Why MBA?

There are a lot of questions that are asked in a B-school interview, but this one seems to be the most favourite among the interviewers. It's asked in almost every interview. The Interviewer knows that the Interviewee is not going to give an honest answer, but asks the question as it has been a sort of tradition. The Interviewee knows that whatever he says is not going to be believed by the Interviewer, but tries his best by saying something like:

~ It'll provide an environment to grow as an individual and expand his horizon of knowledge.

~ It'll provide an opportunity to interact and learn with some of the best brains of the country.

~ It'll provide a holistic view of the functioning of an organisation..blah blah..

~ It's all about money. Honey! (kudos to this guys' honesty, but not sure if he gets through)

~ Why not? (this one's surely out)

Some even give it a Ms-India-contest touch by saying that after their MBA they want to serve the society. Ok, I know that was a bit exaggerated, but you got the point of its being so pointless.

Well, the question has been haunting me too for quite some time, but still I couldn't find a convincing answer. So, after a lot of brainstorming (one of those high-sounding-MBA-words) I've come up with my 4-Gs theory, much in line with 5-Cs of economics or 4-Ps of management.

Glitz n Glamour - One of my earliest memories of an MBA was a young guy in his early 20s, working as a top executive with an MNC, earning a fat pay package, wearing a formal suit, sitting in a plush office in a high rise. The image was created as a result of reading some business magazines, which sells on the success stories of young enthreprenuers and 30-something CEOs. Though this image gradually changed when some of my friends after completing their MBAs were placed in field jobs for sales and marketing. They used to say "glamour kya..sabun bechna ka job hi hai yaar!"

Ghostel Life - Don't even bother to look into dictionary, the 'G' is intentionally added. As I haven't been (un)fortunate enough to stay in a hostel for my grads, there has always been a feeling of missing that crazy life.


Gorgeous Girls - Due to dearth of nice girls in my Engineering college and later in IT industry, MBA seemed a lucarative option with some colleges boasting a boys to girls ratio as high as 1:2-3 in HR. Once again my MBA friends shattered my hopes by calling it a myth.
I've started doubting if this species really attends any college as everyone seems to agree with the 99%-of-girls-are-beautiful-remaining-1%-are-in-my-college school of thought.

Getting Back to School - After working for so long in the same company, I need a break from the routine life of project deadlines, office politics, appraisal issues, salary concerns, etc and going back to school seems to be the only escape route.

Some people say that I never had a genuine reason to go for an MBA and I just say "Wait, till I come up with another reason".

I've already started looking for words starting with the alphabet 'G'!

Tour de' ISB

As I'm in Hyderabad on a official trip I thought of visiting the Indian School of Business (ISB) campus. They organise a campus tour on every Friday from 6.00 PM to 7.30 PM (maybe I should charge ISB for advertising this). So, I went online to book a slot for yesterday, but found that the batch was already full. Disappointed, I just dropped a mail to the Admissions Office saying that I'm from Mumbai and wanted to take the tour. To my surprise, after few hours I got an invitation from them, something that I might not expect from other established Indian B-schools.

The campus is located on the outskirts of the city and sprawls in an area of more that 250 acres. I'd not say that the infrastructure is phenomenol because that would be an understatement. 'Truly worldclass' would put it more appropriately.

The tour started with the tour guide showing us all the facilities present on campus from shops, banks, sports facilities to everything required for an years' stay. After this we headed for a classroom where the presentation was to be given about ISB and its admission process.


The ISB song '525600 minutes @ ISB' with slides showing the student life at ISB really made me nostalgic about my college days, which now seems like ages before. The presentation was handled by a student from the current batch and a guy from Admissions Committee. They went through the slides explaining why ISB is ranked in the top 20 B-schools of the world. By the way, it's the first B-school to get into this league in the very first decade of its inception. Some more stats were thrown at us, which we normally find on the ISB website.

Next came the most interesting part of the tour - 'Q & A session'. I was amazed to see the diverse mix of people attending the session. In the group of 50 odd people, we'd Army officers, Airforce officers, CAs, Consultants, News Reporters and obiviously a lot of Software Engineers. It was pretty visible from the queries asked that people were so specific about what they wanted from an MBA. There were some budding entrepreneurs also, who wanted to know how ISB could help them with their business plans.

I almost fell off my chair when the person behind me asked - "I've 16 years of work experience and I'm CEO of four companies. How could MBA at ISB help me"? They said it all depended on what he wanted from an MBA degree at this point of his career. Later he revealed that he wanted to take a break from work (maybe mid-life crisis) and wanted to utilize it properly. I was glad that we'd similar reasons for doing an MBA, only with a slight difference that he'd been in the industry a bit longer than me.

