Somethings Matter The Most!

I am writing this post while on my way back to London from Vancouver. The last one week were easily the best few days of 2012. Reuniting with the family and meeting Vanshika - the little angel - made this trip very very memorable. I am longing for more and I know the next few hours in the flight and the coming 2-3 days will be a challenge in itself - to get used to the old routine. This is life, isn'it it? Somethings matter the most and the last few days will stay embedded in my memory for a very long time.

She is still soooo small. When I first saw Vanshika, it was difficult to believe that someone could be so small. She is such a darling, so beautiful, so calm, so relaxed. And she sleeps like an angel! Everytime she wakes up from her sleep, she does this customary stretching of muscles which make you feel like doing it yourself. And she does it in style - It is like a 45 second exercise which puts her immediately back to sleep. Barely 3 weeks old, she sleeps a lot right now. I was slightly surprised initially as to why she sleeps so much. Once in her dreams, it is very difficult to wake her up despite pulling / pushing her legs, arms, singing or for that matter, anything else. But once awake, she listens to you (doesn't respond yet) so attentively that it makes you feel like keep talking to her. I will miss her a lot!

It was great to see Mom and Dad so happy as well. I think for the next few months, all our lives will revolve around Vanshika. Everyone will talk about her, everyone will want to take care of her, everyone will want to play with her. Dad lightly remarked that he has grown 10 years younger after meeting with Vanshika. She's the first grandchild in the family and no doubt, we will all make her feel like a princess. When it comes to grandparents, the bond is much more deep, much more strong. I wish Vanshika learns all the good things from her grandparents as early as possible. I wish she grows up to become an intelligent, smart, beautiful, caring, loving person whom we all are proud of.

Rupi is still with the family. She will be back next weekend. I feel so happy that she is still there - with Bhabhi still recovering, Rupi's presence helps Mom to take care of the house. Mom has had a tough time managing everything on her own and I do hope that she will get a well deserved two weeks of rest while Rupi is with her. Rupi is doing an amazing job - I love you sweetheart!

On a different note, I have to confess my perspective on life changes a bit whenever I spend a few days with bhaiya. Not sure what exactly it is but he lives his life in a totally differnt way that I do. And it makes me learn a lot - Somethings matter more than others in life. I am glad that there is someone I can always look up to for guidance and common sense when things are falling apart. He is like a monk who will always give you the right advice when you need it the most. Bhaiya - stay rooted! I just hope that I stay close to you forever - after all, I am and I will remain your kid brother.


Love and Peace! The two things I seek for all of us.

She is here!

Today,  bhaiya and bhabhi were blessed with a baby daughter. What a feeling! I and Rupi are so far away - I think this is the first time that I am not with my family on such an important occasion. Moments like these make me believe that it is time to get back home. These are the great joys of life which I will continue to miss if I don't take the decision soon.

What a moment!

I can't believe that I have become a chachu. It is an immense feeling. Feels like that it wasn't long ago that bhaiya and I were playing cricket together, running after each other, fighting & caring for each other, still too young, going to school together, celebrating each occasion together. Ah! life has changed so much. Rupi and I are feeling so happy but there is no one to share our happiness with. I want to be with Mom and Dad - they will be the most happy people in the world today. They have waited for so long to become grandparents. I can't express my feelings here but today was one of those days when I really felt that I should have been closer to people who mean the most to me.

Life is fair but you always want a lot more!

Baby Neha, our little princess - we all love you very much. Learn all the good things from your grandparents - they will teach you all the great lessons that they taught to your dad and to me.

And always, always, stay close to your dad. He has waited for long - you are his angel, bless us all! Bring all the happiness in the world to our lives.

London Marathon, 2012

What a day!

It has been over 48 hours since the London marathon. My legs are still killing me. Can't walk properly and it feels like I went to an extra long gym session after 10 years. Despite this, part of me is saying that i have to do it again next year. Call me weird, crazy, psycho or whatever but It is difficult to put the feeling in words.

It was a surprise morning - the sun out in full glory with a gentle breeze blowing under the beautifully painted blue sky. Surprise because it had rained all through the week and we were told it could be rather depressing and cold on the race day. Waking up to such a lovely weather immediately lifted my spirits (and guess of the many other 38000 runners). I also sensed that I had slept well and my legs felt very fresh. While on the way to the starting point, the mood built up. The trains were packed with runners, their friends / family all in good spirits. Some of them getting ready in the weird outfits, long queues outside the bars to visit the washrooms, others continued to raise donations for their charity. As Rupi and I edged closer to the starting line, we finalised our meeting points again and again. It wasn't going to be easy to spot each other in such rush when the whole of London had descended either to run or to cheer up those who were running. Just before the starting line, I felt a bit uneasy - I should have trained more, I should not be running in the new trainers and I should have eaten one more banana an hour ago. And then, Go Gaurav.

The first mile itself took an eternity. It was difficult to run and speed ahead while rubbing shoulders with fellow runners. It is an unbelievable sight when 38000 people run on the same street at the same time. Belligerent! Bands, loud music, people chanting, egging on the runners, offering sweets, jelly beans, chocolates, biscuits (even beer). Not even a single inch of space was left unoccupied on either side of the road.

