It’s been quite a while since I’ve been blogging – call it a bad case of writer’s block, or so much going on in life, that its overwhelming to sit down and write about it.

So what has been going on?

Transition to Facebook

I wouldn’t say I’m hooked to FB, but it’s the way to network now. I like Orkut more still for its simplicity, but I guess it is time to move on.

MBA Dreams

It was tough to finally realize it has happened, after 2 years of long waitlists and rejections. I’m super excited and happy to be going my top choice school and to be in a city as super as Chicago. It was one my favorite cities of all the intra-US traveling I did last winter. And I am totally in-sync with my school’s motto – “To be the best business school for the world, besides being the best business school in the world”

Sports

It’s been a real case of severe up and downs for Liverpool and Ferrari this year. More on that to follow in subsequent posts.

Here’s hoping I get into the flow of posting….

Investment Banking (IB) is a sure shortcut to huge money – that is one thing everyone agrees on. My life happens to be full of graduates from “Double I” schools of India – as my bosses, peers, friends, siblings of friends, distant relatives etc. – and one thing you can gauge from the voices of people who are not investment bankers is that they would like to do that more than anything else in the world.

Personally speaking, I have never seen the thrill in the IB game, partly because of my ignorance and partly because of my belief that I am never going to be good with money matters (not that I don’t open my eyes wide in mock amazement when I hear figures of year end IB bonuses – amounts of money that I won’t probably earn in 10 years).

Liar’s Poker is a wonderful attempt at recreating the IB life – from a beginner to a seasoned I-Banker – and the story of the most successful I-Bank on Wall Street. The book also dwells fairly deep into the technical level details of the game, though certainly it is not to be treated as a “Trading Mortgage Bonds for Dummies” title!

What I understood from the book? Certainly, the work environment is not for the faint hearted (or should I say don’t carry your heart to your trading desk). When people in the same firm are out to screw you, there’s really no use of saying something like “watch your back” – as a full frontal attack is allowed and part of the rules. You’ve just got to hope your screwdriver works better than others and the screws at the top of your head are in place.

Bosses who pay themselves too much, and are taking the firm towards annihilation – I guess they are everywhere. Since the game is all about making millions in a flash, and everyone is trying to do the same thing, it should not come as a surprise if the boss pays himself like there’s no tomorrow. Unfortunately, if the same boss talks about virtues like loyalty, he would not find many listeners.

While the book traces the history of Salomon Brothers, I cannot help but compare it to my current workplace / domain of work. As a quick and dirty sequence of events:

A small firm doing exceedingly well in its area of work –> A brilliant new diversification idea –> Firm makes lot of money –> Merger / Acquisition (read as “people at top get rich quick”) –>Profit sharing absent for people at the bottom –> One bad season –> Panic –> Firm becomes talent seeding ground for competitors –> Too many players in the market –> Firm goes into consolidation mode –> Becomes just another player in the market as compared to holding several pioneering advantages earlier –> Business profitability heads south

Coming to the broader topics of “Evolution of Organizations” and Organizational Behavior (which are areas of my interest), there are too many of these stories floating around – and there is a certain sense of acceptance and inevitability of this kind of behavior whenever you talk of a startup. While the stock owners make very good money (and rightly so), people at the bottom (who have seen their careers grow with the firm and feel a sense of loyalty) are severely disillusioned. What I fail to understand is, if for a million dollars less in my kitty (out of several million dollars) I can make everyone feel an inclusive part of the growth and hold on to my prized talent pool for a longer period – why will I choose not to do that? And why will I choose to do that only in times of desperation when the hollowness in my heart is very apparent?

This is a question to several of the “leaders” I have seen so far. And hopefully, when I ask this question to myself one day, I will make the right choice.

Here’s a consultant’s assessment of the team….done in Excel, filtetred, colored and the goods!

Hoping to spark off a fiery debate!

Update: Was unable to successfully convert the XLS to HTML – hence you guys need to download the DOC file

Update: New version of the teamsheet – Check it out (Feb 5, 2006)

indian_team_wc2007_aj_v03.ppt

India turns 59 today – and I muse over the word as I sit inside my rented home in Gurgaon and watch “Border”, “Khaki” and the numerous other “Patriotic” movies being played on the telly.

Thoughts invariably flow in & out – as I ponder how do I suddenly feel patriotic on 15 Aug and 26 Jan, and how a surge flows through my body when I sing “Jan Gana Man”. What used to be a regular feature in school days, became a bi-yearly festival.

