Hakuna Matata!!!

Go Blue!!

2009-01-13T16:34:00.001-08:00

Yay!!! Got the call I was waiting for (like ever!) today morning...

The Ross Rnd 1 decision deadline is not until 01/15 but the BW forums had been abuzz with anticipation regarding the calls going out starting Monday itself and anyone who has been on the forums (who hasn't, you ask? :) would know how addicitive it is once someone on the forum mentions receiving a call!! So I spent the whole of yesterday refreshing the Ross Round1 thread every 2-3 minutes like an obsessive maniac and as the day wound down, I was almost reduced to a nervous wreck as I had not received 'THE' call yet!!

All I could do the entire evening was ponder over why I did not get the call? had they already called everyone? maybe they are doing it alphabetically? and so on... I remember falling asleep with the last thought being about the call and waking up today thinking about it!!! Trust me, I am not the obsessive kind but this was my top choice school and also the only result I was waiting for... I so wanted it and then it finally does go off!!

Strange how when I saw the number and realised it was from Ann Arbor, I felt relieved and almost calmed down... the victory dance came later :D

But there it is... With an admit to Ross 2011, my application season comes to an extremely successful end... 1 year, 4 applications, 4 interviews and 4 admits later I am finally ready to close this exciting chapter of my life!!

Tons of decisions, planning, shopping, preparing, traveling to look forward to but we will leave that for another day... till then, Hakuna Matata!

Happy Holidays!!

2008-12-25T01:40:00.000-08:00

The day of Christ is here and the long-awaited holiday season finally begins!! :) I know I speak for all my fellow applicants when I say that this has been an eventful year and hopefully for all of us applicants, the fun is only beginning!! With a few admits in the bag and one more to look forward too, I cant wait for 2009 to begin!!

Though it seems a little too early for me to be preparing my thank-you speech but in this season of giving, it seems perfect that I give thanks to all the people who have had faith in me and supported me in my decisions...THANK YOU! (you know who you are! ;) Also a big shout-out to all my virtual friends aka blog readers, MBAlmighty, Matt, Mbamission, Ahembeea and others who have been vocal supporters along my MBA journey... Thank you and All the best!

I hope this holiday season and the new year bring a lot of cheer and success to your lives... God bless!

3 down... 1 to go!

2008-12-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

Got a wake-up call from the Yale Adcomm today morning.... It was 'good news to share'-time again!! It was completely unexpected... not the results (I was optimistic of an admit after my interview) but the timing... I was not expecting to hear back from Yale or Ross before the holidays and yet here I am... with an Yale admit! If only Ross-Claus decides to come early too :D

But now that the realization that I would indeed be matriculating in 2009 (destination remains undecided) has sunk in, I am beginning to get worried... again! Arranging the finances is the MAJOR task ahead but also questions like -

when do I quit job? (right now on an H1-B)
how does the H1-B to F-1 transfer work?
where do I even begin looking for arranging the finances?
Yale or Johnson? rankings-wise they are nearly in the same bracket... they both have great general management/strategy focus.... Johnson is offering me scholarship... no news yet from Yale

Its a weird sense of deja vu as I begin to feel over-whelmed all over again by the amount of work left to do before I pick up those books and sit in that class-room again! But as I got through the daunting phase of applications, I would get through this too... one baby-step at a time!

2 down... 2 to go!

2008-12-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

Current status - sitting pretty with two admits, Johnson and Goizueta with scholarships (every bit helps!)

The acceptance mail from Goizueta came in early last week followed by a call from the Admissions committee a few days later and though I was thrilled to have my first admit, I felt suprisingly composed and in-control!! It was relieving to know that I wasn't the only one betting on me :) Life was good and as the decision deadline for Johnson came closer, I got lured into the 'check-BW-forums-every-five-minutes' passtime and spent one very tense evening and apprehensive morning waiting for that call from 'unknown'...

And finally when I was gobbling down my lunch, my cell rings and I see 'Unknown'... Never have I felt happier :D It was Johnson Adcomm member, the same person with whom I had interviewed calling up to 'share some good news'.... Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

To-be status - enjoy Christmas and New Year's (2008 was just purrrfect!); wait for Ross and Yale to shower their love too... and no! I am not going to begin worrying about loans just yet! I feel I have earned my days of doing nothing... worrying about nothing... Hakuna Matata!!

Just a note

2008-12-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

After having put in some thought, I decided not to apply to ISB... I do not know whether it was the right thing to do but the decision was a combination of my lack-of-will, workload at office and the current interview invites...

I might regret this decision in the near future but then again, I might not :) I just did not feel strongly enough about the ISB program and hence the decision...

So with this my application Round 1 is officially over... Lets see how it plays out!

Johnson interview - Analysis

2008-12-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

The interview was with a member of the AdComm and once I dialed in, she came on-line almost immediately. After intimating me about not having gone through my application and that the interview would last 40-45 minutes and would be conversational, she jumped straight into it! (No breaking of ice... no casual chit-chat... quite a change from my previous experiences!)

The questions followed a similar pattern and thanks to ClearAdmit, I was prepared -

· short term? long term? why now?
· why Johnson?
· why specific immersion? how will it help in meeting your career goals?
· which other schools? on west coast?
· specific example where you faced a challenge and how did you overcome it?
· specific example where you worked with a team-member who was not performing and helped him?
· specific example of leading a team/your leadership style?
· any weaknesses that you see in your application? strengths?
· any questions you have?
· anything more that you want Johnson to consider as part of your application?

It is so close to the other Johnson interview experiences I have read about that it almost seems that they follow a script and the way she asked the questions, this experience was the closest to an 'official' interview that I had so far... and frankly, I am not delighted with the outcome! (I probably should be more careful what I wish for :( ) I feel, my responses to the specific example questions came of as long-winded and garbled... not as succint and incisive as I would have liked. Also the barrage of questions gave me no time to think and that put me on the back-foot and not being face-to-face with the interviewer made me extra-conscious of my voice. I also could not judge her reactions to my responses (they are normally very inscrutable but it helps!) and over the phone I felt that she was really quite unimpressed :(

Overall, I am glad that I did not opt for telephonic interviews for any other school and as much as I would have liked to travel to Ithaca, this time I really had no option! I just have to keep my fingers crossed till Dec 17th... Wish me luck!

Yale interview - Analysis

2008-11-30T23:26:00.000-08:00

Had my interview at Panera Bread with a Yale alum and this was totally unlike the Ross interview... conversational and casual but with a more structured question-answer format. I was even dressed in business formals and so was he... on a Sunday!

He started with reiterating that he only had my resume (I slipped in my updated resume across the table at this time) and would like to know more about my background, motivations etc etc and he would not 'grill' me.... Standard enough start and I relaxed :)
The questions hence on went something like below -

how did you choose your undergrad school and area of specialisation?
how did you choose your first job?
why MBA? why Yale?
how will you uniquely contribute to Yale?
explain in non-technical terms, what is that you do?
any questions you have?

All the while I spoke, he scribbled furiously on my resume... At the end when I glanced down, the sheet had notes all over. I only hope they had good things to say! I believe that I did a pretty good job about answering the why? when? where? questions and also about not sounding too technical... The interview lasted for 35-40 minutes and I feel that I did do a good job of covering all the important points and hopefully making a good impression.

The alum was quite forthcoming in discussing about his life in New Haven - the small town syndrome and its pros and cons... Since it was on my mind too, it was nice to hear a frank opinion from someone who has been there. I also asked him about the alumni connections and he shared his experiences about networking with the alumni and also how it has been effective in his post-MBA job hunt.

I know Yale is super-selective program and its not in top-20 as per the latest BW rankings, but there is something about the program that really appeals to me and I really would love to get into Yale... now that the interview is over, I am just a lil worried if there is something more I should be doing to strengthen my application... As I try to settle into the nerve-wracking waiting period, I can only hope those months of head-scratching, idea-hunting, self-analysing, essay-writing pay dividends...

Happy Birthday...

2008-11-26T00:23:00.000-08:00

... to me! :)

What a year it has been! Last birthday I had just got to San Diego and this time around I am here in Los Angeles... If someone had asked me two years ago where I would be celebrating my birthday two years from now, I am sure I would not have guessed this! Frankly, I don't know where I will celebrate my next birthday (I hope its Ann Arbor :D)

Am in a contemplative mood right now so forgive me if I begin to ramble... It truly has been an eventful year this 2008... traveling, learning, meeting, cooking, holidaying, applying, interviewing, living and I loved every moment of it! I truly am a changed person... I know myself better, I know my limitations and more importantly, I know my strengths... Today as I look forward to a new year (calendar too) I feel optimistic and confident about what the future has in store for me... It might be misplaced (or maybe its all that chocolate in the chocolate cake glazed with semi-sweet chocolate ganache talking ;) but the last couple of weeks, it almost seemed like I could do no wrong... small everyday incidents but lucky coincidences nonetheless!!

Being in a new place on your birthday does have its drawbacks though... no friends who come over at 12 in the night to perform the 'cake facial' routine, no family to pamper you... I do miss them all a lot but I am not exactly sad... far from it! I feel I am at such a juncture in life right now when something good, something big is going to happen and the anticipation is a wonderful feeling :)

I have read the saying 'Enjoy the journey' often... and through the process of b-school application, I have realized that the journey has always been more exciting, more energizing than the destination itself for me... Once I reach what I had set out for, its time to set another goal, target another milestone and make a dash for it!

This last year I set my goals, I ran my race and now as I wait for the results, I pray for success and plan for next steps...

Ross interview - Analysis

2008-11-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

Just back from an interview/conversation/informal chat with a Ross alumni at a coffee shop and in spite of trying to analyze it, I still don't know what to make of it!

I was interviewing with an alum and her 'dress casual' comment in one of the mails we exchanged had given me the hint that this is going to be a conversational interview but it turned out to be more of a chat... lasting almost 1-1/2 hours!! Frankly I don't think she even asked me any specific MBA interview questions other than the 'why MBA? why now? why Ross?' One thing just led to another...

In hindsight, I do realize now that I did talk about my motivations, my background, my international experience, my present company and its MBA-related policies, my recommenders and what they thought about me... pretty much everything but I don't really remember any standard questions being asked of me! I am beginning to think she really is very good at interviewing :)

What was also exciting was that she was willing to share as much of her experiences as she wanted to know about me... and with more than 25 years of experience she sure had many interesting anecdotes to share - about her Ross experience, life after Ross, the other interviews she had conducted, the firms she had built and even a little about her personal life! It was truly a very constructive conversation...

But it wasn't a conversation now, was it? It was my interview... the interview that can push me off the fence into the admit pool (or otherwise)!! And with an experience like this one, it is sooo hard to judge how I did! Did I answer well? Did I impress enough? How is she to judge me compared to other applicants when what we spoke about was so specific to me?? What is the common denominator going to be??? Frankly, I don't know whether to be happy or not with today's 'interview' as I really don't know how I did! Why can't we just go back to the days where questions had one right answer and you either got it right or not?!!

I know this process is not about right/wrong, it never was and will never be... and I can do nothing but hope I displayed what she was looking for and the adcomm is convinced that I have what it takes to 'go blue'!! But if only.... Oh! this process is nerve-wracking....

Yale comes calling!!

2008-11-17T01:04:00.000-08:00

I have been invited to interview for Yale... the news came in over the weekend and with this it is a 3/3, interview-wise... absolutely overjoyed! I hope the trend continues for the admits too :)

Meanwhile, I am having some trouble setting up an alumni interview for Ross... there seems to be some confusion regarding the alumni and already I feel I am too late in scheduling the interview... I hope the confusion/delay isn't held against me... really nothing I could do to avoid it!

Task for this week - Setting up the three interviews and hopefully completing atleast one...

Atlanta - MBA perspective

2008-11-16T20:28:00.001-08:00

Goizueta Adcomm - 11/14 - 1015 hrs EST

Let me begin with a warning - When traveling from PST zone to EST zone to attend an interview, REMEMBER to reset your alarm clocks!!

As you must have guessed, I didn't and instead of waking up at 6:30 AM, allowing me enough time to get dressed and navigate the multitude of 'peach'tree streets of Atlanta, I was still in bed as the clock struck 9:00 and just managed to rush out of the house at 10:00 for a 10:15 interview at Emory campus with Libby Livingston! Driving down to the campus, a good 45-min drive away. I fortunately did not get lost (or booked for speeding :) and reached the admissions office without further drama but 45 minutes late nonetheless :(

I had called in earlier and explained my predicament and was relieved to know that the previous interview was also delayed and as I waited in the reception area, I finally relaxed for the first time that morning. But not for long as soon Libby walked out and accompanied me into her office. She was extremely amiable and she began by explaining that she had NOT gone through my essays or any other part of my application on file and I should feel free to share my experiences, even reiterate my essays material, if necessary.

