How can a woman director create such a film ? A film that is as much about soldiers as about a man's passion. This was the question I asked myself when the movie credits started rolling after the movie ended. The film is about the soldiers in a bomb squad in Iraq who are called on to disable bombs in the city mostly. It is about their emotions and their behavior in a land where they can die anytime. Although the film is very good, but I personally do not think it to be an Oscar winner. You will find the reasons later.
The movie has some very engaging scenes where the protagonist William James tries to diffuse bombs after bombs. Those scenes are interesting at first and then they lose the intensity for they seem to be overdone. But there is something that still attracts the viewer. And that I would say has to be the uncanny character of William James. Jeremy Renner has done extremely well to portray his character of William James. The man has a passion to win over bombs. When he is doing his work, he seems to be at so much ease. He does not feel the danger of losing his life when a bomb explodes. He is just engaged in diffusing bombs. His passion is evident when one of his team member finds out bomb parts hidden under his bed and he explains their presence as a souvenir collection. Not that he does not have a mind or heart. He is very pragmatic. One of the memorable scenes where he removes his bomb protection suit and says "There's enough bang in there to send us all to Jesus. If I'm going to die, I'm going to die comfortable." For him, war is a drug.
Some of the scenes capture the life of soldiers in Iraq. It displays their mental state. Some of the dialogues are crisp and unforgettable. Like when one of the senior officers asks "What's the best way to... go about disarming one of these things?" and then James replies saying "The way you don't die, sir.". The movie is not about the reasons behind the war or the state of people living in Iraq. Though some of the scenes do capture a little bit of that and it deeply hurts to even think about it.
But Hurt Locker does not deserve an Oscar. Avatar with all its effects and the hard work behind it definitely had to be the one. Even though Avatar seemed like a commercial film rather than a critical one, the amount of work and innovative thinking gone into making it certainly deserve an Oscar. And I am not saying that Avatar is boring or bad. When I saw it the second time, I liked it even more and was able to find new things that I did not notice in my first time. There is so attention to detail in Avatar that you will surely miss it when you watch it the first time.
Now looking forward to watch another male dominated movie - Invictus.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Buzzare Jokes
It has been more than 10 days since Google launched the "Google Buzz" and it has already come under a lot of criticism for breaching people's privacy. Buzz seems to be a combination of Facebook and Twitter especially Facebook since there is no limit on the number of characters one can post. I have seen some people post entire 4 paragraph length blogs on Google Buzz.
Well, I personally feel that it is very convenient to use from right inside GMail and it seems like an enhanced version of Twitter in terms of posting pictures and videos. But, there are certain things I do not like about Google Buzz. Not only that, Twitter has its own charm. First of all, Google Buzz "now" offers Buzzing only among contacts you add by yourself. Sometimes you even get to see other people's profile on some friend's Buzz. Clear lack of privacy. Although not as bad as Facebook where you can go to your friend's profile and see the photos of that friend's friend who you are not directly connected to. Also, you need to add people you want to Buzz with by knowing their Gmail IDs. That might be debated to be its single biggest disadvantage (lesser people buzzing)or rather its biggest advantage (more number of Buzz users). Google Buzz can never make any celebrity join or rather Buzz his/her updates. GMail ID of a person has become the single biggest identity since the last 3 or 4 years. And nobody would like to put that identity at risk.
Buzz also cannot match the speed of the updates that Twitter offers. An example is you go for a small coffee break of 15 mins and when you are back you see that you have 20 new updates on Twitter. You just click there and it shows you all of them in descending order. For Buzz, it is very similar but to actually see the updates you have to click and goto the Buzz sidetab. Additionally, twitter is an excellent example of a real time search engine. I have used it many a times when I need to read about something that has just happened and the Bloggers of this world or the Search Engine robots have not updated the pages or their databases. Twitter is really great at that.
Till Buzz becomes more of a serious competitor not just in terms of the number of users but also in terms of the features or the uniqueness of Twitter, here are a few Buzz jokes. These jokes have been contributed by a lot of my friends and by yours truly as well. Here they go:
Ab Buzz bhi karo.
Buzz aur kuch nahi
Buzzy bee
Buzz itna sa khwaab hai.
Buzzigar o Buzzigar
Na kuch tere Buzz mein na kuch mere Buzz mein
Buzzting into laughter
Ghungru ki tarah buzzta hi raha hu main.
Buzz ek pal.
No Abuzzing.
Ok fine. My apologies for all the bad buzzare jokes.
Well, I personally feel that it is very convenient to use from right inside GMail and it seems like an enhanced version of Twitter in terms of posting pictures and videos. But, there are certain things I do not like about Google Buzz. Not only that, Twitter has its own charm. First of all, Google Buzz "now" offers Buzzing only among contacts you add by yourself. Sometimes you even get to see other people's profile on some friend's Buzz. Clear lack of privacy. Although not as bad as Facebook where you can go to your friend's profile and see the photos of that friend's friend who you are not directly connected to. Also, you need to add people you want to Buzz with by knowing their Gmail IDs. That might be debated to be its single biggest disadvantage (lesser people buzzing)or rather its biggest advantage (more number of Buzz users). Google Buzz can never make any celebrity join or rather Buzz his/her updates. GMail ID of a person has become the single biggest identity since the last 3 or 4 years. And nobody would like to put that identity at risk.
Buzz also cannot match the speed of the updates that Twitter offers. An example is you go for a small coffee break of 15 mins and when you are back you see that you have 20 new updates on Twitter. You just click there and it shows you all of them in descending order. For Buzz, it is very similar but to actually see the updates you have to click and goto the Buzz sidetab. Additionally, twitter is an excellent example of a real time search engine. I have used it many a times when I need to read about something that has just happened and the Bloggers of this world or the Search Engine robots have not updated the pages or their databases. Twitter is really great at that.
