Salute to Hoysala Empire

Hassan… land of Jainism… and ancient Hindu history.. Keeping in view that the year was fast approaching towards the end and I had not done justice to my year Goal “Lots of Short travels”, it was decided that Diwali would be a nice time.

The places of interest : Halebidu, Belur, ShravanaBelagola. Halebidu was unique with two Hindu temples and two Jain temples – dated back to 1100 and 1300 CE. So an ideal place to start.

The route : Bangalore -> Nelamangala -> Hassan -> Halebidu -> Belur -> Sravanabelagola -> Bangalore.

Deepak’s family, his Cousin Amal’s family and my family .. two cars. Ertiga, Polo. Kids found their seat comfortable in the last row. They just freaked out…

We started by around 6:30 am.. via outer ring road, onto Yeshwanthpur, onto Nelamangala and then the four lane towards Hassan..

The first break was at Coffee day for breakfast (between Kunigal and BC cross). The coffee was good, so was the sandwich.. But the idly was Yuk… As they say in China eat like a Chinese – eat the cat/ eat the snake… never ask him to prepare Biriyani J..

Halebidu was still far away – about 100km… The road upto Hassan is good, but afterwards towards Halebidu is pretty bad with widespread potholes and a stretch of 1km over a barrage that is still getting done. For about 30km, it took us about 1 hour. On the way we also saw the ISRO Master Control facility at Hassan. Reaching Halebidu the panoramic view of the lake is beautiful sight… with small row boats floating around. Evidence that the builders of the city have thought of the water management.

The Hoysaleshwara temple is just amazing. The intricacies of the stone work and the pillars are just breath taking…. A large Mahaveera statue can also be found on the right hand side of the temple complex. ASI has also setup a small outdoor museum with the temple remains explaining each of the sculpture. Two large Monolith Nandi’s face two different Shiva deities. The temple is also characterized by lush greenery. Lots of Grass banks and tress for people to rest under. It is evident that ASI has done a commendable job in maintaining and resurrecting the temple from it ruins.

We skipped the Jain temples and the Kedareshwara temple, because of lack of time. Road from Halebid to Belur is short 16 km, but pretty much the same state as that of the Hassan Halebid road.

On arrival at Belur we had Lunch at the KSTDC hotel. Decent food, and ample parking space. The Roti and dal were the ones that I liked the most. The staff was very courteous and attended to us with courtesy even though there was lots of folks.

It was 3 by the time we ended up at the Belur Cehnnakeshava temple, walking distance from the hotel. Read the link for further elicitation of the importance and history of the temple. On entering the temple I almost felt a deja vu. It looked pretty much similar to Brihadeeshwara temple in Thanjavur, in terms of its Vastu, vastness and temple compound.  The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu, but the key part for me was the way the dome was constructed. The Keystone is actually a Narasimha moorthy piece. There are lots of celestial dancers (in the form of smaller stones) attached to the main dome. The pillars, each one of them non identical had work done as though to indicate a precision cut diamond. Smooth finish yet with lots and lots of smaller concentric circles.

The main attraction was the Gravity pillar, supposed to be used as a Lamp post, but is not been used for quite some time now. It is a 42 feet tall lamp post, the Karthika Deepotsava Stambha. It is supposed to be "foundationless" or "baseless" post is simply placed over a stone platform, this tall monolithic granite column is symbolic of the excellence of architectural science possessed by the architects. Even today this column, by its stature and stability, baffles the visitors from the world over. It is supposed to be standing on its own dead weight, therefore it is also called "The Gravity Pillar". People claim they could pass paper underneath the pillar, but in the true sense it is just a single piece of stone kept as a dead weight but has not fallen for years now…. Approaching 1000 years.. in the rains, in the wind and in the midst of acute heat wave.  

A temple pond adorns the right side of the complex. Lots of Fishes in them, which are being continuously fed by the temple staff. The outer constructions are reminiscent of the fact that it was also an asylum for the saints and visitors of the temple.