I met Rupi at the 6 mile mark - I gave her a flying kiss (which she accepted, I hope). Didn't stop as my legs were still going strong. In fact, I managed to run the next hour quite decently as well. Reaching Tower Bridge (12 miles+) was a moral victory - I had never seen so many people on the bridge at the same time. A couple of miles later was when the I felt my legs were giving up. I did the mental maths - 12 more miles to go, can't stop, no Gaurav - you can't stop just yet. The debate continued for another half a mile and then the devil won. I stopped running at a Lucozade station and started walking. It is always difficult to start running again after you have stopped once (simple law of momentum in physics). Still cursing myself that I shouldn't have stopped running, a guy came running from behind, patted my back and said 'Come On'. A couple of seconds later I was running again. And for the next 20 minutes, I thanked that guy whose one gentle push made me start running again in my moment of indecisiveness. I made it a point to push the other guys (who had started to walk) in a similar way. Wonderful gesture isn't it? 

At 17 miles, I met a big contingent from THT (the charity I supported) who made a loud noise as I ran past them. I was very close to Canary Wharf and knew that Rupi, along with Gyan, Aditya, Kinnary, is standing somewhere close. I was dead tired by now but wanted to stop only after I met them. Turned out that they were standing at Mile 19... uff, I was really angry 'coz I'd have liked them to stand a bit earlier so that I could have stopped earlier. This is the photo that Rupi clicked when I met her. I told all of them that I am now absolutely destroyed. And there were 7 more miles to go!

Between 19 and 23 miles, I walked a lot. At times, the only thought that crossed my mind was that I have to just finish the race so I should conserve my energy for a late boost. Guess it turned out to be a good plan. After the 35 km marker, I realised there were only 7km more to go and I mentally started eating away 100m by counting my steps. It kept my mind occupied and I could see the end very near. Quite frequently, I heard my name as the crowd kept cheering all the runners. The sound only got louder and louder. I met two of my office colleagues who egged me to carry on running. And then, not long after, I read '2 more miles to go and you will become part of the history'. What a thought at that stage. I ran and ran determined not to stop till I reach Big Ben. At this stage, I had run almost 2.5 miles without taking a break. Less than a mile to go, I stopped and decided to walk 100m. Somebody from the crowd shouted my name and said 'Go Gaurav'. I turned around to see an Indian guy waving his hand and angrily questioning why have I stopped - it is only 5 more minutes now, run! 

And I did run again. With my eyes focused on my feet, I decided not to look up again till I got very close to the finish line. My feet were hurting, legs trembling and I felt a persistent backache. '600m to go', the banner said when I looked up momentarily. I was shattered - how was I going to cover the remaining 600m? After a minute, '400m to go'.... And then 385 yards... I had reached Buckingham Palace.... the finishing line in sight... At that moment, a runner sprinted past me and several others. All of a sudden, the pain eased out and my legs had found renewed strength - the last 100m was the fastest that I had run during the whole 42 km journey. I had just experienced the Runner's High. 

26 miles had ended too quickly. 5 hours had gone by too soon. I wanted to run more!

Back Again! This time for Good.

It has been more than four years. Can't believe it. Time has flown, the world has changed, I have changed but old memories stay forever.

Having just read some posts on a friend's blog (she is a textile designer in London), I realised what a fantastic mode of communication this still is. In the world of Twitters & Facebooks, we risk losing all the details. And at times, I do feel like doing a bit more than the 15 seconds elevator pitch. So, here I am back in the days of detailed blogging.

And I am back to stay here for long (hopefully forever). And why not? It just feels so great to read through all my previous posts. Good old memories and I want to add more to these memories. 20 years down the road, this is what will keep me going.

There's lots to say. But hey, the most important thing. I am running the London Marathon tomorrow (22 April 2012). Last four months have been taxing - running, running and more running just to feel confident that I can grind myself towards the finishing line. There's a sinking nervous feeling that I should have trained more. But can't really think about that too much at this stage. I am EXCITED, ready to GO, soak myself in the SURROUNDINGS and achieve something which most people can only DREAM of.

And I know it will be 'Once in a lifetime' kindda achievement.

Thank you to all who have sponsored me whole heartedly. Here is the link.

http://www.justgiving.com/GauravChaudhary2012

This is what it looks like 24 hours before the race starts:

Guys, you are all amazing people. It takes a lot of courage to spare a few bucks and donate it for a good cause. And you all have done it. I will be running for all you tomorrow. Wherever you are, do root for me!

NRI brains power world

By Chidanand Rajghatta TNN

Of Raman Effect and Bose-Einstein Condensation, you might have an idea. But have you heard about the Chandrasekhar Limit, or Karmarkar’s Algorithm, or Viswanath’s Constant?

