Chennai to Chicago

Life is a soap opera

2009-08-27T13:00:00.006-05:00

Ever get that nagging feeling that your life runs like one of those cheesy afternoon soap operas? The story starts with a bunch of friends. We get a peek into their everyday lives - from the monday morning blues to the weekend parties, from the tentative dating scene to the desperate 'bharat matrimonial' obsession, from job changes to MBA aspirations, etc. etc. Throughout all this, the changes are so slow to be almost imperceptible. Since the entire group still hangs out and does the same things (clubs, birthday parties, volleyball games), you would think nothing much is changing. But you would be wrong. Slowly but surely, change is creeping up.

Before you know it, two friends within the group decide to get married. A couple others get engaged. A few more start their MBAs. A few others move away to other cities. Although you promise to stay in touch with each other, you know that those phone calls and e-mails will slow down and stop eventually. Very soon, there are a few more weddings and a few more welcome additions to the group. The weekend jaunts to downtown have all but stopped. Clubs have been replaced with home parties. Takeout pizzas have given way to multi-course home-cooked meals. Then the first baby arrives with much fanfare. A couple more are on their way.

Life and years have such a surreal way of creeping up on you. Very soon, you start saying things like the "thirties are the new twenties"... You attend birthday parties of 20 somethings and wonder who are these people? I was 20 something not too long ago. How did things change so fast? And what do I have to show for my advancing years apart from a receding hairline, slowing metabolism and muscle aches that just refuse to go away?

And you hope you are a better person now than you were 10 years ago. You are thankful for a core group of friends that still enjoy the company of each other, and you know you can rely on when in need. You look at yourself from someone else's eyes and realize you have it good. You are with the person you love the most, you've walked through the hallowed halls of top schools, you are excited about your impending fatherhood.

You finally get it - soap operas are not all that bad. Some lives are full of changes, and some run a steady course punctuated by a few life-changing events. While it might not be absorbing viewing every day of every week of every year, you know you would not have it any other way. You are thankful for what you have.

Profile of an oomai kusumban

2008-05-22T09:34:00.004-05:00

As you all know, the Memorial Day long weekend is coming up. And my wife and I are off to visit my friend Praveen in Denver. Praveen and I go a long way, 1993 to be exact. Its always amazing to me that we know each other for 15 years now. How time seems to fly! It feels like yesterday, when we shared the back benches in class XI C of the Santhome Hr. Sec School, both having moved from other schools. At the outset, Praveen appeared to be this sweet quiet chap, who couldn't bite into a banana even if it were peeled and placed in his mouth (I realize this is a pretty bad metaphor!). But he is what you might call an "oomai kusumban"! And I was this boisterous, rebellious kid in class, always challenging the teacher, class leader and constantly getting admonished. Praveen is one of the funniest guys I've met to this day, and he does this without any apparent effort. He would have these constant barrage of really funny comments and snide remarks to everything that went on in class, and whenever I laughed or tried to retort, I would be caught. Of course, we knew early not to squeal on anyone. So I would take my punishment, while he sat there like a saint with a halo around his head. So, long story short, we hit it off very soon and became very tight friends along with SP and Balaji. The foursome were as different from each other as possible, but this group helped me get through school. While Balaji fell off the radar somewhere along, the rest three have been the best of friends ever since.

Since I'm going to be meeting him in a couple of days, I thought I'd take this opportunity to tarnish his 'reputation' a bit here. While there are plenty of experiences to recount, there are always a few key moments in any relationship that stand out. And we can never forget them for the rest of our lives, even if we tried. So here are my top Praveen moments...

The Mylapore bakery incident: There was this iyengaar bakery on kutchery road, where the veggie puffs seemed to have fallen from heaven. Every once so often, we would stop here for a bite and then cross the road for a fruit shake at 'Senthil Softie'. Usually, I was the one who picked up the tab. On this particular day, Praveen strutted up to me and said "machan! I'll treat you to a puff and a shake", and I couldn't believe my ears. Not wanting to postpone this auspicious and scarcely believable development, we immediately set off to our favorite haunt. We both picked up a puff and bit into them, enjoying the rich flavor and aroma and the heavenly spice. When we were done eating and cleaned our hands on our shirts, it was time to pay the bill. I stood aside and let Praveen do the honors. He digged into his pocket, then the other pocket, his back pocket and everything in between! After what seemed an eternity, he slowly turned to me and said "machan! I think I forgot my wallet". I could literally hear glass shattering in the background like that old Nokia ad. Luckily, I had some money on me. So muttering pretty damaging expletives under my breath and paid up. When we were done, he had the gall to ask me for a fruit shake, knowing fully well I had to pay for that as well. And of course, I had to buy him the damned shake across the street. While he has more than made up for this by way of many treats, I still haven't let him forgot his generous 'treat' incident to this day...

The cricket runout incident: We were playing the inter-section cricket tournament in Santhome. From the start of the tournament, I was in outstandig form. I would walk in to open the batting, and would finish off games before you could say "over-a scene vidatha!". We moved to the finals where we ran into the over-thadi favorites, Section A, consisting of the biology students, apparently the best and the brightest in school and the toast of the teachers and principal. We were chasing a steep total, and I was again in very good form. But I was losing partners quickly on the other end. Soon, Praveen joined me in the middle. Because we had won the other games with ease, the middle and lower orders hadn't got much practice and this was Praveen's first foray into the middle. I nudged a wicked delivery to the leg side, and started running for a single while watching the ball. Midway down the pitch, I turned to the non-striker's side and saw Praveen still rooted to his spot, panick in his eyes. I literally pleaded with him to run. At this point, Praveen fully knew one of us was going to be run out. I could hear the wheels in his brain churning - one of the few times it has - and after what seemed like eternity, he reluctantly started jogging down the pitch. And yes, he was run out without facing a ball. It was a supreme act of self-sacrifice, and would have remained so, if he didn't keep bringing this up frequently in our conversations to this day, especially when he needs a favor...

Introduction to thanni: Years after this, we both came to the US for our Masters - me in Chicago and Praveen in God-forsaken Oklahoma. We were both busy with settling into our new lives, and it was about a year later that we decided to meet up. Praveen drove in his rickety old car from Oklahoma to Chicago without a single break I think. After a day of sight-seeing, we decided to chill out in my apartment that evening. Praveen had never touched alcohol in his life. And so I took it upon myself to upon the doors to heaven for him. Somehow he agreed to try. Instead of starting with a traditional beer, I brought out a bottle of Absolut vodka. I poured a generous portion with a bit of sprite, and he chugged it up while making a face. I was surprised when he asked for a second round two seconds later. We went on for hours, and I was surprised with how easily he could handle his drink. These days, he is walking the streets of Denver a drunken monkey, drinking alone and hugging strangers. I guess I can take credit for that.

There are many more incidents - sad, poignant, life-changing - that I can remember, but I prefer to stick with the happy ones for now. So here's to life-long friends and unforgettable moments...

Kellogg Diary - Entry #1

2008-05-02T18:51:00.005-05:00

Dear Diary,

The last couple of days have been pretty eventful. On Wednesday, I helped out with the Manufacturing Business Conference (MBC) organized by the MMM class at Kellogg. The topic for the event was 'Differentiation by Design'. We had a great list of keynote speakers and panelists from IDEO, HP, Private Equity Firms, Consulting firms etc. However, the highlight of the conference was undoubtedly the opening keynote by Jim McNerney, the President, Chairman and CEO of the Boeing Company. As far as CEO's go, you can't get bigger than that, can you? Apparently, his nephew is a fellow Kellogg student, his daughter goes to Northwestern, his dad taught at Northwestern, and Jim himself is on the board of trustees for Northwestern. I never get amazed at the elite company I suddenly find myself in.

Following the conference, I went to my 'Managerial Leadership' class taught by Harry Kraemer, the former CEO of Baxter International, a $40+ billion global healthcare company. He is a former Kellogg grad and now is an adjunct professor. This class is one of the most popular ones in Kellogg. Every week, he also invites a guest speaker from the industry. This week was the turn of Chris Galvin, former CEO of Motorola, and another Kellogg alum. The topic of the class was value-based leadership. Mr. Galvin also gave us a blow by blow account of the events that led to his ouster from Motorola by his board, and did not forget to point out the firm's downward trend ever since.

It was a long day. After a few drinks and some pool with a friend, I called it a night. I had to wake up at 6AM the next day to follow a lawn care truck. Yeah, you heard me right! As part of our design course, we have taken on a project to redesign the trucks operated by TruGreen lawncare. The project sort of fell into our hands since these trucks are designed and supplied to them by Wanner Engineering, a privately held firm that belongs to the family of a fellow classmate. What we were doing is called 'shadowing' and is an integral part of the modern design process. It helps to get the customer's perspective, some felt and some unfelt. We had a ton of ideas within a few hours, from redesigning the hose mechanism and spray gun to advertising better on their van to incorporating advanced GPS systems.

Today, a friday, is usually an offday. But I had to drive in to Chicago downtown to meet the clients for a project-based course we are doing. This course is called Management Lab, and is part of the 'experiential' learning most business schools advertise. My project team is helping the Chicago 2016, a non-profit organization set up by the city to bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics, to look at sustainability of their venues after the Olympics. Some of the questions we would address are - can this venue be a sustainable and profitable business post-Olympics? what could be other sources of revenue add-ons? what is the market size, demand and revenue model? etc. I can't tell you much more than that, even to you diary, since we signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement with 2016. So how did we get this project? Well, you've probably figured it by now. The man hand-picked by the mayor for the Olympic effort is Pat Ryan, executive chairman and founder of Aon Corporation and a director of the Chicago Bears. Apparently, he is also the chairman of the board of trustees for Northwestern University. So he's leveraged this connection to get Kellogg on board in the 2016 effort, and our project is part of this effort.

Well, its friday evening, and I'm probably going to check out looptopia with my wife and a bunch of friends. After a hectic week, I do need some R&R.

Is Hillary taking down the Democratic party with her?

2008-04-28T15:21:00.004-05:00

I've never aspired to be a political commentator. In fact, I would be one of the least qualified to talk about the American electoral process, and its repurcussions. But I do follow the general trend. And who are we kidding? This year's presidential elections promises to be one of the most interesting in recent memory. So with that in mind, I wanted to explore something that's been nagging at me for a while now.

Is Hillary taking down the Democratic party with her?

Consider what's been happening so far. From all accounts, Hillary has as much chances of getting the Democratic party nomination as Tim Henman has of winning the Wimbledon. That is, in theory, she can still win. And she has the right to fight it out till there is no theoretical chance of winning. This could take a while to prove. But the more she fights, the longer the democratic primary circus rolls along. And the more it rolls along, the more energy that is sapped out of Obama and Hillary, and the more dirt that is being dug up and thrown by each on the other.

Hillary makes some interesting arguments. She says Obama is outspending her 4:1 or whatever the ratio is, and still not able to take her out. She has a point. However, what she's not telling us is that, in places like Pennsylvania, she had a much bigger lead, that Obama has whittled down in the past few months. Also, if Obama can raise four times as much money as Hillary, it only speaks of his popularity and efficient fund-raising machinery. Both these abilities will serve him very well in the actual elections.

So now the question is where does Hillary draw the line between being selfish and exercising her rights, and doing what's right for the party and its greater good?

