you are the choices you make

it stood out, this line, when i read harry potter and then again in shantaram. and thats what our professor said to us on the first day, you have made a choice to come here, to face challenges and to be ambitious. and i thought back on the choices i have made, some tough ones and some tougher ones.

now that i am here, there is an option at every step. there are the immediate choices, should i get out of my bed now or sleep longer? this usually results in the alarm clock snoozing for quite a while, till i realise i am running late for class. should i got to the party or to the street festivals? the key here is the importance you associate to your company. i could go to a party and stand in a corner, similing at the occasional person who looks my way and unsuccesfully trying to make small talk with the unlucky one who chose to talk to me. i sound harsh, but i can get really boring and sad in a party, particularly if i cant dance. and dance in barcelona usually means either salsa or the disco moves on english music. so its quite a task (to put mildly) for my kathak spins or even for my bollywood arm waving. then of course the whole appearance comes into play. i mean if have my flats, no make-up, no figure-show screaming out my boring quotient, how can i possibly match the moves of the high-heeled long legged beauties? naah i am better off imagining it. now come on, its not so bad, i just carried away trying to make the decsiption engaging. should i eat salad or boiled vegetable? the good part is i am never confused with too many options and also that its healthy. so its either of these two, or either of these two and dessert. in the latter case the either of these two doesnt matter. i am definitely not going to stay the way i am, and will soon need new clothes! md, watch out!!

then there are the long term choices. am i a cheerful yellow or a patient green? can i tone up my intuition and my energy to balance the shades of my personality? do i want to wait for those who dont wait for me or do i persist on my lonely bit and fight a losing battle? what is the choice of my career? banking or consulting? media or steel? am i here to mint money or to have a balanced life? is my passion in statistics or in analysis? n i havent made any choices yet. it is now important to choose my passion, because thats what matters finally. in the end, whether you did your cases everyday, or you partied, or you got the best job, what will matter is how happy you are.

now that look back at where i have come from, this mba has turned to be a good choice. the stress on values, and the nature of mba itself revolving around common sense and simplicty, is a sweet reward for all the waiting and all the questions i faced. there is a long way ahead, and many more choices to make, and life will teach me as i move on. as it is rightly said, "good judgement comes from experience. experience comes from bad judgement." amen to some experience and fond memories.

Getting back to school

and i am thoroughly loving it!! we had our first day of a week long orientation today, and we had a short simple introduction to the institute where we were explained how we were the best batch in the history of IESE, the basic principals of IESE's MBA and an interesting lecture about the problem of management, not to forget the simple example of the man on the mountain.

this experience is such a wonderful mix of professionalism and moral ethics, simplicity and yet suave-ness, i cannot express fully how happy i am feeling for being where i am. it completely appeals to my virgo instincts and puts me at ease. to begin with, IESE is affiliated with Opus dei, and the fundamental principle followed is being connected to God without renoucing wordly activities and responsibilities. this is close to the hindu philosophy, and it appeals to me instantaneously. we even had a mass at the nearby church today, with filled me with so much peace, and i realised how each religion in the end is just the way to a life of peace and harmony.

coming to the man on the mountain, this was a simple problem as to if at 8 in the mornin, a man went up a hill and the next day he started his trip downhill, would there be a unique time and place common between his trip to the top and to the base? a simple answer yes or a no. i instinctively thought yes, but couldnt say why. and then iain, a classmate explained brilliantly using a clear graphical solution. however, the professor was explaining us about how difficult it is to get a consensus, and how management is simply about finding solutions in such cases and others as well. the simplicity of this all amazed me, for a second time in the day.

and then we met our teams, our to be friends for the next year. a good mix of spanish, lebonese, israeli, arabic, indian, canadian, italian and american and that too from varied backgrounds, i am all excited how this interaction will turn out to be. the program and associated activities are going to unravel over the rest of this week, and am so excited! will keep you guys posted..

out of sight is out of mind

this concept is quite multi pronged as i have realised over the past few weeks. now that i have moved out of home, away from my friends, i have moved to the edges of their concsious memory too. just as they have to mine. although i probably miss them more than they collectively miss me, and though i may like to deny this, it is true that this realisation has set in with a trace of regret and sadness too. further, while my life has changed and there is something new happening here all the time, this is not the case with people back home. so the "whats up" may mean a lot to me, but it is not true vice versa, at least not anymore. there is so much to tell, so much to tell, so much to tell, that time, curiosity and patience all fall short. thankfully, this blog helps me unwind, even though it still keeps me out of sight.

