Term 2 and all that........

I write this post after a considerable gap since my last one. This is in a way a reflection of the tight schedule we had in Term 2. We were told that term 2 will be much better than term 1. But, man were we misguided! This term was even more jam-packed than the first and to add to our miseries we had to start worrying about our career aspirations (one of the major reasons of doing an MBA!).



I was put in the Green stream this term, but it wasn't starting all over again as I had met most of us until now. the teams were reallocated and I was again amongst a new bunch of people whom I thought i knew. How wrong was I! We were a very efficient and a diverse group at that. I again played the role of the 'prankster' amongst us. 'Milo' Miles was game too, as we both came up with different ways of making it a 'fun' experience. However, we didn't socialise and got to know each other well, unlike my first team. This was my only disappointment with the team then. But retrospectively, I understand that like every person is different, all teams are different. They have their own personality, their own way of being, their own credo. And for all of us, it was 'getting it done' that mattered more now than anything else. I think it was also the course workload I referred to before and the careers that were weighing on our mind which made us so 'practical'! Anyways, I do not have any regrets of being part of this team, I learnt a lot about team dynamics and how to make a team work effectively.



Amongst the courses, Supply Chain Management was a disappointment for me. I expected a lot more from Martin Christopher, who is one of the world renowned experts in SCM. But then that may be because I had worked in SCM before and knew a lot of what was being taught. Most us didn't appreciate the importance of SCM and the course was a introduction to them.



I am in the 3rd term now. All of us now start going our own way as we select different electives, projects, interships or look for a job. I jusst hope the social events that held us together will continue to do so as people start pulling in different directions. More to come on the 3rd term soon.

December - Exams, Christmas break and my road trip

December went in a jiffy - literally, at least the first 20 days. We had four exams scheduled on the two consecutive days. Quite unlike to what I was used to where we had only one exam a day and fair amount of 'free' days interspersed between two exams. Doesn't mean I enjoyed them though.

The last week before our exams wasn't quite eventful with people struggling to find enough time to review the course. For me, personally, though the last three days were. We had our team dinner, a precedent that my team has set here for cooking for each other every fortnight, at Alan's place. his family had cooked an amazing south american meal. This will rank among the best south american food I have ever had, not that I have extensive experience.

The exams came and went even before anyone could realise. Four exams - two days, no sweat! It wasn't because no one gave damn about it, but rather everyone was eagerly awaiting the Christmas Ball scheduled on night of the last exam. Fantastic event with dinner, drinks, music, drinks, dance, some more drinks, dance, again some more drinks. The sheer joy of the completing the 'whirlwind' first term was evident as everyone danced merry into early morning. After the dinner party, our troupe turned to the CSA (Cranfield Student Association), danced there until 02:30am and then moved to Nuno's kitchen for some 'cooling down' (read wine drinking) which lasted until 06:30 in the morning. Nuno was kind enough to make some pizzas for all of us hungry and somewhat drunk intrepid MBA's.

Many MBA's went home for christmas, I and a few of my friends were an exception. We decided to go on a road trip around England and explore the country. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable trips I have been on. We first went to the southern coast of England to places like Brighton (A place we all fell in love with maybe because of the sunshine. The photo heading of my blog has the picture I took there), East Bourne, Portsmouth and Southampton. After this we went to the northern part of the country and visited York, Scarborough, The Lake district, and Liverpool.

The 2nd term has started now and it feels like the course is back into top speed with a lot of team assignments, lecture preps, careers sessions, etc. I was told by someone that Term 2 would be easy, it doesn't seem so from the look of it.

November - Two WACs, 3 reports and presentation.....and much more!!!

November had been very busy on the academic front but also very fulfilling on the personal side. Academically, November is one of the most busy month of the year. With lots of reports, WACS (Written Assessment of a Case - Cranfield way of assessment) and presentations.

The report for OB (Organisation Behaviour), which happens to be the only course which runs for the entire year, was due in the 2nd week of November. It was one the toughtest reports I have written. Never imagined that knowing people and being able to analyse their behaviour would be so different and difficult.

Next was the EOS WAC, my second if I count the practice WAC we did in the Pre-MBA. It is a high stress assignment, given on Friday afternoon and to be submitted within the next 26hrs. WAC's are an integral part of the Cranfield experience. I could feel the team spirit coming through during the team and stream dumps.