After spending an hour at the temple, we decided to head our way back to Bangalore. After much thought, we decided to do Shravanabelagola the next time around, though it was on the way. It would have been difficult to make it by the time before dark.  The road from Belur to Hassan is a nice stretch, but with a few humps in between. At Hassan town, the roads are pretty bad. The stretch up to Bangalore was good with some intermittent rains. Back to Bangalore by 20:00 hours.. Rejuvenated.. 

What irked me was only the railway cross between Yeshwanthpur and the way folks haphazardly try to make their own way by squeezing in.. Especially the Cabs and the Autos.. Sometimes I believe it was just a case of some of the auto folks being “upgraded” to drive cabs that has caused this chaos.. Not to mentions some of the “White collar” educated B*****s who think the road was laid by their forefathers.. Not even adhering to the “Queue” at the Toll booths..

Overall a Trip you must have if you are based out of Bangalore.. Kids will find it interesting as well and the drive isn't that tiring.

Next up : another short trip.. but where? Thalkad? Or Hindupur?.. options are open..

On the Highway...

Hoysaleshwara temple

The raised platform and the intricate works

Dwarapalakas.. Hands and nose have been cut off

Ganesha at the entrance 

Pranav exploring

Nandi

Chenna Keshava entrance

Garuda .. bowing to the lord

The pond.

The pillars

The keystone.. Narasimha

The Gravity Pillar aka. lamp post

Panorama

The entrance with rain clouds in the background

My Memoirs of Vishu

Vishu is always close to my heart. The first rememberance of  Vishu is that of recieving Kai neetam from elders. Filling up the much needed "Pocket money" budget during a much needed "dry" non school season.. But Vishu means much more than that to me.

For those of you who don't know, Vishu happens to be during the new year based on Solar Calendar followed across Kerala. Similar new years are celebrated in Assam, Tamil Nadu etc as Vaisakhi, Rongali Bihu, Puthandu Piravu etc.

Back to the days when I was young, this was the time when Schools had barely closed. The time when Cashew nuts bloom, mangoes ripen and the summer heat soars!!!Crackers are part of the Vishu festivities. The sales of crackers start around end of March and continues till the 13th and 14th of Apr (Vishu day). Crackers were like status symbol in childhood days. The more you had at home, the more "social status" you had among friends. Then there was toy guns in which we used to keep small carckers (called Caps)

The toy guns are good for a game of "Police and Robber", like the so called Rajanikanth movies :).
So the big question used to be, how to increase your "Social status". Social status can be incrased only by money. How to earn Money?

Option 1:
Cashew nuts sale: Cashew is a cash crop in Kannur and Kerala. You could go on a scouting spree to the large acres of Cashew goves and collect cashew...Sell it to the local market once you have about 1 kg or so.  Beware if you get caught by the land owner, then you have had it.. .They will chase you out and make sure this is informed back home.. Pretty risky.. :)

Option 2:
Do a small business of toffees, cigarettes etc. But where to find the capital for it? What if we losse and noone buys the items?  Risky again..

Another option ofcouse, is saving money (commission) for items that you would be asked to purchase by your mom and dad. This would be like 10 paise or 25 paise per items.

To be truthful, I have done all the options..

Coming back to Vishu celebrations at home. The previous day my dad used to come in his Bajaj scooter with a packet of crackers, probably 50 or 100 Rs worth or so. The first thing is to segregate what I can try and what I cannot try (like the big crackers). Invariably those would have been in large numbers but will take a long time for me to burst.

We used to have long stick to hold the Koya crackers and the end ... like the one seen below..








And then there are the big ones.. like the Lakshmi ones that my dad used to burst ...





And then there would be flower pots.. Sticks and so on.. seems like yesterday..

The night would be spent in the entrance of the house bursting and seeing others burst.. just to see that your "social status" was not bad ...