Long before Indians got into nuts and bolts, their contributions to the world of pure science was the stuff of legends — whether it was Aryabhata and Brahmagupta’s postulation of zero, or Buddhayana’s calculation of the value of Pi, or Shridhara’s rules for finding out the volume of a sphere.

The rich theoretical tradition continues to this day as Indian scientists, engineers and mathematicians traverse the world. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the legendary C V Raman’s equally famous nephew who taught at the University of Chicago, calculated the eponymous limit to describe the maximum non-rotating mass which can be supported against gravitational collapse, commonly given as being about 1.4 solar masses. Narendra Karmarkar, who taught at Caltech and UC Berkeley before returning to India, introduced the eponymous algorithm in 1984 to solve linear programming problems. In 1999, Diwakar Viswanath, a computer scientist at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, California, arrived at the mathematical constant in number theory that carries his name.

While the Indian legacy in conceptual thinking has been kept alive by such advances in theory, the second half of the 20th century also saw Indian-born scientists and engineers in the west contribute substantially to discovery and innovation. In 1948, Yellapragada Subba Rao synthesized Aureomycrin, the first of the tetracycline antibiotics, and Methotrexate, used to alleviate several types of cancer, including childhood leukemia. ‘‘He lived, so that you could live longer,’’ it was said of him. In 1952, Narendra Singh Kapany, building on the work of Irish physicist John Tyndall that had shown that light could travel in a curve inside a material (water), conducted experiments that led to the invention of optical fibre. In 1956, underwhelmed by the performance of high-end stereo speaker systems, Amar Gopal Bose undertook experiments that paved the way for breakthrough technology in acoustics and led to the formation of Bose Corporation.

While these were the early pioneers, Indian contributions to the world of technology breakthroughs in the last quarter century are just too many to chronicle in a short article. From Lasik eye surgery, which is built on the work of University of California scientist Mani Lal Bhaumik and IBM engineer Rangaswamy Srinivasan (whose grand-nephew Krishna Bharat gave the world Google News), to advances in catalytic convertors in automobile engines (credited to Ford’s Haren Gandhi), Indian contributions span the spectrum of science, medicine and engineering.

In fact, many of the Indian-engineered or -inspired inventions are so much a part of our life now that they don’t even stand out. How often do you associate Windows, whose early versions were largely wrought by desi heads, with Indians? Or the rewritable CD, which was based on the work of Dr Praveen Chaudhuri, who now heads the Brookhaven National Laboratory?

There’s no better place to get a sense of how deep the Indian contribution runs than the legendary Bell Labs, the 84-year-old institution whose inventions and discoveries crowd every part of our homes. This is where a young scientist named Mohan Sondhi invented the echo canceller, which made phone conversations clear; where Bishnu Atal’s digital speech coding innovations dramatically expanded the benefits of cellular phone technology to millions of users; where C Kumar Patel invented the carbon dioxide laser; and where Arun Netravali’s work led to the development of the High-Definition Television.

But all this would seem like skimming the surface if one considers the past decade. Each year, since 2000, desis are present in greater numbers in every major annual list recognizing innovative work — from MIT’s young tech innovators list to the National Academy of Sciences recognition for distinguished scientists, to science talent searches conducted by Intel, Lucent and Westinghouse. Next only to the US, which remains the world leader in modern advances despite its relative decline, India seems all geed up to make the world a better place.

Break from the past

By SWAPAN DASGUPTA

Times of India, 27 Jan 2008

There are two interesting facets of a state visit to India by a British dignitary, be it royal or commoner. The first is the sight of the Union Jack fluttering all along Rajpath — a sight fairly uncommon in England and an absolute rarity in Scotland. The second is the dreary question a lazy media loves asking: Is India still inflicted by a colonial hangover?

The term ‘‘hangover’’ is a misnomer since it denotes an unpleasant morning after a pleasurable night-before. Regardless of the awe and veneration with which Britons were regarded by those who, ironically, fought for freedom, most young Indians have flushed colonialism out of their system. There remains a keen interest, even fascination, for the West, particularly the US. Some of us even see London as the perfect home away from home, a comfort zone in alien Europe. But, as prime minister Gordon Brown should have gauged during his brief visit, there is no meaningful special relationship any more with the erstwhile ‘‘mother country’’. Even the remaining ‘‘coconut’’ enclaves face extinction.

To those who view the 190 years between Plassey and Independence as the Dark Ages, this exorcism was inevitable. Yet, despite all the tripe that the history text books dish out, Indians have shown no extreme antipathy for the colonial experience. Compared to the deep hatred in the popular Hindu imagination for, say, Mahmud of Ghazni and Aurangzeb, posterity has been relatively kind to British rule. There was always an innate respect for British-moulded institutions; in recent times this has extended to an appreciation for colonial aesthetics.

Why hasn’t this sneaking admiration translated into a love for what today’s Britain stands for?

Indians who have been out on the town on a Friday night in a British city often ask: are these the same people who just 60 years ago presided over the largest empire in history? It is not merely the public show of loutish drunkenness that conflict with our mental stereotype of the British. Almost every virtue we associated with our former rulers — exemplary restraint; commitment to hard work, thrift and enterprise; a level-headed approach to adversity; and unflinching national pride — has been thrown into the dustbin of history.

