Chronicles from XIMB :Prologue

Feels like yesterday....I stepped into the hallowed portals of XIMB.Those first few classes went off in a jiffy.Needless to say, I wasn't able to relate to most of them be it Quantitative Methods or Microeconomics.Today,when i prepare to leave the campus in less than two months , I feel nostalgic about those first few days.I was amongst the first few guys to have come to the campus.I knew around 50% of my batchmates before joining the course and more than 50% knew me!Am cursing myself now for not keeping you all updated on the life in general at B-School.Believe me it is nothing short of bollywood masala stuff you get to read in Filmfare & like.Romance, rivalry,heartbreaks,backstabbing,unionism,arm twisting,rumors,gossips I saw it all & experienced it first hand to bare it all now!
So keep watching this space!
Coming Up:Chronicles from XIMB: The first 15 Days!!!

Good Old Days

The gutkha stained staircases,silly pranks in Lal sir's classes,the graphiti on the desks & walls,the unwavering smile of the Tea stall wala as motorbikes breezed through the dusty bylanes of BJB College are some of the fond memories that shall reverberate on the back of my mind forever .That was circa 2002,& the good old days, when a bunch of carefree teen rebels used to think the world was all theirs'.Those were the days & believe me it was amazing to be with a bunch of starry eyed teenagers who believed that they could achieve anything under the sun!Those innumerable unsuspecting moments made my life & in a hindsight,I realize that,this element is such an essential ingredient of life.How things evolved is a different story altogether,but it would be unfair to discount the innate happiness i derived from the existence of a support system.If i divide my life into two parts,probably those years were the special one !Success followed soon after.I moved along in life and today supposedly on the greener side of the grass,i desperately search for that support system & that happiness.No wonder, i sometimes find this place like a forlorn palace full of bemused creatures.A gentleman once compared MBAs with programmed robots & sadly,inspite of being here for 18 months,i don't have many arguments to refute his claims.

In Memoriam

Insanity is the norm in B-School.I sometimes wonder how it would be sans the confusion that prevails in this place .It was a welcome respite to find a saner schedule in this Term.I think its like the proverbial lull before the storm with placements round the corner.Nevertheless,unlike previous terms I wasn't saddled with commitments & that gave me the much needed solitude.After grappling with the thoughts of love & hatred for past few months I finally thought to pen this memoriam in fond memory of her & probably share those hitherto hidden facets of my personal life.
She brought an air of freshness into my other wise mundane life.The finer details are immaterial.She called our meeting a destiny,I differed.In my wildest of dreams,i had never thought that we were made for each other.I always felt we both were from different worlds & we were diametrically opposite in certain aspects & unexpectedly very similar in some aspects.In those days,I used to be surprised by her unflinching faith on destiny & I still vividly remember our first meeting.Soon,we began to meet regularly for we loved each other's company.Our rendezvous used to be well planned & we liked each other's personality immensely.We used to talk for hours together.There have been instances when the waiter in the coffee shop actually told us it was time for the shop to close!We had become quite close to each other sharing every joy & sorrow of our life with each other.The cupid struck finally & i popped the question.Actually i had been thinking about it for a long time,but again i never expected her to say yes.In a way,she was very important to me as a friend & I didn't want to hurt her & impair our friendship in the process.To my utter surprise she said yes & I was stunned to hear from her own mouth that she was crazy about me.I relished every moment spent with her.The wonderful sojourns to picturesque locales of the city,getting wet in the rains of September,all those chilly evenings in the roads of Bhubaneswar,the long drives,those mystical visits to Temples,Those discreet meetings behind the Guest House,those long Duration calls & Sweet SMS'es,Shopping sprees & last but not the least the numerous visits to restaurants of all types & sizes.I relish all those moments.Life was beautiful,Thanks to you."
After four beautiful years,she left in search of life ,a family & a better future.She had called once to tell me she would always love me & I was special to her .Not being the type of men who understand complexities of life,I still haven't figured out what she meant by those words.I miss her more often than not,but probably that is the way it had to culminate.May be i can take solace from the fact that most great relationships culminated in a similar fashion!

Reviewing An Article:The first experience

NREGA (The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.) redefined populism for it was combined with economic sense. In august, 2005 the UPA government led by Dr. Manmohan singh launched this ambitious scheme amidst a lot of fanfare & media coverage. Noted economists & social scientists envisioned it as an ultimate panacea for rapid poverty alleviation in rural India & this article “NREGA Implemenation-1 Reasonable Beginning in Palakkad, Kerala” tries to do a post mortem analysis of the same in the communist bastion of Kerala. The article is based on the research conducted by two students of Economic Research Group of St. Stephens College, New Delhi namely Arun Jacob & Richard Varghese.