Till Buzz becomes more of a serious competitor not just in terms of the number of users but also in terms of the features or the uniqueness of Twitter, here are a few Buzz jokes. These jokes have been contributed by a lot of my friends and by yours truly as well. Here they go:
Ab Buzz bhi karo.
Buzz aur kuch nahi
Buzzy bee
Buzz itna sa khwaab hai.
Buzzigar o Buzzigar
Na kuch tere Buzz mein na kuch mere Buzz mein
Buzzting into laughter
Ghungru ki tarah buzzta hi raha hu main.
Buzz ek pal.
No Abuzzing.
Ok fine. My apologies for all the bad buzzare jokes.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
ISB interview experience
I have been monitoring the percentage increase in the number of users visiting my blog and till now Google Analytics shows an increase of 433 % over the last 15 days. Interesting. All such stats remind me of the quarterly financial statement of a company. I wish one day my company would do that. Anyways, back to the real world, I decided to further increase the number of visitors to my blog. Seriously I should stop now. I actually wanted to give back to the MBA blogger community by posting an interview experience with the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
I know I am late and I regret that. But I could not help it. I was invited for an interview at Hyderabad when I had applied to ISB in the first round. The interview was on a Sunday and I left Bangalore Saturday evening. Since the interview was at 3:00 PM I took the risk of leaving just the day before. I reached Hyderabad in the morning and went to a friend's place. I just spent the time chatting with friends and eating breakfast at Chutney's. No pressure of the interview till now. I had bath and got all dressed up. One of my other friends came and he took me to the ISB campus. I met another class mate from college at ISB who took admission last year. It was 2:50 PM and I had to report at the reception.
I got a sheet of paper and a topic to write about for about 15 mins. The topic was "Banking". I wrote whatever came to my mind and was sitting quietly in one corner. I observed other applicants talking to each other about their work experience, earlier interview experiences, GMAT scores and what not. It seemed like those guys had arrived a good half to one hour back. It was 3:20 PM and I was still waiting for some panel to call me up for the interview. There were 4 panels I think. Suddenly I felt the urge to yawn. I thought it would be fine. As I was halfway to my yawn (read as mouth wide open), a lady came by and asked for my name. I somehow tried to hide my yawn and gulped it. I thought to myself "What a loser I am ? What a great time to yawn !"
I enter the interview room and I see 1 guy sitting on his chair. The other interviewer was the lady who called me. They had my application open in front of them. They introduced themselves to me. One was an Admissions committee member and the other was an alumni. The following is the transcript (not exact, but very close) of my interview:
G = (Guy) : L = (Lady) : M = (Me)
G: So you play guitar ?
M: yes.
G: Since how long ?
M: Since last Jan.
L: Why did you learn it now and not before ?
M: (hmm. good one. I expected this) I always wanted to since college and never really had the time or the push to learn. It just happened last Jan and I enrolled myself.
L: But you have written that you are a guitar player. So do you play somewhere ?
M: No. just at home. (noticing that the lady is not convinced)
L: So which newspapers you read ? (Note that this was somewhere mentioned on my application)
M: Mint and Hindu
G: What do you like in them ?
M: Mint i like it for its wall street journal's columns and the last 4 pages expressing different views. Hindu for general news and sometimes I read Paul Krugman's column.
G: What was the last column that Paul Krugman wrote ?
M: (Oops. What was it ? what was it ?) I suddenly remembered the headline of his last blog and told him the same.
G: Do you think the US job market will improve ?
M: Yes it will but not so rapidly. Its kind of a W shaped recession. I would have loved to explain here but I just could not gather the thoughts and the next topic came.
L: So you applied before also ?
M: yes
L: When ?
M: Last year round 2.
L: So what was the feedback you got and what have you done ?
M: Blah blah feedback. And I did this and that to improve on it.
L: Hmm..some more questions on my community work.
G: So why do you want to do MBA ?
M: My usual answer.
G: What kind of work you do and how you think it will help you in your future ?
M: Prepared answer.
L: What are your plans for future at work ?
M: this and that.
L: Have you taken any steps towards that ?
M: (Obviously thats why I applied...kidding). No. right now I love what I do, had lots of opportunities here and I did not see any reason to jump from being a developer to a Business analyst or some managerial role.
L: hmm...
L: Can you estimate the number of computers in the campus. We just want to know your approach and not the exact number.
M: (cool). Number of students + teachers + different departments + library and other things + other staff. I just arrived to some number close to 800.
(I actually got the number of teachers wrong.)
G: So you know how many departments make up a B school ?
M: Admissions, Placements, Corporate board, Hostel, Different centres, and ummm....
(Later realized I could have said more like Media, Company relations etc.)
G: Do you think Facebook can give Google a run for its money sometime ?
M: (something that I read a lot about) Yes definitely. The number of users is phenomenal. It can leverage that to may be beat google at search. May be develop new ways of earning revenue other than advertising. Social networking is big and all that. Facebook is the leader in that right now.
G: what should google do then ?
M: It should develop a new Social Networking website. Rethink from the bottom. (this was before Buzz came in)
G: But they already have Orkut.
M: I know. But Orkut is way below Facebook. Although there are certain ways it can improve Orkut. (This was also before they renovated Orkut..am not being visionary but it is just true..may be that guy was at google :D )
G: How ?
