A new discovery.

If you have been in a Mumbai local train you may have noticed those ubiquitious posters advertising the miraculous services of those great saints also known as Baba Bangalis.

And I thought that up here in the north we never needed them. But like cockroaches, they are everywhere. Only a different name.

Genus: Baba
Species: Sufi Shah.

advertising

He even specialises in some arcane art.
Nice business model. Anyone for setting up a metaphysical treatment chain?

It rained or what reminds me of home

April showers bring Mayflowers
March showers bring me joy
The grey sky above the campus towers
I feel again like a little boy.

The rains remind me so much of home and of Goa. So I went around with a cam (thanks Jai) and took some pics.

Feel free to comment on the pics and the unseasonal rains.

Raindrops keep falling on my head (and everywhere else).

The washed roads glistened.

The sky was grey and calm and the trees swayed in the breeze.

This rose giggled.

The flowers were happy

This one was shy.

The Little Boy and the Magic Flute

I love woodwinds. And I love flute music. So here was one of the greatest flute players, how could I miss it.
Thanks to SPIC MACAY and P.G. for getting him here and to Jai for the cam. As it is I never thank him enough :D. Reminds me I gotta buy a cam.
Here is a pic of the performance.

Flutemaster

The volunteers and some freddies*

So that was a good time had by all. Just waiting for the next one.*For Freddies, please refer to Miles Davis

The Feel Good Factor or why I love Harvard Business School

High expectation
Its like a balloon
Sometimes there’s no sense
In looking at the moon

The moon has spots
And balloons burst
To avoid getting hurt
Do your research first

And all the castles I had built about Harvard students came tumbling down like a pack of cards. And just like all the spam floating around: MDI Rocks.

Our strategy professor showed us a video of a case discussion in Michael Porter’s class and I came away impressed.
At the level of my fellow students.

The only other differences between us and them are:
1) probably that their class is quiet
2) they have greater work experience

And I don’t think that they really prepared the case as much as our prof. tells us they do. But all said and done they produce more reputed people. Why?

1) Harvard has a “brand” name
2) They have a huge roster of alumni and consequently very dense alumni network
3) Well if they admit a batch of 900, atleast 10 have to make it big!

Thinkfart would probably have asked them to look at the “numbers”. Then he would send out an evaluation mail saying,

Dear students,

Today’s discussion shows that the rigour in ur(sic!) analysis was missing. You need to understand this from the gestaldt (sic) view. The requisite skills in number crunching are sorely lacking. I expect u to perform to better standards. I have attached a matrix on which your performance can be evaluated

Rigour of research and analysis (including number crunching): 3
Application of strategic thought: 3
Presentation Dynamics: 4

Regards

Thinkfart
COO
Get Another Job

Why my existence is complete or The Great Porno(b) show

I had heard a lot about the “man” well and I am happy to say that he stands shorter off the ground than I do.
So we went to the IMI bizquiz on Saturday which was also convocation day for the students passing out from MDI.
And when we got there we learnt that the quiz master was good ole Pornob (I kinda like that spelling, it seems to convey something sleazy about that man).
I’ll remember the next thing that Ramesh said, “Now lets have fun in the quiz”. Not win, have fun.
Interesting. The eliminations were decent enough and I thought as Rabi had said that he had “improved”. I should have known another Bong saying that. Pardon my naïveté.
We got to sit on stage. And then it dawned upon me. Wow! what a man. Pulling off questions off the top of his head like a magician pulling a rabbit out of the hat. And to complete the magician analogy, he is a master illusionist too. A few samples

1. Jagson airlines is supposed to have Pathankot airport as its hub which I think is just functional or yet to be functional
2. Peter Arnett was behind the branding of CNN, whereas he is the Pulitzer Winner, former CNN correspondant, accused by the former Bush administration of feeding viewers Iraqi propaganda
3. Village Roadshow Entertainment of Australia owns 51% of Fox Searchlight Pictures (well then how can it be a News Corp. company?)
4. The congress “hand” symbol was conceived by Arun Nanda at the behest of Rajiv Gandhi. It was actually the idea of Indira Gandhi. Nanda only came in after Rajiv Gandhi asked him to make ad-campaigns for the election campaign of 1989

Then we had some weird movies including one chinese movie made by a guy whose name sounded like “Wang Cor Wai” and is supposedly a master filmmaker.
Then the arbit scoring. Initially it was 10 direct – 5 pass. Then in the 5th round it became 10 pass-10 direct. Then in the 6th and last, he made it 10 direct – 11 pass. Huh??

I loved it when the “any topic under the sun” round came up.

Ramesh: Linux Kernel Device Drivers. (I am already
Porno: Lets make it the free software industry
Ramesh: We insist
Porno: I can’t let that.
Ramesh: Then, how about 3D FPS Games?
Porno: I’ll make it the gaming industry

But now he was quite pissed off and we were giggling like schoolgirls. Then came some obscure question about GTA San Andreas in which the character Carl Johnson is inspired by a movie character. Answer? Pat Garrett. Lets leave it at that.

At the end of it we were spilling our guts out laughing laughing all the way on the long ride back. All in all an experience. And I am sorry to say that his “disciples” did not win the quiz. Even with the eleven point scoring. And he did not read out our scores.

And I am definitely going to the next Porno Show, probably at DSE-MHROD. How can I resist cheap entertainment?
See all you guys there.

How I was saved and the star of the evening

The seniors are leaving. Good or bad.
It doesn’t really matter.
As clueless as usual I just amble around snapping photographs.
I was told that all the good stuff that they usually don’t serve at festive dinners like this one would make an appearance. “Its the goods this time, mark my words”. Thats what one guy told me.
Then the director invites us to dinner. A long queue. So I decide to take the matter in my hands. Just walk up to the counter where they dish out the plates.
And the food. Ugh… Off goes the plate

dumped!

Then I see ice-cream. Real milk vanilla ice cream. And what makes my day is the little brown bottle that screams HERSHEY’S. I am in heaven. And this is an image of my face.

satiated

And a satisfying sleep at the end of the day. Next morning is the convocation. Got work to do.

Is it necessary to get a "Job" or Should I drop out

More random surfing here.

This link links to the blog of a person named Martin Varsavsky. As someone says he is an absurdly successful serial entrepreneur.

“It was the roaring 1980s, and Martin Varsavsky was about to receive his MBA from Columbia University—and he still couldn’t get a job.” Thus begins the HBS article on him.

He’s started 6 companies in 15 years. Two of them very successful. His latest venture is quite interesting. It is called FON.

FON is an international company based on the idea of sharing broadband connections through wireless routers. The basic theory – if you’re willing to share your own bandwidth, you can become part of a global network of people also willing to share their connections.

Foneros, the users of the service are known as either “Bill”, “Linus” or “Alien”.
Bill members – after Bill Gates – download secure software from Fon that turns their home wi-fi network into a hotspot anyone within its range can use to connect to the internet for a fee.
Linus members – after Linus Torvalds, creator of the free Linux software – allow their hotspots and bandwidth to be shared for free and can use any other members’ without charge.
Aliens pay to connect to the Fon network and do not share their own networks. Fon and Bills will share the revenues earned from Aliens and other Bills.

he spent €30 million in advertising on his last company, Jazztel, and hasn’t yet spent any money on advertising FON yet. Instead, he’s inviting bloggers to join his board of advisors and asking us to try the product and become evangelists for it.

Bottomline: Do we all need to crave for jobs when we can do sun fun things?

Song I am listening to now: La Bamba by Ritchie Valens, one of the 3 guys for whom Don McLean wrote American Pie.