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).

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!

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

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)

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!

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'.

"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!

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?'

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.

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.

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!

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'!

Slumdog MBA

ISB is over the sun and the moon for cracking the Financial Times bschool rankings once again. They have in fact moved up 5 places - from # 20 last year, to # 15.

I have the highest regard for ISB but to be honest, I do not buy the # 15 ranking. Reasons are as follows:

* These are 'global MBA' rankings. But how global is ISB? The student community is 96% Indian. Only 4% hold non-Indian passports (and my guess is many of those would be of Indian origin).

The faculty is only 82% Indian, despite the many many visiting professors.

* In the area of research ISB is ranked no 75 out of 100. It does not have a 'doctoral rank' at all because it did not have a PhD program till recently.

So where does ISB score? The weighted salary (calculated in PPP) and % salary increase (before and after the MBA). Those figures stand at $148,339 and 160% respectively.

These two parameters account for 40% of the weightage when calculating the ranking.

The question however is, if you were anywhere in the world and aspiring for an international MBA would you place ISB higher than Northwestern Kellogg (#21), Duke University: Fuqua (#22) or UCLA Anderson (# 29)?

I think the absence of international students at ISB is telling. But who know what came first - the chicken or the egg? A few more years in the FT top 20 is just what ISB needs - to make that demographic shift.

The second big question everytime the FT rankings are released is: "Where are the IIMs"? Well, they do not qualify as 'MBAs' under the criteria used by FT as they also admit fresh graduates.

As far as I know IIMs do plan to approach FT to rank the 1 year PGP X program where work ex is compulsory. These programs become eligible only after 3 batches graduate as the survey requires historical salary data and alumni responses.

But PGP X is not the flagship program of the IIMs, so it will still seem unfair - at the end of it.

Reminds me of the hoo-ha in India over our films making it to the Oscars. A Bollywood film - no matter how good - is only going to be considered under the category of 'best foreign film'. It takes a movie like Slumdog Millionaire, in an Indian setting but with a Western sensibility to get 10 Oscar nominations.

But the box office reaction to Slumdog in India is mixed.

Similar is the case with the IIMs. For the average 21 year old they are THE bschools of choice. ISB will never get 250,000 applicants for its 400 odd seats.

And yet, IIMs - or at least their alumni - do itch for the 'Oscars'. But are the institutes willing to cater to the international audience? Or take an interest in marketing themselves?? The answer is "no".

So they remain kings of the local market (for the near future - aagey ka keh nahin saktey). Like the quintessential hit Hindi film!

My comment on ISB in FT rankings last year

Dope from foreign bschools

If you're a current student or recent grad of a bschool anywhere in the world apart from India, please drop me a line at rashmi_b at yahoo.com.

I am looking to conduct some email interviews with you. Or persuade you to do a small write up. Details, when I hear from you :)

A brief update on the transcription posting - I am quite astounded by the response. 22 people have written in so far. I'll be in touch with you guys in a bit. Currently I have only a couple of interviews done, bust scheduling the rest!

'The Changeling ' - 3.5 stars

I saw a 'serious English film' in a theatre after a long time. The reviews of Chandni Chowk to China are just too abominable. Kind of confirms my suspicion that Kal ho na ho was ghost-directed by Karan Johar. There's no evidence to the contrary from Nikhil Advani since!

So, Changeling it was. And it is a pretty hard-hitting film. The story is simple: Christine Collins is a single mother who comes back from work one evening to find her son Walter missing. Five months later the LAPD finds a boy who matches Walter's description and claims to be Walter.

At the railway station where they are 'reunited' Christine exclaims,"That's not my son!" But she is manipulated into agreeing to take the child home because she is not 'thinking clearly'.

What follows is a very Indian-sounding tale. Corrupt police force, lone woman against system (ok, not totally, there is a crusading activist pastor on her side).