After the initial cold-feet phase where I almost choked over, the interview proceeded smoothly - the tone was conversational, the questions standard -

Walk me through your resume.
Why MBA now? Why goizueta?
How do you find coming to US?
What are the three things that your colleagues say about you?
What is the best part of the job for you?
What are your hobbies?
Any questions for me?

20-22 minutes later, it was over. We discussed about things to do and places to visit in/around Atlanta and also about meeting up with current students as I had signed up for the lunch and tour event too... She offered to patch me through to some current 2-year MBA students in case I missed the event due to the initial delay... We shook hands and the interview was over!

Fortunately, the student ambassadors were still around and I joined them (1-yr students) for a discussion over lunch and then a tour of the building frequented by the MBA grads... The students were extremely friendly and seemed to truly enjoy their time at Goizueta... It being a Friday, there weren't too many students around but it was fun to get a feel of how/where a typical day in the life of a Goizueta MBA grad is spent!

Taking leave from the students, I wandered around the campus for a little while enjoying the sights and sounds of Emory and finally the joy/relief of making it through my first MBA admissions interview sunk in and grinning, I reached for my car keys...

The wait begins....

Second call of the season - Johnson!!

2008-11-11T22:30:00.000-08:00

The long-awaited invite is finally here... My first two submits have both translated to interview calls and I am thrilled to bits... yippeeeeee! :)

With the Round 1 deadline fast approaching, I was wondering if Johnson is going to turn out to be a DWI for me!! I wasn't losing sleep yet but it was worrying me and I really have my worry-plate full right now... but today my gmail account had a gift in store for me - the Johnson School invite!!
'Congratulations! The Admissions Committee would like to schedule an interview with you as soon as possible....'
I have to now call the admissions committee and schedule an interview... hopefully they too will have alumni in the LA area...

I am leaving tomorrow for my Goizueta interview and have the Ross interview coming up next... and now I have Johnson in the picture too... With a new project, new location, I have some juggling to do but I am not complaining :)

Let the invites pour in....

SD to LA

2008-11-03T21:56:00.000-08:00

Today was my first day at the new client in LA and it was quite eventful! Here's how -

I drove up to LA in a rented car (Kia Spectra) in about 2 hours and it took me another 15 minutes to figure out which building exactly I had to enter... the campus is huge! Once I got in (after the customary delays at the security for the badges) I was glad to see a normal office with spacious cubicles awaiting me... standard in today's IT world, you say? well not if you knew where I was coming from at my previous client location! :)

After I settled down, the rounds of introductions began and soon I was getting all muddled up with the names and faces... frankly even now, at the end of the day, I am not quite sure who I am sharing my cubicle with! I met the managers I had been interacting with the past couple of days and also the others on the various teams... All strategy & change guys so it should be fun to pick their brains... there also is a recent USC MBA grad student on the team... she seems nice enough, should remember to pick her brain too!

As the day wound down, I accompanied my team to the cafeteria and it was lovely too... there were stalls for different cuisines from round the world... I even spotted my ever fav - chicken quesdilla - on one of the menus but for today I opted for Chinese food - chowmein and orange chicken - instead... yummm! Lunch over, I headed back to the desk to do some more online hotel and apartment hunting but soon I felt my eyelids beginning to get heavier.... the effects of the daylight saving time shift, the early morning wakeup, the long drive was finally starting to kick in...

A colleague came over to rescue me from the state of certain stupor that I was beginning to enter into and she showed me around the campus... the corporate headquaters building was beautiful! I fell in love with the shiny black Lexus in the lobby... it was soo plush... ooooohh! After the long walk and chat, I headed back to my desk and soon it was time to start packing up... I was wondering about dinner when someone mentioned a team dinner! My ears perked up and after some debate, the venue was decided - Addi's Tandoor.

My sense of direction being what it is I was confident of getting lost and so I drove all the way to the restaurant almost stuck to the rear bumper of my colleague's car in front :) even almost jumped a light! Finally when everyone got in, there are were a few awkward moments when no one knew what to say but slowly everyone got into the groove and it turned out to be a fun dinner... One gentleman (colleague, i should say) had such a great sense of humor that I was glad the food had finally arrived coz my jaw had begun to hurt laughing! The food was not bad but I truly believe that Indian food should be had in India by Indians... nowhere else can they even come close! On the way back too I again used my 'stick to bumper' routine and reached the Doubletree hotel uneventfully... checked in... freshened up.... called home... switched on my laptop... and here I am!

Day 1 - finito... and here's to the coming days of work, shopping (just opp to the hotel is the second largest shopping mall in US), interviewing (Atlanta, LA and hopefully more), essay-writing (ISB still remains... the last bastion) and hopefully some more fun on the way!

First Interview call - Ross

2008-10-27T23:44:00.000-07:00

Just read the mail from Ross admissions committee -
'After reviewing your application, we would like to formally invite you to interview for admission to the MBA program at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. We utilize the interview as a complement to your application materials, to learn more about you, and to provide you an opportunity to further assess the program’s fit with your personal and professional goals.'

I am undoubtedly thrilled - Ross is my top choice and I am really excited about the program. After the first 15 minutes of absolute joy, my mind did an absolute about-turn and images from my previous XLRI interview flitted across... despite a great score and a confident interview last year I am still in the MBA race... obviously my interview didn't exactly do the trick :( That is one experience I do NOT want repeated.... ever!!

I know I have a lot of work to do before I cross this final hurdle and this time I am going to give it my best shot... there are things that my previous unsuccessful attempt has taught me and there is more to learn... For now, I am treasuring the feeling of joy and achievement and gearing up for the next and more difficult (personally) stage... Wish me luck!

PS: Calling all you bloggers reading my post to pitch in with your experiences/tips/do's and dont's... will truly appreciate it! Cheers...

Rollercoaster ride

2008-10-23T00:03:00.000-07:00

So much has happened over the last couple of months that thinking back on it makes my head reel.... sleepless nights over the essays, the extremely hectic trip to India in September, the wedding, the submissions (got 3 done in Round 1), the tension over the project, the transcript 'late pahochega lekin pahochega zaroor' saga.... and finally my last day at work!

The essays had been bothering me for ever... it seemed that I never got anything right, lots of thoughts going around in my head but such a jumble when put on paper... sometimes I did not what to write and when I did, I did not know what words to use, how to express and when the words too came to me, I did not know how to fit it all in 300/500/1-page/2-page entries... Rough drafts in my bag, head swarming I got on the plane to Mumbai....

The flight actually did me a lot of good... unable to sleep even though all the seats in my row were empty... I did do a lot of brain-storming over the tiny flight reading light!! A 21-hour flight and many torn pages later, I was just starting to get into the groove of essay writing when I was thrust into the cauldron of madness called 'the big, tiring Indian wedding'!!

First all the shopping for clothes (designer ones!), the jewelery, the shoes, the purses, the makeup... and that's just for me! We even had to shop for my parents, my brother, my to-be sister-in-law, her mother, her mother's sister-in-law and everyone in between... Shopping done we move onto the main event.... the wedding! I knew it was going to be big but never expected it to be sooooo much of... everything :) Relatives, good food, dressing up, gifts, laughter, ceremonies and the 'wonderful' Calcutta rains and (in)famous traffic jams!! After the Calcutta chapter was over, we moved onto Pune for the next session... One more event there, some more wining and dining and I was about ready to catch my flight back to the US of A....

Getting back, I was looking to settle back into some kind of rhythm but that was not to be.... One one hand, I was waaaaay behind on my application materials and with the deadlines approaching, I had no option but to get into overdrive.... and on the other hand, the world around us had collapsed, well, at least the financial world... When I had left, Wall St was still what it had been for the past 50 years, inconspicuously going about making more money, and when I came back the money was gone, the banks were gone, even Wall St, as we knew it, was gone!! The tightening of purse strings touched my life too and my projects at work were indefinitely delayed (euphemism for cancelled)...

With the applications top on my head, the last thing I wanted was uncertainty at my workplace and decided to take up their 2-week notice... today is the last day of that notice period! I have another project lined up but there has been a delay as a result of which, I get to enjoy two days of vacation... time enough to take stock of my current situation and plan ahead... It has been a challenging period but then again I ask myself, isn't this what I wanted? the answer is a resounding 'YES'!!

Hakuna Matata!!!

Lessons Monopoly taught us

2008-08-25T10:40:00.001-07:00

Remember Monopoly? The game we used to have so much fun with, part of our family time with no TVs drowning out the sound, no kids glued to the internet behing locked doors... the time when I was a kid (which wasnt so long ago really!)? Well, I came across this really wonderful article on BusinessPundit on the business lessons that the game of Monopoly taught us. The lessons are listed below -
1. You have to ask for what you want
2. Niceness matters
3. Its not rocket science
4. Take risks
5. Business can be boring
6. Luck counts for a lot
7. Dont expect others to support your strategy
Want to read more? Just follow the link...

And once you have done that, take out that dusty old Monopoly board, get your family together (atleast, you can try) and enjoy a few rounds of putting your competitors 'out of business' :)

Who said Business (and life) can't be all fun and games?

Recommenders, Editors and Contacts.... Ahoy!

2008-08-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

Essays are the most important factor...
You have got to concentrate on your essays...
Essays take up 80-90% of your app time...
Essays this and Essays that... so much has been said and written about it that one tends to marginalize the other factors of the application (I know I did!) and then when you actually get down to filling up all those other blanks the enormity of the 'small' tasks strike you!

I have been having an especially bad time with it all (that's not to say that my essay-writing is going great guns but facing trouble when you expected a cake-walk can be very stressful). Over the last couple of weeks, I have talking with my recommender #1, prepping him and feeling quite confident after the experience I was ready to approach recommender #2 when I get the mail that he would be on vacation the next week!! Woah! I did not see that coming.... now its nothing to be overly worried about, you say, but considering I would be going on a vacation soon after I had planned everything such that I have all my recos worked out long before then... and now I would have to re-plan, 1 week delay equals less time for me to prep him equals less time for him to put his words of praise equals less impressive reco :(

On the essay front, I have been working on 4 essays at the same time (working on one essay for more than a day gives me a severe case of mental block) for almost 2 weeks now but I am no where near submitting them... I dont feel confident enuf, hell, I dont feel like reading them myself (but that's probably because thats all the reading I have been doing lately... ) Nyways, I think I desperately neeed some editors - a couple atleast - but people who know me don't know the Bschool app process and because of my technical background, I don't know any Bschool grads! Another thing being, the essays bring out so much personal stuff about you that it is really difficult to just hand it over to someone for review... Its not just the essay they are judging, its ME! (probably a good thing from the adcom perspective but not so good when looking for editors)

That brings me to another issue that is causing me some headache... no Bschool contacts! Be it current students or past alumni... I just cant seem to be able to get in touch wid any... probably I haven't tried hard enuf, probably I havent tried all my sources, probably I am just not doing it right! Watever be the case, I know that making some contacts is imperative and that is what I will be concentrating on over the next coupla weeks, apart from the essays, the recos, the forms, the editor-hunt, the research...

All this before I go on my eagerly-awaited vacation! Adios...

First ding of the season!!

2008-08-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

Exactly 15 days after my first submit came in the very first 'ding'... hopefully the last too!
The Reliance Stanford full-ride scholarship (almost too good to be true) results were declared last Friday and I was not one of the finalists...

Takeaways from this experience -
1. there are 50 other Indians who are more smarter, poorer, more in love with India than I am and that they are now all super-excited.. I wish them all the best
Corollary - that only 1 in 5 of these aforementioned Indians would finally make it in.
2. essay writing, even if it is just one, takes more time than you think. Even though you might be thinking about it every waking moment, the progress is slow until you just get down to it
Corollary - stop procastinating
3. writing a short essay requires more work, more vocabulary, more thought and more precision. It requires even more re-drafts since your first attempt would probably have been 3 times the word limit
Corollary - less is indeed more!
4. Stanford is super-achieving, super-diverse, super-brand, super-selective and super-expensive and I am super-sure now that it isnt the one for me... a case of sour grapes, you say? Be that as it may, I think I was just chasing a dream and it was great while it lasted...
Corollary - Stanford is out

What have my other fellow dinged applicants learnt? I would love to know... And all you finalists out there in the blogosphere, please stand up! You deserve the applause :)

first 'submit' of the season

2008-07-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

Can someone be relieved and tensed at the exact same moment? Ask an MBA applicant and he/she would say 'Yes!!' and that moment would be when the cursor is hovering around the 'submit application' button and the mind is wondering whether everything has been taken care of!