This is a hard question, and as a business school student, I find this a very interesting predicament. When books like Jim Collin's 'Good to Great' and Bill George's 'Authentic Leadership' define a true leader of an organization, they talk about someone who puts the greater good of his/her company before his/her own interests. A main ingredient of this quality is when to recognize that you are getting to be a liability for your own firm, instead of being an asset. Great leaders also innately make themselves redundant. That is, they put such capable people and processes in place that the company should never rely on one charismatic CEO.

It appears to me that Hillary is doing the exact opposite of this. Her campaign has pushed the limits of Obama's patience, and taunted him so much that he has had to step down from the lofty perch of dignified politics he had envisioned. They have tested his endurance and made a huge brouhaha on comments taken out of context. In effect, they have prolonged the democratic nomination so much that whoever gets the ticket might not have enough time to fight a well-prepared McCain in the presidential race. All this would be fine if Hillary stood a 50-50 chance. But from all accounts, she doesn't. If she were a truly selfless leader, this is the point she would step aside and stand behind Obama.

A different way of looking at this is that Hillary has transformed Obama, from an idealist to a pragmatist, who is now well-positioned to take on anything the GOP can dish out. Again in a business context, fierce competition provides focus and vision to a firm. And a monopoly, as in the case of McCain, can lead to lethargy. From that context, I do think Obama would be a stronger opponent to McCain now than 3 months ago. That is, if someone tells Hillary that its time now to call off the dogs and stand behind the party. Interesting times are ahead...

Kellogg's 2008 India Business Conference

2008-04-22T10:15:00.008-05:00

Kellogg is hosting its annual India Business Conference on May 10th. This is apparently the longest running event of its kind (among BSchools). The theme this year is 'Brand India' and where we see it going in the future. The event is promising to be bigger and better than ever, with an outstanding list of keynote speakers and panelists. Its been fun playing my part in organizing this event. This year, for the first time, we are also putting together a new publication called India@Kellogg, that will contain interviews/thoughts/articles about India from our panelists, industry experts, faculty and students. Click on the image below to enlage it.

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Announcing the 2008 India Business Conference
May 10, 2008 - Owen L. Coon Auditorium
Kellogg School of Management, Evanston, IL

Register at: http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/IBConference/IBC2008/register.html
Register now! Past conferences have sold out early.

Recruiting and the aftermath (Kellogg Winter Quarter 08)

2008-04-11T09:59:00.014-05:00

Howdy there! Just when you all think I'm all but done, I just pop up out of the blue, don't I? Yeah, its a very carefully cultivated talent. And not to mention years of non-committal behavior. Anyways, for those of you waiting with bated breath to know what happened in my winter quarter, here's a quick run through!

Recruiting Process:

The winter quarter is in some ways the most stressful one for most BSchool students. It is when companies land up on campus in hordes to pick out the best and the brightest for their summer internship programs. This is huge because most companies are also looking to extend full-time offers to those who really impress them during the summer. When school starts the second week of jan, it is usually a whirlwind of last minute networking, meeting company on-campus reps and attending coffee chats, finalizing your resume and writing millions of cover letters and making them unique to each firm you are applying to. The Kellogg Career Management Center (CMC) does a phenomenal job of getting a diverse range of companies, prioritizing them etc. They also have a great web-site. However, the process could be slightly confusing even before you get to the interview stage. So let me see if I can explain this better.

There is a concept of 'Open Lists' and 'Closed Lists'. Once you customize your resume and cover letter and click on the 'apply' button for a particular firm, your information is made available to the firm. Then these companies wade through these profiles and pick out the most 'promising' ones or with the best fit. These candidates get added on their 'closed list'. This is when your networking might come in handy. The recruiter might remember your name and decide to add you to the closed list. The less fortunate ones that are interested in the firm but cannot get on the closed list then have to go through a bidding process. You start with a certain number of points that you have to use effectively to bid for multiple firms. The number of slots on the 'open list' are always equal to the number on the closed list'. The system is designed this way to put some element of control in the hands of the students so they get a chance to interview with their top choice companies. Firms who wish to come and interview on campus will have to abide by these rules. Some large firms - most notably McKinsey - not wanting to be restricted thus, decide to interview off-campus.

Once you get on any of these lists, you are informed via e-mail, and the CMC schedules the interview using a smart algorithm to avoid conflicts with your current class schedule or with other interviews. But this is not always possible. The actual recruiting process varies with the industry and job function you are getting into. One-third of Kellogg (abour 150-200) gives Consulting a shot, and about another one-third goes for Investment Banking. Since the kind of preparation required for these 2 streams are entirely different, you should be making up your mind about what you would like to pursue, before the quarter starts. Kellogg also has a reputation of having very diverse job interests. What this means is that while 80% of Wharton students might go into 20 companies, 80% of Kellogg students will go into 50-60 firms. I'm not saying one is better than the other, but this does make things interesting. Anyways, the remaining one-third go into a variety of roles like Marketing/Brand management, Technology, PE/VC/Sales & Trading, General Management etc.

Consulting:

Consulting typically has 2 rounds of personal interviews. The first one will usually be on-campus and will involve 2 back-to-back 45-minute interviews, each involving an element of fit and 'case' interviews. You will probably get a phone call within a couple of days informing you whether you have been shortlisted for the final round or if you have been "dinged". You better hope the call does not start off with something like "We enjoyed meeting you...". This is a sure sign of a ding and you might as well zone out for the rest of the conversation. The second round might be in their office or in a hotel, and involves another 2-3 interviews with senior folks from the firm (principals and partners). Then you wait for the fateful phone call once again.

'Case' interviews for me was a new concept. What happens is that the recruiter/consultant gives you a business case scenario and some limited information/data and asks you for your thoughts and recommendations (so what should the firm do to increase its profit margin or market share?) Case interviews vary widely from the very structured to the highly vague. They are designed to test both your analytical/problem-solving skills as well as your facility with public math. Its not always about getting to the right answer. You have to be thinking on your feet, asking the right questions and taking charge of the interview.

Cases can usually be put into a few buckets (profitability, M&As, marketing etc.). Practice definitely makes you better since you start developing the frameworks you are most comfortable with, and you are half-way into your analysis (in your mind) even before the interviewer finishes explaining the case. Since most students are quite good at cases by the time interviews come around, you can differentiate yourself only by being outstandingly sharp and insightful - quick with math, out of the box solutions etc.

My Recruiting experience:

Now that we have set the context, let's run over my experience. I started off case preps when the quarter started, giving me about 3 weeks of prep time before the first interview. I practiced with my consulting buddy group, with seniors and other mates, and even with my wife. I was by no means very good when my interviews started, but I saw myself getting better through the first week. I got a bunch of dings in the first as well as second rounds. This is the time when you are doing a lot of self-introspection, and start doubting your abilities - Am I really good enough? What the hell am I doing here? You also start looking at Plan B, and for me, this was technology (product manager, operations etc.). Consulting firms are usually done within the first 2 weeks of recruiting, so you know you are running out of options after the first few dings.

These interviews (especially back-to-back) can be long and tiring and leave you flat. I remember one friday when I interviewed for 3 firms in a row, about 4 hrs in all. My jaws were hurting at the end of it and I couldn't think straight. You are also constantly wondering how you could have done better and what you screwed up, and then start dreading the phone call informing you of the result.

I even had to miss my first wedding anniversary as well as Valentine's day since I had to attend some company event/dinner. The wife was not happy but she understood what I was going through and was extremely supportive. I hope I made it up to her.

Eventually, luck smiled upon me, and I managed to get an offer from a big consulting firm. What made this more surprising was that this firm had never been on my radar, and I had done no sort of networking with them. But when I finally met the people there, I really liked them - completely down to earth and without the stuffy air and suits. I also got the location of my choice - Chicago of course. Since the firm is involved in a variety of industries, I will have a variety of projects to choose from. Most importantly, I was not branded as a technology/IT specialist, and will get to try out different strategy projects. So this was a no-brainer for me, and I even canceled a Google second round invite to Mountainview, much to the changrin of my friends.

Once you get an offer, you are given some time to make your decision. Consulting firms have a "sell" weekend when they wine and dine you to influence your decision. We (my wife and I) were put up at the classy 'W' hotel in Chicago, and were taken to the best restaurants and bars over the weekend. This also included spending a day at the office. It was nice to get pampered, although I had already made my decision.

Rest of the Quarter:

While recruiting was on, courses took a backseat. Classes were half-empty and professors do understand the strain on students and take it easy during the first half. That said, mid-terms were on us before we could recover, and it was back to the books. Group projects were usually done over e-mail since it was next to impossible to schedule a time that agrees with the entire group. When the bulk of the recruiting is over (50% of students with offers), we were already more than half way into the quarter, and it was a mad scramble after that. Add to this our other club and extra-curricular involvements, and things get really complicated.

But once I signed my offer, it was a huge weight of my shoulders and I breezed through the rest of the quarter. Compared to the Fall quarter, I felt I did not get much out of the coursework in winter. But this was because I did not put in enough time and effort. Luckily, I had pretty easy/manageable courses and did reasonably well.

I was also part of a Kellogg team that competed in a Strategy War competition in Boston, against Harvard, MIT Sloan and Chicago GSB. And guess what, we won! There was some media coverage about this competition that I have given below if you are into this sort of stuff!

Here, here, here and here. And yes, some Kellogg coverage as well...

Spring break:

And the quarter ended and spring break was upon us, not a minute too soon. While a lot of Kellogg students embark on GIM (Global Initiatives in Management) trips around the world, I had decided to skip this, and had instead substituted this with another course during the quarter. I wanted a much needed break when I could just lounge aorund doing nothing and spend quality time with my wife and dog. This was exactly what I did, and am back this Spring Quarter with my batteries recharged and a spring in my step.

Enough is Enough

2008-02-18T19:00:00.004-06:00

This is what I have to say to you Praveen, for subjecting me to such torture without mercy.

un kadhal tholviyaal adi pattavar irandu per...
un bimbam kaattum kannaadi
un rambam padikkum naan

A peek from the dark side (Kellogg Fall Quarter 07)

2007-11-20T10:52:00.001-06:00

If I say its been an eventful 3 months since my last post, that will be an understatement. In fact, it will be a bigger understatement than saying that the sub-prime loan crisis is not treating the wannabe Investment bankers very well or that GM's 30 odd billion accounting goof-up might come back to bite them in the ass. I am very tempted to keep going with such pearls of wisdom, but I guess you all get the point. So with the kind of trust that can only come with naivete and inexperience, I am going to assume that there are still some readers checking this blog or a few who haven't deleted this feed from their bloglines, I am going to narrate the story of my life in the last 3 months.

Last week of August:

Even before school started, Kellogg students embark on team-building trips around the globe. I went with a group to New Orleans where we clubbed some Katrina rebuilding for the Habitat for humanity with some good old partying in the French quarters. It so happened that when we were staying at 'Camp Hope', it was the 2nd anniversary of Katrina. So Anderson Cooper flew down to our camp to do a special on Katrina, and we formed the backdrop. Long story short, I got my 3 seconds of fame and appeared on CNN! New Orleans was a ghost town and it was shocking to see how the town has not recovered at all from the tragedy. Unfortunately, the rest of the nation has conveniently forgotten the event and moved on. Everywhere we went, people came up to us and thanked us for coming down to help rebuild the city. It was very touching.

