Updates - Back to India

Recently there have been many updates that I wanted to share earlier but paucity of time and priority did not permit.

Update 1: I have moved to India recently (as recent as last Saturday) to start upon my internship. My internship is with a media house - Dainik Bhaskar (for those who don't know - it is the second largest read Hindi newspaper in India and one of the diverse media houses with interest ranging from Hindi newspaper publication, regional langauge newspaper publication, web based information portals and radio). There is a case study from Knowledge@Wharton on the Bhaskar group. The same can be found here.

I have joined the company in their radio network, which they operate on the frequency 94.3 FM from 17 different stations in 7 different Indian states.

Now answer to the question, why media and especially why Radio, given that my background is in Software industry and I have literally no experience in any other industry.

The answer is simple. I want to experience different industries before I move back to the technology industry. Radio industry in India is still in infancy and has huge potential to grow. The competition in the industry is intense, it is fragmented and there is no clearcut differentiation among the products that the players offer. Given such a scenario, I began thinking wouldn't it be nice and wonderful if I became part of an industry that is poised to grow, which will arm me with a different perspective towards business and also help me to diversify my skill set.

Secondly the position is based out of Delhi. I am quite keen on starting my innings after MBA in north of India and Delhi and surrounding regions seem to be the best place. So, this internship gives me the opportunity to look for opportunities that interest me at the location I think is best suited to me for personal reasons.

Update 2: My farewell from Lancaster and the journey from Lancaster to India was wonderful. I flew AirIndia for the first time and apart from the airhostesses the flight was good. The seats and the decor of the flight including inflight entertainment was nice. The memories are the things that remain and I believe I will cherish the same for a very long time. Wonderful friends, long parties, longer assignments, mid-night walks to Pizzetta (the cafeteria) will definitely be remembered for a very long time. I am sure, I will miss most of the things for a long long time. I get nostalgic but that's what memories are for, esp. good memories.

Now that I have got internet connection at home in Noida and I hope to get time to manage my time, I will have lots to share and write about how I am progressing over my internship.

I want this post also to thank my mentor on my dissertation and one of my close friend whose discussions over phone/email/in-person have proved useful to me in evaluating my research interest, which has helped me in identifying my dissertation topic. Thank you guys.

Best wishes to the South African contingent

I wish all my colleagues who are visiting South Africa on a study tour. 

Learn well, visit well and in the end enjoy the safari. And please, don't forget to bring the photographs to share with rest of us.

Good luck to you all.

Charity

There is lot to write about but right now there is a different need to write this post.

My class is having its MBA charity day on Wednesday (Feb 18, 08) and as part of our contributions to the local charity organisation (YMCA), the Scafell (my) group is organising a day long (12 hrs) squash marathon at the Lancaster University Sports Center.

As the adage goes ‘Charity begins at Home’, you are invited to come and take part in the sport and alongside contribute to the charitable cause. You can also get sponsorship from anyone and play or your sponsors can sponsor themselves to come and play.

The attached brochure describes the event. 

The forms can also be collected from Kanchan or from the MBA office. If you are not playing do consider contributing on the website – www.justgiving.com/mbasquashmarathon

 Your whole hearted participation will make the event a success. Please participate in the charitable cause and make the event a success.

Do contribute.

Term Vacations - Looking back and forward

I have been really late in posting and updating here. 

I ended my term a little earlier from the official ending. I visited London for a career fair that was a farce if not anything else and then headed home to India. London's visit was a pleasant one as that was my first visit and hence I had a lot to visit as a tourist.

15 days in India were quite memorable ones as getting reunited with the family during the year was never on the cards when I started on this course. It was really a busy schedule with kids, relatives, visits to different places etc., all taking place at the same time. The only pain point was travel back and forth with AirFrance being an airliner to blame for most of it (I will write my travel experience after this post).