Christine is thrown into the psychopathic ward of LA General Hospital. The doctor says she can walk free if she admits that the boy returned to her is Walter. Thanks, but no thanks, says our heroine.

Now the shocking part in all this is it is a TRUE STORY. Not even "based on" a true story but an actual one. Of course it happened in 1928. . So guess what, Los Angeles - city of dreams - was once as lawless as good old UP or Bihar.

Although even back then the streets were cleaner.

What I liked about the film:
Using sets or digital photography, the film manages to convey a beautiful period feel. The trams on the road, the clothes worn by the boys to school in the era before jeans, and the Pacific telephone company where operators run manual switchboards and the supervisors swish by on roller skates. I just loved all of that.

There is very little hysteria or melodrama - it is all very sad but sombre and understated. Without revealing any more of the plot let me just say that there is no 'happy ending' although justice is eventually served - in more ways than one.

What I did not like:
The film was long - way too long. Aadha ghanta easily snip ho sakta tha.

Secondly at some point I felt it was trying too hard. It practically screams, "Nominate me for an Oscar!"

Lastly, I didn't care much for Angelina Jolie in this role. Director Clint Eastwood apparently chose her as soon as he discovered she was interested because her 'face fit the period setting'. Maybe she did fit the bill, and maybe she did put in a good performance.


But I can't really say. In many scenes the only thing that held my attention were those huge pouty lips - smeared with a newlywed-in-Gurdaspur shade of bright red lipstick.

Overall I would give the film 3.5 stars but of course it is not something to watch for 'timepass'.

Stuck to Satyam?

You can check in but you can never leave... That was Hotel California but the situation is somewhat similar at Satyam right now.

Firstly, there are few openings elsewhere. Secondly, as far as freshers go, the company has taken a Rs 2 lakh bond from each trainee. Apparently it works like this: you keep a fixed deposit of Rs 2 lakhs with State Bank. If you leave before completing two years you forfeit that FD to Satyam.

Asking employees for a bond is an IT industry practice. However Satyam is the only one which asks for so much money upfront and for a period of 2 years. TCS and Wipro too have a bond but for Rs 50,000 and Rs 75,000 respectively.

Says one recent engineering graduate working with a consulting firm: "Other IT majors have SLAs .. so if they train you in some niche skill they have SLA for large amount".

He explains, an SLA is a Service Level Agreement. Although it would be more appropriate to refer to it as a bond. A legal document on 'court paper' signed by your company and you. "So when settlements happen while leaving.. they get this amount if you leave job early."

How exactly can one 'enforce' this? Well, the company can refuse to give you the experience letter or NOC required to join the next place unless you pay up.

This guy, let's call him Engineer X, had an SLA of Rs 1 lakh for 1 year. Now that period is over and he can move on freely (if he wishes to). Until he gets trained in some other skill and is under SLA again for some time.

I don't know if SLA bonds work efficiently but certainly keeping cold hard cash does! The fact that I have to literally PAY 2 lakhs (or at least lock it in for 2 years) raises several issues in my mind:

* I need money to get a job. They promise to give it back to me but it still sounds very un-capitalist.

* Would every fresh engineer have this money to spare. If not, does the bank provide a loan for this purpose?

A job at Satyam for a fresher would pay between Rs 2.4 lakhs-3.5 p.a. Engineer X adds,"Satyam many a times offered jobs to top 10 students in many colleges..!!" Obviously not the IITs or other big brand name colleges but still.

So where is this money? If we estimate around 10,000 freshers joined the company in the last two years (and that is a conservative estimate) the amount collected as bond would be Rs 200 crores.

Given that Satyam managed to manipulate its bank FDs in all kinds of interesting ways one has to wonder whether this money is safe! Hopefully the new auditors will get to the bottom of this one.

As for the bond itself - kya yeh Fevicol ka hai jo kabhi tootata nahin? Under the changed circumstances it should be revoked. When things fall apart, why should freshers hold?

