I am very busy these days..

I am going to be very busy over next couple of days and I just can't imagine how will my life be without Internet and Phone.

I left my employment last Friday and since then busy packing and doing various household errands.

I am relocating from Bangalore to Bhopal on Sunday (Aug-31) before I move to Lancaster in late September and I will not have internet connectivity from Wednesday, phone from Friday, car (hopefully) from Saturday and my accommodation from Sunday. Post Sunday, I have to look for a good hospital for new arrival in the family. I hope the baby doesn't play a prank with me by arriving after I depart. I wish he/she comes before I leave. How wishful ;) I am.

I am just hopeful if everything sticks to the plan and goes accordingly. Presently keeping my fingers crossed about my life without Internet.

Lights, camera... ACTION

The picture is very clear now.

Rather, the picture is transparent. My new classmates are fun loving, are from as diverse background as they can be, have varied experience (highest age being 46 and lowest being 23), have visited world over, play variety of sports and are game for almost anything. Barring few, who are local to a city or town none have met each other but all have begun cracking jokes and pulling each other's leg. I can just imagine how the orientation is going to be and how the rest of the year would be.

My classmates will be from

1. Australia
2. China
3. Denmark
4. Egypt
5. Estonia
6. Germany
7. HongKong
8. India
9. Iran
10. Japan
11. Korea
12. Namibia
13. Qatar
14. Russia
15. Syria
16. Taiwan
17. Uganda
18. UK
19. UnitedStates
20. Venezuela

On a serious note, pre-reading for the classes has begun. It is definitely not fun all the way through as one may think. The pre-reading's suggested material itself is an indicator. This is a two year program crammed into one year timeframe and hence it is not going to be rosy all the way through but it is designed with the needs of business world. New electives have been designed for this year's class that talks about making the manager not only a number wizard but a manager with a practical skills that stay right throughout one's career.

The experience so far has provided everything (excitement, satisfaction, networking potential, etc.) that a top-ranked MBA should.

It is definitely exciting.

Post MBA strategy

What should be the post MBA strategy?

I have been thinking a lot, about the fields that I should focus on while doing MBA. I have always wanted to do MBA as it will equip me with knowledge about general management tools and strategy, but the reason to do MBA is different.

I think every ambitious individual aspires to make big on the global arena or locally where he is known, respected and admired for the achievements. In this regard I am no different. If I were to talk to my friends and other knowledgeable friends in the Bangalore's entrepreneurial ecosystem, many may dis-approve the need for an MBA to be successful as detailed above, but I see that as a stepping stone in my career. My previous experience with entrepreneurship was not great. But it was an experience altogether. I have no regrets about the failure because then only I realised that I need to do something different to become just another guy.

Having said so, the big question is how to leverage the MBA that I will earn towards later part of next year. What should be the game plan post MBA. Get a job and reunite with family and kids or become an entreprenuer and explore something new. In either case, the need to specialize in a particular field is of paramount importance. What should that field be? I think of strategy and finance and leverage them with the technology background to enter into consulting. This is just a thought process that I am undertaking.

Any inputs?

VISA...................... Done

I got my VISA today to fly to UK. My wife broke the news for me.

I feel so relieved with the last hurdle getting knocked off in time. Now that I have the VISA, I have lot of things to plan. Have to relocate my family to my parents house in another city (Bhopal), transfer/dispose my stuff, sell my car, plan for my kid's admission. There are just too many things that I have to do and the time on my hand is not just sufficient. Let's see how I cram everything in such a short span.

I will be leaving Bangalore to my home town on Aug 31, and take off from India on Sep 27 reaching Lancaster on Sep 28. And then, a new chapter starts in my life and the journey begins.

visa application experience

Atlast my application is submitted. Quite an eventful submission though.

I had earlier decided to submit my application on July 29 and could not submit then as I fell ill and had to cancel my appointment. Then I re-scheduled my appointment and got a confirmed slot for Aug 01, 2008, 9:00 AM. So far so good.

One of the future batchmate who had already got a visa had prepared a checklist and running against that, I realized, I was missing on few points. A resume, a bank statement for a particular account and my TOEFL scorecard were missing from the original pack I had prepared.

On July 31, I went to the bank for the statement and their printer was not working. No problem. Went again in the evening and collected the statement. Needed a VISA fee draft, went to StandardChartered (UK VISA recommends them) at Cunnigham Road and they were closed. Then I went to their M.G.Road branch and the guy at the counter needed my passport (in original) to issue a banker's cheque. Since I did not had that I went to HDFC bank and they were more than happy to meet my requirement (no fuss and no questions asked).

By the time I hit home, I had everything required but going against the checklist, I realized that a copy of my resume was missing (the realization dawned at 11:30 PM). With less than 10 hrs to go to VFS, I decided to check if any cybercafe were open at 8 in the morning. Luckily I found one open and took a print to attach with the application.

Next was VFS personnel's turn to surprise me. After 45 min of waiting, when my turn came in the lady said my photograph did not meet specification of 80% facial features visibility. She then asked me to click a snap and fix on the form. Now, I never expected this. I was dressed as shabbily as possible with a not-so-good-looking T-shirt and a cargo. Had no choice and the guy behind the lens did a good job of my face.

Once done, I collected my 3.5 x 4.5 photograph, fixed it and submitted it. The lady gave me a token for biometric call and within 10 minutes I was done. Reached home at 11:00 AM. Now, I am waiting for the courier guy to come and deliver the passport with the VISA.

Here is a checklist I included in the cover lette for student visa application.

1. Passport
2. VAF3 with photograph
3. IT Return (self and sponsor) for last 3 years
4. Demand draft for Rs. 8415/- towards Visa application fee
5. Bank statements (self and sponsor) for last 6 months
6. Fixed deposits (self and sponsor)
7. Property valuation documents certificates by govt. approved evaluator (self and sponsor)
8. Chartered Accountant’s Net Worth certificate (self and sponsor)
9. Employment certificate (self and sponsor)
10. Provident Fund and Public Provident Fund statement (sponsor)
11. 6 months pay slips (self and sponsor)
12. Shares and stocks statement
13. Loan sanction letter from the bank.
14. Unconditional offer letter from Lancaster University (self)
15. Letter from the university showing living expenses cost (self)
16. Sponsorship letter from sponsor (self)
17. Investments (debt+mutual funds) (self and sponsor)
18. Employment proofs from all companies worked for (self)
19. Education certificates (self)
20. Resume (self)
21. TOEFL certificate for English language ability (self)
22. Copy of interview appointment schedule conducted by university (self)
23. Transaction statement of initial deposit of 1500 GBP submitted to the university (self)