And once you have submitted it, one part of you feels relieved that the task is now complete and the other part is already tensed about the outcome! And that is exactly how I felt when today morning I finally did submit the Stanford Reliance fellowship application... Now we wait and watch! Thankfully it is going to be a short wait... 15 days to Aug 1, 2008!

I know this is just the first of many more 'submits', many more sleepless nights spent in self-doubt, many more moments of immense satisfaction at getting an essay 'just right'... Let the party begin!

aspiration causing consternation!

2008-07-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

Well, what can I say?! I have been thinking and dreaming and wondering and sighing a lot lately... not surprising considering its India's future that I am pondering over!

The Reliance Dhirubhai scholarship for Stanford GSB was very welcome news, nothing like getting a chance at a top school with full scholarship plus being able to test yourself amongst your peers even before the actual application (the scholarship will select only the top 50 applicants)! It was certainly exciting but that was before I saw the essay question - 'How do you aspire to shape India's future?' - who me? shape India's future?? Here I was thinking about how I would like to shape my own future all this while and suddenly this comes out of nowhere!

After long hours of staring blankly at the screen and going through some 10-12 drafts I believe I finally have it the way I want. Initially it was difficult for me to even comprehend what was required - was the essay looking for our vision for India as in how do I wish to see India 10-15 years down the line? or was it looking for how do I wish to contribute to India's growth in the future? I have come to the conclusion that it is a mixture of both - where do you want to go and how do you intend to get there? Come to think of it, arent all B-school essays looking for the same thing?!

Now with the context issue resloved, I was faced with the other challenge of putting it all in 250 words. Initially I didnt know what to write, like a sputtering vehicle it was stop-and-go all the way but then as I got a little more comfortable, I started chuggin along until I had written enough to compile into a novella!! How to Say Nothing in 500 Words was an eye-opener and I realised that a lot of it was reiteration and exclamation and rhetoric that can (and should) be done away with and though I am now down to 350+ words, 250 still seems like a huge task :(

Grand indeed!

2008-06-24T23:10:00.000-07:00

Grand Canyon - the two words that invoke images of incomparable desolation and beauty at the same time... the barren rocky landscape wrought about by years of erosion and tectonic movements turns into God's own canvas painted with a melange of colors as the sun sets over the horizon!We also had a lot of fun setting up the tents and cooking and camping out...
All in all it was a memorable and thoroughly enjoyable trip!

Race against time...

2008-06-18T00:44:00.000-07:00

Will it? or wont it? I reallllly hope it does...

What am I talking about, you wonder? Well, its the new camera that I ordered on Amazon after months of search and contemplation and now the situation stands thus that on Friday evening, we are driving out to Grand Canyon (the perfect photo-op) and Amazon estimates the delivery date to be Saturday!!!

Now my experience so far leads me to believe (and hope) that the parcel will make it to me by Friday but what if it does not?! I cannot imagine missing such a perfect opportunity to test my new camera - Panasonic Lumix TZ5 - but all I can do is wait and hope that USPS does its magic and delivers it on time...

The race is on!

[Edited on 06/19/2008 : We have a winner! The camera was delivered today... a good two days before scheduled date :) God Bless USPS!]

School Decision

2008-06-09T22:46:00.001-07:00

Here is my (tentative) final list of schools -

1. Stanford School of Business -
This is my dream school and I love everything about it, right from its campus to its proximity to Silicon Valley, from its general management courses to its GMIX course, from its clubs to its Indian student fellowship program. Though it requires 3 recommenders and 4 essays, I will be applying in the first round which ends on 22nd October.

2. Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth -
The general management focus of this school and its close-knit community won me over. There are several interesting second year courses and also the Tuck Global Consultancy program has its advantages. This will be a first round application too, to be submitted by 10th October.

3. Goizueta School of Business - Emory University -
Though not very highly ranked, Goizueta appealed to me from the very beginning. The small class size, the GMSC program, the LEAD weeks and the core strength ideology set this school apart. The scholarships offered are very generous and it also attracts the top consultancies to its campus every year. This is a definite first round application - 1st November.

4. Johnson School of Business - Cornell University -
Johnson was a last minute entry into the list, primarily because it is a technically oriented business school and also the brand management and strategy focussed courses it offers. The financial aid scene is not encouraging and neither is the community focus predominant. Yet its immersion program and short essays help it get to into the top 5.

5. Indian School of Business -
This school is a default. It has the obvious advantages of being in India, being a one year course and being cheap comparatively. All in all, great ROI. But it also has the disadvantage of not being AICTE approved and not being that well-known outside Asia. But not applying to ISB would be a mistake I don't want to make but it will be only in the second round so as to see how events play out.

There are a couple of other schools that I am researching like Ross, Columbia, Marshall and I am not ready to laminate the list yet...

Recap

2008-06-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

The last one month has been quite eventful with parents arriving in US on the 6th of April, trip to Chicago on the occasion of bro's convocation on the 11th followed by another trip to New York, New Jersey and finally my moving to a new apartment and visit to Dana Point...

Bro's convocation was wonderful and coming on the weekend of Mother's Day, it was also the perfect gift for all mothers! It was also the first time parents were meeting my bhabhi so there was a lot of excitement in the air. I also met up with my friend in Chicago when we went on a downtown exploration trip - the highlight of the trip had to be the beautiful Millennium Park and the walk down the Magnificent Mile.

Later parents went on to Canada as Dada and I returned to San Diego only for me to fly back to New York a week later :) It was a sudden plan but that was a wonderful way to spend the Memorial Day weekend! I visited a lot of my relatives for the first time and went on a complete NY tour though even two full days of sight-seeing in Manhattan didn't seem enough. We visited Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Empire State Building, Wall Street, Times Square and much more and by the I got back to San Diego I felt I have had enough of cities to last me a lifetime!!

Due to my apartment woes, had to move in with my bro for a week and I rented a car and traveled up and down (30-35 miles two-way) on a daily basis. This was the first time I was driving on the freeway alone and so regularly but it was a lot of fun. We drove down to Dana Point on Sunday after a hectic Saturday (morning spent at office and moving in in the evening).

Driving a long distance proved to be therapeutic for me and we had a great time at Dana Point. We spent some time there and then visited the nearby Pines Park and went down a little further to San Clemente Pier. It was very beautiful and the weather, though a little chilly, was perfect.

All in all it was a weekend well-spent but one that went by too quickly, as usual! And I am putting in this post as I count down the final few minutes left....

Journey begins....

2008-04-17T00:41:00.000-07:00

Today is a Red-Letter day in my admissions calendar as I embark on the journey to the school of my dreams by working on the very first draft of my 'Why MBA?' essay :)

I have been wondering about the right way to go about it for a long time now - should I read sample essays first, form an idea and then begin with my own? or should I first just list out the main points I want to cover for each essay? or should I pick a school, pick an essay of that school and target it and nothing else? - and then I realised that I had again fallen into the traps of my age-old vice of procrastination so I said to myself - NO MORE!

And here I am... its 12:50 am on a chilly Wednesday night in April and I am trying to get my thoughts down on paper... well, computer screen actually! First thing I realized that I have waaaay too many thought-streams and no logical flow in what I am putting down but since this is my first draft, I have decided to just let it flow and will then get down to structuring it later....

Thats all for now! gotta get back to the other window now where my essay waits....

Oh Camera! where art thou?

2008-04-08T23:50:00.000-07:00

21st February?!! Wow, has it really been that long since my last post! I need to get back to this blog more frequently but truth be told, there hasn't been much to write about anyways this past month... I took an unscheduled break from the whole MBA-researching, career-planning and future-worrying thingie for the month of March but now I am back!!

As April came, it brought with it the 'keeda' of buying a new digital camera and what began as a simple task of ordering a heavily discounted SONY model (DSC-H9, to be precise) at a employee sale soon turned into something infinitely more time-consuming and confusing when I thought... DSLR, why not? Thus began the saga of long hours spent staring at the computer screen trying to make sense of ISO, sensitivity, 35 mm equivalent, noise, stabilization, EVF, telephoto lens etc etc, checking out one model after another from Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus - Nikon D40, Canon EOS 400D, Nikon D400, Olympus E-510, Canon 30D, Sony A100... the list was endless! There were so many options and so little to differentiate between...

But now after spending a lot of time and learning a lot about how a DSLR works and what its advantages/disadvantages are I think I would be better served by going back to my previous decision of getting a compact high-zoom (if I can find one, that is!).

The one reason why I had first thought of getting a DSLR was because I was looking for a super-zoom camera (zoom in the range of 10+) . The cameras got very SLR-like as the zoom range increased so much so that they almost felt like one (size and weight wise) and I thought if I am going to be carrying such a big camera with me, why not go the whole distance and get a DSLR instead? But now I know that for a amateur photographer like me, a DSLR would be an overkill especially because all that I am truly looking for is a super-zoom stable camera that produces great pics and is easy to carry around.

So now that I have sorted that out, there still is a long way to go till I finally decide on the model I will buy but the following criteria are an absolute must (in order of priority) -
1. super zoom
2. sleek design, no SLR look-alike for me
3. not too pricey
4. not older than early 2007
5. does not have outright negative reviews
6. video feature

So the hunt for the perfect camera continues....

I am now a proud holder of California License!!

2008-02-21T21:07:00.000-08:00

My behind-the-wheel test appointment was on Tuesday, the 19th, and I passed it with flying colors (just 4 mistakes out of the allowed 15) in my very first attempt :)

Feels great as everything worked out to plan - no rain (50% chance was predicted), not-too-strict lady inspector, good idea of the test routes around the DMV (thanks to my driving instructor) and fairly quick service at Escondido office! I must admit I was quite scared before the test (measured by the cold hands that I developed waiting for the inspector) but an almost-perfect driving coming after a perfect 100% on the writing test means that I am all ready to hit the roads of California with a vengeance! :D

The search continues...

2008-01-30T23:28:00.000-08:00

I have been researching schools over the last couple of weeks, primarily going through the information on the websites to check out the 'FIT'! I believe I finally understand what fit means... atleast I get a feeling of when something in a program/school excites me and makes me want to know more about it!

My primary aim is to narrow down to a group of 10-12 schools from which I can pick and choose the final 5-6, could be lesser but surely not more! And the deadline is March after which I concentrate only on those schools and dig deeper, setup contacts and talk to my would-be recommenders, read up on essay-writing, resume-building and the like...

The other thing that I am really interested in is the Corporate Service Corps initiative... It not only would be a great experience if I am selected, it would also make for a very good story for my applications! Since I fulfill all the criteria there is only a form to be filled and submitted but the catch is that I have to first talk to my people manager and get his approval which might be difficult considering its a 3-month in-house work followed by 1-month in-country work! If the project were to wind up by May, it would be perfect timing but till Feb 15, nothing can be said for sure.... But Feb 15 also happens to be the last date for submission so I have to talk to him and convince him to approve my registration... I have a chat scheduled with Claudia sometime this weekend, soon after that I plan to talk to Ajit and get it out in the open.

With so many things, big and small, happening all around me, time seems to fly by.... its hard to believe that 2008 is already a month old!!

Who moved MY cheese?

2008-01-16T20:48:00.000-08:00

Today, I had a learning experience today thanks to the world-famous 'Who moved my cheese?'
Now I had already read the book and so when I heard that Anant Bull-winkle(thats not his surname really but I like calling it that!) wanted to hold an audio session with the team on it, I wasn't exactly thrilled.... I mean, I had already read the book and in this day and age of videos and 3D and 4D, plain simple audio would be soooo boring!

And as the session got underway, my opinion was only reaffirmed but then as I tried to make a genuine effort to pay attention, I realized that the book (or rather the audio) did indeed have many lessons to share. Anybody who has read the book would know that it talks about change and how different people are impacted by it and how they react to it. It also tells us that change is inevitable , not good or bad... what makes it so is how we face it. Change, most of the times, is actually a harbinger of opportunities and more change, like right now! There is a major change in progress at work and though nothing is clear as yet, I feel it in the air. I just have this feeling that it is all going to end well for me :)

Speaking of change, there is one another thing that came out repeatedly in the story and that is - the power of dreams, of wishes! Everytime Haw felt scared, depressed he imagined himself reaching his goal - the next cheese station - and it made him feel good, gave him the courage and energy to carry on. Don't we all feel great when we imagine ourselves achieving the goal we have set, living the dream we have dreamt? I sure do.... these days I often dream of my graduation day, actually :D I am actually feeling quite good about myself these days.... I know the road is long and the destination distant but I am on my way and I will get there!