The SMS (strategic Marketing Success) - part of the marketing course assessment required us to crictically analyse a product / brand / company which we think has been successful. Our team had selected Arsenal FC. We had the opportunity to go to the Emirates Stadium to meet the Commercial Director of Arsenal FC who happens to be a Cranfield MBA alumni. for me, it is an experience that I will never forget. It also happens to be that I was leading our team on this project and it was just fantastic! Well, the long hours we put in to actually write the report and the presentation are something were not that fantastic though. This ended with our team presenting to the faculty which was quite fun as well. I can't wait to get to do the next presentation.

Then came the Accounting WAC - the bane to everyone on the MBA. Well, may not be everyone but definitely the most of them. I could see the tension, and probably fear, in everyone's eyes. The moment everyone dreaded was here and we all prayed that it would pass without any casualties! Well, after a long night - writing the report until 4:00am in the night and some more work in the morning, I submitted mine around nooon. It just so happens that I was one the early birds to do so. Then, I walked back to the Social for a pint of beer before I get some sleep and then it would be back to the Social for the post-WAC party. This party is a ritual now -the post WAC party where everyone tries to drown in the beer to forget about the horrors of the WAC.

All this mayhem started with the SDS (Strategic Decision Science) report. I didn't do anything in this report completely, Sarah led us on that. So, personally that was a relief.

Looking ahead in December, we have another 3 reports, one presentation and the exams. Who said it was going to be fun?

The O week that was...continued

The O week's 1st party was a fantastic event organized by the Orienters. Here the ex-MBA band played some songs. Sean Rickard, the Director of the MBA also joined them wit his electric guitar, see in the background.

The Sports day was the highlight of the O week. My stream was crowned champion as well!

The O Week that was...

The Orientation week, or the 'O' week as it is called started of with Michael O (short for Osbaldeston) the School Director welcoming us all and informing us that though the rankings don't matter a lot, Cranfield FTMBA has climbed 'The Economist' rankings again this year to 11th place! Only Judge Business School is ahead of Cranfield SoM. He also did not fail to point out that a little school London known as LBS was ranked at 15, 4 places behind Cranfield. Well, surely rankings don't matter if you are among the last!

We had a fantastic orientation team who seemed to have thought of every possible question we could come up with and every possible way of helping us ensure a 'soft landing'. I was asked to join the red stream on the 1st day and then later on introduced to my learning team for the 1st term on the 3rd day. Cranfield emphasises a lot on team work, hence this concept of Learning teams, where one works together with his team mates to study, solve problems, write reports, make presentations, laugh, cry, share. In short you embed yourself into the life of your fellow classmates. For some who are not used to working in teams, this can be quite a shock, but when one realises that this form of learning is used to help you perform better the shock subsides.

When I was told that the MBA is intensive and schedule is very hectic, I was not convinced as I always felt that I was used to it in my working life and so will not have a problem. After the O Week, my perception has completely changed. This MBA has provided me with a completely different meaning of the word 'intensive'. We had all day classes, then evening parties everyday of the week and were expected to read through the O Week casepack and be ready for tomorrow. If this sounds like hectic to anyone, we have been forewarned that the O week is the easiest week of the entire MBA, it starts heating up after this.

We had a Sports day on thursday - 4th Oct, probably the highlight of the O Week. Everone was dressed in their stream colors - Red, Green and Blue. When I say dressed, it includes the faces being paited with their stream colors. Some enthusiasts even painted their hands and legs too! this day captured the spirit of the cranfield MBA. Play hard....play fair....but above all enjoy. It was fantastic to see all of us competing with our fellow classmates, but at the same time it worked as the best 'ice breaker'. We all came so close to each other and made new friends.

On the last day, Orienters prepared to hand over the 'baton' with the Rep elections. The entire week was so well planned (and jam packed!) that we were left wondering on the amount of work the Orienters had put in to make us all feel at home. They left us all quietly on Friday evening, while we were watching the snapshots of the week that had been.

This week has been one of the most fun filled week of my life, something that i will never forget. I have been told that I wont forget the next 52 weeks either! So here's for an eventful, enjoyable year at Cranfield.......Cheers! (Have been drinking lot of beer here at Cranfield, habitual now!)

The Pre MBA beckons

As I lay in my bed, in Mitchell Hall at Cranfield apparently random thoughts run across my head. It was only two days back that I left India, my family & friends behind, for the (com)promised land and the degree of my dreams, an MBA.

