students are now getting marks that they actually deserved in the first place".
The result is that they will honour interveiw calls for students who have already been given calls. They will also send out calls to students who make the grade after the revaluation.
IMI Delhi is another institute which took heed of the hue and cry raised by the student community. This bschool had assigned a very low weightage to CAT score (only 40%) and given a lot of importance to class 10 and 12 marks without 'normalising' scores across various boards.
IMI has now changed its selection procedure and come out with a revised list.
Says Ankit, "Whether the new procedure is ideal or no i dont know. But one thing is for sure that they have a lot of courage!"
I wish IIM Ahmedabad would also address the issue of normalisation... Because admitting a mistake only raises the stature of any individual or institution!
The Symbiosis group received a good deal of flak for lack of transparency in its SNAP exam. Most students complained of 'less marks' than expected and wanted to see the answer key to understand where they went wrong.
I wrote to Symbiosis asking for their side of the story and was promised a reply by Jan 21. But none ever came.
Well the latest development is that Symbiosis has come out with scorecards again after revaluation. Says Ankit Doshi, "A lot of students are now getting marks that they actually deserved in the first place".
The result is that they will honour interveiw calls for students who have already been given calls. They will also send out calls to students who make the grade after the revaluation.
IMI Delhi is another institute which took heed of the hue and cry raised by the student community. This bschool had assigned a very low weightage to CAT score (only 40%) and given a lot of importance to class 10 and 12 marks without 'normalising' scores across various boards.
IMI has now changed its selection procedure and come out with a revised list.
Says Ankit, "Whether the new procedure is ideal or no i dont know. But one thing is for sure that they have a lot of courage!"
I wish IIM Ahmedabad would also address the issue of normalisation... Because admitting a mistake only raises the stature of any individual or institution!
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Where are the jobs?
More than 6 million Chinese students left university last year and up to a quarter are still struggling to find work.
Another six million will graduate this year and they're going to find it even tougher. Economic conditions are to blame, of course, but there is a more fundamental issue.
"The number of graduates increased too quickly - by 2006 there were already five times more than in 1999. The labour market can't take that big an increase in such a short time," said Professor Yang Dongping of the Beijing Institute of Technology, the author of a report on graduate employment.
China's successfully expanded higher education in recent years. Too successfully perhaps, says BBC News.
About 6% of the workforce has been to university, far fewer than in many developed countries, but there are still not yet enough high-end jobs for graduates to do here.
Higher expectations are clashing with the deteriorating economic reality, says the Guardian. I think much the same is happening in India.
We currently have 1600 engineering colleges and 1200 odd bschools - all of which churn out graduates suffering from expectation mismatch. In the boom period, even the third rung colleges would manage to attract some employers.
But in the slowdown, the creme de la creme itself appears to be gasping for air. Top bschools are sending out placement brochures to tiny firms. Alums are bemused,"Kya haalat itni buri hai?". Anecdotal evidence would suggest so (although a complete picture will only emerge by the end of next month).
"XYZ cola major came to campus and offered 3 lakhs per annum," says an agitated final year student at one of India's best known bschools. He can't imagine expecting *such* a low offer. It's an insult.
But what is low, really? A microfinance position has become a serious option at a top bschool. The job content is good and a paypacket of Rs 10 lakhs looks generous to me. Magar students cannot help recalling that the average last year was Rs 14 lakhs p.a.
"We realise salaries will be lower this year but still, it's hard to accept...!"
And more so, because you've shelled out fees ranging from Rs 6-11 lakhs and will soon have EMIs hanging over your head.
Luckily, we have the 'social security' of living with parents :)
But seriously, I'd like to hear from any of you guys out there graduating this year, what the mood on campus is like. More than hard statistics I want anecdotes, incidents, what junta is talking about.
How you and your batchmates are dealing with the situation, what are your hopes and dreams for the near future.
You can add your comments below, or if you'd like to remain anonymous, mail me at rashmi_b at yahoo.com. The inputs you provide will be used by JAM magazine for an upcoming cover feature titled - you guessed it - 'Where are the jobs?'
Another six million will graduate this year and they're going to find it even tougher. Economic conditions are to blame, of course, but there is a more fundamental issue.
"The number of graduates increased too quickly - by 2006 there were already five times more than in 1999. The labour market can't take that big an increase in such a short time," said Professor Yang Dongping of the Beijing Institute of Technology, the author of a report on graduate employment.
China's successfully expanded higher education in recent years. Too successfully perhaps, says BBC News.
About 6% of the workforce has been to university, far fewer than in many developed countries, but there are still not yet enough high-end jobs for graduates to do here.
Higher expectations are clashing with the deteriorating economic reality, says the Guardian. I think much the same is happening in India.