As I see what is happening across the world – Americans & Europeans are shit scared of anything that sports a flowing beard or a turban, the Russians are still recovering from the shreds communism left their country in, China is moving too fast and is busy being the biggest economy, workforce etc., in Pakistan the Muslims are divided amongst themselves, the Middle-east is in shambles, Sri Lanka has a mini-civil war going on…..I feel a strange contentment in the way India is bracing up for the years ahead.

1. Our press is relatively free – we get to hear opinions from every nook and corner of the country, and every insignificant event gets TV Coverage. Irritating at times, but it does make a point of every caste/community/rich/poor getting their voices heard.
2. Our politicians are very motivated – for filling up their coffers as well as making sure they get what they want for their respective vote banks. This does lead of “Quota politics” once in a while – but oddly enough makes sure that nobody is totally ignored. The Left keeps the Progressive politicians in check – making sure our surrender to the dollar is not rapid – and at the same time we can reap benefits of global brands in India, global food and a healthy mix of the new and old in society.
3. The youth is indifferent – which is a bad thing. Most of the times we let things be, and dream of greener pastures abroad. Or at the least, we are content as our salaries rise from 20,000 a month to 30 and in a few years to 50. What this indifference leads to is obviously bad governance of India. Even if all of us take the pain to vote once in 5 years, with minimum research, I feel that would go a long way. Lets just vote for the least bad candidate, because most of the times we don’t vote as in our opinion “all are thieves”. I would actually not mind, if a minister took a 10% commission in every project he gets executed, provided the other 90% goes into the project, and somebody intelligent gets it executed.
4. Our entrepreneurs are top-notch – which to a great extent blunts out whatever bad the government does. The way the IT pioneers – Murthy, Nilekani, Shiv Nadar, the Tatas etc. have built empires – is a lesson for all. India has been growing at 8% over the last 3 years consecutively – and thats amazing.
5. The society is a great shock-absorber – Amazingly, no amount of terror or external influence has ever been close to influence a military coup or a nationwide unrest in India. And this I feel is the greatest factor in India’s favor. Resilience of the people, or sometimes plain silence – makes it much easier for the country to move forward, and discourage the terrorists from wasting their precious energy into these tasks.

India is still just 59, and I’m sure by the time its 100, we’d be far ahead of other countries when they turned 100.

Incredible India…

“Terrorism” – would be among the three most frequently topics discussed in newspapers, on television, in cubicles, public debates, politician’s speeches – and maybe soon in nursery textbooks…..(a fairly innocent photo of a 3 year old trying to cross into a restricted area at Heathrow Airport, and being warned by the policeman brought this thought into my mind)…

Civilisations are clashing again – and I wonder what has really changed from the time of the crusades, European invasions into Africa and Asia, etc etc. The seeds of bitterness remain - the reasons are different in perception, though same in rationality.

1. Iraq vs. US/NATO/UK/etc – Fight for oil (read survival in global economy)
2. Israel/US vs. Lebanon/Palestine – age old clash of civilisations – no modern world objective at stake except indirect US control over West Asia and North Africa.
3. BinLaden/Taliban vs. Western World/India – something akin to the invasions of Afghan warlords like BinKhilji etc from the old times. They claim to act in interest of a oppressed Muslim world – but they kill more Muslims than they think they benefit.

There would be numerous points and counter-points in favor and against every side, but ultimately humanity as a whole suffers. I do not believe that terrorist actions benefit the people they claim to represent, and at the same time I do not believe that US actions are meant for World Peace or to create a safer world as claimed by George Bush and his deputy Tony Blair.

While the western world has been largely successful in creating fronts against China and Russia through the poor Afghans and Pakistanis, it is just beginning to see the reap of their harvests. On the other hand – if people like Bin Laden were to realise that the western world does not want to see a developed Afghanistan or Middle East – they would also probably realise that a better way of functioning would be to spend their vast fortune in procuring food and livelihood means for a battered people. Being a silent hero is certainly better than being a self-proclaimed one. It is due to a few people that a particular religious community is looked upon with such general hatred.

I claim to be a global citizen, and I refuse to look at anyone as a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew etc. I refuse to hate a normal Pakistani because his leader chose the wrong way for his people, and I refuse to agree with people who want to manage my world with their self-interests in mind.

National / religious boundaries do not matter anymore. It is a world where various civilisations have to co-exist and respect each others existence. That is the only way to end the conflict of civilisations.

At the same time, I do not see it ending soon……and it disgusts me.