The day I stepped off the Maglev.....

20th July shall be memorable......thats the day I stepped off one of the most illustrous phases of my professional carrier - the day i bid adieu to RCom. I had joined RCom 3 years back with no expectations but a tremendous amount of satisfaction for having achieved my cherished dream of making a career shift to telecom, but today when I am leaving RCom, I rewind and pause at the spectacular moments on the Maglev - the baptism through fire during the MTN due-diligence, the weekly one pagers to the boss, Prashants ripping the presentations threadbare, the endless regulatory consulting papers, last minute work on the 3G business case on the eve of my marriage, last minute changes on the 3G business case on the eve of my second anniversery, the exciting games during the auction simulation, the boring routine during the actual auction, the break neck pace, the loud arguments and the afternoon vada pav's during the 3G PMO, the six month korean sojourn, the deluge of vendor meetings, the 3G jamboree meeting....the fond memories are limitless....
Even the last day at Reliance was action packed to the extend that I boared the flight back 5 min before the take off. As I heard the final boarding call over the PA system during my personal security check, it sunk in that in the next 10 min I was infact boarding off one of the fastest rides of my professional career.........

Sea ahoy !!

It started like one of those drab 6 day long weekdays and ended with an experience that will definetly last this lifetime. Cheers to Chitrang for transforming a much despised review friday into a surreal experience !! - As we boarded the TIAN, the infinite luxury boat of The Ambani, it was opulence beyond the wildest of dreams.

The idea of partying on a yatch had kept me excited the whole afternoon. Despite the hour long drive amidst the traffic & heat of mumbai's scorching afternoon being a damper, it eventually accentuated the experience of the evening than in Chandlers profound words is best described as " The stand up comedian you have to sit through before Pink Floyd arrives".

We reached the boat jetty at the gateway of India around 7 pm and amidst the tight security post the episode at Taj, we boarded a classy speed boat to the TIAN. The speed boat in itself was an affair to cherish, but definitely left us no cues on the countless luxuries that awaited us. The first sign post to paradise was the Singhania's yatch - Aged yet mystic and graceful, to say the least.

In about 5 minutes, we got the first glimpse of the pricess TIAN in her bridal attire. It looked like a miniature reflection of the Taj - a luxury suite achored in the deep, swaying majestically in the cold evening breeze flaunting privilege, pride & pure insanity.

I recalled the Kerala tourism theme "Your moment is waiting" (directed by the same Prakash Varma of ZooZoo fame) - where the idea is that instead of giving you glimpses larger than life, Kerala offers you a moment, that you would remember a lifetime. I felt one such moment at the TIAN - for the ambience was perfect - A 400 Cr yatch, delicious titbits right out of the owen, steady sea breeze, groovy music and a company of best friends.

The crew of the yatch were quite accomodating and the helm of the ship, Captain Motiwala silently receded to his cabin after exchanging pleasantaries to leave the deck open for us to celebrate...3G Shtyle...

Many pieces came together that day to make the evening at TIAN memorable - the right mix of classics, retro and contemporary from DJ Chitraang had something for everybody's ears, the florescent band props streaked the dark like laser beam, the boneless dancing by Bipin that left crowd & crew equally spell bound, the numerous photo sessions by Lourina, the endless shenanigans of Neeraj, the "spirited" words of Wisdom from Vivek, the anecdotal stories of Reliance from Vinod, the random stories on everything by Pankaj, the gravity defying stunts of Mamooty, the ante-dance moves of CP, the kodak moments clicked by Joy, the head and deck banging by Partho, the quick one liners of Mr Buch, the even faster retorts of mohit, the patient karan's loosing his steam over the anonymous guy locked up in the loo, the late night welcome party for Prashant ....all sticked together into great red carpet party at the TIAN that night.

As i sat on the speed boat, heading back to the gateway....the rope lights of the TIAN faded out into the horizon but the memories of this night shall fade not for ages to come ...and thats for sure.

2 year project ends today !!! Reliance finally launches 3G services

I am posting this blog after a break of almost 2 years......and the title is a giveaway of reasons as to why. I made the first business case for 3G going before my marriage and shortly after my second marriage anniversery, 3G has finally made its way into India. But let not the 2 year time on the title misguide you on the inefficiency of the team here......the launch has happened in just 103 days after the spectrum has been issued.....must to the suprise of many experts closely involved in the roll-out, the point to be noted is the sweeping inefficienties that cog all the elements of the beaurocracy which made the allocation so late............we think of it first and delivery it the last....