Like a wise man once said - 'God did not give you a wish without giving you the power to fulfill it. You would have to work for it, though.'

Common phrases on Bschool websites

2008-01-13T10:59:00.000-08:00

1. Its not what experiences you had, but what you made of the experiences you had
2. Rather than focus on specific categories of work experiences, applicants should focus on their roles, responsibilities, and what they have learned from the types of work experiences that they have been involved in.
3. Experential learning
4. We are one of the few schools that are constantly innovating to confront the changing business scenario and prepare world-class leaders who are ready for all challenges
5. diversity of thought, experiences and true appreciation of others' opinions
6. Achieving personal mastery through self-awareness and self-development

Setting SMART goals

2008-01-13T09:38:00.001-08:00

I have recently been reading about goal-setting, time management and decision making and there was something interesting that I came across on Mindtools about setting smart goals. Now haven't we all heard of that before but they had an interesting twist to it -

S-Specific
M-Measurable
A-Attainable
R-Relevant
T-Time-bound

Quite 'smart', isn't it?
Also realized that Pareto's principle (80:20 rule) does influence my daily productivity significantly! What exactly is the 80:20 rule as applied here? - 80% of unfocused effort produces only 20% of the results desired.

Resolutions to keep!

2008-01-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

This new year I will begin and keep an exercise routine was one of the resolutions I had made for myself alongwith learning to dance :) Dont know about dancing but I have started implementing the exercise routine thingie!
Started last week with surya namaskar, easy to do and quite beneficial! Last week was more of a start-stop week with me oversleeping on a number of days but next week on I am going to be more rigid with the routine. Aerobics is also one form that I always wanted to try out and so am reading up on it... is it safe enough to try out alone? what are the requirements, if any, for practicing it? where do I get videos and aerobic music? etc etc. I found this one video routine that I really liked - Latino Macarena
I have also begun (or should I say, re-begun) my school hunt and I am making slow but methodical progress and hope to be done with it by March. Self-analysis and introspection is also in progress and with the loss of contract, I have to do it on more than one level so taking it nice and slow for now.

Isnt this what surviving is all about?!

2008-01-08T13:17:00.001-08:00

The inimitable Calvin!!

the Big Blue gets dinged!

2008-01-08T07:16:00.000-08:00

What does one feel when something that was so expected to happen a certain way that it was almost taken for granted does not happen that way? Shocked? Stunned? Bamboozled??!! Ok ok i guess all of them mean the same thing but you get my drift, right? Thats pretty much what I was feeling this Monday morning. Why, you ask? Now thats a long story....
The Big Blue has many clients for which it provides IT services, one of which is the makers of the acclaimed PS2 which also happens to be the client I am working for. The client, with intention of keeping costs low and also competition and thus performance high, had engaged multiple vendors for handling its IT services in the US. Now BB (for Big Blue) got the grand idea that if all the vendors were to be shunted out and a single vendor was to get the consolidated project, wouldn't it be wonderful? And thus began the 'CONSOLIDATION' saga.... It all began when I was in India with constant upper level meetings and and the little news that trickled down to us kept us on our toes! Later when I got to the client location, things got hotter.
Going into the year-end holidays, everyone was on tenterhooks! There was one meeting that I clearly remember where my boss's boss's boss came over to talk to us and reassure us by talking about how confident they were of landing the deal. There even was talk about how when (there was never an 'if', always a 'when') we do land the deal, there will be a greater business opportunity when BB would try to leverage this deal for proposing other ideas like PS3 with BB chips, Vaios with BB software pre-loaded etc etc!! Man, were we excited by the prospects!! Reassured, everyone went into the holidays with a smile...
One week back into the office and one Monday morning, the bomb is dropped! BB (suddenly less of the Big Blue and seeming more like a Bombed Bimbette) has lost the bid and also all the chances of landing the multi-billion dollar 5-year deal!!!
So what does all this mean for me? Is it back to India? Another project? in US? No idea, frankly! We are still in an uncertain phase regarding the future plan and for now, I am taking one day at a time and concentrating on my 'other' plan. I was quite scared and worried but now I know that there is not much I can do until the picture becomes clearer, which probably would be later this week or the next... and until then I am keeping my peace. We will see what the future holds!

Vroom! Vroom! Vrooooooooom!!

2008-01-06T23:16:00.001-08:00

I rented a car over the weekend on an impulse after spending the whole of Friday debating over whether I should or not, especially after the flash flood warning that was issued for the whole of California! But then i just went ahead and did it...
Picked up the car from the enterprise rentals at Iberia place around 9:30 on Saturday, a royal blue 2007 Nissan Sentra (license: 5ZTS423)! my first rental car :)
Took it for a spin and then got back home for lunch only to leave immediately afterwards for Target and Kohls! Did a fair bit of driving and since most of the while i was lost, i ended up driving around a lot towards the evening! Finally managed to reach home after doing my own shopping in my own car! Great feeling :D
The next day, my roomie and I decided to revisit Kohls for some shopping and also drop in at Walmart/Vons on the way back. We had hardly turned a corner when one of the car drivers alerted us about a flat tire! My first day at driving and I alreay had a flat!! Well, then we got back to our apartment, called up the rental office and arranged for the tire to be changed. The spare tire in the bonnet was the 50-50 tire (good for only 50 miles that too at a speed not greater than 50) so that ruled out any freeway driving for us! Anyways, we set out once again and after getting the air pressure checked at a nearby gasd-station we were on our way to Kohls...
I ended up shopping a lot unnecessarily and have now resolved to abstain from all kinds of shopping till the monthend, atleast! That done, we also dropped in at Walmart and Vons to pick up some groceries and then we were on our way back.
I was planning to go around a lil bit in the evening but i guess I have had enough driving in the two days ( i wonder, how many miles?) so now I will be returning the car tomorrow morning but before that I have to fill up the tank and also take a picture of my FIRST rental car!!

New Year Resolutions and Mishaps

2008-01-04T00:08:00.000-08:00

The New year did begin quite well with me coming right after the wonderful road trip and all of the fun and enjoyment reminded me of the major task i have ahead of me this new year - the MBA process! Yes, it begins again...
I have a couple of resolutions made up for it and I intend to stick to it. The one thing that staying alone has taught me is 'no sin bigger than procastination' so I am already getting started (just hope i dont lose the fizz midway!)
But the new year also did bring some minor mishaps like my laptop getting conked off which resulted in my losing all the tons of photographs from the trip, though I had shared quite a few before the crash and others do have lots of pics of their own, losing my lot is very distressing :( I also had so many other photographs right from the time i got here in SD but nyways no point in crying over spilled milk! I have to now be content with the photos that are there and depend for the rest on my memory...

Road trip - Winter 2007

2008-01-03T23:48:00.000-08:00

I am back in the blogosphere after a long hiatus and there is so much to update, especially the road trip that I went on with a few friends and friends' friends!
It was a time of many many firsts - first time on a domestic flight (made all the possible security breaches that were possible!), first time on any kind of road-trip that lasted for almost 11 days, first time experience of snow (3 days of snow and i was ready to get back to Sunny San Diego), first time going out with a group of almost complete strangers and having so much fun!!
The trip took us straight upto Oregon state to the Redwood national park and Crater lake as our first stop and then we slowly travelled back down right upto San Diego downtown with stops at Mount Shasta, Lava Beds, klamath Falls, Redding, San Fransisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Diego National Park, Point Loma, Santa Monica, Carmel, Fisherman's Wharf and finally ending with the New Year's party at an Indian joint in downtown San Diego.... It was one helluva ride!
Looking forward to many such trips as i already have a list of dream destinations ready for the new year :)

Sea World!

2007-12-09T12:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday visited Sea World near Mission Bay and it was great! I was accompanying a group of 3 couples and 2 forced-bachelors and we were to start at 10 and though I came to know of the plan only at 9:30 I was ready by 10:10 but then there was a big delay and we left only by 11 and then later at the entrance there was another delay as one car lost its way but then since we already had our tickets we entered Sea World without any further delay.

We had picked up the map which also mentioned the show timings and since the first show was scheduled only at 2:30, we just went around and the for the first time ever I took a roller-coaster water ride - The Journey to Atlantis :) It was sooo much fun, there were moments when i was scared shitless but it was just great, I so plan to try out more rides in the future! I was totally drenched by the end of the ride and combined with the December chill, i was absolutely chilled to the core...

We also went to the 'Wild Artic Interaction' (a helicopter simulation of the artic landscape complete with polar bears and also a storm!), Penguin Encounter (an enclosed area with all kinds of penguins and unusual kinds of water birds), Mama Stella (for some late brunch), RL Stein's Haunted Lighthouse (a 4D movie, was fun with the 3D glasses and splashing water), Flamingo Cove (a cove with flamingoes, what else?), Clysedale horses stable (these horses are world-famous, for what reason I dont know :), Pacific Point (white whales, walrus, otters and the kind)

But the highlight of the day had to be the 'BELIEVE' show with the wonderful killer whales (better known as 'Shamu') It was mind-blowing with great music and audience hand signal and killer whales flying in the air and dancing with the trainers!! Awesome! The highlight had to be when the shamu picked up one of the trainers on her snout straight up in the air and then when one of the trainers surfed in the tank with one of the shamus as his surfboard!!

There were a few things that we missed but I plan to make it up when I go there next - the skyride and the skytower and also the dophins and sharks. The DIP program, Shamu Rocks and Clyde and Seamore show will be top on the list shows for the next time!
All in all, it was a fun Saturday...

Pending Updates!! - Epsiode Two

2007-12-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

26th November : My birthday finally dawns! I wake up wishing 'Happy Birthday' to myself and deciding not to feel bad or sorry for myself! Little did i know that this day is going to be one eventful day!!
I come to office and call up home and have a long chat with them that brings me to tears, i miss them so much....
Later in the day Kim takes me out for lunch to a Chinese restaurant and I have some king-sized prawns and chicken... enjoyed the lunch!
I wanted to get back home quickly and i did not have a ride back so i decide to walk home, its far but i feel that a walk would do me good after the heavy lunch and then starts the most tiring and scary and memorable 75 minutes of my life!! I probably took all the wrong turns and ended up walking almost 4 miles mostly in the dark and in the cold! Man, that was scary like hell... there were times when i thought i should stop and probably try and look for a phone but then there wasnt any around!! and frankly even if there were, i dont think i would have called anybody (Stupid me, worried about what they would say when they found out i was lost trying to get smart!) but then when i finally did reach home I had a gift waiting for me - my phone set!
I was really tired but glad to be home so i went ahead and cut my cake and had my pudding and also distributed it to the two families who have been so great to me!
Whew! that was some birthday!!!

27th November : just went by with office and preparing for my written test!

28th November : I was all ready for my driving written test and after my one-hour class I went in to the DMV at Clairemont, mentally prepared to spend a loooong time waiting! I did have to wait but not as much and my number was called almost to the hour after i had reached there. The lady took like forever going through the formalities and I was asked for my passport and Indian license and then after getting my rather sleepy-eyed picture taken I was off to give the test... and the test took me less than 5 minutes to complete!! I was out in a jiffy and I had scored a perfect 100%.. Yipee! :D The BIG achievement of the month!!

29th November : With the written test out of the way, the focus now was on getting an internet connection. I was researching it for some days and finally decided on getting the landline connection as that way it was working out cheaper for the internet thingie. I completed my booking hoping that before the next weekend i should have the internet connection setup.

30th November : As I was preparing breakfast, I heard some water splashing somewhere and as i looked out of my window I could not believe what i was seeing! It was pouring outside!! I was wondering that the day before it was so sunny and hot, it being end November and all and today it is raining!! Man, the weather here is crazy... I thought that the rain will soon stop and so I didnt bother picking up my umbrella while leaving for office and I was punished for being lazy! The rain did not stop and I was drenched by the time I reached office :( It actually continued raining the whole day.... at night after dinner I just stepped outside for a while and it was still drizzling and I thought to myself ' So this is what 'November Rain' is all about!' :)

Pending updates!! - Episode One

2007-11-28T20:32:00.000-08:00

Been a long time since i last updated the blog... not because there was nothing to update but because there was no internet connectivity available :(

But the last few days have been eventful! So lets begin - -

21st November : I received my SSN, exactly 2 weeks after applying for it, guess I was lucky to have not faced any delays or trouble in getting the SSN.
This was also the day before the long Thanksgiving weekend began and the day when I was to shift from 199 to 207! That evening was probably the most tiring in my entire life... picking all those heavy items and transferring them to the new apartment, with no one to help, almost took the life out of me!

