Happy New Year

Of Bollywood's Copy-Cat Tag...

Dear Blog,

I was just having a long argument about the efficacy of the Indian film-makers... My friend (anonymous) laid forward a point – “Indians film-makers can only copy. No Indian movie in the past three-four yrs has been an original hit. Be it Chak De or Black and the last one, Ghajini.”

Well, I agree they may have been inspired... But doesn’t it take a lot of effort to make it suitable for the Indian viewers... "Devdas" has been inspired from earlier “Devdas” but that in no way takes credit away from Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Talking of Bhansali, "Black"may be inspired from “The Miracle Worker” but aint both movies inspired by the life of the great Hellen Keller!!! Why do we call “Black” a copy of “The Miracle Worker”? I’m no movie critic, but "Black", to me, was one of the finest depictions of the Alzheimer’s disease. This was confirmed by my sister who is currently pursuing medicine and was impressed by the meticulous chronology of Alzheimer’s followed by the script... The making... The symbolism of colours especially the interplay of Black and White... The dialogue and the monologue... Even Rani’s First (and the last) Kiss...

Movies do draw inspiration from others... but comparing them is no good for they are made for a different set of audience... Take the case of "Ghajini" and "Memento". There is no doubt that "Ghajini" was inspired by "Memento" (it’s not a remake for sure). But for all those song-sequences (which I felt needless and distracting but my mom felt good), the movie may have been too much of continuous violence (not that it was any less now) rendering it impossible for the faint-hearted Indian viewer who likes tragedy but mixed with emotions and drama and not the outright violence as is often depicted in Hollywood flicks... Try making the "Apocalypto" in Hindi and the box-office would bomb it out (i.e. if the censor board clears it first). There is very little doubt that viewers of both "Memento" and "Ghajini" might find the latter deplorable (i.e. if they understood "Memento" in the first place) in comparison to the original but then... (OK AAmir Khan Disagrees with me here... He dint find Memento as good)

There are stories and there are movies... What directors do is make movies out of stories... Is there anything wrong if the two movies have the same story...

How many Bollywood movies do u see with a couple asked to leave home only to face hardships in the exile... The lead heroine gets abducted by the villain... The Hero finds friends in the wilderness and recues his lady... Are all those remakes of Ramanand Sagar's legendary Ramayana!!!

PP

P.S. For those who did not understand Memento, I got one site that actualyl tried explaining it... I'll post it as an edit when I find that site again... I, for one, loved the movie... much more than the action packed Ghajini...

P.S. As I promised... Warning: Spoiler Alert... Do NOT Click HERE if u've not seen Memento...

Reflections – Part II (Term 2 @ XL)

 Dear Blog,

Just as I had started settling into the rhythm of 8-hrs sleep per day, a rude awakening call was given to me by the damn reminder in my mobile: September 21. Time to go back to the 3-hrs sleep days... Time for second term @ XL...

The first week, as in the first term was pretty normal. Some teachers were yet to return from their other assignments and hence I was “free” with other pursuits. That joy wouldn’t last for long though... And even in those few days, I had to prepare for the SIPs. Squeezed in between was the great XL Diwali...

Two GBMs... One for the introduction of non-conventional placement opportunities (which I must say gave rise to more concerns about fewer opportunities and the tough times ahead than the “opportunities”) and the other for introduction of the senior teams for the process (to reassure and mend the dent left by the previous GBM)... I’ve already described the process in great depth in other posts [1, 2, 3, 4] and thus will not venture details here... By the way, there was also the famed GBM which I shall not mention here...

Then came Ensemble 2008. 

A place for the best minds from all-over India to meet. Sad, but for the few OTS events, hardly any XLer would have “Ensembled”... The Sudoku challenge, the fin-quiz, the face-painting competition etc. were the saving grace. Else, it was just the various associations and the few lucky teams selected to the final rounds (names withheld due to obvious reasons). The reason behind the best in the field not being called upon and the job left to few “selected” members escapes me... What is more... genuine help is frowned upon and looked at with scepticism (I surely hope, in few isolated cases)!!! As the great Bard put it, All’s well that ends well...