on the other hand, i am also experiencing the insight-inmind concept, which is an obvious corollary to the above. it maybe a badly constructed name, but it is the crux of what we are all here to do at IESE. network, and thus secure a career. the more you are visible, the more you are connected, the better it is for you, the better you are using you time at this b-school. and thats why we see all the socialising, even to the point of being polite just for the sake of it, and in one's mind, hating it all for the sheer formality that it is. i even reached a bottom pit of frustration just a few days back. reminded me of all those dusty cobwebbed swear words. the why-am-i-here, what-am-i-doing syndrome hit me. yes, even before the orientation started. and ironically, it was a day and night full of networking events that brought me back to the routine world, away from the depressing reality check. i wouldnt deny that networking at this stage and in this form, is temporary and extremely formal, but i wouldnt deny that these activities can also be fun.

so while i am here, and having paid good money for this, i would rather enjoy every flavour of this madness, and make it worth the increased distance and decreased connection with the people i have known all my life until now, and getting to know people i may become friends with for all my life ahead. so here is the gurumantra:

i guess sometimes its good to understand and accept life as it is, rather than fight it for a result that you can neither visualise nor understand.

all this investment of time, money, emotions ---

and one of the first outcomes is i have learnt how to cook. and no its, not just the usual omlette, or eggroll type of dishes. its getting serious now. i have realised how much i get involved in it, the planning, the details, the time taken and the outcome which i hog up in hardly a few minutes. so its like i enjoy cooking as a hobby not as a habit.

so after the initial days of lethargy which led to breakfast of cereals and meals of pasta or omlette, i made a trip to the Indian grocery store. and freaked out at how these simple-readily-available stuff in india could become so sought-after here. so i came back loaded and feeling very resourceful. the courage and enthusiasm led to more experiments. mushroom gave way to soya, and omlette to vegetable curry. namkeens which follwed next and lasted a week, were the first indicators of my crossing the first level in cooking. (and yeah they also gave me a neat little poco burn on my wrist). then came the rotis. (mind you it was some british atta with the disclaimer "May have nuts" and which looked like it was just maida with a LOT of roughage mixed in it). and i didnt have the chimta. so used my hand instead. guess the past observation of how MD's mom made rotis without using chimta helped me. and then came the grandest of all experiements. paneer!! yes, home made paneer, strained and frozen into a brick shape, and waiting to constitute a grand dinner. (updates to follow after this experiement is over)

but i miss md here. of all things this is what i cant share over the net. pictures are way too minimalistic. particularly when the experiments go on everyday, whereas we talk once in a while. oh yeah. that reminds me of another first. the first fight. i almost demonstrated my anger to my unsuspecting class fellows here, who think i am the calmest person around. so it was the next generation fight, over BB, and ended with a short, simple, honest conversation. ah, the magic of voice, and the soothing effect that it can bring. just that its doesnt have that soothing an effect on the mobile bills. but guess thats the trade-off there. all this investment of time, money and emotions is also teaching us to communicate better, optimally and over other media than the mobile. hail change!!

next i guess would be the changes spanish will bring in my life. i already had a first-grocery-shopping in spanish, and thanks to my fundu teacher Bertha, i think i have inspiration to unleash my wild-wierd side. yeah baby, bring it on!!

Of people and faces

The key to international experience is the people one meets. One week into school, and we are only learning Spanish for now, but I have already interacted with people from all over the world. Also outside of school I think it's quite interesting, the way i get approached by people and the kind of interactions i have with them.

The Spanish, of course are the ever charming and helpful people. They greet by kissing you on the cheeks, dress very well and are generally very jovial. The percentage of physically fit people is amazingly high. (It surprises me cause i am used to the paunches of India!) Barcelona it is probably because of all the walking, and Madrid the other Spanish city I have seen, there are joggers jogging at all times of the day be it 10 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon. Of course their food needs a special mention, most of which i can barely eat, but what i do eat is just too good. And not to forget the eve teasing, or the friendly culture as they would like to term it. "here's my phone number, give me a call sometime; this is my email id, lets keep in touch over chat; my work timings are till 12, lets meet up at the beach over the weekend." You won't believe the excuses i have started making. "I dont have a mobile" (and it is sticking out of my pocket), i dont have a personal email id, we share one id in a group of 5-6 people (believe me i got away with this excuse).

Then there are the Indians and the Pakistanis. Its amazing how much affection there is between these people, when you meet them in other coutries. Right from voluntary discounts on printouts, grocery and icecream, to offering illegal part-time job in a so-called modelling agency. They have the knack of telling the country from your face and they start talking to you in hindi directly. I have to admit it sounds soothing to the ears and even the tips of finding grocery stores that i got from one of them really helped me.

Then my first day in school was quite interesting, thanks to a Chinese Phd student at IESE. She said i reminded her of her first day in school and so she took me around both the campuses, a proper guided tour, where to take prints, where to take coffee, the classrooms, the library, the terrace etc. And that brings me to my class, with Norwegians, British, Taiwanese, Japaneses, Koreans, Germans, Americans and many more. I have met about 10 % of my class, and we have started hanging out too, the most memorble of it all was the beach cricket with some indians, a british and an american. Yes, there's lots more to go and time for it all too. Gtg now, will keep you guys posted.