22nd November : For the first time in my life, I prepared lunch!! Rice, Dal and Bhendi fry... the bhendi fry was nice and oily :) It took me the whole morning and a bit of the afternoon too to get my lunch ready!! Have to work up on my speed at chopping and frying, i guess!
I also assembled the drawers finally... got some pictures while doing it too! It was a lot of fun, making your own furniture! All the boards are chopped to the right size, screws of every shape and size provided, all one has to do is deduce which screw goes where and then twist :D Did that for the rest of the afternoon after lunch and then finally had it ready by evening... stuffed it with all my stuff and admired my work-of-art for some time after that....

23rd November : Did nothing special really this day... actually got quite bored in the morning. In the evening though, i went to Target with Sarika and did some shopping... picked up a cute cuddly brown dog as my birthday gift and named him 'Chantu' (pronounced 'Shantu' like in French ;)

24th November : This was a fruitful day... I visited the nearest public library, again with Sarika, and got my membership done! Now i wouldnt have to bother about getting bored... i will have all the books i can handle to read :) The library is free and not too bad either... will keep me happy for a long time! Later in the evening, I visited Vons and picked up a cake for my birthday... not a cake but just a slice of it. It felt odd buying a cake for my own birthday and there was also not going to be a big party with many people so got a small one.... I really miss my family :(

25th November : A day before my birthday and i am all alone in my 2-bedroom apartment with no telephone, no internet! It probably cannot get worse than this :( I try to keep busy by making some chocolate pudding (which by the way turned out real good) and trying my hand at some more cooking, but this time i try something less time-consuming - an omlette.

So this was how I spent my Thanksgiving weekend, all in all, eventful four days!

Words of Wisdom

2007-11-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

When you get to the end of you rope, tie a knot, hang on and swing!
- Leo Buscaglia

Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
- Unknown

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.
- Kurt Vonnagut

Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option
- Anonymous

grocery shopping and me!

2007-11-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

This week is turning out to be a week of 'firsts'! Yesterday I went shopping for groceries for the first time EVER in my entire life, I actually checked whether the apples are fresh, the bhendi looks good(though did not know what to look for in a bhendi!) and also bought a loooot of house-hold items. Another first was cash deposit in a bank... had to deposit the rent in my room-mates bank because of some nonsensical setup she has and therefore first had to withdraw close to $1200 dollars from the BofA ATM then go to US Bank and deposit it!

Yesterday evening was a fun-filled evening with tow major events: shopping and dining
The evening began with a visit to Costco(a BIG warehouse) where everything is sold wholesale(read, cheap but only in bulk) where we bought tissues and milk. Nothing jazzy about the shop and nothing small about it too! Everything comes in XXL sizes, right from chips packets to double container oil jars to huge packs of tissues! Did not like that shop too much but its good for essentials shopping for a family.
Next stop was North Park Produce, its a place where we get grocery and masala and the kind. Not too big and quite boring actually... just a fancy 'Santosh ki dukaan' :) This is where I had my first experience of buying groceries!
Later we went to the US Bank and finished off the deposit work... much to my relief, because my room-mate was bugging me off with her constant reminders!
Last stop for the day was Walmart where I did most of the shopping, right from trash cans to a microwave! Ran up quite a huge bill to but then most of the things are not perishable and a necessity too!
Shopping done, returned home, stored all the stuff in the hall and ran off to the dinner party...
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Interval
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The dinner party, hosted by the kind soul who drops and picks me up from office every day, was just getting started and after some light discussion we got on to playing dumb-charades... after a long time, I had so much fun, laughing and screaming, I almost lost my voice for the evening :) The dinner was also too good... luchi ghugni and paneer bhuji and jeera rice... yummy! I really feel now that it only is a matter of some initiative and there is no reason why i cannot cook like that and have some good food! Chatted for quite some time after dinner about getting a new car, the insurance, the furniture etc etc and I felt overwhelmed with all the work! But then i had a ferrero rocher and i was feeling good again :)
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THE END
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So this is how my Saturday ended and today, Sunday, I plan to sort out all my financial details and also get some office work done....

driving on the freeway!!

2007-11-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

Just got back from my first driving lesson :) Was a lot of fun and work too... so many rules to abide by, so many speed limits to be aware of! I did a good job, i think but do need to take at least one more lesson before I am confident enough to rent a car. The freeway experience was also good though i should remember to maintain speed at all times... got honked at once on the freeway!
There are few more things that i should be careful about:
1. quick acceleration at signals, especially when getting onto the freeway (got honked at one more time here while getting on to the freeway!)
2. left/right indicators only 1-1/2 houses before the turn... NOT before that!
3. while taking a right turn, get onto the bike lane only 100 feet or less before the turn.
4. while turning or changing lanes, slow down, look in the mirror, indicator, look over your shoulder and then turn/change lanes
So its decided now that I got to take another lesson and then go on for the driving test but before that there are a couple of things i have to check out:
1. receipts for the driving lessons
2. drop and pick-up for the written test
3. written test possible without SSN?
Ok so thats that then... good start to the weekend but have some office work to complete as well :( its beginning to get hectic now! Will be going grocery shopping today and also have to buy some essentials before moving into the new apartment... and also have a dinner to attend in the evening!

another first!

2007-11-16T17:53:00.000-08:00

Just a small note on how I saw another first... someone breaking the signal!!
Not such a big deal in India but I was shocked to see someone jumping the red signal here... here where people stop at a 'STOP' sign painted on the road on an empty road with no one in sight door-door tak! Was suprised indeed and may i add, it also made me feel that people here too are falliable and not automatons driving :)

PS: the Friday dinner invite that was expected did not come :( but another one on Saturday came up! And I am not complaining :D

$$$$$$

2007-11-15T21:53:00.000-08:00

Today I got my first dollar paycheck :D Nothing fancy and certainly not substantial.. it just got credited to my account and I received a mail with the salary information, details of which i am yet to understand! But it was a happy feeling :)
Was very relieved to get the money in my Bofa account because that meant that i could pay of all the outstanding bills and also withdraw money without paying any additional surcharge...
Today also went to the local grocery store(mall, actually... and this is a first too!) VONS is the name of the store and its a grocery chain... really liked the place. I am beginning to feel that given some time I will actually start enjoying my stay here :) Withdrawing cash from the ATM here was another first today...
Have also signed up for the driving class this Saturday so that is something to look forward to this weekend. And yes, the dinner invite.... had said 'no' the last friday so wondering if i will be re-invited this weekend, keeping my fingers crossed... really want to meet Kim's wife and also have the gift to give!

first bus trip!

2007-11-11T18:34:00.000-08:00

Today was an eventful day! Just back from my first ever bus trip in the US of A! Had gone to Fashion Valley for some shopping, bought a box of chocolates for the dinner invite (that i might or might not get) and also two formal tops.... but thats not all, this day also taught me many lessons that i ought to remember!
1. bus travel is not intimidating if you know where to get up and down :)
2. My 'माल' (not hindi, but english!) room-mate can be a big pain in the a**, though pretty much stuck with her for the next two months will try and move out of her company asap!
3. when somebody is giving you a lot of gyan and generally bitching, the best way is to ask 'do u want me to do something?' else pretty soon the guns are going to be drawn on you!
4. Shopping in malls here is pretty confusing and boring especially if you dont have good company, there are just too many things and none of your choice and budget.

Ok enough of the lessons now... i visited a lot of high-profile brand stores today like Gucci, Carolina Herrera, Gap, Guess, Bloomingdale, Saks Fifth Avenue and the regulars like Macys, JCPenny and Ann Taylor but nothing really caught my eye and finally ended up buying from a shop named 'Express'!

All in all, it wasnt a bad day at all... i just miss the enjoyment and fun, actually its being a long time since i had a good laugh with friends :(

A list of movies I watched - weekly update

2007-11-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

I have been watching so many movies online that i feel i should put that in here as well... So here goes:
Week 1(10/29-11/04): Johnny Gaddar, Jab We Met
Week 2(11/05-11/11): Laga Chunari me Daag, Dhol, Chak de India, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd
Week 3(11/12-11/18): The Bee Movie, American Gangster, Om Shanti Om, Sawariya
Week 4(11/19-11/25): 15th Park Avenue
Week 5(11/26-12/02): Love Actually
Week 6(12/03-12/09): Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions, Dhan dhan dhan GOAL, Ella Enchanted, Aaja Nachle(Madhuri's comeback movie and i totally liked it!)
Week 7(12/10-12/16): Khoya Khoya Chand (boring!), Dus Kahaniyaan (not bad at all)

2007-11-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

Here is an article I read on finance.yahoo.com about dealing with car dealers:
Things-to-Never-Say-to-a-Dealer

To help you take the driver's seat in the buying experience, first learn to play the game, and you might even end up doing some smooth talking of your own.

Ready, Set, Go!

1. "I'm ready to buy now."

This is an admission of weakness and an invitation for the dealer to throw out a price that's slightly below the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) to see if you'll take the bait. It shows that you're too eager and willing to consider an offer, and it also gives salespeople the advantage by allowing them to talk you up as opposed to you talking them down. But by adding some very precise parameters, you'll sound confident and strong from the start.

"Don't let them know that you're ready to buy without being very particular. If you're ready, say that you'll buy, but only under these particular conditions," says Gentile.

There are two schools on negotiating. Going into the process, Gentile reminds consumers to be wary of the dealer cost. Consumer Reports has something called wholesale price, which is the normal dealer invoice price minus all relevant rebates and incentives. Similarly, most longstanding price-information services advise buyers to research the dealer invoice, along with any relevant incentives, then make a lowball offer that's maybe just a few hundred dollars above invoice. The dealer will follow your figure with a counteroffer that then allows you to go back and forth until there is a compromise.

Conversely, a second school believes that making the first offer puts the buyer in a weak position. "When you make an offer on a car, you're digging yourself into a hole," says James "Spike" Bragg, a consumer advocate and founder of Fighting Chance, an information service for new-car buyers. "That offer will be as good as it gets. There's so much today in 'under the radar' sales incentives to dealers, you don't want to limit yourself."

According to Bragg, many of the dealer incentives today are awarded on a dealer-by-dealer basis, often handed out for meeting sales targets. Because of this, you can't pin down these incentives on a particular vehicle, and you never know which dealership might be able to provide the better price at a given time.

Bragg's method involves faxing quote requests from several different dealerships and asking them for their best bottom-line price on a particular model. His clients sometimes manage to negotiate prices well below invoice, even considering all published incentives. In this day of increased under-the-radar incentives, this method doesn't limit you to a bottom line and certainly has its merits if you're willing to put in the effort.

On ForbesAutos.com you can pursue both options. On each of our Reviews pages there is a link to detailed MSRP and invoice pricing. Also, if you go to our "Buy a Car" section, you can select a model, configure it how you like and then request a free dealer price quote.

Monthly Payment

2. "I can afford this much per month."

"Don't tell the dealer what you're willing to pay per month. This is the biggest mistake a shopper can make. Often the dealer will focus on a monthly payment scheme, insisting you are receiving a great deal, but at the end of the day you won't really know what you paid, advises Gentile.

If the dealer can get a number out of you, a common trick is to ask if you can squeeze out a slightly higher monthly payment, then raise the bottom-line price accordingly by hundreds or even thousands. Avoid this by insisting that you focus only on the purchase price. Walk away if the salesperson only wants to talk in monthly payments. Trade-in

Trade-in

3. "Yes, I have a trade-in."

Don't tell salespeople you have a trade-in until a final transaction price is set. If you do and the deal hasn't been made yet, they may try to distract you with the "great" deal they're giving you on your trade-in as they skimp on the real deal. And if you catch that, they may try writing your trade-up for less.

"You'll see games being played — they'll play one off on the other," Gentile says. Once you've decided on a sale price, then you can see what they'll give you for your old car.

Cash-Only Please

4. "I'm only buying the car with cash."

Car dealers make a significant chunk of added profit when they sell you financing. If you don't at least leave the dealer with the possibility that he or she might sell you financing, you simply won't be getting the best deal. Bragg recommends saying something like "I haven't really thought that through yet. Maybe we'll see what you have after we agree on a price."

But be truly noncommittal with financing, even though it's a good idea to line up tentative financing with your lender before you go car shopping.