September:

September is CIM time. CIM stands for 'Complete Immersion in Management'. It is a series of events geared to act as a logical break between your work life and start of school, where your resistance is broken down and new friendships are forged. Students are divided into different sections with weird names like the 'bucketheads', 'cashcows' or 'poets' and there is a healthy inter-section rivalry with a points system, not unlike Hogwarts. There were cheering contests, skits (where I played 'Dipak Shakur', a cross between the rapper and our beloved Dean Dipak Jain), weird sports (dizzy bat anyone?!), treasure hunts etc. Within a week, we knew all our section mates at the least, about a 100 of them. We also got our first exposure to the quality of the Kellogg faculty with a pre-term course on Management and Organizations. The course was characterized by a lot of student interaction, video clips and even a complete movie (12 Angry Men). It was probably the best teaching I've seen in my life. The CIM came to an end with the formal CIM ball, held at the end of September at the Field Museum. It was the perfect way to end an eventful month.

October:

Just when we were getting used to the partying and socializing, the reality of business school hit us flush on the face. Suddenly, I was in the middle of 4 courses (Turbo Finance, Strategy, Accounting and Factory Physics 1) with a ton of assignments, projects, team meetings etc. My calender was filling up fast and I didn't have a moment to stop and think. Around this time, I realized that I-Banking was not for me and decided to focus only on Management Consulting and High-Tech product management as career options. Very soon, companies will start making their way to campus and you had to know what you want to do. If you tried to do everything, you will be burnt out. I also got selected to be an interviewer on the Kellogg Admissions Committee.

Despite all my complaints, I was enjoying my courses. While Turbo finance was whizzing by at breakneck speed, I learnt how things like how to build discounted cash flow models, about efficient markets and that derivatives have nothing to do with calculus. In Strategy, we were applying models like Porter's five Forces to study long-run industry structures or to evaluate factors that affect competition within industries, like competitive advantages and value propositions. The cases (Home Depot, Coors, Enterprise etc.) were extremely interesting with a lot of student interaction, and the professor was brilliant. This is turning out to be my favorite course this quarter.

Amid the chaos, we still found some time to entertain outselves. There was the weekly MMM 'thirsty thursdays' and the friday evening TGs (short for TGIF) with various themes. The highlight was the Drag TG hosted by the GLMA (Gay and Lesbian Management Association) where teams from various sections contested for free tickets sponsored by Orbitz. There is something very touching about straight guys shaving their legs, coloring their nails, humping on stage in front of a faculty judge panel and doing everything to embarrass themselves in public (dirty dancing, santa baby, spice girls, shakira...) just for a couple of trans-atlantic tickets!

November:

Before we realized what happened in each of our courses, our midterms were on us. And it was back to more scrambling and clutching at the straws. I somehow got through these, but my performances were nothing much to write home about. Some were good and some were miserable. Never mind, there is more to B-Schools than just grades! A bunch of us decided to start a new initiative called 'India Insight @ Kellogg', with the aim of providing a channel for all 'Indianness' in Kellogg (Indian students, faculty, speakers, India-related research etc.). The output will be a comprehensive web portal and a publication to be released during the India Business Conference next year.

November was also the time for Diwali and my 30th birthday! My wife celebrated my passage into the 30s with a combined Diwali/Birthday party, and it was a good opportunity to catch up with a lot of old friends. Kellogg also hosted the annual 'bollywood Bash' with performances by students, food and open bar, and a dance floor with a DJ playing the latest desi dance music, and even a dhol guy to boot. If I thought things would ease up after the midterm week, I was wrong wrong wrong again. We were hit with some huge assignments. It was getting increasingly hard to schedule group meetings what with everyone's packed calenders. In my infinite wisdom, I also decided to participate in the BCG Case Competition and put together a team. Unfortunately, we weren't able to spend enough tinme together on it and could not make it through the hotly contested competition (3 teams out of 50 odd). It was a great experience nevertheless.

What was a hectic schedule became even more brutal when all the recruiting companies started coming to campus. There was a whole bunch of presentations and receptions to attend and schmoozing and networking to do. Networking is a huge part of recruiting in business schools, and who you know really matters here. I've also been having one-on-one coffee chats with representatives from various consulting companies, this is another way of getting to know the company a bit bitter while also building relationships.

Finally, the madness seemed to subside last week with the impending Thanksgiving break. For the first time, the school has decided to give the entire week of for Thanksgiving, which explains how I can afford to sit and type out such a long post.

This is but a very superficial account of my life in Kellogg so far. I will need to write an entire book to go into more detail. I have chosen to pick my activities and club involvements with care, rather than spread myself thin. So I guess I'm in a slightly better position than some of my classmates. But it has been a very interesting ride so far. After the break, we will head into the final lap for the quarter culminating in our final exams in December. I can already taste the winter break! As usual, I hope to keep this blog a bit more regular in the future. But as usual, I might be wrong.

New Beginnings

2007-08-23T10:29:00.000-05:00

So you guys might have been wondering why I disappeared after my 100th blog. To regular followers of cricket however, this might not have come as a surprise. As any fan worth his salt knows, batsmen have a tendency to play a rash stroke immediately after getting to their centuries. Its not from a lack of desire or commitment. Its just that the sense of accomplishment causes a momentay lapse in concentration. But you are right. Actually, this does not make any sense in my case! I just stopped because I couldn't think of anything interesting to write about. I was also involved in mundane things with starting Kellogg like looking for a place in Evanston, getting some pre-MBA reading out of the way and figuring out how to activesync my laptop to my new phone so I can have non-existing meetings synced up on both devices. Ofcourse, I also enjoyed spending some quality time with my wife and dog.

Tomorrow (friday) is my last day at work. On Sunday, I'll be leaving with a Kellogg group for New Orleans, where we will do some Katrina rebuilding during the day and check out some of the city's famous jazz scene at night. Its going to be a hectic start to what promises to be the busiest 2 years of my life. So I thought this would be a perfect start to ruminate about "new beginnings" and the like, just so I appear self-aware and philosophical to my loyal readers.

So I'm quitting my job and going back to being a full-time student. I'm throwing a cushy job, a decent pay and an okay reputation to go do something that has an estimated opportunity cost approaching 300K. Its going to be a major lifestyle change. I don't think the full impact has sunk in yet. I'll be meeting my wife only occasionally. This is probably going to be the biggest shocker since we've been inseparable for the past 8 years. Even after I graduate, I'll probably end up in a job that's going to keep me at my desk or on the road for a considerable number of hours a week. So I guess we both will just have to get used to this. This is here to stay.

I can't just whip out my credit card as carelessly as I used to. I'll be living in a modest accomodation on a student budget. I'll once again be banging my head on a wall with courses, assignments and projects. Hopefully, the professors won't be the sort who would twist my ears while I'm already on my knees.

Things are going to change in my social life as well. For the last several years, I've been happy to hang out and party with the same bunch of friends. And its been great. But now I'll have to start expanding my horizons and keep my mind open to making new friends. Its not always an easy thing to do when you are nudging 30. As the great philosopher Seinfeld once said "I have 3 friends. That's all I can handle!".

However, as new beginnings go, this is exciting as well. How many people get a chance to start afresh so late in the game? I can quit all this IT/telecom business and decide what I want to do with the rest of my life. I'll get a chance to interact with with some of the smartest people and have access to some of the most successful people in business today. And hopefully get treated like royalty by recruiters when I graduate. Ofcourse, I just need to watch out that my inadequacies don't get cruelly exposed by my over-achieving Kellogg classmates.

So the challenge now is to take all this in the right perspective. I can sit and complain about the hectic classes, the huge debt, time away from my family and getting back to the student grind after all these years. Or I can look forward to the exciting times ahead and use it to come out of my comfort zone and try out new things. I can look forward to all the interesting people I'm going to meet and the opportunities that are going to come my way. There are new paths to be taken, and new horizons to be explored.

So here's to new beginnings!

#100

2007-07-20T13:12:00.001-05:00

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is my 100th post on Chennai to Chicago. Thank you! thank you! Now if you can all sit down and hold your applause till the end, I would like to say a few words.

First off, I would like to thank my mom and dad for not drowning me as a kid despite the obvious temptations to do so. To this day, they remain blissfully unaware of the existence of this blog. This will be very closely followed by my gratitude to my wife, who has managed to neglect 99% of my blog posts so that she might be able to maintain a semblance of respect for me as an intelligent and mature human being. I applaud her for her inner strength.

I would also like to thank my grand parents who had to put up with me during my annual summer vacations in Sathanur. To document those wonderful childhood memories was one of the main reasons I decided to start and maintain this blog. Many thanks also goes to my immediate friends' gang in Chicago, who - disturbingly - call themselves 'baguth'. They have continued to discourage me, diss me, dissuade me, disillusion me... The number of 'dis' things they've done to me is pretty long. I firmly believe that when I die they'll spit on my grave. I thank them for their moral support and understanding. I am also indebted to 2 other people. My brother Chandru started a blog first and inspired me to follow suit. And my good friend SpiceTooth who, as usual, put enormous enthu for his blog in the beginning only to see it fizz out in a few days. To those who know him well, he specializes at this.

I am very grateful to those anonymous readers of my blog who give arcane search terms on google like "chennai aunties" or "vietnam wedding" and end up on my blog. They take one look and flee from my site. But my site counter still adds them to my list of visitors and makes me feel good at the end of the day.

And finally, last but not the least (allow me to use my cliches please), if there are any regular readers of my blog, I bow to you and your mighty heart. And I wonder what is wrong with you. I realize that you are the lucky few who get paid to browse the net. I still feel sorry for you and would suggest you get some serious psychiatric help.

I know what you are wondering! What has kept me motivated to write a 100 posts on this blog despite serious misgivings form the general public? My motivations are 3 fold.

1. This serves as a vent for my creative energies while also providing me with a forum to express my thoughts and opinions on a variety of subjects.

2. To rant and rave about anything I want to without fear of criticism or backlash. This also includes doling out unwarranted and unsolicited advice.

3. I forget.

I do have to admit that when I started this blog, I had no idea I'd last for a 100 posts. To think that I now stand on par with legends such as Tendulkar (100+ test matches), Rajnikanth (100+ movies) and Lata Mangeshkar (100+ bad songs. Actually make that 1000+) is mind-boggling, to say the least. When I type this, I can actually feel goose bumps on my hand. Oh sorry, that was just bad static!

There have been times when the ideas have disappeared and the imagination has run dry. But I kept plodding on with some of my worst posts. You can dig them up from the 'Rants and Raves' list on the right hand side, like this one. Eventually, material would present itself. Like my cousin Arun's wedding to Cindy, a Vietnamese-American. To this day, this is one of the most widely read and commented posts on my blog. Then there was my marathon which certainly deserved 1 post. But I wrote 3 (1, 2 and 3). When I got my Kellogg MBA admit, I turned into a drama queen with mushy posts like this. And then ofcourse was the highlight of my life so far - my wedding to W. This was fun to write. But I knew I was walking a tight rope because I had to write about everybody without offending anybody. I decided to stay superficial. It always works. Speaking of superficial, you just have to turn to my book/movie reviews. They contain a lot of words which eventually do not amount to anything. I like to play it safe. I am fond of writing something about technology once in a while, and my favorite in this section would be this post about my dream device Alamelu. However, my all-time favorite posts are, and will continue to be, my 'Sathanur Day' series. Here's one for starters. When you are passionate about something, it reflects in your writing.

