Yesterday, I downloaded the video that my brother took on Camcorder during the graduation day. He patiently captured the entire procession starting from dean till the end (The procession from ISB building to the hangar). When I look at it now, it is a definite treasure. Thanks a ton bro

Still enjoying the ‘free’ days….

Watched the movie “Ice Age-2″ in Satyam movie complex yesterday. For the same price of Rs.90/=, the quality of movie watching experience is lower compared to PVR or Prasad’s in hyderabad. The pricing scheme was funnier…”Satyam Budget”, “Satyam Premiere”, “Satyam Elite”!!!

Purchased couple of books. One was “The Greatness Guide” by Robin Sharma (The author of The monk who sold his ferrari). I wanted to buy another book “The undercover Economist”. But decided to postpone the purchase after seeing the price tag of Rs.500/=. There are some more books that I want to read once, but I don’t want to possess. “How Opal Mehta got a kiss, got wild, got a life”, “5 point something” and “11 minutes”. Will borrow from my friends or from a library…

Couple of chennai friends are beginning their Post-MBA career today. One in Cognizant and other in TVS. Many others are starting on May 2nd/3rd. Life will be on high speed track once I join work. Will relax for 5 more days

Best of Blogging 2005-2006 Results!

ClearAdmit, a leading educational consulting firm, announced the results of “Best of Blogging” awards for Best Student blogs, Best Applicant blogs etc., Vijay Mulbagal and myself were nominated from ISB. Vijay Mulbagal finished in the final top 10 list (placed 6th)…It’s absolutely wonderful feeling to see an ISB blogger placed alongside bloggers from some leading MBA schools…

Top 10 Student Blogs
1. Marquis (Stanford) - http://marquisweblog.blogspot.com
2. Poweryogi (Chicago) - http://poweryogi.blogspot.com
3. KV (LBS) - http://usatolbs.blogspot.com
4. FutureMBAGirl (Wharton) - http://futurembagirl.blogspot.com
4. The Divine Miss N (LBS) - http://thedivinemissn.blogspot.com
6. Vijay (ISB) - http://itheabsolute.blogspot.com
7. Wakechick (Chicago) - http://wakechick.blogspot.com
8. NoellieBellie (IESE) - http://spanishnoelle.blogspot.com
9. Jerry Blank (Yale) - http://flatpointmba.blogspot.com
10. Olivier (INSEAD) - http://oliviermineau.blogspot.com

Excellent work…Way to go Vijay…Keep blogging…:)

My town (Manali new town) is boycotting elections citing various reasons including non-distribution of land certificates and house certificates, lack of proper roads etc., The Association of the town has submitted their decision to the collector. So no election campaigns, no posters…no indications whatsoever that there is election around….!

The Chief Minister will be visiting a nearby town on April 27th. So the PWD is busy laying damn new roads all the way from thiruvottiyur through ennore to the place called Ponneri. You should look at the speed at which the work is progressing…It will put even the most productive country in the world to shame! Is this because the local MLA wants to pacify Chief minister or a need for conveninent travel for chief minister or form of election campaign? Anyway, people are just going to use the road without thanking anyone…Well, why should they? It’s the job of government….A layman’s comment was interesting…”Why is Amma (Chief minister is fondly called so) laying roads now? She is stupid…She shouldn’t be doing it now…”!

I have been reading books and solving sudoku. I have this habit of reading multiple books simultaneously. I have covered 70-90 pages on 4 books…This helps my big-picture thinking…managing with multiple topics…! When I take the same book again, I take time to summarize what I read so far…helps to crystallize the learnings…

Tipping point is definitely interesting…Worth reading once. As far as, Lance’s story, I knew it before, but his writing style is truly inspiring and gripping…World is Flat has been interesting so far…But having been bombarded with loads of MBA related articles, the book seems repetitive/redundant…nothing new. Art of innovation is interesting….

3 of the 4 books talk about word-of-mouth. I am writing about books in the blog. The books talk about blogs! It may be a coincidence but a striking one!

I have a request from readers. Would like to hear from the readers on how they choose which books to read (where they get recommendations from?), how they read the book? (Speed, style of reading, pattern of reading etc.,) how they jot down the learnings? etc., Will be interesting to see the thinking process behind…

Am off the place for the weekend. Will get back on monday….

Bought 4 books and borrowed three books from a friend.

Argumentative Indian
Lance Armstrong - It’s not about the bike
Alchemist
Seabiscuit
World is Flat
Tipping point
Art of Innovation

Journal for myself:
Applied - Fit Analysis in progress - But I speculate that the chances are bleak. Either way it’s ok for me. Am glad that things will remain the same no matter what the outcome is…And, the important part is that the load is off my heart and I can look further….