Still Debating

5. "I'm not sure…which model do you think I need?"

If you're this undecided, you may end up driving away in a vehicle you neither wanted nor needed. Do the research in advance, and make your first shopping trip a short one. Use this opportunity to gather information and take your spec vehicle for a short test drive. If your uncertainty is apparent, you may end up buying the model with the most add-on equipment, the highest sticker price and, of course, the most profit for the dealer. Before you go shopping, narrow your choices down to three or four vehicles that fit your needs.

My Dream Car

6. "Oh, I've wanted one of these all my life."

As soon as you've lost yourself in the dreamy vision of that gleaming convertible, the salesperson has you hooked, and your chances of getting a great deal are over. "Don't get caught heavy breathing," says Bragg. "Certainly don't admit to your spouse — with the salesman listening in the backseat — that you're in love with the car." Here's where you need to have a communication plan. Try to sound objective and rational. Point out some pros and cons and be observant and calm. Just don't say that you have to have this car.

What Everyone Wants

7. "I'll take whatever the popular options are."

Don't ever ask for the "popular options" especially on a luxury model that already comes loaded. It's an open invitation for overpriced dealer add-ons such as interior protectant, window etching or undercoating. They're all things you can come back for later. Instead, go through the equipment list at home after your first visit to the dealership and then decide exactly what you need.

Lowest You Can Go

8. "What's the lowest price you can give me?"

Most likely, this question won't be taken seriously, and you will be met with a predictable performance. The salesperson will wince, maybe talk to the manager, fiddle with numbers and eventually come back with a price that probably isn't a very good deal for you. But there may be so much apparent effort in this performance that you'll be pressured into settling for that final number. Don't. To avoid this, make an informed and reasonable low offer, then wait for a counteroffer. Don't be afraid of silence. Conversely, don't be surprised if there's even a little drama.

Doing The Math

9. "Sure, I'll look at the numbers with you."

Perhaps quite early in your visit, the salesperson will most likely make an offer to "just go look at the numbers." Dealers do this when they sense you're undecided, but they want to be in the position of control. Getting you in the office makes it harder for you to back out. Wait until you can call the shots of what you want at what price.

The Haggle Factor

10. "I think you can do a lot better than that."

Never scold or accuse the salespeople. Be polite. Compliment them, and show respect. You'll never get the best price if you talk down to them. At least for the moment, you want them to be your friends. Let the scene play out, but leave when the deal's not good enough by quietly suggesting that the competition across town might be more willing to work with you.

Another weekend is here!

2007-11-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

Today is my third Saturday in the US of A, i remember the first when I had just landed and the second when i was doing.... nothing :) and now the third when i am getting ready to study for the written test for the driver's license.... Now is a good time since it seems that getting a driver's license is a long term plan and then getting a car would take another month... whew! lots of work ahead!

Lets see now, what were the highlights last week??!! Nothing much really other than the fact that i finally submitted my application for the SSN (details to follow!) and also got all my cards-Ecount, BOFA and AMEX all in the same day! Was also invited by Kim for dinner on Friday but turned it down coz i didn't have anything to gift them.... will pick up something when i got out tomorrow, planning to go to Fashion Valley and do some shopping... And also booked a new apartment here at Bernardo Hills itself... its a 2BHK and will be just two of us... works out to be a little expensive but at least there will be some peace of mind and more importantly, some privacy! Will be moving out sometime during the Thanksgiving weekend!

The trip to the SSN office was one long bore! I guess, all the governmental agencies of the world follow the same set of rules... it was just like in any Indian govt office, long queues, bored officials taking their own sweet time moving around, frustrated people waiting for hours on end... including me! Had to wait for two long hours before my number was finally called out and the task was done in less than 5 minutes!! and here i was, thinking that in the US of A everything happens in a jiffy, i guess somethings never change!

Thanksgiving weekend is round the corner but I have no plans as of now... looks like I will be here... planning to take some driving classes if they remain open and my SSN is done by then! Had many options like going to Chicago to Dada or to Pittsburgh to friends or even to New York to Pishi but none worked out coz for one its working out to be quite expensive and right now with so many expenses coming up, i really should not be splurging! and also the flight timings are such that i would end up spending almost a day and half in traveling to-and-fro... totally not worth it! So right now I am here waiting for something interesting to come up!

first weekend in US of A

2007-11-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

The first weekend just went by as I had planned for a lot of things... first, a trip to LA (which then got cancelled) then a trip to the local stores for some grocery and shopping but then even that got cancelled and at the end of the day the colleague's son's bday was what i attended...
It was a good experience, saw a lot of south-indian women decked up in their best... it felt like Durga Puja and not just a kid's bday party!!
Met a Maharashtrian couple and chatted with the lady... also met my colleagues' pretty wives, almost felt like i was in 'Beauty and the Beast!' :D
Sunday was spent lazing around the house and watching a couple of movies... Johnny Gaddar and Jab We Met... the first movie was good and the second was bad... thats my review!
Probably next weekend I will go around a bit... need to shop for new clothes!

first taste of independence!! - the series

2007-11-02T20:50:00.000-07:00

THE OFFICE
The first week at office is officialy over and now I have a weekend to look forward to and though nothing really special happened, here is the chronicle for posterity sake:
DAY 1 - Dada drops me off and while I wait for someone to come accompany me, VB drives in and drops me off at the gate where KA is waiting with a big smile on his face! I am introduced to everyone in the team and also to the managers like GR, YK, Ranga and also to S and Randy. By the time I am settled in, its time for lunch and VB asks me for lunch and we go off to an Indian restaurant 'Delhi (something)' accompanied by KA. Soon its time to pack up and I leave.
DAY 2 - Today is the day for 'application status report' meeting where in AS (the new acting-PM) presents the info abt all the applications while people responsible for each app gives the detailed updates. I see a lot of new faces and am shocked when AS asks me to give the updates on a particular application... After the meeting, I find out that AM, Matt, David (all app mangers) were the new faces and I gave my first report to them even without knowing it!!
DAY 3 - Got in touch with SR some other guys from GST and with their help got an idea about the various forms to be filled and submitted. Also went to the canteen with Santosh and chatted for quite some time and he told me about his LA trip on the coming weekend and whether I wanted to join in... i was all excited and ofcourse I said yes!
DAY 4 - Nothing much happened today other than that I faxed across all the documents and also opened up a BOFA account. the only thing pending is to get the SSN done...
DAY 5 - The week finally ends... got an invite to attend S's son's second bday on Saturday and also got my sony badge....
The evenings have been interesting with varied preparations of sambhar and the little ww that i have had to witness... I swear the food did not have half the spice that the war of words did! :D

first taste of independence!! - the series

2007-11-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

THE HOTEL-STAY
As the day dawned, I was ready to... get back to sleep again :) Felt could sleep for another two days atleast! But Dada forced me up and after having breakfast, we left for shopping (that actually was the only reason I agreed to get up in the first place!). We went to the malls in Escondido (Macy's, Sears, JCPenny) and while I was suprised by the sheer size of the malls, I really was enjoying it a lot! Almost bought a top from New York and Co but then decided to check out the other shops before making a purchase and landed up at Anna Taylor Loft.... the saleslady there was really nice and she did a great job at getting me to buy a pair of good fitting trousers and a blood red top! Later we went to a shoe store but then since nothing really caught my eye, we left soon enough. By then it was already 5 and it was time to visit the apartment which was to be my home, for now!
My first impression was well.... this looks like a refugee camp!! Firstly there were 5 girls already sharing the apartment which as far as i knew was home to only 2 other girls and on top of it all the girls were married and south-indian!! What luck! will these south-indians never leave me alone?!! Nyways seeing the condition of the house and the space crunch, Dada got into overdrive and we drove off to Target to pick up a lot of essential (as per Dada) household items! I had fun.. it seemed like the American lifestyle that i had always thought of having :) And then we dropped off the stuff at the apartment and got back to the hotel... Day 2 was coming to an end and I was getting mentally ready for joining office the next day....

first taste of independence!! - the series

2007-10-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

I have no words to describe how my last 4 days have been... even now as i sit down to put in my experiences i dont know how to begin. If i were to begin with what i am feeling right now... I would say i am hungry, extremely sad and frustrated and helpless! Just now faced a girl-fight over who should cook, who shouldnt... how typical :(
THE TRAVEL
To begin at the beginning, I set out from the Bombay airport on 27th Oct at 0235 hours and as i waved to Ma and Baba, I was so sad and yet excited about the new journey I am embarking upon! As i settled into my seat in the crowded economy class, I was thrilled to see a BA plane taxing away :) Life is never a bed of roses and my journey certainly wasnt... the first leg was made memorable by the extremely fat gentleman sitting beside me and the extreme cold inside the plane! That night felt interminable... but day did dawn and i had the first taste of American breakfast which certainly was not fun! Nyways i spent the day drifting in and out of sleep and didnt really get bored and soon it was time to get off and board the next flight (11:30 am IST but 7:30 am in Frankfurt)

The airport at Frankfurt certainly left a lot to be desired... It was neither too big nor too fancy and thankkfully I didnt have to spend too much time at the airport. Got over with the security check and was waited in the lobby, chatting up another Indian traveling to Phoenix before boarding flight LH430 to Chicago...

The O'Hare airport is lovely and huuuuuuge... it has its own rail system to travel from one terminal to another!! Though i wish there was a easier way to get the baggage of the carousal... whew! that was really tough... almost got dragged away by the bag as i clutched it, trying to get it off the carousal... thankfully was able to haul off both pieces of baggage the next time! and quickly walked off for the emmigration check as the flight was already an hour late leaving me with around 2 hours only... But the emmigration check was not too difficult but the security check was... the guards threw out my Nike deo because it was too big for the cabin luggage but I was able to salvage my face wash from disappearing into oblivion!

The flight was again delayed at Chicago because.... a truck had banged into the plane!! Wow, what next? Finally the flight did take off and I looked down over Chicago for the first time and as I looked down the thought whether this was the best decision crossed my mind but I quickly put it out of my head and got out my novel! Next watched the Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix movie and when even then the flight didn't seem to get over, I started getting bored and impatient. After traveling half way across the world I really couldn't wait for the journey of a thousand miles to end!

Finally the journey did end and I walked out straight towards the baggage claim area only to see Dada already waiting there for me... that brought a smile on my tired face :) We then collected the baggage or rather Dada collected the baggage while I chatted to Ma and Baba telling them about my allergy, my blocked ears and my cold :D

Dada rented a Hertz car and we reached the Holiday Inn hotel at around 9:30 after getting lost a couple of times and as I wasn't hungry at all, we decided to call it a day. As I tucked in for the night I wondered momentarily that was I really in America? Was the journey finally over or is another announcement over the PA going to wake me from my dream?

all set ( i think!)

2007-10-18T05:23:00.000-07:00

Got the offer letter... salary not what was promised (but thats not too suprising, is it?)

Raised the TR after getting the go-ahead... the powers-that-are took forever doing it and now while my PM enjoys his holidays I get the taste of leadership and management first-hand!

My tickets are booked... flying Lufthansa, Bombay to San Diego via Frankfurt,Chicago... will be leaving on the 27th Oct 0235 and will reach SD at 1735 the same day...

Submitted the docs and obtained my calling card and transit insurance and also my tickets

Sent the mail for FOREX release and will be getting it on the 24th

Opened a new Citi account (not because i wanted to but because it is a must for some unknown reason!)

Got the stamp and sign on the loan docs.... finally! Can you believe it that a company as big as I** does not have a official seal on its premises!!

All said and even more done, I think I am done with all the official documentation and formalities... Now i can go back home and enjoy the two days of Durga Puja....

Anecdotes on Leadership....

2007-10-12T23:42:00.000-07:00

This will be a running post on anecdotes I hear/read/experience on what leadership means and what makes one a leader :
1. ' A manager is the one who sees to it that the trees in the forest are being cut right; a leader climbs up the tree and sees to it that the right trees are being cut!' - Unknown
2. 'Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.' - Dwight Eisenhower
3. 'Only one man in a thousand is a leader of men -- the other 999 follow women.' - Groucho Marx (one of my favs :)
4. 'Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too.' - Robert Half

5. A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way - John C. Maxwell

Nashik sojourn!