Back home, my kids have really grown well, esp. the younger one. He is now 3.5 month old and looks really smart and handsome. As you may believe, most of my time was spent in changing his diapers and helping my wife. I had couple of assignments to lookover but there was hardly anytime and also the undersea Internet cable cut kept me away from my laptop for a very long time. Towards the end, the decision was to open the books only at Lancaster.

I reached here on 2nd of Jan and since then it has been a little relief before the storm. The storm is going to hit on Jan 9 when I have my integrated case study exam covering the entire Term 1. I was given a case book to write notes, but unfortunately that lies in my home in India.

Accounting..Operations..OB..NVC..Cases

If you are unable to understand anything from the title, don't worry, you have my company. The week and the classes fly off so fast that it becomes very difficult to cope. I think I am paying for this and it is my choice. I am happy about it and gradually becoming better at organising myself. I think this the first lesson from MBA. Getting organized is the key to ______ (it starts with S).

For past many days my routine sounds like a movie that is very predictable. From morning till evening (until I sleep) it is same. Quite a few classes are interesting and few not so. Accounting is quite interesting as the teacher introduces elements of wit and humor in his lecture. Organizational Behavior (OB) is thought provoking. It forces me to think. It is more of a mental challenge where you have to challenge your learning. Operations.. well.. it is mixed. I have to really get used to the terms and given my background it is really difficult to get around to the terms. Anyway let me see how I go about it.

A good news. I have allocated a project working in a team of four, a consultancy project to plan and prepare for a new venture (a real venture) locally. Sounds exciting, but will have to pull rabbits out of the hat to make that going. The bad news is the scope of the project is very small, but given the time that can be devoted for the project during the term I think it is reasonable.

Next week is BIG. Finance course starts on Monday and the outline requires to read through the chapters carefully. Now, reading is fine. Reading carefully is a problem. But that again goes in the To-Do List.

One thing is for sure, there is a never a dull moment in the life of a MBA grad. One year is even more rigourous.,

Fatherhood and MBA

September 16, 2008, I am blessed with my second child, a baby boy.

It has been a hectic fortnight after my departure from Bangalore. I visited quite a few relatives, spend days without Internet connection apart from spending some quality time with the family. Days of planning went in for the D-day and when the day arrived lot of anxiety prevailed before the nurse broke the news. I was hoping since very long time that before I depart to Lancaster, I should be able to spend some moments with the new one. I thank God for listening my prayers and granting me my wish.

Right now I am very busy and I have not yet started planning for the departure (a basic preparation was done long ago). Right now trips between the hospital and home and also managing my elder one are sapping up all my energy. I was planning to read through the pre-reading material before starting for the class but never found some free time (classical excuse), now I think I will read in the room at the Graduate College in the University before the classes actually begin.

In the meantime lot of activity is going on among future classmates and all seem to be worried about the placements. I am also worried but haven't really thought about it yet. I am impressed by the ideas floating around and would like to contribute actively to make placements a success at Lancaster. This will happen only when I reach there and till then I wish to enjoy some blissfull moments with my kids.

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?

finished applying and a great video.

Last week nothing much happened but I had certain personal committments to cater to. Other than personal stuff, the accommodation link was made available by the university and after much deliberations I applied yesterday for the en-suite accommodation. Alums said go for a 40 week let and later extend the contract if need be. This comes from the presumption that you will be working far away or closer home on your project/internship for the last three months and hence why pay extra. Sound advice indeed. So, last night I finished applying.

Someone from 07-08 batch created a cool photo video about their experiences and posted on YouTube. Here is the video.



I hope 08-09 batch will be equally good or even better.

where am I heading to

Few have complained that I have not detailed the course that I am planning to undertake and where am I heading to. Here are the details

Course - MBA
University - Lancaster University, UK
Ranking - Globally it is ranked 22, according to FT.com (http://rankings.ft.com/global-mba-rankings)
Duration - One year
Timeline - Oct 1, 2008 to Sep 30, 2009

I started preparing for the rigor of admission in June of 2007, took GMAT in Decemeber and it took more than 9 months to secure two offers of admissions. This university suited my goals and I opted for it.