People have been arriving for last couple of days to join the PreMBA that started today and it has been like I already know many of these people (The connect cranfield portal has something to do with it) but, the common threads that run are the threads of having left something behind, of being in new place, of a strange bond that Cranfield has provided. But most importantly its the thread of we all being students again, free from worldly obligations. Well, not so free as many of us have taken a loan to fund this MBA and many are here with their families.

Looking forward, a nice well-charted Pre MBA course awaits us and I am sure we all will have a fantastic time over the next two weeks.

Some more info on Cranfield

Update on Cranfield's rankings. Forbes has ranked the FT MBA program in the top 5 worldwide (Non US Schools). The ranking presentation is here.

Cranfield.....a promising seclusion

Cranfield (click on the photo inset), a secluded place about over an hour from London along the M1 motorway promises to be a rustic, almost idyllic place. With its vast green spaces, clean and clear air, double storey houses and barnes, hardly any population other than the students and university staff will be a sharp contrast from India. Where we are used to gulping grey soot filled air, people hanging from absolutely anything that can be caught hold of in buses and trains, road artists trying to color everything red with their 'paan pichkaarees'.


But then, Cranfield will be away from my beloved parents, away from my little bro, away from my ever so caring friends, away from the buzzing and honking streets, away from the paani puri's and jalebi's, away from the 'B' and 'M' curse words. No amount of greens, clear air, serene environment can provide me the calm I feel in this chaotic world I live in today.

Because.....it'll not be home..... मेरा भारत महान

The UK VISA prep

VISA. When anyone says this four lettered word, mind conjures up a gut wrenching procedure of collecting all the documents and meeting a monstrous VISA officer waiting to crush all the dreams of the applicant! Well, my experience was completely oppposite to this. I do not know whether this is country specific or not, but my VISA prep process went on quite well. Maybe its because I had sought help from a lot of people on and had been preparing for it for some time.

The UK VISA process, especially the student visa is quite simplified and straight forward. The clear and consise information available on the UK VISA website is a major reason for this simplified process. It is important for us to understand that the VISA officer granting a VISA to us depends largely on the documents we provide. My interpretation of the requirements to get a VISA processed immediately are - Availability of funds to cover the entire expenses and 3-4 months more, confirmed admission offer from a institue on the DfES register, availability of a place to stay, availability of sufficient funds to come back to your home country.

Funding has always been and will always be a major aspect of the VISA decision in addition to the University / School one intends to join. For funding, I presume, the VISA officer looks at the applicants ability to pay for his expenses in full (tuition+living+books, etc) without recourse to public funds or part / full-time work that is not part of your admission offer. Liquidity is the name of the game, we need to show cash, you don't need to haul suitcases full of notes, but money that is 'readily' available for use. Other than the liquidity the other aspect of funding is the ability of the applicant to return to his home country on completion and not go bankrupt (Yes, the VISA officers too know that higher education abroad is quite costly as compared to India). For this, one needs to show some form of fixed assets or semi-liquid assets.

On the university front, its imperative for the school / university to be listed on the DfES register. This is is nothing but a list of universities in the UK that have registered with the british government, similiar to the affiliation process here in India. The student might not be granted a VISA if he / she wishes to study at a institute other than those listed in the register.

My view is that all this is done for the students (and his sponsor's) own good, so that you are not hoodwinked by the 'dream sellers' out there trying to woo everyone to Alices' wonderland.

VISA and scholarships

Husssssssssshhhhhhhhhh !!! A sigh of relief as my student VISA came through. Now, what stands between me and my MBA dream are another 8 weeks of uncertainty filled days & nights. Past few weeks have been very testing personally as well as professionally. But the news of me getting the KC Mahindra scholarship and the Sir Ratan Tata travel grant have somewhat helped mellow the impact. The amount received is not much but it does make me feel proud and more importanty I got to meet Mr. Anand Mahindra. Well, it was kind of a surprise to see Anand Mahindra himself taking my scholarship interview. I couldn't ever in my wildest of dreams think of meeting him, especially for a scholarship interview. But then thats what life has been these last few weeks, full of surprises, some good and others not so good. Anyways, every bit counts and I'm ready to take every paisa being offered as a scholarship. So would anyone else in my place!

Education Loan scenario in India

Everyone says, getting a loan nowadays is very easy. Those who say this may not have ever asked for a Education loan here in India.