M: Improve performance and user interface (was that too geeky). Improve user registration. Currently anyone can do it as against Facebook which requires us to provide a mobile number and a code to confirm online. That will result in lesser spam on orkut. (Seriously there is way too much spam and fake profiles on orkut, may be facebook is slowly approaching that).
G and L looking towards each other.
L: I think we are done. Do you have any questions ?
M: yes sure. (I asked my question and they answered it).
All in all, I did not feel that it was a very good interview and I smashed it. But it was not that bad either. I did some mistakes but I answered some things very well. Probably.
I hope you enjoyed reading it and benefit from it.
I know I am late and I regret that. But I could not help it. I was invited for an interview at Hyderabad when I had applied to ISB in the first round. The interview was on a Sunday and I left Bangalore Saturday evening. Since the interview was at 3:00 PM I took the risk of leaving just the day before. I reached Hyderabad in the morning and went to a friend's place. I just spent the time chatting with friends and eating breakfast at Chutney's. No pressure of the interview till now. I had bath and got all dressed up. One of my other friends came and he took me to the ISB campus. I met another class mate from college at ISB who took admission last year. It was 2:50 PM and I had to report at the reception.
I got a sheet of paper and a topic to write about for about 15 mins. The topic was "Banking". I wrote whatever came to my mind and was sitting quietly in one corner. I observed other applicants talking to each other about their work experience, earlier interview experiences, GMAT scores and what not. It seemed like those guys had arrived a good half to one hour back. It was 3:20 PM and I was still waiting for some panel to call me up for the interview. There were 4 panels I think. Suddenly I felt the urge to yawn. I thought it would be fine. As I was halfway to my yawn (read as mouth wide open), a lady came by and asked for my name. I somehow tried to hide my yawn and gulped it. I thought to myself "What a loser I am ? What a great time to yawn !"
I enter the interview room and I see 1 guy sitting on his chair. The other interviewer was the lady who called me. They had my application open in front of them. They introduced themselves to me. One was an Admissions committee member and the other was an alumni. The following is the transcript (not exact, but very close) of my interview:
G = (Guy) : L = (Lady) : M = (Me)
G: So you play guitar ?
M: yes.
G: Since how long ?
M: Since last Jan.
L: Why did you learn it now and not before ?
M: (hmm. good one. I expected this) I always wanted to since college and never really had the time or the push to learn. It just happened last Jan and I enrolled myself.
L: But you have written that you are a guitar player. So do you play somewhere ?
M: No. just at home. (noticing that the lady is not convinced)
L: So which newspapers you read ? (Note that this was somewhere mentioned on my application)
M: Mint and Hindu
G: What do you like in them ?
M: Mint i like it for its wall street journal's columns and the last 4 pages expressing different views. Hindu for general news and sometimes I read Paul Krugman's column.
G: What was the last column that Paul Krugman wrote ?
M: (Oops. What was it ? what was it ?) I suddenly remembered the headline of his last blog and told him the same.
G: Do you think the US job market will improve ?
M: Yes it will but not so rapidly. Its kind of a W shaped recession. I would have loved to explain here but I just could not gather the thoughts and the next topic came.
L: So you applied before also ?
M: yes
L: When ?
M: Last year round 2.
L: So what was the feedback you got and what have you done ?
M: Blah blah feedback. And I did this and that to improve on it.
L: Hmm..some more questions on my community work.
G: So why do you want to do MBA ?
M: My usual answer.
G: What kind of work you do and how you think it will help you in your future ?
M: Prepared answer.
L: What are your plans for future at work ?
M: this and that.
L: Have you taken any steps towards that ?
M: (Obviously thats why I applied...kidding). No. right now I love what I do, had lots of opportunities here and I did not see any reason to jump from being a developer to a Business analyst or some managerial role.
L: hmm...
L: Can you estimate the number of computers in the campus. We just want to know your approach and not the exact number.
M: (cool). Number of students + teachers + different departments + library and other things + other staff. I just arrived to some number close to 800.
(I actually got the number of teachers wrong.)
G: So you know how many departments make up a B school ?
M: Admissions, Placements, Corporate board, Hostel, Different centres, and ummm....
(Later realized I could have said more like Media, Company relations etc.)
G: Do you think Facebook can give Google a run for its money sometime ?
M: (something that I read a lot about) Yes definitely. The number of users is phenomenal. It can leverage that to may be beat google at search. May be develop new ways of earning revenue other than advertising. Social networking is big and all that. Facebook is the leader in that right now.
G: what should google do then ?
M: It should develop a new Social Networking website. Rethink from the bottom. (this was before Buzz came in)
G: But they already have Orkut.
M: I know. But Orkut is way below Facebook. Although there are certain ways it can improve Orkut. (This was also before they renovated Orkut..am not being visionary but it is just true..may be that guy was at google :D )
G: How ?
M: Improve performance and user interface (was that too geeky). Improve user registration. Currently anyone can do it as against Facebook which requires us to provide a mobile number and a code to confirm online. That will result in lesser spam on orkut. (Seriously there is way too much spam and fake profiles on orkut, may be facebook is slowly approaching that).
G and L looking towards each other.
L: I think we are done. Do you have any questions ?
M: yes sure. (I asked my question and they answered it).
All in all, I did not feel that it was a very good interview and I smashed it. But it was not that bad either. I did some mistakes but I answered some things very well. Probably.