As you can see, the road to my 100th post has been filled with a lot of challenges. But the key is to enjoy them and never give up. Even when you end up having to work 4-6 hours in an entire day and come back home dead tired. Where there is a will there is a way.

So what is my advice to budding and future bloggers, you ask? Just go out there and enjoy yourself. The best thing about blogging is that noone has to read what you write. You can still call yourself a blogger, and when noone is listening, a writer. Think about what you want to say and then find a way to say it in simple uncomplicated words. Does my advice sound superficial to you? Ofcourse it does. Didn't I tell you I like superficial?

So where do I see myself going from here? I plan to keep this blog running hopefully for another 100 posts and more. I know the first year of my MBA is going to provide me with serious obstacles. But before any of you starts heaving your sigh of relief, let me assure you that I'm going to try my very best to update this blog regularly. There is no respite yet for you my friends. And if you are a regular blog reader, I have some advice for you as well. Please step into Web 2.0 and use an RSS blog reader/scubscriber such as Bloglines or Google Reader. They bring the content to you and you won't miss any of your favorite bloggers' posts. wink! wink!

And with that, I'll conclude my little speech and let you get back to the applause.

Texas hold 'em and choke 'em!

2007-07-16T15:21:00.000-05:00

I've finally been introduced to the parallel universe called poker, expecially the planet that calls itself Texas hold 'em. For years, I've resisted the advance of many poker-loving friends and relatives. Its not that I don't gamble. Ask the Vegas casino owners, and they'll assure you that c2c can brighten up a pretty ordinary day on the strip. I have donated plenty of money to the Blackjack table owers, dealers and waiters association of Vegas. However, poker is one card game I've always shied away from. It sounded unnaturally complicated for a cards game. To start with, you have to remember what all the piss pots, flushes, straights, full houses and royal flushes meant. On top of that, you have to get the order right. Granted, you can always have a cheat sheet and refer to it or ask your fellow poker players. But come on! Who's gonna respect a poker player who constantly keeps nagging you if a straight is better than a pair and a triplet?

Anyways, last weekend, my wife and I went camping with 3 friends from our gang. Unfortunately, one of them decided to bring along his poker set, and informed us that he was not going to let us sleep in peace in our tents unless we consent to learn and play poker with him. That's how it all started. As we picked up the nuances (read 'basic rules') of this game, we started getting into the spirit. Pairs elicited contented sighs while occasional straights were met with unabashed joy. As the sun disappeared and the camping ground was slowly getting enveloped in darkness, the stakes were getting upped at our table under a gas lantern. Fifty dollar chips were being thrown in nonchalantly. Granted, we just called the red chips 'fifty dollar chips', and we weren't really going to bring out any cash. But still, you could feel the sense of anticipation and thrill in the air. People started experimenting and finalizing on their poker expressions. I perfected the art of not letting away anything. When I got a good hand, I frowned. When I got a bad hand, I smiled. I was so unpredictable that it was enough to throw even experienced professionals off my scent. I'm not sure how I still lost so consistently. It was probably because I decided to show some style. Haven't you seen all those great poker scenes in moves where the protagonist is on his last dime and decides to bet everything he has on that last hand? The way the hero pushes the pile of chips saying "all in" must've made a serious impression on me. I've always wanted to do that. And here was my chance. Agreed, I only had a 5 pair, and there were bigger cards on the table. But the chance to be part of a 'movie moment' was too hard to resist and I did go all in. Unfortunately, my wife and poker-destroyer-in-chief was having an incredible run that night. She called my bluff pretty easily and added my measly donation to her considerable pile of chips. I would not want to get in the bad books of that woman when I' m sitting across from her on a poker table. She killed the competition that night, including that of our tutor ET.

When we came back from camping to resume our normal suburbian lives, I realized that the poker mania was here to stay. When we gathered at Ram's place on the eve of his b'day, we again decided to get a game of poker going. This time, my wife was in even better form. She was producing Aces and triplets like it was nobody's business. As for me, I couldn't seem to catch a break. I went maybe like 10 games without a half-decent hand. The only redeeming thing was that Ram went 'all in' this time and lost everything before me. On his b'day, no less. However, without the influence of alcohol (unlike the camping night), I actually got most of the rules straight. Like when I can 'check', how the bet matching works, what's a 'small blind' and a 'big blind' etc. (didn't I tell you its a complicated game?).

The following friday, we decided to have a formal poker night at my place. So we set the dining table up with enough seating space, stocked the fridge with enough alcohol to feed an army and opened the poker set for a night of gambling. We also had new arrivals, and we passed on our new-found knowledge of the game. There were a few hiccups before the game started. I was sitting on the floor with a bottle of beer talking to someone, and then I realized that our dog Oreo had spilled my beer bottle on the rug and had proceeded to lap up the contents with relish. And in a few minutes, the OH seemed to hit him. He looked totally out of it, roamed around drunk for a little bit and eventually just curled up under the poker table and went to sleep. We had to literally whack him over his head to wake him up next day morning. Not sure if he had a bad hangover, but he was not anywhere near his best the whole day. It goes without saying that my wife wasn't very happy with me. But the whole episode was hilarious, like something straight out of a comic book. Secretly, I was proud that Oreo infact liked beer. He was my boy after all :-)

Getting back to the game, there were experts and newbies fighting it out on the table. We decided to play with some money to make things interesting. Apparently, that's when people actually start using their brains, calculating odds etc. My wife, unfortunately, decided not to participate. My plans of getting back my $5 investment went down the drain. I played it safe knowing that every hand involved pennies, nickels, dimes and even a quarter or two. I didn't do anything flashy like going all in. It didn't matter. I got my ass whooped pretty quick. And before I knew it, I was the first one out of the game. Others followed. But the last 3 guys fought it out till 4AM despite my best attempts to kick them out of the house and get some sleep. Finally, the last 2 ended up splitting the handsome $30 pot.

That was last weekend. We haven't played poker since. I'm not sure where our gang will go from here as far as poker is concerned. Will we get bored of it and give it up just like we did other card/board games? Or will we get completely hooked on to it and make it a regular feature? I'm not sure. But I do know that we can't let the game can go on like that for hours. It becomes a torture especially for those who get kicked out early on in the game (ok, me). I'll probably vote to put in some sort of time limit, to make it fast and interesting. Also, I probably need to work on my poker expression and body language, seeing that whaterever I've done so far has not worked.

Ofcourse, the main thing to remember is this. Listen carefully because this is pretty deep. Poker is just like life. The wife is the boss and you are better off not messing with her.

Personalized maps on Google

2007-07-12T09:32:00.000-05:00

Looks like google has done it again. They've given you a small key to one of their very small rooms. You can go in, rummage and come out with something shiny, smelly and interesting. If any of you are avid google followers or use google maps often, you would have noticed a new tab called 'My Maps' on the google maps page. This is the small key to a whole new world.

Google Inc. will introduce on Wednesday a new feature that lets users create personalized maps which plot the locations of everything from cheap gas locally to the latest earthquakes worldwide.

MyMaps, as the new feature is known, allows consumers to select from more than one hundred mini-applications created by independent software developers. These allow users to overlay data on top of Google's popular online map service.

Visitors to http://maps.google.com after Wednesday at 6 a.m. PDT (1300 GMT) will find a new tab that contains links to dozens of the mini-applications, which Google calls Maplets.

The service is simple, but surprisingly useful, efficient and a lot of fun. You could go in and check gas prices in every gas station in your area, combine this with a restaurant trip or measure the distance of one lap around the park across your house where you usually run (472 m). Now that google has given the keys, there will be be hundreds of new applications to satisfy every need.

One map application allows users to watch YouTube videos based on the locations where they are uploaded. One could switch from the video confessions of a teenager in Ohio to tourist videos shot in the Andes mountains of South America.

Among the applications created by software developers over the past month are programs that allow users to link famous photos taken in locations around the world to Google Maps.

Alternately, photos that have location information on the Flickr photo sharing service can be found on a Flickr Maps application. Users can map local real estate prices, plot hotels or locate the cheapest gas station nearby.

Putting geography as an extra dimension in everything has been one of google's mantras all along. For example, even picassa web allows you to tag photos with the location information. In a world that's become increasingly small but cluttered with information and chaos, getting location-specific information has become something of a priority. For example, I don't care how many people get mugged in downtown Chicago, but I'm certainly interested in crime statistics in my suburb. Now, I can access that. And with the ability to overlay maps on top of each other, you can come up with some interesting stuff.

"We are putting the Web into maps," said John Hanke, a product manager for Google Maps, said of the diversity of information users now will be able to locate geographically.

Furthermore, users can overlay multiple applications on top of Google Maps to find interesting geographical correlations.

Before buying a house, a potential property owner could overlay local crime statistics on their new neighborhood.

Tourists could check out photos posted by other tourists to sites such as Yahoo's Flickr to figure out what the hotel or the surrounding region looks like before they book a reservation.

Consumers who have signed up for a Google Gmail account can save personalized maps. Users who choose not to sign into Google services can remain anonymous but use the service, Hanke said.

This might seem like just another small step in google's world of innovation hyper-activity. But I really feel that this has the ability to add a whole new perspective to tourism, travel and sharing location-specific information. For example, I've started creating a personalized map of all the local restaurants we frequent in my area (like this). I can probably share it with my friends and get them to add their picks as well. And when someone visits me, I could just give them the link to this map and let them decide where they want to go and how to get there. This saves me the trouble of maintaining a list of all restaurants somewhere along with their web-sites/addresses, phone nos etc. and then having to find driving directions when I have to get there. Also, when I hear about some new restaurant in town, I plan to immediately add it to my map. It'll fester there till I have to visit that particular neighborhood sometime. Then I could incorporate a visit to the eatery as well. The possibilities are endless.

I'll probably create additional maps with other local attractions, pubs, bars, clubs, movie theaters etc. Visitors can overlay a combination of these maps. Say you are free on a saturday evening and feel like doing something fun. Say you wanna go try out a new restaurant and then maybe go shake it in a club. You could overlay my restaurant map on top of my club map, and find a restaurant and club not too far from each other. You could click on it, access the web-sites, phone nos. etc, make your reservations and share the plan and the map with your friends.

That sounds like a good saturday evening, doesn't it?

Oreo

2007-07-03T10:43:00.001-05:00

This blog is not about the cookie. Its about a dog. I've never made a secret of my contempt for animals, and intense dislike for all licking, biting, barking and growling. Infact, it was not long ago when I ranted on this very blog about how I've always been scared of most animals, and have spent half my teen years chasing dogs or being chased by dogs. So how was it that someone like me came to own a dog and learn to love him (yes, its a "him" now, not an "it"). How did the unthinkable happen?

Its no secret that my wife has been pestering me to get her a dog, and I'd been successfully postponing this citing our impending Europe trip. To my intense dismay, she then graduated to looking up 'Dog for adoption' postings on Craigs list. Everyday, she would make me sit next to her and show me innumerable photos of canines of various sizes, shapes, colors and dispositions. Some of them don't even look like dogs (I hate poodles more than any other living being!). Eventually, I had to promise her that I'd let her get a dog after I move to Evanston and start my Kellogg MBA. It made good sense. The dog would keep her company and would hopefully bark if there were any intruders. My wife would also give me a break and stop guilt-tripping me about moving away so soon after the marriage. Also, I'll never have to play any part in raising the dog. After my MBA, I thought, I'd hopefully get a consulting job which will keep me out of town on most days. Although I would certainly miss my wife, I wouldn't have to be as involved in the daily upkeeping of the dog.