The Finance minister declared that Education loans should be treated as priority lending sector during the 2001-2002 Budget speech. The guidelines for lending were formulated by the Indian Banks Association in a comprehensive education loan scheme. By definition, priority sector would mean that higher priority should be given for lending to these sectors, when multiple loan applications are received. But, education loans have a high default rate, which makes it a high risk . With the tightening of the CRR by the RBI, the banks today face a cash crunch. So, its quite obvious that the banks would want to lend the precious cash where they expect maximum benefit with minimum risk. Education loans do not register on their priority list.

In addition to this apathy towards hopeful students, the interest rates are atrociously high. Banks usually lend at PLR+1%, as of date the PLR is 12.5 %. This is very high when we compare to countries like UK - 5.5%, USA - 8.5%, Germany - 3.75%.

I do hope that the situation improves here in India, where majority of people look at higher education as their passport to a better life.

It happens only in India

The name of Governor of West Bengal appeared in the 'Below Poverty Level' list circulated by the Government of West Bengal. A person who stays in Raj Bhavan, earns a salary of Rs 28,000, after tax, every month, might be below poverty line in communist West bengal only.

The report is available here

Ciao

Facts are stranger than fiction - just that its not a fact!

Got this as a forwarded email from a friend. Couldn't wait to put this here. This is nothing short of a Forsyth thriller

"At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, AAFSPresident Dr Don Harper Mills astounded his audience with the legal complications of a bizarre death.

Here is the case: On March 23, 1994 the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opusand concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head.Mr. Opus had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending to commit suicide. He left a note to the effect indicating his despondency.As he fell past the ninth floor his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing through a window, which killed him instantly. The shooter nor the deceased was aware that a safety net had been installed just below the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned.

Ordinarily," Dr Mills continued, "A person, who sets out to commit suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be what he intended, is still defined as committing suicide." That Mr. Opus was shot on the way to certain death, but probably would not have been successful because of the safety net, caused the medical examiner to feel that he had a homicide on his hands.

In the room on the ninth floor, where the shotgun blast emanated, was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously and he was threatening her with a shotgun. The man was so upset that when he pulled the trigger he completely missed his wife and the pellets went through the window striking Mr.Opus. When one intends to kill subject "A" but kills subject "B" in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject "B". When confronted with the murder charge the old man and his wife were both adamant and both said that they thought the shotgun was unloaded. The old man said it was a long-standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her. Therefore the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident; that is,if the gun had been accidentally loaded.

The continung investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal accident. It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother. Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was guilty of the murder even though he didn't actually pull the trigger.

The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the deathof Ronald Opus.Now comes the exquisite twist. Further investigation revealed that the son was, in fact, Ronald Opus. He had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This led him to jump off the ten-story building on March 23rd, only to be killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window. The son had actually Murdered himself, so the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide"

Ain't this one of those once in a millenium kind of things you ever hear?

Financing for an MBA abroad - II

Managing finances for studies abroad is a colossal task. Even more so if one is studying for an MBA that a one-year MBA, wherein the two year course work is crammed in to one. Yours truly happens to one of those unfortunate souls.


Once I had decided on the type of course (one-year MBA) I started interacting, researching and collecting information on the location of the school. Parallel to that, I started preparing a expense statement, comparing all the schools against a common expense schedule.

In addition to that, I also prepared a budget for all the pre-departure expenses. Just to cover all the points (and my a*se too!). Next time i'll try to make it in as detail as possible, so that I do not miss out on anything which I have done this time. Like, I didn't consider the expense for the luggage bags, soaps, deo, etc.

Also, what one needs to factor in is the opportunity cost. This is something we usually turn a blind eye to, but it can be quite a handful to ignore. It can be easily calculated by adding up your salary for the period of time you will be out of work (studying / searching for a job). It can be disheartening to leave a well-paying job in India to become a student again, saving pennies whenever possible. But the good news is that a potentially extremely high paying job is awaiting you just round the MBA corner.

You might ask me why go through all this charade? There are two reasons. One, thats what I have learned over last four years while leading teams and making decisions. Make a decision only when you have to make one and try not make one without being sure that you have all the information. This may not be possible / available everytime, but I try to practice it everytime. Second, it gives you the confidence that you have planned well and the number of exigencies will be minimal.