I hope you enjoyed reading it and benefit from it.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Happy Valentine's Day
While I am watching nice romantic songs on all TV Channels since morning, I would like to wish all people reading this blog a very Happy Valentine's Day.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Multiplex Prices in Bangalore
I have been wanting to write a blog on the ridiculously high multiplex prices in Bangalore. I think it was 3 Idiots and Avatar that made me sit up and take notice of the insane prices across Multiplexes in Bangalore. I have been in Bangalore since the last 8 years and have never seen any movie ticket selling at Rs. 350. It is not that I cannot afford it. It is simply not worth it. Paying 350 bucks for a huge block-bluster in an ordinary multiplex with an average seating capacity of 150 just does not make sense. I am not saying that 10 years down the line the movie tickets will still cost 200. I agree the inflation is high but it is not that high. I agree that Bangalore has tremendous buying power but that does not mean you punish the average middle class movie freak.
The same thing happened this time when I checked the availability of MNIK in the theaters. I could hardly find a couple of shows (all morning) that had tickets less than 240. All shows in the big multiplexes are above 260 and most are above 300. I have seen this trend for the second time after Avatar and 3 Idiots release. I do not know the cost-benefit analysis, but common sense tells me that making the ticket price 350 will definitely attract lesser crowd in the first few weeks the movie is released.
Till then, I will wait till I get a ticket for 200 or less. Its a different debate that even Rs 200 is a huge price for a movie ticket. Add to that the costs of buying popcorn or cold drink and you will realize how ridiculous and senseless the multiplex ticket and food pricing has become.
The same thing happened this time when I checked the availability of MNIK in the theaters. I could hardly find a couple of shows (all morning) that had tickets less than 240. All shows in the big multiplexes are above 260 and most are above 300. I have seen this trend for the second time after Avatar and 3 Idiots release. I do not know the cost-benefit analysis, but common sense tells me that making the ticket price 350 will definitely attract lesser crowd in the first few weeks the movie is released.
Till then, I will wait till I get a ticket for 200 or less. Its a different debate that even Rs 200 is a huge price for a movie ticket. Add to that the costs of buying popcorn or cold drink and you will realize how ridiculous and senseless the multiplex ticket and food pricing has become.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
MBA Tour. New concept. Refreshing.
Some 20 days ago, I attended the MBA tour event in Bangalore. The very reason that I dedicate a full blog post to it is because it was different and refreshing. It was much more informative than the earlier MBA tour that I had attended. This MBA tour was called the MBA round table workshop. It had a different concept than the earlier ones that are primarily held during September each year. This MBA tour had 8 round tables, each table marked with numbers from 1 to 8. There were only 8 or 9 schools participating and each school's representative (usually the director of admissions) had to spend 10 mins on each table.
Not many people knew about this event and even if they knew, the timing was quite odd given that most of the schools just got over with their Round 2 deadlines. Not many people care about such tours during the months of Jan or Feb. But I think the reason I liked it was lesser crowd and greater interaction with the school representatives. The MBA tour in September was analogous to Bangalore Traffic where a lot of vehicles ply on narrow roads and then there is chaos. The earlier MBA tour also had lots of attention seekers and time wasters. Surprisingly, a lot of people ask questions about average GMAT score and placement numbers in the schools when all this information is easily available on the internet. The recent MBA tour did not have such chaos and many such people.
Although 10 mins was a bit too short, but it seemed like the MBA tour committee was trying out something new. I really liked the concept and felt that it was informative. Each representative talking about their school and answering whatever questions they could answer within those 10 mins. Yes, there were always the "crowd-surrounding-admissions-director-clearing-doubts" type of sessions at the end of the event. But the new concept would work only if there are fewer MBA aspirants attending or rather if the space were much bigger and more schools were participating.
Not many people knew about this event and even if they knew, the timing was quite odd given that most of the schools just got over with their Round 2 deadlines. Not many people care about such tours during the months of Jan or Feb. But I think the reason I liked it was lesser crowd and greater interaction with the school representatives. The MBA tour in September was analogous to Bangalore Traffic where a lot of vehicles ply on narrow roads and then there is chaos. The earlier MBA tour also had lots of attention seekers and time wasters. Surprisingly, a lot of people ask questions about average GMAT score and placement numbers in the schools when all this information is easily available on the internet. The recent MBA tour did not have such chaos and many such people.
Although 10 mins was a bit too short, but it seemed like the MBA tour committee was trying out something new. I really liked the concept and felt that it was informative. Each representative talking about their school and answering whatever questions they could answer within those 10 mins. Yes, there were always the "crowd-surrounding-admissions-director-clearing-doubts" type of sessions at the end of the event. But the new concept would work only if there are fewer MBA aspirants attending or rather if the space were much bigger and more schools were participating.
Friday, February 05, 2010
The benefits of failure
I am sorry for stealing this blog post (topic as well as content) from a fellow MBA blogger (MBA Bubbles). But I could not stop myself. It is just too good. J.K.Rowling (author of Harry Potter book series) delivers a commencement address at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association.
Each and every line of this speech is so important and so true. Some of the lines are forever embedded in my memory. Before I admire it more and more, you should yourself watch it and experience it. Here it goes:
For the full text version and video visit http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination
Each and every line of this speech is so important and so true. Some of the lines are forever embedded in my memory. Before I admire it more and more, you should yourself watch it and experience it. Here it goes:
J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.
For the full text version and video visit http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Application Status
Its been a long time since I have updated the blogosphere with my application status. Getting yourself involved in so many activities always keeps you super busy. That is exactly the case right now with me. I have lots to tell and lots to write about my MBA Application experience. It will be done gradually. Here is a summary:
1. ISB (Round 1) - Interviewed and Dinged
2. Fuqua (Round 1) - Dinged without interview
3. Foster (Round 1) - Interviewed and Admitted
4. Haas (Round 1) - Dinged without interview
5. McCombs (Round 2) - Submitted.
6. Kenan-Flagler (Round 3) - Will submit by this weekend.
Blogs about my interview experience will be up shorty. All I needed was a "wake up sid" type of blog by MBA Bubbles to get me started on my daily blog writing activity.