The next day morning, we would get up at 4am, and see Kani.. or Vishu Kani.. Hoping the year ahead would be prosperous. But truly the need to get up the next day morning was to burst the rest of the crackers..My grandmother used to wake up exactly at 4am on Vishu. Infact she used to be awake just to hear the fist commotions around (someone bursting cracker or so) and then she would light the lamp. Keep all the Kani and call us one by one.

In the morning we get Vishu Kani neetam, which is a tradition where elders in the house give money to the yonger ones with a blessing (as a symoblism) of prosperity.. I used to think "Gosh what if I had the money earlier, then I could have got more crackers to burst. "

Vishu is also the day when you would get new dresses. a new towser and a new shirt/T-shirt. But the fact of the matter is those never seemed to be the reason why I liked Vishu.. I mean the fun was not the dress but the crackers and the Vishu Kaineetam.

 The Sadya is yet another thing.. My god.. can you think of the variety of side dishes which would be served.
Unline other Kannur friends, at home we used to prepare only Veg during Hindu auspicious days. It would be really startling for some of you at least to know that most of the folks in North malabar have Non-Veg during the Vishu, Fish or Chicken.. Now that is the same case for Onam.

The evening would go by with the thought of bursting the leftover crackers.. The few that remain and the ones that we collect from the scavanging work.. But the real sad day is the next day.. Piling up all the carboard and left over pieces of crackers and burning them.. Thinking about the Vishu that was yesterday and the long wait of 364 days to get to the next one :(.. The good part though, 45 days more to go before school reopening... Yee ha....

Sunday morning ride to Chikka Tirupathi

Saturday was a really tough day for the ride. Though I had kept an alarm at 5, I could not muster the energy to step out. Had a late meeting on Friday which made it impossible to get up at 5amIncidentally so was the case with the rest of the members of Lucky Cycling club :). Friday Hangover with a few and just tired long week for the rest of them. 

And so it was decided to ride on Sunday (7th of Apr 2013). Me, Deepak, Koti and Ankur. For the past few weeks our average had dropped to below 50km. It was time to change it. Chikka Tirupathi was set as the destination 

The Route :
ITPL -> HopeFarm -> Left from Thirumalasettyhalli -> Soukhya Road->Right at a Bakery Junction -> straight from Dodda Dunnasandra onto NH 207
http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/254907564

I started around 6:15am and joined the group at Paramout Hotel (Near GR Tech Park) around 6:40am). First Break at the Bakery had a cup of tea and few Glucose biscuits. There is a dog (a black colored small one) which likes Deepak. Everytime we have been around at this place it come around and astonishingly he is always behind Deepak. We fed him few biscuits and was on our route pretty quickly..  

The next stop somewhere near Anugondanahalli for a water break around 7:45am. This is early March and the Sun was beating down pretty hard even so early in the morning.. I cannot imagine how May is gona look like. Looks like bad times. Even the lakes onroute as well as Borewells that feed the farms have dried up (per our conversation with villagers in the area). 

We passed by Emperian. For those who dont know, Emperean is actually located not in Bangalore district but in Malur Taluq of Kolar district. And here it is they advertise.. off Whitefield. :). 8:10 we reached Chikka Tirupathi temple. 

The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and is believed to have been installed by Agni. For details of the temple please refer the link.

Ride back was pretty tough with the Sun beating down fast on us. We took a break on the way for a Coconut water refill. The toughest part of the journey is the ascend from Channasandra to Hope Farm!!! That too as part of our way back where all our energy is sapped... 

But finally it is the satisfaction of doing a 60+ ride again.. in the heat of the Summer.. 
Way to go folks!!! Deepak, Ankur, Koti..
Jaideep, Satnam are you up for it next week?  

  
 

95 plus.....

Spot the difference :)

I finished my last IIM exams and headed out to for a stress breaker vacation during December 2011 . But before I headed out, I wanted to do some apparel purchases. At the shop I was trying to fit into 36" Jeans and could not. 2 1/2 years of MBA had upgraded me to 38" waist size. Shocker for me!!! I checked my weight and it was 95+. That is when I decided 2012 would be a year to regain my Health again. I was cycling for a while but I decided I need to up it. 

