Time to move on...

13th of December, Saturday, 3:05 PM... sitting alone in Lorange - our beloved MBA class auditorium. It’s been more than a week since we graduated. Most of the classmates have dispersed, spread across the world - from Agentina to Mexico, USA to Canada, UK to Russia, Lebanon to Nigeria, India to Japan... and all the way to Australia and New Zealand.

I am sitting on the same seat that I was allocated on the very first day of coming to the MBA class. That was an year back... the day was full of excitement and anticipation, with the combined energy of 90 brilliant individuals coming together for the first time. Today, the auditorium is empty, but I can still feel their presence and spirit here!

We have come a long way together. IMD took me places - Kenya, Qatar, India, Singapore, Norway, Portugal to name a few. I met some of the smartest people on the planet - the IMD professors who taught us how to think beyond the obvious, the guest speakers who showed us the power of the ‘individual’, the array of high achievers who constantly pass through these corridors... and of course the MBA class of 2008. I am convinced I will be proud to see each one of them being the thought leaders and change agents in years to come.

Here's to you my friends!

back from Kenya

Came back from the 10 day country discovery trip from Kenya. The objective of the trip was for the class to get a 360 degree understanding economical and social environment in the country. Met with the country's political, corporate, financial and social leadership ... a very facinating experience indeed! The safari gave some light moments, but a day spent in the slums was the highlight of the trip... no-one was left untouched by the misery all around. The continent has been screwed by the imperial powers of yore and by the corrupt puppet dictators braced up by the bigger powers for long... its sad to see how the common people still keep their spirits up and continue fighting for a better future, which may never materialize.

Coming back to Switzerland was a stark contrast. Reminds one of H.G. Wells' 'Time Machine' in which the protagonist finds himself in a peaceful, prosperous world inhabited by beautiful, happy people who spend their days enjoying the luxuries of life without doing much work... only to realise later that this pretty, sunny world is propped up by a very ugly, underground world inhabited by another class of people who live in disgusting conditions and do all the dirty work without getting anything in return, and without any hope for a better life. This is not ethical, and this is not sustainable!

Getting ready for my round the world trip starting day after tomorrow: Toronto - HK - Singapore - Mumbai - back to Lausanne!

Th 2nd Integrative Exercise (IE - 2) was held over the weekend. We got a M & A case on riday evening in which a large power rental company (Aggreko) was to decide between acquiring one of the 3 potential targets. Al groups made their first presentation to Stewart Hamilton on Saturday morning, post which we were handed follow-up info for presenation same day evenng. Then we were given bunch of extra data which was to be used for presentation on Monday morning fst to a panel of IMD judges and then the selected teams were to present to the CFO of Aggreko in the afternoon. The CFO, who's a 92 batch IMD grad had flown down for the same. My group was one of the 2 groups selected to present to the CFO... guess since we were the only one's who took a 'do not buy' position.

It was quite interesting... the intensive time pressure of the IE exercises brings out the best and the worse in all ... my study group seemed to handle it well. We saw people in the study group handle it in all types of ways... some who deep dived into the exercise and put all their heart into it, some who wanted to get through wit a 'good enough' end result, and one who simply withdrew! We debriefed after the final presentation to give feedback to each oter ... as we say it @IMD - 'put fish on the table'. There wasn't much fish there, only some litle shrimps.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since I last updated this blog. 1st term exams went by like a breeze... and the results were surpising... I cleared all the courses with respectable grades! That's quite a relief...

2nd term has brought in some intersting new subjects, especialy International Political Economy. Its a no taboos course where we have a free-for-all discussion on internationa political issues... so u hear the Chinese defending their position on Taiwan, the Americans taking some flak from the the developing world, and so on. I thoroughly enjoy the subject.... the professor is an absolute authority on the subject... his hands-on practical experience on the global stage brings in delightful insights.

Wifey visited me this month for a week... we had a great time hanging around. She got along dozens of 'Kitchens of India' ready to eat packs... am still enjoying those!

Its been a crazy fortnight. Pressure's building up and people are beginning to crack... to the extent of receiving profesional counselling. Am doing OK till now... had just 2 hours of sleep last night, and it's gonna be a late night tonight as well. Maybe I am going crazy as well... today I tried to move the cursor pointer from my laptop screen onto the screen of the laptop next to me... :-)

Going through the infamous 'Integrative Exercise' since yesterday... its a case study which we have to dissect over 2 days by analysing it from all possible perspectives - financial, marketing, strategy and organizational. Its a live case about the introduction of a new product in Pakistan in 2007... the story is still evolving. People have been eating and sleeping on the campus since yesterday.

There's been a substantial amount of focus on emerging markets in the program till now. The econ prof - Ralf, gave us an excellent big picture perspectve on what's happening in the world ... India and China are changing their chips and that is causng fundamental changes in the global scenario. I wish to go back and participate in the growth of my country... there's so much that can be done back there !