I have decided to blog about the following things:

My interests - This will change according to time [Blogs, Books, Fitness (I developed a brief love with this activity when I was in belgium, planning to continue), Inspirations from various sources (!), and whatever comes as I go]
My life [Interesting happenings in my life, my perspectives about different things, etc.,]
MBA & Information Technology [Not much information is available about opportunities available for MBAs in IT..I will try to explore the opportunities and present it…I am relying on the army of IT guys from my batch who are heading to various companies as a source of information]
ISB [My alma mater (for a week now!)…which I have strong affection for]

Quite a few of my dad’s friends and relatives have been asking my dad, “Is your son the one who received that 1.04 crore salary?” The cheap and best, mass-newspaper “Deccan chronicle” has done a good job in publicising about ISB in this part of the remote world…Even, the same people who were asking “Why are you paying 15 lakhs for ISB, while you can get MBA from IGNOU for Rs.12,000″ are finding rationale for my choice over ISB …People want to see only the fruits…not the labour that goes in growing the tree! Another comment…”If he is taking such a risk, then he would definitely know it’s worth it…I never doubted it” Interesting insights…oops…hind-sights!

Since the PC in my home was almost 6 years old and failing frequently…set-up a brand new assembled box. It’s fast! Should get the Broad-band soon before I leave for hyderabad. I have also started my hunt for good house (for purchase)…Am in the process of identifying my needs and associated parallel research…

I subscribed to the RSS feed of all known ISB-2007 blogs. Very interesting to read the posts…The current batch is more active than we were…Go on guys, ride on the momentum..You all have one definite reader in me The RSS-reader software is a bliss for dial-up homes like mine….

Two people I turn towards for advice…

One I have known very well…rare kind to find in real life…gem!
Other, I have known through virtual medium….not met in real life…but somehow have confidence to turn for advice…But real nice person…so much by spending 40 minutes by calling me from UK….Thanks a lot…

I should say talking with these two has helped me a lot…

In the mean time, I have started loving list of things…God of small things, Short term goals, Compact Flash card, small-scale industries, Storage bits…

Finally, watching the climax of a Tam movie yesterday, gave me a flash of insight..and cleared the fog in mind…State of Crystal clear is bliss!

Pardon my cryptic post…Want to journal the happening but don’t want to make things explicit.

I spent the past few days by sleeping blissfully and eating good home-made food. Apart from that I haven’t been doing anything significant.

I have been living in my hometown for nearly 27 years. I have never felt bad about my place, even though there were many problems and I was aware of those. But now, I am feeling disadvantageous for living so out of the city. This place is good for people to settle down finally….But not for people who are so full of energy and at the stage of life where they want to explore things.

Yesterday, had a small meeting with Chennai Admits (around 5). I travelled almost 2 hours to reach the destination. The main incentive for me was to meet my friends while meeting the admits.

Almost all of my friends have cars and live in good posche areas. I had some strange feelings about the same…about being the odd-man out…! Anyway, these things can be bought out anytime…it’s the human relationships which is tough to obtain…

As expected, my parents started the talks of Marriage. I put the topic down by saying, “I am so undecided now. Let me settle with my job for 3-4 months. Then, we will see…”. There are some things in life, which you cannot discuss openly with everyone. I am facing exactly one such thing. I have never faced such a situation in my life….I am hoping that things smoothen out….

I am also in the process of transitioning the blog to next phase. Thinking about themes to follow. I have some things in mind. Will update soon….Blogging is one of my favourite hobbies. Will continue that at any cost….

The last 4 days took me through Multitude of emotions…Happiness, excitement, fulfillment, anxiety, sentiments and I also went through some riveting moments, which are deeply bolted into my heart…

I spent last 15 days with just an average of 5 hours of sleep per day. Partying and having fun hard! Outings for movies, dinner, coffee, icecream or ordering food from outside or playing “need for speed”/volleyball or playing cards or simply lying down and thinking about the ‘rocking’ year.

We had the Graduation day rehearsal on April 7th. We had good time trying out the graduation robes and learning how to wear the hats, hoods. I also understood the importance of shifting the tassle from left side of the hat to the right side to signify the completion of graduation! Students were completely having fun…After the demonstration and the rehearsal we headed to the Atrium to capture the group picture. I would say they made us to stand for almost an hour before capturing some 50 odd pictures to ensure atleast one great picture. Well, I wouldn’t bother as long as it turns it to be good…This one would be a treasure.

Finally, after the photo-shoot, we throwed the hat into the air and shot loads of pictures with unbelievable madness…Pure thrill…

In the evening, I attended the “Award ceremony - 2006″.I received my “Torch bearer award”. The defining moment for me was the moments of silence that the announcer brought about before uttering my name. He almost gave up before pronouncing my long name “Bharanidharan Viswanathan”. I thought he will never call me I guess the “h” following the “B” is causing confusions to many . Anyway, after presenting the award, they asked everyone to speak something..So I conveyed just a short and sweet message..”I am extremely honoured to receive this award. I dedicate this to the SPIRIT of ISB..Thank you”! The moments on stage were exciting . The complete event is covered in ISB website…including my pic ..Can’t believe it!