• Jaan Hai Jahaan hai...((If) there's life, then there's the world!!!!)

Around the IIM convocation time, we started to cycle over the weekends.(I remember Deepak calling me up while I was sitting in the convocation dress rehearsal). At first it was just me and Deepak going out on Sunday. 20-30km in and around Whitefield. We used to get exhausted by the end of the trip and rest for the rest of day. And as you could imagine, our families were not so happy about it. Once we started developing stamina, we went up to 40km per week. 

I also ensured that my weekday cycling routine continued (Home-Office-Home). I started to see some decline in the weigh scale by June & July. That is when HP's annual health checkup happened. I checked my weight it was 92 (good Job!!!). But when the results came I had a LDL count of 155 which is Boderline High. I had some other readings those were on the higher side as well. That did not sound good to me. I sent the reports to couple of (Doctor) friends of mine and their suggestion was to just reduce the weight further. I was overweight according to BMI and the target they suggested was to get it down to Optimal weight which is about 79kg. I honestly did not know what to do. 

That is when my wife gave me tip of the calorie count per day and its relationship to weight. 

Avg male needs 30 times his weight as the average calories per day. Anything that we eat/drink would be saved up as Fat in the body. Am I overeating? I analyzed.. I guess I did and that is probably the reason for this slow decline in weight. 

• Exercise alone will not reduce your weight

So let's take an average Calorie count :
1 Tea in the morning (with milk) - 100
4 Dosa with bowl of Sambar - (400+200) = 600

Coffee at 11 - 100 

Lunch - Rice + Chapathi (2/3) + Dal + Curry + Curd etc = 800 

Evening Tea (with milk) - 100

Evening Snacks (buiscuits, vada paav etc) - 300

Dinner - 4 Chapathi + Dal - 600

A sweet may be - 200 

A total of 2800 Cal ... 

400 Cal Extra - Yikes!!!!!! which will be stored as Fat - Cholesterol in Blood and so on.. 

(If I don't exercise for 400 Cal). 

• Weight Change  = Calorie intake - 2400 - Calories expended via exercise

To reduce 1 Kg one needs to have a shortfall of 7000 Cal. 

Cycling for 1/2 hour one would expend around 250 Calories. Now compare that with a scoop of ice cream. 

It is almost the same.. 

• Working out for 1/2 hour does not give you the luxury of eating ice cream a day!!!

that if you want to reduce your weight.

This was a great insight because I was working out approximately 45 mts every day but I was not taking care of my input. As an old Electornics professor of mine would say "Input is here.. Processing is here... Where is the output? " All the three matter for weight reduction. 

So I started to make some changes in food habits with a Motto.

• Eat everything with Moderation

First thing that I did was to cut snacking, be it evening snacks or chocolates or whatever that I used to have. Even at office when someone offers sweets, I take a small piece but don't go overboard. I also reduced my food intake by 1/4th. That is if I was eating 4 Chapathi's, I cut it to 3; for rice if it was 1 bowl, I would eat only 3/4th. From Tea with milk to Tea without milk. Consider this 

to about 15 calories for Tea without milk or black coffee during the evening chit chat with colleagues. This had a big impact. I started to go down from 90kg... 

We made Lucky Cycling Group at Whitefield more active. Weekend cycling was a Must and we increased the participants to keep the energy levels high. We went up from 30-40 km to 50-60 km per weekend with lot more off-roading. That helped expend some calories but the major objective was flexibility of the body and increase in stamina/endurance. 

The reduction was very progressive, almost 1 kg per week.Attributed to
Eat 2000 Cal (which means 400 Cal shortfall X 7 ~ 2000 Cal)
Calories expended by daily cycling - 400 Cal (which means 400 X 5 ~ 2000 Cal)
Weekend Cycling - around 2000 Cal

Now the obvious question, does that mean you will have to starve or in other words don't you get the craving for food?
Honestly there will be some for the first week but then your body will realize that you can survive on this. Today when I eat more than that, I feel as though I have overeaten!!!