Well, I do feel sad when I think I came so close, but I understand the decisions of all those schools that have given me rejects.
PS: MBA Application process is Rocket science :)
1. ISB (Round 1) - Interviewed and Dinged
2. Fuqua (Round 1) - Dinged without interview
3. Foster (Round 1) - Interviewed and Admitted
4. Haas (Round 1) - Dinged without interview
5. McCombs (Round 2) - Submitted.
6. Kenan-Flagler (Round 3) - Will submit by this weekend.
Blogs about my interview experience will be up shorty. All I needed was a "wake up sid" type of blog by MBA Bubbles to get me started on my daily blog writing activity.
Well, I do feel sad when I think I came so close, but I understand the decisions of all those schools that have given me rejects.
PS: MBA Application process is Rocket science :)
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Why is Federer the best
Roger Federer, one of the greatest players of all times is not considered the best after all. I am not saying this. But a lot of my friends who are Tennis enthusiasts believe so. They feel that Federer is lucky to not have some of the most competitive players around in his prime years. I do not think that is true. I am a huge Federer fan. It is not his record grand slams or his ATP rankings. It is because of the way he plays, his elegance, his skills and his low profile personality.
This made me think about writing a blog about the reasons that makes Federer the best. I went inventorying about Federer's records in grand slams. He has won a record 15 grand slams. As I am writing this, he is on his way to the 16th title having a one set advantage over Murray in the Australian Open. He has reached the semi-finals or better of the last 23 grand slam tournaments he has played. That is in a span of 6 years. Simply amazing. I will come to the debate about his opponents being weak or not. He has held the No. 1 ATP rank for a record 237 consecutive weeks. He has a record of reaching 10 consecutive grand slam finals and appearing in 18 of the last 19. All this can be attributed to his motivation, fitness and off course experience.
All that was for the record. If you ask me what I like about Federer the most. I think the most obvious thing is his amazing backhand. I have seen very few players who can play backhand with so much ease as Federer. Most of the players play using 2 hands. The way Federer plays is so elegant and effortless and that too with one hand. I have seen almost nil double faults from Federer. He is very disciplined. Another significant thing about Federer is his mind. He always focuses on winning the first set. When he does not, his strategy is affected. Well, he should be thankful to Nadal for overcoming this now. Federer is not the same person as he was when he won his first grand slam in 2003. He has improved a lot and learnt on his way. His serve is not as strong as Sampras and cannot be compared to Goran Ivanisevic. But his returns and his patience to play long volleys are remarkable than them. His drop shot is equally brilliant.
Now coming to the debate (Am now rejoicing that Federer is on his way to winning the second set). Most people believe that if Sampras was young, Federer would not have been so great. Well, I do not agree. There has been a considerable change in the way Tennis was played during the times of Sampras and Agassi and the way it is played nowadays. Greater stamina, longer volleys, increase in baseline plays and decrease in on-the-net plays are some examples. First of all it is unfair to compare both of them. Even if you compare them, Federer's back hand would probably have won him more matches against Sampras or Agassi.
As far as the point of people supporting Nadal or Murray or Djokovic or Del Porto is concerned, that is completely natural. An excellent article on the art of innovation by Mahesh Murthy explains this. There are leaders and then there are followers or the second best/third best in the category. Most of the times people root for the 2nd or 3rd ones since they know they have more fighting spirit and the desire to become number 1. But he also talks about exceptions to this. There have been industries where the leader consistently reinvents and leads the pack by innovating. The same holds good for Federer as well. His defeats against Nadal and Del Porto must have taught a lot to him. I believe it was his bad luck that Nadal was out before the Wimbledon finals. He would have definitely won a match against Nadal given the loss he suffered in 2008.
It is always good to see someone defeat Federer consistently. That would be the beginning of the end of Federer's era. An era of unprecedented dominance.
This made me think about writing a blog about the reasons that makes Federer the best. I went inventorying about Federer's records in grand slams. He has won a record 15 grand slams. As I am writing this, he is on his way to the 16th title having a one set advantage over Murray in the Australian Open. He has reached the semi-finals or better of the last 23 grand slam tournaments he has played. That is in a span of 6 years. Simply amazing. I will come to the debate about his opponents being weak or not. He has held the No. 1 ATP rank for a record 237 consecutive weeks. He has a record of reaching 10 consecutive grand slam finals and appearing in 18 of the last 19. All this can be attributed to his motivation, fitness and off course experience.
All that was for the record. If you ask me what I like about Federer the most. I think the most obvious thing is his amazing backhand. I have seen very few players who can play backhand with so much ease as Federer. Most of the players play using 2 hands. The way Federer plays is so elegant and effortless and that too with one hand. I have seen almost nil double faults from Federer. He is very disciplined. Another significant thing about Federer is his mind. He always focuses on winning the first set. When he does not, his strategy is affected. Well, he should be thankful to Nadal for overcoming this now. Federer is not the same person as he was when he won his first grand slam in 2003. He has improved a lot and learnt on his way. His serve is not as strong as Sampras and cannot be compared to Goran Ivanisevic. But his returns and his patience to play long volleys are remarkable than them. His drop shot is equally brilliant.
