ARP- Acid Reflux Proposal

 Featuring......

*** Rajeev Mundhada***


There is a new phenomenon going around here- its called fiction writing. every member in my batch is furiously typing on his/her laptop whenever there is any free time....um, its a creative bug of a different kind. so what brought about the change? its this not so innocuous reasearch project that is due for submission in, well, 12 days time. (i think)
 
ARP- Applied Reseach Project was introduced to us in our very first week of stay at Dubai (unfortunately). Since then we are reminded of it at every drop of a hat. Technically speaking, we have been working on our ARP for 5 months now....only we know the facts.

So seeing the typing-mania, my ARP partner and i have been 'talking about' gearing up too. My ARP partner is the 'droopy-eyed' Rajeev Mundhada. We zeroed upon our research topic with killer enthusiasam in April, and thought that nothing could go wrong with this one (what cld be more wrong than the two of us working on a project together!)

Since then, our research topic has changed atleast 4 times, we both have different recollection of our exact topic now.-and to date have not understood our topic in its entirety. Our objectives are tuned, fine tuned and refined everytime we meet our mentors. I dont remember working as much on my project as on the objectives and title. Till 4-5 days ago our reasearch project was just two pages long! (believe me).

Its not like Rajeev and I are not concerned about our ARP.  In fact in the last few months the most common conversation bewteen us has been something like this-
me- "hey rajeev"
RM- "Hey Priyanka"
me- "Dude we got to work on our ARP"
RM " True true. lets seriously sit down on it today"
Me - "totally"
RM- 'lets pings each other around 11 pm then"
Me- "sure thing"

Ofcourse, neither of us bother to ping eachother.
If there cld be an award for repeat conversation then we wld win it hands down. The only thing that changes in our conversation is probably the level of intensity depending upon the ARP review schedule.

So what do rajeev and i bring to our (omnious) ARP, besides our charmming pesonalities? Great fiction writing skills!! people wait till the two of us get cracking on it.

My sole regret (or not) is that our report  is going to cause great Acid Reflux to whosoever reads it.

Project- Not Bombing Again Part I

Aditi (Adi)

Shiny

Introducing- Adi & Shiny .........

      So well, a good part of yesterday was spent in coming up with a foolproof plan to 'exceed expectations' in my 2nd term exams- which incidentally are just around the corner. Project- Not Bombing Again was launched with much fanfare and high hopes (read previous post for details).    

      Still struggling to find time for Project-NBA.  Caught in the middle of assignments, project work, group presentations, simulation, and what not...and if that were not enough have to finish a short story for HarperCollins story writing competition by 14th (somebody plsss kill me). By the way, the story writing is for

romantic genre- need i say more :D. I am having a ball of a time penning this one, trying to use cliches to make up for my lack of imagination here (seriously)...so there are phrases such as - "she felt a rush of emotions as their hands met" (use sultry voice for better effect)

      ANYWAYS...coming back to the point. Our 1st term exams were quite a reality check. Some of us were left badly scalded from the experience. (must put in a word here about the scums who come out of the exam hall whinning about not having done well in the paper- and then end up scoring the highest marks or so. take your theatrics elsewhere, people! we dont need you in our group)   

This post features two special personalites of my batch - Aditi and Shiny, who I trust had a genuinely  dreadful experinece in our last exams.

     Any mention of Project-NBA is incomplete without the two of them. They are both quite a phenomenon, individually, and yet they decided to unleash their combined power on us, together. How kind! My MBA experinece wouldnt have been half as much fun without their comic presence.

      I have gotten into the habit of benchmarking my efforts against theirs- so if Adi & Shiny have finished an assignment, then you know the water level has crossed the safety mark for sure. Now that Adi & Shiny have started studying for term 2 exams, its high time i began so tooo. 

     Shiny shared the details of today's International Management  case with me in ten mins flat...that too in Arabian Nights format- goes something like this- Once upon a time there was a not-so great-company called Komatsu/Kimberly Clark etc.....that faced many troubles to survive (and the flow continues).

Its definitely an interetsing style for case studies. Adi would agree, she gets her best sleep when Shiny is reading out cases to her!

enough of goofing now...gotta hit my books....Project-NBA doesnt seem to be heading anywhere, ugh!

ps- pls dont be fooled by the calm, serene (sleepy) looks of the two in the pics above.....its the lull before the storm.

 

UGHH!- Exams Again

          Its feels like just yesterday when i was proudly back-patting myself for having survived one whole week of exams in my one year MBA course (this was in the first week of July, to be more precise). and guess what they are back, once more. In another seven days' time the torture is going to begin again...

