messages from the misguided me

Standing in my balcony, looking at the green hills stretching into the horizon, obfuscated by the rain, a lit cigarette in my mouth, i stand contemplating about my MBA. I'm ten days into it and my low opinion of it is more or less confirmed. That its a replacement rather a partial implant for common sense. Where ever i go, whatever the "eliteness" of the place, whatever the bar for entering, the ratio of the people with and without common sense seems to remain more or less the same.

Be it the questions in class or the fact that 85% of them use the food stall closer to the door in the mess standing in a queue when the other one is almost empty, shows the lack of co-relation between education and common sense. However, i am sure to pick up (hopefully atleast this) enough jargon to put people in awe. Well this accounts for the mediocre success of the IIM junta when compared with all the hype about them. (Ya ya, even a 1 crore salary in dollars is still a salary and its in dollars and is not a great achievement). Its not that the IIM's are bad MBA schools, i suspect they are among the best in the world and follow similar pedagogy as say HBS. My judgement is upon the very conception of MBA and that it will transform you into a super human.

At the very max, a MBA can (other than being a partial common sense implant for those who lack it) hone a few of your basic skills , give you an exposure and probably help you pitch your case better to other MBA executives in the dialect of jargon. It might seem like a misguided, harsh and too-soon-a-jump conclusion. But what i'm trying to get at is that to be successful in a business or a venture, you do not need an MBA. It cannot match someone's common sense, rationality and instinct.

I can infact imagine some of these going on to be the suited up MBA execs parodied in n number of toons and shows. Some will probably go on to be the top execs in their field. Others will probably give up and go be sadhus or be the truly successful ones with an industry in their name or an achievement unique.

However IIM's are important as ever as they provide opportunities which the people here more than deserve but would not even get a whiff of otherwise, due to the economic structure of India and the world.

mario no. 5

sifting thorough the innards of youtube blessed me with these droppings...

please watch only if you have been a geek for more than 18 years...

Luigi Finally Snaps

Mario rescues the princess: the true story

Mario: Epilogue

Bowser overthrown

Mario and Co venture out

if using youtube directly...

you may need to sign in, set your regional preferences to worldwide and confirm your birthday before it starts flowing...

while you are at it, i recommend "Seth McFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy"

heeya!

short bites

Quitting a job is one of the highs in life few other things can match.
(i hope this high isn't addictive, well even if it is i need to be like running into jobs left, right and center to be a regular)

I read The Life of Pi and then The White Tiger, both have surprising similarities. Both are from a first person viewpoint of the lead characters and capture the random and eccentric ravings everyone (i suppose) has behind that mask of normalcy that we all maintain. The stories are told in serialised flashbacks and i need not mention the animal to human mappings that exist in both books. Also, both the lead characters are Indian and the authors won the Man Bookers.

I also saw The Avatar, a (non jap) anime series aimed at 'young adults' (snotty teenagers) and screened on Nickelodeon.
(i have no other excuse other than that i like to explore the rainbow)

The wikipedia says IIMK believes that the student should be given a choice with regards to what they want to learn so there is, as such, no minimum attendance. Well wikipedia also said NITK has an scenic and picturesque campus with a beach. So its currently wait and watch.
(Anyway i doubt it can get worse than IIMA (we'll throw you out if you bunk two classes) and IIMB (1500 fine for missing out on some random senior interaction thing at 10 in the night))

Finally got my desktop back from repair with some cheap ass motherboard instead of the ASUS one i had. Also the 200gb HDD has been replaced with a 160gb one.
(all in all a sterling example of tecnological downgrade, can probably be blamed on the recession like everything else)

