A beginning to mark a finish and a finish that flags a new beginning

Couple of days ago my Facebook status read, "Dint know Feb 1st 2010, will come so soon, atleast not when I set out on this journey in May 2008". My usually cheerful Facebook homepage, which has a lot of tongue in cheek status updates from my 500+ friends, today bore a rather gloomy look which i guess was the reason of my having this status. 

However this was on the previous eve, soon on the last day of my MBA exams, it was not a sense of completion that hit us... it was a feeling of relief, some sort of euphoria. By throwing away the question paper of the last exam into thousands of small pieces we all were collectively thinking about the 'hazaaron' desires we harbor. The cry of relief, satisfaction and contentment which came in the form of shouts, whistles, lots of photo sessions and maybe a silent tear somewhere was hard for anyone to miss.

(A small collage of some memories I captured on my memory card)

It has been a journey with all kinds of thrills and challenges. And as this journey unfolds I realize that the challenges and complexities will only go up a lot many notches. While we strive hard to scale these peaks, lets not forget to see in the face of adversity and say, "bring it on" with a smile. 

I wish to congratulate my friends "fellow crusaders", on reaching this personal milestone, but at the same time call upon them to brace up for the tougher times ahead. Also my 'hazaaron' thanks for all the beautiful memories you have made me a part of, with your charming company in it. Some of them I have articulated in my blogs, all of which can be collectively found here.

I was just about to conclude after the last statement, when I suddenly remembered I had missed out on something. Our mentors also parents for many, our dear teachers. 

What would have they felt? Will they be happy that they'll get a new batch soon? What runs in a teacher's mind?

(Prof. Sukesh looks on from the first floor, while our euphoria is on)

I can maybe struggle hard and write answers to all of these questions, now that i am still in the mood for writing answers. But they say a picture can speak for a thousand words, and lucky for me I had one that said it all. Prof.Sukesh's trademark smile gave it away for me and all the questions were answered when I just clicked this picture.

May not be the best of forums to do so, but I still want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the teachers at IBS-Bangalore here. Every single action, has helped us in some or the other way. That one moment where you pulled us up for not giving our best, that one moment of encouragement you gave us by way of your appreciation, will all go a long way in shaping who we are. Thank you for everything!

Best Wishes

Sanjaya KS

MBA, Class of 2010

Life at IBS-B

Like I mentioned in my last post a lot of my upcoming posts will be about IBSB. This one was an essay I wrote for my college magazine last year. 

Six months since the beginning of my MBA in IBS Bangalore, one thing I’ve understood is that MBA life is a plethora of competitions and events galore. IBSB is surely the place where all the action lies.

May was when, it all started with the adventure trip outing to Somanahalli near Kanakapura, Bangalore. The essence of the outing was not the adventure quotient alone, but the fact that strangers from different parts of the country after having come under a single roof brought out the best synergy possible by displaying a beautiful sense of amalgamation. The so-often preached topics of teamwork and synergies were very practically brought about this single occasion.

Being part of the volunteer group in the placement cell also meant a wonderful opportunity to be a part of an audience that witnessed the interactive session on the topic “India-Net Gainer in the present global upheavals”.

End of June and it was time to officially inaugurate the class of 2010. The stage was all set for the performers from each class to enthrall the audience with their superlative cultural talent. So much so, that made people like me who consider self to be the ‘PAPPU’s-who-can’t-dance’ types to come out and shed their inhibitions to perform on the big stage. Every person would in some or the other ways contribute to showcase the talents of their respective classes at their best.

July brought along Manthan’08 the annual intra-collegiate business fest which tests the acumen of the class of 2010. As the best manager, I had the honor of leading a team of 12 dynamic members to adeptly handle the verticals of Finance, Marketing, HR, Operations, IT and business quiz. The way the event was handled by seniors was nothing less than commendable. The two day event succeeded in simulating the stress involved in running a business and the repercussions of the decisions we made. I still remember the overnight assignment when I as best manager became totally blank and couldn’t do any justice to the assignment assigned. One valuable lesson I learnt the hard way with this event is to never give up.

Phase-1 of Coliseum’08 aimed to bring out the sporting prowess amongst the students saw a never before participation. Cricket, TT, Carrom, Chess, Badminton were some of the games in which there was more than a healthy competition among the participants. The event was vastly successful in showcasing the culture in IBSB which has no discrimination between seniors and juniors.

Fresher’s party in August is one event about which I hold back fond memories. The event which was an all students affair was a light but an entertaining one. Just like a psychedelic FLOYD song, the pace picked up from light to frantic, with a beautiful ambience the resort boasted off. The month of our independence also brought our own indigenous event ‘PEACE WALK’ to light. The whole process from initially conceptualizing to finally executing the plan was simply flabbergasting. I guess it’s a fair deal when you learn management on the job when you’ve had to miss classes preaching management mantras owing to other priorities.