Beyond CAT: the issue of fairness

Sorry to make a hat-trick of posts on MBA entrance but CAT is just one exam. There are others. Too many others, in fact.

Now the argument for 'more' is that students should not be crucified for poor performance on one day in one test. But the sheer number of these other exams is I think an issue.

It is common knowledge that institutes make a lot of money by conducting their own tests. But even those bschools accepting CAT or XAT scores ask you to apply separately after buying a prospectus of Rs 1000-1500. So they get the money minus the headache.

The other reason some bschools might prefer conducting their own exam is to have more leeway in admissions. But here too you can always establish your own criteria or conduct a second test (like MICA does).

Anyhow, the reason why I am bringing this up is an email from an MBA aspirant (let's call him Aspirant X) which brings up several issues related to how various tests apart from CAT are conducted. I am reproducing what he has written with my comments:

1) During the IIFT test, as i heard and witnessed myself, many students started the paper as early as 10 mins before the scheduled time. 10 mins in this paper means one whole section! When few of us complained the invigilator warned the class once but it had no effect and the students continued to write the paper.

This was mainly because the paper had no seal so there. They must be cutting costs but at whose expense? Many students complained to the institute but the matter died down soon and no action was taken.

2) Something similar happened during the SNAP test but this time I was a party to it and i also started the paper 5 mins before time as others had started 10 mins before time.

3) NMAT and XAT were conducted quite professionally and i haven't witnessed or heard any comments about such issues.

My comment: This is not the first time there have been complaints about the conduct of the IIFT test. Here is an online petition asking for reconduct of the test in 2005 because of invigilation issues. 140 students had signed the petition back then. At the time students had similar issues with NMAT as well.

But there is a second issue which is more serious than some students getting a headstart. And that is regarding the evaluation of the SNAP paper itself.

This year for the first time students were allowed to take the SNAP test paper home. Naturally, every coaching class produced a key and students calculated their likely scores. Now here's what happened to Aspirant X.

I checked my scores from all these keys and the lowest net score i was expecting was 73.5. This score would not have landed me with a call from SIBM Pune but i was hopeful of calls from other institutes including SCMHRD.

But now that the results are out, it turns out that my score has dropped to 63.25. As per the cut offs predicted by all the major coaching classes, now i stand no chance for a call even from SIIB.

Aspirant X is not an isolated case. I checked with coaching institutes and they said most of their students were in the same situation. Their scores were 10-20 marks below expectation and not just in verbal where there is room for ambiguity but sections like logic.

TIME has even put up a webpage acknowledging the issue, adding that they have 'brought this issue to the notice of the Symbiosis institutes'.

The head of one coaching institute offered a simple solution: "They should release the answer key." That is what the IIMs did when they faced a similar controversy on CAT a couple of years ago. Now they release the answer key to CAT as a matter of routine every year.

My comment: Believe it or not there was a similar issue with SNAP in the year 2005-6 which was covered by JAM magazine. At that time we reported:

Pooja Sengupta, an Anna University engineering graduate, appeared for the SNAP (Symbiosis National Aptitude Test) on 18th December 2005, along with thousands of aspirants across India. But when her result arrived on 7th Jan 2006, she got a rude shock. "I scored 15 marks less than expected in the General Awareness section. Immediately, I sent off two emails to the SNAP office requesting them to re-evaluate my answer sheet."

Pooja is not alone. More than a hundred other students who took the SNAP have doubts about whether their answer sheet was evaluated correctly. Megha Moolkim (SNAP id 515948) says, "I got 3/40 in GA which is impossible." When aggrieved students called the Admissions Office they were told by Mr Shinde, Controller of Examinations, "There is no process for re evaluation.. the decision is final and binding."

Then too, students had put up an online petition. The SNAP spokesperson told JAM in a telephonic interview, "A few students have called... It is not a new thing. Students always have complaints and think they should have scored more".