While doing all this, I kept in mind where this money is going to come from. Without making provisions for the expenses, these statements remain only that - a statement. So, as per my provisions, I am awaiting the loan approval from HSBC, UK. Incidentally, Cranfield had an understanding with HSBC to provide 'no collateral - no cosignor' loan to MBA students. The good news is that interest rate is less than half @ 5.50% as compared to 12.5% being charged in India (this has direct relation with the inflation rate, in UK the prevailing inflation rate is around 3%).

Financing for an MBA abroad - I

Financing an MBA abroad is one of the biggest financial decisions for anyone. So has been the case for me. The problem is two-pronged, its not just the amount but also the means required to arrive to that amount. Today, I realize had I waken-up from my lumber in these days last year, I would had been much better off. I will try to address both in two separate posts, this one is for the latter.

First, I should had done some research on the scholarships available for an MBA abroad same time last year. Had I done that I would had been better informed and atleast applied to half a dozen scholarships. I came to know of these scholarships only recently, when their 'due date' had expired.

Second, I shouldn't had gone by the perceived notion that no funding is usually available for MBA studies abroad. Infact, I have realized now that there are a host of philanthropic organizations with more than two dozen scholarships! Many of them are listed here and in addition to that if you are willing to study in the UK, then here too.

One thing should be kept in mind that though there are a host of scholarships, its very difficult to manage the entire expenditure through scholarships alone unless you are super lucky!

Third, Save! Save!! Save!!! Though it might look far fetched to save the entire MBA expense, even a small amount goes a long way when you really think about it. A saving of Rs 2-3 lacs(approx GBP2,500) will provide for more than 6 months of living expenses! So, no matter what other say about inflation eating away your savings, its still one of the best options.

Some info about Cranfield

I thought it would be prudent to put up some fast facts about Cranfield SOM, the place where I will be studying for my MBA. Let's start with the rankings. Its ranked in the top 20 worldwide by The Economist. The Financial Times has ranked it in the Top 40 worldwide & Top 15 in Europe. Informal ratings (read as word-of-mouth) suggest that it is one of the best schools for Supply Chain Management in Europe, rivaling Warwick Operations Group.

The placements stats are quite healthy, with 97% students placed within 3 months from Graduation. There's a caveat here, the course ends by October, Graduation ceremony is in December, and then the three months start. We are looking at March next year! So, one should plan for expenses to cover six months of extra stay, just in case!

But, like in all decisions, there has been something 'intangible' about the entire 'Cranfield Experience'. The immediate & clear cut response, the admissions office's attitude and concern towards you just goes on to impress the fact that they will be taking good care of me when I land up there, making one of the most important investment my life. But ofcourse, this was my experience, it might vary for someone else. Obviously for the better!

My MBA Preps and Apps

I promised in my previous post on writing about my MBA prep and application experiences. So here I go.

I started off my formal prep in August 2007, but I had started thinking of what to do, where to do, when to do about 8 months back when I visited an MBA fair in Mumbai, just out of curiosity! I was quite impressed as well as astounded by the plethora of opportunities that lay ahead after an MBA abroad. Managing work and study was a huge challenge. It took a lot of resolve and discipline (I was lacking both!) to stick to my plan. The 1st thing I did as part of my prep was give a diagnostic test at IMS. I did miserably. This was like someone had shaken me out of my lumber (read over-confidence) and now I found myself in deep water (or deep sh*t?) without knowing how to swim. Since I couldn't join a prep course due to my work committments, I joined a correspondence course. In retrospect, I think a classroom course would had been much more helpful. But then, I am in Mysore without much choice! The next thing I did was chart out a resource (time) allocation plan (I am used to making this for delegating and planning work to my teams, but it was for the 1st time I used it outside work and it really helped me stay focussed and track my progress. It also gave me a lot of confidence that I was gaining ground, though inch by inch, against the coursework), see above, and pasted it on the wall facing my bed. So, everyday I will see my progress when I go to sleep and when I wake up. By mid September, I had signed up for GMAT - 22nd November.

While all this prep was going on, I started on my applications too. I was determined to submit my applications before I gave my GMAT, so when my score was reported I only had to await interview calls. In addition to that there was the higher probabibility of getting an acceptance with some funding, and the early application discount like the one offered by Manchester.

It took a lot of introspection and many drafts of my application essays to arrive at something that looked and read good. Considering the fact that you might have to write anywhere between 5-8 essays per applications, it was a tough task to provide the time. Infact, I wrote many of my drafts while on flights, at airports or in hotels at night while travelling. By the time I submitted my online applications, the GMAT date was closing in. With some last minute cramming (same old practice as during my graduation) I gave my GMAT.