We currently have 1600 engineering colleges and 1200 odd bschools - all of which churn out graduates suffering from expectation mismatch. In the boom period, even the third rung colleges would manage to attract some employers.
But in the slowdown, the creme de la creme itself appears to be gasping for air. Top bschools are sending out placement brochures to tiny firms. Alums are bemused,"Kya haalat itni buri hai?". Anecdotal evidence would suggest so (although a complete picture will only emerge by the end of next month).
"XYZ cola major came to campus and offered 3 lakhs per annum," says an agitated final year student at one of India's best known bschools. He can't imagine expecting *such* a low offer. It's an insult.
But what is low, really? A microfinance position has become a serious option at a top bschool. The job content is good and a paypacket of Rs 10 lakhs looks generous to me. Magar students cannot help recalling that the average last year was Rs 14 lakhs p.a.
"We realise salaries will be lower this year but still, it's hard to accept...!"
And more so, because you've shelled out fees ranging from Rs 6-11 lakhs and will soon have EMIs hanging over your head.
Luckily, we have the 'social security' of living with parents :)
But seriously, I'd like to hear from any of you guys out there graduating this year, what the mood on campus is like. More than hard statistics I want anecdotes, incidents, what junta is talking about.
How you and your batchmates are dealing with the situation, what are your hopes and dreams for the near future.
You can add your comments below, or if you'd like to remain anonymous, mail me at rashmi_b at yahoo.com. The inputs you provide will be used by JAM magazine for an upcoming cover feature titled - you guessed it - 'Where are the jobs?'
Sorry, we're not sorry - II
This morning Indian Express has reported that one year after the MNS attacks on taxi drivers from outside Maharashtra, not a single chargesheet has been filed in any of the 84 cases registered.
That is because the state government has not given the sanction to go ahead and prosecute Thackeray despite repeated reminders from the police. And I quote:
A senior state government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unlikely Thackeray would ever be chargesheeted. Instead, the police might be asked to convert the cases into “A Summary”, he said, referring to a legal classification which means the case is true but undetected and ultimately closed.
Methinks the media needs to grill the Maharashtra CM and home secretary on TV about lapses like this, rather than providing the loony fringe a platform.
That is because the state government has not given the sanction to go ahead and prosecute Thackeray despite repeated reminders from the police. And I quote:
A senior state government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unlikely Thackeray would ever be chargesheeted. Instead, the police might be asked to convert the cases into “A Summary”, he said, referring to a legal classification which means the case is true but undetected and ultimately closed.
Methinks the media needs to grill the Maharashtra CM and home secretary on TV about lapses like this, rather than providing the loony fringe a platform.
Sorry, we're not sorry!
Three very agitated women tried their best to get Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik to admit on CNN IBN's Face the Nation that he has no adhikaar to decide what is 'Indian culture'.
Sadly, they failed. They failed because you cannot use reason or logic with a man who wishes to give a memorandum to the Karnataka CM and police requesting them not to allow the celebration of 'Valenteens Day'.
"Agar.. agar.. agar police aapke memorandum par act nahin ki to aap kya karenge.." sputtered Sagarika Ghose, in shock and excitement.
Muthalik will 'request' shopkeepers not to sell cards as it leads their mas and behens astray.
"Aapko kaun adhikaar deta hai bhartiya sanskriti ke thekedaar banne ka", thundered the true-blue English news anchor, frantically trying to string together thoughts in Hindi.
Yes, talking of 'setting the agenda' at the very least he got CNN IBN to hold a half hour discussion with him in the rashtrabhasha!
The truth is yesterday Muthalik was a nobody. Today he got half an hour on prime time television to loftily declare that "hazaaron lakhon log hamara saath de rahe hain".
If I were a politician looking to make a 'national launch' I would run to the nearest pub, beat up a few women and send the tape to all news channels.
Then I would powder up and wait for my turn to beam to the camera and declare,"2008 mein Feb 14 ko Mumbai mein aath ladkiyon ke upar atyachar hua.. aur Dilli mein 17 ladkiyon par!"
Yes, there are voices which say 'fight back' but it is one thing to join a group on Facebook and another to actually fight back when a bunch of hooligans try to tear off your clothes.
Wish you all a happy Valenteens Day.
Sadly, they failed. They failed because you cannot use reason or logic with a man who wishes to give a memorandum to the Karnataka CM and police requesting them not to allow the celebration of 'Valenteens Day'.
"Agar.. agar.. agar police aapke memorandum par act nahin ki to aap kya karenge.." sputtered Sagarika Ghose, in shock and excitement.
Muthalik will 'request' shopkeepers not to sell cards as it leads their mas and behens astray.
"Aapko kaun adhikaar deta hai bhartiya sanskriti ke thekedaar banne ka", thundered the true-blue English news anchor, frantically trying to string together thoughts in Hindi.