2007-10-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

The trip to Nashik, which Baba had been planning for almost 6 months, finally happened last weekend (6-7 Aug 07) and though extremely tiring, it was also enjoyable!!
Visited a number of places in the two days and what follows is a description as seen through my eyes :)
1. Tryambakeshwar temple - This is the biggest and the most famous attraction of Nashik. had heard a lot about the temple and its unusual 'shivlinga' and we reached the temple in good time... not too long a queue and the crowds quickly dispersed. The unique shivlinga had 3 holes instead of the usual ling structure which is said to signify Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara. Also the darshan was by viewing the ling in a mirror because the actual ling is set deep down!
After the darshan, I stepped out to take some photographs of the temple but I was prevented from doing so by the guards... but that wasnt to stop me, was it? ;) I stepped behind a tree and clicked a snap nonetheless!! With that the visit to the temple came to an end and we returned to the cool interiors of the waiting Scorpio....

2. Godavari dam- Next stop was the dam across the Godavari river... though not originally in the plan, we made a stop nyways. Not much to look at but the lake was huge and the cool breeze rippling over the surface was refreshing! Spent quite some time by the lake, dipping my feet in the water, posing for a few pics :)

3. Panchavati We then moved on to our next stop, Panchavati, the place which was witness to the cause of many a great events.... The ghat and the Rama (kalaram/goraram) mandirs were on the agenda and they were duly visited... What wasnt on the agenda and turned out to be the highlight was the 'Sitaguha'... It was a temple with a difference, it was a guha but again, with a difference.... there was a low, extremely low entrance through which we could pass only by sitting down and moving on our butts and then were steep stairs down... and so thats how we went, one step at a time on our butts :D Right outside the sitaguha was the site of the famed 'panch vat' from which the place takes its name!

By the time we were done with our sight-seeing, the sun was in its dying stages and it was time for us to bid adieu to Panchavati....
4. Phalke Smarak - There is a museum and smarak dedicated to the great Dadasaheb Phalke who hailed from Nashik and I was enthused to go visit it, hence we decided to take a slight detour and go inspite of it being late in the day.... but alas, it was not meant to be! Due to some unscheduled load-shedding, the musuem and the entire premises had already closed for the day and we had to return dejected!
5. Adhikari dinner - By now, I was completely tired and all ready for a good night's sleep but there was still one item on the agenda - a dinner invite at Baba' colleague Mr. Adhikari's residence! Though the dinner was nothing to write home about, I did meet two extremely smart and talented young girls - Pratyusha and Priyanka. Daughters of Mr. Adhikari, they had many awards and credits to their name and I even got to listen to a marathi elocution from Pratyusha!
Dinner done we finally returned to the hotel room and I tucked in for the night!

---**---

Day two dawned ( a bit too early, if u ask me!) and we were all ready for another day at the road...
1. Gargoti mineral museum - First stop for the day and I was spellbound!! The unimaginable beauty of stones/minerals.... who could imagine that within the inocuous looking stones are sparkling amethysts, radiant rubies and the like!! It simply was unbelievable... spent quite some time in the museum and took a lot of photographs and even bought a beautiful blood-red pendant!

2. Shirdi - Well, the trip would have been incomplete without a visit to the Saibaba temple at Shirdi... so there we were, racing against time to make it for the 12 o'clock aarti but we missed it by just a few minutes! This was the first time I was visiting Shirdi and I was pretty amazed at the sheer number of people I saw... hundreds of devotees waiting patiently in queues stretching over a kilometre to pay their respects to Saibaba! I also asked for his blessings for the new innings in my life and after spending some time in the environs of the temple, we had our lunch at a nearby restaurant and were soon on our way...
3. Shani Shingnapur - We were now in the last leg of our trip and wanted to make the most of it... our driver suggested visiting Shani Shingnapur temple since we had come so far and shouldnt leave without seeing that as well.... There is also a famous saying that goes with the place - no doors, no windows to the houses in this area, anyone daring to steal turns lame!! Well, a place with so much novelty had to be visited! But nothing had prepared me for the sight that awaited me!! Only men were allowed to offer puja and that too only wearing a saffron cloth tied around their waists... also a purifying bath was a must and so there were I was in a sea of half-naked, fully drenched men waiting for the darshan!! The Shani god (not an idol but a piece of rock!) was being bathed with oil and all the women had to watch from a distancewhile the men made the offerings.... Strange sight, indeed!!

The trip to Shani Shingnapur officially concluded our Nashik trip and we all bundled into the waiting Scorpio and left for home, sweet home!!

Visa... Shisa.... Haiyo Rabba!!

2007-08-29T05:49:00.000-07:00

Had my H1B visa interview today... dont know if what i had qualifies to be called an interview, didnt last for more than 2 mins and involved just 2 questions...
L: So you work for IBM?
Me: yep! (yep? yep??!! did i just say yep??? wasnt i instructed to say yes, ma'm!! oh well...)
L: Have you travelled before?
Me: no (better answer this time!)
L: Your passport will be couriered to your company. Thank you!
Me: Thank you, Ma'm!
..... and I am out of the cubicle, the room and soon at the parking where my mom is getting ready for a looong wait! hee hee...

Not much of a story there but the amount of preparation and efforts that went into the making of these two minutes is worth telling.... It began with my preparation of the questions that could be asked and collection of the documents that need to be carried for the interview... The final set of documents that I did carry
1. appointment letter
2. visa receipt
3. passport
4. petition
5. original degree certificate and marksheets
6. form-16 and income-tax filing form
7. company offer letter and last 3 months payslips
(Note: The first 4 are an absolute must and the remaining can be carried but as my experience shows that they are not always required.)
After the documents came the questions... thought of all possible questions and all possible answers to all those questions and it didnt seem so difficult after that....
Next came the hotel and the cab booking... easier said than done but was through with all the bookings and the confirmations the night before travel....
(Note: The travel was the most time-consuming and tiring part as traveling over 300 kms to-and-fro for a 30-min exercise really was not worth it but I didnt really have a choice, did I?

After spending the night at a nearby (well, not quite) IBM guest-house, reached the consulate at around 8:10 and the day unfolded:
1. Stood in the queue for around 10 mins before being ushered inside the consulate
2. Went through the regular security check (another 5 mins)
3. Went inside the main room and collected the VFS document and submitted it alongwith my passport at counter 1 and got a pink token (# 165)... probably another 5 mins)
4. Took a seat right at near the counters and got a first look at the ladies behind the bullet-proof glass and relaxed... was getting ready for a long wait!
5. Kept my ears peeled to the voice announcing the tokens as there wasnt any particular order being followed and with 13 operational counters things were progressing quite fast
6. After around 15 mins wait, I heard 165 being called out to counter #8. Took my position behind a fat(really fat!) lady and her kid and awaited my turn. The lady was through in quicktime and I was in...
What happened next has already been discussed and I was out and in the car and on my way back to home, sweet home! (and very soon, on my way to San Diego!)

Alpaviraam!!

2007-08-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

Alpaviram-a small pause thats what I am going to take in my GMAT journey... the last coupla weeks have been excruciating, was really bogged down by self-doubt and thousands of questions... is this the right time? am I ready? what do i have to show as achievements? what do i tell my recommenders to write about? are all the above questions irrelevant and should i just go ahead and apply?? uff!!
All this began after i spoke to a Ms B from ClearAdmit... she made it pretty clear to me that for someone like me, who isnt sure abt my long-term goals and has nothing to show, applying would be.... (she left it hanging, so one can only guess what she meant!) She even went so far as to suggest that probably i had no idea abt the seriousness of the whole process and should take care!!
Just when I was beginning to see the truth in her observations, I heard about a friend's friend - Ms. A - who had gotten into Krannert with 2-yrs exp and a GMAT score of 650!!! Now how on earth did that happen??!! That made me rethink... am i just too scared of applying? do i fear failing (again!) so much?? well, to be absolutely honest, yes, I do.... I dont think I can take anymore of that!
And to add to this, came the news of my impending visa interview... scheduled for the 29th of August... was getting ready for the interview, collecting documents etc when my manager, a Mr. C, let it out that if all goes well I would have to travel to San Diego in the second week of October itself!!!!
Oh! my brain would almost burst due to overload.... I havent done so much thinking and pondering in a lifetime!! But the decision is now made.... I will apply only next year after I have been able to garner some valuable international experience... The primary points in favor are:
1. additional experience, international, would be advantageous
2. if i make the right moves, i would be able to add up a lot to my right-now-pretty-common resume
3. the income in dollars would come in handy
4. would be give me time to research and select the schools and programs more thoroughly and the applications next year would be more planned
5. could probably gather some better recommendations!
6. a prior exposure to US culture and place would stand in good stead when i do join school
There are many 'probably's and 'maybe's but since I am aware of my final aim everything that I will do will be directed towards that goal...
The only point against is:
1. the further delay.... with marriage looming large, every year spent before an MBA seems like a crime to Ma!!

But I have come to a decision and I can only hope that all works out well... I just have to maintain focus and I am sure that this decision will not prove to be wrong!

some links i keep coming back to...

2007-08-12T03:40:00.000-07:00

Came across this article on resume writing for us IT-applicants and how to de-jargonize our writing style and suit it better to the admissions committee....
And another link here for the analysis on the essays of the top schools....
This link on admission tips on clear admit provides important pointers on the entire process...

essays!!

2007-08-12T02:12:00.000-07:00

Began the essay journey today... first stop - Johnson! looked around but couldnt find the essays, realised that the application for 07-08 season has not yet begun (will begin only in end August) so moved onto Yale... the essays have been released and though there is new one on leadership, the remaining are as of old! The third essay where we not only provide the answer but also the question was a suprise (as if finding answers was not difficult enough! ;)
Have been going through the website to find the uniques features of Yale and the mandatory international study and the integrated coursework approach is really unique... am really beginning to like the Yale program.... shot of a mail to one of the ambassadors, waiting to see what she has to say! Till then, back to some more research on the program and (probably) a rough draft as well...

Four days gone by...

2007-08-10T23:28:00.000-07:00

Four days have gone by since by G-day and I have not made any progress! :(
I have been reading about the essays and all that but dont know where to begin!!! Guess I should get in touch with some seniors in the colleges I intend to apply to... and also some other fellow applicants... if not for help then atleast I would be keeping up the pace.... plan to visit IMS this weekend and check them out... and atleast go through all the essays of the schools

Phew.... what a day it was - Part III

2007-08-06T22:47:00.000-07:00

Part III - The winner takes it all....
Finally after one-and-half months of preparation, many tests and 3.5 hours of clicking the answers(right ones, I hope) it was judgment time... But first there was THE question of whether I wanted to report or cancel the score... I did not have an alternative but to report the scores but it was interesting situation, nonetheless! Spent 2 of the alloted 10 mins to decide in staring at the screen and then clicked 'Next'... the next few moments while the software calculated my score and I stared at a blank blue screen were interminable.... and then the score pops up...
760!!
Yippeeee!!! I had done it! The score, though not the most important in the process, was a critical part of my application if I had to have a fighting chance at the top colleges... and I had DONE it :)
Pumped my fist and felt like doing a victory dance but considering my fellow candidates who were still fighting their battles, I got up and left the room in silence but my interiors were screaming....
Collected my un-official score-card and my belongings and left the room.... I was suprised to not find my parents waiting for me... checked the watch and realised that I had finished my exam quite early, by 4:45!! Couldn't wait to tell them the news and was patrolling the lobby restlessly when finally I saw them come in.... Suprised though they were coz I had told them I wouldnt be out before 5:30, they were also pleased with my score....
But as past experiences have taught me and also them, that just a good score is not enough, the celebrations were a bit muted.... And even I know better now than to celebrate prematurely like after my XL interview when I had felt that I totally cracked it and ended up with a wl-89 :(
Anyways, thats past now.... the first hurdle was successfully crossed and though there still lies a long way ahead, I am raring to go....