Ah! how the best kept plans of men self-implode. About 2 months ago, I was off at a conference in Kellogg when I got an urgent call from my wife. She'd seen a cute shih-tzu puppy up for adoption very close to our home. And hear this - she "knew" he was the ONE. This was news to me. I'd never looked upon dogs as matches made in heaven. And I certainly had not considered for a second that there was a dog somewhere on this planet that had been created specially for my wife. But what did I know! Apparently, there it was. In goddamned Hanover Park. Just to appease her, I promised to come with her and take a look. when I got back home that evening, my wife was all dressed and ready to get going. She'd already seen the pup and had - I realized with a sinking feeling - fallen in love with him. So we both drove over. The pup was playing with the kids in the backyard. He was the smallest thing and pretty cute. For a dog. He came to us instantly and started licking our hands and feet. I saw the joy on my wife's face as she played with the dog and something inside me melted. Despite my severe misgivings and ignoring the flash alerts in my brain, I told her "let's take him home". She couldn't believe her good fortune. Later, she told me that she didn't expect me to give in so easily and that my confidence had given her the courage to adopt the dog.

We brought him home. And ofcourse, he wasn't completely potty trained. He would pee and poop all over our carpets. I could see the value of our house deteriorating right in front of my eyes. Add to this, the chewing. He constantly chewed, and still chews, everything he can lay his eyes on. Door edges, cable wires and even my cell phone charger (yes, its gone!). We spent many a sleepless night, trying to pacify him while he missed his previous abode. I was rudely woken up by my wife in the middle of the night and asked to take him outside for a pee. Suffice to say, I repented my decision. How could I have been so stupid? I never realized the responsibilities that came with raising a pup. Even my wife was tired. We were both at our wit's end, and even considered putting him up for adoption.

And then, after a few weeks, something changed. The pup got completely potty trained, and consistently signalled to us when he needed to "go". He became a lot more playful and social. He started displaying his personality, and cute funny mannerisms. For example, when he was tired, he would walk slowly and then just flop on his side, as if he were shot. He slept upside down most times, and looked more like a bunny than a dog. There were other curious things we realized. One moment, he would be curling up at our feet and sleeping. But if my wife or I moved to another place/room in the house, he would rouse himself, sleepwalk and flop exactly halfway between us. I mean, if you were to draw a straight line from me to my wife, our dog would be the midpoint.

The previous owners had named him "Oreo", after the cookie, since he was black and white. The wife and I tried to think of a better name. My suggestions of "subramani" or "mani" for short were met with severe looks of disapproval. Finally, we decided to stick with "Oreo" because it had grown on us, and because he had started responding to the name. In the US, the pet owners are called the mom and dad of the pet. If you are new to this pet world, this can be quite unnerving. But you soon get used to this.

To our close friends - a raggety group of sworn bachelors - Oreo was a shock. Most of them had never owned dogs, and a few - like me - were sworn enemies. But it was fun to watch them slowly warm up to Oreo. I read this about shih-tzus somewhere - "your shih-tzu will probably bark when there is an intruder or a thief in the house. But once the intruder breaks in, your dog will proceed to give him a full tour of the house". So very true. Oreo is very social, and quite hard to resist. Whenever any of our friends walk into the house, Oreo is right there on top of the stairs, waving his tail, and restless for them to come and acknowledge him. He has charmed them so much that even the worst anti-dogger is seen these days posing for photos with Oreo in his arms. In our neighborhood, he's already a mini celebrity, atleast with all the kids. My wife and I take him walking every evening in the park across the road, and very soon he's surrounded by kids wanting to pet him and play with him. He's already made more friends on my street in 4 weeks than I've made in the 3 years I've lived here.

Oreo is a very quiet dog. He never barks, nor whines. Even when he has to go very urgently, he just sits quietly by the stairs hoping we would throw a glance in his direction and make the connection. But the only time he barks is when he sees other dogs. He's completely transformed.There's a heavenly glow on his face. He sits down and keep staring at the other dog. Then he starts whining, and very soon, he's trying make the dog's acquaintance. All this is not limited to just female dogs. He reacts exactly the same way to male dogs as well. My wife and I are still not very sure about his sexual orientation. And I've told my my wife that she has to steel herself for the possibility of never having a grandchild (Oreo being the son as mentioned before)...

There are downsides to having a dog. Our social life has been severely affected. No more late night parties, clubs, pubs and coming back at unearthly hours. Even eating out has been drastically reduced. Our friends think twice before calling us or stopping by. Whenever we plan any kind of outing, we have to think of Oreo first. We already feel guilty about leaving him alone at home for 8 hrs a day when we are at work. When he looks at you with those big sad doleful eyes, you won't think straight or be practical. He has guilt-tripped us into believing that any more lone time would be a severe injustice to him.

Yes, you can say I've warmed up to Oreo. Its probably because of the way he stretches himself in the morning and tries to snuggle between me and the wife while licking our faces clean. Or maybe its the way he rolls onto his back when he wants to be tickled. Or maybe its the way he looks up to us, leaving us in no doubt that we are the center of his universe. Whatever it is, its tough for me to hate dogs anymore. There, I said it.

Watching 'Sivaji'

2007-06-22T10:50:00.000-05:00

Yes, the movie was enjoyable. But the movie-watching experience itself was a lot of fun as well. Here are a few snippets:

- Dhigha, an old BITS friend (and one of those Microsoft nerds/whizkids depending on your viewpoint) was in Chicago. He had conveniently managed to send off his wife to Urbana Champagne for a wedding, so we could have a boys night out. So funkaboy and I decided to watch the movie friday night with him. The logistics were mundboggling. Funkaboy boy drive in from work, picked me up from my place. Then we drove to the train station to pick up dhigha (who was staying at a hotel in downtown Chicago), and drove to the mall where the theater was supposed to be located. I expected posters and cutouts and aarthis for thalaivar, but we couldn't even locate the theater. Finally, got directions from a desi store in the mall ("next to Circuit City") and made our way to the 'potti kadai' theater.

- When the titles were rolling, Dhigha and I decided to take a video of the audience reaction, but then the organizers showed up from nowhere and threatened to haul us out of the theater if we used our cameras. I was about to retort, but the prospect of leaving the theater without watching thalaivar movie was beyond contemplation. So we shut up. But everytime one of us got phone calls and opened our cell phones, the guys came running and flashed their torches on us from both sides. Baguth insult!

- We were sharing this huge ass coke. Dhigha had a sip and wanted to put it back on its holder located in the backside of the front seat. And being the clumsy type, he thought he got the right spot, placed it and took his hands off. It turned out that the bucket-like thing was still in mid-air and was taken over by gravity. Oh, and did I tell you the holder was right in front of me? So the thing splashed and drenched my shoes and pants. While Dhigha and I were frantically looking fora napkin, funkaboy didn't take his eyes off the screen for a moment to help his friends in distress. A tsunami at that point in time would not have distracted him. The rascal!

- It was a multiplex, but there didn't seem to be any audience for the other English movie running there. It was funny to see harassed Americans serving samosas and trying to maintain a semblance of order in a theater full of thalaivar fans.

- At the beginning of the movie, there were some ABCD kids right behind us who seemd to be deriving some kind of satisfaction in passing comments on the hardcore front benchers. We could hear them shouting "you are disgusting!" and "go use some deo" and the like. Such fun. But once the movie got underway and the front benchers outshouted them, they disappeared never to be seen again.

- When the movie got over and we walked out, we were shocked to see the long line for the next show snaking all the way back into the parking lot. Had this urge to shout out "Mottai Rajini will come in the climax", but a fear of life and limb took over and better sense prevailed.

- Finally, the 3 of us took a photo with the Sivaji showtime in the background. After the satisfaction of watching a good entertainer, it was time to head back home, down a few margheritas and discuss the movie with other friends who were planning on watching it the next day. Yes, I know, I'm evil.

Sivaji: The Boss

2007-06-20T10:28:00.000-05:00

Can you believe the hype and the publicity this movie has generated? I had my first glimpse of this hype when the album was released. By Rahman's standards, it seemed an unremarkable one. The songs were reasonably catchy but none of them seem to leave a lasting mark (remember "Antha Arabi kadaloram..."). And then a few months ago, the second wave arose, with mainstream media and the blogworld abuzz with news about potential release dates. Shankar, as is his wont, let the word of mouth do the publicity for him, by keeping things close to his chest and postponing release dates. In the process, I imagine he also managed to screw up the release plans for countless other movies. As the relase date got finalized and we approached D-day, things seemed to reach a feverish pitch. I couldn't open a desi blog or web-site without catching a news item or photo of the Boss. The worst part was the day of the release when various bloggers started reviewing the movie. I had tickets for the next day (Friday - June 15th), and had to really try hard to stay away from reading these. Growing up, I've always been a huge Rajni fan. But as maturity, and the accompanying burden of logic and cynicism set in, I couldn't get myself excited about 'thalaivar' movies anymore. But now, inexplicably, I was caught and swept along in the frenzy. I keep shouting "superstar" and "thalaivaa" to my Sindhi-Gujju wife. She just thought I was plain crazy. For someone who's never known the Rajni phenomenon, its hard to explain. How do you make her understand that its not about the looks, the acting or even great movies. Its all about the STYLE!!! Anyways, let's move on to the movie review.

When news got out that Shankar and Rajni are coming together, people went ballistic. There is a simple reason for that. Currently in Tamil cinema, noone does things bigger and grander than Shankar. Ofcourse, he's not all glamor and glitter. He pays attention to a good script, usually churns out a pretty tight screenplay and explores social issues. But his biggest selling point is his ability to bring in the best talents in every department and get them to seemlessly work together to create perfect masala movies. However, questions arose whether he would be able to work with Rajni. In the past, Rajni movies have been directed by servile directors who only had to pander to the wishes of legions of thalaivar fans. And the movie would be a surefire hit. Everyone knew Shankar had a huge ego, and that he got his way with his actors. So who's movie is 'Sivaji' gonna be?

By now, everyone and his aunt knows the story. Sivaji is a foreign return (a software architect, no less!) who comes back with cartloads of money and wants to do good to society. He wants to miraculously provide free education, hospitals et al to everyone. Ofcourse, there are bigwigs like Adisheshan (Suman in a useless role) who want to stop him. Sivaji encounters corruption at every level. After initially scoffing at the suggestion, he's eventually forced to bribe officials at various levels to get his order through. But Adiseshan has other plans and even changes governments (at a cost of just a 100+ crores, this sounds ridiculously easy!). Sivaji is left without a dime on the street. Like any good cornered tiger, he fights back using negative tactics. He accumulates an army of goondas, gathers information on everyone who has loads of black money and then goes about extracting this from them, launders them and is on his way to creating a social revolution. Eventually, he's arrested. Then follows the most absurdly illogical medical scene (CPR after a few hours!), a new and smashing avatar of Rajni and a gripping climax sequence. Shankar thinks he's just handed out a working solution to the corruption/black money problem, and continues to dole out advice while credits roll on screen.

