Are Indian educational institutions world class?

A few days back I had a engrossed discussion with my friend regarding whether Indian institutions are world class or not. There were many aspects to this and although either one of did not agree on each other arguments I found the discussion very insightful since it provided many alternative perspectives on how to look at things. Some of the points which were in my mind were -

1. There are many Indians going to top B Schools or top Tech Schools across the globe and making it big. How many people coming from the world to India for such programs?

2. Due to my interaction with one of the administrative staff at one of the top B schools of the US I came to know that they are looking for partner schools in India and China. But upon self introspection I thought what options would they have? How mature are Indian B Schools in order to establish such partnerships and provide a conducive environment to students coming from abroad. Only ISB and IIM A/B/C? If IIMs, I am sceptical about how would the collaboration work? Apart from the intellectual potential (which is also a big question now after reservations) and an "Indian" setup what else would these institutes would? IIMs have been there since long but why have they not been able to make it to the top B schools list despite having the best and the smartest brains of India? I think it is the bureaucracy, reservations, curriculum though best in India but it still needs to be more flexible and experiential learning needs to be encouraged more. This said I would love to highlight that guys please don't treat me as a mere critic of the best schools of India. IIMs are excellent institutes and just for record, I was not given an admission into any of the IIMs despite my efforts but even today I would perhaps take pride being an alum from anyone of these institutes.

Busiest days of my Life...

Can somebody be so busy that he doesn't have time to visit his blog to pen down a few lines? Can somebody be so busy that he doesn't have time for leisure? Can somebody be so busy that he doesn't have time to call up his friends? Some might say 'No', being busy is just an excuse. Probably I would have said so a few months back, but last few months have changed my mind. I had heard that the application process is taxing but it would be so taxing I could not have imagined. Life after office was spent on the laptop, thinking, writing, again thinking, rewriting, researching the options available, school strengths, would I be a good fit, why this school, why MBA and why now. My god! I can go on and on but still it won't be reflective of the effort that goes in completing one successful application. Even when everything is ready there are just so many things to look for. Following up with your reccomendors, arranging transcripts....

To top it all, I planned my India vacation right in the middle of this process. People might say - 'Dude, Bad Timing!' But to me going to India was inevitable. There were reasons beyond my control, I also needed a break from my mundane routine. I just thought it might be an opportunity to revive myself, get some new ideas. So, I did not hesitate and planned my trip. Even in India, time was gone for applications. In fact, I submitted two of my application from home. Can you beat that now!!

So guys, if I was not able to visit my blog it was not due to laziness but due to reasons beyond anybody's control...I can just pray to god now that my efforts do not go down the drain now...

Night out in Delhi.

As promised this is one of my post in the India series. Isn't that funny, I am mentioning 'as promised' as if many people read my posts. I am not saying they don't want to but just that probably they don't know about it. Anyhow, the night I am going to talk about is Friday, Nov 3' 2006. I had to leave for Ahmadabad to meet my sis, jeeju and niece on 4th Nov early morning. So I decided to have a night out with my friends on the 3rd since that was the only weekend I would have in Delhi. I wished I could have freaked out on a Saturday as well but then that's the trade off when you have other things to do and commitments to meet. So, a night out was the best I could think of. We decided to meet up in CP. Virinchi picked me up from my home and we went straight to his home. I kept my bag at his home, ate some sweets, drank some wonderful filter (south Indian style) coffee and there we were off to CP. We waited for Manish and while we were waiting we decided to just stroll in CP. It was nice to do some window shopping but finally after some time we decided to go to our meeting place. I think it was Cafe 21. It was I would say not a pub, not a bar, not a restaurant, I don't know what it was, but it was a place to get together. Soon (or rather I should say late) Manish made a dashing entry into the cafe. We ordered some drinks. It was nice to see Virinchi drinking. Dude, it would have been wonderful if you could have realized the benefits of drinking during college ;-)
Finally, after some grub and a sober start we decided to move to South Delhi. I had a venue in my mind - Cafe Morrisson. I had heard about it when I was in the US and on reading the reviews I wanted to experience that place and see the rock culture in Delhi. So, we somehow managed to find that place even without any address!! Well, on entering the place I would say that the ambiance was good but the crowd was pretty average. But, whatever crowd was there it rocked. I still remember the lady in the white suit who was dancing like there is no tomorrow. What say Manish? The girl sitting next to us who I suppose had just come to a hang out place without the slightest knowledge of rock music. And Virinchi, who was your girl for the night? Lol. The music played was classic rock with a blend of some contemporary rock like System of a Down. All in all the quality of music was good. Drinks - pricey. I was shocked to pay 1700 Rs for 2.5 pegs of Red Label. Man! I could have bought a bottle in a little more than that amount here. Finally, at around 2 AM the pub closed down, the music came to a stop with the last song played which was by request of the junta there (not me..hehe) was 'Rape Me'. I don't know was there a double meaning attached to that request ;-)