An email sent by JAM to the director and deputy director of SIBM yesterday re the latest controversy has not elicited any response so far.

With the number of students taking the SNAP nearing one lakh now it is important to address the issue of fairness and rigour in evaluation. Even though it is true that if most students have scored lower than expected, cut-offs will also fall accordingly. The point is the principle of natural justice.

When we teach concepte like transparency and accountability AT bschools, we should also see these concepts applied BY bschools!

Do send in your comments and experiences on any bschool entrance related issue to rashmi_b at yahoo.com.

Transcriptions, anyone?

I have started the interviews for my next book and am looking for someone who would be able to transcribe them.

If you have prior experience, great. Otherwise, no problem. The important thing is you must be a stickler for accuracy.

You could be a student with time on their hands or anyone at all, looking for freelance home-based work.

You could be based anywhere in India although co-ordinating despatches of tapes/ CDs would be faster and easier if you're in Mumbai.

Drop me a line at rashmi_b at yahoo.com if interested and we'll take it from there!

Past perfect II: the other side of the story

My previous post brought out a great deal of angst. But here's the thing:

CAT + past performance may not be the best way to identify future business leaders. But it is the most OBJECTIVE method available.

Now we can debate the amount of weightage that should be given to various parameters (this year weightage given by IIMA to class 10 & 12 marks in the tie-breaker seem excessive to me). We can also ask for normalisation across boards.

But can we really ask for a more subjective process, a la Stanford and Wharton? In the Indian context that may not work.

One of the foundations of the IIM brand is that the intake is purely on merit. There is no room for influence, money, or any other means of 'getting a seat'. Whether you are the Prime Minister's nephew or the director's son, the IIMs are above bhai -bhatijawaad.

The moment you include more subjective criteria, there are questions. Now you may say ISB also follows a subjective process but then it is not a government institute. Rejected candidates do not go and file RTI.

In an interview to Mint's Sidin Vadukut, last year IIM A director Samir Barua stated that the fall in diversity of the batch (the 94% engineers) was a direct consequence of 'things like the RTI act'. To quote from the article:

... because of RTI and extreme pressure on the IIMs and IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) to explain admission procedures, the institute could no longer be “fuzzy” in the selection process. “Previously, we ensured some sort of diversity by picking up a mix of people from those who cleared the written test. We could introduce a level of subjectivity at the interview stage. But now, because of RTI, applicants who don’t make it demand to know why they weren’t selected when they scored better than another admitted student in the written test.”

But this seems to bother me more than it does Barua. “I think engineers are just as creative as arts or commerce graduates. What irks me is that I lose the ability to pick up someone even if they scored a little less on the test but impress in the discussions and interviews,” he adds.

Of course, I still think it is upto the institute's prerogative to figure out a means to have more diversity (eg lay out a lower cut-off for students from non-engineering streams if they feel it is important to get the right mix in the class!). I think IIM Bangalore has managed this process best amongst all IIMs.

But it is upto the students to accept that either way there will be some 'arbitrariness' in selection.

For all those who hold up the high standards of Ivy League schools, I recommend a book called The Price of Admissions: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges -- and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates by Daniel Goldman.

The book mainly looks at undergraduate admissions, not bschools, but it outlines how subjective an admissions process can become!

Ideally we should have objective criteria, with some room for subjectivity. Which is what we did have, until the IIMs became more transparent.

In my time, if you didn't get in, you accepted that as your destiny and moved on. Now, people take the CAT again and again, and some will use instruments like RTI to know 'why'.

Incidentally, IIMs do use the 'international' method to select candidates for the 1 year PGP X program. But there, applicants are in hundreds, not lakhs!

Given the 246,000 test-takers in the fray for the PGP program, and how important this test has become to them, methinks we'll be fighting CAT and dog over weightages and percentiles for some years to come!

Past perfect?

Do people peak in performance at class 10 and 12?
Should poor performance in these exams haunt you for the rest of your life?