IBSB also makes it a point that students get 360 degree learning by sending its students to various competitions held by other B Schools. One such event I got to be a part of, was the ‘AIMA national level paper presentation’ competition which not only gave me the honest feedback of where I was headed but also a perspective towards the larger things we tend to miss so often while paying attention to the specifics.

As a tradition, all such events are organized by seniors who take the lead role to transition juniors smoothly to similar roles for them to run the show the coming year.

All these are just some of the events that I’ve had a chance or wanted to get myself directly involved with. Many more events like Kurukshetra’08, SAP seminar, festivals like ‘Onam’ and ‘Ganesha’ also happened in IBSB during this period. But I wouldn’t be making any justice to the magnitude of events if I write about them here, since the events in IBSB are just unimaginable. 

I would like to sign-off by reminding one and all about IBSB’s very own annual inter collegiate fest Tarkash’08 that is on the cards in the coming months, and me having lots to write about.

Wishing loads of luck!

~Sanjay

Good Times .... brought to you by Christmas !!!

I somehow feel comfortable recounting experiences. Wonder if my posts reflect this too? Whatever be it may, here is my post reflecting some memorable Christmas times I've had.

Pan back to 10 years, Christmas was more of neighbor sharing the much talked about plum cake among other savories. Quintessentially, it would be an occasion to enjoy that one day off school. That was pretty much it unlike, todays festive cheer it manages to bring all round.

Some 6 years hence the meaning of Christmas completely changed as if to redefine to me what the real Christmas meant. Most of it had to do with my workplace sporting the festive spirit and moreover the anticipation of the week long forced vacations we always had to take unless someone was in a critical project and hence would be part of the skeletal support team. That year a few of us friends took time off to celebrate the Christmas weekend along with the New year's eve at Hogenekkal. 

By the way, talking about new year's eves, this post talks about how I've rated them all.Sometimes I wonder how i got the time to write such posts.

Experience, Siddhu says "is a comb that life gives man when he turns bald". Fortunately I made early use of it, by using it to celebrate the next Christmas at workplace in a novel way. 

But my most memorable Christmas date till day has been 25-Dec-2008, when I organized an outing to WonderLa with full of unsure trip(class) mates. But then thinking about it, I'm sure all my friends from section G, Sem 2 will agree with me when I say, that it was one of the most well spent working Christmas weeks that we've spent in our MBA days. Be it the most ridiculous tasks each one had to do, as part of their dares or some of the most amazing acts a few Saurabhs put up. ( Read the table dance and KSG mock acts) and many more. 

Memories come rushing to my mind de-syncing the words with thoughts while i try to articulate. This is where images help to convey the sense that words seem to have lost track of. 

This small collage I've put together is a testimonial of good times I've had in IBS-B with some beautiful people. By the way, no picture can ever be complete, as someone or something is always waiting to add to it. So is the case with this one.

Putting this in context, Christmas although might seem purely incidental to some good times, it was in many ways directly consequential.

Merry X'mas & a Jolly Good New Year.

Cheers

Sanjay

Let go... or should I

The quintessential question is back to haunt me. To-do or not to-do? This time it is relinquishing power, the toughest thing leaders face. I hope it's not an over statement to say I've done decently well to build a team over the last year and a half to build the operations a.k.a 'KingsGambit' vertical.

But then when i come to think of it, some things can only be so memorable.

As a leader and as somebody who wishes to be one through out, it's a conscious effort on my part to let others grow with me.

So with other things having taken higher precedence in my scheme of things, I've decided to be a supporting member of the Operations vertical of 'IBS-B Tarkash'10' and wish Rakesh Bharti, Vertical Head, all the best!!!

~Sanjay

Few Lessons un-learnt to learn a few more

How would it feel if you were dressed for some impending meetings and presentations for the  day and you were apprehensive about how presentable you look? 

A week ago I was in a similar situation and right at that moment a senior gentleman walked by and asked, "Which organization do you represent"? 

And when I answered "IBS-Bangalore", he said "Very Smart" looking at our outfits!!! 

That was all necessary for the confidence meter to shoot up and without a doubt, the rest of our day went very well. Subsequently, I was thinking about this incident and realized that everyday we see so many of our friends and feel "wow! do they look at their best or what"? 

But then, do we really take that second off to say "Mate you look good today"?  Personally speaking, I have come to know that there is never a wrong time to say it and not a whole bunch of us do so. 

What stops us from doing so? 

Is it the high context culture that we grow up on? By high context culture I mean to say, that we don't actually have to say things, to let people around us know that we mean it. 

In case of the Westerners it is the low context culture they have got accustomed that enables them to extravagantly display their emotions.