In just six decades, Britain has redefined its national character. Britishness is now personified in the ‘‘democratic’’ culture of the pub, the football stands, the tabloids and binge holidays on the Costa del Sol. No wonder the British home secretary has admitted that it is dangerous for a woman to go out late at night in London. In 60 years, Britain has moved from Caesar to Caligula.

The decline has rubbed off in strange ways. Suffering from post-colonial guilt, Britain is now in a tearing hurry to reject every aspect of its past. Apologising for past excesses has been presented as a way to make the country more ‘‘inclusive’’ and ‘‘multicultural’’. From being a strong and somewhat arrogant power, Britain has sought to refashion itself as a good power, committed to noble ideals like fighting greenhouse emissions, downgrading excellence and promoting curry. The result is unintended: it is perceived as cringing, grovelling and, at the same time, patronising.

In India, this image makeover has been ridiculed. Britain had been associated with smooth talking hard-headedness. In packaging itself as the benefactor of self-empowered women’s groups, pesky NGOs and environmental activists, it has adopted a role associated with pious but irrelevant Scandinavians.

If Pakistan is an example of a failed state, Britain is a curious example of a faltering society. There is a lesson in it for us. Unless political liberalism is supplemented by robust and rooted social values, a nation can easily lose its head.

Emerging India: Where is it?

The last five minutes I have been thinking on what shall I talk about - My experiences at work, India's win over Pak in the first test, stupid UK Home Office regulations, and the list could be endless.

Suddenly, today's news at IBNLive replayed at the back of my mind. And I am left with so many questions unanswered.

We talk about secular India - where is the equality when people like Modi still bank on their fortunes by dividing the different religious sects of the society. You can still listen to the horror stories of Godhra and how this God-like figure of Modi has been able to over power all the wrongs that were done not so long ago.

We talk about security in India - what does security mean when women are harrassed publicly in full daylight and no one has the courage to revolt against it. I am talking about what happened in Assam when the tribals were in a procession to seek ST status. The event leaves me horrified and deep in shame to learn about the mental sickness some of the citizens are suffering from. Yet again, like so many times before, I donot expect the Govt. or the law to provide justice to the victim and the issue to die down in the FIRs of some unknown police station.

We talk about young India - what will happen to the youth if the future doctors have to take to streets and clean cars in order to protest against the ruling which requires them to spend an year extra in studies. Media calls it 'Gandhigiri' - the word probably coined for the firm time by Sanjay Dutt in 'Munnabhai' - but its so unfortunate to know about how decisions at the top level (in this case, our wise old politicians) are taken without really considering all facets of the issue from various persepctives.

We talk about mass welfare in India - the BIG question really is whether the GDP growth of 8-9% is having any significant impact on the lives of people living in rural India. The benefits haven't trickled down to the people at the bottom of the pyramid. The divide between rich and poor is widening as ever. It doesn't require deep thinking to realize that India really has two stark personalities today. One, of growing India, where you see an average young Indian - graduate from any engineering/arts/ commerce college - earning his living without any problems (courtesy, largely the dotcom/BPO boom). The second, and completely opposite, is that section of society which still finds it difficult to earn daily bread. What is still very unfortunate is the fact that the latter section outnumbers the former and represents the country true face.

There are so many reasons which hamper India's progress to becoming a truely democratic, secular, emerging India where people's rights are respected. And when I say people, I include people from all castes/religions/sections/states of the country. To my belief, the biggest roadblock is the very nature of the present government - The Coalition Politics. Despite having one of the finest economist the world has seen in recent times at the helm, the government has failed to deliver much of what it promised in the Common Minimum Programme. Dr. Singh has repeatedly been called a lame-duck over the past few months. I don't pity that old man but I salute his honesty, his work-ethic, his sense of responsibility that he has displayed over the last three and a half years at that position. I pity the Karat & Co who have done no good to the nation and are responsible for the havoc they have caused in Nandigram. Moreover, it doesnot take big brains to understand that for India to continue developing at a growth rate of 8-10% annually, the country needs energy to fuel this growth. And, nuclear energy is the only solution to the issue unless you want to prevent Delhi/Mumbai/Kolkata/Chennai and other big cities to go the Shanghai and Beijing way.

Whatever's written above are all random bits clubbed together. But there's one common thread amongst all these thoughts - India still has a long way to go before it emerges as a nation where its citizens are proud of what they have achieved. Still a long way to go!

Om Shanti Om - Cam Something Be Worse?

An utter waste of a Saturday evening! I am left thinking that there's something grossly wrong with the Indian media which has hyped the movie to such an extent.