Now coming to the debate (Am now rejoicing that Federer is on his way to winning the second set). Most people believe that if Sampras was young, Federer would not have been so great. Well, I do not agree. There has been a considerable change in the way Tennis was played during the times of Sampras and Agassi and the way it is played nowadays. Greater stamina, longer volleys, increase in baseline plays and decrease in on-the-net plays are some examples. First of all it is unfair to compare both of them. Even if you compare them, Federer's back hand would probably have won him more matches against Sampras or Agassi.
As far as the point of people supporting Nadal or Murray or Djokovic or Del Porto is concerned, that is completely natural. An excellent article on the art of innovation by Mahesh Murthy explains this. There are leaders and then there are followers or the second best/third best in the category. Most of the times people root for the 2nd or 3rd ones since they know they have more fighting spirit and the desire to become number 1. But he also talks about exceptions to this. There have been industries where the leader consistently reinvents and leads the pack by innovating. The same holds good for Federer as well. His defeats against Nadal and Del Porto must have taught a lot to him. I believe it was his bad luck that Nadal was out before the Wimbledon finals. He would have definitely won a match against Nadal given the loss he suffered in 2008.
It is always good to see someone defeat Federer consistently. That would be the beginning of the end of Federer's era. An era of unprecedented dominance.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
An eternity....
I have lots of updates since I did not find any time to blog in the last 2 months.
But today, I just want to say one thing:
"Finally....Finally got an MBA admit....from Foster School of Business"
Yey...
More blogs in the offing.
But today, I just want to say one thing:
"Finally....Finally got an MBA admit....from Foster School of Business"
Yey...
More blogs in the offing.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Third Milestone
Yes, I completed another milestone today. Submitting my third application just on time feels good. It takes a lot of team effort even while applying to B Schools. So don't just expect to indulge in teams and show your collaborative side once you get admission. Even while applying, you need to consult people, check out surveys and rankings, meet people, write essays sometimes discussing it with others, getting essays reviewed and getting the recos done. It takes a hell lot of team effort.
Looking forward to the next deadline in another 5 days.
Looking forward to the next deadline in another 5 days.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
A beautiful girl
Sometimes all it takes to remember a day is the face of a beautiful girl. And that some time was today for me. Since I had a long late night meeting scheduled, so I decided to grab some burger in the Forum mall near my office. I went along with my team mate and we ordered as per our tastes. There were only 2 seats available adjoining another table which had 1 girl and 2 of her friends (boys) sitting on it.
At first, I did not notice the girl. In fact, anyone there. Then I happened to see her when she got up to get something extra to eat. One of those rare moments when you just keep on seeing something for its sheer beauty. This was the moment. She wore a maroon salwar suit and maroon nail polish on her nails. She had beautiful eyes and was wearing fancy maroon slippers. I could hardly hear what she or her friends were talking about.
Anyways, with her face photographed in my mind, I return to my boring world of software projects, thinking about B School essays, B schools, writing Essays and occasionally playing guitar.
At first, I did not notice the girl. In fact, anyone there. Then I happened to see her when she got up to get something extra to eat. One of those rare moments when you just keep on seeing something for its sheer beauty. This was the moment. She wore a maroon salwar suit and maroon nail polish on her nails. She had beautiful eyes and was wearing fancy maroon slippers. I could hardly hear what she or her friends were talking about.
Anyways, with her face photographed in my mind, I return to my boring world of software projects, thinking about B School essays, B schools, writing Essays and occasionally playing guitar.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Essay Updates
Finally, I decided to gather the strength to think about MBA essays. Yes, I am partly kidding. I am actually taking a short break (around 4-5 days) from essay writing. Over the past 1 month, I was so exhausted by all the essays and the creative thinking that goes into it. The deadlines were the worst. They kept on revolving in my head for the past 1 month. The last week saw those deadlines orbit at enormously high speeds around my head. This forced me to relieve some stress and take a break.
By the way, I am in a fairly reasonable position as far as my essays are concerned.
Out of around 8 schools that I plan to apply, I have already applied to 2.
I have almost final drafts for 2 more schools (Foster and Haas). I will be revising them once more before the final submission.
So that leaves me to write essays for 4 more schools:
1. McCombs
2. Kenan-Flagler
3. Goizueta
4. Kelley
I know their deadlines and still I am taking it easy. May be I am used to it now. There are some essays from these 4 schools which require a totally new perspective. The rest of them can be created using the essays from the first 4 schools.
I think I will miss the deadline for at least one school. Lets see.
Taking a break while writing essays is very important. I did not and that's why spent several sleepless nights last week. Well, watching an odd movie or so does not really constitute a break. You have to completely switch off your mind and not think about the essays. Oops did I just write a blog on Essays ? Not again. Switch off. ssshhhhhh....
By the way, I am in a fairly reasonable position as far as my essays are concerned.
Out of around 8 schools that I plan to apply, I have already applied to 2.
I have almost final drafts for 2 more schools (Foster and Haas). I will be revising them once more before the final submission.
So that leaves me to write essays for 4 more schools:
1. McCombs
2. Kenan-Flagler
3. Goizueta
4. Kelley
I know their deadlines and still I am taking it easy. May be I am used to it now. There are some essays from these 4 schools which require a totally new perspective. The rest of them can be created using the essays from the first 4 schools.
I think I will miss the deadline for at least one school. Lets see.
Taking a break while writing essays is very important. I did not and that's why spent several sleepless nights last week. Well, watching an odd movie or so does not really constitute a break. You have to completely switch off your mind and not think about the essays. Oops did I just write a blog on Essays ? Not again. Switch off. ssshhhhhh....
Monday, October 12, 2009
Thank You Clearadmit
Last weekend, I got the following message on Facebook:
--------------------
Subject: Clear Admit Career Guide Winner!
