A road more travelled

A friend of mine often says 'In most parts of the world,people drive on the left. In Pune, we drive on what's 'left' on the road'. This is so very true about Pune. During rainy season, driving on the crater-sized potholes all over the city roads is nothing less than an adventure.
A city that is growing by leaps and bounds is plagued by lack of basic infra structure. With 6 major IT parks in the city, the roads leading to them are full of pot holes. To make the matters worse, even street lights don't function. Its difficult to name 1 single road that is in good shape - Nagar Road, Paud Road, COEP Road.
With lakhs of IT engineers working in India's so called Silicon Valley, the government collects crores of rupees in form of Income Tax. What do these people get in return ??
Compare this with Silicon Valley in California. Every possible infrastructure is made available to the common man - be it roads, be it street lights, be it traffic signals. Every penny of tax paid to the government is worthwhile in CA.
With this trembling infra structure, I think 'India Shining', 'making Shanghai out of Mumbai', 'India Rising' are mere slogans.

My trip to the Uncle Sam's country

Mera no finally aaya !!! heeee heeee !!!!

My US trip is among one of the few occations in my life where i did not plan anything. It just happened. Infact, i had started accepting the fact that i m 'made' to stay in India only.

The visit was none less than an equivalent of 'Alice in Wonderland' for me!!
It had a lot firsts to it- I travelled for the first time in a plane, visited for the first time to mumbai international airport, my first onsite opp,etc..

Look out for my next post for the snaps of yosemite, lake tahoe n vegas !!
coming soon !!

My Interaction with the VP-IT of Goldman Sach

This wonderful meeting happened at the cozy restaurant of Hotel HYATT regency, right in front of the mumbai international airport. The meeting was followed by a buffet lunch.
The interaction lasted for only 3 hours but it was sufficient to judge a person. And i must say that Ritesh was very convivial ... i did not feel as if i am talking to a VP of a global investment banker. During the meeting we talked about various thingz like his career so far, his education, my career graph,etc. Besides these, he also taught me an important lesson in my life as to how can i climb up the value chain if I ever have to succeed in life.
It was meeting which i will always remember for what lesson it taught me.

India will be indebted to the parsi community

Yesterday my visit to the refreshing 'Kayani Bakery' on East Street was an experience of different sorts. As i bought some biscuits, lot of thoughts about the parsi community (after looking at parsi old man acting as a cashier) started invading my mind.
The community though very calm,composed & peace-loving, have succeeded in very walk of life, business in particular. Their business acumen is really second to none. Apart from this, the parsis have almost ruled over the financial capital for decades. Who can forget the acres of parsi colony of Dadar.
Their contribution to the Indian society will be immensely valued. Otherwise India would require an equivalent of the 'man on the moon program' to establish steel plants, educational institutes (IISc), aviation industry (read as Air India),etc. after the independence.
The diminishing population of such a learned community is definitely a grave concern.
As my order of biscuits was fulfilled, i started walking out of the bakery with the images of some stalwarts of the community-JRD Tata, Banoo Coyagi,Anu Aga,Pherozshah Mehta,etc. in my mind.

Geocities and Google AdSense

This is my latest discovery. You cannot take the names of 'Geocities' & 'Google AdSense' in the same breath.
As most of you might be aware (I hope I am right)of my personal web page, is hosted on geocities. I, then registered with Google AdSense (thought of making some easy bucks :)). The ads started appearing on my web pages, without any problems.
However, after some days when i check my site, I find that all the ads have been removed by Yahoo & there is no way that they intimate the owner of the site.
I think Yahoo should behave more professionally and should inform the designer upfront before taking such heinous actions.

V-Day

I just came across one of the good forwards on the VDay. Sharing the same with you.

Valentines Day is NOT only for Lovers
by Catherine Pulsifer

Valentines Day can create stress for some people. They hate to see Valentines Day come around. Some have ended relationships and feel lonely while others have not yet met that someone special. Valentines Day should be a day to share love with those around you. Below are 10 thoughts you can do on Valentines Day to make the day special for you:

1. Look around you and appreciate those who care about you, be thankful they are in your life.

2. Rather than expect a card, send a card to someone special in your life (your mum, a relative, a friend) and thank them for being them.

3. Treat yourself on Valentines Day… if you don't love yourself then you will never be able to love others in a meaningful way.

4. Call your mum or your dad, or that someone who made a difference in your life and thank them for caring about you.

5. Enjoy your day, remember, that you are exchanging a day of your life.

6. Take 5 minutes and sit quietly and reflect on all the blessings in your life. Remember there are always those who are in a worse situation than you.

7. Do something nice for someone today... it may be as simple as smiling at someone in an elevator to buying someone a coffee.

8. Call that friend or relative that you have not talked with in awhile.

9. Cook or buy your favorite meal for dinner.

10. Last but not least, don't feel sorry for yourself; be thankful for all the good in your life!

Create a day for yourself, rather than letting the day stress you out!

Where are the MBA admissions heading in India ?

The path to admission to a good management institute in India is often filled with hurdles like GD & PI. Both these rounds test the candidates' communication skills, presentation, and a host of other qualities. In fact, it is expected from the candidate to possess all these qualities. To top it all, a candidate who is called to the GD/PI sessions has already demonstrated his analytical prowess.
Aren't learning these qualities a part of the MBA course?
I personally feel that besides the core subjects of management,a high calibre vocab espoused with presentation should be a part of MBA. However the candidates should be able to express themselves in clear diction. Hence a PI round should be the only round after the rigorous written tests.

Statistics

This subject has been very interesting for me. It is one of those subjects which cleverly abstracts pragmatism.
Consider a simple scenario. Though unrealistic, imagine yourself standing with one foot in boiling water (100 degree celsius) & the other in ice (0 degree celsius). Now only you know the pain you are having while standing. However as per statistics, the calculation of your body temperature would be a simple average i.e. (0+100)/2 = 50 degree, a fairly ok body temperature.