The IIMs certainly seem to think so. And particularly, IIM Ahmedabad. The institute recently released a document which laid out the selection process it is using for the 2009-11 intake.

In the general category, you would need to score at least 98 percentile overall and 94, 94 and 94.5 in sections 1, 2 and 3 respectively.

Now 1160 candidates from the 2.46 who appeared for the CAT this year qualified under this criteria. That number was further whittled down to 609 based on your past academic performance - in class 10 and 12.

The bottomline is that the institute needs to use some kind of tie breaker and it has opted for class 10 & 12 marks.

Unlike IIM Bangalore or IIM Lucknow, IIM A does not consider work experience, graduation marks or any other factor at the tie-breaker stage. I guess that is IIM A's prerogative - they basically want all the 'toppers'.

But there are two issues with this profiling

One is a technical one. Ankit Doshi is a BCom graduate from Mumbai with 3 interview calls, but he missed out on A. He believes it is because marks across different boards were not 'normalised'.

Giving his own example, Ankit states that he cleared the pre-screening criteria but probably lost out on the Academic Performance score as he scored 85.86% in class 10 (SSC) and 85.13% in class 12 (HSC). According to which his AP = 12

But in the ICSE or CBSE board (or even a state board like Andhra) scoring above 90% is common and those students would have an unfair advantage and score an AP of 16.

I think this is a very valid point and the institute should take this into account!

Ankit adds, "If you study the marking and scoring patterns of students, such a criteria completely closes the doors on students of Arts and Humanities across India . How many Arts std XIIth toppers even cross 85%?"

Well, that is a whole separate Pandora's box. At the 15th year reunion of IIMA's class of '93 held two weeks ago, we had a raging debate with some of the faculty on the changed student profile. From a 70: 30 ratio (70 being engineers and 30 being 'other streams'), we now have 93% engineers in the batch.

The faculty says it's because most smart kids in India gravitate towards engineering and hence more engineers crack the CAT. But factors like 'AP' make it that much more difficult for even the smartest of arts and commerce grads out there to get that interview call.

The second - and more fundamental - issue is should the past be given so much importance at all? Is it really an indicator of 'success' in the future?

One way to look at it is that if I am successful at an early age, I get a lot of positive strokes for it and therefore remain motivated to continue succeeding in the future.

But the other side of it is that now that I have the label of being 'successful', I no longer really need to peform. To do something more, or better. Because I am already 'there'.

Psychologist Carol Dweck has written a book on this subject called 'Mindset: the new psychology of success'. Which inspired Guy Kawasaki to make this post explaining why most 'hot' companies eventually drift into mediocrity.

Let’s say a startup is hot. It ships something great, and it achieves success. Thus, it’s able to attract the best, brightest, and most talented. These people have been told they’re the best since childhood. Indeed, being hired by the hot company is “proof” that they are the A and A+ players; in fact, the company is so hot that it can out-recruit Google and Microsoft.

Unfortunately, they develop a fixed mindset that they’re the most talented, and they think that continued success is a right. Problems arise because pure talent only works as long as the going is easy. Furthermore, they don’t take risks because failure would harm their image of being the best, brightest, and most talented. When they do fail, they deny it or attribute it to anything but their shortcomings.

I think those two paras precisely explain why we've seen that enormous mess on Wall Street! The sub prime mess is the ghastly creation of bschool bred minds who firmly believed they could do no wrong. And even if they did, the safety net of being part of an elite club would save them.

Carol postulates that people have two kinds of mindsets: growth or fixed. People with the growth mindset view life as a series of challenges and opportunities for improving. People with a fixed mindset believe that they are “set” as either good or bad.

The issue is that the good ones believe they don’t have to work hard, and the bad ones believe that working hard won’t change anything.

As far as I can see the past performance, topper-centric intake of our most wanted bschools is only reinforcing the fixed mindset. A mindset which is certainly not suited for an increasingly unpredictable world.