After my GMAT, started the mad rush to submit the application docket (the hard copy of the online application with all supporting documents and recommendation letters). I managed, with the help of my recommenders, to submit it within the next three weeks. Then, I waited. Manchester was the 1st to respond back with an interview call, close on its heels came Cranfield, Warwick and Ivey.

The Manchester interview took place in Mumbai at the The Oberoi. I, in a new red flashing tie, went and waited in The Hilton Towers next door instead. A kind conceirge helped me realise that entry to The Oberoi was through the next building. I ran like hell next door and found Dr. Sprio waiting on me. I, sweating from the anxiety and the running, somehow composed myself. Dr Spiro was a kind lady who has a son my age and also shares similar interests. It was a regular interview and I think I did quite well. In the end, she told me that 'I had had a terrific interview, but the decision will be taken by the adcomm within next 4 four weeks'.

I returned to Bangalore the next day. The Cranfield interview was scheduled in the evening that day. Sean Rickard, Director - MBA Recruitment made me feel at ease. It went on well and I felt myself growing in confidence with every minute.

The third interview was with Ivey - Scott Walker form the MBA admissions was the interviewer. Scott knew me since I had met him three times before during MBA fairs. Infact when I introduced myself, he recalled where we had met and where I used to work (Tyco) before. He told me that I should expect another round of interview, which happened the next week with a lady from the Careers department at Ivey. She was interested in knowing my career background, my motivation to work in a similar field (thats what I had said in my application) and my career plan post mba. She was quite open to accept that students will want to stay back and work in Canada after their MBA to repay their loans. I liked her honesty and openness.

The Warwick interview was a debacle on my part. I had proposed a time and Ms. Broadbent, from the admissions office,and she had confirmed it. I later found that I was not able to make it. I was rushing to a supplier in Chandigarh to address some issues when I got a call from Dr. Jannis Angelis of the Warwick Operations Group (it's one of the most accomplished and no-1 ranked in Europe for operations management) . I told him about the situation and he was very kind to reschedule the interview in the evening the same day after his classes. I was so releaved he understood that such exigencies do occur in real-life situations. I gave this interview too in a hotel room. It helped since Dr Angelis is from an operations background and is an expert in Lean. We hit it off well since I am a 'Six Sigma guy', like he called me. He was very open and clear in his questions as well as suggestions. He gave me impartial guidance on the choice of my MBA schools without ever hinting to show that Warwick is a better place than the others. His suggestions on how I should manage my funding, my post MBA career etc were quite helpful. It was the best admissions interview for me. I told him so too. In the end, he gave me his contact number and email, just in case I would like to talk / discuss or bounce some ideas in SCM / operations management. I sometimes send him emails, updating him on my progress.

Ok, so much so for the prep and applications. This one has been a long (hopefully not too boring) one. To summarize, this prep and application process has been a great learning journey. I have learnt so much about myself, and about math too! I sometimes think that the prep itself has been so rewarding, I wonder what it will be like to do the MBA now! I can't wait for it to begin.

My MBA aspirations

I wanted to delay this as much as possible (I hope you all will understand that it's quite natural), but I couldn't hold myself back from writing about my future aspirations. I plan to do my MBA abroad. This has been one the most important goals of my life for last two years. And, now I am delighted to see that I might just be able to achieve it.

I am quite happy to report that I have been offered and have accepted a place at Cranfield SOM. This news is quite old now, I got the offer in February, even before I started writing this blog! Sean Rickard, Director - MBA Recruitment took my interview. It was quite an experience as it was my first case study based interview. I was given a case - 'Coins and notes money will be replaced by Electronic money eventually, what do you think?' I was quite tense before the interview, as my flight from Pune to Bangalore was delayed and this interview was planned in the evening. By god's grace, some crazy driving the autowallah through the infamous Bangalore traffic I reached the hotel in time. After the interview, I was told that they would come back within a couple of weeks. I got their acceptance letter the third day itself. I was quite impressed by their efficiency.