So, at 2 AM we were out of the club. Now what to do? I still had a few hours with me and was in no mood to go back home and sleep for 2 hours and then again wake up to go to the airport. So, we went back to CP and picked up our bike from there. Now we had one bike and 3 ppl (I forgot to mention earlier that we went to South Delhi in an auto). But our spirits were high and we took the risk. We headed straight to the coffee shop - Le Meridian Hotel, Delhi. On a bike with 3 ppl and stopped at the gate of a 5 star. I think the gate keeper must have thought that we were there for some loot or something :-) We parked the bike in the basement and went into the coffee shop. Ordered some fries and coffee and just passed our time gossipping.

Finally, we went back to Virinchi's house, I picked up my bag, Manish decided to sleep there (with a commitment of opening the door once Veeru is back from the airport, but I think he overslept). Veeru and me headed to the airport. It was cold and isolated but I enjoyed the bike ride after 1.5 years....

That was a night to remember... I think for all three of us. ..Isn't it?

A trip down the memory lane....

It happened in a jiffy. I vacillated in indecision of whether to go right now or not for some time but then I always follow this mantra given to me by dad - 'Never vacillate in indecision..make a decision and then deal with it.' Then, circumstances were such that it was not at all wise to delay the homecoming or rather I should say home going. So, there I started planning the trip. First Step was of course get the leave sanctioned from the client. This was not a hard task since the time I was going was a slack period and client would have happily given me the leave and so he did.

Next came the tickets, shopping, requests for bringing in stuff, phone calls and mails to friends in India to make plans....to cut things short I would fast forward these details. So, the D Day finally arrived - Oct 27. Boarded the flight to Chicago which was late by 3 hours. Luckily I had enough buffer with me for my international Air India flight. But still I did not took any chances and seeded up everything from my side at the O'Hare Airport, Chicago. Finally, I boarded the flight that would take me to home....after 2 years! I sat with mixed feelings in the plane..guilt of not visiting home for so long, happiness that finally I would meet my friends and family, anticipation (of a break and vacation) and tension of the road ahead. The flight was via London and the US-UK connection was fairly good with lesser people on board. So, there was enough room to stretch your legs and I would say that the journey was comfortable. In UK, I was surprised when we were asked to move out of the plane since I thought it to be a technical stop. But, then I thought that I would get a chance to see the Heathrow Airport, London. I had heard a lot about it...Finally we again boarded the plane which was packed from UK to India. I reached India 1 hour late which was amazing considering the standards of Air India.

After immigrations and customs I came out of the airport and I could see my parents waiting. Man! What a feeling that was. I still remember the gleaming faces of my parents. How can I forget that? It was 2 AM at night and they were there to pick me up. We reached home and were awake till 5 AM. Chatting, gossipping and it was just amazing to be back. Finally, I slept that day to wake up pretty soon and then the usual phone calls, meeting relatives, eating home food..it was a paradise.