Have been waking up at 5:45 in the morning and going for a jog for 45 minutes along Lake Geneve' for the last few days. Its insane jogging in the freezing cold so early in the morning... but I love it! The fresh, crisp air fills the body and the soul with pure life...

Paul, the Brit, today showed a 5 minute video to class comprising of pix taken over the last month and a half... showing various facets of our life @ IMD - bewildered faces trying to make sense of the stuff on the blackboards, the chaos in the study groups, the partyieng on the weekends... excellent job there Paul! This video is gonna be uploaded on youtube.

Am home at 9 (again)... I have a sneaking suspicion am gonna get royally screwed next month when the exams hit. People are still sitting in the campus reading stuff while I am home doing nuthin'! When will I learn to start being a lil' more organized and prepared???

Its been a packed week. The eco quiz went off well... got 8 out of 10... could have been 9, but that wouldnt have changed the world, so it doesnt matter.

Bad hangover today. Last 2 nights have been spent pubbing. ... have a hazy memory of coming back realy late... Pedro, Cyril and myself jumping over the fences in people's gardens ... and lying flat on the grass. Looks like tonight's gonna be a late night too. Have to slow down a bit one of these days.... and get some healthy exercise to recharge the batteries.

am missing something here... getting a feeling am falling behind the course. Eco. quiz in 2 days - lots of stuff to read for that. Its almost 1 PM and am still reading... gotta wake-up at 6:45 in the morning again. Start-up project is taking substantial time too.

Have no clue on accounting ... dunno how am going to manage that... am just shutting that out of my conscious horizon as of now.

we spent 13 hours yesterday in our study groups trying to crystalize on a ICA project pesentation... without much progress. 2 days to the deadline for that!

today was very intresting.... the day started with an accounting case study... while we were still at it, the marketing prof. entered and made us think of the accounting case from a marketing perspective. By the time we were done with that, the Leadership prof entered and made us think of the same case from a 'personal' / 'group dnamics' perspective. At the end of day there were 5 professors in the class touching upon the same case from diffrent perspectives... It was amazing.... that's true convergence of management verticals... this is the unique IMD experience!

Pushing along on caffeine and nicotine. Resolution for the week – “reduce nicotine by 50% and increase sleep by 50%”

Great finance class yesterday... finance makes sense to me... accounting doesn’t. Each accounting exercise gives me the jitters... Grrrr! My 'rebel child' is revolting aganst it....

Our study group took 2 weeks to work on the Steel industry project for the Economics class... The professor’s first observations on the same –“ Excellent sides....use them as backups”. Interpretation - “make the presentation again”. So here we are back to square 1.

4th weekend

TGIF ... finally Friday again ! The damned Vista on my laptop was not logging onto the internet for the last 10 days... IMD - IT guys did a fantastic job in finally resolved the issue. Its been a nagging headache till now...

Its 11 PM... many guys are at the White Horse already... plan to leave the study room in abt 15 mins and go there to gulp down a few quick beers before heading home.

Was soo damned sleepy in class today... struggled to stay awake during the 1st half. Played some table tennis in the afternoon... look forward to playing some Lawn Tennis this weekend... and maybe some yoga during the week. Need some physical exercise to get the brain cells moving...

My SwissCom Mobile internet card has not been working for the last 10 days... so no internet at home... will hopefully get a replacement USB connectivity tomorrow. Will finally get access to some online Radio and TV :-) ... not that there is much time for that though, but a few minutes of TV before sleeping does a lot good. Managed to see half of 'Kal Ho Na Ho' on Sunday night... have to finish that next weekend.

Another night spent on campus... trying to balance the sheet. Hope to leave before 1 AM. Can hear Chinese / Japanese / French / German / English in the hallways.

A famous Angel Investor gave a guest lecture today... it was inspiring to see how some people are making a real diffrence to the world... living life beyond the usual 9-6 grind and being passionate about what they do! You can merge your personal life with your professional life ... the "Whole Life Plan", as against the "Deferred Life Plan"...

A bit drowsy with last night's hangover... the vodka's still floating around in the system. But the bright side is that am done with the next week's assignment readings all the way upto Wednesday... hopefully will manage a few more before going to bed tonight.

Some friend's dropped by from London today... brought along some heat-and-eat Indian curries... that's one thing you dont get easily in Lausanne.

The study group will meet in 10 minutes now and plans to continue till late night... so that takes care of the what's left of this beautiful Sunday afternoon...

IMD - end of week 3

First 3 weeks of the IMD MBA program have passed by in a blink of an eye! We have only 2 days during the week - 1 long weekday (starting Monday 6:30 AM and going onto Friday midnight) and a super tight weekend. I've done more reading in the last 3 weeks than I did in the last 3 years combined.

The combined energy of 90 students from 45 countries is amazing. The anxieties of the first few days are gone... particiants are begining to know each other better. The extensive course focus on group dynamics and leadership has helped all of us get a better grip on our mutual simlarities and diffrences.

looking forward to getting drunk over the weekend and letting go of all the case studes floating around in the head...