• You adjust mentally.. your body will physically adjust  as well.. but Never Starve!!!!

Folks will say, let me starve for couple of days and I should get back to my shape (say while in College). Never do that.. Starving will cause issues like acidity, ulcer etc. A man can meet his nutritional requirements in 1400 to 1500 calories a day; however, there is no need to limit your calories to that level. Just have a bit of uptick say around 1800 or 2000 because the need for the body differs from person to person.

I have still 4 kgs to go before I reach my optimal BMI weight of 78 kg but I could not stop writing this blog to help folks who might be going through such a phase in life. Honestly I have tried and have been trying over the past to reduce it, I did gym, I did yoga, I did jogging, I did badminton all with intention of reducing weight, but it clicked when I realized the relationship with food intake and calorie burn. There is Suana belt, there is Abs pro and so on.. Ads for which will make you feel young and vying. But they are supporting things.. What you eat is as much important as working out.

• Eating more of Good things won't reduce your weight...

People say eat Badam or drink honey and so on to reduce weight but the crux of it all is the calories per day requirement. Eating more of Badam or honey will only make you fat and not reduce your weight..

It is difficult to check your cholesterol every day, so its better to use a proxy - use Weight reduction as a proxy. I went down from 155 to 117 over this period, which has reduced my risk levels and that o me is the first victory...

Other Tips

• You need a good indicator or a motivator that tells you that you are on the right path of weight reduction - invest in a weigh scale (cost you 500 at the max for digital). Accuracy is not important but what you need is an indicator that shows you are going down. 
• Avoid snacking - if you are hungry in between meals eat Salads (they are low calories but will fill your tummy)
• Have a Physical exercise Hobby  pick the one that you like so that you will have passion for continuing it. 
• Make Physical exercise a part of your life say like if you want to go to the shop, walk. Climb stairs instead of lift. 
• Eat early sleep early ; Eat early and sleep early. Try to have your dinner or the last meal around 7pm (if you are going to sleep by 10 pm). 
• Eat food with high nutritional value ; Its OK to eat with high calorie count but also look for high nutritional value. For example a chat has same calorie count as Biriyani. But Biriyani has more nutritional value. So eat a Biriyani. 
• Keep your motivational levels high 

What if you go to your best friends marriage and freak out.. Well never mind one day is fine.... just make sure you exercise and/or eat less the following day. Somewhere I had read that the Body takes 3 days to store energy as Fat. So if you eat on the first day, never mind...Just exercise a bit more on the next day and eat less as well.. 

Feel free to email me or call me in case you need help.... Have a Healthy Life..:-). 

YFA all the way...

YFA may be a less known acronym for outside world. But for IIMK EPGP students it means a lot. It means showcasing existence. For the sake of others YFA stands for "Yes for Attendance". This needs to be typed in by the students on the chat room once they arrive at the class room. One needs to do this as well as tick off the check box on the top to get attendance (Grades associated with this as well). But for EPGP students it means a lot. It means hey I have arrived. It also could mean Proxy at times :).

I had been thinking about MBA for long. Thoughts such as should I do a full time or a part time MBA. What would that mean for financial stability of the family? Can I afford to take a couple of years off. If I do, what sort of institute should I choose. What should be my selection criteria.
So I selected criteria
a) Part Time or Full time - Part time
b) Reputation of the institution - high
c) Affordability - should be, but can work through with a bank loan and some support from my company.
d) Should be it be a certificate course or PGP equivalent - PGP equivalent
so the shortlists included IIMB, IIMK, XLRI.
IIMB campus was based out of Bangalore, Takes around 2 1/2 years to complete. But need to take Friday afternoon off and attend classes. One gets to attend the classes with PGP student. Has an entrance exam and interview.
XLRI has a campus in Bangalore, the course takes around 2 years and classes happen on the weekends.
IIMK had a mix of in campus and off campus modules. The classes are delivered through HUGHES platform. Takes around 2 1/2 years to complete. Has an entrance exam & interview as selection criteria.