Dear S,
Thank you for becoming a fan of Clear Admit on Facebook! You have been randomly selected to win a Clear Admit Career Guide of your choice! You may choose to receive any one of our five Career Guides, Consulting, Investment Banking, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, or Healthcare.
Once you have made your selection, please e-mail thisperson at clearadmit dot com with your choice!
Congratulations!
The Clear Admit Team
--------------------------
I was delighted and immediately emailed my choice to the concerned person.
And today I received my guide and am very excited about it since it has a few schools of my choice. It may turn out to be a life saver or a bonus type of thing.
--------------------
Subject: Clear Admit Career Guide Winner!
Dear S,
Thank you for becoming a fan of Clear Admit on Facebook! You have been randomly selected to win a Clear Admit Career Guide of your choice! You may choose to receive any one of our five Career Guides, Consulting, Investment Banking, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, or Healthcare.
Once you have made your selection, please e-mail thisperson at clearadmit dot com with your choice!
Congratulations!
The Clear Admit Team
--------------------------
I was delighted and immediately emailed my choice to the concerned person.
And today I received my guide and am very excited about it since it has a few schools of my choice. It may turn out to be a life saver or a bonus type of thing.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Wake Up Sid - Very Refreshing
Last night, I went to watch Wake Up Sid with my friends. Well, whatever the reviews say, the movie is very refreshing and vivid. I enjoyed the movie. There is no special story, no special dialogues, no glamorous locations etc., but the movie still makes you feel good.
The movie captures little moments in the life of Sid and Aisha. The music is simply awesome. I have been humming it since the last 2 weeks. The music has an easy going feel to it especially the song Iktara and Kya Karoon. The movie captures the Mumbai life to some extent. The pace is also nice and the background music again is simply fantastic. It beats at all the right moments.
Konkana Sen is once again brilliant. She is really an admirable actor who completely casts herself into the role she is enacting. Ranbir is also good and is an excellent fit for the role.
Overall, the movie is a good watch and will not let you down. Inglorious bastards is the next movie on my radar since my friend has labeled as a must watch.
The movie captures little moments in the life of Sid and Aisha. The music is simply awesome. I have been humming it since the last 2 weeks. The music has an easy going feel to it especially the song Iktara and Kya Karoon. The movie captures the Mumbai life to some extent. The pace is also nice and the background music again is simply fantastic. It beats at all the right moments.
Konkana Sen is once again brilliant. She is really an admirable actor who completely casts herself into the role she is enacting. Ranbir is also good and is an excellent fit for the role.
Overall, the movie is a good watch and will not let you down. Inglorious bastards is the next movie on my radar since my friend has labeled as a must watch.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Long time...no write
Its been around 2 weeks since I last wrote a blog. Yes, I regret that. Not because I did not update people with my writing, but because I missed writing for my own. Writing is a very different beast especially essay writing. I realized this when one of my reviewers pointed out my long answers and told me to be more succinct.
When I looked at my answers, I immediately got the point. They were not as precise as I wanted them to be. In fact, they were too long and wordy. There are several essay themes. Well, the kind of personal essay themes are difficult to write especially for a technical person like me. I wish I had taken some creative writing classes.
Anyways, the last 2 weeks have been a roller coaster ride. From completing essays for 2 different schools to a freak laptop accident when a curtain rod fell over it to wading through waist high rain water on double road at midnight. Well, the laptop incident was the most depressing one. To lose a laptop at this juncture is the last you want. Well, the screen and the speaker are the most damaged components. 2 of the keys have also become dysfunctional. For now, I have made temporary arrangements by connecting an external round (not flat) 15 inch monitor and a USB keyboard. Once the essay season is over, I will look towards buying a new one.
When I looked at my answers, I immediately got the point. They were not as precise as I wanted them to be. In fact, they were too long and wordy. There are several essay themes. Well, the kind of personal essay themes are difficult to write especially for a technical person like me. I wish I had taken some creative writing classes.
Anyways, the last 2 weeks have been a roller coaster ride. From completing essays for 2 different schools to a freak laptop accident when a curtain rod fell over it to wading through waist high rain water on double road at midnight. Well, the laptop incident was the most depressing one. To lose a laptop at this juncture is the last you want. Well, the screen and the speaker are the most damaged components. 2 of the keys have also become dysfunctional. For now, I have made temporary arrangements by connecting an external round (not flat) 15 inch monitor and a USB keyboard. Once the essay season is over, I will look towards buying a new one.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Get-together
Well, an Eid celebration was all that it took to socialize with old college friends. It was a nice get-together that brought a lot of nostalgic feelings along with it. It reminded me of the times that we had spent in college, those particular incidents, night-outs, endless computer game sessions and strategy making, talking about our friend's best rated hill station i.e. nandi hills (pun intended) and what not. There is no doubt that college days are the best.
Coming to the present, it was one of the few good home made lunches I have had in Bangalore. Thanks to my friend and his wife for hosting the get-together and doing the preparations. To call the food delicious would be an understatement. There was Veg and Non-Veg Biryani, Sevaiya, Cutlets, Chana and Dahi Bada. Even typing it in the blog makes me drool. I wish there were more such get-togethers.
Coming to the present, it was one of the few good home made lunches I have had in Bangalore. Thanks to my friend and his wife for hosting the get-together and doing the preparations. To call the food delicious would be an understatement. There was Veg and Non-Veg Biryani, Sevaiya, Cutlets, Chana and Dahi Bada. Even typing it in the blog makes me drool. I wish there were more such get-togethers.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The MBA Tour
This weekend is the MBA tour weekend in Bangalore and it is the first time that the MBA tour is happening over a span of 2 days. It is amazing that out of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, only Bangalore has an MBA tour spread over 2 days. That tells us a lot about the number of actual and potential applicants. I attended the event today and found it good but still below my expectations.