The movie has the worst storyline amongst all the movies I have ever seen. There are so many loose ends and you keep wondering how the sequence of events keep unfolding one after the other without any connections. Did I hear somebody (Farah Khan?) say that it is a tribute to the 70s!!! It is like making a mockery of good old Indian cinema. Just how cheap people can become in order to market/sell something. I feel I will support Manoj Kumar in his criticism - just because everything about the movie is so bad that I want to criticise this supposedly 'Biggest Hollywood Movie of 2007' as much as I can. Can I PLEAD to everyone not to waste time and money to watch this utter crap of 3 hours. Please also spread this word to everyone else you meet - I genuinly believe that this will be a kind service to our brethren.

One thing which has stood out while I am sharing my anger is how easy it is to fool people by promoting something which is total crap. People like Rajiv Massand (IBN Live critic) should be fired for laying out an inappropriate and false review of this movie.

Sunil says its half baked - For me, the movie doens't even have the right ingredients at all. Amidst all this, I feel that Bhansali's Saanwariya has suffered unnecessarily because all the attention has been wrongly give to Om Shanti Om. I will sleep today pondering over my question - 'Can Something be Worse than Om Shanti Om?'

Pak: Emergency Rule

All the news channels flashed that emergency rule/martial rule was imposed in Pakistan yesterday. For a moment, I couldn't help thinking whats going on in our neighbourhood and what's likely to be the immediate impact of martial rule on the country's economy. But then, just then, a sense of security engulfed me. Afterall, everyone in India has this impression (largely media creation) that all terrorist activities in India are Pak state sponsored and to an extent, the emergency rule may just help curb some of these activities in my home country for some time. I wish good for Pak and its people.

On the same topic, the headline today is 'Imran Khan escapes arrest, flees home in Pak'. Khan has his own small political party but what took my attention was the fact that he studies in Oxford as well. He was here between 1972-1975. I just searched a blog that details about all his experience. No doubt, he was a great cricketer in his time, but to be studying in Oxford and then becoming a legend in sport is a double achievement. Here, you can read more about some of his experiences in Oxford.

http://www.oxfordstudent.com/tt1999wk5/news/the_interview:_anything_he_khan

Taking a step back, I realize that this is my first posting on the blog for almost two months. Its not that I have been busy; on the contrary, I have been relatively free during this time barring a week in-between when the Capstone (final one week assignment at the business school) was running. The course ended on 14th September with a MBA farewell reception hosted by the school. It was a gala evening (Black Tie Dinner - just that i didn't have a black tie!). People drank a lot and they had good reasons for it - They drank because they wanted to get drunk.

I spent the next three weeks at home with mom n dad. It was so good to have a lot of time back home and do things which I had missed for the last whole one year - like having paranthas n lassi in the breakfast, talking to dad about so many things, riding in our very own dhanno and just being in chandigarh gives me that feeling which is difficult to describe. But like all good things, my stay at Chandigarh came to an end - I felt I should have had more time a home.

Things have settled down quickly in London, though. I joined Oliver Wyman on 15th October. It has been a steady going till now. As my advisor suggested, I have been focusing on keeping the basics right - not really trying to do anything very smart - just going on with the flow. The first project is kindda OK... not really great but its giving me valuable time to settle down and learn some tricks before taking on increased roles. Weekend's been busy - managing the move and getting stuff in the new place. Below are some pics - enjoy!

Punting in Oxford

This is a very famous sport in Oxford and Cambridge. Before coming to Oxford, I had read in one of the last year student's blog that your Oxford experience will not be complete if you leave without punting.

So, here we were - myself, Andres, Perla and Sunil - trying to master the art of punting. It looked very easy from outside but, to be honest, those 80 minutes were a lot of hardwork for all us. Below, some shots!

25 Gresham Street: 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

The venue for the final SCP presentation - this is Lloyds head quarters. We reached London in the morning at 9:15 AM to meet Paul and Yuvraj (from the Lloyds team) and headed off to Building 25 which was just a few minutes away. I had slept off during the entire one hour ride on the train or atleast my eyes were closed and I was not thinking about the presentation. I could hear Angel, Cesar and Fernando doing some last minute discussion on the train.

In the presentation room, we were joined by Paul senior and a few members from the Lloyds strategy team. After a bit of a chit-chat, we began with our presentation. What followed was a long - long session where amongst four of us, we shared the insights we had gathered over the last two months. There were some questions from the audience in between, which I welcomed as they broke the monologue from our team. But to be fair on the audience, it is difficult to understand all the concepts on 'carbon markets' in just one session. Hell, we spent the first three weeks on this study just to understand the basics of it all.

The presentation lasted for around 2.5 hours. I was glad that it finally ended as 2.5 hours is definitely long for anybody sitting in the audience. But after attending three hour long sessions regularly at the business school, it felt nice to be on the other side of the table and see part of the audience struggling to concentrate (read, struggling to wake up :)). At the end, the effort was appreciated by all. Both the Pauls thanked the team for a fantastic effort and mentioned that this was much above the expectations they had. Paul Wylie commented that he was very happy with the interim presentation and never expected that we guys would be able to do so much stuff after the interim - and all this has made him even more happier.