I choose EPGP from IIMK for a few reasons

* IIM Brand
* Same curriculum as PGP student
* Mix of in campus and live sessions
* Flexibility to attend classes outside office hours. i.e. no need to take a day off work

So the entrance exam was held in July and I remember going to the center like a humble student, writing the exams for 2 hours. I got selected and was asked to attend an interview. The closest center was Whitefield. The online platform was used for interview and it was my first experience with Hughes platform. My interview was scheduled at 2pm. Just as usual I started chatting with Prashantha who was the center coordinator and within a few moments we got along. He just told me about the interview process , just a few questions that I could anticipate. He also told me about a few folks who had attended the interview from the center before me. He was laughing about a guy who came in and asked if he needs to wear a tie a coat etc. "Sir people are too finicky". I got along pretty well. I had Prof. Rameshan and Prof. Sanal as the interviewer. Professor Rameshan asked me about HP's company strategy about Compaq merger and so on. Finally Professor Sanal asked me a question about the neighboring districts of Pilani. Why??? Because my Masters degree is from BITS Pilani and he had taught there....

By end of August I got a confirmation about my enrollment. Signed by Professor SSS Kumar... Who Kumar?? Well I was sure to find out.. 140 odd students got selected. Few were destined to do only EMEP (1 year course). Few (I have to say this) had the Guts to take it beyond a year....

First Campus visit

Our first campus session was planned between 21st and 26th of September. We were not given campus accommodation :(.. Oooh what an experience it would have been..

It took us some time to get settled. I still remember us rushing to take out the notes which the professors used to upload in the system inside the class room. The funniest event seemed to happen when Kanad stepped forward towards the podium to take the class pictures. Professor Abhilash chased him out. I met Gagan during the first class. From then on till 2 1/2 years we were pretty much together, be it the selection of specialization or the assignments and projects.

I have to admit IIMK is one of the institutes that focus on Environmental development. As one enters the campus, on the right side there is a big water reservoir created. That stands testimony of the focus of the institute. Plus Environmental Management is thought as a subject in the first year.

On our way back we were given a Big bundle of books that I found difficult to carry back home even in an auto. Are we supposed to read all of them in 3/6 months? Oh my God. The day I arrived back I realized this one is not going to be a cup of cake. Each class needed an assignment to be submitted, few hours before the class starts. Class participation was valued etc. But first to the WhiteField Team. There were 4 of us. Shiva, Sunny, Arun and Me. Each one of us with different skillsets.

Sunny - Analytical wizard
Siva - Very perseverant, Mr. Multitasker; Helped us with the logistics @ SAP :)
Arun - Networking
So we were the Whitefield boys..

The first project was for Marketing (Prof. Joffi). Personally I liked his perseverance in teaching. Bring in diverse perspectives of the students and then leading them through thought provoking questions. Given that most of us came from diverse perspectives and were trying to pull in the discussions in different directions, I thought he did a commendable job.Prof. Srinivasan also taught us that when it rains in Spain, it rains mainly in the plains :)

Aspiring to take up Strategy in the second year (Marketing being the other specialization), I had the first glimpse of the subject by Prof. Bhatt. I donno if it was the teaching style or the modus of teaching, it fizzled my enthusiasm for the subject.

Baptism to Finance (Accounting) was with fire. I remember Sid, Ajith and Arun Raj were going to tuitions on Accounting. Whitefield boys did pretty badly. But the rude awakening gave us the impetus to do well moving forward. Siva said "whatever it comes someone has to own a subject, at 6pm he has to be at the center and teach the rest of us for 45 minutes, give context." Plans are always plans and that is why they stay in Plans :). But at least the intent arrived and we moved along to Q2.

Finance started off well. I guess my past in Engineering helped with the analytical approach. I started to love the subject. Professor Abhilash was also a catalyst plus the experience with Accounting made sure we did all the assignments in time, prepared well. Sunny played a key role here. Q2 was definitely better... And Finally My son Pranav had arrived :).