Also finished the first season of the Dilbert TV series, good fun if you like random humor.
(most of us do, atleast in private)

random-timepass-bashing-proof

Sample Text 1:

investors place their money on a company because they believe in the potential of the company to do well
investors who place their money on the companies which do well get multiples of their money
investors who place their money in companies that go belly up loose their money
investors base their decisions on the competitors, size and condition of the company, person guiding the company, the company's past track record, etc






please scroll down






Text Operation @
Now we find and replace the the following word pairs from Sample Text 1 to generate Sample Text 2

investors : gamblers
company : horse


Sample Text 2:
gamblers place their money on a horse because they believe in the potential of the horse to do well
gamblers who place their money on the horses which do well get multiples of their money
gamblers who place their money in horses that go belly up loose their money
gamblers base their decisions on the competitors, size and condition of the horse, person guiding the horse, the horse's past track record, etc


Conclusion:
Stock trading is gambling.

Additional Fundae:
Gambling is not evil.

Final Result: Ajey 1 - 0 ND

Final Comment: Muahhaahhahahhaha!

PS: This post is dedicated to Shashank ND, 24x7 CEO, Naabo Solutions (whose horse was recently featured, as all of you know by now, in DARE (its an entrepreneurial magazine)) with whom i had an argument in 3rd year whether stock trading was akin to gambling or not.

random musings on the election results

the indian voter turns out to be smarter than the media and the regional satraps combined

after being shown the carrot and cheated for ages, it was voter's turn to play the same trick on the maya, lalu and co (buggers thought 10 seats and the media barking could make them PM's)

the red team needs to realise they can't be in test mode and will have to play t20 like the rest

(also karat should realise only a very small section of the populace is a fan of the fantasy genre)

rahul gandhi has finally realised that he has to work, not to become PM and but to ensure he can be one for a few decades ("i want to democratise the congress")

he has to either follow maa (give up post and be the smart one) or paa (grab it and fail)

low attendance can flunk you out of the parliament (vinod khanna ilk)

Bihar minus goonda babus set to improve, AP to take its place soon...

land mafia will kabja the cabinet soon...

PC is not as popular or naive as one thinks

clean face turns the tide, singh is king

nda supporters find solace in the consolation prize - the increase in the vote share by national parties (cong + bjp) 

the bull turbo-charges as the red flag is waved down and how many MP's know what's in their manifesto (am i the only one bothered)

when will bjp realise it needs 2nd tier young leaders that it can use to capture the youth sentiment that till now used to side with it

how long before the hand's subsidy raj and populist schemes that don't actually benefit the aam aadmi in the long run ruin our economy?

was this a result yet another relative sinusoidal peak in the plummet?

out of syllabus: karunanidhi's problem solved, karuna's begins

(Kalaignar will outlive the colonel!) 

ps. quite a few journos are going to get beaten up soon :)

Boredom Busters

For all those bored with the usual digg, youtube, stumble upon, chatting, social networking as you try and while the summer away...

Omegle
A site where you are connected to a random stranger for chat. No identity or registration. Good for hours of arbit discussions, wierd questions you wanted to ask people but didn't have the balls, taking out your frustration, speaking to random junta from across the globe (mostly jobless students like you...). Although be warned quite a few of these strangers say "asl?" and disconnect if the letter m is part of your answer. Definite boredom buster for hours at end. 

Webcomics

If you like humor in short doses, webcomics are manna from heaven. There are loads of good ones (and even more loads that don't qualify as good but are still timepass). You can try Cyanide and Happiness, Perry Bible Fellowship, xkcd, PhD comics, etc. Most web-comics are updated daily and have large archives to eat away days at a time. 

(Don't you forget to visit Savita Bhabhi once in a while.)

Bunny Movies

Thirty second flash reproductions that parody many famous movies with bunnies as the cast. Fun for those who have watched the actual movies. (Trust me you would have watched quite a few of them)

Hundred Ways To Be A Better Evil Overlord

Everything need not have a descriptive paragraph!

F*** my life!

Interesting everyday anecdotes of life's perceived unfairness!

Fail blog

Pictures (and videos - i dont wait for them to load) of the ridiculous sights of everyday signs gone awry. The size of the collection is "infinity and beyond".