Take the new generation kids in urban India for instance. You would actually see them shouting out to their parents how much they love them and exchanging pleasantries. From my point of view I think this would have been something I would struggle to do easily. Not because I don't, but because nobody expects me to.

I was attending this lecture from my marketing professor who handles the subject of international marketing. It was attendance time by the end of the class and i was still struggling to come to grips with some of the concepts he taught that day and started discussing with friends while the attendance was on. All he did was to call out Sanjay and stare at me. Seeing me fall silent he said, now this is what is "High Context Culture" and I'd learnt my lessons for the day.

But thinking about the world we live in now, and as a truly global professional it pays to understand culture both from a high and low context perspective. Like my professor's say we have to unlearn a lot to learn newer things.

By the way I'm glad this post has taken away the burden of learning one chapter from my to-study list for the impending exams.

Till the next time.... Stay safe!!!

~Sanjay

Of some cliched lines and succesful undertakings

What a week it has been, A week full of tasks, evaluations, results, assignments and of course of Manthan '09(internal B-fest of IBS-B).

The event which started on a grand note last week with promotions beginning on the 13th, went on with full enthusiasm and fervor atleast from the teams that braved up the academic hardships.

Come 17th and it was time now for the 13 member teams to march in to the auditorium to begin with various events across verticals.

Continuing with where we had left in Tarkash '08, Rakesh and I managed to build a rather strong team this time, for our opertaions vertical 'The King's Gambit'. Well 'strong', i realise can be a qualititative or a quantitative word, its all just relative.

The day unfolded rather inauspiciously with some technical snags of running the video, but that was that of inauspiciousness as the rest of the events went according to schedule that i had prepared on my favorite 'Excelsheet'.

Brijesh came up with these scintillating posters for the vertical, which I have collaged as you can see on the left.

Like with every junior batches, there were quite a few pull-outs this time too and I am pretty sure that the 'Best Managers' might have had a torrid time motivating teams or sometimes even the other way round.

From an individualistic 'operations vertical' perspective, the competition that was on offer among the teams was appreciable, but I guess not enough to win accolades at other colleges. Having said that the top 5 teams were highly competitive and I really liked the spirit each team showed.

Of the obvious differences between Tarkash and Manthan, a major difference I observed is the real life issues of managing people, and at the same time ensure being goal-oriented no matter what. Somehow, I felt managing Manthan was definitely much more a challenge personally.

The mantle of being a vertical head showed me that 'with greater power comes greater responsibility'. Woah, I am getting better and better at cliche-ing things!

Talking about cliched things, over the last week I realised that some of the lines we utter are so bloody cliched. A few on top of my mind that I wish to list are:

• 'May the best team win' - It's just a hope that is hopelessly wrapped in a hope of hopefulness.
• 'Our selection process is fair' - You wouldn't probably find a more corrupt process.
• 'We wish to be part of the team' - I hope they really understand what teamwork is all about.

Coming back to the learnings, Manthan surely gave me an opportunity as a testing ground for my leadership skills. There were a lot of feedbacks, based on which I have some questions and thoughts:

• Is diplomacy an art or science?
• Leadership should never go the reactive way, it is always the responsive model that works.
• Is collaborative leadership a myth ?
• Leaders should always have plans D and E in place, because nowadays its no surprise if plans A, B and C go for a toss.
• Need to understand quick and fast, clear and loud that a leader is a leader because he has a job to do, being goody-goody to everyone is not an option.
• It also becomes easier for the leader to make decisions if s/he is grounded on strong ethical principles.
• I can continue listing but a leader should also know, when to continue and when to stop. Smart ability of disseminating information is a must have quality for leaders.

Wise men have said, that there is always something that goes wrong. Despite anything, I'm gald that the whole event was a grand success and I hope we were able to manage to leave a smile on the lips of our juniors.

Cheers

Sanjay

Inauguration - Class of 2011

Been so long... that I am a senior now and its exactly been a year since we performed so many things on stage for our inaugurals...

Everytime there is one such event, I've just realised how lucky i have been, to do something totally new everytime. If it was the dance to the tubthumping 'khaike paan banaras...' number, this time it was a MiMe act for the deafening solace of a Kenny G number.

The theme of the act being the much talked 'swine flu' or the H1N1 virus. This parody yet factual act was beautifully conceived by a good friend Malai Dey, who is quite frankly fantastic when it comes to playwriting.

Here is a video courtesy of Siddarth Jaithaliya who captured, and yet an other friend Saurabh Lunker who uploaded this 300-something mb file.

The act was ably supported by the other members of the group namely

Vaarij - H1 virus ( Appreciate the great commitment shown by the guy to have come and enacted while suffering from a fever of 103 deg).

Lubanshu - N10 virus - (size does matter!!!),

Sandeep, Atmaram, Nikhil, Avishek, Anshul, Lokesh and Myself.