The gentleman next to Mr CEO was an Army Officer. He wanted to know how his application would be evaluated as he may not have best of acads and GMAT score. They said that it is entirely on case by case basis and each year around 5-7 Defense Officers join the program. Even the class President of current batch is an ex-Lt Colonel. When he asked - "Would it matter if I get a referrel from the Chief of Army Staff"? I almost fainted.

Why don't they ban such people from applying is what I was thinking on my way out. And this is not all. It's a weekly tour. Next week another group of aspirants would visit the campus and another one on the week next to that and so on.

The session turned out to be an eye-opener. I could now imagine the kind of people who finally make it. Some food for thought and a lot to be done. They say, aim for the stars and you'll atleast land up at the Twin Towers. Oh! that stupid Osama even destroyed them.

And I let myself go.

It's already 12.50 AM. The flight will depart at 1.20 AM. Boarding has already started and I am waiting for my row number to be called.

Finally the day has come for which I've been waiting for the last 13 months. Here I'm on the San Francisco airport waiting for my flight to India but I'd never imagined that it'd be so hard for me to leave this place. It's not actually the place that I'd be missing so much, but the people here and the fun we'd in the last one year.

~I'll miss the weekend poker at Casino D where winning was more important than the means (read cheating!).

~I'll miss playing Volleyball on weekends and pulling each others' leg on the court.

~I'll miss playing Cricket-with-custom-rules on weekends where main target used to be not having a negative score.

~I'll miss going to late night movies on Sundays to extend our weekends.

~I'll miss renting cars on weekends just like that and then driving around for no reason.

~I'll miss hunting for food on weekends in other apartments and finally finding Sid as our savior.

~I'll miss Nandan's witty jokes and body building lessons.

~I'll miss Anna's dialogs from latest movies. Only in his company did I realize that the dialogs of AAA and Hera-Pheri are universally written and can be used almost in any situation.

~I'll miss Manoj's sixes in unisex Hindi like wo naya chokri.

~I'll miss Yash's photography tips and the long discussions we used to have about where life is going.

~I'll miss Bond and me watching the same girl in the whole crowd and either me or he saying abe! munh to band kar.

~I'll miss Pandeyji's non-stop chatting, which leaves no moment of dullness around him.

~I'll miss Bheda's chumma chai (as he used to call it).

~I'll miss Lavya and all her stepping over foot and hitting the people around. And wondering, while having serious discussions with her about life, is it the same girl from 5th B !

~I'll miss Deepa's comforting company as of an old friend.

~I'll miss asking Naveen a puzzle and his asking counter questions and leaving us all puzzled.

~I'll miss Mishi's lively talking and putting expressions in every word, which I could watch for hours even without blinking my eyes.

~I'll miss Reddy playing those comedy clips (including kauwa biryani and shaadi ka khana) again and again and we laughing hysterically everytime watching them.

~I'll miss me, Yash and Bond running to catch the last train at 12.25 AM from office everyday and then eating frozen parathas at 2 in the morning.

~I'll miss those Daru Parties where others enjoyed more making me take a sip from their drink than they having it.

~I'll miss those weekend trips, which we had in the last one year, covering most of the US.

~I'll miss those b'day celebrations, giving b'day bums and applying eggs, ajax, juice, liquor or anything available in kitchen to the b'day boy/girl.

~I'll miss those parties on Saturdays when we used to go to a new desi restaurant for dinner and creating so much noise that others would leave the place.

~I'll miss my Bhabhi scolding me for not calling her for ages and then we chatting for hours.

~Oh! and I'll miss the girl at starbucks whom I'd asked out (obiviously she said NO), but couldn't ask her name in more than an year.


The list would go on.. (not the list of girls).

This is one of those few moments in my life when I want to hold on.. but I know I've to move on.

The final boarding announcement is made.. and I let Myself go..

Newyork trip

September 2007

Another weekend..another trip..we were 6 guys..two days' time n Niagara-NY on the list..but most of the time we were catching flights...missing flights n waiting on Airports..

We took an overnight flight SF-Cleveland-Buffalo..hired a car in Buffalo to go to Niagara falls..

There are two must see rides:
1) Maid of the Mist - it's a boat ride, which almost takes you to the foot of the Niagara falls..
2) Cave of the Winds - clad in a yellow poncho, you can walk to a point, which is just a few feet away from the foot of the American falls..got completely drenched n stayed there for around an hour..probably the best part of the trip..
view of Niagara at night is just spectacular ..which might not be captured in snaps..

Had to catch an early morning flight to NY the next day..n as u guessed..we missed it..some Orange Security Cover was on n we were late by just 10 mins..well somehow got another flight Buffalo-Chicago-NY..was quite a DDLJ experience..people actually saying dialogs like ab hamari life mein koi problem nahin hai..