While going to the MBA tour, I did not expect so much traffic especially given that its a long weekend here. May be rains have forced a lot of people to rethink on their short vacation plans or many people are preparing for the next long weekend that is just 6 days away. MG Road is a total mess these days especially the stretch right before Trinity circle. I reached on time and registered for the event. I attended all the sessions before the fair and they seemed to be pretty generic. Given that this time I am better prepared, I was frustrated that some people had very basic or even irrelevant questions or may be I knew the answers. Whatever it was, I started feeling like the most knowledgeable. Probably the MBA tour is meant to spread awareness among the Indian applicants about most general questions and clear their doubts. Since I had attended one last year and am now well versed with the process by reading several books, I did not find it interesting.
Once the sessions were over and the fair about to start, I noticed that there are far fewer people this time than last year. But there seemed to be a lot of people either still in college or having just 1-2 years of experience. Not sure if that is good or bad. But the fair started very similarly to last year and there was huge crowd in front of all the big schools. I tried listening to the conversations on 2 of them and I understood that it is better to ask my questions after probably an hour when the crowd is tired and disseminates. So, me and my friends decided to eat something outside and come back. Well, it was worth it since most of the crowd started to lose interest and there were many empty counters.
I basically had some very specific questions. I first went to ESADE and asked my question. The director straight away told me laughingly that this is a very specific question. She drank some water and bought some time and then gave a general answer, which was acceptable given the other people standing surrounding me. She redirected me to an ESADE alumni and that guy (doing his internship in India) was very polite and answered all my questions. I felt very nice to know that he has the same undergrad degree as me and is into the same specialization that I am interested in. I then went over to HEC and the Rice University counters and had brief chats with their admissions representative. But I understood from my first interaction with ESADE that this forum is not meant for very specific school questions. Well, not exactly true, but if they have an alumni, the alumni will answer all the specific questions. I think the schools should bring along more alumni to help serious applicants. Anyway, there are always online channels to interact with them, but discussing face to face sometimes help.
While going to the MBA tour, I did not expect so much traffic especially given that its a long weekend here. May be rains have forced a lot of people to rethink on their short vacation plans or many people are preparing for the next long weekend that is just 6 days away. MG Road is a total mess these days especially the stretch right before Trinity circle. I reached on time and registered for the event. I attended all the sessions before the fair and they seemed to be pretty generic. Given that this time I am better prepared, I was frustrated that some people had very basic or even irrelevant questions or may be I knew the answers. Whatever it was, I started feeling like the most knowledgeable. Probably the MBA tour is meant to spread awareness among the Indian applicants about most general questions and clear their doubts. Since I had attended one last year and am now well versed with the process by reading several books, I did not find it interesting.
Once the sessions were over and the fair about to start, I noticed that there are far fewer people this time than last year. But there seemed to be a lot of people either still in college or having just 1-2 years of experience. Not sure if that is good or bad. But the fair started very similarly to last year and there was huge crowd in front of all the big schools. I tried listening to the conversations on 2 of them and I understood that it is better to ask my questions after probably an hour when the crowd is tired and disseminates. So, me and my friends decided to eat something outside and come back. Well, it was worth it since most of the crowd started to lose interest and there were many empty counters.
I basically had some very specific questions. I first went to ESADE and asked my question. The director straight away told me laughingly that this is a very specific question. She drank some water and bought some time and then gave a general answer, which was acceptable given the other people standing surrounding me. She redirected me to an ESADE alumni and that guy (doing his internship in India) was very polite and answered all my questions. I felt very nice to know that he has the same undergrad degree as me and is into the same specialization that I am interested in. I then went over to HEC and the Rice University counters and had brief chats with their admissions representative. But I understood from my first interaction with ESADE that this forum is not meant for very specific school questions. Well, not exactly true, but if they have an alumni, the alumni will answer all the specific questions. I think the schools should bring along more alumni to help serious applicants. Anyway, there are always online channels to interact with them, but discussing face to face sometimes help.
Monday, September 14, 2009
First Application 2009
My first application for the year 2009 i.e. ISB has been completed and submitted. Although, there is still one recommendation to go, but I hope it will be in by tomorrow.
After going through the application once again, I finally decided to submit it and wait for the results. I hope this time I get at least an interview call. But, mind you, that is not the goal. The goal is to get in. The goal is to get admitted to one of the best B schools. Lets see how the application comes along.
It was an intense day for me. I did a lot of programming today and a lot of reading including the ISB application. It feels great after such a marathon. But, I have to admit that this was just a trailer and there are many more marathons to come.
I wish I could catch some action at the US Open final (01:30 am), off course on TV.
Update: The second recommendation has also been submitted.
After going through the application once again, I finally decided to submit it and wait for the results. I hope this time I get at least an interview call. But, mind you, that is not the goal. The goal is to get in. The goal is to get admitted to one of the best B schools. Lets see how the application comes along.
It was an intense day for me. I did a lot of programming today and a lot of reading including the ISB application. It feels great after such a marathon. But, I have to admit that this was just a trailer and there are many more marathons to come.
I wish I could catch some action at the US Open final (01:30 am), off course on TV.
Update: The second recommendation has also been submitted.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Why foreign policy matters
Just wanted to archive a very good speech by Shashi Tharoor on "Why foreign policy matters". It is a must read. Click on the below link to read the speech.
Why Foreign Policy Matters
Why Foreign Policy Matters
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