Let's start with what I did like about the movie. Its a complete entertainer. And Shankar has delivered exactly what thalaivar fans usually crave - style, explosive action, good comedy and great punch lines. I thought Shankar set the first half up perfectly, especially the part where Sivaji turns to corruption himself. The comedy is good in parts, with Vivek really kicking ass in some sequences. However, some things are in poor taste - like the 2 dark-skinned sisters. Rajni's histrionics to turn fair are enjoyable to some extent, but could have been tempered. Shreya is hot hot hot! Oh, and did I mention she's hot? Shankar has really managed to make Rajni look remotely like a youngish guy, which is a pretty tough task. I liked his 80s kind of hairstyle. His wardrobe is pretty classy while retaining the slightly jingchak style the frontbenchers associate with thalaivar. And yes, the songs! Shankar proves once again that there's noone in Tamil cinema who can beat him at song picturization and grandeur. "Adhiradi" where he's simulated Venice (along with the mandatory masks, latino villains and great stunts) is a visual treat. So too is "Vaa jee" where Shankar has almost created a palace of the order of a vegas casino. But my favorite was Oru koodai sunlight". I loved Blaaze's voice, and the picturization was creative and hilarious. I couldn't help wondering if Shankar and Rajni were putting thanni while discussing and finalizing this song. They've both had a ball! And the best part, undoubtedly, is the "mottai boss" who comes for the cllimax sequence.

This brings me to the place where I have to part ways with the hardcore fans, and actually mention some things I didn't like about the movie. On top of this list would be the fateful car fight sequence in the drive-in movie theater. What the hell was that?? After the first half of the fight that left me scratching my head, Rajni takes a breather and taps his fingers on his wheels while Shreya and his enemies look on. I thought "machan, thalaivar's coming up with a plan. He's gonna do something really cool and smart". And before I realize it, thalaivar just drives through and sends all the other cars flying. Excuse me!!! ithu romba over... I would've expected something better. This fight sequence should've been completely avoided. The crux of the movie is the bit where thalaivar extracts blackmoney from corrupt businessmen/politicians and launders this. You would think Shankar would put more thought into making this believable. Instead we see, thalaivar simply employing some goondas to get everything done. The whole "please wait in the office" sequence is pretty funny. But when this forms the backbone of his comeback, there should be slightly more logic. After completely stereotyping muslims (money laundering/foreign contacts), thalaivar lands in New York and asks a bunch of desi/ABCD folks to split the 150 crores among themselves, take it with them and write out donations to Sivaji foundation. Ah, how very original! If only the income tax could figure out this masterplan... And ofcourse, they don't. I felt these sequences could have been handled with a bit more maturity and logic by Shankar. I can already hear some of you mumuring that logic should be left outside the theater while watching Rajni movie. Believe me, I tried. But when Shankar is involved, I tend to expect something better than that. But the bit that completely knocked me out was when Raghuvaran revives thalaivar through CPR a couple of hours after he stops breathing. Are you kidding me??? Any self-respecting doctor would hang himself after watching this scene.

So is this a Shankar movie or a thalaivar movie? Sure, the actual story follows Shankar's tried and tested formula - expose social issue, hero gets affected and wants to bring about change, honest ways don't work, hero is frustrated and takes the negative route, people come on board and hail him as savior etc etc. You know the rest! While in movies like Gentleman, Mudhalvan and Indian, Shankar has followed up this formula with a great script, screenplay and dialogies, his handling of the Boss is actually a letdown. He's explored the bribery issue very superficially, and there are gaping holes in every scene. But in the end, the movie works because of Thalaivar. Nothing else in the movie matters. If there's one thing that Shankar has done right in the movie, it is understanding what makes Rajni ticks and then delivering exactly that to his fans. And yes, over the top. Its a complete "paisa vasool".

When the movie got over and we were walking out the theater, I called my wife (who understandably decided to skip the movie 'coz of lack of subtitles) . She picked up the phone and let out a "thalaivaaaa..." that had me in stitches. That, for me, summed up the movie. Its Rajni riding towards the sunset of his career, at his boldest, baddest and best. Nothing in Tamil cinema can come close to this phenomenon!

The Tipping Point

2007-06-15T14:37:00.000-05:00

Managed to read Malcolm Gladwell's much-acclaimed best-seller The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference recently. Since there has been so much hype around this book, I approached it cautiously, and prepared myself for a bit of disappointment. The book started off unremarkably, with Malcolm droning on about various people he has met with remarkable qualities - of mavens, enablers and connectors. I found the writing a bit haphazard at first.

But as I delved deeper into the book, things started getting clearer. I understood why he was describing these different people, and how their qualities make them unique in the market place. He equates a big wave, revolution or trend in the marketplace to an epidemic. And how most of them get started on a very small scale by a certain type of people, and how they are spread initially by another kind of people. And how the rest of us adopt them later on a much wider scale. An epidemic kind of behavior. These things sometimes seem unpredictable and counter-intuitive, but Gladwell discovers a common trait in a lot of edpidemic-like phenomenons. The moral of the story is concerned with how we could use this information productively. You don't really have to think big to make big changes. You just need to recognize the pressure points (the right people at the right place) and push the right buttons.

How do a bunch of yuppies in New York start a major Hush Puppies fashion on a global scale. How does cleaning up graffiti in the NY subway system reduce crime drastically? Or how does one popular guy's suicide trigger more such incidents in an island community? All interesting and varied questions, and the answers sometimes are expected, and sometimes very surprising.

The book is of particular interest to marketers, but a lot of other sections of the populace can benefit from it as well - law makers/politicians, the fashion industry, new technology poineers etc. Towards the end, he even comes up with some interesting take on why teenage smoking is so difficult to contain and why our approach to it thus far might be completely wrong. I didn't always agree with what he has to say. Statistics are very malleable. You can use them to support or oppose anything you want by looking at them from different angles. For this reason, I found Gladwell over-simplifying issues and solutions a lot. I guess that's kind of necessary to make a splash with his book. After all, no one is going to buy a book that says "this could be one reason why this happens, but I'm not really sure".

Bottomline: This is a good read. Especially if you are in the business of having to influence mass opinion. Also, there doesn't seem to be a lot of thinking outside the box these days. So I found the new approach to old issues refreshing. I would highly recommend this.

Europe! Europe!

2007-06-14T16:34:00.000-05:00

Just got back from a whirlwind tour of Europe, where my wife and I travelled through some 10 countries. It was hectic and exhilarating. An adventure. Let me start with a list of countries/places we visited during the tour, hopefully in the correct order.

England (London)
Belgium (Brussels)
Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam)
Austria (Innsbruck)
Germany (Black Forest, Heidelberg, Cologne)
Switzerland (Zurich, Geneva, Jungfrau, Mt. Titlus, Interlaken etc.)
Liechtenstein
Italy (Venice, Florence, Rome, Pisa)
Vatican City
France (Paris, Chamonix)

We spent most of our time in Italy, Paris and Switzerland, while stopping just for a day in most other places. I've always been a fan of spending more time in one place and exploring it completely. But this being my first time in Europe, we decided it might be a better idea to just travel through and experience a bit of as many countries as we could. And as we expected, we now know which countries/cities we would like to go back to for longish stays.

We were mostly blessed with some glorious weather. But London and Amsterdam were washouts, especially since we only spent half a day sight-seeing at each place. I wasn't too disappointed, since I'm pretty sure there'll be a few more visits to London in my lifetime. Really wanted to walk through the RLD in Amsterdam, but the weather and the logistics conspired against it.

Some initial thoughts:
The spectrum of cultures, people, languages and landscapes we encountered was delightful. Especially when it kept changing constantly with every new place we stopped at. However, within some countries, there seemed to be a kind of uniformity - like America - that I had not expected. For example, there is no doubt that Switzerland is picture-perfect. But you could have taken me to Geneva and told me we were visiting Zurich again, and I would've believed you. Both these cities are located around huge lakes, and the buildings, churches, roads and traffic everything had a kind of eerie similarity about them. This was not, however, true of some other places. Take Italy for example. Venice and Rome are miles apart and very unique in their own way.

Favorite cities:
My favorite cities have got to be Paris, Rome and Venice. Paris has got a sort of surreal beauty about it that I've never seen anywhere. There are these beautiful 200-300 year old buildings, palaces and castles now converted into museums, railway stations or post offices. You drive through the city and you feel like you are transported to a very different era. You come across beautiful opera houses, churches and even Napolean's apartment. The church of Notre Dame (remember Victor Hugo's 'Hunch back of Notre Dame'?) is an architectural delight. The view from the top of Eiffel tower is worth the wait. Add to these the cute cafes and restaurants that dot the sidewalks. You realize that this is a city which definitely mixes a lot of pleasure with business. It helps that the official work week here is only 35 hrs.

I knew that Italy would be one of my favorite places even before I set foot there, and I was not mistaken. Venice is one of a kind. Its a heady mixture of narrow alleys, canals and bridges, lined with old buildings that seem ready to fall apart. At the Piazza San Marco (St.Mark's Square) by the Grand Canal, the church is beautiful beyond description. And ofcourse, the gondola ride is a must for every visitor. There is a really laidback feel to the whole place, as if everyone there is just vacationing. That's because the number of annual visitors there is something like 100 times their actual population.

What can you say about Rome that hasn't already been said? The city is a treasure chest of history, mythology, legends and a testament to human achievements. If the colosseums took my breath away, then so too did some of the ruins that dated back to before Christ was born. And how do you even begin to describe the beauty of the Trevis fountain? How do you deal with history of this magnitude? Yes, all roads do lead to Rome. In Florence, where we spent time at the Piazza Della Signoria (Signoria Square), there are these amazingly powerful sculptures, testament to the Renaissance movement. A great example is a very reknown sculpture of a naked man by Michelangelo called 'David'. There is one of Hercules, the slaying of 'Midas' and even a couple of rape scenes that send a chill through your spine. The depiction of the naked human body with rippling muscles and raw energy reminds you of the violence of ancient Rome and the various mythologies associated with it.

Favorite places:
I admit I did not know much about Vatican city before 'Da Vinci Code' came along. But as I entered the main square, the sight took my breath away. There was the Sistine Chapel on the right, where the cardinals have their conferences to elect the pope. The papal residence was on top, with the Pope's window clearly marked. And ofcourse, there was St. Peter's Basilica towering ahead of me, the biggest curch in the world. If the outside of the church was beautiful, the inside is unbelievable. Every inch of the church is adorned with masterpieces - sculptures, paintings, murals and stained glasses made by some of the greatest talents ever. The most famous of these is ofcourse the 'Pieta' (Virgin Mary holding the now-dead Jesus on her lap) made by Michelangelo when he was only 23. I felt overawed to be here, at the centre of christianity.

If it were left to me, I would add the Louvre to the list of countries I visited. I kid you not. The place is incredibly huge, and its a no-brainer figuring out that its the largest museum in the world. It was actually a palace that was later donated to be turned into a museum. It holds approximately 400,000 works of art. For those who love numbers and statistics, consider this. If you spent 1 minute on each exhibit, it'll take you one whole year to completely cover this museum. That's how big it is! Ofcourse, the defining moment for me was when I walked into a huge room and saw from afar a big crowd gathered around a tiny picture on the far wall. And as I took a couple of steps, I realize with a jolt that this was the Mona Lisa, easily the most famous painting ever made. My heart seriously gave a little yelp. That was a dream-come-true moment for me.

