MBA at XLRI - My Journey

It's been a Month

2008-07-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

Exactly a month ago i started this journey not knowing what's waiting for me at the next corner of the street and here i am writing this blog looking at the bygone days. I am sure soon there will be a time when i will be writing a similar blog with a nostalgia attached to it. Anyways for now let me talk about the present and the past. Well i was amidst reading Law of Diminishing Returns and Product Costs when it sunk in that i have finished my first one month here at XL. I just couldn't resist the temptation of writing few words here. Though i think the Opportunity cost of this time i am spending could be quite high if spoil my Microeconomics test the coming Tuesday. Nonetheless i had to record this historic (phun intent ed) moment of life. It's has been one heck of an experience so far, just one month and i have made so many friends. I still remember on the last 12th when i walked out of D-Block i met a bunch of guys standing outside waiting for someone and i just went up to the group and introduced myself. Life is so funny sometimes , it so happens i have been hanging around with those guys for most of the time at XL now. Having said that I think it would be unfair if i don't mention about so many friends we have formed in various assignment groups. It's giving me a life time opportunity to learn various perspectives what each person can bring to a problem and how each one has a different perception of the issue in hand.

Just to quickly compile on the happenings of last one month
1. 4 Days of hectic induction programme. ( why did i leave my job :-( )
2. Officially Classes Begin ( Well it's not all that boring )
3. B'day Celebration at GMP Mess ( Am i back to college days ? )
4. Committee formations ( I chose to join Media Committee )
5. Cocktail Party ( Oh yes boy - its time to have fun )
6. Accountancy Test (Goodwill is Intangible not an Intangible Asset :-( )
7. Industry Visit (It's no fun to work 350 M below earth , Stop
complaining about your job )
8 , 9 , 10.. yet to come.. time to get back to books.
2:27 AM

Ek Ruka Hua Faisala (Spoiler)

2008-07-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

Today we saw the movie "Ek Ruka Hua Faisla" in our OB Lecture. The movie is the Hindi adaptation of the English movie "12 Angry Men". No surprises for guessing which one scores better. The Indian version is not bad but somehow the seriousness of the issue is lost in the gimmicks of few characters. I would give a 2/5 to the Desi version.
The movie is about how a person can change the mind of a whole crowd , by sticking to his/her convictions backed up by rationale thinking. The protagonist approaches the subject of capital punishment with caution and wants the other member of jury to convince him , that convicted person is guilty. In this whole process of discussion and heated arguments we can observe so many facets of human behavior. A few in the room have "don't care" type of attitude , who just happened to be there on the Jury. Then a few are there who are of the type "I am always right" . They have some prejudices and they want to stick to it. Their are also a few who have good analytical skills and have conjured up lots of facts and data. What differentiates all these men from the protagonist ( played by Henry Fonda) is the way he draws his inferences using various analytical tools and proving if something is universally accepted , it doesn't have to be always correct. I would not tell the ending here , and spoil the movie for all who haven't seen it. I would recommend a "Must See".
Take Away from the movie :
1. When dealing with Humans nothing is written on the wall as golden rule. As one of the characters puts it " Yeh koi science nahin hai , jahan sab kuch nishchit hoti hai " ( this is not science where everything is fixed and proven).
2. Have an open mind to everything in life and crtically analyze aspect of a situation before making any decision.

Cocktail Party

2008-06-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

Cocktail Party with the Defense Officers

We are just 2 weeks into the course and all were already looking up for the welcome break. This in itself speaks volumes about how quickly a one year course can get onto your nerves. However I guess all of us are seasoned players and have seen worst days in our lives and have fought our own battles before coming to this place. This is what makes this group so special.
We had a cocktail party with the graduates of Executive Management Programme for defense officer. It was nice to see all the gentlemen and the ladies dressed in their best attires especially not under any compulsion (phun intended!!). The evening started with clanking of the glasses and popping of the cork, with each one indulging into their choicest kind of drinks available on the house.
It was nice to see the liveliness in the batch and the group dynamism already working at its best. Everyone busy networking and making friend. All had found their own clicks, some were busy rubbing shoulders with the strong and elite class of professional from the Indian Defense Forces while others chose to interact with faculty members and get more insights into the vision of XLRI and then their were some who chose to just drink !!!
The icing on the cake came when someone broke the news that one particular lecture for tomorrow has been cancelled. For obvious reasons the drinks counter experienced a sudden rush post that moment. The evening ended on a high note with everyone looking relaxed and happy.

2008-06-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

Finally rain god called it a day , it stopped raining after 4 days of continuous rains. Nonetheless it was welcome break from the scorching summer.

Today i am going to briefly introduce to the courses which we will be taught in First Term. The courses are as follows :

Managing Human Behavior - I know i never knew "human behavior" can also be managed. Anyways here we are learning how to manage it. I must admit the prof is one of my fav so far , considering the abstract concept he has to teach to a bunch of grown up "kids" is not an easy job. I love the simplicity with which he delivers the content and gets his message across.
Managerial Communication - Lot to learn in this subject. I am hoping it to be a good learning experience and probably learning some nuances of communication which we take for granted.
Quant Techniques - Since i am engineer , don't want to talk much about it. As of now it looks no different than what we have done in past.
Management Accounting - "Bought car for 5 Lakhs". Who gets the credit and who gets the debit. (don't go by your bank statement you may be totally wrong :-) ) . Keep thinking !!
Ethical Leadership and corporate Citizenship - Sounds interesting , being taught by one of the senior guys from TATA family.
Managerial Economics - I must say , it had become more a GK class in starting with so many inquizztive souls bombarding the prof with umpteen number of questions. I guess now its better after we have split into different sections. What amazes me is the profs retention capabilities. He can hear out 10 questions at once and come back and answer all of it.
Marketing - No lectures yet. The book is too thick :-(

Let's see how the term turns out to be for all of us. I hope at the end of all this it just doesn't become a run to the finish line for matter of grades. We are here to understand the bigger picture.

When it rains it pours

2008-06-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Yes , that's what comes to my mind when i think about the torrential rains what we have been experiencing here at Jamshedpur from past couple of days. I get a very beautiful view of Dimna river from my room and every morning when i get up , i go upto the window to check whether the walls have been breached. There have been some news about flood warnings due to the incessent down pour. My next resolution is to buy a umbrella for myself. Yesterday , i shared the same with one of my friends to get to the class , which i can't think of skipping for the whole term (MNC - 5% weightage on attendance :). Nonetheless it proved to be a futile attempt , as by the time i got to class , i was almost drenched.
However it's a welcome break from the hot and humid weather what JSR is famous for , and i don't mind it as long as i have an umbrella.

First Term Begins

2008-06-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

16/06/2008

The long awaited day in my life has finally come. Today i begin a new journey in my life. A journey which i always wanted to go through and make an attempt to redisover my potentials and believe in my self and my abilties. MBA had become a dream for me since i was in college and it took more than 5 years to translate the dream into a reality.

My one year MBA course also known as GMP ( General Management Programme) begun this morning. All the students , faculties and staff members were invited at Tata Auditorium. The Innaugural started with some choir followed the address from director of XL. For a moment i had time travelled back to my convent days when we use to have morning prayers. Official , the classes commenced today for the first term. We did have a prepatory course for 2 days prior to this and all i can say it was just a glimpse of what we will go through in next 1 year at XL. We were all taken aback to learn that we will have classes from 9 - 9 , followed by some self reading. However i feel it was a good exercise , which set the expectation right on the very first day and helped lot many of us to dust our brains !!!

Will write more about my class profile and hostel life in coming days. For now i need to give some rest to my mind.