Going on air

This was a first of a sorts for me. I officially went on air yesterday as the newest RJ in the ISB Radio. I play a show called "Play something country" and the musical variety I dish out is pure american mid-western country music. It was a little bit of struggle to do the recording initially even though MnM told me how to go about it. But JR stayed back with me and eventually I thought the show came out well. It was a nice feeling overall. Thanks to SS and MK from class of 2007, the ISB Radio was started last year and today non-descript fellas like me get a chance to become RJ's. BTW this was the promo that I used for the show.

Human types - III - Classic Lunar

As we venture into this world of understanding and identifying "Human Types" I want to re-iterate the fact that personality that a person acquires by virtue of grooming does not essentially mean the essence(the engine that operates inside). Under these circumstances, a careful observation of physical traits would really be an ideal starting point here. Today I'll start with the classic Lunar type. As the name says people of this type are influenced by the moon and are the only passive and negative type. I'll broadly split the description into two parts, characteristics(the mindset/behavioral aspect) and physiology(the body)

Characteristics
- Silent and secretive, Lunars prefer solitude and do not like to attend parties. If in a crowd they end up sitting in a corner or standing by a wall. They are basically low adrenaline types
- Like the moon they have a side that they do not show to the outside world.
- They are passive, so they perceive the world as a something that acts on them(something on which they have no control) and so they tend to be defensive
- A lunar is persuaded, goaded, begged, reasoned or bribed to do a thing. You cannot take a snap decision and take your Lunar friend to the mall. If anything she has to change her mind herself and should never be forced
- They remain cool and calm in emergencies and usually end up as heroes during crisis
- They are really successful as part of medical teams in emergency rooms or in bomb squads
- Lunars have great attention for detail and like work that involves minimum interaction with people. They sometimes tend to lose the big picture.
- The brilliant lunars are the world's scholars, inventors and mathematicians and some have a tendency towards monasticism
- Sometimes they tend to be timid and cynical and their biggest weakness is 'willfulness'. They are the ones that can say 'No' for the longest amount of time
- The lunar attracts maximum to the 'Saturn' type which we'll discuss in an upcoming post
- Lunars are the most loyal friends one can ever get

Physiology
- Mostly short and rounded, they are young looking, frail and have an unfinished look(under baked)
- Like to stoop/hunch and wear neutral colors, all to avoid attention
- Have eyes that look away and don't make eye contact
- Have dim eyesight and prefer dim lighting
- Have weak chins and very thin and patchy facial hair(males)
- Have generally low body hair and suffer from frequent digestive problems

This is one of the hardest types to accept oneself to be but nevertheless one of the most easily recognizable types. Happy analyzing and as usual bouquets and brickbats welcome.

Web 2.0 ...

As the rage with Web 2.0(the evolved web) is hotting this video by a K-State prof. captures the beauty of this metamorphosis. As has been told by millions before, the possibilities are endless and the potential is mind boggling. Enjoy the video !

Human types - II - Primer

Ok...Time to start the series of the Classical types. Some ground rules before I start. Applying the techniques discussed here would require prolonged and persistent observation of self or the target person. The reason is every person's personality is malleable and what one displays to the world is not essentially the true essence of the psychology underneath. But a big positive in this method is we can start with the physical attributes of a person. While that is not conclusive, it can help you clearly eliminate some of the types. Most of the types have names associated with celestial bodies. What it means is that the particular essence type has some characteristics similar to the celestial body. Example, the lunar type, like the moon has rounded faces and like the moon shows only one side to the world. There is another side that is usually never revealed. Finally, most people circulate between two classical types. So look out of two types that more or less describes your essence.

A little bit of encouragement in this series would definitely motivate me to do the work of reading up my stuff and illustrating the essences better. So, do post your comments and keep reading 'coz very soon I'm going to expose what your essence is.

A sad demise

I think I'm pretty late to latch on to this news. But it was really really sad to learn about the murder of Koushambi Layek, a 24-year old software professional who used to work for TCS. It particularly haunts because she was killed by her boyfriend from Orkut. Apparently the relationship started in a train journey and matured through orkut scraps. It is very unfortunate that well educated girls fall into the trap drawn by such psychopath's. Only this morning I was so happy that I had an orkut account 'coz I'm keeping myself upto date about my school, college and office friends and lo I read this news item. There is no doubt that orkut is a fabulous medium but a request to all my lady friends reading this blog, is to better avoid the unknown guys. It is true that there are a lot of nice and interesting guys you can possibly meet in Orkut but a safer way to use orkut is to keep in touch with all your old friends who you can't meet on a day to day basis. Poor Kaushambi, may her soul rest in peace.
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Human types - I

Have you ever wondered what makes you behave the way you do? What makes you think the way you do? What is it that sometimes makes you bring out top drawer stuff and what is it that makes you suck so much in certain things? If you have ever wondered, then continue reading, else call it quits and get to something better. So you are reading further and you think I have an answer to all your questions. Will you believe me that I have all the answers? If you say "yes", I'm going to open the door of realization and help you know what you are and what exactly you are made up of. And I'm not going to stop there. I'm going to tell you secret ways that will help you learn who the guy next to you is and what makes him work the way he does. What i'm gonna tell you are not concepts that I have theorized. They are actually stuff that so many people have worked on and refined over time. It is all based on the fourth way system and the "Enneagram model" which explains everything you do based on your essence. As I kick start this I realize that it is not easy because I'm thinking this will probably have to be a series with atleast 8 more parts to follow. So as usual keep watching this space. You are in for some slam dang self-introspection :-) !!!