It was good to know that Lloyds liked our work. And, we do feel that this will help Lloyds in one way or the other to shape up their future strategy related to the carbon market. After breaking out of the meeting, the Lloyds team hosted a lunch for all of us. We went to a great Indian restaurant. My Spanish friends relished every bit of it. And, for me, there couldn't have been a better place for a full course meal. Over the lunch, we had a chat on various random issues - it was all such a great atmosphere; these guys are really good.

The journey back to Oxford was tiring. We all had hardly slept for long hours for some days. After I reached home, I helped myself to a long nap. The morning after was much relaxed.

Golf - The New Sport

Hours ago, I took my first golf lessons. Awesome, it was!

Angel and I went to the Oxford Golf Driving Range. 5 minutes from the school. We had planned to visit it today just to enquire about the timings/prices. Luckily, we found it wasn't very costly. Get 50 balls and rent a club for 5 pounds. Costly but manageable - atleast, this added another 'First' in my Oxford experience.

I think, for a beginner, I did pretty well. After learning the basics from Angel, I was getting into a better swing with every shot. I counted and hit 10 balls very well - that's a good 20% hit rate. Pat on my back! Good job. I now know that swing is the most important aspect of the game. If you want to hit the ball long, the swing has to be perfect. Lots to learn, but I will improve. Now that I have broken the first-timer hang-up, I can visit the driving range on my own and work on my game. Once every week for sure. Stragely enough, I am coming to an end with my stay at Oxford and I am having some of my best days here. As they say, its never too late!

Day before yesterday, we made the interim presentation to the Lloyds team. We had done good work and they recognized it. I believe, as a team, we are doing very well. We complement each other's strengths well and that makes a lot of difference. One of the guys from Lloyds also mentioned that we seem to be very close to the final output. That was encouraging. More so, from our point of view, we wanted to be sure if our work is going to help Lloyds in some way or not. It appears that this piece of strategy work is going to go a long way in Lloyds' immediate business plans. Here, I paste one of the pics after the presentation (L-R: Cesar, me, Angel, Fernando).

Meeting Room 16

One white board, Three markers (1 each of Red, Blue, Green), Two flatscreen desktops, One Table, Eight Chairs.

This is where I have been spending most of my days off late. Not that we have been working hard on the project. But, its also true that I have not really done much of the random stuff. Life's been a bit monotonous these days - Wake up in the morning, get ready, eat breakfast, come to Meeting Room 16, thrash ideas, a lunch break in-between, conference calls with industry experts across the world (i feel i will be expert after this project gets over as well, really not many people who know about this business as of now), go back home in the evening, watch movies/tv serials, sleep. A bit of guitar in-betweeen and some tennis, squash on a few days.

Something's not fair. Here's why:
1. 4 MBA students (almost full graduates) working for 5 days a week for 2 months: Total Money Earned - GBP 8000 @ GBP 1000 per person per month
2. 4 MBA Full Time Salaries working for 5 days a week for 2 months: Total Money Earned - GBP 36000 @ GBP 4500 per person per month

GBP 28000 is a huge difference. This is a cheap way of getting things done. People say that you should utilise this opportunity to put into practice business principles that we have learnt over the last one year. But then, if its just another learning opportunity, why are we expected to come up with recommendations which can be implemented straight away. And why does the project contract mention the following,

"The Consultants undertake to complete a Project and prepare findings for Lloyds TSB Bank on the manner in which Lloyds TSB should enter the carbon emissions market and launch a carbon emissions trading business, which shall include, but not be limited to, researching, listing and analysing potential opportunities in the market. The results of the Project shall be presented to the Company in the form of a business plan. Upon completion of the Engagement, the Company may in its sole discretion agree to pay to the Consultants a fee of an amount to be determined by the Company."

I don't really like the last part of the above script. That really means that we are not even sure if we will all get our supposed GBP 2000 - Another cheap trick to get the work done. The Business Projects Office should increase the minimum stipend for the students - after all, it is almost the time for all of us to take life into the fast lane.

But, on the brighter side, the project is really interesting and making us learn lot of things about the Carbon Market which is definitely going to be the focus of attention over the next 5-10 years.

Meeting Room 16 is likely to see the same faces for the next three weeks (including the weekends, maybe). We've got our interim presentation two days later - That should separate Milk from the Water :)) Ok, what I meant was dhoodh ka dhoodh aur paani ka paani hona! Is there a better way to translate that in English?

Lloyds - Project Update

Our team just had a meeting with our project supervisor at the school. It is a funny and strange thing to understand why do we need a project supervisor for the summer consulting assignment. I believe its like all other things wherein you need a person at the top to resolve any issues that may arise. As Han (our project supervisor) made it clear in the first meeting, he will be here to oversee that all the team members work towards the project and none is a free rider. Given that the first meeting was just a 5 min session, I expected not much out of today's meeting as well. After we presented him the roadmap for the next two weeks, he appeared quite interested and started asking more questions about our work and research. The meeting was useful as he motivated us further stating that this project has all the ingredients to be selected as the 'Best SCP' this year and for those who do not know, this is a coveted recognition as this is our chance to work on a real-life business issue. End implication - Extended hours in the library and more team meetings in the next six weeks.