Then the realisation suddenly dawned, not the SIP or Ensemble was what I was here for... The existence of project deadlines and tests hit me hard. That I was able to squeeze in time for everything was in itself a great wonder... My prior experience with PPTs and excel sheets did prove to be handy... Before I realised, the end-terms had dawned, just as I realised, they were over.

My learnings from this term:

• There is logic behind great organisations being so great... 3M and Google surely did not know they were to change the entire content of case studies and presentations. 
• Facts are artefacts... Rare... General knowledge is not very general... Not very well known to people. Any assumptions thereof will be the point of discussion and example for many discussions and possibly even Group "Discussions"!!!
• History is indeed written by the victors... and so is a successful marketing strategy! The loser can only wonder, “what if...”
• If you do not know a thing, keep quiet. If you know it, more so...
• Market never runs efficiently... Thus, it becomes the role of finance managers to take the blame for all the bad judgements of all the people. Who should be blamed for all the economic evil that the world is going thru... the brilliant economists and MBAs or the common junta who just can’t calculate the price of a financial instrument... (well, they are not expected to... but shhhhh... who else can we blame)
• Under Sec 1(aa) of the College Student Act, any dissent against boring subjects is henceforth declared unlawful. The right to strike has, with immediate effect, been withdrawn. Any violation of the above nature may be dealt with in a manner deemed strict by the offender. The award of punishment will be discretionary in nature.
• Democracy gives u only one right... The right to remain silent... Everything else can and will be used against the right...
• Once again reiterating... Friends are the biggest assets... unfortunately, no accounting standard allows them to be  written off in the balance sheet as they bring no liability with them... Pacioli was wrong here...

Bringing the curtains down on an eventful term...

PP

XL Meri Jaan....

Dear Blog,

I was sitting on my computer, typing away words... Yes, thr was my bed with my favourite pillow near me... Thr was the clean green garden visible from my window. There was the hill reminding me of the picturesque hotels I have stayed on my travels. There was the relief of knowing there was a squash court nearby where I could pass time should I feel bored. And there was the joy of having mom’s hand-made food with lots of pure ghee and no aloo... But then, I missed home...

Call me mad but I’m in love with the hectic schedules... that waking up till 4 in the morning with nothing to do but talk about nothing at all. I hate the ISO:9001 food but I more than that I love cursing it and after all cursing, ultimately having the same cheese dosa every alternate day... I hate to live in that small room 311 but I love the neighbours and their neighbours and so on... I hate not being able to find time in the evening to have a game of badminton, but I love making plans with friends for it... I hate when friends talk of home but love it when I make them feel at home far away from home...

I’m home... But thanks to the two terms spent doing MBA, now I’m far away from my other home...

XL Meri Jaan...

PP

Two contrasting Movies in a Day

HI

I had decided tht all work here will be original... Just cudn't resist putting this in the archives...

Danny: Sometimes I wonder... will God ever forgive us for what we've done to each other? Then I look around and I realize... God left this place a long time ago.

Was watching Blood Diamond today.. Must say this was one great movie I hadn't seen.. Very powerful message... Good acting and breathtaking shots of Africa... Prob the best movie I've seen on Africa and slavery after "the master of it all from the master of it all", Amistad (Spielberg, Freeman, Hopkins...What better cud u ask!!!).

The other movie I watched today was SRK starrer "Rab Ne..." Quite a contrast to watch :) Well, I'm no SRK fan but the ease with which he shifts between roles is really praiseworthy... The storyline may be nothin worth mention but the way SRK adapts to it sure is... I knw, many are callin me crazy as I write this, but yeah, I kinda liked the movie despite all its melodrama and the YRF cliche.

Planning for tomorrow's Matinee show...

PP

I'm A Proud Geek...

I'm a proud geek.. and just to clear a few misconceptions... doesn't remotely mean I'm a ghissu (XL lingo... with no english translation...)

The context...

Sheldon is the perfect example of the perfect geek... My new role model...

• Geeks are sociable people. Ghissus are sociable only with the books...
  
• Geeks love technology and products. Ghissus love the reading the theory behind the technology without ever realising that the theory was discovered and rejected for being too complex around two decades back.
  
• Geeks are well aware of Page 3 news. Ghissus are well aware of page 3... and not just that.. also page 4,5,6,7,8...100,101,102.....999 of every one of their books.
  