The much awaited second in campus session came and this time all of us were given accommodation inside the campus. Oh what an atmosphere. Seemed like everybody's became 22 years of age. Getting up early morning going for a jog, playing cricket. grabbing a cup of coffee at the canteen, rushing to the classes, reading assignments, sharing experiences. Staying up all night studying. On the last day Prof. Anand threw a spanner at the last night celebration. He asked us to finish the MR assignment and submit by Saturday morning. Oh what a tragedy. Sometimes I think this was done on purpose to make sure we don't overdo the freedom :) . In the end folks felt 1 week was pretty small. We had barely been there and the experience was just syncing in :).

Third Quarter also gave us one of the best Teachers in the campus. Our beloved Business Law lecturer (TM). Prof. Tharakan. For a subject that could have been otherwise "Dry", he generated interest in the class by using innovative techniques of teaching like prizes (like pens pencils etc.). All the study modules were covered with cases and all of them are etched in my mind because one of us were characters in cases. The case of Bhavani Biriyani and Sandhya's marriage is very famous. About Violent Vinay Lomate. I was a character in an Intellectual property case. Truly Mr. Amazing Business Law Lecturer.

Supply Chain management was another amazing subject. Purely because of Siva's presence. His in-depth knowledge of SAP process and Supply chain meant the subject sank in pretty fast. MCS also provided the first glimpse of an Ex. CEO as our teacher. Prof. Rajendran. Humble but yet his subject knowledge was to the point. Was a real pleasant experience for all "Boys and Girls".

IB gave me the chance to interact with Prof. Rameshan who had interviewed me (currently the Director of IIM Rohtak). His teaching styles were hitherto strict.

Then there was the question of my subject selection for specialization. Marketing was a default choice (just out of pure interest), the race was between Finance and Strategy. But I finally went for Finance, purely based on my experience with the professors and the quality of interactions.

We got a mini break in the middle so that the results could settle in and the final list of candidates for the specialization could be charted. In the meantime mails were floating around about the degree of the taxing nature of the Specialization .Not being part of a Finance background was surely daunting. But then Prof. Abhilash's words were reassuring. If you had gone through the rigor of the first year, the second year would not be a problem. Just keep the same tempo.

During December 2011, Ashraf (Current Marketing Manager for IIMK courses) called me up to check my availability for attending a discussion with AMBA (Association of MBA) folks on the accreditation. I moved a few meetings and was good for the venture. I was looking forward to spending time with Gagan. BTW: Gagan, Me, Sandhya, Neil and Bhavani were representatives from EPGP-02. The junior batch was also represented. This was a 2 day function. The first day was a casual get together with the AMBA representatives. The second day was the meeting with them and sharing our experiences. PGP was a sure bet to get. But EPGP was not guaranteed, mainly because of the being on a Technology platform. So that meant a daunting task of highlighting the right value proposition to the AMBA representatives. Finally it went well and IIMK courses were given AMBA accreditation.

Having chosen Finance and Marketing meant that I continued to have the luxury to attend classes on 3 days, while folks who had chosen other specialization meant they had to come in on 4 days (the hours remained the same for all of us). It also meant that I was the only one in the center with this combination. I overlapped with Arun for Marketing and Sunny for Finance. Rajesh and Awadhesh joined in later and we had a larger pool of folks for Finance. Siva got relocated to Chennai and also dropped off from the 2nd year enrollment. We had lost a good aide.

I also took a job shift in 2011 (In retrospect maybe I could have delayed it). I moved to another division in HP. That meant I had to ramp up on the new domain (which I had very less time) and needed my focus during the beginning.

SDM was a really cool subject to start off. Prof. Sridhar's arguments towards the case will have both the plus side and the minus side. And what I agree with him is on this "You are managers, you have better context on the topic. You need to have arguments for the plus side as well as the minus side. Make sure you take care of all judgments and make the right judgment when the situation comes".