We also had the first full team meeting with Lloyds as we traveled to London this week. The meeting was successful as we presented our findings till date and chalked out the plans for the next couple of weeks. The good (or the bad) thing about 'Carbon Trading' is that there is a lot of interest (also read speculation) shown by all stakeholders and this has been touted as the next BIG thing. But, to be honest, once you go through all the published material and you realize that the industry needs more structure and regulations to move further, you feel that everything is like a shot in the dark. And why not, no body perceived that the carbon credit prices in Phase 1 of the EU Trading Scheme will fall from EUR 25 to EUR 0.50... If nothing else, people have started speculating a bit more. Mark my words - CARBON BUBBLE is not far away.

But, all in all, we believe that we have had a good beginning for this project. The next two weeks are going to be crucial as we dig deeper in our research and then start the process of narrowing down to one single business opportunity for Lloyds. Writing a B-plan will definitely be a difficult exercise but we all are looking forward to it.

Life's not just work these days, if you've got this impression after reading the above text. I recently purchased a guitar - local brand but good sound. Here are the pic - black always looks majestic to me.

I am beginning to get my touch back after learning a few new songs.. and this surely has added another dimension to my life these days. Of late, I have also been watching lot of movies - Bourne Identity, Shooter, Anti Trust, Silver Surfer... to name a few. Life's good!

Oxford Bhraman!

Feels like its so easy these days to be in Oxford. How much difference one change (read not being unemployed) can make to your life. I remember the last few months when I was always under pressure to get a job, any damn job. And now, it feels like a better and a totally different world altogether. I still have to do the Lloyds project but its OK.. don't really care much about that now.

Last Friday was Open Day for most colleges and people were allowed inside the college premises to look around. Myself, Ruchir, Saurabh and Vikar went around college hopping and clicked some memorable shots. I guess my Oxford holiday has just begun and will continue for the next two months - long holiday, I know. I plan to move around the town a bit and visit the surrounding locales as well. This Saturday will be a barbecue at Fernando's place and then on Sunday a club cricket match - lots of fun.

Below some pics of the Oxford Bhraman! Changed the colors to black and white to give it a more vintage look.

Clicked from University Church of St. Mary. At the backdrop is 'All Souls College'. This college was founded in 1438 and only about two guys are elected to fellowships each year. Fellowship of All Souls is regarded as the highest academic honours in the UK. Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Amartya Sen have been fellows of All Souls. Fabulous achievement!

At Magdalen College. Founded in 1448, one of the most spread out colleges amidst woodlands, riverside walks and lawns; the college also has the most hautingly beautiful buildings of Oxford

Built in 1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library, the Radcliffe Camera (camera is another word for 'room') is now a reading room for the Bodleian Library. The distinctive circular dome and drum of the structure makes it one of the most recognizable and often-photographed building in Oxford. This building is not open to the public (its open to university students). The inside of the building is spectacular with brilliant art work. Will post some pics soon:)

Turf Tavern. The Turf is "probably Oxford's oldest pub". Its foundations date from at least the thirteenth century. The current timbered front part is seventeenth century. The Turf was renamed the Turf Tavern in 1805. The pub has been frequented by such likes of Bill Clinton.

One of the smaller lanes around Turf Tavern

Oxford High Street

Trinity's Over

Exams for this term are up! And now we can rest assured that we'd soon be Oxford MBAs. Am not really eager to start on the Lloyds consulting project, but will take it as the time comes. For now, its just next 3 days of khlena, koodna and full masti. The trip back home last week was a much needed break. Met so many friends/relatives and yes, champagne finally did flow on the very first day itself. It was all good fun though quite hectic. Shots...

With Dad, sharing a light moment

Mom and Dad, Gobind Mamaji on the left; All eyes on the Champagne

Dad opened it in just one shot

Mom enjoying herself, Alok (front) and Kuppy (standing)

Small Indian Family

That's one big hug with Raj Mamaji

Brothers and Sisters
(Sitting) Monudi, Alok
(Standing) Mitu, Neeru

Not unemployed anymore!

The title says it all... isn't it?

The search which started around eight months ago is finally over and I now have job. Relief! After many applcations, interviews, some networking, many trips to London and many missed lectures, the efforts have resulted in one the best opportunities for me. I have no doubt in my mind that Oliver Wyman is going to offer me a highly enriching and rewarding career post-MBA. Pat on my back! Deloitte Consulting's offer is also encouraging. Starting as a Senior Consultant, I would be given many responsibilities right from the start. But still, OW does stand out on many counts.

What a busy week it has been! OW's offer came late last week. And since then, there has been little time (almost none) to celebrate. We (myself, Sunil, Saif) did go out for the customary dinner on the day offer came. But after that, it's been just this term's course work. This was the last week of Trinity Term and I am glad that now it is over. Don't think I have learnt much in this term but yes, for sure, I have improved my writing skills further (as has been the case for the last two terms) .. ha ha..