We played volleyball till 3′0 clock in to the morning of April 8th. Volleyball junta rocks!

I completed all my packing except for few final things. The big event began sharp @ 2:45 p.m on April 8th. It was an amazing sight to see everyone neatly dressed up in graduation robes and the parents eagerly waiting on the other side to capture the ‘moments’ of their ‘kids’. The huge hangar was was full! The logistics was as usual perfect! The ISB logistics and administration team simply rocks. You never see any major action going on…but things happen smoothly, seamlessly, silently and perfectly! I bow! You will understand that once you are here…

Mr.Ratan Tata gave away his graduation day message. The entire message is published in the ISB website.

The seating arrangement was split into two parts. Dean’s lister and others. I fell in the “Others” category. The seating arrangment was based on the alphabetical order of last name. That means, I was in the last 5 of the entire batch of 345! I waited for my turn by patiently clapping for all 340 students who went before me…Ankur Warikoo was behind me…So had a good company for me…All three viswanathan’s of ISB were put together (Anand Viswanathan, Ravi Viswanathan, Bharanidharan Viswanathan)…We ended the graduation ceremony with a huge uproar! That was followed by hat-throwing event. Those last moments cannot be described in words….has to be experienced. I thought to myself, I will not get sentimental! Well, inspite of my best efforts, few drops of tears seeped through my eyes…Atleast, now I know there is water inside my eyes

After all the excitement, I headed for a dinner hosted by our Aikya family (Dr. Manohar & Family) in their hotel. It was a great dinner with everyone in my study group, including the near-and-dears, invited. We also had a chance to meet few entrepreneurs and few medal winners from the recently concluded Common wealth games. Pleasant evening. Mr.Manohar proved yet again that very few can compete against him as a great host.

I came back to ISB. Put my parents in their allotted rooms. Rushed back to my room. Finished my final packing…and wrote this blog entry without even having a second look. Crap generation at its best…

I have officially completed my education. Definite Milestone. As I write this blog entry, my eyes are moist…Great ride came to an end…I completely enjoyed my stay here. I learnt a lot. I established many good contacts and developed few strong friendships…

I cannot hide but only say…”I will miss ISB, my quad, friends, environment, year-long-vacation, and my dear amigos (you know it amigos)”…I remember saying to my friends in the final moments…”I am one of the most cold-hearted persons you will every come across…In 2 days time, I would ask you ‘who are you’?”…My attempt at saying that was a failure…I am indeed one of the most warm-hearted persons! Sometimes good…sometimes bad…For now, it’s bad for my mind, as I have to go through sentiments for next few days….

PS: Will try to upload some pictures later…I don’t have energy to find and upload the good pics…

Well…Thought that the internet connection cannot be established after formatting my laptop..But to my surprise the wireless connection is working…So will make one final post reporting the graduation day ceremony from ISB, before I finally leave on 9th morning 5:00 a.m….

I missed my blog for 4 full days….found it tough….

This will be my last post from ISB…I will end the journey here…

I will definitely try to blog further, though not as consistent and frequent as now…

Wishing the batch of 2007 good luck. Whatever you do, don’t freak out yourselves. At the end of one year, you will realize that many things that you took upon yourself very seriously isn’t worth the pain. As every outgoing batch said in the past, I repeat…”This will be one of the best years in your life. Enjoy and savour it….An experience which will be enriching in all ways - intellectually, emotionally, professionally….”

I will be based in Hyderabad after ISB. I will be joining on May 2nd. So, anytime, if you need an ear to listen to your achievements, need any advice to your problems, need any assistance professionally please feel free to ping me at bharani@gmail.com. I will do whatever I can within my limits.

I am not coming for Orientation week, as I prefer to spend the 20 odd days that I have with my parents and visiting places…

Good luck and godspeed Batch of 2007…

Dear Class of 2006,

You don’t know how you have affected my life positively in various ways….It has been an amazing ride all through the year…I am privileged and honoured to be among this awesome group…As we venture into new realms, I am sure we will cross each other at various stages of our lives in different ways…So I am not going to say “good bye”…

Let the fellowship last forever…

Three cheers to the class of 2006!!!

Cheers,
-Bharani.

Around 1400+ people are expected to attend the Graduation ceremony on April 8th. The Atrium in ISB, though big, cannot accommodate such a huge number of people. There were rumours couple of months ago that the graduation day ceremony will be held at Gachibowli Football stadium. But many students were against the very idea of that. After all, what better way than getting that coveted paper within the confines of ISB…So, the powers that be in ISB decided to erect a huge Hangar to accommodate the event and the people. The construction of the structure is underway and is almost complete. The entire structure will be air-conditioned! Word is that the total expense related to this structure alone is around Rs. 15 lakhs…Fee paid by a single student…So, I can say “I am sponsoring the structure”