I got admission offers from Manchester, Warwick and Ivey too. There too my interview experiences were quite interesting. I'll write a separate blog on those. I have declined their offers now. Something tells me that its gotta be Cranfield. Ofcourse the required funding, the ROI factor, and the annual placement stats have played a major role in me deciding to accept a place at Cranfield. But, there are other intangibles and smaller things like the 'super fast' response from Cranfield, the interview experience, and the feedback from current students have played an equally important role.

I'll write in details about my MBA prep and apps experience in another blog shortly. Till then....hang on coz this ride has just begun!

Indian cricket continued.....

Last two weeks have been spectacular for the Indian media (read the Indian gossip media). They have had a field day with announcements following controversial interpretations. It all started with the two-day meeting in Mumbai of the BCCI officials, the team coach, team captain and the seven ex-captains. The build-up to this meeting was phenomenal with rumors running riot on Chappel being reinstated, being sacked etc. To add fuel to the fire, Sachin Tendulkar, quite uncharacteristically, lashed out at the coach for challenging the attitude of senior players. Yuvraj Singh showed his immaturity by supporting this statement on record. Both have been served notice by the BCCI for talking to the press.

Back to the BCCI meeting. All these guys agreed that there's a problem with Indian Cricket, but how do they arrest the rot? To start with, they have decided to scrap the 'experience baised contract' system for a 'performance based pay'. I do hope this will be carried through, as it has been discussed a lot of times before. Another radical decision is to cap the endorsements a player is entitled to 3 max. Quite interestingly, the media has reacted quite negatively to this rather than the players. It's the media that is creating a ruckus over this. None of the payers have commented on this, atleast on-the-record. I think this is the right direction forward. The players are there to play cricket and not to lampoon around like clowns selling toothpaste or insurance. I do remember when P Gopichand, the Indian badminton ace said no to advertising for Pepsi because he knew that the drink is not helping the sportsman. The focus needs to shift to the purpose of the player being there, thats to play cricket, than to dance on TV. We need affirmative actions like this to stem the rot that has been happening in Indian cricket. This will definitely help in the short and medium term.

But, the BCCI has not given any clear indication on how they plan to ensure a long term improvement by improving the way domestic cricket is played in India. The number of competitive games, those that go down to the wire, are hardly ever heard of in domestic cricket. While, these are the games that separate the good from the great, the wheat from the chaff. This is partly due to the talent, or lack of it, among the players and partly due to the facilities provided (including the support staff, grounds, equipments, etc). The BCCI does not seem to have a strategy to improve this.

Until the BCCI has a plan of action and sticks to it not matter what may come, I don't think there will be long term change.

Cricketomania and Swades

Hoo Haa India....Waapas aa gayaa India!

After yet another abysmal performance, the Men in blue (or the Men who were beaten black and blue) return back to India. Their demigod status is snatched, yet again, and parallels are being sought between them and the local nariyal paani wallahs! Rahul Dravid said, its time for introspection! Its something he says nowadays after every loss. I wonder, what’s this introspection our team is doing after every loss. I was reading some reports of players saying it’s just a game, it’s not just about winning, it’s not this and it’s not that. Well, I say you all are wrong! For starters, answer my following questions.

If it’s just a game, then why do the cricketer’s demand high pay’s? With more than Rs 1Lacs / match + match and daily allowances + advertisements, it’s more than what most of the high ranking executives make today and more than what most of the Indians make in a year. When a near perfect performance is being expected from these executives on a day to day basis, despite being paid less, why shouldn’t it be expected of the cricketers? If it’s not a profession but only a hobby why should they be paid these exorbitant remunerations?

If it’s not about winning, then let’s not spend millions of rupees on sending a team to these tournaments. We can play friendly matches against the Kenya’s and Ireland’s of this game. If it’s not about winning let’s not raise hopes of a billion supporters for the World Cup 2011. Then, we can at least divert these funds to the much starved ‘ugly duckling’ sports of weight lifting, wrestling, etc where at least the participants are not hypocrites proclaiming it’s not about winning.

A lot of things were being said about this team and the batting line-up being the best and all that. Well, just to quote Shah Rukh Khan from the film ‘Swades’, ‘We are not great, we have the capability of being great, whenever we lose we fall back to the same old retreat tune of it being just a game, it being not only about winning (sanskriti and parampara, anyone).'

And finally, let’s not trick ourselves into all this bublaboo. It’s plain and simple, it is not just a game, and it’s a full time profession for the team members. It’s not just about winning, it’s only about winning. If our team changes their attitude and understand these couple, and few other things, then it can become one of the best teams in the world.