Identity Crisis

In the almost three years that I spent outside India, I thought a lot about immigration (to the USA of course). I have close friends in the bodyshopping business pestering me all the time and there were times when I almost decided that I was going the green card route. But there was something deep inside me that was totally against this. It was this thought about losing my identity and being culturally fit in a foreign land. In fact I was the only desi around who had a good number of videsi friends and I used to hang out a hell lot with them. To add to these, the country line dancing at electric cowboy got me a number of Italian and mexican friends too. After a lot of quality time spent with them I realized why I my mind was so fixated against immigration. In a multi-cultural group, while being sensitive and appreciative of each other's values, I held a strange pride about my cultural identity and uniquness. I realized that this is the one thing I did not want to forego. I realized that as long as I do not immigrate I get to retain all of that. I'm sure there are people who would not completely agree to my views that those who immigrate lose their identity. But I'm happy that I was not smitten by the bug and eventually decided to get back to school.

But what about those who took the plunge and are faced with the bigger challenge of dealing with the situation. The journey starts a whole identity crisis thingy. Particularly the first generation immigrants go through a hell lot of trouble. They tend to fake accents, some long to come back and others want their children to retain Indian values. A lot of them end up raising thier children with confused values. But in the middle of all commotion, I think a few people have found an answer to this too. And the best way to handle the indentity crisis is to actually laugh at the situation. Yes, humor is the magic potion here. A couple of these confused kids have done this exceptionally well. One is Russel Peters, the Indo-Canadian comedian and the other is Maz Jobrani, the Iranian American bloke. These guys have given the culture fit issue a different perspective. While they are essentially comedians, the comedy manages to spark a lot of profound thinking. They convey this beautiful fact that while the world (or economy, if you will) is shrinking at such a pace it does not essentially mean dilution of identities. Infact it is the retention of these uniquenesses(excuse me) that makes the stage called the world such an interesting proposition. You can read my banter but if you watch some their stage acts you are definitely going to be enthralled. And yes, these guys make me admit that my way is not the only way to think through these issues.

Videos I loved : Russel Peters

Videos I loved : Maz Jobrani

Term 1 done - 12.5% MBA

Phew. At last the term 1 exams are all over. There was a disconcerting quiet in the campus during the last 4-5 days. On sunday evening I went for a stroll, and walked two rounds around the campus. In 20 minutes I crossed just one person, an exchange student from Germany. I was taken aback by the extent to which activity comes to a stop during the exam time.

Just about an hour ago the marketing exam got over. I invoked all my creative juices and poured out some trash in the paper. Basically, I sucked in all the other papers too. So overall I have come to know that I'm way beyond my academic best. But I like the way tests are conducted here. In 3 out of 4 subjects you don't have to rely on memory. You can carry books, notes, cheat sheets etc. I particularly like the way Bruce Allen put instructions in the economics paper. It said something like, you may refer to your books, notes, calculators. But you may not refer to anybody else's 8.5 X 11 answer sheet or calculators. He was another great teacher we had this term. He was a showman and was extremely funny. The way he explained risk aversion with the example of "teeny-weeny" kids asking for milk was the highlight. Alls well that ends well. I will have fond memories of this term(even though the grades may dampen them a bit) where I was introduced to the ISB way of life.

Good news is that I'm starting to Chennai in couple of hours. I have to be back by friday because the LDP classes are scheduled over the weekend. So its a short trip to check the progress of my new apartment which is under construction. I will also get to meet my dear buddies 'Laka laka' and 'J' after almost 2 months. So it will be a 3 day break from studies and obviously blogging too.




The pics : One is the best dunk of term 1 and this one is Section-D with Prof. Waterman.

Taking Charge

As of today term 1 classes are over. It is so sad that Mark Finn and Bruce Allen won't be teaching us anymore, but the gratifying thing is that I'm almost gonna be 1/8 MBA (assuming I'll pass all subjects). Exams are on monday/tuesday and as expected the batch is slogging again. My mixed results in the mid-terms make me believe that "I'll remain as cool as I can again".

An interesting incident happened in campus this week. As part of the student body(GSB) elections we had soap boxes for all the candidates who were contesting for the GSB core positions. One very influential post had the least number of aspirants ( 3 to be precise) and with the end-terms approaching only 40 odd of us attended the soap-box. The people who came up and contested for that position were really sure about what they were going to do and had clear roadmaps to achieve what they said they will. Apparently a small lobby were not satisfied with any of the candidates. So they went up and started a signature campaign to re-open nominations. Now what do we call this act? Initiative?? Naaah..It is closer to something called shame. It is a fact that you are among the creamiest of cream in the country. So that doesn't mean that you can slack off and expect the best to happen. People who they think can be better candidates lacked the initiative in the first place to take up the challenge. So what is the guarantee that these guys will do well if the nominations are re-opened. So if people are not satisfied they are only paying the price for their own callous attitude. This is exactly what prof.Rangnekar said on the first day. "Take charge". If you want something, do it yourself and don't expect someone to do it for you. I do not want to blame it on lack of experience(A lot of youngsters are very mature indeed), but the fact remains that with experience you realize that the world is not always a fair place. Don't expect the world to change for you. You have to be the change.

Finally, common sense prevailed, nominations were not opened, and elections happened the way it should have and the best possible outcome came out. I wouldn't have expected this from ISB students but as someone rightly pointed out, "Individuals are intelligent but people are dumb". Anyhow, the tension is catching up and now I'm off to take a deep dig into the world of statistics, accounting, marketing and economics.