Titleless post.. THIS is NOT the title of this post<@?

What a depressing day!! Right now I am in no mood to work and for past 1 hour or so I am feeling like a spent force. This weather, absence of people to talk to (how many times can you talk to same set of people daily?) and I don't know what else (can't think of more things).

I am really getting bored sitting on the same chair, same laptop, same room, same books, same chores in life, even my online radio station doesn't changes the songs, man!.. have I paid for all this, no. Definitely NOT. I deserve better.

If you think, I am depressed then yes I am depressed and right now I am heading out. I hope to be back soon but don't know when (minimum is 30 minutes). If you can pull me out of my depression which settled in an hour back, call me or email me or better leave a comment and let's talk.

Update: It even snowed 5 minutes back.

Lessons from Jeff Immelt, CEO GE

Just finished watching a great video, courtsey a colleague in the MBA class, Imad.

The video was about Jeff Immelt's visit to NYU Stern School of Business, participated live by 6 other business schools from around the world. Here is the link to the video -

The session was mindblowing. What was impressive were the lessons for an MBA student. He was asked various question but the common theme centered around

1. Learn to "LEARN".
2. Learn to "MEET PEOPLE"
3. Be "COOL".

Other important things I could draw from the lecture were about the sectors that would be important and the areas where an MBA student should and could focus on

1. Infrastructure
2. Technology
3. Energy
4. Education

Last thing to draw from the lecture was - "Believe in a cause and live for the cause like your life is dependent on it. Do NOT delegate. "

I am impressed. Now it is the practice time, let me see how far can I go with these learnings. It is 'Miles to go Before I sleep'.

MBA is not everyone's cup of tea.

Please raise your hands who agree with me.

Surely it requires a lot of Commitment. The commitment with a big 'C' and not small 'c'.

Networking, thinking and giving shapes to new ideas, selling those ideas to people and then trying to start something new takes lot of energy. I believe there are many superstars in the class and everyone is as good as it gets. With too many things happening around, I really admire the small size of the class otherwise a large number would surely be a big distraction.

Recently there was IBM HR director who came and spoke with the class. It was quite an interesting session, but I think I would have derived much value out of it if he would have given more information about the trends in the industry and how to approach IBM and how IBM would help the students from this school. I am slightly selfish, but I think once companies start visiting my school with recruitment, like they do for LBS where they have to sift through 400+ resumes, the small size would be a great advantage to them.

But, that is long term. Right now there are lot of other things that need to be sorted out. Right now I am working on my CV (for a very long time) and looking for opportunities in Business Development / Management Consulting areas but it is a real hard work without a proper network to wade through plethora of companies around the world. It is very easy to get distracted and lose focus but sometimes posting here helps as a reflection. Don't really know, but if you guys know anything that comes up in my "desired" area do let me know. Is that a pitch? May be yes. But the prospects of not doing what I want to do post MBA is terrifying.

I think an entreprenuerial mindset has its own disadvantage. You get excited about the prospects very easily but to really pursue the same is really a hard work. MBA is also an entreprenuerial journey where you invest and take risk. But, I like that. I am also planning to go for the Rice Business Plan competition. Anyone willing to join? There are two more vacancies in the team. Ha ha.. that's funny, the hunted becomes the hunter. I am looking for opportunities and I am offering here one. Do contact me (you know where and how).

Will post soon with the results of job takers. Meanwhile I finished selling Barcamp here at Lancaster and the initial response seems to be quite good. I hope all goes well on Nov. 15. There is lot of work to complete before that happens. Let me go back to the drawing board now. See u soon.

Happy Diwali

Happy Diwali to you.

Tomorrow is the first time when I am away from my family on the Diwali day. Being away from family on such a day brings in all kind of emotions. It is the first big festival for my son and I am unable to spend my time with him. It is really tough to be away and try to celebrate a festival like Diwali. But that's where MBA class kicks in.

For tomorrow the Indians in the class have planned a cultural evening with traditional Indian food, dance, music and masti. I just came back some time back after a 15 hour long day. The entire day was spent discussing and brainstorming variety of cases and after that a dance practice was scheduled. Can you imagine, dance practice at 11 in the evening? Well, I realised that I am not a very good dancer but I am enjoying it and will still participate whole-heartedly.

It is amazing what a student life can do to you. To me, it is kind of transforming where time management is becoming critical and multi-tasking an art. In next two - three weeks I am planning another event on Barcamp lines but not really sure if that should be called a Barcamp. I would really be willing to organise one, time permitting. Right now I have to sell the idea to many in the class so that a good participation is ensured. Selling it in the class will be a test of my marketing skills ;) .

Right now, I want to talk to my family but distances do matter in this part of the world and it won't be before tomorrow. I intend to take part in the 'puja' and join them virtually.

In the meantime will keep you posted with the cultural party events taking place here.

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.,