           I have always abhored exams...not because i am academically challenegd or something (in fact i am a pretty good student- toning it down a little for the sake of being modest). But i do feel the 'performance stress'. the whole set up with invigilators & restricted environment feels extremely overwhelming. Education should be a test of learning not a test of rote. i fundamentally disagree with the concept of exams, and the way its carried every where....

           But well the sad bit is that nobody is really listening to me. and till things change, which i don't think will happen in my student life, i will have to suffer the monstrosity of it. so here i am gearing up for the D-Day. The schedule is out, my prep plan is ready- now all i need to do is execute it. Well i was supposed to excute my study plans (Project- Not Bombing Again) yesterday, but i was out with relatives, had to go for dinner and do some miscellaneous shopping etc (which is important too!)....so well project execution had to be postponed by a day.

            So i am all ready with my Corporate Finance (CF)book and notes today. have taken my proactiveness to another level and pinged a senior for sample papers (a must have for Project-Not Bombing Again to succeed!). have been toying with ideas to come up with a bang on strategy to crack CF- something which wld require minimal study from my end. Strategy planning has taken up most of my morning, no studying done yet (fret fret fret). gotta go out for lunch now (special lunch with my relatives')

              Project- Not Bombing Again should get going by today evening. It better, Mum is overly stressed at my seriousness or the complete lack of it towards my studies.....Mum, try living in the world of facebook, whatsapp, bbm, g-talk!! (i love u, Mum). But more than anybody, i have got to do this for myself. I need to overcome the fear of exams...Fists of fire.

to be continued....... 


            
  
         

Life on a shoestring budget

Its been about 2 weeks since i last posted something/anything on my blog!
here's my latest article on living life on a shoestring budget- i bet all students would agree with me on this one.

Life on a shoestring budget

               One of the worst things that you can do to yourself is come to a shopping destination to study. If that pain doesn’t kill you then living on a shoestring budget in such a place will definitely do. Actually living on a shoestring budget as a student is a test of your will power to resist the goodliness of life.  It is one of the important contributing factors towards us developing a thick skin. So to put it mildly, there is rock bottom, fifty feet of rut below it, and then us, the always-broke-students. We have absolutely no scruples especially when it comes to freebees and free food.

            Its not an easy life by any standard. Picture this, a packet of Maggie takes about 2 mins for preparation, but can finish in less than 30 secs. It is the ultimate test of the survival of the fittest. If you are not quick to move then you may get left behind, just holding a fork (pretty symbolic of life, ain’t it). Be war ready, always. You never know when a kind soul may open a packet of chips/popcorn and you may have to desperately scamper to get to it (so what if its not your favourite flavour).

            Life on a shoestring budget can teach you some interesting lessons in finance. As we become creditors to some and debtors to many, we learn to identify our bad debts and sunk costs better. So typically, our borrowers default and we default to our lenders, leading to a shortfall in the cash flow of the cohort. And yet, cash flows or the super lack of it, hardly affect our state of mind. You cannot appreciate the small wonders of life, such as tea, coffee and toasts, till you have actually lived on a budget so tight that everything aside from the small wonders seem to be out of reach.  

          So well, life on a shoestring-budget comes highly recommended. Having lived through it, you will emerge much the wiser and much the smarter.

        

Desi Beats

        It was my favourite night of the week- Ladies night!  My friends and I flocked to a club at Dubai Mall to get our share of free drinks. By midnight I had had one too many drinks for the night. As I staggered out of the ladies room, I lost balance and stumbled. Suddenly a young man appeared from nowhere and held my arm to keep me steady. Even in the dim light of the club, I could make out that he was a ‘desi’ (the term that Indians use for each other overseas). Dubai definitely has its fair share of desi population, and the number is surprisingly large.

         

        As our groups of friends mingled and got talking, I took a moment to put things in perspective. I had been in Dubai for over 4 months, my longest stay out of India ever. Yet the most carefree and candid conversations I had ever had were with ‘desis’ overseas. When we are outside India, we are more accepting of people and their fallacies. But when we are in India, we become judgemental and look at people as Marathis, Assamese, Biharis, Hindu, Muslim and so on and so forth. We are even ready to kill each other over such differences.

       

         The word ‘desi’ is endearing for it breaks our regional boundaries and gives us one unifying identity. I feel that we are much more of a desi when outside India than when in it. In all my life I had never celebrated Independence Day with as much energy and ardour as I did this year! There is a beautiful bond between all Indian families here, oblivious to any differences. Its so beautiful that it makes me wish for the hundredth time that this was happening in India and not in a foreign land.

       

         Maybe the unifying force we need is that of a neutral government, one that will keep the various entities in check.  My friends and I miss India a lot. But then we wonder what would we go back to – communal riots, sexual assaults on women, scams and forgery? Is it worth it? Every ‘desi’ abroad mulls over this question.  