Cologne, Germany (yes, the birthplace of 'Eau de Cologne') houses the biggest Gothic cathedral in the world. The spire here is gigantic, and the church was built some 800 years ago. It was one of the most imposing structures that I've ever seen. Nothing else comes close to it. Not the Sears Tower, not the Eiffel tower and none of the countless other impressive churches we saw on the tour.

The Leaning tower at Pisa is very weird. You really feel like its gonna fall down at any moment. Romans had this habit of building a bell tower with every church. In Pisa ofcourse, the tower has become much more famous than the beautiful church next to it. People all around were taking snaps with various poses of holding/supporting the gigantic tower.

Cruises:
There were plenty of cruises. On the Rhine river near Heidelberg, Germany. On Lake Zurich. On the Seine in Paris. Through the canals in Amsterdam and Venice. These proved to be a wonderfully relaxing way of seeing these places.

Special mention:
If you were to collect a few of the most beautiful picture postcards, put together a book and then decide to use that as a blueprint to build a place, that would be Switzerland. Ofcourse, no engineer/architect/builder can come close to emulating the abundance that nature has privided this place with. Everywhere you go, you are surrounded by lush green m0untains, with snow-capped mountains providing the backdrop. There are natural gorges and waterfalls that end up in beautiful brooks and rivers. There are miles of sweeping countryside, with cows grazing serenely. We went on top of a few peaks, most notably Jungfrau (the highest train line in the world at around 12000 ft), Mt.Titlus etc. Even did some sledging and snow tubing. Nature has been extremely partial to the Swiss. We saw the small town of Interlaken, the setting for many a bollywood song-and-dance sequence. However, its true that you get used to all this beautiful scenery in a couple of days. Then you wonder "what else?" Before you leave the country, you will get tired of looking at the Swiss flag (Did you know this is the only country flag that is a square and not a rectangle?). It is omnipotent. On top of every other building. On every t-shirt, cap and magnet. And plenty of flagpoles on the road as well.

Bummers:
No description of Europe would be complete without this. So here we go in no particular order.
- Extremely expensive, especially with the current rate of around $1.4 for a euro. A regular coffee at a small roadside cafe would put you back by around 4 euros (close to $6). You are better off having a bottle of wine at close to the same price! And if you want to buy souvenir t-shirts, forget about it! A regular round-neck cotton t-shirt starts at 20 euros. Even airport shops in the US are cheaper.
- No water! Absolutely! You won't found a single water fountain if you combed through Europe with a pair of high-definition lens. Not even at the airport. And when you sit at restaurants, they don't just bring a jug of water like you are used to in America. So either, you bring along the water wherever you go or you buy it. And ofcourse, water is expensive too. I didn't believe it at first, but beer is indeed cheaper than water.
- Closely in the heels of the water menace is the toilet menace. There are hardly any free toilets in Europe. Most places, there is an attendant with a table and chair outside the toilet, and you have to deposit the money with him/her before entering. At some gas station shps, there are automatic turnstiles like train stations. And some places, paying is optional. But the cleaner guy would be standing outside with a bowl, looking expectantly at you. Some places, I had to pay as much as 1 euro to take a leak. Its ridiculous! I could've almost stayed an extra day in Paris with all the toilet money I spent.
- When we asked our Gondola guy in Venice to sing us a song, he said there were only 2 places in the world where Gondola men sing - in movies and at the Venitian in Vegas (and only because those gondolas are motor-driven). Maneuvering these long gondolas through the narrow canal passageways and turning them at right-angles requires a lot of concentration and stamina. Plus these guys are not really trained to sing.
- Most places, you can get by with English. But Paris was a bit notorious in this regard. There are no English signs or translations. Even at the Louvre, every item on display is described only in French. I had to get one of those audio commentary headsets.

Yes, we did do a lot of cliched things. We bought a cuckoo clock in Switzerland, and a wonderful hand-carved ceramic beer mug in Germany. And don't forget the jewellery at the famous Swarowski museum/factory/shop in Austria. I sampled some Sicilian wine in Italy and the Rose wine in Paris. We even ate blackforest cake in Black Forest, Germany! Whenever we saw a signboard, nameplate or flag, we would take photos (to stay true to my previous post!). We took so many snaps we ran out of 3 GBs of memory cards, yielding approximately some 1700 photos and a few video clips. Every inch of our fridge is now filled with all kinds of magnets from the countries/cities we visited.

We didn't get to sample much of the nightlife, since we hit the bed everyday tired out from our excursions. We did manage to catch the Lido show on our last night in Paris, widely hailed as one of the best cabarets in the world. Halfway into the show, somewhere between watching beautiful topless women in colorful headresses and sipping the bottomless champage on the table, the weariness of the last 2 weeks hit me. And I actually dozed off for a few minutes in a show I had paid $160 to watch. And did I mention it had topless women?

In the end, it turned out to be a wonderful trip, filled with great memories. Europe is so rich in history and culture. Just like India. But this has been preserved well, and it is a pleasure to visit and appreciate each building, sculpture or painting. Its easy to travel. The countries are quite small, and are well-connected by roads and trains. The Schengen visa makes it easy to visit a lot of countries with one visa (with the exception of England and Switzerland). And the Euro is a boon since you don't have to carry 10 different currencies in your wallet. We were glad we made this trip now, before being burdened with responsibilities of kids and my oncoming MBA. It certainly was a trip of a lifetime.

PS: Will probably follow up with a photo blog of the trip very soon.

Off to Europe

2007-05-25T10:59:00.001-05:00

The wife and I are leaving on a 2-week tour of Europe. We'll be traveling through 8 countries and taking innumerable Patel shots. It goes without saying that this blog will not be updated till I get back. Adios Amigos!

Thank God my wife didn't have a choice...

2007-05-24T16:34:00.000-05:00

Not because she's from a rural area (which she is by the way - Baroda shhhh!). But because ours wasn't an arranged marriage. I was referring to this

The ordeal of the wisdom tooth continues...

2007-05-24T10:49:00.000-05:00

So, where did I leave you guys last time in my epic sob story? Ah yes, right here. So let's get on with it, shall we? After the first wisdom tooth ordeal ended, it was time to go back to the hacker, sorry, dentist to get the other wisdom tooth removed. This one went much better than I expected. The very next day, the pain was bearable and I was waltzing around at work, though I looked like I had a lollypop stuck in my mouth. This just turned out to be the lull before the storm. As it frequently happens with me, the pain hadn't completely gone by the end of the first dosage of pain killers. So I went back to the dentist for more. After that, things seemed to go swimmingly for a few more days. I even played cricket, volleyball and, in general, forgot all about my missing tooth.

That's when it happened. The pain started intensifying just when I was finishing up with my second dosage of painkillers. I could feel some kind of swelling inside my mouth, and the pain was excruciating. So I went back to the dentist, who stuck his finger in, felt around, and said there's something 'weird' going on inside. He thought it was some kind of infection, and prescribed me a dosage of antibiotics followed by some stronger painkillers. He even commented sarcastically "You are the luckiest guy in the world". If only I didn't depend on his prescriptions to get those painkillers, I would've strangled him. No, hung him by his tooth. "Ofcourse" I thought to myself. "This had to happen to me. What was I thinking?".

So I picked up the pills and went back to work. I realized that a single painkiller pill did nothing to relieve my pain. So I started taking two at a time. Not a great idea to do this at work, as it turns out. The pills hit me very soon, and I was as groggy as a cockroach in a beer bottle. The whole day, I was finding places to put my head down and sleep. But after a day, I felt some improvement. The swelling has gone down, and the pain is not as bad. I can even get by with a single pill at a time. That's where things stand now.

So where do I go from here? I'm leaving on a 2-week vacation tomorrow, so obviously I don't want to take my pain with me. I'm hoping things improve drastically today. Still, I might have to visit the dentist and get another round of painkillers, as a precaution.

And yes, before I forget. Remember the decayed tooth next to the first wisdom tooth I pulled out? The dentist cleared away the decay and gave me the "good" news. I get to keep the tooth if I get a root canal procedure done. Infact, he wanted me to get this done before I left for my vacation. With my luck, I didn't want to have a major procedure done 2 days before I left the country. So, no thanks Doc.

Clearly, this is not over yet. Watch this space for more sado-masochist adventures...

Is an MBA worth it?

2007-05-18T15:29:00.001-05:00

Came across an interesting discussion on the Businessweek's Debate Room on the pros and cons of doing an MBA. The main article is followed by a lot of comments on both sides of the argument. If you are in the MBA market, this is probably a worth a quick look. However, if you've already done your research, talked to current and past MBA graduates and made up your minds, this article will not come across as something new or ground-breaking. Infact, it was downright frustrating to see people without an MBA degree commenting on the futility of an MBA program. There were a few comments from those pursuing online programs or some that are not even in the top 100. I'm not sure how these people are qualified to comment on the topic, or worse, reject MBA programs outright.

I'm sure the question of whether an MBA is worth it or not is as old as the degree itself. I'm certainly not going to attempt to address this here. But I would say this much - If you are in a top 10 MBA program and wish to follow one of the usual post-MBA tracks (mgmt consulting, investment banking, PE, marketing etc.) the ROI quite certainly makes it worth it. But if you are a wannabe entrepreneur, there's no saying if a business school would help foster your creativity. At the end of the day, its a very personal and subjective decision. A lot of factors need to be taken into consideration:
- where you are in your personal and professional life?
- would you be able to absorb the opportunity cost?
- is your payscale already comparable to that of a post-MBA guy?
- etc etc.

In my case, I seem to have hit a wall in my career. And I was bored of doing the same IT/telecom stuff. And more importantly, I knew I wasn't using those skills that I was actually good at. Business school seemed something exciting to do while rejuvenating my career and injecting a fresh lease of life. It would open a lot more doors in a variety of industries. And I personally think I'm better at managing people than doing the work myself :-) But more than anything else, the payscales at top 10 MBA programs sounded very very attractive. An MBA from Kellogg has the ability to put me in a completely different career and payscale trajectory.

Ofcourse, its not always chocolates and strawberries. MBA recruitment - more than any other degree - depends heavily on the current economy. So if things go downhill by 2009 when I graduate, I might come to rue the decision. Also, I'll be paying off those loans for quite a few years.

The other thing that could potentially go wrong is the fact that I don't have a GC yet. So unless my wife gets her GC before I graduate, I will be left to the vagaries of the whole H1 quota thing going around. Another excellent article here about the issues international students face after graduating from top MBA programs because of the H1 quota. So this is definitely somewhat of a gamble. But I couldn't wait forever for my GC before I start my MBA. Age is a factor as well as the right moment in your career to jump on to the MBA bandwagon. As the article mentions, I could always take an international assignment for a year before I get a fresh H1B. As I write this article, there is a lot of talk about the senate reaching an agreement on a new bipartisan immigration bill. Whether this will help educated legal immigrants - like most Indians - is still up in the air and should become clear soon.

Yes, there are a lot of impediments along the way. But I feel these are cosmetic issues, and can always be circumvented with some planning and foresight. When you think about it, not too many people get an opportunity to do a top 10 MBA program. It requires a lot of dedication and concerted effort to get admitted into one. In the long run, I do believe that my decision will be vindicated.

Heelys shoes!