Parting words.....Take a Reliance 3G multimedia pack and activate mobile TV. It is free for a week....even data usage charges !!!!

Spilling beans...........

" Its official now - ISB ranks T20 in FT global MBA rankings"

One of the historic moments of the school.........and i am glad it is happening while i am here........

http://rankings.ft.com/global-mba-rankings

Scaling new heights at ISB

Co08 continues to break records and this time its our own Pallo who has raised the bar with her gravity defying stunts. In an unprecedented act of awe witnessed by a million well wishers ( read victims) she seamlessly glided to well above 6 feet in an inverted Greg Louganis style only to pause in mid air and then wrap it all up with an unmatched somesault - every moment of it screaming perfection.

As true MBA students, we sit down to analyze this work of art in hindsight. Some claim it’s her ability to hold her breath for long - meticulous perfected through ages of incessant, breathless talking. While 0thers say it’s the aerodynamics mastered through intermittent aerobic classes and passive gymming. Nevertheless everyone admits her pedigree matters the most, being in lineage with the likes of Milka singh, Gurbachan singh etc athletics has always been inane to her. In a true display of modesty, she dedicates this record to her friends, family and fiancée most of all, who have outlived her years of ardent practice with patience and sanity. Fans beg to answer the question – what is it that truly drives pallo to perform such acts of impossibilities – passion for dwelpment she says and faith that jejus is always hair with her.

We are in the presence of greatness and today Pallu has set the milestones and generations of ISB ians shall strive to emulate. I now have a sense of whats coming.

MBA Kaliedoscope

A dig at poetry.........

Deliberate stride into a no mans land; confused choices and raison’ unclear…

Excused early from deport or disband; certainty equivalent of risk still to uncover

Never trust the collaborative blogs, riddled they are with biased frogs.

Envy when u are at the celebrated dias; remember its all a selection bias.

And late shall your realize the winners curse; as sharks bite your empty purse

Rain drops are pattering heavy; difficult it is to hold nerves steady…..

Drown your strains and pump some weight; just to remind u ain’t dead meat.

And soon it smells a whiff of rose, Mark of course with his melody dose.

An hour flies like blink of eyes, condemned you are back to chosen despise.

Debt starts to matter a lot, time to let your resumes afloat….

Guardian angel appears finally, graceful enough with a succinct googly

While you iron resumes to its last crease; preparing enough for the final strip tease.

Time doesn’t wait for any wayby, bidding life’s pleasures teary good bye.

It’s an art movie for heavens sake; for true connoisseurs and lest a fake…..

Look ahead for the final cake, recuperate the pleasure you silently forsake

Two months of utter disdain, rewards come with risk that’s inane….

Time ahead looks very insane, but joy ahead is unblemished cocaine

The Shady things i do.........

I am going live next month.......this day, the 9th of Dec 2007, I too shall join the ecleons of those great men who have strummed it out to glory merely to fade away into oblivion the next minute. Nevertheless we are those smart cuckoos who have picked a lesson or two from the phoenix's ashes. A fool proof backup plan is vital, considering the fact that you never have a main plan and now that murphy has said it and is no more alive to take the brunt of it, the inevitable shall invariably happen. The mortal reminants of our guitar class have decided to put up a show for ISB day and tommrow is the audition. Frankly our plight is more or less that of an IT bretheren following a CA into the world of investment banking. Can you smell smoke ? But then true to any MBA graduate, we too came up with a contigency plan. Performance on the guitar shall be resticted to 1 inch away from the string while our maestro shall use the lead guitar to weave magic. Sounds absolute aint it. Well we need to put a fine dance and song to pull that off but then hopefully we will......

Realization stuck me that i never mention the things i do most in ISB......watching movies. I almost watch one every other day.....saw an excellent movie yesterday......."Dances with Wolves".......Kevin Costner bring alive interactions between a cavalry officer and Sioux Indians. Mary Mcdonnel, though totally unattractive pulls off and equally unimpressive performance. I am sure she could have done more justice to the character considering its profound intricasies. Neverthless, it has a happy ending and i couldnt ask more..........