• Geeks crack jokes (understanding them requires something extra though). Ghissus can crack jokes only if they have taken humour as an elective and their text-book contains an exercise where they have to pick out phrases commonly called by people as jokes.
  
• Geeks love people. Geeks will use all their geekyness to help a friend in need. Ghissus love the people only if they are the authors of their favourite text-book.
  
• Geeks are frail (often to the point of being invisible). Ghissus are not. They are often plooomp (this can be credited to their long hours spent in their rooms or library or canteen).
  
• Geeks put their friends first (spl in case of fights with others... the reason.. refer the previous point). They will use their geekyness to the breaking-point to solve any problem. Ghissus, they follow Groucho Marx to the letter and have books as their best friends...
  
• Geeks have deep emotions (which may or may not be as geeky) and believe in the Saturnalia Miracle. Ghissus are deeply attached to their books (quite literally).
• Geeks are five-point-someone. For all they care, they could go down another half a point without getting worried. The ghissus.. they often wonder why, even with their near perfect replication of the book, their grades linger around the sevens and eights without once going over the magical figue of 8... BTW a slump of 0.1 often translates to two less hours of sleep everyday...
• And for the curtain dropper...
  Geeks will know that the territorial boundaries of India extend upto 12 nautical miles into the sea but not who the author of the books they are carrying is... and for the ghissus... well does it matter as long as it is a book they are carrying.

A Proud Geek,

PP

Finally, Indian Science Showcased...

Dear Blog,

Bored of studying for my exams, I reverted back to my first love... maths and numb3rs literally!!! Finished the season 5 (till date) in a marathon run... First of all, the last two episodes (s05e08 and s05e09) have references to India, though both in not-so-good contexts... the first it in the reference of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and the second in a reference to a terrorist activity. But what is proven is that the world recognises the Indian presence much more than ever. In fact, as one of the main characters (though as an “American with Indian origins”), the show features Amita Ramanujan (Navi Rawat).

Two things here... One – Indian in a major role in the most popular Friday evening American TV Series and Two – named after one of the most prolific Indian mathematicians known (Srinivas Ramanujan. Ramanujan never won a Nobel Prize but a show to feature the lead sure does justice to the immense potential that was cruelly cut short 

by fate. Amita, born in a Tamil family represents the new-age Indian mathematical genius who, like Ramanujan, is exceptional in maths but also is representative of the famed modern Indian programming skills.

And the other TV series, though in a completely different genre, is “The Big Bang Theory”. It features Kunal Nayyar as “Rajesh”, one of the four geeks that form the lead roles in the series. Again, working at CalTech, Rajesh is a brilliant Physicist with roots still connected to India in the form of his parents. Rajesh, thus represents the Indian in US and not the American of Indian origin.

Point here, Indian abilities in science and maths have been here and now have started to get noticed... Not that India has produced a string of Nobel Laureates in recent past or anything... probably more because Indians are finally being given their due... Long live the breed of Aryabhatta...

Revelling in the pride of being an Indian..

PP

Images: Courtesy - Wikipedia

An interesting course...

Dear Blog,

Today's entry has been written more in awe than anything else.. 

Well... It requires a special talent to teach history to students of applied science in a way that they study it like the way they study science... and not just study but enjoy it too. Well, today’s test was a subject in that category... Generally regarded and surely perceived as boring piece of history with no practical relevance and surely not application. Well, this course surely changed my view... Not only do I find it very practical, but it was more like the only logical subject I had this term... Rest all were pretty much, well, history :) (No offence to those studying history.. but it just is not a science for me... Obviously historians differ)

Today's paper was a culmination of wat has been a very informative series of 20 sessions and a more than welcome break from the enervating courses I've undergone...

I always thot organisations were formed out of a brilliant idea (or a lucky one) and that they grew just coz stagnation wud lead them to decline and in gen human tendency is to keep growing and never be satisfied... Never knew there was so much of science behind how and why they grow into what they grow into. Never thought the ESOPs were anything beyond a retention gimmick which nobody but a few lucky ones gained from... Never thot any happening in the ET cud be linked to the psychological and organisational aspects and not pure finance!!! This term I gained a new lens to view international news with and it sure presents a more real picture than what I used to see.

Thus ends, a very interesting course and prob my second most interesting course in XL...

PP

Exams Approaching...