Well, time just flew by. I met Virinchi, a couple of times (or rather more than that :-) and also met Manish. Couldn't forget that night as well. When we just roamed on Delhi streets like never before. I think it needs another post. So I will talk about it in the next post. There were get togethers with relatives and I gave them a party at Chor Bizzare. Another remarkable feature about this trip was the good news that started to pour in while I was in Noida. This was the news of the interviews. In fact I submitted my CMU application from home and within hours I got the interview request!

Noida has changed, so has Delhi and so has India. I could see many flyovers in Delhi. New Malls and some of them impressive! Traffic condition has grown from bad to worse and I did not got behind the wheels during my stay. Although I did drive the two wheeler around. The crowd this time was I would say disappointing or is it that my standards have changed? I don't know the answer.

Well, there are so many things to talk about..my Ahmadabad trip for example. I think I can not capture my India sojourn in a single post. So I would try to include many more posts on this just to make sure I do justice to every little thing that gave me happiness during the time I was at home...

A Lifetime Event - Roger Waters - Live in Concert - Dream Come True - I can't ask for more

The title of the blog says it all. Isn't it? No. Actually, there is nothing that can actually describe or even come close to how I felt after attending the concert. The concert was on Oct 3. Yes, I know I am late by around 2 months in writing about it. But don't blame me. The reason for me visiting my blog after so long would become evident in my next posts. Can somebody be so busy that he doesnt have time to pen down his greatest moments of life? Yes. One can be this busy and I realized this in the last 2 months. Well, not to digress from the topic here you go -

The tickets for this concert were booked long long ago in April I guess even when we didn't have the slightest of the idea whether we would be in the US during October or not. But nonetheless, we were ready to take this risk for Waters. Period.

Finally, days and months passed by and it was October. We started to discuss about the logistics. How to reach the veneue, which was in Cricket Pavillion in Phoenix, AZ around 35 miles from Scottsdale, the place I live. The problem was that we were pretty sure that we would be drunk and so we did not wanted to take the risk of driving under influence. Anyhow, we tried to work many permutations and combinations but unfortunately, nothing turned up well, or I would say one option even turned BAD on the last moment. But, no issues, when there is a will there is a way and we decided to go by our own car.

After drinking some beer, we finally left the house with 'High Hopes'. One of my friend who was in the party, was driving the car and in the midst of a heated discussion forgot to check the speedometer. Flash and there you go! A driving ticket. No problem - nothing could be done and so we continued our journey. When we were about to reach the venue, the beer started to take its toll..not that I was high but I wanted to pee...lol...but the traffic was just too much. Again, nothing could have been done. I somehow controlled but I still remember my agony. We finally stopped at a 'Jack in the Box', relieved ourselves, ate a burger and bang reached the venue.

The environment was amazing. Pink Floyd T Shirts everywhere, a good crowd, and anticipation of a having a good time. Our seats were at an amazing location and we could clearly see the stage. The stage was elaborate - this was not a surprise considering who was performing today. Finally, after some time...our wait came to an end.

Roger Waters..dressed in black...the messiah of Pink Floyd...a band I have spent not hours, not days, not months but years listening to...was there on the stage and man you can only imagine how it felt. I was in awe and so were others. We all cheered, and he started to play...one song after other...all songs fantastically well performed...I dont think he missed any of the good songs...in the background were being shown the videos, photos and other trivia of Pink Floyd. Photos of Syd Barret, of the band and glimpses from their albums while in the foreground was Roger Waters...performing live!! I couldn't have asked for more. The concert lasted for 3hours. The second half was mainly 'Dark Side of the Moon' and a few songs from the Wall including Comfortabely Numb and Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1,2,3)

As all good things must come to an end, so did this. I took the lead and drove us back safely to home. It was an event, the memories of which would remain with me forever.