Paradoxically, Kerala which has one of the highest literacy rates in the country & has exceptionally good social indicators fares very poorly when it comes to employment. This has had tremendous social & political consequences. One such upshot was visible in the registration process which attracted many an educated youth of Kerala. So, does it point towards a disturbing social phenomenon of education being a cause for ones’ impediment rather than growth? Is kerala a failed state? Many such questions linger on the back of our mind which remains unanswered. The Article has concentrated only on the Palakkad District and has not tried to explore the interplay of relationships between Palakkad & other bigger states of Kerala. However the authors do shower their lavish praises on the administrative structures viz. the various local bodies & the decentralized model of governance. The authors have tried to use comparison as a mode to convey their findings very subtly. For example the authors have cited the high number of women registrations & attributed the same to the high literacy rate and at the same time highlighted the concept of differential wage payments that existed prior to the scheme’s launch. Similarly, they have tried to distinguish between the roles played by the local bodies of Palakkad & Jharkhand .They have scathingly pointed to the dysfunctional Governance structures in Jharkhand as one of the major reasons for limited success of the NREGA Scheme there. Another aspect of this article has been the existence of the social dimension in the analysis & findings. This is illustrated by the importance attributed to literacy, gender equity in wage payment & the fallout of such measures like limited participation of men in the scheme. The authors have also tried to bring in a perspective on corruption & how, here it has been effectively checked through a simple measure like zero -balance bank account.

Nationwide, NREGA has been plagued by implementation issues and one of its proponent, noted economist Jean Drèze has also criticized it on the same grounds. In Palakkad, NREGA’s success was primarily based on three point’s viz. Quality Local Governance institutions, Women Participation & Minimal Corruption. However the plurality in the social model of Kerala & some inherent flaws in the NREGA Scheme were deterrents in its path. The authors have carefully documented their findings in this regard. Amongst other things they have outlined the need for an institutionalised grievance redressal mechanism, Clarity on nature of work & Payments & seasonal variations. They articulate their arguments by citing the example of heavy manual work allotted to women, importance of Harvest season in a village calendar, Cost Allocation for material & wages etc. These roadblocks probably emphasize the need to revisit the “One Size Fits All” approach of the Government for central schemes.

In the article, the authors have clearly distinguished between education & awareness and how the former doesn’t translate into the latter. However, undoubtedly Mass education especially that of women should be the pre-cursor to launch of a social scheme & women should play an important role in that process of de-intermediation or re-intermediation. The existence of excellent administrative structures in Kerala is an ode to the democratic form of Governance and the success of NREGA Implementation in Palakkad belies the fact that social schemes can’t succeed within a democratic framework.

Article Source - NREGA implementation- I: Reasonable Beginning in Palakkad, Kerala by Arun Jacob & Richard Varghese

All about Hatred

There has been a great deal of research on why a person loves someone.Even there was a time when I used to browse through numerous articles & books on love but today that true love is passe.I hardly seen any lovers around me.All i see is some sex starved souls trying to form illusions just to satisfy their carnal desires.So,I shifted my attention to hatred and why do people hate each other?

Few observations so far:

1. If its about two people then there is a high probability that the two persons might have liked each other immensely.
2. Prejudices stemming from self-serving biases
3. Past incidents that leave a lasting impact on the sub-conscious mind.How many times have you seen boys hating all the female species on this earth just because one particular female they knew ditched them or vice-versa?
4. Hatred often hurts both the parties but the ego within stops them from reacting.
5. With passage of time hatred disappears but the hurt remains.As a friend of mine put it "When a glass breaks , even if you try to join it back, the crack still remains there and if you continue to keep it , it reminds you of the damage every time."

Have you ever hated anyone?Please share your opinions,comments & suggestions.

After a Year ......

At the outset apologies to all my loyal readers.I let you down badly.
So here it is & am back after the longest hiatus a blogger would have ever taken!I somehow had lost the urge to write.I would be lying if I say i don't know why.The usual blame game isn't my cup of tea but somehow i couldn't stop myself from feeling the lack of creative instinct within me.Am I sounding like a narcissist?Well I have become one!now all of you would be interested to know how has life treated me in the past one year.Well,it has been mixed actually & a sincere advice to all the wannabes.The plethora of B-Schoolers,Coaching Institutes & the likes interject a clever mix of facts,figures & statistics to make you that odd B-School look very attractive.The reality is a little different & let us be very honest about it.The obvious question at this juncture would be am I frustrated?The answer is no & it is because this place taught me the most important thing i.e. the critical & often incomprehensible interplay between human beings & the intricacies of human relationships.This place taught me how to be brutally honest & be courteous at the same time.In a nutshell, this place taught me the harsh realities of life which were hitherto unknown to me.A B-School is the last place for the faint hearted,take my word for it.Post B-School life would be different may be for good or for bad.Whatever it is, i would miss my alma mater for sure.I won't like to come back though or for that matter talk about my B-School in public forum.Now why would I do that is anybody's guess!
So,keep guessing :-)

LIVE from B-School !

Am in a B-School finally & this is my first post from the hallowed portals of Xavier Institute of Management,Bhubaneswar.All these years at various points of time i have written about B-Schools & their unique culture.Now,finally am a part of it.Am not quite liking the culture prevalent here with all the usual drama & politics but then thats what management is all about.You experience different moods & eventually become indifferent to the surrounding.You must be having second thoughts about a business education but there are many positives of a business education also & the foremost being the art of time management.Here,multi tasking skills are of paramount importance & so is the ability to prioritize.So,am trying to learn & sync myself with the environment.Watch out for this space.