Yes, talking of 'setting the agenda' at the very least he got CNN IBN to hold a half hour discussion with him in the rashtrabhasha!
The truth is yesterday Muthalik was a nobody. Today he got half an hour on prime time television to loftily declare that "hazaaron lakhon log hamara saath de rahe hain".
If I were a politician looking to make a 'national launch' I would run to the nearest pub, beat up a few women and send the tape to all news channels.
Then I would powder up and wait for my turn to beam to the camera and declare,"2008 mein Feb 14 ko Mumbai mein aath ladkiyon ke upar atyachar hua.. aur Dilli mein 17 ladkiyon par!"
Yes, there are voices which say 'fight back' but it is one thing to join a group on Facebook and another to actually fight back when a bunch of hooligans try to tear off your clothes.
Wish you all a happy Valenteens Day.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Finansial Atyachar
I twisted my ankle the other day and went to buy Relispray.
"How much," I asked.
"Rs 100", said the chemist.
My daughter butted in,"Is se chhota size nahin hai?"
The guy returned with a smaller version and we paid sixty bucks.
"See,"she beamed."We saved forty rupees."
Her logic was that I don't need twist my ankle everyday, so the smaller can should be fine.
The next day she stepped out of the bath and declared,"I used soap today and it is nice."
Not that I don't know the benefits of soap but over the last couple of years we've switched to shower gels. Bas yun hi. Now my nine year old declares that the good old sabun ki batti is cheaper - and lasts longer!
What surprised me was how sensitive she's become about the need to 'save money'. Almost like she is reacting to the current economic scenario.
Now technically Nivedita does not read business newspapers or track the stock market. Neither have I overtly communicated the idea to her. But something in the air is telling her.. times are tough.
Sadly, the folks at Wall Street who've created this giant, gaseous global MESS don't get it. That is clear from two recent pieces of news:
* Despite the current crisis, Wall Street paid itself bonuses worth $ 18.4 billion in 2008. Yahoo finance reports:
That pool is down 44% from the prior year but still represents the sixth-largest bonus haul on record, according to the NY State comptroller's office.
No wonder Obama went ballistic!
* Nero was playing his fiddle while Rome was burning. John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch was busy remodelling his office and deliberating on the colour of his $ 87,000 rug.
Thain was ousted last week by Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis after Merrill Lynch posted an 'unexpectedly' large loss in the fourth quarter. Well we certainly expect no less from these frou frou financial whizkids!
I am no expert on the current crisis at Wall Street but last week I happened to attend a talk by Prof Marti Subrahmanyam, Charles E. Merrill Professor of Finance and Economics in the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Of the many wise and wonderful insights he shared one comment stuck with me. The good professor remarked that in recent times financial instruments had become so complex that most of the people trading these products (such as CDOs) had no idea what they were buying and selling.
"They may as well have been trading onions or potatos," he stated.
I have taken the liberty of applying that analogy to the crisis as whole and this is how ridiculous it looks...
I am a trader in the Azadpur sabzi mandi. I deal in potatos but I don't really know what potatos look like. Neither do I know what they smell like or taste like.
But someone has told me these are potatos and I trust that guy. Actually even he does not know what potatos look like but someone told him these are good quality potatos...
And so it goes. What kills me is that these were supposedly the smartest people, the 'best talent money could buy'. The people who are trained in the whole art and science of harvesting money on the financial farms of Wall Street.
And none of them had a clue. What's more, they are now happy to hide behind a convenient scarecrow.
Daniel Gross of Newseek, reporting from Davos, has a telling piece on why the world's economic leaders blame the catastrophe on the system instead of themselves.
For centuries, historians have debated whether history is propelled by Great Men (and Women), human forces of nature who bend events and systems to their will, or by vast impersonal forces (communism, capitalism, globalization) that render even the most powerful of us a mere reed basket floating in a massive river.
There's no session on the subject at the World Economic Forum in Davos. But at least with regard to finance and business, the consensus seems to be clear: Success is the work of Great Men and Great Women, while failure can be pinned on the system.
People make mistakes, sure. But as Nicholas Taleb, author of 'The Black Swan' noted recently, we can't have a system where profits are privatised and losses socialised.
If the industry is to get a massive bailout they better learn to tell their onions from their potatos. And good potatos from bad ones.
And meanwhile, all ye farmers, tauba tera bonus, tauba teri car...
Methinks you deserve some finansial atyachaar!
"How much," I asked.
"Rs 100", said the chemist.
My daughter butted in,"Is se chhota size nahin hai?"
The guy returned with a smaller version and we paid sixty bucks.
"See,"she beamed."We saved forty rupees."
Her logic was that I don't need twist my ankle everyday, so the smaller can should be fine.
The next day she stepped out of the bath and declared,"I used soap today and it is nice."