       Almost on cue, the DJ played a Punjabi number (yes in Dubai too!). And all the ‘desis’ in the house were on their feet in no time, just like that.

  

A dying species called the carefree Indian girl

       Every time there is a case of sexual assault against a woman, I get sick to my stomach. The fear begins to creep around me afresh. Most people don’t know what it is like to be a working girl living alone in a big city. We have programmed ourselves to never let our guards down!  There is always a constant fear at the back of our mind, prompting us to be vigilant. We, girls, have been living with this feeling for so long that we’ve forgotten what it’s like to feel safe. We are not safe at work, or in public places, or at home. Where do we go? Why can’t our society make us feel safe?  The society rejoices when a girl wins an Olympic medal, but it doesn’t think twice before it stifles a newborn girl child?

      

       Working and living alone in India is a nightmare for a single girl. It definitely makes you question the double standards of the society. With the recent cold blooded murder of Pallavi Purkayastha, there is now another strata of men from our society that we cannot trust- security guards. The list already included- cab drivers, autowallahs, servants, cable T.V men, internet cafe owners and landlords to name a few. If the protectors of people (read the security guard, in this case) become the perpetrators of crime then who can we trust? The irony here stinks.

       

         During my stay in Mumbai, there were often occasions when I would return home late from work, and on some occasions drenched in the sudden downpours. The sight of my security guard seemed relieving. But after this incident, I am beginning to wonder if I had had my share of narrow escapes back then. It is an extremely disconcerting feeling! We, girls, already have a long list of Dos and Don’ts to follow to ensure our safety, such as- no stopping at random stores for milk & supplies at night, minimal late nights, keeping away from strangers etc. My point is, will there ever be a Do’s and Don’ts list that will assure us of our safety?

       

       The term ‘be careful’ is engraved into our psyche right from a young age. We are so accustomed to it that we have forgotten how to be carefree. With every such grotesque act of crime, the carefree girl within us, hides even more. Why should there be a trade-off between our freedom and safety?  Why can’t we have both?  What is the cure for this malaise afflicting our society?

  

       The carefree girl within us just wants the freedom to live without fear, is it too much to ask for?

  

My Internship Experience

      It was 14^th Feb, 2005, my first day as an intern. As I walked into the office for my internship I was aghast to see red heart shaped balloons, red roses and chocolates on each desk.  I rechecked to confirm if this was the same MNC bank that I had been interviewed with. I expected Monday morning tensions, energy, stress et al. But, definitely not Valentine’s Day celebration!

      So that is how my internship began, not too bad actually. I was a fresh graduate in Economics honours from one of the best universities in India and well, had a mountain-size chip on my shoulder. My plan was to work exceptionally hard and dazzle the company with my performance and ultimately land a permanent placement with the bank. There was just one problem though, the plan seemed a lot easier in my head than in reality. I had to lose my chip first, which seemed like a herculean task then.My immediate team had a very diverse mix of people, comprising a rather older age group, with mixed backgrounds, culture and different mindsets. These were the people that I had to work with for six months, and most importantly, learn from. And of course my “attitude” did not help. My bohemian, straight-from-college-I-don’t-care attitude rubbed my colleagues in face. People were quick to judge me, some even took wagers on how long I would last. Honestly I wondered so too.

      Even though I picked the work within a week’s time, my colleagues did not warm up to me for over 2 months. I learned to not be ‘miss snooty’ but I still had trouble finding company for lunch. I was miserable and lonely. And then it happened! My boss requested me to help in organizing a birthday celebration for a colleague in office. Having a special qualification (non-certified, of course) in organizing parties it wasn’t difficult for me to rise up to the occasion. And just like that, over snacks and colas, I finally managed to break the ice with my colleagues.

     The rest of my internship was rather smooth. I made great friends and learnt some valuable lessons in life. Looking back, I think part of the reason why my colleagues disliked me was because of the fearless courage and hope of the youth that I carried with me. I reminded them of what it was like to be young and so free. Had I been more intuitive then, I would have identified the real problem sooner.

    Great lessons in life are learnt from living them. Those six months of internship taught me new lessons in humility. I learnt to respect people who had different opinions. And more importantly, I learnt to differentiate content from flak. In many ways the first internship is like a rites of passage, coming of age etc. In a span of six months I lost my rough edges and ahem,’ yuppiness’. I learnt to be a professional  As Steve Jobs said, ‘you cannot join the dots looking forward, you can only join the dots looking backward’. I wouldn’t be the person that I am today had I not taken back some hard hitting lessons from my first internship.