First place we went was..of course..Statue of Liberty..need to take a ferry to the Ellis island..long queues..takes around 4-5 hours in all..but all the pains r worth taking ..it's an engineering master piece from France..as they say about it even the best thing in USA is not made in USA..

We only had half a day in NY..but covered most of the tourist attractions including wall street, ground zero memorial, a ride in subway to times square n the view of whole city from the 86th floor of empire state building.. though it would take at least 2-3 days' stay to really feel the city..it's very much like Mumbai..crowded..untidy..fast..

All in all a good trip..some snaps..
[link removed]

My first trip in US

May 2007

On my first weekend in US , we went to Yellowstone..it is one of the best National Parks in US..spanning around 4 states..

Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. Located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. (Excerpts from http://www.nps.gov/yell/)


We were 13 guys in all..took flight from SFO to Salt lake City...hired 2 Nissan Quest (7 seaters..like Innova..but very very spacious)..had a GPS with us..was amazed to see its accuracy...it prompts even on changing lanes..like u r going in the wrong lane..
it made life so easier...finding gas stations, restaurants etc..

Best part was that we'd an encounter with cops...they actually chased our car at 1 in the night..we were driving at 101 mph where the speed limit was 65 mph...could have put us in jail, but left with a fine of $117...

People were envious that I was at Yellowstone at my 1st weekend in US while most of them have been here for almost 1-5 years n no one had been there before .. though I was damn tired n was under jet lag..

The place is really very beautiful...seen all kinds of landscapes there..pics would show that..uploaded only a few of them...there were some 3000 in all...

Life in general is very different here...everything is just SO PERFECT..for initial 2 weeks I felt I was dreaming..cant believe how can they get into so much details of everything..abhi kuch aadat pad gayi hai ..
still whenever I m on freeways it all seems like NFS to me..traffic rules r so many n followed like anything..the painted lines on road r taken more seriously than road dividers in India..no I m not complaining..India is still the best...

Started with Tennis, Volleyball n gym..but only on weekends..weekdays r very busy..
we stay at Union City..office is in SFO..about 40 minutes BART (Bay Area Rail Transport.. apne locals yaar) journey..n after coming back cooking n all...week kab khatam hota hai pata bhi nahin chalta..

City is very colorful...get to see so different kind of ppl on the streets.. just love to walk around whenever we go out for lunch..though mostly we take lunch from home..as veg food is a prob here..

Initially I was dying to go back but settling down now..let's see..

My first experience in War Room

Prologue - We've been working on a project for the last four months. It's finished now and going to be installed today.

War Room - It's a place where people from different groups, involved directly or indirectly in the development of a project, gather on the eve of a project installation. It has been renamed to Ops (operations) Room, but people still like to call it the War Room due to nature of the work that goes inside. It's a huge conference room fully equipped with gadgets. Large LCD panels are placed on the three walls of the room. At the center, there is a large table where around 20 people can sit and connect there laptops to work.

The Project - It's a re-write of an existing application, which facilitates users to apply online for a Wellsfargo Credit Card. The existing application needs user to fill out 17 pages to complete the application, which makes a lot of users to drop out in between. The new application has simplified this process and reduced it to a single page and that is why the name Next Stage/Generation Credit Card application.
The project has a very high visibility in Higher Management of Wellsfargo, but it has been in News from the day of its inception for all the wrong reasons. The Go Live date itself says it all ..June 13, 2008 ..Friday the 13th.


Date: Thursday June 12, 2008
Location: War Room

4.00 PM: People have started gathering in the War Room.
4.15 PM: People from all the groups involved are either in the War Room or on Call.
4.30 PM: Officially starts the installation process. First announcement is made "Starting phase one".
5.00 PM: Beginning to realize the importance of the project now when who's who of Wellsfargo, whom we've only seen copied in some of the mails, are walking in and wishing us luck for a successful install, which is not a normal practice.
5.15 PM: All the teams are busy in doing their respective jobs. Through out the evening we keep hearing voices like:
"Shutting down servers at Arizona".
"Data Center Cassie Hill is up and running".
"All the servers are in sync now".
"Application is up on first set of servers. Rotating servers now".
This would be a daily job for these guys, but all this sounds fascinating to me.

5.30 PM: Things are going smooth..I go for a coffee break.
6.00 PM: Me still out of office..actually on a long walk..thinking about the things that are coming to an end with this project..long working hours..late night stays in office..my stay in US..n so on.
6.30 PM: Reach back to office. Two people are playing golf outside the War Room..practicing a putt..I walk in with a smile..things must be really going smooth. Dinner is already served.