Q6 gave us Prof. S.S.S. Kumar and Financial Derivatives. The prescribed book was also written by him. The good thing he did was he taught based on the level of knowledge of the participants. I mean he could have ramped up the tempo and let us go hanging, but he didn’t. He understood the level of Finance knowledge of the class and ramped down the tempo.

Have you heard of twitter exam? Service marketing taught us that. There are 5 questions (Open book exam). You have to answer the question in 10 to 15 letters. I am a fan of it. It is Boolean (i.e. you will get marks or you will not). But at least it will not make you write long and long and long.

Prof Ambilee introduced plagiarism checkers in the last quarter and most of us had to resubmit the assignments later to correct it.

A day during the course

* Get up at 7:30am. Drop Rachana and Akki.
* Finish up my morning meetings with US counterparts.
* Head to office
* By 6pm finish office and rush to the center
* In class from 6:45pm to 10pm. Sometimes even more because of late night quizes.
* In the middle attend night calls
* Come back home and finish the rest of the office work plus assignments (some of them which needed to be submitted by 11:59pm).
* Read class notes text books, finish assignments,Sleep by around 2:30am

Experience in the class
Wearing headphone, listening to class. Having tea coffee at the nearest bakery during the break. Chit chat with Arun, Sunny, Rajesh, Awadhesh. Pulling each other’s leg. Chatting with other center mates through the platform.

Experience during the Exams
Thanks to Siva, we started booking hotels near the exam center. That just meant we saved the ordeal of about 2 hours travel time and tiresomeness.. Plus getting chance to discuss with the group. Generally the exams would be followed by a party on Sunday evening. But then we had to start the next class on Monday or the following day. So hardly a chance to celebrate.

Dialogues like Pearl in Deep sea
* "You have hit the Nail on the Head !!!!!"
* "Mr. Panchayath President is called for the inauguration"
* "Hey where is the guy who took the photo the other day in class" - Kanad this is for you :)
* "When it rains in spain, it rains mainly in the plains"
* "Sir can you do it best of three quizes"
* "Can I call you Boys and Girls?"
* "I thoroughly enjoyed teaching you. The exam will be an Enjoyable one for you"
* "Sir A/V lost"

Characters in class
* Sutanu "daa" ; Even for a class at 9 am on Sunday he will be in his Tie.
* Ramesh - Give him the mike and you will never get it back..
* Bhavani - "Sandhya mere liye ek Gas connection manga dena"

What I liked about the experience

* Getting to network with folks even outside IT domain
* The flexibility shown by professors. If you showed intent, they will help you in thick and thin.. I still remember Professor Rupesh Pathi explaining me Quantitative techniques at 11:30pm in the IIM campus, while he continued to get calls from his home. Just shows testimony to their commitment.
*Close knit group of Friends; I haven't seen proof of anyone down anyone else. Most of the folks are past the age of fighting for marks. We were fighting for survival, each one of us.

What I disliked or missed during this experience
* There were pockets of personal rivalry that I heard/know went out of bounds within class mates.
* Time spent with family especially Akki and Pranav.
* Placement efforts did not bear fruit primarily because of cold shoulder by authorities.
* Accommodation outside campus during campus visits.
* No weekends.
* Not being able to attend marriages of relatives.

All of these incidents seem like yesterday . Today I look back and see a vacuum in life. A vacuum of YFA, which I am pretty sure will be difficult to fill in.

First day Induction @ IIM

First day Induction @ IIM

Arun

Jomon

Ajith

The water reservoir @ the campus

Campus Entrance

With Dr.Abhilash

Hostel Room

What is Pramod doing alone in the class room?

Lab sessions

Gagan vehemently Arguing at the Lab session. Manoj does not want to relent and Anad is the referee

Cricket match early in the morning @ the Campus

Praveen, Pankaj, Amritha and Paramesh in the background

Chit chat with Manoj and Gagan

Morning Walk

Professor Abilash delivering the Finance session

At the center attending the session. This used to be my routine for 2 1/2 years.

A reading material on Service Marketing