M off to chandigarh this evening. catch u later

Good Indian Food After Long

Today evening, I went to meet my distant relatives. My dad's buaji and her family, they had been here since 1970s before moving back to India a few years ago. Since then, they have been coming to Oxford to spend a month during summers every year.

This was the second time I was meeting buaji and Sunil in my entire life! And the first time I was meeting uncle, Sonia, Shivani. I had a really good time, they were very welcoming and I immediately felt a part of the family. The first time I was meeting an Indian English family where we were mostly coversed in English - that was the only peculiar thing in the setting :)

I stayed there for 4 hours, and the discussion revolved around a lot of things - Indian summers, traffic, tax evasion, salesmen in Indian malls who always flock you if you make the mistake of entering at a non-busy hour (apparently, the family went for shopping the morning and were still in the shopping mood), IIT (ha ha ha, uncle had done his graduation at IIT D - the moment I got to know about that, I felt even more comfortable talking to him, he was a participant in the first IITD batch, and yes we talked a lot about IIT :)), sai baba and puttaparty (the family is a great devotee of baba and are now settled at baba's ashram) and so many more things.

I didn't realize that time went by so quickly. It was already 3 hours when buaji asked for dinner and then I had the time of my day - karhi, paneer, salad, puuurrrrriiiiiiiiiii. Desserts including strawberries, mangoes (Indian mangoes), ice-cream and hot love (some fudge which Sonia/Shivani had prepared from ice-cream, cream, and some more stuff - i didnt have it). Really good food and again we had a very good discussion over the table. One thing which really stood out during the entire 4 hours was that kids and parents were debating on a whole lot of issues - uncle, buaji, sonia, shivani and sunil - all were talking about regular day to day things and ne'er seemed like stopping and taking a break :) As I now know, this is quite common in an Indian English family.

Back home, I still have kaju ki barfi to gorge on. Buaji gave me a box of barfi before I left. Indian sweets are just too good - I miss them.

Strategy Consulting Project

With the term (last at Oxford) nearing an end, things are getting less ambigous now. Now I know where I will be spending my summers for the Strategy Consulting Project (SCP).

The SCP allocation is a long process in which the companies had started presenting the projects right at the start of this term. There were not many good projects on offer but those which were good attracted a very strong competition. My eyes were on Macquarie, Lloyds, Standard & Poors (in the order of preference).

Four teams bid for Macquarie and we lost that bid (Team included Robin, Diliana and Kian) to a better team. Allan made a lot of difference in the two teams and the result was known and obvious to everyone in the school even before the teams presented their bid.

Lloyds also was a tough nut to crack. Here my team included Angel, Cesar and Fernando. We did a fair bit of job on building the presentation as I could extract some ideas from my Macquarie presentation. The other two teams were equally strong if not more. But I think what really clicked in our favor was the team dynamics we were able to pull out during our presentation to the Lloyds team. I led the presentation effort and it was a very good experience; before we ended, we knew that we had put across a very good effort and communicated all our ideas strongly to the panel. They called us after all the three presentations were over to tell us they want our team to work on the project. It was quick!

Now only a few more weeks of class room study is left. Or, its already over? with students already bunking most of the classes to explore job opportunities or just enjoy the Oxford experience. But yes, the assignments never seem to end. Somebody somehwere had told me that Trinity Term will be a walk in the park - it remains a distant dream, atleast for now.

Any case, I am already looking forward to the Lloyds consulting project. And yes, we may go punting sometime soon!

Oxford Cambridge Day

Sports is fun. And more so, when it is between arch rivals like India-Pakistan. Yesterday, it was Oxford-Cambridge. A day that began with a variety of sports and ended with music n masti.

Squash, soccer, touch-rugby, cricket, badminton, rowing. Oxford came on top except the last one. The domination continues and tradition lives for another year.

The weather was perfect for outdoor activities. We guys were looking forward to a win against Cambridge after our loss to St. Hughes couple of days ago. More so, as it would act as a good confidence booster ahead of our next Oxford inter-college match next week.

We lost the toss and Cambridge invited us to bat. What followed was absolute mockery of the new ball/old ball attack :) Murtaza, our star opener, punched boundary after boundary. As runs continued to flow from his blade, the team ended the innings at a very healthy 240 (20 overs) - Murtaza's contribution: 149 runs. Exhilarating.

It would always have been a difficult chase barring some outstanding performance from the opposition. And Adi took 2 wickets in his second over which forced them on the backfoot. We kept on maintaining the pressure right through and bowled them out in 12 overs for some 60 runs. It was absolute demolition. Some call it Murtaza v/s Cambridge - No doubt. My contribution - 2 catches, imp because catches win matches. Pics below.

Murtaza and Anuj - Openers going in

Murtaza in action

The brigade cheering the openers

Oxford XI

(Sitting: L-R) Rahul, myself, Chris, Anuj, Kartik

Standing (L-R) Satya, Andrew, Rushabh, Sumit, Murtaza, Adi

Another Team Pic

Red Cherry

Oxford and Cambridge XI

After the match

Cambridge guys in whites and light blues

Winners take it all