RandomWikipedia

Random pages from wikipedia. Only for the more geeky and extremely bored of the lot. 4 out of 5 are useless articles which even the most inquisitive of the lot would not want to read.

Other fixes include japanese manga, facebook quizzes (they are retarded and addictive), arcade games like space invaders, zuma, pacman, goldminer and the universe of flash games at zapak.com, miniclip.com and even cartoon network (for those who want to stoop really low).

Remember however that this post is for those stuck on the middle path in life on most days - not enough resources/freedom to go get a real life outside (you can actually do that; when i figure it out fully, i'll let you in on the secret) and not enough net speed to go play Second Life or other MMORPG's and atleast have a virtual one.

Meanwhile, lets wait for doomsday... 

6 months ago... (November 2nd, 2008)

i lay on the bed. staring at the pack of wills classic i had bought half an hour ago. the hip hop songs of my neighbour thudded in my ears. the distant sound of firecrackers irritated me. why should it? it was diwali after all. i dont know whats affecting me - the weather, the failed score, the upcoming CAT or scores of other things i had to to do but had left to fester. a distant lorry horn on the highway. the same regular unchanging sound. was it change i was afraid of? change! future is the last thing on my mind. it is the present that is troubling me. or is it? it is as if some one's brooding mood has been transferred to my head leaving me clueless as to my present condition. there is trouble at home but it never bothers me. i am yet to call them and wish them. why am i reluctant to do even that. i want to be alone. i need a few moments to myself. i never have bouts of despondency. i am always at peace what ever is happening around me. never perhaps is a strong word. rarely would be better. the cawing of crows. dusk is at hand. i like night over day. there is a sort of all pervading calm at night. is calm the right word? moods like these always make me wonder about the purpose of our lives or rather the lack of it. what would it matter if it all ended right now. on a different note, what if it all ended right now. the immediate end of my/all existance does not evoke any reaction in me. would that be a good thing i wonder. this is like writing a suicide note or rather a diary entry of someone on the path to it. i feel like bungee jumping. no, skydiving. i have always wanted to skydive. i want to experience the rush as i free fall and the ground comes closer. the moment when i have to pull the parachute cord. will i hesitate? skydiving would be a brilliant form of suicide. you would have a period of clear thinking as you fall, allowing you to take your decision, to pull or not to pull. there is the sound of someone walking in the corridor. i getup and go lock my door. i want to be alone. i can see the lighthouse from my window. beer on the beach may not be a bad idea afterall. my dark mood is lifting. i am back.

Long time no see

like the way i treat most things in the world, my blog too has gathered dust and is now on the verge of passing into the past tense. in an attempt to renew my vow of blogging, i am writing this post with a sleepy head hoping that it acts a defuser of the anti-restart potential (that increases with time) and lead to a torrent of post from my blessed hands.

news news news.

i have now achieved numbness to all the mud slinging done by the multitude of fronts all in order to have bigger ass space on the bargaining table post election.
at this rate the parliament road should be renamed as dalal street too.

its interesting to listen to less immune junta to vent their frustration and ask why can't we have a bipartite system or atleast a plurality instead of a majority. its tempting to tell them the very act of implementing the changes will require 2/3rd majority in the parliament and ratification by half the states. even imagining such a scenario requires a very creative and uninhibited mind that few are blessed with.

as another of dose of teenage angst styled "citizen anger" goes down the drain of
low voter turnout in mumbai meri jaan, as the media asks every satrap with a cowrie if he wants to be the next prime minister, as the apathy of the indian voter fuels his way to a more pitiable position, i wonder is the country going to the dogs or have we always lived in the pound....

comic number char

the fourth comic.
probably took the least time (yet) to make.
btw i am now a proud owner of a jim morrison shirt.



feedback of all kinds welcome

Double Agents Anonymous

been out of town for a few days.
yes i was on a pilgrimage.
no it was not free will.

the third strip is here, titled
'Double Agents Anonymous'



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