Not that I don't know the benefits of soap but over the last couple of years we've switched to shower gels. Bas yun hi. Now my nine year old declares that the good old sabun ki batti is cheaper - and lasts longer!
What surprised me was how sensitive she's become about the need to 'save money'. Almost like she is reacting to the current economic scenario.
Now technically Nivedita does not read business newspapers or track the stock market. Neither have I overtly communicated the idea to her. But something in the air is telling her.. times are tough.
Sadly, the folks at Wall Street who've created this giant, gaseous global MESS don't get it. That is clear from two recent pieces of news:
* Despite the current crisis, Wall Street paid itself bonuses worth $ 18.4 billion in 2008. Yahoo finance reports:
That pool is down 44% from the prior year but still represents the sixth-largest bonus haul on record, according to the NY State comptroller's office.
No wonder Obama went ballistic!
* Nero was playing his fiddle while Rome was burning. John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch was busy remodelling his office and deliberating on the colour of his $ 87,000 rug.
Thain was ousted last week by Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis after Merrill Lynch posted an 'unexpectedly' large loss in the fourth quarter. Well we certainly expect no less from these frou frou financial whizkids!
I am no expert on the current crisis at Wall Street but last week I happened to attend a talk by Prof Marti Subrahmanyam, Charles E. Merrill Professor of Finance and Economics in the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Of the many wise and wonderful insights he shared one comment stuck with me. The good professor remarked that in recent times financial instruments had become so complex that most of the people trading these products (such as CDOs) had no idea what they were buying and selling.
"They may as well have been trading onions or potatos," he stated.
I have taken the liberty of applying that analogy to the crisis as whole and this is how ridiculous it looks...
I am a trader in the Azadpur sabzi mandi. I deal in potatos but I don't really know what potatos look like. Neither do I know what they smell like or taste like.
But someone has told me these are potatos and I trust that guy. Actually even he does not know what potatos look like but someone told him these are good quality potatos...
And so it goes. What kills me is that these were supposedly the smartest people, the 'best talent money could buy'. The people who are trained in the whole art and science of harvesting money on the financial farms of Wall Street.
And none of them had a clue. What's more, they are now happy to hide behind a convenient scarecrow.
Daniel Gross of Newseek, reporting from Davos, has a telling piece on why the world's economic leaders blame the catastrophe on the system instead of themselves.
For centuries, historians have debated whether history is propelled by Great Men (and Women), human forces of nature who bend events and systems to their will, or by vast impersonal forces (communism, capitalism, globalization) that render even the most powerful of us a mere reed basket floating in a massive river.
There's no session on the subject at the World Economic Forum in Davos. But at least with regard to finance and business, the consensus seems to be clear: Success is the work of Great Men and Great Women, while failure can be pinned on the system.
People make mistakes, sure. But as Nicholas Taleb, author of 'The Black Swan' noted recently, we can't have a system where profits are privatised and losses socialised.
If the industry is to get a massive bailout they better learn to tell their onions from their potatos. And good potatos from bad ones.
And meanwhile, all ye farmers, tauba tera bonus, tauba teri car...
Methinks you deserve some finansial atyachaar!
Friday, January 30, 2009
BC New Song
Remember Zeest - the guys behind the cult hit Sutta song? This morning an earnest, ungrammatical but sweetly worded email from the band landed in my inbox.
Subject: "A Treat for the Current Global Recession"
After a very long anticipation, Zeest finally managed to release their New Demo Song "100 Rupai". The song is a story of a financially frustrated Indo-Pak's youth life.
At these financial hard times throughout the world, we pray to have an economic prosperity & growth throughout South Asia.
Skip, Umair and rest of the Zeest Team Would like to Thanks to all the fans throughout the world, for providing us the ultimate support. No matter what age, gender & social group you belonged, you guys gave us the hope to work, even after facing so many barriers in our way.
Well, I rushed to download the song from their website and eagerly pressed play. What I heard was so terribly mediocre it honestly made me sad. Agreed, BC Sutta was not a musical masterpiece but it had spunk. It had a voice.
100 rupiah is pop music 'sub prime'!
Subject: "A Treat for the Current Global Recession"
After a very long anticipation, Zeest finally managed to release their New Demo Song "100 Rupai". The song is a story of a financially frustrated Indo-Pak's youth life.
At these financial hard times throughout the world, we pray to have an economic prosperity & growth throughout South Asia.
Skip, Umair and rest of the Zeest Team Would like to Thanks to all the fans throughout the world, for providing us the ultimate support. No matter what age, gender & social group you belonged, you guys gave us the hope to work, even after facing so many barriers in our way.
Well, I rushed to download the song from their website and eagerly pressed play. What I heard was so terribly mediocre it honestly made me sad. Agreed, BC Sutta was not a musical masterpiece but it had spunk. It had a voice.
100 rupiah is pop music 'sub prime'!
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