Also, what a performance by the senior batch with lots of enthralling dances, skits that let you emote without realizing and just the overall co-ordination.

Before I forget, I must applaud the junior batch for putting up a wonderful show with all the adversities they have faced. I am enthralled by the response they have shown, and we as seniors are totally committed to making our limited stay with you guys an eventful and memorable one.

Let the good times begin....

~Sanjay

Kannada Rajyothsava: IBS-B percolates a sense of oneness

After weeks of pushing ahead due to unforeseen circumstances and continuous persuasion, December 17th, 2009 was the opportune day decided to celebrate Kannada Rajyothsava in IBS-Bangalore.

It’s always said that it doesn’t take too much to bring something to life, when there is a force of desire driving it. This was exactly something that, we, the organizing committee realized. Just two days before ‘the’ day it was communicated to us by a zealous senior student Harish, about the event.

In line with expectations it was all it took to motivate a bunch of Kannadigas to come together and get the wheel rolling, but commendable was the support shown by non-local students of IBS. The fact that 17th December was also celebrated as an ethnic day made the occasion an interesting affair for the 300 strong members that attended the event on the day.

The program was inaugurated by Prof T.R. Venkatesh, Director IBS-B and other dignitaries present.

Students of IBS-B, Rajatha and Prithveesh set the right tone to the program by invoking blessings of the Holy Lord through their enchanting voices.

The other attraction of the day was the local professional folk dance ‘Dhollu Kunita’ group, who performed signifying the rich cultural heritage of Karnataka.

Main eye-catchers of the day were a 20 strong team of visually challenged kids that came from ‘Samarthanam’ lead by the talented Mr. Nagesh (an international Artist, Professional singer and a Mimix Master Ceremony). The kids performed with so much zeal and passion, that it prompted the IBS junta to come up with an impromptu dance on a Kannada song.

The event was also graced by Smt. Saraswathi Murthy, an exponent in Carnatic classical music also a regular performing artiste at All India Radio. She enthralled the audience with her devotional songs.

The day also saw the students and faculties judged on their attires for the ethnic wear competition. While Himanshu and Sudha from the students staked their claim on the best dressed students’ awards, the faculties lead by Prof. Dakshina Kanthy and Prof. Nityananda showed that they were up to the task by winning the best dressed lady and Gentleman awards.

Special delicacies of Karnataka like ‘BisiBeleBaath’ and ‘Dharwad Pedha’were served to everyone present on the day.

Like all good things that come to an end, our program also concluded with Prof. Sukesh Kumar giving away prizes for the day and the hosts Sanjay and Uthra thanking the organizing committee and the audience for their gracious presence that made the event a huge success.

Sanjaya K.S

MBA, Class of 2010

(P.S:This post got here, just in case if it doesn't get printed on the college mag)

Realization

Over the last few months, I've rather inadvertently come to know that life essentially is a circle.

This is especially true with the expenses that one has to bare, all the discounts, favours, reductions received all gets balanced out.

For many this might not be such a revelation, but for me after the M line on my hand has got temporarily disrupted due to my own decision, it's truly a revelation. Be it the case of getting a discount of certain sum on my bike or the discount on purchasing printer as an employee, everything in life gets balanced.

I had my share of this experience with me having to spend a good amount on my bike and also the printer.

Know what, I guess this is one place where knowing concepts of accountancy help. That every credit has a debit is so true in life too.

Well knowing myself, that i need spurts to spur me on. I hope this post will be an impetus to more....... So much more to write......

~Chao
Sanj

The Sem that was...

It all started with a bang, there was so much energy and it went unbelievably fast. So fast, that studies took a beating. I saw it coming, but could not do much about it due to the frenzy.

But there is absolutely no denying that there is a certain sense of learning, i've come to gain after the end of Sem 1 to be a good grader.

If i could list them, it would look like this

1. Reduce sleep, extra curricular activities
2. Networking when done intelligently, is only when it is beneficial.
   
3. Read lots more.
4. Maintain a low profile
5. Have a cordial relationship with the faculty.
6. Internal marks has a striking similarity to the salary appraisals. Salary/hikes are always negotiated, so are the internal marks. I guess it takes more than just an honest approach to gain marks. (Not that I did all it takes!!!)
   
7. Image, sense of responsibility is immaterial when it comes to converting it to marks.
8. Priorities and prioritizing are something that should begin very early in a manager's life.
   
9. More.....
   

All said and done, all these have been learning's which I surely want to inculcate. But truly speaking, how much can one go against nature. It's like expecting Sehwag to play the whole day and make 60 runs just because the pitch is really tough.

I ain't comparing, its just my way of feeling good and filling self-enthusiasm, which could help me inculcate some if not all of my learning.

This time I'm not just hoping for it, but will go for it.

Stay Cheerful,
Sanju