7.00 PM: The application starts coming up partially on Production (web). Everyone is cheering for every new page that comes up.
7.30 PM: Business Users start testing the application.
8.00 PM: The whole application is up and seems to be working fine. Heard a voice "Routing live traffic to the new application now". Everyone's excited.

9.30 PM: Live Users are hitting the application across the globe..everything is working fine. There is a minor issue of some user applications not reaching the back end system, but the number is too low..we start analyzing the problem.
10.00 PM: Got mail from Business Manager saying the application has been successfully installed on Production on 6/12 and thanking hundred odd people from different groups involved.
11.00 PM: The teams done with their job start leaving. We are also thinking of leaving as we are supposed to be in office early next morning to monitor the application for any post-launch issues.
11.30 PM: Phase two starts, which involves starting the backup servers. We are still analyzing the issue of some user applications not reaching to the back end system.


Date: Friday June 13, 2008
Location: War Room

12.00 AM: Date changes and maybe our fate also. The number of lost user applications has increased in the past couple of hours..total 38 till now..and it has raised alarm considering that these are off-peak hours. Various teams are on hot line now to trouble shoot the problem.
12.15 AM: Not able to find the root cause yet. Time seems to be ticking faster. If there has to be a back out, it must start soon as normal traffic would start coming in within 3-4 hours, from the East Coast users who are three hours ahead of us.

12.30 AM: No concrete information available yet. Back out seems unavoidable.
12.45 AM: Top management is on call now to make Go/No-Go decision.
1.00 AM: Business is not ready to go ahead with the issue in Production. Heard the words, which we never wanted to, "Backing out all the changes. Start phase one now".

1.30 AM: Only teams required for back out are on call now. Other people are sitting around..tired of whole day's work..chatting..
Manager 1: "Accha hua meri biwi India gayi hui hai" (As it is already very late for a married man to be out).
Manager 2: "Accha hua meri biwi abhi Canada mein hai"
Me: Just popped in and said "Accha hua meri biwi hi nahin hai"
Both the managers turned and gave me that is-it-the-time-to-crack-that-stupid-joke look and I was like ..looking somewhere else.

3.00 AM: Back out is successful. Traffic is routed back to the old application. We leave the office.

3.00 PM: Just came out of Fault Analysis meeting. Relieved to know issue is not on our side, but on one of the back end systems that we are using. Also, out of the 38 lost applications, 13 have reached to the back end system. Still analyzing the remaining ones.

6.00 PM: Got confirmation that all the 38 (supposedly) lost applications had reached to the back end system. It was a false alarm and the back out was not at all required.
Come Monday and it'll start a series of meetings, escalations n blame games.

What an end to the efforts that we've put-in in the last four months!!

Though ended on a sad note, but it has been quite an experience to see the launch of an application. Inside the War Room, I was feeling as if I was a part of a team launching a rocket. Saying that I don't mean that I've been a part of a rocket launching team before and considering the kind of trial n error coding I do, it is in national interest that I shouldn't be, in future too.



P.S. - I've tried to keep it as non-techie as possible, but there are some technical terms, which can't be avoided. Believe me, we use these terms in our normal conversation and they are not just thrown in to make it all high sounding.

P.P.S. - I know some people are scratching their heads.. thinking what was all this about..at the end of it, we are just adding a few more pages on the already overcrowded web. I'd have agreed with you, but they are paying me $$ only for doing this.

P.P.P.S. - I know most of you are thinking that had I spent half the time, which I spent in writing all this, in actually working on the project, we might not be in this mess.

Reno trip

April 2008

It was just another weekend..I was supposed to be working, but in the morning my roommates woke me up and asked me to pack my bags for a trip to Lake Tahoe n Reno (remember DCH)..they even informed my manager about it without even asking me..I wasn't very much interested in the trip as I'd already been there, but it was definitely better than sitting alone in the office and spoiling the weekend..


The plan was to do skiing plus water sports in Tahoe n some gambling in Reno, but finally we ended up spending two whole days n one night in casinos only..the trip has put us in the category of hardcore gamblers..now losing some 100 odd bucks in one night doesn't hurt as much as it used to be..even our apartment has been renamed from Dharamshala (for obivious reasons) to Casino D, since we started playing poker on weekends with real money..

just before leaving the place we saw her..her name was Eliza..she was the dealer on one of the blackjack's table..in no time five of us were playing on the same table..for the first time none of us was playing for money..at the end she proved to be lucky as all of us won something on the table..though she got more in tips from us than any of us could win..couldn't click her as photography isn't allowed in casinos..so just got some non-interesting pics here:
[link removed]

PS: later we went to Reno again..this time only for gambling n Eliza..couldn't find her and lost another hundred odd bucks each..as Babu bhai would say..bacha le deva bacha le..humko nahin.. Eliza ko!!