2007-05-16T10:57:00.000-05:00

The other day, I was shopping with my wife at Sam's club when a mom and her son passed us pushing a shopping cart. Actually, the mom was doing all the pushing, while the son was just skating on his Heelys shoes. This got me thinking. In a land that already has 12 million obese children, and more sitting on the fence, is it really a good idea to introduce wheels into regular sneakers? For most kids, walking is the only exercise they get all day. Infact, walking around in stores and shopping malls picking up high-fat food articles is probably the only time they get to lose some or any calories at all. But now, kids don't even get to do that because some genius found out a way to cut out their only physical activity for the day.

And that's not the only issue I have with the heelys. These shoes are basically physical hazards. If you see someone with roller skates or roller blades, then you are mentally prepared to let them zoom past and are careful not to get in their way. But when you see these kids in regular looking sneakers suddenly taking off at around 15 miles per hour and zig zagging around, it totally puts you off. It is an accident waiting to happen. The other day, one kid went over my wife's foot and didn't even bother to apologize. Needless to say, she'll be the first one to sign this petition. I've become extremely wary and suspicious of all kids around me. I propose that these kids be treated the same as automobile drivers, and be forced to take written and practical tests before they obtain their heelys shoes license. If anything, some kids will atleast find the process cumbersome and so not worth it!

Talking of obesity, I happend to read an article on the NY times the other day, about common (mis)conceptions about dieting and exercise on weight loss. The industry catchline so far has been that if you eat fewer calories than you expend, the net negative calories will eventually and gradually end in weight loss. And that the best way to approach this is through a combination of good diet and exercise. Well, this article brought a completely different spin on this - what seems like a - reasonable approach. After extensive tests on healthy and obese people, a few scientists have discovered an extensive link between your genes and your weight. So if you are obese, but manage to lose weight through dieting and exercise, it would be very hard to maintain it since your body will have the tendency to come back to your "normal" - which in this case is probably a size XXXL - body weight. And if you are thin and want to gain weight, this can be difficult as well.

A brief excerpt from this excellent study:

The researchers concluded that 70 percent of the variation in peoples’ weights may be accounted for by inheritance, a figure that means that weight is more strongly inherited than nearly any other condition, including mental illness, breast cancer or heart disease.

The results did not mean that people are completely helpless to control their weight, Dr. Stunkard said. But, he said, it did mean that those who tend to be fat will have to constantly battle their genetic inheritance if they want to reach and maintain a significantly lower weight.

The findings also provided evidence for a phenomenon that scientists like Dr. Hirsch and Dr. Leibel were certain was true — each person has a comfortable weight range to which the body gravitates. The range might span 10 or 20 pounds: someone might be able to weigh 120 to 140 pounds without too much effort. Going much above or much below the natural weight range is difficult, however; the body resists by increasing or decreasing the appetite and changing the metabolism to push the weight back to the range it seeks.

The message is so at odds with the popular conception of weight loss — the mantra that all a person has to do is eat less and exercise more — that Dr. Jeffrey Friedman, an obesity researcher at the Rockefeller University, tried to come up with an analogy that would convey what science has found about the powerful biological controls over body weight.

He published it in the journal Science in 2003 and still cites it:

“Those who doubt the power of basic drives, however, might note that although one can hold one’s breath, this conscious act is soon overcome by the compulsion to breathe,” Dr. Friedman wrote. “The feeling of hunger is intense and, if not as potent as the drive to breathe, is probably no less powerful than the drive to drink when one is thirsty. This is the feeling the obese must resist after they have lost a significant amount of weight.”

So not only are we born poor and stupid, now we are born fat as well. And even if you turn the poor around and somehow talk your way through college, you will still be a rich, smart, but fat slob. So moral of the story is - next time you can't fit in your jeans, blame your genes...

Somebody tell Lata to stop

2007-05-11T11:33:00.000-05:00

Is it just me? Or does anyone else think that its about time Lata Mangeshkar calls it a day and stops crooning in Bollywood? I've never understood India's fascination with Lata. Granted, she might have belted some good numbers in her heydays, which probably lasted for a few years somewhere in the 60s. But as far back as I can remember, I've hated her voice. Consider movies like"Hum App ke hai kaun" or "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge" for example. Great songs spoiled only by some stupid ass' idea to let Lata near the mike. So when Madhuri Dixit is flirting playfully with Salman at a wedding Sangeet or Kajol is frollicking in a mini skirt in the rain, all I can think of is how much better these songs could have been without Lata's shrill vocals. Her voice does not suit either of these actresses, or for that matter, anyone else in bollywood.

With age, her voice has gotten shriller and almost child-like. Its like seeing an 80-yr old walking to school in uniform holding his mother's hands. She's pretending to be someone she's not anymore. Her voice is just high-pitched and screws up even the best of songs. And for some reason, these idiots in Bollywood do not realize that. They still hold her on a pedestal and feel blessed to be touched by her vocal torture.

It has come to a point when I hear Lata's voice, I start imitating her in a female voice, and I've got it almost spot on. Yes, its that bad! There is something to be said about graceful retirement. But somehow, our Bollywood singers and actors never understand this. So you see Amitabh Bachan in every other movie, shaking it with young things and being a playboy and all. Atleast, he's aged gracefully and has fond his niche. The same cannot be said of Lata. She's had her quota of a few thousand songs, and blasted quite a few ear drums. Maybe, just maybe, its time for her to call it a day and spend the rest of her life gazing at Sivaji Ganesan's photo. Anyone with me?

The ordeal of the wisdom tooth

2007-05-09T11:23:00.000-05:00

First off, I apologize to my regular readers (yes, all 3 of them) for my extended absence from the blogging scene. The hiatus was inflicted on me by a combination of increased workload, lack of ideas and a wisdom tooth. Of these 3 factors, I would rate the last one - the wisdom tooth - on top of my list.

I've never understood the concept of wisdom tooth/teeth. If these are essentially useless, shouldn't evolution have taken care of this by now? Besides, what sort of lazy ass wisdom tooth would wait till I am about to enter my 30s before deciding to suddenly erupt, touch my nerve endings and cause me such immense pain?!! This takes away the whole concept of the tooth being called the 'wisdom' tooth, considering I've probably already gained all the wisdom I'm likely to gain in my life. Atleast, I would like to think so. Now, this has resulted in me being the target of a lot of ill-conceived jokes - especially from my wife - about me gaining wisdom quite late in life, and that its better late than never, and more of such lame stuff.

Anyways, enough of my rambling. So I waited out a few days for this pain to go away. And when I realized that it was here for the long haul, I forced myself to make my first dentist appointment in the US (till now, all my dentist visits have been during my India visits). As I feared, the dentist told me, no, ordered me, to remove both my wisdom teeth (although only one was causing trouble). Besides, the neighboring tooth might be contaminated by now and might have to be removed as well. I knew this would happen. My inner paranoid self had always believed that if there's one thing I know about US doctors, it is that they love to suck you into a vortex of procedures, operations, side-effect treatments etc.

So I take the referral and go to a dental surgeon. And the receptionist tells me that I might have trouble getting my insurance company covering both wisdom tooth removals from the same referral. This surprises me. I would think Insurance companies can save a lot of time and money by encouraging multiple procedures for a patient in one sitting. But apparently, they do not like to do this because they cover only 'necessary' extractions, not 'precautionary' ones. So I decide to just pull one tooth out. It was probably the mst painful dental experience of my life. The tooth was growing at a weird angle, and the dentist used a combination of techniques, bordering on the savage, to get it out. There was sawing, pulling, tugging and some old-fashioned yelling till the damned bloody calcium-filled miserable piece of my body came out.

My wife drove me home, with me holding a tissue to plug the blood spurting out of the new hole where the erstwhile wisdom tooth used to be. I was told not to spit, gargle or do anything useful with my mouth until the blod clot forms on the hole. Just about the only good thing that came out of the whole episode was that I could call in sick at work and enjoy a Tamil movie after a long time ('Paruthiveeran' to the curious!). Then began the 'recovery' phase that started with around 50 pills that included painkillers and antibiotics. But when the pain had not abated after a week, I went back and was told I had what is referred to as a 'dry socket inflammation'. This is a very common post-operative procedure, where the blod clot might have moved causing the newly growing tissues to be exposed to food, water etc causing a completely different kind of weird, throbbing pain. So I was given a further dose of another 50 pills, this time consisting of some steroid and another dose of antibiotics.

Through the whole ordeal, the one thing that really irked me was the fact that I had to stay away from alcohol through weekends. This is not easy when you are surrounded by a gang of raging weekend alcoholics and party-goers. I did push the limit with a bit of wine here and a beer there, but for the most part I was a good boy. So eventually, after about a 100 pills and 2 weeks of suffering, I've finished my dosage, the pain is gone and I can go on with the rest of my life.

But only for a few more days. If you had stayed with me through this story, you would realize I still have the other wisdom tooth to go. On top of this, I have another appointment with the dentist, where he will determine if I get to keep the tooth next to the wisdom dude. If not, I will have to face further ignominy, and pull out this innocent bystander as well. So you will forgive me if I have nothing nice to say on the topic of dentists and their happy-go-lucky attitude towards other people's teeth and limb. And if I go into another blogging hiatus, you'll know why...

Perspective

2007-04-20T10:56:00.000-05:00

What a week! While the whole world has been focussing on the VTech massacre, I caught another piece of news from India that put things into perspective for me. I was referring to this. So Richard Gere kissed Shilpa Shetty! So what? She's neither the modicum of so-called 'Indian virtues' nor claims to be one. Who are these people who start demanding apologies and lodge police complaints when it is no business of theirs? Don't they have something better to do with their lives? I saw on TV all these guys burning effigies and dancing around them like illiterate morons. And these images were beamed all over the world. No wonder the westerners still think of India as a elephant-riding snake-charming country. While we are at it, can someone tell me if there is a effigy-making industry somewhere out there I'm unaware of? I mean, our junta keeps burning effigies of cricketers, movie stars and politicians all the time. So I would assume that manufacturing these effigies would be quite a lucrative business proposition. If there is no such effort going on currently, I would like to copyright it.

Coming back to the real story of the week, the Viriginia Tech incident is deeply saddening. But I don't really agree with those who say it is hard to understand what would push someone to commit a crime like this. There are 3 essential ingredients in making this potentially deadly mix:

1. The essential loner who doesn't fit anywhere, not really liked by anyone and hence seen as a freak.
2. A college campus that thrives on peer pressure, where people are either accepted or outsiders and where feelings of hostility and psychotic rage are free to foster and grow without being noticed by anyone
3. A country, that despite repeated demonstrations of the evils of guns, still refuses to bring a reasonable level of gun control. You can walk into a gas station and pick up a rifle and some bullets with an elementary background check.

I'm not trying to trivialize the problem or claim to have a blueprint for identifying potential psycho shooters. The human mind is complex. Though we would like to believe that humans are essentially good and moral, research has been showing us that this might not be always true. Infact, there might be no such thing as free will. And every decision we make is probably shaped by past events, our genes and our environment. When you consider all this, you will realize that any of us could turn into a mass killer if the other factors are right (or wrong!). And even if you identify such individuals, you can't really take any action against them unless a crime has actually been committed. This was the problem faced by VTech authorities. So the only way to stop these crimes is to make it hard for potential criminals to get hold of weapons that can enable them to wreak such havoc.

Ofcourse, the gun control lobby in the US is extremely powerful. If the Columbine shootings could not bring about a change, then I doubt if the VTech shootings are going to achieve anything. In the meantime, our hearts go out to all those innocent victims at Virginia Tech and their families.