Ya Ya.... I've not been able to post for a few days now...

Ya Ya.... So much has happened over the last few days and yet I've not posted anything...

Ya Ya.... I'm just trying not to upset people and set minds racing towards ways and means of getting back...

Ya Ya.... I've another excuse too...

Ya Ya.... The exams are coming and thus I've refrained from posting too often...

Ya Ya.... You have a right to laugh at the above statement of mine. Puneet and studying... ha ha...

Ya Ya.... I'll be back after the exams with a review of the term that passed...

Ya Ya.... That'll be a very long post. So much has happened in this term...

Ya Ya.... Ok. I'll try not to be very protective of identities and associations...

Puzzled Puneet

Dear Blog,

There are few thingss that can make me sit up and start thinking; some physical, some mental.

Physical:

Anomalies don’t exist without a reason. I wwas curious since the time I can remember. From simple things like why does the potato remain hot when the gobi which is cooked along with it becomes cold. I remember asking, “What would happen if the astronauts were to discover that they ran out of fuel on the moon?” Why do we see the moon bigger near the horizon when aactually it farther (rem the hypotenuse is longer than the vertical distance) than when it is overhead? Everything has a reason. And that reason I believe, can be found out. (Ya ya... I know I’m crazy to bother about simple things like this!!! Spl when there are bigger tthings to worry about like my grades, society and world ppeace :D)

Mental:

These are ones that I don’t find aanswers to and am left in the lurch. One thing that I take very seriously is criticism... I make sure I don’t give anyone a reason to complain... and iif they do, I try to ensure in future I don’t... I'm not a normal human (as put by so many of my friends) but still am in parts... and curiosity is one human characteristic I surely possess... though that too in inhuman proportions... I find out what made the person complain and what can mmake him take it back? What do I do when the other person doesn’t tell me the mistake that I committed and tells me not to repeat it!!! And that curiosity killss me (does that mean I’m more a cat :P). Once I’m set into the motion, I dunno what I did wrong and I can’t rest till the time I know for sure that the allegation was unfounded (rarely) or what my mistake was. I gotta think of what my activity was for the whole day (or may be even earlier) and identify myself if what I did was wrong. But then, there are so many different ways I could hhave done what I did that I dunno if the other way would be seen as wrong... How can I uundo it... Am I to dream of it... and what if even the dreams fail to provide an answer...? And thus, the puzzle remaines unsolved but thats fine. All I lose is a day (or night's sleep) and next day I'm back to nnormal...

Oh yeah there is the third type... human foolishness. (Including the human parts of me) “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits”, Albert Einstein. I rest my case.

In light of the above information, from now on, I shall change my sobriquet to "Puzzled Puneet" or "PP"...

PP

P.S. I got an FM test tom and all I can do right now is not thinkk about it... Gawd, I'm so puzzled!!!

My first sales experience...

Dear Blog,

Yday, I added another of “my firsts” to my list. For a college event, I went to my designated area for enticing the shopkeepers to set up stalls, give goodies etc. It was a new experience and I must say, a humbling one... For, now I know why sales people keep talking about sales targets and customer indifference.

We made pitches to six major shops and a few chhotu ones, none of which could be converted. Designing a sales pitch in itself is an experience. I and my buddy for the adventure decided what would be out pitch before entering any shop, then looked out for whom to give the pitch to and then made the pitch. Now language and medium used forms a very important part of the pitch. My buddy was not fluent at Hindi and thus it was me who was making the initial pitches and then gauging the mood and demands of the potential customer, my buddy made the pitch stronger.

Will quote memorable incidents after we have completed pitches... in one collection...

Something about pitches (a bit early to be writing this but ok):

• The big showrooms have a lot of potential but often they are company outlets and the store manager has very little power in terms of branding or sponsorship. They have within their powers to make sales, offer spot discounts etc. but setting up stalls, giving away freebies is not within their jurisdiction.
• It is important to customise the pitch to the specific needs of the target. You don’t go to a shoe store and talk of marketing research and profiling until the store is looking to open a new chain of outlets in your city.
• The more ignorant the target is, the better it is. God save u if the target is an unsatisfied prior customer.

Anyways, the day 1 was a partial disaster. Hoping the other days are better.