The test-saga ends... Stay tuned for the upcoming recos-saga, essays-saga and the season finale of applications-saga! :)

Phew.... what a day it was - Part II

2007-08-06T22:17:00.001-07:00

Part II - the battle begins....
Ahh... the refreshing whiff of cold air was like a balm on my frayed nerves.... The room was chilly and most importantly, quiet... after all the rushing around of the morning, it felt good to be there... submitted my photograph, signed on a digital pad, gave my fingerprint sample and got myself photographed... feeling like I was being admitted to a high-security prison! :D Didnt have too much time to relax though... was asked to enter the test-room almost immediately!!
Was alloted the desk #2 and then sat down to read the instructions... put in the 5 schools names and selected next to begin....
Round 1
The analysis of argument question was on the Waymarsh students and why they are absolutely concerned and serious about their education.... did a pretty good job in defending those poor souls, after all they are the ones who would help me get a 6 in AWA :) finished it well within time and moved on to the analysis of issue question where I was asked to pass my judgment on the the quality of life today!! Faced some difficulties in articulating the points and ended up focusing too much on the personal aspect... at the end, the idea of wars and general threats to society came up in my mind and did put in a line or two but was not too satisfied with the result... But time was up and I got up for my 10-min optional break....
The essays had rattled me a bit and I felt the uncontrollable urge to leave the room... just walked around a bit and splashed some water on my face to relax myself... and I was ready to enter the war zone again....
Round 2
The maths section began promisingly with not too difficult questions... I had a distinct sense of deja-vu... as it almost felt like the last GMATPrep I had given at home... none of the questions too difficult and none too familiar but all the same I was putting in a lot of thought before every 'confirm'! Did feel that I would run out of time at certain stages, like when I had 34 mins left on the clock and had yet more 18 questions to go through... but apart from the sudden panic attack, the section was progressing smoothly and soon I was at the 41st question with 2 mins to spare...
Decided to take the break again and calmly walked out, sat on the chair outside for exactly 4 mins and was back again....
Round 3
It was the last section and I was raring to go... started the section and did not face too many difficult SCs or CRs before my first RC and it was not too difficult either! :) couldnt believe that the RCs were so short and for a change they were not too abstract either! Finished the section with almost 9 mins to spare... did spend a couple of minutes at the end just to let the clock tick but then the waiting got too much for me and I decided to end the exam...

Phew.... what a day it was!! - Part I

2007-08-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

Part I - The build-up
Woke up, had my breakfast, spoke to Dada and switched on the computer.... well, that is today, relaxed and leisurely.... so different from yesterday, the 6th of August!!
Let me rewind a bit and begin from 5th evening.... I received a call from Dada, the primary reason being to wish me luck, but then we ended up talking for more than 2 hours, discussing and short-listing the 5 schools that i would send my scores to... I very happily(and quite pompously, i believe, selected 5 schools from the top-10 B-schools in US!! But Dada would have none of it... he wanted me to spread out the selection a bit more... covering the top 50!! I was scandalized... I am not going to attend such a low-ranked school but then it makes sense to apply... whether to enroll is a decision that could me made later... and if heaven-forbid, I get rejects from all the higher-ranked schools I would know where I stand.... Well, I couldn't fight against this reasoning, could I? After a long chat and an even longer session of thinking and staring at the paper-board (where I had noted down all the schools and their deadlines) I finally decided on Y/J/K/ISB/UIUC... UIUC being the least ranked and least known of the B-schools!! It was already 12 by the time I had zeroed in on these schools and I had no time or will left to take a look at the essays (as I had planned earlier) Just tucked myself in for the night.....
Heard the alarm go off too early and thought that it probably had a bug in it... but soon after came along Ma to get me out of bed... Was it already 5 then??!! I trudged out of the bed and got ready in record-time then waited while Ma and Baba got ready with Ma quibbling over how much time Baba took for getting ready... (this is normally how it is whenever we got some place in the mornings... with the trend completely reversed in the evenings! ;) Finally we were at the railway station at around 6:15, in time for the Sinhagad Express... the overcast sky increased my misgivings regarding traveling by train but then the journey was uneventful and we were at Dadar by 10:15! (Did watch a group of office-goers enjoy their daily dose of cards during the travel, helped me take my mind off the exam) The next step was to get a train to Andheri... collected the tickets after a looooong wait and then we were off to Andheri in a local... From Andheri, we were lost coz then we did not know the way to the exact location... Hired a rickshaw to Solitaire Corporate Park and after some amount of hunting around, finally located the place and reached building 9! The heat and noise of Mumbai had gotten to me by then and I was having a splitting headache... gulped down a Disprin and went up the building to wait for the doors to open.... After what seemed like an infinitely long time (but was actually just 10 mins) the doors opened and we were ushered in....

The day before the day before THE day!!

2007-08-04T04:18:00.000-07:00

Counting down the hours to the 6th right now.... Have gone through more than a couple of CATs (740 and 760 in the GMATPrep-1 and 2 resp :D) also more-or-less selected the schools that I am going to send my score to... Just waiting now.... and wondering!
The last two attempts at GMAT have really boosted my confidence but I am trying not to read too much into the numbers... One bad day is all it would take but then feels nice to finally cross the 750-mark :-)
It been raining continuously here for the last two days and Mumbai, with its penchant for flooding at a slight drizzle. must already be drowning!! I hope the travel on Monday is uneventful and I make it on time.... Was wondering if leaving on Sunday night would be a good idea but Baba is pretty confident of making it on time... so, Monday it is.

PS: Watched the movie 'Gone with the Wind' finally.... Its luvvvvvvvly!! Clark Gable is perfect as the man's man and Vivien Leigh looks absolutely stunning (was she upset over a 20" waist or did I imagine that ;) It really has some classic moments and its so Bollywood in all its 'oh Rhett..oh...'-scenes... But truly a thoroughly enjoyable movie, an exception in the case of book-adaptations....

12 days to go....

2007-07-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

Less than 2 weeks to go and I am not at all feeling confident about my preparations!!!
Though I can catch quite a few tricks but the silly mistakes I make, especially in DS, is worrying :(
Scored a pathetic 690 in GMATPrep2... really did a lot of damage to my self-confidence! Have been going through the 1000DS questions but they are quite simple... and the CRs and RCs are just too much too handle at times.... My god!! I seem to be losing the script here......
And then at times I wonder if I am ready for an international MBA.... can I really match up to these exceptional students from world over and will be I be able to handle the tough standards of the world-class schools??!! This self-doubt is killing but atleast I am determined to go through with GMAT and get a great score, come what may!!
Office life is just as usual though the ODC work is picking up quite well.... will soon have a lot more volunteers and lot more planning and executing to do.... will be fun!

Hard disk reformat!!

2007-07-15T07:07:00.001-07:00

Oh my!! What a marathon this is turning out to be :( Had to format my entire hard-disk due to some software failure and ended up spending more than half my Sunday on it!! Had planned for the GMATPrep-2 today but didnt know that this formatting process would be so time-consuming... Writing this down as I wait for the data to be copied back to the hard-disk...
And finally after 5-1/2 hours its done!!!
And why did it take so long? Well, first there was some problem with the formatting... as a result of which the Windows XP had to installed-uninstalled-reinstalled 3 times... and then when everything was going smoothly and it was time for me to copy back the data onto the HD, certain files in the folder-jungle created by Baba wouldnt copy due to some @#*%#@ reason!! Had to isolate those files and copy the rest and believe me, that was THE test of patience for me... But even that was finally done and we were all set to roll.... BUT then I remembered about the long-forgotten 8GB HD that I had before and I tried to get it working which took up another half hour... it would have been worth it if it had worked but unfortunately, years of neglect had taken its toll and my ex-HD decided to stand up on me ;(
Nyways now its all done and I am going to shut down my TP and get back on my beloved and newly OS'd desktop... :D

Blind and the Blues!!

2007-07-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

Had the first ODC (OnDemand Community - a CSR initiative of IBM) meeting yesterday... a group of 7, including me.... too few i think but we are just getting started....
'Blind and the Blues' is the name of the project which we are working on wherein we will be working with a group of visually-impaired people and imparting technical and soft-skill training to them... Interacting with the blind seems a little daunting to me and hence I have opted to work in the background, atleast in the beginning.... as a result, I am the SPOC(Single-Point-Of-Contact) for this project in IBM Pune :)
We will initially be interacting with the students to make a judgement regarding their abilities and then grouping them accordingly.... also communication with the principal and the instructors will be followed up to design a course for the students.... This intiative will also get its first taste of recognition when an article related to the project will be put up in the monthly IBM India newsletter....
The idea of working in a team, in an organised fashion for a good cause is just great!! i hope to learn a lot from this experience....

ये होसला कैसे रुके.....

2007-07-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

ये होंसला केसे रूके....
ये आरजू केसे झुके....
मंज़ील मुश्कील तो क्या... धुंधला साहील तो क्या.... तन्हा ये दील तो क्या....
Well this is what I keep saying to myself as I see the long road ahead.... less than a month (28 days, to be precise) to go for the G-day on the 6th August and I am not doing too well....
A miserable 580 (Q41,V29) in Kaplan-3 really shook me up.... Working on the SCs, CRs and RCs for now.... Have to give a better performance in the next CAT to boost my confidence!!
Have been going through the college sites as well as the MBA forums... looks like a score of 740, no less, is expected from Indians!!!! but being a girl gives me a slight advantage just to beat the demographics :D
Back to office tomorrow.... will have to find a way to utilise my time in office for doing some information-gathering.... well, preparing for GMAT is atleast making me good at delegating tasks.... have to do a bit more of it.... after all, I am the senior-most member of the module!! :D

PS: Nadal lost the Wimbledon final to Federer.... again! :( But atleast he went down fighting.... 7-6,4-6,7-6,2-6,6-2 scoreline is testimony to the fact that Nadal is no longer a stranger on grass.... It really was luck in the end that helped Federer sail through.... And I am so proud of Nadal's performance!! Stick to the fight till the very end....

07/07/07 - Day of Perfection!!

2007-07-07T10:26:00.000-07:00

Today, 7th July 2007, is being touted as 'Day of perfection'... Now what could that possibly mean??!! Does it mean that everything done today would be perfect? (my CAT didnt go all that well :( guess doesnt work for everybody!!) Does it mean that everything started today would be perfect? (supposedly all marriage bureaus are working overtime today... if only it was that simple! ;) Waited the whole day today for that one thing which would make my day perfect but alas... oh well, maybe next time 07/07/07 comes around, my day would be more perfect.... wait a sec, wouldnt that be the next century??!!

2007-07-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

well, i did manage to stick to my plan and fit in all the tasks for the day and a lil bit more in between.... :D
Gave my first GMATPrep today and scored a decent 710 (Q49,V37) though was expecting to do better.... actually made quite a few mistakes at the end of the verbal section, probably due to lack of concentration.... this 2-1/2 hour duration is killing!! :(
School research also going on fine... today's targets were Haas and Sloan! Great schools, great faculty, great infrastructure.... one tough decision! :)
'Goodfellas' was the movie of the day.... Robert DeNiro is simply awesome and the cool ganster thing he does in the movie was just prefect!!
Now its back to office for the next week... its gonna be a busy Monday but hopefully the rest of the week should be easy....

Addendum...

2007-06-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

My plan for tomorrow (in the order of priority...) :
1. the first GMATPrep test (must get a good score!)
2. research two schools.... (which ones??? now thats a million-dollar question!)
and once I am done with the above tasks maybe I would reward myself with...
3. watch a movie (I need to unwind, dont I? :)

The countdown begins.....

2007-06-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am... back again after more than a year... I never quite understood what to write in the blog other than the random thoughts going through my head but this time there is a purpose... I will be appearing for the GMAT exam in a month's time and I figured, blogging about the process would be a good way to help me overcome my biggest vice.... procastination!!
I started prep about two weeks back with the hunting on the net for prep material and also looking around for advice (believe me, there is more free advice out there than you could take in a lifetime ;) Nyways, two weeks and 5 CAT tests later, I decided the prep strategy needs to be pumped a lil bit... The test today was a wakeup call... a measly 32 in Verbal (which I believe to be my strength..) was a shocker :( Gotta work harder on those dry, abstruse paragraphs and concentrate more.... Been doing well in Maths though made a couple of silly mistakes early on that cost me!!
Didnt do too much of analysis but instead spent the evening making chocolate fudge (:D) and watching 'For a few dollars more' starring Clint Eastwood.... a wannabe 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' but not even getting close... just finished watching it and thought now is a good time as any to begin the 'Chronicles of my GMAT journey....' which hopefully end with an admit for Fall '08!!
Will try and post daily as to the progress regarding my prep and also the major part of selecting colleges... that currently is a major source of worry... but thats a story for another day....

.... what is blogging all about?

2006-04-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

Well I guess i have to accept here that i finally fell prey to all the hype surrounding blogs and blogging though i still dont understand what all the fuss is about?!
I have been asking this question to a lot of ppl and most of the times the answers go something like 'its something that u gotta do to understand' so well here i am 'doing it' and frankly 'not understanding it'..... yet!
But why did i start now? well the answer to that is something that my friend told me. She said.... "blogging lets you express what you feel about a particular issue and writing it down helps you understand your own thoughts more clearly". What she said sounded like good sense to me and so here i am, doing something that i never thought possible..... putting my thoughts into words.
This is more like an experiment than any serious attempt at blogging and i hope to improve my writing skills in the process, if nothing else!