All sympathies and congratulations for the salesmen,

MMM

The FM test...

A blog for a test??

Surely you must be crazy Mr. Aggarwal... Well, it was no ordinary test... It was the test of FM.

Background:

FM is one of those subjects, where you miss one class and you are lost throughout the term. Well, that’s what happened... In the first class, we started portfolio management with the Markowitz Model. I got lost in the first three slides (Damn the Greek... Damn Mathematicians... can’t they use X and Y... why do alpha, beta, sigma come in... And those summation signs mean “THE EnD”)... And the whole class was a blur. Everything was based on the first few moments and I missed it.

Now the "Preparation":

For two hours, I pondered over where to start. I finally thought, a big-fat book, it must have something... Decided... The book shall be starting line...

1. I looked at the book. Known script... Good... Alien Language... (Dead end)
2. I looked at the ppt... “Wasn’t this the same thing with those alien characters... What I cudn’t get then, how can I get now??” (Dead end)
3. Repeat One... Get anything?? No...
4. Repeat Two... Get anything?? No...
5. Go to pidgin (fancy program as sub for gtalk)... See if anyone else is getting anything... 
   
   “Na... not started... will do tom”
   
   “U nerd...”
   
   “Plsssssss”
   
   “Shut up. Me and FM...”
   
   “Joking???”
   
6. Repeat 3, 4,5 till u get something... 
   
   (the loop continued for a while)
   
7. Get up next morning...
8. Roomy knows something... My great roomy... Tells me basics... Confidence up.
9. Read Markowitz model ppt... Lost again... (Dead end)
10. Repeat 3,4... Already post-noon. Need to do something. Resolve. Start reading chapter 7. Not so alien after all... On to chapter 8. Lost again!!!
11. Roomy Zindabad... Confidence up.
12. Read Markowitz model again... yippee... makes sense... remember later... go on now... on a roll...
13. Read CAPM ppt. Wow... lost again... Sleep.
14. Get up. Read the notes everyone is studying... (if comps can reach human efficiencies, I dunno... but humans (some... or is it just one???) sure have mastered the art of converting speech to text)
15. Go to test.

The test:

Not bad at all... think hard... Generally, I am in the first batch to get up and leave... today is different... think hard... think of various possibilities... not bad at all... I do know some FM (ok at least the stuff in the paper)

Post Mortem: Ya right... my answers are probably wrong given the extra-thinking I did...

Moral of the story: It doesn’t pay to think extra. Efficient market hypothesis is anyways not always applied by all people... its best to go with what most ppl think is true...

MMM

The (ir)Rationality of Reason

Dear Blog,

William Cowper once said: “The absence of proof is not the proof of absence.”

I just saw a documentary by Richard Dawkins, "The Enemies of Reason". While I completely agree with the fact that the world has been gripped by superstition, I don’t believe everything needs reason. Let us try to understand why people believe in superstition and why to a certain extent, we should allow them to.

Why did people believe in God in the first place? Did the human race start with a belief in God? Why did it happen that so many people had different so many different views about “God”? I believe humans, by nature, need a reason. And attributing everything that happens to a “God” is a reason...!!!

Astrology may completely be a science of coincidences... but then, so are the expert opinions on finance and economy. If finance and economy are completely scientific, why are we facing the meltdown...!!! No, I’m not comparing the two to “unscientific” astrology... but then, all are subject to uncertainties that can’t be explained by any theories.

What is the harm in consulting a psychic if it gives me a good feel? Why do “rationalists” not take it as equal to any other activity that a man can feel satisfied by... something as simple as say, having a smoke...!!! Marketers dupe people about characteristics of products, the government dupes people of policies... what’s wrong with these new age “gurus” duping people!!!

As long as personal beliefs do not interfere with and harm self or others, I believe individual beliefs should be allowed to exist. False positives provide the comforting illusion of meaning. We desperately want to feel there is an organising force at work in our bewilderingly complex world. We want someone to blame when we are stuck by misfortunes and someone to share our fortune with.

Thus, to summarise, I believe, believing in supernatural is wrong but what is more wrong is not letting the believers believe the truth behind their belief.

MMM

P.S. I’m an ATHIEST. I don’t believe someone can govern what I do. But I have utmost respect for those who do. And this is a belief that I do not wish to debate on...